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April Reviews Artist of the Month: The Sounds Absurdly fucking gorgeous fun! Such might be one of the statements you could make concerning the brilliant second record from Sweden’s the Sounds. Dying to Say This to You bitch slaps the band’s debut and ushers in possibly one of the hottest bands in the world to unconscionable levels of joy. Behold. A first exposure to the Sounds came, perhaps appropriately enough, in the back of a VW bug at excessive volume racing through New York a few years back. The Sounds’ 2002 debut Living in America rocked your mind – the type where you get a confused look like ‘what just happened.’ The five-piece set out after its release to conquer American audiences with over 300 shows and an array of late night talk show appearances. With that exposure in the bag, the question inevitably led to what can they offer next? Apparently pop genius. With the production assistance of Jeff Saltzman, James Iha, and Adam Schlesinger, the Sounds punch a ten-song record full with a near perfect blend of electronic punk and pop. With Maja Ivarsson leading the way on vocals and backed by Jesper Anderberg (keyboards), Johan Bengtsson (bass), Fredrik Nilsson (drums), and Felix Rodriguez (guitar), Dying to Say This to You is like the Faint collided with recent Madonna and only enchantment was left over. Dying to Say This to You kicks off on “Song With a Mission” that sets the stage, but honestly is a mere side offering in the way of the magic that is ready to burst through the seams. With the chorus only holding you together on “Song With a Mission,” “Queen of Apology” provides the first ‘hit’ (of which there are many) of the record as it pulsates on both the verse and chorus. ‘Pulsates’ is the operational word as when Ivarsson’s vocals or Anderberg’s synths aren’t rocking you, you can find dance solace on Bengtsson’s thumping bass – one of the few times when the bass takes songs above and beyond. “Tony the Beat” starts off rather lamely and you are tempted to skip right on past, but wait…for the chorus kicks you in the nuts and takes the song in a totally different direction. The synth-filled love fest on the chorus could easily be one of the sweetest bits of recorded seconds in awhile; naturally another hit. The Sounds unleash more rock on “24 Hours” and it pays off in spades as there is little not to like across any part of this potential single. The synths on the chorus may remind you of the 80s movie Labyrinth, but in the right context why the hell not. “Painted Numbers” is straight-up new wave dance party, while “Night After Night” slows the pace as Ivarsson sings along to a slow piano – on the LP there is another version of “Night After Night” with the full band at a rock pace and is in all a better offering. To bring you off the one bit of mellow, the Sounds crush you on “Ego” with the opening lines of ‘I’ve been dying to say this to you/but I don’t know what else to do/because I’ve seen your fucking attitude.’ Hey, that’s not radio-friendly! As if it matters. “Don’t Want to Hurt You” is very electro-chic and on the instrumental intro sounds like many a Peaches’ song. This is also the only song on Dying that features one of the gentlemen on lead vocal duties. “Much Too Long Now” holds the uptempo, electro punk fort down with another excellent chorus, while “Running Out Of Turbo” closes the affair as ok but pales in comparison to the other set. If you have proclivity to dance punk, electro party new wave heaven then Dying to Say This to You should be on your shelf the day after yesterday (today). The Sounds are currently rocking a U.S. tour, so do yourself and engage in some Swedish dance delight.
Action Action With respect to Long Island-based Action Action’s debut record Don’t Cut Your Fabric to This Year’s Fashion, An Army of Shapes Between Wars is light years ahead. Don’t Cut Your was a classic hit-or-miss affair, where several songs had you moving and others had you thinking they were crap. Formed in 2004 out of power pop bands Count the Stars, Reunion Show, and Diffuser, Action Action is composed of Mark Thomas Kluepel, Clarke Foley, Adam Manning, and Dan Leo. Taking their original neo-new wave approach, Action Action manages to piece together the past 80s electro-pop sound with a fresh contemporary synth take. Less punk than say the Faint and the Bravery, An Army has an array of pop gems thanks for Kluepel’s relatively deep voice (a la drunk Ric Ocasek). Don’t be mistaken, Action Action relies heavily on what has been played and laid before, but it is hard to ignore the catchiness in such awesome tracks as “A Tornado; An Owl.” After starting slow, “A Tornado” only reaches epic heights on the sensational chorus that would have been perfect John Hughes’ fodder. Other tracks on An Army that rip your pants off in a similar manner include the opener “Smoke and Mirrors,” “Paper Cliché” (save for a generic chorus), “The Other 90% of the Iceberg,” the excellent uptempo “Don’t Shoot the Messenger (Not My Idea),” and “Oh My Dear It’s Just Chemical Frustration.” In a move that makes little sense, Action Action is doing a video for “The Game” – a song that sounds more like Count the Stars guitar pop than anything that Action Action is all about. If you wrote off Action Action based on Don’t Cut Your, but are a fan of new wave, then give them another chance with An Army of Shapes Between Wars.
