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FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK:
Reviews by Jim Testa

Music Fanzine - From the Editor's Desk  




  • Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks (Matador)
  • April Smith & The Great Picture Show - Songs For A Sinking Ship (aprilsmithmusic.com)
  • Titus Andronicus - The Monitor (XL)

View the complete Editor's Desk article...

A Chunksaah Good Time At Asbury Lanes with Frank Turner and friends

Chunksaah Records hosted a night of great folk/punk at Asbury Lanes', South Jersey's coolest venue, featuring Frank Turner, the Architects, and Dave Hause, with Pete from the Bouncing Souls deejaying the night. Phil Rainone and Tim Norek were there and tell you all about it...



LIVE ON YOUR PC: The ScandalsNJ and David Costa

Skeleton Crew Records is a NJ label looking for innovative ways to bring its bands to the public. So why not set them up in a studio, set up a few video cameras, and broadcast a concert live over the web?

Our Deb Draisin caught the show and brings you this report...


STAND UP, SIT DOWN, SHUT UP:
Inside The Unfunny World of Stand Up Comedy

Longtime Jersey Beat contributor Oliver Lyons has always been funny (at least we think so;) but did you know he actually spent a couple of years standing on stage trying to prove it, experiencing firsthand the cutthroat, dog-eat-dog world of New York comedy clubs? Now, Oliver's telling tales, spilling the beans on what it's really like trying to make people laugh for a living. Read Oliver's story here...

The Roadside Graves Are "Shacking Up" Again

Autumn Tone Records is re-releasing the Roadside Graves' first and difficult-to-find album If Shacking Up Is All You Want To Do on February 23, so we caught up with frontman John Gleason to find out about the reissue's bonus tracks and the band's current and future plans. Read Jim Testa's interview here...


TIM BARRY - Tales Of A Road Warrior

Former punk rocker extraordinare turned troubadour folkie, Tim Barry chats with Chris Mattern about the road, the economy, and his new album, 28th And Stonewall.

Read Chris' interview here...





Jersey Minstrel PJ Bond and the Year of 1000 Roommates

Lots of touring indie bands depend on the kindness of strangers when it comes to finding a place to crash for the night, but singer/songwriter PJ Bond pushes that idea to the limit on his current Year of A Thousand Roommates tour. We caught up with PJ to find out what it's been like so far as his tour wends it back back to his home base of New Brunswick, where he'll perform at the Court Tavern on Saturday, February 13. Read our interview here...


JERSEY BEAT REVIEWS:

Say You Want A (45 RPM) Revolution?

Phil Rainone waxes romantically about his generation's love affair with the 45 single, and then reviews two new examples of the genre, new 7-inch EP's by The Dollyrots and The Homewreckers.

Read Phil's review here...

 

TREAT ME LIKE DIRT - An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond, 1977-88
By Liz Worth; Edited by Gary Pig Gold

Canadian transplant Robert Barry Francos, our Quiet Corner correspondent, reports on this new oral history of the Canadian punk and hardcore scene, specifically the scenes that grew in and around Toronto and Hamilton. Overall Francos finds it an excellent read, as he chronicles the similarities between the nascent punk scenes that blossomed in the late Seventies in both Toronto and New York City.
Read Robert's review here...

 

JESSE IAN DUNN - "The Very Best Of" (Mint 400)

Jersey singer/songwriter Jesse Ian Dunn - raised on Springsteen, nurtured by Sinatra, and in a love/hate relationship with the Garden State. Deb Draisin takes a listen to this five-song "best of" EP, culled from Dunn's DIY releases.

Read Deb's review here...

 

TIM BARRY - 28th & Stonewall (Suburban Home)

Punk rocker turned folksinger Tim Barry takes us on a lyrical journey, touching on everything from ending relationships to hopping freight trains, and ending with the tongue in cheek “Bus Driver,” completing what is in Chris Mattern’s opinion his strongest album to date.

Read Chris' review here...

