Smother Magazine

Recently I was astonish when my wife brought home a mixtape that featured The Dillinger Escape Plan’s cover of Massive Attack’s brooding bass-heavy “Angel”. Well that made me dig deep and find this resilient 2006 covers EP which featured a couple of DEP classics from the “Miss Machine” era as well as several very poignant remixes and stirring rehashings. After you finish off the sultry, sexy, and yet eerily dark and dank “Angel”, you are brandishing a double-edged sword in a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Wish” off of their “Broken” EP–one of my personal favorites as Trent Reznor shows that he actually has the gritty balls to do something absolutely fucking insane with music and adrenaline at the same time. I love the breakdown which sounds like the singer gets almost bored of the line but forces it out anyway as well as the modem-esque synthetic distortion. One of the only good Soundgarden songs “Jesus Christ Pose” is re-touched as well (and brace yourself metal fanatics, it’s really ok, I promise) as a Justin Timberlake tune in “Like I Love You”. What you have here is something sick, twisted, violent, and yet essential and shows the influence that a chaotic experimental metal band could embrace.

Churning guitars rumble throughout “Quietly”, an aptly yet ironically named opus by the metal gods known as Mouth of the Architect. Stepping right up where Neurosis left off, Mouth of the Architect has grown into an algae-like substance of metal, that chews on the dark grit left behind and yet is critical to all of life’s survival. In the metal kingdom, the group is high up on the food chain with this new album easily set to set them far apart from the pack. Crushing guitars with landscape shifting distortion and effects are plotted along a course with thundering percussion and steamy atmospheres of psychedelic and never-meandering harmonies. Recorded by Chris Common whose resume includes highlights of Mastodon and These Arms are Snakes, “Quietly” is willing to go but not by its namesake and certainly not for a long, long time.

Today is another day of karmic retribution, since it was made public that indeed Bob Novak has a brain tumor. He’s always been a tumor, especially when he runs over homeless people.

Phoenix is hot. Not only because of what registers on thermometers but due to the brooding and developing music scene. Try Me Bicycle was one of the bands that brought some well-deserved attention to the Arizona scene. “Voicings” was originally recorded and released in 2006, and is now available throughout North America via this re-release this fall. The trio blends organic musical soundscapes that are awash in harmony and emotion. Carefully picked guitars melt into the gentle piano and the coffeehouse hushed vocals. Indie-pop that is glorious in both scope and breadth is a rare treat; Try Me Bicycle is one of those endearing sweet inspirations that finds a listener comforted in a beautiful rediscovery of past Simon & Garfunkel-esque pop melodies. Stirring.

It’s not often that an indie band lasts as long as Thistle has; in fact over these past fifteen years of playing together Thistle has not only grown close as individuals and friends but as a musical outfit. Tweaking their craft with each and every release, Thistle has long been a band that I’ve followed and adored. As one of the giant groups favored on one of my most loved indie labels, Tiberius Records which was formed by the fine gents in the band, Thistle nurses a sound that is similar to the Athens, GA rock sound of the ’90s. “The Small Hours” finds the group embracing a cognizant approach to guitar-centric indie rock with experimental soundscapes building up to a crescendo throughout. From a mixing perspective, this is one of the more interesting albums I’ve heard a rock group produce this year. Thistle proves that despite a lengthy timeline they can still produce something fresh and expansive.

Waves of psychedelic rock wash your bloated corpse up onto distant shores. You wake up as a zombie, desperate for death and release from this undead state. “Eat the Low Dogs” slowly plays in the distance and you find your inhuman feet slowly marching to the beat towards the sound. When you get to your destination, you cannot hope but notice the cascading guitars and airy effects that mingle with the multiple layers, layers that barely mask the descending steps into the seven hells. Dusty melodies bask in the glory alongside synthesizers and theremin. Imagine Red Sparowes on LSD, for a week, with nothing but songwriting to occupy their time. Heavy space rock, defined, despite their holiday inspired moniker, US Christmas. Very fitting that they landed on the Neurot Recordings label.

The first full-length album from The Union Trade debuts their cinematic post-rock experience that is mapped out with crafty climaxes and dips into caverns of lows. Cheering on the recent wave of minor key grandeur in indie rock, The Union Trade seem destined to swiftly pour their influence into the pores of songwriters across the States. Dense walls of guitar are glazed and spackled with inflections of sound effects and distortion. Their record label, Tricycle Records, better make sure they have a solid contract in place with these folks as the Union Trade is easily the next Coldplay. As emotional as it could get, “Everyday Including” is a transcendental album awash in guitar fuzzy logic and hugely catchy triumphs. Simply amazing and simply essential. Own it and friend them on myspace.

It’s hard to listen to a band from California whine about pot not being legal; because with medical marijuana it’s closer than most of the U.S. to legalization. Utilizing their brand of Sublime-esque reggae-core with offshoots of nu-metal and rapcore, OPM (yes they figured out a ‘kewler’ way to spell out ‘opium’) settle in the trenches of cliched beach music and teen angst. At times it’s as awkward as explaining away that genital wart to a potential blow jobber but for the most part it delivers precisely what you expect from a low-brow dealer; skank weed that is riddled with seeds and a dash of oregano.

09/16/2008 The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA

09/17/2008 House of Blues - New Orleans, LA

09/18/2008 Ridglea Theater - Ft. Worth, TX

09/19/2008 Scout Bar - Houston, TX

09/20/2008 Scout Bar - San Antonio, TX

09/22/2008 The Metro - Mexicali, Mexico

09/24/2008 House of Blues - W. Hollywood, CA

09/25/2008 Slim’s - San Francisco, CA

09/26/2008 The Boardwalk - Orangevale, CA

09/27/2008 Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR

09/28/2008 Studio Seven - Seattle, WA

09/30/2008 Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO

10/01/2008 Beaumont Club - Kansas City, MO

10/02/2008 Station 4 - St. Paul, MN

10/03/2008 The Pearl Room - Mokena, IL

10/04/2008 Peabody’s Down Under - Cleveland, OH

10/05/2008 BB King Blues Club - New York, NY

10/07/2008 Trocadero Theater - Philadephia, PA

10/08/2008 Rex Theater - Pittsburgh, PA

10/10/2008 Palladium - Worcester, MA

10/11/2008 Rams Head Live - Baltimore, MD

10/12/2008 Uncle Pleasant’s - Louisville, KY

10/13/2008 Amos Soutend - Charlotte, NC

10/14/2008 Music Farm - Charleston, SC

Three new tracks from Biclops (ex-Postman Syndrome / Day Without Dawn), from their summer 2008 4-song demo, have just been uploaded to their website. The band is putting the finishing touches on their debut record, which will be released sometime in 2009. The group has not signed with any label as of yet. Look for the group to play some local shows and small tours while a longer tour should take place this winter.

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