I was lucky enough to see Boston's Mind Eraser play here in Cleveland along with Japanese hardcore band, Slang about a year or so ago. The show was intense, and having Mind Eraser wrap it up with their brand of power-violence/hardcore did the trick. They released a split 7" with Slang for that tour, which I highly recommend if you can get your hands on it. Glacial Reign (2006) finds Mind Eraser on top of their game. It's a brutal thrash/speed mixed with crushing and (insert adjective of choice) breakdowns. The album seems to fit in a little closer to the hardcore side of things when considering the power-violence genre, but fret not the speed is still there, and the songs remain short and sweet. The album is twelve songs in just over 22 minutes, so you get the idea. The recording is surprising pretty well done for this style of music. No real complaints here. They're only a few standout songs, though enough catchy riffs and intense chord progressions exist to keep things interesting.
Mind Eraser - "Wrote Off"
The 1:37 song starts off with a full on total rush of guitar, drums, and vocals, and almost as quickly settles into a groove that is moved along slowly by the guitar. The drummer slashing away on a crash. Following a transition through another blitz, a breakdown into one of the catchier riffs on the album, with screamed and called out vocals accenting the shifts.
Mind Eraser - Equation
The shortest song on the album coming in at 45 seconds, demonstrates the band's sound a succinctly as possible. Really about four parts of pure thrash then a busting breakdown with hoarse vocal calls. I like the job done by the drummer, hitting every syllable uttered with an accompanying snare/high-hat/bass drum hit. As with any good hardcore song, the faster you can crank up that early part of the song the harder the chugging tail end feels when it comes.
I highly recommend checking out the song that follows "Equation" on the album, "Full Spectrum Dominance", as it side steps into a pure chugging hardcore reminiscent of something off of a Holy Terror/Integrity album; vehemently dark. I believe that one of the band members runs the label this album was released on, Painkiller Records.
You can find the mp3s of this album here. So no excuses.
The debut album from June of '44, released in 1995 on Quarterstick Records. I previously wrote about one of their later releases, Tropics and Meridians also released on Quarterstick. I'll refer you to that posting for more background on the group and its evolution. The two albums are similar in style, both fitting somewhere within the post-hardcore and math-rock genres particularly of that mid-90's era, though I don't feel the music to be all that dated. Furthering the similarity between both albums, Engine Takes to the Water is generally short on the number of songs (only 8) but carries a mix of extended cuts that last past six minutes long, and a few that remain less than four. In general I'm quite picky about bands who create songs longer than four to five minutes, often because there isn't enough succinctness. With June of '44, I rarely find this to be a problem though, as creativity and experimentation within the songwriting keeps things fresh and some of the hooks created are just too infectious, I find myself wanting more instead of looking to push the next button. It's Slint worship, and who could go wrong with that?
The fairly common nautical themes exist here as in other June of '44 releases to be sure. The strength of the music is within the guitar play, and play off of each other in particular of the two guitarists, while the bass and drums find their own spaces in each song. Vocals are a mix of spoken words and calls out, sung over the chorus section. The drumming, particularly on a song like "Mindel" is just as up-front and creative as the guitar, in fact I would say the coordination between the instruments is precise and distinct. Subtle use of horn in "I Get My Kicks For You" allows Fred Erksine to really shine in what is one of the more downbeat songs on any of the earlier albums.
June of '44 - Sink Is Busted
A slow thumping beat with scraping skin of my teeth guitar and brief keyboard notes. Then steady rhythmic guitar with soft vocals and the second guitar adding a beautiful hook that is accented by the high-hat play in its second set and more of those soft keyboard notes fluttering around in the mix. The vocals are almost strained towards softness at times. The opening guitar tone returns briefly, followed by a stripped down few bars of simple guitar and cymbal only play. Then when the full accompaniment of instruments and vocals return it feels like a warm wave sweeping in. Another more distinct break leads back into the first part of the song with a jangling key sound, then the song ends.
