The Coffinshakers : "Graves, Release Your Dead"

 This Horror-Billy band has been shaking graves since the 90s. Sweden seems like an unlikely place to have spawned such, but here we are. There is a mellow Americana feel to these uncanny reverb drenched tales of Western Creepiness. There are no cow boys from Sweden which makes it more perplexing, but OK I will suspend my disbelief. This is my first dance with these guys. I appreciate the fact they are dark, and Rob Coffinshaker's  plaintive baritone croon works , he can get more dramatic at times. I suppose if 69 Eyes tried making a country album, it would not be far off from what happens here. "Wretches" begins to find them sounding somewhat like Murder By Death. 

With Rockabilly there is often this weird intersection with surf rock which occurs going into "The Siren's Call". The drummer wakes up a little for this one with more step in his shuffle. The singing begins to lose some of it's charm at this point as he could stand to throw his voice around more. I do like this sort of thing as I am huge fan of both Chris Isaak and Roy Orbison who could flex their pipes more than what is going on here. They have a great guitar tone that rings with spooky reverb, but after awhile it begins to sound the same. Female vocals sometimes back them up. I could stand to hear a little more growl coming from him in an effort to belt it out .But if this is as good as it gets it is not a deal breaker. 

"Prince of Darkness" leans more into the country side of what they do. His voice generally avoids taking on a twang, which makes sense as a Northern European. I can hear where Johnny Cash might be an influence, he does his story telling with more vocal prowess than Cash who I have always felt was over rated. The vocals are not hook oriented which country music is more often than not. These guys display guitar prowess on "Down in Flames". They add a little bit of experimentation with "River of Souls" but nothing monumental , just tucking with feed back tones. Perhaps if this came out in the 60s I might be more impressed , though I appreciate they recapture that feel and on the last song remind me a little of Neil Diamond. If you dig spooky rockabilly with a Johnny Cash vibe to the vocals, then this band is for you. I prefer a little more dynamics from the vocals so I am giving it an 8.5, which still places it head and shoulders above the bulk of the country music you are hearing on the radio these days

Ville Valo & Agents : "s/t"

Remember when H.I.M covered "Wicked Game" ? Well that was foreshadowing. Ville is taking a stab at being Chris Isaak on this album. The Finnish version of Chris Isaak. Which oddly also involves little yodeling. It is not huge on the Elvis influence. The guitars have that weird mix of western rock a billy and surf rock that Chris Isaak has used. The 3rd song is one of the more Isaak leaning. Ville's vocal style is very smooth and almost bears no resemblance to to his darker goth rock days. Gone are the romantic satanic images. I know if you were listening to him back in the Myspace days or have a heartagram tattoo, then you are probaly wondering what even makes this album worthwhile.

To answer that it is going to require a few things from you the first being a very open mind. The second an appreciation for guitar. If you are really into guitar and not in the shreddy way, then you can appreciate the great tone captured here and tasteful playing. The pace picks up a little on "Paratiisi" but it hovers very close to the established zip code of the sound they are going for. There are some weird awkward moments that stray from the formula . "Rockin With Enzio" being one of those. It sounds like it is from a kids show on Telemundo. There are moments when the Spanish influence on Western music comes across more gracefully. The songs are more flowing than ballads , but not actually rock music. He also sings in his native tongue. Which works for growling metal, but might baffle the Myspace kids.

There are some instrumental interludes that I am not counting for the purpose of this review. While not dark as in goth there are some moody moments. There are some upbeat moments which feel like 1940s French pop music. These happier notes sound like Frosty the Snow man to me and do not sit as well. There are flirtations with rock music with songs like "Ma haluan sun" . The cadence of his vocals going down towards his more baritone range feels even more like Chris Isaak. There is more twang to "I Told You So" . It also finds him singing in English again. He still does it smoothly , it is however more country than what you are used to from him. It closes on a note similar to what we have already heard on this album. I'll give this album an 8. It is good for what it is , the weird thing is getting used to what this is when you perhaps expect something else.

the Weekly Playlist Week 15 : Chris Isaak

So this playlist comes somewhat by request after a Lyft ride. I was once a huge Chris Isaak fan. Seen him live five or six times it hard to say as they were all before I got sober. I did coke with his drummer and once go so drunk that I told Chris while he was wearing his disco ball suit that I could see myself in his pants. To which he replied "Woah, that's brotherly love. You say that to all the guys". I was once also obsessed with Vegas Elvis and Roy Orbision, so Isaak makes perfect sense when you take that into consideration. Along with the fact his music has a dark side that at at some times is as pronounced as the Cure's. He has a great voice that easily floats up into his falsetto with a great deal of grace. His songs take depressing avenues of heartbreak and give this a sexy smoldering. They will now have an even greater place in my heart as they remind me of singing to them one rainy afternoon going from East Atlanta to Midtown. So enough of me here is a plylist of some of my favorite Chris Isaak songs.

