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THE QUINLAN CHRONICLES - Reviews by Rich Quinlan
 POLAR
BEAR CLUB -
Sometimes Things Just Disappear (www.redleaderrecords.com)
When the opening track of Sometimes Things Just
Disappear, the awkwardly titled, “Eat Dinner,
Bury the Dog and Run” began, I was instantly
off-put by the vocals of Jimmy Stadt. His voice
seemed to be straining beyond its means, and I
was a little concerned about Polar Bear Club’s
post-punk aesthetics. However, the second track
- which featured some vocal similarities to the
first - made me more excited about what I heard.
“Burned Out in a Jar” and “Heart
Attack at Thirty” were two of the songs
that featured thick guitar and a rollicking rhythm
section. This is not revolutionary by any stretch,
as you will repeatedly feel that you have heard
“Our Ballads” or “Another Night
in the Rock” many times before. However,
the band does offer a nice sense of ambiance with
some of the guitar work of Chris Browne and Nate
Morris, both of whom can provide atmospheric touches
when needed. The biggest mistake for the band
came at the conclusion of the disc, with the pseudo-heartstring
puller “Convinced I'm Wrong.” It begins
too quietly and features lyrics that sounded very
forced. (“Don’t go. Tonight I'm looking
for salt in a snow globe”.) This young Rochester
band has an immense of pressure on them with this
record, based on the success of their 2006 EP
The Redder The Better. I think they have the chops
to be a strong band live, but this record did
not really get me hooked.
GUAPO
- Elixirs (www.neurotrecordings.com)
If you have ever watched a great horror film
when the action is shown through the eyes of
the killer, Guapo plays the music you hear when
the killer is silently stalking his helpless
victim. Haunting, chilling, and uniquely crafted,
the polyrhythmic Elixirs is a magnificent journey
through a myriad of emotional states. The opening
thirteen minute “Jeweled Turtle”
is simply intoxicating, as it develops incrementally
into a sprawling soundscape of beauty. The band,
comprising only two members, Daniel O’Sullivan
and David Smith, utilizes a wide array of instruments
including autoharp, harmonium, synths, and even
elements of electronics. None of the songs here
are brief, but they are worth your patience
and time commitment. These tracks are also not
always easy listens, but that quality is what
makes Guapo so fascinating. The lush majesty
of “Arthur, Elsie, and Frances”
fades into the centerpiece of the disc, the
two “Twisted Stems.” The first was
the “Heliotrope”, and the second
is “The Selenotrope”. The former
features the evocative voice of Alexander Tucker,
which hovers peacefully within an intricate
wall sound. The latter revolves around the vocal
contributions of Jarboe. That is the only credit
listed, and while there may not be much information
provided, the song itself is unforgettable.
I was swept up in this work, and the concluding
efforts “The Planks” and “King
Lindorm” are equally expressive, albeit
a bit more angular than the earlier pieces.
This was symphonic in nature, making it both
lush and intimidating, essentially a musical
version of a rain forest. It is beautiful, but
there is a hidden danger within its perimeter.
Expand your mind and collection by finding this.
THE IMPULSE INT'L - “Arm the Girls”
b/w “Run and Hide” (Deranged Records
www.the-impulse.com)
Hitting with the same kinetic hyperactivity
of Peter and the Test-Tube Babies’ classic
“Banned from the Pubs”, “Arm
the Girls” is a track designed for those
who loved punk’s earliest, most pure elements.
I loved the energy and enthusiasm here, and
any song that ahs the lyrics, “We had
alcohol, I spent the night in her room”
is fine by me! The B-side is similar in nature
to its counterpart, with a pure 60’s rock
sound that would make the members of the Dave
Clark Five smile. The pounding, rhythmic force
of “Run and Hide” was a shot of
pure sugar. The chorus, partly due to its simplicity
and partly due to its hook, will not leave your
brain for days. Go get this!
 BLAKE/E/E/E
- Border Radio (www.freefolkrecords.com)
Blake/e/e/e, along with having a confusing
name, also has a highly varied musical personality
on Border Radio. The disc begins with “Holy
Dub”, and it is what one would expect:
a bouncy, rhythmic dub track. This is easy enough,
but that is where the simplicity ends. “New
Millennium’s” is gorgeous in its
delivery. This lush, sprawling track introduced
a subtlety into the record before changing gears
to the straight forward “lack of Self-Explanation”.
