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OUR WEEKLY COLLECTION OF SHORTER REVIEWS
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The Kitchen Cynics,
The Nerve Agents,
Bickley / The Put-Downs,
Tsar,
Spring,
The Terrifying Experience,
The Arrivals,
IQU,
Jettison,
Madball,
The Damned,
Next Up: Rap's New Generation,
A Sonic Deterrent / Vita Verbum-Lux,
Kristoff K. Roll,
Cross My Heart,
Finn,
Jade Tree: First Five Years,
The Stereo,
Frisbie,
Halo Project
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The Kitchen Cynics / Swearing in Semaphore / Best Kept Secret (CASS)
The UK's answer to Jandek, this one-man-with-a
four-track outfit lets the songs ooze out,
encouraging them to drip over you. Sometimes,
when the overlapping vocals and sloshing accordion
wed just right, the drip is hypnotic. It's as if
your "sensitive mother" friend was testing out her
new lullaby on you -- you might think her bedtime
stories are rough around the edges, but you can see
the promise. At other times, however, the drip
more closely resembles a leaky faucet. Now and
then the repetition of the simple guitar lines and
dopey lyrics of these songs become monotonous,
yanking you out of what was a delicious dream.
It's times like this that send me scrambling for
the fast-forward button, searching out another
gem -- one in which the Kitchen Cynics wrap me in
swaying hammocks of fat, lazy squeezeboxes and
clumsy Casio keyboards. That's when these lilting
tunes work best. -- rg
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The Nerve Agents / Days of the White Owl / Revelation
(CD)
Excepting the piano intro and ending, everything here is foam-spitting,
old-school punk. Drawing heavily from godfathers TSOL, this five piece
out of San Francisco plays with downright ferocity. Singer Sheric D. barks
his criticisms of the placid, normal point of view with conviction while
the rest of the crew lashes out with biting riffs and pounding rhythms.
With few of the tracks breaking the two-minute mark, this is a half-hour of
pleasing anger. The only drawback here is the lack of variation, which is
a problem with most punk albums. Despite this, the sincere energy the boys
put forth has such an insistent pull that it should bring anyone's bile to
the top until they're screaming along too. -- rd
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Bickley/The Put-Downs / Texas Tag Team Up / Chicken Ranch (7")
Though the art on this split 7" suggests a one-on-one grudge
match, this really is a tag team operation, as Bickley and
the Put-Downs each muster a pair of songs for a
southern-fried punk-rock smackdown. Bickley, perennial
inhabitants of the Boombox, turn
in a couple of brat-punk anthems which -- due more to tinny
production than anything else -- lack some of the punch and
spark of their previous material, but remain obnoxiously
entertaining. The Put-Downs turn in a stronger, more
bass-heavy performance, due in some part to a singer who,
particularly on "Head Shop Girl", sounds like a younger,
ruder Elvis Costello. Only four short songs here, but more
than enough to open up a single-serving can of whup-ass. --
gz
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Tsar / Tsar / Hollywood (CD)
I wasn't expecting much from Tsar, whose CD arrived with a good
number
of "modern-rock radio friendly" warning lights blinking rapidly
--
putting out your first CD on a Disney-owned label isn't usually
a good
sign. But their self-titled debut is actually pretty good, and
if they
can avoid drowning in the sea of modern-rocky guitar-based boy
bands out
there, they might end up somewhere interesting. They've got a
sort of
1980s melodic sense, with chorus-heavy tunes, good pop-song
lyrics and
sharp, dynamic playing. Jeff Whalen's voice is quirky enough to
stick in
your ear without getting annoying, and in general the band seems
to have
found a good balance between silly poppiness and serious
rockiness.
