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Record Reviews1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | 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
OCCULT DETECTIVE CLUB:
Tortures: LP
This came with a tiny note on a rectangle of lined paper: “Alex from Maaster Gaiden’s new band.” That’s publicity I can understand. Decoded, it means that in the middle of Texas another musical terror is spawning. Alex is a dude who channels bedroom recording ala Ryan Rousseau, Alicja Trout, and Ben Cooke into slippery anthems that tie high and low fi into seductive little knots—tied in a manner that you’re not quite sure if they’re pretty bows on presents or twisted wires set to detonate garage rock bomb blasts. (It’s both.) From a Maaster Gaiden point of view, Occult Detective Club takes more breaths between notes and has injected a nice level of creepiness and bounce to the proceedings. Being so, distant echoes of the Adverts, The Ramones, and Roky Erickson and comparisons to and shared bills with contemporaries like Something Fierce wouldn’t be too far off the mark. Tortures sounds effortless, juicy, and dire. As an aside, this is the first record I’ve ever seen that was made in Karlsruhe, the German city that was reportedly one of the heavy inspirations for WashingtonD.C.
–Todd Taylor (Red Lounge Records)
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OCCULT DETECTIVE CLUB:
Alright Gentlemen: 7”
A while back, I got an amazing 7” by Hex Dispensers with a ripping B-side called “I’m a Ghost.” I played that song over and over again before realizing that on the record, it said the song was written by a band called Occult Detective Club. It took a while, but I tracked them down. Another amazing band from Denton, Texas? Not surprising. Well after two LPs, the ODC are back with a brand new 7” and I couldn’t be happier. Four blasts of muscular pop that forces you to bounce in your shoes uncontrollably. The hooks will stay with you forever and will have you singing at the top of your lungs in the car uncaringly. Four songs that instantly bring me back to seeing them live at Awesome Fest and have me longing for more. This band is that good. This record is that good. Pick this up. Pick it all up.
–Ty Stranglehold (Dirt Cult)
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OCCULT DETECTIVE CLUB:
Alright Gentleman: 7”
I swear, listening to an Occult Detective Club record makes me feel like I’m experiencing street punk-influenced pop punk (I loved One Man Army) for the first time again. Every hook and riff is just absolutely perfect when paired with the vocals of what sounds to me like a ballsier Elvis Costello. Just as recent as the release of this record is a split 10” with Something Fierce, another excellent Texas-based outfit who receive many comparisons to the Clash for both sound and modern relevance. If that’s the case, then I’d have to say that Occult Detective Club is our generation’s Stiff Little Fingers and I say that with absolute faith in how bold of a statement that may be. Pick up this record and tell me it doesn’t fucking rock. I’ll slap you silly.
–Juan Espinosa (Dirt Cult, dirtcultrecords.com)
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OCELOT:
The Quiet Storm: CD
Some killer indie/noise rock here, but man, you guys need a singer. Desperately. I’d be glad to stand in until you find a permanent replacement. Give me a call.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Moodswing)
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OCIO:
Guilty Beat: CD
A bluesy, slinky, kinda alt-rock thang here that really didn’t leave much of a lasting impression one way or another after a number of listens. –Jimmy Alvarado
–Jimmy Alvarado (Ocio, ociorock.com)
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OCTAVES:
Greener Pastures: CD
This is some angry, angry stuff. I say angry twice when I’m talking about hardcore music. Sounds like Tragedy and Neurosis.
–Corinne (Hotfoot, myspace.com/hotfootrecords)
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OCTOBER ALLIED:
Self-titled: CD
"You know that punk was dead/before the pistols fired a shot/I'm from the Eddie Cochran stock/and I just want to rock." Where to start? Okay, so if punk's dead why would you send this to us, a punk magazine? As for being of the Eddie Cochran stock? Well let's see? Eddie Cochran is one of my all-time favorites. Somehow, I doubt that you ever will be. Another thing, the song that the lyric is from is nothing like Eddie, more of a bastardized (with good reason) Chuck Berry. Finally, if you want to rock, by all means, start at any time, just do so far out of earshot from me. Thanks.
