Eliot Popkin looks like a slightly chubbier version of Michael Ian Black. I am unsure exactly why I thought it would make sense to mention that, but what Popkin does on “Endless Ride” is play a very non-offensive brand of pop rock that is similar to the type of music that individuals like John Maher come out with every few years. The disc’s first track is “I Don’t Wanna”, and…
There is a funkiness to “Killer Lifestyle” that cannot be stifled. Pong play the role of seventies rock act perfectly; much in the vein of Scissor Sisters or Aloha, they mix a clear production with catchy hooks to come up with a retro radio-friendly sound. The only thing that sinks Pong early is the extremely long runtime of “Killer Lifestyle”; there is not enough new material in the track’s five…
Forget the straight-forward nature of the Devo sound, this time the Polysics are morphing rock and roll with the insane noise punk of bands like Bolt Thrower, An Albatross, and the Locust. The repetitions and slight variations on a theme that the Polysics work on for three-minute bursts are the equivalent of a schizophrenic conductor rapidly spiraling out of control. Incorporating rock-revivalist bands like the White Stripes in some of…
Immediately, Polyphonic sounds like Kid Koala and The Avalanches. That is to say, that the band uses a heavy amount of samples and scratching to achieve their goals in the disc’s first track “Container Life #473”. The band has the ability to come forth with a quilt of different sounds and samples, in creating what is a Frankenstein’s monster that approximates humanity pretty damn well. “Moving On” is a track…
There are hints of Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos from the beginning of “Painkiller”. However, Polly Pani goes beyond the styles of those two individuals in the creation of a chaos that has not been heard in popular music since the days of Patti Smith. There is decidedly a much newer style to Polly Panic that is not present in the music of any of the other, previously-mentioned individuals. The…
Ethereal, open guitar lines that mix The Beatles with Gomez, The Pocket Gods feel perfectly fine meandering through “Lost”, seeming more content to be lost than to have a definite gameplan before going into the disc. The band has adequate shelter (the rich recording), even if they are in a little bit of danger due to having a small amount of provisions (the aforementioned open sound, the guitar/drum dynamic found…
In all my years of listening to Christian music, I always thought that Plumb was a band instead of just primarily being a singer. Plumb has not lost a step in the ten years that ey has been in the contemporary Christian scene. The second track on the disc is “I Can’t Do This”, and Plumb fully moves into an Evanescence type of groove with this track. In the same…
The starting out of “Love…Brothel” is one of the more ambitious tracks to be found on any current disc. Incorporating an incredibly dense arrangement alongside breakdowns that incorporate national anthems, the chaos espoused by the band is simply orgasmic. Add that to the fact that the divisions between tracks are very fluid, and one will think that this is one long composition, chopped up for more rapid digestion. The aforementioned…
“Inri” is one track that The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Towel has stepped forward with to placate their fans until the time when their next CD comes out. Best known for their “Love At The Fascist Brothel”, “Inri” is a track that blends together a more muted brand of vocals a la Anti-Flag with a seventies rock type of sound. The presence of the bass line during “Inri”…
Okay, I’ve heard of As I Lay Dying, their album was recorded by someone who worked with The Plot to Blow Up The Eiffel Tower, and in their promotional picture someone is wearing a Crass shirt. Seems good enough to me, and tracks like “Seventeen Year Old Piece of Gold” moves beyond traditional hardcore and into a realm of Temper Temper-style synth-driven rock. The incorporation of multiple harmonies during the…
The Playwrights play a very open-ended style at the beginning of their “English Self Storage”; “Why We’ve Become Invisible” mixes together elements as disparate as Madness and New Order, while enrobing their influences with a contemporary style. “Fear Of Open Spaces” starts off in a very positive style, with an interesting vocal pacing by the vocalist from the onset. Including a slightly-angular guitar style to their repertoire for the track,…
“Bad Cops Bad Charities” reminds me of HelloGoodbye and The Rocket Summer. That is to say that PlayRadioPlay mixes emo stylings with an electronic component that is comparable to acts like Fischerspooner. The quirkiness of the vocalist of PlayRadioPlay seems to pull itself towards that of a Blink 182. Thus, “Bad Cops Bad Charities” is an odd Frankenstein’s monster of a track. The band steps strongly here, but there needs…
2000 Diaphragm records. 13 Songs from this 4 piece act from Columbus. The CD is a scant 32:45, making each song around 2 and a half minutes long. The cover has boobies on it. Very good guitars that match equally good guitars, making a sound much like Hilljack. A Planet For Texas are a fairly large band, as they know the Forty-Fives (NG Records) and have been reviewed by both…
2002, Diaphragm Records. This was the last CD I had to review from the piles of mail that my mom didn’t bother sending me. And boy am I happy that this was the last CD I still had to review, as this CD definitely rocks. Don’t expect the sound of “You Can Still Rock in America”, as this album is more poppy, more clean sounding, and if you can believe…
Planeside starts off their “Milk” with a blend of styles that tie together the powerful arena rock of Foo Fighters with the dominant emo rock movement in popular music. Thus, during “My Sweet Revenge”, individuals’ heads bob as the emotive force of Dave’s vocals tie listeners in for the long haul. “Aunt Polly’s Dream” makes Planeside into an even-more powerful act, aligned more along the axis of Sum 41 than…
What type of metal is this? With Place of Skull’s first track on “The Black Is Never Far”, “Prisoner’s Creed” the band skillfully meshes together progressive metal with sludge and a more contemporary idea of rock to create something that is accessible without being devoid of content. With later tracks like “Sense of Divinity” the formula is not changed in the slightest. Why this works for Place of Skulls and…
Sounding like a mix between old-school U2 and The Cure, Pitty Sing comes to the forefront of the synthesizer-kiddos while mixing in an aural sound not unlike the bands off of any of John Hughes’ movies’ soundtracks. “Radio” sounds especially like “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by the Simple Minds, even down to the chirpiness of the track. Continuing that general sound, these looking-back individuals try to recreate the melodrama…
I was a little weary of Revelation Records after their last album, Call Me Lightning’s “The Trouble We’re In”, really failed to impress me. However, I have a feeling that Revelation’s stock is rising, specifically because of their release of two albums: this album, as well as the new The Plot to Blow Up The Eiffel Tower. I knew that this album had to be good after the first few…
Pistolita mix two distinct styles to come up with their own distinct sound. On tracks like “Cupid”, the band comes up with a style that mixes in equal proportions Smashing Pumpkins and The Bravery. There are a few other influences that present themselves during “Oliver Under The Moon”, one of which has to be the nod to Blink 182 that makes itself most evident during songs like “Voicebox”. It is…
Swedish rock ‘n’ roll punks IRON LAMB, the band featuring within their gritty ranks metal veterans Johan Wallin (General Surgery, Scurvy, Bombstrike, ex-Repugnant), Grga Lindström (ex-Repugnant), Thomas Daun (Dismember, ex-Repugnant, ex-Insision) and Daniel Ekeroth (Tyrant, ex-Insision, ex-Dellamorte, author of Swedish Death Metal) — are readying to unleash their debut full-length entitled The Original Sin. The Original Sin will feature 10 tracks with artwork and layout by Lindström and Watain’s Erik…