They're a bit like a less-inventive but harder sounding
Fountains of
Wayne, which isn't such a bad thing to be. Tsar has created a
batch of
fun, catchy pop songs. It will be interesting to see where they
go from
here. -- ib
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Spring / The Last Goodbye/ March (CD)
If you love "singles" groups, there are probably other March
artists, like Club 8,
Barcelona and the Acid House Kings, whom you might find more
immediately
appealing. With this French band, though, you get
endless diversity -- more so than one can ever say about the
Acid House Kings
-- and songs whose unexpected melodies don't put a gun to your
hips, but
nonetheless force you to sway. The songs, in both French and
English, are
charming in that English-is-our-second-language way ("that's not
enough to make me stop thinkin' about you/offer me
your soda drink"), and the music
suggests a fondness for more than just Louis Phillippe.
"Shooting Stars",
which samples both Hal Hartley and Roger Vadim movies, is
reminiscent of the
Orchids' "Living Ken and Barbie", and I just love "Lazy", a song
which ends
with the statement, "I feel capricious!", and which makes me
"feel like I
wanna feel: outta sight." A few of the songs also recall La
Buena Vida ("En
La Arena Blanca") and Girlfrendo ("Hysteria 67"), which helps
make Spring's
The Last Goodbye a sampling of everything I love best
about
pop music. That's more than I ask from any season of the year!
-- td
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The Terrifying Experience / Anvil Jumper / Mental
Telemetry (7")
This double dose of The Terrifying Experience catches the band's dirty
guitar-led pop
melodies in fine form. Less abrasive then previous releases, the two songs
on this 7" put a
classic 70s rock feel into the year 2000, producing an up-to-date
combination of rockin'
riffage and familiar pop melodies that can attract a diverse crowd. The
vocals are turned up
on both songs, placing the chorus-heavy melodies at the forefront as the
band drives home
the message that loud rock can indeed be cool in the indie arenas of the
world. Supposedly
from the band's upcoming CD, these two songs are a good indication that
another daunting
Terrifying Experience will be well received. -- am
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The Arrivals / Goodbye New World / Thick (CD)
The Arrivals are melodic enough as punk rockers go. Their brand
of punk
is part Social Distortion, part Mission of Burma. With more
than three
chords in their arsenal, their bombastic guitar attacks are also
interesting
musically. Surf influences (e.g., "Tornado") add a bit of
flavor as well.
Furthermore, clever lyrics add to Goodbye New World's
charm. "Chinese New Year"
laments "I was wrong, I was wrong and I feel an ass in general!
Been trying
to make alms and you won't let me!" Its jaunty, melodic quality
almost had me thinking I was listening to some punkified version
of XTC. "The Barter" is a nice way to end the disc. During its
anthematic ending,
the metronome-like guitar riffing references "London Calling" in
a subtle
yet powerful way. Very satisfying. -- nw
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IQU / Teenage Dream / K (CD)
There's over fifty minutes of music on this-here EP: the
original "Teenage Dream", six remixes and a pair of bonus
remixes of "Can't You Even Remember That?". Some serious value
for money there. Admittedly, seven mixes of a single track
sounds like a recipe for tedium, but "Teenage Dream" is a great
song, employing a throbbing beat, odd little Oriental-scale
runs, samples of chanting Asian children and filmstrip-style
narration, upright bass rhythm, tinkly keyboard lines and an
unexpectedly blaring guitar. The six remixes -- the most
notable of which is supplied by Belle and Sebastian offshoot
Looper -- cut and paste and drag and drop quite liberally but
never lose the song's engaging oddness. "Can't you even
remember that" offers a spooky theremin-like melody that changes
the pace quite ably. Trust me, you'll find this far more
interesting than the average multiple-remix EP. -- gz
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Jettison / Search for the Gun Girl / Pop Kid (CD)
Once in a great while you come across one of those bands that
you know are cool even
before you listen to them. Jettison is one of those bands.