This track drones, rises, fades away, and then
returns with another droning riff. The remnants
of this song slide into the Beach Boys-inspired
“narrow Zone”. Psychedelic and fun,
this track was my early favorite until I heard
the next song, “Time Machine”. This
could have been the title track for this disc,
as Blake/e/e/e is a throwback of a band that
refuses to surrender to what is dominating radio
and pop culture to generate music that is wholly
original. The throbbing bass, strange, ethereal
vocals and hypnotic rhythm of “Time Machine”
made it my favorite of the record. From this
point forward, Blake/e/e/e revisits a series
of ideas: “Holy, Yes to the Sunny Days”
and “Saint Lawrence Tears” both
revolve around pseudo-country riffs and twangy,
folk-inspired playing. Additionally, “Dub-Human-is”
resurrects a similar idea from the opening song.
This particular song seemed to move slowly out
of the blocks, filling the listener with a sense
of uncertainty. However, the song is allowed
to take its’ time, as the track lingers
for ten minutes! The title track “Border
Radio” and “The Thing’s Hollow”
are nearly tribal in their energy, with the
latter featuring magnificent female vocals and
lyrics about stars, space, and a lack of gravity.
This disc may be the soundtrack to a bizarre
hallucination, and it is truly for a select
audience.
 MOVING
MOUNTAINS - Pneuma
(www.deepelm.com)
The four members of Moving Mountains have instruments
such as glockenspiel, vibraphone, cello, and
trombone among their listed responsibilities,
and they seamlessly work these more refined
instruments into a rock aesthetic. This has
many elements of math rock detail, yet Moving
Mountains avoids the oppressiveness that can
emerge when bands begin to obsess over every
piece of minutia. This is particularly true
on songs like “Alastika” and the
beautiful “8105”. If you are looking
for music played loose and with a sense of recklessness,
this is not your band. However, for those who
are seeking harmonies that are nearly angelic
played by people with immense talent, Pneuma
is your album. The title of the album is Greek
for “breathe”, and there does appear
to be great expanses of air on a numbed of the
songs, including “Cover the Roots/Lower
the Stems”, “Bottom Feeder”
and “The Earth and the Sun”. However,
this spacious quality does not act as a detriment
in any way, as Moving Mountains captures the
finer aspects of emo’s more pure elements,
namely the stark sentiment and lush musicianship,
and utilizes these qualities to create poetic,
stirring anthems like “Sol Solis”
and ‘Fourth”. The most pleasant
surprise for me was the more guitar charged
“Grow On, Grow Up, Grow Out”, a
song which was a bit more traditional in nature,
but demonstrated that these guys from Purchase,
New York can also turn up the energy at times
as well. This will greatly impress dedicated
musicians and casual music fans alike, for there
is a special feature to this band that urges
you to put this on repeat and listen again.
 TORCHE
- Meanderthal (www.hydrahead.com)
I wish I had a way to adroitly prepare you
for what lies within this disc, but Torche is
doing things that will defy your ears. Imagine
if Eyehategod or the Unsane listened to pop
rock and you have the start of what Meanderthal
offers. The disc, a monolithic collection of
thirteen punishing slabs of dark, tuned-down
sludge glory, also contains a startling amount
of catchy riffs. Additionally, the songs are
quite brief, therefore avoiding the one complaint
some have with music of this style; the songs
just seem insufferably long. The introductory
“Triumph of Venus” introduces the
talents of this band and the listener is bombarded
with a kamikaze barrage of drums and guitar
force. However, it is the quick stabs of “Pirana”
that really launches the disc into its own stratosphere.
From there, Meanderthal simply does not take
a breath, aside form the 32 seconds of “Little
Champion”. Efforts like “Speed of
the Nail’, “Fat Waves” and
the concluding title track all contain a paradoxical
blend of deafening metal power and ear-pleasing
melodies. For those who believe that you cannot
have it all, Torched proves them wrong. The
band flexes muscles as large as the most pummeling
of acts, yet carries a secret weapon that many
bands of any genre would wish to have, and that
is Steve Brooks. The man can simply write a
hell of a hook, and that makes Meanderthal your
atypical release. There has been talk about
his band for a little while now, but you should
pick this up quickly before you fall behind
the curve.