–Megan Pants (www.octoberallied.com)
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OCTOBER ALLIED:
Self-titled: CD
“You know that punk was dead/before the pistols fired a shot/I’m from the Eddie Cochran stock/and I just want to rock.” Where to start? Okay, so if punk’s dead why would you send this to us, a punk magazine? As for being of the Eddie Cochran stock? Well let’s see… Eddie Cochran is one of my all-time favorites. Somehow, I doubt that you ever will be. Another thing, the song that the lyric is from is nothing like Eddie, more of a bastardized (with good reason) Chuck Berry. Finally, if you want to rock, by all means, start at any time, just do so far out of earshot from me. Thanks.
–Megan Pants (www.octoberallied.com)
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OCTOBER ALLIED:
Self-titled: CD
Lo-fi punk rock with heavy surf guitar that better suits the bar or coffee house than me enduring it coming out of my speakers.
–Donofthedead (Phony)
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ODD CLOUDS:
Liquid Moon Ritual: CDEP
Sounds like improvisational noisemongering, with trombones, drums, congas, and a guy screaming somewhere in the background. If it’s done solely to annoy, it is blissfully successful.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Casanova Temptations)
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ODD NUMBERS:
The Trials and Tribulations of: CD
Social Distortion turns into a Jam cover band. Includes a "secret" bonus cover of the Clash's "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad" that wasn't too painful. I remember seeing this band in Berkeley once years ago and thinking they were much better than this. Oh well.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Coldfront, PO Box 8345, Berkeley, CA 94707; www.coldfrontrecords.com)
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ODD NUMBERS:
The Trials and Tribulations of: CD
Social Distortion turns into a Jam cover band. Includes a "secret" bonus cover of the Clash's "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad" that wasn't too painful. I remember seeing this band in Berkeley once years ago and thinking they were much better than this. Oh well.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Coldfront)
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ODDBALLS:
Oddballs’ Shit Explosion ‘94-’99: CD
Please tell me this is some
kind of fucked up prank. More three-chord (if that many) trash rawk for fans of
whatever garage band is the most recent flavor of the week. I would say that
there’s nothing here, but that’s giving this godawful piece of shit far more
credit than it deserves.
–Puckett (Scene Police)
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ODDCZAR:
One Word: LP
Noisy, emo-tinged hardcore fulla screamin’ and hurt feelin’s. Blech.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Bitter Melody, bittermelodyrecords.com)
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ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW:
Nights. Not. End.: CD
The first few second of this starts off pretty rock’n’roll, followed by the perfectly placed, growling, “Yeah!” A few more hot licks, then the sissiest dang voice starts to croon. Continue to end of CD. I cried because I was laughing so hard the first time I heard it. I played that intro five times before struggling through the rest of it.
–Megan Pants (www.oddsagainsttomorrow.com)
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OF DEATH:
Build a Bridge and Get Over It: CD
I thought clubbing seals was all in good fun until I had to hear it recorded over lame art-core tracks. God lord, what made them think this was okay?
–Megan Pants (Alone)
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OFF CAMBER:
Self-titled: Cassette
Quick, mysterious little four-songer here. Drawing from a ‘90s screamo template both European and American (Orchid, Sugar Pie Koko, Betercore, etc.) on the A side, the one song on the flip verges on John Zorn/Ruins avante garde weirdness. Cryptic lyrics, very little band info offered, creative but minimalist packaging. Not sure how much this will appeal to the majority of Razorcake’s readership—though it would’ve gone over like gangbusters in a back issue of Heartattack—but these songs are concise, jagged, and creative, and they’ve certainly piqued my interest.