Before you hear them play a single note you get sucked in by the
ultra-cool
album title and swank B-Movie spy-themed artwork. And
thankfully, the music
on Search for the Gun Girl is more engaging and
impressive than the
record's purely aesthetic attributes. One is immediately
reminded of In
Color-era Cheap Trick by opener "Arrive Alive", bubbling
with big whale-snaring
hooks and jarring melodies. "Fiona" sees Jettison tear a page
from the
Cars' book by adorning their snarling riffs and propulsive
rhythms with a
chugging, slowed-down intro and handclaps. But other tracks,
like "My
Machine" and "In My Head", belong only to Jettison. Both
showcase the band's
penchant for upbeat melodies and crunching choruses, not to
mention their
knack for writing killer hooks and thoughtful melodies. And
importantly , despite paying homage
to their predecessors, Search for the Gun Girl never
loses sight of Jettison's own powerful
sound -- jj
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Madball / Hold It Down / Epitaph
(CD)
NYC hardcore pioneers Madball incorporate a scorched earth policy on
Hold It Down. A band that I thought had become a lost cause after
mediocre releases
on RoadRunner has redeemed itself with a street-smart effort that does a
great job
combining 80s hardcore influences with today's melodic metal. Rob
Rosario's guitar lines
are unforgettable, providing a rhythmic core that feeds the other three
members a steady
diet of anger and penance. Freddy Cricien's snarling vox are in fine form;
he lays out a
commanding performance with intelligent critiques and powerful melodies.
Don't even try to
put Madball in the same league as modern day fools Slipknot; Madball
still has
unwavering NYC cred and a focused desire to move you -- mentally as
well as physically -- with a combination of hysterics and thick 'n'
juicy, heavily
distorted chords. Cricien asks, "Now who’s hardcore?" in a thick NYC
accent on "Say What?"
It doesn’t get any easier than that, as the answer is clearly a fist-pumping
chant of Madball,
Madball, Madball! -- am
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The Damned / Sessions of The Damned / Fuel 2000
(CD)
Every time I hear a release like this, I'm re-flabbergasted by
the fact
that over the years John Peel has managed to get just about
every weirdo
band in England to record live sets for his radio show. Even
odder, to
an American anyway, is the fact that all of these sets were
broadcast on
the BBC. The idea that a large, government-sponsored radio
network would
broadcast live sets by a punk rock band in 1976 just doesn't
make any
sense at all to my little American "my government hates the
arts" addled
brain. Anyway, this CD is a collection of songs from the five
sessions
that punk rock trailblazers The Damned recorded for the John
Peel show
from 1976-1984. The sound quality on these tracks isn't great,
but that
doesn't stop The Damned's goofy energy and humor from coming
across loud
and clear. There are lots of fun improvised bits, like when the
band
threatens to eat Peel's "collector's item Sex Pistols album with
a white
label." And at 22 tracks, it's a pretty good introduction to the
band's
considerable oeuvre. I wouldn't call "Sessions of The Damned" a
must-have punk rock classic, but it would certainly fit right in
between
your mass-produced "Best of The Sex Pistols" CD and that K-Tel
"Punk &
Disorderly" collection your sister gave you last Kwaanzaa.-- ib
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Various Artists / Next Up: Rap's New Generation / TVT
(CD)
I'm starting to feel like an old fart. My parents criticized my music as a
pale comparison of what they listened to back in the old days...and after listening to this
compilation of the young turks in the rap game, I can't help but feel that
it lacks compared to what I listened to back in the day. Several of the
rappers here lay down some serious rhymes with great flow (especially
Drag-on), but the backing tracks are minimal to the point of sounding weak.
