Splendid E-zine presents
our weekly collection of shorter reviews
Sex Sex Sex,
The Smarties,
Napalm Death,
Sheilbound,
David Frankel Band
Simple Closed Curve,
Smash Palace,
Beat Synthetic,
Limp,
Burning Rome
Stretcher,
Five Dollar Milkshake,
Hana,
Cathedral
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Sometimes an album is recorded in an extreme state of pain. Sometimes
harsh music and raw vocals assault the listener by describing what it's
like to be utterly alone in the world, to have been hurt one too many
times, to be unable to sleep, to have a ringing in the ears that won't go
away, to bury all your dreams and to desperately search for an exit that
isn't there. Good destructo-punk does all that, and it succeeds because
people are actually confronting the anguish of life and thereby exposing
the personal sorrows that we ourselves have buried. Having said that,
the destructo-punk of Sex Sex Sex is not entirely successful. Though
their music and lyrics are full of anger, they rarely delve beneath the
surface of the problem that sparked that anger. If someone's going to
get the listener this upset, there should at least be some substance to
the emotion. -- cc
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The Smarties / The Smarties / Smarties (CD)
At its heart, this disc is sloppy. Shambolic. Chaotic. Its punk-flavored
rock ditties are held together by surface tension -- poke 'em and they'll
collapse. That's enough to make me love the Smarties, or at least like 'em
a whole lot. I'm not trying to insult the band here -- most of the best punk rock
songs rattle along like a child's "some assembly required" bicycle assembled
by a beer-toting stepdad on disability. There's just something
exhilarating about songs that clearly might disintegrate before they finish. The Smarties make a further stab at indie cred by including a Star Wars song ("(Everyone Loves)
Chewie"), which certainly doesn't hurt their score with me. Offering seven
songs in 23 minutes, the disc may seem a bit short, but trust me -- a handful
of Smarties goes a long long way. -- gz
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Napalm Death / Bootlegged in Japan / Earache (CD)
The undisputed kings of grinding speed metal unleash this 24 track live
album, which spans
the band's ample recording career. Encompassing everything from the epic
"If the Truth Be
Known" to the brutal 30 second classic "The Kill", there's absolutely no
argument over the
extreme severity of the band's aural assault. Bootlegged in Japan is
not so much a
primer for new Napalm Death fans as it is a grueling documentation of
the band's
terrifying live experience -- and what an experience it is! -- am
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Sheilbound / Counting on Abacus / Playing Field (CD)
While I don't want to suggest that Sheilbound owes its
entire heritage to that Pacific Northwestern scene that rhymes with "sponge", that's
clearly their starting point. Fortunately, Sheilbound's melodies are more upbeat,
their rhythms are less clogged with guitar waste products and their
lyrics are more oblique and picturesque. The result is a sparser
sound, and by stripping away all the excess rubbish Sheilbound
leave their punk rock roots far more visible. This makes Counting
on Abacus a lot more listenable, though the band still isn't
overwhelmingly unique. -- gz
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David Frankel Band / Deep Blue Goodbye / Anonymous Rex (CD)
Deep Blue Goodbye is your basic vanilla, medium-quality rock album. I didn't find much to dig on here and, in fact, the lyrics were corny enough to actually detract from my experience. The music itself is harmless mellow rock tinged slightly with funk and reggae influences, but that's just the problem -- it's harmless! It doesn't elicit a strong reaction at all. Frankel and company have been performing on college quads and such, and as background music for ambulating between classes I think they do fine. But for sitting down in one's living room and listening intently, Deep Blue Goodbye misses the mark. -- nw
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Simple Closed Curve / Untitled 9 / SCC (CASS)
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this cassette. The
b-side includes some pleasingly mournful piano work that I
enjoyed, but the a-side's swirling, layered audio manipulations kept me
constantly on edge -- not always a bad thing, but a bit
unwelcome when one is working late in a big, empty house.
The tape also managed to drive one of my cassette decks
absolutely barking mad, pinning the right-channel VU meter
in the red and battering the speaker with unrelenting "wub-wub-wubs" of
noise. If I thought this was deliberate, I'd probably praise Simple Closed Curve for it, but I don't think it was. Wub-wubs notwithstanding, Untitled 9 shows clear signs of cleverness, but seems unfinished; I'd need to hear more from Simple Closed Curve to make a final decision. -- gz
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Smash Palace / Fast, Long, Loud / Imagine Records (CD)
Stephen and Brian Butler's music can best be described in three words:
melodies, hooks, and harmonies (That's four if you count the "and"! Cheater! -- ed). They fashion guitar-driven pop-rock songs with excellent arrangements and memorable hooks that you just can't get out of your head. Their influences range from the '60s through the '90s to
establish a sound that combines jangling guitars, compelling lyrics,
Beatles-esque vocals and a pared-down-but-punchy drumbeat. There's a distinct Britpop feel to Fast, Long, Loud, often reminiscent of The Lightning Seeds. The Butler brothers have a pop instinct that landed them jobs as staff songwriters for CBS, EMI, BMG,
and SBK -- a talent that's blazingly evident on this album, particularly
in the catchy breakup song "Death of Me." It's the joyous
celebration of a man emerging from the ashes of a failed relationship,
ready to go on his way toward a new destiny. The album's title, however,
doesn't accurately describe its contents. The songs are gripping,
dynamic, and emotionally-charged, but they aren't fast, long, or loud. -- cc
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Beat Synthetic / Stop Chasing the Bitter Carrot / Major Label (CD)
Stop Chasing the Bitter Carrot reminded me, though never in an entirely tangible way,
of a lot of eighties punk and new-wave landmarks. Perhaps it was
the twankily minimal keyboards, or the sparse, undulating, sometimes nearly
gothic rhythms, or the panic-strangulated vocals. Or all of the above.
