BIG
LOSER – Love You, Barely Living (Black Numbers,
www.theblacknumbers.com)
You may know Big Loser better by their old name, Free Kittens
and Bread. I don’t know why they changed their name,
especially after putting out one of the best albums of the
last decade (their debut LP,
American Miserablist).
But we’re where we’re at, and they’re
now Big Loser, and now releasing their sophomore full-length
LP. And this is hard for me, because I loved
American
Miserablist so much, but this new album doesn’t
live up to the debut. I still like it. Frontman Chase Spruiell
is still a great songwriter, and these songs are still quite
good. Spruiell still has a great ear for arrangements, too.
But this record doesn’t have the standout tracks,
the variation, and the huge dynamics that made “Miserablist”
sparkle for me. I do like “Reveille!” (French
for “wake up!”) which opens the LP, with the
lonesome sound of the trumpet in a song that, tempo wise,
is upbeat. “Helpless” has a nice jaunt to its
melody that sort of makes it stand out from the others tracks.
I like the interplay of acoustic guitar and piano on “Post-Almost-Overdose.”
The spare instrumentation and dark sadness of the track
are evidence of Spruiell’s genius. The foreboding
is echoed in both the music and the lyrics. “Well,
the sunset’s overwhelming / Lighting up the leaky
faucet / The paint is coming off the walls again / There’s
something coming, I can’t stop it.” “Persistent
Heart” starts out quietly, and gets big, with an almost
emotional pop punk sound, for some of the biggest dynamics
of the album. “Pessimist For Real” opens with
just a quiet, deep electric guitar, followed by Spruiell’s
quiet, low vocals. The song suddenly opens up with full
band, turning into a nice jangly indie rocker. That seems
to be a pattern with many of the songs on this LP –
quiet start, suddenly getting big, abrupt ending. I think
this may be what’s bothering me, and makes this album
fall short of “Miserablist;” the predictability
of the song structures. “Denouement” breaks
the pattern at the end of the LP (“denouement”
refers to the part of a story after the climax, where all
loose threads are tied up and the characters’ problems
are resolved). It’s a little more even than the others.
As I said, I still like the record, and I still love the
band, no matter what name they go by. It’s just that
the debut LP set such a high bar.
ANNA
BURCH – If You’re Dreaming (Polyvinyl Records,
www.polyvinylrecords.com)
For her follow-up to her 2018 debut, “Quit the Curse,”
Anna Burch eschews the energetic pop, jangly guitars, and
grungy fuzz, focusing instead on relaxed misty melodies,
peaceful pop, and lovely lazy songs. This is a perfect record
for calming nerves during the isolation of lockdown. All
of the songs are quite pretty, but I’ll make special
mention of a few favorites. The opener, “Can’t
Sleep,” has a nice easy bounce to it, sort of like
you have on those walks around the neighborhood to get your
exercise, big puffy clouds floating overhead. “Jacket”
has the feel of a hazy jazz standard. You can almost smell
the smoke in the little dimly lit nightclub. I love the
shimmering ambience of this song. The gorgeous and delicate
instrumental, “Keep It Warm,” feels like something
out of a dream, with acoustic guitar sounding almost harp-like,
clarinet and keyboards fluttering in the background. And
the closer, “Here With You,” sounds like an
old French folk song; the higher register of the acoustic
guitar and Burch’s clear pure vocals are just perfect.
Oh, the other tracks are really nice, too. So pretty.
LE
SABOTEUR – Ditch (Paper Street Cuts, www.paperstreetcuts.com)
Le Saboteur is a trio from San Diego that just made the
move to Seattle. The trio of Michelle Pannell (guitar, lead
vocals), Kyle Bob (bass), and Uriel Montes (drums) play
some pounding grunge-filled alternative rock music. This
six-song mini LP debut release was supposed to kick off
a tour, too, but now they’re stuck in place like the
rest of us (Montes still trapped in San Diego for the duration).
And that’s a shame, because people need to hear this
band. These are exciting songs, pretty different from what
most bands are doing these days. The music is dark and powerful,
Pannell’s vocals impassioned. “Tightrope”
is so intense, guitars used as percussion more than to carry
a melody (Pannell’s clear vocals take on that duty).
And the closing track, “Safety Net,” is similarly
forceful, yet with a gloomy pall. I love “Distant
Hum,” too, a song with more of a pop bounce to it.
The quiet opening, with just guitar and vocals, is a real
showcase for Pannell’s voice. They just moved away
and I already miss them. Recommended.
BRETT
NEWSKI – Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down
(www.brettnewski.com)
Imagine combining Bob Dylan songs, power pop, and pop rock.
Wait, you don’t have to imagine it, Brett Newski’s
already done it for you, so you can hear what that sounds
like. Newski’s vocals are very Dylanesque, with same
sort of vocal quality, the same laidback delivery. The songs
are definitely pop rock oriented, with the edgiest being
“Grow Your Garden,” which opens Newski’s
fifth full-lengther. It’s got a tougher, grittier
guitar sound and a somewhat harder attack, with the organ
being the only thing trying to temper it. “Do It Again”
sounds like a rock song right out of the 80s, with restless
guitars, buzzy high-pitched synths, and a power pop chorus,
especially when the multi-tracked vocals come in. “Last
Dance” sounds like it could have been released by
Dylan if he had gone through a pop punk phase. “Lousy
T-shirt” is a nice quiet acoustic song with a pretty
melody. “Buy Me a Soul” tries to be a garage
pop song, and “Fight Song” is a nice Americana
song, the twang in Newski’s voice matching the twang
in the melody. So does the blending of these disparate styles
work? Yes, it works well enough.
EMPTY
COUNTRY (Get better Records, www.getbetterrecords.com)
After teasing us last fall with a single, former Cymbals
Eat Guitars front man Joe D’Agostino’s new band,
Empty Country, is out with their debut LP. And while the
songs are recognizably D’Agostino’s, there’s
a distinct difference from those CEG songs of the past.
And there’s a bigger variety in sounds on this LP
than in anything CEG ever put out. The opener, “Marian,”
is one of the more CEG-like songs, but with huge harmonies
and janglier guitars. I previously reviewed the lead single,
“Ultrasound,” which also has a somewhat CEG
vibe. But what I really love is all of the songs that sound
nothing like CEG. “Diamond” has a dark Americana
twang to it, with acoustic and steel guitars. Acoustic guitar
is used more frequently on this record than anything D’Agostino’s
done in the past. “Untitled” starts out quietly,
with lyrics about lovely acid trips, and even when the full
band comes in, it’s still an easier, softer song,
hazily drifting along. After the halfway mark, though, the
song builds, the guitars begin to clang and grind noisily,
the vocals get angrier, the whole mood of the song shifting
from serene to chaotic, before everything comes crashing
down to a quiet ending, same as the way the song began.
I adore the gorgeous “Chance,” with electric
keyboards tuned to sound bell-like, sounding like the keyboards
from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. The quiet harmonized
vocals are just beautiful, and the song becomes lush and
lovely, with violins and ambient sounds. I really like the
waltz-time “Emerald City,” with it’s shimmery
feel, especially the sparkling keyboards and arpeggiated
vocals about two-thirds of the way in. “Becca”
has a cool jaunty feel to it. And “Southern Cloud”
has a downright bright pop feel. It’s really good
to have D’Agostino back.
CHIEF
STATE – Tough Love (Mutant League Records, www.mutantleaguerecords.com)
Chief State, hailing from Vancouver, BC in Canada, play
slick melodic punk. It’s the sort of music that everyone
was calling “pop punk” in the 2000s (and some
still do), but which really doesn’t sound anything
like what most of us think of as pop punk. On some of the
songs, when they pick up the tempo, like on “Deciduous,”
they border on a modern skate punk sound (which, again,
is nothing like what we thought of as “skate punk”
back in the 80s or 90s.) It’s big, lush, with intense,
emotional vocals, as are all of the tracks on the seven-song
mini-LP. They sound earnest and heartfelt, but at the end
of the day the songs all tend to blend into each other.
GOLD
CAGE – Social Crutch (Felte, www.felte.net)
LA trio Gold Cage call themselves “post-punk tinged
slow-core.” I guess I get the slow-core part. The
songs are played at a lazy, relaxed tempo, guitars dreamily
playing through heavy reverb. The bass thumps simply, while
the percussion quietly taps out the rhythms. Dueling vocals
weave quietly in the spaces between the instruments. I think
I wish the instrumentation was thicker, though. Some synths
to fill the empty spaces in the arrangements would go a
long way to creating the sort of dream-like atmosphere these
songs need. As it is, the sparseness, with just single guitar,
bass, drums, and vocals, leaves the songs feeling mostly
empty. I do like the opener, “Repeater Kember.”
It makes good use of guitar effects to thicken the sound,
the dueling vocals winding around each other. And when the
guitar opens up past the halfway mark it’s glorious.
“Introduce My Friend” has a cool 80s Joy Division
vibe going on, with deadpan vocals and retro bass and guitar
sounds. But other than that, the rest leaves me cold and
bored. “What Is Left,” for instance, is slow
and the arrangement is so thin that it sounds like a sketch
of an idea rather than a fully realized song. And though
“Creepfest,” which closes the album,”
has a nice lonely sound, it, too, is just too thin and sparse
sounding. For the sophomore release, I suggest adding a
member and filling out the sound.
THE
GUNGANS – Meesameesameesa! (thegungans.bandcamp.com)
Dustin Umberger (of Grim Deeds) has a new project named
for the most annoying of alien species from the Star Wars
films, The Gungans. In homage to Screeching Weasel’s
classic second LP, “Boogadaboogadaboogada,”
the cover has a drawing of what could be Jar Jar Binks himself,
wearing a leather jacket and with a cigarette hanging from
his mouth. “Meesameesameesa!” it says beneath,
echoing the SW cover. OK, I’ve been hooked, but can
the music reel me in? Well, if you’re into cheesy
pop punk about inane 90s toys and the like, you’ll
like this. The songs are pretty simplistic pop punk, and
with titles like “I Love Jar Jar Binks,” “Action
Figure Collection,” and “He’s a Brony,”
you can tell there’s nothing serious here. The music
is very basic Ramones-core, every song sounding pretty much
like the others. And with songs about playing a video game
(“I Can’t Beat Ninja Galden”), what sort
of music one likes (“Heavy Metal Is Best” –
then why are you playing pop punk?), and being a punk while
working a “real day job” (“Laptop Punk”),
there’s nothing earthshaking here. Meh.
INNERLOVE
– Fine By Me (Know Hope Records, www.knowhoperecords.com)
Long Island’s Innerlove call themselves “self-love
rock.” I have no idea what that means, but the five
songs on this mini-LP are pretty nice indie-pop. The opening
track, “Enough,” is bouncy as hell, with awesome
power pop hooks and awesome harmonized vocals. The guitars
have a surf quality to them, too, giving the song a bright
beachy feel. “Hell” follows with an interesting
blend of Americana, emo, and pop. “Relax”
has nice jangly guitars and what sounds like a trumpet,
with more of an emo sound in the melody and vocals. I’m
less enthused about “All the Weight” and the
title track, which takes things further down the emo path,
with less of the pop that makes the other song work well.
Overall, this is a decent debut, but I’d like to
hear more songs like that opener.
MFC
CHICKEN – Fast Food and Broken Hearts (Dirty Water
Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
Well, goddamn! Dirty Water has always put out great garage
rock and roll, but damn! MFC Chicken is the creation of
Canadian Spencer Evoy, who plays tenor sax and sings, and
I mean sings, soul dripping from every syllable coming out
of his mouth. This is R&B music straight outta the garage.
“Fast Food and Broken Hearts” is the band’s
fifth LP in ten years, and fried food despair has never
sounded so fun! This is a record that will get you dancing
with wild abandon. This is especially true of the amazing
opening track, “Always, Always, Always,” a super
fun track with lyrics about “going to the funhouse
party tonight,” but You know I don’t know if
I had some fun / ‘Cause I can’t remember anything
I done!” The aftermath the next morning is described,
too, the hangover, the blackout… Many of the songs
are tongue-in-cheek, too, like the next track, “KFC
Called the Cops on Me,” about going to the famous
fast food place to get some chicken, but they didn’t
have any. The customer may or may not have gotten enraged,
and they ended up calling the cops. Hey, fried chicken is
important when you’re hungry! “Who Gave What
to Who?” is about sexually transmitted diseases, with
a great funky beat. And “Fresh Chicken, Straight From
The Trash,” about the best free food you can get.
“It’s still good if it’s got some taste,”
the song declares, then asks, “Who through you out,
now? What a waste!” And “Fuck You, Me”
is the ultimate in self-deprecation, with a chorus of “Fuck
you, me / why don’t you leave me alone / if you weren’t
me I’d kick your ass / Throw you out of my home.”
“Spy Wail” is a great instrumental that, true
to its name, sounds like it could have been the theme song
from some 1960s spy thriller flick, with hints of surf rock
mixed in with the great R&B. Damn, I can listen to this
record over and over and never get tired of it! Bad feelings
have never sounded so good!
SAM
RUSSO – Back to the Party (Red Scare Industries,
www.redscare.net)
Britain’s Sam Russo has been with Red Scare for some
time. It’s been five years since LP #2, and though
he’s had offers to record for bigger labels, he’s
stuck with his Red Scare family. In these times of COVID-19
induced self-isolation, it’s become common to see
many of our favorite band members livecasting solo acoustic
from their living rooms to keep us entertained in the wake
of cancelled tours and closed venues. But Russo has been
doing the solo acoustic thing his entire career. The songs
are heartfelt, and there are lots of nice touches in the
arrangements that give these songs a fuller, richer sound
than just simple acoustic. Like the cellos at the opening
of “Purple Snow,” and the backing electric guitar
quietly meandering underneath the leads. Use of reverb and
multi-tracked vocals on “Always Lost” with a
drier guitar sound is an interesting contrast, too. Cello
provides a deep sound to the song “Darkness,”
as does piano and a mixture of dry and reverbed guitars.
“Young Heroes” uses glockenspiel and, I think,
mandolin, plus keyboards to sweeten the sound and make it
lusher. “Tears” utilizes steel guitar, too,
but with the acoustic guitar always in the fore. Some songs
are even raucous pop punk, like “Corporeal Gloom,”
even though it’s primarily acoustic. I like the closer,
“Basement,” which is a raucous pop punk song,
too, but the arrangement is silky and beautiful. And “The
Window,” which previously appeared on Red Scare’s
anniversary compilation last year, has a great soaring quality
to the chorus. Even if you think you’re getting bored
with all of the acoustic guitar live streams happening these
days, give Russo’s latest LP a try. I think you’ll
find there’s much more to it than you expect.
SHASTA
– Roaming Hearts (Dowd Records, www.dowdrecords.com)
Blending together buzzy synths with an 80s vibe, dance-like
rhythms, a dream-pop aesthetic, and indie intensity, the
west coast quartet Shasta gives us three tracks that will
challenge your conceptions of these disparate genres that
are brought together. The title track encapsulates this
pretty well, with a hazy, lazy feel hanging over the steady
drum beat ready made for dancing. The vocals are gorgeous
and dreamy, but periodically getting raucous. The B-side
of the vinyl single, “Ciao Fun,” is a darker
song, without the dreaminess. The single note synth feels
hollow, and the band try to inject a bit of funk into the
track. This one just feels too thin to me. The digital only
and appropriately named “Closer” starts out
calm and relaxed, with laid-back vocals and a smooth melodic
line in the synth. As the song progresses, it thickens,
adding a jangly guitar and more buzzy synths, but still
with the laid back feel. While this is not the sort of music
I normally seek out, the first track is reasonably good.
I’m not as thrilled with the other two songs.
THE
SUICIDE MACHINES – Revolution Spring (Fat Wreck
Chords, www.fatwreck.com)
If I’m being honest, I’ll have to tell you that
I’ve not listened to The Suicide Machines before getting
this record sent to me to review. Though I like plenty of
bands on the Fat Wreck Chords label, some of them (the ones
that seem to attract more than their share of “bros”)
just don’t do it for me. I assumed The Suicide Machines
fell into that category. Well, don’t I feel dumb and
awkward now. The Suicide Machines play an incredible blend
of rapid-fire street punk and ska. Lots of bands call themselves
ska-punk, but really are either just punk or just ska. The
Suicide Machines are a genuine ska-punk band, mixing in
equal amounts of both genres to create something fun, bouncy,
danceable, and even political. “Bully In Blue”
is an amazing melodic street punk track played at blazing
speed, with lyrics regarding the unequal treatment of people
based on race at the hands of the police. I also like “Awkward
Always,” a track that alternates between ska and hard
rock, with a cool dub-like bridge. The street punk chorus
is great, especially right after the bridge when it’s
done a cappella with gang vocals. The song is about always
feeling like an outsider, even as you get older into adulthood.
Also equal parts ska and punk is “Flint Hostage Crisis,”
about how the Republican government in Michigan turned Flint
into a “Third World city,” letting people get
sick and die in order to preserve profits and power. “Detroit
Is the New Miami” is a powerful hardcore onslaught
about climate change. Another good one (notice a pattern
here? They’re all good.) is the dark punk of “Well
Whiskey Wishes,” about the dangers of the drink. I
love the verse that plays off a well-know Disney song, “When
you wish upon a bar / Makes no difference who you are /
You will always wind up on the floor / Next to all your
wishes from the night before.” The closer is “Cheers
To Ya,” and it’s the only track, as far as I
can tell, to actually use horns (normally a ska staple).
It’s an epic sounding song and a great way to end
a great LP. And here I am, egg on my face for making assumptions.
THE
PARASITES / LONE WOLF – Passport Vol. 4 (Mom’s
Basement Records, momsbasementrecords.bigcartel.com)
Mom’s Basement continues its international split release
series, this time featuring the legendary Parasites and,
hailing from Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Lone Wolf. I
shouldn’t have to even comment about The Parasites.
If you don’t know this band, what are you doing reading
Jersey Beat? Two songs from Dave and his current crop of
bandmates adorn side A, “No Sleep Tonight” and
“Nowhere Near Me.” They’re great, bouncy
pop punk, with the former played at a lope and the latter
at more rapid pace. Both feature some great backing vocal
harmonies and loads of energy. Flipping to the B side, Lone
Wolf’s “Meet Me in the Middle” is an awesome
track straddling pop punk and indie pop, the sort of thing
you would have heard on those 90's Shreds compilations.
Their other contribution, “After Dark,” is a
darker sounding indie rock track, with guitars providing
a staccato attack instead of the jangle of “Meet Me
in the Middle.” If this was just the two Parasites
tracks, this would get a recommendation. But those Lone
Wolf tracks make this an even better EP. Get on it.
DITCHES
(Drunken Sailor Records, www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
Jeff Burke’s influence is felt globally, as evidenced
by this debut LP from Ditches, a band out of Stockholm,
Sweden. The eleven tracks on this record are moderately
fast, gritty garage punk and power pop, similar to Burke’s
bands Marked Men and Radioactivity. There’s the rapid
guitar strumming, the reverb-laden vocals and instruments,
and the great melodies. Everything is played with a casual
intensity. Some of the tracks are a little more impassioned
than others. “Out Of This,” the opening track,
is a manic one with more garage rock content than power
pop, while “Get Away” is a bit more relaxed
in tempo, but with a dark intensity. It’s hard to
pick out any standout tracks, because these are all equally
good. If you’re a fan of this sub-genre and the Denton,
Texas sound, you’re going to love this record. I know
I do.
IGNORADOS
COMEDIANTES – Roy (Head2Wall Records, head2wallrecords.bigcartel.com)
Puerto Rican punk trio Ignorados Comediantes (Ignored Comedians)
are described by their label as “skate punk,”
but nope! It’s not. Instead, this is some blazing,
amazing East Bay style punk. Like the music that emerged
from that scene in the late 80s, it’s fast and loud,
like hardcore, but infused with melodies and hooks, making
for a great listen. Raspy vocals belt out lyrics in Spanish
as the guitar, bass, and drums rage. With ten songs in nineteen
minutes, they’re primarily short blasts that’ll
knock you over. Opening the album is “Ignorando La
Realidad” (Ignoring Reality), a perfect way to start.
The music flies by swiftly, the vocals gruff and a bit sloppy
in the best sense – it’s perfect for this style
of music. As fast and loose as the song is, it’s bouncy
as hell and it’s hard not to get up and jump around
when this track is playing. “Llenandote De Estupor”
(Filling You With Stupor) is a fun one, starting out as
a real powerhouse hardcore track, but it evolves into more
of a fast loping melodic sing-along. “12:30”
is dark hardcore punk, and right after it is “Huracan
TV,” which is a slower longer song that could have
appeared on Lookout Records in its heyday. You don’t
hear about many bands coming out of Puerto Rico, but Ignorados
Comediantes needs to be heard a lot more widely. This is
a great LP.
THE
MARK VODKA GROUP (Drunken Sailor Records, www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
Canadian rockers Mark Vodka and his self-named group blast
out a smorgasbord of garage and punk influenced tracks on
their self-titled debut LP. You get everything from the
intense garage metal onslaught of the opening track, “I
Wanna Piss in the Face of the World” to the rapid
fire old school hardcore punk of “Goon,” from
the amazing power pop of “Boy (I’m Allergic
to You)” to the dark jangly “Everybody’s
Punk Now.” “You’ve Got to Split”
is an interesting one, with deadpan spoken lyrics over some
pretty intense garage punk guitar licks. And the bouncy
fuzzed garage punk of “All That You’ve Done
for Me” reminds me of Ohio’s great Vacation.
I’m in awe of the wonderful “Touch of Grey,”
a fantastic power pop song that reminds me of crossing The
Buzzcocks with Elvis Costello. It sounds familiar yet unique
at the same time. I’m less enamored with the closer,
“Mark’s Blues,” a standard blues number
with acoustic guitar, which is completely out of place on
this LP. But the other baker’s dozen tracks are varied
and excellent.
MATT
WILSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – When I Was a Writer (Pravda
Records, www.pravdamusic.com)
Matt Wilson, formerly of alternative rock band Trip Shakespeare,
has returned to songwriting after a few years away. There
was so much pent up inside his head that he wrote non-stop
for the next three years, and this LP, his latest project,
is the end result. But if you’re looking for catchy
alternative rock similar to his former band, you won’t
find it here. In its place is, yes, alternative pop music,
but with more of a 70s bent, yet very different due to the
unique arrangements chosen for these recordings. There are
a lot of acoustic instruments in the mix, with the banjo
and acoustic guitar giving some of the songs a twangy Americana
feel. But it’s the sparklingly gorgeous harp provided
by Phala Tracey that really makes some of these songs special.
For instance, “Petty Thief” is just magical,
particularly on the choruses. The blending of the delicately
plucked harp, acoustic guitar, and even banjo gives the
song an ethereal feel. “Real Life,” is a dark
pretty one, especially when the harp comes to the forefront.
At the end of this track, things get more intense, with
the backing vocal choir, lead vocals, and instruments getting
louder and more emphatic – it becomes aggressively
pretty, in a way. And the closer, “Mental Patients,”
having the harp and banjo play the same line together at
times, is pretty unique and works really well. The opening
track (which is the title track) is a reflection of Wilson’s
experiences writing songs and his time when the words wouldn’t
come. This has both a distinct 70s pop feel, almost Bacharachian,
but blended with both a countryish feel from the banjo and
a light touch from the harp. “Decent Guy” is
a self-deprecating song about how someone who thinks he’s
a decent guy and who tries to be good eventually goes bad.
It starts out simply enough, with a tough jaunt, but as
the song evolves it gets more complex, instruments weaving
complicated patterns, just as the people referenced in the
lyrics start out seeming straight-forward, but the more
you get to know them, the more tangled they seem. The more
I listen to these songs, the more they grow on me. Welcome
back, Matt.
VISTA
BLUE – Rock Acrostics (wearevistablue.bandcamp.com)
Vista Blue, likely the most prolific band in the world of
pop punk, are back with a new EP. The dictionary defines
an acrostic as “a poem, word puzzle, or other composition
in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.”
None of the trio of tracks contains an acrostic, but the
opener, “This One’s Not About You,” mentions
how “I’ve written you rock operas and rock acrostics
too / But this one, this one’s not about you.”
It’s got the trademarked Vista Blue buzzy fuzzy guitar
as well as the Beach Boys multi-part harmonies. “I
Think Cathy Is Crazy (About You)” is likely the most
laid back song I’ve ever heard from the Vistas, and
the guitar is almost clean sounding! It’s a great
nerdy pop punk song. “I Wanna Be a Huntington”
closes the EP with more of a Ramones-core sound, the buzzy
muscly guitar making its reappearance. As always, Vista
Blue gives us fun, bouncy songs, though this EP is a rarity
in that it doesn’t seem to have a cohesive seasonal
or holiday theme.
THE
BOMBPOPS – Death In Venice Beach (Fat Wreck Chords,
www.fatwreck.com)
The Bombpops are back with their sophomore full-length LP
on Fat Wreck Chords, and it’s arguably their best
release yet. Their brand of powerful pop punk is a perfect
match for Fat, with big thick instrumentals and tuneful
harmonized vocals. The opening track “Dearly Departed,”
is one of my favorites of the LP. It’s an ode to toxic
relationships, and a warning of what can happen when things
go bad. Musically, the song is dark, as befits the topic,
but it’s super melodic and bouncy, too. I also really
like “Zero Remorse,” another dark one, this
time about trying to get away with…well, whatever.
It’s not clear, but it’s about not giving a
fuck. The music is intense, and I love the gorgeous cello
at the end. “Sad To Me” is pretty different
from most of the other tracks, and is another good one.
It’s a little slower, loping along with more of an
easy pop bent than a lot of the tracks. The song is about
remembering someone who’s turned into a dick and turning
your back on them. “Can’t Come Clean,”
by contrast, is not that much faster, but has a strong Ramones-core
feel and is brighter than a lot of the other tracks, musically
if not lyrically. And that’s a theme through a lot
of Bombpops songs – lots of darkness, lots of bad
experiences. And songs of breakups, like “Radio Silence,”
which has an absolutely gorgeous bridge. The track has power
pop leanings, with some great hooks, even if the dark pall
still surrounds nearly everything the band plays. The closer,
“Southbound Stranger,” is also pretty different
for the Bombpops. It’s jangly and even has hints of
Americana influence. OK, I’m going to take back my
first statement about this being arguably the band’s
best release yet. It’s definitely their best yet,
no argument about it.
BRIAN
MIETZ – Panzarotti (Sludge People, sludgepeople.merchtable.com)
The guy who makes all sorts of poster art for various bands,
Brian Mietz, also writes and performs his own music. And
that’s led to this debut LP, named for a South New
Jersey food consisting of a pocket of fried dough filled
with cheese and pizza sauce. The ten songs on offer are
pretty laid back and pop oriented, with varying levels of
success. I really like “Aijun,” the track appearing
third in the lineup. The guitars have an open sound and
a loping jangle. The melody is pretty minimalist, but the
ambient guitar jangle and the use of reverb give the track
a rich, full sound. “Kallie” has a high-pitched
buzzy synth that normally would annoy me, but here it’s
a perfect complement to the breezy acoustic guitar. I also
really like “Pennies From Heaven,” which also
uses acoustic guitars, and has an easy bounce to it, Mietz’s
relaxed vocals gliding along. And “Speck In My Eye”
has to be my favorite of the LP, a track that’s the
most raucous of the album, though, still with a carefree
feel, with a peppiness to it. It alternates between thick
full instrument and sparser feel with just quiet electric
guitar and understates percussion. A few of the songs don’t
do it for me, though. The very first track, “Hollyweed,”
is a buzzy psych-pop song that I just couldn’t get
into. And right after that, “Interactivity”
has a retro doo-wop feel updated with a modern pop aesthetic,
but it just didn’t work for me. But overall, I really
like the casual nonchalance of most of the tracks on this
record.
THE
FLATMATES (Happy Happy Birthday To Me, www.hhbtm.com)
Once upon a time there was an indie pop band from Bristol,
in the UK, called The Flatmates. They formed in 1986, burned
brightly, and broke up three years later, leaving only a
few singles and no LPs behind as evidence they were ever
there. Their influence was larger than one would expect
from their short life, though, as many people credit them
with being one of the early bands to create the fuzzed guitar
indie pop sound. Twenty-seven years later, the band reformed
with new vocalist Lisa Bouvier, and seven years after that
have finally released their debut LP. Talk about taking
your time! The baker’s dozen songs on this LP are
definitely a throwback to the 90s indie sound. The songs
are bouncy as hell, with guitars hazily buzzing away. They
are incredibly sweet sounding, yet tough at the same time,
and Bouvier’s vocals are just spot on for the style.
Electric organ rounds out the sound with a nice warmth,
and the lyrics mostly are about love and relationships,
good and bad. My favorite song has to be “This Is
Reality,” a song that bounces off the bounciness.
It’s just so much fun, with some of the best hooks
of the record. “Something In My Eye” is another
favorite for the huge sound in the chorus that comes from
the trumpet that makes an appearance on a few tracks. “Punk
Moth” is an interesting song, as it’s a Ramones-core
track, but lighter than what you would expect. “Why
Can’t It Be Love” closes the album, and has
an even bigger sound than “Something In My Eye.”
It has a retro R&B influence to it, too, blending some
awfully fun styles together to craft something pretty original.
Fitting for one of the original indie-pop bands.
THE
FUR COATS – Dystopia Sherbit (Johann’s Face
Records, johannsfacerecords.bandcamp.com)
One of the things I love the most about The Fur Coats is
that every record they put out has a little bit of a different
sound. Sometimes it’s pure pop punk, other times it’s
the gritty, tough Chicago punk sound that front man Marc
Ruvolo perfected with his old band, No Empathy. This latest
LP from The Fur Coats, though, their third full-length LP,
varies even from song to song, making for a surprising and
fun listen. Songs range from the metallic tinged punk of
“I Tumbled Down a Deep Ravine,” to the bouncy
pop of “Hey God Bone,” to the classic punk of
“Anthem of the Anthropocene (Part 1)” and much
in between, all with a distinct nod to 80s music. I really
like the 80s post-punk quality of “Epilogue,”
a sparingly instrumented track that’s ready made for
pogoing. Lyrically, it’s a dark look at life wasted.
“Bang! There’s the starting gun / Did you run,
run, run run, run? / See! The world has passed you by /
Did you even try, try, try?” “Crown Shyness”
is so different from anything the band have ever done before,
a dark gloomy ballad with fuzzed out guitar and electronics
grinding away, setting a dismal mood. It’s got a very
80s feel to it too, and I love the atmosphere it generates,
though Ruvolo’s bright vocals aren’t quite depressing
enough to match the emotional essence of the instrumentals.
“Dewclaws to the Dawn” is another favorite.
It’s got a cool and weird early Devo meets Kraftwerk
quality to it. “Ex Libris” reminds me of the
great Washington DC band 9353, which had so many odd songs
with very distinct vocals that this song manages to do a
pretty good job approximating. The closing track is “Anthem
of the Anthropocene (Part 2),” which has the same
general melody of Part 1 and the same chorus, but is a lot
more relaxed, with a twangy indie sound. Though this album
may be a little more jarringly disjointed than past efforts,
the variety is something close to my heart, so I really
love this one.
LUCY
AND THE RATS – Dark Clouds / Get Down (Dirty Water
Records, www.dirtwaterrecords.co.uk / Stardumb Records,
www.stardumbrecords.com)
Stardumb, known for power pop and pop punk has teamed up
with Dirty Water Records, a label known for gritty garage
rock and roll. They’ve come together to put out this
latest single from London’s Lucy and the Rats, a band
that blends garage, power pop, and pop punk – a perfect
collaboration for these labels. The tracks on this single
are a little more on the power pop side of things, but the
guitars, particularly on the A side, have that garage sound,
and especially in the bridge. The B-side is much more laid
back, a bit slower, and a touch grittier. But it’s
still deeply rooted in power pop. I like this band a lot.
MIDDLE-AGED
QUEERS – Too Fag For Love (Outpunx Records, middleagedqueers.bandcamp.com)
Funny-punk has a long and storied history as a subgenre
in the larger punk scene. So, too, has queer-core, a genre
pioneered by the likes of Pansy Division and Limp Wrist.
But what happens when you put the two genres together, and
create a queer-core band that’s tongue in cheek and
doesn’t take itself seriously? You get Middle-Aged
Queers, a band made up of aging punks formerly in well-known
punk bands such as Flipper, Fang, and others. The opening
track, “Gary’s Making Biscuits,” has no
queer content, being a simple ditty about a cat named Gary.
But “Bike Cock” certainly has both an old school
punk sound and homosexuality in its lyrics. “Fuck
that cock, get it out of my face!” the song demands.
Musically, the band seems to blend elements of old school
punk bands like The Dead Kennedys with goth punk like you
might hear from Bauhaus. Lyrically, not every song is queer-oriented.
Like “Frankenstein’s Alive,” but “I
Got the Gay Edge” is sort of like the queer version
of straight-edge, I guess. It’s the most “hardcore”
of the songs, for sure. And “Red Herring” is
almost pop punk in comparison to the rest of the songs.
But, overall, this record feels more like what it is –
a bunch of older punks playing some funny, sloppy punk music,
much of which sounds a little too alike. Nothing says this
more than the closer, “Theme Song,” which has
a chorus that repeats, “We are the queers, the Middle-Aged
Queers, we’re the fucking queers, go fuck yourself!”
I suppose whether you will enjoy this record depends on
how you feel about the simplistic funny-punk genre.
THE
MR. T EXPERIENCE – MTX Forever (Sounds Rad, www.soundsradical.com)
Decades in the making, this new two disc retrospective collects
together twenty-four of the very best Mr. T Experience tracks
from throughout the band’s storied career. Complete
disclosure: I’ve long been a big MTX fan, so this
will be less of a review and more of a love letter to Dr.
Frank and company. The band formed back in the mid 1980s,
when hardcore was turning into metallic crossover. The state
of punk was not good. But in the East Bay, the pop punk
movement was stirring to life, with bands like MTX leading
the way. MTX, in particular, was even poppier and more,
well, fun than a lot of the other bands, with many of the
songs sung with tongue firmly in cheek. Loads of bounce,
tons of hooks, and a humorous outlook have been mainstays
of MTX songs throughout. The collection opens with a bang,
the classic single “Love American Style,” from
the 1991 single. This one’s always been a favorite,
with a great garage-like feel, while still managing to be
brightly poppy. And the musical and lyrical references to
the TV theme song are fun and nostalgic. “More Than
Toast,” off “Our Bodies, Our Selves,”
is also a classic hit, instantly recognizable as MTX. And
the lyrics are a perfect representation of what MTX is all
about, with comical lines like “I love you more than
toast” and “I knead you more than dough.”
Another great one is “She’s Coming (Over Tonight)”
(from the LP, “Revenge Is Sweet, and So Are You”),
with its retro garage sound and double-entendre lyrics.
“The End of the Ramones,” from the 10”
EP “Big Black Bugs Bleed Blue Blood,” is Dr.
Frank’s homage to the progenitors of pop punk, with
more of a raw East Bay punk sound blended with Ramones-core.
Another one from “Our Bodies…” is the
hilariously self-deprecating “Even Hitler Had a Girlfriend,”
played as a lonely acoustic solo song. “Nixon had
his puppy / Charles Manson had his clan,” the song
declares, “But God forbid that I get a girlfriend.”
I adore the twee rock and roll chamber music of “Book
of Revelation,” off of the LP “Milk Milk Lemonade,”
complete with harpsichord accompaniment. My absolute favorite
MTX song of all time, though, is “Swallow Everything,”
which I think originally appeared on a 7” comp, and
later on Big Black Bugs Bleed Blue Blood.” It’s
a song about the culture of drug abuse, but it makes no
judgments, positive or negative. The song is impossibly
upbeat and bouncy, and great fun. The final two songs of
the collection are the ones most different from the others.
“Leave the Thinking to the Smart People” from
2000’s “The Miracle of Shame” is gentle
psych-folk-rock ballad, with electronic keyboards and a
bit of a dreamy feel. And “London,” from “Yesterday
Rules,” is a soft rock number that would feel at home
on adult contemporary radio. These last two are not my favorites,
but hey, Dr. Frank can pretty much do no wrong with his
music. If you’re just getting started learning about
MTX, this is a great place. It’ll entice you to try
to find all the back catalog records.
PEARS
(Fat Wreck Chords, www.fatwreck.com)
FINALLY! It’s been too long a wait since “Green
Star” came out, Pears’ previous LP, which found
its way onto my Best of the Decade list (which you can read
here: http://www.jerseybeat.com/2019-paulsilver.html). But
fuck that album; this one is self-titled, so the band’s
whole reputation is on the line now. The quartet is mainly
known for incredibly fast hardcore, intense grindcore, and
the poppiest melodies – all in the same song. And
they don’t disappoint on that front at all. For example,
“Zero Wheels” is played at a breakneck pace,
but is loaded with melodic hooks and harmonized vocals.
“Comfortably Dumb” is a manic track that reminds
me a bit of old Suicidal Tendencies, until they hit the
chorus and those beautiful harmonies and pop sensibilities
come back. But what’s more surprising and interesting
on this LP are the unexpected tracks. One of my absolute
favorites is “Naptime,” which guitarist Brian
Pretus says he wrong in about ten minutes and is one of
his favorites, too. Initially it’s classic Pears,
intense, fast and loud, this time with a bit of an Oi feel,
except when the melodic punk seeps in. But what makes this
track amazing is that on the last pounding chorus, as the
track starts to fade away, guitars and bass getting quieter
and quieter, we hear an acoustic guitar madly playing the
same line. It’s an incredible effect, real genius.
“Worm” is an amazing mash up of grinding punk
and light pop music, at least near the beginning of the
track. The falsetto harmonized backing vocals over Zach
Quinn’s enraged lead vocals, along with the blistering
attack of the instrumentals is something to behold. And
“Traveling Time,” the penultimate track on the
album, is a complete departure for the band, featuring more
of a classic rock sound blended with grunge. It almost sounds
like something that Quinn might have written for his other
band, Bandaid Brigade, but didn’t use there. The closer,
“Cynical Serene,” starts out as something more
expected, with massive intensity and melody, but there’s
a bridge at the halfway mark that’s actually ethereal,
almost dreamy, before the hardness comes back. I really
love when the track nears its end, and everything drops
away except for the bass, playing the final notes. It’s
a beautiful moment, spoiled as only Pears can do it at the
very end. This New Orleans quartet have made some bold choices
for this LP, but I think it’s paid off very nicely.
They’ve expanded who they are as a band while remaining
true to themselves.
GODDAMNIT
/ TRAVERSE – Split mini LP (Creep Records, www.creeprecords.com/record-label)
Philadelphia’s Goddamnit call themselves a “post-punkmocore”
band. It’s a pretty apt description. They tend to
play early to mid 90s post-punk blended with emo, and a
heavy dose of melodic punk thrown in. It’s the sort
of music that was pioneered in the Midwest by bands like
Gauge, Braid, and Cap’n Jazz, but then thrown in a
blender with post-hardcore. On some of the tracks the Midwest
melodic emo is more prominent, on others the post-hardcore
emo is. Since there are only four tracks from this band,
it’s hard to tell which is more their sound. But “Little
Mile” is my favorite of the bunch by a long mile.
It’s a little more up-tempo than the other tracks,
and has some big, epic guitar lines. “Gemini Season”
is the other track that has bits of the old Midwest sound,
while “Pieces Left” and “Wishful Thinking”
have a more modern 2000s sound.
Traverse is from the other side of the Atlantic, specifically
Paris, France. And while they definitely have some emotional
content to their punk rock, Traverse have way more pop
in their arsenal. The three songs they contribute are
mostly big sing-alongs, worthy of the West Coast style.
In some ways, too, the first track, “Deserted World,”
reminds me of PUP. I think it’s the vocals, raw
emotion yet very melodic. “We Like To Discuss The
Black But Not The Fade” has an awesome math-rock
bridge toward the end that glistens. And the final track
is called “Coeurs Fauves,” and is sung in
French. It has a breezy but tough sound that I really
like. Both of these bands are good, but if I had to pick
one, I think Traverse would take it. This is seriously
good.
EAMON
RA – Meat Bones Chemicals Electricity (eamonra.bandcamp.com)
Seattle’s singer/songwriter Eamon Ra has released
his debut solo LP after many years of working with other
musicians of that fine city. The record focuses on psychedelic
pop sounds, sort of like blending Syd Barrett and The Beatles.
There’s a clear nod to the oddball psychedelic genre,
but within a more pop structure. The track the album title
comes from, “Pitchforks and Torches,” is a perfect
example of this. It’s a lightly bouncy waltz that
one could imagine coming from either Pink Floyd’s
first LP or a mid period Beatles record. The song is about
how the townsfolk gathered in the square with their pitchforks
and torches to chase after a creature made of, yes, meat,
bones, chemicals, and electricity. But the song says, we’re
all made of the same elements – the song seeming to
be a reference to the stupidity of bigotry. We’re
all the same, and the differences we hate each other over
are merely superficial. “Nightingale” is an
amazing bluesy folk lament, with acoustic guitar, flute,
and heartfelt vocals. “Simple But So Complicated”
is a favorite, too, with the feel of a modern madrigal,
guitars sounding sort of like harpsichords. The song also
brings back the title refrain, this time in a reference
to how people are simple, yet so complicated. “Kiss
Somebody Special” and “Fun to be Had”
are a little more like 70s pop music ballads and work less
well. But the closer, “Such Good Friends,” is
a beautiful celebration of the value of friendship. It’s
in waltz time, blending 60s pop and funk sounds in a pretty
unique way. If you love psychedelic pop music, this is a
must.
ERIK
NERVOUS AND THE BETA BLOCKERS (Drunken Sailor Records,
www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
Erik Nervous, joined by The Beta Blockers, play some pretty
great angular post-punk rock music that harkens back to
the glory days of the wondrous musical experimentation and
exploration of the late 70s and early 80s. Minimalism is
on full display in tracks like “Gravure,” with
the melodic line repeated over and over in the guitars.
The track “Richard” is a perfect example of
the heights the post-punk style achieved, with some awesome
jazzy guitar riffs, but always within a punk aesthetic.
“Blasted Heath,” too, is a throwback to the
days of synth-based post-punk, bridging the worlds of punk
rock and new wave. I really love the minimalism of “Want
To Not Wanna,” with buzzy guitars dueling in the foreground
and deadpan vocals speaking the lyrics in a monotone in
the background. Sometimes the minimalism gets to be a little
too much (or too little, as the case may be). “”I’ve
Got A) Desk Lamp For A Hand” is just an extended guitar
solo, bass line, and a bit of drums to keep the beat, and
it does get to be grating. Thankfully, it’s followed
by the richer “No Chorus,” with synths giving
the song a sparkle and shouted vocals giving it urgency.
And right after that is “Make Up To Break Up,”
which blends the best of power pop and new wave, adding
saxophones in the chorus to great effect. “State Line”
has a darker garage-like feel, but with a great driving
beat that keeps the song moving ever forward. Synths seem
to lurk in the background to add to the darkness. I think
this is probably my favorite of the LP. Good stuff.
MELODY
ENGLISH – Melody (House of Feelings, www.hausofeels.com)
This nine-track album represents the debut LP from Brooklyn's
Melody English. Though the songs span a wide variety of
feels, all of the songs have a quiet, intimate feel to them.
The opening track, “Huma,” uses electric keyboards,
acoustic guitar, and multi-tracked vocals to create what
can only be described as a very delicate grunge tune. “Affect
Me” is a folk pop tune with hints of 70s influence.
I love the gloom of “Monotony,” a song that
feels achingly sad, lonely, and beautifully languorous.
“What If I don’t want to say anything? / What
if I don’t to go? / What if I’m enough for me
right now?” the song asks, unconvincingly. But my
favorite, by far, is “Nolite,” a track that
sounds ancient and mysterious. I hear medieval liturgical
music here, but I also hear classical opera, and I hear
deep sadness and loss. Three quarters of the way through
the track, it ends, but then buzzy synths play rising patterns,
and there are low throbs interjected, like something from
science fiction. After this abruptly cuts off, the final
track, “Never Meet,” plays. It’s a sweet
folk tune with acoustic guitar and multi-tracked vocals.
“I think that we should never meet,” the song
opens. As with other songs on the album, there is a desire
for deliberate isolation, and the music’s lonesome
sound matches the sentiment. Less successful is “Badlands,”
a song that shifts between piano and electric keyboards
in a song that sounds like the soft rock of the 80s, but
the vocals are sung unevenly. Acoustic guitar comes in and
out in odd places, too, and the melody sounds like something
from a stage show. And “Argue” seems to bow
to new wave songs of the early 80s, with sparkly synths,
though the feel is toned down from the mania of new wave.
But there’s much more to fall in love with in this
debut than there are reasons to ignore it.
MUCK
AND THE MIRES – Cupid’s Not a Friend of Mine
(Rum Bar Records, rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com / Dirty Water
Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
Known for putting out some great power pop and rock and
roll records, Rum Bar Records has teamed up with the UK’s
premier purveyors of garage rock to give us a bouncy rock
and roll Valentine’s Day treat. Boston’s Muck
and the Mires have a history with both labels, and are a
perfect fit to bring them together. This anti-love song
is the first single off the forthcoming LP, “Greetings
from Muckingham Palace,” due out this spring. The
track is classic power pop, with loads of bounce, great
jangly hooks, harmonized lead and backing vocals, plus a
great gritty guitar solo at the bridge. I can’t wait
for the full album!
SPANISH
LOVE SONGS – Brave Faces, Everyone (Pure Noise Records,
www.purenoise.net)
God, I love this band. They move me, musically and lyrically,
like few bands do. Ever since I saw them for the first time
at San Diego’s Soda Bar and felt compelled to pick
up their first album at the merch table, I’ve been
avidly following them. The LA band play huge, expansive,
and emotionally charged music. These are rousing anthems
of the trials and tribulations we all face to make it in
life. The music is huge and full of emotion, with just the
right balance of pop melody to it. Every song sounds epic,
even in the quiet parts, echoing the quiet desperation in
the daily lives of most everyone on the planet.
On the opening track, “Routine Pain,” vocalist
Dylan Slocum sings about the daily grind we all face, not
just the workaday rut of going from “bed to desk to
bar,” as the lyrics say, but all of the feelings of
self-doubt and guilt we all carry with us. As if searching
for a way out, Slocum asks, “Am I gonna be this down
forever? / Am I gonna be this dumb forever? / Am I gonna
be this gone forever? / Am I gonna be this numb forever?”
The hopefulness continues on “Self-Destruction (as
a Sensible Career Choice).” Reflecting on the choice
to make music a career (or any passion, really), something
that really doesn’t pay the bills (or, as Slocum sings,
“All I have are missed bank payments” and “I
know I can’t eat off this paycheck”), the song
confirms the commitment to this path, declaring “It
won’t be this bleak forever.”
From there, the songs begin to look outward, unlike on
the first two albums, where they were more introspective
and self-referential. They’re vignettes about life
in the United States as things stand today, that the band
saw and experienced touring for their sophomore LP, “Schmaltz.”
These are stories of how people struggle to live, and
how, as Slocum says, “…life never goes off
the rails all at once. Rather it’s a years-long
series of seemingly imperceptible events that snowball
into life-altering issues like heroin addiction, mental
illness, or suicide. But just as things didn’t break
overnight, happiness and redemption aren’t as simple
as a flip of the switch. It’s a day-by-day, step-by-step
climb we have to work to attain.”
Songs include a tale of how people lose hope and abuse
substances to deal with (or avoid dealing with) life in
“Generation Loss.” The cycle of opioid addiction
is explored in “Generation Kick,” with a young
man who, as a child, witnessed his father shooting up,
then went on the sell and use himself, ending up in prison
after becoming a father himself. One of my favorites (in
an album full of excellent songs) is “Losers.”
It’s about the experience of so many young people
these days, unable to afford rising rents in gentrifying
neighborhoods, unable to afford the escalating costs of
health care and not bothering to see as doctor “until
I’m down on my knees,” and living “life
off points from credit card financing.” “Losers
2” continues the theme, talking about working three
jobs to afford the cost of living, which “means
the cost to stay alive.” In this song, as in many
cases in life, people tragically see suicide as the only
out from a miserable existence.
But not all is grim. “Optimism (as a Radical Career
Choice)” discusses the disaster the world has become,
as our every daily choice ends up exploiting some and
making others richer, as more and more we live in a police
state in the name of safety as meaningless violence rises.
But, we can survive! Slocum declares, “I’ll
wear you out waiting for me to implode,” and “I’m
done dying on the inside / Now that everything is dying
on the outside.” Life goes on, and so must we. And,
as the closing moments of the title track that closes
out the album declares, “We don’t have to
fix everything at once / We were never broken / Life’s
just very long / Brave faces everyone.” We need
to stay strong for ourselves and for each other, and we
can all survive together. And, while maintaining may not
seem like a reason for optimism, it’s way better
than the alternative.
THE
FRIGHTS – Everything Seems Like Yesterday (Epitaph
Records, www.epitaph.com)
San Diego’s The Frights continue to reinvent themselves
on this, their fourth studio LP (and their second since
singing to Epitaph). The band that started as a garage-surf-punk
trio many years ago and evolved into awesome nerdy indie
pop rock for their Epitaph debut has released an album of
incredibly awesome acoustic-based pop songs. For this latest
effort, the songs are written and performed solely by front
man Mikey Carnevale. The songs, written by Carnevale on
acoustic guitar beginning back in 2018, were originally
intended for release as a solo acoustic album, top be put
up digitally for free. But the reaction to the songs, when
performed at various shows, was so strong, it was decided
they needed to be on a new Frights album. Carnevale brought
bassist Richard Dotson up to his grandmother’s cabin
in the mountain village of Idyllwild, California, and they
proceeded to record, laying down all of the tracks in sequence
with a field recorder, leaving in all of the ambient sounds
it picked up. They used pinecones and pots and pans to add
percussion, as well as the crunching of fallen leaves and
the thump of tennis ball thrown against the cabin wall.
At the end of the recording of “Simple and Strange,”
the cabin’s phone began to ring…and they decided
to leave it in. And likewise, the haunting hoots of an owl
fill the empty space at the close of the equally haunting
“Faceless Moon.”
The album opens with “24,” referring to Carnevale’s
age when their Epitaph debut LP, “Hypochondriac,”
was released. It’s a song that I can personally
relate to, about how people drift out of our lives if
we don’t make the effort to remain connected (and
how we often don’t). Though the song is stripped
down, it feels thick and bouncy, with layers of acoustic
and electric guitar, multi-tracked vocals, and various
ambient sounds. I love the poignant “Echo in the
Corner of the Room,” another song with a playful
melody, including both acoustic guitar and mandolin. The
song is truly beautiful, and the lyrics are a remembrance
of a dead friend, something that echoes in my own life
lately.
Some of the songs add harmonica, giving a more Americana
feel, like “Kicking Cans,” the lovely waltz,
“All I Ask,” and “Love Grows Cold,”
a song of recognizing one’s own failures in a relationship.
And the closer, “25,” uses it in more of a
Dylanesque vein, for a folk song that seems to be Carnevale’s
way of saying thanks, but that he’s not so special,
he’s just going through the same feelings we all
do. “I could thank you all for trusting that I had
something to say / But if you’re looking for an
answer I would turn the other way / There’s a heart
attack in everyone somewhere down the line / So forget
my silly problems turn away I’ll be fine.”
One thing is clear on the album: though the songs are
recorded with a carefree and whimsical feeling, there’s
a depth to them, an air of uncertainty about one’s
place in the world. It echoes how many of us project an
outward appearance of confidence, but inside we’re
still vulnerable, frightened children. It makes this my
favorite Frights album to date. Carnevale reports that
the band have been working on new arrangements of these
songs for live shows, and I can’t wait to hear what
they do with them.