 THE
CORDOVA ACADEMY GLEE CLUB - Be Mine Or There
Will Be War (http://www.cordovamusic.com)
I first loved this band simply as Cordova, but
now they have elevated their name to reflect something
more erudite and sophisticated. Luckily, they
have not altered the clout of their music. Be
Mine Or There Will Be War is not only a great
title, but it opens with an incredible flurry
of punches. “Death March of the New Wave”
is a throbbing, pounding track with a ridiculously
catchy chorus. This leads effortlessly into “Amplified
Savior” and the superior “Dance Floor
Massacre”. This last track will have you
dancing and singing whether you want to or not,
and whether you can sing or not! James Alex, much
like his days in Weston, spins yarns that are
timeless in meaning and applicable to people of
all ages and locations. The band uses a number
of tried and true styles, such as the start/stop
method of delivering lines on “Do We Speak
in Complete Opposites”, or the breathy,
somewhat haunting lyrical style of “Baby,
I Do Not Blame Your Love for Drowning”.
What I respect is how the band has continued to
grow without sacrificing what they do best. This
is a great guitar-pop band that will appeal to
the kids just getting out of school as easily
as it will to the probably-too-old-to still-be
moved-by this-as much-as-I-am crowd. “French
Novels About America” and the incredibly
cleaver and accessible “How to Speak Hip”
and “Atomic Lipstick” are highlights
of an astounding album. You can tell by the quality
of the playing and production that you are dealing
with pros, but these guys have clearly not forgotten
the earliest days of playing, when fun and adrenaline
carried you from gig to gig. Go out and wrap yourself
up in this.  HELLHOLE
- “Uppers/Downers” 7-inch EP (www.dongiovannirecords.com)
When a slab of clear vinyl arrives in mail, I
tend to get excited. Yes, life for me is slow,
but this was more intriguing than your typical
arrival of new vinyl. This record was accompanied
by only a sheet of paper with images of Rasputin
with the phrase “The truth will set you
free” repeated numerous times. Once I placed
this thing on a turntable, the real fun started,
and this was more than what I could have hoped
for, even from a band called Hellhole. The A-side
was furious, noisy barrage of power-violence called
“Uppers”. This chaotic display of
force was only matched by the fury of “Uppers
II”, a track that went from the relatively
audible to the flesh-ripping within seconds. The
second side was a slower, sloppy, feedback submerged
dirge called ‘Downers”. Sounding like
an outtake from a late in life GG Allin session,
“Downers” begins with Hellhole’s
vocalist lamenting, “What was I thinking?/What
was going through my fucking head?” The
angst and bewilderment expressed here eventually
collapses under its own weight and dissolves into
moments of sparkling distortion, screeching feedback,
and old fashioned clamor. I eventually found out
that this band hails from Jersey, which makes
sense, but Don Giovanni Records has unleashed
a scourge of magnificent destruction upon an unsuspecting
world. Convert to this now and be saved.
 KING
DUST - Full Denim Jacket (www.kingdust.com)
King Dust is a band that brazenly calls itself
“arena rock” in the opening line
of their press packet. Immediately, red flags
appear in my head and I’m apprehensive
about what I am about to hear. Luckily, no one
plays music on a press release. Full Denim Jacket,
despite its dated title, is a monstrous rock
album that will thrill fans of big guitar, raspy,
yet powerful vocals, and bass lines designed
for the best sex of your life. This is raucous
guitar in the form of mid-70’s Sabbath
and Blind-era Corrosion of Conformity. Anyone
talking about a rock revival would be horribly
misguided to not include King Dust in that discussion.
