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August Reviews Artist of the Month: The
All-American Rejects Holy shit! This band fucking rocks. Actually, this band is a duo of youngsters named Nick Wheeler and Tyson Ritter from middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma, and this is their first album, and hopefully not their last. Since it is just the two of them, I am not exactly sure who played all the instruments in the recording, which range from the standard three plus piano, synths, etc. If it is just Wheeler and Ritter then mad kudos to them. This is album is amazing and you need to pick it up when it comes out in October. The All-American Rejects take a more poppy and less emo Get Up Kids (circa "Something To Write Home About") approach to their songs. That means amazing harmonies and song structure, which are concurrently uplifting and fulfilling. Rejects my ass. This is the new All-American rock band! You will probably catch a wind of them on MTV2 with their video of "Swing, Swing" in the near future; which is by far the best song on the record. Other standout tracks include "My Paper Heart," "Your Star," "One More Sad Song" and "Don't Leave Me." The All-American Rejects are hitting the road in the fall of 2002 to rock your fucking socks off.
Black
Widows Coming out of Louisville, KY, Black Widows is its own super-group of sorts. Composed of Rob Pennington (By the Grace of God/Endpoint), Ryan and Evan Patterson (The National Acrobat) and Thommy Browne (By the Grace of God/Automatic), Black Widows come to fuck shit up in an old-fashioned manner. Evoking ear-splitting chaotic punk and early-DC hardcore, Black Widows plow straight through this seven song EP. When playing such a style of music, often it is easy to fall into a simple formula of generic doldrums. Notably and refreshingly, practically each song is unique and distinct. Black Widows move from sporadic punk on "Name Me No One" to old-school hardcore on "Answers to a .45" and "Selling Point" and further to straight-up punk of "11:59 Answering the Call;" this band offers something for everyone. Scary spiders and scarier dreams.
The Corrigan brothers (Vinny, formerly of Inside and Tommy, formerly of Silent Majority) have teamed up to former a Long Island super-group with the other former members of Inside. In all actuality, I am surprised that these guys are still in Long Island and have not migrated, at least, to the slums of NYC. At the same time, it is nice to see a band truly claim their origin and not say they are from NYC when they are just a bunch of white boys from white boy Long Island towns. In a nicely done fashion, Blood Red have merged both the styles of Inside and Silent Majority to produce a well-crafted debut album. This half-way meeting is probably the only way for this band to prosper. And such, Blood Red rely on an interesting combination of early hardcore, indie-rock and the stadium rock harmonies of bands such as U2. This is definitely an interactive term of music (Inside x Silent Majority = Blood Red). As with Silent Majority, Tommy's vocals can get on the nerves when he pushes them too hard, but typically they come around to please. Some of the songs are clear all-star affairs, such as "Peeping Tom," "City Mouse," "Top Secret" and "Suburbia." With this endeavor, Blood Red is likely to reach a modicum of notoriety and prosperity as other Long Island brethren have (e.g., the Glassjaw(sic)).
Glasseater are back with the action in this their latest release and first on Cali's Fearless Records. Relaxing much of the metal-core background of earlier material, Glasseater display a kinder and more harmonic side of their being. At times, the metal influence emerges, like on "Nonsense to You, Everything To Us" and various background growls, but the focus is more on harmony. Also, there is a very noticeable increased reliance on pure punk rock. Part of this may be due to the recent departure of their lead singer Jason and the drummer Julio replacing him on vocals. Although paling in comparison to Seven Years Bad Luck, this album offers enough to elicit a wise purchasing decision. Some of the songs, like "Polar Opposites," are a move into the world of generic SoCal punk (e.g., Ten Foot Pole), others ("Medicine," "We're the Same") bring Glasseater closer to the dominating worlds of Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, The Movielife, Waterdown and the like. Glasseater have been taking their energetic show on the road this summer and the near future.
The time is finally here when the pop-punk legends the Groovie Ghoulies have come to take their crown back. After some time in the doldrums (i.e., Travels With Amp and Freaks on Parade), the Ghoulies are in top form on this release. With the core of Kepi on vocals (in the studio on everything) and Roach on guitar, the Ghoulies have maintained their dynasty. Now with their 12th million drummer, Scampi, the Ghoulies are a go. Although, I enjoyed, in more than one way, their last drummer, Scampi appears ready to rock. On Go! Stories, the Ghoulies arrive with new life and energy, saying "hey, world we are back." It's like an ultimate comeback of heroic portions. The fourteen track record has some real diamonds in the rough. Particularly jaw-dropping are "School Is In" (truly amazing), "Chupacabras" (the Super Furry Animals version, not the Reanimation Festival version), "(And) I Don't Wanna Be Like That," "Doin' Fine" (a short, quick ditty) and "The Bay Bridge Club" (a nice refresher). For some reason, they include the classic "Ghoulies Are Go!" from World Contact Day. Regardless, the album rocks and contains the unique and stunning Ghoulie artwork throughout. If you have any interest in the Ghoulies, you definitely must get this release.
The Sonic Dolls are one of the bands that you can't believe actually is still around. You associate them with early pop-punk years, relatively, and now here they are still kickin' out the jams. Moreover, this German quartet has produced the best material I've ever heard from them. Top-quality, catchy punk that even your mother could bop her head to. Illustrative of this pronouncement are songs such as "Do the Right Thing," "Don't Come Around," "You Don't Know Me At All" and "My Little Star." A great commonality between the best songs on the record is the inclusion of rhythmic guitar solos throughout. This record makes me very interested in checking them out the next time they decided to assault North America. This release along with Groovie Ghoulies newest album puts Stardumb on the international map as the hottest rising punk label.
Merging the power of Florida legends Hot Water Music and Less Than Jake, the Spitvalves from Orlando have turned out a tremendous record in this their fourth release. Rocking the mic now for eight years, the eight-member Spitvalves play tight punk rock with a mix of ska, but one would be smart not to characterize them as solely another punk-ska band. Their influences cross the musical spectrum and leave little missing in terms of completeness. Most noticeably is the vocal range of Charlie Bender, particularly when he goes from Lou in SOIA's style to more melody, and yet keeping it unique. This is most evident on "Drinking Song #1" and "That's About All." There are more quality tracks then I could mention, since, save for one or two songs, the record is par excellence. One of the few downsides to the Spitvalves is at times the lyrics sound forced and unnatural. Yet, this is an exception rather than the rule. If you are a fan of bands like River City Rebels, this release will make you spin.
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