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December Reviews Artist of the Month: Rogue Wave On Oakland-based Rogue Wave’s second full-length for Sub Pop, the band offers eleven tracks that follow up and fulfill the exceptional promise first seen on their debut 2003/4’s Out of the Shadow. Although it may be an off comparison, Descended Like Vultures sounds more and more like Rogue Wave could have provided the entire Garden State soundtrack themselves – indie pop happiness. Initially formed in 2002 as an avenue to get headman Zach Rogue’s ideas and songs into a full band sound, Rogue Wave have moved beyond one guy’s ideas and have become a true band on Descended. Out of the Shadow was admittedly simply Rogue’s songs played by a group of musicians – it nearly could have been anyone (he did find them off of Craigslist). Yet, after a couple years of touring and throwing ideas around, drummer Pat Spurgeon, guitarist Gram LeBron and newest member bassist Evan Farrell (who replaced Sonya Westcott) contributed to the songs on Descended to make the record more about a band and less about an individual. Rogue Wave’s EP 10:1 hinted at some of the magic on Descended, but without doubt this is a record on another level from Out of the Shadow. Shadow did have a scattering of great songs, but there was a bit of the up-and-down in quality. While any album will have strong tracks and ones that are less so, Descended is a much tighter and solid record than previously heard. Descended Like Vultures has an auspicious start as “Bird on a Wire” floats with Zach Rogue’s rich, breathy vocals, which are enhanced by slight electronics and takes off on the chorus. As “Bird on a Wire” is probably the best song here, it’s a smart bit of sequencing to place it first. Given the inconsistency on Out of the Shadow, you worry that following numbers will not live up to “Bird on a Wire.” Yet, “Publish on Love” rides to pop heaven on the catchy repetitive chorus of ‘you can never publish my love’ and makes you a believer of Rogue Wave. The acoustic “Salesman at the Day of the Parade” greets you like an ordinary, though well-received, day but sails as you progress a minute in or so. Often bands make it through the first three songs, only to wind up in a void in the oncoming flood of songs to fill out the record. And while “Catform” is pedestrian by Rogue Wave standards it is still solid and is quickly followed by the exceptional “Love’s Lost Guarantee.” As one of the more thickly instrumented songs on Descended, “Love’s Lost Guarantee” leads you in differing directions but always returns to one of Rogue’s well-conceived choruses. With fast organ slamming, “10:1” picks up Rogue Wave’s typical mid-tempo in favor of Rogue’s voice shielded by electronics in a little hot number. “California” says ‘we haven’t lost our heads’ in numerous ways as a simple acoustic number, while “Are You On My Side” would falter without its saving chorus. “Medicine Ball” comes in on the alt-country tip, but remains one of the more memorable songs here thanks to Rogue’s crooning. Descended closes on “You” and “Temporary.” The five-plus-minute “You” runs on the depressive and dark side of things, while “Temporary” is a slow acoustic ballad with Rogue out front in nearly an ode to Brit indie art pop. Rogue Wave is like you took all of best indie pop bands on Sub Pop (e.g., the Shins, Wolf Parade, Chad VanGaalen, Constantines…), distilled the best pop moments and put them together into one outfit. A better description would be to take sound from the Shins’ “New Slang” and create different and unique variations and you get Rogue Wave. It’s hard not to find joy from Descended Like Vultures.
The Advantage In their quest to cover all the old Nintendo games comes the latest sixteen track effort from this Sacramento four-piece. Though flirting with Nintendo covers for some time, headman Spencer Seim and his outfit released their self-titled debut only a year ago for 5RC. That record received wide acclaim foremost for its kitschy, nostalgia effects for Nintendo songs and how the group could play them off. On their second record, Seim, along with Ben Milner, Carson McWhirter and Robby Moncrieff, tackle a fresh batch levels with more selections from mainstays Castlevania and Contra – among the games and levels that provide the most complex and layered backgrounds. With continuing nods to the original Japanese song composers, some of the choice material on elf-titled comes from “Bomberman 2 – Wiggy,” “Contra – Alien’s Lair & Boss Music,” “Castlevania – Intro + Stage 1,” “Castlevania II – Woods” and the heavy riff-rock of “Solar Jetman – Braveheart Level.” Yet the track that is most mind-blowing is “Ducktails – Moon.” I knew of the game’s existence, but know very few people who actually played the game – though my girlfriend swears she played it constantly. What is impressive about “Ducktails – Moon” and the way the Advantage play it is that it is almost a perfect sequenced and riff indie rock or punk song – mostly thanks to dueling guitar lines. Elf-titled is consistently strong and falls in parallel to the Advantage’s debut album – as such it is time for more nostalgia.
Betrayed This swift kick to the balls six-song, twelve-minute EP has more underneath the surface than your traditional old-school hardcore, Bridge Nine fair. That bit of distinguishness comes from extra guitar work in the form of melodic rises and falls and rhythmic solos that make you get down more than you might otherwise. Betrayed features members of two Left Coast hardcore bands – Champion and Carry On. Specifically, Betrayed is composed of vocalist Aram Arslanian, Todd Jones, Greg Bacon and Todd Preboski. Although straight-edge hardcore can get marginally annoying if a band is just clearly audibly shoving preaching down your throat, even the most drugged-out, drunk fuckers can get down to Addiction. For those who love old-school, Bridge Nine records, you will wet yourself on Addiction.
Bitter Tongues When this Austin four-piece is hitting the Avail/Strike Anywhere punk firework display defined throughout most of the opener “White Bread Is the Devil’s Pie,” they are brilliant. When Bitter Tongues moves off that steady diet on this seven-song record for United Edge, things begin to slip and slide. Most of the moves away from the good are towards a quasi-groove post-hardcore sound that at best mimics Quicksand but also comes off like Orange 9mm and the like. Unfortunately a slight majority of Clovis favors this second, less auspicious sound starting with “I Don’t Miss You, I Miss My Erection.” Besides from the odd inclusion of the mostly instrumental “Where’s Steve?,” strong points come from “Street Gravy” and the hardcore lower-fi “Everybody Back in the Water.” Again, if Bitter Tongues stuck closer to the punk sound of “White Bread Is the Devil’s Pie” they would transcend to another level.