There is not a flat song to be found, opening
with the beautiful sludge of “The Devil,
the Dust and Me-Part I’. From there, the
band locks into a permanent groove with ‘Say
You Will”, “Long Way Back”,
High Road to Hell”, and “Aces and
Eights”. Vocalist Matt Payne pushes himself
without straining, and his gruff voice adds
a level of toughness to tracks like “My
Sweet Satan” and “Shoulda Known
Better”. I was immediately hooked by the
guitar work of Karl Moore, as he plays, stripped
down, straight ahead riffs at ear-splitting
levels. Mike Watt (no, not that one) and bassist
Dan Cav play with a vengeance fitting of any
metal band, as their bastardized blues backbeats
drive each track. (Cav, by the way, has a titanium
leg from the knee down due to a bizarre accident
involving a car, a street corner, and one very
unfortunate bass player.) King Dust may single-handedly
bring back the term “hard rock”
into the musical lexicon of the nation.
ECSTATIC SUNSHINE – “Way”
EP (www.cardboardrecords.com)
Ecstatic Sunshine’s three song odyssey,
"Way," is a sprawling behemoth of
sound. Waves of delicious noise wash over you,
challenge you, and dare you to keep listening.
Unlike some noise acts that look to bloody your
ears and violently beat you into submission,
Ecstatic Sunshine presents a nearly pop-like
diagram of chaotic genius. The record may sound
messy and even haphazard at times, but there
lies an intrinsic majesty in their work; you
can hear their riffs and the wall of sound generated
here is crafted by human being experimenting
with tones, not over hyped techno-files sitting
around a laptop cackling to themselves as they
splice pre-existing material together. For a
disc with such an ethereal aura, there is something
profoundly human in the work of Ecstatic Sunshine.
This record is an experience, much like bands
such as Lightning Bolt, Black Dice, or even
Genghis Tron. You cannot simply put this in
and lay back-true enjoyment of this comes through
careful attention to the intricacies within
each of the three efforts. My favorite of the
bunch was the spacious “Perrier”.
This remarkably flexible song moves from transcendental
beauty to funeral march plodding while never
losing its astounding splendor. The world only
needs a few bands like this, for acts like Ecstatic
Sunshine are talented enough to produce stunning
music in both sensuality and technical grace.
 THEM,
ROARING TWENTIES - Future Sandwich (www.sickroomrecords.com)
Normally when a disc presents eight songs in under
twenty-four minutes, it can be easily forgotten.
That certainly will not be the case involving
Them, Roaring Twenties. The Illinois outfit has
put together a record that flows effortlessly,
generating an album that comes across as one extended,
multi-layered track. To their credit, the material
on Future sandwich in incredibly challenging,
as the ability needed to play this type of jazz-inspired,
hyper-kinetic anthems is well beyond the realms
of most bands. Using samples from children’s
books and minimal vocals, the listener is allowed
to fully immerse one’s self in the talents
of the band. Speedy, yet malleable guitar dominates
the majority of the work, while start-stop drumming
acts as a ferocious backbone to each of the eight
efforts. This is clearly designed for those with
a discerning ear, requiring the listener to be
tired of the force-feeding of mass produced nonsense,
or you appreciate staggeringly well played music.
To top it off, the disc was packaged as a board
game, complete with pieces featuring band members
and the key haunts of Chicago, which is cooler
than Monopoly, and simply a brilliant idea. Buy
it for the music, stay for the game.
 ELEMAE/MEMORIAL/SOON
(www.Engineerrecords.com)
This release was a convenient introduction
to three bands in Engineer’s ever-growing
stable; two from the US and one Belgian import.
The heavier guitar droning of Elemae started
the disc off in impressive fashion. Boasting
an eight year history, this group of New Jersey
veterans played intelligent, emotionally charged
rock with a subtle ambient touch. Their intellect
and musical dexterity was displayed on “Pulse”,
a dense explosion of controlled force, while
“Hospitals and Mazes” adroitly tackled
the topic of health care. The guys deserve respect
just for being willing to do a song about health
care, but as a bonus, it was also a great song.
