|
October Reviews Artist of the Month: Taking Back Sunday It is hard to believe that this is only Taking Back Sunday’s second record, as they seem to have been dominating the arena for much longer than three years. And yet it is. A new record that debut at #3 on the Billboard charts and is still selling vast quantities; all of which is unbelievable. Though there is a lot of hype, Where You Want to Be is an excellent follow up to Tell All Your Friends and shows a sweet progression in sound maturity. I remember seeing video of TBS before they got things going from friend Ray Frech; our previous partner in crime with fun game massive. Though the band was solid, there was nothing that grabbed you by the balls. Ray continued to champion the band to me as they signed on Victory. And such, when Tell All Your Friends came out in 2002, I was stunned at how the band had become exponentially better. I obviously wasn’t the only one who thought this, as TBS started the opening salvo of their skyrocketing popularity and helped lead the much maligned ‘emo-core’ sound. The ‘big’ question on this follow-up from this quasi-Amityville, NY five-piece is how they would adapt and survive with two new members. In 2003, both John Nolan and Shaun Cooper left TBS and formed Straylight Run (also signed to Victory). As I like to describe him, Nolan was the guy with the skinny head. After some cancellations and hold ups, Fred Mascherino joined the band on guitar and vocals and Matt Rubano came on board with bass. Although lead singer Adam Lazzara is the celebrity, heartthrob of the band, guitarist Eddie Reyes is the captain. Reyes has been part of the Long Island punk/hardcore for more years than Walt Flanagan’s dog, and it seems he would be unwillingly to let this situation shut down the behemoth that is Taking Back Sunday. After the band got their package together, they enlisted producer Lou Giordano to help transfer their visions to reel during this past spring. Where You Want to Be kicks off on “Set Phasers to Stun” with down-picking quick stop-starting guitars and Lazzara’s compelling vocals bristling along. As probably the best song on the record, “Set Phasers to Stun” excels when Lazzara does a couple of quick tripping vocal sections and, of course, on the dazzling chorus. “Bonus Mosh Pt. II” begins slower and features more earnest and faux-whining vocals from Lazzara. The song also echoes vocal cadences from many songs on Tell All Your Friends, as well as your first dose of background screaming. Initially drawing on some 80s guitars, “A Decade Under the Influence” is the type of song that other bands do when they want to sound like Taking Back Sunday. So that is both good and bad. It is bad because that means TBS is not working to differentiate themselves from their lazy imitators. It is good because it illustrates their musically prowess. Other pluses are that the song is pop happiness and contains a great chorus of “To hell with you and all your friends.” “This Photograph is Proof (I Know You Know)” moves at mid-tempo and is only really noteworthy for its enriching chorus. To contrast what you just heard, “The Union” comes in at full force, speed devil punk before dropping into a breakdown and coming back out. “The Union” also does a good job utilizing subtle guitar electronics overdubs. As the stab-yourself-in-the-eye and/or pure indie cred number, “New American Classic” features Lazzara singing to acoustic guitars and an array of strings. Another piece of good record sequencing is “I Am Fred Astaire” following “New American Classic” and finds the band pushing an uplifting and even-keeled sound. Besides from the all-out, multiple vocalist ending, “One-Eighty By Summer” is a bit ho-hum. Yet, the opening to “Number Five With A Bullet” is always what I’m looking for. The song begins with muting and Lazzara singing along with a bit of electronics coming in to enliven the product. Unfortunately, the song doesn’t entirely deliver on its auspicious start, but it is still a standout number on the record. Dual intertwining guitars lead you through “Little Devotional,” while “…Slowdance On the Inside” closes the record with slight strings underneath a mid-tempo dreamy composition. “…Slowdance On the Inside” is an awesome record closer and is probably the one song with an epic feel with multiple vocalists adding to the chorus. Although Where You Want to Be may not have as many memory-burning tracks as Tell All Your Friends, the overall package is much tighter, solid and constructed. Even still, songs like “Set Phasers to Stun,” “Bonus Mosh Pt. II” and “Number Five With A Bullet” will still get you moving. There is little question that people love Where You Want to Be, given the strong sales over the past couple of months. And yet, it is still difficult to figure out how much bigger Taking Back Sunday can get. I suppose Grammy talk is not entirely out of the question. Also, another great video from Christian Winter and Hilo Films could get some VMA action. That would all be purely crazy.
