I Started To Live When My Barber Died is the initial offering on Grubbs’ similarly-named title, and it immediately hits listeners with a frantic and dense arrangement. Grubbs comes off as a more polished Steve Lieberman, a hectic mélange of different elements and styles that will immediately draw attention. Ornamental Hermit is a track that slows things down to provide a complex set of arrangements that are extraordinarily smooth. Grubbs…
U2 may come to mind first when you think of 1980’s political rock bands, but Australia’s Midnight Oil were just as strident about filling their songs with strong political point of views – not exactly the norm in a music decade obsessed with inane lyrics (lest we forget, hair metal was born and raised in the 80’s and killed in the early 90’s). Their biggest hits were about the mistreatment…
These guys are a 5 piece band from Norfolk, VA. They began 1996 out as the Pimps, are no strangers to a microphones, as they have released 3 7 inches, I EP, and 1 full length album. To add to this, they also have toured nationwide. I love bands that actually include lyrics sheets, and this album was made in 2000, has twenty five songs, and is on the World…
Straitjacket is the closest thing that I’ve ever heard to the UK ’82 brand of oi! that has been recreated successfully in the US with only one band previously: Patriot. Straitjacket feels as if they were pulled through a time rift and forced to play in Oregon for the entirety of their career (which is running on 7 years right now). The tinny yet impressive guitars and bouncy beat is…
Keep You has a retro flair that looks back at sixties pop and rock, while having a pointed and angular flair that is similar to Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party. The melodies do well in worming their way into listener head, a trend that is continued with It’s Too Late. It’s Too Late has a funkiness that is built off the work of EDM and ska music, with sizzling horns…
To say that “Alpha Ram” is not influenced heavily by the psychedelic and rock music of the mid to late sixties would be to lie outright. The style is fresh enough and Straight Dope Cherry does not suffer from the limited sound that a great many of the albums from that era have. There are some more diverse sounds than those previously mentioned during “Alpha Ram”; Straight Dope Cherry throws…
For their second full length, Philly power pop band The Fleeting Ends seems to have dug deep into the crate of vinyl for inspiration pulling out everything from XTC and The Features to Cheap Trick and Material Issue – never a bad combo. The result, Our Eyes Are Peeled, is quite impressive. Songs like the strings-laced “Operator” and the slow-build goodness of “Poor Gloria” highlight a band that’s found…
Black and Blue opens up Undertow, and this bit of stronger singer-songwriter is able to provide listeners with a style wholly unique yet familiar. Lovelie’s vocals blend perfectly with the precise instrumentation that bounces through pop, rock, and even alternative music before the track ends. Fire & Icicles shifts Lovelie’s vocals into a more rock style, while the quality of the instrumentation continues to impress. Every guitar line and drum…
Left of the Right Direction begins Ain’t That A Shame, establishing Winslow as an incredibly taut act. Nothin’s Easy further solidifies the technical ability of the band. Quarter Life showcases the emotional intensity of the band. While the CD has focused on their deft blend of pop and soulful rock, I feel that there is considerable emotional content that will increase the replay value of this album considerably. While listeners…
The Iowa music scene was pretty diverse in 1995. Sadly, the band a majority of the world most commonly associates with the music scene there is Slipknot, the ridiculous costumed metal kids whose shtick is only rivaled in goofiness by the Insane Clown Posse. It’s strange to imagine then that a gimmick-free band, with actual musical talent like The Nadas, was formed in the same year just 30 miles apart.…