 "One Day"



Talk to Me


 


You Don't Cry Like I Do



"Back On Your Side"



Can't Do a Thing to Stop Me



 Things go Wrong

 

 "The Lonely Ones"


 

 "There She Goes"

 


-"I See You Everywhere"





Nothings Changed

Wailin Storms : "One Foot In the Flesh Grave"

Right from the opening croon of Justin Storms this album proves itself to be darker and more melodic than the "Shiver" ep we reviewed earlier this year. When Storms puts more balls into it he of course will draw comparisons to Danzig, who announced he is going to be retiring from touring , so somebody has got to do it. Just in time for Halloween it has enough evil creep in it to accompany the dead leaves and the howl of wind the autumn brings. There is more of a drone to the punk tinged "Ribcage Fireplace" . They push things in an even more punk place when picking up the pace for "Mystery Girl". There is a coat of noise around the songs edges putting them in the zip code of bands like Destruction Unit.

The re-verbed out guitar cries out against the sluggish strum of " Walk" and no, it's not a cover of the Pantera song. It's like a rawer version of what Dax Riggs did in his garage rock days with Dead Boy and the Elephantmen. Their is a very downtrodden lyrical sense thrown against the songs explosive energy that is releases in deliberate pulses. They pack  more sonic propulsion to the kick their brand of cow-punk on "Lost". His vocals break from a croon into more of a punk shout. It breaks down int drums and feedback almost creating a "Bela Lugosi's Dead" vibe. They grow even more rambunctious on " Light as a Feather Stiff as a Board". On first listen this brawler of a song , brushed past my attention with it's punk intensity.  The vocals are spat back and forth from a croon to more of a punk shout.

They close the album with more of a stomp with "German Fur Tails". The guitar cuts with a sharper metallic jangle. He croons more than shouts on this one, leaving the guitar to provide all of the abrasion. While the opening song might make you think this is going to plow the pumpkin patch more than it does, overall, they attack these songs with all the power of punk with some dark and noisy atmosphere shaking the bats from the Bellfry. I'll give it an 8 and see if it is something I find myself returning to. If you have grown out of your Misfits albums and are looking for something to move on to then this is worth your time.

If you are in the Athens area, they are playing the Caledonia on Thursday.

King Dude : " Songs of Flesh & Blood -In the Key of Light"

Being the Chelsea Wolfe that I am you would think I'd already be all over this considering he is one of the few artists she has collaborated with and midway into the first song I am not sure why I haven't been. It's more post- punk meets rockabilly than folk or the Johnny Cash singer-song writer thing I assumed it to be. There is more of a Rome like strum to "Deal With the Devil". The things I like about it that is remains dark. Sure Nick Cave is an obvious influence, but Cowgill doesn't get lost in the narrative and forget he is singing a song an not narrating a story.

TJ has impressive notes at the bottom of his register that sounds lie he is scraping them from the back of his vocal chords. The piano line to  "Death Won't Take Me" is what really separates it from the previous song, the drums also offer more swing so when it builds into Cowgill's croons it has more clearly defined its self despite similar vocal phrasing at the onset of the song.  Then things shifts into a more rockin boogie with "Rosemary". The cavernous production adds a another layer of darkness. The pulse of "The Heavy Curtain" reminds me of the Leonard Cohen song from the "Natural Born Killers" soundtrack. Though fuzzed out guitar comes in and rocks it more at the end. He returns to the more apocalyptic folk side on " Desolate Hour". There is a haunting  hollowness to the sparse instrumentation. Slowly layers are added.

His vocals moves up in the mix and is bared against the organ of " I Don't Wanna Dream Anymore", which drones on rather than climaxes. Then comes the rambling western feel to "Holy Water". He sings in a slightly higher key on this one. His upper register has a slacker punk sneer to it.  The piano arrangement has the dreamy dissonance Chelsea Wolfe has used before, which is the first place I really have heard any of her style having rubbed off on him. The album closes rather sedately with the folky "Sliver Crucifix" .

I prefer the fuller sounds and production on this album to some of his older work I heard a few years ago. I'll give this a 9.5, imagine if you are a long time fan then some of the more sparse and droning moments that didn't grab me off the bat will be more of you thing so this might be the perfect album to you and perhaps I might just need to let it grow on me.  It will be making the trip over to the iPod so that says something.