The Blackout Pact Why is Denver’s the Blackout Pact good? How do they separate from the swath of other melodic punk bands? The simple reason is that the Blackout Pact take Blankface’s genius approach to songwriting that is punctuated by at least one guitar continuously running through rhythmic solos – that are both disconnected and perfectly suited to the verses and choruses. Excluding the dumb cover photo, there is very little not to like about the Blackout Pact on Hello Sailor – and believe me I frequently try. You might notice their label Astro Magnetics has been stamped on a number of recent strong releases – including the Secret Lives of Freemasons and the Valley Arena. In a space of fitful despair caused by the band heading to NYC to impress a major, Geoff Rickley of Thursday picked up the band with the intent to produce their record and then later offered to release it in on his Astro Magnetics label. Heading across the river to New Jersey to record this debut for Astro Magnetics, the Blackout Pact offer the type of guitar gymnastics that most bands miss the point of. Usually bands either overdo with solos or believe that angular jabs can carry the day – and there is some of the later on Hello Sailor (e.g., “Hide the Scissors, Lock the Door”). But, again, the Blackout Pact routinely utilize one of their guitarists as a means to provide continuous rhythmic solos. This is met by strong sectioning and wise use of straight ahead vocals and group join-ins. Among the headliners to take note of include “We Drink So You Don’t Have To,” the brilliant crescendoing “Luxlo Flaming Deluxlo” and “Hey Babes I’m a Zombie, Give Me Brains.” The Blackout Pact do fall into the sin of trying to pack too much into too little particularly towards the end – they do have six members to make use of – but it is not a repetitive problem. Look for the Blackout Pact to do some serious damage in the near future.
Bongzilla If the DEA really cared about enforcement of marijuana laws, it would seem impossible that Bongzilla could be demolishing your low end with stoner sludge grind for the past decade. Obvious comparisons for this Madison, Wisconsin outfit are to an even downer Sabbath being accompanied by slight demonic murmurings. Having been with Relapse since the late 90s and releasing a rather large cache of records, given the notorious stoner penchant for work, Amerijuanican is the latest offering for the bong elite. Regardless of the content, there is little doubt that Bongzilla are one of the best stoner metal bands going. Their crunchy sludge guitars carry the day in all respects and are the obvious highlight in all times when the growls are removed. Though vocals are a ‘necessity’ for most – particularly if you don’t bring solos – Bongzilla are so much better without, as clearly demonstrated on songs like the excellent “Stonesphere.” At the same time, if one were to demand the inclusion of vocals, it’s hard to conceive of better fitting guttural offerings. To settle matters, Relapse and Bongzilla should release an instrumental version of Amerijuanican so we could assess matters.
Boysetsfire Unlike EVR’s recent re-issue of Coheed’s debut, this is a record that HAD to be reissued, or at least preserved. Originally released on the uber-cool and now mildly dead Initial Records in 1997, EVR, after recently signing BSF, decided to make sure people had access to one of the best melodic hardcore records ever. Hardly the most agreeable or calming band on the planet, what with lead singer Nathan doing his soapboxing at every show and arguing with the crowd if they told him to shut up, The Day the Sun Went Out is honestly a fantastic record. And for you not to have it is completely unacceptable. You may not be down on their early EP for Magic Bullet and post-Day records on Victory and Wind-up, but to not love this is a relative piece of sacrilege. And yes, BSF were on Wind-up – a strange meeting indeed, but it did give Wind-up a bit of the cred from bands that all sounded like Creed. Well, apparently Wind-up only wants bands to sound Creed as they let BSF go after the constant barrage of ‘we need radio material – like singles’ just was nauseating. Wind-up getting rid of BSF is such a stupid move for the label – almost as bad as Boston trading Babe Ruth. (If you want to see the bands that Wind-up actually loves, just google our site and see all the shitty reviews). Anyway, BSF are now with EVR, loving this reissue and gearing up for their fourth full-length The Misery Index: Notes From the Plague Years in February. And now for a plug for a late-90s reunion tour featuring BSF, Avail and Snapcase (please come back!). …Holy crap this record just keeps getting better with age!
Cobra Noir Part of Cyclop Media’s heavy music assault from the Great White North comes the five-piece of Cobra Noir. Featuring ex-members of Ire, the Black Hand and In Dying Days, Cobra Noir prefer the mid-to-uptempo thick and heavy hardcore sound where the guitars and bass lead a wall of sound in pummeling your ears. Though slightly too fast and clear to be sludge or grind, the ten tracks on Abode of the Dead call similar images to mind. Although an underground metal quasi-tradition, the most disappointing aspect of Abode is the terrible barely audible vocals. They exist at like two or three levels below the instruments. This may reflect Cobra Noir’s live show or the image they want to present or whatever, but the mixing renders the vocals more of a nuisance than anything else. Cobra Noir does throw it down on songs like “High on the Scaffold” and “The Burial,” but they excel are the slower, almost stoner metal of the opener “Lazarus,” the closer “This is the Death of Man” and the strong “The Treatment.” A solid record overall, Cobra Noir needs to do more to separate them from the average heavy band.