12 Stones The best thing that ever happened to 12 Stones was lead singer Paul McCoy singing on Evanescence’s first single “Bring Me To Life;” a song that lead Evanescence to staggering success and had people saying ‘who is this other dude McCoy?’. That, with their own touring and Windup’s publicity, allowed 12 Stones to sell over 300k records of their debut. Also featuring Eric Weaver on guitar, Greg Trammell on guitar and Aaron Gainer on drums, 12 Stones offer us eleven mindless tracks of post-grunge compositions. Their first single off of Potter’s Field is “Far Away,” where the harmonics from the guitar and tempered-vocal pairing of McCoy and Gainer actually create an enjoyable atmosphere. Yet, that is more of the exception than the rule. You keep hoping that 12 Stones are going to do something different, but that hope if rarely fulfilled. For instance, there is a bit of screaming on the opener “Shadows,” but it comes across more like an identity crisis. “Lifeless” starts out with such sludge-distorted guitars that I was dreaming they would throw a curveball and offer up some compelling grind; of course, they don’t. On other songs, like the heavy part of “Photograph,” you can hear some metal-core chugging guitars trying to break through, but never do. Even “In Closing” has this sort of Quicksand feel to it. In that respect, I could see 12 Stones with a screamer performing entirely different but totally awesome set of songs. Given what I’ve said above, this follow up is leaps and bounds above their debut and will likely get them much love.
Across Five Aprils This is the second release, and second release on Indianola, for these boys from Tennessee. Having done the typically punk/hardcore trajectory of existence – local shows leading to a release and then non-stop touring – Across Five Aprils offer five new insights to their songwriting conceptions. As the record begins to roll on “Saving Seats,” you quickly to come to two realizations; the first is that these AFA are pretty damn good; the second is that they would be much better by excluding the periodic screams. The amazing guitar attack and the lead vocals create such a stunning package that the screaming only messes things up and pushes them to fall into easy comparisons to screamo bands. Though it is always nice for the guitars to move to metal riffs from time to time, it almost works better here with traditional vocals. For instance, on the following track “Answers in the Eyes,” there is a small segment with screaming and a bit of grind, but they quickly pull out of it. The song, and the rest of the EP, works much better without it. “Moon-lit Sunrise” moves in a similar manner, but it may be even more annoying as the song rocks you hard and then falls to blah. To provide credentials, AFA does the acoustic “Through the Pane,” before winding down the show with “Spaghetti Junction in the Rearview.” Across Five Aprils are a good affair and worth checking out. However, they could be much better with some design alterations.
Alter Bridge On the first song (“Find the Real”) of the first full-length of what was once Creed, the four-piece of Alter Bridge try to bring us back to the days of pure grunge; when Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and the like ruled the airwaves. Except, this is a decade late and Alice in Chains would never lay out tracks with Christian under and overtones. With visceral character Scott Stapp deciding to go his own way, the other members of Creed, Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall united with singer Myles Kennedy of the Mayfield Four to offer an alternative vision of what Creed could have been. Whatever you may think of Creed as a band and the music they made, there is one undeniably item on this record: Mark Tremonti is a purely astonishing guitarist. Throw out the over-wrought and earnest vocals of Kennedy and just concentrate on the guitar work. For instance, even in the heavily-grungy parts of “Find the Real,” the playing is tight and the trying-out-guitars-at-Sam-Ash solos are hot. As mentioned, I’m not nearly as interested in Kennedy’s vocals. While Kennedy is highly talented as a pure singer, there is a significant lack of differentiation with other singers of like-minded music. The vocals come across best when Tremonti is adding background vocals which seem to pull Kennedy down to better harmonies and less testosterone. The first single off of One Day Remains is “Open Your Eyes,” which is probably a good choice, though it heavily echoes past Creed numbers. “Find the Real,” “Watch Your Words,” “One Day Remains” and “Down To My Last” are also likely to factor into radio play at some point. The bottom line is if you liked Creed and like grunge even more, then you will unload all over this nearly hour-long affair. Others, steer clear.
Beep Beep As everyone’s favorite Midwestern label, Saddle Creek unleashes its latest quasi-super group on the music world. Formed in the summer of 2001, Beep Beep exists at its core of Eric Bemberger’ and Chris Hughes’ eccentric electro energies. After some wrangling between people for the band’s composition, Bemberger and Hughes are joined by master drummer Mike Sweeney and bassist Joel Petersen of the Faint and Broken Spindles. Beep Beep prefers to merge bursts of noise here and there on top of a standard rock structure. At times, the vocals are spastic and hysterical (e.g., “Oh No!”) and other times they are melodic and concentrated (e.g., “Misuse Their Bodies”). The vocals and music follow similar paths, which creates a different sound on nearly every track. Business Casual begins on “I Am the Secretary” with wild, old style electro-noise screaming while the guitars are all straight down-picking. After the similar “Oh No!,” “Misuse Their Bodies” comes at you like a little piece of heaven. Following a marginal opening, the vocals are accompanied by the previous bassist’s Katie Muth that starts the magic. The addition of Hammond B-3 and Mellowtron by uber-producer A.J. Mogis later in the song turns “Misuse Their Bodies” as the stand out number from the record. Ping ponging electronics begin the promising “Giggle Giggle,” but Beep Beep doesn’t follow the dance beats and go more for the spastic. “Electronic Wolves” grows on you with repetitive listens as the guitar riffs will get your moving. After the ‘I like to make noise’ “Cherry Poison,” “Executive Foilage” slips excessively compared to “Electronic Wolves” and “Misuse Their Bodies.” However, Beep Beep picks the mantle back up with the super-fun “The Fluorescent Lights,” which is another dance floor number. A bluesy-guitar leads the way for one of the best song names ever, “Vertical Cougar;” Vertical Cougar should be a name for a cock-rock band. The record closes with smooth electronics on “The Threat of Nature” and alternates with aggressive outputs. Although Beep Beep fall into a valley somewhere between the hipness of the Faint and the stark minimalism of Broken Spindles, their unconventional attack of each song allows for differentiation.
