Being Dead : "When Horses Would Run"

 The jangle of this odd Texas-based project carries a thick 60s vibe. There is a low fi, sound not unlike the new Twin Temples album. These guys however are not tied to that sound as they strip things down to vocal harmonies going into the second song. They take some jarring turns in the arrangements while staying true to their persona. The song veers off into a screaming freak-out. "Muriel's Big Day Off" is less focused, which is a pattern that continues with the almost pointless "God vs Bible" that works off a theme too simple to be more than an interlude. 

"Come On" owes a great deal for punk since it is under a minute and a half. Like the folk version of grindcore. "Daydream' finds them strumming their way back into a more cohesive place.     It flows really well and might be the second-best song with the opening track still the strongest at the halfway point of this album. "Treeland" finds them bang it out with a raw garage rock jangle. Lyrically it is also the most interesting. The title track, kind of drones on with a stark emptiness despite sounding like pop music from the 60s. They did a great job of capturing the sound. 

"We Are Being Dead" obviously feels like it should work live, on an album it feels like an odd interlude that is making fun of even being in a band. "Holy Team" just breezes by without commanding my attention, while "Misery Land' hits more like a depressive lullaby. I had to go back to give "Living Easy" another listen, but I like it as it sounds like something the Manson family would have been listening to. The last song sounds like they are making fun of Neil Young, mixed with their normal blend of weird. I will give this album an 8, there are some cool sound and ideas, the songs do not grab me, but think the accomplished what they set out to with this album. 

Ancient VVisdom : "33"

This band's first three album's left me underwhelmed, and have struck me as Days of the New trying to be satanic. There is some distortion leading into the first single "Light of Lucifer". The vocals are lower and more ominous, but there is more of a camp fire rock feel than neo-folk.It never really feels like a fully conceptualized song, but like they were sitting around in the studio and said "Well, this could be a good idea for a song we should do something with it" and then forgot about it.  The beginning of "In the Name of Satan" sounds like the build up to "Fade to Black". The vocals begin to get more Ghost on this one. The formula to this album is clearly set the strum of an acoustic guitar against some pretty basic metal power chords. Sonically this works pretty well on "True Will", however the lyrics are almost offensive because they are throwing around Thelemic sentiment and using pedestrian Crowley quotes without knowing the proper context for them.

There is more of a late eighties punk chug to " the Infernal One". Lyrically much like Ghost these guys are juvenile posers when it comes to the occult. The chorus is also a little too happy though after a few listens it grows on me by a few degrees. "Summoning Fallen Angel" is more Judas Priest like , though it's just an interlude and feels like it should have been the intro to the more "Diary of a Madman" like "Rise Fallen Angel". The hook going into the chorus is more Danzig like. But this is the strongest thing I have heard from these guys yet, even if along the way they barrow a little from Rob Zombie and Metallica to get there. The eighth song sounds like they could be busting into hair metal at any point in time. Instead we get a less than inspired croon.

There is a more rambling rock tone to "the Great Beast". The lyrics are over the top, but as far as radio rock n roll goes this song is pretty solid. Fir what they are going for "Lux" is ridicously upbeat and might as well be on a Dashboard Confessional album. The vocals are also a little pitchy which doesn't help things. In giving this a 6 , it puts it ahead of the other bands out put and makes them better than Ghost for sure, to think these guys are awesome you have to be 16 or younger.

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Hexvessel : "When We Are Death"

This is way more rock n roll than I thought it would, but this band is fronted by Mat McNerney who we also know as Kvohst the lead singer of Grave Pleasures / Beast Milk. This album finds this project now occupying a more similar sonic space as Grave Pleasures , just dipping into a another decade . So perhaps Kvohst is a time lord and he hops back and forth from the 80s to the 60s collecting melodie. The folk has been dialed way back on the opener. This eases back into a mellower psychedelic trip on the second song, but the rock element are still dominate over the folk, which is not a complaint, perhaps if you are really invested in these guys being a neo-folk then it might need more time to grow on you , but the songs really handle the slightly morose melodies well. This is not totally happy hippy music that is just the undercurrent. It is totally groovy, but a lava lamp is not a requirement.Then things really ease back for "Cosmic Truth" that has more of a Moody Blues feel. There is more of a straight up 60's rock feel to "When I'm Dead" .