Coheed and Cambria And the Gods said, ‘let there be a reissue from Coheed!’ And as it was said, it was done. On the heels of Coheed and Cambria’s epic Good Apollo release (their first real one on Columbia), EVR decided to reissue the band’s first record with just a bit of extra sauce for the kids. This reissue of Coheed’s 2002 disc features slightly new packaging and three extra songs – previously unreleased “Elf Tower New Mexico,” previously unreleased acoustic version of the brilliant “Junesong Provision” and a demo version of “Everything Evil.” Now as an astute consumer and also collector of Coheed music, does it serve you to pick up this reissue? Well, if you dream about sci-fi adventures with a prog-emo-punk-…soundtrack than yes. If not so much, then a pass may due if you have the original. Oh, it’s heresy to utter such utterances, but the three extra songs don’t really get your juices going. “Elf Tower New Mexico” is completely a demo that if it was actually mastered – which sounds like it wasn’t – it was done my girlfriend’s ten-year-old brother as best. Even if the song has the potential to rock your pants off, you can hardly tell because of the all the levels are fucked up. As mentioned “Junesong Provision” is a Coheed fave, but it is clear that Coheed going acoustic takes a lot out of their powers. I know that Coheed have done a number of acoustic-only shows in the past, but if this is SOP then peace out. The demo version of “Everything Evil” is pretty damn good, but it nearly parallel to the album cut that you don’t gain much. Coheed also sticks a bit more acoustic ramblings at the end, which sounds way better and suited than “Junesong Provision.” Even with all that said above, if I could get a Coheed record – even if it’s the same one – in the mail everyday for the rest of my life, I’d be happy.
Deerhoof With the Runners Four, San Francisco’s Deerhoof force you to re-assess everything you ever thought of the band – in a good way. The Runners Four is a long way away from songs like ‘dog on the sidewalk’ and other random treats of non-sensical mutterings from Satomi. Should we be surprised that The Runners Four rips you mind apart and makes you excited about music again? Probably not. Just a bit ago Deerhoof hinted at what The Runners Four would eventually become with the release of the Japanese-only Green Cosmos EP on Menlo Park. Songs such as “Spiral Golden Tower” illustrated a band that had begun to move beyond their indie noise haphazard specs into a more cogent, cohesive rock band. Part of the genius of The Runners Four may have flowed from the members of Deerhoof doing less with their billion and one side projects. While projects like Nervous Cop, Hella and the Curtains are good times, together the members of Deerhoof concentrating all of their energies and talents are capable of incredible things as clearly established across these twenty tracks. Of course, calling Deerhoof’s move from stochastic movements to a rock band is an overstatement as the songs still contain what makes Deerhoof the Deerhoof of the past. The real difference is a focus on incorporating essentially classic rock riffs (can someone say the Who and the Beatles) into more standard compositions punctuated by Satomi taking her high-pitched quirks into something more melodic and enticing. The Runners Four is so absurdly better than any of Deerhoof’s previous material, it is almost like the band has just been toying with us for all these years. A visceral outfit for their entirety, fans of Deerhoof should play “Twin Killers,” “O’Malley, Former Underdog,” “Wrong Time Capsule,” and “Running Thoughts” to Deerhoof despisers and challenger them not to like it.
The Exit We initially received about ten copies of the Exit’s sampler for Home For An Island that was in a cool yellow plastic thingy – but that was generally where the good times ended. In the interim, we uncovered that bassist/vocalist Jeff DaRosa contributed to Straylight Run’s brilliant EP Prepare to be Wrong. And while the full-length version of Home For An Island is certainly better than the crap sampler, DaRosa seems to have learned little from his time with John Nolan et al. How can you take a band seriously whose one-sheet states “It’s the first album that captures what it feels like to live in the aftermath of contested elections, terrorist attacks and war.” Really? The first, huh? I would probably say Slayer’s Reign In Blood captures it pretty fucking well – even if it came out twenty years ago. Anything from the Locust covers it as well. Throwing out Wind-up’s penchant for hyperbole, the Exit’s twelve songs appeal immediately to a pop audience. Although likely not consciously, the Exit sound at a crossroads between the Police, U2 and any type of reggae outfit – sometimes Marley and sometimes the punk reggae of Sublime. It is clear that DaRose, along with guitarist/vocalist Ben Brewer and drummer Gunnar, are talented musicians and have a smart taste of pop, but Home For An Island can run nauseating at times. Decent moments come from “Don’t Push” and “Tell Me Again,” but then you are forced at gunpoint to hear the terrible “Let’s Go to Haiti,” “Back to the Rebels,” “The Sun Will Rise in Queens” and “Already Gone.” Consider this: Wind-up got rid of Boysetsfire in favor of bands like the Exit. Enough said.
Face To Face It was once stated that the genius of Face to Face is that they were able to write really simple, catchy songs that all sounded alike and yet you could never get enough of them. Even though I only possess half of Face to Face’s catalog, even the songs on this twenty-one track record that I never heard before my brain tricked me into believing that indeed I did know them and loved them. With FTF splitting up in 2004 and fifteen years of history being left behind, head man Trever Keith decided to organize a best of collection and release it on his startup label Antagonist Records. Keith went through past set lists and talked to past members including originals Rob Kurth and Matt Riddle to organize what may characterize a best of. And if you don’t think some of these are the best, Keith is planning to reissue FTF’s catalog – a catalog that was basically a different record on a different label, including one of the strangest coincidences in punk that one of FTF’s best records (Big Choice) and definitely biggest song (“Disconnected”) came out on a label called Victory Music that wasn’t Victory Records. That definitely confused me ten years ago. Though it doesn’t really need to be said, highlights include “Disconnected,” “I Want,” “It’s Not Over,” “Blind” and “Complicated.” Shoot the Moon is an essential pickup for kids who only know FTF’s final years and who want to hear part of the genesis of today’s melodic punk explosion. Fans of FTF through the years may also want to get this in order to ward off Alzheimer’s by having the hottest FTF songs in one spot. And if that’s not enough Shoot the Moon includes three live tracks – “Disconnected,” “Walk the Line” and “I’m Trying.” Shoot the Moon also comes with an extensive booklet detailing the band’s history and songs.
