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Record Reviews1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 | 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| < Prev Section | Next Section >  RSS Feed
AUBURN BIKINI:
Self-titled: CD
If you’ve ever lived in small town, one that you come to love, and not want to flee the confines of (not that you love your chains, but one in which you get all towned-out on) then you may relate to Auburn Bikini. You’ve maybe been there before, a place where there’s nothing going on but that which you make a reality through a homemade, hands-on kind of action. You may have even seen things and come to appreciate aspects of the life there which, to the outside world, seem like an abomination of what they consider true and to the heart. But you play house shows and do your best to make it with what you’ve got. Sure, Auburn Bikini play some songs about football. So what? I’ve seen punk rock soccer games, baseball games, hacky sack (yeah yew, right?), and, yes, football games, one of which was played at the Loveliest Village on the Plains. That’s Auburn, folks. Home to the Bikini. Let me say a couple more things about football, this band, and the town they’re from. There are about 45,000 people who live in Auburn. That’s a small town. There is a football stadium that seats somewhere around 85,000. That’s about double the population. At least a hundred thousand will show up five days out of the year for football games and start drinking in the streets. If you live there, it’s going to have an impact on your life. It doesn’t mean you’re a jock or some frat guy. Shit, there’s a song on here where the lyrics are, “I’m a barracuda/ you’re a barracuda/ five years of marriage/ five years of marriage.” What the hell? I don’t know, do you? Auburn Bikini is about a good time; moreover, the best time you could possibly have. If you needed a show down there in the steamy south, then these guys would be one of your best times.
–Guest Contributor (Arkam)
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AUBURN BIKINI:
Self-titled: CD
There’s immediately going to be limited regional appeal for a band with songs like “Punt, Bama, Punt,” but luckily, I fall within their scope. Auburn Bikini kind of reminds me of the Big Boys in their happier moments; not as cohesive, but that general do-whatever-you-want sort of sound, plus the guy kind of sings like Biscuit. Probably a shitload of fun at a house party. Too bad putting out CDs doesn’t help anybody win a national championship, huh?
–Josh (Arkam)
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AUDACITY:
Power Drowning: LP
The Audacity/Makeout Party
split 7” almost made me piss my pants. I wasn’t expecting a.) anything from
Audacity—as I hadn’t heard them before—and surely b.) I didn’t expect Thee
Makeout Party to be matched up with a serious contender on whose side I would
play first when I spun the 7”. Unfortunately, this LP doesn’t quite live up to
the promise of that one song. But all is far from lost. These Audacity dudes
are young. (Between seventeen and eighteen.) And it’s not as kitschy as Mad
Society, nor does it sound as parent-manufactured and heavily guided as
something like The Diffs. I think Power Drowning has some really great parts: Urinals-y noise bits
sift into jammy, sunshiney bits reminiscent of the Abi Yoyos. But, the overall
effect is a record that’s a little too loose and trying too many things. It’s
like it loses its own character by trying on so many other people’s pants…
instead of staying in one pair and pissing in them. This record is this side of
good, and it’s full of promise.
–Todd Taylor (Burger)
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AUDACITY:
Power Drowning: LP
I definitely wasn’t as
instantly won over by this release as I was with their split 7” with Thee
Makeout Party. I’m thinking it could be one of the following reasons: the cover
art is pretty dumb, the vocals are much more fuzzed out, and the sequencing of
the album isn’t very fluid. But in lieu of those flaws, by the fourth listen I
was completely won over. This record is crammed with beautifully epic pop
melodies that come and go and punch ya and kiss ya and roll around in the mud
with ya. And kinda why I appreciate technical metallic hardcore bands like Curl
Up And Die and Genghis Tron I also hear in Audacity. They’re completely
unafraid to mix it up and throw some completely new part into a song that’s
high enough quality to be the chorus and yet only play it once. And it slays!
But Audacity is, of course, not playing tech metal, they’re playing rock’n’roll
in that way that only scrawny DIY punks can play it. A bag of sugar from Thee
Makeout Party for the poppy ‘60s rhythms and a flying scissor kick from the
Pterodacdudes (both bands they’ve played and done splits with) for the finely
executed power-rock kamikaze attack. There are no bones about it, Audacity has
the heart to make this music in a genuine way and, on top of that, they make it
sound fucking good.