Elemae merged nicely into the obtuse, mid-90’s
sound of Richmond’s Memorial. Taking a
sound reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins and merging
it with Cursive, the band played thick slabs
of poignant guitar rock, with “Who Are
We to Say?” the best of the three tracks
offered. “If it Helps” was a slightly
more upbeat effort, a la the Killers, which
was sandwiched between two heavier works, as
“Munich” finished the triumvirate
provided by memorial. While Memorial may have
been slightly bouncier than Elemae, the sugary
goodness of Soon continued that trend. The poppy
“There Go the Boys” clearly harkened
back to a sound of the 80s, and this would have
been an instant MTV hit. Still ethereal, but
not quite as smile inducing was “Inverse
Ratio”. This more animated song displayed
a mature side of the band not immediately heard
on the first track. The closing “Serenade
in the City” was a bit repetitive, but
still possessed clearly defined signs of a band
developing a unique sound. The future looks
bright for Engineer records.
 BOX
BOMB - My Obsession (www.tragicherorecords.com)
This North Carolinian outfit plays a unique
brand of ambient, yet poppy piano rock (“Further”,
“Look Past”) with touches of early
90’s grunge and delicate acoustic guitar.
The band pays homage to a clear influence on
“Monotony” when vocalist Ryan Gustafson
yelps “I’m still full of rage/I’m
still just a rat in a cage”. I thought
it was a bit too soon for such nostalgic grunge
throwbacks, but Boxbomb have much more than
just three chords in their pockets. The acoustic
“Good Boy” and “Let Go”
have fury bubbly just below the surface, while
“Get What You Pay For” and “Not
the Same” are mid-tempo efforts with matching
pounding backbeats and subtle guitar work that
at times explodes into a mighty, majestic wave
of a riff. The talent on display is obvious,
but Boxbomb moves at a snails’ pace for
much of the disc. The band continually sounds
like they are holding back, as the beautiful
‘Wishful Thinking” demonstrates.
“James Street” comes across as a
pious tribute to Paul Westerberg at his most
disheartened (i.e. “Here Comes a Regular”),
which is not a bad source of inspiration, but
My Obsession may be ironically summarized by
the title of the closing “Serotonin St.”:
You may enjoy it, but this is a disc that will
not raise your blood pressure.
 MAN
MAN - Rabbit Habits (Anti /Epitaph)
Be forewarned; a number of your friends, family
members, and general acquaintances will not
get this record. Man Man has everything from
strings to sax, oompa beats to big guitars,
but the one thing they do not have is predictability.
The thirteen efforts on Rabbit Habits are a
journey through rock, swing, jazz, soul, and
psychedelia without any one style being slighted.
The five members are multi-instrumentalists,
quite often with “etc.” listed next
to their names in terms of musical responsibilities.
The one common denominator of this band is their
sterling ability to completely dominate their
instruments. Each member can play with flair
and a command of a multitude of styles. Tracks
like “Hurly/Burly’ and Doo Right”
are big, boisterous efforts with rousing choruses
and pounding drumming, while “The Ballad
of Butter Beans” uses lovely female vocals
and xylophone in a fashion that rivals the finest
moments of the Violent Femmes. “Big Trouble”
and “Whalebones” takes the listener
back in time, as this could been the soundtrack
for an early 50’s poetry slam or cross-country
journey with Kerouac. My personal favorites
were the joyously bizarre “Harpoon Fever
(Queequeg’s Playhouse)”, a track
that blended chanting vocals with a return of
lush female vocals and raw emotion, and the
futuristic “El Azteca”. There is
nothing this band will not try, and fans of
Glen Miller to LCD Soundsystem will find something
here.
RETRIBUTION GOSPEL CHOIR (www.caldoverderecords.com)
Low guitarist/leader Alan Sparhawk returns
with a new manifestation of his talents in Retribution
Gospel Choir. This trio, rounded out by Matt
Livingston on bass and drummer Eric Pollard,
with occasional and stunning vocals by Sparhawk’s
wife Mimi Parker, offers a spiritual movement
loaded with rousing guitar and tight harmonies.
Opening with the controlled bombast of “They
Knew You Well”, the band tears through
four solid, rollicking efforts, highlighted
by the infectious “Somebody, Someone”.
From this point, the disc becomes a little sleepy
at times, yet “Holes in our Heads”
and “What She Turned Into” are lush,
melodious offerings. I loved the more gritty
efforts, such as “For Her Blood”
and “Kids”; both of which are coarse
guitar anthems with Sparhawk’s typically
sardonic lyrics delivered with intense precision.
