|
September Reviews Artist of the Month: Matt
Skiba & Kevin Seconds This amazing release features five songs from Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio and five from Kevin Seconds of 7 Seconds (duh). The ten tracks are mostly of an acoustic nature with the two playing almost all of the instruments on the recording. Matt Skiba kicks it off with probably the best song on the album "Good Fucking Bye," reminiscent of some of the best Alkaline Trio songs. Following it up is "The City That Day," which is great story of circling lives with catchy harmonies and chorus. "Next to You" starts off as a lo-fi acoustic sleeper before moving to a full-layered lo-fi treasure. Rounding out Skiba's songs are "In Your Wake" and a cover of 7 Seconds' "Soul to Keep." "In Your Wake" has one of the best lines you will hear in modern-era music; "so with a broken stick in dirt we scrawled 'here lies our dreams come true - here lies Xs for eyes on me and you'" before moving to the catchy chorus. A top-quality show. Kevin Seconds has a different view of writing songs than Skiba and it becomes starkly evident. Except in one substantial case, Seconds' songs pale in comparison to Skiba's songwriting breadth. This is not to say that Seconds' five songs are bad; in fact, they are all catchy and poppy. But the anchoring effect of have Seconds after Skiba is hard to disavow or dislodge. The one substantial diamond in the rough is "Ugly Mouth." The song is noticeably more mature and thought out than the rest and one can envision some serious mileage of Seconds on this one. This
split is another demonstration of how Asianman Records is redefining
what a split should consist of (e.g., last year's Lawrence Arms/Chinkees
split). Moreover, Skiba illustrates that he is among the best
songwriters in rock today. After initially poo-pooing the Alkaline
Trio after a few live shows, their latest material (e.g., the
Hot Water Music split) has righted my frame of reference into
seeing their invincibility. This split is certainly up there as
one of the best of the year.
Dead
To Fall Heavy
Nordic-influenced metal mixed the modern age of hardcore characterizes
this Chicago five-piece's existence. Making waves with a five-song
demo, Victory quickly picked them up and this is the first offering
on the label by Dead to Fall. Following the path laid out by death
metal giants and recently by Victory artist Darkest Hour, Dead
to Fall looks to scare all parents and small children to running
for cover. Though props should be given to diversifying the various
growling levels, some of the Cannibal Corpse-esque growls diminish
the high quality of the rest of the vocals (I know that sounds
strange to say). Dead to Fall are at their best when they succinctly
combine grindy segments with speed death-metal technical guitar
riffs; true quality. As with the move to more murdercore music
(e.g., all of Eulogy's recent releases), Dead to Fall should find
themselves toward the top of that movement. Look for them touring
near you soon.
Nicotine
Coming
of Chiba, Japan, Nicotine takes a multi-avenue approaching to
rewriting the punk rock nature of songs. Mixing every possible
style from Fat Wreck beat to ska to oi and straight-up rock, Nicotine
has produced an epic voyage. Nicotine have been around for about
ten years and have managed to put out a record almost every year.
When I first put this record in, I noticed it had twenty-five
songs clocking in at about seventy minutes. This fact put into
my mind that there was probably a bunch of filler going on at
the end in that quasi-traditional manner. But, no. The twenty-five
songs take up that time. That is a lot of music. I am not sure
how much of it is new versus older recorded stuff, but you sure
get your money's worth from the record. As such, it is difficult
to succinctly characterize the album. But the general impression
is that Nicotine are an extremely competent punk band with the
ability to produce quality tracks. One negative is that the songs
tend to ramble on for four to five minutes and they lose their
immediacy and tenacity. Again, though, there is so much here that
it is hard to go wrong picking up such an album.
Over
It
This is the second full-length and fourth release overall for
this quartet from Alexandria, Virginia. Though kicking around
for a number of years, this is the band's first release on Lobster.
This fitting of band and label was probably inevitable. Like many
of the Lobster bands, Over It play fast, upbeat, pop-punk on the
same parallel existence as Fat Wreck bands such as Lagwagon and
No Use For A Name. You may have caught some of their excitement
at this year's Warped Tour, as they played a handful of dates.
Although a quite agile and quality band, Over It does little to
distinguish themselves from similar bands. However, I have a feeling
that Over It comes off better live than they do recorded. This
perception is gained by varying intensity on vocals and breakdowns,
as on "Worry Bomb." Given what I have said, Timing Is
Everything outperforms many other punk releases this year (e.g.,
Ten Foot Pole) and is worth checking out.
Staring
Back
This is Staring Back's (from CA) third release on Lobster and
by far and away their best. The song maturity and quality far
outpaces that on The Mean Streets of Goleta and Many
Will Play, so much so they almost sound like a different band.
As with Over It, Staring Back plays the Left Coast style of pop-punk.
Yet, ON breaks Staring Back from a generic sound and provides
some separation. Most noticeable is a complex and harmonious weaving
of guitars that come together, separate, provide background solos
and the oh-so-cool muting that makes stuff good. In addition,
they emphasize a stronger emo element characterized by such breakthrough
bands as Thursday. The record kicks off with one of the best tracks
in "Version 2.0" and launches headlong from there. Other
standout tracks include "X.Out," "Feel Past the
Words" and "Invite Only." This summer Staring Back
played on the punkrocks.net stage of the Warped Tour and promise
to tour relentlessly in the future.
Ten
Foot Pole Ten
Foot Pole have been spreading their fast-pace left coast punk
for over ten years now and have continued their tradition on this
latest release and first on Victory. The consistency remains on
Bad Mother Trucker as on previous releases such as Unleashed.
Ten Foot Pole strays to a socio-political bend to their lyrics
and, unfortunately, the songs tend to be plagued by mediocre songwriting.
At times, some of the songs seem hokey and campy. This may be
due to very clear sounding lyrics, which stand out above the music.
Unless done perfectly, one is likely to run into trouble with
this method. For instance, vampire-core band Ink & Dagger's
first release has some of the stupidest and lamest lyrics known
to man, but the way they are sung disguised the actual content
and made them sound great. This is lacking here. However, there
are some diamonds in the rough. Particularly, "Do It Again,"
"Nova Scotia" and "One Hero" are excellent
songs that should be emphasized live. The bottom line is that
if you are a Ten Foot Pole fan you will be fulfilled with Bad
Mother Trucker.
V/A Sitting
down to right this I noticed that the record retails at five bucks.
If that is the case, then you would be retarded not to get this
and be the envy of everyone on your block. The record contains
21 tracks from rockabilly/psychobilly (and every variation in-between)
bands from across the country. Notable tracks come from the Reverend
Horton Heat, Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Trio, James Intveld, Marti
Brom, Three Bad Jacks, Dusty 45s, Restless, Flea Bops, Big Six
and Go Cat Go. Some of these artists are true treasures that you
should peruse (e.g., James Intveld). As an introduction to this
style of music, you cannot go wrong. It is beyond cool. I foresee
some problems getting your hands on this release at your local
store. If that is the case, go to www.hepcatrecords.com for more
information.
copyright exoduster.com 2002 |