CLIFFFS
– Panic Attack (We Know Better Records, www.statefairrecords.com/we-know-better-records)
How can songs sound intense and laid back at the same
time? It’s something Clifffs do so effortlessly
on their sophomore LP, “Panic Attack.” The
trio of front man John Dufilho, bassist Andy Lester, and
drummer Bill Spellman play music that blends garage, psych,
punk, and indie styles into one. The resulting arrangements
are sparse, but feel complete. The fuzzed keyboards add
a cool dimension to many of these tracks, too. From the
get go, you can hear this is different. “Undone”
opens with a “1 2 3!” shout, prominent buzzy
bass, and spacey electronics. The vocals on the verses
are accompanied only by the bass, with the rest of the
instruments coming in for the chorus and bridge. “Manatee”
is super stripped down, feeling like indie nerd punk of
the 80s, but then the synth joins in giving it a fuller
sound. The guitar solo takes things up a notch, transforming
the track into some intense garage rock. It’s a
favorite that suddenly ends, unresolved. I also like the
power pop of “Into The Salt,” the hookiest
track of the album. The band make good use of dissonance,
too, like on the opposing guitar lines of “You Are
Freaking Out” and “I Might Try Psychics,”
the latter sounding like some of the incredibly inventive
music that was happening in the early 1980s. Dissonance
is especially notable on “Dark Clouds,” with
a call and response thing going on between guitars, before
the carnival-like melody jumps in. “It’s All
Gone Wrong” is both breezy indie and angry punk
at the same time, which is miraculous. The understated
buzzy guitars and relaxed lead vocals are countered by
the angry backing vocals and simple melody. The song is
about how saying the wrong thing can really wreck things.
The title track echoes the feeling of having a panic attack,
with manic feel, warbled sounding vocals and instruments,
and a pace that sounds rapid, but isn’t quite. And
“Tilt” is another favorite, having a pretty
upbeat fun sound, even though the lyrics are dark. The
thirteen songs on this LP clock in at a mere 24 minutes,
a wise investment of your time.
MAURICE
AND THE STIFF SISTERS – Welcome to Love
(mauriceandthestiffsisters. bandcamp.com)
Utilizing horns (Aaron Mattison’s tenor sax and Bryant
Byers’ trombone) along with the more traditional guitar,
bass, and drums of a pop band (front man Maurice spencer,
Michael Doherty, and Dave Shur, respectively), Portland’s
Maurice and the Stiff Sisters are anything but stiff. They
play fun, bouncy pop music reminiscent of the days of Graham
Parker & The Rumor or Elvis Costello & The Attractions.
There’s a distinct jangle in the guitars, and the
horns provide a nice soulful feel to the songs. “Our
Old Haunts” even has the jumping feel of an early
Motown R&B song. Most of the songs, though, are grounded
in the power pop tradition, with solid guitar fueled melodies.
This isn’t breaking any new ground, but it’s
a worthy listen.
THE
MEN – Mercy (Sacred Bones Records, www.sacredbonesrecords.com)
Easy listening jams? That’s what comes to mind listening
to the eighth LP from Brooklyn’s The Men. The band
was formed in 2008, and their early releases were experiments
in noise, creative and sometimes groundbreaking stuff. Somewhere
over the years, they lost their way, and this record could
have been made by any number of aging stoner musicians.
“Cool Water” is a lazy country song, with acoustic
guitar organ, slide guitar, and vocals that sound cracked
and broken. “Wading in Dirty Water” is an exercise
in self-indulgence, being nothing more than ten and a half
minutes of instrumental wanking. “Fallin’ Through”
is a tentative sounding piece, with just piano and those
creaky vocals. It sounds like it was recorded in one take,
mistakes and all. “Children All Over the World”
sounds like a band from the 80s that couldn’t decide
if it wanted to be new wave or arena rock. “Call the
Doctor” is another country tune – but this one
has a singular melodic line and lyric repeated over and
over ad nauseum – for almost four minutes. “Breeze”
is a generic rock song. And the closer is the title track,
sounding like a Neil Young wannabe, the achy vocals on full
display. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
PERSONALITY
CULT – New Arrows (Dirtnap Records, www.dirtnaprecs.com)
North Carolina’s Ben Carr is back with the sophomore
LP from his latest project, Personality Cult. When I reviewed
the debut LP, this was just a side project. I commented
that this needed to be a full-time gig – and now it
is, with a full band lineup and a signing to Dirtnap Records.
Produced by none other than garage punk master Jeff Burke
(Marked Men, Radioactivity, Lost Balloons), Personality
Cult has, at its core, the sort of edgy garage punk sound
you might expect. But there’s more to Personality
Cult than simple garage punk. These songs generally have
a darkness to them, unlike the debut that had a sparkle
in its sound. The sound is richer, too, and the melodies
stronger. There are layers here, like the harmonized backing
vocals, lead vocals, and guitars playing differing lines.
Those lines, too…they turn on a dime and are loaded
with hooks. I love the glorious dark sound of “Weigh
Down,” particularly in the instrumental bridges. “Pressure
Point” is another favorite for its amazing start-stop
sounds and creative angularity in meter, as well as melody.
The songs are bouncy and catchy, and there’s that
dark sadness, too, that’s a wonderful contrast. The
intensity never lets up over the nine songs – this
is a real winner, no sophomore slump here.
RED
LIGHT REBELS – Rewind Erase (www.facebook.com/Redlightrebelspunx)
The UK’s Red Light Rebels have followed up 2018’s
“Joyride” LP with a new EP. If you’re
a fan of the sort of huge pop tinged melodic hardcore of
bands like Millencolin, you’ve got much to be thankful
for. Red Light Rebels are more than competent musicians,
and attack the five songs here with glee. The music is epic,
tuneful and metal-edged. This sort of stuff never really
has done much for me, though. It all sounds a little too
generic, from the harmonized “whoa-ohs” to the
angrily sung vocals, to the metallic jangle, it just sounds
too much like too many other bands. I’m sure they
mean well, and there are plenty of people who love this
sort of music. I’m just not one of them. But if you
are, you’ll likely enjoy this EP.
THE
SAXOPHONES – Eternity Bay (Full Time Hobby, www.fulltimehobby.co.uk)
The Saxophones are a duo from Oakland, CA consisting of
husband and wife Alexi Erenkov & Alison Alderdice. Their
sophomore full-length LP is beautiful, dreamy jazz pop.
Lovely guitar, bass, saxophone (of course), and vocals blend
together in understate ease. And even though their name
is The Saxophones, not every track has sax in it. Some have
gorgeous flute, piano, electric keyboards, and other instrumentation.
“Lamplighter” has a doo-wop 50s rock and roll
feel, except it’s slow and relaxed, feeling like something
from a dream. I love “Forgot My Mantra,” a magical
folksy song. The ambient electronics give the music an otherworldly
feel, while the quiet guitar and vocals make the song sound
like something from ancient pagan history. “Take My
Fantasy” reminds me of a Bossa Nova in a dreamy haze,
and “You Fool” has a pretty island atmosphere.
The fluttering flute in “Flower Spirit” is gorgeous,
and goes well with the vaguely Asian inspired melody. The
title track closes the album with a solemn number that feels
like a gauzy gospel song. The whole album feels like something
that occupies the space between waking and sleeping. Gorgeous.
DEMITASSE
– Perfect Life (www.wearedemitasse.com)
Demitasse is the acoustic side project for guitarist Joe
Reyes and singer Erik Sanden of the rock band Buttercup.
In the aftermath of the death of both of their fathers,
they wrote some songs that were quieter and more contemplative
than their usual output, so they created Demitasse as an
outlet for their grief. Now, some four years later, this
is their third full-length LP. Acoustic guitar provides
the backdrop for quietly desperate vocals singing songs
of pain and sadness. Sometimes there’s piano, sometimes
synths, sometimes electric guitar, but always just to provide
atmosphere. The acoustic guitar and vocals are always front
and center. Even when the melody sounds uplifting, the lyrics
are dark. Such is the case with the breezy “Little
Blonde Boy,” subtitled “for Kurt Cobain.”
“Blue blue the color of a lonely heart / Do you feel
blue?...I’m sorry your family / was so cruel.”
The music sounds like it comes from south of the border,
with gorgeous Latin flourishes in the guitar. The juxtaposition
of the joyous music and the downbeat lyrics makes this a
standout. “Coming Out Wrong Again” is another
lovely one, this time about how sometimes we just can’t
seem to get anything right. Acoustic guitar and piano accompany
downcast vocals, and provide the example, “Five AM
it’s getting light / even the sun can’t get
it right,” and “I scream inside but make no
sound / it’s coming out wrong” leading into
the chorus. All of the songs have such depressing lyrics,
with themes of loneliness, breakups, and pain. This record
is so beautifully understated.
ENVY
– The Fallen Crimson (Temporary Residence Ltd, www.temporaryresidence.com)
I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say
it again, there’s no such thing as a bad Japanese
band. This time I’ll say it with a caveat: This genre
isn’t my thing, but Envy are still excellent at what
they do, and I can appreciate the things they’ve got
going on here and the creativity they’ve put into
it. Envy are a post-hardcore band formed in Tokyo in 1992
that went on to become influential in the “screamo”
genre of music. As time passed, they evolved, moving into
the realms of post-hardcore and post-rock. After some lineup
tumult, they’re back with their first LP in five years.
The music is expansive, blending elements of post-hardcore,
dream pop, progressive rock, post-rock, screamo, and even
hints of Japanese melodies. “Statement of Freedom”
is the opening track, and it starts off with a hard-edge,
turbulent guitars sharply screaming along with the angry
vocals. Part of the way into the track, we hear bigger,
dreamier sounds in the guitars, with spoken vocals. Then
the instrumentals get quieter and anguished screamo vocals
take the stage before the huge dreaminess and then the hardcore
come back to finish the song. What a ride! Likewise, “A
Faint New World” moves between huge dreamy sounds
and intense hardcore, with a progressive rock backdrop.
“Rhythm” is a gorgeous track that’s almost
indie-pop, but blended with an adult contemporary sensibility
and beautiful female vocals. “Marginalized Thread”
is a fascinating track, melding the feel of a Japanese melody,
enormous dream pop, the angry guitars of post-hardcore,
and screamed vocals – all at the same time! It’s
a totally unique sound, not heard from any other band. So,
too, is “Hikari” unlike anything I’ve
heard before. It’s quiet and understated, with the
sound of falling rain in the background, as guitars quietly
strum and synths tuned to sound like French horns play a
simple melody that sounds like something from the classical
era of music. Heavily processed vocals that sound synthesized
come in, indistinctly singing the melody, sounding like
something out of place in time – an old melody in
a new unnatural voice. Midway through the song, the guitars
explode, performing the same melody. The end result sounds
like an anthem from some dystopian future. “Dawn and
Gaze” also has that unearthly electronic voice, then
transforms into a huge anthemic sound that reminds me of
the grandiose themes in some Japanese anime films, and the
vocals are growled and screamed in incongruity. Envy are
truly original, a rare thing these days. As I said, this
is not the sort of genre I normally listen to, but Envy
have gotten my attention.
THE
GHOST WOLVES – Let’s Go To Mars (Dirty Water
Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
Austin, Texas duo The Ghost Wolves, embarking on a European
tour, are releasing a new 7” single featuring two
spaced out songs that combine the energy of garage rock,
the attitude of punk, and a heavy dose of new wave. On the
title track, pounding drums, driving bass, sparkling synths
and emphatic vocals provide a treat, music that’s
gritty and danceable at the same time! The B-side, “Last
Man,” provides a darker sound, fitting for the apocalyptic
topic. Drums and synths provide a thin backdrop for the
bleak vocals. Fascinating stuff.
GUERILLA
POUBELLE – L’Ennui (Red Scare Industries,
www.redscare.net)
The red menace continues to reach across the globe! Well,
Red Scare Industries does, at least. Guerilla Poubelle is
a French band, for those of you who have been living under
a rock. Red Scare picked up these guys a few years ago,
and it’s the perfect match, because (unlike many of
the Red Scare bands) Guerilla Poubelle is quite the political
band. Musically, they range from skate punk to street punk
to melodic hardcore. Lyrically, GP sing about the fear and
isolation of borders imposed on us by a capitalist society,
the boredom (ennui) of daily life, the futility of trying
to succeed in a rigged society, the coming ecological apocalypse,
police repression, the growing economic divide between rich
and everyone else, and more. All songs are sung in French,
so thanks to the band for summarizing the lyrics in English
on their bandcamp site! Almost every track is a huge rager,
fast and loud, with tons of great melodic content. “Les
Frontieres du Present” is the opener, and it’s
a powerful pop-filled hardcore treat. I also really like
the equally pop-core “L’aigle et la Foudre,”
a track that hits hard and even has some melodic hooks.
The hardcore tracks include the short powerful blast that
is “Qui Perd Perd,” and “L’arme
a Droite,” a track that begs to be used in an old
school skate video. Similarly, “La Guerre des Pauvres”
kicks you in the ass, even if it’s not as fast as
some of the other harder tracks. “La Chute”
is a great loping street punk track with obvious sing-along
potential, and “La Bataille de Paris” moves
between street and skate punk styles, with a heavy anthemic
feel. Apocalypse is an outlier, being a more laid-back pop
punk song thinner in the arrangement, slower, and poppier.
So, too, is “L’argile,” though this one
is slower and grungier than any of the others. I strongly
recommend this record, especially if you’re headed
to the skatepark and need a soundtrack, but also if you
want to support those who speak out about injustice in the
world and do it with some great music.
HUNTINGTONS
– ¡Muerto, Carcel, O Rocanrol! (Burnt Toast
Vinyl, www.burnttoastvinyl.com)
Huntingtons, hailing from Baltimore, were active back in
the 90s and all the way into the 2000s, but their last LP
before this one was in 2009. The music they play is definitely
in the Ramones-core category, but they’re more than
just a Ramones clone. Solidly pop punk, they offer more
complex melodic lines than the New York protopunks. The
music seems to blend the melodic sensibilities of power
pop in with the snotty punk, and in that sense they share
a bit of lineage with the Buzzcocks. In more modern terms,
think of Teenage Bottlerocket and The Lillingtons. One thing
I find interesting is that Huntingtons identified in the
past as a Christian punk band, like label mates MxPx, though
their lyrics were never explicitly Jesus-oriented. The whole
Christian punk thing always confused me to no end, the contradictions
in basic philosophy seeming to preclude such a genre. Yet
here we are. “Be With You” is a song that will
sound so familiar that you’re sure it has to be s
cover – but it isn’t. It sounds so much like
every pop punk and power pop song ever, the chorus reminding
me of something Paul Collins might have written for The
Beat back in the day. Also heavy on the power pop is the
opening track, “Too Old to Care.” The strength
of melodic lines in these songs make them definite favorites.
“The Slammer” and “Say Hi to Your Mom”
remind me a lot of old school Southern California punk rock
from the 80s, with fast temp, simple arrangements, and limited
melodic content. “Not Penny’s Boat” (a
great reference to the TV show “Lost”) has hints
of glam pop in its chorus, but for the most part is classic
2000s pop punk. One thing that strikes me about these songs
– though taken individually, they’re pretty
good listens, but though there are distinct differences
from song to song, taken as a whole there’s too much
sameness. And at fifteen songs and 45 minutes, there’s
just a bit too much. In smaller doses this is good stuff.
And if they shaved this down by a third, I think the album
would hold my attention better.
PIRAMID
SCHEME – Seen This Before (www.piramidscheme.com)
This sophomore release from Washington, D.C.’s Piramid
Scheme is an uneven affair. Some of the six tracks on this
EP are pretty great and others fall flat. For example, the
opener, “Beg Or Borrow,” is easily my favorite,
and one I can see myself listening to again and again. It’s
big and dreamy, but with undercurrents of folk-rock and
psych. On the other hand, “Funtime Friend” is
a mess, especially the weak guitar solo with wah wah pedal.
I’m not a fan of “Modern World,” but the
title track has a great mysterious feel to it, sort of like
something that could be from a spy thriller soundtrack.
“Darklights” is a pretty folk pop ballad, and
the closer, “Mean Streak,” is a bouncy indie-pop
track with a grungy edge, but the guitar solo here is again
weak. Call it 3½ out of 6.
AERONAUTICAL
PIONEER – Hop High (Nouveau Electric Records, www.nouveauelectricrecords.com)
Whoa! This is one of the more original concepts I’ve
heard lately. Nouveau Electric Records specializes in experimental
and traditional music inspired by the language and people
of South Louisiana. What that means here, is that Aeronautical
Pioneer is a blending of twangy banjo, down home bayou melody,
synths, and a dance beat courtesy of some cool drum loops.
It sounds very old and very new at the same time. This is
the band’s debut single. I’m sitting here listening
to it on repeat with my foot stomping and the biggest grin
on my face. I don’t want it to end, and I want more!
When’s the full album, guys??
AMERICAN
TELEVISION – Watch It Burn (Wiretap Records, www.wiretaprecords.com)
Hailing from the Washington, D.C. area, American Television
are a new band releasing their debut LP, but you would swear
they’ve been around forever, because this sounds so
familiar. And I would swear that they were from the West
Coast, not the East. The songs are hard-edged pop punk,
reminding me of a blend of the power of Orange County bands
and the melodic sensibility of Teenage Bottlerocket. There’s
an aggressive undercurrent in these songs that doesn’t
let up – every song has that powerful sound. Yet there’s
tons of melody, bunches of bounce. You can sense the crowd
at a live show all singing along loudly. That’s because,
as I said, this all sounds so familiar. That may be the
album’s strongest point, and the band’s weakest.
People love the familiar; it’s comforting. We gravitate
to what we already know. People will buy this record and
go to their shows, singing their hearts out. But, at the
same time, a band needs to stake out its own territory and
stamp their personality into the history of music. While
this debut LP is a really good listen, it’s hardly
going to make waves.
DEAD
FRIENDS – High Wasted Genes (Standby Records, www.standbyrecords.com)
This new five-song EP from Virginia Beach’s Dead Friends
is heavy. But it features a split personality, too. While
much of the record is hard-hitting, pounding and pummeling,
in fact, there are parts that are smoother, melodic, and
with harmonized vocals. The weirdest thing is that I like
the heavier parts a lot more than the melodic parts, and
I’m generally not a big fan of heavy metallic music.
But in this case, I really like the rapidly changing meters
and tempos, the odd intervals, and even the sheer power
and the anger of the vocals. The smooth melodic parts, though,
are like the bland alternative rock of 15 or so years ago
and turn me off. Favorite track – “Uncertain
God,” because the smoother melodic parts are edgier
than on the other tracks, and there’s even more meter
changes on this one than others, keeping the listener off-kilter.
The closer, “Branding Iron,” is my least favorite
track because it leans heavily on the smooth melodic alternative
stuff and is almost a ballad. Meh. If Dead Friends stuck
to the harder edgier stuff, I would be more interested.
MRS.
HENRY – Mrs. Henry Live at the Casbah (Blind Owl,
www.blindowlsd.com)
Mrs. Henry is one of San Diego’s finest rock and roll
bands. No, they aren’t punk. They don’t play
indie pop or indie rock. This is good old classic soulful
rock and roll. Not a lot of bands are playing this sort
of music anymore. You can enjoy five extended jams on this
live LP, recorded at the world famous Casbah, one of San
Diego’s premiere venues for the indie scene. Besides
the standard guitar/bass/drums/vocals of most classic rock
outfits, Mrs. Henry includes keyboards to warm the sound,
sometimes tuned to emulate piano, sometimes organ, sometimes
both within the same song. Such is the case with the opener,
“All I Can Do.” It begins as a bluesy track,
with big organ sounds and wah-wah effects in the guitars,
soulful vocals vying with the instruments’ funky sounds.
As the song evolves, the keyboards swap between organ and
piano, and at the halfway mark turns to full-on classic
rock, complete with emotive guitar solo. “Lovin’
You, Baby” is a moving ballad, complete with deeply
passionate vocals. At the opposite end of the spectrum,
“Where Are We Going” is a manic jam that feels
somewhat unhinged and untethered, ranging all over the place.
If you’re a fan of classic rock, blues-rock, and good
ol’ jams, you can’t find finer than Mrs. Henry.
TELEVISION
SUPERVISION – Waldo (Standby Records, www.standbyrecords.com)
This debut LP from Florida’s self-styled “alternative/punk/postpunk”
trio, Television Supervision,” is wide-ranging and
inconsistent, as if the band is still searching for their
voice. It’s also really long, at nearly an hour in
duration. Some of the songs are hard-edged post hardcore,
some are 2000s emo pop punk, some are indie rock, and others
have a dreaminess (though aren’t poppy enough to be
called “dream pop”). “Right In The Manhood”
is a hard-driving track with edgy guitars, yet with some
melodic bounce. It’s a great way to open any LP, let
alone one’s debut. “Bombshell,” too, has
a high-strung power to it, while managing to convey melodic
content at the same time. I also like “Back In The
Day” for it’s punchy post-hardcore feel blended
with poppy melody. I like “Veterans (The Dad Song),”
which is a relaxed, jangly indie song. It starts more slowly,
with just guitar and vocals, but about a minute and a half
in, the bass and drums join in, the tempo picks up, and
the vocals get more impassioned. But the easy jangle just
gets bigger. After another minute and a bit, things pick
up even more, synths join in, and it sounds pretty joyous.
“Volcano” reminds me of so much of the bland
“alternative” so-called emo and pop punk of
the 2000s, and is one of the weaker tracks of the album.
Likewise, “Daydreams” has the same sound, but
oddly includes synths that give the track a pop-goth sound
in the mix, a really odd and unsettling juxtaposition of
sounds. “’Til We Dream” is an outlier.
It’s a ballad that tries to be dreamy and pop punk
at the same time. I think this one should have stuck to
the dreamier ballad feel and left the pop punk out of it.
Likewise, “One More Sunset” is a synth-driven
track that tries to be dreamy and edgy at the same time,
but just ends up sounding like retro 80s music. I can see
potential here. My best advice to Television Supervision
would be to self-edit. Figure out who you want to be, focus
on it, and put only your best songs on the albums; you don’t
have to include everything you record. You don’t have
to be a single genre band, but a little more focus would
be a good thing.
THE
WORLD/INFERNO FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY – All Borders Are
Porous to Cats (Alternative Tentacles, www.alternativetentacles.com)
Over twenty years ago, I was introduced to The World/Inferno
Friendship Society when I reviewed their debut LP, “The
True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League.” I don’t
remember how I described the record all those years ago,
but it made a strong impression. They’re a band that’s
a hell of a lot of fun. And on their latest LP, “All
Borders Are Porous to Cats,” they remain true to themselves.
They’re still fun, they’re still unique. And
the years have seen them grow and polish their sound. This
is a band that manages to blend indie rock, a punk attitude,
ska energy, and ethnic folk sounds from Klezmer and Romani
traditions to craft some darn good songs. Some of the songs
sound more “serious” than others, and some are
quite a “hoot,” likely because of the unexpected
combinations of sounds. Right from the start of the album,
“Bad Penny Blue” brings together ska (horns
are plentiful and there’s a strong backbeat), a martial
feel, and a wondrous rock guitar solo just after the halfway
mark. I love the name and the feel of “Having A Double
Life Is So Hard (But Obviously Something You Enjoy).”
It starts out with vocals and piano, sounding like something
from a musical, but then quickly we get classical guitar,
violin, electric guitar, and organ in succession, providing
a Romani-rock feel. This song has so many gorgeous complexities.
“The Cat In The Hat Has The Right To Sing The Blues”
reaches back to early rap music a la the Sugar Hill Gang,
with its disco beat, but it alternates this with something
straight out of a dark circus. “I’ll Be Your
Alibi” has an awesome retro R&B sound, with baritone
sax providing a great foundation and a complement of lush
strings to accompany the electric guitar, organ, and deep,
soulful vocals. “In The Briar Patch Born And Raised”
is probably the wackiest, coolest song of the album. It’s
under a minute, but it’s a veritable roller coaster,
with melodic lines climbing and falling on the piano, controlled
chaos running throughout the track. The album closes with
“Freedom Is a Wilderness Made For You And Me,”
and it’s got a deep, rumbling bass, and the bari sax
is back. The track pulls all of the threads together, ska,
ethnic folk, soul, and indie rock, into one glorious epic.
The year is off to a fun start!
BANDAID
BRIGADE – I’m Separate (www.bandaid-brigade.com)
I don’t think any of the people in Bandaid Brigade
were alive when this sort of music was all over the radio.
Back in the 80s, this was the sort of music you might have
found on the so-called “adult contemporary”
radio stations. Though the members of Bandaid Brigade come
from well-known punk bands (Zach Quinn – Pears, Brian
Wahlstrom – Scorpios and Gods of Mount Olympus, Paul
Rucker – Drag the River, Armchair Martian, and Street
Dogs, Chris Fogal – The Gamits), there’s really
nothing punk about this record – except maybe the
irreverent attitude. The songs range from the disco-ish
feel of the lead single, “Travel Light” to the
Journey-inspired “Losing Light,” to the Neil
Young style harmonies of the ballad “Stay Busy.”
A real standout to me is the moody “I Think It’s
Going to Rain Today,” with just vocals, Fender Rhodes
style keyboards, and processed guitar noises to give the
feeling of the coming storm. The understatedness of this
track is beautiful.
About that comment regarding an irreverent attitude:
The band members do take their music seriously, and it
comes through in the performances. But there are touches
of levity here and there. Like after the fade-out of “Travel
Light,” when we hear “I feel like there should
be a clip at the end of that fade.” “Maybe,”
comes the reply. “Eh, we’ll figure it out.”
Or the emphatic “cool!” left in at the end
of “Stay Busy.” Or at the end of the “closing”
track, “Nothing” (bookending “opening
track “Everything”), when we hear steps away
from the piano and a sarcastic “That one will do!”
The biggest surprise of the album comes in that last track.
After “Nothing” and another 40 seconds of
silence is a song that Zach Quinn has been performing
in his solo act for some time, the hilarious bayou blues
song, “Butt Train.” It’s entirely unlike
any of the other songs on the record; it’s rockin’
blues without a serious bone in its body. “What’s
that smell? Do you smell it?” I do, Zach! This record
smells like lovely nostalgia for an era not experienced
in real time by many who will listen to this record. If
you’re expecting punk rock, you’ll be disappointed,
but if you’re just expecting a good time, well,
get ready for it.
DARK
THOUGHTS – Must Be Nice (Drunken Sailor Records.
www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
Featuring garage punk intensity and pop punk melodies, Dark
Thoughts’ latest release is an awesome blast of energy.
Generally put into the “Ramones-core” category,
Dark Thoughts are actually more than that. The instrumentals
are more garage, the vocals are snottier, and the melodies
are more evolved. Sure, the resulting music is pretty simple,
but it’s a hell of a lot of fun. The guttural vocals
remind me a lot of Texas garage pop punks Kira Jari, and
the instrumentals are bouncy as hell. None of the tracks
are particular standouts, because they’re all good.
Fast and loud bouncy and melodic, they’re all going
to get your whole body moving and jumping. Special mention
must be made of the closing track though. “Must Be
Nice” has a slightly different sound, more wistful,
with parts with thicker guitars. “It’s so easy
to be lonely / It’s so hard to be loved,” cries
out the chorus, as keyboards that sound like chimes ring
out mournfully. Recommended.
THE
DROWNS – Under Tension (Pirate’s Press Records,
www.piratespressrecords.com)
Part working class rock and roll, part street punk, The
Drowns hit hard from the start and don’t let up for
a single second of the 37 minutes over eleven songs. There’s
plenty of melodic hooks (yes, hooks!), tons of gang vocals,
loads of rock and roll attitude and energy, and Rev’s
perfectly gruff vocals. One song that stands out as a bit
different from the others is “Them Rats,” which,
while it’s not a ska punk song, by a long shot, has
a hint of ska guitar jangle and a strong back beat. “Wolves
on the Throne” has a strong anthemic feel, like a
rousing protest song. The previously released “Demons”
is one of my favorites of the album, as it also has an uplifting
sound. And a completely different sounding song, “Wastin’
Time,” is another favorite. I love the desperate sound
in Rev’s voice as he sings, and the retro power pop
feel to the song. “Cue The Violins” is an incredibly
melodic bouncy song, and each song keeps getting better
than the one before it. As good as their debut LP, “View
From The Bottom,” was, “Under Tension”
is even better. Strongly recommended!
FLOAT
HERE FOREVER – Stacking Tombstones (www.floathereforever.com)
Detroit’s Float Here Forever have followed up last
year’s debut full-length LP with their third EP, released
on New Year’s Day 2020, one year after the LP. The
three songs here are a blend of alternative rock and classic
90s emo (not the crappy pop punk that got called “emo”
in the 2000s). “Back to Hell” has a raucous,
driving feel in the guitars, even as the harmonized vocals
smoothly glide through the music. “Planning to Matter”
is more placid and serene, dreamier and janglier. The smooth
vocals are still there though, softly soaring. And the title
track that closes the EP is very reminiscent of the music
of Bob Mould, sounding like something he might have written
for a latter day Hüsker Dü LP. This is a band
I was not previously familiar with, but listening to this
EP makes me want to go back and listen to previous releases.
INNOCENCE
MISSION – See You Tomorrow (Thérèse
Records, www.theinnocencemission.com)
The Innocence Mission, who have been performing together
since 1986, have now reached a milestone, a baker’s
dozen LPs, with “See You Tomorrow.” The LP continues
their brand of delicate, fragile easy listening music. This
is the sort of thing aging hipsters might listen to in the
background on a lazy Sunday morning as they sip their fair
trade coffee and page through the newspaper. Quiet piano
or guitar accompanies singer Karen Peris’ vocals,
often with strings and light percussion in the background.
The vocals sound vaguely like the casual little girl vocals
so popular with many vocalists today. While many of the
tracks are just inoffensive, kind of there, not all is lost.
Some of the tracks are actually memorable. “We Don’t
Know How to Say Why” blends acoustic and electric
guitars, bass, drums, and vocals to create a breezy indie
pop tune. “St. Francis and the Future” is a
pretty song with the feel of a blend of ancient folk melody
and liturgical music, particularly toward the end. I do
really like the melodic line of “John As Well,”
which sounds like a cross between a Beatles song and a French
folk pop song. And “Stars that Fall Away from Us”
feels like medieval minstrel music combined with the music
of the band Beirut. But most of this record is just nice
quiet background music.
KT
(AKA KIDS TECHNO) – The Harmony of Spheres (Cherub
Records, www.cherub.rocks)
Who is KT? It’s a mystery, but what’s not mysterious
is how engrossing the thirty-minute “tone poem”
is that is this album. Eighteen tracks make up this tone
poem, including the introductory “Dear Listener”
and closing “Yours Respectfully,” both of which
feature a synthesized voice. The former welcomes listeners
and exhorts them to discard distracting devices and immerse
themselves in the music to come. The latter bids farewell
and requests listeners to share the experience with others.
In between are various short tracks of ambient instrumental
music, with all of the tracks in the one to two minute range.
Some of the synths are buzzy, growling, and bitter sounding.
Some are clearer and smoother, but still have a dark tinge.
These songs all feel dark and dystopian, particularly the
tracks that include synthesized or sampled voices, often
muffled. What are these people or machines telling us? Their
cryptic comments lend an air of hopelessness and loss to
these tracks. Even the pieces that have a dance-like beat
and brighter synths still sound like to the soundtrack to
a post-apocalyptic world. This is not something typical
Jersey Beat readers would gravitate to, but I suggest giving
it a listen.
STRING
MACHINE – Death of the Neon (Know Hope Records,
www.knowhoperecords.com)
“Engine/It’s Time” opens the sophomore
LP from this Pittsburgh septet. Overtones of Neil Young
greet the listener, sounding like classic country tinged
soft rock. One might be excused if one decided in the first
minute that this wasn’t one’s cup of tea, but
one would be missing out. As the track evolves, it becomes
dreamy and ethereal, thickly instrumented, and much more
interesting. “Eight Legged Dog,” too, starts
out very mellow, retro soft rock, but also evolves. As it
builds toward the end of the track, it takes on a bit of
pop punk feel, even with big gang vocals. “Old Mack”
has sections of shouted gang vocals, too, getting a bit
punk-like, but the song is, of course, more sedate overall.
I love “Rattle on the Spoke,” which reminds
me of a more acoustic, more delicate Cymbals Eat Guitars.
The acoustic guitar line is quite pretty. “Mara In
The Breeze,” too has a Cymbals Eat Guitars lite sort
of sound in the back half of the song. In the back half
of “No Holiday/Excite Again,” I hear hints of
old school emo, the kind that was made in the 90s, after
the hardcore era, after the screamo period, but before pop
punk faux emo. There was that short period of time when
a number of bands were making quietly beautiful emo music,
and that’s what I hear a bit of here. It’s interesting
to me how these songs evolve. They start plain, sort of
Americana tinged soft rock, and then by the second part
of the song they’ve changed tone considerably, morphing
into something much more interesting. It’s nice, but
I wish there was a little more oomph.
SUN
KIN – Private Time (sunraykin.bandcamp.com)
Sun Kin is the “stage name” of Oakland-based
artist Kabir Kumar. Born in India, Kumar’s family
moved between countries often before ending up in the Bay
Area. Pulling together a rotating cast of indie musicians
from Oakland’s scene, Sun Kin plays a brand of pop
music he called “alt-pop.” It’s not mainstream
pop, but it’s not what we normally consider indie
pop. It’s more synthesized and has more of a dance
beat. In fact, it’s clear this music is made for dancing.
Keyboards are prominent, and the guitar and drums provide
more of a disco dance accent. Some of the songs are quite
cheesy, like “Boyfriend’s Car,” complete
with female backing vocal chorus and lyrics about being
in the back of her boyfriend’s car, steaming up the
windows. Some songs are like minimalist stripped down new
wave songs from the 80s. Honestly, I can’t imagine
the average Jersey Beat reader having any interest in this.
I know I don’t.
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TOM
BAKER – Dirty Snakes (Rum Bar Records, rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com)
No, this isn’t the British actor famous for his time
as the fourth Doctor. Tom Baker is the front man for both
The Dirty Truckers and The Snakes. On this, his first solo
record, he’s joined by members of both bands, yielding
the album’s title. The music on this six-song mini
LP is pure rock and roll. It ranges from early R&B rock
sounds to power pop to early new wave sounds. From the very
first track, “Cancel It,” you know exactly what
you’re in for. It’s got an early rock and roll
R&B sort of feel and Chuck Barry style guitar sound.
“Out of Focus” is a more laid back tune, with
a mid-tempo lope. This is more like a hybrid of Americana
and power pop, making use of harmonica to accentuate the
hooks. I really like the Elvis Costello-like “Pushin’
You Away.” It’s got the sound that Costello
did so well on his early albums. “Turn Your Head Around”
is another Americana-tinged track, mixing acoustic and electric
guitars. Though Baker isn’t blazing new trails, he’s
hoisting the rock and roll banner high and doing a solid
job of it.
RAMOMS
– Teachers Pet (Pirate’s Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
The Ramoms are back with three new tracks on this EP. The
first cut, “Going Into 3rd,” is the best, by
far. It’s a pretty great garage rocker, snotty and
greasy, like great garage rock is supposed to be. The next
track is the Ramones parody, this time taking “The
KKK Took My Baby Away” and turning it into”
“The PTA Took My Mommy Away.” The lyrics are
inane, and the tempo drags. The final track is the cover,
this time “Beat on the Brat.” I’m not
a fan of these parodies, and the covers don’t need
to be done, really. If Ramoms would stick to doing originals
like “”Going Into 3rd,” they’d have
something I would be more willing to spend time and money
listening to.
THE
REAGANOMICS – The Aging Punk (Red Scare Industries,
www.redscare.net)
When the very first song, titled “The Four Clichés,”
opens with the lyrics, “I wanna write a good punk
song this year / I need to find out what is here / If I
wanna write a punk song this year / I better start with
the generic shit,” you know not to take anything seriously.
The Reaganomics hail from Joliet, Illinois, the suburb to
the southwest of Chicago best known for its state penitentiary,
former home of Joliet Jake of the Blues Brothers. They describe
themselves as “4 sweaty dads playing punk rock,”
but they’re much more than that. They’re extremely
proficient musicians and singers. These songs are fast and
loud and tight. They’re pop punk songs, but played
with a Chicago punk toughness, with expertly harmonized
vocals. And the lyrics are all….not about serious
subjects. A sampling of song titles includes “Meth
Gator,” “Grown Ass Man,” “Don’t
Be An Asshole,” and “Confessions of a Snowflake
Lib-tard.” As I mentioned, the Chicago punk influence
is very apparent, but so is the lightness and melodic pop
punk styling of The Mr. T Experience. “Dear Jaymez”
has a metallic intro that leads into a crazy fast poppy
yet crunchy punk song about listening to 90s punk rock.
“Dunzo” could almost have been a MTX track.
“STFU” crosses Green Day pop punk and heavy
metallic punk. And even more so, “Don’t Be An
Asshole” has a lot of Green Day qualities in it. A
lot of times you come across a “joke” punk band,
the biggest joke is how bad they are. This is certainly
not the case with The Reaganomics. They’re a funny-punk
good time.
THE
ROUTES – Tune Out, Switch Off, Drop In (Groovie
Records, www.groovierecords.com)
The Routes have taken a circuitous route to get where they
are today. After multiple lineup changes over several years,
The Routes are back with their seventh album. I reviewed
their previous LP, “Dirty Needles and Pins,”
a couple years ago, and noted it’s heavy influence
from garage and psych. That album, though great, sounded
a little too on the nose, as if they were playing covers
(though they were all original). This time out, though,
the band are definitely using their influences but creating
something new, exciting, and all their own. Garage and psych
are just starting points. The opening track, “Ricochet,”
features a hypnotic drone that feels both psychedelic and
dreamy. The song’s lyrics are a warning of how the
consequences of your actions tend to ricochet back at you.
“The King of Loose Ends” has a strong garage
flavor, yet it’s loaded with power pop hooks and a
bouncy melody, which make it a fun track. I really like
the slower “Up and Down,” with its simple melody
and buzzy guitars. Imagine blending garage with shoegaze
and you get an idea of the sound of this one. The lyrics
refer to the cyclical nature of life; sometimes things are
good, sometimes life sucks, and you have to push through
to get back to the good. “Just How It Feels”
crosses psych and grunge effectively, and “I Think
I’d Wanna Die” is a gorgeous love song that
blends folk-rock and psych, using a cleaner sound, acoustic
and electric guitars, and plenty of jangle. And the closer,
“Thinner Everyday,” has some awesome guitar
playing in the “tremolo pick” style invented
by Larry Collins and popularized by surf guitarist Dick
Dale. The song has a really dark feel to it, too, making
it another favorite. The great thing about this record is
how the different styles are mixed to create original sounds.
Recommended.
STAY
OUT – Always Late (officialstayout.bandcamp.com)
This LP rips! And, musically, it’s all over the place!
It’s got fast, loud, hard-pounding melodic pop punk,
it’s got aggressive ska punk, it’s got gut wrenching
hardcore, and more. “High and Dry” kicks things
off with punishing metallic hardcore, relentless in its
power and attack. The music evolves through “Existentialist,”
a 90s style melodic hardcore track, to “Carnegie,”
a pop punk track with harmonized backing vocals, but still
with hard-as-fuck guitars, pummeling drums, and throbbing
bass. “Distraught” is one of my favorites, with
a great pop punk melody that reminds me of something Green
Day might have done back in the early 90s, but with strong
and powerful guitars, heavy and bruising. And “Howling
at the Moon” sounds like something out of late 80s
Chicago, from Pegboy or Naked Raygun, with plenty of whoa-ohs,
and with more power and vigor. I think the production, making
the guitars really loud and somewhat distorted in the mix
has a lot to do with Stay Out’s sound, and it’s
really effective. “Banshee” is another great
one with the East Bay sound on steroids, a nice jangly melody
and laid-back street punk feel, but that power is ever-present.
There’s also some 90s Orange County style punk here,
in the track “Mad at the World.” It’s
not OC skate punk, but listen to it and you’ll see
what I mean. “E.T.” is great melodic hardcore,
old school but with hooks! And then there’s the two
ska punk tracks. “Berkley Nights” is a jumping
song, with strong skankin’ backbeat, harmonized backing
vocals, and still loud and powerful. And the other ska punk
track is the closer, “Sleepy Floyd,” a track
with a dark sound. Yeah, this album rips!
A
CAST OF THOUSANDS – Sleeping World (www.acastofthousands.bandcamp.
com)
Auburn, New York’s A Cast of Thousands is back with
their sixth album, and once again they serve up a tasty
diversity of indie rock sounds. Some of the songs are tinged
with bits of psych, some have a retro feel, blending 50s
doo-wop and 70s Bert Bacharach sounds. Some have a fun 60s
beach pop sound. The band offers up some power pop. And
there’s even some country pop! I love a band and an
album that’s not afraid to change things up, yet it
holds together really well. A Cast of Thousands is that
band and Sleeping World is that album. The album opens with
“A Big White Lie,” a track with a garage-grunge
feel, something a little different for ACOT. But it works
well. My favorite tracks, though, are probably the ones
sung by Beth Beer. There’s a quality to her voice
that is very reminiscent of pop bands of yore, a casually
elegant voice, an ease with which she sings. From the dreaminess
of “Collective Dementia” to the wonderful 50s/70s
pop hybrid “Numb The Fall,” these are the songs
that make this record for me. I am not generally a fan of
country music, but “To Be a Woman,” a twangy
tongue-in-cheek number that lists out all the awful things
women have to deal with on a daily basis, is great. While
the album as a whole has the nice relaxed feel that ACOT
has become known for, this album also has a stronger, more
confident feel than past efforts. Some of the songs could
even be said to have an aggressive edge to them, like “Xmas
in June.” The folk-psych vibe is still there, but
the band just feels more solid here than on past albums,
as good as those were. This may make this my favorite record
of theirs yet.
GINO
AND THE GOONS – Off The Rails (Big Neck Records,
bigneckrecords1.bandcamp.com)
Seems like just weeks ago Gino and the Goons released “Do
the Get Around,” the bands fourth LP. That was then,
this is now. Back to back, Gino and the Goons have a new
LP loaded with gritty greasy rock and roll. As with the
last LP, the music is loud and loose, raucous and fun. There’s
not a whole lot more that I can say than I did before, so
you can go read that review, then come back here. I’ll
wait. The recording on this LP is even lower-fi than the
previous one – and I think too much distortion can
hurt even this sort of garage sound. This time out we get
songs like “Got No Friends,” which has a distinct
R&B rock and roll sound mixed with pop, sort of like
the Beatles playing some rockabilly. It’s got a killer
guitar solo filled with noise and feedback, too. “You
Ain’t Shit” is clearly a protopunk track, by
far the most aggressive and noisiest of the ten tracks.
I’m not sure why they released two records so close
together, but either way, you can’t go wrong.
GOODMAN
– The Era of Buckets
(goodmanmusic.bandcamp.com)
The latest full-length LP from Michael Goodman, an alum
of Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen collective, has its high
points and low points. The highs are quite good, with a
unique twist on indie rock, blending it with power pop and
retro pop sounds. Goodman’s vocals, in particular,
are a wonderful throwback to the 60s pop sound. The lows,
though, are pretty low, too, with cheesy commercial pop
sounds and overdone synths. “Don’t” opens
the LP, and is one of my favorites, with a sparkly sound
courtesy of the glockenspiel and shimmery organ. Acoustic
and electric guitars blend together to create the perfect
backdrop, as the bass and drums keep a steady, martial beat.
And I adore “Watch Your Mouth,” a bit of pop
advice with a cool 60s pop sound. “Shallow (Completely
Shallow)” is another great one, with a retro rhythm
and guitars that alternate between clean and quiet and dirty
and loud and buzzy as hell. And “Life Begins”
is an epic way to close the album. The song talks about
the beginning of life at birth, and how odd it all is, and
how strange life is in general. I especially love the verse
that may be about Goodman’s own birth, in which he
sings, “When I was born I came out crying, came out
crying of the womb / And then I pissed all over the doctor’s
face, that’s true / The doc, she looked aghast, what
became of her? / My mom, she just laughed, said that’s
my boy, and that’s the way things were.” I don’t
know if it’s a true story, but, like life, it’s
funny. The lows include “Wasting Away,” which
has a strong dance beat and commercial pop sound, even to
the vocals that are changed for this song to match the radio-friendly
feel. It makes it my least favorite song of the record.
“Something Happening,” too, feels like it would
be more at home in a compilation of commercially minded
pop ballads than an indie release. Especially with the falsetto
vocals. And there’s “Wildcat,” which has
some synths I’m not crazy about, and the song feels
like it drags a little bit. The lows aren’t enough
to turn me off the record, though, which overall is still
enjoyable.
MICAH
SCHNABEL – The Teenage Years of the 21st Century
(micahschnabel.bandcamp.com)
As good as Two Cow Garage is – that’s the band
Micah Schnabel fronts – it’s his solo stuff
that I really love. Schnabel is the consummate storyteller,
our modern day beat poet. The key difference between this
album, though, and his previous masterpiece, “Your
New Normal Rockwell,” is that this new LP is more
melodic, poppier, and has more singing than the previous
LP, which featured lots of spoken lyrics that felt like
streams of consciousness. The stories Schnabel tells, though,
aren’t pleasant ones with happy endings. They paint
a picture of chaos and confusion, of debilitating consequences
to our lives from decisions often out of our own hands.
Stories about how, as the refrain of “How to Ride
a Bike” reminds us, “being alive is so expensive,
but being dead is such a lousy alternative.” I love
the jangle of the song, especially on the chorus. It’s
something new for Schnabel’s solo work, and I like
it. “A Celebration” is an edgy sounding track,
also very different for Schnabel, though it has the spoken
lyrics, this time about feeling the pressure to succeed
in the scam that is capitalism – but then ending in
the realization that life isn’t about getting rich
or dying trying. “Death Defying Feats” is a
pretty country tune about how unprepared we all are to live
this thing called life, trying to make ends meet on minimum
wage and growing up too fast. “Remain Silent”
is a very political song that references the rising racism
in America, even among our own family members, egged on
by the “little boy king” who “sits alone
on his throne.” “When did being a decent human
being become political?” the song asks, as if to say
the song shouldn’t have to be considered political.
The song rails against those who want to “privatize
reading” by being anti-library, and bemoans how “being
murdered at school is just part of the game.” “So,
Micah, what’s your point?” asks a voice. The
point, he says, is to say something about hope, about banishing
hate from our hearts, and about how we’re all the
same when you get to the core of it. Where the previous
LP seemed more self-consciously poetic, this album feels
easier and more confident, and definitely more musical.
Both, though, clearly express the feelings of frustration,
fear, and uncertainty we feel as we try to make it in the
world. It’s eminently relatable, and I think this
is why Schnabel’s solo work connects so well.
SLOW
RIVALS (Poptek Records, www.poptek.com)
Slow Rivals was born out of a similar Seattle band, Graham
Travis. This four song EP is the new band’s debut.
Sounding unlike anything you might associate with Seattle,
musically, the EP features gentle soft rock. Guitar, bass,
drums, and warm sounding keyboards blend together inoffensively,
while the heartfelt vocals sing out with emotion, reminding
me of Nick Drake, but a bit fuller. Some of the music has
hints of Americana, with some bits of twang in the guitars,
particularly on “Less or More,” the third track.
The opener, “The Channel” has a retro 80s easy
new wave pop sound, and “Picking Up Branches”
has a big dream pop sound on the chorus, probably making
it my favorite of the quartet. “Burning Out”
closes the EP, and is the edgiest song of the bunch, though
it’s still pretty smooth. And I think that’s
my issue with the record, overall: it’s too smooth,
too safe. It’s easy listening music for the rock and
roll generation.
SWEET
PILL – "Miss This" b/w "Tell Me"
(Know Hope Records,
www.knowhoperecords.com)
Two brand new songs from this Philadelphia five-piece. The
A-side is a strong indie-pop song, with powerful vocals
from Zayna Moussef. The melody is exuberant, with guitars
jangling noisily, mostly due to the lo-fi recording, something
that does a bit of a disservice to the pretty songs. The
B-side is a bit calmer than the relatively raucous “Miss
Me,” and the guitars swirl around behind the simple
melody. The instrumentation gets thicker after the first
verse, but it still has more of a serpentine quality that
works nicely. This is my first exposure to this band, and
I like what I hear.
THE
WHIFFS – Another Whiff (Dig! Records, digrecords.bigcartel.com)
Kansas City’s The Whiffs, who stormed the power pop
scene last year with their debut self-titled LP, are back
again with “Another Whiff.” It’s a worthy
follow-up, full of fourteen power pop gems. There’s
no sophomore slump here; if anything, these songs are even
better than those from the debut. These are bouncy and jangly
with loads of melody. The style on offer blends the best
of 60s and 70s pop rock. “What Do You Want Me to Do”
is a favorite track, reminding me of the bands that first
introduced me to the garage power pop genre so many years
ago. “Dream About Judy,” too, harkens back to
days past, when guitar-fueled pop ruled the airwaves. The
harmonizing on the chorus gets me every time. The lyrics
are pretty simple, speaking to fantasies of love. “How
Could You” is one of the few tracks that isn’t
up-tempo, as this one lopes along at a moderate pace, but
it’s loaded with hooks, and those great harmonized
vocals are there, too. These songs are all new, but they
feel so familiar, so comfortable. 2019 has seen some really
good power pop records released, and this one is right up
there with the best of them. If you love power pop (and
who doesn’t?) get this!
THE
SUBJUNCTIVES – Sunshine and Rainbows (Top Drawer
Records, www.tdrecs.com)
What would happen if you took members of Sicko and Four
Lights, two of the best pop punk bands to ever come out
of Seattle, and put them together in a new band? Certainly
there would be a lot of pressure to deliver, but that hasn’t
fazed Ean Hernandez (of Sicko) and Tahoe Jeff (of Four Lights),
who joined forces with Matt Coleman a couple years ago to
form The Subjunctives. Instead, they’ve built on the
past, taking some of the best parts of their respective
other projects, and built something even bigger and better.
Many of the songs do sound like they could have come right
out of the 90s catalogs of Sicko and The Mr. T Experience,
with their high energy and bounciness. The songs are bubbly,
even effervescent. Like the opener, “Guinivere in
Raybans and Chucks.” It’s a bouncy song with
lyrics about a suburban dad’s wandering eyes. “At
the Kraken” is an ode to one of Seattle’s premiere
dive bar punk rock venues and the people that populate it.
It’s loaded with hooks and fun, which is something
that comes through in all the songs here – the fun
the band members are having playing these songs. They take
turns on vocal leads, and sometimes team up a la Four Lights
to provide some glorious harmonies, too. None of the songs
have deep lyrics – these are simple pop punk songs,
after all. But sometimes simple can have some depth, like
“Pass It On,” about keeping the scene alive
by letting the next generation take their turn to shine.
Aging is addressed in “Friday,” a song about
staying home cuddling with your significant other, enjoying
a bottle of wine and a nature documentary instead of going
to a crowded bar for a show. And “My Girl” is
a simple sappy love song for the aging punk set that tries
to stay relevant in the scene. Sometimes the songs evoke
feelings of nostalgia. “Introverted Girl” reminds
me of listening to all those Shredder Records comps back
in the 90s, with its amazing infections melody, simple lyrics,
and pretty harmonies. Favorite songs: “Rotate,”
a song that sounds what Hüsker Dü might have sounded
like if they were less dark and poppier. And “Waste
My Time,” one of the faster ones on the LP, sounding
the world like an East Bay throwback to the days of Jawbreaker.
And probably “My E String,” a hilarious song
about playing a show in front of a bunch of strangers when
your E string goes out of tune in the middle of a song and
you don’t have time to tune it. The closer (sort of,
we’ll get to that in a sec), “Dumbass,”
reminds me of an edgier, faster R.E.M. from the “End
of the World (As We Know It)” era) and is another
favorite, and it ends just like a Four Lights song, with
a cappella harmonies. But that’s not the end! After
over a minute and a half of silence there’s a short
acoustic demo of another song, begging someone to please
not leave now that she knows what a mess the guy is. A perfect
pop punk sentiment. And a perfect pop punk record.
NATO
COLES AND THE BLUE DIAMOND BAND – Flyover (Rum Bar
Records, rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com / Don Giovanni Records,
www.dongiovannirecords.com)
Who is the champion of working class rock and roll? No,
despite the name of this publication, it’s not New
Jersey’s Bruce Springsteen. It’s Minneapolis’
Nato Coles. I first came upon Nato at Awesome Fest 5 in
2011, and I was immediately taken by the passion and energy
from the consummate showman. On this latest full-lengther
we get ten prime pieces of evidence that rock and roll isn’t
dead. There’s a warmth to the Blue Diamond Band. You
instantly feel like they’re family, and they know
exactly what you’re going through; they feel what
you feel. That connection is one of the things that makes
Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band special. Other things
are their professionalism, their joy, and their talent.
Guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards (sometimes organ, sometimes
piano) blend together to make us all feel at home. It’s
odd that this is only the band’s second studio LP,
because they’ve been around for so long. But that
makes it all the sweeter than the record is finally here.
