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Record Reviews1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | 0-9| A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M | | N| O| P| Q| R| S| T| U| V| W| X| Y| Z| Below are some recently posted reviews.  RSS Feed
BIG BLACK CLOUD:
Dark Age: LP
It’s good to know that there are new bands coming out that defy easy pigeonholing. Big Black Cloud has a sound that is all over the place, and where other bands attempting the same would fail, these guys pull it off with class. A mix of psychedelia, post punk, weirdo rock, noise, no wave, and lost creature feature soundtracks. The sound is dark, drenched in noise and distortion, with some chaos bubbling up. How they manage it all is a mystery. I’m pulled into the maelstrom by the bass playing, which keeps it simple but is incredibly effective, proof that you don’t need to be a noodley bass player to be a great bass player. You just have to know how much to play. Less is more. Then, as the bass leads me along, I notice there’s an organ in the sound that gives everything a certain air of creepiness (a good creepy—there is such a thing!) and an indicator that there’s more going on than initial glances reveal. Guitars ring out and sound like air raid warnings at times, then they jab like knives in the dark, the drums smash and careen, and the singer sounds like he’s losing control. The lyrics are no slouch either. In fact, they’re some of the most interesting I’ve heard in some time. The song titles would make you think these songs are just some sassy shit. However, the words are poetic and not so clear cut, but not opaque either. Check out “Fancy Fux” or “Vulcan Rock” with the lines, “In this dark age of men in caves/ The years come and change, but life stays the same.” Or “Time to Waste” brought on by the despair that the season fall brings. Really, just check them all out. Musically, “Huff Party #9” is a standout track. It consists of a guitar-clanging riff that repeats over a equally repetitive and effective bass line. Amid all this are washes of noise, a trumpet that comes out of nowhere, makes some blurts, then goes away as fast as it came. Really good stuff here.
–Matt Average (Stankhouse)
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BIRD’S MILE HOME:
Self-titled: LP
I have never really delved into alt-country. I’ve dipped my toe; I enjoy some of the well-known stuff, like Uncle Tupelo’s No Depression and Ryan Adams’s Heartbeaker and most Wilco. Whenever I hear any alt-country, I pretty much want to listen to one of the above-mentioned bands—even when it’s something I’m mildly interested in like Lucero. Maybe one day when I feel like listening to this type of thing and Uncle Tupelo and the others I have in reserve just ain’t cutting it, then maybe I’ll venture the way of Bird’s Mile Home. Until then, BMH is just gonna make me put on “Graveyard Shift.”
–Vincent Battilana (Minor Bird)
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BE MY DOPPLEGANGER:
No Composure: CD
Guys who are not skinny should not take their shirts off on stage. I forgot to tell the bassist of Scouts Honor in my other review the same thing. I’m not letting these dudes off the hook, but I like this CD a lot better so I will move on. I dug their first record, but I think they went for the jugular here and the end result is blood all over the place. But nobody seems to be any worse for wear here. “Turning Seventeen” is a great tune that will bring you back to those wistful years—unless you are there now, then I don’t know what it will do to you. But turn it up and find out. “Maybe It Was Your Fault” is also a cool singalong. There’s an assload of good songs here, so buy this and choose your poison. Yum.