The Autumn Offering Make no mistake – even though Daytona Beach’s The Autumn Offering is on Victory, they are nothing but pure metal; striking the vein of a screaming Slayer. The Autumn Offering are so metal that they even include those lame ass ballad breakdowns and straight up ballads that must be played on an angular Ibanez. The mildly sucky thing about this release is that it was already released – in 2004 by Jamey Jasta’s label Stillborn; Victory wanted to give it another christening with a classic metal video from standout number “Revelation.” The upside is that a new record from the band is slated for a couple of months from now. On Revelations, the Autumn Offering unleash metal fury coupled with Southern rock riffs and when they are on, they are totally on. This includes the aforementioned “Revelation,” “The Great Escape,” the awesome “Deflowered,” “Bonds in Which We Break,” and the closer “Beginning’s End.” But, seriously, what is the deal with all the ballad break downs that make all your cock rock nightmares come true? Old metal fans may get off on these inclusions but those with more extreme tastes will piss on your party. Waiting for the follow up to Revelations….
Bricks For Shoulders If the uber-generic heavy metal/hardcore sound of Bricks For Shoulders weren’t bad enough, the recording is piss poor for a legit release. The drums in particular sound as though they were recorded in a cave and the guitar riffs are unbelievably basic. It is almost as if Bricks were looking to be super heavy before they learned how to actually play on their own and as a band.
Enlow This Oklahoma five-piece first pierced the hardcore consciousness on 2003’s The Desperate Letters (also on Blood & Ink) and subsequent small venue touring. After a short hiatus, Enlow returns with nine songs on The Recovery that feature a more melodic take on the rupturing rhythmic hardcore solo. Enlow’s The Recovery verges on awesomeness but slightly veers off course with ordinary vocals and poorly recorded guitars. You wouldn’t classify the vocals are bad or anything, just when they kick in on the opener “Drawing the First Line” you are like ‘here we go again.’ The second item of note is that the guitar work is the strongest aspect of The Recovery – as routinely one riffs off on solos and then comes back for heavier sections. Yet, they sound muddled and thin, almost as if the mics couldn’t handle the levels. If the guitars could be redone, The Recovery would definitely benefit supremely. Enlow is on the verge of being at the same level as a band like Shai Hulud, but it will take some more effort.
Good Clean Fun Equal Vision must have lost a bet. The one-sheet tries to sell Good Clean Fun and the record as totally humorous, tongue-in-cheek happiness – like a hardcore Mr. T. Experience. But, that doesn’t hide the fact that this might one of the worst records to be passed around in awhile. This is such crap that I want my time spent listening to the record back and a new ear because I drilled it out trying not to vomit.
