Music Reviews of Punk, Indie Rock, Emo, Ska
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
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03.09.2007 by J-Sin
Music Reviews of Punk, Indie Rock, Emo, Ska
Winning — This Is an Ad For Cigarettes Buy it at Amazon
As a debut record goes, this is downright impressive. Eclectic post-punk noise rock that dips and drones about. Sometimes the frenetic guitars trip over themselves as there is certainly no rhyme or reason for anything in particular on “This Is an Ad For Ciagarettes”. Lyrically the album stokes the political, consumerist, and Big Business pot a bit. Where this chaotic album is really sharp is its witty usage of odd off-time signatures and quirky melodies.
- J-Sin
Green Milk From the Planet Orange — You Take Me to the World Buy it at Amazon
Just as their weird eccentric band moniker indicates, this is a strange-ass band. Following up their impressive “City Calls Revolution”, Green Milk From the Planet Orange dives head-first into a post-punk version of King Crimson. With all of their songs completely improvised, the group recorded with Doug Krebs at Dig Studio in Portland. Their members having once been part of the Japanese grindcore scene as part of the band No Rest For the Dead, the group dived into some more psychedelic and hazy realm of progressive post-punk art noise. The result? Fucking staggering noisy improvs that mere mortals aren’t supposed to be able to muster on their own.
- J-Sin
Call It Arson — Animal Strings Buy it at Amazon
“Eliza” begins this new album by the wonderful Call It Arson and is a far-reaching pop venture that builds on their self-titled album that Kurt Ballou worked on and perfects any smudge that it had. Imagine an indie version of the Counting Crows with better lyrics, an addictive personality, and more dynamic songwriting. Juggling guitars and stripped down rawness, Call It Arson develop yet another intriguing mixture of pop, indie rock, and artistic vision. Indie rock the way it was meant to be.
- J-Sin
That's Him! That's the Guy! — Help Me, I'm on Fire Buy it at Amazon
Vocation schools are the place to be when you live in Idaho or South Dakota or those other Red States that don’t seem to offer anything other the bluest of the blue collar jobs. But maybe the majestic indie pop of That’s Him! That’s the Guy! will prove that this stereotype is incorrect and longwinded. Darwin-esque melodies evolve around discordant harmonies and Brian Wilson-quality vocals. Nice on a lot of levels.
- J-Sin
A New Dawn Fades — I See the Nightbirds Buy it at Amazon
Indie punk-rock group A New Dawn Fades promises to have a good handle on the sound that we will all care about not just now but five or ten years down the line. They do this by enacting a strict policy of awesome riffs, stellar vibes, and incredible lyrics. Wrapping it in a bow of tight drumming, noisy guitars, and monolithic approaches to songwriting, A New Dawn Fades makes sure that we realize that we will owe them a lot in the future. After all, how will 2040 really explain their music scene?
- J-Sin
Darling — Welcome the Ghost Buy it at Amazon
Frenetic pop-punk guitars and vocals collide head-on with progressive jazzy overtures of indie rock. Indiana-based Darling likes to keep the audience guessing as to what they have up their sleeves next; you never know if it’s going to be some amazing vocal melody or a discordant post-punk harmony. Somehow, someway I hear a bit of Cursive and the Get Up Kids influencing many of the songs that bejewel “Welcome the Ghost”. It’s sure to be a classic underground hit, so you better catch on while you still can!
- J-Sin
Alucard — After Dark Buy it at Amazon
Named after the protagonist in the Hellsing manga series or perhaps the character from the popular Castlevania videogame series, Alucard unleashes a metalcore screamo pop-punk amalgam in the vein of Silverstein and My Chemical Romance. Signed onto the gritty indie label Search and Rescue Records, a personal fave of mine, Alucard launches into “After Dark” a collection of dark tales told with a sinister forked tongue. Gothic overtures, punk melodies, and plenty of emotional twists and turns, “After Dark” is a reason to pay attention to this style of music after all those Fuse TV assholes ruined it with their eye makeup and tight girl pants.
- J-Sin
The Spy In the Mes — The Spy In the Mes Buy it at Amazon
Friends with the Ravonettes, The Spy in the Mes launches into an European array of messy indie pop that is pureed with garage rock, punky, indie pop, and thrashy art noise. Another Denmark import alongside the loved likes of Mew, The Ravonettes, Junior Senior, and Plok, The Spy in the Mes is just further proof positive that the Euro sound is progressive and much more daring than anything Stateside in the rock arena. Loud, abrasive with weird sounds, clanging instruments, dance punk glitz, and bizarre melodies—and I didn’t even get into the polka clash going on here.
- J-Sin
The Giranimals — Imperfectly Timed Words Buy it at Amazon
Rangy female vocals stir the indie pop pot a bit, blending in a dash of frenetic guitar bliss and a sprinkle or two of power-pop ballads. Often boasting haunting harmonies, The Giranimals seem to get better as you dive deeper into their “Imperfectly Timed Words”. Sweet lyrical twists with quaint pop melodies that are laudable and give pop hope again.
- J-Sin
Complicated Shirt — Compromising Compositions Buy it at Amazon
Albany’s Complicated Shirt isn’t fearful of any lashing back that could result from their display of caustic in-your-face indie punk “Compromising Compositions”. I dare say that if Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes decided to forge a punk band he’d try to lure the members of Complicated Shirt to help him out. Loud guitars squelch and twist harrowing turns of distorted bliss into some mash-up of melody that you’re probably not ever going to hear again—until this post-punk group decides to enter the studio again that is. Only their sophomore release, “Compromising Compositions” lives up to its title, leaving traditional songwriting roots aside for something much more indie, underground, and devilish. Often alongside the frenzied array of indie noodling in the vein of a louder Lou Reed are varied instruments like cello, violin, brass, and woodwinds. Complicated Shirt is one item that no dry cleaners would accept.
- J-Sin
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