–Sean Koepenick (It’s Alive)
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AZTLAN UNDERGROUND:
Self-titled: CD
For much of its twenty-plus years of existence, Aztlan Underground has made a point of wreaking havoc on the sensibilities of those who prefer their music to fit into clearly outlined cubbyholes. Over the years, they’ve managed to dip their toes into virtually every pond there is to do so—how many bands can you name off the top of your head that would fit perfectly on a bill with Slayer, Public Enemy, John Zorn, Crass, Rage Against the Machine, Swans, and the meanest hardcore band you can think of without anyone blinking an eye?—and this latest only reinforces their standing as one of the most challenging, creative, and unique bands to grace Los Angeles’ underground. Each song here is not so much music as an aural landscape ravaged by tsunami-sized waves of sonic virulence, with quieter passages only serving as a brief respite before the next surge comes crashing down. Within each, one can find indigenous music, hip hop, jazz, hardcore punk, spoken word, metal, electronica, you name it, mixed into a heady mélange and married to lyrics addressing the protection of the earth and indigenous cultures, and ensuring the disastrous mistakes United States government continues to repeatedly make and the resulting atrocities are not so easily hidden away by those who place greed over the planet’s continued existence. This self-titled release is the perfect culmination of the band’s distinctive approach—so intelligent, intricate, heavy and angry—that in the end the listener feels like he’s been spent forty rounds taped to a heavyweight boxer’s glove as he pummels a dynamite factory, yet is infused with enough hope that the whole endeavor doesn’t end up mired in misery. The best of 2010? Well, that kinda stuff is relative to whoever’s doing the picking, but I’m personally at a loss to come up with something that can top this. They remain, in my humble estimation, the real deal.
–Jimmy Alvarado (aztlanunderground.net))
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AT OUR HEELS:
Misanthropy and Godlessness: CD
Crushing metalcore along the lines of bands like Trap Them, Cursed, and American Nightmare. The sound is full, heavy as fuck, and the vocalist sounds like his throat is engulfed in flames. A lot of tempo changes go on to keep things interesting. I do think when they pick up the speed they actually have more punch. The mid-tempo breaks are cool and allow the listener to collect their thoughts, but when the pace picks up is when it gets really interesting. I wonder how they would sound if they cranked out a number of thrashy songs back to back? “The Recluse” is my favorite track of the thirteen, as it goes off into the speedy realm with some speed metal touches, and the drums sound like their punching holes into the walls.
–Matt Average (Creator-Destructor)
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ARTICLES OF FAITH :
New Normal Catastrophe: 12” EP
I have to admit I was late to the AOF party. I had become a Vic Bondi fan after catching a couple Report Suspicious Activity shows a few years back. Then I went and chowed down on his back catalog, enjoying both Jones Very and Alloy. But I was lucky enough to catch both of AOF’s reunion shows in Chicago this fall. In a word—intense. But in addition to doing those shows, they have also put out a new five-song EP, their first new music in many moons. Every song on this record will put hair on your chest. Sorry ladies—no Nair included with the LP. With song titles like “With a Vengeance” and “The Hammer” what do you expect? No one in the band has lost their chops. This flies by with unbridled fury in fifteen minutes. Recorded by Jeff Dean (The Bomb) and mixed by J. Robbins (Office Of Future Plans), the production is rock solid without sounding too slick. Excellent return to form by these Chicago pioneers. Seek this out and thank me later.
–Sean Koepenick (Alternative Tentacles)
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ARTICLES OF FAITH:
New Normal Catastrophe: 12” EP
Bit of a surprise finding this in the bins. For those not in the know, this revered Chicago hardcore band hasn’t been active in at least twenty-five years and this recording shows they haven’t lost that spark that made ‘em so special. While the thrashing’s a bit tempered compared to the full-bore days of Buy This War, the righteous anger, topicality, and intelligence are still very much in evidence, and they can still mix it up quite nicely when they see fit. The real treat, though, is when they slow it down a bit and dabble in melody and sonic layering, coming up with something that straddles the line between later Hüsker Dü and the very early period before “emo” became a sad cliché. Faboo return to form and it’s definitely nice to have ‘em back.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Alternative Tentacles)
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ARRIVALS, THE:
Volatile Molotov: LP