–Keith Rosson (Off Camber)
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OFF KILTER:
Self-titled: CDEP
Although the fast, thrashy stuff here is good, my pick is the mid-tempo pounder “Bound + Battered,” which manages to sound meaner in a buck and a quarter’s time than most of those tough-guy “hardcore” metal bands manage on a whole album. Six songs, eight minutes, all vitriolic, good stuff.
–Jimmy Alvarado (We Are Going to Eat You)
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OFF WITH THEIR HEADS:
Hospitals: 12” EP
This is some of the most amazingly miserable pop I’ve ever heard in that it layers some of the most misery-laden lyrics I’ve heard in some time over some of the catchiest, upbeat pop melodies. Lyrics like, “I’ll tie it tight around my neck and kick the chair out with my legs because I want to fucking die today.” and, “So night after night I’ll be staying up late. I’ll be fighting off the shakes and puking out the window repressing things you can never know.” make me want, on one hand, to give the guy a hug and make it all better. But, on the other hand, if it ever was all better, would they still be writing these amazing songs? I’d hope so, but, since I don’t know them, I’ll take the sorrow for the songs. The only thing I have negatively to say about it is something I realized the first time I saw them play: The song “Hospitals” is so close musically to Toys That Kill’s (who were also playing that night) “Two Billion Bastards” that I thought they were covering it in homage to them.
–Megan Pants (Rock Bottom)
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OFF WITH THEIR HEADS:
Hospitals: LP
This is reeaal close to being full-on awesome. It’s got that zippy, whirlwind, circular speed of Horrible Odds, that “I’ve got a mental owie, slide down your panties” feel—but recorded so much better—than the best four songs on Jawbreaker’s Dear You, and that rust shined into a luster pop punk of Rivethead (who Zack came from). But there’s something in the creases that doesn’t quite do it for me. The rock’s slabbed on there, but the joining material feels a little clumpy, bloated, and strained, like someone using a caulk gun for the first time sealing in a bathtub. Off With Their Heads’ musical bathtub doesn’t leak, it just ain’t as tight as it could be. That said, I find myself listening to this quite a bit, so it just may take some adjustment time. I heard they slay live, so I’ll patiently wait for round two.
–Todd Taylor (Rock Bottom)
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OFF WITH THEIR HEADS:
Hi Five for the Rapture: 7” EP
Dysfunction: never great on a personal level, but, sometimes, great for music. OWTH can’t seem to keep band members. They steal people’s food (although reformation has been claimed). They’ve got a gas tank full of hatred in a van that barely works. Sometimes—and this is one of ‘em—when something’s so wrong it’s right. For this guy, nothing beats snarling meanness and guitar attacks, then and a soft blanket and some cuddle time with a breakdown. Melodic. Hardcore. So both are a bit changed and hammered into a new shape. It’s the dynamics in punk that make it cut in new ways; the hug and the wielded knife that make it continually interesting, and Off With Their Heads capture that perfectly.
–Todd Taylor (Fashionable Idiots)
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OFF WITH THEIR HEADS:
Hospitals: LP
This is reeaal close to being full-on awesome. It’s got that zippy, whirlwind, circular speed of Horrible Odds, that “I’ve got a mental owie, slide down your panties” feel—but recorded so much better—than the best four songs on Jawbreaker’s Dear You, and that rust shined into a luster pop punk of Rivethead (who Zack came from). But there’s something in the creases that doesn’t quite do it for me. The rock’s slabbed on there, but the joining material feels a little clumpy, bloated, and strained, like someone using a caulk gun for the first time sealing in a bathtub. Off With Their Heads’ musical bathtub doesn’t leak, it just ain’t as tight as it could be. That said, I find myself listening to this quite a bit, so it just may take some adjustment time. I heard they slay live, so I’ll patiently wait for round two.
