Steven Mark comes through with a very poppy style that really looks more towards Sean Lennon than the (comparable) hard rock of the Foo Fighters. The style of “Aloneaphobe” really feels as if Mark walked out of the early seventies, specifically taking equal parts Jimmy Buffet and James Taylor to make a “third wave” of music. While tracks like “Weak” are not the most innovative in terms of arrangement or…
“Jekyll Walks” shows The Mark as an emo band that really lives up to their EP title; the song is construed quite like a sea, in which the music breaks over individuals incessantly, only pulling back with the desire to hit the listener harder with the next wave. This is not necessarily only the emo of bands like Senses Fail, but something that has a larger set of influences than…
I thought that the retro rock of bands like Jet and The Storkes was dead. I was praying and hoping that it was, and then a band like Mardo comes on the scene. Mind you, there have been a lot of bands that have looked back to their rock influences and have created amazing albums; Wolfmother and The Darkness (for their first album at least) are two that come to…
What do you get when you mix the political leanings and intelligence of Bad Religion with the super-dramatic vocals of System of a Down, and swaddle it with the vestments of Pennywise and Strike Anywhere? Marathon, of course – their first track “Painting By Numbers” immediately attacks the listener, the government, and anyone else that gets too close. Starting out their second track “I Don’t Have A Dancing Problem” with…
The opening strains of “Breakfast at Ikea” sound like Enigma, or like Tori Amos if ey plugged into an outlet. Soon after, a disaffected set of vocals attempt a blend of The Smiths and Depeche Mode before kicking into a very seventies arrangement. Overall, Map goes through a number of styles in their creation of a Map-specific sound. By crafting this sound at such an early point during “San Francisco…
“Six Demon Bag” starts with a very Western-sounding piano backing up a set of vocals that have to be linked to Frank Zappa. The overall sound of the track is very Spartan, but I would be damned if the band is not tremendously interesting throughout the track. “Six Demon Bag” is not necessarily an album of singles, but really acts as if Man Man had an idea on their mind…
To be honest, most individuals that are the driving force of the music scene – the all important 16-21 age grouping – will have no idea who Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr, or the Lemonheads were. Hell, I’m 22 and I missed out on each of those bands by a good five years. However, the opening to this disc (which has Hilken Mancini from Fuzzy and Chris Colbourn from Buffalo Tom)…
In celebration of the August 17th DVD release of Big Money Rustlas, NeuFutur Magazine and Psychopathic Records is giving you the chance to win a Flat Screen TV, DVD player, and a copy of Big Money Rustlas on DVD.
The slow, simplistic and deliberate arrangements that open up “Open Surgery” are maybe a little slower than the band should really put forth at this early juncture. The effect that “Give Me A Sign” really has on listeners is one of wonder; is this track slowed down enough to be noticeable? “Say What You Want” continues this sound and really starts to show what is so innovative about this band;…
I wanted to say that what The Mall did on their “Emergency At The Everyday” was create yet another dance-punk act for all the scene kids to drool over. While there is still a lotr of dance-punk present in The Mall’s act, there are hints of both Men’s Recovery Project and even a little bit of Agoraphobic Nosebleed. The synthesizers that play such a major role during the band’s “Acrid”…