Hawthorne Heights After Ohio’s Hawthorne Heights’ wildly successful 2004 debut The Silence in Black and White, the obvious question was whether the five-piece could at least offer a parallel sophomore record. Amazingly enough, the twelve-track If Only You Were Lonely obviously blasts The Silence away immediately on the opener “This Is Who We Are” in the song’s and record’s turn to the more melodic. At first blush The Silence seemed to be trailing off the mainstream wave of melodic hardcore (or emo-core if you will). Yet, Hawthorne Heights managed to define their own space in the punk and hardcore world and not be simply part of one scene or another. Couple that achievement with The Silence approaching platinum status and the result is enormous deference to the band by Victory. For awhile it seemed that members of HH, through Victory’s hand, were constantly starting new labels, clothing lines, running for governor, flipping the magnetic poles, etc. All that would be fleeting if HH couldn’t provide an album that topped the debut; and again that is assured. Working with producer David Bendeth, JT Woodruff, Matt Ridenour, Micah Carli, Casey Calvert, and Eron Bucciarelli lighten the hardcore, add more harmonies and melodies, thus creating a family-friendly hardcore record. For Victory, HH has provided a record that is actually chock-full of singles – something the label has never really been concerned with. Save for the God-awful acoustic closer “Decembers,” If Only is just one great song after another with seemingly no end in sight (well, at least until “Decembers”). As mentioned, “This Is Who We Are” sets the more melodic tone and is quickly followed up by similar-minded “We Are So Last Year” that trips up a bit lyric-wise. “Language Lessons (Five Words Or Less)” furthers melodic punk preferences, while “Pens and Needles” merges heavier riffs with a catchy chorus and a slight electronic breakdown. “Saying Sorry” matches the previous on the chorus as “Dead in the Water” returns to a hardcore guitar outlet. The good luck runs out on “I Am On Your Side” and “Breathing In Sequence” is weak on vocal prowess (which they try to buttress with a sing-a-long). The average “Light Sleeper” meets you next and “Cross Me Off Your List” helps leads the way to what should be the real closer – “Where Can I Stab Myself In the Ears” (oh, I ask that question so many times). The excellent, standout “Where Can I Stab Myself In the Ears” has already seen the light of day on the Underworld: Evolution soundtrack which came under the name “Where Do I Stab Myself In the Ears.” “Where Can I Stab Myself In the Ears” is a crystal clear melodic hardcore song with slight devilish twists compared to the rest of If Only; though the version on the Underworld: Evolution soundtrack with its electronic drum and bass inclusions blows this version away. If you enjoy(ed) The Silence in Black and White, you are going to absolutely wet yourself over If Only You Were Lonely. And as a sign of Victory’s growing PR savvy, the record has been released with two different covers.
Innocent Noise California’s Innocent Noise seems way more interested in becoming Wind-up’s next sound-alike band than actually doing something different. Possibly the most annoying aspect of the Xotica EP is guitarist P Funk’s obsession with effects perhaps nowhere better demonstrated than on the dreadful “Psychotic.” It’s almost as if he has a huge effects foot board and needs to include every possible sound. If all the groove nu-metal bands are blown up in a nuclear blast no one is going to miss them.
Job For A Cowboy I bet you wish that you were in Job For A Cowboy when you were in high school. The five-piece of Job are and their brand of metal power-violence, like junior wild Scandinavian grind, makes them the coolest in their class even if the girls might not flock as if they were a melodic punk band. Job features the common, but often poorly orchestrated, deep grumbler and screaming banshee vocal attack that with the stabbing guitars makes for a sweet demolition across Doom’s six songs. If Job can tighten up their sound and nail stop-starts, they will be awesome.
LAFCADIO The five-piece of LAFCADIO offer a flying bag of poop on the nine-song Sham Duvet on Joyful Noise. LAFCADIO are trying to do an admirable job of marrying basically the entire range of noise and heavy music into one sound – screams, power violence, early punk, noisecore, math, Mike Patton-flair, straight-up metal, etc. – but the fact of the matter is that they just aren’t very good. While quite annoying during the straight screams, the real fault is that LAFCADIO needs to be totally fucking tight to nail this sound to the wall – and they aren’t there yet. LAFCADIO needs to drill and add considerably more thought to how construct songs, and in the future they should smoke.
Magnet Following the footsteps of other European singer-songwriters with extra electronic flair – most of which seem to align themselves with Astralwerks for some reason or another – comes Norway’s Even Johansen (aka Magnet). Attaining the moniker through a convoluted and unlikely sequence of events, Johansen matches his penchant for folk whispers with ethereal Air-like electronics that can be both whimsical and special in certain matchings. Across the eleven-track, forty-five minute The Tourniquet, Johansen weaves this combination into a remarkable, if not low-energy, record for Filter. The Tourniquet would be phenomenal if Johansen was able to maintain the solid, enchanting moments throughout songs and within songs. For instance, on two standouts “Hold On” and “The Pacemaker,” Johansen raptures you in but, particularly on “The Pacemaker,” can’t seem to hold onto the upside for long enough. Yet, The Tourniquet along with the previous American-issue of On Your Side establishes Johansen and Magnet as an emerging presence.
