Billboard album reviews: Soul Asylum, Venus Hum

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Soul Asylum gave us the big "I Love the '90s" set piece "Runaway Train," even performing it at President

Bill Clinton's first inauguration, only to disappear soon after. Now the band is back with its first studio recording in eight years and its last with bassist Karl Mueller, who died last year. Mixing pop melody and garage grit, "The Silver Lining" is an old-school alternative rock album full of oversize riffs and open-hearted hooks. Dave Pirner's moody rasp still has that scratchy, spine-tingling quality. While some cuts are flooded with cliches ("Stand Up and Be Strong"), "Bus Named Desire" leads a raunchy Aerosmith blues into a soaring chorus that conjures Cher's 1998 smash "Believe," and on sunset anthem "Standing Water," power chords come crashing like perfect waves. Welcome back.

ARTIST: VENUS HUM

ALBUM: THE COLORS IN THE WHEEL (Mono-Fi/Nettwerk)

Venus Hum's new album came very close to not being made. After the trio's major-label debut, 2003's "Big Beautiful Sky," which spawned a couple of dance-floor hits ("Montana" and "Soul Sloshing"), bandmates Annette Strean, Kip Kubin and Tony Miracle went their separate ways. Fortunately for modern-rock and electronic enthusiasts, they are back together. This time around, though, the dance-pop-electronic flourishes of past hits take a back seat to live musicianship that, in some cases, has been manually manipulated by computer technology. Choice cuts include "You Break Me Down," "Birds and Fishes," "72 Degrees" and "Go to Sleep." Fans of Bjork, Roisin Murphy and

Kate Bush will not go wrong here.

ARTIST: MUSE

ALBUM: BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS (Warner Bros. Records)

Like supersizing fries when the portion is already too big, "Black Holes and Revelations" further bloats Muse's raucous crescendos and space-rock anthems with heavier synths and weird, Queen-like harmonies. Don't be mistaken: The pomp and circumstance helps make Muse a great band to begin with. But bigness does not an anthem make, or at least not at the expense of the Big Chorus. Though the album grows stronger as it lurches on, the trio's pursuit of bombast leaves the killer melodies lost in outer space. The falsetto psychedelia that is first single "Supermassive Black Hole" feels shaky, and the otherworldly prettiness of "Soldier's Poem" feels like filler. Matthew Bellamy's vocal performance is fantastic (as usual), particularly on "Invincible" and "Take a Bow," but the album ultimately is dragged down by its own heavy hand.

ARTIST: HUECCO

ALBUM: HUECCO (Warner Music Latina)

The first U.S.-released album by Spanish act Huecco is a melange of styles reminiscent of Manu Chao yet infinitely more melodic. The mix of ska, reggae, tango, mambo, pop and rock is often irresistible. "Tacones Baratos" (Cheap Heels), a monument to the allure of that kind of girl, is sexy and greasy at the same time, while "Mamba Negra" mixes folklore and flamenco yet manages to avoid being cheesy. Huecco himself is edgy and aggressive but occasionally over the top with his sheer exuberance as he happily throws everything into the mix. There are no holds barred here. But that gusto is precisely what gives this album its edge. This music may be way too in-your-face for Spanish-language radio in the United States, but it's worth discovering in other ways.

ARTIST: SKA CUBANO

ALBUM: ¡AY CARAMBA! (Cumbancha)

This project, masterminded by Englishman Peter Scott, is a flashback to the '50s, when there was an active crosstalk between Jamaican ska and Cuban son. English ska artist Natty Bo pulled together the band and the album in Santiago de Cuba. The disc features a dozen musicians working ska, son montuno, calypso and cumbia tunes and includes amazing vocals from Cuban singer Beny Billy (Juan Manuel Villy). The music is consistently delightful. "Tungarara" is a slightly bent cumbia about a little frog and a toad, enlivened by Rene Dominguez's terrific flute. Witness the resurrection via ska of the chestnut "Jezebel," the ska-cumbia rendition of Ramon Vargas' "Soy Campesino," and turn up the volume for the thunderous ska-son treatment of "Oye Compay Juan," with lyrics by Gisela Navea, Beny Billy's wife. A retro-centric dancehall indulgence of the highest order.

ARTIST: THE FORMAT

ALBUM: DOG PROBLEMS (Vanity/Nettwerk)

The sunny exterior of "Dog Problems" pairs perfectly with singer Nate Ruess' perky, even-keeled voice and a gargantuan tongue that remains firmly in cheek. Rounded out with a horn section, crowd-noise samples and shimmery guitar pedals, the breathless indie pop and broken-hearted lyrics of "Dog Problems" deserve every bit of the attention they are receiving. Glockenspiel and hand claps are worked seamlessly into "Ocean," as though the song were never meant to be sad. The title track is impeccably arranged for maximum impact of words like "I never finish phrases, I misspell/Open arms are prison cells." The emotional outcome from listening to "Dog Problems" all depends on how closely one listens, but it is a treasure regardless of the result.

Reuters/Billboard