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May Reviews Artist of the Month: The
Gossip Movement starts off on "Nite" with a slow bass drum leading into in a thick slow blues riff and lead signer Beth Ditto wailing "last night, last night, you came a'the house three or four times." This introduces you to one of the coolest records to be released in 2003. Paired with strip downed guitar and drums, Ditto's vocals carry the Gossip through thick and thin while capturing the listener's attention and leaving them begging for more. Originally from Arkansas and now located in Olympia, WA, the three-piece Gossip attack the music with a strong bent towards roots rock and blues while putting the sound into a punk framework. As such, their sound is truly unique in the indie world. The songs on Movement, the Gossip's second full-length, move between slow tempo bluesy-wallowing numbers to uptempo garage-rock songs. As noted, lead singer Ditto's vocals give the Gossip their signature sound. It is almost as if she has a fire within and can only do so much to keep it in check. Her vocals are powerful variations on traditional gospel and blues cadences. Another aspect of the Gossip's sound is Nathan Howdeshell's tuned-down distorted guitar. Most of the riffs sound as if you crossed Morphine and Sonic Youth with roots and blues. Noticeably, Howdeshell's guitar serves as a brilliant accompaniment to Ditto's vocals. Rounding out the three-piece is Kathy Mendonca minimalist drum-kit and consistent beats. Though the Gossip's musical method differentiates themselves with the rest of the Riot Girl scene, they are unapologetic in their view of the world. After the opening song "Nite," as discussed above, the songs on Movement take on a life of their own, leaving a number of memorable impressions. The second song "Jason's Basement" starts off with an uptempo Sonic Youth guitar sound before moving to the repeating lyric "I get by with the people I know, get by with the people I know." This is one of several songs on the record that quickly grabs your attention and leaves an immediate impression. After the compelling "No, No, No" and "Don't (Make Waves)," the Gossip come back with some Morphine riffs on "All My Days." As a clearer to tie to their roots music attachment, the music stops about two-thirds through and there is hand-clapping and just Ditto's singing recorded in a faint manner. This is followed by one of the best songs on the record "Yesterday's News." The song begins slow and grinding before going to a faster beat and catchy refrain of the title. Other standout tracks on the record include "Fire Sign," "Confess"…; there is no need to finish since I would just list the rest of the songs on the record. Of note, "Confess" contains a more considerable reliance on traditional punk guitar work than much of the rest of the record. "Lesson Learned" provides some telling lyrics, while "Dangerrr" is set in a more sensuous tone with lyrics like "Well honey, honey, honey, I could be so good to you baby." The album is rounded out with "Light Light Sleep," a drawn-out number (and later some experimental noise hidden song) that goes back to the roots and blues foundation of the Gossip's sound. Movement has been launched to totally blow you away. After hearing just the first two songs, there is no denying that the Gossip are a force to be reckoned with. There is absolutely no stopping this three-piece. Once Movement is given a fair listen across the musical spectrum, the Gossip will explode and will be cited as a refreshing change to scene doldrums.
Air
- Alessandro Baricco In
an amazingly interesting work of collaboration, Air provides the
music, and well the soundtrack, to Alessandro Baricco's City.
Air, as most know, are world-renowned composers of all types of
sounds. If you ever saw The Virgin Suicides, you would
never forget the astounding and memorable soundtrack provided
by Air. Alessandro Baricco is considerably less known in the U.S.,
but is widely known in his native Italy. Baricco is considered
by some to be Italy's greatest contemporary writer and his last
several books have garnered international acclaim. One of them
is City and here we have Baricco reading passages from
the book over the music of Air. Originally, Air and Baricco performed
the piece to an audience in Rome and quickly realized they needed
to preserve the moment by going to a studio in Paris a month later.
There are three central stories ("Bird," "La Puttana
Di Closingtown" (The Whore of Closingtown) and "Caccia
Alluomo" (Manhunt)) with a number of passages that make up
each story; accounting for nineteen tracks on the record. Although
a few of you may know Italian or may pick up on a few common phrases,
most people are going to be lost on the actual story and just
move along to the sweet music. Yet, they have provided the English
translation to all of the stories for English-speaking listeners
to follow along. The three stories are "told" in the
book by Shatzy, a woman with a penchant for making up Westerns.
