Not exactly PRT material but I have to admit that when “The Slim Shady LP” came out in 1999, I was hooked. I’ve never been a big fan of hiphop but the rhymes that Eminem seemingly pulls out of thin air border on genius at times. And he just kept getting better with “The Marshall Mather LP” and “The Eminem Show”. After that things went downhill with “Encore” and as if he knew it, Eminem called it a day and devoted himself entirely to his drug addiction.
He’s back now though with “Relapse”, an album about drugs, rehab and the inevitable relapse. The singles “Crack A Bottle” and “We Made You” didn’t sound very promising but after having listened to the album a couple of times, I have to say that ol’ Em is still pretty damn good at what he does.
Nevermind the skits or 50 Cent’s annoying contribution or a couple of tracks on here that are yawn-inducing (“Same Song & Dance”, “Must Be The Ganja” and the abovementioned singles among others)… when Eminem is good, he’s really good and in the end that still saves this album. “3 a.m.”, “Bagpipes From Baghdad”, “Déja Vu” and “Beautiful” are a couple the cuts on here where he dishes out some razorsharp lyrics.
With 20 songs, “Relapse” is simply way too long. If he would’ve trimmed it down, it would’ve been a better album. Later this year Eminem will drop the second volume of “Relapse”… maybe he saved the best stuff for last? Let’s hope so! Score: 7 out of 10 http://www.aftermathmusic.com http://www.eminem.com
Wow, Frenchies be pissed! Out For The Count call Paris home and come armed with some ultraviolent hardcore rather than a baret and a baguette. While the city is always portrayed as the most romantic thing in the world when people aren’t busy committing suicide by jumping off the Eiffel tower, these dudes are here to highlight the city’s darkest sides. Expect brutal beatdown/metalcore not unlike Kickback. Or à la Kickback to stay with Frenchie.
While it’s easy to go over the top with this kinda music, these dudes manage to make things sound pissed off as fuck and even creepy without going overboard. Solid release! Score: 7.5 out of 10 http://www.filledwithhate.com http://www.myspace.com/out4thecount
Google Brian Olive and one of the first links you’ll come across is that to Brian’s olive shop somewhere in Australia. Apparently they offer a nice variety of Kalamata olives and pure extra virgin olive oil pressed locally. The Brian Olive I was looking for however used to a Soledad Brother and a Greenhorne, two outfits with whom he tried to bring back blues in a rock setting around the same time The White Stripes blew up and stole all the credit.
On his eponymous solo album, Olive is taking a slightly different route and revisits the colorful, psychedelic and soulful sixties. The result is a wildly diverse album with songs varying from the bossanova track “Echoing Light” that is disguised as something Jack Johnson could’ve written to the New Orleans parade of “The Day Is Coming”, the jazzy atmosphere of “High Low” and the album highlight “Killing Stone” with very nice backing vocals.
It’s a cool album that comes with a warm, organic sound thanks to the analog recording somewhere in the basement of a former pawnshop. Check it out if you want to know what was happening in music when your parents were young a long time ago. Score: 7 out of 10 http://www.alivenergy.com http://www.myspace.com/brianolivemusic
When a new band features ex-Vietnom members and releases a debut on Filled With Hate Records, one expects to hear some vicious hardcore. Quite the contrary with Blackriver Boys who instead come out swinging with a streetpunk sound that comes with some catchy hooks.
The songs leave me with an overall positive impression, especially cuts like “Worth The Loss” and “Final Notice”. It’s nothing you haven’t already heard before (especially if you’re familiar with bands like Whiskey Rebels) and the drums sound like they were messing around with a dustbin, but the potential is present and accounted for. Score: 6.5 out of 10 http://www.filledwithhate.com http://www.myspace.com/blackriverboys
Once again Nightrage has been plagued by line-up changes with Marios Iliopoulos as the only remaining original member. Luckily this did not have an impact on the band’s sound at all. Hell, I’d even go as far as saying that “Wearing A Martyr’s Crown” is the band’s most accomplished album to date.
Harking back to the days when melodic death metal was still death metal first and foremost, this is a brutal affair. There are of course the occasional acoustic parts and some soaring riffs but there’s no mistaking this for anything but a metal album. Most of the riffage is violent and new vocalist Antony Hämäläinen has some gnarly growls at his disposal as you can hear right off the bat in “Shed The Blood”
Implosion? Not very likely. If anything, this Swedish trio should blow up all over the place with their infectious cuts that reference Stiff Little Fingers as much as The Clash. It’s folky and has touches of reggae at times but most of all, this is a prime example of a punk band going back to their roots and coming back with a sound that’s totally invigorating.