The Colour Rocking out for roughly a year now, this California five-piece work to bring back the essence of 80s new wave within a pure rock framework on this five-song EP. Although the music is at essence simplified linear rock, the vocals of Wyatt Hull push the contextual nature of the songs into a different atmosphere. Hull channels Robert Smith with the aching faux-English accented anxiousness of self-expression. This is likely to have both positive and negative effects depending on the listener. For me, when Hull pushes slightly it is cool; when he is being over-dramatic, it can be painful (e.g., “Down the Circus”). The opening track “St. Michel” is likely to get cheap Strokes comparisons from listeners purely due to simple down-stroking guitars. Yet, the harmonies that the songs has – that produce happy, dandelion pastures of love – move it into eternal cool; particularly with the breakdown. “Mirror Ball” is considerably more dance-driven and could easily be laced with electronics beat to make it a hot club number. After “Down the Circus,” The Colour come back with “Building Situations” that meanders a mellow path that only comes fully together on the chorus. The EP closes on “Tambourine” with a mildly too close riff to many Strokes’ songs. Hull’s vocals also trip in a familiar cadence, but you can’t exactly pin it down. With a little more development, the Colour will easily pick up the mantle of the Faint for dance-punk happiness. This may be even more true depending on their live show.
David Thomas & Two Pale Boys Mr. Pere Ubu, David Thomas joins fellow partners in crime Andy Diagram and Keith Moline (Two Pale Boys) to knock out their third studio record and fifth release in total. The most noteworthy thing, at least that I didn’t know, about the pale boys is that Diagram used to be in the early 90s band James; how cool is that. As with anything that Thomas has his hands on (e.g., Pere Ubu and Rocket from the Tombs) often the most defining characteristic of the sound is Thomas’ strange, haunting and oddly unique vocals. None of the nine tracks on the record have drums and all bits of thumping rhythm come courtesy of electronics by the three guys. This combined with Thomas’ voice and their generally strange perception of songs helps to create both a moderately compelling and completely out-to-lunch record. For instance, the opening “New Orleans Fuzz” and “Numbers Man” both are stand alone rock tracks, but then the guys come with the bizarre “Little Sister” and “Habeas Corpus.” “Brunswick Parking Lot” takes a Tom Waits’ approach as Thomas sings along to an organ and stretches out to six minutes. The latter of “Nebraska Alcohol Abuse” echoes poetry reading background music and the electronics on “Sad Eyed Lowlands” partially illustrate Moline’s influence of pure electronica. “Golden Surf” is another stand alone track, while the album closes on “Prepare for the End” with a slow tempo and dreamy atmosphere. If you enjoy Thomas’ records and specifically this project, then you like 18 Monkeys. Others, particularly with more standard tastes, probably should avoid the record.
Delgados I listened to the new album by the Delgados knowing essentially nothing about the band. For some reason I had expected Will Oldham; thus I was somewhat surprised upon hearing this collection of straightforward, sad, Scottish pop. The album begins with a deliberate guitar riff on “I Fought on Angels,” one of the stronger tracks. A driving drumbeat soon joins the mix, and the song builds nicely with additional layers of guitar and vocals. The songs then alternate between soft, sad ballads and bouncier pop. However, even in the lighter moments there remains a hint of despair. Pollock seems much more committed than Woodward to keeping this feeling alive. “Life is a just a list of consequences of things that we do” she sings on “Keep on breathing,” and this resignation is a common theme throughout her songs. Unfortunately, the constant presence of this sadness weighs the songs down. The only instance where Pollock does get happy is the first single “Everybody Come Down” and the result is a lively little tune. While Woodward’s songs aren’t necessarily better than Pollock’s, his openness to a broader range of emotions makes them much nicer to listen to. (Though a song like “Get Action!” hardly deserves an exclamation point in the title.) He begins the fine album closer “Now and Forever” proclaiming “this is your life, there are no second chances.” Yet this is followed by an anthemic call to action rather than resignation. Pollock sings backing vocals, but given the previous proceedings Woodward is much more believable when they ensure that “if we fail, we won’t fall.” The songs are at least consistent in quality, if not in emotional heft. The sound recalls XTC and the Sundays (perhaps even Frente) mostly due to the vocal stylings of Woodward and Pollock. For the most part, the album sticks to the guitar-bass-drums basics, with little flourishes of sound added here and there. From what I have read, this marks a departure from their last few albums, particularly 2002’s Hate. I don’t know enough about their previous works to judge whether or not this is an improvement. Taken on its own, Universal Audio is a solid album that could be improved by more of a willingness to let loose and have a little fun.
