The Hatepinks – Plastic Bag Ambitions / 2005 TKO / 13 Tracks / http://www.hatepinks.free.fr / http://www.tkorecords.com / Reviewed 29 June 2005 The Hatepinks play a fleshed out version of 77 punk, mixing equal parts Ramones with Germs to make a very intense and bouncy style of punk for the new millennium. Tracks like “Microwave Drugs†literally pull the guitars straight from “Atomic Gardenâ€, but really push forward the tempo to…
Doing covers of jazz classics in a heavy metal vein might seem odd, but to be real, this is just a noisier version of a traditional jazz band. What they qualify as “Heavy Metal†on this disc is as tame as a Doors record, and about as clichéd as those California hucksters. I can say I have a fan of the decision to make the bass lines audible as per…
Jon Hassell – Maarifa Street: Magic Realism 2 / 2005 Nyen / 7 Tracks / http://www.maarifastreet.com / http://www.takticmusic.com / Reviewed 18 May 2005 “Maarifa Street†starts out with “Divine S.O.S.â€, a track that seems just as influenced by jazz reminiscing on the Pink Panther theme as it is by ancient East Asian sounds. Each of the tracks on this disc are given the proper time by Hassell, with the average…
Something that strikes me about The Heavenly States is the tremenous amount of restraint that they maintain throughout the earliest states of the disc. While lead vocalist Ted strains eir vocals during tracks like “Pretty Lifeâ€, the entire band’s output is very sedate. Tracks like “Black Comet†are so dense that they can work on four or five distinct levels without blending the distinct instruments into a muck. The density…
Harlots – The Human War Machine / 2006 Self / 2 Tracks / http://www.harlots666.com / [email protected] / Reviewed 24 August 2006 “This Is A Test…and No Flesh Shall Be Spared†is recorded in a very rough way. The heaviness of the track could be due to the guitars and drums playing off of each other, or it may very well be that the distortion created by the recording of these…
Hard Skin – Same Meat Different Gravy / 2005 TKO Records / 13 Tracks / [email protected] / http://www.tkorecords.com / Reviewed 12 March 2005 Hard Skin is one of the most solid and impressive oi! Bands to come out ever, which is even more of a feat since their music is technically a “send-up of oi musicâ€. Much like their ideological brothers Stars and Stripes (and to a lesser degree Manic…
A Heartwell Ending starts out their “Trust Us We Lie†with some of the most genuine and impressive new emo since Amber Pacific cut their “Fading Days†EP. Whether the band is able to live up to that comparison for the rest of the disc is the $64,000 question. While the vocals created by A Heartwell Ending are good purveyors of information, they also work admirably with the guitar works…
Hanover Saints – Murdertown / 2006 GMM / 15 Tracks / http://www.thehanoversaints.com / http://www.gmmrecords.net / Reviewed 19 May 2006 Each of the songs on “Murdertown†is really clean and clear for streetpunk music, but at some point there is nothing harder and more fun than what the Hanover Saints put onto this disc. The first track that will hit listeners over the head repeatedly has to be “The Crosshairsâ€. From…
Hannah Marcus – Desert Farmers / 2003 Bar None Records / 10 Tracks / http://www.bar-none.com / http://www.hannahmarcus.com / Released January 2004 / Reviewed 24 November 2003 While Hannah’s press release and CD is plastered with the fact that ey has worked and toured with Godspeed You Black Emperor!, “Desert Farmers†starts out with “Laosâ€, a track that warmly greets people with a coherence that GYBE! would hate. Synthesizers ebb and…
The inclusion of a more electronic sound to a hard, modern rock sound is something that I’ve personally never heard in the genre. Kudos to Bulletproof Messenger for having the cohones to blend together this style, making “Arm Yourself†an intense, impassioned bit of rock that soars on the wings of this electronic side. Nowhere is this captured as well as during “Lose It Allâ€, which bounces back and forth…