The horns are not overused and the handclaps and dubby organ sounds aren’t tiresome. But what “Implosion” is, is totally addictive and catchy. Just give songs like “Rickie” or “Quicksand” a listen and feel free to agree with me. Way to go Smalltown! Score: 8 out of 10 http://www.derangedrecords.com http://www.smalltownsweden.com
The Bullet Monks did definitely not take a vow of silence when they entered the convent and so they are able to unleash another batch of mosh ‘n roll prayers called “Weapons Of Mass Destruction” upon all the heathens out there.
Monks are not exactly known for their keen fashion sense, what with their brown robes and all. And that’s no different with these Germans. They play something that can be best described as a mixture of Motörhead and Hellacopters with loud rocking guitars and vocals that reach hair metal highs in the choruses. It’s all pretty standard fare with typical riffs, solos and track titles like “No Gain Just Pain”. Not bad but I doubt that they’ve got what it takes to stand out in the genre just yet. Score: 6 out of 10 http://www.napalmrecords.com http://www.bulletmonks.com
Silversun Pickups is an LA-based band who already scored some minor hits with their debut “Carnavas”. They’re back now with a new album called “Swoon” and yes, it’s once again 90% “Siamese Dream” era Smashing Pumpkins. Which doesn’t have to be a bad thing and in Silversun Pickups’ case, it isn’t. Not even by a long shot.
Opener “There’s No Secrets This Year” lets you know from the get-go that not a whole lot has changed. There’s that buzzing guitarsound along with Brian Aubert’s Corgan-esque vocals and the typical big chorus that kicks in once the songs explodes. It gets especially beautiful when bassist Nikki Monninger helps out with the vocal harmonies… sounds amazing!
These guys and one girl use the same formula a lot but when that means writing songs like “Panic Switch” and “The Royal We”, I could get used to it. Unfortunately there is some filler on here as well with tracks like “Draining”. But overall Silversun Pickups’ second album will let you do just that… swoon. Score: 7.5 out of 10 http://www.dangerbirdrecords.com http://www.silversunpickups.com
After a whole bunch of touring Pennsylvania’s CDC (or Cool Dudes Chillin’) finally recorded a new 5-song EP. The result is called “Burn” and marks their Filled With Hate debut.
While the band name may make you think of something else entirely, CDC actually plays some pretty nasty NYHC with additional beatdown parts. And they’re good at it. Shattered Realm or Skarhead are names that come to mind while listening to a song like “Ghost Writer” and honestly, that can never be a bad thing, right?
The Faraway Places is one of those bands that if we were still living in the seventies, could be found holding hands in a commune while reeking of patchouli. Just check out the band name… yeah, it’s time to get spacy! Or baked. Or preferably both.
On the ten songs that make up “Out Of The Rain, The Thunder & The Lightning” they sound optimistic as fuck which is plain annoying for a natural born cynic like me. Hell, these guys could put a whole squad of cheerleaders to shame! They sound like an even more ‘out there’ version of I’m From Barcelona or The Polyphonic Spree and I’d settle for a spacepop moniker because they don’t rock hard enough to call it anything but pop.
I think they could do a whole lot better but seem kind of content with just writing and recording whatever they come up with. If The Faraway Places would apply themselves a little more, I think the result would be a lot more satisfying. Oh shit, now I sound just like my old teachers from high school! Score: 6 out of 10 http://www.saveitrecords.com http://www.thefarawayplaces.com
On album number five, the guys in Lay Down Rotten chose for a more melodic route compared to their earlier work. And while it still isn’t an earthshattering release, this is an example of Germans on the move. Not to Poland this time, but on to more recognition.
With every release they become a little more subtle and a little more melodic but don’t go around calling this radio-friendly material just yet. The title track and “Altering The Whore” are prime examples of solid death metal you can bang your head to like crazy.
Overall “Gospel Of The Wretched” is a good example of a band slowly but surely evolving into an evermore finely tuned machine not unlike Kataklysm or Amon Amarth. Score: 6 out of 10 http://www.metalblade.de http://www.laydownrotten.com
Sweden’s favorite pukers are back with what is already their seventh album, “Carnage Euphoria”. When you want to hear some solid death metal, this bunch has been the go to guys for years now and that is no different on their latest album where they once again sound like a solid mix of Napalm Death, Entombed and a little bit of Slayer.
What more is there to say that hasn’t already been written about Vomitory? They are really, really good at what they do and if you’ve heard one of their other albums, you know exactly what to expect of “Carnage Euphoria”. Score: 8 out of 10 http://www.metalblade.de http://www.vomitory.net
With three former members of Through The Eyes Of The Dead in the band, it’s pretty obvious that “Salarian Gate” won’t contain a bunch of uplifting pop songs. No, Graves Of Valor plays the kind of death metal that seems to be en vogue at the moment.