Even in Blackouts This record by Even in Blackouts is a few solid songs short of being an amazing offering. Formed a couple years back by Screeching Weasel’s John “Jughead” Pierson, the six-piece rock the acoustic guitars to the poppy gleam of classic pop-punk. And thus, the band can rock without electricity and so the moniker. Pierson initially believed the band only do live shows, but then they decided to capture the music on tape with their debut Myths & Imaginary Magicians, which is now being reissued with distro on Lookout. Helped by uber-producer Mass Giorgini, Even in Blackouts collect seventeen tracks for Zeitgeist’s Echo for tiny Patchogue, NY Knock Knock Records. Although this is only Knock Knock’s sixth release over the course of a few years, none have disappointed and this one is probably the best. When Even in Blackouts is blasting a standard poppy song, they are purely unstoppable. But when they do some of their random shit on the record, it drags the whole thing down. The record begins with a light country minute and the first real song is the third track, “Dear Resonance.” When lead singer Lizzie Eldredge is singing full-on, she sounds like Cinder Block from Tilt and it increasingly adds to the band’s pop punk allure. “Dear Resonance” is followed by the awesome “In A Letter Never Sent.” “In A Letter Never Sent” features both Eldredge and Pierson singing and some wicked cool lead guitar about halfway through. After these “first” two songs, you are convinced Even in Blackouts are some of the best shit you’ve ever heard. After the average “If…(This Title Is Very Long),” they do a surprisingly refinishing cover of “One Fine Day.” Often I gag at such contemporary covers – see, Copeland’s recent EP – but this one will get your foot tapping. The bridge on “Song For Remembrance” saves it from being common, while “The Writer” is definitely skippable. With “The Writer” the record drops off a cliff with the non-inspiring closing seven tracks. It is sort of like they forgot what they were actually doing. Though the heavily country-driven “Darling You” is pleasant, the others are terrible. The record is only thirty-nine minutes long, but they could have cut out a bunch of filler here and made it noticeably shorter; which in turn would allow more space for their outstanding numbers. Again, the band is designed to be experienced live, so if they come through your town, check them out.
Fast Forward/T Cells From the nether regions of 3.1.G. comes this split release. It is not even a split record as each band as their own tiny CD with their own songs; though I’m not sure whether the LP version has two separate records. T Cells are from Long Beach and, perhaps unsurprisingly, features members of the Locust, Le Shok, The Distraction and Nazti Skinz. The five T Cells’ songs all move to lo-fi and lo-energy electro beats with lazy vocals laid on top. Probably the best track is a cover of Crime’s “Maserati.” Given the clientele in the group, the tracks are actually less egregiously annoying as some other endeavors. Fast Forward, out of LA, has a similar pedigree with members of Wrangler Brutes, the Locust, Nazti Skinz and Le Shok forming their core. Fast Forward seem to revel in being strange and mysterious with hints at sleepy political and racial controversy. So, on the CD inlay, there is a dude in a quasi-Klan-esque yellow outfit and their songs come with the titles like “Hate is Growing” and “Race Relations.” It is all for show. Fast Forward keep closer to darker dance synths than T Cells, but have a very similar notion of song constructs. Although this split is not for most people, fans on 3.1.G. and the like will eat this up.
Fear Before the March of Flames Having cool cover art and packaging – including a cool thickly, glossy booklet and a great lime coloring – can only get you so far. Forming in the Denver area in 2002, Fear Before the March of Flames have a previous record on Portland-based Rise Records and have done numerous tours where they have unleashed their personal demons. Before finding out they had only existed since 2002, I had thought they’ve been trotting around for a much longer time. The young four-piece is all about criss-crossing hardcore, metal and punk and all their various derivatives. In this respect they move along with influences from Botch, Dillinger, Converge, the Locust and margins of the indie rock world. Though they don’t fall into any one categorization, they don’t perform vastly different sounds than their forefathers. It’s one of those things that it isn’t bad, but if you are looking for such a sound as listeners I don’t see exactly why you would end up here instead of the aforementioned. The sporadically laced mellow sections are refreshing (e.g., on “Consequences David, You’ll Meet Your Fate in the Styx”) as well as spacey electronic moments (e.g., “Law of Averages”), but the overall gist of FBMF’s sound is not very inspiring. The guitar twining from guitarist Adam Fisher is sweet, but there are a number of moments where I wish to strangle lead vocalist David Marion; but just for a bit. I have a succinct feeling that this may be one of the bands best tasted live and then post-listening becomes more meaningful and enjoyable.
