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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 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 | 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
CHILD BITE:
Exquisite Luxury: CD EP
This was an odd little bit of fun. Apparently a remix of their first album, it sounds in spots like Pere Ubu being dragged across a dancefloor by someone not particularly interested in dancing. Noisy and just plain weird in all the right ways, boyo.
–Jimmy Alvarado (www.subprawl.com)
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CHILD BITE:
The Living Breathing Organ Summer: CD
The band hits off-kilter grooves and spazzes out over them with guitars, keys, and carnival barker chants. But the one-sheet ruined it for me. They say they sound like The Birthday Party. All I hear is fake deep vocals. They say they sound like Devo. I hear a band playing with corncobs up their asses. In defense of the one sheet, it helped me decipher the band name and album title, which are written in script that made the CD look like “The Live Wing & Creativing Orgasm Liniment” by Wild & Te. Still, the overall effect is cool and theatrical and since they list about a hundred auxiliary members, I bet their stage show is a spectacle.
–CT Terry (Joyful Noise)
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CHILD BITE / BIG BEAR:
Split: 7"
As soon as the needle hits the groove, I hear what I think to be saxophone. Immediately, I check the back of the sleeve, and sure enough, that’s a saxophone I hear. One of the most maligned instruments in pop music, and certainly in punk rock, has the luxury of kicking off the Child Bite side. These hirsute Detroit gentlemen play some moody indie rock, both complex and groovy, that’s accented by hoarse vocals that call to mind Archers Of Loaf’s Eric Bachman and that ever-present saxophone humming throughout, adding some bottom to the mix. I can’t think of another band to compare it to right now, but I like it. And if you’ve got a soft spot in your heart for something new and a little bit different, then I think you might like this, too. The Big Bear side is lady-fronted, keyboard-heavy, bare bones and angular. The keys on here sound like they’re straight out of the golden age of arcade games. The guitar work sounds like some of Tom Verlaine’s more sharp and jagged moments. Big Bear comes across as a little less intriguing than the Child Bite side, but still a nice pairing here. Hand numbered, limited to 500, on clear green vinyl, with really engrossing and colorful album artwork as well.
–Jeff Proctor (Joyful Noise)
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CHILD BITES:
Fantastic Gusts of Blood: CD
Art damaged punk pop
something or other with a vocalist who sounds like David Thomas (Pere Ubu).
Child Bite are definitely blazing their own trail. There are some influences of
Midwestern art punk, but this band is heading somewhere else with all of it.
Herky jerky rhythms from minimal drumming and a bass that makes its presence
know without being overbearing. The addition of trumpets, flutes, and the sort
are used properly, and not as a novelty. “Jewels Rules” is the best of the
bunch, employing a saxophone for that extra bit of goodness to something
already great. Keep it up, and I’ll keep listening.
–Matt Average (Suburban Sprawl Music, www.suburbansprawlmusic.com)
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CHILDHOOD FRIENDS:
Key Party: CD
Synthy, dark stuff that at once evokes Cocteau Twins and a billion shoegazer bands, then goes off on a tangent that evokes something entirely different. Catchy, varied, and well executed, the music is great. The problem, however, is the vocals, which, with a more aggressive band, would probably work just swell but here come off more like a banshee reeling from a bad root canal. Again, not a bad thing normally, just kinda mismatched with the other parts. A little more understated and I would’ve been all over this.
–Jimmy Alvarado (childhoodfriends@gmail.com)
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CHILDREN OF GOD:
Victimized: Flexi 7”
One track of heavy powerviolence-y grind riffs and blast beats that rips from start to finish. I had not heard of Children Of God before, but they’re definitely a band I’ll have on my radar in the future. My only complaint is that while the flexi-format was kind of a cool gimmick, I really wanted more than only one track.
–Paul J. Comeau (A389, unholychildren@gmail.com)
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CHILDREN’S CRUSADE, THE:
Get Awesome: 10"
This batch of recordings is from 2002 and 2003, and in fact the band no longer exists. But I guess, as the story goes, this recording is what urged Adam and Jenna Alive to even start making records…as each year passed, the recording got older and the band kept fading from the memory of even those who knew of them. Then, just as it seemed this record was to be lost forever, fourteen releases in and It’s Alive Records decides to pay homage to the recording that essentially started them off. The band wields Titlwheel’s honesty, Fifteen’s poetry, and Toys That Kill’s clean yet full of fuzz and buzz recording quality. I’m not in love with this yet…but I will be soon. I’m on my sixth listen right now, and it just keeps getting better. Band members include Mike Napkin (The Minds, The Observers, Blood Bath & Beyond, Defect Defect), and Max from the Trashies.
