Issues: Issue 198 - June 2005
Local Review: The Invisible Rays – Self-Titled
The Invisible Rays Self-Titled Feroz Records IR = the Damned + Graves + the Corleones The Invisible Rays play often-slow, almost dirge-ish creep punk filled with plodding buzzsaw bass riffs, mournful or shouted vocals and sometimes-droning-sometimes-rocking synths. Their upbeat songs are much more tolerable than the slow ones, and I’m actually in favor of axing
Local Review: The Awesome Possum Band – Blendn’ In
The Awesome Possum Band Blendn’ In The Awesome Possum Band = Willie Nelson + Tenacious D + The Frogs Quirky alt-country with deep redneck roots sounds like it came straight from the heart of Alabama moonshine country. Songs are about Blue, the hound dog, corndogs, crawdads, prison and the office. Covers include the Southern-accented “Wish
Local Review: Never Never – EP + LP
Never Never EP + LP NN = My Chemical Romance + Cathedral The vocals of Never Never are the metal equivalent of screamo—one minute (or at least half of the record) is intimate-disturbing-melodic crooning, the next is guttural screams. It’s a catch-22 because during the quiet parts are the only times that you can understand the
Local Review: Mushman – Eddie Do
Mushman Eddie Do Kitefishing Productions Mushman = Simon and Garfunkel + Puff the Magic Dragon Quirky feelgood, almost childish lyrics, many of which are centered around this Eddie character, twine their way around sparse, intricate guitar work to produce an album people could be singing around the indie-rock campfire for years. Nerdy and sensitive, sometimes
Local Review: Medicine Circus – Bottle Rockets of Emotion
Medicine Circus Bottle Rockets of Emotion Medicine Circus = Big Star + T. Rex + Alice in Chains Medicine Circus combines the best of 90s alt-rock with some grunge, catchy, accessible hooks, some technical sweeteners and 60s psychedelia. There is something mainstream and not-mainstream about it; it echoes the better moments of Vertical Horizon and
Local Review: Iota – Three Tons
Iota Three Tons InSonicBloom Iota = Clutch + Fireball Ministry Iota, who, again, just to drive the point home, should be signed to Small Stone, combine the fast, catchy stoner fury of such luminaries as Fu Manchu and Clutch (“Demon Seed/Last Ride”) with slower, driving head-bobbingness that recalls Acid King (but not quite as slow).
Local Review: Gift Anon – Mum’s the Word
Gift Anon Mum’s the Word Gift Anon = Radiohead + Sunny Day Real Estate Scattered offbeat drumming blends perfectly with guitar strumming that gets chunky like Radiohead sometimes (“Heaven Help Us”) and jagged and slanted, like peaks on a marathon-runner’s heart monitor, at othes. Heaps of reverb helps the darkness go down smooth and sugary,
Review: Enthroned – XES Hareticum
Enthroned XES Hareticum Napalm Records Ah, Enthroned … one of the best and most underrated black metal bands around. While most BM bands annoy me with their vocalists constantly screeching into the microphone, Enthroned’s vocalist is actually the focal point of the band for many people. The band has learned that light-speed fast all the
Review: Dynasty – Black Box
Dynasty Black Box Mysterious Media I’m not really overwhelmed by the majority of electroclash; Dynasty, however, are rather enjoyable in that they take all the hand claps and mix it with a certain sleazy sound that has the same texture as a Soft Cell album. They distort things up a bit, don’t rely completely on
Review: Death Du Jour – Fragments of Perdition
Death Du Jour Fragments of Perdition Golden Lake Productions With a silly name like that, you would expect these guys to sound like Lawnmower Death or something, but instead, it’s Finnish death metal, the old-school way—fucking heavy and fast. If you are into Drawn and Quartered, Mortician, Centinex or anything in between, you should own