In Arcadia With a few more tweeks, If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It would be the best melodic hardcore album in some time. Featuring Joe Enos on guitar/vocals (‘wounded animal screams’), Corey Gass on bass/vocals (‘angry old man screams’) and Black Thomas on drums/vocals, In Arcadia has more raw emotion in this nine song record than ten other bands combined. And it is glorious. Without question, the intensity of In Arcadia, while making you move to the harmonies and melody, etches images of your favorite local hardcore and punk bands kicking your ass at the local VFW. Early Boysetsfire may handle the intensity angle and the melodies are reminiscent of a slightly less technical and more hardcore Piebald. If this doesn’t make you want to sign up, then you are an idiot. So, why is If It Bleeds not the best record in a while? Well, certain moments drag rather than propel (e.g., parts of “Megadeth Fiero,” the actual vocals on the slower “Fathom the Brig’uns” and the closer “Fuck a Bunch of Friendship”). The other obvious slight is that If It Bleeds is of rather marginal recording quality – like your needle was screwed up when you played the vinyl. At the same time, super sweet moments carry the day. Get prepared to be blitzed on the BSF-style opener “Olsen Twins Pornography,” which moves from heavy bass screaming to an awesome riff and indie vocals. “Olsen Twins Pornography” makes you a quick believer of In Arcadia. “Leaving Orlando” follows a similar trajectory though lacks a defining moment, while “Super Teeth” provides a solid indie punk track. If you want to get your pants ripped off follow “There’s No Crying In Baseball” through the first minute-and-a-half to the drop dead awesome riff that makes your eyes well up and your nipples get hard. An interesting question is whether In Arcadia would exude as much emotion and intensity if the recording was of crisp quality? Hopefully they will be around long enough to let us know.
The (International) Noise Conspiracy We clearly missed the memo on this one. I thought that the (International) Noise Conspiracy was supposed to be this awesome punk rock outfit that was helping to revolutionize rock in the contemporary era. What the ten songs on Armed Love prove is that TINC is a couple of rough nights away from any ordinary bar band. The lyrics are lame, the tempo is dull, the song structures are incredibly common and they often employ one of the most annoying instruments ever – a saxophone. Armed Love is one of the most shocking letdowns on the year.
Jack’s Mannequin Expectations ran extremely low for this record – almost at Bush level. The combination of the dumb band name, less than inspiring album art and it being released on Maverick, we didn’t initially believe this would cause more than a fleeting interest. But as everyone loves a scorching pop song, we soon found ourselves playing Everything In Transit over and over again. Should you be surprised of these dueling images? Not at all. Jack’s Mannequin is the side project of vocalist and keyboardist Andrew McMahon of Something Corporate – this guy needs a style consultant. There you go with another terrible band name with oddly appealing pop songs – well under a guise of punk. Jack’s Mannequin is McMahon’s avenue to get some of his choice cuts from several years of writing for himself – and often about the disintegration of his relationships at home while being on the road with Something Corporate. With the help of friends and studio musicians (including Tommy Lee), McMahon offers eleven tracks of pop magic on Everything In Transit. It is easy to write off the piano-driven pop of Jack’s Mannequin but if you sit in non-scenester mode and open-minded it’s heard not to believe that the music is appealing. Points of comparison come from a less punk All-American Rejects and a rock version of Michelle Branch. Everything In Transit was actually released a few months ago, so it is surprising there hasn’t been much of a buzz about Jack’s Mannequin. With some help and breaks, McMahon may wind up making Jack’s Mannequin his focus as Everything in Transit blows away anything Something Corporate has done.
Koenjihyakkei Fronted by Tatsuya Yoshida of the Ruins, Koenjihyakkei (aka Hundred Sights of Koenji) is an explosive spasm that is like all of Mike Patton’s dreams came true at the exact moment in time. Joining Yoshida are Sakamoto Kengo, Kanazawa Miyako, Yamamoto Kyoko and Komori Keiko on the group’s fourth record, but first to be released in the U.S. – and from the sound of it, the previous three should be re-released here. Using a vast array of sounds, instruments and noises, Koenjihyakkei is like a giant operatic mass that presents images of watching 70s television shows taking place on islands in the Pacific and you having a serious case of ADD. The eight-track, fifty minute Angherr Shisspa is not like crazy random noise or lulls of junk that you question whether it took the group longer than a weekend to craft. Angherr Shisspa is about the opposite where the songs average seven minutes of jazz-infused constant speed with glorious voices performing all types of vocal gymnastics. Although Yoshida and the Ruins are more widely-known and respected in Japan and elsewhere, Koenjihyakkei completely blows away anything the Ruins ever did. Those who are fans of Mike Patton’s various projects will absolutely love Koenjihyakkei – particularly if you don’t dig the metal aspects of Patton. Whether Koenjihyakkei is singing about a dramatic tragedy or just a cat playing with string makes no different – you’re just happy they exist.
Made In Mexico After Providence-based Made In Mexico’s promising split with Athletic Automaton comes their solid debut full-length Zodiac Zoo for Skin Graft. The initial interest point for Made In Mexico is that guitarist Jeff Schneider used to play in Arab on Radar – a band that we’ve said before was just a mess. Yet, that marginal fact is replaced by Made In Mexico’s own form of noise rock that is punctuated by the compelling vocals of Rebecca Mitchell. Not as disjoint and non-sensical as other art noise rock outfits, the twelve songs on Zodiac Zoo actually offer solid structure and unexpected harmonies and melodies. Using all types of instruments, including some of those Asian string bows, Schneider, Mitchell and former La Machine members Dare Matheson and Jon Loper establish themselves as one of the best Providence, RISD bands on the current scene. Songs to check out include “Farewell Myth,” “Infrared Eye,” “Clockwork” and Mitchell’s odd talking on “Face of the Earth.” Is Zodiac Zoo something you can play for your family? Highly unlikely. But it is something that those with any interest in art noise are going to enjoy. Those of the vinyl ilk will crap their pants over band’s gatefold, pop-out art vinyl version.
