Sawdust is really a mixed bag. I think that's the most appropriate statement. At this point I'm not sure I could slap on stars or a letter grade. There's good and bad, strong and weak. Coming in at seventeen tracks, it's important to remember that this is not supposed to be a cohesive album. There are songs like "Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll" which were put on the Limited Edition of Hot Fuss or bonus CD of Sam's Town (so they're nothing new) and songs which missed the cut all together. The best tracks include "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf" which begs the question why it didn't find a home on one of their albums, "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," and "Romeo and Juliet." The two former would have fit pretty well with the sound of Sam's Town, but there can only be so many tracks on an album. The latter is really cool, not quite a retelling but definitely a lyrical joy sans synth. There's also a new version of "Sam's Town" done at Abbey Road in '06. I like the fact that the uncomplicated piano and drums highlight Flowers's vocals. It freshens up the song where as many songs don't survive a strip down.
Here's what didn't go so well. Sawdust suffers from a handful of flat out weak songs. "Show You How" and "Move Away" are unremarkable. There's nothing about them to distinguish them. "Shadowplay," which I believe is a cover, starts off decent but loses something along the way. The last track is a remix of Mr. Brightside which runs about ten minutes. Quite frankly, it's not worth the time. Jaques Lu Cont throws in an echo here and an echo there, a little bit of distortion and a completely unnecessary and cheesy rhythm that if anything, detracts from why the song was cool originally. Just when you're thinking that it's winding down, the ipod says there's 4 minutes left.
Like I said, it's a mixed bag. The weak tracks are disappointing but the really worthy ones do a good job of making up for them. We'll see what comes up next.
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