What made groups like Public Enemy so powerful was the combination of
lyrical mastery and stunning music. Unfortunately, none of the producers
here can hold a candle to the likes of Terminator-X. The one
exception to the spare snare formula is Da Wastlanz, who use a classical
loop to create an oddly serene mood for their economic diatribe. In the
age where a career lasts fifteen minutes, it may not make much sense to
spend time in the studio to flesh out the tracks, but it doesn't make
memorable art either. -- rd
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A Sonic Deterrent / Vita-Verbum-Lux / Split 7" / Anti-Everything (CD)
One advantage of the CD age is that fans of "difficult
listening" don't face the regular problem of determining the
correct RPM speed of a poorly-marked record; for instance, there's a Current 93 EP
I've had for about 14 years and I've yet to determine its correct
playing speed. In the case of this split 7",
I found only one empirical statement of RPM (for A Sonic
Deterrent's "222 in Vertigo") and it turned out to be a 33.3
RPM track -- rather frustrating after I'd listened to both
sides at 45 and found them satisfying. "222 in Vertigo", a structured piece of tape
manipulation, gained a feeling of gravity at a lower speed,
while retaining the scattershot familiarity that
characterises all sound collages. Vita-Verbum-Lux's
"Universal Caduceus", on the other hand, sounds like an
air-powered theremin at 45, but grows profoundly more
menacing at the slower speed. Both tunes are
well-structured and ultimately quite listenable, neither
indulging in art-wank nor using improvisation to cover lack
of skill. I didn't try them at 78 RPM. -- gz
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In the tradition of French musique acousmatique, cinema
for the ear,
comes Kristoff K. Roll's Corazón Road. It is a
musical travel
diary of the duo's trip through Central America -- but don't
worry, it's more interesting
than your aunt Twilla's slide show of her trip to Palm Beach!
What KKR
members Carole Rieussec and Jean-Cristophe Camps do here is more
of an
artistic impression of their voyage than a travelogue. The
piece's five
movements each have a distinct personality and seem to correlate
with
distinct legs of the journey. Everything has that wonderful
ethereal,
disembodied quality that is so characteristic of acousmatic
music. I like
"Belize City", with its strong Jamaican flavor, and "Guatemala",
which starts
with the sounds of torrential rain and ends with the fascinating
sounds of
some kind of local evangelical tent meeting. -- nw
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Cross My Heart / Temporary Contemporary / Deep Elm(CD)
While "The Great Depression" gave me the same feeling as reading
William
Styron's Darkness Visible -- a far-from-soothing
melancholy which
made me physically ache -- there's an overall sense of joy in
hearing a
record that so successfully seems to accomplish a band's
intentions. Like
the Gloria Record, Cross My Heart makes emotional music that
transcends
borders, and should please most any person who's waiting "for
the better
days" while leaning on songs to keep emotionally afloat.
Temporary
Contemporary includes a song with pure rock-n-roll swagger
("London
Bridge"), and two slow songs built by lyrical fragments ("You
take all the
shame/Sorry I'm alive/Promise I won't write") that don't add up
to a
gigglefest, but have a nice brooding sincerity whose appeal
endures far
longer than one might expect. Though they don't do anything
radical for an
emo band (such as including happiness among the "emo"-tions they
experience),
Cross My Heart's new record always sounds sincere, and always
makes me
care... Furthermore, their best song, the gorgeous "Angels and
Gargoyles",
reaches the same heights as Pedro the Lion's "Only Reason I Feel
Secure",
and stands among the more moving songs released in 2000. -- td
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There’s something about loneliness that bring out greatness in musicians. Think of Alex Chilton keening, “I hate it here, let me out of here” over and over again in “Nighttime” on Big Star’s Sister Lovers. Likewise, Finn Swigley’s new self-titled release is about the disconnection of being in a new place, and it works. Recorded on a four-track in Seattle in 1996 and 1997, the songs speak of the loneliness of having just moved to a new town –- you know Finn’s lonely, because he’s in his bedroom making lo-fi recordings instead of out mingling. The happy news is that he left Seattle, moved back home to Indiana, spent some time collaborating with June Panic and now, even more happily, he’s released this quiet, lovely CD documenting his time of darkness. -- bl
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Various Artists / Jade Tree: First Five Years / Jade Tree (2xCD)
While Jade Tree's current claim to indie fame might rest on the
shoulders of
giants like Pedro the Lion or the Promise Ring, they haven't
ever seemed to
dabble in bad music, making any compilation of theirs worth the
price
to own and inhabit. This double-CD, which documents the first
five years of
7" releases from this esteemed label (owned by Tim Owen and
Darren
Walters), showcases a wealth of bands that are melodic (Eggs),
loud
(Pitchblende) and unique (all of them). Since there's nothing
easy-going in
these two hours of music -- no precursors to David Bazan or any
near-folkie
-- I'm all the more impressed at how even multiple songs from
the same band stand apart
from one another. In addition, nothing here sounds like Mudhoney
or
Soundgarden or any of those early-nineties bands that had a
dominating (and
arguably negative) influence on the indie scene, making each of
these groups
-- Grave, Jones Very, Railhed, Pitchblende, Walleye, Edsel, and
Universal
Order of Armageddon -- sound like true hardcore diamonds in the
rough. First Five Years
might not get played a lot in your CD rotation, but it will
stand defiantly
apart. -- td
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The Stereo / New Tokyo is Calling / Fueled By
Ramen (CD)
When I reviewed the Stereo's debut album, Three Hundred, last year, I think
I was one of a relatively small number of writers who
enjoyed it. The Stereo's big, radio-friendly pop riffs --
equal parts Journey/Night Ranger and the far less
embarrassing Cheap Trick -- were apparently a little to
accessible for emo kids. On this four-song EP, producer J.
