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December Reviews Artist of the Month: Coheed
and Cambria A phone call, some steps, a voice then a crash of orchestration starts off Coheed and Cambria's second album and second in their trilogy. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 blows away almost anything you have heard recently (save the Mars Volta) and make you redefine what great music really is. For the first three weeks I had this album I couldn't stop listening to it. I listened to it at least several times a day. A day couldn't go by without listening to Coheed. I had to find all the minute parts, how they swerved and intertwined and how to unpack all of the packing became some type of mission. Coheed formed several years back in the stretch of land between Albany and NYC in order to rock your socks off by bridging worlds of rock to create a unique product. They were signed after providing a bunch of demos to EVR and EVR finally deciding to take a shot with this foursome of prog-rock, emo, metal amalgamation. Coheed and Cambria are the lead characters in a sci-fi epic devised by lead singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez and realized by Sanchez, drummer Joshua Eppard, bassist Michael Todd and guitarist/vocals Travis Stever. Their first album The Second Stage Turbine Blade (Equalvision Records, 2002) was Coheed's proper introduction to the music world - though the second part of their epic. That album received extreme praise and placed them on the map as being one of the coolest bands in the indie world. Yet In Keeping was almost never made. While touring in support of Second Stage, Coheed had a bit of blow up and were on the verge of breaking up. After band therapy and the realization they are awesome, they came together to tour some more and knock out even better tracks for In Keeping. Ideally, Coheed have said they would like to see the story put into a comic form - though that may not be hot enough from my point of view. A better step would be to an animated story with the music as the soundtrack. If done right, there is little doubt that Oscar will come knocking - well maybe not, but he should. Like Second Turbine, In Keeping is an epic affair with Sanchez's hypnotic and unique singing coupled with spectacular dual-guitar work, sweet harmonies and some pounding for good measure. Though In Keeping has cleaner and tighter production that only enhances your listening enjoyment. Revealing part of the motivation, Sanchez is quoted about the album stating "this sequel is based around a premonition that a character in the story has in a dream, that slowly turns into a nightmare." Besides from the thick orchestration, probably the first thing that hits you is Sanchez's vocals - comparisons abound of Geddy Lee from Rush joining an emo-core band. But Geddy was never this cool. More importantly, Sanchez has some real talent and ability that is sorely missed in the indie world. Imagine taking all these fools singing in lame-ass pop and mainstream rock groups (I'm taking about the ones that have real vocal talent), injecting them with cool and putting them in a band with passion, intensity and a driving force. The result is Coheed and Cambria. The second thing that strikes you is the phenomenal guitar work. The lead guitar is almost always performing some type of soloing or joining the other in heavy riff-rock. When Coheed matches lead guitar timing and harmonies with vocals it is down-right heavenly (e.g., the end of "Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow)"). As is noted above, In Keeping starts off with a phone ringing, a woman answering, and orchestration (which sounds like some of the music from the video game Max Payne) on "The Ring in Return." Towards the end of the "The Ring in Return" there is a rocket taking off or flying past and male voice saying "Well, Apolo, where should I begin." Then there is the issuance of music as the second song "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3" pumps through the speakers. The track starts out slow with guitar meandering on a riff before drums and feedback come in. About forty seconds in, the band throws down with a powerful explosion and some tidbits to sample of what the next eight minutes is about to bring you. See, that's the thing with Coheed. All of the songs are great, epic affairs. But you have to listen to the WHOLE song, not a couple seconds here and there, to full appreciate what is going on. So if I play this for you, I can't just say check this small part out; I'll lend you the disk and then you are hooked and will buy ten for your family. As one of the best tracks on the record, the title track grabs you buy the throat with the vocal and musical intensity of the chorus: "Man your own jackhammer/Man your battle stations/We'll have you dead pretty soon/Sincerely written from my brother's blood machine/Man your battle station/We'll have you home pretty soon." And when you think that track has ended after six minutes, it circles back and their many-member chorus of "oh-ah" (dubbed Two-Tone Tony's Pirate Glee Club) and some more throw down on the chorus. Right, so that is the first real track - fucking amazing! This is followed by "Cuts Marked in the March of Men" and Sanchez telling the story in fairly straight forward manner. While jammed packed with riffs, it is not nearly as thick as "In Keeping..." - though it breaks about half-way through with some more harmony-laced music. "Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow)" meanders through some upbeat music (though not lyrically), before getting to the final section that absolutely blows your mind away. Coheed builds with codas to get you there before finally pushing through to pure magic with vocals and the lead soloing guitar moving at the same metric while Sanchez sings "Dear my friends/In the time we spent forever after beyond this when you will our nightmare ever end?