Secular End With a clearly local buzz to their punk-tinged rock, Austin’s Secular End establish a solid foundation their debut Revenge of the Phoenix. Originally formed in, well, Phoenix, the three-piece of Secular Dan (vocals/guitar), Saint Theresa (bass/vocals), and Ralph Barr (drums) moved to Austin in 2004 and picked up Rev. Ralf Beta PHD as a guitarist to fill out their sound. What soon becomes evident across the ten songs on Revenge is that Secular End are best when they avoid the quirky and excessively wordy singing (e.g., “Sweet Reaper” and “Make Believe”), and just stick with straight-up rock (e.g, “All Good Sinners,” “Machines Are Slowly Taking Over My Pulse” (which is quirky but rocks more than average), and “FM”). Why Secular End hasn’t been signed isn’t clear because, and especially with some prodding, the potential for excellent records exists. It would seem that Austin’s I Eat Records would be nearly perfect for Secular End.
Shoplifting After a ho-hum debut record for KRS back a spell, the ten song Body Stories is head-and-shoulders better and helps Shoplifting etch out their own corner of Seattle and KRS. The improvement might have come about adding bassist Melissa Lock to the lineup of Hannah Blilie, Devin Welch, and Chris Pugmire. But it is more likely that it is the result of working, playing, touring and fighting the good fight. To get more of an angle on Shoplifting’s sound, which shouldn’t be hard with the above information, the band has toured and played with Erase Errata, YYY, Mecca Normal, and Liars. The problem with Shoplifting’s previous EP was the lack of catchiness in often marginally thought-out songs. While those elements persist in some respects, such excellent numbers as the opener “M. Sally” reflects a change towards appealing listeners’ innate desire for catchiness. Other songs don’t approach “M. Sally” in that respect, but time should be spent on “What About a Word?,” the Fugazi-built “Untrust/Trust,” “Male Gynecology,” and “Claude Glass.”
Stereo Total As part of KRS’ strategy of eventually releasing everything that Stereo Total has ever released or will release comes this reissue of 1998’s Juke-Box Alarm. The point of the reissue (along with the My Melody reissue) is to officially make it an US release. Now that Stereo Total releases records on all continents with ease – witness Do the Bambi – this fixation with reissues should come to an end soon. Juke-Box is ST’s third record, after Oh Ah and Monokini, and features the core team of Francoise Cactus and Brezel along with Angie Reed and San Reimo, and others, to fill out their Euro eccentric electro-pop holiday sound. Recorded and produced in a number of locales in Germany, Juke-Box Alarm features sixteen songs of some of ST’s best material; well, at least, if you like their more poppy stuff. Consistent with all of ST’s records, I have a total love-hate relationship with the songs – something that is more a function of French chanteuse Cactus and less the Brezel’s infrequent German vocals. Particularly, when Cactus matches French and English does the visceralness show its face; here it’s mostly on “Crazy Horse.” Still, numbers to pay attention to on this reissue include “Holiday Innn,” the awesome “Sweet Charlotte,” the grainy “Touche-Moi,” “Oh Yeah” which is a minute-plus of brilliant uptempo electro-fun that ST should return to with a set of lyrics to make it one of the best songs ever, and “Nouvell Vague.” If you enjoyed the recent Do the Bambi then Juke-Box Alarm should be next on your list.
Stereo Total Coupled with the Juke-Box Alarm reissue, KRS are offering Stereo Total’s fourth record My Melody to the American audience in an official release. Originally released in 1999, the eighteen song My Melody has a central theme of love, but if you consider ST’s records in whole that, plus relationship variants, is pretty much par for the course. Naturally, developed by Francoise Cactus and Brezel Goring, plus Angie Reed and San Reimo, My Melody take a more mature songwriting arc, one that often features slower, longer, and more developed songs compared to the previous Juke-Box Alarm and some latter material. For someone that likes uptempo, out-of-control electro-pop ST, the focus on My Melody tends to grind on you. However, you find solace on “I Love You, Ono,” “Discjockey,” “Ich Liebe Dich, Alexander,” “Vilaines Filles, Mauvais Garcons” and “In/Out” (Gainsbourg covers), the staticky “Partir Ou Mourir,” “Tokyo Mon Amour” (a forbearer of the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack) and “Beauty Case.” Get the My Melody and Juke-Box Alarm reissues and arm yourself for a French-German electro-dance party.