They take on a more folk tone for "Mirror Boy" which is a more morse song, with a very haunting melody.The vocals are very passionate. Things take on a more tripped out rumble with " Drugged Up On the Universe" the guitar carries a slight prog slant to it and the keys lay the atmosphere on sick, the vocals follow more of a Hawkwind like pattern and are not as centered on the sort of melodies present for the bulk of the album. This is a heavier song than what has been presented thus far , so it compensates for the lack of focus. There is a blues soaked groove to the dusk tinged swagger of "Teeth of the Mountain". I would speculate that "Green Gold" is about smoking pot, the lyrics try to point in another direction. Mcnerney sounds like Brendan Perry on this one and the lazy guitar melody gives a surreal backdrop to what is an other wise straight forward affair. The drugs must have really kicked in on "Mushroom Spirit Doors" aside from the Beatles like chorus, the riff is angular and the song is a little off in its center of gravity.The drums offer up a more primal pound to summon their tribe of shaman on " Hunter's Prayer". The music sits in a more minimalist fashion behind the vocals than the majority of the songs, giving the song a similar feel to "Spanish Caravan" .


 They close up the album with more psyche rock minded "Shaman You". The vocals are stronger here than the previous two songs and this one is darker than what you might expect from something with such strong 60s influence. A band like Bloodrock might be a good reference point here. With the more surreal swirl this songs comes with also brings less focus to the middle section, but the skeleton of the song is pretty solid and it returns to the more hook oriented chant of 'you are a false magician".I'll give this one a 9.5 and see how it sits on me Kvohst's performance is stellar as usual.

 


10

Up From the Underground: New Mongrels "Raised Incorruptible"

The idea first hit Haynes Brooke during the heyday of the Athens, Georgia music scene in the 80's where he stumbled across his grandfather's musical legacy. Now he has gathered this musical collective players ranging from the theater's of  Hollywood to the folk dives of  Atlanta to breathe new life into this legacy. It makes calling this band underground a bit of a stretch as Atlanta's contributions includes the likes of Amy Ray from the Indigo Girls and Michelle Malone. Their celebrity status however doesn't dominate the album.Ray's harmony vocals cut through the voices gathered here, but never does it lean back to much into the more hooked oriented singing that once cemented the Indigo Girls into college  radio play lists. The only moment that recalls the Indigo Girls is found on "Two Trees".

Brooke and drummer Ken Palmer demoed out the skeleton of these songs which the layers were latter fleshed out as this  creative collective captured an organic free flowing batch of Prairie songs tinged with Appalachian roots. There are moments when this album reminds me of the Grateful Dead's " Old and In the Way: album, not that it wanders off into jams, but it has a similar spirit to it.I can also hear Neil Young's influence haunting some of the more western campfire moments.

The albums benefits the most from the lush accompaniment of mandolins, ukuleles, accordions and trumpets, whose flourishes color the other wise stripped down acoustic instrumentation backing these songs. The albums touches on bluegrass, but never wanders into country.If that seems like a fine line, its made much clearer in the rambling nature the guitars roll with. The current hipster folk trend doesn't hold much common ground with this more effortless excursion, with the opening "Time" being the only really indie rock radio song here.

Lyrically these songs become thick with emotionally heavy story telling, the first half of the album has an almost old time gospel feel, before the become more revolutionary . The lyrics feel like beat poetry written by a stoned Tom Petty rather than a drug ravished Ginsberg  Less abstract than some of Jerry Garcia's musings, but full of similar scenery .    

I think the high point to Brookes musical ability shines in the jazz embellished piano part to heal my heart, there is a rock guitar that emerges moments later and the song takes on a more Arcade Fire feel. Though not a rock album by any means its influence is an undercurrent as the male vocal continues to hold lingering David Byrne delicacy  to them on "Palm Point".  I think fans of Neutral Milk Hotel would find this album hits many of the same quirky sweet spots on songs like "Love it Madly", that also has a melody with hints of Supertramp to it.

The album closes with the instrumental " Tuborg Gold". It provides a scenic closure closure to an album that dips into a diverse mixture of sounds. This album would be the perfect sounds track to driving out of New Orleans headed to Hollywood while nursing a bottle wine and April morning buzz.If you have been cutting your teeth on the likes of Mumford and Sons and are ready to try something slightly more genuine this album is for you.