/ Pull the trigger and the nightmare stops" with the last line sung repeatedly. "The Crowing" is another song with thick riff-rock elements before some crazy guitar segments take over near the end. Yet again, though, Coheed come through with some serious punk harmonies at the very end of the six minute event. Coheed take a more alt-punk approach to "Blood Red Summer" with a hypnotically simple note guitar line. This is one of the few that everyone loves from word go - with its less abrasive and more standard approach to song structure. More importantly, it ends with "wha-oh-ohs" thrown around and the vocal pitch nearing girl scout troop levels. "The Camper Velourium I: Faint of Heart" starts out with guitars a la Santana with "who-cockoo-cho." At heart, this is another harmony driven song that includes guitar soloing in parts that would not be at of place with a more prog version of the big 70s guitar bands (e.g., Led Zeppelin). "The Camper Velourium II: Backend of Forever" and "The Camper Velourium III: Al The Killer" are not as hotastic but have their own elements of wonder - most notably the throw down at the end of II. This mini-trilogy sets up the poppiest track on the album "A Favor House Atlantic." This is some seriously good shit. Sanchez's vocals are at a higher pitch and the song hums along with a standard composition before you get smacked with the uber-catchy bridge and chorus: "Good eye sniper/I'll shoot you run//The words you scribbled on the walls/The loss of friends you didn't have/I'll call you when the time is right/Are you in or are out/For them all to know the end of us all." How this song wouldn't be able to melt any aversion to Coheed is beyond me. Coheed follow this up with the last track of the main section "The Light & The Glass." "The Light..." is very slow with acoustic guitars picking away for sometime before they come in with a powerful electric chorus of "Ignoring the words of your obnoxious little brother/Kill or be killed spilled the words from your mother/I'll lay awake for a while/I'll leave the light on a while." As with the previous tracks - and since the "The Light..." is almost ten minutes long - there is a plethora of sections with the song rounding out on crazy soloing and a choir (this one called Uncle Birmy's Dirty Foot Choir) of "Pray for us all," before some more Max Payne music. After a bunch of empty tracks, comes an untitled track that plays out like the rest of the tracks in ten mintues with heavy riffs, exquisite solos and rich composition. In addition, like the other songs, the bridge and chorus is powerful, catchy and impressive with Sanchez singing "When I fall asleep/Your face is all that I see...." Coheed and Cambria is the best thing to happen to music in a long time. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 extends the epic mapped out on Second Turbine while crushing it to pieces. The amount of work that has gone into to this seventy-minute offering is baffling and in no doubt well worth the effort. It is just a matter of time, maybe minutes, before Coheed become absolutely huge and changes rock as we know it. Coheed as been playing shows this fall with Thrice, Thursday and Straylight Run. But just imagine a tour with Coheed and the Mars Volta - it would be fucking sunshine and butterflies abounding!
A Small Victory This is the latest release from the latest band on the transy Lobster Records - a label that is good at developing young bands and then the bands moving on to bigger things (specifically, Yellowcard). A Small Victory comes from Georgia, but offer up a brand of punk that would not be out of place in Orange County, CA. This EP's six tracks sets up ASV nicely to take advantage of the current market for upbeat pop-punk. So in some ways ASV don't offer anything that is new or novel. Yet, they do the well-trodden in a very good way. Strongly lead on vocals by Mark Walker, the guitar work of Luke Bareis and Danny Song give the band distinction and tightness. While, ASV do venture somewhat in the world of emo-core constructions (e.g., Further Seems Forever) on "Hammer Strong," they maintain the more straight up pop-punk allegiances (e.g., "When Hearts Were Gold"). As such, there is quality consistency across the six songs and contains enough to appeal to many interests. If A Small Victory are able to keep it up then we are likely to hear a lot more from them in this coming year.
The
Allman Brothers Band
This is a hot new DVD of the quintessential blues jam band rocking
out during one of their annual Beacon Theatre shows in NYC in
March 2003. Since the latest incarnation of the Allman Brothers
recently released their first record in sometime Hittin' the Note
(Peach/Sanctuary), this DVD fits nicely into their new rebirth.