June of '44 - Mindel
Typical math rock type guitar chords start this song out, the drums once entered do a great job building on the discordant rhythm created by the guitar. This continues through the song, as the percussion is really tested in keeping in line, not getting in the way, but still accenting chord shifts that often are out of whack from the norm. The shifts and changes are certainly married to the band's influences, and "Mindel" is a song you wouldn't expect to find on any of the later June of '44 albums, but it's a perfect representation of where this band started from.
This album sits well out of print but this zipped file of the album in mp3 format for free popped up at this link. Also the record label has the album or individual songs for sale at a very reasonable price at Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records. And if interested in more of the background of this style of music, I fully suggest looking into more of the Louisville, KY bands from the mid '90s on through turn of the century.
First time reviewing a soundtrack for a movie. I've been a big Cliff Martinez fan since seeing the Steven Soderbergh rendition of Solaris(2002), which also featured Cliff Martinez (former drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) formulating the soundtrack. Drive came out earlier this year without much buzz, but the storyline caught my attention as it was about a Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as the driver for get-away cars in heist jobs. The movie stars Ryan Gosling, who's been making quite the name for himself as of late with a number of "big time" movies coming out. The film is shot with plenty of care and consideration in each scene, and the pacing of the film called for a soundtrack that matched and accentuated this feel.
Most of the songs or arrangements are by Cliff Martinez, there are a couple of songs by others (College (feat. Electric Youth) , Riz Ortolani (feat. Katyna Ranieri) , and Chromatics) but the majority of the tracks are Martinez's work. They are almost exclusively synth based, lots of long drawn out waves with a mix of blips and keyboards. Some guitar is present as well as drum machine sparingly. Production is excellent as you would expect on a film soundtrack and none of the songs are too long or overly boring. It's good background music to have on, and a few of the tracks can stand on their own.
Cliff Martinez - Bride of Deluxe
The final song on the album. After an eerie lead-in, some guitar starts and then with blips in the background and builds up to a crescendo and a moment of pause before a percussion joins in. Blips and some keyboards are able to ride out through this section giving the song character.
Cliff Martinez - "Rubber Head"
Conversely, this is the first Cliff Martinez song on the soundtrack. The buildup is slower and with softer blips, coming in alternating almost reverberated waves. These waves don't stick around too long, they sweep on through and things settle down and softly soaring chords ring out until the end of the piece.
Unlike the Solaris soundtrack, which is extremely difficult to find now at a reasonable price, Amazon has the Drive soundtrack for under $13 for the cd, and only $5 for the mp3 album, can't beat that price.
Just picked this up in LP form recently from Temporary Residence Limited. The label is doing the very cool "buy this LP and get a code to download the mp3 version of this album" thing, which I jumped on. Rob Crow is one half of the band Pinback and also a member of a number of side project bands (as they may be categorized): Thingy, Heavy Vegetable, and of course his own solo albums. I reviewed one of his previous albums, My Room is a Mess about a year ago, and have to say that that album released in 2003, and his following album Living Well released in 2007 get regular play in my listening rotation. He Thinks He's People follows well from Living Well, but furthers his indie pop sound. It's amazing in a away how so many others who seriously attempt to pull off this genre lose focus of the simple yet key elements of a well written, catchy song. With Crow, it's album after album of wonderfully quirky yet catchy and effortlessly delivered music gold, masqueraded within indie pop simpleness. It's beyond needing to be noted how easily he makes it look, yet it's like he's got a patent on this stuff, as I struggle to think of someone who's been as consistently solid.
Surprising as it may be after I just spattered out this praise for the man, I actually didn't enjoy this album as much in the first listen. It was good, but I missed the hooks from the previous albums. Then it struck me as I was giving it a second listen....this happened to me before, with Living Well. And sure enough, after giving this album a second and then a third listen, and on and on, I'm here absorbed in the music thinking forward to the next time I'll get to listen to it in my car on the way to work, or my ipod while taking a walk outside trying to enjoy the last decently warm days in Cleveland this time of year. I think my initial difficulty with this album was caused by only providing it a cursory first listen. It dawns on me now, how the little details within Crow's songs on this album aren't accidental elements or afterthoughts added for flare in post-production. Whether it's the woodblock claps (closest way to explain the sound I can think of) in "Prepare To Be Mined" or the quirky lyrics of "So Way", they go on to provide definition and individuality to each song. The songs are concise with no song reaching the four minute mark. The instruments chosen on this album seem to mostly be of the guitar, keyboard/synth, and drums variety, and of course Crow's voice, which is as much of the enjoyment as any other part of the album. Production is solid, without much in the way of mixing issues, maybe a lack of low end, but it's not really that noticeable.