A drummer that beats his drums as if they still owe him money, a vocalist that howls, grunts and screams himself a way through the eleven songs and some thrash-inspired riffs… it’s all there. It’s not pure death metal though as Graves Of Valor likes to throw in the occasional breakdown which makes for a lot of fun in the pit. Think Cannibal Corpse meets Job For A Cowboy if you will.
Obviously these guys don’t lack sheer brutality. But before they succeed in ripping your face off, they might want to find a face of their own. For now Graves Of Valor still sounds a little too much like their contemporaries which is a bit of a shame. A decent album even though there is still room for improvement. Score: 6.5 out of 10 http://www.relapse.com http://www.myspace.com/fromgravesofvalor
Contrary to many of their countrymen, the Swedish dudes that make up Inevitable End do not play melodic death metal and they definitely don’t rock out in a garage. Instead their Relapse debut is full of extreme death metal in all its varieties.
On “The Severed Inception” riffs that would make Behemoth proud are coupled to blastbeats, which are then followed by a dissonant part before drowning in a sea of chaos not unlike Dillinger Escape Plan. Oh, and they also like to throw in some grindcore every now and again. You know, just to keep things diverse enough.
The result is an album that bounces all over the place. Even after a couple of listen it’s hard to wrap your head around the material. But at least it’s not one of those death metal albums where all the songs sound alike. It’s modern death metal, more than adequately executed and it sounds sick as fuck. Score: 7 out of 10 http://www.relapse.com http://www.inevitable-end.com
Keep your Prozac close when you pop in Minsk’s new album because “With Echoes In The Movement Of Stone” will not make you a happier person. From the moment those rolling drums start wjhipping up dust in opener “Three Moons” until the last notes of “Requiem : From Substance To Silence” ring out, this is one gloomy, psychedelic trip that will not let you claw your way out. It’s as much doom metal as it is post-rock and even at their calmest, they are still able to scare the living shit out of you. Neurosis better beware because with their newest album, the dudes in Minsk are making a claim to the throne. Score: 8 out of 10 http://www.relapse.com http://www.thesoundofminsk.com
Growing up in Orlando right next door to Disney World, you probably pick up soon enough on the fact that being sweet, cuddly and pretty pays off. And so There For Tomorrow throws eleven songs our way that are exactly that.
The wonderful James Paul Wisner is the reason why everything on “A Little Faster” sounds even sweeter, cuddlier and prettier and I don’t see no reason why this debut album shouldn’t get these guys ahead in the world. Sounding like Jimmy Eat World at their most rocking with some Plain White T’s influences mixed in, opener “The Remedy” and especially the title track set the standard. Later on there is room for an acoustic ballad in the form of “I Can’t Decide” but overall the songs are upbeat, catchy and tighter than Jessica Alba’s ass. It’s a sound that has been done many times over but hey, apparently it still works! Score: 7.5 out of 10 http://www.hopelessrecords.com http://www.myspace.com/therefortomorrow
Normally I’m always afraid of Japanese bands because they either sound too weird or in the case where they do attempt to play some straight-forward punkrock tunes, their English is often nearly unintelligible. Not so with Mono. These post-rockers continue to churn out one captivating album after the other and that is no different with “Hymn To The Immortal Wind”, their fifth full-length.
Based on a story by Heeya So, “Hymn To The Immortal Wind” tells of a boy and a girl who meet and then lose each other and then spend the rest of their lives trying to find each other again. Every chapter is translated to a song and while seven songs may not seem like much for a full-length, it actually is when songs are spun out into 10-minute long opuses.
Opener “Ashes In The Snow” starts off like a fairytale with lots of bells and a string arrangement (courtesy of the 30-piece orchestra that’s backing up Mono on this album) before a storm kicks up leading the song to a bombastic end after almost 12 minutes.
Always melancholic, never over the top. That seems to be Mono’s credo and they more than live by it on “Hymn To The Immortal Wind” with cuts like “Silent Flight, Sleeping Dawn” and “The Battle Of Heaven”. Post-rock fans around the world know what to do with their money! Score: 9 out of 10 http://www.conspiracyrecords.com http://www.mono-jpn.com
Gibby Haynes from the Butthole Surfers used to send Evan Dando mixtapes which probably inspired this Lemonheads cover album. Haynes himself was brought in as well, parked his ass in the producer chair and helped put a bunch of covers on tape by artists that are pretty diverse. Townes Van Zandt, Christina Aguilera, Wire, G.G. Allin and Leonard Cohen… it’s all here in mostly acoustic versions. Except for the electro of “Dirty Robot”. Which brings me to my next point…
Because a sausage party is not as much fun, they brought in some ladies as well. “Dirty Robot” boasts guest vocals by Kate Moss and none other than the luscious Liv Tyler gets to sing along on “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye”.