Probably the most striking thing about the current lineup of ABB
is the fresh face of Derek Trucks sharing lead guitar time with
Warren Haynes. In his mid-twenties, Trucks is a guitar wiz and
sweetly adds to the band's composition - and it doesn't hurt that
he is the nephew of founding drummer Butch Trucks. Yet the guitars
can't overshadow the fact that ABB also employs three percussionists
- so redundancy abounds. The second disc includes the encore of show, the hotastic "One Way Out," a dressing room acoustic rehearsal of "Old Friend," a couple of interviews and some behind the scenes footage. I think mostly this is driven by the interviews which are done exceptionally well. The interviews start out with Butch Trucks stating that this is probably the best lineup and most concentrated group since the start with Duane Allman. The interviews then go through all the members talking about the group and how great it is now. But the interviews also include basically everything about the band from the current and past sounds, the roots of the band, the new album, etc.... This is the best part here and this second disc makes the DVD worth purchasing.
Ann
Beretta Though familiar with the three-piece Ann Beretta through a bunch of live shows overtime and marginal amount of listening to recorded material, on Three Chord Revolution they have pushed the harmonies and melodicism to the forefront with twelve tracks that all move at and towards four minutes. This is Ann Beretta's debut on Canadian Union after forming in 1996 and a two record stint with Lookout and their initial full-length release on Fueled By Ramen. Though the poppiness is undeniable, Ann Beretta have not lost any of the edge that got them here in the first place. Most specifically, the edge is a political/social one that is fed sugar-coated (see, e.g., "Better Half"). I've been listening to this record probably more than I should be with a stack of records next to me, but its great to keep up the speed when doing work. The record kicks off on "Not Invited" with the ideal rhythmic guitar solo before the vocals and full band kick in. But the song singes when you get to the breakdown with Rob Huddleston's sweet punk vocals. Hence, "Not Invited" sets the tone of the rest of the record. While the entire record is consistent and strong, several of the standouts include "Long Road Home" the long and closer semi-ballad, "Lipstick & Makeup" with a hotastic chorus, "Angry All the Time" and "Better Half" with some hypnotic muting that is always appreciated. Noteworthy, as Richmond's other favorite punk sons to the mighty Avail, Ann Beretta exploit that relationship by employing Avail guitarist Joe Banks to offer some love on "New Revolution." Yet, with this latest release, Ann Beretta will surely give Avail a run for their money in the national and international recognition aspect. Three Chord Revolution is nice antidote to the hyper-political - though often obnoxious and horrible - punk that probably evades too much space for its own good.
Azure
Ray The latest time we heard from this two-piece from Georgia, on the November EP, the songs were slow acoustic-driven affairs with singing that was barely above a whisper. Ultra-cool stuff, but not as cool as the twelve tracks on their latest Hold On Love. Seemingly Azure Ray has found the genius of electronics - not the Miami-beach techno crap, but well-thought out additions to give the songs girth and breadth. Quite possibly, their tour with Moby helped this transformation or the consistent work with their other group Now It's Overhead, but regardless it's awesome. Moreover, it is not that they are suddenly the Faint. The sweet and sultry voices of Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor meet the listener smack-dab on the first track "The Devil's Feet." A slow building piano accompanied with vocals and building electronics sets up the rest of the album nicely. The next track "New Resolution" is more of an electro-dancey track that includes, at least, pseudo use of strings on the chorus. On other tracks, Azure Ray sound as if they are picking up the mantel of the late-Elliott Smith (e.g., "We Are Mice" and "Nothing Like a Song"). "Look to Me" sounds like an Irish folk-ballad and "Across the Ocean" and "Sea of Doubts" are inspiring piano numbers. For fun upbeatness check out "If You Fall," a classic number that makes you think of Fall at some college in an 80s movie (if that makes sense). Azure Ray close out the album with the exceptional "Hold On Love." Except for the odd "Dragonfly," all the tracks are very good and there is little drop off in composition. If Azure Ray's past material got them on tours with artists like Moby, I can't imagine how far Hold On Love will get them.
Catch-22 First you have to ignore the awful cover of the end of the dinosaur world to get to the goodness that is inside. Though not nearly as bad as 80s cock rockers' covers with their name in spray-paint and them in tight pants, it is still terrifying. Anyway. As many know, Catch-22 formed in 1996 and were quickly picked up by Victory during Victory's initial expansion phase. At the time it was one of the "weird" signings by Victory, given Catch-22 rocked out to ska-driven punk anthems. By luck or self-motivation, Catch-22 rode part of the ska wave and played huge tours and sold well. As ska withered from the mainstream, Catch-22 went silent for a couple of years, while they explored other projects (e.g., Streetlight Manifesto), etc. Now they are back with their first album since 2000. Though Catch-22 are a ska band, the songs on Dinosaur Sounds are at their core very punk rock-driven. There is actually very little straight-up ska with the horn section being offered as simply a means to accentuation. A number of songs are centered around emphasizing Ryan Eldred and Kevin Gunther's vocals (e.g., "Rocky" and "Beguile the Time") and at the same time being poppy fun times (e.g., "Dreams of Venus" and "Wine Stained Lips"). To round things Catch-22 give some straight-up punk on "Chasing the Moon." For a band that is not chasing the traditional ska path, this latest offer from Catch-22 is exemplary of how to be a ska-punk band in today's music environment.