–Mr. Z (It’s Alive)
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CHILDREN’S CRUSADE, THE:
Get Awesome: CD-R
Portland’s Children Crusade won’t have to go on any sort of crusade to get people hooked on this instant classic tribute to ‘90s pop punk. Borrowing from the upper levels of the bygone pop punk golden era, The Children’s Crusade deliver some of the best poppy punk recorded in recent years. The vocals are simultaneously snotty and scary, and the production gives the band an uncommonly full sound for a three-piece. Reminiscent of the old Mutant Pop band After School Special yet with a slightly rawer edge, The Children’s Crusade stands out as one of the more exciting new bands I’ve heard lately. Get Awesome is available as a 10” record with this CD-R included. Warning: neck pain may result from the uncontrollable beat nodding known to ensue upon first listening to this awesomeness.
–Art Ettinger (It’s Alive)
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CHILDSPLAY:
Righteous Rampage: CD-R
Fairly pedestrian punk stuff here: chanty exclamations and choruses, mid-tempo rhythms, raspy voice, and even a “street punk” rendition of Sabbath’s “Iron Man” that starts out with someone saying, “This song’s the motherfuckin’ shit, dog.” Should secure ‘em an opening slot on a bill with the Casualties, but there’s just too goddamned many bands that sound exactly like this for ‘em to stand out much.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Childsplay, childsplaymusic.ca)
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CHILI COLD BLOOD:
Rock N Roll Motherfucker Redux: CD
Initial Observation: Two dudes in cowboy hats and one in a trucker cap. Initial Thoughts: Cripes, why me? Expanded Post-Contact Observations: Damn decent (by my admittedly minimally qualified standards) Miller High Life drinkin’ white boy neo-Delta blues (a far superior strain of the blues than that shitty Chicago blues that, owing to my unfortunate geographical placement, i am often subjected to) (although the singer does occasionally emit otherworldly ululations similar to the Windy City’s own three hundred pounds of heavenly joy, Howlin’ Wolf, so what the fudge do i know?), with some of the bitchenest pedal steel playing since that first Rose Tattoo album (though, to quickly clarify, this band sounds nothing like Rose Tattoo, or anything from the Southern Hemisphere, really). In this day and age, you gotta be Kinda On Your Shit to be able to sing about booze, trucker speed, and manslaughter without coming off as another pack of generic louts attempting to convince anyone stupid enough to listen to them that they’re the 112th coming of Nine Pound Hammer; and Kinda On Their Shit Chili Cold Blood indeed is. Neat. BEST SONG: “Midnight Creep” BEST SONG TITLE: “I Feel Fine,” just because it amuses me that they wrote a song that shares a title with a Beatles song. FANTASTIC AMAZING TRIVIA FACT: The drummer’s name is “Bagpiper,” but the absence of a bagpipe player in the band makes checking for reciprocity impractical.
–Rev. Norb (Shake Your Ass)
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CHILI COLD BLOOD:
Self-titled: 7”
Guitar, drums, and pedal steel was the first thing I noticed, and not the boob displayed in a static fuzz on the cover. Had I noticed the boob first, I would have thought, “Oh look, a static fuzzed boob. Next please.” It’s not that it’s not a lovely breast, but more along the lines of me not really caring. Hell, maybe it sells records. I don’t know, but I don’t care to read the market and/or trade reports on it. However, pedal steel—I’m all in for that. Actually, I don’t think there’s enough of pedal steel out there. So I was stoked on this one before I even played it. Now after listening to it several times, and not being sure if I’m into it or not... wait... let me sit back for a moment and listen to the low end on “Why Baby Why”.… I can’t say that I don’t like it. It’s pretty good stuff. I’m not going to compare them to any other bands, ‘cause if you are into pedal steel it should be enough for you to get the record. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want it to sound like I think of myself as a pedal or lap steel aficionado, all I’m saying is it’s got that going for it, and that it doesn’t sound clean or southwestern. It’s more blues sounding stuff, with green bullet-type vocals, and a booby on the cover. You in?
–Guest Contributor (Shake Your Ass)
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CHILL DAWGS:
Oh Okay: 7” EP
The Chill Dawgs are St. Louis’s answer to the question that everyone has been asking for years. What would a Rocket From The Crypt Too Many Daves hybrid sound like? “Dude’s Room” with horns! Soul that’s chill! The kind of band that should be playing a house party in Revenge of the Nerds. And to top it off, this record is brought to you by the fine gentlemen at Dudes Magazine. Bring the party home!