 

MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK - My Dinosaur Life (Sony)

Motion City Soundtrack has always stood about the day-glo skinny-pants clones in the power pop scene with strong songriting and exciting performances, and they do not disappoint here. Maybe the songs do no more than make you happy; but hey, doesn't everyone want to be happy anyway? Recommended. Read Damien Ellinghaus' revew here...

 

ALESANA - The Emptiness (Fearless)

Damien Ellinghaus reviews the latest release from emotionally-charged metal rockers Alesana, a concept album revolving around the visions of a disturbed sketch artist.

Read Damien's review here...

 



TRIS McCALL - Let The Night Fall (Melody Lanes Records)

From school yards and summer camps filled with not-so-innocent children, to the cigar-smoke choked backrooms of old-school ward politicos, to the basement storerooms at Newport Mall to the burger joint that used to be a Jack In The Box before it was a Lucky Wong's, from improvised studios in Brooklyn to venerable Water Music in Hoboken, and right into the office of the Mayor, Tris McCall takes us on a musical exploration of Jersey City that examines its culture, politics, and people with both a jaundiced eye and an unmitigated sense of pride.
Read Jim Testa's review here

JERSEY BEAT COLUMNS:

THE QUINLAN CHRONICLES
by Rich Quinlan

Lots of noise with surf rock overtones is how Rich describes the Florida band Tubers, then struggles with the indie soundscapes of Vinca Minor and screamo outfit Pianos Become The Teeth, the "orchestral metal" of Judgement Day, and the guitar/double drums cacophony of Snacktruck.

Read Rich's column here...

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO WAWZYRNIAK
by Joe Wawzyrniak

Joe delights in the Feelies-like indie rock of NJ's Shrubs, as well as new releases by Javelin, Jen Olive, Sirs, Earl Greyhound, and The Burning Hotels. Rock out to the crunchy good time rock n roll of The Fletchers, delight to the sweet 'n' sassy pop of April Smith, and groove to new tunes from New Brunswick's Nymphomatics, Standard Fare, Post Harbor, and Fyfe Dangerfield. Read Joe's column here...

POP VULTURE by Phil Rainone

Phil checks out the new releases from The Workers, Dirty Sweet, Brian Goss, Rebel Inc., Jeff Riddle, and The Graves Brothers Deluxe. The exciting alt-rock of NJ's Red Flag Fleet wins a big thumb's up, plus Phil reviews new albums from The Plain Truth, Galactic, and Brewtal Thirst. Phil raves about the psychedelic garage punk of Shannon & The Clams, the bubblegum power pop of the Yum Yums, the fun pop punk of the Cute Lepers, and the Irish punk of Neck.

Read Phil's column here...

MATTERN OF FACT: By Chris Mattern

Chris is amazed to discover Landlord, a band out of his home base of Bloomington Indiana that's actually not half bad. Of course they're only half good, but that's better than what he usually hears. Also reviewed are new releases by the Street Eaters, Torture The Artist, The Ex Gentlemen, Knife The Symphony, Droids Attack, Dan Webb & The Spiders, Hello Shitty People, and a big shout out to the excellent charity compilation, Protect 2, which features tracks from the Dopamines, the Copyrights, Be My Doppelganger, and others. . Read Chris' column here...


METAL AS ALL HELL by Dan Siano

Dan finds the comprehensive 3-disc Grind Madness At The BBC absolutely essential and gives you a track by track rundown of its contents, but has little use for The Official Heavy Metal Book of Lists, which gives you lists but has a very fuzzy understanding of what heavy metal is in the first place. The self-titled release from Hatebreed gets a big thumbs down for its generic swipe at breakdown metal, while Dan does highly recommend Strike Anywhere's Iron Front.
Read Dan's column here...



LOOSE THREADS by Chris A.

