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February Reviews Artist of the Month: Fabulous
Disaster This is the second full-length from this four-piece from San Francisco. Though I haven't heard their debut, Put Out or Get Out, this is some best punk to be recorded in years. If Fab D's first record is better than this then it should have won a Grammy. After bustin' balls in the underground punk scene in SF, Fat Mike saw them play the shit out of a show. Afterwards, Fat Mike said "yo, yo," and offered to produce the debut. Meeting with a modicum of success, Fabulous Disaster went to spread their power across the land. This included touring with NOFX, Propagandhi and Avail. Now with Panty Raid, Fab D are all geared up and ready to retake the world by nuclear invasion. Recorded by Alex Newport (ATDI, Sepultura), Fabulous Disaster blast through fourteen songs of no-holds-barred bad ass punk goodness. Fab D most closely resemble The Eyeliners, but with a noticeably more aggressive edge. That is fast, simple, yet poppy and catchy, straight-forward punk. Laced with this are keyboards and timely rhythmic solos, displayed on such songs as "No Stars Tonight" and "Collide." I would enjoy listing all of the stellar tracks on the Panty Raid, but it would surely be close to all fourteen. Though the lyrics are simple and minimalist, the songs tackle such fantastic topics as love (the good kind), people at work, ass-kicking and crack smoking; well, not the last, but some pill-popping action. At
the end of the day, this is an outstanding punk record that should
be on your shelf. If you had an interest in Fab D before, or in
bands like the Eyeliners, this is so up your alley that it is
scary.
Alvarius
B and Cerberus Shoal
This is quite possibly the strangest and most bizarre release
of the new year. A split record of three songs between Alvarius
B (that being Alan Bishop) and the long-standing and multiple-existent
Cerberus Shoal. Making the oddness even more twisted on its head
is that each musical entity covers each other; with "Ding"
covered by Alvarius B and "Blood Baby" and "Viking
Christmas" covered by Cerberus Shoal. On top of that, the
songs are included that the other group covered. I don't know
what is going on in Maine to create such utterances, but it must
be something astounding. In the course of the composition, every
sound, be it human made or not is fair game. Most reassuring is
the excellent and surprisingly harmony-laden "real"
version of "Ding" by Cerberus Shoal. This split record
has sparked my interest in the long and tormented history of Cerberus
Shoal. For fans of material from such labels as Temporary Residence,
this is right up your alley.
Brazil This is the debut EP for this six-piece out of the barrens of Muncie, Indiana. Quick and easy comparisons can be made to At the Drive In, but this fails to do Brazil the justice they rightfully deserve. Forming out an experimental instrumental background, Brazil has done much to add cutting-edge rock rhythms and melodies to the experimental base. To fill the sound, Brazil incorporates a heavy dose of piano and keyboards, but not in a bad electronica fashion. This twist is nicely joined by spacey and dissonant guitars and vocals spanning from screaming to harmonious to whispering. Now let's cut to the chase. The fifth song on the EP "Life Death" fucking rules. It is as if Brazil cut out what is good from Milemarker and the Faint and mixed with their own heavy sound. "Life Death" should be an international hit. The only reason it may not do so is the strong basis against independent labels getting just action within the mainstream. I would have preferred all of Dasein to sound like "Life Death," but the rest of the EP does little to disappoint.
Count
The Stars
Coming out of the wastelands of upstate New York, that being Albany,
Count the Stars uncommitted pursuit to enveloping themselves into
the indie music world has been realized. Though just out of high
school, Count the Stars have been rocking for several years now.
Pursuing traditional and unique DIY tactics to puncture the scene,
they are now successful. From a variety of musical influences,
Count the Stars play emo-punk with pop appeal. Kicking off the
album is "Brand New Skin," a catchy opening that is
a nice characterization of things to come. This is followed by
probably the most harmony-laden and M2-ready song in "First
Time." In these songs, along with the "On the Way Home,"
Never Be Taken Alive soars. As is inevitable there is some
drop off in the rest of the album after this peak of goodness.
However, other standout tracks include "Right Behind Me,"
"My Best Mistake (No More Chances)" and "Taking
It All Back." Count the Stars are in the lucky position to
being doing some touring this winter with Adam and His Package,
among others. Check out this band now, so that you are in on the
ground-level of a potentially atmospheric future.
Evanescence
This is a little teaser single by this new Windup signee out of
Little Rock, Arkansas for the upcoming Daredevil movie and soundtrack.
"Bring Me To Life" has all the hallmarks of a song destined
for a contemporary action thriller: a melancholy piano playing
with a female voice over moving to post-industrial rock. The song
could also double for some badass shooter video game soundtrack
like Dead To Rights. The Daredevil film comes out on February
14th with the soundtrack preceding the release by ten days. Evanescence
contribute another song and have a full-length coming out in the
Spring that should rock based on this single.