Rob Crow - "Prepare To Be Mined"
Somewhere in the middle as far as tempo goes on this album, "Prepare To Be Mined" starts off innocent enough right up to the quirky guitar chord transition around the 00:25 mark. Then things shoot off on one of the many catchy chorus sections within this album, as the pace of the guitar picks up (and those woodblock sounding claps accentuate effectively) I find myself toe-tapping along. The layered vocals are perfectly used here, just the right depth and added at the right times to further accentuate and increase the warmth of the chorus' delivery.
Rob Crow - "I'd Like To Be There"
The absolute "poppiest" song on the album. A gem of juxtaposition, really. The lyrics are the real gold mine here, as amongst this sunny guitar driven jaunt, Crow has paired the following lyrics:
Some people talk on the phone at the movie theatre. That's right! On the phone! I can't believe it either!
When you're choking on your blood, When they've stapled shut your tongue, realized you couldn't trust no one, When your body bag gets zipped shut, I'd like to be there.
His musing on the how he'd like to be there when these people who talk on phones in movie theaters get what's coming to them (well maybe to an extreme for some people) is certainly something I can relate too.
Go to Temporary Residence to find the CD or LP w/ mp3s download code. Also just announced, Pinback will be touring Europe, though I couldn't find any details just yet, I'm sure they'll have something on their website about it.
I recently went and saw a re-showing of the 1984 cult classic film, Repo Man, starring a young Emilo Estevez as a punk named Otto. I remembered liking the soundtrack a lot when I was younger, but I had forgotten what was all that good about it until I was sitting in the theater a few weeks. I immediately went and grabbed it online the next day. In addition to good songs from Iggy Pop, The Circle Jerks, and Suicidal Tendencies, there were a three songs by The Plugz. Outside of the movie I hadn't heard any of their material previously, but the song "El Clavo Y La Cruz" particularly caught my attention. The hook was just so catchy, I couldn't keep it out of replaying in my mind. I went searching and found that the band had released two albums, Electrify Me (1979) and Better Luck (1981). Both horribly out of print and way expensive if you find yourself a copy (I think you can find both at Amazon or eBay for around $100 each). Luckily, I was able to find both albums free for download, and I'll link it down below as well since the albums are out of print as I mentioned.
The Plugz were a Chicano punk band from the Los Angeles area that existed primarily from 1977 through 1984 where the band then formed The Cruzados. The band was a three-piece with initially Tito Larriva (of Tito and Tarantula fame) on lead vocals and guitar, Charlie Quintana on drums, and Barry McBride on bass/backing vocals.
McBride would leave the band following the creation of the first album, Electrify Me, and was replaced by Gustavo Santaolalla on Better Luck along with a few other musicians providing keyboards and a horn section. On Better Luck, the band had progressed in their sound, moving away slightly from the simpler punk arrangements of the first album, and adding a bit more variety, with various levels of success. The Latin sound is present, along with more of a focus on the clean vocals and harmony. There are some excellent stand out songs, some decent ones, and then a few that don't seem to work as well. The ones that are on the mark are worth a listen for sure. I'd consider the first album a better album in general through and through, but my favorite Plugz songs are on Better Luck.
The Plugz - "Better Luck"
The title track and opening song on the album immediately demonstrates the shift in writing away from the fast paced punk of the first album. The riff is strong, yet simple, and the high-hat play is surprisingly not annoying, but rather perfect for this song. There's an interesting plucking from what I assume is acoustic guitar that is almost inaudible at first but rises just a touch from the right side and adds a nice warm element to the initial build-up prior to the vocals starting. The vocals and lyrics are beautifully matched with the songwriting. Little accents like the acoustic guitar, and quick breaths in before delivering a line add color and character to the song. The lyrics "Then we get lost, then we find each other again" illicit comfort amongst uncertainty for me. My favorite lyrics on the album.