–Daryl Gussin (Burger/Recess)
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AUDACITY:
Mellow Cruisers: CD
Sleeveless jean jacket punk basking in classic OrangeCounty pastimes such as cars, girls, and smoking weed for a living. Redd Kross (not Red Cross) worshippers will be stoked.
–Juan Espinosa (Burger / Recess)
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AUDACITY / MAKEOUT PARTY, THEE:
: Split 7”
Audacity: Multi-part, melodic DIY punk in the vein of The Carrie Nations and ADD/C that stretches its legs through several time and tempo changes. This stuff is hard to pin down too specifically beyond, “It’s good. I like it,” because I get the feeling they’re in the midst of expanding and figuring themselves out, which is a great thing for a new band. Thee Makeout Party: Scruffy punks doing PetSounds-eraBeach Boys a total solid. They’ve got the sunshine and mental illness balance down to a tee. (A little bit of sun is good for you, but too much is cancer sorta thing, in songs.) When I first heard of “psychedelic pop,” this is what I heard in my brain. If they were to start a cult in the next couple of years, I wouldn’t be surprised. For fans of early Redd Kross, wouldn’t be too far of a stretch. Plus, like Redd Kross, both bands have cute girls!
–Todd Taylor (Trabajo)
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AUDACITY / PTERODACDUDES:
Split: 7" EP
Somewhere between Bob Dobbs
and Joseph Stalin, mushrooms, and Burt Reynolds’ chest hair we can trace the
influences and common denominators between these two bands. Probably not very
helpful. Pterodacdudes: Jammy and weedy, but not hippie. More like old
rock’n’roll hooks filtered through well-worn denim and thrift store flannel.
“(-)G2” is a meaty,
catchy song with a soaring guitar. Audacity: A crunched-up, snapped cover of
Red Cross’s “Annette’s Got the Hits” that stands up to Neon King Kong’s take.
Their original, “Desert Man,” is just as antsy pantsy; a chaotic smudge of a
song that has a nice “Ack, Ack, Ack, Ack” (both Urinals and Bill The Cat)
anxiety to it.
–Todd Taylor (Small Pool)
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AUDACITY / PTERODACDUDES:
Split: 7"
Fantastically paired 7”. Both bands play a frantic, spastic, trashy, and psyched out, freaked out mélange of pop, punk, rock’n’roll, metal, and hardcore. Both bands sound like they spend a fair amount of time sharing vans, stages, and chemical substances with the likes of Toys That Kill, Killer Dreamer, and Drinker’s Purgatory, which I guess shouldn’t really come as a surprise, seeing as this record is being put out by Small Pool Records. Comes with a lyric sheet to Ice Cube’s “Today Was a Good Day,” and, to top it off, there’s a picture of Matty Awesome on the back cover. Check this shit out, dudes and chicks. –Jeff Proctor
–Jeff (Small Pool, myspace.com/smallpoolrecords)
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AUDACITY / THEE MAKEOUT PARTY:
Split: 7”
Audacity: Nice bit of punky pop with a singer not afraid to put some oomph into his delivery. Thee Makeout Party: Jangly ‘60s pop by way of mid-‘80s Redd Kross, as if Jeff ’n’ Steve suddenly sold all their Kiss albums and instead went on a Byrds bender. Sounds lame, I know, but these kids are actually quite good at what they’re doin’. Tip o’ the hat to both bands.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Burger)
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AUDIO INFIDELS:
Rock, Paper, Scissors:: CDEP
I guess that’s what it is; appears to be a pre-release sampler with six songs. Rather, “songs.” Mostly songs, with an amount of non-metal heaviness, and another amount of experimentation. I suppose that makes it prog rock. The real problem, however, is that the final track (which runs to about twenty percent of the disc’s total time, mind you) sounds like a computer-generated simulation of someone walking around the house throwing everything on the floor. And the thing is, I can get a Wanda-generated, non-simulated ACTUAL PERSON walking around the house throwing everything on the floor, and all I have to do is drink two bottles of Thunderbird, or crap on the sofa again.