Favorite songs include “L.P.’s Yard.”
I just love the jangle in Sam Beer’s guitars, the
great melody, and the warmth infused by the keyboards. “Milo
and the Bars” is a gorgeous slower number, which makes
use of acoustic guitar and piano to set a delicate mood.
“Disposable Camera” similarly makes use of plucked
acoustic guitar to great effect. “Demolition Man”
is one of the most raucous tracks on the LP, some real hard-driving
rock. And “Standing on the Corner Alone” and
“The Roadrunner” have a great power pop feel,
and the mandolin break on the former is so cool. The album
closes with “The Avenue of the Saints,” and
you can feel the epic story unfold. This sort of everyman
rock music is not the sort of stuff I normally go for, but
Nato and the BDB are just that good. I just wish they would
tour beyond the Midwest once in awhile.
DIEALPS!
– More Important Things (New Granada Records, www.newgranadarecords.com)
DieAlps! are an indie-pop band from Tampa, Florida, but
they seem to have a bit of a split personality. This likely
comes from the fact that the two lead vocalists, Cornelia
and Frank Calcaterra, have very different approaches to
their craft. And as a result, the songs sound very different
depending on who’s singing the leads. Frank’s
songs tend to be edgier, more indie-rock, and injected with
a level of dreaminess, while Cornelia’s songs are
more straightforward pop songs, more stripped down. Case
in point, the opening track, “It’s the End,”
has a slight Americana feel, but there’s also a hazy
feel to the guitars. And right after that, “Common
Denominator,” there’s a definite lightening
to the feel; it’s bouncier and more melodic, with
Cornelia’s pretty yet unadorned vocals a perfect companion.
I think my own tastes lie more with these songs. Even when
she does a song that’s a bit thicker and richer, like
“In Color,” I just feel her vocal qualities
make the song better. “In Color” does have a
full, thick, dreamy sound, courtesy of the keyboard. But
her voice is so direct that it makes a connection that’s
clear. “Stride” is another of her tracks and
it’s got a great indie-pop bounce to it that makes
it one of my favorites of the LP. Frank’s songs just
sound…busier. More forced?
THE
FULL COUNTS – Next Up (Phratry Records, www.phratryrecords.com)
Hailing from Pittsburgh, The Full Counts play music that’s
primarily power pop, though the quartet also venture into
more garage-like and blues rock styles, too. What strikes
me is how smooth all the songs are. These songs should be
a little more raucous, a little more aggressive. But they
come across as too safe, without the exciting highs and
lows these styles deserve. Power pop songs like “She
Said,” “Hold Your Hand,” and “Another
Way (EGAGDA)” are fine, with jangle aplenty. There
are the bluesy rockers like “Not Tonight” and
“I’m On the Outside” that fail to spark,
though. “I Know” has the feel of a 90s alternative
rock track, and then there are the garage rockers like “Let’s
Go” and “Don’t Waste My Time.” Probably
the best track is “Don’t Waste My Time.”
It’s got the most energy of any of the songs on the
LP, with a strong garage feel. The closer, “Oh Whoa
Oh,” has more of a psych folk rock feel, with acoustic
guitars jangling away. But the whole level of the record
needs to be amped up, in general. This is just too gentle.
MONOTROPE
– Immutable Future (New Atlantis Records, newatlantisrecords.bandcamp.com
/ Ambition Sound, www.facebook.com/ambitionsound)
Back in the 90s there was an indie subgenre of math inspired
post rock instrumentals. Monotrope attempts to recreate
that sound, and on their sophomore LP, offer seven mostly
long-form tracks filled with angular rhythms amid smooth
yet dissonant guitars. But while earlier bands were creating
something new and unique, Monotrope comes across as a rehash
of twenty-year old music. Guitars, bass, and drums play
complex melodic lines that seem chaotic yet controlled.
The music swirls and darts, yet it all ends up sounding
pretty much the same, despite its attempts to be “experimental”
or avant-garde. I found my attention drifting during listens
to this record. Maybe that’s just my tastes. Twenty
years ago I did listen to and enjoy this genre, but maybe
those earlier bands were creating something daring. Maybe
because their songs had variety. Mono means single or one.
A trope is a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or
expression. So maybe Monotrope is aptly named: a single
musical expression, repeated. I couldn’t get into
this.
MORE
KICKS (Dirt Cult Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
More Kicks are a trio from London that play a distinctly
retro brand of mod-tinged power pop. On this, their debut
full-length LP, More Kicks give us eleven bouncy songs (plus
one short instrumental “intro” track) featuring
guitar, bass, and drums (plus keyboards on select tracks).
They pull from a variety of influences from the 60s, 70s,
and 80s. I really like “She’s a Reaction,”
which has the feel of a more garage-like Beatles. “I’m
on the Brink” blends the sounds of the Paul Collins
Beat with Elvis Costello. “Rock and Roll Again”
seems to be about having dropped out of the scene and getting
bitten by the bug to start playing again. And “Your
Vibration” closes the LP, starting out with tons of
jangle right out of the garage, but getting more and more
hardcore garage as the song evolves. This isn’t the
normal sort of record Dirt Cult puts out, but they’ve
been experimenting with expanding their horizons recently,
and that can only be a good thing – just like this
record.
PARKER
LONGBOUGH – Green and Gold/Drink the Hemlock (Wilderhood
Music, www.parkerlongbough.com)
Parker Longbough is the name under which Matthew Witthoeft
performs. The Anchorage, Alaska resident made a name for
himself in the local scene performing with the band Uncle
Jesse, but after that band broke up he began this new project
with a rotating cast of supporting musicians. This LP features
dream pop with a dark edge and deadpan, ennui-filled vocals.
On some of the songs the dreaminess comes from big shoegazey
guitars, on others from synths (though the synths have a
distinct 80s new wave retro sound). On the opener, “Statement
is the Answer,” we get a thick shoegaze guitar pulled
back in the mix, a single note guitar whine prominently
in the mix, and languid vocals right up front. It creates
a jarring feel of things not being quite in tune. “Avalane
Beacon” goes the synth route, with some buzzy sounds,
some smooth. Witthoeft’s vocals, once again, sound
unenthused. “Governor’ (Butter) Cup” has
a strong guitar tone throughout, which starts out with a
shoegaze feel. But during the chorus a higher pitched guitar
whines loudly; it feels very out of place and it’s
grating. “We Go Golfing” tries to sound like
Sonic Youth of the 1990s, with a modal key and minimalist
repeating lines. But with the guitars pulled so far back
in the mix and the heavy reverb, it just sounds like a mess.
“Two Months Out” has a poppier feel with cleaner
guitars during the verses, but in the chorus it gets chaotic
and dissonant, and not in a good way. There’s some
variety in how these songs are constructed, which is a good
start. But the constants are a feeling that things are a
bit out of tune and the blasé vocals that sound like
Witthoeft wants to be anywhere else but in the studio. I
could not get into this record.
SLEEPCRAWLER
– "HTN" b/w "Albatross" 7-inch
(Phratry Records, www.phratryrecords.com)
Sleepcrawler is a new trio from Cincinnati, Ohio, made up
of two former members of State Song and one founding member
of The Dopamines. Don’t be fooled into thinking that
there’s any element of pop punk here because of that
Dopamines connection. The two songs on this single are gorgeous,
emotive songs with huge dynamic range, reminiscent of bands
of the 90s like other Midwestern bands Slint and Rodan (Kentucky
is close enough to Ohio to be called Midwest for these musical
purposes). The A side, “HTN,” opens with quiet
jangle of arpeggiated guitar, but soon the huge, dreamy
shoegaze guitars join in with a thundering bass to produce
a gloriously colossal melody. Scot Torres’ pleading
vocals come in as the guitars quiet again. This is amazingly
beautiful stuff, and this style still holds up well to the
test of time. The flipside, “Albatross,” is
a calmer track that builds slowly and has a pretty melodic
approach. The clean guitar tone is a stark contrast to the
noisy buzz of the bass. And the dynamic mastery is also
on display in this track. Of the two, I think I like “HTN”
more, but both are amazing. This single is just the band’s
debut, and it makes me anxious to hear more.
GINO
AND THE GOONS – Do The Get Around (Drunken Sailor
Records, www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
Drunken Sailor Records is moving in on the territory long
held in the UK by Dirty Water Records. Known mostly for
classic punk sounds, Drunken Sailor’s latest release
is solidly greasy garage rock deeply rooted in R&B.
The music is loose and lo-fi, a raucous party where the
idea is to have more fun and less serious art. This is music
that’s loud and in your face just because. Take the
song “Pills in my Pocket.” There’s no
pretense here, it’s just party music, with a hint
of surf rock feel that makes it the poppiest song of the
album – but it’s not pop by any stretch of the
imagination. The title track is an anti-love song, with
its opening lines declaring, “I don’t like you
anymore / So don’t come knocking on my door / Don’t
call me on the telephone / ‘cause I won’t answer,
I’m not home.” There’s feedback a plenty
from the guitars, underscoring the feeling of derision,
with a grating guitar solo too. “Prissy Missy”
sounds like The Beatles crossed over to the wrong side of
the railroad tracks in 1965 and became grease monkeys instead
of world famous pop stars. “Break Your Hearts”
has the sound of The Rolling Stones, if they had…well,
been The Rolling Stones; they were already bad boys of rock
and roll. “I’m Your Man” has the sound
and some of the melody of The Beach Boys, but definitely
not the squeaky clean attitude; this is rough and reckless
music here. And that’s the appeal of the genre and
this record. It’s a reckless good time.
INGS
– Lullaby Rock (ings.bandcamp.com)
Oh my god, this is beautiful! Ings is the Seattle-based
project of Inge Chiles, a purveyor of self-styled “lullaby
rock,” which I guess is a genre of rock suitable for
lulling one to sleep. But I sure don’t want to sleep
through any of these songs. They’re so delicate and
pretty. Acoustic bass, electric guitar, brushed snare drum,
strings, and multi-tracked harmonized vocals blend to create
jazzy indie-pop of the first order. The songs are dreamy
without having to resort to banks of synthesizers. It’s
hypnotic and mesmerizing. Chiles’ voice is lovely
and the songwriting is emotive. Sometimes the singing is
barely whispered and you feel like you’re being let
in on a profound secret. The fun starts from the first track,
“If Not You,” which has a graceful bounce to
it. The use of harmonics on acoustic guitar is quiet effective,
and every part fits together like a finely made machine.
The lyrics seem to be about living life in the moment, not
worrying about things that don’t work out and loving
yourself. Included is a track called “Best Friend
Meditation,” a spoken word piece about the warmth
and joy of being present and in the moment with a person
you truly love. The record does have a couple of almost
raucous moments, too. The fragile and ethereal “Amelia”
weaves its magic spell, then its chorus amps up ever so
slightly. At the end of the track, though, on the final
instance of the chorus things build to a crescendo and then
explode with a rocking electric guitar and soulful wails.
“Pick Yourself Up” is a cool song with undercurrents
of a spiritual that’s much edgier than most of the
tracks. “Maker” reminds me of a song that would
have been included in the soundtrack of a 1930s Hollywood
film; it’s so, so beautiful. The arrangement is amazing,
too, starting out with just acoustic bass and vocals before
more strings join in along with multi-tracked harmonies.
The sound of the strings with Chiles voice when she croons
is something to behold. The song feels so hopeful, too.
It’s a song that uses Noah’s ark as a reference
in declaring that it’s perfectly okay to toss out
something that isn’t working and start over. “It’s
alright to listen to the rain / throw it all out and start
again / Creature and creator, pleasure and pain / It’s
alright to listen to the rain.” I am in awe of this
record. It’s a late entrant but a definite contender
for my list of best records of the year.
LION’S
LAW – Cut the Rope (Pirate’s Press Records,
www.piratespressrecords.com)
The kind folks at Pirate’s Press records are bringing
Lion’s Law to American listeners. This Parisian band
has been around since 2012, purveying their unique blend
of Oi and hardcore music across Europe. Perhaps this single
means they’re working on an LP with Pirate’s
Press and a big American tour? The first song on the record,
“Cut the Rope,” leans more toward the Oi side
of things, but with hard, crunchy powerful guitars. As befits
an Oi band, the vocals are gruffly shouted rather than sung.
“Get It All” on the B-side is more hardcore
and metallic than Oi, The vocals are even more guttural,
and include gang shouts on the chorus. The music is darker,
and the bridge has an amazing guitar sound that leads into
a short solo before the band launches back into the chorus
for one last time. If you like hardcore with an Oi edge,
check this band out.
PARDON
US – Wait (Johann’s Face Records, johannsfacerecords.bandcamp.com)
What happens when you mix street punk, power pop, and pop
punk? Well, if you have it played by Liverpudlians from
the bands Down and Outs, Flamingo 50, and Town Bike you
get the music of Pardon Us. These three non-mop-tops reportedly
intended to create a band in the vein of Off With Their
Heads, and they failed at that task, but succeeded beyond
their wildest dreams in crafting a sound more consistent
with British greats like Stiff Little Fingers and The Buzzcocks.
The music is poppy but aggressive, and the gritty vocals
sing lyrics about social and political upheaval. For example,
the opening track, “Beyond the Valley of the Wolves,”
speaks to how stagnating wages for the masses in the face
of the rising cost of living is wreaking havoc on us all,
but particular smaller working class towns. “Half
Empty” is a song of resignation, it seems. The world
is what it is, and big dreams won’t change it, and
as the chorus sings, “You’ll soon understand
that the half empty glass in your hand is better than no
glass at all.” This seems at odds with “It’s
a Phil Ochs Kind of Day,” a reference to the late,
great protest singer-songwriter. It’s a song of hope
and optimism in the face of seeming hopelessness. “Try
not to lose heart when all the world’s so heartless,”
begs the chorus. “In the end it comes down to a simple
choice,” the song declares. “Do we struggle
to get smarter or sit back content and dumb?” “If
the Black Shirt Fits” is a song that decries the growing
casual fascism afflicting so many people in recent years,
people who would deny having fascist ideology, but, as the
song says, “if the black shirt fits…”
And I think my favorite song, both musically and lyrically,
is the excellent loping tune, “Inconvenient Reminder.”
The song references how we tend to forget and repeat the
horrifying mistakes of the past, in this case, turning away
those seeking refuge from violence and threats of death.
Through a great bouncing melody the song offers hope to
those suffering the pain of discrimination and hatred in
their new homes: “And now they wanna send you back
from whence you came. But you’re already home, so
don’t you believe them. If you need a helping hand
we’re here with open arms, and we’ll stand together
against those who’d do you harm. If you need sanctuary,
sanctuary you’ve found, cos we know you’ve crawled
through hell and fire to reach this solid ground.”
These are lyrics that apply equally here in the United States
under Donald Trump as they do across the growing fascist
tendencies in Europe. Not every song is political, though.
“Thankful” has a great indie rock melody and
lyrics that speak to both regret at what one has missed
in life by pursuing other goals, being thankful at where
one is in life, and looking forward to whatever lies ahead.
And the album closer, “We Aren’t The Champions,”
is self-deprecating fun. And fun is a key word. Even though
some of the topics are serious, the band is obviously having
a great time singing and playing these songs. And that’s
infectious.
SLUMB
PARTY – Spending Money (Drunken Sailor Records,
www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
Following hot on the heels of last year’s debut LP,
“Happy Now,” Slumb Party’s sophomore full-length
features similarly manic music that’s a throwback
to the hyper creative past punk era of the late 70s and
early 80s. This outing, though, finds them sporting a cleaner
sound, adding some R&B funkiness, and blending keyboards
into the mix. Some of the songs even have a bit of 80s new
wave sounds. The opener, “Go To Work,” has a
nice funky bass and prominent keyboards, giving the song
a great bouncy sound reminiscent of bands like The B52s.
Vocals on this LP are delivered with intense urgency; guitars
are used as much as percussion instruments as to drive a
melody, and that wailing saxophone screams for attention.
Clarinet is used in the mix at times, too, an unusual but
effective move, as in the song “All These Boxes.”
The songs are just as off-kilter as before, as on the song
“Shingles Bell,” just as frantic and frenzied,
but there’s just more. The addition of keyboards using
an 8-bit video game sort of sound brings a lot to these
songs and the cleaner sound makes it easier for extended
and repeat listening. It all makes a good band even better.
“Back Stabber” is a favorite for its funky minimalism,
the thin arrangement highlighting the sax and especially
the deep R&B bass. “Sound” off has vocals
that remind me of Duran Duran on speed, all the paranoia
setting in, the harried vocals and hectic sax vying for
dominance. Slumb Party have another winner on their hands.
TIM
HOLEHOUSE – Come (AAAHH!!! Real Records, www.real-records.co.uk)
Tim Holehouse is a UK based singer-songwriter who has roots
in the hardcore and indie music scene. The songs here are
played on acoustic guitar, with assistance from violins,
cello, acoustic bass, and occasional piano and steel pedal
guitar. Holehouse’s credo is making music for music’s
sake, and it shows. These songs are heartfelt and personal.
Like on the opening track, “Numbers Game,” a
song that speaks to how our outlook on life evolves as we
age, but certain things hold true all along the way. The
line that gets me the most from this song is, “There’s
no chance in looking back, there’s no rear view mirror
in this life.” The strings really make this song;
it’s quite beautiful, though the drums are a little
heavier than I’d like. “Aveiro” is another
personal one, a joyous song about touring in Portugal and
enjoying time with friends. Again, it’s the strings
that really convey the emotions of this song so well, especially
when they’re played pizzicato. “One Day at a
Time” is a wistful tune that has as its basic message
the old saying, be it ever so humble, there’s no place
like home. “I’m Not Icarus” is a song
that seems to be about lack of confidence in one’s
self. “They say the sky is the limit / But I can’t
get off the ground / They say you got to have the head for
height / But I don’t have the head for that right
now.” Vocals are partly sung, partly spoken, as if
telling a story. And that’s what these songs do, is
tell stories, reveal private feelings and emotions. There’s
only one song of the nine on this album that I couldn’t
get into, and that’s “Placid Lake,” a
song that felt too dissonant and out of place. But that’s
OK, the other songs are really gorgeous. They effectively
set a mood and put you into the picture, letting you see
the places and feel the feelings of the songs. Nicely done.
BLUES
LAWYER – Something Different (Revolver USA, www.midheaven.com)
Urban Dictionary defines “blues lawyer” as “the
target market for very expensive guitars, the implication
being that the only people who actually buy them are rich
hobbyists and not actual gigging musicians.” This
Blues Lawyer, though, is a quartet from Oakland and are
definitely legit musicians who play minimalist, quirky,
hooky indie-pop music. The band started as a side project,
but has morphed into a Bay Area staple. This record is their
sophomore full-length. The lo-fi recording makes the record
sound relaxed and casual, as if you’re listening to
a recording the band made in their living room. The title
track starts things out with a driving song. “I don’t
know what I want / But I know that I need / I need something
different” the song cries out. It could be an anthem
for today’s young generation. There’s a dryness
to the sound that gives it a solid presence, despite the
lo-fi quality. “It’s Not Up To You” is
a real standout. I love the slightly wobbly feel in the
guitars in the chorus, mirroring the wobbly feel we have
when we fall in love, which is the topic of the lyrics.
“It’s All A Chore” could almost be a punk
song, if it weren’t for how light and jangly the guitars
are. That dichotomy is pretty nice. The minimalist melody
and lyrics of “Nothing Complex” makes it a fun
one. The melody and lyrics are simple and repetitive, just
like the love felt toward another. Blues Lawyer may not
be breaking any new ground, like the proverbial blues lawyers,
but they sure make fun music.
CLASS
PHOTO – Light Years Later (Jansen Records, Jansen
Records, www.jansenrecords.com)
Here’s the key question: Are Class Photo a synth-pop
band, an indie-pop band, or a disco-pop band? The answer
is “Yes. “ They’re a comedy group, too,
based on the bookending opening and closing tracks, which
simulate those infuriating automated telephone answering
systems most companies have these days. In between, the
band offer up eleven eclectic tracks that range from the
light electro-disco dance beats of “Yeah You Break
(My Heart),” “Metallic Shades,” “Does
the Cap Fit,” “Foreign Pictures,” and
“Narrow Escape,” to the twee-pop songs “I’ve
Been Cleaning Your Room,” “Keyboards on Her
Fingers,” and “Magic Energy,” the latter
of which is probably my favorite of the LP. A couple of
the songs are both, like “Hard Conversation”
and “Driving in a Storm.” All of the songs are
done with tongue firmly in cheek and performed with an easy
feel that belies how technically proficient the band is.
The songs feel so relaxed and casual, but everything turns
on a dime. When I first started listening, I was sure I
was not going to like this, because I’m not a fan
of disco. But this is so well done that it’s won me
over.
HUSTLE
AND DRONE – What an Uproar (hustleanddrone.bandcamp.com)
This record is dark. Synths swirl, tremble, and vibrate
as Ryan Neighbors (ex- Portugal The Man) provides plaintive
vocals and the steady beat from a drum machine keeping everything
moving forward. This is not fun, joyous music; this is serious
cathartic stuff. Buzzy electronics and beats, nasally ambient
swirls, and minimalist guitar are all you get here, no big
rock music. Most of the songs have spare instrumentation,
with a very thin sound. A few of the songs are a bit thicker
sounding. “Stranger” is a dancey number that
layers the electronics to build a full sound, but it still
has a pall cast over it, like a dark cloudy day, the only
brightness coming from the splash of the raindrops in the
puddles. An outlier is the pair of piano-based tracks, the
short introductory “God Daughter” and “Stuck
Inside of the Rain,” which follows without pause.
The piano tracking has a meandering sound, recorded to feel
old and ghostly. Neighbors’ vocals sound tentative.
There’s a lot of open room in this gorgeously melancholy
pair of tracks, and this is my highlight of the record.
Also in the same vein is “Borrowed Time.” The
electronic beats are much more subtle, and the mournful
feel is prominent. These are songs of quiet desperation,
and the mood is amazing. The album closer, “Never
Sleep Alone,” is achingly good; the painful tension
in the dissonant high-pitched synths is so unsettling. The
lyrics reflect the pain of being apart from someone that
you love so much that they’re part of your own soul.
It’s these quieter numbers that make the record for
me. You can keep the electro-beats.
MARK
LIND AND THE UNLOVED – The Last Bastion (State Line
Records, www.statelinerecords.com)
Former Ducky Boys front-man hasn’t been in the studio
to record since 2013. And to break that streak, he rejoins
with The Unloved for their first record in a decade. This
is Boston-style punk’n’roll, or working class
street punk, if you will, heavier on the rock than on the
punk. And that’s about all I can really say about
it. Honestly, there’s nothing that grabs me about
this record. It’s not bad, it’s just nothing
that moves me. Well, that’s not a hundred percent
true. “Who’s To Say” is pretty good. It’s
an acoustic track with angst in the vocals, accordion deep
in the mists, and lyrics about the inevitability of everything.
The lyrics are a bit repetitive, but the song’s feel
is great. But the rest of the record just doesn’t
move me.
RATIONAL
ANTHEM – It’s Only Permanent (A-F Records,
www.a-frecords.com)
Man, I love Rational Anthem! And it’s been way too
long since their last LP, “Emotionally Unavailable,”
came out – five years, to be precise. In the past
they had been putting out an LP each year and touring incessantly,
but the past half decade has seen then almost hibernating.
It’s definitely been worth the wait, though, as this
LP represents some of their best output ever. I didn’t
think they could top the excellent “Emotionally Unavailable,”
but they have. There’s a change in Rational Anthem’s
approach here, but unchanged is Noelle Stolp’s enormous
voice and big guitar, Chris Hembrough’s pounding bass,
and Pete Stolp’s driving drums. The tightness is still
there, too. While the opener, “Welcome to Paradise
City” (a takeoff on Green Day’s “Welcome
to Paradise” and Guns’N’Roses’ “Paradise
City?”) is more akin to earlier efforts, other songs
expand on the Rash’s pop punk sound. “Photographic
Memory” has a speedy skate punk sound, and lyrics
that reference Hüsker Dü, photos, fast driving,
and aging – it’s almost as if it was written
for me. As the album evolves, the songs get bigger, more
expansive, and more adventurous. It’s clear this isn’t
just the simple (yet excellent) pop punk of the past. Like
“Stay Together for the Chicks.” It’s a
little slower than other songs, and it really gets different
on the bridge, in which it becomes more of an indie rock
song with a wistful, lonely sound. “Alright Already”
starts out more quietly, and even when it starts to get
more raucous, it’s at a loping pace, with a strong
bass line that drives the song. Again, when we get the bridge,
right after the guitar solo (!) things get really different,
with a cool throbbing guitar line pulled back in the mix.
It’s this back half of the album where things really
come alive, too. I love “Godspeed You Black Empanada,”
not just for the hilarious title, but for it’s more
moderately pace and its powerful rock. “Dragger”
brings back the speed, but it’s a song that goes through
changes in tempo and feel, sometimes sounding like skate
punk, sometimes like more indie-rock. And The Rash save
the best for last. “Through Being Punk” sings
a song decrying the punk rock band lifestyle, calling for
something more, something better. It’s got a huge,
hopeful sound, rather than a resigned whine. The chorus’
melodic line is pretty great and the breakdown of the bridge
is something I’ve not heard from the trio before.
I like that, though the band is moving into a new direction,
there’s still familiarity here. It’s an evolution,
not a revolution. And it’s a recommended LP.
BOTHERS
(Dirt Cult Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
This rips! It’s like taking fast garage punk in the
vein of Radioactivity, then blending in hard-driving rock
and roll, like Motorhead. The guitars are used almost as
percussion instruments, with a strong, steady, rapid beat
of power chords. Vocals are sometimes shouted, sometimes
roared, and sometimes sung with harmonies. The distorted
guitars and lo-fi quality of the recording belie the tightness
and creativity of this band. The power is almost non-stop,
with minimal breathers. “No Trust” is one of
those breathers sort of, as it slows things a bit and adds
a ton of melody to the power chords. There’s a cool
jangly bridge, too! But it’s still hard as hell, controlled
chaos, and when the jangle yields back to power, it’s
with an awesome deep rumble of bass. “Shut In”
begins with a steady drum beat that sounds like it’s
a the far end of a room, and then a huge, deep chord rings
out, gets quieter, then louder – and then that bass
sounds like it’s a plane about to land on you. That’s
when the song begins in earnest. It’s one of the most
intense song openings I can recall this year. The vocals
are both growled and harmonized, which is an amazing feat.
“Claw to Bone” is another favorite for it’s
effortless gliding surf guitars, contrasted with the noisy
chaos of everything else, all played at a breakneck pace.
This is an exciting debut from this band from Portland.
Their PR says “Bothers brings you napalm daydreams
for the dystopian present.” Sounds about right. Highly
recommended!
CINEMA
CINEMA – CCXMD (Nefarious Industries, www.nefariousindustries.com)
OK, listen up, Jersey Beat readers. I’m going to tell
you this as a friend. You need to expand your horizons.
I can tell you’re stuck in that pop punk and indie
rock rut, listening to the same bands play the same songs
over and over again. I know it’s comforting, and it’s
even fun. But there’s more out there! Some of it’s
weird and exciting! Like Cinema Cinema, the art-punk outfit
from New York. Guitar, saxophone, flute, drums, and bass
are used to cross free jazz with a punk aesthetic, yielding
outré improvisations over a steady beat and sometimes
funky riffs. This is primarily instrumental, with only a
couple occurrences of vocals, used as a musical instrument,
with melodic lines from the vocals somewhat echoed in the
instruments. The long-form jam, “Ode to a Gowanus
Flower,” blends ancient tribal and Celtic sounds,
with drums and flute, then funks things up with a grooving
bass line, and the synths and guitar provide an angular
alien texture. As the track evolves, the beat steadies and
the funk becomes more dominant for awhile, before becoming
more tribal again. The tracks are generally only three to
five minutes long, with one exception, so is a good starting
point for people who want to experiment with adventurous
listening.
NIGHT
SURF – The End of the World With… (Wiretap
Records, www.wiretaprecords.com)
Back in the day, it used to be that certain record labels
had a reputation for putting out quality music. If an album
was released by a certain label, you knew you would like
it. Lookout! Records and Dischord Records are two such labels
that spring to mind. Labels like these have been hard to
come by for a long time, but Wiretap Records is proving
to be one. Head honcho Rob Castellon has a great ear, and
I’ve liked pretty much everything he’s been
putting out over the five or so years or the up and coming
label’s existence. Brooklyn’s Night Surf, born
out of the remnants of Habits a couple years ago, announced
they had signed with Wiretap just this past summer, and
this LP, their debut full-length, is the fruit of that partnership.
The music drives hard and dark, but is ever melodic punk.
Harmonized vocals are present, but used sparingly. Instead
we get loud tuneful Orange County style punk rock, pounding
bass and angry guitars joining the fury of the lead vocals.
Some of the songs are just great hard pop punk, like “Not
Today, Satan!” a fun bouncy song. The band is really
tight, sounding like a group you would find at a larger
venue, but the attitude and feel of the music is more intimate
than that, like what you would hear at a dive bar. The songs
are almost universally like this, more than mid-tempo but
not quite loping, poppy and fun. Some of the songs do tend
to blend one into another, but these are good songs. The
standout is “With The Damned,” which ends the
album. This one has a loping pace, slower than the other
songs, bigger and more epic sounding than poppy. Night Surf
is a worthy addition to Wiretap’s stable of artists,
one you should be getting into.
NO
VACATION – Phasing (Top Shelf Records, www.topshelfrecords.com)
Light, breezy indie pop from a cross-continental band with
members based in both Brooklyn and San Francisco. Lead vocals
from Sabrina Mai are dreamy, the drums are crisp, and the
guitars are clean and jangly. “Estrangers” is
an interesting song, with bubbly instrumentals, but lyrics
that are more about a breakup. I like the contrast between
the bright jangle and the hazy vocals. Sometimes it gets
a bit over the top, with the overuse of mood-setting synths
in a few of the tracks on instrumental breaks. Speaking
of instrumental, the closing track of this five-song EP,
“Last Dance,” is an instrumental. It’s
a waltz, dominated by piano, that’s won my heart.
It’s light and delicate, and feels like the soundtrack
to an old 8mm family movie from ages ago, watching an ancestor
playing as a child on a crisp autumn day. At least that’s
the image that fills my head as I listen to it. I see the
colorful leaves falling off the trees, the wind swirling
around. It’s a wonderful soundscape. And the EP is
quite wonderful, too.
PEANUT
BUTTER – Don’t Stop (pbddc.bandcamp.com)
Peanut Butter is another one of these cross-country bands
with members in multiple locations. In this case, members
are on opposite sides of the continent, in Seattle and Washington,
D.C. At least they’re both “Washington.”
Don’t Stop” is the band’s third full-length
LP, and they’re joined by Renata and Devin Ocampo
this time out. The band is donating the first year of all
online sales of the album to EG Justice, and organization
dedicates to protecting the human rights of the people of
Equatorial Guinea. Musically, Peanut Butter offer up a mix
of psych and folk-pop music. It’s light and airy,
and occasionally twangy, like “Berkeley Pit,”
which has a swirly sound in the guitars, but also hints
of an Americana sound. “Asteroid Negotiations”
has an underlying feel of light jazz, with the rolling and
swirling moving to the bass. I like the use of acoustic
guitar in “Slow Retreat Too,” which opens the
LP. The song has a nice jangly pop feel, but the acoustic
gives it that retro folk-pop feel, a throwback to the late
60s Woodstock era. The surf guitar sound of “Secret
Policeman’s Ball” is pretty effective, too.
Peanut Butter isn’t necessarily breaking new ground
here, but this is a solid LP.
PROTECTED
LEFT – Fossil (protectedleft.bandcamp.com)
Oakland and the East Bay are not normally what springs to
mind when you mention skate punk. The East Bay is more associated
with pop punk, and skate punk is most frequently found in
Orange County. But Protected Left turn convention on its
head on this five song EP. Streaks of metal run through
the music. It’s fast and loud, but also more melodic
and less crunchy than other bands of the genre. Even the
super fast and loud opener, “Never Know,” even
has melodic hooks and harmonized vocals. The songs are played
at a frenetic pace with loads of energy. And if you like
guitar flourishes, well, Protected Left do too! “Old
Life” starts out with gorgeous acoustic guitars before
launching into some fairly brutal metallic punk. “Reboot,”
the closer, is probably my favorite, having an epic feel
and heavy dose of glam pop mixed into the powerful punk.
I think the proximity of all that pop punk has had an effect
on Protected Left, and mixing genres can be fun!
SCHIZOPHONICS
– People in the Sky (Pig Baby Records, www.pigbabyrecords.com)
Damn, I love this band! San Diego’s Schizophonics
are a high-energy hard rockin’ band playing the best
retro crossover music this side of the pond. Imagine the
early Beatles as a super-charged garage band instead of
a smoothed out commercial pop band. Now triple the amount
of soul by adding in James Brown at his peak. That description
barely does justice to what this band sounds like, and their
live shows are something to behold. This album contains
twelve unrelenting tracks that, if they don’t get
you off your ass and jumping around the room like a crazy
person, it’s because you’re dead. And, while
most of the tracks are typically short pop-song length of
two and a half to three and a half minutes long, the opening
track, “Something’s Got To Give” is an
epic five and a half minutes of pure ecstatic release that’s
the sort of thing that’s perfect as a closer for a
live set. “Steely Eyed Lady” is one of the hardest
driving tracks you’re likely to come across from an
active band today, with the drums, bass, and guitar propelling
the song forward like a locomotive. The title track takes
the same formula but includes a heavy dose of psychedelic
60s tones to get you tripping while you’re speeding,
as does “Battle Line.” It’s crazy how
these genres are so seamlessly blended together, but it
works so well. I love the simple “Like a Mummy,”
a track that uses the most basic rock and roll blues line,
then includes a guitar solo with an Egyptian flair. The
closer on this album, “She’s Coming Back,”
is a gloriously hopeful sounding song, and is the sort of
thing that’s perfect for opening a live set, to get
everyone jumping. There isn’t a single lull on this
album; Schizophonics don’t let up for one second.
Highly recommended! The only thing I would change would
be to exchange the first and last songs in the running order.
WACO
– Human Magic (Standby Records, www.standbyrecords.com)
Originally planned for release in early 2019, the first
singles were dropped a year ago. This debut LP from the
UK group, however, was delayed and is just now seeing its
US release. It’s a good thing the record made it out,
because it’s a good one, with variety in the sound
and feel of the songs. “The Jersey Devil” is
the leadoff, and was one of those early singles. It reminds
me a bit of a slightly more relaxed Rocket From The Crypt.
I like “Levenshulme Lover,” a song that alternately
sounds of ancient folk tune and modern sing-along pop punk.
There’s the vaguely Latin rock of “N15,”
and “My Brother, We’ll Rise Again” is
a dark dusty spiritual. “The Valleys” is a strong
indie rock song, with big guitars, and “Smalltown
Goths” opens with the same melodic line, but played
slowly and quietly on keyboards. It’s a great transition,
and then the track starts in earnest with a great garage
rock sound. “Six Feet Under” is folk-punk played
on acoustic guitar and with the warmth of organ, then transforms
to bluesy country as the electric guitar, bass, and drums
come in. “By My Side” reminds me a bit of Elvis
Costello. It’s the same brand of pop music he made,
and the vocals have a similar sound. Another early single,
“Catbrain,” is a powerful one, musically and
lyrically. There are some great angular guitars, tribal
rhythms, and wailing saxophones, and the lyrics reference
the growing divide between the rich and everyone else, all
around the world. The album closes with a poem, “Tomorrow’s
Gorgeous Globe.” It’s a hopeful ode to what
could be, if only….if only. The album is diverse,
yet cohesive. That’s the perfect sort of album, in
my mind.
WARP
LINES – Human Fresh (Dirt Cult Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
Mix lo-fi garage punk with melodic power pop, a la Steve
Adamyk Band. Now add some powerful repetitive off-kilter
lines, like Hot Snakes or (dare I say it?) Swans. You end
up with some great music, dark and brooding kind of like
The Creeps, but also with tons of poppy melody. Scratchy
dark power pop dominates the dozen songs on offer. Of course
the band is from Canada, home to many great bands in this
vein, including a couple I mentioned. Every song on this
debut LP is a banger, unyielding in their power. But a few
special mentions must be made. “Measured” opens
with an intense angular guitar attack before resolving to
some gorgeous power pop with guitars that jangle. The contrast
of the hook-filled lines with the zigzagging guitars is
unsettling and amazing. I like the driving force that is
“Easter Island,” a track that feels like it’s
moving forward in an unstoppable way, even has the pop nature
of the song breaks through. And “Stay” is a
killer, with a three-four meter and dissonance in abundance.
And the album closes with “No Device,” a pummeling
track that’ll leave you sprawled out on the floor,
gasping for air. I love when there are exciting new records
from exciting new bands. “Human Fresh” is one
such record from one such band.
WET
SPECIMENS – Haunted Flesh (Brain Slash Records,
brainslash.storenvy.com)
Dark, distorted hardcore punk, with eerie guitars and anguished
distant vocals. Imagine melding goth and hardcore and Wet
Specimens is what you might get. You can feel the despair,
the evil, but also the power and the speed. Four of the
five tracks on this EP move at breakneck speed, with only
“The Scaphoid” moving at a much slower pace,
sludge oozing from your speakers. The band is tight and
on point for the genre. If you’re a fan of this sort
of sound, jump on this. Though I like good lo-fi garage
punk, this one is too distorted for my ears, and comes across
as muddy. If the sound could be cleaned up just a bit I
think I would be more into it.
GORDON
WITHERS – Jawbreaker on Cello (New Granada Records,
www.newgranada.com)
Jawbreaker never sounded like this! Gordon Withers has arranged
and recorded songs from throughout Jawbreaker’s catalog,
multi-tracking the different parts and making these raspy
pop punk and indie rock songs sound downright orchestral.
Absent, of course, are vocals, and melodic leads are replaced
by one of the cello tracks. On the tough grunge-like “Fireman,”
off of 1995’s LP “Dear You,” the cello
manages to make the song sound both tough and delicate at
the same time. I like the rendition of “Ashtray Monument,”
one of my lesser favorites from “24 Hour Revenge Therapy.”
Withers manages to make this otherwise lackluster song sound
downright mysterious. And the version of “Ache”
offered up will bring you to tears. The melancholy is so
much more palpable on cello, and the arrangement is just
beautiful. The classic “Chesterfield King” off
the “Bivouac” LP loses something in translation
to cello. It’s pretty, like all the tracks, but this
is a song that’s supposed to sound rough, full of
hope and despair, uncertainty and confused emotions. I guess
the cello version is just too even-keeled to get that all
across. The title track from “Bivouac,” on the
other hand, is one of the most beautiful things you’ll
listen to all year, and this one is dripping with feeling.
The perennial favorite, “Boxcar,” closes the
album, and it’s got the same fun bounce and irreverent
attitude of the original. You might say cello isn’t
punk, but save your breath. Instead, just listen to this,
because at its heart, it shows the wondrous songwriting
of Jawbreaker and lets us appreciate the depth and complexity
their songs have.
KOBANES
/ THE SHECKIES – Hangar Time Split EP (Rat Girl
Records, www.ratgirlrecords.storenvy.com)
Two pop punk bands from your past are teaming up to haunt
you. Kobanes and The Sheckies are firmly in the Ramones-core
camp, with simple, poppy, punky songs that bounce. Each
band contributes three tracks. First, Kobanes give us a
weird intro track that’s not really a song, but then
“Nostalgia Is Dead” comes on, sounding just
like Teenage Bottlerocket had recorded it, but with the
addition of a keyboard. “Monkey Man” is even
a little slower, with lyrics that describe a caricature
of the life of an ape in the wild.
The Sheckies provide their funny-punk as always (they
claim their name comes from a character from the film,
“It Came From Hollywood,” but I believe that
character must have been named for comedian Sheckie Green).
This is obvious as soon as their first contribution starts:
“Too Fat for My Leather Jacket.” How many
of us has that happened to? Raises hand. The pace is quicker
and the melody sparklier. “Me and You, Miyo”
slows things down some, and “That’s Not Her”
is downright ballad-like, but all the songs are definitely
Ramones-core. If you’re a fan of these bands from
back in the day, this record wont disappoint.
SWANS
– Leaving Meaning (Young God Records, www.younggodrecords.com)
When Swans came out of hibernation a decade ago I was floored
by their LP, “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To
The Sky.” I was most familiar with the earliest, noisiest
Swans releases, and while they were good, they’re
also best in smaller doses. I know the band tamed down their
sound over the late 80s and into the 90s, but “My
Father…” was a revelation, though. They could
introduce tension and noise, but do it in a much more accessible
way, even using melodic lines. It is still one of my favorite
albums of the past decade. Subsequent releases showed an
evolution in the newfound style of the new incarnation of
Swans, always with the genius behind it all, Michael Gira.
The music lost some of its dissonance and added ambience,
a little more with each release. Sometime after the release
of 2016’s “Glowing Man” Gira announced
the end of the reconstituted Swans, which had enjoyed a
reasonably stable line-up since the 2010 reformation. Thankfully
it did not mean another decade of silence, and Gira continues
to record under the Swans moniker, now with a rotating cast
of musicians. That brings us to their latest studio LP and
the first since “Glowing Man.”
This album runs a full 94 minutes, more than double “My
Father…” but not quite as long as “The
Glowing Man,” which clocked in at a whopping two
hours. In true Swans form, most of the songs are double
or triple the length of a typical pop song, but we don’t
get any 20-minute epics this time around. The album begins
with the shortest track, “Hum.” At two minutes
in length, it’s a mysterious introduction, with
more of the ambience and less of the dissonance. “Annaline,”
too, focuses on ambience, with glimmering synths, strings,
and flutes, and a gorgeous simple melodic line, sung in
Gira’s deep baritone.
“Amnesia” is a quiet acoustic waltz, with
the feeling of a folk tune…except after the initial
pair of verses, there’s a pause, and a loud thrum,
then we return to the folk tune, but other instruments
begin to interject, with moans and wails, and a ghostly
backing choir emerges at points. This pattern repeats
over and over, adding to the mesmerizing effect, Likewise,
the title track is a waltz that throbs with ambient haze,
piano being the most prominent instrument.
Things really get going, though, with “The Hanging
Man.” It introduces the primary sound for this record:
hypnotic. This extended track has a short repeating line
that throbs, quietly dissonant guitars strumming away,
and a vaguely tribal drum. Gira’s vocals sing the
lyrics in primarily a single note line, occasionally raising
his voice to a shout. Muted trombone bleats rise and fall,
and you fall into a trance. The melodic line slowly evolves,
getting louder, a little more dissonant, the key rising.
“Sunfucker” melds the hypnotic with the dissonant,
the result sounding like evil crawling out of the depths
of Hell. Halfway through, the vibe changes, adding a beat,
with Gira’s multi-tracked vocals providing the hypnotic
effect while the vaguely hip-hop instrumentals loop beneath.
This track, too, builds in intensity to the end.
“The Nub” is one that sounds dark and mysterious,
with piano tinkling over eerie instrumental ambience.
Unison female choir slowly intone the lyrics, as if reciting
an incantation. And “It’s Coming It’s
Real” has a bluesy melodic line, with Gira’s
deadpan vocals, mostly spoken, the female vocal choir
sounding more angelic, and a clanging alarm of a guitar
lurking in the background. As the track progresses, it
builds, and evolves from blues to gospel. “Some
New Things” continues the theme of inducing a trancelike
state, as the short melodic line repeats over and over,
including Gira’s vocals.
But it’s the penultimate track that’s the
most astounding. “What Is This” starts out
simply enough, with strings, piano, and vocals. But about
two and a half minutes into the track, sleigh bells come
in, and a backing vocal choir joins the steady drumbeat.
Two more minutes in and chimes start ringing and the vocal
choir adds its own line. This is a Christmas carol, as
only Swans could do it!
While I may have been disappointed with the progression
from 2010 to 2016 toward more ambience and less tension,
I think “Leaving Meaning” is my favorite Swans
album since “My Father…” It won’t
be everyone’s cup of tea, especially Jersey Beat
readers who solely focus on rock genres of punk and indie.
But it gets a very high recommendation from me.
THE
DROWNS – "Hold Fast" b/w "Demons"
(Pirates Press Records, www.piratespress records.com)
The Drowns are one of the hardest working bands in punk
right now. They’re constantly touring and putting
out records at a frantic pace. Following hot on the heels
of their debut LP, “View from the Bottom,” which
came out late last year, and the single “The Sound”
that came out a few months back, here’s a new single
from a new LP that’s in the works already. What this
new single delivers is just what you’d expect: two
strong working class American punk rock songs. “Hold
Fast” is a great, tough song with amazingly tight
gang vocals on the chorus. And I love the tension that builds
in the instrumental bridge. “Demons” is a great
melodic pop punk sing-along, more reminiscent of other such
bands from the Pacific Northwest. I love the dry sound in
the lead vocals contrasted against the big chorus, and the
simple melodic line played in the lead guitar is effective.
This is quite a good teaser for the sophomore LP.
EXTRA
ARMS – Up From Here (Dadstache Records, www.ddstacherecords.com/
Get Party! Records, getparty.bandcamp.com)
Following up last year’s great debut LP, “Headacher,”
Michigan’s Extra Arms is back with eight new songs
of power-pop-punk goodness. Filling out the band founded
by Ryan Allen are guitarist Michael Gallacher, bassist Ryan
Marshall, and drummer Daniel Stover. And the album is certainly
a worthy successor, with no signs of a sophomore slump!
As with the debut, the songs teeter on the edge between
pop punk and power pop, with hints of glam pop-rock tossed
in, a la Cheap Trick. “F.L.Y.” opens the party
with a track that’s equal parts of each genre and
loaded with hooks. I like how the pop punk melody blends
with the glam-pop big guitar sound. I love “Disruptor,”
a track whose guitars manage to sound tough and jangly at
the same time. “No Enemies” is a gorgeous, sprawling
pop song, and the quietly buzzing synth doesn’t distract
too much from the powerful guitars and gliding vocals. “Hold
Me All The Time” is perhaps my favorite of the bunch.
It’s a power pop song with tough guitars, harmonized
vocals, and a shining melodic line. The transformation of
“Space Jam” toward the end of the song, from
huge fuzzed out ballad to quiet acoustic is nicely done.
And the title track is the perfect album closer, pulling
all the band’s threads together to form an epic tapestry.
The tambourine drop at the end is a fun touch, too. You
like power pop and pop punk? Get on this now!
THE
RESTARTS – Uprising (Pirates Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
This is hardcore punk fucking rock! Lots of bands are nostalgic
for the sound and try to play it, but it rarely comes out
right. The Restarts, though, are the real deal. An English
band, based in London, the Restarts have been around for
the better part of 25 years, though they sound like they’ve
been around a decade longer than that. This is authentic
early 80s hardcore punk, powerful and angry. A few of the
tracks diverge somewhat. “Shut Doors” is ska-punk,
but there are parts of it played with a surf guitar sound,
others with a big punk sound. The vocals, though, are still
Oi influenced, gritty and gravelly, like all the tracks.
And “20 Years” is the other ska-punk track on
the album. It, too, has plenty of Oi mixed in. “First
World Problems” is awesome, starting out with a more
modern melodic punk sound, and then launching into speedy
hardcore, NY style. The track takes a brief metallic detour
before closing faster than you can say, “see you in
the pit.” “A Dark Day In September” has
a less speedy sound, reminding me of some of the great Chicago
bands like Pegboy, Naked Raygun, or The Effigies, but crossed
with an Oi attitude. It’s favorite of this LP. “The
Fork” reminds me of a harder, angrier Crass, but working
class Oi instead of crust punk. And “New World Order”
has a great eerie feel to it, with a loping pace. The balance
of the tracks are some of the best rapid-fire hardcore I’ve
heard in years. Angular chord changes abound, and you can
feel the heat from the vocals. This band is on fire! Tracks
like “Panic,” “The One Percent,”
and “Uprising” remind of why I got into this
music in the first place: the energy, the anger, and the
political statements. This record is excellent.
SLEAVE
– Don’t Expect Anything (Engineer Records,
www.engineerrecords.com)
Richmond, Virginia has been the birthplace of great bands
in the past. Avail, Ann Beretta, Municipal Waste, and more.
Now add to that Sleave. Formed in 2016, Sleave has finally
gotten around to releasing their debut LP, teaming up with
the UK’s Engineer Records. They play a brand of indie/alternative
rock that has elements of post hardcore and emo sounds.
There’s a huge, sweeping, epic sound to the dozen
songs on this record. The guitars sound crunchy and jangly
at the same time. “Cataracts,” the second track,
is a great example. It’s super melodic, has the big
wall of guitar sound alternating with a calmer jangle, and
vocals that go from quietly pleading to shouted anger. “Swept”
is one that uses gang vocals that are part shouted, part
sung on the chorus. It’s a slower track that, nevertheless,
is played at full boil. “Check Myself” has more
of a standard 2000s sound in the verses, with melodic post-hardcore
music, angst-filled spoken vocals, single note riffs, and
periods of shouting. There isn’t a standard verse
chorus verse chorus structure, but the sections between
the “verses” are immense and have the most beautiful
guitars and chord progressions. “Better Abettor”
is another favorite – like many of the tracks, it’s
filled with contrasting textures, which makes for a great
listen. Quiet and jangly, loud and angry, dissonant vs.
melodic, singing vs. shouting – it’s all here
in one track in under four minutes. “Drinkin’”
leans toward more of a modern west coast emotional pop punk
sound, a genre near and dear to my heart. It’s the
sort of thing you’d hear in a dive bar with lots of
beer drinking and lots of people pushing to the front to
sing along with the band. This is an exciting debut from
an exciting “new” band on the scene.
TERRITORIES
– "Quit This City" b/w "Defender"
(Pirates Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
Calgary band Territories have been busy, supporting nearly
every big punk show that comes through their hometown, and
now venturing forth on their first tour south of their border.
This single celebrates this, with two tracks of very working
class rock music, sort of halfway between the working class
pop punk of The Drowns and the blue collar music of the
E-Street Band. The title track has a warm sound, thanks
to the electric organ, and the B-side reminds me of the
great UK band Blitz. I hadn’t heard of Territories
before this record, but it seems like we’ll be hearing
more from them – and that’s a good thing.
AUDIO
KARATE – Malo (Wiretap Records, www.wiretaperecords.com)
Audio Karate, a SoCal band that was active in the 90s to
the mid 2000s, went on a long hiatus in 2006, came back
to life last year with a new single and a signing to Wiretap
Records. It was a teaser for a brand new LP, which is what
we’re here to talk about. These songs were all written
and recorded in 2006, but never mixed and released -- until
now. And it’s a good thing it finally saw the light
of day. The previously released two songs from the single
act as bookends for this LP, with “Bounce” opening
and “Landing” closing the album. As I mentioned
in my review of the single, “Bounce” is prototypical
2000s emo-tinged pop punk, with angst-filled vocals and
intertwining guitar lines. “Sin Chuchillo” also
has a smoothed out post-hardcore feel. And “Get…Mendoza”
also sounds like it’s from that era and genre, though
the departure from the expected norm somewhat starts here.
The song has a more cinematic feel, and more tension than
the first two. The surf guitar lines are cool, providing
a dark mysterious quality. And then, from there, things
get really weird, in a very cool way. “Pardon Me”
is a gorgeous romantic pop track that sounds like it spans
the 60s to the present. The bells and strings are pretty,
and the simple backing guitar is just right. “Good
Loving Man” is an expansive track that sounds sort
of what the Beatles might have done had they continued on
into the 2000s. It has definite power pop influence, but
the guitar solo toward the end doesn’t seem to fit.
“Room Down The Hallway” is a jangly power pop
tune, completely out of character for the band and its era,
bit it’s beautiful. The penultimate track, “Saturday
Night (You Ain’t Down Foo),” feels more in line
with the band’s most well known sound. I still love
“Landing,” the quiet ballad, with its clean
guitar sound and falsetto vocals. This album is not at all
what I expected; it was an amazingly nice surprise!
SUICIDE
GENERATION – Prisoner of Love (Dirty Water Records,
www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
Suicide Generation are back with a three-song EP of sleazy
greasy garage punk. Raucous and rompin’ stompin’,
the three songs on this record are sure to get you into
a frenzy. My favorite of the three is the third track, “Rotten
Mind.” It’s old school early punk rock, with
all that implies. The title track is more reminiscent of
50s greaser rock, the sort of stuff you would listen to
while working on your hot rod. And “Shitty In The
City” has more of a classic garage rock sound, a slower
tempo, and an even looser feel than the other songs. Garage
punk’n’roll has been seeing a resurgence lately,
and Dirty Water Records is leading the way.