Hence, all three stories have this theme to them. Without getting
into all of the pieces, the highlight may be the telling of the
second story with its sexually charged narrative. The music throughout
varies in intensity but always maintains a smooth and calculated
temper. This record is a very interesting piece of artistic coolness.
I do hope that this will turn into some kind of trend, maybe with
Air leading the charge.
The
Apers This
is the latest from this pop-punk four piece from the Netherlands.
Fine tuning their sound since their self-titled release in 2001,
The Buzz Electric is one of the best pop-punk albums of
2003. Taking the best in the pop-punk sound, squeezing the goodness
out of all that Lookout Records has to offer, the twelve songs
all excel in their own right. Most noticeably compared with the
poppy Queers material, The Apers perform a lesson on harmony,
melody and speed on the record. What is great is that they add
harmonic soloing and muting to a plethora of the songs, for example
on "Lillian." Though the Apers rock out on poppiness,
they are not weak clones of regenerated Beach Boys' melodies.
Lead singer Kevin Aper adds a heavy dose of punk vocals that resemble
those of Brandon from Slapstick, the Broadways and the Lawrence
Arms. Together this creates some good stuff. The record kicks
off with the fast-tempo, drunkenness of "Here To Stay"
and the beat does not stop until the end of the record. Though
the Apers have a video for their first "single" from
the record "Almost Summer," I don't think that it is
the best song of the record. For one, "Lillian" excels
in so many manners that maybe it will be a future single. Other
standout tracks include "I Cannot Live My Life Without You,"
"Play the Leading Part" and "Won't Be the One."
Again, this is one of the best pop-punk albums of the year. If
you never heard of the Apers, but dig the Queers, than you should
do yourself a favor and pick up The Buzz Electric. The
Apers will be touring the U.S. with the omniprescient Groovie
Ghoulies in support of this record.
The
Blood Brothers They are calling this new generation of aggro "screamo" and The Blood Brothers is riding that wave for all it is worth. Already prolific, the group in 2003 has a five-title discography starting with the attention-getting 2001 release March on Electric Children. It is obvious from this output and the explosive, frenetic tracks of this album that the guys in this band are fill of energy. Two dedicated vocalists screaming and carrying on unfettered by even so much as maracas is the main weapon in the arsenal of The Blood Brothers. Old school fans of post-punk aggro will see this noisy group, which features a lot of swing in their clamorous grooves, as a cross between Laughing Hyenas and Alice Donut. This is a sophisticated, intelligent take on hardcore that should not go unnoticed. (-Tom Schulte)
BoySetsFire This ultra-political emo-core band from Delaware continues on their pursuit of perfecting their craft. Started in the mid-90s, BoySetsFire (BSF) have come to distinguish themselves in the cluttered world of punk and hardcore. At their start, BoySetsFire played mostly hardcore bills, where the super melodic changes and soapbox lecturer of lead singer Nathan Gray often created grumbling and at points boos from crowds just looking to throw down. Nevertheless, BoySetsFire never compromised on their sound and what they are about. Since, and particularly recently, bands have used the tracks laid by BSF to launch their own sound. Hence, BSF often find themselves lead a new charge in the underground music world. After bouncing around on a number of labels (e.g., Magic Bullet, Initial, Equalvision and Victory), BSF signed with Windup a short time ago. Their EP Live For Today, a pre-cursor to Tomorrow Come Today, was extraordinary and showed their maturity over time. This excellence has carried over to Tomorrow. Most striking between the new and old material is the infinitely better recording time and technology BSF has access to now. For instance, on the opening track "Eviction Article," a slow intro of words and slight noise leads to crisp drumming building to the song's explosion. It is beautiful to hear the best recording technology being used on a band with so much intensity and meaning, instead of just generic mainstream rock. After listening to the record many times, I honestly can't say there is a bad song among the twelve (well, actually thirteen). In fact, just the opposite; all of the songs exist on their own plane and flat-out rock. Very much on par, BSF move between melodic emo-rock (e.g., Last Year's Nest") and straight-up metallic hardcore (e.g., "Release the Dogs"), sometimes in the same song (e.g., "Dying on Principle") and other times whole songs of the ilk. Also, as has characterized BSF's past releases, they tackle meaningful topics on the record including militarism, war, spousal abuse and religious hypocrisy. Unfortunately for collectors of BSF releases, Tomorrow includes "Release the Dogs," "Bathory's Sainthood" and "Handful of Redemption," which were originally on Live For Today. In addition, "High Wire Escape Artist" was on the Daredevil soundtrack. But by the same token, the limited edition CD version include a Live DVD of a show taped at the Trocadero in Philly on January 25th, 2003, behind-the-scenes and interview footage. The pre-show footage includes a tour of the BSF house, the equipment loading and sound check, as well as an interview on the meaning of BSF. For the show itself, you can opt for either the show in continuous form or for an explanation/commentary of each song than the live song. The quality of the show is top-notch with great audio and a plethora of camera angles. Unnaturally for most of past BSF shows, there is only limited soapboxing by Nathan Gray. The eleven songs performed at the show span from across their releases and includes "Release the Dogs," "Pure," "Handful of Redemption" and "Vehicle." The live DVD makes the purchase of the CD a great buy. By
far and away, in both song and recording quality, Tomorrow
Come Today is the best BoySetsFire release to date and sets
up high expectations in the future.