Deeply submerged in the indie rock underground of San Francisco, our latest correspondent brings a myriad of tools to his task of being Jersey Beat's newest writer - impressive tools to his new assignkment as our West Coast Bureau Chief, including a cell phone programmed with the number to Jello Biafra's hottub phone and a crumpled membership card to Gilman Street tucked into his wallet. This is a man who knows both Coasts, and we're very happy that he'll be bringing his unique perspective to Jersey Beat.
Read his first column here...

BROWSIN' WITH DAVID BROWN

David digs the pop-punk anthemtic goodness of The Roman Line, but finds the Dodos to be "faux-emotive, Keane-lite indie pop for those cooler than thou kids who wear scarves and shit." He sort of likes the alt-rock of Ultra Violent Lights and reviews releases by The Drums, Nakatomi Plaza and Finn Riggins.

Read David's column here...

THE SILVER LINING by Paul Silver

"Lo-fi for listenable indie-pop" is how Paul Silver sums up Blunt Mechanic, as he ponders the long-awaited return of 19-year punk veterans C.D. Truth - "equal measures of Dead Kennedys, Mission of Burma, and Alice Donut [with] a definite early punk influence, loads of crunchy guitar, very tight musicianship, and a definite sense of fun and humor."Paul also reviews new releases from The Farmers, The Gilded Palace of Sin,
Girl Loves Distortion, Hey Young Believer, Kill Paradise, MV & EE, Patrick & Eugene, The Show, Systems Officer, Terminal Lovers
, and You Scream I Scream.

Read Paul's column here...

EL EXCENTRICO:
By Jonathan Peter Sutcliffe

Always up for some verbal fisticuffs, Jonathan Sutcliffe
considers himself the good European and also claims to hail from the depths of anti-fascist clean living.

Jonathan is awed - quite a feat - by Wavves, and casts his critical eye on Philip Glass' 1995 masterpiece, the Mishima soundtrack album.

Read Jonathan's column here...

THE QUIET CORNER
by Robert Barry Francos

Robert Francos's Winter 2009 round up includes releases by Antenn's Up, Black Water Rising, Jim Basnight, Blue Race, Annie Crane, The Dry Spells, Kung Fu Grip, Tamara Hey, Cary Judd, Ben Mallott, Ian MacLagan, David Moore, Vanessa Peters & Ice Cream On Monday, Keith Reid Project, Margo Reymundo, Ruby Throat, Pamela Ruby Russell, Jon Snodgrass, Randy Stern, Rosetta Swain, Brett Terry, Tower of Power, John Watts, and White Rabbit.
Read Robert's column here...



JOHNNY PUKE SAYS SO...

Johnny gives his honest opinion of NOFX's "Cokie The Clown" EP - hardly crucial but certainly collectible? There's no doubt that Operation Ivy changed punk rock forever, but what's frontman Jesse Michaels done lately? His new band is called Classics Of Love and Johnny says that classic, it's not. Johnny also reviews the re-issue of a real classic, Hot Water Music's No Division.

Read Johnny's reviews here...


LET'S PARTY WITH NOAH WK

We've got an absolutely encyclopedic update from Noah with a slew of new reviews. Check out with our party animal thinks of new releases from Deep Sleep, Into It Over It, Le Face, Mac Blackout, Stigmata, Fed Up!, Transit, CarCrashLander, Franktenstein 3000, The Cold Beat, Sea Sick Music, The Ghost Is Dancing, Burning Image, Dredg, The Blackout, The Sorely Trying Days, Only Thieves, Goonies, Rich White Males, Gateway District, and Dan Webb & The Spiders.

Read Noah's column here...

WOWIE ZOWIE:
Psychedelia & Beyond by Rick Kutner

Rick Kutner and Wowie Zowie brings you the best in psychedelia, power-pop, and glam. In this column, Rick reviews new releases by Deastro, Empire of the Sun, Historics, Roger O'Donnell, Phoenix, Sleepy Sun, Stardeath & The White Dwards, We Are Hex, and Welcome Wagon. Read Rick's column here...



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