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| by joseph m. pence (notaninja) / todd hunter (todd) | |
1. You Know Who's Seatbelt
2. The Sound of Sulfur
3. Spitshine Sonata
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Band: The Bled
CD: Pass the Flask 3 Song CD Advance |
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Review #1 - Todd Hunter
I don't know what I expected when I accepted this assignment, but from the moment that James Munoz began to cough up razor blades, several seconds into "You Know Who's Seatbelt," I knew that I had miscalculated. Whether he is singing or vomiting is unclear, but the instrumentation seems to complement whatever it is that he is doing. Anyone in need of a migraine ought to check this out.
Even less subtle is "The Sound of Sulfur," which sounds like an exorcism where the exorcist loses. Pass the Flask surely will appeal to any teenage suburbanite whose sole desire is to cause his parents dismay. Incomprehensible sludge, thy name is The Bled.
Review #2 - Joe Pence
"You set my wits ablaze," James Munoz cries out in "The Sound of Sulfur", a song from Pass the Flask, the upcoming album release from hardcore band The Bled. Wow. I can't think of better words to describe this. I've listened to this CD maybe 12 times now and I think each time I appreciate it more - it's so rare nowadays to find a band whose music leaves you this stunned for silence. Munoz has an amazing range, he both menacingly growls but also seemlessly intones vocal inflections that lend haunting vulnerability to songs' softer moments. It's a risky move to actually sing at times instead of shout in songs with confrontational, crunching guitarwork, but here it lends texture and emotion. It's not as though these songs need any though; for an American hardcore band, The Bled share more in common with Swedish metal from the shifting drum signatures and crashing snares of Mike Pedicone to the melodic/cataclysmic guitar passages of Jeremy Talley and Ross Ott. If this advance is an indicator, The Bled represent the best aspects of hardcore sound: unmistakably intense and remarkably solid.
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| by joseph m. pence (notaninja) / zach hensel (zhensel) | |
1. Intro
2. The Creature From The Black Lagoon
3. 66-16
4. Lie To Ya Baby
5. You're Awful
6. Tokyo Rosie
7. Fistfull of Dollars
8. Wild Mutha
9. I'm Hurt
10. Come On
11. Johanna
12. Outro
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Band: The Creatures from The Black Lagoon
CD: Tails from The Black Lagoon |
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Review #1 - Joe Pence
The Creatures from The Black Lagoon (of Bloomington fame) have a refreshing approach for a local band. Their first album, Tails From The Black Lagoon, is one half original material, one half cover songs set in between an introductory and closing organ nod to silent horror. The songs here are a impressive mixture of punk rock, surf rock, and campy horror themes - "66-16" is rollicking, riotous stomprock with a roving bassline and an infectious percussion groove. For its part, the mixing is particularly good, and lends itself to well to the songs, giving you the impression of a live session of the band at some whiskey-drenched roadhouse.
The major problem I had with Tails From The Black Lagoon was the covers; they really bring down the album. While its great to learn The Creatures from The Black Lagoon's roots and influences, the cover versions of The Mummies' "Wild Mutha" really adds nothing to the original, and the cover of Eddie Cochran's "Come On" is lackluster at best, overlong at worst. Worse than that, The Stooges' "Johanna," the original a classic, here is difficult to listen through, reduced to forced squalls and unfocused guitars which really ends everything on such a bad note.
Even though it's by no means perfect, I enjoyed Tails From The Black Lagoon - it's a lot of fun to listen through (think Misfits with maybe less self-righteousness.) If you're looking for something revelous and local that recreates the sense of barroom atmosphere, then you might want to check out The Creatures from The Black Lagoon.
Review #2 - Zach Hensel
Choosing to frame their record with snippets of dramatic organ chords, The Creatures From the Black Lagoon are reaching for some sort of group aesthetic in Tails From The Black Lagoon [sic]. Perhaps they should have taken a hint from the miserable failure of horrorcore hip-hop and tried for something a little more modest. Aside from the instrumental introductory track "The Creature From The Black Lagoon," the band never comes close to achieving what they clearly set out to do. Certainly the concept at hand has promise, and the Creatures From The Black Lagoon seem to have good intentions, but this record fails on almost all accounts.
The record does have its highlights. The opening track runs at a blister pace, backed by a quick ska snare beat and passing the melody between the guitar and bass. Single organ notes underscore the instrumental track and give it a little extra something desperately lacking in the rest of the album. "66-16" and "Lie To Ya Baby" both start strong before they fall to formula boredom. "Fistfull of Dollars" [sic] appeals to the strengths of the band with its punk-tinged rockabilly crunch. "I gotta fistfull of dollars and it makes me your best friend" stands out as one of the lyric pinacles of the album, and the band obviously knows it, repeating it three times in each chorus.