The
Chiodos Bros.
This is the first release for this young six-piece out of Flint,
MI. Honestly, I only assumed that Flint could produce basketball
players, I didn't know it kicked out music like this. Formed a
year-and-a-half ago, The Chiodos Bros. play an eclectic combination
of hardcore, punk and indie-rock with the unique addition of keyboards.
The keyboards add a nice touch to the songs and often go far in
making the sound fun and adding a hint of electronica (for instance,
on the end of the opening song "Compromise of 1984").
This EP consists of seven songs that all microcosms of the band
within themselves. That is, each song goes through a plethora
of sounds, for example, singing to screaming, emo guitars to hardcore
guitars and changing drum beats. The lead singer Craig Owens sounds
vaguely parallel to the ATDI singer, but only at certain times,
as on "Rainclouds of Eyeballs." On most songs, Brad
Bell (and others) adds backing vocals, besides from keyboards,
that greatly increase the fullness of the sound. This is most
evident on "Vacation to Hell," "The Lover and the
Liar" and "Bulls Have Horns." Although all the
songs have a consistent quality, I think the opening track "Compromise
of 1984" comes across as the star and as a quick and full
introduction to the Chiodos Bros.'s sound. Given the number of
resources in sound they have with a six-piece, especially with
keyboards, hopefully the Chiodos Bros. will expand on their signature
sound in the near future.
Darkest
Hour
The speed-metallic-hardcore five piece are back with an even more
punishing album then their first stellar record for Victory Records
So Sedated, So Secure. Clearly, Darkest Hour has moved
further into the death metal cauldrons on this release. This record
was actually recorded at the home of Swedish death metal Gothenburg,
Sweden by the hands of producer Fredick Nordstrom, producer of
records by Cradle of Filth and In Flames, among others. After
eight years of kicking around metal riffs to a small cadre of
adheres, Hidden Hands of A Sadist Nation seeks a more intense
and international following. The record is so tight that it is
intimidating. If Darkest Hour is this tight live then they have
to be counted among the best in metal. The record kicks off with
"The Sadist Nation," a song that is fast and brutal,
with some amazingly quick guitar playing. As such, "The Sadist
Nation" sets up what is to come on the rest of the record.
"Pay Phones and Pills" again plays on the speed-metal
guitars and closes with a metal-ballad movement. As with most
of the nine songs on the record, "Pay Phones and Pills"
clocks in at around six minutes. This is followed by "Oklahoma,"
an homage to being detained by the Feds in Oklahoma for obvious
un-American motives. Other vicious songs tackle post-9/11 patriotism
and miliarism including "Marching to the Killing Rhythm"
and "The Patriot Virus." Other notable tracks include
"Seven Day Lie" and "Accessible Losses." Darkest
Hour closes out the record with a thirteen-minute instrumental
moving across the sound spectrum called "Veritas, Aequitas."
As a special treat for Darkest Hour's metal fans, there are guest
appearances by some kings of Swedish metal including Tomas Lindberg
(At The Gates), Peter Wichers (Soilwork), Anders Bjorler (The
Haunted) and Marcus Suneson (The Crown). Though Darkest Hour have
toured with luminaries such as Six Feet Under, Dillinger Escape
Plan and Drowingman, I think that one tour with such metal powerhouses
as Slayer or Pantera (or even on the Ozzfest) would easily propel
them to the top of the metal world. It worked for less-musically
talented Hatebreed, so why not Darkest Hour.
