The momentum of the initial composition on Frozen In Motion will immediately bring listeners in to Kodomo’s psyche. A chattering, busy sort of sound works alongside atmospheric compositions, moving to a slower and more deliberate feel after the break. While this initial track taps out at well below the three minute mark, I feel that the song acts as a microcosm of the different sounds, styles, and approaches that will…
There are a number of female singer-songwriters that are currently out on the market. Frankly, a number of them are fair to middling. However, Doctaryn is an act that boldly looks to tear down many of these conceptions and create in Conundrum one of the most intelligent and inspiring albums that we at NeuFutur have heard in the last year. Fresh instrumentation and a unique singing voice are the reason…
Shake It Like A Hillbilly is the first track on Ringo Manor, and it immediately showcases Hillbilly Vegas as an act that can touch upon the work of Every Mother’s Nightmare and Bon Jovi, while still having a little bit of a country twang. What results during Ringo Manor is an album that is catchy and musically sound. The energy generated during Shake It Like A Hillbilly does not diminish…
I was not expecting The Sharp Ease to come up with such a retro-punk track to open up “Going Modern”, using a Ramones-like song structure to push through their desires. Tracks spin through before one can honestly get a grasp on The Sharp Ease, but with tracks like “I Demand”, a sort of disco-like guitar line permeates the track, while Paloma‘s vocals achieve a more energetic, Debbie Harry-esque style. Each…
“Holy Water” is a lighter version of the punkabilly that acts like Tiger Army and Nekromantix have been perfecting over the last decade or so. However, Shark Soup seem to be influenced by a larger set of bands than either of the two aforementioned acts, which means that the album is exponentially more interesting than anything put out by either act. “One Eyed Kat” shows that diversity of interests, as…
Electronic-based indie rock, Sharks and Minnows start off “The Cost of Living” with the electronically influenced pop gem “Sunday Driver”. Not pigeonholing themselves into one specific genre of music, different tracks continue the thread of strong lyrics and pop-influenced hooks with “Slow Learner”. A tad quieter than The Weakerthans, a little more musically apt than Weezer, and a google less annoying that Matthew Sweet, Sharks and Minnows play the most…
The band seems to be so uncollected and random that I felt sort of odd getting into Shark Pants as much as I did. Its almost as if Frank Zappa fronted The Offspring. Using guitar riffs that are as straight-forward as the ones from any of the retro-rock bands (The White Stripes) and a yelped-out set of vocals, Shark Pants are definitely a unique enough band to merit being on…
Shallow Water Grave play a brand of metal that is influenced both by Slayer and Helloween. To say that the opening salvo of “Lay In Wait” is confusing is to hit the nail on the head. There are just so many things that are happening during this first track that individuals just do not know where to go or what to listen to. Luckily, this confusion is much less during…
I know that Revelation released “A Comprehensive Retrospective” a year or two ago, but these re-releases of Shai Hulud discs contribute a lot more to the corpus of the band than does a “everything’s here”, 24 track version of the band’s history. I’m assuming what Revelation is doing here with these discs is re-releasing what was an EP (such as “A Profound Hatred of Man”) and trying to find any…
Unlike “A Profound Hatred of Man”, “Hearts Once Nourished” only has its original nine tracks. Why the other disc had a number of covers and this one does is beyond me, but the band is able to make a good thing even with this smaller amount of tracks. The disc is much longer per track than is “A Profound Hatred of Man”, so that may be the case. This was…
The band has been around for a long time, considering it was 1999 and people even here in nowheresville Ohio had heard of them. To see a label like Revelation release this album is a surprise, as much of their current roster (Temper Temper, Pitch Black) has seemed to be more into the retro and dance-punk style of things. Still, this is essential in terms of history in that, much…
I had no clue Shaggy had a new album out. I didn’t know what to expect when “Clothes Drop” started, but to be honest it really follows in the vein of eir last album “Hotshot”. Starting out with the very funky, tropical-influenced hit “Clothes Drop”, Shaggy shows that ey still has it. What should be the immediate thing noticed about “Clothes Drop” is the fact that the disc’s seventeen tracks…
“Peace Tonight” blends a country sound with the pop of the sixties. After the opening chaos, what results is something that is much more Dolly Parton and Stevie Nicks than anything. The production is a little on the bare side, but Erin Sax Seymour creates a very catchy song off of the bat. The guitar lines present on the track are nothing special, but what they allow Seymour to do…
Individuals might not know that this band used to be Apocalipstick. Since the EP, the band has become a little more fleshed out, and while there are still some issues with the production of this album, there are present the same brand of catchy punk tunes that were so prevalent in the previous disc. There are pieces of “Cowboy” that really seem to look more toward the rockabilly (Tiger Army…
Severe Torture do the equivalent of a Chinese version of their same name with the opening track to “Fall of the Despised” in “Endless Strain of Cadavers”. This means that the same arrangements are tapped, especially in terms of the drums, really bringing in individuals due to the fact that listeners can find some common ground by the fourth or fifth iteration. The band really brings in a few disparate…
Bands aren’t usually around for thirty years, and even fewer of them are able to keep a style reminiscent of that era for so long after their formation. The Seventh Season do so, while keeping together enough relevancy to maintain a decent album. Using a voice modifier that many would assume to be on a Britney Spears or Cher track, Yuri makes a solid rock track that can be as…
There are a number of different artists that attempt to make music for children. Many of these artists create efforts that can only be enjoyed by the younger set. However, I believe that the music that is on From The Birds can speak to all ages. This is due to intelligent musicianship and care taken throughout the disc to continually make interesting and intelligent efforts. From The Birds begins with…
For a band that has been around for around seven years and are so well traveled, I really expected more from “Devour” that what is actually on the CD. The guitars on the disc sound tinny, and the sequencing of the instrumental and vocal parts isn’t spotless. “Abuse Me” has some interesting strides in the amount of body and general sound that Seven 13 has taken from earlier rock tracks,…
The screaming that The Seventh Cross does on their “Scorched By The Flames of Vengeance” seems to show that the band is much more influenced by emo ands and music than they’d like to admit. Of course, at some point the style of music that The Seventh Cross plays is metal. There are hints of eighties metal present throughout “Scorched”, but much of what the band places down is without…
I had heard about how good of a band 7 Seconds was about eight or nine years ago, and I decided to pick up one of their albums from the local CD store. That album, “Soulforce Revolution”, was one of the worst albums I’ve ever heard. However, I decided to give 7 Seconds a second chance, and let me say, I’m happy I threw this disc in my player. A…