The Plugz - "El Clavo Y La Cruz"
Sung in Spanish and with a bouncy almost ska beat, it's the funnest song within the album. The tempo of the song is upbeat and decently quick, but also features a few changes where it slows down then abruptly shifts back to the initial fast pace. Once again here, the accents (by the whole band; guitar, bass, and drums) throughout the song are perfect in grabbing the listeners attention and powering the chord changes. The keyboard and horn play toward the end of the song works well to reinforce the Latin sound and the overall catchiness of the song.
You can download this album and the first album by clicking on the links. The band has a myspace music page available, and there is more information on the background of the band here and here.
Out of Louisville, KY originally, The Bright Side was Kilowatthours' second album. The band has since changed their name or at least evolved to Up The Empire. I believe what is left of the band is now in New York. In any case, this album was released by Temporary Residence in 2002, and at the time were a five piece. The sound is within the indie-pop genre with leanings toward heavy reliance on guitar hooks and in general is guitar driven. There's elements of shoegaze without the distortion and a touch more emotion in the vocals, but a numbing or transcendental feel to it all. The tempo is mid-paced predominantly, with a quietness at times but also some charging full-sounding parts as well. There is certainly musicianship in the writing and the recording is strong. The album is relatively concise, only nine songs and under 36 minutes long. This brevity works well in that there is little excess, little to become board with.
Kilowatthours - "Almost Airtight"
A repeating couple of guitar chords starts this one off, followed by quite vocals somewhere in the middle of the mix. The chorus section explodes out with keyboards/synth really accenting and heightening the moment. These two sections repeat themselves through the next portion of the song, right up to a keyboard (I think) solo, and then shifting the guitar riff and followed by a short drum interlude, and then combination of crashing percussion, raising keyboards, and driving guitar. A false ending is presented with subtle guitars then carrying out the rest of the song.
Kilowatthours - "Dancers and Acrobats"
Keyboards exclusively in the beginning, until a voice is heard uttering the title of the song that signals the perfectly recorded percussion to come in. The cymbals are crashing and cluttered, creating a reverberated effect. The remainder of the song is an assortment of percussion parts over the keyboards and finally a return to the "keyboards only" to wrap up the song.
Temporary Residence still has the cd of this album available at their website along with three other Kilowatthours releases, so be sure to check out the label website for more of the band. As mentioned above, Kilowatthours has morphed into Up The Empire and is still actively creating and playing music under the new moniker.
Abilene released two albums in their existence, the second Two Guns, Twin Arrows I had reviewed previously, and this self-titled album released in 2000. I'll refer to the previous review for more of the background on the band (which was in the Hoover, Regulator Watts, Radio Flyer lineage). When considering that this album's lineup did not feature Fred Erskine (June of '44) as the second album did, it would make sense to lower expectations. But, that shouldn't be the case here. There is such a difference between these two albums that it isn't really fair to compare them and forcibly choose a winner. Considering guitarist/vocalist Alex Dunham's general theme of starting up bands that end up producing only one release, it starts to come together why such a difference exists. This album is much darker and moodier than any of Dunham's other releases. The music is striped down, plenty of bass and drums/percussions that simply repeat a primary theme with brief offshoots (i.e. cymbal hits, drum fills, bass lines or breaks, etc.) while the guitar also maintains a less chaotic feel (compared to other Dunham bands such as Regulator Watts), and the vocals are often mumbled or expressed with little effort, kind of a cross between something you'd expect from a shoegazing sound and Quaalude ingesting Nick Cave. I'd lump it in the giant "post-punk" arena, but would limit any further reading into the sound from that. The songs are incredibly isolating, I really can't picture listening to this album with another person, maybe if hours or days into a cross-country drive where you've ran out of things to say to each other and the surroundings are pulling your attention into your recesses of your mind, but apart from that I'd this album is perfectly paired with times of isolation.