The
Faint
As this Omaha, Nebraska dance-punk outfit stormed across the U.S.
in the past few years, establishing themselves as one of the premier
live bands, they caught the interest of many in the music world.
Possibly most noticeable they caught the attention of ultramega
superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold. These connections have lead to this
remix album. The Faint themselves did the remix for Blank Wave
Arcade, but the Danse Macabre Remixes are done by ten
top quality electronic and dance musicians. Although the original
Danse Macabre did not match the sheer amaziness of Blank
Wave Arcade, this remix album places the Danse Macabre
in a new brilliant light and absolutely crushes the previous remix
album. The album kicks off with The Thin White Duke performing
an exceptional seven-minute version of "The Conductor"
(though most of the remixes come in and around the seven minute
mark.) This is followed by The Calculators' remix of "Posed
to Death." The best part of this remix is how they introduce
the song with very slow "oh, oh…" and bring the
speed up to normal time and possible a step quicker. Also the
Calculators add a sweet female voice overlaid on Faint lead singer
Todd Baechle's vocals. Either by design or fate maestro Paul Oakenfold
does the remix of "Glass Danse," probably the best song
from the original album and probably the best on this remix album.
Consistent with Oakenfold's style, but relying a considerable
amount on the original structure, the song swirls with catchy
soundscapes. Though partially a function of the original songs'
quality, other top remixes on the record include Tommie Sunshine's
"Let the Poison Spill From Your Throat," Jagz Kooner's
"Agenda Suicide" and Junior Sanchez's "Violent."
As a special feat of cool, Astralwerks is releasing the album
on triple vinyl with a bonus remix by Adam Pyre. You should feel
blessed to own this record. Moreover, if you are a fan of the
Faint there is no doubt that you should have this record.
Fall
Out Boy
Coming out of Chicago is this four-piece with a punk rock foundation
and a pop strong heart. Fall Out Boy formed a little over a year
ago when former frontman of the hardcore band Arma Angelus Pete
Wentz started to belt out pop songs with guitarist Joe Trohman.
This early connection probably allowed Fall Out Boy, after fully
assembled, to quickly get their foot in the music door. Fall Out
Boy play extremely catchy punk rock, without going too extreme
in one direction or the other. That is, they don't play Fat Wreck
beat punk and are not simply a rock band. As such, they have a
good deal in common with bands such as the All-American Rejects
and American Hi-Fi. They are all about ensuring good melodies
and catchy lyrics over anything else. The music is outstanding
with just the right combination of lyrics and guitars and drums
throughout each section of each song. In actual lyrics, Fall Out
Boy echo bands such as Taking Back Sunday with lines such as "Boys
like you are so overrated. So save your breath" on "Chicago
is So Two Years Ago." Though lyrically the songs fall along
a common thread (e.g., friends, girls, random b.s., etc.), Fall
Out Boy also employ a good deal of wit and an element of comedic
cynicism throughout the record. This is most easily seen on title
tracks like "Send Postcards From a Plan Crash (Wish You Were
Here)," "The Pros and Cons of Breathing" and "Reinventing
the Wheel to Run Myself Over." As a special treat, there
are guest appearances by Jeff Warren of Knockout on "Grenade
Jumper" and Justin "Motor City Soundtrack" on "Chicago
Is So 2 Years Ago." Though, as is natural on records, there
is variation across the songs, the amazing songwriting quality
on each has the potential of punching out a plethora of radio-friendly
singles. Not that this is Fall Out Boy's mission, but the outcome
may be pre-ordained with the release of the record. Look for Fall
Out Boy on tour all over the place in the Spring and Summer.
Freya
With the demise of straight-edge kings Earth Crisis a few years
ago, lead singer Karl Buechner began the formation of a new band.