The record ends with a selection of covers. They are all performed capably enough and the inclusion of The Mummies' "Wild Mutha" certainly fits with the band's intent. On the whole, this record is a misguided mess. Although The Creatures From The Black Lagoon have some interesting ideas, they are incapable of bringing them to life. Perhaps the sterility of the recording process tempered their sound as some of the songs hint at the possibility of appealing live performances. On the bright side, the music here is superior to the spelling on the album art, if barely.
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| by jessica cochran (lemmingcontrol) / steve sobel (steve) | |
1. truth in lies
2. i'm on my side
3. come on kid, come on
4. regular unleaded
5. like meteors
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Band: thefarewelldrive
CD: if yes, explain |
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Review #1 - Jessica Cochran
When I began to listen to the first track on this album, I thought it was going to be some slow, boring indie rock that would be tedious to listen to over and over again as I reviewed it. But as the track played on, ‘truth in lies' built up into a powerful, emotional rock song. As I listened to the EP, I found all the songs followed this same basic format, and surprisingly it did not get boring.
All the songs have interesting riffs that begin to build and force you to continue to listen as the song climbs to the climax of the chorus. I really got into the vocals on this album. The singer sings low and quiet for most of the songs, except during the choruses where he builds up to almost screaming out the lyrics. You can feel the emotion pouring out of his voice. Most of the lyrics are sad or desperate, but are well-written and mature enough not to sound cliché. All the songs flow well together and are solidly composed.
I really enjoyed this EP, and although nearly every song is over 4 minutes in length, it seemed that the five tracks were over too soon. I am looking forward to thefarewelldrive putting out a full length album in the future, but in the meantime be sure to check out "if yes, explain:" www.thefarewelldrive.com.
Review #2 - Steve Sobel
The all-lowercase text on the EP from thefarewelldrive, "if yes, explain" is actually a halfway decent statement about the music. It's compact, neat, simple and understated. With such a simple but enjoyable feel to the music, there's not a whole lot of descriptive words that are appropriate other than "this is an enjoyable EP!".
While there is certainly a range from laid back to emotionally powerful in each of the songs, there's a minimalism almost reminiscent of the small set of 80's rock that wasn't interfered with by the then-newfangled and all too ubiquitous synthesizers, drum machines, etc.
"if yes, explain" is definitely an EP worth picking up, and hopefully a sign of more to come from a band that emphasizes the benefit of knowing of when not to add that extra part to a song.
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| by brian tracy (TwilightBurning) / joseph m. pence (notaninja) | |
1. Niner
2. Stew Booty
3. Snow Goddess
4. Cheap Shirt
5. Burning Rubber
6. W*I*Ky
7. Slicing Down Broadway
8. Beaches II
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Band: Monster Honkey
CD: Monster Honkey |
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Review #1 - Joe Pence
Monster Honkey's self-titled release is a mixed bag, and a lot of my opinions on this album rely on two base points. First off, Wilson Hensleigh is either from the Cap'n Jazz or Jello Biafra school of singing; some of the time his vocals lend themselves to the music, while other times he rubs it the wrong way with his grinding nasal screeches. Add to this predictably discordant, muddy guitar layers from song to song, and you've summed up a good deal of what made me uncomfortable with this album.
There is some promising material on the latter part though, if you can make it. "Slicing Down Broadway" is a sonic assault replete with percussion rolls and thrashing metal guitars. "Burning Rubber" is clangy bass and distorted guitars in a spinning, almost drunken wallow. "Beaches II" is filled with electrostatic guitar stabs over minimalist drum lines which lend a sense of deconstructivism to the album. My main complaint is that while some of the individual performances are interesting, Monster Honkey as a whole is noticeably absent when it comes near any given moment of collective triumphancy. Monster Honkey, the album, does nothing for Monster Honkey, the band, in defining their own sound, their own soul, from a huge stack of other alt-metal bands that want to be either Helmet or Nirvana.
Review #2 - Brian Tracy
Monster Honkey offer an interesting mix of music. Their eight-song album has hints of metal, desert rock and more. At times the elements combine to form an interesting collection of rock songs that works more on some songs than it does on others.
The songs on this album are generally fairly well constructed and have enough variety that they don't blend together. Instrumentally one of the key things that got my attention, and this is a simple but enjoyable point, is all the tracks feature a catchy instrumental opening. While this is not necessarily the strongest point of the CD it is something that I find lacking in many albums; less importance seems to have been placed on the beginning of songs, be it because intros are cut by the radio or simply the changing of the times, lots of songs these days just jumps right into the music, putting little importance on the intro of a song which can do so much for a track as it has the opportunity to really set the tone for the song.