–Daryl Gussin (Do What?)
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CHILL DAWGS, THE:
Oh Okay: 7” EP
Keep the following in mind when reading this review: 1.) I’m lukewarm at best on Bruce Springsteen. 2.) I really, really want to paint a dogs playing poker mural in my bathroom. 3.) Remember that part in Better off Dead where the claymation hamburger plays the guitar to a Van Halen song? Chill Dawgs make me think of way-stupid shit, much in the way of Too Many Daves. Chill Dawgs validate stupid ideas into being reality. So, if I even cared about Bruce Springsteen, best case scenario would be Chill Dawgs: true road dog music for the fucked-over under classes. Instead of actors and millionaires in arenas, it’s Jason Stuhlmann drumming in a sweaty St. Louis house, where the kiddie pool’s water is murky, shirts are for work, pizzas get delivered by specially trained dogs, fireworks get set off mostly outside, and the band runs six members deep (including tenor sax). It’s lovingly stupid, it’s honest. I back it. For some reason, I keep thinking about Miami Vice episodes. “Hey is my beer mic’d? Can you hear me open the can?” “Yeah.” “Hey dawg, does your Casio have dog barks.” “Rwoof, rwoof.”
–Todd Taylor (Do What? dawgschillthe.bandcamp.com)
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CHILLED MONKEY BRAINS:
We’re All in This Together: CDEP
Coming out of Tallahassee, FL with their new four-song EP, this seven piece band, has come up with a winner. They play a mix of hardcore, punk, and ska and have dual trombones for something a bit different. I’m glad that this isn’t too much in the third wave style, but has the punk and hardcore along with the ska. The songs mix up the styles pretty good and keeps the pace going through this release. They have pretty clean production which makes the release a catchy, easy to get into bunch of songs. These guys sound like they would be a good time live.
–Guest Contributor (Swamp Cabbage, swampcabbagerecords.com)
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CHILLERTON:
Self-titled: 7”EP
U.K. version of mid-period Hot Water Music, but with Alison of Discount in the band (on the occasional song). So it’s sorta like Fifth Hour Hero, but a little more clonky and mechanical. Feels like X amount of people are in the room, want to form a band, and they want to approach the songs a little differently. And that’s the not-so-good sort of tension, a band that sounds a little at odds with itself. The sweeping parts seem a little labored and workman instead of that juicy organic tension that HWM—in the best of times—would burst in a messy explosion, like a grapefruit under a speeding semi. Chillerton has potential, and I’m not ruling them out, but I don’t suspect this 7” will get many spins from me. Sorry.
–Todd Taylor (Cat’n’Cake)
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CHILLERTON:
Hollow Lane: 7"
Kinda reminds me of the sound that Jawbreaker used to have way back when, but I could be entirely off base since I didn’t really listen to Jawbreaker all that much. Let me make a hazardous attempt at greater accuracy and say that this sounds like the bands that were coming out in the late ‘80s to early ‘90s when some elements of the punk world were transforming into what would become known as emo. That is not to say that this should be junked as an emo record; rather, Chillerton has that early emo sound (musically) but the lyrical content is not pussified the way that emo developed.
–The Lord Kveldulfr (Kiss Of Death)
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CHILLING WINSTON:
Self-titled: 10”
Banner Pilot-esque punk rock from Australia. If you like Banner Pilot, you’d probably be into this. Plus, you could say, “I have a record from Australia that sounds like Banner Pilot!”
–Maddy (Sewing Circle)
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CHILLING WINSTON:
Pessimistic: 7” EP
A mix of modern indie pop punk and stuff that could easily pass for a late-’80s Gilman Street band, not unlike Crimpshrine castoffs. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Sewing Circle)
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CHIMIKS:
Modern Storm: LP
This album conveniently and forcefully answers a number of pressing musical questions which had cut into my sleeping over the course of the last few decades, ergo and to wit: “What would Greg Ginn’s early ‘90s solo albums have sounded like if he liked garage, was half his age, and didn’t care if the drums kept speeding up?”, “What would Los Ass-Draggers have sounded like if they weren’t obsessed with the concept of playing really, really fast?” and “What would the Statics have sounded like if they were kinda mean?” This album does not conveniently and forcefully answer the question of what the cover art depicting a wispy, spooky skull cloud hovering over a electric substation has to do with anything however. Either way, i got hearing damage after just the first side. Nicely played. BEST SONG: “Hole of the Black Kids” BEST SONG TITLE: I cannot tell a lie. “Hole of the Black Kids” FANTASTIC AMAZING TRIVIA FACT: I decided the cover art reminds me of the original art of Scream’s “Still Screaming” album. Bet you didn’t see THAT one coming.