Marigold The interest point on this debut full-length from Marigold is that lead singer/guitarist Vadim Taver once rocked the heavier world in This Day Forward. The connection between TDF and Marigold is only in name as Marigold play mid-tempo melodic rockers designed to put more pop in a Sunny Day-type sound. There was once this whole trend of hardcore guys leaving that world for melodic punk and emo bands – as in the ying of one’s yang. Though that has dissipated recently, Marigold are one prime example. Formed in 2004, Taver is joined by guitarist Jason Wilson, bassist Scott Kurtian and drummer Nick Tazza in this endeavor. While Marigold is rich in full sweetness melody, Taver and the rest aren’t able to deliver any memorable offerings across Audible to Animals. They try to mix things up here and there by adding a quick heavy section (e.g., “Into Acceptance”) and the occasional piano (e.g., “Footsteps”), but the payoff is to little effect. So, there is both a good and bad here. The bad is aforementioned, and the good is that you can just place Audible to Animals in your player and let is spin relaxing melodic indie rock. Those a fan of Militia Group releases will surely enjoy Marigold’s debut.
Miles Away Since we know dick-shit about the Australian or the Perth, Australia hardcore scene, we can’t say much about relative worth. Yet, the fact that the continent was settled by convicts et al. suggests Australia should have a fairly vibrant hardcore scene. Bridge Nine is handling the US release of this self-titled affair by Miles Away – Common Bond is handling the Australian release – a band name that is not lost on the US audience. So, what do these Aussies sound like? Well, Miles Away could easily be pegged into many different urban old school hardcore outfits that fill out B9’s roster, but a close cousin is certainly Champion and Blue Monday. Miles Away take the usual straight ahead assault and add extra melodic guitars (see, e.g., “As One”) and a heavy dose of rumbling double bass. One can imagine some mind-numbing energy for their shows as well. While Miles Away will be visiting the US a bit, for such a smaller hardcore outfit you can’t expect this to a common occurrence. If the band is able to etch out a living in Australia then rock on Chicago.
Ministry Sound the alarms – Ministry are back and back with a vengeance. Turning their early 90s industrial assault of Psalm 69 on Dubya (in for his for father the senior), Rantology is a fifteen-track seventy-four minute hodge-podge of new mixes of old numbers, live tracks and bits. After twenty-five years of leading the aggressive edge, industrial demolishing everything possible sound, Ministry doesn’t really need an introduction. For to not to know who Ministry is and the powers of headman Al Jourgensen is a relative musical sin. Milder versions of sin include an ill-familiarity with the aforementioned Psalm 69, as well as the preceding Land of Rape and Honey and The Mind Is a Terrible Thing Taste. You didn’t need to be involved in the late 80s-early 90s industrial goth rise to be entranced by Ministry. You just need to appreciate heavy music and how Ministry is amongst the tops. After long and widely-known drug addiction, Jourgensen – along with other Ministry members – got cleaned and began a new wave of recordings and vision. This started with 2003’s Animositisomina and 2004’s Houses of the Mole. With a hail of newer and older material Rantology is a must have for any Ministry fan. Even if you’ve been blissfully ignorant of Ministry’s recent releases, but were into the late 80s-early 90s stuff, then you will love Rantology. The most obvious theme throughout the wealth of remixes here is the heavy use of W quotes all screwed around with in varying manners. The highlight old material is remixes of “N.W.O,” “Stigmata,” “Jesus Built My Hotrod” and a live cut of “Thieves” played during Ministry’s 2002 Sphinctour. Other notable tracks on Rantology from recent material includes the opening “No W Redux” from Mole, the previously unreleased The “Great Satan,” “Waiting” from Mole and “Bloodlines” from Mole and for the game Vampires: The Bloodlines. Though some may scoff at Jourgensen and company just releasing a remix record, just to hear all the W plays and reverses is worth the price of admission.
Neon Blonde For those looking for the Blood Brothers crossed with more eclecticism, glam and electronics then Neon Blonde is your ticket to climax. Featuring Blood Brothers’ vocalist Johnny Whitney and drummer Mark Gajadhar, Neon Blonde plays the alter-though-parallel-ego to the thrashing noise that is the Blood Brothers. You may believe that a band named Neon Blonde and uses electronics may try to get your ass cheeks moving as if we’re in a club. Yet, Neon Blonde go for the glam pop that was once Bowie and Brian Eno on their debut for Dim Mak. Besides from a nice diversion for these boys from BB, Chandeliers in the Savannah is also happy happy joy joy for us listeners. Through the course of eleven songs, Neon Blonde hits on a plethora of sounds that renders a full accounting heroic. What motivated NB to put their closest BB track “Black Cactus Killers” first on Chandeliers is interesting. Was it random? Was it to attract more than the casual listener? Or was to draw in BB fans? Either way “Black Cactus Killers” is more of the exception than the rule on Chandeliers (though see “Princess Skullface Sings”). The following number “Crystal Bleachers Never Turned Me On” is more along the lines as Gajadhar and Whitney mix a piano, electronics, drums and all levels of vocal gymnastics. Other songs to become mesmerized by include the dreamy ballad “Chandeliers and Vines,” the catchy “Headlines,” “Love Hounds” and “Cherries in Slow Motion.” While we wait for the next Blood Brothers’ record, we can get a fix on Chandeliers in the Savannah.