Fans of Low will adore this, and those who somehow
missed out thus far on what that band has done
should go out, buy this, absorb it, and then
order as much of Low’s back catalog as
possible. Produced by Sun Kil Moon’s Mark
Kozelek, the Retribution Gospel Choir should
earn itself a mighty congregation.
 FAKE
PROBLEMS – “Viking Wizard Eyes Wizard
Full of Lies” 7-inch EP (www.goodfriendsrecords.com)
Fake Problems deliver three alt-folk pieces
on this tongue-twisting 7-inch, each of which
is slightly different from the other. The A-side
kicks off with “Adam’s Song”,
a resolute blend of guitar rock and Americana
with noteworthy lyrics. (“I hear good
things come to those who wait/So keep your hand
on your phone, maybe I’ll call you someday.”)
The second track, “Mutt” has a more
traditional country aesthetic, telling stories
of hidden love and hook-ups. Fake Problems comes
across as a Wilco-style band through their first
two efforts, and there is not much wrong with
that. The B-side, “Wendy Clear”
sounded like Woody Guthrie jamming with R.E.M.
circa 1982, as the band used a quiet/loud dynamic
on the strongest song of the bunch. Singer Chris
Farren is highly expressive with a warm vocal
tone that perfectly compliments the work of
mates Casey Lee (guitar), Derek Perry (bass)
and Sean Steveneson (drums). These guys are
slated to open for Anti-Flag through the spring,
and I wonder how those fans will respond to
Fake Problems’ use of banjo and mandolin.
Very well played and interesting.
 FAREWELL
TO FREEWAY - definitions (www.victoryrecords.com)
Initially tiled just Freeway, this Ontario
band had to change its moniker after learning
of a rapper with the same name. With that aside,
the band went on to alter its sound as well,
moving from a poppy, mainstream rock bend to
a heavier, more metallic temperament. The end
result of that maturation process is Definitions,
the band’s first record on Victory. Ultimately,
Farewell to Freeway will fit in quite well with
Victory, for the heavy guitar, singing/screaming
vocal style and predictable break-downs will
be eagerly gobbled up by kids who still believe
that Avenged Sevenfold and Lamb of God are dangerous
metal acts. Efforts like “The Desperate
Age” and “Lemmings” are solid
musical pieces, but you have heard this same
thing for years. I did not hear much of this
band’s more rock oriented material, but
I wonder if they should have simply developed
that angle a bit further, because this sounded
very much worn. Vocalist/guitarist Chris Lambert
provides the “clean” sounding vocals
while his brother Adam offers bass and “screams”.
Even the addition of keyboard/sampler Michele
Walter does not truly separate this band from
the endless collection of bands exploiting this
sound. In terms of musical chops, the act is
clearly talented, and they do offer a few moments,
such as ”Speak Your Words” and “The
Glory Days” in which they do not simply
attempt to pummel the listener into submission.
However, too often, such as the title track,
Farewell to Freeway is offering just another
example of a style that has become the flavor
of the month, and not something that will allow
them to truly stay with you after the disc is
done. They have the ability to be a very promising
heavy band; I wish they utilized their talents
to make something more representational of their
skills.
 SUMP
PUMPS - Revenge of the Sump Pumps (www.8bitrecords.com)
I never would have expected anything like this
to come out of Bloomington, Indiana. Apparently,
the guys in the Sump Pumps missed out on writing
anthems about farms and potential truck jingles,
because Revenge is a wild, swirling record of
angry, punk-infused fury that takes Devo (see
the uniform dress of the members) and gives
their sound to the Butthole Surfers. Kyle Beach
handles lead vocals and bass and stood out for
me as the most kinetic and forceful member of
the band, rounded out by Ben Bussell (drums),
Rob Ross (who is listed as Moog and keytar-a
guy actually wanted himself down as the keytar
player. Points for bravery or irony, I don’t
care which.), and Ryan Paulsen. Paulsen contributes
surprisingly blazing guitar work which was only
matched the force of his synth playing. “State
of the Art” is one of the best examples
of this maniacal guitar playing, as the riff
is the musical bed for the screams and yelps
of Beach, before launching into an intersperse
guitar/synth solo. I could not imagine that
keyboards could be used to create such a fuming
tone, but this left me greatly impressed. Tracks
like “The Mechanical” (whose rousing
chorus “don’t fuck with the mechanical”
is one of the best I have heard in a while)
and the explosive opener “Space Camp”
will appeal to fans of Genghis Tron and other
bands that are expanding the scope of what keys
can do within the context of a heavier act.