Abilene - "October"
"October" is the longest song on the six song album, coming at 8:33 minutes long. It's partly because of its length that it presents so well within this album. It completely sums up the strongest elements of the album, pretty much everything mentioned above describing the album on a whole appears in this song. It's a steady pace of guitar over the bass and drum lines. A break at the three minute mark enters in solo reverberated guitar, followed by bass, and percussive play on a clearly recorded ride cymbal, snare, and bass drum. There's a playful bit of interaction between these instruments from here forth, with the bass being the steadiest of the group, while both the guitar and drums balance each other's additions. Guitar building in loudness, is later followed by the percussion and finally vocals returning to provide singing (not all that common on this album) that after reaching it's pinnacle and plateauing out, finally all disappears except the bellowing guitar.
I recommend the following links (Hardcore for Nerds, Fake Jazz) for other reviews and particularly this site (Egg City Radio) for a free download of the album since it is out-of-print and not easily available. I think there is a link at the bottom of the Hardcore for Nerds review to the Egg City Radio zip file of the album as well, so it's there either way.
Somehow Disappearing (2010) was released on Shiny Shoes Records towards the end of last Summer and represents New Idea Society's third full length and fourth overall release (including one EP also released last year called Quiet Prism). I chose the debut release You Are Awake Or Asleep (2005) as one of my first albums to write about last year. New Idea Society is primarily Mike Law's creative avenue as he is responsible for vocals, guitar, and writing. Juxtaposing the debut release (or even the follow up album, The World Is Bright And Lonely) and this album really demonstrates the progress and growth Law and the group have taken, reaching their current state. The sound is indie rock, with an incorporation but not over-reliance on varying the instrumentation through keyboards/electronics. The core guitar, bass, drums, and vocals are still the bread 'n butter here, but finally here on this album the mix is just right. I find the songwriting more creative and willing to take more risks than on previous works. I think this has been made possible in part due to the excellent recording quality and production. There's a feel that things were just hitting right in the recording space, resulting in a tight and full sound.
New Idea Society - "Thorns"
What can you say about that low end, it makes its presence known at the onset in an almost thundering fashion and remains there throughout the duration of the song, providing a backbone. The keyboards, percussion, and vocals all kick in, for the first few versus, and the subsequent part features harmonized singing with guitar that sounds just perfect in relation to the keyboards within the song. This song is bass, bass, and more bass, freeing up the other instruments to pop in and out without disrupting the flow and progress of the song. The lyrics of the chorus are peculiarly powerful sounding to me, not sure why, but it is good.
New Idea Society - "Desolation Tongues"
I love how the song begins, a little more menacing than anything else on the album. The piano and percussion/drum combination keeping the breathtaking tempo is very well done. An almost suspense movie feel, while the chorus sections have a very serious and decisive tone. The percussive play on the ride cymbal is perhaps my favorite part, and in general I get the feeling that this was one of the "funner" songs to play as far as percussion goes. Echoing the vocals as opposed to layering was a nice touch, particularly with the word "echo" showing up in the lyrics. The closing is an instrumental part of the song, highlighted by the piano accenting. I felt a few songs didn't seem to end quite as well, but this one was right on the mark.
As I write this New Idea Society is touring Europe in support of this album. You can check out there tour progress at their facebook page. You can also find more information on the band at their webpage, newideasociety.com. The mp3 album is available through Amazon, and in cd format as well. Truly an album that is growing and growing on me, and I feel is likely the group's best produced when considering all aspects of the within.
