Lyle Lovett is one of those rare musicians that has earned a critic’s pass of sorts. Thanks to decade’s worth of brilliant songs, he’s allowed to put out a weaker album every now and then. Natural Forces, his latest, is not bad, but again not among his best. Though Lovett has managed to cast a pretty big net beyond the traditional country music fan with past albums, the dozen songs…
FM Bats are not only like late-seventies/early-eighties Neil Young (listen to the soundtrack for Human Highway if you want to hear the similarities), but also to Stooges-era Iggy Pop and even the Velvet Underground. It is really hard to give the FM Bats a “punk†nametag, but rather they should be dubbed “experimentalists†in the greatest sense. The band is not afraid to take a slow, sedate stroll (“There’s Only…
Smash Mouth meets Depeche Mode. However, they have been doing Fluke together for fifteen years, a pretty impressive amount of time when one actually digests that fast. The opening track to “Puppyâ€, Fluke’s fifth album, is a fairly forgettable radio-friendly track that is driven quickly into the ground by a repetitive back-beat and annoyingly-inflected lyrics. The opening to “My Spine†recalls Trans-Europe Express in its highly emotive content and broad…
Continuing their live insanity onto disc, “Somebody Twisted Your Arm†is a perfect example of the thrash/punk fusion that Fleshies work so well in. Using distortion right out of the eighties and a shouted-out set of vocals reminiscent of Darby Crash, Fleshies come to each track on “Gung Ho!†with a myriad of interests and short times in which to express them. Ending “Twisted†with a sizzling guitar riff, “I…
I expected Fleshgore to be a band that is brutal, and that they are, but there are bits of harmony stuck throughout their “May God Strike Me Dead†that will bring individuals dancing into the picture. In some sense, Fleshgore reminds me of Some Girls. The technical ability of the bands are similar, while Fleshgore and Some Girls both throw in these catchy and fun guitar riffs. The bands may…
While it seemed for a few years that all the bands that were playing independent music with “The†opening up their names were those retro or dance punk bands that made it big, The Flesh break free of that categorization. The band opens up “Fire Tower†with “The Truantâ€, a track that reflects a very current brand of indie rock that uses hints of punk, rockabilly, goth, and rock music…
I didn’t want to like this CD at all. However, the catchy beats (think The Rapture meets Electric Six and Deadsy) just make one want to get up out of their seat and start dancing. The lyrics aren’t anything to be proud of, but with beats like this, I’m pretty sure that listeners are not paying attention to what Nathan Halpem, the lead singer, is saying. Raising the bar for…
Flattbush starts out their “Seize The Time†in a way that reminds me a lot of a blend of To My Surprise, Buckethead, Fear Factory, and early Korn. The use of double bass drums and shrill guitars is something that hits listeners throughout “Serve The Peopleâ€, and while the track may only be two minutes long, the band feels as if they have been playing for four or five minutes.…
“That’s My Problem†is essentially what a Green Day or a Nofx song would start out if the band started out in 2002 instead of 1982 or 1992, respectively. “That’s My Problem†really seems to show a commonality between Flashlight Brown and bands like Simple Plan and the F-Ups. It is not even that Flashlight Brown has cribbed the style of the average pop-punk band, but rather that the vocals…
I don’t know what I was thinking, but I was assuming some sort of indie rock when The Flaming Tsunamis opened up their “Fear Everything†with “The Ritalin Conspiracyâ€. What really awaits listeners is an eclectic style that mixes noise with odd breakdowns (as is the case with the Big Band interlude present in the first track), in a way that would make Men’s Recovery Project and Agoraphobic Nosebleed proud.…
Alternative Tentacles releases the weirdest shit. I’ve been able to get quite a few albums from them, and they never fail to amaze me. This time, The Flaming Stars come through with a Peter Gabriel meets Daniel Ash brand of brit-pop that has more than a passing gaze to the halcyon days of the 1980s. The first track, “She’s Goneâ€, uses a strong guitar presence and bass-laden drums to work…
Where fellow label mate SLA created a style of psychedelic/dingy-rock for their album, The Flakes have a Who meets Monkees type of sound; the first track even throws a little surf guitar into the mix for good measure. “C’Mon and Swim†continues this same general sound, but scales back the explosive nature of “That’s All†for a more balanced sound. In a sense, the style of music that The Flakes…
The Flairs start off with “Poison Loveâ€, and the style of music that they make is a punkish, rockish blend that can be compared to acts like The Donnas, The Eyeliners, and Bif Naked. The tracks are created with catchy choruses, the power chords are many, and the band just feels as if they will make it to the big time in just a few months. The second track on…
Mixing the aural attacks of Axl Rose, Jon Bon Jovi, and a whole legion of incredible, over-the-top singers, Fixer cuts through the shoegazing, new-rock of New York hacks The Strokes, as well as the The Vines, Jet, The White Stripes, and all of the other acts that circle jerk over the memory of bands that they have no where near the talent level of. Whether it is the aforementioned vocals…
Hey, this is slightly different than most of the fare from Broken Bonez Records. This time, listeners are treated to a bouncy, punky brand of ska that hasn’t been heard in popular music since The Spitvalves cut their last disc for Victory. Mix in some Bad Religion-esque riffs and Fixed Idea’s form starts to coalesce. Some of the instrumental interludes found on the disc (during Tomorrow, for example) begin to…
The mix of punk and ska music is something that is hard to do successfully and without your band sounding like utter ass, but Fixed Idea know how to do it right. Tracks like “At The Side of the Park†work because the horns do not try to do something unheard of for punk music; at their best moments, the horns replace the bass in providing a deep sound to…
AC/DC is one of those bands where there is very little fence sitting. You either love ‘em or hate ‘em and I just happen to fall into latter category. The argument that always gets trotted out in discussing AC/DC is that the band sounds the same on just about every song on every album. Well… you’re right. They found a formula very early on that works: big crunchy power chords…
“Big Star†starts out with a piano line that sticks with listeners long after the track ends, while the vocals here are influenced by strong female singers like Joan Osbourne, Sarah McLachlan, and even Sheryl Crow. The production during “Big Star†is perfect, bringing out the vocals without dwarfing the rest of the instrumentation present. “The Sun†looks to continue the momentum first garnered during “Big Starâ€, with Cameron’s own…
While The Bramble Jam is an act that is centered into the younger set, I feel that the act’s musicianship is so stellar that fans of all ages can appreciate what is put forth on “Move Your Bootsâ€. “Going To A Party†is catchy as all get out, with both sets of vocals bolstered by a vaguely tribal agglomeration of bongos, percussion, and other instruments. “Pancakes†has a slower, funkier…
“Fair Trade†starts off “Morning Over Midnight†with a mixture of the new-rock sound with the proper amount of punk influence. Fivespeed thus comes out as a band that is tremendously influenced by Alien Art Farm and Incubus, while still having the current sound associated with acts like Three Days Grace. However, the immediate hit for the band has to be “The Messâ€. The song has everything that is required…