SCREAMING
FEMALES – Singles Too (Don Giovanni Records, www.dongiovanirecords.com)
Covering the fifteen years or so of the Screaming Females’
career as a band, Singles Too collects together nearly every
non-LP cut, from all the early 7” records and digital
B-sides, plus a remixed track, too. And the download and
CD have six bonus cover songs. It’s a great way to
hear the progress of the band through the years, condensed
down into a convenient listening format. The album begins
with the very first 7” single the band released, with
the songs “Arm Over Arm” and “Zoo of Death.”
“Arm In Arm” is poppier than what would become
the band’s signature sound, and Marissa Paternoster’s
guitar is downright jangly on the song. Apparently she isn’t
happy with the track, claiming she made mistakes and wasn’t
aware she could ask for a retake. But it sounds really nice
to me. With the B-side of that single, we start to get a
sense of what would be the Screaming Females’ bread
and butter: grungy rock and roll, dripping with melody and
singed around the edges by acid rock. The guitar tone is
still somewhat jangly, though the attitude is much deeper,
and Paternoster’s powerful vocals punch you in the
gut. I really love the dark, jumpy “No Being Disgusting,”
from a split EP released with Full of Fancy. It’s
the release that showed the world that Paternoster is one
of indie-rock’s best guitarists, and her manic vocals
are unbelievably intense. “Pretty OK” from that
same split gives us the big sound and songwriting that has
become the band’s primary sound. It’s a great
melodic rock and roll number with pop sensibility, melding
sounds of bands like Led Zeppelin and Nirvana to create
something new and dynamic. “Ancient Civilization,”
from a split with Tenement, has a great hypnotic psych feel
to it. The throbbing bass, strong backbeat, and single-note
guitar line induce a trance-like feeling, though Paternoster’s
monstrous vocals keep one connected to reality. “Skeleton”
is another favorite, with its super-buzzy guitar tone and
explosive chorus. Paternoster’s guitar mastery is
on full display, and it’s enough to make a lesser
guitarist quit. That remix I mentioned is of “End
of My Bloodline,” from the album “All At Once.”
It’s more than a remix – it’s a whole
different song! The lyrics are different, and are rapped
instead of sung! It’s an impressive track, tough and
dark. Those bonus tracks include covers of Neil Young (an
edgier, faster version of the lazy “Cortez the Killer”),
Sheryl Crow (a more soulful version of “If It Makes
You Happy”), Patti Smith Group (an excellent, faithful
rendition of “Because the Night”), Guided By
Voices (a thicker, richer take on “A Good Flying Bird”),
Taylor Swift (“Shake It Off” as only the Screamales
can do it), and Annie Lennox (“No More “’
Love You’s’” done more as a 70s rock ballad
than the 80s theatrical number of the original). So many
of the tracks on this collection are hard to come by these
days, so it’s so very nice to have them all together.
It’s a must have.
VINNIE
CARUANA – Aging Frontman (Know Hope Records, www.knowhoperecords.com)
The six songs on this new mini-LP from the former frontman
for the pop punk and post-hardcore band Movielife are vastly
different from the music he performed back in the day. Gone
is the punk, gone is the hardcore, and gone is the edginess.
In their place is dreamy indie-rock, much more introspective
sounding than his earlier output. It’s sort of like
taking post-hardcore music, but telling it to relax, it
lies down for a nap and dozes off to sweet dreams. The music
is dreamy, but it has an edge to it, still. This is especially
noticeable on “Dying in the Living Room,” a
song that has a hazy feel in the instrumentals, but the
vocals and rhythm section have more aggressive ideas. My
favorite song is probably “Alone,” a track that
starts quietly with a dark mysterious sound and builds from
there. It gets bigger and bigger, and as the climax of the
song is reached it suddenly cuts off, unresolved. “Providence”
is another song that builds. It starts quietly with just
acoustic guitar and vocals. Over time, as the electric guitars,
bass, and drums come in, and it becomes a huge epic tune,
less dreamy, more soulful, with multi-tracked harmonized
vocals. The closer, “Tex The Rock Johnson” uses
ukulele to create a very different feel from the rest of
the songs, lighter and bouncier. As the track goes on, the
reverb increases, giving the song a more distant feel, an
interesting way to close the record. While this record isn’t
going to make any waves, it’s a solid effort and a
good listen.
FINE
DINING – Grass Fed Tunes (Emmer Effer Records, wmmerefferrecords.
bandcamp.com)
Hailing from LA’s South Bay area, Fine Dining are
a quartet that specialize in speedy skate punk. True to
the genre, the music is melodic and metallic, crunchy, and
did I say speedy? The pace of the music blazes. The vocals
are powerful and well controlled, but manic when the song
calls for it. The guitars and bass are crunchy. This band
is super tight. And this is just their debut EP! But these
guys are veterans of the scene, all having played in various
bands before. Some of the songs also feature gang vocals
reminiscent of youth crew hardcore of days gone by. Of the
first three tracks, I think “Elephant in the Van”
may be my favorite, staying focused on the speed and punk
qualities. “A Drink For You” is the most formulaic
skate punk of the songs, including (well) harmonized vocals
on the chorus. The closing track is a cover – of a
cover. The Animals made “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”
a rock and roll hit in 1965 and part of rock history, but
the song was written for singer Nina Simone, who recorded
it a year earlier. This original is delicate and delicious.
The Animals’ cover is moody and mysterious. Fine Dining’s
take pounds relentlessly, alternately loping at a moderate
tempo or zooming along at an incredible pace. It’s
metallic hardcore, and the vocals are definitely solidly
gruff and metallic. While the band do a fine job playing
the song, I’m not sure the style matches the melody.
Overall, while Fine Dining aren’t pushing genre boundaries
here, if you’re a fan of skate punk, this band acquit
themselves more than competently, and you’re going
to enjoy this record.
HEAZZA
(Audible Paint, www.audiblepaint.com)
Sweet vocals, piano, percussion, and synths blend to create
some pretty ambient pop. I really like “The Dark,”
the track that opens the six-song EP. It sounds both mysterious
and familiar at the same time, and the strings) add a gorgeous
touch. Heazza’s vocals are reminiscent of the classic
chanteuses of yore, giving the song the feel of a jazz ballad.
“Occupied” features powerful vocals, a nice
melodic line, and some cool buzzy synths, along with synthesized
steel drums, providing a breezy island feel. The use of
strings, particularly cello, on “Hazy Blue”
gives it a wonderfully introspective sound, but the synth
tone selections are a bit annoying, reminding me of the
cheap synth soundtracks from the latter Tom Baker seasons
of the Doctor Who TV show. More strings would have been
better than the synths on this track. And I do like the
closer, “Crimson Eyes.” The melody is beautiful,
and I like how the song ebbs and flows, and the orchestral
arrangement is on the mark, though the vocal phrasings feel
a little forced. I’m not crazy about “Stuck,”
though, which has the feel of a commercialized, whitewashed,
and homogenized “soul” song. I think that, though
taken in isolation, some of these songs are quite nice,
what bothers me is the sameness of everything: slow ballads
with the same piano, synths, and strings. Ballads are great
sometimes, but not as every song on a record.
JUMPSTARTED
PLOWHARDS – Round One (Recess Records, www.recessrecords.com)
Hailing from San Pedro, California, Jumpstarted Plowhards
is a new band featuring the legendary Mike Watt (Minutemen,
fIREHOSE, Mike Watt and the Missingmen) and Todd Congelliere
(F.Y.P., Toys That Kill, Underground Railroad to Candyland,
Clown Sounds). Each track features a different guest drummer,
including George Hurley (Minutemen, fIREHOSE), Patty Schemel
(Hole), and more. The result is some spare, menacing punk
rock. The music sounds dusty, right out of the California
desert. The vocals are urgent, and the guitars wail inconsolably.
In an unusual move, “The Punk Setup,” the second
track of the LP, uses a melodica, one of those mouth operated
keyboard things. It adds to a mysterious feel. “The
Garter Snakes” is a favorite, alternating the dark
sound with the brighter relaxed pop punk often employed
by Congelliere’s bands. Another thing borrowed from
Congelliere’s aesthetic is the lo-fi recording of
vocals. It’s a technique used throughout the whole
album whenever he’s singing, but when Watt’s
voice is heard, like on “Makin’ It All Settle
Down,” it’s a much cleaner sound. That track,
by the way, is a simple one, but another favorite. The lyrics
are simple and repeated, as is the music, but it’s
got the feel of a powerful jam. This is just round one –
the band plan to record five LPs before they start to play
live. If this is just round one, I can’t wait for
the next four to come out, so I can see these guys live,
because this is great stuff.
LAGWAGON
– Railer (Fat Wreck Chords, www.fatwreck.com)
Another one of Fat Wreck’s longstanding bands is back
with another new LP, following in the footsteps of Strung
Out, Bracket, and Good Riddance. After three decades of
honing their skills and sound, they’ve reached peak
skate punk and have the “Fat” sound down pat.
Fast, loud, crunchy and melodic, with metallic flourishes
here and there, Lagwagon deliver the goods. One favorite
song is “Jini,” which starts out with the feel
of a rock and roll folk tune before launching into a full-tilt
fast’n’loud track. The guitars pound out a single
note drone, acting as a percussion instrument, while the
folk tune melody continues. I also like “Dark Matter,”
a track that in places has a metallic Bad Religion sort
of vibe, but gets really melodic in the chorus, expansive
sounding, and even a bit jangly. Many of the tracks are
focused on the poppiness and the speed of the music, but
there are some songs that are edgier, harder, and more metallic
than others. “Dangerous Animal” is one such
track. Super crunchy, this song races by, guttural growls
emanating from the guitars as the bass and drums pound mercilessly.
The vocals, by contrast, are smooth as silk on the harmonized
chorus. And, after a beautifully subtle and retro opening
with piano and guitar, “The Suffering” explodes
with a metallic onslaught. If you’re a fan of skate
punk and the classic Fat Wreck sound, you can’t go
wrong here; it’s a solid release.
LIGHTNING
DUST – Spectre (Western Vinyl, www.westernvinyl.com)
The unifying factors in the ten songs on this album are
synths, quietness, and subtlety. Beyond that, there are
many differences from track to track, with some songs reminding
me of Julee Cruise singing the songs of Andre Badalamenti,
others feeling like folk tunes, and more like easy indie
pop. The opening track is a bit of an outlier, more different
from the other tracks by far. It’s heavier on the
ambience and synths, and when the percussion joins in it’s
with a tribal beat. As the song evolves, the electronics
get a little crazy with the strings, in a chaotic jam, while
the drums keep pounding away. “Led Astray” reminds
me of a 1960s flower power folk rock anthem, and “Joanna”
is a gorgeous waltz that feels like an updated version of
an ancient folk tune. “More” is another waltz
featuring piano, strings, and synths, reminding me of something
sort of post-classical. “Inglorious Flu” is
a contemplative track, with piano holding more sway than
the synths, which are used to create atmosphere more than
anything. The tone used is very Badalamenti, and the ethereal
vocals remind me of Cruise. The haziness of it all, too,
is familiar to all Twin Peaks fans. “Competitive Depression”
sounds like a light, synth-based grunge song. And the closer,
“3am/100 Degrees,” is an understated indie-rock
track. I think my favorites are the songs that sound older
than they are, but the diversity of songs amidst cohesion
of tone makes this a compelling record.
MINI
MELTDOWNS – Destined for Disaster (Good Land Records,
www.goodlandrecords.com)
This four-song EP from the two-state band (drummer and vocalist
Jon Phillip lives in Tennessee while bassist Scott Schoenbeck
hails from Wisconsin) is a blast of power-pop-punk –
power pop mixed with pop punk. Four guitar-fueled songs
that will remind you of bands like The Marked Men and Radioactivity,
but maybe slowed down a touch and with a bit of classic
rock and roll mixed in. The sound is thick and powerful,
but the harmonized vocals lighten things up with a beachy
feel on “Gonna Miss You.” “I Wanna Miss
You” is grittier, darker, with hints of mod influence.
“Afraid of Everything” has a very classic rock
and roll sound, with a chord progression that will sound,
at first, familiar, but then the Mini Meltdowns have fun
turning convention on its head. And “You Bring Me
Down” is raucous fun. It’s great seeing the
power pop renaissance going on lately with so many new bands
with fantastic songs. Mini Meltdowns is one of those you
should check out.
ODD
ROBOT / TINY STILLS – Split (Wiretap Records, www.wiretaprecords.com)
Wiretap Records is one of those labels. You know, the ones
where you’re pretty sure you’re going to like
everything the label puts out. Lookout! Records was like
that. Dischord Records, too. This latest Wiretap release
is a split EP, with two songs from each band, one original
and one cover of the other band. Tiny Stills starts the
fun and games with “Everything Is Going Great,”
their original contribution. It’s a darkly powerful
and melodic song about putting up a front to fool yourself
and others. It teeters on the border of pop punk and indie
rock, and it makes me want to hear more from this band that
I was unfamiliar with before today. Tiny Stills’ cover
is of “Schadenfreude,” from Odd Robot’s
sophomore LP, “Amnesiatic.” They acquit themselves
quite well, giving the already bouncy song even more of
a poppy edge, thinning the sound a bit, making the bass
more prominent and giving the drums more of a hopping sound
in places. Odd Robot’s original is “I Am A Cortisol
Factory,” and it’s classic Odd Robot, poppy
and bouncy, with Andy Burris’ crooning vocals. The
new touch is having two guitars an octave apart on some
parts, giving the song a nice depth. I think this is the
first recording the band have released since Mike Doherty
switched from bass to guitar and Logan Barton joined the
band on bass. It provides for a nice, full sound. Their
cover of Tiny Stills’ “15-17 Months” does
a good job, putting their own spin on it. They go for a
bigger, crunchier sound than the original, and one the chorus
they go for a quicker pace for a bit, eschewing the nice
lilt that the original maintains. Once again, Wiretap hits
it out of the park!
SICKO
– In The Alternate Timeline (Red Scare Industries,
www.redscare.net)
When pop punk was exploding in the East Bay in the 1990s,
a small band from Seattle was producing music that was the
equal of, if not better than, many of those bands that went
on to bigger careers with major labels. Formed in 1991 and
releasing four full-length LPs, four singles or EPs, and
appearing on some compilations over the course of seven
years, Sicko never achieved the sort of recognition of their
contemporaries to the south that were part of the Gilman
Street and Lookout Records! scene. Now, working closely
with the band members to select nineteen of their favorite
tracks, Red Scare hopes to correct this by presenting a
compendium that shows the world what we’ve forgotten:
the greatness of Sicko. Spanning their entire career, these
tracks bring back songs that have been long out of print
to a new generation of punk fans. It’s so damn hard
picking out favorite tracks, because every single one is
so damn good. Some of the tracks lean more toward the punk
side of things, fast and raucous, like the opening track
“Where I Live,” originally from the band’s
first LP, “You Can Feel The Love In This Room.”
These songs stick closely to the archetype that came out
of the late 80s East Bay. “80 Dollars,” from
a split single” released with The Mr. T Experience,
is a song that I hear echoed in dozens of pop punk bands
that followed. And I really love “Farm Song,”
which feels so much like a MTX song, but appeared on the
album “Laugh While You Can Monkey Boy.”
Others songs are more focused on the pop side of creating
songs with great hooks and melodies. “FB Song,”
which was released on the 7” EP “Count Me
Out,” alternates between raw garage pop and great
jangly power pop. “A Song About A Rabbit”
is a light bouncy indie-pop song from the LP “You
Are Not The Boss Of Me” that’s a lot of fun.
I also really love “Little,” a mid-tempo track
that has a gorgeous guitar tone and pretty melodic line
that, is the sort of thing we heard from may pop punk
bands playing slower, more meaningful songs in the decade
that followed.
Then there are the tracks that fire with both barrels,
fast and punked up, but jangly and poppy, with melodic
lines that have way more going for them than any punk
song has any business having. “The Sprinkler”
is one such track, off the first LP. The song is played
briskly, with distorted guitars alternating with a clean
tone, but the bass is playing something more complex than
a typical punk song, and the melody is quite nice. “High
Hopes” is another urgent heart-felt song, played
like there’s no tomorrow, yet with undeniable sincerity.
It certainly is a shame that Sicko was stuck in Seattle
at a time when all anyone wanted from that town was grunge.
They deserved so much more notoriety than they got. But
thanks to Red Scare, you can hear that for yourself. Who’s
Green Day again? Recommended.
VARIOUS
– Red Scare Industries: 15 Years of Tears and Beers
(Red Scare Industries, www.redscare.net)
Wow, Red Scare Industries is fifteen years old? That’s
like 100 in mainstream label years! To celebrate, boss Toby
Jeg has collected together songs from bands new and old
that have released music with the label and put out a compilation
that illustrates the quality of punk music they’ve
been releasing since 2004. And none of these are stale old
re-releases of songs from old records; every song is new
and previously unreleased! And, yes, every song is a good
one. With the self-imposed limitations imposed this particular
celebratory releases (there are a mere fifteen tracks here,
one for each year of operation), there’s a good cross-section
of the label represented here. Long-time acts like The Copyrights,
Elway, Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds, and Garrett
Dale (Red City Radio) are here, as are newer bands like
Sincere Engineer, Billy Liar, and Ramona. Sundowner and
The Lippies provide their first new music in a long time,
and past band The Bombpops make an appearance, too. Missing
are such luminaries from the label’s catalog as Teenage
Bottlerocket, The Lillingtons, and Masked Intruder, but
some appear in cover form. Broadway Calls covers The Menzingers’
“Sunday Morning,” while Brendan Kelly provides
his unique spin on The Lillingtons’ “All I Hear
Is Static.”
Some of my favorite tracks on this comp are actually
the least “punk” of the bunch. Sam Russo’s
“The Window” takes his solo acoustic act and
makes it bigger, using reverb and electric guitar to fill
things out. Elway’s track, “High Drama, Low
Comedy,” has an expansive feel and Tim Browne’s
vocals have just the right amount of grit for the epic
sound. Yes, at the end of the track the tempo picks up
for a more pop punk pace, too. Sundowner (Chris McCaughan
of The Lawrence Arms) gives us “Bleed Together,”
a pretty, pensive track that’s primarily acoustic,
but with bass, percussion, and electric guitar included.
And Billy Liar, who’s Red Scare LP is likely to
end up on my best of 2019 list, contributes the comp’s
closer, “The Escapist,” which stays completely
acoustic, yet manages to have a raucousness to it.
The punkier tracks are great, too. In particular, southern
Illinois’ The Copyrights give us “Maine or
Oregon,” a fast paced pop punk song that clocks
in at under a minute. LA’s The Bombpops, a band
that more recently went on to release music with Fat Wreck
Chords, provide a great mid-tempo pop punk cover of Enemy
You’s “East and West.” Tightwire’s
“AYL” (Are You Listening) is a pounding track
with an old school feel that melds pop punk and power
pop. And the always amazing The Brokedowns give us “Thinking
With The Lights On,” a track perfect for singing
along to in a small dive bar.
Then there are the tracks that are harder to classify,
which makes them all the better. Chicago’s Sincere
Engineer play something between pop punk and indie, and
“Dragged Across The Finish Line” is a great
example of their fantastic sound and Deanna Belos’
great songwriting. And Ramona is one of my favorite newer
bands, too, and their song “Yeah Again” has
both crunchiness and bounce, with great melodic hooks
and jangle. “TJ” is a song from MakeWar, with
a mix an emotionally charged pop punk sound.
So, congratulations to Toby, and here’s a big thank-you
for the fifteen years of hard work bringing us some great
music. And here’s to many more!
DANA
– Glowing Auras and Black Money (Heel Turn Records,
www.heelturnrecords.com)
The album title plucked from a New York Times headline about
a secret Pentagon UFO program, “Glowing Auras and
Black Money” is the third full-length release from
Columbus, Ohio’s DANA. And, as a former DJ at one
of the nation’s few free-form non-mainstream radio
stations (WZRD Chicago), I can safely say this is exactly
the kind of record that would have gotten heavy airplay
there. This is music as art. The band makes creative use
of noise, electronics, guitars, dissonance, and angularity
to create some amazing, energetic soundscapes and songs.
Some of the tracks are cool throwbacks to the massively
creative post-punk era of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The opening track, “Cream Corn,” is one of these,
with its off-kilter and angular rhythms and electronics
and partially spoken vocals. The track closes with a free-jazz
jam of guitar and saxophone, with one of the guitar licks
sounding like a ringing telephone. “Pork Pie”
is another, with a Jim Carroll undercurrent, with more off-kilter
intervals in the chorus. The tension throughout this track
is palpable. Some of the tracks are slower and sludgy, like
“Chaos,” a nine and a half minute track that
starts out very punk-like, and evolves into a thicker stew
of guitar harmonics and fuzz. At the midpoint, it shifts
radically, the tempo slowing, and the sludge oozing into
every pore of your being. “Cupid” is another
slower one with plenty of heavy guitar noise and wild electronics.
“El Sicko” is a favorite track, and has sections
that seem to channel or parody Pink Floyd, with a slow,
drug induced ambient feel, alternating with fast manic punk
sections reminiscent of a quicker paced Flipper. If you’re
into the more adventurous side of music, this is recommended.
DAS
CLAMPS – Sh*t Music for Sh*t People (Trash Wax Records,
www.trashwax.com / Dirty Water Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
When it comes to garage rock and punk, Dirty Water Records
has no equal. Whenever I’ve gotten a record from them,
I generally know I’m in for a treat: raw, energetic
roots music dripping with attitude. That’s what makes
this debut LP from the UK’s Das Clamps a bit disappointing.
Even more disappointing in that one of the members is Tina
Swasey, of the outstanding Oh! Gunquit, another band in
the Dirty Water Records stable. The two-piece comes across
to my ears as a little too affected, like they’re
trying too hard for a “sound,” and yet they
also come across as very thin and unpolished. The former
is unsurprising for a two-piece, but the latter is very
much. If this was just done for a lark, to have a bit of
fun with friends, I could understand. This is something
that would be fine as a live act, especially since the band
play Cramps covers as well as their own originals. The covers
are quite different from the originals, though, and I’m
not sure this is a band that needs immortalizing in recording.
FRAMES
– Cursed (Know Hope Records, www.knowhopercords.com)
This debut EP comes from a Richmond, Virginia based band
that play quiet, lazy indie pop. The understated instrumentals
are melded with ethereal vocals, and the tempos are uniformly
relaxed. The guitar tone is quite clean, the bass is used
sparingly to provide a simple foundation, and the vocals
are sometimes multi-tracked to provide pretty harmonies.
The keyboards used on the third track, “House Show,”
provide a warmth to the song and a slightly richer sound
than other tracks. I like “Vase,” a stripped
down acoustic track with lyrics about the difficulties of
being in a co-dependent relationship in which both people
are broken. Also acoustic-based are “Hell” and
the closer, “Last Year,” this last having a
particularly interesting tone on the guitar, extra reverb
in the vocals, and a nice ambient haze in the background.
These six songs are quite pretty. The one constructive criticism
I might provide, though, would be to include more variety
in tempo and tone, as the songs sometimes blend into one
another.
FREEZING
COLD – Glimmer (Salinas Records, www.salinasrecords.com)
Lush indie rock melded with touches of emotional pop are
the key genre touch points for Freezing Cold on their debut
full-length LP. The New York based members grew up together
in the DIY music scene, and came together merely two years
ago to form Freezing Cold. The melodies and vocal delivery
remind me a lot of a small defunct pop punk band from San
Diego, Caskitt, but more relaxed and laid back. The phrasing
in the vocals in particular is almost as if Matt Caskitt
himself had recorded them – and this is a high compliment.
I really like “Parentheses,” a song about how
our society is living in its own waste, quite literally.
The instrumentals jangle hard, while the vocals have a pleading
quality. The much more sedate “Here Now” is
another favorite. It’s a gorgeous track, with piano
and strings joining acoustic and electric guitars to create
a luxuriant texture. “Teenage Insights” has
an expansive, introspective feel to it, with epic guitars
and emotionally charged vocals. The organ underneath adds
depth, too. “Pill Box” is a power ballad, packed
with feeling and big instrumentals. The only track I can’t
get into is the penultimate “Squint To See,”
which sounds too “alternative radio” to me,
and tries to go too slick with loads of reverb, dark guitar
locks, and tribal drum beats. But everything else is pretty
ace.
HANGMAN
– One By One (Flatspot Records, www.flatspotrecords.com)
I think it’s pretty well known that I’m not
a big fan of heavy metallic hardcore. But once in awhile,
a metallic hardcore band puts out a record or plays a set
at a show that’s a step above the ordinary, with unique
and interesting qualities. This isn’t one of those
bands or records. Hangman is a Long Island Hardcore band
that checks all the usual boxes. Crunchy guitars using only
one or two chords, growled vocals, breakdowns, and sudden
shifts in meter. This is really pretty generic, at least
to my ears. Even song to song, it’s the same tempo,
the same guitar licks, the same chord(s), the same growl.
The one exception to this rule may be the title track, which
throws in some white metal rap. I’m not sure which
bothers me more, that or the rest of the record.
THE
HUSSY – Looming (Dirtnap Records, www.dirtnaprecs.com)
The Hussy, the Madison, Wisconsin band, have been described
as “scuzzy rock and roll,” but I prefer to think
of them as massively creative garage new wave power pop
and punk. Ain’t that a mouthful? But it encapsulates
the diversity of their songs and sounds. From the very first
track, you can tell that this record is going to be something
different, something interesting and challenging. “Coast”
opens with quiet plinking on a piano, a repeating phrase
that slowly grows louder, until the full band explodes,
playing the same phrase, and launches into a fantastic,
lo-fi, buzzy garage punk song. Backing guitars play big
fuzzed out chords, while the lead guitar plays an angular
arpeggio-laden line. “Have To Hide” is great
power pop melodic track with warbling interjections that
sound like something from a Devo song. “No Credit”
has the powerful pop punk sound of a grittier Descendents.
“Sorry” has a 60s psychedelic pop and soul sound
melded with fluttery flute that yields something pretty
unique. I love the jangle of “Cornflakes,” a
simple song with a big bounciness. Likewise, “That’s
The Way It Is (It Is)” has a great exuberant sound,
but this time the prominent piano adds a nice touch. A couple
of the tracks are short, odd, and fascinating interludes.
“Down In The Dirt” uses backtracking and filtering
on the vocals to make them sound like they were recorded
underwater. The 37-second track has the quality of an otherworldly
folk-punk track. “Tyler’s Jazz Odyssey”
is 28 seconds of country swing guitar that abruptly blends
into the following track. And “History Lesson Part
III” is an almost experimental track, with acoustic
guitar playing a nice melody, but with distorted guitar
harmonics and found sound tapes of conversations playing
in the background. It’s just under a minute of heaven.
The album, as a whole, is just under 30 minutes of heaven.
Recommended.
KNOCKED
DOWN – Anything But Luck (knockeddownband.bandcamp.com)
Skate punk bands are a dime a dozen. The popular style of
90s fast and loud pop punk still has its fans, and there’s
no shortage of bands trying to play it. The key word there
is “trying.” Too many of the bands are just
aping the popular bands of two decades past and yet not
approaching their level of quality. Not so with Knocked
Down, though; they’re the real deal. And, while they’re
definitely in the skate punk camp, they’re poppier
and more melodic than is typical of the genre. The vocals
are strong and solid, and the band sounds huge – epic
even. And there’s an emotional edge to the dozen songs
on offer. I don’t think there’s a single song
I don’t like on here, but there are a few I’ll
give special mention. “Shattered” is an up-tempo
song that has guitars that demonstrate both crunchiness
and virtuosity. The melodic hooks are attractive, and the
feel goes through a couple of shifts through the course
of its three and a half minutes. I’m not a huge fan
of most ballads, but “Left & Empty” is the
closest thing to a ballad on this record, being a slower
tempo song, but it’s epic and another favorite. I
love the big sound in the chorus, with an almost drone-like
guitar counterpointed against another with more flourishes,
and the vocals are gigantic. The verses are simpler and
quieter, in contrast. The percussion is a tribal drumbeat
at the start of the song, and at the end has a martial feel.
And I really like the way the vocals are recorded in “Mixed
Emotions,” where they’re used sometimes as a
musical instrument, provided a ringing quality at the close
of a verse, a reverberation of the melodic line. Honestly,
you can’t go wrong with any of the songs here.
SNUFF
– There’s A Lot Of It About (Fat Wreck Chords,
www.fatwreck.com)
My first exposure to UK band Snuff was in 1989, when their
debut LP was released. I recall falling hard for the band’s
brand of melodic hardcore punk. It was as if they had taken
Chicago’s tough punk sound and blended in a bit of
west coast pop. Sadly, I didn’t keep up with the band
much after that, but they remained active throughout the
1990's and early 2000's, slowing down in the middle of the
last decade. They’ve only released one LP and a small
number of EP's since, with their last LP being 2012’s
“5-4-3-2-1 Perhaps?” Now, seven years on, they’re
back with another album, packed with a dozen gems. They’re
not quite as hard, fast, and crunchy as they were on that
debut album all those years ago, but they’ve still
got it, and they’ve added a heavier dose of the pop,
too. They’re fairly new to the Fat Wreck family, with
only their most recent releases on the storied Bay Area
label, but they’re fitting in well, with a great pop
punk sound, and they even add bits of ska on some songs.
The band has obviously grown and matured, in both their
playing and their songwriting. I mean, it’s been 30
years, they had to have, or else what’s the point?
The songs and arrangements are richer than that first LP.
Right from the start, the band kick things into high gear
with “Kings of Spanish Oi Scene,” a raucous
loping song with great call and response and harmonized
vocals. “Summer’s Over” is a fantastic
pop punk tune, fast and loud, with more harmonies and layered
vocals than a punk band should be allowed to have. I love
the straightforward simplicity of “Love Hearts,”
a song that hits hard with staccato rhythms and a one-note
melody. And the trombone is perfect here! Speaking of horns,
“A Smile a Smile” is a slower mid-tempo track,
with prominent horns and organ. It’s got a really
nice, warm sound and a great melody. And I love the mid-tempo
loper, “Hey Boff!” It’s got a retro garage
power pop feel to it, more than a punk feel. And the penultimate
track, “Gyoza,” has a huge epic sound, even
as the melody is simple. It’s a mark of good songwriting
and arranging when you can accomplish this big a sound with
something so simple. The only weak song on this album, in
my opinion, is “Patient Zero.” It’s a
good song and all, and for many bands it would be their
best. But it does sound like it could have been written
and recorded by any of half a dozen or so Fat Wreck bands
back in the 1990s. I much prefer the other tracks, the ones
that have a more unique Snuff sound.
And while it may sometimes be cliché to end an album
with a quieter acoustic track, I absolutely love the pretty
“Job and Knock,” which closes the LP. Plucked
guitars blend with mandolin and harmonized vocals, the only
percussion being tambourine and kick drum. The song is a
calming influence after the mania of the rest of the record.
It may have taken me thirty years to get back to Snuff,
but now I’m kicking myself for everything I must have
missed.
THE
BERRIES – Berryland (Run For Cover Records, www.runforcoverrecords.com)
The sophomore LP from The Berries is a throwback to simpler
times. Times when southern and progressive guitar-based
rock and roll filled the airwaves and the record store bins.
Times when all of the excesses of big time rock were making
headlines for all the wrong reasons. Some songs have a heavy
twang and even slide guitar. Others have heavy reverb and
an ambient feel. All represent the things that punk and
indie music in the 70s, 80s, and 90s strove to not be. Hard
pass.
GIANT SAND – Recounting The Ballads Of Thin Line
Men (Fire Records, www.firerecords.com)
Thirty-three and a third years after releasing their second
LP,
Ballad of a Thin Line, Man, Giant Sand revisits
the themes and sounds of that record for their latest LP.
Giant Sand are masters of understated indie. True to their
past, touches of psychedelic rock and alt-country are prominent
in these songs, but they’re all pretty relaxed and
stripped down. Some of these songs remind me of the great
Lou Reed. They have the same easy feel, focused more on
casually relaxed vocals and guitar than anything else, with
a retro psych-folk feel. “Reptilian” is a good
example of this, as it opens the LP. “Hard Man To
Get To Know,” on the other hand, has a harder blues-rock
sound, but still feels like it’s just you and the
band and an informal session. I enjoy “Desperate Man,”
a track that’s a little more updated and a little
more intricate in arrangement, while still sounding stripped
back and relaxed. “Tantamount” is a cool mix
of the Lou Reed retro sound and alt-country, way stripped
down, with minimalist surf guitar sound drums using just
brushes on the snare. It’s an arrangement that puts
the melody and lyrics front and center, and it has to stand
or fall on its own – and it stands. “Who Am
I” goes even further, with vocals taking center stage,
and almost no instrumentation, just little bits of guitar
and a steady tribal drum beat in the background. I adore
the very folksy “Graveyard,” with its intro
played in waltz time before the song shifts to standard
meter and adds harmonized backing vocals. But it’s
still primarily guitar and vocals. The song shifts back
to waltz time for its conclusion. “Thin Line Man”
makes a reappearance, having first been on that sophomore
LP. This time around the song sounds even more urgent than
before, with a rougher performance, dark jangly guitar,
and vocals that are alternately intense and relaxed. The
album closes with a bonus track, “Tantamount Blast,”
a full-band version of the song that’s more raucous
and fun. Yes, Giant Sand are the masters of understated
indie.
HEXADIODE
– Metaxy (EK Product, www.ekproduct.com)
Remember the heavy dance-industrial music of the 1980s and
1990s? The stuff labels like Wax Trax! Records were putting
out. Bands like Skinny Puppy, Ministry, Front 242, and more.
Hexadiode are a band in that mold. Pounding dance beats,
gritty growling vocals, tons of synths and drum machines,
distortion aplenty, and an unyielding power are all elements
of the music on this album. The result is very mechanical,
very…industrial. It’s apt that the band hails
from Dayton, Ohio, part of the rust belt, and home to abandoned
factories and disappearing industry. These are the anthems
of the authoritarian robot overlords who accept no rebellion.
Notable tracks include “Markov Chain,” with
its synth-heavy beep-boop intro, pounding metallic percussion,
buzzy bass, and angular guitar interjections. “6ht
Dialect” is an intense instrumental track that focuses
on the pounding beat and a buzzy drone that distorts and
grows. “Parasitic Static” has an ominous buzzy
bass, a dark pall of synth, mechanical rhythms, and sinister
distorted vocals. And “13 of 12,” with its whispered
vocals and “sideband” sounding synths feels
like something from the world of cold war espionage. This
is well-executed menacing music.
ONE
ELEVEN HEAVY – Desire Path (www.onelevenheavy.com)
Country rock and jam band tunes dominate this sophomore
LP from One Eleven Heavy, a band named for a short story
about a plane crash. The band owe an obvious debt of gratitude
to The Grateful Dead, and are firmly in that camp of laid-back
stoner rock. Some of these tracks are extended jams, too,
just like you would get in a Grateful Dead arena show. They
all seem to start as somewhat bouncy country-rock tunes,
but then over time become jams with lengthy guitar solos.
“Mardi Gras” sounds like something that might
have been on the Rolling Stones’ playlist a couple
of decades ago. And “Three Poisons,” the most
interesting track of the LP, has a bit of progressive rock
sound to it, with some different rhythms. If you’re
into this sort of stuff you might want to check it out,
but I can’t imagine myself wanting to listen to this
again.
THE
PARANOYDS – Carnage Bargain (Suicide Squeeze Records,
www.suicidesqueeze.net)
This sophomore LP from Los Angeles’ The Paranoyds
has the LA sound down pretty well: part punk, part surf,
part glam. The songs ooze an “I’m from LA, who
the fuck are you?” blasé attitude of superiority.
But the delivery is uneven. Some songs veer too heavily
into hard rock, like “Bear,” halfway through
the record. The guitars and bass throb together like something
out of the arena rock era. The tracks I favor are those
that are more on the punk and surf side of things. “Face
First” has a nice horror-surf sound to it, but also
moments of awesome angularity and others of gorgeous harmonies.
The title track is part B52s part movie soundtrack, all
gloriousness. “Egg Salad” is another cool one,
with a shimmering organ prominent in the mix, shifting tempos,
and a feel that moves from up-tempo bounce to sludgy grunge.
“Laundry” is musically urgent sounding, but
the vocals, even when shouted, say otherwise. It’s
an odd but effective juxtaposition. I mean, how urgent can
laundry be? The closer, “Ratboy,” is an odd
combination of surf and grunge. Like I said, the delivery
is uneven. These songs are all over the place. I like diversity
in my music, and I like a number of these songs, but The
Paranoyds need to figure out what kind of band they want
to be.
THE
ANTI-QUEENS (Stomp Records, www.stomprecords.com)
For the most part this LP, the debut full-length LP for
Toronto’s The Anti-Queens, focuses on raw, powerful
rock and roll music. A few of the songs stand out a lot
for me. “Worse Than Death” is a power pop song,
but played with garage punk ferocity. It’s super melodic,
yet raw and high-octane at the same time, which is a great
combination. “Run” reminds me of a song Bad
Cop/Bad Cop would do, and the lead vocals have a similar
snotty quality to those of that band’s Stacey Dee.
The song is both poppy and edgy at the same time. “Not
What It’s Worth” has a melodic line and arrangement
reminiscent of a Fugazi song, which I like. And “I’m
Sorry Babe” is a great grunge throwback to the 90s.
It’s got a nice crunchy guitar sound and rocks hard.
Other than these tracks, though, the other seven tracks
on this LP don’t do all that much for me. They’re
standard hard rock, in the veins of bands like The Blackhearts
and The Runaways. They’re well executed, sure, but
there’s nothing special or out of the ordinary for
them.
DIESEL
PARK WEST – Let It Melt (Palo Santo Records, www.palosantotx.com)
Diesel Park West has been around for nearly 40 years, yet
this is the first I’ve heard of them. This is the
ninth studio album for the Leicester, UK band, and the songs
range from the most amazing power pop to Rolling Stones
influenced rock and roll. Blues-rock is a heavy influencer
in many of these songs, too. The title track opens the album,
and it’s a dark classic rock barnburner of a song,
with a strong blues influence. Vocalist Jon C. Butler sounds
like he’s channeling Mick Jagger (wait, he’s
still alive!), with all of the swagger that implies. I like
“The Golden Mile,” a track that walks on the
thin line between classic rock and power pop, with a bunch
of honkytonk blues-rock tossed into the mix. “Scared
of Time” is another good one, a little quieter and
more relaxed, with a nice warm organ in the mix. It’s
heavier on the classic rock side, and not the sort of music
I would seek out on my own, but the songwriting and arranging
are really well done, a description that’s apt for
many of the songs here. Like “Bombs Away,” a
song that reminds me of Bob Dylan’s rock and roll
era, as does the following track, “You Got The Whole
Thing Wrong.” I also enjoy the soul pop sounds of
the closing track, “Incredible Things,” a song
that feels like it could have been recorded in the late
60s or early 70s by The Fifth Dimension or similar act.
But the best song by far is “Pictures in the Hall,”
a magnificent power pop track with shades of the Beatles.
The track sparkles and shines, loaded with the best hooks
and jangle. It may be one of my favorite songs of the year
so far. The lyrics, by contrast, are pretty dark, with the
refrain stating “There’s nothing different /
It’s all been done before / No, nothing different
/ Except the pictures in the hall.” We’re all
stuck, repeating history, repeating mistakes, no control.
I wish I could articulate how good this song is, so I entreat
you, please go listen to this song. Listen to the whole
album, for that matter.
FILTHY
HEARTS – Beyond Repair (Hidden Home Records, www.hiddenhomerecords.com)
High energy, powerful melodic punk from Denver, Filthy Hearts
keep things amped up from start to finish. There’s
a mere one single slow quiet song out of the fourteen on
this album, the emotionally charged “Voted Best City
To Be Lonely.” This is the sort of punk you’re
most likely to hear in a small dive bar, packed with 50
to 100 of your closest drunk friends, everyone jockeying
to get up front, PBR tall boys clutched in one hand, the
other arm around whoever is next to you, as you press forward
toward the nearest mic to sing along. Because of course
you know all the lyrics. But unlike a lot of bands that
play in those sorts of venues, Filthy Hearts are tight as
hell, playing on a level that deserves a bigger exposure.
The opening track, “Ambulatory,” has a recurring
guitar line in the verses that reminds me of the great UK
band, Blitz, specifically the song “New Age.”
I like a lot of the song titles, too, as they’re pretty
hilarious. “Friends? Strangers? The Mystery of the
Bar Tab” and “I’ve Never Skanked A Day
In My Whole Life” are two examples. The former is
a pretty great rager, and the latter is a jaunty one. “Desire
(To Leave Here Forever)” is another stomper, a fast
and loud melodic punk track. All the songs are pretty great
ragers, for that matter (save for the one that’s the
slower one). Taken individually, each song is pretty great,
and this seems like a band I would love to see live. Taken
as an album, though, the songs are mostly all the same tempo
and same feel, with too little variation, and my attention
begins to wander sometimes when listening.
THE
GOTHAM ROCKETS – Blast Off (Rum Bar Records, rumbarrecords.bandcamp.
com)
This is the debut EP for The Gotham Rockets, a quartet from
Gotham itself, New York City. They play music that ranges
from working class rock and roll, a la The E Street Band,
to more of a rock and soul review sound. The middle two
tracks of this 4-song EP, “What Done Is Done”
and “Rip This Night” are more on the rock side
of things, while the bookends, “Bad With Girls”
and “Nothing But A Man,” are much more soulful.
Those are my favorites of the group, especially the closer.
“Bad With Girls” rocks hard, and the title and
lyrics are a play on words: I’m bad with girls, don’t
you want to be bad with me? “Nothing But A Man”
is easily the best of the four songs, and while it’s
mostly great soul, it rocks hard, with fantastic horn and
sax parts and complete with backing vocal chorus. Partway
through the track there’s a short burst of Devo-like
new wave/punk rock followed by some jam-band guitar soloing.
Killer stuff. I wish the middle tracks measured up.
THE
MIND – Edge of the Planet (Drunken Sailor Records,
www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
The future of indie music as seen through a 1980s post-punk
lens? This is music that reminds me of that intensely creative
period of music, when all sorts of musical experimentation
was going on, in the vein of stuff Recommended Records was
putting out. Buzzy lo-fi synths, robotic rhythms, and angular
melodies combine with ethereal vocals to create something
truly unique. “The Mind,” the eponymous song,
has machine gun rhythms, radio side-band synths, and vocals
that sound like they come from another galaxy. It’s
something out of an art house science fiction movie, filmed
in black and white. “Running On My Head” sounds
like a radio tuned from one distant station to another,
one filled with noise and static, another with a strange
melodic song, the signal phasing in and out, mixing with
that more powerful noisy station. “Technical Intuition”
uses telephone touch-tones as a musical instrument just
past the halfway mark; it’s unexpected and unbalancing
(in a good way). The closer, “Baby Rats,” has
a lounge-like jazz feel to it, but you know, it’s
off-kilter, with warbly and buzzy guitars. It lulls you
into a sense of uneasy relaxation, only to end very abruptly.
Leaving you wanting more.
SUBHUMANS
– Crisis Point (Pirates Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
Subhumans is a band that needs no introduction, unless you’ve
been living as a hermit for the past 40 years. They’ve
been around nearly since the beginning of punk rock. Formed
in the UK in 1980, they were very active and very political
during the Thatcher years, along with bands such as Crass
and Conflict. They broke up in 1986, with members moving
on to projects such as Citizen Fish and Culture Shock. But
they reformed to tour in 1999 and have been at it ever since.
Never ones to rest on their laurels, Subhumans (not to be
confused with the Canadian band The Subhumans) have continued
to write, record, and perform new songs, putting out three
new studio LPs and a handful of live recordings. This latest
LP proves that they’re still on top of their game,
with eleven songs of urgent punk rock, filled with politically
charged anger. “Terrorist In Waiting” opens
the album with a blistering song. “Everyone’s
a terrorist in waiting” the chorus decries, referring
to increasingly oppressive behavior from our governments,
suspecting and surveilling us all. I like the feel of “Information
Gap,” with a sort of bounce to the rhythm, and a dark
bass line, and lyrics about the difference between facts
and what “they” want us to know. I also like
the waltz-time song, “Follow The Leader,” because
how cool is a punk song in three-four time? It’s a
pounding track about mindlessly following rules and laws
and losing control of your own life. The album closes the
way it opens, with another sizzling, blazing track. Subhumans
still have it, after all these years.
TEENAGE
BOTTLEROCKET – Teenage Bottlerocket vs Human Robots
(Fat Wreck Chords, www.fatwreck.com)
During a TBR recording session at The Blasting Room, Ray
Carlisle’s son Milo wandered in, so they decided to
record a couple of songs of his band, Human Robots, and
convinced Fat Wreck to release this split seven inch record,
two songs for each band. It’s a bit of a stretch to
call Human Robots a “band,” though, because
it’s just Milo playing all the instruments and singing
songs he wrote. TBR gets the first two songs on the split
single. “Olivia Goes to Bolivia” is exactly
what you expect from TBR, raucous fun Ramones-core, expertly
executed. The music is melodic and powerful, the arrangement
almost slick, a real throwback to the 90s punk sound. “Everything
to Me” is a more relaxed loping number, but it’s
got a place in my heart just for mentioning Evanston, a
town on Lake Michigan just north of Chicago, and right next
door to where I grew up. It’s a love song as only
TBR can do it, almost pretty in its own way. Human Robots’
two tracks include “Step On ‘Em All” and
“I Want To Hang Out With You.” These tracks
show that even at his young age, Milo’s been learning
a lot hanging out with his dad’s band. The lyrics
are what you might expect from a young kid, with “Step
On ‘Em All” referring to the old rhyme, “step
on a crack, break your mama’s back.” It’s
an old school punk song decrying motherly discipline, and
dreams of fighting back. “I Want To Hang Out With
You” is a more melodic pop punk song, with lyrics
about having too much homework, wanting to skip school and
hang out with someone, skipping class and making out. Typical
teenage lyrics, right? While the musicianship isn’t
on a level with dad’s band, it’s pretty good
for a young kid.
VISTA
BLUE – Tricks and Treats (Rat Girl Records, ratgirlrecords.storenvy.com)
One of the most prolific pop punk bands of all time is back
with a full-length album! Known primarily for seasonally
appropriate EPs, with songs on specific topics, such as
baseball, summertime, Christmas carols, and more, this time
around they give us eleven spooky songs just in time for
everyone’s favorite holiday, Halloween. The songs
are exactly what we’ve come to expect from Vista Blue:
buzzy, poppy, beachy Ramones-core pop punk. The songs are
hilariously tongue in cheek, as is typical for the Vistas.
“I’m gonna be ugly / I’m gonna scare everyone”
and “I’m gonna be selfish / I’m gonna
be mean” are lines in the song “I’m Gonna
Be You for Halloween.” Wow, talk about mean! “Angela
Loves Me” is the best love song for the season, about
being loved by a serial killer named Angela, It’s
a fast, bouncy number, and the punch line is that because
she loves me, “I think I’ll be OK.” Vista
Blue also recognize the symptoms and signs and warn someone
“I Think Your Boyfriend is a Zombie.” Less spooky
but more relatable is “This Street Sucks,” a
song about a street that’s a real bummer during trick
or treating, with lots of lights turned off, and lousy candy
at the remaining ones. Songs are short and to the point,
loaded with bounce, buzz, and fun. Favorites include the
aforementioned “Angela Loves Me,” the dark “Doll
Boy’s Coming,” and “19 Miles to Hemingford,”
a song about that scene from every teen slasher film, where
they try to escape the carnage in their car and hope they
make it to the next town. But they’re all tons of
scary fun!
KNOCKED
LOOSE – A Different Shade of Blue (Pure Noise Records,
www.purenoise.net)
I need to let you know from the start, I am not a fan of
modern metallic hardcore. Most of it is muddy stuff that
is meaningless noise to me. I guess I’m getting old.
That said, Knocked Loose are not your average hardcore band.
Yes, the arrangements are vicious onslaughts. Yes, the vocals
are intense and evil. But there are differences, too, from
generic modern hardcore. For one, there are two lead vocals,
one higher pitched and piercing, the other a deep guttural
growl. They duel and vie for dominance and they work together
in non-harmonious collusion, seething anger dripping from
every syllable. And, while the instrumentals, for the most
part, are standard for the genre, there are some great angular
melodies and lines used in some of the songs. I really like
the angularity of “In The Walls.” At about the
halfway mark of this track, the dissonance in the guitars
and the back and forth rhythms between the bass and drums
and the guitars emits a palpable sense of distress. “Mistakes
Like Fractures” is cool, too. The tempo shifts a lot,
and the guitar line with interjected high-pitched dissonance
is awesome. The bass line is reminiscent of classic metal,
too, and toward the end of the track, when things get slow
and deliberate, shifting to a three-four meter, those off-kilter
guitars are just killer. Another favorite is “Road
23,” which also makes judicious use of angular guitars,
and the argumentative opening is one of the best things
I’ve ever heard from a modern hardcore record. I could
listen to that first 35 seconds over and over. Beyond the
amazing intro, “Road 23” is speedier than most
of the tracks, with more shifting rhythms. The break toward
the end of the track, too, where we get just a rumbling
bass, guitar harmonics, and vocals of anger and despair,
is incredible. The closer, “Misguided Son,”
has spots with a science fiction feel, where the deep guttural
vocals are sung over otherworldly instrumentals. I’m
still not a fan of modern hardcore, but Knocked Loose has
won me over.
JORDAN
KRIMSTON – Turn The Page (jordankrimston.bandcamp.com)
Multi-instrumentalist Jordan Krimston is a San Diegan that
has made a very large mark at a very young age. After releasing
his first records as a high school student with his band
Big Bad Buffalo, Krimston graduated from the local branch
of the School of Rock. In addition to the math-heavy Big
Bad Buffalo, Krimston plays with the post-punk Miss New
Buddha, indie band Weatherbox, and the MIDI-based Band Argument.
This EP marks Krimston’s first solo effort, and it’s
a significant departure from the music he’s previously
written and performed. These five songs are unabashedly
poppy. The tracks are a testament to Krimston’s versatility
as a songwriter. The too short “Need You When You’re
Gone” is a bubbly number, filled with sparkling synths,
with the guitar, bass, and drums used more as window dressing.
“Pry Out The Prose” starts out with a Beatles-esque
feel to it, but then it evolves into a folk-rock-pop number,
multi-tracked vocals harmonizing on the chorus. “Blitz
& Jr.” is a math-pop song that makes heavy use
of vocal processing (my only issue with the EP – I’m
not a big fan of heavily processed vocals, auto-tune and
that sort of thing). The song is otherwise another bouncy
poppy one, switching meters every couple of bars, and with
multi-tracked harmonies in abundance. “WIP”
teeters between radio-friendly and edgy. And finally, “Typecast”
is a delicate ballad, focusing on acoustic guitar and vocals,
with electronics and digital effects merely adding embellishment.
The record is being released digitally, and will be available
as a download code included with a zine filled with artwork
and writing. Snap it up. I predict big things to come from
this talented young man.
PARSNIP
– When The Tree Bears Fruit (Anti Fade Records,
www.antifaderecords.bigcartel.com)
Parsnip is a four-piece band from Melbourne, Australia.
The four women that make up this band apparently love children’s
music, because that’s what this album sounds like.
Cheesy synthesized keyboards, bass, drums, and vocals make
up the bulk of songs here, with an even cheesier vibrato
to the keys. The vocals primarily feature off-key unison
singing, with very little harmonizing done. I dislike auto-tune,
but Parsnip could benefit from it. Every one of the eleven
tracks is played at the same tempo, has the same sparse
instrumentation, and provides the same juvenile sound. The
vocals even sound like it’s children singing much
of the time. I know it’s supposed to sound “precious,”
but to me it just sounds amateurish.
REDD
KROSS – Beyond The Door (Merge Records, www.mergerecords.com)
Redd Kross has gone through many changes over the more than
four decades of their existence. Originally an LA punk band
called The Tourists, the band changed their name to Red
Cross for their first releases, then to Redd Kross after
a lawsuit threat from the American Red Cross. It’s
not just the spelling of their name that’s changed.