One of the Grand Punk Paradoxes for me is this: I have loved punk rock for the past twenty-five years on a continual basis. I continue to love punk rock. Yet the music, the form, the approach, the culture, the intent, the delivery—practically everything about it—has fundamentally morphed away from its origins somewhere in the late ‘70s. So, if the Ramones, The Bags, The Weirdos, and the Clash are punk, and punk died, what’s left? (Punk’s death is something I don’t believe. I do believe that punk dies in people and that if you repeat something enough times, regardless of truth, people start believing it.) Are punks in their late thirties—too young to surf the first wave, but old enough to put a lifetime in—delusional? Merely hangers-on? Leeches attached to ghosts of nostalgia? No one seriously talks about a wide-scale punk music revolution anymore. Almost every lifer punk I know doesn’t even look like what when someone from the outside shuts their eyes and imagines a punk rocker. But no other term has come along, no other label’s ever stuck. Saying that it’s “music” is too broad; like the term “world music” is just fuckin’ stupid and racist (because I don’t know any bands that have recorded in outer space yet, all music is world music). Digging into smaller and smaller subgenres doesn’t do anyone any good. Parts further isolated will eventually be mocked, suffocated, and destroyed. The Arrivals bring all of this thinking to the forefront. Bar none, they are one of my favorite bands, and have been since their debut Goodbye New World, in 2000. So, I could say, “They’re so much more than punk,” but why divorce them from my favorite form of music so some squares will have fewer wrong preconceived notions and may actually give a wonderful band a chance? I want to celebrate it, bar none, not serve it on a clean plate to fancy, fickle people who mostly suck anyhow. So I came up with a quick, personally helpful device. If someone calls any band that I like “punk,” and they mean it as a compliment, I’ll take it. If someone dismisses music as “just punk,” and they mean it as a slag, that they’ve got the entire enterprise figured out and it’s now a waste of anyone’s time, they can go fuck themselves. With all that mind, The Arrivals have just made one of the best records—and have one of the strongest catalogs—of any band in the past ten years. Punk or not. It’s a big, fat fuckin’ paradox.
–Todd Taylor (Recess)
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ARRIVALS, THE: Volatile Molotov: LP:
Volatile Molotov: LP
If the last record made me feel like a pirate (because of songs for the working class through eyes that are both brutally honest, yet romantic), this one feels like I’ve come ashore, only to find that all that’s left is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. There are a lot of songs about the end of the world, and coping; musically ranging from thrashers like “Two Years” to the more anthemic and beautiful “The Last Testament” that feel like they’re slowly building up to something really big. I say it’s a masterpiece. If this is what’s going to be playing as the world comes to an end, I say bring on 2012.
–Kristen K (Recess)
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ANTIDOTE:
Thou Shalt Not Kill: 7"
Antidote were one of the bands in the first wave of NYHC, along with the likes of Reagan Youth, the Bad Brains, and the False Prophets. Their importance in the “history” of the scene is that they were more in line with bands like Agnostic Front or Warzone, but released this record a couple of years before any those bands got their footing, so they can be pointed to as the “originators” of that NYHC style. The production is above par for the era, and there are some genuinely exciting moments like the killer breakdown on “Foreign Job-Lot.” Bridge 9 has done some great reissues in the past (Project X, The Trouble, Agnostic Front), and them releasing this makes sense to me. I think it’s a good thing for them to do because they reach a lot of kids who wouldn’t otherwise check out or have access to older hardcore. That being said, I think the record is great as a time piece; but I know for a fact that my hardcore archival nerd-dom affects my opinion on this more than just a little, and the passive listener should stick to the aforementioned bands.
–Ian Wise (Bridge 9)
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ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT:
Self-titled : LP
Loose rock a la the New York Dolls and early ‘70s Rolling Stones, but not remotely as exciting. A related side note: bad idea to name a band after one of the most popular songs in the entire world—really tramples the idea of SEO. Yes, I Google bands when writing reviews. Research provides context.
–Jessica Thiringer (Slow Gold Zebra)
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ANNE FRANK ZAPPA:
Self-titled: 7” EP
Excellent European garage rock. It’s super noisy with tons of feedback, which is something you want with this kind of thing. There are influences that creep through, ranging from Teengenerate to early Black Flag, with a few moments of power pop as well (if power pop was super loud). Apparently, these are all guys who’ve been in numerous other bands. It doesn’t surprise me, because they know what they’re doing and they’re really good at it. Fantastic stuff.