While Monster Honkey may have a good instrumental basis I think vocally they suffer some. While I like the variety of styles used on the album at times they feel weak. The vocals at time seemed to waver, or have a unsure sound to them, and while it does contrast the music nicely I think it contrasts too much as it sounded out of place among the instruments.
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| by eric wilson (subliminalmsgr) / chris earnhart (Pocket) | |
1. Alpha Waves
2. Always: Your Way
3. The Gentle Art of Choking
4. Kohlstream
5. Cemented Shoes
6. Grounded
7. C.O.R (Critic-Orientated-Rock)
8. Infantile
9. Ode To The Red Queen
10. Tongue Tied
11. Windows & Walls
12. Taprobane
13. Losing Touch
14. Pieces
15. Falling Off The Floor
16. Under The Wheels
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Band: My Vitriol
CD: Finelines |
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Review #1 - Eric Wilson
Finelines was released in the UK by My Vitriol in 2001 and is now available as part of a double-album that also includes the newer Between the Lines. Finelines, which consists of 14 anthems for the gloomy modern world is made up of 3 parts plain rock and 1 part metal. Neither heavy nor classic metal, this is more of an alternative-metal, though not as cheesy or contrived as the American nü-metal. These songs are heavy—not in the heavy metal sense, but in the heavy poetry sense. They sound like they belong somewhere important, like in a movie—a very serious movie. That's not to say that these songs don't "rock"—they do. It's just that they could benefit from some variety.
This is the type of album where I'd have part of a song that I like stuck in my head but I'd have to listen to the entire album in order to find it again. On a number of tracks, the vocals are very sparse, giving even more of an anthemic feel. The highlight of the album is track five, "Cemented Shoes," simply because it stands out compared to the rest of the album. As for the album on a whole, there is a fine line between good music and great music and Finelines just doesn't cut it.
Review #2 - Chris Earnhart
My Vitriol is an alt-rock band who has put out a CD with some quality work on it, but Finelines doesn't seem to have the flow that makes an album a special thing. It seems like it would have been much better with a few less songs. I'm sure that My Vitriol fans would be ecstatic to get more bang for their buck, but as a first time listener, there are some songs that I will just skip over most of the time.
Despite vocals that are reminiscent of much pop-rock, the band can hardly be classified as such. The band shows that they have a lot of talent with the standard line-up of lead and rythm guitar, bass, and drums. Som Wardner, vocalist/guitarist, also plays piano for a few of the songs. "Tongue Tied" is a very moving instrumental with a mixed pace that proves the band's skill, and it is a nice lead in to "Windows & Walls" which is a much slower song.
It's admittedly hard for me to say much about this band's sound. Light vocals stand promintently over harder guitar. The drums and the bass are most often background as they are in many bands. My Vitriol does have a very unique sound, despite their common set-up. The album itself doesn't stand out as remarkable to me, but there are a few gems in it. For those who have heard of My Vitriol and enjoy their music, then this would be a good album. For those who want a slight spin on modern alt-rock, check them out at http://www.myvitriol.com/. Otherwise, I think that cutting a few songs out would've solidified this album and made it worthy of listening beginning to end, but for right now the lack of variety that is needed in a 16 track album prevents me from recommending it to anyone else. Look to future works for something that flows a little better.
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| by steve sobel (steve) / maggie quirk (dietofworms) | |
1. Scornful of the Motives and Virtue of Others
2. Let Us at Last Praise the Colonizers of Dreams
3. The Consummate Dragon
4. Willing Oneself to Forget What Cannot Otherwise be Forgiven
5. Two and Twenty Misfortunes
6. Being Exemplary
7. Given Flight by Demon's Wings
8. Whether to Cry or Destroy
9. This Song: For the True and Passionate Lovers of Music
10. Ending the Perpetual Tragedy
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Band: Shai Hulud
CD: That Within Blood Ill-Tempered |
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Review #1 - Maggie Quirk
After a five year respite the Miami metalcore band, Shai Hulud, came out with their next album, That Within Blood Ill-Tempered. The songs portray intense rage and sorrow through poetic lyrics and melodic guitar. The basic drums combine with chaotic guitar riffs, and Geert Van Der Velde's throaty screams to produce music that will make you feel a wave of emotions. Shai Hulud achieved a perfect combination of metal and hardcore. With two guitars, sometimes the elaborate riffs don't mesh like they should, but with two talented musicians, what is produced leaves a lasting impression on the listener.