Robbins once again proves that he's capable of handling
something with a conventional pop melody, giving a
particularly thick 'n' juicy sound to the title track. The
other three songs never quite reach that level; they're a
bit more subdued, sounding closer to Del Amitri than
anything Steve Perry ever touched. "New Toyko is Calling,"
however, deserves a long and happy life on radio, and I'd
choose it over warmed-up mullet rock any day. -- gz
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Frisbie / The Subversive Sounds of Love / Hear Diagonally (CD)
The Subversive Sounds of Love is an example of a quality
product
undone by its presentation. To put it another way, I would
gladly
put any one of these songs on a mix tape for a friend, but I
would never
buy him/her the album. After a strong start, The Subversive
Sounds... drops out in the middle and only returns to form
with the second to last song. When I take apart the album and
pull out individual songs, things are more promising. Perhaps
this is
where my disappointment with the album lies -- good songs don't
make a good
album. What little I had heard about this band made much of
their Big Star-like sound.
Frisbie flies the Big Star flag high. "Pollyanna", the second
track of the
album, is is the long lost child of Chris Bell's solo effort, "I
am the
Cosmos" and Big Star proper's "Ballad Of El Goodo". Big Star
sound aside,
I couldn't help but
think of another modern pop record that also happens to be one
of my
favorites: Cardinal by Cardinal. Frisbie don't sound like
Cardinal,
but they share a lush, methodical production quality. Frisbie
brings
electric guitars and great harmonies to Cardinal's pianos, horns
and
subdued singing. I wanted very much to like The Subversive
Sounds of Love
based on what I had heard about Frisbie. I wanted to shout its
merits in
my review. Unfortunately I can't. It's just too frustrating
thinking about
how good this album could have been if the whole had lived up to
the parts. -- jb
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Halo Project / Halo Project / Exotic Fever (CD)
The first release from the Exotic Fever label has fantastic
graphics and
even better music. While often compared to Trans Am, the eight
songs on this
27-minute CD take me back to the days I sat in front of the
radio, waiting
for "Trouble Funk Express" (a go-go music homage to Kraftwerk)
to be
played; half the time, a day would be wasted just waiting for
that song, but
it was worth the wait each time the DJ finally showed his
"cool". Halo
Project instrumentals are special, highlighting the best in DC
funk
(pounding drums, and heady bass) and DC punk (intricate melodies
that nearly
attack you). While the futuristic keyboard sounds in "The
Marathon" do
little for me, every other track is simply massive, making your
head and
hips do things that induce stares from everyone on the METRO
train with you.
Instrumental dance stuff is rarely my cup of tea, but I flat-out
love
this record, with songs like "Are You Receiving?" getting better
and better
each time I hit the repeat button. Lastly, since this band is
all about
playing "live" instruments, they're one of the few in their
genre who
probably light up the stage too. Here's hoping I see them
perform soon. -- td
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gz - george zahora | nw - noah wane | am - andrew magilow | ib - irving bellemead | jj - jason jackowiak | td - theodore defosse
rd - ron davies | bl - beth lucht | av - adam voith | jb - jason broccardo | rg - rodney gibbs
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