Lungs was a 2008 release that in my little corner of the world I had not come into any contact with until very recently. I was surprised (but then not really) to find that this album has spurned seven singles of which multiple songs have blanketed American and British television and even a few movies. The group released a song not included in this album for the third Twilight movie (hey I just know this cause I read it on wikipedia) and judging by some of the television shows also fancying their work I can see the niche audience that the album's record company, Island Records, is marketing too. I am not in this audience, but here I am writing a little on this album because within this vocal-centric pop music, I find occasions of great writing and musical talent. It's not there everywhere, and there are certainly some "misses" within for me, but this is also because of one of the album's strengths, its variety. The songs span all sorts of genres, sometimes it clicks really well, sometimes it doesn't, but it keeps things lively and fresh to see lead singer Florence Welch tackle the different vocal fields. What makes it work so well is that she doesn't just dip her toe in, she goes all out, throwing herself at all the various vocal angles she could find. You get the sense that she is truly having fun singing these heartbroken (at times angry) songs. The music is a mix of instruments fashioned to meet the needs of each song, heavy on percussion, but also harp and piano playing a major role. The production is, as expected for a big market record company, extremely professional without any discernible detractions to the music. The following quote from the group's website describing the lyrics, "The songs are full of Gothic imagery, of fairytale flights of fantasy, and although much has been read into her lyrics, Florence says it’s usually simple. “Everything is about boys!” she laughs. “The whole album is about love – and pain."
Florence And The Machine - "Dog Days Are Over"
The opening track on the album was actually the second "single" release from the album. Infectiously catchy chorus with a bouncy beat. The percussion was what drew me to this song (I believe the first I had heard from Florence And The Machine), I like the way it builds up and uses a number of percussive instruments to essentially keep the same beat, just at different intervals through the song. Of course the hand claps were a great choice, as was the pause used just after three minutes in (the pseudo ending) prior to a return of the chorus with almost chanting vocals.
Florence And The Machine - "Between Two Lungs"
Not to be confused with Between Two Ferns, "Between Two Lungs" somehow stands out from the other songs on this album because of the vocal ground covered by Welch. Its here more than anywhere else that you hear get the feeling that she was giving all of herself to the music. Welch notes on their website that this song was where she had found her voice, “I’d found my voice, and I just felt euphoric,” she recalls. “It’s been a real process of me learning that the way I wanted to do it was actually the right way. This whole album has been about having faith in myself.” The song has an odd start/stop beginning. After the vocals move towards expansion the simple piano and percussion fills in nicely. The subtle backing vocal tracks are also tastefully placed. The chorus is full and strong and the long drawn out sung words towards the end of the song are real emotional triggers. A four minute song that seems shorter, perhaps because it avoids simple structure and doesn't uselessly repeat parts, succinct yet creative.
The band's website florenceandthemachine.net is very well done I have to say, not too overwhelming, provides a decent amount of information, and has assorted media. This album is available on the site, but it just links it to a number of outlets (HMV, Amazon, etc.). There are two CD releases, a "standard" and a "deluxe" release which includes a second CD that features a few more songs and a couple demo versions songs ("Dog Days Are Over" is one of these songs, with a little different take on the percussion). There's an element of masturbatory love of affluence and "how wonderful life is (when you get to trounce around L.A. and all sorts of destinations which most people will never experience or better put can afford to experience)" from this film short linked from the band's website, it sort of rubs me the wrong way honestly and I have a creeping suspicion that I would do better to simply enjoy the album release without prying too deep into the artist and/or record label background.
I found it surprisingly difficult to find much of any current information on White Williams as he hasn't done anything musically since the release of Smoke in 2007. White Williams is the creation of Cleveland born musician Joe Williams who, along with an assortment of instruments and a few fellow musicians, was able to create a fairly minimalistic yet intently groovy album. The group's sound is more indie electronic than noise or anything of that ilk. The songs are traditionally structured and essentially pop interlaced. I was lucky enough to see White Williams play in Cleveland a couple years ago, and was impressed by the energy (not in any sort of spastic sense) that the music carried despite being as minimal as noted. It appears that Joe Williams had done most of the writing for this album during the time while traveling and subsequently finishing college in Cincinnati, OH. Perhaps having finished college and moving on into his career path, White Williams may have been a brief sort of "one-and-done" sort of thing. It would be unfortunate if that was the case, as the music is quite enjoyable for me still to this day. Expect medium-short length songs leaning heavily on the percussion and bass to provide the aforementioned groove while electronics and keyboards have plenty of room to roam, and vocals are essentially regressed to neutral or controlled tone. Relaxing and moving at the same time (comfortably groovy?).