Like I said, no loud rock or guitars that are heavy on the feedback this time around folks! It’s all acoustic and mellow on here. It’s nice enough but probably only a worthy addition to the Lemonheads discography for the real fans. I just hope that the band’s follow-up to 2006’s self-titled album didn’t get delayed too much with the release of “Varshons” because that’s the one I’m looking forward to! Score: 7 out of 10 http://www.cookingvinyl.com http://www.thelemonheads.net
While Sights & Sounds may have been known up ‘til now as ‘that other band that features Comeback Kid’s Andrew Neufeld’, that’s all about to change with the release of “Monolith”. A lot of other bands out there can only dream of dropping an album of this magnitude at the peak of their career, Sights & Sounds simply do it with their debut.
With “Monolith” Sights & Sounds succeed immediately in creating a face of their own, something not given to many side-projects. Take “Clutters” for example… a song that Jimmy Eat World would love to have written. It starts off quiet enough with Neufeld singing (holy shit, the guy can actually sing just as well as he can yell!) before building up in the middle and then fading out with a lot of feedback before completely exploding in the end. It’s 7 minutes long but it flies by like it’s nothing.
When not playing with all the power they can muster, the mellow soundscapes they whip out are easily just as intense. It’s not all about intensity though. The catchy hooks and soaring melodies these guys throw all over the place are just as much of a treat as everything else on this album. It sounds like Jimmy Eat World one minute, Explosions In The Sky the next and I think Sigur Ros is on the band’s playlist as well.
The artwork isn’t all that appealing but other than that, everything on here is breathtakingly good (including the Devin Townsend production) and as far as I’m concerned “Monolith” is one for 2009’s Top 10. Score: 9 out of 10 http://www.smallmanrecords.com http://www.myspace.com/sightsandsounds
Rage Against The Machine is back playing reunion shows but whether or not this will ever lead to a new album is still open for debate. In the meantime, fans of angry lyrics and Morello’s funkmetal riffage can relax to the not so soothing tunes of Street Sweeper Social Club, a new band Morello started along with Boots Riley (one of the rhymesayers in The Coup).
While the album opens strong enough with “Fight! Smash! Win!” and “100 Little Curses”, the rest of the songs remind us that both of them have already been active in bands with songs more memorable than “Somewhere In The World It’s Midnight”. But it’s not because this is not a classic album, that it’s any less enjoyable! Score: 7 out of 10 ILG http://www.myspace.com/streetsweepersocialclub
Holy shit! Future Of The Left is back with the follow-up to “Curses”. And I’ll be damned if they’re not spot-on with every single song. The album arrived a bit early on the internet which wasn’t to the liking of vocalist Falco and prompted him to write a pissed off blog entry on their MySpace page. But what do you expect when you record an album as powerful as this one? It simply cannot be contained.
Everything you loved about Future Of The Left is still there, only even more powerful than on their debut. The seething opener “Arming Eritrea” comes with foam around the mouth while “The Hope That House Built” is the first single that will undoubtedly do a great job of luring in unsuspecting album buyers (the few that are left) with a catchy vocal melody.
The synths still go off in overdrive, the bass is still rumbling, the guitars will still rip you a new one and Falco’s lyrics are still funny as hell with “Stand By Your Manatee” as my favorite, a song about a girl who’s ashamed by her parents’ use of plastic forks. Yeah, exactly. Killer album! Score: 9 out of 10 http://www.4ad.com http://www.futureoftheleft.com
Alexisonfire has a new album out called "Old Crows/Young Cardinals" (out now on Vagrant) and if you ask me, it's their best one so far. They sound more mature than ever and sound more rock 'n roll than ever! Didn't need more reasons to do a short email interview with guitarist Wade!
PRT: Have you ever been embarassed to tell someone that you named the band after the world's only lactating contortionist stripper? Like when one of your grandparents or the parents of a new girlfriend asked you about it? Wade: Yes, it has made for some akward moments around christmastime. I usually just tap dance around the answer until the topic changes.
PRT: You're all involved in side-projects or other bands (City and Colour, The Black Lungs, Hunter, Bergenfield Four, Fucked Up). is that something you need to do to keep things running smoothly? Wade: We are all music junkies. All the side bands you mentioned give us a chance to do something different.
PRT: Do you feel like any of those other projects have an impact on Alexisonfire's sound? Wade: They definitely have an impact on the alexisonfire sound. First off, they alow us to get certain things out of our systems. So, this way we aren't trying to fit everything in our heads into an alexis song. Also, just playing more music has definitely helped our voices.
PRT: In the opening song of your new album there's the line 'We are not the kids we used to be'. Is that a statement about you guys as a band or something else entirely? Wade: I think on every album we have a song that is a bit of a mission statement. Old Crows is where our heads are at these days.