They’ve had a rotating cast of members, too, but more
importantly, their sound has changed a few times, too. Originally
an LA surf-punk sound, they’ve morphed into a rock
and roll jam band, toyed with psychedelic sounds, grunge,
synth pop rock, garage power pop, and alternative rock.
So which Redd Kross make an appearance on this, their latest
LP? Rock, psych, garage, alternative, or power pop? Yes.
They’re all here. But at the bottom of it all, as
always, are great rock and pop songs, however they’re
dressed up. The songs all sound somewhat different from
each other, yet you know they’re all from the same
band. The title track has a retro rock’n’roll
feel, like it’s an updated song from the early 60s.
“There’s No One Like You” is an early
favorite, with a great power pop and rock sound. The song
is very understated, with a great melody. It proves you
don’t have to go over the top to make great pop songs.
Right after that is a beautiful folk-psych track, “Ice
Cream Strange and Pleasing.” It reminds me in a way
of some of the great music The New Pornographers made on
their album, “Twin Cinema.” The verses are relaxed
and folksy, while the chorus gets a more raucous. Underlying
it all is a great pop melody, like all of the songs on this
album. “Jone Hoople” is a perfect example of
the band’s unabashed Beatles worship, with a song
that sounds like something right out of the Fab Four’s
songbook, but maybe crossed with the power pop genius of
Paul Collins. This is the first Redd Kross I’ve listened
to since I heard their jam band era music in the mid to
late 80s, and I didn’t know what to expect. I’m
very pleasantly surprised. This is a banger of a record.
THE
SAFES – Winning Combination (Action Weekend/Bickerton
Records,
www.bickertonrecords.com)
The Safes (brothers Frankie, Michael, Patrick, and Sean
O’Malley) recruited a slew of friends and family members
to round out this gorgeous and unique album of songs that
range from gypsy folk to Burt Bacharach-esque pop music.
Guitars, bass, and drums are joined by piano, Wurlitzer
organ, accordion, violin, cello, clarinet, and a host of
other instruments on many of these songs. The arrangements
give each a chance to shine, and providing an off-kilter
feeling. Having some of the instruments deliberately out
of tune (acoustic guitar and piano, for sure) make them
sound a little like toy instruments, making something unique
even that much better. I’m in love with “It’s
True,” the song that opens the album. The lyrics,
when examined, reveal themselves to be about finding love
– or at least someone that gives you a reason to feel
joy and keep living. “Baggage Claim” has a retro
pop feel with hints of pysch influence that I like. There’s
a stringed instrument that’s tuned to sound almost
like a sitar, and it sounds pretty damn cool, but I don’t
see a sitar listed in the credits. Kudos to the O’Malleys
for creative instrument engineering. “The Rest of
My Life” is absolutely charming, with piano arpeggios
running up and down, and bowed and plucked strings, and
“Dreams That Ignite” continues the delicate
instrumentation, but this time with harmonized vocal choir
and vibraphone. It’s exquisite. “Make or Break”
reminds me of classic early 70s AM radio pop music. “The
Shell Spell” is a jaunty country-ish tune. The Safes
live in Chicago, but musically they’re all over the
map, and it makes for a fun engaging listen.
SOMOS
– Prison On A Hill (Tiny Engines, www.tinyengines.net)
Boston’s Somos returns to Tiny Engines for their third
full-length LP. They incorporate tons of 80s new wave synth
pop influence in their guitar-based pop music. Underneath,
there are hints of pop punk, with the emphasis on the pop.
The synths, though, and the incessant dance beat, harken
back to big hair days and MTV music videos (when MTV actually
meant “Music Television”). The end result is
slightly dreamy, but with hard edges and more energy. It’s
a sound that’s a little unbalancing, like being thrown
into an alternate timeline where everything is familiar,
yet different. The production is very smooth and even-keeled,
with none of the songs getting too out of control, and none
coming off as too dull. “Farewell to Exile”
is a great example of a song that feels retro and new, edgy
and dreamy, all at the same time. The lyrics refer to the
horror of being sent off to war, being forced to kill someone
who’s not so different from yourself, and then having
to live with that the rest of your life. “Absent and
Lost” is heavy on the retro 80s sound, with loads
of buzzy synth and a strong danceable backbeat in the rhythm
section. On the other hand, “Ammunition” focuses
more on a rumbling bass and strong guitar sound, yet that
dance beat is still there, and the smoothed out vocals keep
a lid on things, lest they get too raucous. And ultimately,
I think that’s what prevents me from enjoying this
record as much as I otherwise might; it’s too smooth,
too even-keeled. It never gets out of control.
WESTERN
SETTINGS – Another Year (A-F Records, www.a-frecords.com)
They’ve kept us hanging for way too long, those Western
Settings boys. Their lone full-length LP, “Yes It
Is,” came out four years ago, and the “Old Pain”
EP has been out for three years already. So, this sophomore
LP from this San Diego outfit is way overdue. The wait,
though, has been very worth it, as Western Settings have
given us their best effort yet. These songs are brighter
and more melodic than anything from their previous releases,
and bassist/lead vocalist Ricky Schmidt’s vocals are
stronger and more confident. The arrangements are more intricate,
there’s more pop, and, dammit, they sound like they’re
having fun playing these songs! As much as I’ve loved
Western Settings since the beginning, some of their past
output has sometimes seemed a bit overwrought, too emotionally
heavy. With “Another Year,” there’s a
spring in their step, like a weight has been lifted from
their collective shoulders. You can hear the difference
right from the very start, with the title track. Schmidt’s
vocals border on crooning, and there’s a definite
pop quality to the melody, much more so than on past songs.
There’s more of a powerful attack to the music, too.
“Big” is an energetic track, more than most,
and “Break” has a jangle to it. “Back
to 52” sounds downright exuberant, and “Spinning
World” has a triumphant feel. These are things you
couldn’t say about Western Settings before this record.
“Charmian” has a gorgeous melody that bounces
and lopes. It bounces and lopes! Three of the songs here,
“That’s Pretty,” “Duckets Is Tight,”
and “Agnus,” appeared on the limited lathe cut
eight-inch EP the band released a few months ago. “Agnus”
closes the LP, as it did the EP, and it’s still a
moving piece of work. The whole record is, for that matter.
I said it before, and I’ll say it again: this is Western
Settings best effort yet.
THE
ATOM AGE – Cry ‘Til You Die (Tiger Dream Records,
theatomage.bandcamp. com)
The Atom Age is a garage band. No, wait. They’re a
rockabilly band. No, wait. They’re a surf band. No,
wait. Yes. They’re all the above and more! Oakland’s
The Atom Age are an unrelenting, high-energy rock’n’roll
band. They take all sorts of retro 50s and 60s rock sounds,
blend them together, and add a modern flair to create something
intensely fun. Guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, and saxophone
work together unyieldingly, hitting often and hard. My favorite
track of the ten songs comes early. “We Disappear
in the Night” has a cool jazzy feel, in the rhythm
and the guitar lines (which remind me a little bit of Thomas
Dolby’s “The Keys to Her Ferrari”). “Walk
Through Walls” has the sound of rockabilly crossed
with “horror-garage”, the keyboards and sax
being very prominent here, and the anguished lead vocals
are particularly strong on this track. “Lost on Me”
has a nice easy lope to it, contrasting with an evil thrashy
distortion going on. I love “Bad Seeds,” one
of the most retro sounding tracks of the LP. The call and
response in the chorus is a lot of fun, as are the growling
bass breaks and the intense surf guitar sounds. The sax
gets a chance to shine with an extended solo, and the woo-hoo
backing vocals are spot on. The whole album is played and
sung with a sense of urgency, like they have to get these
songs out NOW or there will be consequences. They do it
in twenty-six minutes, and what a fun, exciting twenty-sex
minutes those are!
EMPTY
COUNTRY – Ultrasound (emptycountry.bandcamp.com)
If you were wondering whatever happened to Cymbals Eat Guitars
in the three years since they released “Pretty Years,”
well, I have too. They’ve not toured much. But front
man Joe D’Agostino has been busy with a new project,
Empty Country, releasing two new songs ahead of a full-length
LP due out early in 2020, and it sounds somewhat like earlier
CEG, a treat to my ears. It’s no secret that “Pretty
Years” was not my favorite CEG album, but I was a
huge fan of their first three LPs. But this is not CEG,
this is Empty Country, so how are the two songs on this
single? The title track is maybe a bit heavier and more
raucous than a lot of the stuff D’Agostino has done
before, and it eschews the dreamy keyboards for a straightforward
guitar/bass/drums sound. The chorus has some great harmonized
vocals, featuring D’Agostino’s wife Rachel and
his guitar teacher, Charles Bissell of The Wrens, and I
love the jangly guitars behind the vocals. As raucous as
the track is, the production has a nice hazy feel to it,
a hallmark of D’Agostino’s sound. The other
track, “Jets,” is a quiet, delicate thing, with
piano and acoustic guitar. High register vocals give the
track an ethereal feel, and the instrumentation builds somewhat
toward the end. It’s a pretty song unlike much of
what D’Agostino’s done before. Empty County
is starting to play some shows now, and I look forward to
the LP and for the tour to make it to the west coast.
OH,
ROSE – While My Father Sleeps (Park The Van, www.parkthevan.com)
Olivia Rose is Oh, Rose, get it? She, along with Olympia,
Washington pals Liam Hindahl (drums), Kevin Christopher
(bass), and Sarah Redden (synth) play a sort of mildly grungy
dream pop, with Rose singing and playing guitar. Rose’s
lead vocals sound like she’s trying very hard to sound
like the popular “alternative” female vocalists,
with a high pitched breathiness and halting quality. The
arrangements feel somewhat thin, and the whole thing comes
across as fairly generic indie/alternative. Some of the
songs are downright annoying, like “Baby.” “I’ve
been a baby / I’ve been a baby / waah waah waah /
waah waah waah waah waah waah waah / waah waah waah waah
waah…” you get the idea. There’s also
a song called “Harrypotterjuana,” which jarringly
changes tempos and overall feel a few times. I just couldn’t
get into this record.
OFF
WITH THEIR HEADS – Be Good (Epitaph Records, www.epitaph.com)
Ryan Young needs a hug. He wears his emotions on his sleeve
whenever he picks up a guitar. Though their musical style
is quite different from what’s typical of the genre,
Off With Their Heads may be the most emo band in the history
of punk. Every song is huge, epic. The album opens with
the lead single, “Disappear,” a song about breaking
up and learning who you really are, and being incredibly
disappointed with that. “I should have seen this from
the start / I should have always been on my own / Now it’s
perfectly clear / I never should have stayed here / I should
have just disappeared.” The song continues to discuss
separation and self-reflection, of feeling lost and of self-
indictment. After a quiet opening, the song explodes with
OWTH’s unique style of huge punk. This is what OWTH
do, and do so well: epic songs that tear themselves down.
“I just wanted to feel love / To be loved, to be loved,”
Young screams near the end of the song. But he feels that
he blew it and deserves to just disappear. Suicidal thoughts
are not good ones, but songs of self-destruction and self-deprecation
are de rigueur for OWTH.
The other lead single, the title track, comes next. It’s
the closest thing OWTH has ever come to a song of triumph.
“It’s true / It’s loud / It’s hard
/ And it’s all I know / I can’t take anymore
/ I just want out right now.” After recounting again
how much he wants to just disappear, Young goes on to tell
us “I had assumed I would have been gone by now.”
But he’s still here. The same feelings are still there,
but, as he declares, “I have nothing to lose, I have
nothing to gain,” and he exhorts us all to “Be
good / Be loud / Hands up / To the sky and shout / At the
top of your lungs / ‘Til the floor falls out.”
We’re all still here.
I love the waltz time of “You Will Die.”
I mean, it has the same basic formula of all OWTH songs,
but you know, three-four time. Change things up, you know?
The different structure gives it sort of a martial feel,
with lyrics of the inevitable death and decay that awaits
us all. Other songs continue these themes, such as “No
Love,” “Tear Me Apart,” and more. “No
Love,” in particular, finds Young raging more than
ever. Think back to the lyrics at the end of “Disappear.”
“I just wanted to feel love / To be loved, to be
loved,” but that’s gone. How would that make
you feel? The song is harder and more intense than most
of the others with reason.
Self-deprecation, self-accusation, feelings of despair
and suicidal thoughts, all shouted with abandon to epic
sing-along punk are why OWTH shows and records are so
cathartic. We can all shout out all the things we feel
about ourselves, get drunk and sweaty, and release all
the pent-up frustration. This new record finds OWTH in
top form.
BOOJI
BOYS – Tube Reducer (Drunken Sailor Records, www.drunkensailor
records.co.uk)
Booji Boys, named for the famous Devo character, masquerade
as a raw punk rock band. Through all the lo-fi fuzz, though,
through all the distortion, through all the manic playing,
there’s a super-melodic, hook-filled pop punk band
lurking. The band sound brash and confident, a not unfounded
attitude. The playing is fast and furious. Vocals are solid,
and assured. The band reminds me of a cross between, say,
The Marked Men and Vacation. There’s the simple garage
punk mixed with hints of psych. I love “Lucky Citizen,”
the third track of the album. It’s loaded with melody
and is tight as hell while sounding both angry and easy.
“Nothing Good” is another favorite. The melody
is pretty simple, and it’s a pure pop punk song, but
set on fire and played like there’s no tomorrow. “Cody
Oi,” similarly, has a fun melodic bounce hiding in
all that distortion. The guitar jangle is discernable beneath
all the fuzz and the banging and clanging. The high pithed
guitar harmonics on “Stevie Cool” contrast brilliantly
with the easy bouncy melodic line. “Moto-Hard”
is the outlier of the album; this closer really is as manic,
sloppy, and out of control as you might think! For their
third LP in as many years, with a slew of singles, EPs,
and comp appearances, Booji Boys are prolific, productive,
and a hell of a good listen.
JOY
AGAIN – Piano
(joyagain.bandcamp.com)
Quirky, fun, synth and MIDI-driven indie-pop. Joy Again,
from Philadelphia, have been around for about five years,
turning conventions on their head. Their songs are generally
short, offbeat, and sparkly. There are lots of odd digital
effects, stuck sounds, and discontinuities throughout the
mini-LP. The record starts with “Abaigh’s Song,”
a track whose instrumentals sound vaguely like they were
recorded underwater. The vocals have a relaxed ease to them,
contrasting with the off-kilter instrumentals. “Special
Secret Medicine” is more relaxed, but still quirky,
inserting what sounds like synthesized dog barks throughout
the song. I love how “I’m Your Dog” opens,
with super chill fuzzy guitar. I would love to hear a whole
song with the vibe of that intro! When the vocals come in,
the whole vibe shifts back to kitch. The song actually shifts
feel multiple times through its three-minute length –
the longest song of the record! Sometimes it’s chill,
sometimes it’s big and bold, and sometimes it’s
in between. “Couldn’t” is the most standard
sounding indie track of the record, and “Country Song”
has a really cool effect where the frequency response narrows
down a lot in places to give an old-time lo-fi sound. Strings
and slide guitar blend with the more oddball synth beeps
and boops to create something vaguely country, vaguely indie,
completely great. “Disorder,” has a tentative
feel through much of the song, as it morphs, starts, stops,
restarts anew with a different sound. The title really matches
the sound! “Rats” closes things with a feel
most like the opener, more oddball quirky indie-pop with
synths and weird digital effects. The vocals swap between
male and female lead on these songs, and the record, as
a whole, can best be described as “adorably cute.”
THE
LILACS – Endure (Pravda Records, www.pravdamusic.com)
Talk about a blast from the past! This is the first new
record from Chicago’s The Lilacs in twenty-five years,
and it’s coming out on a record label that’s
been documenting the Chicago pop and rock music scene for
the last thirty-five or so years. The Lilacs were co-founded
by Ken Kurson, who was in the legendary band Green, and
by David Levinsky. Both played guitar and sang lead vocals,
both also contributing songs for the band. Here, we get
two songs from each. “Monica” and “I Saw
Her First” are Kurson’s, and “Shadow of
a Doubt” and “Blue Spark” are Levinsky’s.
Kurson’s songs tend to be poppier, while Levinsky’s
rock a little more. Even the ballad, “Blue Spark,”
which sounds a little like a lounge-like Elvis Costello
mixed with R&B. I don’t know if these songs are
newly recorded by a reformed band, or if these were pulled
out of the vaults, but I hope it’s a harbinger of
more to come.
SUSPECT
PARTS – You Know I Can’t Say No (Dirt Cult
Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
Suspect Parts play what they call “Apocalypse Pop.”
I call it garage power pop, as it blends the garage sound
with power pop, and adds in a dose of Southern California
beach pop. This kind of makes sense, because Justin Maurer,
of Maniac, LA Drugz, and Clorox Girls is involved. I have
never heard a band he’s in that I haven’t liked
and Suspect Parts is no different. The title track is a
mid-tempo instant classic, heavier on the garage side of
the house. “Song for Sadie” has more of a rock’n’roll
feel to it, but with a heavy dose of jangle. It’s
a great song of sympathy for someone who’s lost her
dad. “Hundsgemein (Ideal)” closes the 3-song
EP. It’s got a spare, gritty, loping feel, and the
song is sung in German. The vocals are shouted with a choking
spit and vinegar sound, and the backing vocals are way back
in the mix. It’s an odd sound that doesn’t seem
to blend as well with the other two tracks, and is my least
favorite of the three. But it’s not bad. Nothing Maurer
is involved in is bad.
VERSUS
– Ex Voto (Ernest Jenning Record Company, www.ernestjenning.com)
Wait, what? Yes, it’s that Versus! The band that formed
in 1990, was active through 2000 or so, came out of hibernation
in 2010 to give us a record, only to disappear again are
back with a new full-length LP! Versus were one of the bands
that defined the indie-pop sound in the 90s, releasing records
with a host of labels that formed the backbone of an entire
genre, like Teenbeat, Merge, K, Simple Machines, Pop Narcotic,
and more. And, though they’ve had a couple of long
periods of inactivity, they haven’t lost a beat and
are as vital as ever. The album contains eight examples
of pure indie pop, without the need to embellish it with
heavy synths or effects. It’s a demonstration that
solid song writing beats any amount of “clever”
instrumentation, and that you can make great music with
just the basics. Favorite tracks include the bouncy bright
“Moon Palace,” with its gorgeous melody and
beautiful interplay between the instruments and backing
vocals. “Mummified” caught my attention instantly,
and is a track I keep coming back to over and over. I love
the striding, wobbly guitars, and the jangle under the lead
vocals. The counterpoint in the male and female vocals toward
the end of the track is perfect. “Baby Green”
starts out quietly and simply, and builds and builds throughout
the song. The use of bass for the main melody at the start
of the song, with the guitar embellishing is clever and
effective. The end of “Atmosphere” gives us
the sound of the ocean waves, and it blends into the start
of “Nothing But U,” which opens with gorgeous
classical strings and oboe. The song has the feel of a chamber
orchestra melded with a folksy singer-songwriter, and is
incredibly pretty. The album closes with “Re-Animator,”
a song that, like the album as a whole, starts simply and
builds and builds to an epic conclusion. Just as each song
does, the album grows on me more and more upon each repeated
listen. Versus are back again. Let’s hope it’s
more than a flash in the pan and they stick around for a
while.
AWEFUL
– Me Me Me (Beer Can Records, www.facebook.com/beercanrecords)
Aweful are Chicago’s post-garage-punk-grunge trio.
Featuring Traci Trouble, Lucy Dekay, and Izzy Price, Aweful
have a sound that’s rooted deeply in 80s post-punk,
yet has modern garage flair and intense neo-goth vocals,
with notes bending and dripping in the vocals. The music
is thick and lush, with a hard, sharp edge that’ll
cut you if you’re not careful. The lyrics are dark
and gloomy, too. Like on “Why,” the opening
track. “Hey! What were you thinking? What’d
you bring me into / You just want to take my heart and tear
it out for you.” Or on the title track, “Ask
me why some should care / When the end is near / Do you
want a better life / Or a face full of tears.” The
music sounds hard, but with a soft fuzz around the edges.
The vocals have an anger to them, with a touch of sadness.
Dark punk goodness.
BAND
ARGUMENT – Slides (bandargument.bandcamp.com)
Band Argument are a newish, young band from San Diego. They’ve
previously self-released a single (“Buddy”)
and a five-song EP (“Patchwork”). “Slides”
is their latest and they’re calling it a “double-single,”
but it’s the digital equivalent of a 7” with
“Dang Horse” as the A-side and “Hopscotch”
as the B-side. Band Argument are a traditional guitar/bass/drums
band – but they very untraditionally run everything
through MIDI – instruments and vocals. The band has
a math-ish quality to it, with sounds bouncing all over
the place. “Dang Horse” is an off-kilter calypso
sort of track with a breezy island feel. Bassist/vocalist
Sil Damone’s singing is easy and smooth, to fit the
relaxed feel of the music. “Hopscotch” has more
of a striding feel to the music, and the math-ish feel is
even stronger. I think MIDI use has been growing a lot lately
in the pop underground, and Band Argument seem to be quite
adept at it. It helps, too, that they write truly engaging
songs. When’s the debut full-length album, guys?
BRAT
CURSE – Brat Curse
(Just Because Records,
justbecauserecords. bandcamp.com/
Anyway Records,
www.anywayrecords.com)
Brat Curse, hailing from Dayton, Ohio, was founded by none
other than Brian Baker. Brian Baker? NOT THAT ONE! But the
Ohio Baker is no less musically proficient than the more
famous one. This latest LP is a kick in the pants, blending
rapid paced garage punk and beautifully melodic indie-pop.
They call themselves pop punk, but it’s not like any
band that gets categorized that way, not at all. Yes, they’ve
got elements of both pop and punk, but Brat Curse are so
much more creative and complex than pop punk. There are
some tracks that are straightforward garage punk (“Sweat
Pants Lawyer,” “Spring Break Reagan”)
and some that are straightforward indie (Psycho In The Furnace,
“Modern Snakes”). But my favorites are the ones
that get unconventional. “Who Do You Call” is
a great manic track, full of intensity, but there’s
no way this could be called garage punk; there’s too
much melody. There’s no way it could be called indie
pop, it’s too edgy. It’s my favorite of the
LP. Likewise, “Freak Net,” though calmer than
“Who Do You Call,” still has a hardness to it,
and the melody has more bounce to its step. It’s another
favorite. And “Blink And It’s Gone” alternates
between edgy and smooth, keeping the listener off-balance
and guessing. An outlier is “It’s On,”
a track that owes more to Seattle grunge than anything pop
or punk. The bottom line, here, is that Brat Curse are an
unconventional band that refuse to be boxed into your narrow
interpretation of genres, and are worthy of your time and
money.
GLOM
– Bond (La Reserve Records, www.lareserverecords.com)
Dreamy pop, but not dream pop, Glom play upbeat indie pop,
adding synths and reverb to move the music into the ethereal.
The use of both acoustic and electric guitars, both in lead
and rhythm capacities, adds a nice texture, as well. The
opening track, “Tell Me Who To Be,” is probably
the weakest, to be honest. It feels the most commercial,
and the synth feels a little wobbly. It’s another
case, though, that listening all the way through rewards
one with improving songs. The record really gets going when
it reaches the third track, “My Red Spine.”
It’s less dreamy than many of the tracks, with less
reverb, a nice bouncy melody, a catchy guitar hook, and
harmonies on the chorus. “Stuck” brings back
some dreaminess in a gorgeous upbeat ballad that reminds
me of a lusher Nick Drake, high praise indeed. The interplay
between the acoustic and electric guitars is quite pretty.
“Walking” has big buzzy synths that remind me
of 80s new wave ballads, but the rest of the execution of
this song is more 90s alternative. “Afraid of the
Rain” turns up the dreaminess, with more big synths
and reverb, and “Forlorn” is a great pop punk
track disguised as dreamy indie, acoustic and electric guitars
competing underneath breezy vocals. Glom have created something
new and interesting with their debut LP.
GRLWOOD
– I Sold My Soul To The Devil When I Was 12 (Sona
Blast! Records, www.sonablast.com)
Born two years ago in Louisville, Kentucky, Grlwood is a
self-described “two-piece band of Kentucky fried queerdos,
wailing at max capacity,” and “angry queerdo
genderfuck feminists screaming at you.” That’s
fair enough. Guitar and drums pound out the sounds while
the aggressive vocals shout and scream angrily and accusingly,
or croon out sweetly or sadly. The songs generally cover
topics of sexuality and gender identity. Stereotypes are
exposed for the absurdity they are, such as on “Get
Shot,” the opening track, which tells young girls
that they need to be nice to the boys or they might get
angry at them, leading them to get shot. Rejection for being
one’s true self is explored in “I Hate My Mom.”
Sexual violence is covered in “Take Off Your Clothes.”
“No Tongue” is about life in the closet, with
vocals that range from sweet, innocent, and confused to
raging and monstrous. Musically, Grlwood is vaguely indie
rock with hints of punk and pop (but not pop punk). For
being just a two-piece the music doesn’t sound thin.
In some respects they remind me of early hardcore punk and
its stripped-down aesthetic. Grlwood has the rawness of
early hardcore, too, and the honesty. But Grlwood is more
evolved. Grlwood has been getting a lot of buzz, including
coverage from none other than NPR. It’s all well deserved.
OUTSIDER
– When Love Dies (Flatspot Records, www.flatspotrecords.com)
Do you like metallic hardcore that’ll rip your face
off? Richmond, Virginia’s Outsider hope you do, because
their new five-song EP is designed to do just that. The
music will pummel you, thrash you around, and crush you
into submission. The onslaught begins with the lead single,
“Life Runs Out.” The song is about seizing the
moment and going for whatever it is you have a passion for,
rather than waiting or yielding to the easy path. The onslaught
continues through four more intense offerings, with the
title track closing the EP. We get a brief respite, in that
song, with a quiet reflective ambience, guitars playing
a simple melody with a ton of reverb. But then the song
gets started, with a relaxed rock feel at first, and then
the hardcore takes off like a rocket. Do you like metallic
hardcore that’ll rip your face off? If so, enjoy getting
your face ripped off by Outsider.
THE
RITUALISTS – Painted People (Out of Line Music,
www.outofline.de)
This New York City outfit is a real blast from the past.
No, they aren’t a reunited group from the 80s, but
they could be. They have the sound of 80s post-new-wave
pop (is that really a genre?) like Echo and the Bunnymen
or Lords of the New Church, maybe blended with the over-the-top
theatrics of U2. The difference that the Ritualists bring,
though, is a cleaner, more modern synth sound. Technology
has advanced a lot in the last thirty years, after all.
But I was never into Echo and the Bunnymen, nor U2, and
the combination of the two isn’t any more clever or
pleasing to my ears.
STRANGE
RANGER – Remembering The Rockets (Tiny Engines,
www.tinyengines.net)
Strange Ranger hails from Philadelphia, and they play solid
indie rock and pop. “Remembering The Rockets”
is the latest in a long string of releases dating back just
three years. The music is quiet, reflective stuff, smooth
and calming. The album opens strongly with “Leona,”
a song that’s easy and bouncy, with lyrics telling
of awkward love. “Sunday” cranks things up,
adding dreamy synths that ring out loudly, though the melodic
line still has a nice bounciness. Acoustic guitars are used
to smooth the atmosphere in this song of losing love but
keeping friendship. I love the short instrumental interlude,
“Athens, GA.” It’s a slow dirge on pipe
organ, with ambient recordings of people talking in the
background. It’s very moody, and it leads into the
equally moody “Message to You,” a track that
uses synthesized pipe organ and a quiet dance beat. The
vocals are so delicate and brooding. “Pete’s
Hill” is quiet with beautifully meandering guitars,
keyboard, and synth. Right after is the noisy, buzzy “Beneath
the Lights.” The smooth vocals are in sharp contrast,
and it makes for an interesting listen. I love the instrumental
break toward the end with a Celtic sounding synth solo.
The weakest track of the album is “Ranch Style Home;”
the vocals are sloppy and off-key, probably on purpose,
but this country-ish song is just a mess. However, I won’t
let it ruin my enjoyment of an otherwise solid release.
TONY
APPLESEED – Entropy (tonyappleseed.bandcamp.com)
New Jersey’s Tony Appleseed may not be roaming around
planting apple trees all over the place, but he’s
sure planting diverse musical ideas. On this latest LP,
his third, Appleseed brings together his largest ensemble
of musicians to date, and provides us with a lucky thirteen
tracks of alternative, psychedelic, progressive synth-folk-rock.
At nearly an hour, that’s a lot of music for one album.
But it never gets boring or repetitive. The album opens
with a short introductory track, “Twenty-four Weeks.”
It feels like something out of a science-fiction film, with
the sounds of a pulse and ominous synth droning in the background,
getting louder and louder. We hear a periodic ping, like
something from a NASA spaceflight from the 70s, and then
it all fades. Synths, piano, vibraphone, bass, and drums
are key instrumentation on many of the tracks. Other tracks
use instruments like banjo and flute to great effect. I
love the title track, which uses banjo for a folk feel,
flute for a jazz feel, and guitar, synths, bass, and drums
for a harder rock quality. The resulting musical soup is
unique, exploratory, relaxed and edgy at the same time.
“Reincarnation” is a cool indie-folk-rock number,
again using the banjo, but with psychedelic guitar and a
melody that’s much more pop than folk. “Free
Bird” includes trombone, piano, and an old-timey jazz
sound. “Ballad of Braque” reminds me of the
late, great Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, with its odd and
changing meters and progressive jazz sound. The piano’s
arpeggios glide, and the single note guitar lines are angular.
While there is great diversity in the songs and styles on
this album, it also feels cohesive. All of the tracks have
a relaxed feel with an underlying anxiety. The simultaneous
differences and connectedness of the tracks make for a fascinating,
enjoyable listen
TOWNER
(Crush Grove,
www.crushgrove.com)
Many moons ago, there was an amazing band from Champaign-Urbana,
Illinois, called The Vertebrats. They changed my life. In
early 1980s rural Illinois, this band was playing amazing
garage and power pop. They were the first band I regularly
went to see perform live, as they usually played once a
month at Mabel’s a campus town bar near the University
of Illinois. And, while Towner can’t really be called
garage or power pop, there’s a quality to their sound
that reminds me of that band that was so important to my
life. Towner’s music is more indie-pop and pop punk
oriented, but there’s some power mixed into their
pop. Their choice in harmonizing vocals also reminds me
of The Vertebrats. Towner are also very much a DIY effort,
unpolished in their presentation, raw and honest musicians,
much like The Vertebrats. And a couple of the songs almost
could have been recorded by the Vertebrats. “These
Worlds Are Yours” and “Calm Down” sound
like an update of their sound. Towner’s lead vocals
also have similar qualities to Kenny Draznik, The Vertebrats’
singer. Towner are still green though, and this is their
debut EP. They’ve got some room to grow, some rough
edges to polish. I look forward to their next release.
THE
BLACK TONES – Cobain and Cornbread (Reptar Records,
www.theblacktones.com)
Cobain and Cornbread. Seattle and the South. What a perfect
name for the debut LP from The Black Tones, a band that
plays bluesy, grungy rock music. Featuring brother and sister
Eva (vocals/guitar) and Cedric (drums) Walker, the music
is rocking and soulful at the same time, though the arrangements
are a bit thin as might be expected. Eva’s vocals
are gorgeous, as she belts out songs like “Mama! There’s
A Spider In My Room,” bending notes and adding tons
of vibrato in just the right spots. I adore “Rivers
of Jordan,” a song with the feel of a spiritual. It’s
very spare, with harmonica, vocals, and percussion, and
it feels very down home. “Plaid Pants” is a
great balance of grunge and blues, showcasing Eva’s
vocals again, though it runs a little longer than it should.
“Striped Walls” is my favorite track of the
album – even though it’s the most different
from the rest. Banjo and vocals with percussion after the
intro, the song is a beautiful ballad. And lest you think
that The Black Tones are just a sound, they get political,
too. The second track is “The Key of Black (They Want
Us Dead).” It’s got a deep bass intro and grungy-funk
feel. “We want love, they want us dead / We want peace,
they want us dead / We want to go to school, they want us
dead / Pay our taxes, they want us dead…” Yes,
The Black Tones are black, and yes, too many people in this
country have the attitude expressed in these lyrics. Musically,
the song is a blues-jam and maybe one of the weaker ones,
but the lyrics more than make up for that. “Welcome
Mr. Pink” closes the album strongly with a waltz-time
song that’s best when the guitars are thick. By mixing
downhome blues and northwest grunge, The Black Tones give
us something new, always a great thing in my book.
THE
DARLING FIRE – Dark Celebration (Spartan Records,
www.spartanrecords.com)
The Darling Fire, from South Florida, blend heavy indie
rock with dreaminess. The guitars, bass, and drums have
a hard post-hardcore crunch to them, while the vocals are
haunting and dreamlike. And though The Darling Fire is a
fairly new band, with Dark Celebration being their debut
LP, these are not green musicians. The band features members
of bands such as Dashboard Confessional, The Rocking Horse
Winners, Shai Hulud, and other familiar groups. The influence
of these previous experiences is pretty clear, but what’s
new and unique is the mixing of hard and soft. The songs
are all somewhat long form, too, with all of them clocking
in at more than four minutes – most are nearly five
minutes or more. This gives The Darling Fire time to stretch
out and explore the melodic themes they present. This works
to their advantage on songs like “Nevertwin,”
the second track on the LP. It’s got an expansive,
rolling sound, and even though the pace is leisurely, the
feeling is one of ever moving forward. “Omaha”
is another slower one, but it’s got an intensity to
it, with emotionally charged wall of guitar instrumentals
and light airy vocals. The components of this record will
seem familiar, but the combination of them is what’s
novel here, and what works well.
FALLOW
LAND – Slow Down, Rockstar (Spartan Records, www.spartanrecords.com)
Midwesterners Fallow Land are pretty mellow. Or at least
their music is. And one of the best things about them is
the diversity in that music; songs don’t all sound
the same! Some songs are fairly straightforward indie, others
blend together dreamy indie and light jazz, while others
are get edgier and noisier. On many of the tracks, there’s
interplay among the layers of the instrumentation, with
guitars, bass, drums, and synths elegantly dancing around
each other. In that way the band reminds me a little bit
of a lighter, less lush Cymbals Eat Guitars. Oddly enough,
the album opener, “The Things You Say,” is probably
the weakest, sounding like generic alternative emo-pop.
I thought I was in for a snooze-fest until the next track,
“The Self,” which has a nice, easy, math-jazz-pop
feel. I really love the duel going on between the guitar
and synth on “The Body.” The track has an off-kilter
rhythm that goes well with the instrumentation. The album
keeps getting better from there. “The Dog Song”
is an exercise in beautiful minimalism battling hard-edged
excess. And the guitars in “The Boredom” swirl
around, making me feel like I’m in the middle of the
band, rotating around and around. I’m glad I continued
listening beyond the first track, but too many reviewers
don’t – an important reason to always put your
best song first, bands!
GOOD
RIDDANCE – Thoughts and Prayers (Fat Wreck Chords,
www.fatwreck.com)
Long standing pop punks Good Riddance just released their
latest LP, their first since 2014’s “Peace In
Our Time.” GR has always been one of my favorite Fat
Wreck bands, because they’re masters of the sound
that defined the label. They play unabashed pop punk, fast’n’loud,
tight and poppy. And, true to their punk roots (they formed
back in the 80s, after all), GR aren’t afraid to get
political. The opening track, “Edmund Pettus Bridge,”
is a reference to the bridge in Alabama where an infamous
clash took place between African Americans marching for
voting rights and state troopers who were enforcing the
racist order in the South. The bridge itself is named for
a Confederate general and grand wizard of the Alabama Ku
Klux Klan. The track opens with dialogue from the film,
“Wall Street,” in which Michael Douglas’
character, Gordon Gecko, explains that the richest one percent
own half the country’s wealth, and the vast majority
of the country has nothing, and how the wealthy make all
the rules, asking, “You’re not naïve enough
to think we’re living in a democracy, are you, buddy?”
As if voting rights and voting would make any difference.
Some of the tracks are more hardcore than others, like “Our
Great Divide,” a speedy, crunchy song, or “No
King But Caesar,” one that’s even harder, with
angular and dissonant guitars. Others are heavier on the
pop side, like “Don’t Have Time,” a slightly
more than mid-tempo cut loaded with melodic hooks. But,
honestly, if you know Good Riddance, you know exactly what
to expect – maybe with the exception of “No
Safe Place,” a slower more alternative rock track
that sounds like something from the 2000s emo-ish pop punk
era. The closer, “Requisite Catastrophes,” is
a mid-temp poppy one, but it’s loaded with hooks and
bounce. Yep, Good Riddance gives us exactly what we expect
– and I couldn’t be happier to hear it.
THE
LUCKY EEJITS – Out of Time (Bypolar Records, www.bypolarrecords.com
/ Wiretap Records, www.wiretaprecords.com)
Well, damn! The Lucky Eejits are back with a new full-length
LP, their third since forming a handful of years ago. These
Bay Area Eejits play some pretty great pop punk with a Fat
Wreck Chords skate punk vibe. The tracks are pretty rapid
paced with tons of poppy goodness. The Eejits are super
tight without sounding slick – perfect for this style
of music. The whoa-ohs are plentiful, as are the sing-along
opportunities. Some of the songs are pretty damn anthemic,
too, like “Happy Accidents.” The song has double-time
going on in the rhythm section, while the vocals seem to
float over the instrumentals at a regular tempo. I can imagine
a raging pit during this song, with another group of punks
shoving their fists in the air, singing along. Though the
album as a whole has an urgency to its sound, as if the
band really are out of time, the title track ironically
has a more leisurely pace. “Cold Stare” is a
mid-tempo track that has a vaguely ska-punk feel in parts
with a strong backbeat. It’s a fun, bouncy song, and
the rolling bass line adds to the effect. If you’re
a fan of the Fat Wreck sound, check this out – you
won’t regret it.
ROLEY
YUMA (https://open.spotify.com/artist/5qERofNeKP1sTC2PbuRawh)
Dayton, Ohio may be a forgotten city in the rustbelt, a
place American corporations abandoned. But it also has been
a hotbed of musical creativity. Guided By Voices, The Breeders,
Brainiac, Toxic Reasons and more have called the city home.
Roley Yuma is another Dayton band creating unique music
unlike the masses of sound-alike bands out there. Roley
Yuma has been around for some time, but it’s been
a while between their last release and this LP, some six
years. Their music is explosive, angular stuff, and it harkens
back to the 90s post-punk era that saw a huge burst of new
ideas in music. Things start out quite manically with “Clifton,”
angry, noisy guitars fighting each other to bring the melody
through, vocals piercing through the din. The song doesn’t
end so much as flow into “Bricklayer,” which
continues the off-kilter pummeling. Right about the middle
of the track, things smooth out some, and the bass line
sounds like something from Joy Division. The music, while
not poppy, has a definite bounce to its step. As the album
progresses, things get a little less chaotic, a little smoother,
a little jazzier, and, as a result, less engaging. One place
it goes wrong is during “Why Are You So Dark?”
The track starts out lightly with a whimsical feel, and
then gets hard and raucous. At first I thought it could
be a favorite track, but as the song progressed, it began
to evolve into a hard rock jam. At the halfway mark it just
gets to be too much. “Tarrere” has cool guitar
harmonics on a repetitive line that starts around the middle
of the track, even as the front half is just a smooth indie
rock track. The back part of the track gets noisier and
more chaotic, and therefore more successful, in my opinion.
When Roley Yuma gets things right, they’re very right.
SUNGAZE
– Light In All of It (sungaze.bandcamp.com)
Sungaze come to us from Cincinnati, Ohio, and this is their
debut LP. It’s an album full of very chill, dreamy
pop music, with lush synths and heavy reverb. The music
at times has an ethereal quality, especially on the intro
instrumental track, “Wind.” It’s hard
to call this album dream pop or shoegaze, because it’s
not quite either, yet it’s got qualities of both.
There’s less fuzziness to the music, more clarity.
The music relies more on atmospherics than hooks. Some tracks
almost feel like “easy listening” versions of
grunge tunes, because they have a grittier attitude, even
as the sound is still chill and dreamy. One such track is
“This River,” sounding like it came from Seattle
on Xanax. These are really nice, relaxing songs. Curl up
on the sofa with a good book and this record playing in
the background, and all your tension is sure to disappear.
THE
WHIPS DC – What We Talk About When We Talk About
Rock (Settle For It Records, www.settleforitrecords.com)
This is the long-lost album from the short-lived “super
group” from Washington, DC. Formed in 2001 out of
the ashes of the DC post-hardcore scene of the 1990s, The
Whips are made up of drummer Arika Casebolt (of Circus Lupus),
bassist James Brady (of Trusty), guitarist Trip Costner
(Squatweiler), and vocalist Matt Burger (Worlds Collide).
The band never really broke up, but around 2007, after a
scant six years, they stopped playing. They recently made
the decision to become active again, adding the “DC”
to their name to avoid confusion with another The Whips
that had since formed. During the short time they were in
the scene, they went into the studio twice. In 2003 they
recorded three songs at Inner Ear Studios, ground zero for
many of DC’s best punk and hardcore records. The master
himself, Don Zientara, did the engineering, with Brian Baker
and Steve Hansgen producing. In 2006 they recorded the rest
of the songs with Bruce Falkinberg. The recordings lay dormant
ever since. Until now.
The Whips distilled all of the best aspects of the DC sound
of the time, mixed it with pure rock and roll, and lit it
on fire. The result was explosive, and they called it “hot
rock.” It’s an apt name. They say this album
is their love song to DC, and it sounds it. The eleven tracks
that make up this album are a testament to the timelessness
of the DC sound, because these tracks sound as vital and
fresh today as they did when they were written. The album
opens with “California (Take a Chance),” the
track with the heaviest dose of rock and roll. The band
oozes attitude and confidence, especially in Burger’s
vocals. You can hear how much fun they’re having just
playing the music; it sounds incredibly joyful. That’s
one aspect of the DC sound The Whips incorporated into their
music – the joyfulness. Another is the vocal style
of not quite singing, more speaking the lyrics, with heavy
inflections. In the incendiary “Danger Danger”
I hear a lot more direct DC influence, with bits of Gray
Matter, 3, Circus Lupus, and others. It’s hard to
pinpoint, but just the way the melody progresses, the tone
of the guitars, it’s all there. Burger’s vocals
have a pleading quality, and there are tons of backing vocals
interjecting all over the place. The unison lines in the
guitar and bass are another thing I recognize as a DC trademark
that have been absorbed into The Whips’ repertoire.
The piercing high-pitched backing vocals are a key element
of “Better Than Good” and “Dave Mustaine
Sally,” the latter being one of the more clever song
titles I’ve seen lately. The blistering rock and roll
music and the ferocity of the vocals are unrelenting. “Kayti’s
Song” leans more heavily on the DC legacy, and is
the sole track that had been released back in the day, via
a music video the band made. The jangly guitars on the bridge
that turn into a striding repeat of the same melodic line
are right out of Revolution Summer, and it warms my heart.
I think this one is one of my favorite tracks of the album.
“Bellboys” is the most different track of the
album, with more traditional melody and vocals, but you
can hear a deep rumble of blues-rock underneath, alternating
with a lighter touch. On “Room Service” I hear
classic DC in some of the guitar licks. The album closes
with “Gratuity Incl,” a track that seems out
of place. It’s a southern rock instrumental, heavy
on the bluesy sound. It’s a short outro, notable for
Brian Baker’s lead guitar.
Now that this album is finally seeing the light of day,
and the band is playing a reunion show this summer to
celebrate its release, will we see them do some touring?
One can only hope they at least play some select dates
in various cities around the country, like other reunited
bands have been doing lately. The Whips are one of DC’s
lost treasures, and now they’re found.
JOEY
CAPE – Let Me Know When You Give Up (Fat Wreck Chords,
www.fatwreck.com)
Best known as the front man of Fat Wreck Chords’ longtime
band, Lagwagon, Joey Cape has also had a solo career for
several years, starting with his debut LP, “Bridge,”
back in 2008. He’s released material under his own
name with established record labels, with no label, and
sometimes with his One Week Records imprint. This latest
effort sees him once again releasing solo material with
Fat. Joey’s solo records are his opportunity to explore
his softer side; where Lagwagon is an outlet for punk rock,
his solo material is decidedly not punk. Much of the music
is singer-songwriter fare and features acoustic guitar and
Joey’s quiet vocals, though several songs include
full band. Right from the start, the title track feels,
for the first half, like listening to Joey play in his living
room. We hear just Joey and his guitar, with ambient noises
in the background. His vocals are tentative, full of breathiness.
When the full band comes in, the song changes; the vocals
get bolder and the guitars are strong. “Let me know
when you’re stranded / I’ll rescue you,”
one of the verses goes. It’s a song about supporting
those we care for, being there for them no matter what,
in their toughest times. “Daylight” has an awesome
retro pop feel, in a post-Beatles sort of way that makes
it stand out as a favorite. I also like “Before My
Heart Attack.” It’s got an interesting start-stop-start
melodic line and changing time signatures. “Possession”
is another track with an acoustic opening – except
this one stays mostly quiet, but it simmers with a Latin
quality. And the closer, “The Last Word,” is
a purely acoustic track, short and sweet. You’re back
in Joey’s living room, and he sings, “Wrapping
up, say goodnight, trying not to start a fight / It’s
the last word tonight, it’s the last word / Solitude,
my dear friend, all good things come to an end / It’s
the last word tonight, it’s the last word tonight.”
It’s the perfect ender. There were only a couple of
songs that bothered me a little bit. “Fighting Atrophy”
had a synth sound and harmonized guitar solo that reminded
me of arena rock too much. And “The Love of My Life”
uses a steel guitar to create a country tune. I really dislike
country tunes. But other than these, this is a pretty solid,
enjoyable album.
THE
DOLLYROTS – Daydream Explosion (Wicked Cool Records,
www.wickedcoolrecords.com)
If you’ve never heard of the Dollyrots, you must have
been living under a rock. The LA band have been around for
the better part of two decades and have put out several
LPs and numerous EPs and singles, working with Joan Jett’s
Blackheart Records, with Arrested Youth Records, and most
recently with Wicked Cool Records. The Dollyrots play Ramones-inspired
pop punk, but way slicker than The Ramones ever thought
punk rock should be. The most comparable band these days
might be Teenage Bottlerocket, but again, The Dollyrots
are smoother, tighter, and more polished than even TBR.
Most of the songs are raucous and bouncy, and sound like
they could have been written and recorded at the height
of the pop punk explosion of the 1990s. That’s both
good and bad. Good, because The Dollyrots represent the
heights that pop punk reached back in the day. The production
quality is top notch, the band is incredibly tight and on
point, and the music is bouncy to the extreme. Bad, though,
because pop punk in the latter part of the 90s became a
commodity to be bought and sold by music industry moguls.
And much of this record sounds like a pop punk commodity
to me.
FRIEDA’S
ROSES – Jessica Triangle (friedasroses.bandcamp.com)
Bands made up of kids have a spotty history. Old Skull had
dubious talents, while Noise Addict were indie gold. Metal
crossover band Red Kross started life as punk band Red Cross,
and before that were The Tourists, while still in middle
school. I’ll let you decide that one for yourself.
Frieda’s Roses is a trio from Los Angeles, made up
of 13 to 15 year-old girls. So it could go either way, right?
I’m happy to tell you that Frieda’s Roses is
made up of some very talented people. Much of the music
has a dark jangle to it, poppy, yet not. I really love “Equal
Pace,” a track with psychedelic undertones and backing
vocals on the chorus that are dark and mysterious. “Capable”
has a cool garage and post-punk goth vibe mixed with folk-punk.
“Need To Be Free” is a love song only teenagers
could sing, played with acoustic guitar and ukulele. The
bouncy melody is fun, and the lyrics about being free by
being yourself are pretty great. “Chasing The Light”
reminds me of a 60s pop hit, the kind where the woman sings
about how miserable her life is. The lyrics are about the
many pitfalls in interpersonal relationships. The acoustic
guitar, piano, and strings are a gorgeous touch. “Look
Into The Light” has this sort of feel, too. They’re
like songs that David Lynch could have used in an alternate
version of Twin Peaks. The only thing that bothers me (but
just a little bit) about this record is that the lead vocals
are a little too deadpan, though very capable. Bottom line
– this would be an excellent debut for any band, let
alone one made up of young teens.
MUTAGÉNICOS
– 3 (Dirty Water Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
Mutagénicos are a band from Spain that play a variety
of styles of music, all loosely with a garage vibe. “Lo
Que Digan De Mi” (What They Say About Me) has a power
pop mixed with R&B sound. A synth on the tail end of
the track changes the tune into a prog rock one.”Actualice
Su Fe” (Update Your Faith) is the most punk of the
tracks, with a fast pace, though it also has a fairly jangly
guitar sound. As a good punk song should be, it’s
also the shortest of the album, at just under a minute and
a half. There are songs that are theatrical (“La Cumbria
De La Muerte”), rockabilly songs (“Autocontrol”,
“Menos Mal”), and some classic garage (“Resetear”).
“He Venido A Buscarte” is a great jazzy number
with a rock & roll jump thing going on. The closer,
“Muerte Marte” (Death Mars), has an appropriately
eerie, sci-fi horror feel, in the best tradition of that
subgenre of garage rock. It’s an instrumental, but
parts of the track have a very serious sounding man saying
something that feels very important. I don’t speak
fluent Spanish, so I’m not sure what he’s saying,
but it sounds urgent. Their music may not cause a genetic
mutation (mutagenics are agents such as radiation or chemicals
that cause genetic mutation), but it will cause a good time.
OCEANS
OF THE MOON (Castle Face Records, www.castlefacerecords.com)
Noisy. Unconventional. Synthesized chaos. Gritty. Rhythmic
and arrhythmic. Angular. Repetitive. Cheesy funk. All of
these descriptors apply to the debut LP from Oceans of the
Moon. At times interesting, at times annoying, Oceans of
the Moon are certainly making a bold statement. But it’s
mostly annoying. I do love experiments in sound, avant-garde
music and all. But this really bores me rather than challenges
me. There’s way too much repetition, and the lyrics
tend to be the song title stated over and over, as well.
“Baby Chiffon” is pseudo funk, complete with
staccato wah pedal guitar and grating high-pitched vocals,
the lyrics primarily being the title of the song repeated
over and over. “I’m On A Roll” plods along
at too relaxed a pace, also repeating the title over and
over in place of meaningful lyrics. “Borderline”
has a short melodic line that repeats over and over on the
synth while the thin guitar plinks the strings hesitatingly.
The same is true with pretty much every track on the album.
The only track that is somewhat interesting is “Sully.”
It has a droning synth bass line juxtaposed with reverb-laden
garage guitar strums, cowbell providing the primary percussion.
It’s not nearly enough to justify sitting through
the other seven tracks, though.
THE
RE-VOLTS – Leeches (Pirates Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
Coming out of the Bay Area, The Re-Volts play power pop
mixed with garage pop, in the vein of the great toyGuitar.
The songs are bouncy, poppy, and sunny. Three songs are
belted out in a joyful manner. The title track comes first,
and is my favorite of the three. Imaging mixing early Rolling
Stones with power pop and modern garage. It’s the
kind of song you can’t help but move to. “Metropolis
Or Bust” is a little bit smoother, and “Love
Letters” has full-on crooning lead vocals and haunting
backing vocals for a true retro edge. The only bad thing
about this EP is that it’s only three songs. I want
to hear a full album!
THE
COPYRIGHTS / KEPI GHOULIE – Observation Wagon (Stardumb
Records, www.stardumbrecords.com / Red Scare Industries,
www.redscare.net)
Two songs each from these two legends! In preparation of
their European tour together this summer, the two bands
recorded two songs each, one original and one cover of the
other band. The Copyrights’ new song is their first
new music since 2014, and it’s a track called “Welcome
Wagon.” It’s got a big Midwest pop punk sound,
full of bouncy goodness and a little bit of darkness. The
Kepi cover is “Are You Passionate?” off of his
album, “Kepi Goes Country.” But The Copyrights’
version sure isn’t country folk like the original
– it’s pure pop punk goodness. It’s faster,
louder, thicker, and more raucous. Kepi’s original
contribution is the acoustic-electric alterna-pop sci-fi
thriller, “Observation Day.” It has Kepi’s
warmth flowing through it, though the synths the harmonized
vocals, the acoustic guitar, and the tambourine. Then Kepi
covers “Four Eyes,” from the Copyrights’
debut LP. The original is a slower, loping pop punk song,
and Kepi’s cover keeps the tempo, but changes it up
to a folksy singer-songwriter vibe. It still has a bounce
in its step, maybe even more so. This record may have been
made specifically for the summer tour, but this sure isn’t
a throwaway; this is some good music.