Though maintaining similar lifestyle patterns - e.g., veganism,
straight-edge - Karl and Freya contend that this band is focused
around emotional themes such as loss, anger and despair. Oh, happy
day. But seriously, it is hard for Karl and the other two former
Earth Crisis members to shake their past affiliation; particularly
given the amount of influence they had in the hardcore scene and
the history that they laid out. To a lesser extent, it is like
Ian MacKaye shaking the Minor Threat legacy. The record was recorded
by Doug White at Watchmen Studios, who also has the distinction
of being in one of the coolest grind/sludge-core bands ever, Fledging
Death. White knows how to record and produce heavy music and this
is palpable on this record. Through the thirteen songs on As the
Last Light Drains, Freya mix heavy fast-grind with more melodic
soundscapes. This is true in both lyrics and music. This is not
like emo-core bands like Grade, Somehow Hollow and Silverstein.
It sounds closer to late V.O.D. and the like. This is mostly due
to guitarist Darian Lizotte's "clean" vocal style. This
is clearly evident on the title track (as well as "Tortured")
that besides from a strong Black Sabbath influence is centered
on Lizotte's lyrics and is one of the more melodic tracks. Most
of the other tracks vary between Buechner's heavy vocals and Lizotte's
more melodic singing though, again, not in a back-and-forth manner.
This is seen on such songs as "April Witch," "Negative
Infinity," "Throwing Rocks at a Drowning Man" and
"Seize the Day." If you were a fan of Earth Crisis'
later material than you may think that this isn't grindy enough,
but if enjoyed Earth Crisis' mid-early material (e.g., Destroy
the Machines) then you are likely to be more responsive to Freya.
Greyfield
Formed only a couple of years ago, this Jacksonville, Florida
four-piece has quickly made waves in the pop-punk community. This
inroad has been most noticeable in east coast areas, but Greyfield
are likely to make a name for themselves across the country in
the near future. Greyfield focuses on ultra-catchy and poppy punk,
mixing high tuned guitars, guitar slides and muting for good measure.
Notably, Greyfield like to mix tempos across songs, so that there
is not just the same Fat Wreck beat throughout. In this regard,
a good comparison is made to the better MxPx material. Soundtrack
to the Summer is their second EP and first on Search and Rescue;
their first was The Party After the Show. The six songs on this
EP all are quality numbers, but far and away the best song is
"Party After the Show." The song begins with heavy muting
before picking up speed and punching out catching lyrics. The
simplest characterization is that it is a fun song that one could
easily see being a hit on the radio and as a video. "Sunrise"
kicks off with catchy guitar riffs and then muting and well-timed
lyrics take over. Another good track is the first on the EP "Note
to Self." It starts with robot distortion of vocals and then
introduces the listener to the pop-punk to follow. The EP closes
with a mainly acoustic number called "Gainesville Heartbreak,"
about breaking up with a girl at UF. Greyfield has some serious
potential and hopefully they will come through on the full-length
album that they will be working on over the summer.
The
Locust This is the first release on Epitaph's Anti Records for this four-piece from San Diego. These kings of power-violence, noise and art-core have sought out to destroy everything you know about music in an attempt to just annoy and bother individuals' minds. Through their many releases, most on 3.1.G. Records, the Locust have been successful in this endeavor. Unlike other bands of the same ilk, e.g., Arab on Radar, the Locust actually do display some talent amongst the noise. Formed from the ashes of other San Diego hardcore bands, most notably the Swing Kids who are truly amazing, the Locust sought to change the face of hardcore. After numerous lineup changes, the current four members are also engaged a plethora of side projects, among them Holy Molar. Given that the Locust's songs average about a minute long and are a collection of noise, I would assume they don't spend tons of time perfecting everything. Hence, this allows them to work in other bands. Plague Soundscape is very much in line with past Locust material, except here the recording quality excels past their earlier releases. Most interesting and defining for the record are the plethora of electronic noises that do sound like swarms of bugs, i.e., locusts, attacking the listener. With songs titled as "Priest with the Sexually Transmitted Disease, Get out of my Bed" and "Who Wants a Dose of the Clap?," there is a family-orientated theme in every song. The music from this album is expected to be heard in the latest Disney animated film coming out this summer. Though
the Locust has an interesting and broad following, they also have
a number of critics. This criticism comes not just due to their
warm, soothing music, but because of a "rumored" penchant
for intense living and drug use. For example, the Locust excel
in marketing merchandise and one of their items is a Locust compact
- a compact that some simply refer to as "coke mirrors."