–Joe Evans III (Stardumb)
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ANIMAL LOVER:
Self-titled: 7"
Noise rock from a band that knows how to lock into a groove and milk from it every ounce of chaos possible. While they don’t let up on the volume for one second, they do know how to manipulate the throttle to keep things interesting.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Bumpkin Pie)
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ANGIE OASE:
Pistol Shot: 7"
Minneapolis’ Angie Oase meanders through dreamy and starry-eyed songs with her girlish voice and unobtrusive electric guitar. So tempered, mellow, and ethereal bluesy, I imagine this will pop up in some independent art film.
–Jessica Thiringer (Self Released)
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ANDERS THODE:
Self-titled: 7"
Poppy punk stuff that sounds like it was recorded on a tape recorder wrapped in pillows. The songs are actually quite good, but the sound quality really doesn’t help the cause.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Leather Bar)
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AMPLINE:
You Will Be Buried Here: CD
College friendly alt-rock.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Phratry)
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ALEX AND THE IMAGINARY FRIENDS / VALENTINE / TANNER WILLOW / WINTER WINDS:
4 WAY SPLIT: CD-R
If you swear that acoustic singer-songwriter stuff is where music’s most honest, heartrending revelations stem from, this solid but ho-hum four artist project is up your alley. Alex And The Imaginary Friends (which is probably just one guy here) pull off a swell Chris McCaughan impression as they talk about aging and getting grim in the decent “Growing Up Is Giving In.” Valentine’s “A Plea for Something” is the least appealing of the four songs. It’s plagued by grating, whiny off-key notes, even if it does pick up toward the end with the addition of claps and muddled chants. Tanner Willow wishes on a star in “Starlight Starbright.” It’s a childish, unimpressive move that’s compensated for via a decent hook. Closer “This Is The Biggest Thing (Of All Things We Deserve),” as executed by Winter Winds (a.k.a. Eric Doucette), delivers a mature, beautifully assembled little song. It’s nothing mind-blowing, but it delivers on the sense of sincerity so important to this sort of music. Production quality definitely varies between tracks: while Winter Winds’ song is warm and full, the Valentine track sounds like it was recorded on a computer setup. As of this writing, you can catch the whole thing at http://the4waysplit.bandcamp.com.
–Reyan Ali (Raise Your Fist)
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ADJUSTERS:
Reckless Relations: CD
Forget all your troubles with the down and dirty rock’n’roll (a la Dead Boys, Heartbreakers, Humpers, et al) of this London band. Plenty of sneering vocals, wah-wah guitar, trashy drums, and even a lot of rock piano to keep toes tapping and heads nodding in time. Hot little numbers: “Too Bad,” “Kickin’ down the Doors,” “Misery Addict,” and “Let’s Dance.”
–Jessica Thiringer (Zodiac Killer)
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ABORTTI 13 / SEKAANNUS:
SPLIT: EP
Is there a hardcore punk cabal in Finland that has Abortti 13 and Sekaannus in suspended animation, and every so often they bring them out to record some music, then put ‘em back in the fridge until it’s time to unleash some more awesome music on the world? The Abortti 13 songs are new songs they wrote and recorded a bit after they put out their Viimeinen Veriloyly EP, which was songs written in 1983 and recorded in 2009. This stuff is along the same lines. How do these guys do it? Sounds like classic Scandinavian hardcore from the ‘80s, even though it’s 2010. Unbelievable!! Four rippers that pack a powerful wallop. I especially like the chaotic nature of “Ei Selityksia” with stop-go breaks and a tempo that sounds like it’s about to spin out of control. Then, there’s the excellent “Laumasielujen Valtakunta,” that’s mid tempo and has a really good, classic punk guitar break. Sekaannus are from the same area and time period as Aborttti 13, and share some similarities with Abortti 13, but Sekaannus are slightly more catchy, a little more tuneful, and just a touch more polished. However, they’re just as blazing as the former. “Kuvat” worked its way into my mind and had me singing “Huvia huvia, kuvia kuvia!” (which translates roughly to something like “Pleasure! pleasure! image! image!”, hmmmm....). “Saatan Lampaat” end their three song set with its fast-paced tempo that blazes through with abandon without ever tilting into thrash territory. Well crafted music that hits where it counts. I truly love this stuff.