–Todd Taylor (Rock Bottom)
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OFF WITH THEIR HEADS:
Fine-tuning the Bender: 7" EP
The A side, “I Hope You All Die,” sounds like Bob Mould’s vocals over a sea shanty with “I scream, you shout” dual vocals, accompanied by a dirgey organ, which puts it in the same punk minefield as latter day Murder City Devils. The B side and title track starts off the same, then steps on the Crimpshrine accelerator, switches on the J-Church rhythm section, and muffler sparks behind it. After the breakdown, some violin or high string comes in, and it doesn’t bend at the waist and suck emo boobie. Not a bad debut 7”. I like Minneapolis.
–Todd Taylor (Redemption)
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OFF WITH THEIR HEADS:
All Things Move Toward Their End: CD
I’m going to try get this out of the way first because I tend to drone on and on about some esoteric and self indulgent bullshit before getting to what the record/band actually sounds like. Which is usually why people read reviews in the first place. Not that I give a shit, but I thought I’d shake it up a bit. If you have depression and anxiety issues, and not in the “aren’t I so deep and introspective” way but in the “There are several times a year, if not every day, that I truly wish I was dead” way, Ryan Young has written a prodigious amount of lyrics dealing with the subject that you may appreciate. I have a fair amount of said issues myself and I usually don’t like to surround myself with music that deals with them. Being depressed usually isn’t helped by listening to downer music. I can relate but I also want to see a light somewhere or at the very least get up and get moving. I can’t think of another band that combines lyrics as truly emotionally dark with music that actually makes you want to get up and jump up and down. All this without eyeliner or a stitch of clothing from Dogpile. It’s comforting to know that there are other people out there dealing with the same shit but still raising themselves up to get through it and try to have a good time when they can. This record is a compilation of most of their songs from their beginning to somewhere in early 2007 or late 2006 and you know what? I’m glad I didn’t put this record out. It would annoy the piss out of me to put out a compilation that is supposed to be all-inclusive of their singles and what not up until early this year and have it not be all-inclusive! They’ve left out their first 7” from what I have dubbed “The Murder City Years” called Fine Tuning the Bender. Which is a mystery to me because it’s not bad or all that different from the To Hell With This... 7”, which they did include. “What the fuck?!,” I say. At any rate, this thing is laid out in pretty much reverse release order, as far as I can tell. Starting with their split with J Church and working backwards. The material goes essentially from great to not too shabby at all. There’s also a previously unreleased song called “Sadie” from a few years back that I really didn’t like at first but actually grew on me. Believe it or not, but these assholes already have enough material for another compilation like this (and, as of this writing, it isn’t even the end of 2007) and they’ve got a brand new full length coming out next year on No Idea. Hardest working bum outs in the industry!... and probably one of the best U.S. bands of the last few years.
–Steveo (No Idea)
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OFF WITH THEIR HEADS:
All Things Move Toward Their End: CD
This CD is mostly compiled of songs that were previously released. It’s worth getting though because if you are like me and have an MP3 player, you will want these songs on it so you can be just a little happier driving to work while listening to it. Besides that, OWTH is awesome. I know the word “awesome” is overused lately and the meaning of it is starting to give, but here is how you use it: OWTH is awesome. If you don’t know about them yet, you are probably homeless or home schooled or something because they have like a billion releases out this year. Apparently, they’re into doing splits. The lyrics are usually dark and fun at the same time. There is something for everyone in at least one of their songs: poppy, punk, hard, loud, and self pitying. I can’t count the amount of times I have been frustrated about something and dug through my CD book to find OWTH to sing along with just to feel better quickly. I haven’t quite figured out the medicinal properties of the music, but it seems to be effective. Turns my frown upside down every time. Good music, original sounds, lyrics that keep interest, and a CD booklet that is one of the better ones I have seen lately with tidbits about the songs (I like that sort of thing). You can’t go wrong. I almost gave my copy to Josh Mosh but changed my mind when I realized I wanted to listen to it in the house for just a while longer before it got chewed up in his van. –Corinne
–Guest Contributor (No Idea)
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