–Cuss Baxter (Audio Infidels; www.audio-infidels.com)
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AUDIO OK:
Good Men: CDEP
Weird sounding. Like if you got Bela Lugosi to actually front a minimalist post-punk/goth band. A bit more German though. Unfortunately, that’s a little cooler sounding than the results here end up being.
–Adrian (Pussycat Kill Kill, info@pussycatkillkill.de)
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AUKTION:
D-Beat RNR Mayhem: CD
There’s a tad too much metal in the mix for these ears, but when they veer off from the chugga-chugga and go into full-on thrash mode, they can tear it up with the best of Swedish hardcore, past or present. The piss-take on the Guns’n’Roses cover was a hoot, too.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Wasted Sounds)
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AULD LANG SYNE:
Midnight Folly: CD
Mellow, primarily acoustic stuff that reminds me of all the things I hated about ‘70s singer-songwriter stuff. Very nice cover art, though.
–Jimmy Alvarado (viperbiterecords.com)
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AURA:
Ghost Paper Puts You in the Booth: CD
Mostly instrumental stuff
that alternates between skronky metal and mellow passages, with little bits of
noise thrown in here and there.
–Jimmy Alvarado (www.myspace.com/aurarocks)
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AURYN:
: CD-R
Interesting. Played this
thing on the computer and while the lyrics match up to the lyric sheet they
included, the band on the CD-R is listed as The Dogs D’Amour, not Auryn. And
the Auryn song titles—menacing ones like “The Untamed Sun” and “The Reward of
Oblivion” on the lyric sheet—are totally wimpified by the fact that the
computer lists them as “Pretty Pretty Once” and “How Come It Never Rains.” I
don’t get it at all. Anyway, as far as the actual music, we’re looking at some late ‘90s screamo stuff with
strained vocals and a very slight metal tinge, though much better than I make
it out to be. Think, you know, Ebullition Records in its heyday, skinny dudes
in hemp necklaces screaming while they roll around on the floor, grainy
woodcuts from the 1800s used as a band’s visuals, etc. Definitely takes one
back (which is a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it) and
reminds me more than a bit of bands like End On End, Staircase, that first
Shivering full-length. The band/song title discrepancy was a little weird, but
if I’d just put the shit in a CD player like a normal person, I’d have been
none the wiser. My tastes may have changed over the years, but there’s no
arguing with the fact that bands of this ilk are capable of sounding pretty
goddamn powerful, and Auryn’s a tight band who sounds like they know exactly what
they’re doing.
–Keith Rosson (Auryn)
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AURYN / BOSQUE:
Split: 7”
Auryn: Dark, apocalyptic crust that is nowhere near happy or painting a pretty picture. At times, the music is brooding and desolate. At other times, it’s charging forth with utter rage at blast beat speed. Bosque: A perfect pairing with Auryn, being similar in mood but use more of a d-beat backing when playing fast and incorporating a doom style sound on their slow parts. A good introduction piece to two bands I personally never heard before. Hats off for the packaging, beautifully silkscreened on a chipboard cover.
–Donofthedead (Square of Opposition)
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AURYN / FILTH MATTRESS:
Split: 7”
Auryn: The perfect mix of dynamic hardcore and triumphant metal. Super exciting. Reminds me a bit of the old Ohio band Memento Mori. From Pittsburgh. One song. Filth Mattress: Crusty, simple punk with shred-metal leads. From Seattle, like Sir Mix-A-Lot. Two songs. The bands compliment each other well, but Auryn really gets the blood pumping. Cool packaging with silkscreened cardboard and a paper sash.
–CT Terry (Square Of Opposition)
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AUSCHWITZ RATS:
Demo: CD
Decent punk in line with the Punk Core stuff but filtered through Poland to give it more of a grittier edge. The vocalist sounds like he’s blown his chords to hell and could be fronting a crust band. The songs range from speedy to mid-tempo, near ska-inflected at times. Not my favorite style of music, but you could do worse.
