Not the type of cookie monster-emo culmination that many hardcore bands are latching onto for rapid success, My Revenge! mix together traditional Minor Threat / Sick of it All-style hardcore with traditional metal and 80s punk. For example, the opening track “Haddonfield Illinois” shows the influence of straight-forward punk, most noticeably The Misfits. Never one to slow down, each track on “Less Plot, More Blood” blasts through at about a…
Call me shallow, but I was not expecting My New Life to sound like they actually do – I’ve had their poster up on my wall for a few months, and I was expecting an indie-rock band. “Three Weeks” opens up “A Sad State of Affairs” and it compels individuals to listen through a very tight arrangement of music and a pop-punk sensibility that disappeared from the venue after Green…
In the same vein of emocore music as Coheed and Cambria and Story of the Year, My Chemical Romance mixes killer production with a silky-smooth set of vocals and equally compelling guitars. Swirling guitars as well as the technical abilities of the band make a track like “Give ‘Em Hell, Kid” fulfilling in both the musical and catchy senses. Never one to rest on their laurels, My Chemical Romance is…
This deluxe edition comes at a time when MxPx is trying to make a strong caser for their continued relevance in the land of emo, hardcore, emocore, and countless other bands with fades and girl pants. What could be better than releasing a deluxe edition of “Let It Happen”, a disc that showed to many that MxPx was capable of hanging with the big dogs of the time (Bad Religion,…
This is really what I’ve come to expect from Mustard Plug, as I have had the pleasure to review a number of their prior releases for inclusion at the local radio station. If you are at all familiar with Mustard Plug, you already know of their brand of infectious ska/punk. If you are wondering why Mustard Plug hasn’t been like the rest of the ska acts and turned to emo…
Even though these tracks span a time nearly fifteen years ago to the somewhat-present, the tracks at all times on “Masterpieces: 1991-2002” sound as fresh and as vital as if Mustard Plug just recorded them. The term “ska” is used by many individuals to really tie a band down to a specific (often-times Mighty Mighty Bosstones-like) sound, but Mustard Plug should really show anyone listening in that ska can be…
The band does not give much of an idea what they sound like from how this EP looks. It is covered in a plain white paper holder, and the cover of the CD is nothing more than two faces that put together look like the body of a violin. To say I have no clue what Musical Underground Theatre sound like is an understatement. With “Verse One”, individuals will be…
This is an all-star band if I ever heard one; Murder Disco X has members of Severed Head of State, Cluster Bomb Unit and Detestation. Of course, there have been a number of bands that have sucked it up royally that could be called “All-Star” (including acts like the Damn Yankees). However, there is no need to worry with Murder Disco X, as “Robots” starts off this disc with simple…
You would not expect this style of music when you hear that a band is named Murder By Death. Instead of being a crust or metal band, Murder By Death is an indie rock band that throws together a very vocal, Dylan-descendent style with strings and tribal drums. In fact, during the first track of “In Bocca Al Lupo” (“Boy Decide”), Murder By Death has a very Voltaire type of…
The funky style of Murdxa during “Lamb” is not going to win eir any fans. The style has been done a number of times, and while “Lamb” is a pop song, it does not break enough ground to make it into the hearts and minds of individuals. This happens a lot with aspiring pop stars; the individuals make pop songs but they do not imbue them with enough soul to…
Multiverse plays a very safe brand of rock that is more likely to be heard in coffee shops and frat houses than anywhere else. The style is an adult contemporary brand rock that is blended with an adequate amount of jazz and funky to create something that can be received equally well by all. The disc’s first track “Different Worlds” seems to portend the blend of styles, and while there…
After the introduction, “Unleash The Bastards” starts off Municipal Waste’s latest album “Hazardous Mutation”., The clarity in which Municipal Waste works may be the most shocking thing about the band, far outstripping the speed and intensity that this thrash act puts forth on every track of “Hazardous Mutation”. There are hints of “Rust in Peace”-era Megadeth, D.R.I., and much more present in the Waste’s style, but the inclusion of the…
Mummy The Peepshow is the first band that has been imported from Japan from Records of the Damned that really breaks free of the J-pop label. In fact, the first track on the disc (“Hide-And-Seek On The Turntable”) ties together Brassy with L7 to make a hard rocking and musically confident track. There is much of the same happening on the disc’s title track. The straight-forward dominance of the guitar…
Even though the music on “I Wish My Name Were Jack” was xcreated this last year, the compositions feel as if they could have came out years and year ago. The disc’s first track is “Salt Water Jam”, and it meanders around for a few minutes before Mullen moves on. This music is not for those individuals that wish to run or mosh to the guitar strains of an act.…
The way in which “Floating In The Clouds” starts is very sedate. If anything, one can hear the style of acts like Soul Asylum, Blues Traveler, and Rusted Roots in this track. In fact, the band builds their sound specifically on the style of these bands. The opening track is only three minutes long, and the slower tempo of M2B makes the three minute runtime of the song feel more…
I had no clue what Mt. Gigantic was going to sound like before I put the disc in the player, and I feel good that I did not read the promo sheet before listening in this instance. What follows is a truly unique style of music, similar to A Silver Mt. Zion in its ability to subsume all different styles of music and create something that is their own. Bloomington,…
Mt Gigantic – Gleanings and Gatherings / 2007 Harlan / 8 Tracks / http://www.mtgigantic.com / http://www.friendsandrelativesrecords.com / Reviewed 01 May 2007 “Get Well Cougher” is the first track on “Gleanings and Gathering”, and it is an interesting for all of the different tempos, loudnesses, and genres that Mt. Gigantic uses during the song. It is not enough that the and goes from quiet to heavy, but the track moves from…
Mr. T Experience – Yesterday Rules / 12 Tracks / 2004 Lookout Records / http://www.lookoutrecords.com / Released 13 January 2004 / Reviewed 21 January 2004 Somewhat lighter of a release than I would expect from the Mr. T Experience, a band that I thought would perfectly espouse the Lookout ideal of a pop-punk band. There are still some remnants of the punk roots of this band, but a lot of…
Mower – Not For You / 2006 Suburban Noize / 15 Tracks / http://www.mowermusic.com / http://www.suburbannoizerecords.com / Reviewed 01 June 2006 Mower plays a brand of hard rock that quite often goes into hardcore and metal veins. For those that did not know, they are intricately related to Kottonmouth Kings. Where KMK has put forth a very intense brand of rap down on their last few albums, Mower does nearly…
Movies With Heroes – Nothing Here is Perfect / 2006 CI Records / 10 Tracks / http://www.movieswithheroes.com / http://www.cirecords.com / Reviewed 25 March 2006 Movies With Heroes do not play the same style of music that most emo bands push upon their listener.s In fact, a track like “Wake Up” is emotional rock, done with a style of music that more approximately meshes with rock than anything close to “emo”.…