Nirvana As part of the offspring of the ridiculously long and drawn-out legal battle between Courtney Love and the rest of Nirvana (Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl) – not to mention labels – comes Sliver: The Best of the Box. As the title pronounces this twenty-two track record is literally the “best” of last year’s Nirvana box set With the Lights Out. So why pick up Sliver if you’ve already put out the cash for the four-disc box set? The only reason is if you are a hardcore Nirvana fan as Sliver offers three unreleased tracks – “Spank Thru” from a 1985 demo tape, “Sappy” a 1990 studio recording and a 1991 pre-Nevermind rehearsal of “Come As You Are.” Do any of these offer substantial surprises or gains? Not really, as “Spank Thru” illustrates a young Kurt Cobain who hadn’t learned to sing yet, the “Come As You Are” demo is terribly recorded (an apparent theme throughout most of the box set and this record) and “Sappy” is interesting though the drums sound like cardboard boxes being played. Accompanied by a compelling booklet drawing a timeline of Cobain and Nirvana, Sliver is an essential pickup for those who haven’t scored the box set or refuse to turn over all that cash. The booklet includes a funny ass one-sheet from Sub Pop on Nirvana in the wake of the Bleach release. Probably the most interesting part of the story is the rising of Nirvana with their ordinary dirty punk rock typified by pre and circa Bleach. That encompasses the first nine or so songs including the sizzling Leadbelly cover of “Ain’t It a Shame” and the awesome “Blandest,” before you begin to get into the Nevermind and In Utero demos and random recordings. The rawness of Nirvana across Sliver and the box set begs the question of how much did major label production lead to the success of Nevermind. Nevermind is obviously a brilliant cut-edge affair that issued in a new era of rock and caught the rock world unprepared for the onslaught. But without Nirvana agreeing to be on a major and Geffen throwing all the money into a tight production job with Butch Vig, would we know Nirvana as we do? Live Nirvana were tight and awesome, so it is likely that the crap recorded demos that we are left with does absolutely no justice to the band. As with the box set, hardcore fans will love every moment, while causal fans will find some solace with Sliver. But the real lesson on Sliver is for the teenagers just starting to write rock songs and thinking nothing will come of their efforts. Sliver, and the box set, illustrates a Cobain who wasn’t very good at first and didn’t have much reason to believe his early stuff would become anything. But the plugging and working over time took this no-name kid with a rough life to leading one of the biggest and best rock bands of all time.
No Turning Back Although the Dutch No Turning Back were once on the verge of lameness, this EP establishes that at the very least they can throwdown like a real East Coast hardcore outfit. Formed in 1997, No Turning Back set out on emulating the early NYHC sound and while they succeeded in their mission, that doesn’t mean we can give them a pass. Okay, so you can do the two-minute speed punk/hardcore combo with the occasional gang shout, but what else? A couple of nice breakdowns (“Tomorrow Will Be Different”) and pick slides (“True Colors”), but it’s going to take more action to break away from the past and the present stereotypical hardcore sound. Those drawn to the scores of like-minded hardcore bands will love No Turning Back – if they don’t already. Of note on Rise From the Ashes, No Turning Back have included three bonus songs originally recorded in 2002, “Play My Game,” “Worthless Lines” and “Vengeance.” Throwdown if you must.
Oranger Initially formed in 1997, New Comes and Goes is Bay Area’s Oranger’s fourth record and potentially the best of the set. With little doubt New Comes and Goes is at least more direct and to the point than the double-disc Shutdown the Sun. Given all their substantial opening band stints and a group of records, it is surprising that this now quintet isn’t more widely known than they should be. Yet, the thirteen track New Comes and Goes will do its best to change that. The heart of Oranger is an uber-talented low-grade indie rock band that has a unique penchant for punching pop catchiness into the heart of nearly every song. While there is some quirkiness and eclecticism here, when Oranger focuses on catchy rock they are just awesome. Some moments of great joy come from the opener “Crooked in the Weird of the Catacombs,” the awesome title track, the piano-rambling “Sukiyaki,” the very Tom Petty and very catchy “Radio Wave,” the melodic midtempo cruiser “Crones” and “Target You Be Feel.” How exposure to these songs wouldn’t grab Oranger scores of new fans would be mind-boggling. The more you listen, the more you love. If you are looking for a less-known indier version of Oranger check out Brooklyn’s Hockey Island (who will be shortly changing their name after Hockey Night got signed by Lookout).
Primes With a swift kick to the balls, the Primes’ self-titled debut full-length starts the industrial punk party on “Koppnite.” Featuring Jack Duckworth on all sort of instruments and electro DJ Michelle Synnot, Primes mangle the worlds of industrial club dancing across the ten tracks here. And while the combination of Duckworth and Synnot offers some wildly awesome moments of brilliance, the Primes also cross so many genres that one song may make you wet and the next may be a passer. When the Primes stay away from the standard goth-industrial-nihilism-I’m German and live in dark leather Berlin (e.g., “The Night”) and go for the punk dance side of things they are splendid. The tracks that offer up such atmosphere include “Koppnite,” particularly the Faint-like “Don’t Lose Yr Head,” even “Whatever It Takes” and the cool closer “Bad Mouths.” Depending on the live ambience they rep and are represented by, the Primes could be a grand live act. Other Prime releases to consider are the super sold-out tour-only CD Life in the Pit and a split 12” with Bakelite on chic Global Symphonic Records.
Project X Not to sully the affair, but B9 should put a big ass sticker on the cover of the CD to immediately tell you that this a fab reissue and not a group of stupid suburban kids faking it. The point of picking up the Straight Edge Revenge EP reissue is to possess a piece of NYHC, and hardcore in general, history. Initially only Schism magazine pressed a few hundred 7”s of the record back in 1988 and this is now the first commercially available product. Though the band and record name is a bit laughable now, the guys in Project X also wound in such wunderkinds as Judge, Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits – to name a couple. Also this is one of the early recordings by celebrated NYHC producer Don Fury. Musically, Project X is average by their day’s standards, though the recording ain’t bad for a small run 7”. Again, this is for historical reasons – though it’s unlikely to make it into the Smithsonian.