Cordalene This is the third EP for this four-piece from Philly - released on their own Manic Pop Thrill. Probably this small amount of information will lower your expectations immediately (read: can't get signed by anyone). Yet after the first song, "Back Where I Began," you are a fan and realize they could probably get signed by anyone if they wanted to. Playing up-tempo indie pop - stripped down but filling - Cordalene is driven by the vocal stylings of Mike Kiley. His honesty and intensity carries the day on the five relatively distinct tracks on the EP. "Would It Have Killed You (To Kiss Me Just Once)?" starts off in a very Frank Black-esque vocal manner before moving into the poppy chorus. "Ghost" has an almost rock-opera feel to it - like it could have been on the Hedwig soundtrack. More importantly, "Ghost" just absolutely rocks. "Imaginary" - which is on the 2003 Warped Tour comp - is another slow mover Pixies-feeling song until about a minute-and-a-half in and we have the hotastic chorus. The final track is "Little Red Book" finds Kiley joined by Jamie Olson in singing about el chica. This is a fun EP from these up and coming indie rockers and hopefully we will here more from them soon.
Duvall In
1999, Josh Caterer, lead singer and guitarist, quit the Smoking
Popes. The Smoking
Fifteen This is the re-release of Fifteen's Extra Medium that was originally released in 1998 by Cool Guy Records. Also, the re-release contains Fifteen's Stress EP. Fifteen coming out of the Bay Area were/are one of the leaders of political and social awareness punk. Initially breaking up in the mid-90s, they recently got back together to kick off the first Take Action Tour. Many people are most familiar with Fifteen from their stint on the headquarters of Bay Area punk, Lookout Records. While not entirely familiar with Fifteen's material, listening to Extra Medium it becomes clear were bands like the Broadways got their direction and vision in both music and lyrical content. Lead by uber-activist Jeff Ott on guitar and vocals, Fifteen is rounded by John Ogle on bass/vocals and Chris Flanagan on drums/vocals. Compared to some of the other material I've heard from Fifteen, the songs on Extra Medium are much tighter and crisper and contain unexpected melodies. Yet at the same time, they are fast-paced dirty punk that defies quick categorization. The twenty-two tracks, between the two releases, cover themes such as drug abuse and OD'ing, drinking, child abuse, political activism, tolerance, etc. The six-track EP is less overt and has more a ‘community' feel to the lyrics but are in the same vein. Standout tracks include "Chris'Song," "Run II," "Grow Up," "Emancipation Proclamation," the neat low-fi choir on "Violation II," the splendid guitar work on "Did You Know?" "Algebra" and a track of remixes of Bush speeches put together in ‘interesting ways' with bass and drums accompanying. Obviously, this reissue of Fifteen fits squarely with the motivation and direction of the philanthropic Sub City Records run by the always hard working Louis Posen. As with all Sub City releases, a portion of the profits go to charity and for this one it goes to Any Positive Change of Lake County, CA, an organization working to reduce needle-transmission of HIV and Hep C.
The
Forces of Evil Ignoring the awful though mildly entertaining cover and booklet art, The Forces of Evil are seeking to offer up some bouncy and up-tempo ska for the emo generation. The seven piece come from a host of other ska bands, most notable Aaron Barrett, the lead singer of Reel Big Fish. In the Forces of Evil, Barrett is again leading the vocals and playing guitar to similar sounding though slightly more devious Reel Big Fish. I suppose with the general downfall of ska from the mainstream music consciousness, FOE are taking an alternative route to get people's attention: play tight ska, laced with even tighter horns and dropping the f-bomb in every song. A nice addition to the drawling ska is the infusion of some straight-up punk sections (e.g., "My Life"). While there are a lot of groups that can play good ska music, often they are missing a good singer to push them over the edge. As with Reel Big Fish, Barrett offers up sensational vocals for FOE - though the lyrics leave something to be desired. Standout tracks include "Angry Anthem," "Vague Love Song," "Independent" and "My Life." Given the hodge-podge nature of FOE, we'll see how long they stay together as band. It seems they may just be a segway to other things? But, we'll see.