I suppose if you play extreme music, you might as well live extreme,
it worked for G.G. Allin.
The
Methadones
This is the second full-length from this super quartet of punk
traveling men. The Methadones are comprised of past members of
some of the more well-known and influential punk bands in the
past decade. For instance, lead singer Dan Schafer has previously
been in Screaching Weasel, the Riverdales and the Queers and drummer
Matt Drastic has played in the Queers and Teen Idols. Even though
they have an amazing pop-punk resume, the Methadones do not bang
out generic pop-punk songs. In particular, their songs take on
a darker tone and are often not peppy like your standard pop-punk.
In this regard, their sound parallels the Lillingtons' sound minus
the sci-fi and monster songs. In addition, most of the songs on
Career Objective are not three-chord, two-minute bursts,
but move closer to a strung along sound. Unfortunately, most of
the songs are not especially remarkable or memorable. However,
there are a few bright spots. Clearly, the best song on the record
is "Far Away," a four-plus minute wonder that includes
all the ingredients for a great song: a catchy vocal cadence mixed
with a memory-sticking chorus with the right backing vocals and
a nice rhythmic solo in a breakdown. Other standout tracks include
"Say Goodbye to Your Generation" and "You Don't
Know Me Anymore." As an interesting bit of trivia, on one
of the songs somewhere Jesse Michaels adds backing vocals. If
you dug the Methadones' first album Ill At Ease (AF Records) than
you will surely be pleased by this endeavor.
Millencolin Millencolin has been bustin' out punk rock tunes for a number of years, but I never became enamored with their sound. Although I don't own any of their previous albums, I've heard plenty from them and I have the collection of Punk-O-Rama records. My memory tells me that they had a couple of good songs, but there was also too much filler. However, this Swedish quartet punch out something memorable and amazing on Home From Home (released in 2002). Maybe this shouldn't come as a surprise given they have sold over 1.5 million records worldwide; a pretty big number for a mid-level punk band. Honestly, this band seems to have come in under the "hype" radar and now excel at goodness. Employing Lou Giordano as producer and settling down in the heart of Sweden, Millencolin retooled and sharpened their sound. Most revealing is that Millencolin have gone back to what makes rock attractive to people in the first place. For one, Millencolin have learned something from the batch of Swedish garage-punk-bands that have recently took over the world; that is, easy straightforward hard rocking songs sound good. This lesson is employed on the first track "Man or Mouse." Yet, Home From Home is not a rehashing of the old punk with garage punk. Millencolin utilize all of their musical history and produce an album that is eclectic with each song having its own sound. At the same time, the songs are not scattered randomly about. The second song "Fingers Crossed" has that traditional Left-Coast punk beat and with a catchy chorus; songs that can be characterized from their previous work. "Montego" also has a catchy chorus, but the song is much less programmatic in beat. "Happiness For Dogs" is a good rock number that if you read the lyrics along with the song, you can really pick out lead singer's Nikola Sarcevic's Scandinavian accent (though I guess that is true for most of the songs). "Battery Check" employs a mid-tempo breakdown to add some versatility to Millencolin's sound. Closing out the album is the fast-paced and party-like feel of "Home From Home." Adding vocals to this number about the Swedish scene is Marthen Cedergran of Bombshell Rocks.
Home From Home is a surprisingly good album and may, and has,
turn a number of heads in the near future. Also, check out the
computer interactive stuff on the record. Catch Millencolin in
their ongoing U.S. tour.
The
Scaries
Here comes the latest offering from the reigning kings of Chapel
Hill punk. Although, Chapel Hill is most noted for the legendary
indie rock bands that call it home, The Scaries excel on their
own right in a number of impressive ways. Originally released
last November, Souvenir is a great punk album that demonstrates
The Scaries' potential. They also have two previous records called
Wishing One Last Time on Route 14 Records and Over You
on Fab Del Rey Records, and couple of early 7"s. Their sound
is reminiscent of many local punk bands that merge their sound
with indie sensibilities. Quickly to mind comes Sleepasauras from
Long Island, early Ataris and a less-emo and more punk Blankface.
The Scaries blast through the eleven songs here in about twenty-four
minutes. The record kicks off with one of the best songs on the
record with "Revolvers." This is followed by the title
track and "Bleached," which both start in the same key,
so you might think that they are the same song if you don't check.
