There is a classic sound to Living Things that will have parents of children who buy this album walk in and ask whether this is early Crue or Foreigner. During a song like “Bom Bom Bom”, Living Things come up with a style that is not as stark and intermediary as Buckcherry, but rather is a smooth blend of styles that work in 2006. The production is immaculate, and show…
This may be the first split single that I’ve ever received. That’s right, Little Klimt (a singer-songwriter out of New York) and Chofferson (an artist out of Los Angeles) each contribute one song to this split, so to say that individuals may have a problem trying to get a genuine read on their styles is understating it. For Little Kilmt’s track, one can hear the confines of a garage as…
Little Brazil comes from that brand of emo-rock that holds as a deity Rivers Cuomo, but unlike the sixties-influenced pop of Weezer, some genuine feelings are held on Little Brazil’s “You and Me”. Leading off the disc with “Now” and skillfully tying it in with the heart-beat/ethereal nature of “The Way You Listen”, “You and Me” is so much more than an album – it is a journal entry, a…
Fables of the Reconstruction, the third album from college rock poster boys R.E.M., showed the band was evolving toward a tighter, more cohesive sound. Sure Murmur and Reckoning will always be trotted out by indie music snobs as among the band’s best – and they were both good albums, unlike anything else that was being played at that time – but Fables of the Reconstruction was far more consistent. Songs…
Obviously Mark Lind is the lead singer of The Ducky Boys, so at some point the two acts will have some general sound in common. Little did I know how common the sounds would be between “Death and Jail” and The Ducky Boys’ last album “The War Back Home”. “No Future’ is the first big hit of the disc, which is built on the guitars that made Face to Face…
Limbeck quickly moves between styles in just the first few tracks of “Let Me Come Home”. The first track, “People Don’t Change” really uses a lot of the momentum generated from an alt country style, while the follow up “Long Way To Go” seems to take a page from all the early Hippie acts. Coming back to the country type of style with “Everyone’s In The Parking Lot”, Limbeck really…
Limbeck, yet another band off Doghouse Records. Limbeck, band I had only heard of before putting on this new disc. Limbeck, band that plays their rock band roles utterly perfectly. While they are not trying to make their own agenda with “Hi, Everything’s Great”, they are trying to put out the best sounding power-rock out. And with tracks like “Julia”, they might be doing just that. Each song is constructed…
“June Gloom” starts off The Like’s new disc, and the vocals laid on the track by Z Berg really give the impression that eir has been more influenced by Thom Yorke than anything. Sure, there is a little more substantive of a nod towards this influence because of the very mid-nineties, jangly-alternative played by the band, but the vocals are pretty damning of themselves. Perhaps the most compelling part of…
Mixing the best of Lucero with the vocals of Eddie Vedder, The Light Wires’ Jeremy add the icing to a confectionary orgasm. Laid back to the extreme, The Light Wires go for the road not taken by fellow labelmates Thistle. As a result, this disc has a much more polished sound and radio-friendliness that something like “Tired Anchor” just didn’t have. Eons beyond anything a jam band could do, The…
I was born in 1983, so that is likely the reason why I was not familiar with The Poppees’ work before picking up this album. The way I see it, after hearing “Pop Goes The Anthology”, The Poppees were really influential in ultimately determining where American punk would go, in the years immediately preceding acts like The Ramones and Blondie.
I was expecting something completely different from Toby Lightman after looking at the front cover of “Bird On A Wire”. I was expecting something largely acoustic based and quiet, in the vein of artists like Leah Zicari and the like, but what the disc starts out with is something gospel based with “Don’t Wake Me”. After that introduction ends, something pop-laced and country-tinged comes into focus. What I can compare…
While their promo kit is abound with the number of accomplishments that they have garnered in such a short period of time, I still don’t see Lifted as the type of band that really pushes the envelope in any way. Rather a band that would just go through the oft-traveled ruts of such bands as Delirious? and Audio Adrenaline, this type of rock is stale, innocuous, and truly trite. While…
The stop-start sound of A Life Once lost is more of a nod to the technical metal of Converge and the experimentation of early iterations of Korn. The super-sonic screaming present on tracks like “Needleman” remind listeners of a younger Jonathan Davis, albeit one who is backed by a little more meaty musical backdrop. The constant use of the double-bass during tracks like the aforementioned “Needleman” and “Vulture” really provide…
Iron Maiden like guitars mix with Converge styled vocals to provide listeners with a bombastic opening to this, their full length debut on Clockwork Recordings (Pluto records imprint founded by Tim from As I Lay Dying). The virtuosity of the guitar lines laid down by Addy and Caleb is immediately noticeable, with influences for them coming in a wide swath, ranging from Duran Duran to Slayer, U2 to Sick of…
I presumed that Blow Up Hollywood would be considerably different than what ultimately is the norm on “Take Flight”. “RKK” is the first glimpse that we as listeners have into the mind’s eye of Blow Up Hollywood, and this 90-second track covers considerable musical ground. An atmospheric composition, “RKK” acts as the gateway into “Take Flight”, providing a sample to curious listeners for how the rest of the title will…
“Leavin’” is a light-spirited, bouncy type of track that represents a perfect introduction to Puglisi’ “Goodbye New York”. With a set of strings working above the hubbub created by his vocals and backing band, what results is something that spans numerous genres and styles. By the time that this four and a fourth minute track finishes up, listeners that may not have been too familiar with Puglisi’s work will be…
“What A Night” is the first track that listeners will hear when they put in the eponymous CD, and what issues forth is a blend of Tori Amos and Ani DiFranco that showcases equal amounts spirit and talent. Westin’s vocals match perfectly the guitars, drums, and pianos laid down by her backing band. What results with this introductory salvo is nothing less than a single that should garner heavy play…
The sweeping guitar riffs that open up “Suburban Hymns” seems to have put the perfect-pop of individuals like Rivers Cuomo on its head. The very virtuosic (but low-key) guitar that makes its way through “My Last Hostage” is just part and parcel of a larger desire by The Life and Times to skillfully cloak themselves with the fuzz of a bygone period in alternative rock. The shuffling beat of “Coat…
“Shout” is the main track on this EP, and individuals have to understand that this is the height of Christian pop music; this is Mary Mary for 2006, and this rocks while still trying to say a message. For those fans of the song, there is no shortage in the number of times that individuals can tune in; for ten tracks, there are four cuts that are specifically “Shout” (with…
Where “Rabbit Fur Coat” starts out in a very Allison Krauss type of style for “Run Devil Run”, there seems to be an infusion of that style with something that is much more acceptable in alternative rock. At the end of the track, one really hears more of a fusion style that looks toward Bitch & Animal’s “Drag King Bar” more than anything. “The Big Guns” continues slightly in this…