Fiery Furnaces Take your cues from this opening cut, “Quay Cur.” It comes in at 10 plus minutes, and it makes no apologies. Whether or not the Fiery Furnaces – the Brooklyn-based brother and sister duo of Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger - have created a rock opera may be up to debate; what is clear is that this album bridges the gap between post-Radiohead experimental rock and pure post-rock. The group has garnered several comparisons to the White Stripes and the Who, but both are misleading. While a bluesy piano underscores every track, Blueberry Boat is far from the straightforward rock of Jack White. The predominant orchestration on this album involves random noises – bleeps, blurps, and hums – interfacing with Matthew’s piano and the occasional guitar and drum kit. Upon this soundscape come the lyrics which are tiring for two reasons. First, there are so many words in these songs; each verse is rushed out with a staccato sprint that words are often collapsed and crushed together. While this contributes to a sense of urgency that the album aims for, it grows increasing tedious over the 78 odd minutes. Second, every one of the 13 cuts contains at least one – and often several – proper nouns. A sampling includes: Madagascar, Fort Dauphin, Damascus, Valencia, Leeds, Houston, Taiwan, Grand Rapids, Delhi, the DQ, the Super K, Mason City, Des Moines, Salt Lake, Mt. Olympia, TCBY, Slavonians, Bronx River, Fisher Price My First Tambourine, Sit-and Spin, Samsung, Lexus, Nokia, and Ericsson. There’s clearly a bit of art-school overindulgence here, and you get the sense that there’s no “Matt” or “El” for this duo. The rock opera references have some basis: a running narrative of ships, of travel, of people and events course through the album. Each song sounds as if it could have been written for some as-yet unseen movie, but the story is far from apparent. Who are these characters? What are they doing? There’s no center of gravity to drive the album thematically, and this is why Blueberry Boat really isn’t a rock opera. The album is at its best when Eleanor handles the vocals. Her voice slightly grates, is highly arch, and makes the solemnity with which she proclaims “it was my first time running my own ship but my buddies didn’t care they didn’t give me no lip” palatable. There’s a stronger, more wistful effort with Eleanor closing out the otherwise weak “1917”: “So I ask my Dad, Why can’t we ever win, ever win, once?” You sense perhaps underneath this seriousness lurks a sense of self-mockery – or, at least, gives you reason to hope so. On tracks where the piano and keys interface with the guitar, the album does particularly well. Songs like “My Dog Was Lost but Now He’s Found” (despite its startling repetitiousness) and “Paw Paw Tree” stand out. Blueberry Boat’s weaker tracks – especially “Chief Inspector Blancheflower” – suffer from a fault found in the entire album: it is change-heavy, and often satisfactorily so, but the changes seem to come after particularly weak, homogeneous and boring stretches of urgent vocals overlaid with noise. In other words, the changes strike me as being a crutch – a gimmick – which work well when done correctly, but fail when used to escape a particularly dry stretch of music.
Hot Water Music As I have played this record numerous on numerous times searching for the key ingredient to appease a long standing Hot Water Music fan, I’ve finally settled that The New What Next is another record featuring the Gainesville, FL four-piece on autopilot. After the excellent 2002 release of Caution, a substantial improvement over HWM’s debut on Epitaph A Flight and a Crash in 2001, I was hoping for a return to the glory days. It is not as if the twelve songs on The New What Next are bad; in fact, several are quite good. Yet, though the one-sheet says the band tried to make these songs more dynamic, the songs are quite straight-forward and move at a dull tempo. As much as HWM try to move away from, mature from or whatever from their early material, there is no denying that those songs are why they are where they are today. Though the first few records had bumps in the road, they also had epic numbers like “Minno,” “Western Grace,” “Counting Numbers,” “Alachua” and “Turnstile.” These, and others, were all songs that with one listen your jaw dropped, you got chills and you just thought this was the best band ever. The dual guitars of Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard were effectively merged and balanced, Jason Black’s bass walked along with its own destination though always meeting the guitars at the right time and George Rebelo kept the perfect beat to complicated, heavily segmented songs. Their live shows lived up to the mystique as they throw all abandon to the wind and you just wanted them to be your best friends. With echoes of slipping on No Division, HWM’s, now, three records on Epitaph have been less than stellar compared with the body of work they left behind them. Of course, all bands grow and try different sounds and themes and naturally they don’t want to keep playing the same stuff. You can’t blame HWM for that. But the difference between the earlier spine-chilling numbers and their newer ho-hum material is severe. A few songs on The New What Next give nods to previous compositions and these stand out. This includes the great “All Heads Down,” parts of “Ebb and Flow,” the building “Ink and Lead” (though it lacks amazing stand-still riffs) and “Poison.” I never thought I would say this but I’ve definitely lost the feeling and I’m dreaming for Hot Water Music to bring it (back).
