Emily Grogan – Io / 2005 OneWay Productions / 13 Tracks / http://www.emilygrogan.com / onewayrc@aol.com / Reviewed 03 June 2005 I find it interesting that the opening to “Io†has Emily singing in a way eerily reminiscent of the timbre achieved by both Coheed and Cambria and Linda Perry. The stretched-out guitar could have been increased in volume just a mite during “Begin Againâ€, but the rest of the song…
Year of the Dragon is the latest act by Dirty Walt Kibby from Fishbone, and it shows that even someone as storied as Kibby continue to innovate and blindside fans with intelligent arrangements, impassioned lines, and a hell of a lot of grit and fire. While the introduction gives listeners a little bit of an idea where Year of the Dragon will go with “Blunt Force Karmaâ€, “Ipso Facto†really…
Emily Grogan – At Sea / 2007 One Way / 13 Tracks / http://www.emilygrogan.com / http://www.onewayproductions.com / Reviewed 24 February 2007 The heavily vocal introduction during “End of the Line†is an interesting approach to open this album, but the softly-spoken style leads into a much more straightforward brand of alternative rock that blends together The Pretenders with Suzanne Vega. While the track is well over four minutes, the energy…
The Gris Gris – For The Season / 2005 Birdman / 12 Tracks / http://www.thebirdmangroup.com / Reviewed 08 October 2005 The Gris Gris start out “For The Season†with a noisey, brass (and flute)-heavy arrangement. Luckily enough, the band really adds some form of cohesion to the track about a minute after this spastic opening. When the experimental noodling is toned down for the bulk of the track, the band’s…
Scott Grimes – Livin On The Run / 2005 Velocity / 15 Tracks / http://www.scottgrimes.com / http://www.velocity.la / Reviewed 12 November 2005 The album says that it is from 2005, but the sound of the opening, self-titled track sounds more like something from the eighties (along the lines of Bon Jovi, Eddie Money and Bruce Springsteen) than anything that is out in the current period. The vocal style is what…
Earl Greyhound – Soft Targets Earl Greyhound – Soft Targets / 2006 Some / 11 Tracks / http://www.earlgreyhound.com / http://www.some.com / Reviewed 12 November 2006 When I first saw the Earl Greyhound album, I was imagining that it would be indie rock, perhaps with a little funk thrown in. However, what ultimately results from “Soft Targets” is an album that blends equal parts Rage Against The Machine with King’s X.…
Greyfield – Soundtrack to Our Summer / Search and Rescue Records, PO Box 8260, Ann Arbor, MI 48107 / 2003 / http://www.searchandrescuerecords.com / http://www.greyfieldrock.com Honestly, to me this band does not sound very innovative, instead striving to glomming onto the many of the emo bands that have been popular in the last half-decade, without really going and making something innovative. In fact, this CD sounds so polished that it really…
Andrew Gregory – S/T / 2005 Self / 12 Tracks / http://www.andrewgregorymusic.com / Reviewed 29 September 2005 It is almost an immediate thing that the beautiful voice of Andrew hits the listener; “The Line†may be a sparsely-arranged track, but the harmonics achieved by Gregory is equivalent to a full symphony orchestra in that aspect. The slower tempo of “Up Over The Ocean†shows a weakness in Gregory’s vocals as…
Greenlight – Is This What I Am Here For? / 2005 Self Released / 6 Tracks / http://www.greenlightband.net / Reviewed 12 January 2006 Imagine Mission of Burma mixing with the B-52s, and one starts to get the idea of what Greenlight starts their “Is This What I Am Here For?†EP with. The vocals, which seem to tap an older set of influences, work well with the other trend regarding…
Greenlawn Abbey – Self/Titled / 2004 Diaphragm / 12 Tracks / http://www.diaphragmrecords.com / Reviewed 02 February 2005 Coming forth in a very seventies vein, Greenlawn Abbey seem to me to be a lighter version of Boston with their first track on their self-titled debut, “Ladykickâ€. While the blazing hooks of Boston are not as present on the track as I would personally like, Greenlawn Abbey comes out with a multi-vocal…
The guitar work that opens up “You Leave Me Here†is something that feels like it should be back in the middle to late nineties. However, this is not a bad thing. The blend of this older style with a set of vocals that is current, in your face, and is a blend of Kelly Clarkson and Susanne Vega is perfect. The track should be the next big thing out…
I don’t know really if what one could give this album is a title of “Acoustic Versesâ€, but the vocals present on a track like “Sweet Leaf†does not titillate as much as it sound like Bono crooning over the next U2 hit. The instrumentation present on the track is what really gives this song a second life, as the Medieval metal (a la Mortiis) sound of the arrangements really…
“Jacket Full of Danger†starts off with Green doing a very seventies, lounge type of song in “Pay The Tollâ€. If the production of the track wasn’t as strong as it is on this track, individuals could easily confuse this track with something that was created in 1974. This is the theme of Green’s “Jacket Full of Dangerâ€; while the lyric material something that is typically much more adult than…
The type of screaming that starts off “Far From The Lies†seems to put Greeley Estates into the realm of emocore, while the stop-start nature of the later part of “The End of All We Know’ seems to solidify that comparison further. The one fun piece of this first track is when the band slides back into a driving emo type of style for the chorus; the screaming style shows…
Two things are true in music: first off, when a band does a covers disc, it will almost always suck (Tori Amos’ “Strange Little Girlsâ€, the Smoking Popes’ “Party’s Over†are two key examples, and secondly, One Little Indiana are masters at putting out weak albums, including Fluke and Sandy Dillon this last year. Now, even with both of these facts in play, The Twilight Singers fight valiantly in trying…
Alternative Tentacles has went about and gotten another great individual to go and record a spoken-world album in Greg Palast. While I was not personally familiar with Palast before this disc, Palast is factual as well as hard-hitting with eir’s facts. In this, Palast is a mixture of David Barsamian and Jello Biafra, but with a fury that can not be categorized in any certain term. While Palast does not…
Gravity Propulsion System – Get Destroy / 2005 Ascetic / 8 Tracks / http://www.gravitypropulsionsystem.com / http://www.asceticrecords.com / Reviewed 28 October 2005 With equal parts of Misfits and A Wilhelm Screamed mixed together to make some of the smoothest (yet angular) noise pun, Gravity Propulsion use shrill guitar lines to attack their listeners. The first track on the disc “What Can I Say†is much in the same vein as a…
Gratitude – You’re Invited / 2004 Atlantic / 4 Tracks / http://www.gratitudemusic.com / http://www.atlanticrecords.com / Reviewed 08 February 2005 Coming straight out of the gate with a strong power-pop meets emo type of influence, “Drive Away†is a track destined for the closing credits of a movie. The skillful stop/starts found on the track as well as the tremendous low end found on the track ensure that people will be…
The Smoking Popes got a raw deal. Formed in the early 90’s in the Chicago burbs, the band drew influence from musicians as varied as Tom Waits and Dinosaur Jr. to crooners like Sinatra and Mel Torme.
“Il Pleure Dans Mon Coeur†has a shuffling feel to it that showcases the nuanced and complex nature of Carmen Tosca’s work, and the track’s length (topping out at around 9:45) ensures that there is more than enough time to go through different genres and styles before the track closes up. There are hints of ethereal, electronic, dance, tropical, and even goth music to be had here. The spontaneous nature…