Country music is a genre in which it seems tremendously hard to break through. The number of established acts that are on the charts at any one time are few, and consist largely of those performers that have been doing their thing for a number of years. However, this trend may yet change with the release of The Band Perry’s first, self-titled album. This album was able to practically reach…
I was really wondering where New Found Glory was going to go since “Catalyst” do not do all that well. This would be a very important album for New Found Glory, that is sure. The second that I turned on “It’s Not Your Fault”, I heard that the band had invested a large amount in a much more mature, more emo-located type of music. This was done to the detriment…
The New England Roses make an album in “Face Time With Son” that does not have the polish of a more-major type of album. The vocals present on a track like “Dancing Nancies” sounds more similar to something out of The Sissies’ vein of thing more than the buffed sound of PJ Harvey. Interestingly enough “Blood Blood Blood” seems to use the lightest hint of the Civil War song “My…
The opening for “Surf” does not sound like its title genre, but rather of a spontaneous type of noise-rock that is not necessarily borne out by the music present on the track. In fact, the incredibly quick bass lines during the track give the song an incredible amount of harmony. The track eventually gets off of its trackos and the resulting chaos brings the previously mentioned bout of noise into…
Let me make it clear that I’ve never been into a church for service in my life. I found Christian music to be enjoyable for quite a few months back in high school and the first year or so of college, and there is still a soft spot in my heart for a few acts out there. In the last few years, there has been an expansion of bands that…
New Bruises play a very confident brand of punk rock in the vein of old Offspring and Against Me! . The disc really gets started with “Bigger Isn’t Always Better. Yes, Texas this Means You”, but does not quit with the subsequent tracks on the disc. The arrangements on “Transmit! Transmit!” are not necessarily at the cutting edge of music, but in treading well-traveled roads the band connects well with…
There is something about the music on “Story Like A Scar” that will titillate listeners at every turn; is it just that the lyrics do not match the sedate sounds of a track like “The Death of Us”, or the fact that the band itself rests on these same type of contradictions? Amazon links The New Amsterdams to Rocky Votolato, and I’d have to say that the comparison works. The…
“35 Hours” is a great introduction to the Neurotic Swingers, as it shows them as purveyors of an early (read 1990)-era Green Day cut in with more than a fair shake of rockabilly. This means that the tracks on “Sexy & Mysterious” are catchy but still contain a modicum of solid musicianship and interesting arrangements. “Grand New Wave” shows the band as purveyors of a style that is not changed…
The album art of Neurosonic’s “Drama Queen” does leave me a bit scared, bearing a queen with fangs and blood running in the corners of her mouth. But the first track takes the fear away, the opening is really good. The fast sung lyrics remind me of Thousand Foot Krutch. It isn’t annoying as it sometimes can be, the lyrics are understandable. As it turns out, the openings on all…
Coming from out in left field, I really didn’t know what to expect from this album, as I had only familiarized myself with one Neurosis album in the past. Neurosis puts a continually crackling and haunting backdrop for Jarboe, who takes up eir’s role as the typical female-goth vocalist. While the disc might be a little daunting, containing only eight tracks for a total running time of about sixty moinutes,…
The herky-jerky tone that Neon Blonde starts off “Chanderliers in the Savannah” is raucous and loud, but has some form of harmonics hiding behind all the brash and bold arrangements. “Cherries In Slow Motion” mixes perfectly parts of seventies rock (perfectly exemplified with the fabulous vocals and piano present on the track) with the traditional noise of bandfs like The Locust and Lightning Bolt. Interestingly enough, Neon Blonde really break…
After a typical opening for a rap album, Nemasis and Jay Womack come out with “Fo Sho”, which is pretty solid when they keep the flow, instead of the number of talking breaks. I’m sure that this is a tactic just to show exactly how street they are, but the simple fact is that these little interruptions make it difficult to enjoy the flow that they have. Moving onto “Intro”,…
This album sample is mixed quietly, which actually is a detriment to what is already a quiet band. Neon Sleep is an emotive rock band in the style of Ani DiFranco and Sloan, albeit with more electricity crackling through the tracks than either of them. Opening up the disc with “The Lights In This Town Are Faded”, Neon Sleep miffs a little bit by allowing some of the background noises…
I’ll probably be strung up and gutted for saying this, but the Nekromantix mix the best elements of Insane Clown Posse and Misfits to create one of the most innovative and refreshing albums of the early year. Whether it is the chugging bass of “BackStagePass To Hell”, or the rock-a-billy beat of the follow-up track, “MoonChaser”. Throughout the entire disc, there just are no slower-tempoed tracks to be found; everything…
I have always viewed remixes as an unnecessary and often cynical move by record labels to milk the music –buying public one more time, buying slightly reworked – and in most cases weaker versions of songs they already own. I view it akin to George Lucas tossing out a new edition of Star Wars DVDs every couple of years.
For those Dylan fans who have never quite recovered from the musician temporarily putting down his acoustic guitar to plug into an amp at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, The Witmark Demos, the latest in Dylan’s stellar Bootleg Series, is a godsend. Forty-seven songs spread out over two CDs, featuring the artist formerly known as Robert Zimmerman accompanied only by acoustic guitar, and occasionally harmonica and piano, this collection…
There is a contemporary flair to Conditions’ effort on “Fluorescent Youth” that will ensure the widest possible listenership picks up this album. Where there have been a number of different musical movements attempting to strive for dominance in the course of the last few years, Conditions deftly tie together these different style into a cogent and unique style. From when the album begins with “The End of Progression” all the…
The brutality of Negative Reaction is made even more so by the fact that each of the eight tracks on the disc are ugly blobs of metal music. The disc together is almost fifty minutes, and the average “Under The Ancient Penalty” song is well over five minutes in run time. So, during tracks like “Lost, Negative Reaction has more than enough time to get bowels all aquiver and rock…
There are so many disparate influences that start off “Daylight”, of which the largest seem to be Howie Day, Nickelback and Phil Collins. All of these influences conglomerate to allow Needtobreathe to come up with the most emotional and intense brand of rock since Lifehouse released their first album a few years back. Each of the tracks on “Daylight” seem to come up with a slightly different set of influences…
Necrophobic goes forward with their own brand of death metal. “Hrimthursum” may not let up throughout the near-hour of music, but there are quite a few melodies that Necrophobic uses on these tracks to keep individuals tuned in. For example, “I strike With Wrath” is on top of its own hill with the guitar solo, but this is not the only thing that Necrophobic does to bring harmony to this…