Category: Music Reviews

Posted on: July 21, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Piebald – Accidental Gentlemen

Piebald – Accidental Gentlemen / 2007 Sideonedummy / 12 Tracks / http://www.piebald.com / http://www.sideonedummy.com / Piebald starts off their “Accidental Gentleman” with “Opener”, and the band settles into an Offspring-type of sound. This means that there hints of rock along with punk, coupled together to create an energetic sound that will get individuals singing along. “A Friend of Mine” blends styles to include acts like Weezer, The Aquabats, and The…

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Posted on: July 20, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Magic Bullets – A Child But In Life Yet A Doctor In Love

Magic Bullets – A Child But In Life Yet A Doctor In Love / 2007 Words On Music / 10 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/magicbullets / http://www.words-on-music.com / The band starts off “A Child But In Life Yet A Doctor In Love” in much of the same style as a number of New Romantic bands did (calling forth New Order most clearly), and while the instrumental and vocal seem to oppose each…

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Posted on: July 20, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Blue Skies For Black Hearts – Love Is Not Enough

Blue Skies For Black Hearts – Love Is Not Enough / 2007 King of Hearts / 10 Tracks / http://www.blueskiesforblackhearts.com / http://www.kingofheartsrecords.com / Blue Skies For Black Hearts start off their ‘Love Is Not Enough” with “Here Comes The Rain”. The band wants you to imagine them as a seventies pop act, and the smoothed-out, half organic half electronic sound of “Here Comes The Rain” does a lot to solidify…

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Posted on: July 20, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Auto Interiors – Let’s Agree To Deceive Our Best Friends

Auto Interiors – Let’s Agree To Deceive Our Best Friends / 2007 Ryko / 11 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/autointeriors / http://www.rykodisc.com / The Auto Interiors on “Let’s Agree To Deceive Our Best Friends” seem to have a sound that blends the darkly catchy music of Interpol and The Editors with the emotive, earthy emo music of the mid to late nineties. What results on tracks like “Window Shopping” is that a…

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Posted on: July 20, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Hilary Duff – Dignity

Hilary Duff – Dignity / 2007 Hollywood / 14 Tracks / http://www.hilaryduff.com / http://www.hollywoodrecords.com / Hilary Duff has changed eir style quite a bit since eir last few albums. A song like ”Why not” was something that could make it easily onto any Disney soundtrack, where songs like “With Love” may be pandering to a slightly older fan base. This is not really surprising, as the fan base that liked…

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Posted on: July 19, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

John Taglieri – Wide Awake & Dreaming

John Taglieri – Wide Awake & Dreaming / 2006 Leap Dog / 15 Tracks / http://www.johntaglieri.com / “Wide Awake & Dreaming” is John Taglieri’s fourth album; with a number of accolades already under eir belt, I have high expectations for “Wide Awake & Dreaming”. “Starring Role” does not completely live up to these expectations, as the pop music that Taglieri plays is nothing different from a number of artists on…

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Posted on: July 19, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 1

Plumbline – Recollection

Plumbline – Recollection / 2007 Self / 10 Tracks / http://www.plumblinemusic.com / Plumbline play a hopeful brand of Christian rock that is safe without breaking completely free of the established artists in the genre. The disc’s first track comes in “This is a Song of Hope’, and while the band does not rattle the cage or otherwise try to go in a style that has not been done before, they…

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Posted on: July 19, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Amy Cook – The Sky Observer’s Guide

Amy Cook – The Sky Observer’s Guide / 2007 Root House / 10 Tracks / http//www.amycook.com / http://rroothouserecords.com / “Coming Home (The Eclipse)” starts off in a slow style, the guitar being pretty much the only thing that bolsters Cook’s vocals. The vocals of Cook are nothing special, coming forth as somewhat poppy, somewhat rocky. The anemic flow of “Coming Home” means that the only thing individuals can really get…

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Posted on: July 19, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Drawing Voices – S/T

Drawing Voices – S/T / 2007 Hydra Head / 6 Tracks / http://www.hydrahead.com / For those not in the know, Drawing Voices is the culmination of forces including artist Craig Dongoski and Isis’ Aaron Turner. So, typical Hydra Head-types of individuals join forces to craft a six-song album. “Being Born Broken” is a short introduction to Drawing Voices, and there is more atmospheric sounds present to the track than anything.…

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Posted on: July 18, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Alice Donut – Fuzz

Alice Donut – Fuzz / 2007 Howler / 12 Tracks / http://www.alicedonut.com / http://www.howlerrecords.com / I had known of Alice Donut for quite a few years, and their cover of “War Pigs” is one of my favorite covers of all times. However, I did not know what their sounded like beyond that. “Madonna’s Bombing Sarajevo” is the first track on the CD, and it blends together the strung out sounds…