The five songs
found here are bittersweet affairs;
their most hummable melodies are tinged with anguish and longing, the lyrics
sharply barbed. In lowest common denominator musical equation terms, it'd
go like this: ((Bauhaus - (funereal mood+staginess)) + (early Violent Femmes -
(big textural guitars)) / (Echo and the Bunnymen - The Stranglers) = Beat
Synthetic. But then, I was never much for math. -- gz
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Limp's new EP contains 5 songs of just about the most straight ahead poppy-punk fuzz imaginable. Fine, tight playing from the guitars and rhythm section, earnest male half-sung/half-spoken
vocals, upbeat tempos, sing-along melodies -- you know the drill. Well made, but fairly predictable
SoCal guitar pop. The last tune, "Exit," stands out, rolling along with a nice triplet-based beat, interesting lyrics and a very catchy chorus. Not the most adventuresome record on the stack, but it's a fun listen. -- ib
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Burning Rome / Senseless / Mindfield (CD)
No matter how hard you concentrate on Senseless, your attention seems to slide away from its teflon-covered loops...rather appropriately, given the title. A bit too linear and understated for all but the most single-minded
of dancefloors, Senseless seems best suited to the passive electronica
listener -- ideally, someone who can sack out on a sofa for a few hours,
headphones akimbo, drifting in and out of consciousness as its unnamed tracks rattle past. My attention span, worn down by years of Nutra-Sweet and caffeine, can't support that
sort of listening much any more -- I couldn't stop fiddling during Burning
Rome. -- gz
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Stretcher is kinda like the masked bad-guy wrestler type who takes the good
guy's head,
places it in between his legs and gives him the old fashioned piledriver
manoeuver -- a downright rotten move that's devilishly pleasing to experience. This five
song EP breeds a
rock tinged metal sound that has a definite bass-heavy groove to it, with
occasional
old-school metal guitar solos and raging vocals to boot. Musically solid and
full of spunk,
Stretcher sifts through the metal ashes and unearths a few listening
treasures. -- am
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Boston-based Five Dollar Milkshake's debut CD features rootsy rock very much in the spirit of Blind Melon or Counting Crows. The trio of guitarist, bassist and drummer play well together and craft solid rock songs that range broadly in both emotion and style. "Let Go" is anthematic and throbbing, "Jenifer" is a yearning, lost-love song and "Nada Novo" is an idealistic song about making dreams come true. Were I a programmer for an adult contemporary radio station I would jump all over Apartinthemiddle; it's solidly-produced, catchy, melodic, just-enough-like-the-sixties-yet-still-now rock music. Though I'll admit I don't find the disc overly compelling, I wish the band all the best! -- nw
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Hana is a colaboration between Seattle sound sculptor
Jeff Greinke and
Sky Cries Mary vocalist Anisa Romero.
The result is a lush and lovely wash of world-beat slow jams and
atmospheric vocal meandering that should please any fan of goth-tinged
ambient soundscapes. It's hard to pick any particular track as a
standout, as they all share a certain thickly-layered haziness (which isn't to say they're muddy - they're not) that makes them blend into a single large
piece. The performances and production on this disc are excellent, and while it may be a bit melodramatic for some, it's a nice chunk of ear candy. -- ib
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Cathedral / Caravan Beyond Redemption / Earache (CD)
These metal moguls, with former Napalm Death vocalist Lee Dorrian at their
helm, have been
bombarding the world's eardrums since 1990. Unlike most of Earache's
roster, who tend to
achieve their evil goals via excessive sonic mayhem, Cathedral relies upon
gloomy and
foreboding doom metal that's equal parts dirgy and venerable. Caravan
Beyond
Redemption continues the band's slightly speedier, Sabbath-influenced
heaviness with
strong nods to the classic, lurching rhythms of 80's metal. Doom and gloom
connoisseurs take
note, as Cathedral continues to carry St. Vitus' torch of tuned-down ultimate heaviness into the next millenium. -- am
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gz - george zahora | nw - noah wane | am - andrew magilow | ib - irving bellemead | cc - craig conley
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