CEREAL
KILLER – The Beginning and the End of Cereal Killer
(Drunken Sailor Records, www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
What happens when you mix hardcore, garage punk, and pure
evil? This is dark, angry stuff, fast and furious. And who
ever heard of saxophone in a thrashy hardcore band? It’s
here, and it works. The songs are short, lo-fi, buzzing
and hissing at a blistering pace. Vocals are pained and
shrieking, and the frenetic guitars create both a wall of
sound and incredible garage flourishes. “Your Punk
Scene Can…It” is an awesome blast. In under
two minutes this track will devastate you, especially when
it gets to the minute and a quarter mark and the guitars
drone on a riff that gets more and more intense as the end
of the song approaches. “Electric Sheep” is
pretty cool, with a melodic line that’s mostly partial
scales, with a stop-start rhythm. It’s pretty experimental,
and reminds me of a more hardcore version of Round Eye,
China’s experimental punk band of Western ex-pats.
“Should Punks Be Allies” sounds like it could
have been a Dead Kennedys demo; even the vocals sound Jello-like,
in a way. The titles of some of these songs, as you can
tell, are pretty good, too. It took me several listens to
get into this record. When it’s just playing in the
background, it seems to get tiresome. But attentive listening
is quite rewarding with Cereal Killer.
DOTS
(Dirt Cult Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
Dots, hailing from Oakland, are made up of members of Midnite
Snaxxx, Bad Daddies, and FM Knives. This is their debut
LP, and it’s a hectic affair. Imagine crossing psychedelic
jams with art punk, and you might have an idea of what Dots
sound like. Shouted vocals are sent through heavy reverb
and multiple delays, giving them a freaky eerie sound. Instrumentals
are manic yet simple, riffage on basic chord progressions.
There’s feedback aplenty, too, adding to the immense
tension. “Throwing Pennies” is the opening track,
and it’s a slight outlier, with guitars that jangle,
adding a brightness to the otherwise dark mix. I love the
start-stop nature of the gruff guitars on “Blackness,”
repeating a 4-chord riff over and over, even as the vocals
repeat patterns, too. The delays in the vocals thicken the
arrangement, yet add to the effect of confusion that the
band do so well. The synths at the start of “Alpha
Rat” sound like something out of a 1950s sci-fi flick,
and the bass line on this one is pretty cool. The track
has the feel of garage punk, but the hazy cloud of fuzz
hangs over everything. The feedback used as another instrument
is an interesting effect, too, adding to the alien quality.
“Surf’s Up” is the closest thing Dots
have to a song with a real melodic line, and could be my
favorite of the album. Even through the hopped up instrumentals
and vocals, there’s a brilliant glisten to the music.
I like the sound Dots have created here; it’s fairly
unique. But if I have one suggestion it’s that some
of the songs end up sounding too much alike, due to the
production quality. I’m sure it was recorded the way
it was for effect, but it gets to be a little too much about
halfway through the eight songs.
DROIDS
BLOOD – Be Free (Drunken Sailor Records, www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
I’d never heard of Chicago’s Droids Blood before,
nor its progenitor, Broken Prayer. And I’m from Chicago,
originally. Droids Blood can best be described as an artcore
band. They’re mostly hardcore, but with heavy art
intentions. Guitar-driven art punk is melded with dark synth
pop and off-kilter shouted vocals to create a sonic landscape.
The mix is thick with noise, so the art is mostly abstract,
hard to discern what’s going on or what the intent
is. Some of these songs are pretty creative. “Rotary
Phone” stands out to me. It begins with an ominous
low droning against a high-pitched buzz, and there’s
what sounds like a synthesized foghorn of some kind, and
the sound of a helicopter flying overhead. It certainly
creates an atmospheric feel. Soon the drums begin a beat,
and some spoken lyrics begin. Morse code-like synths join,
and then the guitars fill in the sound. The overall sound
is less chaotic, more coherent than a lot of the tracks.
I wish more of the tracks were like this. I would have enjoyed
this album a lot more. In too many of the tracks, though,
any sense of song is swallowed by noise and distortion,
and it just tired me.
JOYER
– Peeled (Baklava, www.facebook.com/soundslikebaklava)
Joyer is a duo consisting of brothers Nick and Shane Sullivan.
Nick is also one of the principles of DIY tape label Baklava.
Based in northern New Jersey, the brothers play what they
call “slowcore.” It’s an apt description.
The music is unhurried, quiet, and relaxed. Just guitar,
drums, and vocals are here. The songs are along the lines
of indie pop, but with less sparkle than most of that genre.
The result feels like you’re sitting in a friend’s
(large) bedroom, and he’s playing songs just for you,
along with his buddy playing drums, a very casual and laid
back feel. The guitars are delicate and understated and
the vocals nearly deadpan. It just feels…real. Tracks
worth special note include “Don’t Argue,”
which gets a bit experimental and a bit psychedelic; imagine
your friend gave you a tab of acid while you’re listening
to them play in that bedroom. Likewise, “Spunspunspun”
is an experimental instrumental track, featuring piano,
drums, and electronics, very odd and disorienting, but very
cool. “Stem” is a very simple song (most of
them are), but it feels more calming than even the other
tracks. Simple guitar strumming, simple chord progression,
simple vocals (which have a little more verve than the average
track on the LP), and these add up to a track that feels
like floating down the river. And the closing track, “Moths,”
is maybe the brightest of the bunch, though the vocals do
tend to meander a bit. This is the kind of record that’s
nice to listen to on a rainy day, curled up on the sofa
and reading a good book.
KIRA
JARI – Spooky Freaky (Dirt Cult Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
Denton, Texas, north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex,
has been home to some of the great bands in modern punk
history. One of the latest is Kira Jari, a band that blends
pop punk and garage. This is the band’s second release,
a four-song EP, coming two years on since their debut LP.
Though guitarist and lead vocalist Matt Jones has moved
nearly 1000 miles away to Minneapolis to attend grad school,
the band takes every opportunity to get together as a reason
to celebrate the short life we have on earth. And it’s
evident in the music. Though some of the songs on this EP
are somewhat slower than the manic pace of the LP, the energy
and intensity are undiminished; this is lo-fi garage punk
with a pop punch. The one track that still races at a ridiculous
pace is “Is It Noticeable?” and it recalls the
mania of other Denton bands, but adds an incongruent pop
sensibility, making it a stand-out track. I really like
“Sea Sick,” one of the tracks that are more
moderately paced. It’s slower, but the intensity makes
it seem faster than it is. That power! This is a garage
punk instant classic. The bookend tracks, “Another
Episode” and “Silver Heart,” are both
heavier on the pop punk than the garage, with a definite
“Awesome Fest” sort of sound, and they warm
my heart. I know Matt’s working to make the planet
a better, cleaner place up there in the frozen north, but
I look forward to the time when he can spend a bit of time
with the rest of the band and maybe do another tour and
full-length.
NEW
AGE HEALERS – Debris (newagehealers.bandcamp.com)
Seattle is most associated with grunge music, but there
are plenty of other bands playing other genres there. The
pop punk scene, for one, is thriving. But so is the shoegaze
scene, when you have a band like New Age Healers calling
the city home. The tracks are all moderate tempo, with relaxed
but bright, breathy vocals. Some of the guitars are fuzzed
out, others are clear as a bell. “Satellites”
is a favorite, for the rolling feel in the rhythm and the
wall of guitar fuzz. “Hang On” has a gorgeous
intro, with fuzzy jangly guitars back in the mix, and an
acoustic guitar in the front, sharp and clear. When the
vocals come in the fuzz drops from the electric guitars
for a bit. That electric guitar line from the intro continues
playing through the whole song, and the vocals are a harmonized
male/female pair. I love the contrasts between the clear
and fuzzed parts. Each song on the album is very listenable.
Each song is a good example of modern shoegaze. But if I
have one criticism, there’s too much similarity from
song to song. The tempos are all about the same. The guitar
tones are just fuzzed or clear. The vocals all have the
same quality. When there’s so much the same, the energy
begins to be sapped. Adding in some more variation would,
I think, help to hold listeners’ attention longer.
OUTER
SPACES – Gazing Globe (Western Vinyl, www.westernvinyl.com)
Outer Spaces is Cara Beth Satalino, a performer hailing
from the northeastern United States. Her songs blend folk,
indie, and retro pop, and have an introspective sound. That
makes sense, because, according to the press materials,
these songs were written during a lonely period of her life,
spent in solitude. None of the songs are raucous or rowdy
– they’re all calm and sedate. The guitar tone
and keyboards have a haunting quality to them, while the
drums feel a little bit lounge-like. Satalino’s vocals
remind me a bit of a popular female pop singer of the 70s,
but I can’t recall the name and that’s driving
me crazy. “Truck Song” starts as a straight-up
country folk song, but played on electric guitar; the opening
is on acoustic that’s been amplified, it seems, but
then the full band comes in, gradually, and with a light
touch. The music gets a little brighter and poppier, with
a pretty guitar line closing out the tune. Some of the songs
have strings added, which I’m not sure I care for.
For example, on the title track, which is otherwise another
quiet, introspective indie song, the strings are used as
an interjection that sounds like something from as movie
soundtrack for a scene that features a seduction scene.
The wood block percussion used in the song also sounds a
bit too cheesy for my tastes. The pattern repeats in other
songs. The songwriting and vocals are solid, but the arrangements
remind me too much at times of the sort of music from my
youth that turned me away from rock music.
THE
PROLETARIAT – Move (Radiobeat Records, www.proletariatband.com)
The Proletariat was active back in the early to mid 1980s,
releasing two albums (“Soma Holiday” and “Indifference”)
and a single (“Marketplace”). That and a few
compilation tracks were all we had to remember the groundbreaking
Boston band that went beyond the hardcore and thrash of
other local bands of the day, playing intelligent, political
music with a post-punk sound more reminiscent of bands like
Gang of Four or mid-period Wire. Their blending of melody,
a punk aesthetic, politics, and anger was one of the highlights
of the early Boston punk scene. Then, in 1985, ahead of
the release of “Indifference,” they broke up.
It wouldn’t be until thirty years passed that The
Proletariat would reappear. In 2016, three of four original
members reformed the group for a series of shows, which
continued into 2017 with a small tour. And now we have a
brand new LP, produced by none other than Lou Giordano,
the man that recorded so many Boston bands in the heyday
of hardcore and punk. Today, The Proletariat sounds more
influenced by Big Black and 90s DC post-emo punk than UK
post-punk of the 80s. There are a lot of angular lines,
judicious use of dissonance, and some nice empty spaces
of bass and drums. And as much as I love those old records
from the band’s first go-around, I have to say, “Move”
is their best album to date. Time has done nothing to dull
the edge; on the contrary, they’re sharper than ever
and as relevant as ever. The perfect example is the opening
track, “Incarceration Incentive,” a song about
imprisoning people for profit. The song has a medium tempo;
the guitars are raspy and rough, cutting a jagged line;
vocalist Richard Brown’s vocals are spewing as much
venom as ever. It’s one of my favorite tracks of this
new batch. “Indian Removal Act” decries the
injustice our government has visited upon Native Americans,
repeatedly signing treaties with them and then breaking
them, forcing them off their land whenever something of
value was found there. The high-pitched harmonics in the
guitars on this and other tracks are what bring Big Black
to mind, but where that Chicago band featured the mild-mannered
vocals of Steve Albini, Brown roars the lyrics out here.
“The Murder of Alton Sterling” is the most hardcore
track of the album, fast and loud and furious, as we all
should be at the unjustified murder of black men by white
police officers in America. The title track is somewhat
reminiscent of the band’s sound back in the day, but
with a harder edge. The topic is also out of the past, the
police bombings and destruction of a neighborhood in Philadelphia
in 1985, around the time when the band broke up. The incident
is barely remembered these days, but MOVE was a black liberation
organization founded in 1972, espousing revolutionary beliefs
along the lines of the Black Panthers and living in a communal
setting. After multiple confrontations with police, a police
helicopter dropped a bomb on the row house in which MOVE
lived. The result was the deaths of eleven MOVE members,
including five children, and the destruction of sixty-five
homes in the neighborhood from the resulting fire. I really
like the martial feel of “Trophy Kills,” and
the closer, “Consumption,” is the most melodic
track of the LP. They’re both pretty great. To be
certain, I listened to the whole LP, back to back with the
band’s tracks from “This Is Boston, Not L.A.”
and “Soma Holiday,” and yeah, this is their
best yet. I hope they tour out to the West Coast.
BILY
LIAR – Some Legacy (Red Scare Industries, www.redscare.net)
Red Scare has certainly put out some solid records from
some pretty good bands over the years, but they’re
having a truly bang-up 2019 with a couple of new signings.
First was Philadelphia’s Ramona (scroll down to read
my review of that debut LP) and now Billy Liar, hailing
from Edinburgh, Scotland in the UK. Billy Liar is described
as an acoustic/folk punk act in Wikipedia, and that’s
true of past releases. But this latest LP has been electrified
with a full band, and the music is even more electrifying
than past efforts. The folk punk roots are clear though,
with songs that wear their emotions on their sleeve. The
music is tight and gorgeously constructed, but raw in sheer
feeling. Most of the songs are raucous and powerful. Lyrically,
this record hits hard. In “The Righteous & the
Rats,” Billy Liar sings about the artificial constructs
and virtual prisons of society: “When the world began
there were no borders / No one chooses where they’re
born.” The chorus asks “Do you know any protest
songs? The kind that we can sing along?” and decries
how “It’s getting harder to tell the righteous
from the rats,” as if to tell us that there are too
many among us that pay lip service to progressive causes
yet do nothing but benefit from the status quo. “Independent
People” strips things back to acoustic guitar, more
like earlier records, and it’s a tough song about
modern economic times, with the growing divide between the
super-rich and the rest of us. “My dad says things
are gonna get worse a long time before they get better /
I hope he’s wrong, but I know he’s right,”
Liar opens. “Unemployment’s at an all time high
/ we’re all depressed so we stay inside / We’ll
block out reality with reality television / But bread and
circuses won’t pay the rent.” Mass layoffs have
become commonplace, and Liar references this with “My
boss said he was sorry, son / He had the order and he had
to let go of someone / He said I’ll find a new job
in no time / But it’s the same everywhere that I look
/ There’s no one playing by the book / Temporary staff
for temporary work / We’re all temporary.” When
companies do hire these days, it’s part-time work,
so they can avoid paying benefits, another way to extract
more wealth from the system for those at the top. Liar sings
how this sort of work doesn’t pay the bills, and how
we end up getting buried in debt just to survive. “We’re
supposed to be satisfied with the thought that we could
reach our supervisor’s place,” Liar sings. “I
don’t know about you, but I want to feel alive,”
he declares. He’s singing about the experience of
the UK, but it’s universally true. Powerful and depressing
stuff. “Change” is the most “punk”
song of the record, fast and loud, yet the power comes more
from the vocals than the instrumentals. This record is a
revelation. Highly recommended!
CORPORATE
CITIZEN – A Brief Moment of Sanity (El Topo Records,
www.eltoporecords.com)
Hailing from San Diego, Corporate Citizen specializes in
skate punk – and not the mediocre 90s bro-punk variety;
they play a blend of 80's hardcore and modern melodic punk.
“Batten Down The Hatches” opens the album and
sets the tone, with a hard-hitting yet melodic track that
reminds me a lot of some of the more melodic bands of 80s
punk. Things only go up from there; “95 Sound”
is straight-up old school hardcore punk, a la Gorilla Biscuits.
After a brief intro, we get a rapid-fire bass line, and
then the whole band takes off like a rocket, with the shouted
vocals hanging on for dear life. The chorus slows it down
and moves back to the melodic, yet retains that great mid
to late 80s authentic sound. “Next Big Thing”
takes things up a notch, too, if that’s even possible,
with more fast’n’loud hardcore alternating with
some modern sing-along pop punk that matches any of the
best bands playing the style. “Trust Falls”
is a favorite for its bright sound, more reminiscent of
Bay Area pop punk of the late 80s and early 90s than of
hardcore or skate punk sounds. “Got No Time”
falls into this bucket, too, mixing the Bay Area pop punk
sound with more traditional 80s hardcore punk, for a track
that’s just hella fun. Not every track is a gem, though.
“Bold-Faced Lies” tries to be more of a 90s
hardcore track, but the execution falls short. The arrangement
is a bit thin and the execution needs to be tightened up.
And “Just Walk Away” is a little too metal crossover
for my tastes. But this is a solid debut LP.
DECENT
CRIMINAL – Bliss (Wiretap Records, wiretaprecords.limitedrun.com)
The latest LP from the kings of harmonized punk sees the
Santa Rosa, California quartet branching out and experimenting
with some new styles of songwriting. Their past couple of
LPs (2016’s self-titled LP and 2017’s “Bloom”)
were studies in how to meld pop punk, 50s rock and roll,
and doo wop. But on “Bliss,” we get much more
than that. Sure, there are some tracks that are in keeping
with what Decent Criminal are most known for. The opening
tack, “Nowhere,” is such a song, and has been
a staple of their live sets for some time. But things get
really interesting pretty quickly with the third song. “Fade”
can only be described as an up-tempo dream pop song. It
bounces pretty hard, but the guitars are big and shimmering.
It’s unexpected, both for a Decent Criminal song,
and for the mixing of dreaminess and jangle. The multipart
harmonies are still here though, and thicken the track’s
sound beautifully. I think it’s the best track of
the record. “Bleached” is a more straightforward
indie-rock song, very ballad-like, harkening back to 90s
alternative. “”Loner” is the most punk
the band have ever been; the song is fast and loud, bursting
with focused harmonized energy and angular melodic lines.
Fittingly, it’s the shortest track of the album, clocking
in at under a minute and half. The vocals aren’t smooth
and suave, like on other songs; the fury is palpable in
both the singing and the playing. “Teeth” is
a full-on grunge track, sounding like 1990 Seattle all over
again. The song seems to be about escaping a suffocating
relationship (“Found my way outside of the grip of
you and I”). “Sigh” brings us a bouncy
summery beach song, opening with acoustic guitars before
the full band comes in. It has an almost Beatles-esque quality
in parts, and toward the end, when it starts to slow and
quiet, the Beach Boys harmonies are in full-force, and it’s
so beautiful. The closer, “Alone,” is the most
retro this band has ever gotten. It’s a throwback
to 50s romantic pop tunes, and comes complete with strings.
But this isn’t a love song; it’s quite the opposite.
“And we can tease our hearts all summer / But it won’t
change that we’ll be moving on / It’s only naïve
to say we’re waiting for a day / We both know may
never come.” It’s the heartbreaking idea of
rejecting the potential of love for fear that it won’t
last. What was it the wise ones said? Better to have loved
and lost than never to have loved at all. Decent Criminal
certainly have been experimenting with their sound. And
it’s paid off very well.
JEANINES
(Slumberland Records, www.slumberladrecords.com)
I was a huge fan of Slumberland Records, back in the late
80s and early 90s, when the label was still run from its
birthplace in Maryland. Slumberland was a champion of the
then still new brand of indie pop being made by bands like
Velocity Girl, Boyracer, Whorl, The Ropers, and more. It
was the kind of label that you trusted to put out music
you knew you would like, so it was easy to buy records from
bands you had never heard. I lost track of the label some
years later, but it’s nice to see that head honcho
Michael Schulman is still putting out records, now based
in the Northern California Bay Area. This latest release
harkens back to the music from those days, simple, pretty
indie-pop. Jeanines’ self-titled release is the debut
for this Brooklyn duo that play stripped down ultra-jangly
music. Jed Smith plays toned-down drums and a gliding bass,
while Alicia Hyman plays a twinkly clear guitar and multi-tracks
the sparkling vocals. The tracks mostly have a melancholy
overcast, but the opener, “Either Way,” has
a bouncier major key feel. I love the break toward the end
of the track, where the bass and drums drop out, and it’s
just Hyman’s crystal clear vocals and quiet guitar
strums. Many of the songs have the qualities of a troubadour,
feeling vaguely like ancient folks songs telling stories.
It’s really gorgeous stuff. The songs are all pretty
short, with only three of the fourteen exceeding the two-minute
mark. But there’s a lot packed into each track: lots
of hooky melodies, lots of harmonized vocals, and loads
of jangle. I particularly like the waltz time “In
This House,” for the strong wandering minstrel vibe.
And “Falling Off My Feet Again” is a pretty
one with a ‘60s pop thing going on (something that
exists, to one extent or another, in many of the tracks).
Slumberland still has the magic touch and a winner with
Jeanines.
MONO
IN STEREO – Can’t Stop The Bleeding (Rum Bar
Records, rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com)
Rum Bar Records, in my mind, is mostly known for putting
out excellent power pop records, and those in the space
between power pop and pop punk. They’ve put out some
pretty awesome records in that space lately. This latest
record is a five-song EP from Rockford, Illinois’
Mono In Stereo. Rockford is a small city in north central
Illinois, nearly two hours away from the hubbub of Chicago,
so it may seem an unlikely place for a rock and roll band.
But Rockford was the birthplace of Cheap Trick, and they
did a few things, so… Anyway, this EP is Mono In Stereo’s
sophomore effort, four years on from their debut LP,
Long
For Yesterday, also from Rum Bar. And, like Cheap Trick
before them, Mono In Stereo focuses not on the underground,
but on good old guitar fueled rock and roll. The majority
of the five songs on “Can’t Stop The Bleeding”
are classic rock. ”Different Kind of Man” reminds
me a lot of The Who, complete with keyboards right out of
the 70s. “Not Your Fault” is working class rock,
in the vein of Springsteen, as is the title track, which
closes things out. They’re fine and all, if you go
in for the classic rock sound, but it was what turned me
off rock and roll as a kid (until I discovered the new music
coming out in the late 70s and early 80s that changed everything).
The other two tracks here are better. “Fores”
is a raucous pop punk track, simple in its melody and chord
progressions, but with tough guitars, gang vocals, and plenty
of whoa-ohs. And the opener, “The Conversation”
is a hybrid of emotionally charged pop punk and working
class rock. I like both of these a lot. Unless Mono In Stereo
has dreams of making it big playing arenas, I would think
focusing their efforts more on the underground sounds would
be more rewarding, especially given that guitar fueled rock
music hasn’t made anyone famous in decades.
THE
PROZACS – Ambivalence (Outloud! Records, www.outloudrecords.bandcamp.
com)
The Prozacs have been around for a while, since the early
2000s. This new LP is their fifth full-lengther, not counting
split LPs or their live LP, and it may be the best one yet.
Modern Ramones-core pop punk aplenty is what you’ll
find on this record. There’s certainly a strong 90s
pop punk influence in the eleven songs on offer, but I hear
more similarity with another current band – The Fur
Coats – than any 90s band. And that’s, perhaps,
high praise, because The Fur Coats are one of my favorite
current pop punk bands. The music here is aggressive without
getting too hardcore, poppy and melodic without getting
too sappy. It strikes the perfect balance. The record comes
out swinging with “Rocking Out,” a powerful
speedy track that meets your minimum daily requirement for
“whoa-ohs.” “Outta My Face” continues
the powerful melodic pop punk, while “Party’s
Over” moves more toward the lighter poppy side of
things, but with a melodic line and chord progression slightly
reminiscent of the classic rock hit, “We’re
Not Gonna Take It.” “The Ripper” is an
“ode” to the infamous and anonymous Victorian
era murderer, calling him out for all the fucked up things
he did. This one has even more whoa-ohs than “Rocking
Out!” “Wishing and Waiting” is a sweet
love song with a sunny feel. “Come Out Swinging”
brings back the harder edge and adds a hint of skate punk
style. I don’t know who Larry is, but “Listen,
Learn & Dance” exhorts the listener to dance,
and to do it for Larry. It’s got a dark sound to it,
as if the world depends on dancing for Larry. Some of the
songs sound so good that they instantly sound familiar after
just a single play. Such is the case with “Feeling
So,” a track with a moderate tempo and a loping feel,
about feeling so alone, and bringing everyone down. The
closer, “Lost in the Waves,” is more laid back,
with a bit of Beach Boys feel. One of the things I like
best on this record is the tough guitar sound blended with
melodic punk. Those guitars have the “Chicago”
sound, and this is probably why I’m reminded of The
Fur Coats. Good stuff.
ALLWEATHER
– Through The Floor (Paper Street Cuts, paperstreetcuts.limitedrun.com)
One of the newer bands in San Diego, Allweather has only
been around about two years. Featuring members of From Scars
and The Blackjackits, among others, Allweather use West
Coast emo-infused pop punk only as a starting point. The
songs in this, their debut LP, have more complexity to them
than those typical to the genre. Some of the songs have
a pop jangle to them, even as they retain the epic emotional
qualities. This lends a gravitas to the tracks, without
them ending up sounding too heavy and onerous. The lead
vocals have just the right quality of gruffness, too, to
balance out the sparkle of the guitars. “Writer’s
Block” is a favorite track. I love the dark mysterious
opening, dissonant guitars playing two notes off each other.
It then jumps into a moderately up-tempo track with a gorgeous
melodic line, the straining vocals lending an honest feeling
of pain to the otherwise bright sounding music. I also love
the urgency of “Grim Ave,” named for a street
that runs through the North Park neighborhood of San Diego.
The call and response vocals on “Life Vest,”
along with the more moderate tempo, thinner instrumentation,
added jangle and easy lope give this song a definite indie
rock feel, which I really like. Some of the songs have the
feel of DC melodic post-emo, music from the late 80s and
early 90s that have influenced so much of what we listen
to, often without the bands quite realizing it. I can hear
this particularly on “Dogma,” a track that brings
to mind bands like Gray Matter or 3. The closer, “Solitaire,”
is a wistful acoustic number. It may be a cliché
to end a record like this with an acoustic track, but so
what. If it works, it works. And it works here. Allweather
have done some short tours, but nothing big yet, but I expect
that after this LP, they’ll be invited to play some
of the East Coast fests in the future.
THE
CRETINS – Haven’t Got A Clue (Dirty Water
Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
Dirty Water Records continues its winning streak of bringing
awesome garage rock and roll from around the world into
your ears. Their latest signing is The Cretins, a four-piece
from the south of England, in Brighton and South London.
“Haven’t Got A Clue” is their debut single,
and it’s a promise of great things to come. The style
mixes classic 60s British invasion sounds with garage rock,
as well as a healthy dose of power pop. It’s a nice,
mid-tempo track, with lyrics typical from pop songs from
back in the day: boy is attracted to girl; boy doesn’t
know what to do about it. I know a lot of garage rock bands
are purposefully doing lo-fi recordings, and that often
works out, but I think in this case, the more melodic style
of The Cretins would benefit from a cleaner sound. But this
definitely makes me look forward to more from the band.
THE
DROWNS – The Sound (Pirates Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
Following last year’s debut LP, The Drowns, hailing
from Seattle in the Pacific Northwest, have signed to Pirates
Press Records. This new single is the first fruit of the
relationship. The A-side title track has more of a gliding
feel to it, while the B-side, “The Bricks of Ol’
Rainier,” has a guitar line with gruff and gang vocals
that remind me of latter period Blitz. The closing part
of this song has a cool Celtic punk feel, too, which I like
a lot and makes this my favorite of the pair. There’s
a definite street punk vibe going on here, distinctly different
from another Seattle band, Success, which shares two members
with The Drowns.
LES
BOF! – Voila! (Dirty Water Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
A band from Scotland, playing French 60s Yé-Yé
garage pop, singing in French? Well, yes, that sums up Les
Bof! If you’re unaware, Yé-Yé (for “yeah
yeah) was a style of pop music popularized in Europe, predominantly
in France, in the wake of the popularity of the Beatles.
Les Bof! play this style, but with a harder garage rock
element fused with the pop. Nowhere is their lineage as
clear as on the fourth track of the LP, “Ma Claque,”
a poppy little number that could easily have been played
by the Fab Four. The “yeah yeahs” are present
in the backing vocals, but the guitars are just a little
rougher, and the lead vocals more emphatic. The R&B
influence of the whole genre of 60s pop is also very clear
in “Je Suis Le Boss,” a song heavy on the juke
joint blues feel, and featuring a jumpy sound and harmonica
solo. “Liberes Moi” is on the other end of the
spectrum, with less pop and more garage grittiness, especially
in the deep fuzz in the bass and guitar, giving it a feel
of the music that bridged the gap between 60s garage pop
and 70s proto punk. “C’est La Vie” is
an awesome track, blending garage pop, R&B, and early
metal sounds. The harmonica solos on this sound like something
that could have come from Black Sabbath’s first LP.
And “Port St. Louis” is a pretty great jazz-rock-blues
instrumental. If you’re a fan of garage pop and rock,
60s rock and roll, and the Beatles, give this a spin; I
bet you’ll fall in love with it. Yé-Yé!
LUCY
AND THE RATS - "Stick To You" b/w "True
Romance" (Stardumb Records, www.stardumbrecords.com/Surfin'
Ki Records, www.surfinkirecords. bigcartel.com)
Following up last year’s fantastic
debut LP, Lucy and the Rats are back with a new 7”
single, but this time the music is grittier, heavier on
the garage and power than the on the pop. The A-side is
the edgier one, more true to the Dirty Water sound, while
“True Romance” is more of a power pop track,
yet still much harder than anything from the LP. The sweetness
is gone, replaced with a snarl. They’re both love
songs, but rawer than any love song you’ve ever
heard before. I miss the sweet, light power pop of the
LP, but this is pretty good, too.
RAMONA
– Deals, Deals, Deals! (Red Scare Industries, www.redscare.net)
Ramona is a band that likes cheap booze. I mean, they claim
they moved from Seattle to Philadelphia because you can
two drinks for $4 at some bars. Ramona is also a band that
plays gloriously epic pop punk. They call it “sloppy
poppy punky dancy sad times.” There’s nothing
sloppy, though. The music is tight, bouncy, melodic stuff,
uniformly up-tempo. The instrumentation is thick and rich,
with a wall of guitar that’s all fuzz yet still manages
to jangle. This album rocks hard from start to finish, and
doesn’t let up for a single second. Ten songs in twenty-eight
minutes, and I’m exhausted. I can imagine everyone
being a sweaty mess after a live show. The band mix things
up, too, with dueling female and male lead vocals, but the
songs are always sung with a sense of urgency. Right from
the start, with “Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Hearts,”
about dealing with a relationship with someone who isn’t
really invested in the relationship, the songs hit hard,
fast, and furious. And furious might be one of the key words
here. There’s a palpable anger in many of the songs.
Like “Hater’s Ball Parade,” which has
a chorus that consists of “I hate you the way I hate
myself, too.” It’s about the anger over a break-up,
but also the anger at one’s self for the responsibility
for it and the lack of courage to move forward in life.
“Hard Sulks” talks about avoiding love to avoid
the pain of breakup. “I don’t wanna fall in
love / I’d be better off alone / Don’t wanna
watch it fall apart / Don’t want a chance to disappoint
/ I don’t wanna fall in love / ‘Cause the more
I feel the worse I feel,” cries out the chorus. The
huge guitars impart a dissonance in places to underscore
the pain that is sure to come. My favorite track though,
is saved for last. “Mambo 69” has the coolest
angular guitars, and the songs starts out with damning lyrics:
“Pardon me, I must have forgotten that everything
is fake!” There are lines here about things that are
shiny and new, “but when you look underneath, you
see it’s rusted through.” Everything sucks,
the song seems to say. But hope isn’t all lost. “You
can find your own family / be the person that you want to
be,” the chorus assures. As fucked up as everything
in the world is, as much as our own world crumbles around
us, there is still hope. “If I lose sight of what
I love, won’t you slap me in my ears / Clear out all
the other junk, help me hear.” It’s our friends,
our chosen family, that will keep us grounded and help us
through the tough times. It’s a great sentiment, and
the perfect way to end this amazing record.
THE
VICIOUS CYCLES – Motorpsycho (Pirates Press Records,
www.piratespressrecords.com)
The tracks on this new LP from Vancouver, British Columbia’s
Vicious Cycles range from street punk to classic punk to
garage rock to rockabilly. “Hot Dogs In The City”
crosses garage, deep rock a la Motorhead, and rockabilly,
throwing in a bouncy bridge that feels very out of place.
“Life Insurance” is kind of street punk with
a two-tone flavor to it. “Truck Stop Nun” has
a bit of classic punk feel, including what seem to be misogynistic
lyrics. “Time Riders” is a pseudo-surf instrumental
that reminds me a bit of the theme from the old PBS show,
“Wild Chicago,” which was a modified version
of the classic “Apache,” by The Shadows. The
title track has that dark horror garage sort of sound to
it…sort of. “If It Looks Like A Cop” has
a hint of an urgent feel that moves back and forth between
garage and street punk sounds. Sort of, kind of, a bit here,
a hint there. Overall, the record is pleasant enough, I
guess, but I can’t get over how smooth and slick the
whole thing feels, like a recreation of something historical
for tourists. It’s too neat, too sanitary, and doesn’t
feel real enough. It’s just too “sort of.”
VARIOUS
– Antagonizers ATL, Crim, Noi!se, Rude Pride 4-Way
Split (Pirates Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.
com)
How many bands do you need before it crosses from “split”
to “compilation? I’ve had arguments with people
about this. I contend two bands make a split, and that anything
more than two bands is a comp. Pirates Press continues their
string of street punk releases, this time with a compilation
EP featuring four bands. Antagonizers ATL, from Atlanta,
Georgia, of course, serve up some simple sing-along punk
with “Marching On,” a song that evokes a martial
feel, like much working class street punk and oi. Crim come
to Pirates Press all the way from Spain, and their style,
while still in a similar vein to the first track, also mixes
in West Coast sing-along pop punk and working class rock
and roll, as well. Noi!se, besides having an exclamation
mark in the middle of their name, have the most interesting
track of the quartet on the record. It’s faster, more
punk, more angular, and has undertones of skate punk. The
acoustic guitar breaks in the middle and end of the song
are actually brilliant, too. I would never have guessed
them coming from Tacoma, Washington from the sound. Finally,
Rude Pride, from Madrid, give us street punk but more melodic
and better constructed than what we get from Antagonizers.
If you’re into the modern working class oi/street
punk sound, these are four bands worth checking out.
THE
AGGROLITES – Reggae Now (Pirates Press Records,
www.piratespressrecords.com)
The Aggrolites are a reggae band from – where? No,
not Jamaica, they’re from Los Angeles! And the band
is quite prolific, having put out several LPs and singles
since forming in 2002. This LP alone features fourteen songs
and clocks in at a massive 49 minutes! I was prepared to
not really like this record very much, because, let’s
face it, who really listens to reggae these days unless
they’re stoners? I think one of the key secrets to
the Aggrolites’ sound is that they don’t just
play a retread of classic reggae sounds; they blend in some
70s soul sounds, too, in some of the songs. Nowhere is this
more evident than “Say Or Do.” The song has
the classic reggae rhythm, classic bass line, drums, and
rhythm guitar, but the organ has a warm gospel quality instead
of the bubbliness of typical reggae, and the vocals are
pure soul. It gives the track a cool feel, smooth and solid.
“Jack Pot,” too, is not a typical reggae song.
It’s got the reggae beat, but the instrumental track
shares more in common with jazz and funk than anything that
ever came out of the Caribbean. And “Love Me Tonight”
has a distinct 50s doo-wop influence lurking in the reggae
beats. It’s a pure retro love song, with vocal group
harmonies and all. “Western Taipan” and “12
15 or 50” are very cool instrumentals, with 50s lounge
played on top of a reggae beat. “Why You Rat”
has more of a calypso feel than reggae, sounding like something
Harry Belafonte might have done if he tried to do a calypso
reggae crossover song. There is some great traditional reggae,
too, and not the sort of commercialized reggae that flooded
the market a couple decades ago. “Groove Them Move
Them,” for example, features a breezy feel and classic
call and response song structure. And I think that’s
what I like most about Aggrolites: they don’t succumb
to the laziness of commercialized stoner reggae. They create
something with more diverse influences and, therefore, more
engaging. I was prepared to not really like this record,
but The Aggrolites proved me wrong.
THE
BARREN MARYS – Wired Wrong (Suicide Bong Tapes,
suicidebongtapes.bandcamp.com)
The Barren Marys, from Philadelphia, blend old school punk
rock with modern pop punk. Some of the songs are poppy,
bouncy and joyful, while others sound more serious and harder-edged.
Those bouncy joyful songs tend to have sentiments to match.
“Good Time,” which is the opening track, has
lyrics that simply state that “We’re gonna have
a good time.” The music is simple, too, and full of
the promise of happiness to come. Also in this category
are the fun, silly punk songs, like “Guantanamo Bay
Beach Party,” which tells the tale of the time the
guards conspired with the detainees at the infamous base
to take revenge on all the right-wing Republicans who have
demonized Muslims. “ The CIA gave Bush away, they
said they’d look the other way. / We dressed him up
in lingerie, and made him sing a cabaret.” I mean,
how fun does that sound? “On the Couch” is another
frivolous, chipper tune, telling the woeful tale of taking
in a woman friend who broke up with her boyfriend, only
to have her smoke all your weed, drink all your booze and
eat all your pizza. “I Wanna Be Unhealthy, Baby”
sings to praises of smoking, drinking, and overeating. And
“Perri’s Pizza” is an ode to the band’s
favorite place to get delicious pies. Edgier punk songs
are here, too. “It’s Gonna Suck” is some
great old school skate punk that decries the current state
of the world, and “Roaches and Fleas” is a dark,
metal-tinged song about being taken over by bugs. OK, so
that one has kind of inane lyrics. “Hero” is
another great skate punk track, about the dumb and inept
dreaming of being a so-called hero. And the album closer,
“I Come From the Swamp” is another dark metallic
one. I think one of my favorites, though, blends the two
disparate styles together. “Fascists” is poppy
and bouncy, but a bit edgy, and has political lyrics instead
of dippy ones. The Barren Marys have produced another worthy
LP.
BRACKET
– Too Old To Die Young (Fat Wreck Chords, www.fatwreck.com)
Bracket have been around for over two and a half decades,
having been born in the pop punk explosion of the early
90s. Like many bands of the era, they burned brightly, getting
signed to semi-major label Caroline Records, and then unceremoniously
dropped from the label. And even though Bracket have a large
gap in their recorded output, they’ve apparently always
been a band, unlike some who broke up and reformed when
the time seemed right. The great thing about Bracket’s
sound is that, while they certainly fit into the broad pop
punk category, they’ve got a distinct harder edge
to their sound, and the harmonized vocals a la The Beach
Boys on top of that edgy music makes the sound pretty unique
in the pop punk realm. It’s sort of like taking a
frantic band like Hot Snakes, slowing and grunging it a
bit, and mixing it with The Mr. T Experience’s sappy
pop punk songs. I can see where Decent Criminal gets a lot
of their influence now. The opener, “Cloud Ate,”
is a great example of the blend of these styles. The guitars
open with the promise of a hard-driving track, but that
soon yields to something with more of a pop content, though
the guitars are still anxious to rock out. When we get to
the chorus, the full-on multi-part harmonies join the lead
vocals. After a couple of verses, those introductory guitars
close things out again. It’s the perfect entrée
to the album and to the magic of Bracket. Other tracks that
have that similar two-fisted feel mixed with the pop punk
include “Canned from the Food Drive,” and especially
the roller-coaster of a song, “Warren’s Song
Pt. 29,” a favorite from this LP. The intro is uncontrollably
raucous, while the main body of the song is actually sort
of Beatles-esque. But even the songs that are a little poppier
still have a much more powerful sound than typical pop punk.
Potentially controversial statement coming: Bracket is one
of the best bands on Fat Wreck Chords today.
GEOFF
PALMER – Pulling Out All The Stops (Rum Bar Records,
rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com)
It was just a month ago that Geoffrey Palmer released a
teaser single that I declared as essential listening for
all fans of power pop. The Connections member is now releasing
a full-length solo LP, and it’s even better than the
single! Two of the previously released songs find their
way onto this LP, but the other dozen songs are brand new.
The music is right on that cusp between power pop and pop
punk, with some songs leaning a little more one way or the
other, and it finds just the right sweet spot. A favorite
track is “I Like Murder Too,” a pretty love
song that has a sort of dark jangle to it. “Everything
Is Cool” is another great one (well, pretty much all
of them are), with great hooks and a beachy feel. I love
the way the harmonized vocals glide and slide over the buzzy
guitars. “Walk Through” leans more to the pop
punk side of things, with a great crunchy rhythm guitar,
catchy melody, and harmonized vocals. I guess one way to
describe this is that it’s sort of like Ramones-core,
but a little slower, a little heavier on the pop than the
punk. However you want to describe it, this is possibly
one of the best records of the year.
THE
HAMMERBOMBS – Goodbye, Dreamboat (thehammerbombs.bandcamp.com)
Hailing from the East Bay in Northern California, The Hammerbombs
are the essence of modern pop punk. The band is super tight
and the songs are bouncy and fun. Bassist Jen Louie and
guitarist Ilya Slabodkin trade off lead vocal duties on
the songs, and the lyrics range from inane to sappy, like
all good pop punk. Take the example of “Shower Beer,”
the album’s opening song. It’s about how to
handle when everything seems to be going wrong in your life:
“There’s only one thing left to do / When the
whole world’s crashing down on you / It’s clear,
we’re all here, it’s time for a shower beer
/ Down a sudsy cold one and hose away your problems.”
The verses have a dark sound, commensurate with all the
bad things in life, while the chorus is bright and happy
– shower beers are the solution to all of life’s
problems! The chorus is perfect for drunken sing-alongs.
Many of the songs are about relationships, good ones, bad
ones, and those already over. “I Hate Cars”
has Jen singing about the sadness of separation from a loved
one, the hatred for cars being that they carry us away from
the ones we love. The pogo-worthy song belies the desperation
of the lyrics. I think “Full of Shit” must have
been a catharsis, because the song is so full of rage without
saying a whole lot other than “You’re full of
shit. You’re so full of it / You’re full of
shit, you’re a fucking liar.” The song with
the most whoa-ohs is “Sick Of Me,” a self-deprecating
song that Jen sings, recounting every reason why someone
wouldn’t want to be around her. She also is featured
on “Tiny,” a poppy yet angry track about double
standards. “While I’m Bleeding, you get a pat
on the back,” the song decries, and “You get
a ride while I have to crawl,” indicating the unfairness
in life. Another great song of anger and silliness is “Mother
Mother Fucker Fucker.” The fun song is the truth telling
about someone whose “shit’s on fire out on the
front lawn” while you “crack a beer and watch
it burn.” Jen brings us all hope with “Stupid
Love Songs,” a sappy one I which she declares that
even after being left emotionally damaged and cold from
past failed relationships, we can find new love and new
hope. Not every song has the classic East Bay pop punk sound.
Ilya fronts a tune that blends pop punk and sped up grunge
in “Cypress Structure,” a track that’s
got a harder rock edge than most of the songs. And “Things
Aren’t Going Well” has the feel of an early
era Offpsring track, with a dark sing-along fist-pumping
feel. It’s hard picking out favorite tracks, because
every single track is a gem. Every single one. I know I’ve
said this about a bunch of records already this year, but
this album is sure to make my list of best releases of 2019.
If you are a fan of pop punk, this is must-listen music.
HARVEY
PEKAR – Paris Green (Steadfast Records, www.steadfastrecords.net)
For a sub-genre that reached its peak some twenty-five or
so years ago, metallic hardcore certainly has staying power,
just like the broader punk rock. Cleveland’s Harvey
Pekar is doing their part to keep the music alive, following
in the footsteps of Cleveland luminaries like Integrity.
This seven song mini LP is their fourth release, and while
most of this type of hardcore seams stale these days, with
plodding melodies and ugly, roared vocals, Harvey Pekar
does an admirable job of breathing new life into the style.
Their PR calls them “thoughtfully brutal,” and
that may be an apt description. The songs feel more well
constructed and thought out than typical hardcore. Hell,
they’re actually songs, unlike a lot of hardcore from
back in the day. There’s melody mixed in with the
intensity. Vocals don’t sound like a wounded ogre,
so you can hear that, yes, they’re actually singing
real words. The highlight of the record, for me, is “Glow
Aplomb,” the fifth track in. It calms things down,
adds more melody, and there are sections with actual singing
instead of shouting, and places without wall of guitar noise,
where you can hear a lone guitar playing single-string melodic
lines. It’s the least hardcore song on the record,
but even in the smoother parts it never loses its intensity.
Other tracks, even though they update the traditional hardcore
sound, do still maintain some of the standard checklist
items of the sub-genre, like slow breakdowns and group shouts.
But Harvey Pekar never sounds passé.
HETEROFOBIA
– Quereos Ver El Mundo Arder (Drunken Sailor Records,
www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
Most of the punk bands I know from Mexico are from Tijuana.
Well, that’s natural, since it’s so close to
San Diego, and the two scenes are practically one. But Heterofobia
is from the state of Nueva León, which runs south
of the southern tip of Texas. Musically, this band reminds
me of a hyped up Proletariat, a Boston punk band that was
primarily active in the early 1980s. The dark, eerie guitars
and primal drums have that goth-punk edge, but this stuff
is more manic than the typical goth-punk from back in the
day. The vocals are screamed, as if in anger, not just to
be loud. The disgust and revulsion felt by the band comes
through clearly. And just so you know, I wrote that before
I started translating song titles from Spanish. Songs include
(translations) “Smell of Death,” “You
Disgust Me,” “Hell,” “Life of Lies,”
and more. I think my favorite track might be the one most
different from the rest. The title track, which translates
to “We Want to See the World Burn,” is bright
and bouncy, though not poppy. The melody is very simple
and repeated over and over, but the brightness makes it
seem almost optimistic – as if once the world is burned
clean, it can start anew, perhaps without the mistakes of
humans. Angry and intense, Heterofobia deliver the punk
in spades.
KISHI
BASHI – Omoiyari (Joyful Noise Recordings, www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com)
Kishi Bashi is the alias for multi-instrumentalist, singer,
and songwriter K Ishibashi, and this is his fifth solo LP
since his 2012 debut. I was completely unfamiliar with Kishi
Bashi before I received this album, but I’m happy
I now know. Kishi Bashi plays a glorious mixture of light
pop, contemporary folk, and classical music. Guitar, mandolin,
banjo, violin, and cello all make appearances on the album,
sometimes apart, sometimes together. It makes for an interesting
and unique sound. Some of the songs are light and breezy,
while some are a bit more intricate. “Penny Rabbit
and Summer Bear” is one of the lighter songs, with
picked acoustic guitar and pretty harmonized vocals. It
has a delicate airy feel, as befits a “summer bear,”
mixing folk and pop genres. “Marigolds” is astounding,
leaving me agape in amazement. From the plucked violins
that introduce the song to the warmth of the organ, and
the electric guitar picking up the line, to the perfectly
multi-tracked vocals, this mix of classical and pop is just
wonderful. “Angeline” is a pretty one, a moderately
up-tempo song that’s really a disguised ballad telling
a story. It has a country western feel, courtesy of the
melodic line, violin, and the acoustic guitars, yet the
two keyboards (organ, and a brighter one with a bell-like
tone) provide a warmer contemporary pop sound. The close
of the song, when the flute comes in, gave me goose bumps.
“Summer of 42” opens with an intense string
choir, sounding like something right out an orchestral piece,
with wind instrument flourishes. But when the acoustic guitar
and vocals come in with a folk song feel, the two blend
exceedingly well. Eventually the strings fade into the background
and the breezy folk takes over. The cello and strings that
open “Theme From Jerome (Forgotten Words)” are
beautiful, and “Violin Tsunami” is a piece with
multi-tracked violin minimalism, a la Phillip Glass, underlying
a waltz time song with epic vocals and synths. At the halfway
mark, it becomes a dark ambient piece, full of mysteries
and glories, and the multi-tracked vocals come back as a
heavenly choir. As the track comes to its close, a single
violin rises as if in praise. The closer, “Annie,
Hearth Thief of the Sea” has both the feel of a traditional
American folk song and a Japanese folks song.” It’s
one of the most unique songs ever, on a gorgeous unique
album.
KITTY
KAT FAN CLUB – Dreamy Little You (Asian Man Records,
www.asianmanrecords.com)
Do you like pretty indie-pop? Well, this is pretty indie-pop
with a difference. The band is bigger, and the arrangements
are thicker and lusher than the usual guitar bass drums
outfit. There are keyboards, multiple jangly guitars, and
lovely harmonized lead vocals. I hear saxophones sometimes,
too. The title track opens the album, and is a cute, fluffy
love song. I’m not sure that saxophone works here,
though the vocals and guitars sure do. The keyboards really
make “I’m Loving You More Than I Should.”
The layers of the instrumentation give the song a thick
feel, like you can get lost in the forest of the music,
much as you can get lost in the forest of love when you
love someone too much. “Every Island” is a favorite,
a song about growing apart. The song has a big open feel,
matching the growing distance between people, and despite
the famous John Donne quote (“No man is an island),
we are indeed all islands, ultimately alone. “You
Got Me Modernized” is an outlier, different from all
the other songs. It’s less indie-pop and more garage
rock, complete with dark sounding keyboards with heavy vibrato
and urgent saxophones. While Kitty Kat Fan Club doesn’t
break a whole lot of new ground here, they do give us a
nice new twist on the indie pop sound.
LOCAL
DRAGS – Shit’s Looking Up (It’s Alive
Records, www.facebook.com/ itsaliverecords / Starbumb
Records, www. stardumbrecords.com)
The Midwest truly is the home of power pop in the USA, not
Los Angeles or New York. Many of the best bands keeping
this genre alive come out of the heartland, especially from
Wisconsin. Local Drags hail from Springfield, Illinois.
Their brand of power pop has a more modern indie rock feeling
than most, blending pop punk and even some working class
rock and roll feel into the ten songs on this debut LP.
The music is great, especially if you’re a fan of
the guitar-driven pop music that filled the airwaves from
the late 70s to the early 80s, before synths and new wave
took over. The one thing that leaves me confused, though,
are the lyrics. I’m having a hard time understanding
the meanings behind many of these songs. The one possible
exception is “Hidden Track,” the third song
in, which seems to use the metaphor of a hidden track on
a CD for someone who feels invisible to others. What I do
know is that the music is fine, almost universally jangly
and hooky. There are a few outliers, though. “Double
Bird” uses acoustic guitar and strings to provide
more of a singer-songwriter sound, and this quiet one is
the song most out of place amongst the raucous tracks. “Michelob
Ultra” is another one that doesn’t quite fit
in, less pop and more simmering rock – especially
with the guitar solo that almost sounds like a sax solo
from the E-Street Band. “Water Wings” is the
pop-punkiest of the tracks, and a favorite. It’s faster
and louder than most, with harder-driving guitars and pounding
drums. And “Metal Gear Winter” is a slower one,
sort of like a power pop ballad, I guess. Give this a listen,
if you’re a fan of the genre. And let me know if you
can figure out what the songs mean.
VERDIGRLS
– Small Moves (Substitute Scene Records, www.substitute
scene.com)
Verdigrls are sisters Anne and Catherine Wolk, along with
guitarist Rachel Rossen. The Wolk sisters have been making
music together since grade school, and have blended their
classical training and their love of indie music into something
quite beautiful. Using synths, drum machine, violin, cello,
guitar, and their gorgeous vocals, Verdigrls create soundscapes
that are part retro new wave, part dream pop, and part classical
opera. “Daylight Savings” opens the EP with
a delicately pulsing bass line and synth organ, which are
quickly joined by a very 80s sounding synth and elegant
strings. Then the otherworldly vocals enter, with one foot
in the classical realm and the other firmly in the indie-pop
tradition. The harmonized backing vocals are ethereal. Speaking
of ethereal, the title track is just that. The synths are
tuned to sound like French horns, and the song just sort
of hangs there in the air, dreamily floating along, the
harmonized vocals wafting through. The synths on “The
State,” which closes the five song EP, quietly shimmer,
soft around the edges, and the vocals have their most classical
sound here. This is pretty, calming music,
VARIOUS
– The New Testament – 2019 International Punk
Killers (Dirty Water Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
Dirty Water Records is one of the premiere labels of the
world championing garage and roots punk rock and roll. They,
along with Slovenly Records, are doing more than anyone
to promote this high-energy genre. For this sampler LP,
Dirty Water have chosen six outstanding bands and given
them two tracks each to show their stuff, one being previously
released and one brand new. The Black Mambas, from right
here in the USA (Los Angeles, to be precise) give us the
full-on punk “Up All Night,” which channels
UK bands of the late 70s, complete with affected accent.