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Posted on: July 18, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Khlyst – Chaos is my Name

Khlyst – Chaos is my Name / 2007 Hydra Head / 8 Tracks / http://www.plotkinworks.com/Khlyst/KhlystMain.html / I must admit, I am not completely behind the work of Khlyst at the onset of this disc. I mean, I like noise in my music, but fucking around on a guitar and just screaming out without any rhyme or reason isn’t that impressive to me. The band does start to become more coherent…

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Posted on: July 18, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

The Hidden Hand – The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote

The Hidden Hand – The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote / 2007 Southern Lord / 10 Tracks / http://www.thehiddenhand.com / http://www.southernlord.com / God, I love grunge. I love bands that revel in sounding like they’ve just had sex with their Corrosion of Conformity, Helmet, and Morbid Angel albums. “Purple Neon Dream” is the first track on “The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote”, and it shows that the band loves crafting some  of…

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Posted on: July 18, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Dead Town Revival – Hasta La Muerte

Dead Town Revival – Hasta La Muerte / 2007 Sinister Muse / 11 Tracks / http://www.deadtownrevival.com / Before receiving “Hasta La Muerte”, I never had heard of Dead Town Revival. The band plays a brand of rock that is very influenced by punk music. The first track of the disc is “Waco”, and what really distinguishes the act from the rest of the bands releasing CDs now has to be…

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Posted on: July 17, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Shshsh Shark Attack – S/T

Shshsh Shark Attack – S/T /  2006 Self / 8 Tracks / http://www.shshshsharkattack.com /  I guess I should not be surprised, but Shshsh Shark Attack play a brand of surf music that is linked to the more chaotic sound of an act like Men’s Recovery Project and to also the goth music of the late eighties and early nineties. Their first track on their self-titled album is “Burmuda Triangle” (yes,…

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Posted on: July 17, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Angelspit – Krankhaus

Angelspit – Krankhaus / 2007 Dancing Ferret / 16 Tracks / http://www.angelspit.net / http://www.dancing-ferret.com /   Hell, even if I don’t like this album, I can look at the art of the disc, which has a ton of interesting looking industrial kids and a very attractive Asian person in a bathtub (where’s the blood in said tub, though?). Regardless, “Krankhaus” starts off with a Lords of Acid song. At least,…

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Posted on: July 17, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Peter Searcy – Spark

Peter Searcy – Spark / 2007 Toucan Cove / 12 Tracks / http://www.petersearcy.com / http://www.toucancove.com / For individuals that were into the Louisville scene, Peter Searcy was a member of seminal Louisville punk act Squirrel Bait. Later on, ey joined Big Wheel, Starbilly, and has been doing things in the solo scene since around 2000. This is ey fourth solo release, and the album starts off with Searcy coming forth…

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Posted on: July 17, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Recourse – Weakening The Structure

Recourse – Weakening The Structure / 2007 Skinlifter / 8 Tracks / http://www.recoursemetal.com / http://www.skinlifterrecords.com / “Frail Existence” shows that Recourse is a new type of metal band, playing as fast as possible while using the conventions of metal and harder rock. The band goes through all of the tracks on this EP at a breakneck speed. The track length may be about three and a half minutes time in…

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Posted on: July 16, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 1

White Rabbits – Fort Nightly

White Rabbits – Fort Nightly / 2007 Say Hey / 11 Tracks / http://www.whiterabbitsnyc.com / http://www.sayheyrecords.com / White Rabbits probably take their name from that Jefferson Airplane classic. I have no clue if that is true, but it sounds good. “Kid On My Shoulders” starts out “Fort Nightly”, and it shows that White Rabbits absolutely LOVE the sixties, especially the lounge sound. The vocals come from a newer tradition, but…

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Posted on: July 16, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

V/A – Deep Elm: Cover Your Tracks

V/A – Deep Elm: Cover Your Tracks / 2007 Deep Elm / 12 Tracks / http://www.deepelm.com / I guess I do not understand the real purpose of Deep Elm bands covering other Deep Elm songs. Obviously, it would not be hard to get copyright clearance from Cross My Heart, Last Days of April, Pop Unknown, and the like. However, I don’t see what the use is in doing these covers.…

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Posted on: July 16, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Helmet – Monochrome

Helmet – Monochrome / 2007 Warcon / 11 Tracks / http://www.helmetmusic.com / http://www.warconrecords.com Helmet was a hard rock act that I never really got into in all of my years listening to music. Well, I received “Monochrome” a few weeks ago and I really was blown away. “Swallowing Everything” is the first track on the disc, and the first thing individuals can hear is the distinctive guitar work present. The…

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