White Williams - "New Violence"
The thing that jumps out to me is how not overproduced the drum and bass lines are in this song (and in general). It's a subtle pressing beat holding serve through the song. While electronic keyboards are able to fill in and add unique runs up above. The vocals are sung in Williams' deadpan 80's electronica fashion, stretching the words through the chorus or hook. The sped up keyboard/electronic runs really stand out as my favorite part of the song apart from the solid riff that picks up intensity rhythmically introducing the chorus.
Smoke was released on Tigerbeat6 Records but I wasn't able to find this album listed. They however say that you can contact them directly and they will search within their vault of material and perhaps track it down. There are currently about 30 (new and used) copies through Amazon available from what I can tell. Smoke runs about 40 minutes long, split amongst eleven tracks (including a cover ofThe Strangeloves' "I Want Candy"). Move it or lose it sister.
Mostly for fun, I chose to listen to this album today randomly, and well write on it as well. Running by the moniker "Guerrilla Incendiary Sabotage Mutineer" for this album or perhaps "Gnostic Idiosyncracy Sonic Militant" which appears in the liner notes (though I think my favorite was the "God In the Schizoid Mind" which may have been around the M.A.N. album era, maybe earlier), G.I.S.M spewed out a collection of songs that fall somewhere between their earlier Detestation material and the Military Affairs Neurotic or M.A.N. stuff. The band is composed of Sakevi Yokoyama on vocals, Randy Uchida on guitar, Kiichi on bass, and Ironfist Tatsushima on drums. The songs on his album span a ten year period and sounds like the type of work that would have laid the bridgework between the aforementioned two albums. It's a much better produced than Detestation but keeps the same hardcore and violent sound of the band that had been somewhat abandoned for a pure metal sound on the M.A.N. album. If you are not familiar with the band or their cult-like rise since the years have passed, I will first refer you to the G.I.S.M. Punks is Hippies/Global Darkness site that does an excellent job of providing info while maintaining the proper mystique or feel for a concept that is always just out of reach.
G.I.S.M. was a Japanese hardcore-punk-metal band that existed as early as 1980, forming in Tokyo. The band broke up in 2001 following the death of guitarist Randy Uchida to cancer, not long after the release of SoniCRIME TheRapy. So this album represents the last works of the band. The music on this album as mentioned above, falls somewhere between their two earlier releases. There is definitely metal within the guitar writing, and the drumming carriers a heavy hardcore style with it. Lead singer, and possibly the most important member to the band in regard to creating their unique sound, Sakevi Yokoyama's vocals are at their best sounding, in part due to the better overall record production, but also in part to just shear intensity. The songs on this album mirror the M.A.N. album material in length and structure, not overly long, but four minutes is a minimum predominantly with a few songs going over five minutes in length. But apart from the length, it's also the repeated riffs, the variations, etc, that remind me of the M.A.N. album songwriting the most. I don't think this album is necessarily as solid from start to finish as either of the other two albums, but the "hits" are well worth the few "misses" that present themselves. And the Sakevi's collage artwork is perfect as usual.
G.I.S.M. - "KI-1"
With the exception of the first and last songs on the album, the remaining songs are named through a shorthand of who wrote the song (either guitarist RU for Randy Uchida, KI for bass player Kiichi, etc.). The guitars are loud, dry, and crunchy as hell. The vocals as always, are great, and sickly dark. The main riff in this song is repeated over and over, with Saveki's vocals moving within its own pace, slithering over the top and through the music. The guitar solo at 1:57 is reminiscent of the work on the M.A.N. album, but with the surrounding hardcore riffs, stands out in contrast and really adds variety. Upon first listen, it's kind of amazing how often Uchida runs away and then returns to that main riff, finally finishing up the song with a dart and some Saveki cackles. Above all, a good example of the violent sound that makes up G.I.S.M.
