Music Reviews of Modern Rock, Folk, Pop
Band Spotlight
Chiodos
Perhaps no one can explain the sheer ferocity and timid quietness it is better than when vocalist Craig Owens says “we don’t want to let the kids down” when discussing the group’s intense vocals live at shows. Well they never let a single kid down with their vicious assault on the ears and grip on the jugular...
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Skinny Puppy - Mythmaker
Converge - No Heroes
The Graduate - Anhedonia
Death By Stereo - Death Alive
Comeback Kid - Broadcasting
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth
Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps, Heavy Hooves
The Geeks - Every Time We Fall
Limbeck - Limbeck
WinterKids - Memoirs
03.09.2007 by J-Sin
Music Reviews of Modern Rock, Folk, Alternative, Pop
Alter Bridge — Blackbird Buy it at Amazon
Creed 2.0 delivers the same noodled pop-rock hard edged anthems that we’ve heard already, but with less alcoholic lead singers.
- J-Sin
Kid Rock — Rock N Roll Jesus Buy it at Amazon
Nothing about Kid Rock is original, not even his choice of marriage partners—that was done already by Tommy Lee, no pun intended. Now after stern looks at Bob Segar, nu-metal, and Lynard Skynard, he turns to AC/DC and once again flip-flops on top of a has-been sound with his trademark yawns. But it’ll sell a couple of million albums, proving once again that America should be ashamed of itself.
- J-Sin
She Wants Revenge — This Is Forever Buy it at Amazon
Perhaps the album would have been better suited it had been named, “This is Forever (Joy Division)”. We remember Joy Division and even forgave them for morphing into New Order after Ian Curtis committed suicide, but She Wants Revenge discography of tributes is getting a bit tiresome.
- J-Sin
Heart — Dreamboat Annie Live Buy it at Amazon
Released as a DVD/CD set in the new Legendary Albums Live series, Heart’s “Dreamboat Annie Live” brings the rock star back to the Wilson sisters. Fascinating as a live act, Nancy and Ann Wilson brush aside the term rock star, and become larger than life. Along with their massive hits “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man”, they cover classic hits by The Who, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin all of which they claim inspired them while they were writing and recording Dreamboat Annie.
- J-Sin
Daniel G. Harmann — Anthems From the Gentle War Buy it at Amazon
Beautifully woven atmospheres and crafty textures of sonic bliss greet the ear immediately as “Anthems from the Gentle War” waves its way over your body, lending a sensation not much unlike the best orgasm ever. Art rock that is unafraid of taking challenges to heart, “Anthems…” escorts you through the hallways of indie pop, rock, and post-rock with passionate catchy hooks. The long lost descendent of Sigur Ros and Low, Daniel G. Harmann waves his magic wand of awesome songwriting and invites you inside for a cup of tea and a good talk. Energetically subtle and sincere with emotional vocal deliveries presented with imaginative ethereal sonic spaciousness.
- J-Sin
Year Long Disaster — Year Long Disaster Buy it at Amazon
Southern fried rock ‘n’ roll that is steeped heavily in beer and pot resin, Year Long Disaster beckons forth garage rock in the vein of Led Zeppelin. Featuring Daniel Davies, the son of the Kinks’ Dave Davies and Rich Mullins of the stoner rock instrumental group Karma to Burn, Year Long Disaster is no stranger to talented rock ‘n’ roll. Shining through with distorted and wailing guitars, Year Long Disaster blends stoner rock with garage rock and old school blues rock to absolute perfection.
- J-Sin
theSTART — Ciao, Baby Buy it at Amazon
Aimee Echo and her man Jamie make New Wave sound cool again. “Ciao, Baby” was written and performed entirely by Jamie with Aimee lending her sultry vocals and penning the lyrics. Retro in nature, “Ciao, Baby” boasts modern sounding synths and drum programming with sparse guitars and bass lining up to help the grooves along. I saw them perform at a local college a few years opening for Weezer and it was amazing how much they moved the crowd who had for the most part never even heard of them. They played loud and furious, and years later are doing the same thing on their studio ventures. Cool songwriting that is riddled with catchy hooks and perfect sing-a-longs.
- J-Sin
Death to Our Enemies — Death to Our Enemies Buy it at Amazon
You instantly hear the influence of the Rolling Stones and Nirvana throughout the self-titled Death to Our Enemies record. A trio of rock fanatics, Death to Our Enemies pummels you with their fist-pumping anthems of cocked-and-ready rock ‘n’ roll steeped heavily in garage rock and grunge. Hot and steamy guitars glisten with distorted melodies and churning harmonies. Loud and with a nod towards garage punk, the album is not for the faint of heart.
- J-Sin
The World/Inferno Friendship Society — Addicted to Bad Ideas – Peter Lorre's 20th Century Buy it at Amazon
Brooklyn’s the World / Inferno Friendship Society is high-brow punk at its very best. Joining forces with Jay Scheib, they combine to craft a punk-rock opera about Peter Lorre, a legendary actor from the ‘30s to late ‘50s who escaped the Nazi’s to Hollywood to star as the atypical villain character as well as make appearances in notable films such as “Casablanca” and “The Maltese Falcon”. Lorre eventually fell victim to his own addiction to morphine and died of a stroke. The music on this theatrical album is intriguing in a sort of swing-punk and rock opera sort of vein. Definitely quite interesting and not something you’d typically expect out of a punk and progressive modern band.
- J-Sin
Ari Shine — A Force of One Buy it at Amazon
Produced by Earle Mankey whose resume includes the Beach Boys, Sparks, and Concrete Blonde, “A Force of One” is catchy pop-rock that is rife with endearing hooks. Ari Shine co-wrote the Grand Prize winning song for this year’s John Lennon Songwriting Contest. He’s also performed and written with such artists as L7’s Jennifer Finch, Martyn Lenoble (Porno for Pyros), Todd Youth (Danzig), and Victor Indrizzo (Beck). But all resumes aside, Shine lives up to his last name with fun addictive hooks and modern rock ballads that are part Costello and part Springfield.
- J-Sin
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