There are a whole slew of different influences and styles that are cultivated during the twelve tracks that comprise the original self-titled effort by Yuck. However, I feel that the album takes a much different tone when a second CD of six tracks are included. Fat Possum has just released a deluxe edition of this album, providing fans with some fun new tracks and a snappy packaging option. Rubber is…
With the storm of troubles that J. Cole has had to weather over the course of the last few months (problems with the release schedule of eir mixtapes, being dropped from Jay-Z’s label due to dalliances with Rhianna), I really thought that the Cole World would be a much more uneven album. “Can’t Get Enough” is a great start to the album; it is a track that shows the fire…
From the sounds of their self-titled debut in 1995, it was clear Ben Folds Five was going to more than a flash in the pan alt rock band. At the time a guitar-less trio with singer Ben Folds more than making up for the void with his piano, the group sounded both comfortably familiar (everything from Elton John to The Beatles) and shockingly original over the span of just a…
For years, all my Screeching Weasel collection consisted of was the classic Boogadaboogadaboogada, and I always wondered why people said all the local bands in Lancaster sounded like Screeching Weasel. With my receiving of “Wiggle”, I finally begin to understand what those individuals were talking about. This is the harder edge of the early nineties punk rock, a movement which had as its lighter front bands like Green Day and…
“How To Make Enemies” begins with “Planet Of The Apes”, a typical Screeching Weasel sound that yet has intense arrangements all around it. For example, the bass line present on the song is always present, but has a stepped-style sound to it that shows a cognizance of where Danny was in relation to the band. The entire sound of the band has been increase substantially in the space of one…
I believe that the different tracks on The Good Feeling allow The Christian McBride Big Band to stretch their collective limbs to the greatest possible degree. What results in this album is one of the largest collections of different influences and styles, created in a fashion that will have listeners of all age groups and styles listening along to every beat. The Good Feeling starts out with Shake ‘n Blake,…
It is always interesting to see a band like Eve To Adam on the upside of their move toward fame; I believe that Banquet For A Starving Dog will be where many listeners first can get in to the band. The title starts off with Run Your Mouth, an assertive track that will provide fans with a first look into the band’s unique take on rock music. Where modern radio…
“Anthem For A New Tomorrow” mixes the pop-punk of the Ramones with the wall of sound present with The Replacements and the earliest albums of Husker Du. While the band had already moved beyond the short and breakneck-paced tracks of “Boogadaboogadaboogada”, Screeching Weasel had came up with tracks on this album (such as “Rubber Room”) that replicate the speed of the earliest tracks with the catchiness present on albums like…
Rich Schroder plays the same style of singer-songwriter rock that can be heard in many a coffee shop on any day of the week. There is more than a fair share of white boy soul, in the same style of a Mellencamp or a Billy Joel. However, this style is updated by the inclusion of styles common to artists like John Maher, so a wider swath of listeners can find…
A very lo-fi guitarist is this Scout, and at times, she falls into the same repetitive stylings as her labelmate, Jorma Whittaker. Sounding slightly like What’s That Smell-era Bitch and Animal in the vocal department, the sheer repetition of the music on the disc keeps it from being a true work of art. While trying to go the retro route by playing outdated instruments (a Ludwig 1965 Silver Sparkle drum…
Very few individuals would be able to get a member of the Goo Goo Dolls to be on their disc, but Zoe Scott is talented enough to have John Rzeznik (the lead singer of the band) accompany eir on this disc. The style of music that Scott creates on “Beautiful To Be Alive” is a brand of rock-influenced pop, in much of the same vein as artists like Kelly Clarkson…
The style of music that Scott Law comes up with during “Find Something Good” mixes swing, nineties R&B, gospel and funk to create something that has a palatable earlier influence. Without the 2005 tag on the disc, one could easily confuse this for something over fifteen years older. The production on “Deliver” seems unnecessarily muted; the jazz horns present on “Find Something Good” are really more anemic than they should…
In the last year, there have been a number of noisy bands that have had the honor of blowing me out of my seat. This included, but was not limited to The Locust and Some Girls. Both of those bands showed me that there were some salvageable aspects to noisy types of rock. Saying that, Schoolyard Heroes has the equivalent to a little yipper dog in Ryann’s vocals during “Body…
Most individuals that are into punk music have heard The Scarred’s title track to “No Solution” either on their Myspace or through another place. The track is not quite as out there and streetpunk as some of Punk Core’s other bands, but the catchiness present in acts like The Unseen is present as well in The Scarred. During songs like “battlefield”, The Scarred mix together acts like Bad Religion with…
Steve Jablonsky has done a tremendous job in creating the perfect environment for those that have picked up Gears of War 3. The different compositions here all feed into one another while maintaining some semblance of different stages or levels. Where the soundtrack differs from the scores that are typically created for different video games is that Jablonsky’s compositions all could conceivably exist on their own. While a proper understanding…
The Scared Stiffs start out their “Autopsy Turvy” in a pretty weak set of straits. There is a heavy amount of rockabilly influence, but there is virtually no energy beyond “When Monsters Fall In Love”. The guitar work sounds put together without any audience in mind; there is skill in playing this but nothing really that hits the primal chords of someone’s heart. Each of the track continues this overly-done…
NeuFutur does not get much in the way of folk music. Thus, whenever Tompkins Square records sends us anything, we have to be really on our toes. Whether it is due to re-releasing decades old album or finding some of the newest folk virtuosos (such as is the case with this album), Tompkins Square is always one of the stronger genre-specific labels out there. This disc is essentially a three…
Starting out their EP with “Scale Model”, Megan’s vocals really give off a Yeah Yeah Yeahs feel, and the backing instruments really give the disc an earlier nineties feel. For a slipcase and CDr type of disc, the recording on this demo is astounding – each individual element of Scale Model comes through as clear as day. This really benefits the thick, sinewy bass lines of Joe’s as much as…
There sheer amount of time that Amberfern gives the different tracks on Quiescence is intriguing; with a number of the album’s cuts clocking in at the six or seven minute mark, one wonders before the CD begins whether listeners’ interests can be sated. It may take a few minutes of the album’s first track, “Misty Harbor”, but listeners will rapidly understand the unique and mature compositions as they truly are.…
Enlightened Love can be enjoyed if an individual is doing housework or meditating, but I believe that to truly get the essence of the album, listeners have to provide total focus to the strains and compositions that are provided here. There is just so much nuance and complexity present to a track like the opening Eastern Sun that would simply be missed if listeners were not solely focused on the…