One noticeable thing about Souvenir is there is a marked
degree of consistency between songs making for a tight album.
As a change of pace, the Scaries include the slow acoustic number
"Awake" at the end of the record. Hopefully, the Scaries
will make a breakthrough in the near future, thus allowing them
to punch out the quality of record that matches their potential.
Silverstein This
is the third release, two previous EPs and this their first on
Victory, for this five-piece out of Ontario, Canada. Like local
heroes Grade and Somehow Hollow, Silverstein focus their sound
around emo, punk and hardcore. The immediate downside to this
is that Silverstein may have been too influenced by those bands,
given the nature of their sound. However, unlike those two bands,
Silverstein have a penchant for very emo uptempo rock and then
quick changes over to throwdown hardcore. This is clearly seen
on the second track of the record "Red Light Pledge."
A very cool and interesting fact is that lead singer Shane Told
performs both the sweet harmonic and melodious singing as well
as the screaming. In addition, Told manages to maintain a quite
pleasing sound on the melodic sections though he is screaming
in other sections. Usually, when you have a band that employs
both styles they have separate people doing that activity. Though
it is not as cool as when Stephen Brodsky from Cave In performed
both activities for a short time, it is a nice change to the norm.
Although Silverstein employs screaming, often the music does not
follow as such. For instance, on the catchy "Giving Up"
when Told begins to scream, the guitars and drums do not follow
in providing thundering and powerful movements. More of this contrast
may help Silverstein achieve more influential moods throughout
songs. Though sometimes the guitarists provide the necessary metal-core
riffs, as on a bridge in "Hear Me Out" and a bit of
"The Weak and the Wounded," a greater reliance could
make their sound even sexier. The usual progression across the
ten songs on When Broken… is emo/punk openings and then a
move to a screaming chorus, breakdown or bridge; for instance,
on "Last Days of Summer" among others. At other times,
the songs start with heavy screaming, but eventually go to the
emo and punk dominated cores, as on "Bleeds No More."
As a nice touch, Silverstein employ a violin in various places
to fill and complete their sound (e.g., "Last Days of Summer,"
"Wish I Could Forget You" and "Hear Me Out").
At the end of the day, this collection of ten songs is very enjoyable
to listeners of emo and hardcore. I would expect Silverstein to
do quite well in the near future.
Sixty
Stories Anthem Red is a re-release of Sixty Stories' first full-length that came out last October. Sixty Stories formed in the fall of 1999 with Paul Furgale (formerly of Painted Thin) on drums and backing vocals, Jo Snyder on guitar and vocals and Kelly Martin on bass. By 2001, Sixty Stories were touring across Canada with bands such as Propagandhi and opening for Fugazi and Samiam. Since then, they released a split CD with Painted Thin on Smallman Records and have toured extensively in Canada as well as some time in Germany. Going into the studio to record this record, they had a personal change when Sarah Sangster took over on bass and backing vocals. Anthem Red starts off with slow keyboards moving to heavy bass, drums and vocals before going into the crux of the song on "Countdown." The ballsy vocals by Jo Snyder and the right backing vocals from bassist Sarah Sangster with the mix of keyboards make this a sweet song. By far and away, this is the best song on the record and is likely to get some serious spins at college stations if not more. Unfortunately, the album takes a distinct downward turn after this epic opening number. This is not to say that the rest of the record is bad or anything like that. It is just that the rest of the songs are not as impressionistic as "Countdown" and some fall into mildly generic renditions and plays on existing material. The second song "First Bell," though, does excel in uniqueness with a strong foundation of keyboards and a powerful chorus based on the title. One problem with a number of the other tracks is that there is a very similar parallel to Weezer. I had to triple-check to make sure that "Second Hand Table & Chairs" was not some cover of a Weezer song. The verse of the song sounds exactly like it is cribbed from Weezer. To lesser extent this is true of "Jessica" and "Less of Me." "It's So Touching" and "Quit My Job" are nice deviations of sound on the record where Sixty Stories employ a more uptempo punk beat that is matched with quicker vocals by Snyder. Anthem Red is rounded out by "Wet Cement" and "Anthem Red." "Wet Cement" contains some great guitar work on the intro and throughout the bridges, while "Anthem Red" has a harmonious chorus of "written in anthem red." Though
there are some inconsistencies on Anthem Red, there is
no doubt that you will hear a lot from Sixty Stories in the near
and far future.