If
Hope Dies Coming out of the frozen tundra of western New York, the five-piece of If Hope Dies offer up machine gun guitar metal core. Given the allegiance of heavy music coming from western New York (e.g., Manowar, Inertia, Fledgling Death, etc...), it is not surprising to learn of IHD's origins. Forming in 1998, IHD released their first full-length Siege Equipment for Spiritual Decline in 2001 on Diehard Records. After knocking out shows with bands like In Flames and Lamb of God and the Syracuse Hellfests, Trevor Phipps of Unearth asked IHD to release a record on his new label Ironclad. And so it is here. The first track "Shop Till You Shop" concisely sets up the structure and lays out expectations for the rest of the record. Again, machine gun double guitars with some metal riffing and tremendous vocal expectoration by Alan French. French's vocals are heavy and violent without sounding pained or pseudo - something well appreciated. While the ten tracks are less metal than some other metal-core bands (e.g., Darkest Hour), IHD does demonstrate excellent musicianship within the guitars. Basically, the drums and bass are standard, but the guitars and vocals carry the day and make an imprint on your memory. It will be interesting to see whether IHD can make a dent into the mainstream metal world like Hatebreed has through the Ozzfest. I don't see why not, but what the fuck do I know.
Mesmer
Machine Mesmer
Machine initially formed over a decade ago out of a small Mojave
Desert community. Moving around in California, they released a
7" and full-length on Superkool Recordings that garnered
a glowing reaction from Alternative Press in 1991(!). After a
move to Florida, the band wound up breaking up to never live up
to their initial praise. Yet, recently, drummer Alex Denillo got
the old boys together with a new bassist to knock out this EP.
Mesmer Machine play 70s-driven grandoise rock coupled with some
prog and meandering influences. Probably the most powerful and
defining element of the band are David Harman's vocals - vocals
that trap you and force you to recognize the talent of Mesmer
Machine. While the later two tracks ("Fill In The Room"
and "Mary") are a bit trippy and Pink Floyd-dreaming,
the opening two ("Sunk In" and "Sugar Glue")
absolutely smoke. Harman's vocals and Joe Denillo's guitar totally
hooks you on "Sunk In" - a track that should get them
noticed (again) very quickly. "Sugar Glue" is a poppy
indie driven number that finds U2 elements filtering in. As Mesmer
Machine's reintroduction to the music world, I look forward to
what these guys have in store for us in the future.
Neurosis
& Jarboe A
current of ambient noise occasionally wells to ominous thunderheads
on this recording. Vocalist Jarboe (Swans) exquisitely offsets
the gloomy menace with her exquisite, cold and crystalline vocals.
Of course the
Jeff
Ott This double-disc release is a vehicle for Fifteen headman Jeff Ott to vent on what's going in the world, country, state, community, block. Like Fifteen, Ott's material comes out of a strong sense of political and social awareness and activism. Part of the profits from this release will be given to the Rukus Society - a group that trains people in non-violent means of protest and activism. To some extent the twenty-eight tracks are just long diatribes on different issues put to song via acoustic guitar. In some ways, this is great and at other times it's way too forced. You can't really fault Ott for this, as I assume he sees his music as an avenue to expression like the political folk singers from the 50s and 60s and not to be appealing to mass musical taste. Most of the tracks average 5 or 6 minutes with Ott telling stories and rocking out on acoustic guitar. On other planes, the tracks are often purely instructional - like using condoms (e.g., "Forever") and dealing with overdoses (e.g., "Heroin"). Other tracks cover virtually every area where Ott has interests. These include international trade policies on "This Song Title Available for Lease," greedy landlordism on "Will Work on Diapers," U.S. militarism and domination on "911 Is Still a Joke" and "$1.78," poor families and the consequences on their children on "Jarred and Jessica " (which has some Ledbelly riffs), women's rights and family stability on "Once Upon A Time," rape and murder on "Georgia" and "Jux," suicide on "Lucky," Race on "White Pride" and clean needle exchange programs on "My Congressman." Obviously, from this list, this is something you wouldn't put on at a party. But it does force you to think about what is going on, no matter where you coming from on this. You may disagree with Ott on some matters, but given the shear breadth of topics tackled here you have to agree on some things - or at least you learn a lot about some issues that you don't know much about. Many of the stories are first hand accounts by Ott, while others are effectively essays by Ott. Ott also has a book called My World, Ramblings of an Aging Guitar Punk that probably serves as a good introduction to the material on this record and as well as for Fifteen's releases.