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Up From the Underground : Nate Paladino's "Good Boy"

Right from the opening passages of guitar that opens this ep, you can tell there is something different about Nate Paladino. The smug irony of the lyrics to " My Kind of Bitch" has a dark yet honest sense of humor to them. It takes you back to early days of the 50's  doop wop rock n roll. It seems like something that would be much better suited for this season of American Horror Story than having Evan Peters sing the less time period appropriate Nirvana. There is also a hint of indie folk to songs like the first single "Buy Your Heart". It keeps the swing of  "Earth Angel" covered by a guitarist from Orange County whose riffs reflected the California sun.  This sunny disposition does away with the tongue in cheek darkness of the opener, but it is still well executed.

"Don't Say Maybe" takes on a dirtier  Jerry Lee Lewis style of rockabilly.The piano bangs in the background making this  a pretty color by numbers tribute to this style of Elvis era rock. The guitar playing owes a great deal to Brain Setzer. His voice takes on the mock warble of the King at times. The more western feel that recalls more of a Roy Orbison feel sets the tone to " Come Back to Me." Less heart wrenching than say " Only the Lonely" it is sung in a much less dramatic fashion than Roy, never going up into that classic head voice, instead it brings to mind Bright Eyes ' country album.The blues of "Something to Prove' brings the album up into at least the 70's. He adds more husk to his voice. Not the grainy worship of whiskey and cigarettes that Tom Waits has, but that's  what is being aimed for here. The instrumentation is more in line with something Joe Cocker would have backing him, but the lyrics have that more deprecating Waits feel. Tom Waits never gets this upbeat even in his earlier work.

The album closes with another song that not only steers clear of the earlier retro sound, but brings Bright Eyes to mind. Though he doesn't have the overly emotive quality as His voice returns to his normal plaintive mid range. The guitar is crisp and as lyrical as the folk melody he pours his contemplation over.  This ep is a good escape back to the beach for those of you who do not relish the coming dark of the winter months. At times  Paladino  might relish weaving  some of the songs together with retro sounds, over all it's indie flare and attitude dripped over clever singer songwriter pop that avoids sounding like your run of the mill CW soundtrack fare.  The album is not drenched in the rock a billy reverb and all the sounds are pretty refined and crisp. If you are in the mood for some pole dancing, ... I mean really when are you not ? You can check out the video for the first single "Buy Your Heart" below. While Paladino's the mellow brand of indie folk might be more suited for burning one at at park on a sunday morning, it isn't going to become a strip club classic anytime soon.
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Up From the Underground : Random Order's Black Lipstick Kiss

The what is goth and what isn't debate can go on endlessly. It ranges from Dead Can Dance to Marilyn Manson, neither of which sounds like the other. So there is a lot of diversity with in the genre.  I am not trying to build a case for this  Canadian band that mixes surf rock and tangos up like a martini, but that might appeal to the bat cave kids as their day time listening. Most Goths I know listen to the Cramps, and the   title track of Black Lipstick Kiss  comes to being rock a billy. They also summon up a steamy swing feel . Think f the Cherry Poppin Daddies  if they were fronted by Lords of Acid's singer.

Random Order's lead singer Lynx purrs and growls as much as she sings. Sure there is a ska bounce at times, but New Model Army gets pretty jovial at times too. Horns are normally a no no for me unless we are talking Morphine, but somehow the rest of the band distracts me from them and they do help add a coat of Vegas after dark sleaze. Siouxsie fans should especially take note. This eclectic array of styles gives a middle finger to genre rules. Often staccato flamenco guitar sets it up for a latin sweat, before being cooled off by Lynx's sultry alto. 

 This album strikes me as being more about the feeling these songs invoke. This is a perfect soundtrack for   David Lynch  to pay homage to 60's beach movies or Russ Meyer. It's dirty like the French Quarter and has a similar attitude as Concrete Blonde just less emphasis on vampires.The darkest song being "Black Heart" which would win most of you over, unless you never stray from your Death in June. "Excess or Rise" reminds me of the Devils Blood, in it's 70's groove and blues laden vocals. You can trust me in the fact that I hate music that is too happy, sure some of the ska moments might have too much skip in there step for me , it's balanced out by some cool reverb heavy guitar, old school Robert Smith might envy.

The imagery is darker than the music , but to be honest isn't Switchblade Symphony? This is very organic is every way shape and form, though you can still dance to it, not that your d.j is going to throw this in-between Skinny Puppy and Sisters of Mercy, it would work against Oingo Boingo or some Horror Pops.  So what we have learned today is your iPod is filled with others sounds spreading out from the dark gnarled branches of goth's family, particularly if you are a fan of the first wave and 80's variety, so Random Order would fit nice in your shuffle mode. Click below for a taste and I can ensure you , that you will want more from where this came from.