The
Travoltas' As
part of the Knock Knock/Stardumb Records mafia, the Travoltas
have been blasting out pop-punk melodies since 1990. In that time,
they have released numerous records and toured all over the place,
playing with some of the biggest and best in the punk world. On
this record, Knock Knock offered the Travoltas a challenge: record
an acoustic album and we'll release it. At first tepid to the
idea, the Travoltas decided to do an acoustic "beach"
party album, like the A Beach Boys Party. That means it is done
live with a bunch of people sitting around drinking and singing
along to the songs. At times, the background noise is cool and
right, at other times it seems just like a distraction. To fill
out the vibe of the record, the Travoltas perform a bunch of their
songs as well as covers of the Beach Boys (e.g., "Little
Honda," "Barbara Ann" and "California Girls")
and other assorted covers. This includes a great cover of Bad
Religion's "Sorrow." What is telling about the songwriting
of the Travoltas is that their songs done here contain the same
excellence of the harmony "experts" Beach Boys (for
instance, on "Pray For Sun" and "One For the Road").
In particular, one of the best songs on the record from the Travoltas
is "Alright." It almost seems this song was destined
to be done acoustic with its sweet and memorable harmonies. All
in all, this is a fun album and a great concept.
Turbonegro As preparation to Turbonegro's new album Scandinavian Leather, this is one of the back catalogue re-issues by Burning Heart Records. This is excellent rock 'n' roll with punk spirit, in the tradition of the first four Alice Cooper albums. The explosive energy that eventually ripped the band apart in 1998 is sublimated into exquisite rock in the tradition of Zodiac Mindwarp, early Mötley Crüe and Spinal Tap. (Yes, this band of would-be sociopaths has a sense of humor.) Much is made of the over-the-top self-destructive Turbonegro story, but do not let that distract from the fact that no matter how schizoid the group was outside of the studio, within it they created great rock albums in the hard rock and glam traditions of the '70s and '80s with elements of '60s psychedelic rock. (-Tom Schulte)
V/A One
can look at the timing of this release as either a good thing
or not. Though for Initial this record in its entirety is three
years in the making, it also happens to come out on the heels
of the Henry Rollins coordinated tribute to Black Flag. Hence,
for die-hard Black Flag fans, who are getting noticeably older
these days, the inevitable cascade of comparisons shall follow.
The only thing I will say is that both tributes have their own
benefits and this one has some of the coolest hardcore bands in
the world. That said, we are talking about tracks coming from
American Nothing (Equal Vision), Coalesce (Relapse/Second Nature),
Converge (Equal Vision), Burnt by the Sun (Relapse) and the Dillinger
Escape Plan (Relapse), among others. The original plan by Initial,
as many have heard, is that they planned on just doing a four
band 7". For various reasons that fell through and now, after
originally being released as a series of limited edition 7"s,
we have this piece of majesty. As is usually the situation on
tribute albums, some of the original songs are just so amazing
that either the covering band can do no wrong or can brutally
murder the song. Well, there is no murdering on this record, but
some of the covers do excel past others. The record kicks off
with a screaming but close to the original version of "Depression"
by American Nothing (aka American Nightmare). Burnt by the Sun's
version of "Drinking and Driving" is close to a perfect
(not meaning mirror image) smashing of the Black Flag window with
an emphasis on guitar soloing. Coalesce's "Jealous Again"
is their first recording in two years and probably their last
given they have ended their marriage again. Converge comes through
in their anarchistic, crazy fashion on "Annihilate This Week."
"Damage I & II" by the Dillinger Escape Plan is
their first recording with new singer Greg Puciato. Though it
would have been cool to hear Mike Patton do the song, nothing
is lost with Puciato on vocals. The Hope Conspiracy (Equal Vision)
provides a compelling version of "Nervous Breakdown"
and Playing Enemy (Escape Artist) adds a grindy then chaotic version
of everyone's favorite "Six Pack." One could do no wrong
in scoring this nine-song Black Flag tribute album, particularly
if you missed out on the original 7"s.
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