Music Reviews of Unsigned Bands, Demos, Promos
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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Current Top Ten Chart
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 Unsigned Bands, Demos, Promos
The Reserves — Where Have All the Dreamers Gone Buy it at Amazon
“Where Have All the Dreamers Gone” is a poignant title that perhaps looks back to Gene Wilder’s famous line from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” but is one that could be applied to today’s apathetic society. Based in our nation’s capital, The Reserves offer up a tray of up-tempo melodic rock. Catchy hooks that are much more subtle than most pop outfits take a while to really sink you in but once the second chorus comes around you find yourself humming along. Dave Greksouk is the main songwriter in the band and is a talented singer/songwriter as well as a gifted guitarist who doesn’t try to do too much at once. Nice.
- J-Sin
Constant Velocity — Constant Velocity Buy it at Amazon
Indie rock group Constant Velocity are constantly challenging themselves with new ingenious ways to write pop songs. Partaking a bit of punk, art rock, and of course a little pop, Constant Velocity succeeds in defining themselves as a band you can’t really define. Good stuff.
- J-Sin
Dirty Mother Nation — Dirty Mother Nation Buy it at Amazon
Brooklyn rock group Dirty Mother Nation took the time to make a CD with cover art on the disc, print out a biosheet, and mail it out. They just forgot to hit record and sent me a blank CD-R. Oops.
- J-Sin
Fallen Grace — Fallen Grace Buy it at Amazon
Austin-based Fallen Grace prove that not every band in the Live Music Capital of the World is good. I love how on “Shattered” the timing of the guitar and drums are out of sync or feel way to strained to be correct.
- J-Sin
The Atma — On My Artichoke Buy it at Amazon
Los Angeles is the home to The Atma, an unsigned three-piece that is after the eternal dream of making a living at playing the music that they love. Do they have the chops? Well yes they do. They have the John Mayer-esque groove and quirky up-in-your-face vocals that he has. But there’s a lot less blues and more groovy rock ‘n’ roll with a healthy dose of ‘90’s alternative rock. But throughout the well-positioned and perfectly paced album is a dose of a varied sound that makes The Atma hard to exactly center on. This sort of variety in a young and inexperienced (relatively of course) band is unheard of for the most part so cheers to them for showing it off. Good job guys, now let’s hear the next one!
- J-Sin
Moes Haven — November: The Tar! Buy it at Amazon
An album completely inspired by the film “Ishtar”, or at least mostly, somewhat inspired by the silver screen gem (fuck you, I liked it, at least I think I did). Well on this album our glorious friends who are so damn talented and inspired that they write a song every day of the year, collecting the best for a month’s long collection (we’ve gone through January through November now!) onto a full length album, take a moment to write little old me a song (though to be fair it’s shared with some other jerk who clearly isn’t as awesome as I am, maybe?). But also the album serenades “Maggie Gyllenhaal” and other unnamed or at least unknown females. Once again the group amazes me with their wit, humor, and show no signs of fatigue throughout the album whose full title is “November: The Tar! A collection of songs written in the traditions of the compositions of Rogers and Clarke, as portrayed by Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman in the 1987 feature film, Ishtar, a much maligned production centered on the meteoric rise of an ill-received singer/songwriter duo, which in no way deserved the attention the almost universal disparagement it received from critics who focused disproportionately upon the picture’s lavish budget instead of its groundbreaking humor and ribald social commentary, which is only now, some two decades later, finally being recognized by a select few respected scholars and erudite theologians.” Jewel, eat your heart out!
- J-Sin
In Death I Become — The Muse of Tragedy Buy it at Amazon
Wow, an upside down cross AND a message of “kill yourself” in the liner notes!? What a fucking double treat! Underground metal that had such promise was rather disappointing when it couldn’t figure out if it wanted to be Type O Negative (or Danzig which might be saying the same thing at times in both bands over-hyped careers) or some bastard form of death metal. Instead the sludgy riffs snore while the vocals are morbidly laughable (whether it’s the tortured growls or the hilariously horrid clean vocals) amid lyrics that are stripped from an angst-riddled teen in Kansas upset that their parents still force them to go to the mall with them. Honestly I think the group wishes that they played doom metal but I’m afraid they fall pretty flat in that attempt.
- J-Sin
Steve Mayone — Understories Buy it at Amazon
Easily one of the more amazing underground indie folk artists that I’ve had the pleasure to follow as his career as a musician as unfolded. Mayone strums a roots-oriented guitar with Americana vibes and apartment rock sincerity. On the outer rim many of his songs may seem rather simplistic but once you actually try to recreate any of them, you’ll be uttering “hello difficult” and straining under the pressure of his melodic binges. “Understories” will be a favorite for a long time coming.
- J-Sin
Scream Poet, Scream — Illegitimate Descendent of a Pope Buy it at Amazon
Loud angry indie rock that refuses to release its haunting grip on you. Think of a more punk’ed up Hot Water Music with more driving riffs and the occasional angular rock steady beat and you’ve got Scream Poet Scream. I gotta admit when I saw their band moniker I didn’t really hold out a lot of hope for this trio from Chicago but they surprised me quite nicely. Thanks!
- J-Sin
Shout Magic — Shout Magic Buy it at Amazon
Eclectic music that rock’s hard and smoothes everything out with a nice touch of soulful play. The instrumentation is tight and varied with guitars, bass, and drums wrapped around trumpet, flute, and keys. I like the elements of jazz and blues that are woven in throughout the album giving it a lift of mystery.
- J-Sin
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