PRT: The new album is called "Old Crows / Young Cardinals". probably your best and most diverse album so far and even further removed from your debut than "Crisis". Which made me wonder if you guys get that 'I liked their first album better' comment a lot? Wade: Of course we do. You can't please everybody. At the end of the day you have to be writing music that you are passionate about and that moves you. You can't worry about anything else.
PRT: The new album sounds a lot more straight-forward than the last ones. do you agree? And if so, was that something you set out for or did it just turn out that way? Wade: Yes we definitely tried to keep things more straight ahead. It was intentional. We have come to terms with repeating the parts we like.
PRT: What keeps you guys going album after album and tour after tour? Wade: After all the touring we did on our last record there wasn't much keeping us going. We got home and stepped back from things. We had a chance to catch our breath and after a while we were just ready to go again. We have grown up together and we are like brothers.
PRT: The album is out on Vagrant in the States but Roadrunner for Europe. what made you decide to go with Roadrunner? Wade: Just to get our records out to more people in Europe. We toured there a lot and people would always tell us they would have to order our records from the states. PRT: You guys are on the Warped Tour this summer. is that something you simply can't go around if you want to tour the States in the summer or is it just too much of a great opportunity to pass up? Wade: Timing wise it worked out. I went to Warped when I was 15, it's cool to be a part of it years later.
PRT: What is the one thing that has never happened at one of your shows before that you would love to see? Wade: Someday I'd like to stagedive and be caught. I always fall and crack my head.
PRT: What's the dumbest hype you've ever participated in? Wade: Twitter. We are still participating in it.
PRT: Are there still any things you'd like to achieve with Alexisonfire other than world domination? Wade: I just want to keep taking our music to new places. On this record I think we are gonna be touring South Africa and China.
PRT: And if Alexisonfire should ever come to an end, what would you like to be remembered for? Wade: I would hope we will write some songs can stand the test of time. A song that will still sound relevant 20 years from now.
PRT: Any last words for our readers? Wade: Listen to Sam Cooke!
Two girls based out of London make up We Rock Like Girls Don’t and I can only agree with them. “How Did It Get To This” is one exciting slab of raw rock n roll that exude pure sex. And a whole lot of distortion and feedback.
At first there were three of them but when X left the band, the two carried on alone but hung on to the kickass song “The Power Of Three”. Even more kickass is “I Just Wanna Stick My Head In The Bass Drum” which comes with the line ‘I just wanna kiss you hard until you cum’. Yeah baby!
Making The Donnas look like catholic schoolgirls, Ros and Vas manage to create a wall of sound between the two of them with pounding drums and some of the noisiest guitar sounds I’ve heard this year. Call ‘em Joan Jett’s naughty little sisters or what popped out of PJ Harvey after some particularly raunchy sex with Queens Of The Stone Age nine months earlier, fact is that these girls rock like girls don’t. They only slow down for a spell with “Photograph” which is welcome after “Rock ‘N’ Roll Freak”, an uppercut of a song. Like most of the songs on this album. Score: 8 out of 10 Distort/Cargo http://www.myspace.com/werocklikegirlsdont
Burning Human is a band that started out in 1990, released one demo called “Death Is Mercy” in 1995 and then broke up in 1997. Then there was an undoubtedly moving reunion in 2007 (wow, we were all waiting for that one, huh?) and now there finally is a debut full-length. It’s called “Resurrection Through Fire” and is out now on Koch Records.
Burning Human’s claim to fame is not the pretty dumb artwork. It does come however in the form of Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner who helped start the band and now shows amazing restraint on this batch of straight-forward death metal cuts. The drums along with some very chunky riffage courtesy of Mike Stack and J. Sunkes would make Death and Obituary very proud. The whole album is basically one big throwback to mid 90s American death metal. And that is not a bad thing.
If you’re a nostalgic and long for the days when death metal wasn’t about technicality but simply about banging your head to oblivion, then this is an album made especially for you. Pick it up along with the new Jungle Rot album. The two of them put together should still your hunger until you finally hunt down that one Massacre album on Ebay that’s still missing in your collection. Score: 7 out of 10 http://www.kochrecords.com http://www.myspace.com/burninghuman
Fury 161 is a Dutch band from the self-proclaimed Rock City of Rotterdam. They’ve been around since the start of the century and after a couple of line-up changes, found themselves with former members of Apemen, 7 Zuma 7 and 69 Charger among its ranks.
The artwork on “Talk Of The Town” already looks pretty cool and the same characteristic can be attributed to the band’s songs. Mix garage rock, punk, beat and a shitload of fuzzed up guitars and you’ve got yourself a swinging album that - thanks to the band’s experience – sounds so energetic that you can’t help but move your feet. Score: 7 out of 10 http://www.tear-it-records.nl http://www.myspace.com/fury1-6-1
Mutiny On The Bounty was a pretty cool story that I devoured when I was a kid. But apparently it’s also a band and unfortunately, their story isn’t quite as enthralling as the original. The one thing that I kept reading about this young band is that they are from Luxemburg. I highly doubt that’s enough though to stand out in a genre as crowded as postcore.