Park The first thing that strikes me about this latest from Park is the lack of attention they have been getting over the past few years - even though they have knocked out some great stuff on Lobster. Park released their debut in 2001 on Lobster entitled No Signal and clearly have learned a lot in the meantime. It Won't Snow is leaps and bounds above the excellent No Signal. While at heart a punk band, Park's song are thickly constructed with multi-segments and substantial changes - to some extent like early Cursive. Lead singer Ladd Mitchell's voice is distinctive - the type you know after you hear one song. At times, but only a limited manner, bassist Timmy Costello adds some vocal love. Most of the ten tracks move at mid-tempo allowing Park to effectively push out the orchestration. Although the entire album is strong, a couple of songs standout. These include "Day One and Counting," the slow "Conversations With Emily," "Your Latest Victim" and "Codex Avellum." As an nice addition, the record comes with some Quicktime love for your computer. There is a live performance of the slow moving "A.J.S." seemingly at a catering hall type show with a bunch of friends. There is a video for "Codex Avellum" that is at the same place with Park playing live, but is overdubbed with the recorded version of the song. If the song wasn't so good, this video would make me hate them. Finally there is about five-and-a-half minutes of Park in the studio, with the first half Mitchell showing you around and the second half with "Your Latest Victim" overdubbed to random snipets. They could have done a lot more with the video aspect of the cd. Regardless, It Won't Snow Where You're Going is aptly fitted for college radio and should excel up the CMJ charts with ferocity.
Mike
Park When Mike Park is not running the powerful indie label Asian Man Records, he spends his time writing music for himself as well as with his band the Chinkees. As many people know, Park used to play with Skankin Pickle - a ska band that helped usher in the ska explosion during the 1990s. Park also founded the Plea For Peace Foundation that turned into the PFP/Take Action Tour - one of the hottest tours in the country. While Park added little acoustic numbers here and there to his Chinkees' releases and Bruce Lee Band release, this is his first solo full-length release. The eleven tracks find Park on acoustic guitar drawing on lyrical themes that he has followed previously - racism, ethnicity and community. To some extent, I would like to see him also do another album of comical acoustic numbers - like in the vein "I'm in love with a girl named Spike" and material from the Bruce Lee Band. The most defining aspect are Park's vocals and his ability to make any lyric sound correct. The record starts off on "Supposed to Be There Too" with acoustic ramblings and the addition of a violin - which sweetly sets up the tone and adds texture. It also helps that this is one of the best tracks on the record. This is followed by the up-tempo "On That Stage," with Park divulging in a love interest. "Counting Sheep" and "Challenging Me" are slow numbers, leading to the full band version of "Just Like This." "Train Maps" has one of the catchiest choruses about the necessity of English translations for Park and "From Korea" is straight-up commentary on racism. The violin comes back in for some sweet action on "Thankful All the Same." "Hey Yo!" is a fun time musically, yet serious content. "Present Day Memories," closing out the record, was on a previous release of the Chinkees, but is still one of the best tracks here. At the end of the day, there really isn't a bad song on this record. While some shine bright, others hold together with tight consistency and structured song layers.
Roy After releasing their hot EP Tacomatose on Initial over the summer, Roy come back to rock you on their first full-length and first record for Fueled By Ramen. Roy comes out of the Great Northwest and is a side project of sorts for members of Botch, Harkonen and These Arms are Snakes. It seems though that this project has begun to spread to center stage for the members of Roy. While the fourteen tracks are not as tight as their latest EP, Big City still finds the four-piece rocking out to swirling and jangly song structures set in an indie rock framework. Touring with like-minded the Weakerthans certainly helped Roy focus on such constructions (see especially "Calimucho"). Lyrically, Roy always offers up interesting and compelling stories and words to describe events - sometimes serious, sometimes comical. When we interviewed Roy's Brian Cook, he commented on the band's lyrics as: "Our lyrics are basically just us talking shit. We're all hardcore kids, and that's what most hardcore lyrics are, right? All the people we normally wouldn't call out become easy targets when we get behind the microphone. To quote David Bazaan: "I could write it in a song, but never say it to your face." Lyrics are pretty important to me. Good lyrics can save pretty bad bands, and bad lyrics can ruin good ones. The vocal lines are usually the first thing I write in a song, so the lyrics are definitely a focal point early on. The first line alone can dictate the mood of an entire song. Aside from that, I really don't know."Musically, we still find Roy lifting off influences from notables such as the Pixies (see, "Better Head North"). The guitar work along with matching vocals is what burns the good songs into your memory. The tracks that excel is this respect include "Something That's Real," "Don't Overdub My Heart," "Wipe That Brow," "They Cut the Cord" and "Calimucho." The promise that Roy demonstrated on their three previous Eps comes to full fruition on their first full-length. When they are not spending their precious time with their bands, look for Roy taking over your world at a venue near you.