Their second track, “Baby I’ll Give It To You”
sounds more like a band out of the 1950's rockabilly scene.
Both are packed with power. New Zealand’s The Cavemen
offer up “My Baby Knows” and “Too High
To Die.” These Kiwis play music that would make the
most hardened delinquent seem like an angel. The music drips
with greasiness, and you just know these hoods are up to
no good – but the music is so good. Everyone’s
favorite musical alien watchers and French rockers, The
Scaners, provide “No Place In Space” from their
debut LP, and “UFO Crash.” The former has an
urgency not unlike the Texas band, Radioactivity, while
the latter adds synthesizer, sounding like a super-hyped
up Devo. The Fadeaways are from Japan. Their songs, “I’m
Useless” and “Nowhere to Hide,” echo the
greatness of 60s garage rock. Also from France, Les Lullies
blend the fast garage punk style with more of a roots feel
on “You’re Doing Wrong” and “What
You’re Doing,” the latter being heavier on the
punk, and one of the more raucous tracks of the comp (if
that’s even possible), mixing in early 80s hardcore
sounds to the mix. Finally, Spaniards Nave Nodriza slay
‘em all with the most hardcore of all the punks on
“Destrúyete” and “Muérete.”
They remind me of another killer Spanish language band,
Tijuana’s DFMK. Nave Nodriza just kill it! As Dirty
Water Records says in their press release, “This sonic
pestilence has gone global.” And thanks be to Dirty
Water Records for gathering it all together in one place
to infect us. If you haven’t been picking up all the
ace DWR releases I’ve been praising in past reviews,
do yourself a favor and get this one. It’ll leave
you wanting more and more.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHARGER
(Pirates Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
Rancid’s Matt Freeman joins forces with drummer Jason
Willer and guitarist Andrew McGee in recently formed Charger,
a project created not “as a band so much as a musical
challenge between two lifers in the punk scene who wanted
to push each other to dig deep into their shared roots,
influences and musical passions,” as they put it.
And, if you’re expecting punk rock, a la Rancid, change
your mindset now. Charger owes more of a debt to Motorhead,
AC/DC, and Black Sabbath than any punk band. Yes, this is
pure, classic, hard rock. Three of the seven songs on this
long-form EP were previously released on a 7” EP last
year, but all of them are hard-driving metallic rock music.
Not a hint of pop or punk invades these hand bangers. Most
of “Damage,” for example, sounds like an homage
to Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” but with
slightly quicker tempo. “All Kings Must Die”
owes a great debt to Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades,”
too. It has that same gliding quality, and the vocals throughout
this record have a quality similar to that of the late,
great Lemmy Kilmister. The musicianship is top notch, as
you might expect from such musical lifers. So if you’re
into this sort of music, you’re going to love this.
To me, though, it seems too derivative.
CREATURE
AND THE WOODS – Joshua Tree (Blind Owl Records,
www.blindowlsd.com)
San Diego quartet Creature In The Woods blend together classic
rock, Americana, and soulful spiritual music on their latest
EP. The title comes from the place where the tracks were
recorded. The band rented an Air BnB in the area, recording
several songs, four of which are included on this EP. The
opener, “Widow’s Waltz,” begins and ends
with grainy sounding, haunting Native American chants, and
in between is a grunged up, bluesy number that channels
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s classic 70s blues
rock sound. Multi-part vocal harmonies and a warm organ
sound are key highlights, even as a surf guitar tone and
a gritty bass keep things dark. “Head Above Water”
slows things down, and the Fender Rhodes keyboards give
this track a deep soul feel. Vocals provide the primary
instrumentation on this one, with the drums simply providing
a steady tempo, and the guitar, bass, and Rhodes used for
embellishment, to bend those notes, and create the atmosphere.
“Oh, Well” is a quiet, sparsely arranged, delicate
number, with deeply passionate vocals. The closer, “Two
Golden Coins,” is a bouncy one, with full-on multi-part
harmonies in the vocals. It’s a love song, in which
one thought life was just about over until meeting that
special someone. “I was just about to lay down / Just
about to lay down and die / And I had two golden coins /
Two golden coins over my eyes / You just danced and sang
/ And I was wild again.” The feeling is one of a spiritual
revival, the Holy Ghost coming alive, the joy spreading.
Maybe that’s how you’ll feel, too, after listening.
GREY
GOES BLACK – Records Over Wire (Shore Dive Records,
shorediverecords.bandcamp.com)
Shore Dive is a UK label that specializes in shoegaze, dream
pop, and electronica. Central New Jersey band Grey Goes
Black, who they recently signed, is a good fit. The dreaminess
on this record, though, comes less from electronics or keyboards,
and more from the instrumentation, the vocals, and hazy
pace of the tracks. The trio (Matt Cosoni – guitar
and vocals, James Malizia – bass and keyboards, Steven
Moraghan – drums and electronics) show that a band
can be dreamy without over-reliance on thick electronics.
Cosoni’s vocals alone prove that, with aching emotions
coming through clearly. An electronic percussion track plays
alongside the drums, prominently featured on the opener,
“It’s Not Just Another Night,” and lending
a chill-out quality to the track. Maybe too chill, though.
Each of the four tracks (and the bonus remix of “Can’t
Keep Me Here Tonight”) is slow and lazy, lulling the
listener into a trance-like state, Each track on its own
is an interesting listen, and the music is fairly unique,
different from anything other dream pop bands are doing.
Taken together, though, the record shares too much in common
with strong opiates, and listeners are likely to become
disconnected from reality for a time.
HARRINGTON
SAINTS – 1000 Pounds of Oi! (Pirates Press Records,
www.piratespressrecords.com)
I guess Bay Area street punks Harrington Saints used to
carry more weight than they do now. The album title and
title track refer to when they were first playing bigger
shows and were likened to Poison Idea, but playing oi music.
They’ve slimmed down since then, but they’re
still true to their roots, playing punk tock with a metallic
edge. After a decade and a half as a band, this is only
their third full-length LP, and it contains ten tracks of
what they term “American Oi!” It’s American
beer guzzling working class punk rock. The band is tight,
the melodies are simple, and the vocals are shouted. It’s
a recipe for a great live show, with tons of people are
shouting in unison, I’m sure. But this sort of thing
doesn’t translate that well to record. It comes across
to me as too simplistic, and the monotone shouted vocals
get, well, monotonous. Song topics range from political,
such as “Red State,” which talks about the Republican
dominated parts of the country, and “State of Emergency,”
about the need for gun control, to societal comments, such
as “Pressure” and “Broken Windows.”
There’s the inevitable call for revolution in “Rise
Up.” Then there’s the title track, which is
a song about themselves. A lot of this is a sort of throwback
to 80s punk. I know so many bands, even made up of younger
people, who seem to be stuck 30+ years ago. And I don’t
deny that there’s an audience for this sort of thing
today, but it just seems stale to me.
RAMOMS
– Problem Child (Pirates Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
The Ramoms, made up of Jodi, Sharon, Molly, and Ginger Ramom,
are part Ramones tribute band, part comic novelty act. They
take Ramones songs and rework them for a new generation.
The first track is a revision of the classic “Judy
Is A Punk” that honors the Philadelphia Flyers hockey
team’s new mascot, Gritty, called “Gritty Is
A Punk.” Next up, “Boogie Not Snot,” takes
the melody of “Blitzkrieg Bop” and gives it
new lyrics all about the problems that come with nasal congestion.
Finally, we get a straight-up cover of the classic “Rockaway
Beach.” The Ramoms are talented musicians and singers
that do a worthy job performing these songs, but I can’t
help but think that their abilities would be better served
with some original material. Write some originals, and I’ll
buy those records!
ROBOT
(RE)PAIR – End Transmissions (Night Animal Records
nightanimalrecords.bandcamp.com, Rad Girlfriend Records
radgirlfriendrecords.bandcamp.com)
Longtime friends Matt and Yami form the core of Robot (Re)pair,
and earlier recordings featured just the two of them. In
recent years they’ve added Harry and Brad to fill
out the sound. Some of the tracks on this album have become
staples of their live set, while some of them are new, written
on the spot during recording. The band members declare Hickey,
50 Million, and Bust the Action to be the best punk bands
ever and strong influences in their younger lives, though
they admit they sound nothing like those bands. Instead,
they have a loose, DIY pop punk sound and feel, like old
friends just playing music together. Which is exactly what
they are. Fuzzed and clean guitars duel for supremacy, while
a deep bass thrumps along with pounding drums. The opening
track holds two songs, the gorgeous indie-pop instrumental
“Entering the Heliosphere” and one of the mainstays,
“Serotonin Syndrome.” The former is pretty,
gossamer thing that moves along aimlessly, like floating
down a river, while the latter picks up the pace and becomes
a great sing-along, with soaring vocals start and stop rhythm
guitar. Some of the songs on this LP remind me of some of
the material from the late, great Rumspringer, which makes
sense; Matt played in that storied band. The guitars jangle
loudly, as the vocals roughly glide over them. It’s
the sonic equivalent of a choppy train ride, everything
moving forward at a rapid pace, and you feel every bump
in the rails, every uneven section of track, but it feels
great. Another standout track is “Poverty Bonds,”
particularly for the transition it makes from a rapid fire,
jangly pop punk track to a mid-tempo song with the lead
guitar creating an intensely dark, morose sound. “Origin
Story” is one of the great standouts, a truly soaring
song with a bit of country twang. The opening to “Dust
It Off” is beautiful acoustic guitar, sounding so
relaxed like someone sitting in their bedroom, noodling
around just for the sheer joy of it. It then turns into
another of the many great pop punk tracks here, with simple,
yet intensely jangling guitars and those vocals with lots
of sustained notes that give it that gliding feel. Many
of the tracks have an introduction that sounds very different
from the rest of the track. “Sonoran Death Rattle”
takes this to the extreme, with verses that are quiet, but
with aching tension of guitar feedback in the background,
and the fast, jangly, fuzzy pop punk on the chorus. The
whole record is a lot of fun to listen to, but I have one
major concern: the title. “End Transmissions”
makes it sound like a swan song. I hope that’s not
the case, because I want to keep hearing and seeing Robot
(Re)Pair play for a long time to come.
CORNER
BOYS – Waiting For 2020 (Drunken Sailor Records,
www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
After a couple of 7” EPs over the past two years,
Vancouver’s Corner Boys have finally given us their
debut full-length LP. The music is as fun and bouncy as
ever, with garage-like guitars and lots of silly lyrics.
The sound this time around, though, is cleaner than the
EPs, and though many of the songs are still spoken rather
than sung, this time we get some actual singing, as well!
I love the jangly garage pop sound and the snotty punk attitude
that pervades the whole album. As I’ve commented on
previous reviews of this band’s records, you don’t
listen to Corner Boys for expert crooning vocals –
singing isn’t their strong point. You listen to Corner
Boys because they’re so damn much fun to listen to.
I love “Joke (Of The Neighborhood),” one of
the songs that are partially somewhat sung. It’s got
a fantastic power pop chorus, and is highly danceable. The
guitar tone is bright throughout the album, but especially
on “Lies and Excuses.” It’s another song
with actual singing, but just on the chorus. When I first
saw the name of the album, I thought it might be a reference
to Donald Trump and the upcoming election cycle. But “Waiting
For 2020” is more about the impending apocalypse,
making it sound like something to look forward to. Mid-way
through the song, the air raid sirens begin to sound. It’s
the most political these guys get. Another notable song
of the album is “Don’t Come Back.” It’s
the most retro garage sounding song, with as bunch of 60s
lounge influence in the guitar sound, even as the song itself
is more manic than lounge. It’s a favorite. But then,
all these songs are worthy of being called favorite, they’re
that much fun. Even though the Corner Boys still can’t
sing.
THE
DODGES – This One’s On You EP (thedodgesband.bandcamp.com)
First of all, big ups have to go to Will Castro, head honcho
over at La Escalera Records. No, he didn’t put this
record out; it’s self-released. La Escalera is not
just a record label; it’s a family, a network of bands
and people who support each other. And Will has been active
in recent years of reaching out to new bands and those in
other sub-scenes in San Diego, to bring then into the family,
thus providing more exposure to bands that might otherwise
have fallen between the cracks. The Dodges is one such band.
They started popping up on bills of shows La Escalera was
putting on in San Diego, and they instantly became a new
favorite. This new EP is a follow-up to last year’s
mini-LP debut, “Roll With The Dodges,” and it
features four new tracks of music that defies categorization.
It’s not punk or pop punk. It’s not quite power
pop. But it’s bouncy and melodic, and it rocks hard.
The title track comes first, starting with some old-timey
piano before the band bursts in with a poppy mid-tempo number
with a dark edge, sort of like Green Day mixed with earlier
Social Distortion. “Equilibrium” is next, and
is the most standard rock and roll track of the quartet,
with a dark feel, crunchier, with less pop and more rock.
It’s got a nice short acoustic break near the end
of the track, too. “Susceptible” is the most
power pop like song on the record, with tons of bounce and
some great hooks. And “To The Top” is the closest
the band ever gets to big sing-along pop punk. This track
is faster and even more energetic than the others, with
some great fist-pumping moments. The key thing that ties
these songs together, and what makes The Dodges instantly
recognizable and unique are the chord changes they use.
They’re not standard pop punk, and the unexpectedness
makes for interesting and engaging songs.
FLESHIES
– Introducing The Fleshies (Dirt Cult Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
Do not be deceived! This is not a debut album, even though
the title makes it seem so! Fleshies were formed two decades
ago, and this album is the band’s eighth full-lengther,
though it’s their first in ten years! The record is
chock-full of fast and loud, dark, angry punk music. The
instrumentation is thick, wall of guitar, and the vocals
drip with rage. This is classic, in your face hardcore punk,
with plenty of metallic edge in places. The dozen songs
only take up 23 minutes, so the average blast starts and
finishes in under two minutes. “Hold Me Up”
is one of the long-form tracks, at just over three minutes,
and is different from the rest in another way – it’s
mid-tempo and it’s melodic! “Stone Mason”
is another out of the ordinary track for the Oakland band,
also melodic, but more in a pop punk vein. “Dirtier
Harry” is hard rockin’, and the other track
that exceeds three minutes, “Bombs,” is another
slow one, this time harder rock but with a tuneful feel.
The rest of the tracks are the fast and loud hardcore punk
Fleshies are most known for, and it’s good to have
them back.
MATT
SURFIN AND FRIENDS (Community Records, www.communityrecords.org)
Matt Surfin, aka Matt Seferian, is a New Orleans-based musician,
producer, and part-time pizza delivery guy. One of his great
loves is collaborating with a variety of other musicians
in whatever scene he’s in, and that’s the approach
he took with his new band, Matt Surfin and Friends. “I
started this band because I wanted more of that,”
Surfin says. “For me, it was all about celebrating
my musical community and connecting with the people I love.”
As a result, Matt Surfin and Friends is less of a band and
more of a malleable collective that shifts and changes as
the need arises. And that means there are subtle variations
in the sounds that pop up in the eleven songs on this LP.
They range from the straightforward indie-pop of “Loser”
(even with its unusual use of synth at the very end of the
track) and “Bleep,” to the harder jangle of
“Life of Luxury lol,” and to the quiet acoustic
“Get Down.” “Truth” has a bigger
sound, due to the keyboard tone and funky guitar and bass
lines, while “Get Down” has a retro quality,
sort of like the transitional era from power pop to new
wave in the late 70s and early 80s. “Vibrochamp”
is an upbeat indie-pop song that jangles, yet also has a
dreaminess to it, particularly toward the end, as the synths
come to the fore. The closer, “Summertime,”
with its acoustic guitar and multi-tracked vocals is particularly
nice, with a lazy, hazy feel. While the LP isn’t breaking
any new ground, it’s sure pleasant to listen to.
NEGATIVE
SPACE – Cruelty (Drunken Sailor Records, www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
Post-punk out of the UK, with minimalist melodies and shouted
and spoken vocals. The drums and bass throb, and the guitars
fuzzily drone. Heavy reverb permeates everything. Tracks
move along at a moderate pace, vocals are fairly monotone,
and there’s a pervasive darkness that infects every
track. I think the main issue I have is how plodding the
end result is. There’s little variation from track
to track, and the minimalist melodies that repeat over and
over get tiresome. The reverb makes the vocals feel distant
and removed, even though they’re shouted. The lo-fi
of the recording creates a muddiness that’s hard to
wade through, as well. I just couldn’t get into this
one.
NO
NEGATIVE – The Last Offices (Drunken Sailor Records,
www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
Last Offices refers to the care that is given to a deceased
patient and their family. It’s a morbid, depressing
thought. I’m not sure what Montreal’s No Negative
means by this, but record is manic stuff, loud and relentless.
It’s got a progressive rock quality to it, too, somewhat
experimental. “Lawfucker,” for instance, has
a piercing guitar right up front in the mix, and the vocals
are pulled further back and muffled. It’s quite unsettling
of a sound, like something from a dystopian future, as seen
from a 1980s point of view. The whole album is like this,
with a “melody” presented, followed by a lengthy
jam, riffing on noise. This is great stuff – in small
doses. It’s hard to take all of these songs back to
back, though. After five or ten minutes of this, I’m
exhausted and want some quiet and some pop aesthetic to
calm me down. The track that stands out, though, is “Worm
Feed.” It’s the shortest, at only two and a
quarter minutes, it’s the fastest, and it’s
the most “punk.”
SCRAP
BRAIN – A Journey Into Madness (Drunken Sailor Records,
www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
The introduction that makes up the first half of the first
track of this debut LP from the UK band, Scrap Brain, had
me excited. It had fuzzy ambient music, electronics, and
found sounds creating a gorgeously eerie atmosphere. Then
the intro ended, and the band launched into “Deadweight.”
And it’s an album of loud, noisy, chaotic hardcore
punk. Vocals are shouted, yet buried deeply in the “mix.”
There’s no sense of melody whatsoever, at least not
that I could discern. Probably the best track of the album
comes right in the middle. “Floundering” is
super fast and edgy, with a bridge in the middle that slows
things sound – and the whole track does have a melodic
line that the vocals and instruments follow together. The
other tracks are noisy, feedback laden, and tumultuous.
Some people absolutely love this style, and if so, you’re
going to enjoy the ten songs on offer. It’s not the
sort of thing I go for, though.
TRUTH
CLUB – Not An Exit (Tiny Engines, www.tinyengines.net)
Take some clean indie-pop. Add some dreamy synths, but not
too much. Gently blend together, and then top with a relaxed
casual feeling. Raleigh, North Carolina’s Truth Club
makes it seem easy on this debut LP. Travis Harrington’s
vocals range from lazy and laid back to tense and emotion-filled,
echoing the changes in the backing instrumentals from light
and hazy to loud and fuzzed out. When a band’s recording
feels like they’re not working too hard to create
a sound, that it’s just them playing some songs together,
that’s when magic happens. And magic happens on this
LP. It’s pretty amazing, too, that you can tell there’s
not a lot here in terms of instrumentation, just basic guitar,
bass, drums, and synths in the background, yet the songs
sound lush and full. “Student Housing” has hints
of retro goth feel in the guitar and eerie synth careening
in the back, providing a dark mood. That is, until the reverb
drops away and the guitars get noisy and punked out in the
closing seconds of the track. “Path Render”
is a favorite. It’s a slower track, with dreamy, wobbly
guitars and Harrington’s easy baritone vocals. Past
the halfway mark, things get more intense, with drums and
noisy synth coming in. “No Planned Sequel” has
such a great, relaxed feel, almost like indie-lounge, The
title track is the sparsest of the album, yet is one of
the best. This time it’s the guitars that provide
the dreaminess, not the synths, which are absent here. The
track has a breezy feel, even as it’s driven ever
forward by the rhythm section, and parts of it have a math-like
feel. The penultimate track, “Tethering,” alternates
between quiet, dreamy ballad and noisy indie track, while
the closer, “Dry Off,” reminds me in places
of Interpol, and is yet another stand-out of the album.
This is a very promising debut.
WEIRD
NUMBERS – Minotaur Dreams (Dirt Cult Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
Weird Numbers is the new Seattle-based project from Zache
Davis of Maniac and The Girls, Colin Griffiths of The Girls
and Tourist, and Ethan Jacobsen of Tourist and Wasted USA.
Talk about an incestuous scene! The four tracks in this
debut EP range from the loping garage punk of “Dolphin
Encounters” and “Obsolete Man” to the
power pop on the title track, to the near glam of “Switching
the Code” and the retro 80s post punk goth of “Uzis
and Bikinis.” The songs are diverse, the music tight
and professional without sounding slick, and provide an
excellent debut. I would expect nothing less from a band
made up of such luminaries.
BATLORDS
– Lords of Shred (Shred The Gnar Records, shredthegnarrecords.
bandcamp.com)
So you think San Diego is all sunny and beachy? Think again.
There’s a dark, unseemly underbelly to San Diego.
Look under enough rocks and you’ll find it. Batlords.
As on past records, they’re continuing to terrorize
the San Diego punk scene with songs like “Bloodeaters,”
“Buried Alive,” “Witching Hour,”
“Necropolis,” and more. The style of music is
distinctly garage punk, with no pretensions of pop and no
lyrics about difficult love lives, though “Buried
Alive” has a definite Ramones-core feel, even with
harmonized vocals. The sound is bigger than the three-piece
they are, with dark, full, guitar fuzz, throbbing bass,
and pounding drums. Guitarist Steven Baeza’s lead
vocals are emphatic, yet deadpan, like the zombies and other
creatures they sing about. “I’m feeling fine
most of the time / The doctors say I’ve lost my mind
/ Rot, ruin, decay” he sings on “Feeling Fine,”
as if it was important, yet no big deal, because that’s
just life. “Burn The Dead” is a great old-school
hardcore track, fast and loud, clocking in at only forty-nine
seconds. “Ghoul School” is the longest song
on the album, timing out at 2:51. It’s got the same
garage-like wall of guitar, but the bass is playing a really
great melodic line. It’s one of my favorites of the
album just for that great bass line, and the soaring guitar
at the end of the track makes this sound almost like an
indie rock song. Another solid effort from the prolific
Batlords.
BRAD
MARINO – Extra Credit (Rum Bar Records, rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com)
Alert readers will recognize that in our last installment,
Geoff Palmer of the Connections had just released a digital
single and a vinyl 7” chock full of power pop goodness.
Well, another Connections member has just dropped a new
solo LP, too. Brad Marino’s “Extra Credit”
is a trip back to when bouncy, melodic, guitar-fueled music
ruled the scene. Images of legends like The Paul Collins
Beat, The Plimsouls, and Elvis Costello come floating through
my mind. The music blends classic power pop, classic rock
and roll, British invasion, and the earliest new wave sounds
into a coherent whole. The album opens with “Broken
Clocks,” a rock and roll track that could have been
written in the 1950s, complete with Chuck Berry style guitar
solo, but it’s cleaner sounding, with some more modern
flourishes here and there. “No One Else Tried It”
channels early Rolling Stones with its blend of Brit rock
and R&B influence. And “Wake Up Baby,” apparently
co-written with Kurt Baker, is a power pop gem with hints
of Elvis Costello’s classic style. I love the guitar
jangle during the verses and the big bar chords on the chorus
and the simple, brilliant bridge. “Fit To Be Tied”
blends many of these characteristics into a single song,
making the disparate styles fit together naturally.”
I really love the up-tempo “From The Start,”
with a simple roots rock chord progression and a Beatles-esque
melodic line. “Broken Record Baby” is a hilarious
anti-love song about a girlfriend who mistreats precious
vinyl records. It’s not the best song of the album,
musically, but lyrically I think most of us can relate to
it too much. “It’s Not Right” mixes in
some acoustic guitar touches on another classic power pop
track. And the album closes almost the way it started: “Bye
Bye Johnny” covers the Chuck Berry tune, so this time
the influence is laid out for all to see. Once again, a
member of the Connections has given us a fun, bouncy record
that all lovers of power pop will enjoy.
BRADLEY
PALERMO – Volume 1 (www.bradleypalermo.com)
Bradley Palermo is a Midwest transplant, having relocated
from St. Louis, Missouri to Los Angeles to pursue a solo
music career, a topic touched on in his song, “The
Long Way.” The song is about how we might think we’ve
made wrong choices in life, but how we learn from these
mistakes, and they make us stronger. “I should have
never moved to Los Angeles / I should have never quit my
band / I should have never told them all to fuck off / When
I had them / Eating right there from my hand / But I’m
glad I did / Cause now I’m stumbling / The only way
that I know how.” Acoustic guitar, steel pedal guitar,
bass, drums, and harmonica are prominently featured on the
ten songs on this collection of remastered songs, which
had been previously released as singles over a period of
time. The feeling is one of a country troubadour; the acoustic
guitar and raspy singing feel deep and honest, but the steel
pedal guitar is too Nashville country for my tastes. As
a result, my favorite songs are those that eschew the slick
trappings of country and focus more on alt-folk and Americana.
I really like “Lost In August,” which uses ukulele
and accordion in a breezy feeling song. Even the lyrics
have an “island” feel: “We were as native
/ As the palms / No one cared where we came from / We are
still here / And it’s now.” Live in the moment,
the song seems to tell us. And “Trouble To Find”
is just acoustic guitar, bass, tambourine, a bit of harmonica,
and Palermo’s gritty voice, effectively telling a
tale of paranoia and obsession ruining enjoyment of life.
And the closer, “Hollywood, Hollywood,” is a
dark track with acoustic guitar, bass, harmonica, and vocals,
with hints of organ in the background setting a mood of
desperation. As with a few other songs on the LP, this one
tells of the darker side of life in Los Angeles, like the
“quick-stop corner store, poison every night,”
or the loneliness one often finds in a big city: “We
ain’t friends or enemies, cause we ain’t got
the time.” Some of the songs that use steel pedal
aren’t bad at all – I just don’t think
that it adds to the songs. It feels too slick and country.
Some of the songs use synth, and I think these fare less
well than the steel pedal songs. To me, the synth (and steel
pedal) really only detract from the truth telling of the
stripped down songs. I see a lot of potential here for some
great Americana. The songwriting is deeply personal and
effective, but I think the arrangements could use some work.
OTOBOKE
BEAVER – Itekoma Hits ( Damnably Records, www.damnably.com)
My declaration stands: there is no such thing as a bad Japanese
band! Otoboke Beaver, hailing from the temple city of Kyoto,
play manic garage punk, with a sweet but nasty attitude.
The four women who make up Otoboke Beaver met at the Kyoto
University music club, and we’re the better for it.
The mood shifts rapidly from short song to short song, and
even within a single song. The songs go from simple rhythms
to arrhythmic, from violent, anger filled hardcore to rap
to grungy melodies and everything in between. This is some
of the most creative music I’ve heard in awhile, and
I don’t understand a word of the lyrics because they’re
all in Japanese! The band name is apparently taken from
a local Kyoto “love hotel,” and according to
the band’s bio, the song subjects include bad love,
devious boyfriends, and general sexism. That explains the
anger. Just going by the sounds, a favorite track is “S’il
Vous Plait,” a rockin’ garage-like number with
tight coordination of vocal gymnastics. “Bakuro Book”
has sections that are bouncy and melodic, and sections that
just go crazy. “Introduce Me To Your Family”
is a funky post-punk rap song, something you have to hear
to believe. “Love Is Short” is all over the
map, musically, with lyrics shouted with military precision
and a section with a ska rhythm at double speed. I don’t
understand what they’re singing on “Bad Luck,”
but this one is my favorite of the album. I feel the anger
and frustration in the rapped lyrics and the hardcore sections,
but are those sweet melodic sections sarcastic? This song
goes through more changes than any of the others, and I
love that. “I’m Tired of Your Repeating Story”
is pure punk rock and roll, and reminds me of Tijuana’s
DFMK, except with Japanese razor sharp precision. OK, I’m
going to stop here, because I’ll list every song,
because every song is my favorite! It’s that great
of an album, and it’s another in my now crowded list
of candidates for best records of 2019, and we’re
still in the first half of the year!
WESTERN
SETTINGS – Angus EP (A-F Records, www.a-frecords.limitedrun.com)
It’s been three long years since we’ve gotten
new music from San Diego’s Western Settings. The “Old
Pain” mini LP was their last release, way back in
2016. Now newly signed to A-F Records, Western Settings
has released a new EP to tease their new full-length LP,
coming out this fall, and the first album since “Yes
It Is” came out in early 2015. They’ve sure
taken their time. So was it worth it? Hell yes! These new
songs demonstrate a new direction for Western Settings.
The songs still have an expansive emotional feel, but are
brighter sounding than past efforts. “That’s
Pretty Good” opens the EP, and where past songs were
majestic, this song has bounce to it. Bassist Ricky Schmidt’s
vocals have grown and matured, and his dynamic range is
bigger and more impressive, transitioning from smooth and
easy vibrato to his intense gruff singing that we know from
the past. “Duckets Is Tight” comes next, and
wow! The tempo picks up a bit, the bounce is bigger, and
I hear influence of bands like Dead To Me here, yet as different
as this is from other Western Settings songs, it’s
still recognizably Western Settings. The title track adds
keyboards to the band for the first time, and the song is
an acoustic one. Organ drones in the background, and all
we have is acoustic guitar and Schmidt’s pleading
voice. This is a real showcase for him – there’s
no hiding. The guitar tone is gorgeous, sounding more like
a classical guitar than anything from punk, and the song
is unexpected and beautiful. Yes, it’s been worth
the wait, but we have a little more time to wait for the
LP, and I, for one, am getting anxious, because if it’s
anything like this EP, it’s going to be the best thing
they’ve done yet.
PUP
– Morbid Stuff (Rise Records,
www.riserecords.com)
PUP is a band that, I’ll admit it, I slept on. All
my friends always raved about them, but I had never bothered
to listen until fairly recently. And I liked what I heard.
So I became excited for the release of the third PUP LP,
“Morbid Stuff,” because it would be a great
opportunity for me to jump on an excellent bandwagon. PUP
songs are huge, loud, brash, exuberant, and angry. Gang
vocals are shouted as much as sung. I can imagine a live
show being a huge emotional release, and am anxious for
their upcoming tour so I can experience that for myself.
A lot of PUP songs seem to tell a story, and that’s
unchanged here. The title track that opens the album is
one such song, about two people who live in different worlds
and have grown apart. “I was getting high in the van
in St. Catherine’s / While you were rubbing elbows
in the art scene.” The raucous number winds down with
“I don’t know what you want me to say / ‘Cause
back in the city I was on a tear / You had it all, you pissed
it away / Back in the city without a care.” It seems
like a big “fuck you” to people who think they’re
better, but fuck things up and come crawling back. I like
the feel of “Kids,” a song about the meaninglessness
of life, “I've been navigating my way through the
mind-numbing reality of a godless existence / Which, at
this point in my hollow and vapid life, has erased what
little ambition I've got left,” sings vocalist Stefan
Babcock. But “fuck it,” is the sentiment. “And
I've embraced the calamity / With an attachment and a passive
disinterest.” The lyrics are of despondent resignation,
but the music is joyous, as if reveling in the banality
of existence. And this is one of the magical aspects of
PUP, throughout the album. As angry or dejected or apathetic
as the lyrics might be, the music is celebratory. “I’m
still here!” the music seems to say defiantly. “I’ll
take anything you throw at me and keep going!”
“Free At Last,” one of the lead singles, may
be one of the most covered songs of all time – all
before it was even released! The band posted the song’s
chords and lyrics and invited bands to create their own
versions of the song and send them in. Some were terrible
and some were awesome. Clips of many of them made it into
the music video the band released. The chorus either demands
that people get over themselves or is an attempt to comfort
them with the thought that they aren’t alone. “Just
‘cause you’re sad again / It doesn’t make
you special.” Lots of people deal with problems. Yours
are no different from others’.
A favorite track is “Scorpion Hill,” a track
that opens and closes with a country folk sound, and in
between tells another story, of life stuck in a rut, or
worse, spiraling downward amidst layoffs and breakups.
And again, the music is rowdy and uplifting, in dramatic
contrast to the lyrics. But, as much as I love the sound
that PUP has created, the song that is, perhaps, the most
honest, the most real, the most full of rage is “Full
Blown Meltdown.” With NOMEANSNO style slapping and
rumbling bass and 90s post hardcore mayhem, the joy and
celebration of the struggle of life is gone, replaced
with a frenzy of indignant guitars pounding drums, and
bitter lyrics that aren’t even sung. “Fucked
up / Oh, who cares anyway? / With one foot in the gutter
/ And the other in the grave, I was thinking / How long
will self destruction be alluring?” Babcock seems
to question his entire existence and way of life, with
“I’m just surprised the world isn’t
sick / of grown men whining like children / You shouldn’t
take it so seriously / It’s just music after all
/ And half the crap I say is just / Things I’ve
stolen from the bathroom walls / Of shitty venues across
America.” The music matches the mood to a tee.
Yes, I’m playing catch up here with Pup. If you
haven’t hopped aboard, I strongly recommend you
do, because this record will easily appear on my Best
of 2019 lists.
AREE
AND THE PURE HEART – Never Gonna Die (Wiretap Records,
wiretaprecords.limitedrun.com)
Powerful, emotionally driven Americana is what Aree and
the Pure Heart deliver, and they deliver it in spades. The
passion is palpable, as are the southern working class roots
and punk influence. But don’t be fooled into thinking
this is a pop punk release, despite their presence on the
Wiretap Records roster; this is pure Americana rock and
roll, with a dose of Springsteen style arrangement, courtesy
of a prominently featured saxophone on some of the tracks
and the presence of keyboards throughout. Much of the sound
can be attributed to vocalist Aree Ogir’s singing;
the animated, heartfelt feeling comes through clearly. The
grittiness of the vocals are complemented by the smoothness
in most of the instrumentals; the band make the songs feel
effortless, like this is just something they’re doing
for the sheer pleasure of it. I think my favorite track
of the album has to be the quiet ballad, “The Feeling
I Get.” It’s just piano and Aree’s deeply
passionate vocals, and you can really feel the deep hurt
when he sings, “There’s an aching in my heart
/ Teardrops on my pillow like raindrops on a windowpane.”
This isn’t generally the sort of music I seek out,
but if you’re a fan of The Boss, Americana, and working
class rock and roll, you’re sure to like this album
a lot.
BRAVE
THE SEA – The Kraken (www.bravetheseaband.com)
Brave The Sea are Ohio’s answer to bands like Flogging
Molly and Dropkick Murphys. They play nominally Celtic influenced
rock music that also has more than a dose of punk rock,
too. I know a lot of people aren’t crazy about this
kind of music, but I do enjoy it. I like Celtic music, and
I like punk rock, and blending the two together can be a
lot of fun, especially when done well. And Brave The Sea
do it well. They have a gravelly pop punk aesthetic they
bring to the genre, sort of like they’re real pirates.
Mandolin and banjo join electric guitars, bass, and drums
providing the strong folk element to these raucous sea shanties.
And perhaps we should fix our nomenclature here, because
these songs sound more of the sea than of Ireland or Britain.
A favorite track is “Siren’s Song,”
which starts out as a sad ballad, but then turns into
a raucous number singing the praises of the title character:
“Liar and a thief and a damned old fish / But she’s
the only one I want, she’s my only wish.”
“Sláinte” is a short a cappella song
singing the praises of booze, in all its forms. Right
after is “No Whiskey, No Rum,” a huge sing-along,
the sort of thing that makes pop punk so much fun, but
with melody and instruments that lend a seafaring flare.
The Spanish-influenced ditty, “Bella Donna”
is another good one. You can feel the Latin fires simmering
in this hard rocker. And “Down With Davy Jones”
is a fantastic shanty. You feel like you’re on a
19th century sailing ship, pulling on the ropes to raise
the sail, as the first mate yells out the song to get
the crew all in time together.
“The Devil Brought Tequila” opens with a
bunch of horns, and I thought I was in for a ska punk
tune. Thankfully not, nevertheless this song is not one
of my favorites. Nor is “Bottom of the Sea,”
which doesn’t have horns, but is a hard rock track
with ska rhythms, an odd combination. But, thankfully
the songs I liked vastly outnumbered those I didn’t.
If you’re a fan of this kind of music, check out
Ohio’s old tars.
BREAKMATT
FASTGYVER – The Light Inside Is Broken but I Still
Deliver (https://bmfg.bandcamp.com)
I’m listening to this new five song EP on a Saturday
morning, after having been at night two of La Escalera Fest
8, an annual music fest in San Diego run by the folks at
La Escalera Records. The climax of the evening was a nearly
hour long set by Nothington, the Bay Area band that has
announced they’re calling it quits after a few final
West Coast shows. So this was their final San Diego show,
with only two more to go before they are no more. If you
know the style of music that Nothington play – huge
sing-along pop punk soaked with beer, with punks crowding
the stage, arms around each other, shouting the lyrics along
with the band – you’ll know exactly the sort
of music Breakmatt Fastgyver play. Yet they aren’t
from the West Coast of the USA, they’re from Milan,
Italy! But they have the style down cold. Gruff vocals are
prominent over big edgy pop punk instrumentals, with songs
played at moderate to fast tempos. While Breakmatt Fastgyver
are on well-trod territory, they do it well on this debut,
so they’re off to a good start.
CLUB
NIGHT – What Life (Tiny Engines, www.tinyengines.net)
What would experimental dream pop sound like if it was made
by bubble gum anime characters? Club Night is determined
to answer that question on their debut LP, “What Life.”
The music always sounds a bit off-kilter, a bit wobbly,
and a lot sparkly. Sometimes these tracks sound like they
were recorded underwater, and there are lots of little twirly
bits of electronics darting about during the songs, like
little fish scurrying about in the coral reef. Josh Bertram’s
falsetto vocals are a unique aspect of the band, too, giving
the songs somewhat of an urgent, otherworldly vibe. The
overall effect is of controlled chaos, of trying to bring
an order to things in order to cry out an important message.
And if the music doesn’t leave you feeling disoriented,
with its many rhythmic and time signature changes, the lyrics
certainly will; they’re more akin to avant garde poetry
than song lyrics. The end result makes for a fascinating
listen that keeps me enraptured.
THE
HECK – Who? The Heck!!! (Dirty Water Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.
co.uk)
Netherlands garage rockers The Heck have finally released
their debut LP, after a couple of teaser singles over the
past two years. And, while those two singles were pretty
solid 60s style garage rock, the LP has more of a hard rock
and roll sound. Overall, it’s less 60s, more timeless
hard rock, though a few songs have the retro edge. Like
“For Cryin’ Out Loud,” which has a distinct
power pop sensibility; even through all the rawness, it’s
got a bounce. But then we get a track like “I Won’t
Change,” in which the most garage part of it is the
keyboard, while the rest of the song evolves into a hard
rock jam. “Money” has the feel of an early rock
and roll tune from the 50s, but fuzzed up a lot more. Then
“That Moon” is a 70s jam. I think I like the
singles and their more retro garage feel better than this
LP.
LAS
ROBERTAS – Together Outrageously (Rogue Wave Records,
roguewaverecords.bigcartel.com)
Las Robertas, hailing from San Jose, Costa Rica, play a
smoothed out dreamy version of psych/garage rock. Two of
the songs on this EP are in English, and the third in Spanish.
The melodic line of “Thunder Rider” glides hazily
over garage power pop guitar, while the title track has
more of a 70s Detroit rock and roll feel underneath the
smoky vocals. “Pesadilla” closes the EP with
more than a hint of Latin rock feel, a la Santana, but while
keeping those vocals relaxed. Garage rock is supposed to
be dirty and dangerous. Las Robertas are making music that
sounds too clean and safe, and that’s my main problem
with it.
MARTHA
– Love Keeps Kicking (Dirtnap Records, www.dirtnaprecs.com)
It’s been nearly three years since Martha’s
magnificent sophomore release, “Blisters in the Pit
of My Heart,” was released. Three long years since
one of the best records of 2016. Would the band from the
little town of Pity Me live up to the high bar they set
for themselves? Well, this is quite a different LP in many
ways from the last one. The word “mature” is
tossed around a lot, but I’m going to have to use
it here. Martha’s sound has certainly matured. And
it’s diversified. The songs feel a little fuller and
lusher than the relatively raw songs of “Blisters.”
But the exuberance is still there, the sheer joy of the
music. And while the predominant style of music offered
could be called pop punk, there is plenty of indie pop and
even a bit of country in many of these songs. Right at the
opening of the album, “Heart Is Healing,” opens
with a distinct twang. The song topic is worthy of a pop
punk country song, too, talking about “That familiar
feeling when your heart is healing” yet “I just
keep running from it all.” After a bad heartache,
it’s sometimes hard to let go of the bad feelings,
and sometimes when we recognize we’re starting to
heal, we don’t want to. As always, Martha’s
songs seem to revolve around relationships – all aspects
of them, the good and the bad. “Into This” is
a wistful yet bouncy tune that questions whether the other
person is really “into this,” because “you
only want to kiss me when you’ve had had a drink,”
and sometimes “you’ll act like you’ve
never met me.” Being just a friend is sometimes painful,
but often that’s what we’re resigned to. “Wrestlemania
VIII” is as bubbly lyrically as it is musically, communicating
that giddy feeling when you make a really genuine connection
with another person. The title track is a beautiful contradiction.
The bouncy poppy music is loaded with hooks, and upon casual
listening, hearing the title sung as the chorus, “Love
keeps kicking, ooh yeah,” might make you think this
is a happy song about the power of love to outlast any problems.
Yet when we hear the full sentiment in the final verse,
it’s “Love keeps kicking the shit out of me.
And there’s no solution I can see.” “Orange
Juice” is a song of self-doubt, believing one’s
self to be the cause of a failed relationship. The song
equates one’s partner as being “orange juice,”
while you’re the ice that dilutes the orange juice,
the cause for the end of love. This is less cheery than
many of the tracks, being one of the few that has a melancholy
edge to it, especially as the chorus cries, “I don’t
know what to do now.” Yet the darkest song is reserved
for the closing track, “The Only Letter That You Kept.”
It’s a quiet, wistful track of a shattered love that
breaks my heart. The songs are all excellent on this newest
album from the north of England, and this record is likely
to make my list of best albums of 2019. Yet it doesn’t
have any tracks that stand out above the others, like “Blisters”
did. Whether that makes the new one the better album or
not is an exercise left to the listener.
THE
MURDERBURGERS – What a Mess (Asian Man Records,
themurderburgers.bandcamp.com)
The Murderburgers have to be the kings of pop punk in Scotland.
How many great Scottish pop punk bands can you name? I rest
my case. Besides, the trio have mastered all of the relevant
sub-genres of pop punk, and they’re on display on
this, their latest LP. Some of the songs are catchy poppy
stuff, sort of like the Bay Area version of pop punk. Some
is more Southern California skate pop punk. Some are Fest
style sing-along pop punk. But they’re all excellent,
well-crafted examples. Lyrics cover topics like being ostracized
from your family and loved ones, the intense felling of
ennui that comes with a meaningless life, obsessing over
failed relationships, constant thoughts of suicide, and
all the self-loathing and misery that make pop punk songs
so relatable. While there’s nothing groundbreaking
about “What A Mess,” Fraser and the two Alexes
do a solid job here, with harmonized vocals and catchy songs
full of hooks. I can’t name a standout track, because
they’re all equally top notch. This is a must for
anyone who claims to be a pop punk fan.
GEOFF
PALMER – “Giving In” digital single,
“This One’s Gonna Be Hot” EP (Stardumb
Records/ RumBar Records)
The Connection’s Geoff Palmer has a new LP coming
out soon under his own name. And ahead of that, Stardumb
Records has released a digital-only single and a vinyl 7”
EP. And if you’re a fan of power pop (and you damn
well should be!) this is going to be essential listening.
“Giving In” is the lead single from Palmer’s
forthcoming LP, “Pulling Out All The Stops.”
It’s a co-release of Stardumb and Rum Bar Records,
and the song is classic power pop, catchy and bouncy, with
love song lyrics: “There’s nothing left to do
/ I’m giving up and giving in to you.” “This
One’s Gonna Be Hot” is the A-side of the exclusive-to-Stardumb
7” vinyl, and it’s a harder, edgier version
of power pop, reminding me of LA’s The Creamers from
back in the 90s. It’s Ramones-core at its, well, core,
simple melody, power guitars, and melodic bounce. “Punker
Than Me” on the B-side picks things up even more with
an up-tempo all-out pop punk song. It makes sense that pop
punk would be in Palmer’s musical arsenal, as the
New Hampshire native has played with New England’s
The Queers, under the name Geoff Useless. It’s classic
stuff, sure to get you pogoing. “That’s What
You Do” is the other B-side track, and it slows and
smooths things out quite a lot. This is more archetypal
70s power pop, with jangly guitars and a hint of British
invasion influence. These songs certainly whet my appetite
for the LP, coming out later this spring.
PETTY
LARCENISTS – Stolen Chords and Lifted Riffs (Rad
Girlfriend Records, www.radgirlfriendrecords.com)
Jesse Thorson is one of Minneapolis, Minnesota’s busiest
musicians. On one end of his musical spectrum is The Slow
Death, and on the other is Pretty Boy Thorson. Now he has
a new band to bridge the gap between the two, and Petty
Larcenists have their debut LP out. To give you a point
of reference, they sound more like their Minneapolis brethren
in Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band than they do either
of Thorson’s other outfits. It’s less punk and
more working class rock and roll. And man, does it rock!
These songs come across as “real,” Thorson’s
gravelly passionate voice booming through. “Loud And
Ugly” sets the tone for the LP, with a mid-tempo rocker,
and things really get going with “What Now,”
a track about reaching the end of one’s rope. “It’s
about all that I can take,” says the refrain. “You
said it would be the last time / Yeah, that’s what
you said the last time.” We repeat mistakes over and
over in our lives, and at some point things reach a breaking
point, and you feel it in this song. “Tiny Plastic
Bags” is about the closest thing we get to a “power
ballad,” while “The Kids Back Home” picks
things up again, with another song about a dysfunctional
relationship. That theme seems to run through many of the
songs on this LP, but this particular one, with prominent
keys and some great hooks, may be my favorite of the album.
It has a fantastic power pop feel to it. The closer is another
favorite. “I Can’t Get High” has a definite
bounce to it, and the chorus comes the closes of any track
here to sounding like The Slow Death. Recommended.
ROLLO
TOMASI – The Fear Is Unsafe (Shakefork Records,
www.shakefork.com)
Rollo Tomasi (not to be confused with UK band Rolo Tomassi)
are from Chicago, and play an emotionally charged brand
of post-hardcore. Some of the tracks are more metallic than
others, and some of the tracks have more of a 90s post-melodic
emo sound. The latter are my favorite of the album. And
yet others are halfway between these styles. Like “Throw
Stones,” the second track. It reminds me a lot of
late 80s and early 90s Dischord sounds, in terms of chord
progressions and vocal style, yet it’s got a much
harder, edgier feel. Some of the tracks have a great math-like
complexity, like “Pussy Hands,” a waltz time
track with dueling guitars, pounding bass, and sections
that glide contrasting with the more punctuated sections.
“C-Section” is confusing to me, because it has
sections of gorgeous, powerful, and melodic riffs, but sections
of hard metallic rage. I’m not a big metal fan, so
tracks like this and the opener, “Saltpeter,”
don’t grab me. A track that’s just as hard driving
but less metallic that does grab me is “Woodshed.”
The minimalist repeating guitar lines provide a strong sense
of forward motion, and this track is another that brings
to mind not only DC bands, but also Chicago’s Gauge
– which makes a lot of sense, given that guitarist
Neil Sandler played bass in that seminal band melodic emo
band. “No Secret” is one of the quietest tracks
of the album, and I love how the production has guitars
bouncing between channels. The chugga chugga guitar vs.
simplistic melodic line is pretty awesome. I’m in
love with about three quarters of this album, but the rest
I could take or leave.
THE
SCANERS – II (Dirty Water Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
These crazy French garage rock new wavers are back from
Area 51 with another album chock full of songs of alien
abduction, UFOs, attacks from outer space, and more. As
with their debut LP, this sophomore effort sounds as if
The Spits and The Ramones intermingled with the Dickies
and Devo. The songs are pretty simple, but powerful, bouncy,
and a lot of fun. This chaotic crazy music is even pretty
danceable, and is an excellent follow-up to the self-titled
debut. “Please Abduct Me” kicks things off in
high gear, with a “1 2 3 4” shout, rapid-fire
guitars, and swirling keyboard. I really like “X-Ray
Glasses,” a track that’s somewhat slower than
the others, but which has interesting rhythms and guitar
fills. “Don’t Run, We’re Your Friends,”
is a real standout, too. The frantically paced minute and
a half will leave you gasping for breath. You can feel the
chase, feel them closing in on you, and the guitar’s
chord changes are pretty cool. “Pesticide Kids”
reminds me of the amazing Radioactivity,” too, with
another intense one, simple lines and pummeling guitars.
“Run DD Run” closes out the album, the buzzy
synth playing a slow dreamy line, until the drums suddenly
fire, and the guitars are off at the fastest pace of any
of these songs. The song has a dark garage punk feel, but
it’s hard to keep up, the song moves so fast. The
Scaners have done it again! Recommended!
THE
SH-BOOMS – The Blurred Odyssey (Limited Fanfare
Records, thesh-booms.bandcamp.com)
The further into this album I go, the more soulful it gets.
This is the Orlando outfit’s debut LP, and it’s
a killer. It’s got a raw garage feel to it, which
makes for an interesting contrast to the ardent vocals.
The opener is aptly titled, “Amidst Chaos.”
It’s a primal track, mixing garage rock with a punk
edge and even a hint of ska feel, courtesy of the horns
and keyboards. The heavily processed vocals are a clarion
call, with an urgent tone. As this track fades, “Detox
to Retox” takes over seamlessly, transforming into
the edgy rock & soul that fills the rest of the LP.
The guitars sound like they came from a ‘70s fusion
of rock and funk, the horns like punks took over a 60s R&B
band, the keyboards are straight out of a psychedelic garage
band, and the lead vocals are impassioned. And as good as
these hard driving tracks are, I am a sucker for old school
R&B, so the slower tracks like “Audible”
slay me. Do you remember the movie “The Commitments”
about a bunch of Irish misfits who try to form an R&B
band? The climactic scene in which the perform “Try
A Little Tenderness” is one of the best musical scenes
in movie history, I think, and the passion in “Audible”
approaches that, but with a sound that’s more raw,
dirtier. “Dry Eyes” sounds like a punked up
version of a 60s girl-group song, while “Walk It Off”
will gut-punch you with its hard-edged funk. The album closes
with “The Final Sleep,” a dreamy mysterious
instrumental, with hints of Afro-Cuban jazz. This is a diverse,
enjoyable release.
YES
GABRIEL
(www.yesgabriel.bandcamp.com)
Yes Gabriel is the alter ego of film and theater composer
Gaby Alter. This EP is his debut outside that realm, crafting
songs for songs’ sake. The five songs on offer here
are quiet, acoustic tracks, beautiful singer-songwriter
fare. It’s not quite folk music, but not quite pop
or rock music either; it’s somewhere in between. “Dear
To Me” opens with just acoustic guitar and vocals,
before brushed snare drum and electric guitar and bass come
in. It’s a pretty song about love, loss, and regret.
It’s touching, and very different from typical pop
punk songs about failed relationships that come across my
desk. “Rains of April” uses piano as the main
instrument, and when the full band comes in, it’s
got a lush, dreamy sound, and is a love letter to New York
City. “You Got Through” brings back the acoustic
guitar, and adds some pretty strings to tell a delicate
tale of someone who had steeled himself against all the
hurt the world can bring, but how someone was able to break
through that and make him feel again. “Fall Asleep”
joins acoustic guitar, piano, and strings for another song
of deep love that almost feels bouncy. “Deep In February”
closes the EP, and was the lead single. It’s the most
theatrical of the songs here, opening quietly with piano
and vocals, and slowly growing in richness, telling another
tale of lost love. If you’re into singer-songwriter
material, this is recommended. It’s very pretty.
STEVE
ADAMYK BAND – Paradise (Dirtnap Records, www.dirtnaprecs.com)
Hell yes! It’s been a long three years since “Graceland,”
Steve Adamyk Band’s last album came out. For those
tuning in late, Steve Adamyk Band is a band out of Canada,
specifically from Ottawa, the nation’s capitol. They’re
masters of garage punk and power pop. They’re right
on the cusp between these styles, managing to extract all
of the best parts of both to create music that’s bouncy,
melodic, rockin’ yet has a toughness to it. “The
Letter” begins the album, and for an LP named “Paradise,”
it’s quite appropriate that there’s a healthy
dose of surf sounds, as well. “In Death” is
one of the most “punk” tracks of the album,
with a simple melody, simple rhythms, and powerful guitars.