“Danger Mouth” isn’t a bad album but you can hear too many other bands in it. At The Drive-In obviously. But you can just as well pick up on Minus The Bear or The Fall Of Troy influences. Which would still be okay but all too often the guys in Mutiny On The Bounty lose themselves in guitar noodling that drowns out all the rest.
The Rifles reloaded and are now ready to take on the world with album number two. Just like their debut, “Great Escape” is filled with the kind of uncomplicated guitarpop our UK brethren are known for. The tracks on here combine Britpop with a little bit of punk and steal some from the sixties. But that’s okay when you end up with a collection of songs as catchy as these here.
While “Science Is Violence” sounds like Editors, “The General” proves that Alex Turner and his Last Shadow Puppets are not the only ones that know their way around a string arrangement. The Pigeon Detectives is another name that came to mind more than once. So original? Far from it! But that doesn’t take anything away from the fun. Score: 7.5 out of 10 http://www.679recordings.com http://www.myspace.com/therifles
20 Years of Heideroosjes has to be celebrated and since a greatest hits collection was too easy according to these guys, I am now listening to a double album called “Ode & Tribute”.
Disc 1 is all about Heideroosjes paying tribute to the bands that influenced them. Obvious choices are of course the Ramones and the Misfits but they just as easily cover Johnny Cash (yes, apparently we really did need another cover of “Ring Of Fire”), Doe Maar and Stray Cats. Hell, they even crank out a medley of Metallica songs. It’s pretty bad but it does show you exactly what these guys are all about. For twenty years they’ve been doing exactly what they wanted and they always get away with it.
On disc 2 there’s a whole slew of artists covering Heideroosjes’ songs and making them their own. Again, some acts on here are obvious choices (Peter Pan Speedrock, The Kids, The Apers) but Gorki covering “Embrace & Destroy” is odd to say the least. As is Jacqueline Govaert’s version of “Time Is Ticking Away”. Yet both of them work. As does Epica’s metal treatment of “Nothing’s Wrong”. And closing off this massive 30-song collection is Urbanus with “Ze Smelten De Paashaas”. Which makes sense because Heideroosjes got their name from one of Urbanus’ sketches.
The Tranzmitors call Vancouver home and sure like their powerpop! “Busy Singles” combines the band’s four singles that are hard to find on one shiny disc alongside the songs from their most recent 12”. And as if that isn’t enough yet, there’s one bonus song as well. Not a leftover, just more excellent powerpop for you to enjoy.
Influenced by UK acts like the Buzzcocks, the drums on this one keep a strident pace, the guitars buzz, the hooks stick and the whole is just raw enough to still be called garage. There simply isn’t anything bad to say about this release… it’s simply a whole lot of fun! Score: 7.5 out of 10 http://www.derangedrecords.com http://www.myspace.com/thetranzmitors
As soon as the intro kicks in with something that seems to be lifted out of some kind of medieval movie, I thought I was going into a powermetal album. Which doesn’t make sense because Suffer The Living’s debut album is being released on Filled With Hate, a label not normally associated with powermetal. Power? Yes. Metal? Yes. Powermetal? No.
But then the band rips off your face with “Dirty Harry Stomp” and all is back to normal as Suffer The Living (who feature former Shattered Realm vocalist Chris) kick out some nasty New Jersey metalcore. Time to get your mosh on! And once these guys launch into yet another breakdown, you’re allowed to beat the shit out of anyone who comes near. Tell ‘em I said so.
The Platoon is a new German outfit featuring former Drift vocalist Marcel Ströter. On the 5-song debut the good man is spilling his guts just as he did with Drift while the rest of the band has absolutely no problems keeping up with him.
If metallic hardcore is your thing, you can’t go wrong with “Like Hyenas In The Desert”. They have plenty of mid-paced breakdowns on sale and pack enough groove to counter their sheer brutality. Throw in some sick singalong action alongside a great production job and you’re looking at a release by a band who are not reinventing the wheel… they simply wreck the whole frigging car. Score: 7.5 out of 10 http://www.filledwithhate.com http://www.myspace.com/theplatoon
“The Black & The Blue” is filled with the kind of punkrock I’m addicted to. It’s fast and gritty yet still has more melody and hooks than you can wrap your head around. The guys in For.The.Win. call it Bay Area posicore, I call it punkrock.
From opener “Let It Begin”all the way down the tracklisting to “Die Young”, the songs move at a brisk pace and just when you think that wow, this is a pretty cool song, they’re already on to the next one seeing as most of them don’t even reach the two minute mark.
