The style of folk that Ramblin’ Jack Elliott plays during “Engine 143” is something that reminds me of Pete Seeger. There is little to the tracks on “I Stand Alone” besides the distinctive vocals and the guitar, which is decidedly a second fiddle to the aforementioned vocals. The vocals on each track are those that individuals could sing along with after just listening to the CD two or three time.…
It is immediate that one hears a mixture of Franz Ferdinand and Joy Division in The Rakes’ first track, the self-titled “Retreat”. What results is a high-energy rock track that has enough aural presence to really make a strong case for inclusion on the radio. The intense chorus, spoken rather than sung out will drive itself like a hammer into one’s mind, never to release itself from one’s memory. The…
I think that Raised Fist might just be the most obvious band out on the market as we speak. This means that when “Sound of the Republic” starts up, individuals know what band is playing from the get-go. The blend of hardcore and punk that Raised Fist has been created the last decade or so is really mastered during this disc, and “Sound of the Republic” should be a blueprint…
If the band does not have a Franz Ferdinand album amongst the two of them, I would be surprised. A heavy electronic focus mixes with an angular sound to make something that is danceable while being aloof at the same time. However, this is not always the fancy free sound of Franz Ferdinand, as tracks like “Amen” has a darker, Ministry-like feel. The vocals are the same through the first…
For me, Joshua Radin really came out of nowhere. I think I had vaguely heard of his name before, but I could not place any sort of track or style to eir face. From the opening of “Sundrenched World”, one can hear that there is some panoply of interests that coalesce into Radin’s distinctive style. To try to lump Radin in with the styles of individuals like Dave Matthews or…
Racecar makes me sad, especially when I was looking forward to some hard-rocking, emotional-fury. Racecar plays a brand of indie-rock that begins with “Out Tonight”. “Out Tonight” reels in listeners through fickle feelings that allow Nick, Alex, Jimmy and Rich to jump to the limits of alternative rock with the greatest of ease. The coaching of emotional fury in what would be some of the most sedate-sounding tracks (“George Washington”)…
I can’t tell if “The Killer” is brilliant or just someone spitting out lyrics over a sludge-metal type of backdrop. This is a collection of Racebannon’s music from the last eight years, in order to gear people up for the upcoming fourth album. Immediately noticeable is the extreme length of a number of these tracks; hell, the first two tracks added together achieve nearly fifteen minutes on their own. This…
The way in which Daniel Patrick Quinn puts a set of vocals onto “Ridin’ The Stang” is interesting, to say the least. Gone is any form of harmony, replaced by an atonal and aharmonic voice that talks over the dirge-rock of tracks like “The Burryman”. The extended length of “The Burryman” really allows Quinn to paint an epic tale that is not a little bit creepy – the repetitive instrumentation…
The brand of rock that Quickening play is the type of introspective, retro-shoegazing emo that has catapulted such independent labels as Deep Elm to the forefront. This fact is not that amazing after learning that Quickening is from Cleveland, which Deep Elm’s own Brandtson calls home.Rich instrumentation swirls around the rich vocals laid down by James. Quickening seems to be a band that is relatively well-hyped, and I believe it…
This may just be the band that has had the most time between reviews at NeuFutur. It was back in around 2001 when “Let The Soul Out and Cut The Vein” was reviewed. The band has broken up, and this CD represents a collection of the tracks that for whatever reason were never released. The brutalisy is shown early on during “Timeless”, which is a track that tears up, that…
Mixing Third Eye Blind with Fuel for their first track on Are You Listening?, Quickening use interesting, offbeat arrangements to make the track catchier. The guitars laid down by James and Justin are in the higher register, and provide an interesting contract to the more middle-ground nature of James’ vocals. Perfect music for popular radio circa 1999-200, but Quickening stays away from any staleness argument due to the convictions they…
Qwel and Meaty Ogre are an mc and producer duo. The tracks sound a lot like another independent rapper, MC Homeless, and on “Freezerburner” interesting backing beats work well with the flow that are laid down. The instrumentation that take place during songs like “ID Glue” are Spartan but do their job perfectly; they give the flow a proper canvas to paint on. Qwel and Meaty Ogre are intelligent as…
I believe that I was in one of the best positions to review this disc, as I had never even heard of Quasi before I was sent this disc. The CD starts off with “Hot Shit”, bubbling with oddly-constructed guitar lines and the double-harmony of Janet and Sam .Short in duration, it proceeds as a bizarro-opening to the disc : the continual “Goodbyes” framed in a hopeful voice causes confusion…
Having shed two members since their last release, Boston indie band Aloud is down to a duo, but don’t assume that means a sparse sound. Far from it. Down to members Jennifer de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain, both who share vocal and guitar duties (and occasionally pick up the bass or play piano or glockenspiel), the band turns in their strongest effort yet with Exile, their third release. Put…
The front cover of this disc does not give individuals much an idea what Quartet of Happiness will play. Individuals may get an idea if they look at the back, as there is a crude cartoon with two members playing brass, an upright bass, and a drummer. However, even that will not give individuals the best idea of what Quartet of Happiness ultimately sounds like. After putting the disc on,…
Nu-metal ties itself in with the more-hardcore emo and a myriad of different genres to provide QuarterLife Crisis with their motivation. With an ear for melody and a mind for the greatest possible impact, QLC places “What You Will” with its catchy choruses as the first track, and places the Strike Anywhere/A Wilhelm Scream-like track with fierce vocals and tribal drums, right after. Morphing in quickly with the end of…
The recording on this demo is a little rough, but when it is compared to the average recording from Greencastle, it is actually fairly professional. For those who don’t know, Pvrenchymv is a progressive-rock band that is incredibly hard to pigeonhole. The first track, “Une” has a myriad of influences pushing through all facets of the track: Korn, Dream Theatre, even Creed all come through. The distortion on the guitars…
The Purrs occupy an interesting spot in popular music. First off, their opening track to this album is “She’s Gone”, and the song is odd for the fact that the added vocals sound quite like girl groups from the early sixties, while the rest of the song sound like something that The Doors would cut to vinyl. The result is something odd and completely different from the rest of music…
I should have realized that Public Access was going to have some semblance of ska in their general formula after seeing that there were two saxophonists in the band, but I expected something different given the Thought Riot meets Strike Anywhere vocals of the band to start off “Hit Single”. The ska breakdowns are interesting to say the least, and tremendous kudos needs to be given to Public Access in…
”Robot Crazy” is a good start for “First Human Beings”, as it establishes The Psycho Nubs as fans of Fugazi, Husker Du, and The Pixies. The driving beat of the track has punk influences, but is something that is much more moderated than most of the punk acts out on the market. After this quick introduction, something quicker hits listeners during “Promenade”. This track is something that follows all the…