The title track is a very driven song, moving deliberately
ever forward, in the way of a Marked Men track. “Waiting
to Die” is a song in two parts. The first is almost
ballad-like, but can anything Steve Adamyk does really be
a ballad? Part two gets raucous again, with a Ramones-core
feel, but with a pall of darkness over the whole song. I
love the retro power pop feel of “When I was Gone.”
It’s got the feel of one of the edgier radio hits
of guitar-fueled pop rock from the late 70s. And so it goes
with the rest of the dozen songs – every one is a
gem. Recommended.
THE
COOL GREENHOUSE – Landlords b/w 4Chan (Drunken Sailor
Records, www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
This new single from the UK band features two super-retro
tracks very reminiscent of the massive creativity of bands
in the post-punk era of the early 80s. The bands feature
synth bleeps and blips and minimalist guitar, along with
blasé spoken word vocals telling stories loaded with
sardonic wit. The A-side tells the tale of paying too much
to live in a crap apartment to fuel the luxuries of the
landlord, and trying to complain to the council and having
to deal with the sorts of monkeys they hire to help the
people, in this case, literal monkeys. The B-side is told
from the perspective of the sort of Internet troll you find
on the title on-line service. This was my first exposure
to this band, and now I plan to hunt down their previous
releases – it’s that good. And even better,
proceeds from the sales of this single will be donated to
the London Renters Union, a grassroots organization that’s
focused on changing how housing works in the city.
DRUG
APTS – Clean Living Under Difficult Circumstances
(Mt.St.Mtn., www.mtstmtn.com)
Formerly known as Drug Apartments, this Sacramento band
has shortened their name and extended the length of their
releases with this, their first full-length LP. Drug Apts
offer up a dozen songs of dark arty post punk. Though, taken
as a whole, the songs tend to blend into one another a bit,
there are some standouts to discuss. The opener, “stereo,”
features a throbbing bass and ominous sounding guitar stabs.
Whittney K’s vocals are often violent and chaotic
throughout the record; her dynamic range is awesome and
a highlight of the record. “Straight Shooter”
has more of a 90s grunge feel than most of the record, and
so stands out from the rest of the tracks. The track has
grunge’s hard guitar sound, a classic rock and roll
edge, and powerful vocals. I like how “thursday at
two” opens with just the distorted, loud bass line
and mysterious vocals, and when the guitar comes in with
its own winding line. Everything slowly builds, getting
louder, pitches rising, until the full band explodes in
a cacophonous rage. “saints” is a great track
that starts out with a hard edge, and slowly transforms
into a bouncy one. And the short instrumental, “sparks
break,” is a bright breath of fresh air. This is a
record that I’m likely to revisit in the future, but
maybe a track or two at a time.
FREAK
GENES – III (Drunken Sailor, www.drunkensailorrecords.co.
uk)
Another band has come out with a third LP and titled it
“III.” While the album title may not be creative
or original, the music on it certainly is. Freak Genes are
an English band that blend early punk, new wave, power pop,
and psychedelic music into minimalist arrangements that
are packed with energy and mania. Many of the tracks feature
synthesizer and drum machine. Some of the tracks are angular
and abrupt, while others are melodic and easy. The album
grabbed me right from the start, with “Waxing Moon,”
a track that’s very disjointed, with buzzy sections
that jut and other sections that are smooth and relaxed.
“Canned Laughter” is a favorite, and is one
of the oddest tracks of the album, with dark and twinkly
synths dueling with each other, guitar and bass used as
percussion instruments, and vocals that are more loudly
spoken than sung or shouted. The final quarter of the track
changes mood completely, as the synths and guitar play a
vaguely medieval melody. “Breach” focuses on
the guitar (but keeps the drum machine) and is more of a
traditional power pop or early punk sounding track, and
is another favorite. I like the bright melodic lines and
use of keyboard in “Strange Light.” The bridge
and run-out on “Get Ready to Go” are stupendous
swirly synth spectacles to behold. I enjoy the bluesy “Stitches,”
a track with a retro 50s rock’n’roll feel that’s
been heavily altered via synth and droll vocals. “Close
Up Fear” closes the LP with a hopping track that reminds
me a bit of The Legendary Pink Dots’ “Catch
a Match,” for it’s monotone rapid-fire vocals.
III may not have as good a name as their previous album,
“Qwak Qwak,” but it has even better music.
PROBLEM
DAUGHTER – Grow Up Trash (Wiretap Records, wiretaprecords.
limitedrun. com)
I don’t predict, I guarantee that this record is going
to show up on multiple year-end “best of” lists.
The songs are universally great and the songwriting is creative,
way above and beyond the typical pop punk band, with unexpected
shifts in tempo, in melody, and in feel. “Mercury
in Retrograde” is a perfect example of this –
this one song goes through so many changes in its short
two and a half minutes, yet it’s all a cohesive whole.
It starts off with a big, epic sound, then goes through
a short period where it’s a little more standard pop
punk, the tempo slows, a short hesitation, and the song
starts anew with an almost RVIVR-like feel, with madly jangling
guitars. The song then has a cool start-stop feel, rapidly
shifting tempos and rhythms. It then picks up again as a
slower song with bigger emotional content, bringing us to
a big close. “Take a Walk on the Mild Side,”
a spoof on the title of a famous Lou Reed song, has similar
shifts, as if there are three or four songs within one.
“Self Amusing Smile” is a favorite, running
the gamut from dark, quiet ballad, to a mid-tempo Rocket
From The Crypt inspired lope, to Americana-tinged pop punk,
time signatures constantly moving. Pretty much the only
song that doesn’t shift around like this is the penultimate
“Tired About It.” It’s more of a standard
emotional pop punk sound familiar to West Coast fans, yet
still a powerful track. Front man Regan Ashton’s vocals
are among the most unique and recognizable in the punk world,
and only add to the excellent qualities of these songs.
This record is highly recommended.
SLEEP
IN. – The Stars On Your Ceiling (Know Hope Records,
www.knowhoperecords.com)
New Jersey’s Sleep In. waited a full five years after
their debut LP, “Setting,” to release their
sophomore effort. Both LPs are chock full of melodic post
emo songs, but where the debut was slightly mathish and
busy, the songs on “The Stars On Your Ceiling”
are smoother and more relaxed. And that may be the downfall,
at least for me. The smooth post emo sound, to my ears at
least, just doesn’t pack enough interest or energy.
To me it comes across as the adult contemporary version
of punk. That said, there are some moments of the album
I did enjoy quite a bit. “6th and Catherine,”
the second track of the LP, in particular, has a creative
arrangement, with rollicking guitar licks and a bouncy melody.
The singer-songwriter feel of “A Million Messages”
reminds me of LA’s Divided Heaven, and is another
favorite. It’s got a slightly Americana feel and a
more genuine emotional feel than many of the other tracks.
“This Old House” is a pretty waltz-time song,
with a tender sound. I would suggest it might sound even
better with a cleaner jangly guitar sound. It would add
a delicateness to the song that I think would greatly improve
it. The shift to straight time on the chorus gives the song
a different feel, a change in texture that increases the
interest. And the closer, “Let Me Let You Let Me,”
is a gorgeous, sad song that opens with just bare vocals
and acoustic guitar. Piano and harmonized vocals join in,
and we hear where the album title comes from, as the lyrics
tell us a tale that seems to be about concern for an ex
or an ex-roommate, at least, that swallows their emotions
along with booze to keep secrets and feelings hidden. “Said
you’re taking a day to sort through your feelings
/ Now you’re half a bottle down, counting stars on
your ceiling / I think you lost it, I think you lost it
again.” It’s a beautiful way to end the album,
with a very moving song that slowly builds, as do the emotions.
Yeah, there are some really nice moments on this album.
But I need more than mere moments.
TEENAGE
BOTTLEROCKET – Stay Rad! (Fat Wreck Chords, www.fatwreck.com)
You know Teenage Bottlerocket, right? So you know what to
expect: Ramones-core inspired pop punk, with catchy melodies,
harmonized vocals, and tons of bouncy goodness. As is typical
with Teenage Bottlerocket records, there’s little
in the way of political content here, lyrics sticking to
themes of relationships and various juvenile topics. Just
the song titles can give you an idea of what I mean, like
“Wild Hair (Across My Ass)” or “Night
of the Knuckleheads.” That’s not to say all
of the songs are inane (though the inanity is part of the
fun of TBR). “I Wanna Be a Dog” is more about
wanting to live a carefree life than actually wanting to
be a dog, despite lyrics such as “You can teach me
how to think while I lick my balls and when you get home
I can hump your leg.” Yeah, even in the meaningful
songs, TBR tries to convince us they’re just a bunch
of delinquents. “The First Time That I Did Acid Was
The Last Time I Did Acid” may or may not be a song
about the dangers of drug abuse, but it’s certainly
a hard-hitting track, with more of a hardcore sound than
the usual TBR pop punk song. I don’t know who Clint
Carlin is, but TBR want to kill him, as told in a song called
“I Want to Kill Clint Carlin,” one that sounds
in places a lot like a classic Naked Raygun track, making
it one of my favorites of the album. “Stupid Song”
isn’t stupid at all, about the need for distractions
to take our minds off the drudgery and crap in our lives.
The bridge is extra poppy sounding, reminding me of Masked
Intruder somewhat. “Little Kid” is the most
poignant track of the LP, I’m guessing written by
Ray Carlisle about missing his brother Brandon, who died
just over three years ago (this is the first full album
of original TBR songs since Brandon’s death). The
song is about having difficulty accepting the passage of
time since then, remembering how they were together as kids,
and how he’s having trouble living in the moment again,
like kids do. I love the use of a single guitar note percussion
effect played against the chord changes in the other guitar.
Yes, we know what to expect in Teenage Bottlerocket album.
Great fun pop punk music.
WEIRD
OMEN – Surrealistic Feast (Dirty Water Records,
www.dirtywaterrecords. co.uk)
French garage psych trio Weird Omen have released the LP
teased with a new single a few months ago, and it fulfills
the promise! Weird Omen are an unorthodox group, featuring
a rhythm section of drums and guitar, with the lead instrument
being a baritone saxophone. It’s an odd instrumentation
to use, but it’s used to great effect to create music
that blends garage punk, power pop, and fuzzed out psych.
The album opens with a rerecorded version of “A Place
I Want to Know” from January’s single. It manages
to sound darker and more mysterious on this version. The
production of the LP generally is darker and less dry than
the single. “Earworm” is the perfect name for
the fourth track, because it owes a debt to pop punk; it’s
a melodic, bouncy number, even as it has a dark, thundering
sound, courtesy of the bari sax and the production. “Surrealistic
Feast” is a favorite track. It’s a heavily psychedelic
track, with droning guitar and sax plus swirling melodic
line in the modal vocal choir. “Collection of Regrets”
has a dusty sound to it, like it could be the soundtrack
to some movie set in the Old West, but covered by a psych
punk band. “Trouble In My Head” alternates between
a Sonic Youth feel on the verses and a jangly 60s pop feel
on the chorus. The closer is a gorgeous 50s rock and roll
ballad, “I Will Write You Poetry.” After a calm,
quiet, clear start, though, the song gradually gets noisier
and more chaotic, ending in a glorious of ringing vocals,
fading into epic guitar feedback. A fitting close to an
amazing LP.
BAZOOKA
– Zero Hits (Inner Ear Records, www.inner-ear.gr)
Bazooka hail from Athens. That’s Athens, Greece, not
Athens, Georgia. And, as the songs are all sung in Greek,
I can’t tell you what they’re about. But the
music is a mixture of garage, punk, and funk. Funk? Yes,
funk! The first two tracks, “Ela” and “Filaki,”
are pretty straightforward mid-tempo garage punk, full of
energy and tension. I especially like the jangly guitar
sound juxtaposed with the garage feel of “Filaki.”
The third track, “Keno,” though, adds a group
of trumpets and 70s soul-funk guitar effects to mix in with
the garage punk, creating something pretty unique. “Menos”
and “Oi Vlakes Kanoune Parelasi” are a pair
of cool tracks, with buzzy synth and ominous feel, the latter
being a little bouncier than the former. A lot of the tracks
have a bit of retro feel to them, harkening back to an era
in the 80s when bands weren’t afraid to experiment
with new sounds and be different from everyone else. “Mesa
Stin Poli” and “Vradini Vardia” are good
examples of this, with clean minimalist guitars repeating
a couple of melodic lines, while the bass and drums pound
out the solid beat incessantly. They’re a couple of
my favorites of the album. And “Adiafores Maties”
reaches even further back to 60s garage sounds for inspiration,
complete with keyboards and just the right guitar tone.
“Min Kitas Piso” changes things up a lot with
an acoustic folk inspired track, with gang vocals keeping
things in a punk-like realm, loads of reverb giving it a
slightly other-worldly feel. The closer, “Ta Spao
Ola,” is another unique one, blending garage punk
with an Afro-Cuban sort of feel. If you’re looking
for something different, something original, yet retro,
give this a spin.
THE
BURNT TAPES – Never Better (Wiretap Records, wiretaprecords.
limitedrun.com)
You don’t normally expect a band from London in the
UK to sound like they’re from the West Coast of the
United States, but here we are. I guess the Internet really
is making the world smaller and smaller. The Burnt Tapes
play melodic, emotionally driven pop punk with gruff vocals.
It’s a sub-genre that’s been growing quite a
lot in recent years, and one that typically packs people
into small clubs, everyone pressing toward the stage and
singing all of the lyrics at the top of their lungs. It’s
the sort of music that usually finds show-goers returning
home soaked with spilled beer, their souls filled to the
brim. It’s a sound familiar to fans of bands like
Western Settings, Hot Water Music, Bastards of Young, Spanish
Love Songs, and many others. The title track opens the LP
strongly. After some initial moments of ambience, the song
explodes with a melodic line that’s crunchy and soars,
yet has bounce to it. Gruff gang vocals shout out in conflict,
“I want to be alone / But it gets lonely.” The
song dissolves back into ambience in its waning moments.
There are some other standout tracks, too. “Yuzi”
reminds me a lot of Spanish Love Songs, with its great gliding
melody, dark feel, and self-deprecating lyrics. “Forty,
Forty-Five” is a great ballad with instrumentals that
alternate between epic and quiet, huge gruff vocals, and
guitars that sometimes jangle like mad. It has a feel that
reminds me of The Penske File. I do like all of the tracks
on the LP, actually, though I wish there was a little more
variety.
THE
CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND – This Is My Voice (Dirty Water
Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
The Chocolate Watchband began life some 54 years ago, in
California. The psychedelic garage rock band was short-lived
in its original incarnation, suffering multiple line-up
changes and breaking up in 1970 after just three LPs. In
1999 the band reunited, including a few of the early and
original members, and have been performing ever since, even
releasing a couple of albums of new songs, including this
latest LP, on garage rock specialist label Dirty Water Records.
The record finds the band in familiar territory, offering
up psychedelic rock songs with politically charged lyrics.
For example, the bluesy “Judgment Day,” written
at the height of the Great Recession, is about the desperation
of those who lost their jobs and everything else during
those dark times, and the urge to fight back. The title
track, a hypnotic psych track, discusses the lack of fact-based
decision making going on in the world, and how it’s
been replaced with hatefulness and division. “Trouble
Everyday” is a Bob Dylan-esque song with spoken lyrics
over a funky jam. And the closer, “Till The Daylight
Comes,” opens with a snippet of Donald Trump saying,
“Remember, what you’re seeing and what you’re
reading is not what’s happening.” The song is,
ultimately, one of hope. The daylight will come; we will
get out of this darkness, somehow. Musically, the song has
a distinct feeling of a spiritual, uplifting to the soul.
Speaking of the music, it’s quite varied. The opener,
“Secret Rendezvous,” is the most raucous, most
garage-rock track of the album, the closest to the proto-punk
of yore. Other songs are more blues-rock, some are folksy,
some are roots rock’n’roll, and some are more
garage-like than others. The sitar, a mainstay of psych
music back in the day, makes appearances on a couple of
the tracks here, too, most prominently in the instrumental,
“Bombay Pipeline.” The variety is great. The
sentiments are great. But I can’t help but feel that
the music is a little too smooth, a little too calm, other
than that opening track.
FRANKIE
AND THE WITCH FINGERS – ZAM (Greenway Records, www.greenway
records.storenvy.com)
LA’s Frankie and the Witch Fingers’ fifth full-length
album in six years is a mélange of psych, garage,
metal jams, and power pop. Sometimes this works really well,
sometimes not. Some tracks rock like mad, others are a little
too wanky. Some have a modern melodic component; others
are retro rock and roll jam snooze fests. One of the tracks
that I like a lot for its tension is the instrumental title
track. Yes, it’s an extended jam, not a “song,
but the power and energy in it are intoxicating, and the
repeating swirling guitar line and dissonant guitar clatter
bring my ears to the brink of exploding. I really like “Cobwebs,”
a track that’s primarily a slow burner, but has a
bridge that dramatically increases the tempo and injects
some great power pop melodic content, guitars jangling away.
“Purple Velvet” is another one rooted in the
power pop tradition, focusing more on the song and the melody
than on the jam, with the keyboards injecting some bright
flair. “Work” has a strong garage punk streak
running through it, and halfway through it turns into a
powerful psych-grunge track. On the other hand, tracks like
“Pleasure” sort of turn me off. It’s a
total throwback to stoner rock from the 70s, full of wah-wah
pedal and jammage. “I Am” is another like this,
but it’s just a short track that ends very abruptly,
leading into “Underneath You,” an excellent
oddball track with angular lines and super processed vocals.
Yes, it’s also an extended spacey jam, but the eccentricities
injected into this make it worthwhile. Toward the end of
the track, it begins to smooth out and soften. The opening
and closing tracks, “Dracula Drug” and “Head
Collector,” are outliers that feel so very different
from anything else on the album. The former starts out with
ambience and odd sounds underneath a steady beat. Slowly,
musical instruments join in and it does become more like
the rest of the album, though more subdued. The closer,
on the other hand, is entirely calm and sedate, with strings
joining in on the trippy psych ballad. While the album is
a mixed bag, there’s more goodness here than not.
THE
NATIONAL LIGHTS – Whom the Sea Will Keep (Bloodshake
Records, thenationallights.bandcamp.com)
It’s been a long twelve years since The National Lights
released their debut LP, “The Dead Will Walk, Dear.”
And this new EP, original conceived as a follow-up LP, was
written over a decade ago. But as these things go, the band
broke up and the members went their separate ways. Until
now. Reunited, the upstate New York folk outfit have now
released a five song EP inspired by maritime lore. And,
while the songs are deeply rooted in traditional folk, the
arrangements are rich and lush. The first track, “Swift
Ships,” is an ode to regret, telling a tale of a man
who left his love to sail the seas. And while he had a full
life, shaking “hands with kings and thieves”
and lining his shirt with silver, he never saw his love
again, and realizes that he had been a fool and didn’t
really have a full life after all. I really love the vaguely
Irish sound of “A Dead Whale or a Stove Boat,”
arranged for piano, acoustic guitar, and concertina. I can
imagine a Celtic harp would sound gorgeous in this song,
too. Similarly, “Joshua Slocum Sets Sail” has
a Celtic feel, and I can imagine the delicate guitar and
ambience of the piano being replaced with a Celtic harp,
and the bridge being played on a pennywhistle. It’s
this sort of thing that gives these original songs the feel
of updated, modern arrangements of traditional sea shanties.
Quietly gorgeous.
PANDEMIX
– In Condemnation (Dirt Cult Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
This is a difficult album to listen to. Not because it’s
bad (it’s not!), but because the anxiety is palpable
in the ten tracks, and that anxiety seeps into you. Musically,
the songs teeter on the edge of old school punk and early
post-punk, with angry guitars, angular melodies, and accusatory
vocals. The lyrics of these songs are unsettling, full of
animosity and despair. For example, in “A Pox,”
Pandemix calls for “a pox on humankind,” decrying
the privileges of some, the indifference of others, and
the thought too many people hold that the fate of humanity
doesn’t depend on us all. The band doesn’t exempt
themselves from this damnation, either, as vocalist Shannon
Thompson cries out, “I am sickness, my own malignancy
/ The worst possible version of me.” Nor are those
who are traditionally considered part of the “left”
spared as targets. In “Can’t Assimilate,”
Thompson, who is a trans woman, defiantly states that she
won’t assimilate into society’s expectations,
and says she will “Wear their hate like a badge.”
In the same song she slams the LGBTQ “establishment,”
asking, “Pride on whose terms? Pride in what?”
I’m more confused and troubled by the opening track,
“No Monuments,” though. I’m not sure whether
the lyrics are those of resignation or defiance. “No
monuments to honor / No history to remember / We are a generation
/ Without heroes or splendor.” Are Pandemix saying
that our generation is one that has become powerless to
create change? Or one that willfully denies that past lessons
of history? Either way, the songs convey these mixed emotions
incredibly well.
EVEN
IN BLACKOUTS – Romantico! (Stardumb Records, www.stardumb
records.com)
Ever since I heard last year’s greatest hits compilation,
The Princess Foretold by Her Henchmen, Even, Even
In Blackouts have become one of my favorite bands. I had
thought I had discovered them too late, though, as they
had ceased activity nearly a decade earlier, their last
LP having been 2009’s
Thresholds From The Basement.
But, thankfully, the release of last year’s compilation
turned out to be a teaser for the band’s emergence
from hibernation. Now comes their first album of new music
in ten years, and I couldn’t be happier! Sixteen tracks
fill up thirty-two minutes on the album, so most of them
are fairly short. A couple of them are “joke”
tracks, in which John “Jughead” Pierson and
Scott “Gub” Conway use the track titles in silly
product pitches. And, though not all of the songs here can
be played even in blackouts (many make generous use of electrified
instruments), the care and attention to detail that went
into each of them is clearly evident. [The name Even
In Blackouts referred to the band's original acoustic incarnation,
which meant they could play a show even in a blackout. -
Editor]
Themes of separation and loss run through the record,
reflecting the amount of time the band spent apart, not
only due to the hiatus, but also due to Jughead’s
move to Japan and other losses. This is clear in the two-part
song “Doubt.” Envisioned as a single song,
Jughead says he ran out of music halfway through, so he
sent the rest of the lyrics to Gub, who turned it into
“Doubt Part II.” As you would expect, the
theme continues through both songs, but the sound is very
different. “I’m lonely when you leave me but
alive when you are near,” both songs aver. The song(s)
are/were written in the wake of the initial reunion of
EIB, Jughead musing on how much he missed not only Gub,
but everyone else in the band, and how they complete each
other. Part I has a very martial feel, propelling ever
forward with a solid steady beat, while Part II has more
of a grungy Americana sound. The bouncy mostly acoustic
“Blood” belies the aching lyrics about a break-up
so bad that it has left the protagonist with a numb heart.
Jughead explains that he rarely writes pop punk songs,
because he feels it’s not his talent. But this album
has two good ones. “The Denouncement” is a
short simple one with a poppy darkness, and “Reason”
is a glorious sounding hymn in praise of living life in
the moment. “Who needs a reason / To watch it all
pass by?” the song asks. I especially love the closing
vocal choir, voices raised toward heaven.
“Intergalactic Space Travel” is a favorite
track. The music is truly glorious, epic sounding, even,
yet bouncy as all hell. The lyrics seem to refer again
to the physical separation of the band, with Jughead halfway
around the world; it might as well be an intergalactic
distance. “It was only movies and words that moved
me to our significance,” the song states, as if
the band didn’t recognize what they had and meant
to each other until they had stopped. But I think my number
one favorite has to be “Intention In Tension,”
both for the story behind it and for the song itself.
Jughead explains that the song “Sunshine,”
from Screeching Weasel’s second album, “Boogadaboogadaboogada,”
was one of his favorites (mine too!), and that Ben wrote
it mostly about a woman they had met on a tour. Jughead
had gone to visit her after the tour, and when he told
Ben about it, Ben wrote “Sunshine.” This song
is Jughead’s response, years later. Where the first
song was blunt and accusatory, “Intention In Tension”
is delicate and tender, the confusion and mixed feelings
of a young immature kid laid bare. The music is light
and airy, perfectly matching the feel of the lyrics.
“Killer Bear” is both cute and dark at the
same time. Opening with a group of kids singing a simple
song, “You’re with me / You’re with
me / You’re with me / You’re my killer bear,”
the track is no kiddy song, though it has the feel of
one. Instead, the lyrics are about the worst, basest aspects
of ourselves that we all try to keep caged inside. When
they come out, the results are disastrous. The melody
is simple, the arrangement raucous, and the old-timey
sounding ending is one of those details of production
that make this record stand out from the plethora of releases
that come out every week.
The closer, “The Kindness,” is the song of
ultimate loss: that of a loved one, in this case Jughead’s
mother. The track has the sound of a lament. “Oh
mother night / With the darkest wit / You will be missed
/ The memory, the kindness, the sound / And soon all of
this will be gone.” But as sad as the lyrics are,
the music has a triumphant quality. It reminds me of the
Renaissance tradition of the “merry dompe,”
a musical elegy to mourn the passing of a great person,
but played in a way to lift up the spirit.
Now that EIB is back, I’m fully on board. I hope
that, even with Jughead based so far away, some US touring
is in the plan. [As this review goes to press, the band
is touring Japan.] I’ve found one of my top albums
of 2019 already.
FEELS
– Post Earth (Wichita Recordings, www.wichita-recordings.com)
Feels, operating out of Los Angeles, is described as an
“American psych punk grunge post-rock band.”
And that may be accurate for a band that brings enormous
diversity of genres to its recordings. Lyrically, the record
is a condemnation of the current state of the nation and
the planet. “Car,” the grungy opening track
references current president DJT and our “one nation
under fraud.” “Just trust what I say,”
he tells the people. The title track is a blend of grunge
and indie pop, slowed down and telling the tale of a future
in which billionaires buy themselves tickets on spaceships
leaving a dying planet. The fuzzed out bass is prominent,
and the vocals slide, oozing the detestation that both sides
must feel toward the other. “Awful Need” reminds
me so much of Stereolab, with its minimalist repeating lines
and steady, smooth vocals. “Deconstructed” has
the instrumentals of an old-school punk tune, but the vocals
seem a little bit sarcastic. I like the stripped down “Tollbooth;”
most of the track full of empty space, with minimal drums,
bass, and guitar, plus dry, present vocals very up front.
The middle of the track, though, explodes in a ferocious
burst of punk energy before settling back down into the
slow groove to end the track. “Flowers” closes
the record out with a quiet ballad that shifts from indie
pop to noisy grunge. Taken individually, many of these songs
are timely and enjoyable. Taken as a whole, the shifts in
genre are sometimes jarring.
TINY
MAGNETIC PETS – The Politburo Disko EP (Vitamin
C Records, tinymagneticpets.bandcamp.com)
This is totally retro synth pop, straight out of the 70s
and 80s. Some of it is disco-like, some is more ambient.
It’s like mixing Vangelis with a softer, smoother
version of, say, Human League, and then adding a pinch of
Julee Cruise singing Angelo Badalamenti. There are five
tracks on this EP, and the sound alternates somewhat. “Enigma
Code Variations I & II” is a buzzy instrumental
that hums with a mournful vibrato. “Bitzed”
is a chill dance track, with throbbing bass-synth line straight
out of the 80s. “Non-Aligned” is darker, more
mysterious, and slicker. Synthesized strings ebb and flow,
as the buzzy bass synth bleats out a computerized line with
perfect synchronicity and drums pound with a tribal ferocity.
“A Strange Kind of Loneliness” quiets things
down, with the flowing synths reminding me of Vangelis’
epic recordings of the 70s, while the underlying ambience
and breathy vocals remind me of the Cruise/Badalamenti team
up for the Twin Peaks soundtrack. The title track closes
things out with another chill instrumental with a relaxed
dance beat. If you miss 80s synth pop, this is for you.
For my tastes, it might be s bit too smooth and chill.
THE
OLD FIRM CASUALS – Holger Danske (Pirates Press
Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
Anyone familiar with this band from the San Francisco Bay
Area? You should be, because it includes none other than
Rancid’s Lars Frederiksen. The band has been kicking
around for the better part of a decade, releasing a plethora
of singles and EPs, yet this is only their second full-length
LP. The band is described as being a combination of street
punk, Oi, and melodic hardcore. OK, sure, though I always
thought of “street punk” being more of the sound
of DIY punks than long-standing accomplished punk “stars.”
The Old Firm Casuals certainly sounds way slicker and more
professional than your average street punk band. But what
I like about The Old Firm Casuals is that they aren’t
afraid to mix things up. Some of the songs are definite
throwbacks to old school hardcore punk, while others are
more straight-up rock and roll in the vein of bands like
Motorhead. After an ancient sounding blast of a battle horn,
“Get Out Of Our Way” blasts out with speed and
fury. Shouted vocals and gang backup vocals are key features
of this classic hardcore track. After this we get “Motherland”
and “Pendulum,” a couple of hard rock and roll
tracks, a short metallic instrumental, “De Ensomme
Ulve,” and a couple more rockers in the title track
and “Casual Rock n Roll.” Then we get to the
raging hardcore punk track, “Traitor,” one that’s
sure to get the circle pit going on a massive scale. My
favorite track, though, I think is “The Golden Fall
Pt 1.” It’s another short instrumental track,
but it’s the most interesting, most different thing
on the record. It’s in waltz time, and I love the
epic melodic punk feel it has. I wish they turned this into
a full-on song. It might not really be “street punk,”
but The Old Firm Casuals fills a niche in the punk scene,
and maybe fills a few.
GOLDEN
DAZE – Simpatico (Autumn Tone Records, www.autumntone.com)
Golden Daze is the perfect name for this LA outfit. The
music is a hazy blend of folk and dream pop, drizzled with
psychedelia. Acoustic and electric guitars intertwine with
moody synths and otherworldly vocals, while the percussion
subtly floats underneath. Playing this record is like walking
into a shimmering other reality. It’s the beauty of
a rainy day, the sun shining through a break in the clouds,
the laziness and haziness. Nowhere is that shimmer more
evident than on the opening track, “Blue Bell.”
Acoustic guitars twinkle and twirl as the delicate vocals,
sung in a half whisper into your ear, turn the grey day
into one of enchantment. “Wayward Tide” is another
favorite, again making use of glistening acoustic guitars.
Many of the songs also utilize synths to create an ambience
underneath the melodies, evoking that otherworldly feel.
I really like the repeating melodic line of “Drift,”
and its unexpected chord change at the end of each iteration.
The title track closes the LP, with a simple song, ambient
synths underneath simply strummed acoustic guitar, electric
slide guitar, and those haunting vocals. This is one of
those albums that are perfect to play when you’re
housebound, sitting in front of a fireplace reading a book
or something like that. Gorgeous.
GOOD
SHADE – Way Out (Dirtnap Records, www.dirtnaprecs.com)
Garage punk meets power pop meets 70's pop rock? Yes, yes,
and yes, on this fourth full-lengther from the Ohio outfit.
The diversity and energy make this album a great listen,
nearly from beginning to end. “Maybe,” one of
the pre-release singles opens the album with an epic sound,
rapid tempo, driving beat, and soaring vocals. The other
lead single, “Must Have Been,” is already a
candidate for favorite song of the year. It’s got
that Marked Men rapid pace garage punk sound, but the rapidly
changing unorthodox chord changes really make the song a
treat. A lot of the tracks are kind of like Marked Men meets
the Buzzcocks. “We’re Open” is an interesting
one, because it has the garage punk driving guitar sound,
but it’s also got the 70's pop rock thing going on
in the chorus’s melodic line. “Something’s
Wrong” is a nice slower one, with a garage pop feel
– but a third of the way in, it gets quiet and indie
sounding for a bit, then erupts in a psych explosion. “Just
Leave” leaves me a bit cold, though. It’s a
tad too heavy on the 70's pop rock feel for my taste. But,
yeah, overall this is a great listen.
KOMPLIKATIONS
– No Good News (Rockstar Records, www.rockstarrecords.
de)
There are no complications here on this, the fifth EP from
the Belgian synth punk trio. Keyboards, drums, and vocals
are what you get on these five stripped down tracks. It’s
all very spare, very simple, very uncomplicated. Angry shouted
vocals work closely with the buzzy synths to fill the space
that would normally be taken up by guitars and bass. Imagine
70s punk crossed with early new wave, then strip away everything
that isn’t absolutely necessary, and you get a sense
of the sound you get from Komplikations. And with song titles
like “Mouthy Leaders” and “Haters,”
you know the songs are politically relevant. The pared back
sound can be a bit jarring, but these are good songs.
LENNY
LASHLEY’S GANG OF ONE – All Are Welcome (Pirates
Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
Lenny Lashley just may be Boston’s Boss. Like Bruce
Springsteen, Lashley plays energetic working class rock
and roll with elements of folk and punk in the songs. Like
Springsteen, Lashley uses organ and sax in his arrangements.
Lashley’s songs are maybe a bit more raw and honest
sounding. Though Lashley’s been kicking around for
the better part of two decades, this is only his second
full-length LP as Lenny Lashley’s Gang of One, his
debut coming nearly 6 years ago. Lashley also writes songs
that champion the underdog and make a statement. Case in
point, the title track, which references the poem, “The
New Colossus,” part of which is inscribed on the Statue
of Liberty. “Give us your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to be free,” he sings. It’s a song
aimed directly at the Trump administration, as Lashley asks,
“Have we forgotten what we stand for?” “Where
do we go from here, now that hope is lost?” he pleads.
The song even includes a clip of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s
“I have a dream” speech. “Live Like Lions”
has elements of country, thanks to the slide guitar, and
vaguely Irish music, courtesy of the accordion or concertina
(not sure which it is) and the vocals that sounds a bit
like Dave King of Flogging Molly. “Lonesome”
has that same dichotomous character. I love the acoustic
guitar and concertina, but not being a big fan of country
I could do without the slide guitar. But that doesn’t
apply to “Double Miner, a tune that sounds like a
traditional song out of the old west. “Betty”
is the most raucous of the ten tracks, and the first to
feature saxophone. It kind of feels like something the SNL
house band might play for the live audience to get them
warmed up and rowdy. “Revolution” is another
one that’s more rock than anything else, and proof
that the back half of the album is more rockin’ than
the front.
THE
LOST TAPES – Inconvenience (Rockstar Records, www.rockstarrecords.
de)
Part dark post punk, part goth this reminds me somewhat
of what you might get if you crossed early 80's TSOL, late
80's DC band Strange Boutique, and mixed in a healthy dose
of Bauhaus. Though that’s the general feel of this
album, the first track, “Cyanide,” is completely
different and undoubtedly the best of the bunch. It has
a much harder, edgier feel, slightly angular melodic lines,
and angry shouted vocals. The rest of the album from this
German band doesn’t quite measure up to the promise
of that first track. Each song, in turn, seems to lose more
edge, become less focused, until we reach the halfway mark
with the dirge-like “Double Vision.” On this
one, the drums slowly and repetitively pound, the bass line
is unchanging, and the whole song just seems to drag. The
back half of the album picks things up again, but never
recaptures the energy of the opening track. These tracks
start to blend into each other, with little differentiation.
The penultimate track, “Buildings,” tries to
replicate the edgier feel, and to a degree succeeds, with
a more rocking sound that most of the LP. But it’s
only a couple of songs from this album that interest me.
SNAKERATTLERS
– All Heads Will Roll (Dirty Water Records, www.dirtywater
records.co.uk)
Snakerattlers is married duo of Naomi and Dan Oliver Gott.
Hailing from the north of England, the guitar and drums
pair produce a huge, gritty, greasy sound. They play a cross
between garage and rockabilly, in all its raw powerful glory.
This, their sophomore full-length LP, features eleven tracks
whose big sound belie the diminutive size of the band. Tons
of reverb, as befits the genre, vocals that are sung as
much as shouted with gusto, and pounding percussion are
the main features. After a short instrumental introductory
track that sets the mood, we get “All Heads Will Roll,”
a dark dirty dirge sure to blacken your soul. Other highlights
include “She’s Strange,” which has a Latin
influence and “Rattle Rock Stomp,” with its
cool noisy intro, retro rock progression and growled and
shouted vocals pushing out lyrics that merely consist of
the title sung over and over. Another great track, “I’ll
Destroy Your Soul,” sounds like they really mean it.
The closer, “Wild,” reminds me a bit of power
pop garage rockers LA Drugz, which is a high compliment.
Dirty Water continues its winning streak.
AM
TAXI – Shiver By Me (Mutant League Records, www.mutantleaguerecords.com)
Music always sounds better when the band playing it is having
fun. And that’s one thing that’s immediately
striking about Chicago-based AM Taxi: they’re quite
obviously enjoying what they’re doing. The music has
a bright sound to it, even the emotional “down”
songs. Unconventional instruments (for punk-based music)
such as piano, organ, and trumpet make their way into some
of the songs, adding a great feel to the texture of these
tracks. The opener is pretty simple, but a blast of fun.
“Saint Jane” is bouncy and melodic garage-punk
with some great sing-along parts. It sets a fantastic mood
for the record. “Harpoon” is one of my favorites
of the album, with a more of a lean toward indie rock. Harmonized
vocals, a pounding beat, some great hooks, and sparkling
guitars make this a winner. “Fighting In Cars”
is similar, but with a bunch of jangle, and is another great
one. I like how the band mixes things up on this record,
and each song sounds distinct. “Movie About Your Life”
is acoustic, with handclaps and keyboard punctuating the
song, which sounds like something that might come from Teenage
Bottlerocket. “Swim Before You Sink” has a punk
rock show tune feel to it, in a way that’s really
fun. “L’Patron” is smooth and almost lounge-like
with its keyboards, but it occasionally gets big and epic.
Given the band’s bio and their flirtation with a major
label, I wasn’t expecting to like this record much,
but I really do like it!
EERIE
WANDA – Pet Town
(Joyful Noise Recordings,
www.joyfulnoiserecordings. com)
Marina Tadic has had an interesting life. Born to Croat
parents in the former Yugoslavia, her family was forced
to flee and become refugees during the Bosnian war that
ripped Yugoslavia apart. Settling in the Netherlands, Tadic
became an audio and visual artist, creating musical act
Eerie Wanda with band mates Jasper Verhulst and Jeroen de
Huevel. Eerie Wanda’s sophomore full-length LP is
a study in delicate minimalism. Acoustic guitar or ukulele,
bass, and miscellaneous percussion glide under Tadic’s
smooth, easy vocals, reminding me at times of Julee Cruise,
made famous by David Lynch during the TV run of Twin Peaks.
But, while Cruise was singing retro rock song written by
Angelo Badalamenti, Tadic’s songs are more island
influenced, warm and breezy, such as the title track and
“Magnetic Woman,” or influenced by retro pop
music, like “Big Blue Bird” and “Moon.”
Though they don’t break new ground, the songs are
very soothing and relaxing to listen to. I enjoy “Rockabiller,”
a “love song” to the title character. It has
a minimalist repeating line pulsing under the vocals, with
a hint of rockabilly feel, but it’s still so quiet
and understated. “Hands of the Devil” has a
great flamenco guitar sound, complete with clapping, but
the chord progression is more of a bluesy one, making for
an interesting listen. Beautiful.
GULAG
BEACH – Potato Mash Bash (Rock Star Records, www.rockstarrecords.de)
Hailing from Berlin, Gulag Beach aren’t looking to
push the boundaries of punk rock, but they’re very
comfortably rocking out with some classic punk sounds on
this, their fourth full-length LP. There are eight songs,
four to each side – well, really seven songs. The
closer of each side is “Death Is Not The End,”
with part 1 on side A and part 2 on side B. Topics are classic
punk themes, too, with “Ode to Capitalism” including
lyrics such as “Work – Eat – Die”
repeated multiple times. “The Need to Be High”
is a song about the need to use substances or activities
– anything that releases dopamine, to relieve the
stress of daily life. Like I said, this record isn’t
earth shattering, but it’s a fun one. I’ll bet
the live shows are pretty raucous.
WEIRD
OMEN – Girls Are Dancing On The Highway b/w A Place
I Want To Know (Dirty Water Records, www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk)
New single from French band Weird Omen, a band that already
has four LPs and three other singles floating out there.
The band is hard to pin down, genre-wise, but they seem
to combine elements of garage punk, power pop, and fuzzed
out psych. Plus they’ve got a baritone sax! They’re
actually a three-piece, with guitar and drums filling things
out! That’s a pretty unique concept, and it serves
them well; there’s a lot of cool noodling going on
in the bass line, more so than if it had been a traditional
electric bass. This adds to the awesome psych feel. The
single is a teaser for a forthcoming LP, and it certainly
does whet the appetite. The A side is a dark, chaotic track,
while the B-side has the stronger power pop sensibility,
and is my favorite of the pair. Good stuff!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAND
ARGUMENT – Patchwork (bandargument.bandcamp.com)
Band Argument is a new San Diego band that features Jordan
Krimston and Sil Damone, formerly of Big Bad Buffalo, along
with Jake Kelsoe and Alex Simonian, performing music different
than anything that’s come from Krimston and Damone’s
previous efforts. First, Krimston steps back from guitar
duty and gets back behind the drum kit, actually his primary
instrument. Damone sings and plays bass again, and Kelsoe
and Simonian play guitar and MIDI. The resulting music is
a glorious mash-up of math-pop, dream-pop, new wave, and
a sort of neo-futuristic electro-music. The five songs on
this debut release are, to my ears, more creative and original
than much of the music being released today. The lead single,
“Buddy,” opens the EP with angular melodic and
rhythmic lines most reminiscent of new wave, then adding
in some hip-hop rhythms and rapping. The electronics are
front and center, giving us a strong taste of what’s
to come. “Standing On Shoulders” sounds a bit
like Cymbals Eat Guitars tune, but with a cool underwater
sounding warble in the electronics. This one is dreamy but
edgy. “Long Jump” has a breezy island feel to
it, thanks to steel drum sounds from the synth, and a throbbing
rhythm. “Sneaker Keeper” has a cool jazz vibe
mixed with startling noises punctuating the track. “Dinner”
closes the EP with more angular rhythms and guitar/MIDI
lines over smooth, relaxed vocals, the opposition of these
elements keeping the track in an off-kilter balance. I really
liked Big Bad Buffalo, and I like Krimston’s other
current bands (Miss New Buddha, Weatherbox), but Band Argument
has the originality to make a real splash, should they make
the effort.
CALIFORNIA
HEARSE (californiahearse. bandcamp.com)
Southern California’s Gentlemen Prefer Blood may have
called it quits, but their rhythm section, consisting of
Dr. J on bass/vocals and Mike Spaid on drums, have decided
to press on as California Hearse. If you’re familiar
with the sounds produced by Gentlemen Prefer Blood, you’re
going to instantly feel at home here; the half dozen tracks
have the same general mix of anthemic pop punk and power
pop. “Welcome Home” seems to reflect this, welcoming
GPB fans home to this new band, the expansive opening guitar
licks sounding just like GPB. Other songs add influences
from bands as diverse as The Descendents and Social Distortion.
Their first show will be at La Escalera Fest 8 in San Diego
this April, and I know I’m looking forward to that,
based on this EP.
OFFENDED
BY EVERYTHING – Evergreen (Standby Records, www.standbyrecords.
com)
Texas’ Offended By Everything call themselves pop
punk, but this reminds me more of the poppy emo that was
so trendy in the 2000s. This new EP from the still pretty
new band (they only formed in 2017) contains five tracks
that, if you’re a fan of that genre, are performed
in workmanlike fashion and should be enjoyable enough. To
my ears, though, these songs and so many like them have
little variation and are overwrought. The one exception
is the title track, which is an acoustic version of this
style of song, and I think this works so much better acoustically
than as a full electric band.
RADAR
STATE – Strays (Wiretap Records, wiretaprecords.limitedrun.com)
Wiretap’s latest release comes from a “super
group” of sorts, with Radar State consisting of Matt
Pryor and Jim Suptic of The Get Up Kids, Josh Berwanger
from The Anniversary, and Adam Phillips of The Architects
and The Gadjits. As a result, the music on this debut LP
is bouncy, melodic pop punk with a clean polished sound.
In a way, it almost sounds like it could be a new Get Up
Kids release, but this record has more of an edge and less
jangle than The Get Up Kids songs. Favorite songs include
the anthemic “Anywhere,” which contrasts tough
guitars with a poppy melodic line and a fantastic descending
line in the chorus. I really like the guitar fiddling and
flourishes on “Self Hurt Guru,” which also has
a great “Fat Wreck Chords” pop punk sound. “Defender”
is probably the most aggressive, punk song of the album.
It’s got a power to it, as does “Good Catholic,”
with the latter having a lot more bounce. And a third track
in a row completes the troika, “Leather Dye.”
It’s dark, up-tempo, and gets all misty in the middle.
The only song that feels out of place is the closer, “Play
For The Game.” It’s acoustic for its first two-thirds
before the full band comes in, but even then, the whole
song feels so different from the rest of the album, It’s
more of a low energy ballad. I see this band is coming through
town on tour in a few weeks, though, and I’ve put
them on my calendar. Should be a good time.
SLUM
SUMMER – Ababo (Jigsaw Records, www.jigsaw-records.com)
Fronted by Englishman Hugh Noble and formed after his move
to San Diego, Slum Summer is an indie band that includes
another UK ex-pat, Grant Stewart, on bass, as well as Americans
DJ Anderson (drums) and Jen Edwards on guitar. The songs
are nearly uniformly gentle indie pop, with a slightly folk-psych
undercurrent. Guitars jangle clearly, while the bass and
drums pump out the beats and Noble’s smooth, even
vocals sing out. The problem is that, within those parameters
there could be plenty of opportunity for variation, but
Slum Summer don’t take it often enough. Well, I guess
musically there’s some variation. “Trampoline”
has a doo-wop sort of feel, while “Vauxhall”
has the feel of a country ballad. “Sing Sing The Rain”
has a funky beat to it, and so on. I think it’s really
Noble’s vocals that sound identical from song to song.
And it’s so dominant in the mix, maybe too much so.
Every little flaw is laid bare in those vocals because of
that mix. Then there’s how clean the guitar tone is
on every song, and the amount of reverb they have –
again, too much, I do like some of the songs. “The
Rub” is a nice driving indie tune, and the dueling
guitars jangle in different ways. And the opener, “Annabel,”
is, well, similar. The songwriting has some good potential,
I think, but Slum Summer could do with some help producing
their records.
TROUBLE
CUTS – Parasite b/w Who Is Right? (Lavasocks Records,
www.lavasocksrecords.com)
My interest in this record from a band out of Portland that
rarely plays outside their local area is clear: the bassist
is none other than Kyle Henner, formerly of 90s Bay Area
band Nuisance, and the drummer is Jonno Peltz, who played
in the short-lived hardcore band Breeders in Urbana, Illinois
in the early 80s. This 7” EP comes on clear red vinyl
and features a pair of tracks. The A-side is a rocker, for
sure, with early rock’n’roll guitar flourishes.
It’s a mildly up-tempo track packed with a bluesy
power. The B-side is a slow-burner with a dusty desert feel.
The vocals complement the style really well, with a dry
delivery. Not only is it good to see people from bands I
enjoyed years ago still making music, it’s great to
hear that it’s really good music.
VAN
DAMMES – Risky Business (Rock Star Records, www.rockstarrecords.de)
Pop fucking punk rock from Finland! The Van Dammes, from
Helsinki, have issued forth a challenge to the world. The
six songs on this EP are nothing short of a huge blast of
fun energy. Lo-fi in just the right way, this record is
a must for all fans of garage-like pop punk. Formed in 2013
in Brussels, the band has relocated further north. This
is the fourth EP from the quartet, which features guitar,
bass, drums, and keyboards – and the keyboards add
a lot to the fun here! Five of the six tracks are under
two minutes, with only the mid-tempo closer passing that
mark. The title track opens the record in spectacular fashion,
raging like mad. Things don’t let up one bit for “I
Don’t Like Music Anymore,” with a bit of a Radioactivity
vibe, but with more of a melodic bounce. I really like “100m,”
and its use of the keys to echo the melodic line of the
vocals. That closing track, “Tax Free World,”
is a good one, too, but feels a little out of place with
its more loping feel and more of a focus on melody than
speed and power. This is a highly recommended record!
VINTAGE
CROP – Company Man (Drunken Sailor Records, www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk)
This four song EP features a classic punk sound out of
Australia. The mid-tempo tracks feature angular melodic
lines and shouted vocals. The band this most reminds me
of is Art Brut, the great UK band, as they have a very
similar feel. Song topics primarily seem to revolve around
economic exploitation, particularly the title track and
“Stock Options,” which closes the EP. Favorite
track: the off-kilter “Right to Censor.” Good
stuff.
WEAKENED
FRIENDS – Common Blah (Don Giovanni Records, www.dongiovanni
records.com)
OK, yeah, this came out in the last quarter of 2018. Our
fearless editor tells me it literally fell through the cracks
– he found it had fallen behind his CD cabinet. But
never fear – good music stays good, and this is indeed
good. The trio hails from New England (Boston and Portland,
Maine), and I hear a few different things in here that make
me happy; I hear influences from grunge, from indie pop,
and from pop punk. “Peel” is a solid grunge
track, with a tough feel, solid bass line, and fuzzed out
guitars. “Waste” also has a big grunge sound,
but with a lot of bounce added in. “Early” reminds
me so much of Washington D.C.’s Tsunami, a favorite
indie pop band from back in the day. Some of the songs remind
a lot of local San Diego band. Squarecrow. Not that they’re
an influence – how can they be? Squarecrow is a tiny
local band – but the way the vocals have a bit of
a tremor, almost like a subtle laugh, reminds me a lot of
Squarecrow’s Todd Allen and the way he sings. The
title track is a good example of this. And the songs have
the same light-hearted feel like Squarecrow, though the
lyrics may not be as light-hearted as the music implies.
“Not Doing Good” is another example of this.
The closing track, “Hate Mail,” features a guest
appearance from Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, and the unmistakable
guitar tone adds another layer to the song. I wish I had
heard this record earlier. Perhaps it might have displaced
something from my 2018 best records list…
RATIONS
NOISE / UNKNOWN RIVER DRIVER – Split 12” LP
(86’d Records, www.86drec.com)
This split LP comes from a pair of bands from Long Island,
and it features an amazing diversity of sound! Each band
contributes five tracks, with Unknown River Driver up first.
Just this one band likes to mix things up, with styles ranging
from post-punk to pop punk, but all with a strong grounding
in 1990s sounds. “Remains” blends heavy early-era
emo vocals and a grunge-doom feel with a beautifully clear
guitar tone. “Isaiah” is a great, epic sing-along
pop punk track with shouted vocals and a simple melodic
line. “Pour” is a dark track, mixing second
wave emo with an almost metallic edge. “Song of the
Cicada” is a pretty, delicate instrumental that doesn’t
even sound like it came from the same band. It’s got
a Japanese feel to it, both in the melody and arrangement.
The band’s final track, “Misery and Liberty,”
is a more standard melodic punk rock tune. And then comes
Rations Noise’s side! Now, this is definitely not
your typical Jersey Beat fare. This is experimental noise
and found sound mixed with musical instruments. And I love
it! This is sonic art of a sort that was made during a very
creative period in the 1980s, but is not often heard anymore.
And these five tracks are a good introduction to people
unfamiliar with the genre, as the tracks are short and rhythmic,
some even with a discernable melodic line in places. “Screams
of the Wounded and Dying” opens with some eerie sounds,
and then distorted synthesized voices intoning emotionlessly
about pain and mourning. The nightmarish sounds continue,
as a pulsating melodic line repeats, sounding like a distorted
harmonium, and the eerie sounds resolve into a rhythmic
beat. “Litany for Hancock Airbase” opens in
a similar manner, but this track remains dark and foreboding,
until the very end when a beautifully bass line takes over
from the buzzing and droning. “Dronestruck”
(speaking of drones) consists of dark ambience swelling
and ebbing, punctuated by a rhythmic banging pattern that’s
repeated, while a guitar plays rising and falling notes.
“Consoles” may be my favorite. It’s dark
and buzzy, with a strong repeated rhythm, periodically interrupted
by some other randomly evil sounds. “Cont’d
Litany” closes the side with a harsh noise blended
with guitar lines, distorted voices begging forgiveness
at the start and end. There is a consistent theme around
unjust warfare throughout these tracks, as well. Highly
recommended!
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