Everyone knows the story of CKY by now… CKY aka Camp Kill Yourself released a number of skate/stunt videos that later spawned the MTV show Jackass. They were actually more known for those videos than for their music but that’s not to say their music sucks. Far from it. Because just like there was nothing out there like their videos, there isn’t a single band out there that sounds anything like these guys.
“Carver City” starts off with “Hellions On Parade” (the third track in the band’s Hellview trilogy) and you are struck again right away by those typical riffs along with Deron Miller’s voice. I don’t know how they do it but you immediately recognize a CKY song when you hear one. Apparently they take death metal riffs and slow them down or something. Fuck it, it sounds amazing! As do the other tracks on here with “Rats In The Infirmary” and the more mellow “The Era Of An End” as my personal favorites.
Hopefully with a label like Roadrunner backing them now, they’ll gain even more notoriety in Europe because these guys earn whatever amount of success that comes their way. Score: 8.5 out of 10 http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com http://www.ckyalliance.com
Along with Alice In Chains, Nirvana and Soundgarden, Pearl Jam was one of the bands that made grunge a familiar term all over the world. Guitarist Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament were already active in Seattle outfit Mother Love Bone prior to Pearl Jam but when their lead singer died of an overdose shortly before the release of their debut, they were stuck. One Temple Of The Dog album later, they started Pearl Jam and released “Ten”, one of the albums that sparked this writer’s interest in music and one left that left a profound impression.
And now there’s this new version of “Ten”. Disc 1 is the remastered version while disc 2 is the remix by Pearl Jam’s favorite producer, Brendan O’Brien. O’Brien brought the vocals more to the foreground and stripped the songs of some unnecessary layers. The result is an album that shines like a painting that’s been completely restored, finally revealing even the smallest detail. Now it truly is the classic that it actually already was if that makes any sense.
Oh, the redux version also comes with a couple of bonus cuts including “State Of Love And Trust”… absolute must-have for every fan of rock music. Score: 10 out of 10 http://www.sonymusic.com http://www.pearljam.com
14 Years after his Greatest Hits collection, there is now a greatest hits collection of Bruce Springsteen with his trusty E Street Band. Kicking off with “Blinded By The Light” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” , then on to “Born To Run” and the glorious “The River” and then straight to “Glory Days”, “Dancing In The Dark” and “The Rising”… damn, this guy has written so many classics that a 16-song collection doesn’t even begin to do him justice! Nonetheless this is a great album to blast through your speakers when driving in your car on a sunny day!
Springsteen is always good but he’s never as good as when he’s playing with his E Street Band surrounding him. Rounding out this collection are two live cuts of songs he wrote for others… “Because The Night” is made infamous in Patti Smith’s version while “Fire” is more commonly known as that song by the Pointer Sisters. And while not essential to this collection, Springsteen more than adequately proves he can make them his own again.
Jeff Rosenstock is back with a new Bomb The Music Industry! album. Along with his friends he wrote another batch of songs that are simply too goofy to be taken serious. With a mix of folk-punk, noise, ska , powerpop and Atom And His Package-like keyboards and drum computers, “Scrambles” is a worthy follow-up to 2006’s “Goodbye Cool World”.
You never really know what’s gonna come next but that’s the cool thing about BTMI!. These songs are like kittens really… always fun and entertaining even if they can be a little exhausting at times. Rosenstock knows how to write a normal song but simply chooses to do his own thing with the formula rather than simply rehashing it and I can’t help but be dragged into his ADD-crazed universe.
It’s funny to say that a death metal band came back to life but that’s exactly what happened with Asphyx. Since 2007 these Dutchies have been playing shows again and now they lash out with a new studio album.
“Death… The Brutal Way” lives up to its name as these guys plow through ten songs with the subtlety of a bulldozer. Except for a nice thrashy part or a doomy passage here and there, this is mostly midtempo death metal with a couple of solos in the right places. These guys know what’s expected of them and they stick to it.
But that’s okay because it takes a victim a lot longer to die when chopped up with a blunt machete. Sure, it gets a little repetitive after the first couple of severed limbs. But it’s a lot more fun than a couple of precise cuts with a razor-sharp scalpel and a lot of technical knowledge. Score: 7 out of 10 http://www.centurymedia.com http://www.myspace.com/officialasphyx
The guys in Presidents Of The United States Of America thought it was cool to play with a couple of strings less on their guitar. Ha! What a bunch of losers! Here’s a trio from Baltimore that proves you can play angry pop/punk music and don’t even need a guitar to do so!
With just bass, drums and vocals they’ve already released two albums and now there’s “More” which is exactly that. More. Setting up shop in an old abandoned building scheduled for demolition in the dead of winter might seem crazy to some but – as everything with these guys – it’s something that they thought about first. It gave them the time to mess around with some things and allowed them to make the album they set out to make.