The Subways That NME dubbed the Subways as the next/new hot thing and that they were inspired to rock from watching Oasis gives you immediate reason for pause on the Subways’ debut Young For Eternity. The three-piece of Billy Lunn (vocals/guitar), Charlotte Cooper (bass/vocals), and Josh Morgan (drums), got a further plug on this side of the Atlantic from appearing on the OC and having their first single “Rock & Roll Queen” appear on the latest OC comp. Lunn and Morgan are actually brothers; Lunn changed his name to the mother’s maiden in order for people like me to mention it. Provided the two facts that started off this review, you should have a nearly precise sense of the Subways’ sound – straight-up rock with a punk edge and pop appeal. Clearly, there is some sort of collusion of Oasis with the MC5, and as such the Subways fit squarely into the latest Brit rock wave. Yet, you will not find anything new on the twelve songs here. The Subways excel on uptempo, simple, and catchy numbers – “Rock & Roll Queen,” “Oh Yeah,” later “I Want to Hear What You Have Got to Say,” “With You” – but if you shrink from snotty Brit vocal action then you may want to pass. Anglophiles should have a field day here.
V/A Speculate a moment on why you might want to pick up this two-disc thirty-six song compilation and an obvious answer arises; you pick up The Best of Taste Chaos simply to have a broad stroke of the contemporary punk and hardcore sound and scene. The point of the release is mostly as a promotional device of the Taste of Chaos tour – the winter/spring companion to the Warped Tour (both formed by Kevin Lyman). Although there is hardly anything new on across the two discs, you are also unlikely to have all of the bands’ records, and, so, this comp is nice collection filler. Some of bands of note include the Used, Thrice, Thursday, Dillinger Escape Plan, Most Precious Blood, Rise Against, Shadows Fall, Deftones, Avenged Sevenfold…. One should also call out Armor For Sleep for offering the overplayed “The Truth About Heaven” for this comp as well as the similar-minded Take Action! comp; that’s just shameful.
V/A As part of Take Action’s yearly tour, Sub City releases a sweet compilation to promote the tour and create a bit more revenue both for the label and the Kristin Brooks Hope Center which deals with depression and suicide particularly in teenagers. What’s amazing is that the tour is still rocking hard after all these years, although even starting with the first tour, the bands that tag along are typically exceptional. While this year’s tour might slip a bit on star power it still offers solid bands including Matchbook Romance, Silverstein, and Chiodos. As with the Taste of Chaos comp, the reason for picking this up is to have a survey of the contemporary punk and hardcore sound, and not for new material. Another, more altruistic, reason is that 5% of the proceeds of sales of the comp go to the Hope Center. Bands of note include Dropkick Murphys, Strike Anywhere, Cursive, Saosin, Hawthorne Heights, Against Me!, the Loved One, the Fall of Troy,…. Armor For Sleep offers “The Truth About Heaven” for this comp as well as the Taste of Chaos comp, which is further awful in the light of the point of this comp.
Waterdown As German-based Waterdown’s third record for Victory, the six-piece smacks the less-than-enthralling previous The Files You Have On Me and ratchet up the intensity and confidence on eleven-song All Riot. First getting notice for their mesh of a million variants of hardcore and punk on the terrific Never Kill the Boy On the First Date, Waterdown became more an American fixture than most German bands. Yet, some things slipped on The Files – a solid though uninspiring effort. Losing a singer in the interim, Waterdown found Michael Janczak to fill in and provide, with Ingo Reiser, the shifting screaming and melodic vocals. All Riot would be a riot if every song beat your ear drums like the opener “Sleep Well.” “Sleep Well” kicks off like metalcore band smashing your car windows coupled with an actually appealing melodic chorus, while “Til The Very End” shapes up with analogous appeal. Other numbers such as “You Are the One” and “Parasites” follow a similar, well, heavier pattern. Certain songs could legitimately pass for a less rap Linkin Park or Chester Bennington numbers including, most obviously, “Chewing on Lies” and “Repeater.” For those who love shifting melodic and heavy sections, you should be down on All Riot, particularly if you thought Waterdown’s previous material was too light.
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