Kane Hodder As this Bremerton, WA five-piece’s first full length, and second release overall, Kane Hodder work to alter traditional song structures by rubbing segments in from different angles. Kane Hodder knocked out their debut EP, A Frank Exploration of Voyeurism and Violence, in late 2002 and soon become a well-established Northwestern act. Their appeal relies in their allegiance to nothing and everything at once. As lead singer Andrew Moore is forthwith, the band vomits on the traditional verse-chorus-verse song compositions and they want sounds and sections to just flow together. That flow comes in sections influenced by hardcore, punk, glam, prog and pure indie rock. So when you talk about a ‘song,’ you need to really consider sections within each song. The record begins on “Last of the Anti-Fascist Warriors” in a metal-core mood and massive screams, but they slowly pull out of it and by a minute they have worked into more melodic sections. Though the screaming, as it comes in to songs from time to time, serves as a nice contrast, it also seemingly hurts their overall sound. Still, when the screaming is present for a lot of the song, like “Last of the Anti-Fascist Warriors” it is not overly egregious. “I Think Patrick Swayze is Sexy” follows and introduces the first bit of glam and Coheedness; and is one of the standout numbers. After the bluesier “Jason Dean was a Teen Liberator,” comes the more angular and spastic “Too Much Eddie Kendricks, Not Enough David Ruffin.” The latter sections of “Heaven Help Me! I Love a Psychotic!,” particularly when Moore goes after high-pitched beauty, makes it worthwhile track. The refrain of “I declare you a liar” on “A Machine in the World of Man” is hot, while “You Sign Your Crimes With A Silver Bullet” is a bit off. Post instrumental “The Child of Prophecy” comes the unfulfilled promise of “Crushing Everything in Sight.” “Attack on Tir Asleen” has a few convincing punk sections, but is otherwise not as a stunning as previous tracks. Closing out the record is “Assault At First Light” with more emphasis on heavy sections and dissonance. Given Kane Hodder’s general appeal to some many different genres and subgenres, it is hard to not believe that they will become an indie powerhouse in the near future. If they could get a stretch of opening for Coheed or some other heavyweight, their ascension may be even quicker.
Last of the Famous This debut record from Last of the Famous borders on brilliance and also borders on the coolest re-incarnation of Lifetime ever. Yet, some missteps knock the record down several spots, but it still one of the best debuts I’ve heard in awhile. Moreover, given the background of half of the members of Last of the Famous, I was surprised at how succinctly poppy the band is – or as they put it, ‘pop-hardcore.’ This half are Alex Garcia-Riveria on drums and Porcell on guitar. Porcell was one of the founders of Youth of Today and has played in such seminal hardcore bands as Gorilla Biscuits, Judge and Shelter. Garcia-Riveria met up with Porcell in Shelter and also plays(ed) in Give Up the Ghost, Piebald and Saves the Day. The second half of the group includes Daniel Larsson on lead vocals and Daniel “Supergrass” Johansson on bass. Larsson and Johansson are from Sweden and first met up with Porcell and Garcia-Riveria with Shelter. In the cross-interests of all these guys, out comes Last of the Famous. When the thirteen tracks on this debut move toward more of the punk angle of hardcore (e.g., “Turn and Run” and “No More Nightmares”), the four-piece is unstoppable. Yet, when they are punching out pure pop-punk sounding songs, their powers drop off considerably (e.g., “Fingers Twisting”). The Music or the Misery starts off on “Standing” with building guitars and maintains a muting path while Larsson lays his pop-centric vocals on top. “Standing” is a good introduction to the band and the record, though it is certainly not the all-star number. “One in a Million” has more ball punching power with group vocal refrains. The aforementioned “Fingers Twisting” channels the most annoying in Blink, while “No More Nightmares” is a classic number that really conjures up the sort of atmosphere that Lifetime, and even Sleepasauras, brought to the table. The standout feature is a rhythmic guitar solo on top of the main line and more group vocals on the chorus. “Turn and Run” is more flat-out head-down punk hardcore though Last of the Famous loses steam on “Carry on Strong.” “Fourteen” parallels “No More Nightmares” in feeling though has some oddly embarrassing (i.e., bad) lyrics, at last as I see it. Old school punk/hardcore creeps in with the pro-vegan “No Game We Play” and “Eternal Flames” follows a mid-tempo approach but is rather non-impressionable. After the nice mid-song buildup on “Problem,” the band rallies on “VBG” to partially tell the starting point of the band; particularly, a ‘hardcore’ house in Johansson’s and Larsson’s town of Vanersborg, Sweden. The record closes on “Fight Till I Die” and “Another Day, Another Lie.” While you should skip past “Fight Till I Die,” “Another Day, Another Lie” is great way to close the record with muting breakdowns, even-keeled tempos and partial group vocals. As I said above, this is one of the best debuts I’ve heard in awhile. Hopefully, Last of the Famous are able to conjure up enough energy on stage to make for a great live show – and they will undoubtedly be very tight musically.