–Matt Average (Pasazer)
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AUSGEBOMBT:
Hellbomber: CD
Speed metal with anti-war
lyrics played by what looks to be guys who take their fashion cues from the old
hardcore-turned-metal band Genocide. Not all that bad, but it ain’t exactly
memorable, either.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Hardcore Holocaust)
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AUSHWITZ RATS:
Demo: CD
Why is it that a majority of the time I like a band so much more if I do not understand the language. Snob? Yes, sometimes. This is the case here with this band from Poland. To me, and I could easily be wrong, but they remind me of bands like Total Chaos, the Casualties, and bands on the Punk Core label. Those bands, I would be biased on immediately and probably write them off before listening. But the appeal of music from afar grabs my attention. At first listen here, gravelly vocals over melodic mid-tempo street punk is what these ears experience. Gang choruses that bring images of a cheery bunch with pints in their hands, singing a favorite song also is what I imagine. For a demo, this pretty good stuff.
–Donofthedead (Pasazer)
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AUSTIN LUCAS:
The Common Cold: CD
Heart and lungs folk. Austin Lucas gives us nothing short of amazing guitar and vocals. I have had the luxury of seeing Mr. Lucas perform twice; neither time was I familiar with his work. I remember his presence, controlling the silence, stopping even the rattle of the beer bottles in the dark bars he was performing. This release precedes his more notable split release with Chuck Regan of Hot Water Music fame, but it should not be overlooked. PS: Friends, I am three years late on this review. So good luck finding this yellow brick road of an album, but if given the chance to catch him live, I strongly recommend it.
–Gabe Rock (Tiny Turtle, bikeamusprime@hotmail.com)
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AUSTIN LUCAS:
Somebody Loves You: CD
Man, Suburban Home is really moving down the alt country highway. Don’t get me wrong, they are making great choices and Austin Lucas is no exception. Really solid songwriting and good vocals over very mellow folk/roots sounds is the ticket here. Joining labelmates Drag The River, Tim Barry, Two Cow Garage, this is a sound that lives and dies by songwriting. I say Austin Lucas is up to the challenge and I am interested in hearing more.
–Mike Frame (Suburban Home)
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AUSTRA:
Feel It Break: LP
As a fan of most things dark and moody, the current darkwave resurgence (or “gravewave” if you prefer… I sure don’t) should be a real treat for me. But it isn’t. It just seems like a bunch of the turds who were wearing god-knows-what in the pages of Vice Magazine a few months back have now appropriated all of the cool iconology of black metal and are rocking custom Chucks with inverted crosses on them. Fuck that. But luckily, amidst this new parade of clowns, there are some groups expertly nodding to the gloomier side of the ‘80s without quite as much shitty irony (though there always seems to be a smidgen…). Toronto’s Austra, fronted by classically-trained, Latvian-Canadian chanteuse Katie Stelmanis, is one such group. It’s hard to make any comparisons that haven’t been tossed around already (Kate Bush, Eurythmics, even Diamanda Galas’ more accessible moments), but I will say that Austra does a terrific job of blending danceable pop and chilling operatics (think Depeche Mode meets Der Ring or Ligeti maybe? Orff too?), and I’m totally digging it. I had the opportunity to see them play a couple of weeks back, and aside from playing to a backing track (I don’t know if the keyboard was even played at all), Katie Stelmanis’s voice was a mindbomb. So rad.
–Dave Williams (Domino)
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AUTHORITIES:
Kung Pau Au Go-Go: CD
Dunno if any, or how many, members have moved north from their originalStockton headquarters to the Great White North, but the band’s web addressboasts a Canadian suffix. This is the same band that unleashed the muchsought-after Soundtrack for Trouble EP back in ‘82. The tracks are solid,and you even get a cover of DOA’s “My Old Man’s a Bum” and an updating ofthe Subhumans’ “Dead at Birth.” Was a bit skeptical at the outset,considering most of these “old band makes a new record” endeavors often turnto shit, but they’ve put in some good work here.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Get Hip)
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AUTHORITY. THE:
The Fight: 7"
Oi-inflected 77 punk. The B-side, “The End,” is the better of the two tracks here, with a pretty good hook. Better than I thought it was gonna be.
–Jimmy Alvarado (77 RPM)
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