Placing together some of the indie rock of the early nineties with a Weezer-like pop sensibility, Number One Fan is able to weld their strengths into a contraption that is held together with the sauter of talent. Not holding themselves to traditional power-pop/indie-rock song lengths, Number One Fan really uses the extra time that they give themselves for an expansion of their sound, making sure aurally that no stone is…
Starting out with an electric beat reminiscent of the typical Amp-fare of the mid to late nineties, Null Objct takes influence from Squarepusher and Plastikman and mixes it with rock, in a way that is molded by and surpasses Fatboy Slim. Opening “The Blind Clockmaker” with a track the works in Dick Dale-style surf guitars to what can only be described as a late eighties cop drama’s them, “False Positive”…
There are very few bands or acts that can get away with just sequentially naming their tracks. Bracket was one of the first bands to show me that one does not have to be an egotistical jackass to do this, as their “Requiem” was a solid disc throughout. Was “Interpretation” going to be an album that is full of egotistical bull, or something much more mind-blowing. This is a King…
I like a lot of rap acts, and I have no problem whether the raps are coming from major or minor label rappers. The one thing I have a problem with is when the band self-censors their own music. While it is hard to tell, it sounds like this happens a few times on the first track of “Ahora O Nunca”, “No Quieren Na”. However, this track is one of…
While the snotty vocals that hit the listener hard throughout all of “Canyoneer”, one cannot do anything but hear quite a large Sum 41 influence to the band. It is true that there are hints of both Strike Anywhere and Rise Against in tracks like “Neon National Park”, but this is couched in a much more pop-acceptable sound. With songs that are the epitome of polished riffs and pieces fitting…
No Second Troy is an act that has not broken it big at this point in their career. This is not a major issue at all, as they still have a long time to go before they will have to pack it in. The first track on “Narcotic” is “Feint”, and it blends together independent rock and emotive arrangements with hints of electronic arrangements and the like to make a…
I don’t know how good I feel about bands that make a number of pop culture references during their tracks. For example, much of what the Barenaked Ladies sucked, and when Billy Joel tried to do the same thing, that sucked too. However, No More Kings drop pseudo-ironic phrase in a way that will not make one grimace like all of the latest links back to the eighties pop culture…
“60%” is a nice opening for Nofx, a song that is still smirky while being pointed and fun; this trilogy of distinct style is something that has fueled Nofx for years and even fuels them now. “Leaving Jesusland” shows Nofx at an interesting point, with a stripped-down style that only comes out of its shell during the chorus. The vitriol present during this track is something that is not heard…
“Never Trust A Hippy” contains a few unreleased tracks and a few new songs that will be on NoFX’s next full-length, “Wolves in Wolves Clothing”. The first track on this album, “Seeing Double at the Triple Rock” shows a harder edge to NoFX than is typically heard; one is reminded of the hardcore punk (The Germs, Agent Orange) that came out of California than the goofy-punk that usually is present…
Overall, this is a typical punk compilation, with a few standout bands. However, there are some interesting difference on this disc that really move it away from the typical compilation and really put it into the land of the bizarre, such as placing a Goth band on it (Deep Eynde). The punk that is played on this disc is usually loud, boisterous music that is really no apologies, and is…
“The Coast is Clear” is an interesting way to start off the disc. Drawing on the same elements for the entirety of the track, the song really doesn’t feel as if it is a good gateway into the rest of the disc. The incorporation of differing elements at about 2:30 really begins the disc and adds percussion to further quicken the heart and get individuals interested. When vocals finally find…
Poppy indie-rock that seems to be pulled up directly from a halcyon period of alternative rock, Ninja Gun should be placed in the Pantheon along with Matthew Sweet and Concrete Blonde. The mastering on “Smooth Transitions” is well, smooth and completely open in terms of allowing the band to do what they want without sounding as if this disc was recorded in a barn. Mixing in an adequate amount of…
After the last CD by Planet Verge, Fixer’s “Bend”, I was really expecting a lot from 9 Circles. Perhaps I had set too high of expectations for this act, as I can honestly say I was underwhelmed by 9 Circles. I see them to be musically similar to Lifted, but not as plastic as the aforementioned band. While both bands use the modern-rock formula to get where they want to…
The indie edge that Nine Black Alps bring to the retro-rock movement of bands like The Hives and The Strokes is refreshing, and the high-energy of “Cosmopolitan” shows a band that can use the typical punk arrangements to provoke a more thought-out track. The jangly guitars present on “Over the Ocean” mix well with the vocals of Sam, to make for a track that is as equally influenced by U2…
“Get Your Guns” starts off “Everything Is”, and what one really takes from this first track is that the band is influenced by musically diverse genres. The grungy guitars reach out to the halcyon days of acts like MC5 while the vocals cross the Atlantic to take an Oasis-type of tone. Of course, the band stops to visit with Weezer and Matthew Sweet along the way. With each following track…
There is no lack to a radio-friendly sound that is only punctuated by a high about of profanity. The Nillaz comes through on their self-titled track with a sound that closely approximates the Kottonmouth Kings, the Insane Clown Posse and Fall Guy. “Home Wrecker” verifies this with a vocal flow that is almost indinguishable from Violent J’s style, and the eighties-reminiscent backing beat that was increasingly present on the later…
Despite the fact that many individuals only know Kevin Eubanks for the time that ey spent on The Tonight Show, ey is a pretty voluminous performer. This means, that since 1980, ey has been a considerable part of well over 20 distinct recordings. “Zen Food” represents eir latest work, the seven full-length ey has released in the 2000s. There is a sort of clarity present in this release, one in…
“Dear Scene, I Wish I Were Deaf” has a nice mix of rock and emo; the end result with this is a sound that mixes Death Cab For Cutie with Weezer. The sound is mature and without some of the experimentation that mark the legion of emo acts coming from places as diverse as New Jersey and Minneapolis. There are sections of tracks like “My Life Is Trouble” that seem…
For those individuals that have been living underneath a rock for the last thirty or so years, Stevie Nicks was the one time singer of Fleetwood Mac. Since that period, ey has created enough in the way of memorable songs to comprise this, a two-disc greatest hits collection that spans pretty much eir entire career. The great thing about this set is that the first disc has all of Nicks’…
While not having the grit of The Unseen, The New York Rel-X start off “Sold Out Of Love” with an intensity, both in the ropy bass lines of Adi and the vocals of Erika. Not to be left out of the mix, the guitar riffs of Jon really push the track to its inevitable conclusion. Continuing their assault with the interesting arrangements (almost staggered in their form) of “So Long”,…