The album artwork as mentioned above is excellent. The cd comes with a fold-out booklet that opens up to a Sakevi collage work, while under the cd tray lies the picture that appears to the right here. The cd comes in a small box that also contains a band sticker (the anarchy "A" and machine gun picture) and is overall presented very well. Good luck finding this thing. I happened to catch it on ebay for a "decent" sum, and purchased it from one "dwid hellion" who happened to be selling it and I'm pretty sure is the dwid hellion of Integrity since he was selling it from Belgium at the time (where dwid was rumored to be living at the time). I haven't seen too many pop up on their since. Of course bootlegs are out there and many people would be lucky to have found any of those to grasp band's music (though I'm guessing nowadays you can probably find someone posting a torrent of this stuff). In any case, the search for any information on the band, the stories surrounding the violence that would happen at their shows, and god willing a piece of merchandise or original recording is part of the fun of appreciating this band.
Times New Viking's second official release, Present the Paisley Reich came out in 2007 on Siltbreeze Records before the band made the jump to Matador Records in the follow up release Rip It Off (2008). Times New Viking get's some attention form for the fact that they are from Columbus, Ohio, and happen to be pretty decent. The three piece band features dual male and female vocals and their recorded material is generally filled with hyper-fuzzed out and reverberated noise wrapped around exceptionally catchy (when they are at their best) and sometimes introspective (less often) songwriting that is driven by the guitar chords and vocal harmonies.
Times New Viking - "Devo & Wire"
The pace and tempo of this song gives a pretty accurate idea of what to expect from the majority of their material. Considering the brevity of their individual songs, which should be pointed out is a good thing, I've always had a negative reaction to bands who don't know how to be concise when it comes to writing a typical rock song, not everybody needs to be Deep Purple or Rush here...but, I digress back to my original point, it's as if the songs themselves evolve out of the catchy hook and simply run through a few versions of the riff or harmony and wrap itself up without becoming stale or dull.
CD, LP, mp3, and flac digital files can be purchased through the Matador Records Store if you are looking for their more recent material. This album is available through the Slitbreeze website. The band has their own website at Times New Viking, but the "store" section is still under construction as of now, you can always check their site out for touring details, as I actually prefer their live performance to their recorded material (the lo-fi is toned down when they are live, and honestly, they don't have to hide behind all that fuzz).
If you can't tell by the cover art already, Violator play a retro-80's trash metal, and they play it damn well. Picked up on them after reading this excellent review over at aversionline. Annihilation Process was released in 2010 on Kill Again Records. Expect fast guitars and bass and drumming that is equal to the task. Vocals have a more hardcore sound to them (not the burly kind, but rather the higher end type) a little different than I would have expected, but not by that much. It's also worth pointing out that the vocals don't come across as overdone or standing in the way of the general awesomeness of the music. The band is from Brazil, and because of this reason, probably don't get the same kind of a play that similar bands such as Municipal Waste have garnered. They nail the speed of the genre and more importantly, the precision. The music is tightly played and well produced on this album. The occasional guitar solo is welcomed and usually done in the short "one-off" sort of way as opposed to anything overly self-absorbed. The band has developed a mastery of tempo shifts, though they aren't chucking them all over the place or anything like that. I think it's the execution of the the style that may very well set them above others who do this type of music well, definitely digging it in any case.
Violator - "Poisoned by Ignorance"
Had a pretty hard time picking a single song to use here since they're isn't really a bad one in the whole bunch, so I finally gave up and went with the first track, "Poisoned by Ignorance". The song starts with a short intro of metallic sounds, not quite as menacing as I think they wanted, but whatever, it's short and once the guitars kick in it's auditory excellence (well if you love thrash anyways). The guitar and bass shred through the initial part of the song, all instrumental through the first minute. Drumming is tight with a general focus on running that beat out there and not throwing in too many fills or excess cymbal play. Perfectly content with hitting the accents. The song hits a driving groove at about the 2:20 mark, but none of the departures from the central theme last all that long. I think because of the unselfish play (really by all of the musicians) you have a fine song that with the exception of a short lived guitar solo near the end, stands on its songwriting alone and stands very well.
The band's myspace page has more songs you can check out for free and record label, Kill Again Records, is selling this CD through their site, but it seems that you can only get it if you live in Brazil through them. In the U.S., Hell's Headbangers has it thankfully through their site.