Jon Roniger On face value you should pass right on by Jon Roniger’s My World. With a combination of terrible font use and bad album art and layout, you are thinking that any time spent listening to Roniger is akin to hanging out at the DMV. Yet, San Francisco-based Roniger offers up enough moments of interest with his twelve-string acoustic approach to folk pop songs to take a second look. His singer-songwriter approach does follow close to a pop Jim Croce and as a coffee shop artist, Roniger has much traction. Songs such as “My World” and “Rescue Me (Don’t)” may make you want to vomit, but relief comes in the form of “Not My Life,” the standout “Lacy’s Song” and the NOLA shake of “Medicine Man.” If you are walking down a street in SF and see Roniger playing, step in for a minute.
Rumpelstiltskin Grinder With a proclivity for white trash album art, how can you not love (or at least laugh at) the moniker Rumpelstiltskin Grinder. On their debut for Relapse, this Pennsylvania quintet plays 80s thrash where solos abound and the heavy grind is mostly replaced by a modern day galloping metal rhythm. As with most serious metal bands, the talent of RG lies in their guitar and drum work with stuff like vocals playing a filler role. Still, there are moments when the vocals, guitar and drums come together in a sound that even your mother would appreciate. Parts of the opener “Stealing E.T.” present such images, but the clear standout track is “Grab a Shovel (We’ve Got Bodies To Bury).” After opening common constructions through good speed guitars comes an obvious tone and riff breakdown that leads to the heart of the song about two minutes in. Rumblings of ‘get back to work’ leads to a group vocal of ‘…not the backyard’ and provides the punctuating moment on “Grab a Shovel.” Other tracks to look up include squealing “Unleash the Troll,” the riff heavy “Let the Fools Cheer” and the closer “Ode to Thanks.” In the world of contemporary thrash – what the band may call ‘criminal thrash’ - Rumpelstiltskin Grinder is at the top of the game.
The Skeptics
Whether you know metal or not, how can you not love a band with the moniker Soilent Green? It’s so happy sunshine. That thought has been piercing through my brain for a number of years now. And now with the band getting attention by such presses as Rolling Stone and play on Fuse, they are set to explode on Confrontation. Well saying that a band that’s been playing for nearly two decades is set to explode is an understatement. It’s more likely – ready to explode further! Or something. Seriously, though, on Soilent Green’s latest record for metal powerhouse Relapse, the band takes full advantage of all technical material to produce a tremendous metal record that blends such a swath of metal variants that it would be absurd to list them. Part of their sound, which is widely known, comes from their hometown New Orleans’, and neighboring Texas’, penchant for dirty extreme music. The third track “A Scream Trapped Under Water” may be the perfect example of what Soilent Green is. Over the course of five minutes, Soilent Green offers a sludge opening, speed metal and brilliant southern rock riffs to get you off. Other tracks like “Forgive & Forget,” the slight galloping on “Theory of Pride in Tragedy,” “Fingernails on a Chalkboard” and “This Glass House of Broken Words” offer similar examples of metal excellence. Though much hasn’t been heard about Soilent Green’s position in the mess of post-hurricane New Orleans, hopefully everything is alright so they can unleash their abilities for some time to come.
SOS What can you say about a band that self-describes as ‘NYC’s premiere heavy melodic groove machine’? Ignoring the terrible art on this cardboard sleeve, SOS have moments of goodness on the seventeen track A Guide To Better Living. For example, “Star Killers” has a nice Suicidal Tendencies flair and “Hopeless” is a half-hearted effort at melodic punk. Besides from these exceptions, A Guide to Better Living is all over the place with different sounds – almost as if the guys wanted to track all of their influences onto one album. The sound quality also suffers on A Guide as the drums are poorly miked and the guitars just sound like a wall of distortion. It’s hard to comprehend why an independent band would spend so much time and effort self-releasing such a long ass record, when instead they should focus their efforts on a shorter, tighter and better product to get labels into them.
Suplecs
Tarantula A.D. Grandiose and pompous may be the best way to explain Tarantula A.D.’s ‘epic’ full-length for Kemado. Comprised of Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurrians, Gregory Rogove at its core and joined by guests Sierra Casady of CocoRosie, Alexander and Damon McMahon of Inouk and the do-no-wrong Devendra Banhart, Tarantula A.D.’s Book of Sand is a seething beast of excess in world of minimalism. The band recorded this whole endeavor in a remote part of Washington in an open-air set up that is supposed to resemble the organic nature of the group. That’s all fine and well, but Book of Sand comes off like a band that is trying hard to pretend like they didn’t work too hard on the record. It is not fakeness, just something resembling it. Ah, too hard. Still amongst the pseudo-classic certain moments hold their own and allows for a few nods of enjoyment. These include “Who Took Berlin (Part I),” “The Lost Waltz” and “Palo Borracho.” Tarantula A.D.’s Book Sand is not likely to find a wide appreciative audience, but those who find solace in Temporary Residence and Northeast Indie records will probably enjoy the ten offerings here.
Thin Dark Line The band Thin Dark Line is only at fault for part of this lousy review. The band is not at fault for annoying this reviewer by making it increasingly difficult to review the Resolution. We often get promotional copies sans art, which is fine by us – since we are blind anyway. You add to that not being able to play the CD on your computer – in order to protect any ‘illegal’ copying, which in this case would never happen – which ignores that the best and easiest way to hear a record is through good headphones, which also helps writing when listening. Couple that with providing absolutely no information on the band besides from the name of the songs and you are heading for anger. It could have been worse if the label/pr just sent a blank disc, but only slightly. So you have that front end and then you match it with generic melodic indie punk from the Thin Dark Line and you just throw your hands up. It is nearly impossible to tell the songs The Resolution apart from any other melodic indie punk going these days – a sound that is pleasant but incredibly non-distinct. It would be surprising if Thin Dark Line outlast the sound they are currently fronting.