Punk-O-Rama
- The Videos This DVD furthers the line of samplers started some time ago by Epitaph to introduce listeners to their variety of bands in a low-cost manner. One problem with most of the sampler comps is that you get a bunch of junk mixed with great songs by great bands, but usually you already have the records that are great and you are left with junk. Unlike the record samplers, this DVD is one of the coolest music related audio-visual material to cross these eyes. Here, Epitaph does not say 'we have tons of bands on our label and you should be subjected to all of their videos as a type of promotion.' Instead the DVD is more like a history of Epitaph; a history that rocks. To start, the DVD contains 22 videos from some of the most stellar punk bands in the world. The videos span the old to the new, the polished to the low budget. I even found myself enjoying the videos of bands that I am not that fond of. Enjoyably, Epitaph pays homage to the handful of bands that got them where they are today. This is shown through multiple of old and new videos from Rancid, NOFX, Bad Religion and Pennywise. Other impressive videos come from Refused, The Bouncing Souls, Hot Water Music, T(I)NC and the Dropkick Murphys. While
these videos immediately make the DVD a must have, I haven't even
talked about the best part. Included in the bonus features, is
the history of Epitaph Records. This includes interviews with
founder Brett Gurewitz, various long-time Epitaph employees and
bands. The story is compelling, particularly the early parts.
In addition, Epitaph provides some interesting perspective on
when they exploded in 1994/5 with the international emergence
of the Offspring and Rancid. This story will be of interest to
anyone who has lived those times in punk rock or has any interest
in this aspect of rock history. Rounding out the bonus materials
are a behind the scenes look at the Pennywise 'Fuck Authority'
video shoot, and the Bouncing Souls and Bad Religion live. The
host of material offered on this DVD makes it quality purchase
for many reasons; you may be mentally handicapped if do not get
it.
The
Rocket Summer
Like several artists to recently bust out onto the scene (e.g.,
The Lyndsay Diaries and Onelinedrawing), the Rocket Summer is
comprised of one Bryce Avary. Unlike some other solo artists concentrating
on acoustic work, Avary's songs are full rock band orchestrations.
Most striking about the Rocket Summer are the ten good-feeling
indie-pop songs that make up Calendar Days. In this respect,
the Rocket Summer comes close to the tremendous echos of bands
such as the All-American Rejects and Ben Folds. It certainly helps
that Avary's voice is sweet indie honey with just enough edge
to differentiate from others. I would like to pick out star songs
on the record, but that would surely include all ten. To mix things
up a bit, Avary recorded the Colleyville Middle School 6th grade
concert girls choir for the chorus on "What We Hate, We Make."
This is an excellent addition to the song; though it could have
been more inclusively developed. At the end, Calendar Days
is a stellar release from Bryce Avary; oh…I mean the Rocket
Summer.
V/A
This eighteen song compilation from Californian upstart label
Side Cho Records comes through on what it promises the listener.
That is, a blending of hardcore, metal core and metal into one
entity of being. The bands represent a wide variety of heavy music,
but at the end of the day metal rules. For instance, there is
the punk-orientated The Beautiful Mistake (from the Militia Group),
as well as more metal Meshuggah (Nuclear Blast) and Converge (Equal
Vision). For the most part all of the tracks are top-notch, though
some need to be skipped. Standout tracks come from Soilwork, Thrice,
Shadows Fall, Avenged Sevenfold, Converge, The Beautiful Mistake,
God Forbid, In Flames and Stretch Arm Strong. Most of tracks can
be found elsewhere, if you look real hard, but it is nice to have
them altogether. And such, the CD is relatively low-priced so
that you can hear this spectrum of sound without going broke.
Waiting
For Autumn
This is the debut full-length for the five members that comprise
San Diego-based Waiting For Autumn. Though there is only a year
in the life of Waiting For Autumn, they have made waves in Southern
California and their name has been bouncing around with hype for
sometime. Waiting For Autumn blast through ten epic songs of emo
power. When I say "epic," I mean it; it is not unusual
for the songs to run five to six mintues. The songs parallel the
type of style set out by Taking Back Sunday and Blankface, but
are considerably mellower. The powerful vocals of lead singer
Steven Bradford lead and characterize Waiting For Autumn's sound.
What surprises the most about this recording is the apparent lack
of quality. Not that it sounds like basement punk, but for the
classy engineers they worked with I would figure it to sound flawless.
The first thing that struck me was the very low, solid wall of
fuzz guitars found on the opening number "Unexpected;"
it was the type of sound you would find on 7"s (e.g., Inside).
Nonetheless, all ten tracks lend quality craftsmanship to the
development and structure of the songs. Standout tracks include
"Leaving Me Tonight," "Memories of You" (a
mellow song with a sweet piano intro) and "So Close."
Given what I have said about the recording, yet quality of songs,
I would suppose Waiting For Autumn to be an excellent live band.
Check them out when they come to you.
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