There is one major downfall to this album: the song titles. The titles, which were probably designed to induce spontaneous combustion, just make me want to laugh. How could anyone take songs seriously if they are as inane as "Whether to Cry or to Destroy" or "Let us at last Praise the Colonizers of Dreams."
Despite the name, "Whether to Cry or to Destroy" was the most impressionable song on the album. The passion of the lyrics, 'My hand is poised, and in fury. Only thunder gives me rest,' is a perfect example of the strong emotions shown in the rest of the album.
Overall, this album was worth the five years put into making it. When listening to the stormy album, try not to think of the song titles or you'll ruin the mood. That Within Blood Ill-Tempered is a memorable album that is definitely worth listening to.
Review #2 - Steve Sobel
There's challenging music, and there's music that's difficult just for the
sake of being difficult. Shai Hulud falls on the latter side of the line.
With song titles as long as ten words, one cannot help but feel a thick air
of pretentiousness around the entire album.
That said, there are points of this CD that really shine. When the
vocalists screams are actually rhythmic, rather than a frantic effort to
squeeze out twenty words within a measure, That Within Blood Ill-Tempered
becomes temporarily entertaining. The guitars are a mesh of math-rock and
melodic hardcore, providing a beautiful backdrop to a vocal texture that is
decent at best, but usually abrasive even when compared to other hardcore
acts.
If Shai Hulud lost the pretentious artist air and actually sought to make
more consumable music, they would likely kick severe amounts of ass -
they've certainly got the technical talent. They just shoot themselves in
the foot with vocals that take away from otherwise excellent guitar and
drum work.
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| by john popovics (johnpop) / jessica cochran (lemmingcontrol) | |
1. Worst movie
2. Never looked down
3. Rotating violets
4. Falling asleep while standing up
5. People mover
6. Orange hand
7. Electric organizer
8. Morphine
9. New foreign jar
10. Can’t live without buttons
11. Traveling at lightspeed
12. Sign
13. Silent mess, quiet mix-up
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Band: Where's Moo
CD: Happiness |
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Review #1 - John Popovics
A rock band always earns points from me if they carve out a sound that is not easily comparable to, or obviously derivative of, others. And Where's Moo, in their self-produced full-length recording Happiness, do score in this way. But compare them I must: their sound is a hodgepodge of the Athens, Georgia ethic with early progressive rock (think REM meets the Moody Blues) and the occasional nod to grunge.
The four-piece earns some additional guts points for moving recently from their native Orlando to LA in a shot to make it in the music business; I applaud that sort of determination and drive in rock bands. At their best, such as on the cuts "Never Looked Down" and "Silent mess, quiet mix-up," Where's Moo deliver solid rock songs with interesting arrangements and competent, but not outstanding, musicianship. However, Happiness ends up being a flawed freshman effort.
More often than not, the songwriting and arrangements fall apart; the songs lack a unifying vision, sounding as if they were assembled by band committee. Moreover, the phrasing of the lyrics is often awkward, and the lyric imagery confusing and just plain silly at times. Perhaps a double-dose from Dr. Dylan is in order here for Where's Moo. If you are a fan of early prog rock, the solid cuts in Happiness may do something for you, so checkout their website: www.wheresmoo.com. But sorry folks, no clues on the meaning behind the band's intriguing name will be found there.
Review #2 - Jessica Cochran
Where's Moo's CD Happiness is an adventure for your ears. Fun, catchy, and nerdy are the first 3 words that come to mind to describe it. With a combination like that, you can't go wrong.
As I glanced at the song titles, I was very curious to see what the songs had to say. The lyrics are goofy on the surface, singing about things such as violets, electric organizers, and buttons. As you listen further, however, there is a deeper meaning. You find a touch of darkness and sarcasm, especially it seems in the last song and the bonus track.
This is an interesting contrast to the nasally, slightly nerdy sounding voice of the lead singer. At first it is hard to take seriously, but then it seems only fitting. The vocalist somehow does the music justice, and Happiness would not be as good with any other voice. Where's Moo also has a female singer doing mostly backup vocals, which adds a nice touch to several of the songs.
The music seems fairly straight-forward rock, with a slight dirty garage sound. On a few songs the guitar sometimes breaks out into psychedelic distortion. Most of the songs are fairly upbeat. It is difficult to resist tapping a foot along with the beat or singing along with the chorus.
I really enjoyed this CD. Happiness is a solid album with infectious beats and fun lyrics. If you are looking for something new and original, I suggest you check out Where's Moo at www.wheresmoo.com.
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