Megadeth This is exactly what one would hope from the re-emergence of Megadeth. Though pits and falls hinder full excitement from time to time, this is perfectly suited for those wishing to relive 80s metal glory. After a sufficient hiatus due to various reasons, not the least of which Dave Mustaine’s nerve injury to his hand that sidelined him for over a year, Mustaine and Megadeth unleash the pure fury on his tenth studio album The System Has Failed. This recording features Jimmie Sloas on bass, Vinnie Colaitu on drums and the hand of Chris Poland on lead guitar on nearly all of the tracks. As with all of Megadeth’s releases and lineup, this is and has always been Mustaine’s show. Mustaine selected twelve songs from a vault of over a hundred to appear on this recording. The contemporary political and social flair is not left hidden as The System Has Failed’s cover features the classic Megadeth dude and a host of politicians lined up to pay for their ills in front of the Supreme Court and Congress, as flying death awaits. The political lineup includes W, the Clintons, John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condi Rice, Arafat, (maybe) Newt and a couple others I can’t decipher. In case any of this is lost on someone who picks up the record, the opening song “Blackmail the Universe” slams it all straight down your throat. As jets soar overhead, a fucking amazing chugging riff rips in and a pseudo-reporter reports that Airforce One has been shot down by terrorists. Straight-up, the riff is one of the hottest things I’ve heard in awhile. Yet, I had forgotten exactly how much Mustaine “speaks” his way through the lyrics instead of “singing.” Nowadays, almost all versions of metal features elements of screaming, growling and the like. “Blackmail the Universe” also introduces the listener to the back-and-forth guitar solos that play a major role in the rest of the record; also, it is noted who (Mustaine or Poland) is doing the solo and when in the liner notes. “Die Dead Enough” finds Mustaine actually coming in with a sufficient degree of melody on the chorus of “I can’t punch hard enough and I run/I can’t kick enough and I run/….” This is certainly helped by additional vocals from Chris Rodriquez, Lance Dean, Ralph Patlan and Robert Venable. “Kick the Chair” follows and is another political drilling endeavor with the foci revolving around the lack of justice and corruption in the legal system. “Kick the Chair” also finds a serious amount of soloing, often dueling, near the end by Mustaine and Poland. Following “Kick the Chair” is the oddly-timed and segmented “The Scopion.” Skip past “Tears in a Vial” and “I Know Jack” to arrive at the sweetly hot-picking “Back in the Day.” Revolving around, well, metal back in the day, “Back in the Day” is the fastest tempo on the track and, at times, purely aggressive. “Something That I’m Not” is a bit standard fare compared to the rest of the record. Past the ballad sections of “Truth Be Told,” the song excels on the response choruses between Mustaine and a gang of vocalists. “Of Mice and Men” probably is the most normal rock track on the record as Mustaine trips about his life. After the absolutely terrible “Shadow of Deth,” “My Kingdom” closes out the record with slow, dark movements before the standard soloing sweetens the deal. As Megadeth’s last foray, The System Has Failed does a sufficient job in illustrating the appeal of 80s metal in contemporary music. Though the band is still best with uptempo, chugging riffs and blistering solos, and should leave the other stuff alone, you will undoubtedly find enough love for your metal needs.
Mono Not to be dismayed by the gluttonous album title, this is some of the most dreamily amazing instrumental music I’ve ever heard. It is the kind of music that you can put on when you at your worst – screaming, angered, bothered, blinking thoughts echoing in your brain not allowing you to concentrate – and it soothes you, relaxes you and allows you to feel like everything is okay. Though it is not as if this Tokyo four-piece write uplifting, happy, sunshine numbers; in fact, most songs have an edge of melancholy. Recorded and mixed by Steven Albini, Walking Cloud puts out eight tracks of utter pleasure and pure loveliness. It probably goes without saying that a majority of the songs wind down long paths and take up to fifteen minutes for completion (e.g., “Lost Snow”). The record begins brilliantly on the ten minute “16.12” as Mono slowly builds the song till sweeping crescendos, serving as a great introduction to the band. The rest of the record is just as glorious with highlights coming from “Halcyon (Beautiful Days),” “Ode,” the distorted rock “Lost Snow” and the magical closer “A Thousand Paper Cranes.” Walking Cloud is a record that I will recommend to people for a long time to come.
Shoplifting This self-titled EP from this power four-piece appears mainly a teaser to build interest to their forthcoming full-length. Fronted by Hannah Blilie, Shoplifting knock four stripped-down slamming punk rock songs swiftly down your throat. Shoplifting likes to take their time on things and not just rely simply on four chords slaps. The EP begins on “L.O.V.E.” with a smidgen of disconnect as the vocals grab you and lead you the rest of the way. After the lazy “Raw Nails,” “Ask Me” is driving and intense, as Devin picks up more of the vocal work, with highlights from a Fugazi-esque riffed chorus of “ask me what’s between my legs.” “Contrapunctural Prancing” nicely closes the deal with visions of noise bands and more melodic odes. This is exactly what we expect from everyone’s favorite Olympia, WA label.
Submersed This is the first single off these youngsters debut record for Windup In Due Time. I’m trying to figure out how Submersed is different from any other Windup band given the musical fair on “Hollow.” The simple conclusion is that they aren’t. Let’s hope the full-length will have more diversification.
Sum 41 After their ill-fated humanitarian mission to Africa where they got caught in a war, Sum 41 are back in North America preparing themselves for the October release of their new record Chuck. As such, this is the first single off that record. The song kicks off a la classic old school hardcore before moving into its more punk elements. The overly political lyrics lead you along to a dramatic melodic breakdown that sounds highly familiar and lovely all the same. “We’re All to Blame” is a simple illustration that Sum 41 likes to mix and cross-over “genres” in search of the best, punchy sound.