And it’s a noisy album. From the straight-up punkrock of opener “No Allies” to the feedback-laden “We Are The Ones” and to the glorious mess that is “The Lie . The Truth” with guest vocals by Future Islands’ Sam Herring, these guys have no problem keeping things interesting until the last blast of feedback blows out in “Two-Way Mirror”. Score: 7.5 out of 10 http://www.thrilljockey.com http://www.myspace.com/doubledaggersucks
Always expanding their sound, one never really knows what to expect exactly of a new PN album. Sure, you can always hear these guys have their roots planted firmly in the punk and hardcore scene with a metal edge and there’s also the emotional angle they always play out. But there’s always more. A lot more.
Check out the opening track of their seventh album, which comes with an atmospheric intro before evolving into post-hardcore with Johan’s clean vocals and his brother Bert’s growls playing off of each other until the song stretches out well into stoner territory. The second song picks up on that same groove with howling guitars and a strong sense of melody. Or how about the title track which features piano, violin and guest vocalist Annelies Tanghe? Shit, that could’ve been on a Lamb album just the same! There’s not a single song on here that sounds like the one before it yet you can always tell it’s PN.
No song really stands out on “From What Rivers Have To Offer” but that’s only because the album has such a nice flow that it would be a shame not to listen to it from start to finish. Oh, and the limited edition of this one comes in a nice wooden box with engraved artwork. That’s something you don’t get if you download this album kids! Score: 8 out of 10 http://www.funtimerecords.com http://www.myspace.com/pn666
Cause Co-Motion! is a band with an exclamation mark… as if they need something extra to draw attention to them. Or because they want to express just how hurried they are. The songs on this singles and EPs collection further corroborate the second option. 14 Songs in under twenty minutes… that’s pretty hurried. Take some jangly guitars, a slap happy drummer, a sneering vocalist, three chords and an overall sound that’s seemingly held together by duct tape and you’re listening to Cause Co-Motion’s okay-ish garage pop. I’m sorry, I meant Cause Co-Motion!. Can’t forget the exclamation mark. Score: 6 out of 10 http://www.slumberlandrecords.com http://www.causeco-motion.com
The sons of Ma Barker finally managed to pull their asses out of the backwoods and headed for the studio to record some more songs about final judgement and redemption. Now, don’t go thinking about Bob Marley just yet… these guys bring Southern rock to the table and mix it up with big helpings of heavy metal and punkrock. Think lots of groove with squealing guitars and singalong choruses over pounding drums.
With two new guys in the band, these Alabama boys pulled out all the stops and went for an even bigger sound on their third album, which is simply titled “III”. Both of the new guys (Kelly Scott Nunn and Matt Clark) have previously played in an early incarnation of Underoath which is how vocalist Dallas Taylor got to know them. They all mesh well on album number three as you can hear on “” or “”, two kickass songs.
Southerly is a one-man project and that one man is Krist Kreuger. He started out in 2001 by releasing an EP, relocated to Portland and put together a full live band in 2006. Then it was time to record this full-length debut in 2007. And then it took another two years for it to finally be released in Europe. The guy sure took his sweet time!
Anyway, “Storyteller and the Gossip Columnist” is a collection of songs that are obviously written by a singer/songwriter. All of the tracks on here start out with just Kreuger and his acoustic guitar. Sometimes they stay that way, at other times he keeps on adding additional layers to the song. On a track like “A Coarse Design” this leads to something pretty decent while at other times things just fall apart like a house of cards (“Taking Stock”).
I’ve listened to this album a bunch of times now and still can’t get into it. It just doesn’t touch me in any way. Fans of Bright Eyes or Sufjan Stevens might want to check this baby out though. Southerly has something of both those acts in it without being a mere copycat. Score: 5 out of 10 http://www.arcticrodeorecordings.com http://www.southerlysongs.com
On album number five, Bury Your Dead have changed their sound quite a bit. With a new vocalist firmly in place it was obviously time for some change. And so while it still rains single-note breakdowns, chugga chugga riffs and double bass drums on “It’s Nothing Personal”, things have gotten decidedly more melodic. The choruses now come with clean vocals Killswitch Engage-style and the whole now has a lot more in common with nu metal rather than the punishing metalcore they were known for. Not sure it’s a good thing but while listening to “Hurting Not Helping” I could’ve sworn that I was listening to Slipknot and acts like Fear Factory and Mudvayne came to mind more than once as well.
The songs on “It’s Nothing Personal” are hard and catchy enough though to make something of an impression but overall there are so many bands that have tried this sound before that it’s really hard to come up with an album that stands out. And I think that’s where they failed… doesn’t really matter whether it’s by Bury Your Dead or another band, everyone has heard this album before. Score: 6 out of 10 http://www.victoryrecords.com http://www.myspace.com/buryyourdead
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