The
Shins When Clay Aiken shares lyrical brilliance like, "Hey butterfly, open up your weary eyes," and "Everybody knows shadows fall across the sun sometimes/Shine, you're gonna shine," then you really start to get a stronger appreciations for the poetry of The Shins. Coming out of Albuquerque, NM, though spread out a bit now, the Shins started out as a side project of singer James Mercer and cronies. After other fuller-time bands disbanded, the Shins finally cemented in 1999. The first Shins album, Oh Inverted World, was incredible. Indie pop of a beautiful and melodic subtlety. So I personally wanted their latest, Chutes Too Narrow, to avoid sophomore tendencies to grow and evolve and instead be more of the same. Unfortunately, they do decide to go for a more mature sound. Everyone I ask says the second album is even better than the first (n=2), but I personally still love Oh Inverted World more. The first two tracks on CTN are among the biggest departures for the Shins - more aggressive, more uptempo - I like the album better when I skip these over. The next tracks - "So Says I," "Young Pilgrims," and "Saint Simon" - are among my favorites in that they are much more in the aesthetic of the first album. Among these, "Young Pilgrims" comes closest to beauty of the Best Shins Song Ever - "New Slang." Other songs stray more from this sound - "Fighting in a Sack" is cool and has a great harmonica section. "Gone for Good" has a country vibe that works well with the Shins' sound. Anyway, even though the first tracks are not very lovable, the overall album is still one of the better ones in my collection.
Snapcase The boys from Buffalo have been on the cutting edge of hardcore essentially since their first release on Victory in 1991. Since that time, Snapcase have offered consistently unique and challenging song compositions through the course of their recordings. Their 1997 release Progression Through Unlearning absolutely rocked the hard music world and made people recognize that Snapcase were something special. The follow up to Progression, Designs for Automotion (2000) didn't live up to the former, though last year's End Transmission restored faith in the faithful. End Transmission was more of a conceptual album with a strong reliance on electronics and haunting compositions - but it still rocked hard. This is where Bright Flashes comes in. Flashes is a composite record with five new songs, three remixes of songs off End Transmission and four covers. The five new songs are from the initial End Transmission sessions. Amazingly, Snapcase, a band that has excelled in brevity over the years, came to the studio with nineteen new songs. They decided to only keep thirteen and then release the other six at some point in the future - though one is still missing. Well the future is now and the songs don't disappoint. While you can tell the five come from End Transmission, they also have an element of a Progression sound - particularly "Dress Rehearsal" and "Skeptic." The three remixes are of "Believe/Revolt," "Ten A.M." and "Exile Etiquette," spearheaded by guitarist-extraodinaire Frank Vicario. Vicario's mix of "Ten A.M." is heavily electronic with tons of distortion and made to accentuate Daryl Tabeski's vocals. Bill Snow did the arrangement of "Believe/Revolt" and Ocelot Mthrfckrs (of the Rise) programmed and arranged "Exile Etiquette." Snapcase offers up their version of Helmet's "Blacktop," Devo's "Freedom of Choice" and "Gates of Steel," and Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song." "Blacktop" is true to form with possibly harder guitars but not as much precision (but who can get more precise than Helmet). "Mountain Song" comes close to original, but I think with Snapcase's ingenuity and talent they could have added something really special if they messed around with the parameters. "Freedom of Choice" and "Gates of Steel" are hot numbers and show how elementary catchy Devo was. Besides from the novelty aspect of the record, the added tracks from the End Transmission sessions are stunners - especially "New Academy." Now if there were only unreleased tracks from the Progression sessions we would be in business.
The
Toasters Before
realizing that In Retrospect was indeed a "best of"
record from ska's seminal artists the Toasters, I was quite angered
that every song was rehashing the same old themes from the past
few decades of ska. It took the recognition of a couple of songs
while doing work for this realization to sink in - and hence the
connections were obvious. Besides from being one of the most recognized
names in ska - having now existed for two-and-a-half decades -
lead guitarist Bucket was the head of the now-defunct Moon Ska
NYC Records - probably the best and coolest ska label ever (though
Moon Ska Europe is going strong). Now acting as a seven-piece,
it seems the Toasters are about to surge again into the music
consciousness with their contemporary version of the traditional
ska sound. The twenty-one tracks on In Retrospect come from eight
Toaster releases: from Skaboom in 1986 to Enemy of the System
in 2002. If you are not overly familiar with the Toasters, the
general trend is that the early material is more in line with
oi! ska and talking the scene and gradually moved to more to jazz
influences and better production. Some of the newer material is
more poppy, like the hot "I'm Running Straight Through the
World," which is featured in a recent Michelob commercial.