The Trouble Although it is not clear from most of the opening song “We Are the Blood,” by the end you realize that there is something different between the Trouble and the wealth of Bridge Nine bands. And that due attention to the Trouble’s dirty punk with tinges of DC punk and Bouncing Souls is paid off when you learn that indeed the Trouble are not your standard B9 band. In fact, they aren’t a band anymore. The Trouble rocked Boston through the late 90s, before parting for other endeavors and lives. B9 is simply re-releasing Nobody Laughs Anymore as a way to get a long out-of-print release into the people’s hands. Without all this knowledge, listening to the fifteen tracks on this original GMM Records suggests a band more likely to exist in the late 80s-early 90s than at their time. But fucked it. A number of songs are worth your time – particularly if you love trash punk with melody – including “Shadows on the Street,” “Burned Up, Washed Out,”
V/A Christmas albums in general are an often scary proposition. Couple that with old classic Christmas songs being remixed by a group of DJs and electronic artists, and fright begins to well up. Yet, this collection of fifteen classics with a modern twist is incredibly enticing for anyone with Christmas spirit, and even those without. The reason is that the remixers simply offer mild changes to the originals with a bit more drum and bass, additional vocals and light alterations in composition. So, the original brilliant voices of Bing Crosby, Nat Cole, Dean Martin, Lou Rawls, etc. still are leading you down the track, but it is as if they came into a studio today and laid the vocals for the updated versions. This is considerably favorable to contemporary bands doing their own versions of the classics – which are crap to begin with and become worse as time progresses. Among the songs to lay your teeth in and play at your family gatherings include Bing Crosby’s “Winter Wonderland” remixed by Simon Mills, The Nat King Cole Trio’s “All I Want From Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)” remixed by MJ Cole, one of the most remixed numbers Dean Martin’s “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” remixed by Rhys Adams and Mark Rae (which fans of Elf will also love), Ella Fitzgerald’s “Sleigh Ride” remixed by Jez Colin, Matt Cooper and Mark Smith, Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby” remixed by Alexkid and DJ Seep, the oddly appealing Billy May “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo” remixed by Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. with Malibu, and Johnny Mercer with the Pied Pipers’ “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” remixed by Michael Donaldson. These may be the highlights, but basically all of the fifteen songs are worth your time and enough to find joy from. Among the weight of billions of Christmas records, Merry Mixmas is a definite pick up.
V/A As a brilliant piece of marketing that is the Relapse Singles Series, the label offers their latest early 90s metal lovefest via Candiru, Mortician, Afflicted and Mythic. What Relapse does on these releases is to assemble previous 7”s they put out a long ass time ago and combine them onto a new CD with hot new packaging. It is both a means to get older metal out to the young folks and for older folks to get possible faves on a well-organized CD. The record opens with two tracks – “Tranced and Trambled” and “Hammer” – from Candiru who prefer using slight electronics to highlight essentially slow-to-moderate tempo grind doom. Not bad in small doses, but a six minute song with marginal quality recording can get to you. Candiru is followed by three offerings by cookie monster-voiced death horror metal from Mortician. And while the course of “Intro/Mortal Massacre,” “Drilling For Brains” and “Redrum/Outro” hints at good stuff in the background (that is, strong guitars and drums), the monolithic growls so redlights the soundboard that it renders the music useless. Next comes two songs “Astray” and “Spirit Spectrum” from Scandinavian metal Afflicted. Within the realm of the previous two bands, Afflicted’s songs are fairly mainline metal with your standard attacks. The main downside on this CD is that the recording is so low and I swear I hear vinyl blips on “Astray” – suggesting the song was redone via the 7” for this record. The all-female Mythic take things home with their three-song offering from Mourning in the Winter Solstice. Probably the best thing about Mythic is that unless you were told you would have no idea that they were just three women beating the crap out of your ears. Their doom-death metal features guttural growls – a cousin of cookie monster – that hides any inkling of the women and their playing is just as hot as any other similar minded band. There are some good treasures here, but as Relapse states on their website ‘not for trendy ears.’
V/A You get assaulted by Christmas albums of every ilk in the weeks and months leading up to the big day. All these folks want you to be playing their version of the old Holiday classics when you are trying to keep warm with your family. My favorite is the one from football announcer John Madden – oh, wait that’s fake. So, what makes this Christmas album any different from the infomercial attacks on your TV? Besides from a plethora of hardcore and punk bands, the bands actually have recorded their own Christmas songs and not some terrible rendition of Nat Cole singing some dead white guy’s song. The spectrum of bands on this eighteen-track record is strong, but the quality of songs aren’t necessarily so. Several tracks were the product of and were recorded during the summer’s love fest called the Warped Tour. Some of these noteworthy bands include the Used, Funeral for a Friend, Emery, Gatsby’s American Dream and Opiate for the Masses. This list doesn’t necessarily mean these bands offer top-flight tracks. The record starts off with the only non-original track – John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War Is Over)” played here by the Street Drum Corps featuring the vocals of Bert McCracken of the Used. Besides from the fact that the original is a great song, these boys do a bang-up version of it – and simultaneously surprising and unsurprising there is a video of it floating around. Songs to take of note of and reasons to purchase include Skinred’s odd “Jungle Bells,” the excellent “Alone This Holiday” from the Used, Roses Are Red’s “Last Christmas,” the piano-powered “We Might Be Alone Tonight” by Like Yesterday, Plain White T’s “Season of a Lifetime” and the power pop of Bedlight For Blue Eyes’ “Christmas Song.” Besides from a novelty angle, this is a pickup for super fans of any of the bands on the comp.
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