Switchblade This is a story of unfulfilled expectations. With some of the coolest cover art and montage I’ve seen in a long time, Sweden’s Switchblade do not nearly live up to the hotness of the art. As a riving member of the Swedish underground that is international known in some aspects, the three-piece Switchblade have been offering their instrumental and minimal-singing jams since 1998. With a score of releases, this self-titled number features six-songs clocking in at exactly forty-seven minutes. The main problem that becomes abundantly clear on the first song is that Switchblade is so un-dynamic that the songs are quite boring. Most are nearly standard rock-formulations that drag on for a long-ass time and don’t provide the listener anything to hang on to. That the songs generally have darker themes than most instrumental groups is the only thing to marginally remember. You got to do something like building and lowering crescendos, like Explosions in the Sky, if you are going to be successful at this instrumental gig. Moreover, you have to make it sound like it took more than ten minutes to come up with the songs. At times you want to call them up and say that they forgot the vocals – though Anders Steen grumbles a smidgen on the fifth song. If you forced me to sit through Switchblade live, I would confess to anything.
V/A As the first release on former Creed singer Scott Stapp’s Wind-up imprint Lost Keyword, this is a fairly auspicious start. As may be deceiving from the record title, these are songs inspired by Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ and not the actual soundtrack. While there is full love from the film’s company Icon Productions, that is about as far as the relationship goes. If you are like me, you are having negative visions of Christian artists, fists-clenched in the air, wearing their Jesus on their sleeve and shoving it down your throat. Though that is partially case, the sheer breadth of diversity in artists contributing to this release is astounding. It is like Stapp utilized his MTV connections and lined-up all these hot artists for inclusion. This includes new tracks from Stapp himself, P.O.D., MXPX, Big Dismal, Charlotte Church and Lauryn Hill; the twelve tracks here almost cover every musical genre. Now, what if you can get past the in-your-face lyrics, are there any actually good songs? Well, sort of. The lead single from the record is Stapp’s “Relearn Love,” which includes some nice diversity in sounds but is otherwise sub par. P.O.D.’s “Truly Amazing” is a fraction of most their tracks and MXPX’s “The Empire” (which features Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus) is about average amongst their hundreds of songs. While you don’t want to get me started on some of these songs, probably the standout song comes from the compelling piano, strings and breathtaking vocals from Charlotte Church’s “Finding My Own Way.” “Finding My Own Way” is one of the few songs that could score serious airplay without turning people off with overt Christian lyrics. I think the message is clear: if you are a hardcore Christian with contemporary music tastes and think The Passion is the best thing since the second coming then this record is for you.
Vaux I have always seen and heard Vaux mentioned by other bands, but until getting this their latest EP I’d never actually heard them. Though the array of bands that they have played with and been associated with is awesome, I never really thought that Vaux would be able to live up to such comparison. Yet, on this five song EP, their first for EVR, the Denver-based six-piece is stunning. Few may have caught their set at the 2002 Warped Tour and fewer may have heard their two previous releases on Volcom. But now with building powerhouse EVR behind them on Plague Music, there is little doubt Vaux will follow a Coheed trajectory. The EP starts in a non-startling fashion with “Celibate Good Time” where the band rocks out a standard punk-hardcore amalgam. The action and essence of Vaux comes into play on the following “RAID!” “RAID!” is the first track to feature Quentin Smith’s spacey, epic vocals entwined with perfectly fitting guitar work. “Dearest Darkest” continues the trend with tripping vocals that mirror recent My Chemical Romance and includes a sweet Sabbath-esque section. “Sex Will Happen Tonight” completely changes mood with rangy Middle Eastern flair as Vaux relies on electronics, keys and mellow tempo. This song, combined with the previous two, brings up a conceptual connection with the late Ink and Dagger, and it is glorious. The EP closes on a more traditional hardcore note with “Plague Music;” though careens to sweeping mode towards the end. Given this EP, Vaux has the possibility for great things. I very much look forward to their next full-length where they can stretch out their vision.
Wrangler Brutes This is a really fun punk record. Not exactly fun in like a Mr. T Experience way, but more like short blast of old school West coast punk rock played really well. Wrangler Brutes are an odd amalgam four-piece from Los Angeles featuring Sam McPheeters (Born Against, Men’s Recovery Project), Brooks Headley (Born Against, Universal Order of Armageddon), Andy Coronado (Monorchid, Natzi Skinz) and Cundo Si Murad (Natzi Skinz). Given this group of guys, you can imagine that much of the themes are politically and socially induced. Standout blasts of craziness include “Things Get Fruity,” “Forty Five Dollars,” “Shank’d,” “Chaos Collides,” “Driving” featuring Keith Morris (Black Flag), “Slam Dunk,” the partially melodic “Snoods” and, of course, though it is awesome,, “Homosexual President.” When I say blasts, I really mean short blasts – as there are eighteen tracks coming in at twenty minutes. Since the guys in Wrangler Brutes have other outfits, how much this band makes headway seems dependent on what the other groups do.
copyright exoduster.com 2004 |