Though everyone is fond of their own songs, the standouts for
me is the above, "2-Tone Army," "Don't Let the
Bastards Grind You Down," "Thrill Me Up" and "Hard
Band For Dead." Clearly, if you don't have any Toaster releases
and you are a fan of ska then this is probably a must have.
V/A As
labels are oft to do, Doghouse has released a sampler record for
their 100th release. Yet, unlike many labels who just give you
released tracks from their bands, this sampler offers new tracks
from ultra-mega stars All-American Rejects, the always hotastic
Limbeck, Gameface and River City High. The All-American Rejects'
"The Cigarette Song," driven by acoustic guitars, is
much slower than songs such as "Swing, Swing," but does
well on its own and definitely not some throw away. Limbeck offers
up "Don't Turn Around, She's Not Worth It," that is
just as splendid as any tracks off their last album. I was pleasantly
surprised the acoustic version of "When You've Had Enough"
by Gameface from their latest album. There are also tracks from
Doghouse's newest signees: The Honorary Title and Say Anything.
Honorary Title's "Snow Day" is a mellow acoustic number
with quality crooning falling in line with artists such as Rocket
Summer. The track from Say Anything is less stellar - mostly due
to an annoying chorus. The bands that round out the comp are The
Break, Celebrity, Feable Weiner and Sunday Driver. To top off
the sampler, there are videos from Celebrity, Limbeck and Sunday
Driver. Limbeck's "Julia" shows the band with "Julia"
driving around and having a great time in SoCal - glorious. Besides
from the worthy unreleased tracks and the videos, the sampler
is only 6 bones, which is a great deal. Its nice to see Doghouse
working with such talent after some fall off after releasing definitive
albums from Hot Water Music and the Get Up Kids in the late 90s.
V/A Finally this twenty track release of some of the hottest punk bands around performing acoustic numbers of their songs is here. This has been a multi-year affair that was initial stalled by a certain label not being willing to release the tracks of their bands without significant compensation. At such time, it looked like the project was dead in the water. Yet, it now has arrived and promises to sell like hot cakes - part of the settlement was that the first 50,000 copies comes with a bonus cd of previously released tracks by four Fearless bands and four Victory bands. At heart it seems that some songs were inherently written not to be done acoustically, as a couple of tracks fall flat on their face (e.g., Thrice's "Trust"). Other bands, for whatever reason, excel acoustically. Though there is a distinction between bands you did the songs exactly like the original version but with acoustic instruments (e.g., Yellowcard's "Firewater" - though the song is great) and those bands who do with just a single acoustic guitar (e.g., Taking Back Sunday's "Cute Without the E (Cut From the Team)"). Standout tracks include Open Hand on "Time to Talk," Sugarcult's "Memory," Thursday's "A Hole in the World," The Ataris' "Eight of Nine," Rise Against's "Swing Life Away," Piebald's very interesting "The King," Strike Anywhere on "Chalk Line" and Noise Ratchet's "Away to the Heart." Unfortunately, Fearless ran out of room on the record to include all the bands they were originally interested in - with the average song length about four minutes, the record runs seventy-seven minutes. This is an amazing collection of bands and in time will be noted as a classic record. The only advice is don't listen to it while trying to stay awake on a long road trip, otherwise it's sleepy time.
V/A This twenty-track release comes from the vaults of the premier ska producer King Django in his NJ studio Version City Studios. The original Version City Studios was located in the lovely vermin-friendly area of the East Village in Manhattan in the mid-90s. Conveniently, the ska scene was exploding at just the same time with the rise and subsequent fall of Moon Ska. Besides from being uber-producer, King Django rocks out in several groups including King Django's Roots & Culture (which has a track here), Crazy Baldhead Sound System and Jah Culture Sound System. Having produced tracks and records for groups like Rancid, Skinnerbox and the Slackers, these tracks come from less well-known groups - at least to the punk/ska community. The tracks hum between old school ska, reggae, bluebeat, rocksteady; and, thus, tons of cross-pollination. While the entire album is a competent affair, several tracks excel. These include Tile Renters "For Real," The Inducers "Never Heard," The Speakeasies "Top Ranking," Ronnie Davis & the Stubborn All-Stars "You're the One to Be Sorry," Steady Ras "All I Could Do" and Conscious Youth "Take It Back." On top of all this, it only costs four bones.
Paul
Westerberg Come
Feel me Tremble is 13 all-new tracks from Westerberg. The focus
is on the man himself with his songs and guitar, in the arrangements.
The basic delivery and this focus make the album approach classic
The
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