–Matt Average (Killer)
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ABE VIGODA:
Crush: CD
Cold wave-flavored indie rock. Judging by the commercial-radio-friendly appeal of the music, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if these guys soon landed a major label deal and a song from this found its way into a car commercial. Unfortunately for these guys, the readership of this humble little fanzine would more than likely find this as appealing as shopping for designer scarves.
–Juan Espinosa (Post Present Medium, postpresentmedium.com)
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1981:
Self-titled: EP
One those records that the more and more I listen to it, the more I like it. 1981 sort of remind me of Giant Haystacks, with their minimal style that’s filtered through the Minutemen and the Postcard Records sound. “Faster and Forward” is the most upbeat of the three, but the two songs I return to most are the two on the flipside, “Blind Acceptance” and “We Don’t Share the Truth.” These two songs are a touch darker, there’s a forlorn mood throughout, and the alienation and general malaise expressed in the lyrics comes across well. I like this record quite a bit, and I wonder if we’ll hear more from them.
–Matt Average (Passing Bells)
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123 SASS!:
Self-titled: CD
I think I hear an accordion or one of those air organ instruments; interesting choice. Lyrical content is silly yet some has some meaningful weight to it. The balance between catchy light-heartedness and a deeper point of view was a refreshing change from the same ‘ole boring songs I’ve been exposed to lately. In the wise words of the female vocalist of this band, “Shake your hips now, shake it, shake it.”
–Corinne (Arkam)
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ZEBRASSIERES:
Gooey Zoo: 12"
As happens on occasion, this review will seem somewhat biased because friends of mine are in this band… and I mastered the record… but I believe I can remain objective. My objectivity becomes even more suspect since this record is FUCKING AWESOME. Seriously, this is some incredibly catchy pop in the vein of Devo-meets-Ramones-meets a bunch of garage bands I’ve never heard. Insanely memorable keyboard lines and vocal melodies that invade your brain for weeks. This isn’t even really my type of thing, but it’s quite obviously a cut above most of the bands that’d have “organ-driven” or “keyboard-fuelled” in their write-ups. Beautiful layout, too. Definitely recommended.
–Dave Williams (Going Gaga)
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YOUNG OFFENDERS:
Leader of the Followers: 12"
You know what sounds like fun? A pop punk band that uses a lot of harmonized singing. It’s like they are ripping through their own song, bopping up and down, and all screaming together because they love what they are doing so much. No pretension, nothing forced, just a bunch of musicians who love playing in a band. Okay, I suppose some douche-punk bands do this too. But you can feel honest enthusiasm in the Young Offenders, just bursting through a song staring at each other, going, “Fuckyeah, isn’t this fun?! Holy shit!” The Young O’s got real tight control with their peppy anthems, getting into some great themes, singing smart lyrics, and then getting out the door. Feels like some of the better quickpop bands from the ‘80s that had something to say and loved doing it.
–Speedway Randy (Deranged)
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YEAR ZERO:
Year One: CD
Clean yet dirty. Completely put together, but scuffed. Shiny but “imperfect.” Melodic, but not future-insulin-injections sweet. Tough, but not street fight tough. Twisted cords in a thick rope tough that can hold a lot of weight tough. Year Zero’s from Ottawa. They’ve somehow fused stuff that usually doesn’t go well together, that actually sounds a little shitty when I’m writing it out: The Carbonas with Pennywise. Marked Men with early Good Riddance. It’s a strange alchemy of high-end-sounding production with fangs, anthemy parts, and spikes rolling along on the chassis of prime, searing garage rock hookery. If I wasn’t listening to it right now, I wouldn’t believe it myself. But isn’t that the point of great new music? To be a little confounded, yet excited? To set new expectations? To let the magic just come even if it doesn’t make a lick of “music logic” sense? I have no idea how they pull this off without it being absolute poo. It’s gold, though. Surprise of the issue for me. Highly recommended.
–Todd Taylor (Young Modern)
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