Tommy Bahama is a hell of a brand, storied and well-known through all of the cultured cliques, worldwide. To have a rum receive the honor of being stamped with the Tommy Bahama label is a tremendous honor, and this Barbados spirit does not fail to impress. This clear rum begins with a bouquet that marries a floral scene with a delightful alcohol bite. Ultimately, the Tommy Bahama White Sand Rum…
National Lampoon has had a few movies that they have purchased the rights to that have fallen on their faces in the last few years, but Stoned Age is a movie that seems to right that ship. The film is set in the prehistoric age, and follows director Adam Rifkin as Ishbo, a caveman that wants to take the next step forward in development. Faced with a tribe full of…
The one thing that I feel that the DS has sorely missed in the years since its debut have been first person shooters. However, with the creation of Moon by Mastiff Games, the hole that previously existed has been filled by one of the best titles of the new year for the platform. The first thing that players will notice is that the graphics to speed ratio has been carefully…
I do not know how Tiberius Records does it, but it seems that every release that I get from them better in quality, and “The Choir” is no exception. This is an instrumental CD, but don’t let that hold you from buying this killer CD. The bass, guitars and drums really mesh together to make an urgent sound that keeps you bound to the stereo until the end of the…
American Timebomb start out this LP with “Live It Upâ€, a track that is impressive not for the pop-punk sound it holds as sacrosanct, but rather their choice of influences on this track. There is a mixture of eighties Ramones and just a hint of Lillingtons in the mix; what occurs in this track is a sad sense of longing that the bouncy beat of the track is not strong…
American Timebomb has a wonderful pedigree, with members of The Charlestons, The Stines and The Freedumb Fries forming a band in the hope of playing a Ramones/Screeching Weasel type of punk music. To be honest, versions of tracks that would find their way onto this CD were available for download on the band’s MySpace account for a decent amount of time before the release of this album, and I was…
“I Ain’t Got No Reason To Lie To You†is a track that showcases Weiss’ strength, putting her in a perfect position between a Sarah McLachlan and a Natalie Cole. The track, easily single quality, gets listeners interested in what is to come on “Concrete World and the Lover’s Dreamâ€, the latest effort by Weiss. “I Ain’t Got No Reason†also feeds well into “The Song About The Affair That…
The title track for Phoenix Rising’s “Ascension†begins with an emotionally dense composition that plays heavily in a classical style, but does not have any of the stuffiness or must associated with the classical style. Rather, what Phoenix Rising does during this track is weave a rich narrative through the entirety of the track’s 7 minute runtime.
“Shine†starts out with brooding instrumentation that seems to have fury and anger bubbling with it. While there is a formal, medieval approach to the opening, this is a façade, something to lead into a bit of gothic metal that touches upon the work of a Paradise Lost or Switchblade Serenade. The most interesting thing about Chantry is the fact that they create a patchwork of styles that makes direct…
“The Color of Daylight†is the first track that I heard by True Nature. The vocals present are a hybrid of individuals like Bryan Adams, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and Chris Isaak. The laid-back approach taken by the instruments allow these vocals to be as smooth and as gentle as a Jack Johnson song, kicking in only to give the track a little grit. The blend of country, alternative rock, and…
4 song demo-2000 Jaw/Plague Records. This Tenneseean band is old school punk at a high speed that also draws heavily from the 70’s metal supergroups. All parts of the Plague are fleshed out quite well, except for the bass, which is on a pitifully low level on the tape. The vocals are top rate, with strong guitar riffs and driving drumbeats. The recording is amazing even with the cassette format…
Starting out with a re-tooling of Howard Jones’ “Everlasting Love†as well as The Police, American Hi-Fi make a retro rock track with a disco beat in “Maybe Won’t Doâ€. Continuing that retro style for “hell Yeah!â€, American Hi-Fi has completely restructured their sound from “Flavour of the Weakâ€, throwing in a little artistic flair from Fine Young Cannibals and Bowling For Soup. Every track on “Hearts on Parade†is…
Wedlock may not be known too terribly well outside of their home city of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but their single “Reverend Charisma†may be the one track that breaks them big. The electropop movement is still on its way up, and the Depeche Mode meets drum n bass sound of Wedlock here has a very retro feel to it, tying together electropop with the “New Romantic†generation perfectly. The…
There seems to be a much heavier consideration of rock on this album than the pedigree of each band member here would necessarily lend itself to. In fact, the disc starts off with “Fraudulent Timesâ€, a song that is really influenced by the shredding guitar of the California punk scenes, eliciting hints of Pennywise and Bad Religion even as the gritty vocals try to establish a different sound. Further songs…
The American Black Lung play a punk meets hardcore type of style. One could almost compare them to acts like Rise Against, although tracks like “A Pair of Cufflinks†would seem much more in the vein of sludge rock than either of the aforementioned genres. What The American Black Lung play is something that is a blend of all hard rock styles, and they put a final coating of pop…
America is an act that had their years of fame well before I was even born. Of course, individuals can still here “A Horse With No Name†on any classic rock radio station. The band is closing in on the forty-year mark, and do not show any hints of age on this recording. The guitar work of these compositions is still crisp and clear. If a band would have lost…
Individuals might be familiar with Ambulance LTD from their 2004 album, which garnered all sort of critical praise as the band did the late night show circuits. This EP is a bridge between the previous disc and the upcoming full length, and gives individuals two completely new songs, some retooled/demo tracks and a Pink Floyd cover to chew on. For those individuals that might not have had the chance to…
Ambivalent plays total circle-punk, spit, shit and blood punk rock that orgasms in a little over a minute and calls it a track. They aren’t crust in anyone’s book, but the screamed-out vocals and brutal guitars will be sure to win over the crusty kids. Bringing back some of the early eighties type of death metal in the form of their guitar riffs and a little more of Matt Freeman…
Amber Pacific had the best EP to come out last year, and they start off where they ended with “Fading Daysâ€. The first track on “The Possibility and the Promiseâ€, “Everything We Were…†looks to a harder set of bands, including Samhain and AFI for its influence, while still maintaining the pop sound that worked so well for them last year. It only takes the space of three minutes to…
The Deal is a film (based off an early nineties work by Peter Lefcourt) that has been floating around the nether for over a year before Peace Arch graciously picked it up and gave the masses of humanity a better chance to be able to find it. The movie surrounds Charlie Berns (William H. Macy) as a lost, both mentally in eir family life and where exactly ey wants eir…