The centerpiece here is “Pon Farr”,
a driving, hypnotic, and pummeling track that
could match the energy of any hardcore band.
The mechanized, heavily altered vocals of “Continuity”
seem to borrow as much from bad sci-fi as they
do early 80’s rap, and the end result
is nearly flawless. This will be challenging
for some, and I am sure the reactions must be
interesting from the unsuspecting people at
gigs, but this is band that is creating a new
invention of indie rock.
VENDETTA VALENTINE - There’s Nothing
Safe (www.vendettavalentine.com)
It is so rare when a disc comes along in which
the playing sounds inspired and the fun being
had by the members shines through on each track.
This is exactly what happens on Vendetta valentine’s
debut, There’s Nothing Safe. This California
trio takes electronic funk and pop and then
slams it together with a raw punk aesthetic,
and then garnishes it with some sharp lyrics
and brilliant arrangements. With a style that
ranges from Blondie to B-52’s to even
one of my long-lost favorites, Berserk, Vendetta
Valentine are a perfect band for the next generation
of rock. Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Thomas
Monroe has a voice that is deeply expressive
and passionate without even sounding artificial.
The emotions displayed on There’s Nothing
Safe are as unprocessed as the musicianship,
as Daniel Powell’s bass and programming
work mesh perfectly with Anna Judd’s keyboard
playing. The band retains a DIY spirit not seen
much in the age of MySpace and Hot Topic, as
they recorded, produced, and mixed the disc
by themselves, with Anna also supplying the
artwork. Even if you cannot dance, you will
not be able to resist moving to “Golden”,
Dissidents” and “Primitive Song
about Danger and Excitement”. At thirteen
songs, the disc does go on for a bit too long,
but the overwhelming majority of the songs are
hooky, sexy pieces that will change your opinions
concerning the interconnection of rock and dance
music. “Stars are Papercuts” and
“Hang Up Station” are two more highlights
from a disc that should make you wonder how
this band is unsigned. If you are one of those
individuals who gets nervous whenever words
like “keyboard-laden”, “dance”
and “electro” are used to describe
a rock band, do yourself a favor and expand
your horizons here.
OVERKILL - Live at Wacken Open Air 2007 DVD
( www.bodog.net)
For those of you, like me, who are unable to
afford the airfare to get to Germany for the
massive Wacken Open Air metal festival, this
DVD may be the next best thing. Featuring ten
tracks from Over Kill’s set, and shot
with startling clarity, you are placed on stage
with these legends of New York metal. To their
credit, the twenty-plus years of playing have
not lessened the enthusiasm of energy of these
guys, and singer Bobby Blitz looks positively
ripped. Whatever he does to stay in shape could
either land him a deal for exercise videos or
a Senate hearing along with Roger Clemens. The
ten efforts here span the career of Over Kill,
a band who truly never receives the respect
they deserve, as their sound consistently outshines
anything being put out by their contemporaries
Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, or Testament.
The highlights include blazing renditions of
“Rotten to the Core”, “Thanx
for Nothin’”, their immortal “In
Union we Stand”, the great sing along
“Wrecking Crew” and fan favorite
“Fuck You”. The disc is heavy on
music and facial expression camera shots and
light on banter in between songs, which is exactly
the way most metal fans want their shows to
be. At Wacken, Over Kill was finally given proper
treatment with a night time set, clearly indicating
that they were one of the headlining acts. Despite
the darkness enveloping the crowd, it was still
discernable to witness a substantial number
of people moshing and head banging furiously
to a blazing set. I have been a long time fan
of Over Kill, and I have great respect for their
relentless commitment to their vision, and the
Live at Wacken DVD will give fellow devotees
or even brand new fans a grand overview of this
band’s career.
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Jersey Beat Columns - The Quinlan Chronicles 