–Rev. Norb (Frantic City/Barbarella Club, franticcity.free.fr)
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CHIN UP, MERIWETHER!:
Fruition: LP
Well, I do like the cover art. A nice four-color print (if you count the white paper it’s printed on—which I do), with some two-legged creature standing on the back of a four-legged creature that has alligators for toes. The music is a whole other affair though. Poppy punky confection with some emo (not the mainstream version, but the real stuff like Still Life, Indian Sumer, etc) that was bubbling throughout the ‘90s, and this is just too precious. Akin to drinking a soda and eating a couple donuts for breakfast. Might sound like a grand idea, but then you get sick like a motherfucker from the massive amounts of sugar in your guts. It has some fleeting moments, but the nasally vocals ruin it, and the lyrics at times are, again, too precious, such as: “... With you as the North Star, you’ll never forget where you are.” Blehhh....
–Matt Average (Rumbletowne)
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CHINA CREEPS:
Self-titled: 7”
Do you remember the Skate Rock compilations that Thrasher magazine put out in the ‘80s? Amazing collections of bands dedicated to their love of punk rock and skateboarding. Fast forward to today. There is a major skate rock resurgence happening in Western Canada. Bands like Calgary’s Sheglank’d Shoulders, Victoria’s Shivs and the Hoosegow, and now Vancouver’s China Creeps are bringing back the screaming wheels and barking trucks of days gone past. This slab is the Creeps first recorded offering and it is fast and furious hard driving thrash. Relentless odes to skating, skaters, and their beloved home bowl: China Creek. Look out, Thrasher; the Canadians are rolling your way.
–Ty Stranglehold (China Creeps, myspace.com/chinacreeps)
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CHINA CREEPS:
Stay on or Die: 7"
Vancouver’s skate thrash masters are back with a four-song blast of wax that will force you to get on your stick and go hunting for empty pools. These five tracks are over before I even knew what was up. My mind was stuck thinking about the crazy skate pits that break out every time they play live. Even the blue vinyl had me dreaming of swimming pools. Track one down and get the shred!
–Ty Stranglehold (myspace.com/chinacreeps)
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CHINA LOCA:
I Like How: CD
Oh, man, you caught me
again. Here I am, the editor of this zine, reviewing something that one of our
contributors put out. Conflict of interest! I tell you what. When three other
zines run a review, I’ll retract this. You just send me the links. It’s not like
we have contributors to this here publication because we think they suck and
they should be ignored. China Loca are: Amy Adoyzie, Imposing ‘Stache Gus, and
a warp speed Casiotone providing the drumbeats. Let’s not gussy this up beyond
what it is: Amy sing/screaming, Gus plonking through a practice amp, and a
machine, but, damn, if the minimalism doesn’t play in their favor in a
Crass-meets-Bikini Kill-meets-cheap-beer-belly-basement way. There’s anthems
(“SOS”—“same old stuff” (roller rink mix)), there’s ballads (“This Is All”),
and there’re straight-up rockers. Take your Warped Tour, cell phone excuses,
and viral marketing. I’ll take a band that had three months to exist, practiced
in their pajamas, and DIY’d furiously any day.
–Todd Taylor (China Loca, and if you have Razorcake #43, there’s a link in Amy’s column to download this album for free.)
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CHINA WHITE:
Addiction.2: CD
A reissue of this band’s second album, originally released in the late ‘90s when they were in “reunion” mode. Despite a nearly twenty year gap in recordings, they managed to maintain the song quality between records, with the re-recordings of songs from the first record kept to a minimum, and Frank’s guitar playing still managing to raise a few eyebrows. Also included are some unreleased tracks and a set from one of their more recent live performances.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Malt Soda)
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CHINA WHITE:
Live Cheap: CD
Another total surprise this time around, and one that is more than welcomed. For those not in the know, China White was one of the original Southern California punk/hardcore bands, who managed to release a couple of comp tracks and an absolutely crucial EP, Dangerzone, before imploding. Collected here are mostly live cuts from various places, both from the band’s original incarnation back in 1981 and the recent incarnation playing “reunion” shows not too long ago. Live versions of most, if not all, of the tunes from the EP are here, and the sound quality and performances are great. Extra special treats include the two tracks from their original demo that were previously only available on the Life Is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself comp, and two live videos for those of us lucky enough to have computers. Limited to 500 copies, so you might wanna think about selling off your sister in order to procure your copy or something and, trust me, it’ll be worth it.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Malt Soda)
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