I've owned the band's previous EP and like what I have from them thus far. While summoning a retro vibe is part of their sound there was more of a hard rock under current to their sound which this new full length turns away from in favor of something that is supposed to be a rock opera aiming for Sgt. Pepper and Ziggy Stardust. Right from the get go it feels like it has more in common with T-Rex before colliding into more of a folkish hippy section midway into the opening song. There is more trippy Beatle like orchestration that meets with the band's previous Jethro Tull like prog leanings well. "Electric Landlady" not only has a clever title, but it pretty convincing trip into the 60's. These guys have more than their fair share of chops to make you a day dream believer. "Dead Dodo Down" finds them embarking on more of Doors tinged carnival of colorful chaos. Her vocal melody creeps around "Pedigree Chums"casting shadows that sounds like Siouxsie jamming with early King Crimson.
There are varied shades of 60's painted on this album they range from the most effective and rocking on 'the Sky Parade" to the more freak out go-go dancing of " the Window Cleaner" is a little happy for me and the album continues to carry more of a skip in it's step on "the Way it Is". It's very top for New York rock early 70's think Steely Dan here. The more space jam qualities of "Mr. Howard" help give the song more of it's own personality. Rosalie's alto remains smooth in it's relaxed croon so when she powers into higher notes it transpires with her breaking a sweat. There is more of a ballad feel to "I Know" that reminds me of when Led Zeppelin really mellowed out. Some of the punches still carry the Beatles more rock to them. The very fact that King Crimson, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin have been mentioned in the span of one review speaks to the grand scale of their song writing.
They close the album on a slightly darker and more sultry note with "Bitter Suite". I like the way her vocals were produced here. The steamy pulse of this song makes it feel like it could be on a James Bond soundtrack before the prog chimes in. There is more lounge tinged vaudevillian shimmy to the serpentine way this songs weaves it's around the maze of turns these progressions lead you around with her voice as your tour guide adapting with every turn. I'll round this one up to a 9 and see how it sits with me. They thrown a ton of different colors and textures at you so it's going to take time to digest it .
The slicker poppier approach benefits this California band, the drive is still intact. The girl group sound mets the 80's rock of the Sunset Strip. The vocals are relaxed as the drums drive the band at more of a punk pace. This album has more sonic depth and puts them ahead of their garage band peers. Energetically they have some common ground with the Runaways, but without the early 70s glam feel. When they do step back into their yesterday for "Sleepwalking" to engage in something more punk, you realize just how much of an improvement the first two songs were. Lyrically "Wednesday Melody" has some Joan Jett to it, mixed with a more bubble approach to hair metal, that often found it self clashing with Punk in bands like Faster Pussycat.
The pop punk swagger, touches on the pop influence from the 50's that the Ramones carried rather than anything like Fall Out Boy. The album's strength lies in when the instrumentation has the punk attitude without cramping the vocals. The songs are narratives on the party life of West Hollywood's legendary rock scene that still finds band's trying to chase the ghosts of Motley Crue. These girls might have more of dark side than say the Donna's they are more thoughtful than just getting wasted and throwing their t.v. out of the hotel window. The anthem "Sour Candy" is up beat to the point that it's "Leader of the Pack" like vibe might normally be too happy for me , but some how it all clicks into place here. The synths on this album provide a cool atmosphere to the album that also gives it more of an 80's sheen, but think more along the lines of the Cars in this regard. I like how things get a few shades dirtier on "Desolate Town". Not quite to a junkie stripper Courtney Love of a train wreck way, but in a similar zip code.
There is more of groove to "I'm All Over the Place". This allows for the vocals to have plenty of room to flex what comes down more to attitude than pipes. Here it gives them almost more of a Bangles vibe in the exotic way this song pulses. The album closes with "Hollywood, We Did it All Wrong". It returns them back to the early rock n roll street corners mixed with the weird place punk found itself in the 80s when new wave hit, so perhaps it's touches of Debbie Harry. I'll round this up to a 9 and give it time to grow on me. While it might be too happy to get a ton of rotation on my end with the summer almost on us , if you are just looking for something fun then this might be the ride you are looking for.
The oddest album intro I have heard in some time it sounds like someone is Chinese and playing the joke of peeing in your Coke. What could be the death blow to the album comes when their singer opens his mouth and utters some horribly flat attempt at singing that the rest of the band must be tone-deaf to not hear. It's no wonder that this album is so underproduced as the producer let this slide as well. It's almost more spoken than sung, so the fact there are not many notes to hit and they are still falling short makes things worse. The sour notes start off the second song "Goats on the Left" . Growling would be a much better option for these guys and this is coming from a guy who prefers clean singing to growling. The riffs in the more up tempo second song are a little better, but the vocals make then hard to bear. Is "Her Twins of Evil" about the power of boobs? The boobs on the album cover are not very impressive they are a little small for my tastes. They are not the only band guilty of having their best riffs being direct rip offs of Sabbath, but the fact the horrid vocals give you no where else to hide makes it more glaring.
The vocals some how manage to but be as annoying on "Nocturnal Zeal" which is a slower, darker song that actually touches on doom with some conviction. The title track is not as fortunate. It speeds things up a bit, the over drive on the guitar fuzzes things out until the tone becomes flat. The vocals are not only out of key, but are placed awkwardly over the riffs. The guitar solo is the only redeeming thing about this song. The funny thing is their Bandcamp says have been laughing at stoner/ retro trends since 2007, but that trend started at least three years before that. The slower groove to "Pyschomania" is an improvement , but then they speed up into almost more of a gallop. I'm surprised Finland let this slip through the cracks as they are normally pretty consistent when it comes to metal over there as long a we are not talking about the Night Wish or H.I.M clones. The song continues to improvement as they slow into a more melodic section at the end.
The album thankfully comes to an end with "La Papesse" . Once again the band shows when they slow down and milk all of the gloom out of a riff that is on the right track. Then things speed up into more of a rock shuffle and I find myself tuning the song out. I'll give this one a 3.5. The vocals really tank this album, hopefully, it's a mistake this band can learn from and convince their singer he can't hold a note in a bucket and growling is his only option.
Here is an album that could very well fly under your radar if you aren't versed in these guys. It starts off as a dream. These guys have an incredible guitar tone. While it is very similar to that used by many post-rock bands, they really have it dialed in right on this album. This British band has been at it for a decade, so they have had plenty of time to get it right. The drummer is a solid pocket groover that serves the song and keeps it moving while the guitars take you down stream. They hold off until the final minute of the first song to drop the metal crunch in. They handle this is a very tasteful manner. They do not let up on the distortion as this carries over in the second song "Heliopause". This one rumbles with boots of lead. More stoned sludge than doom as it doesn't have a sorrowful current. Vocals come in that are scornfully screamed, the more hard core side of sludge. They are mixed back into the mountains of guitar and sometimes eclipsed. While I am glad this album is not just instrumental the vocals go along with the riff and really don't contribute a ton.
They ebb back down into their atmospheric haze for the darker introspection of "Relancer" . It's very cinematic with an old soul to this cosmic carnival song. "Kobe" dances with more of a sparkle to it's shoes. They finds a groove with more of a sense of movement. In some ways it reminds me of Minus the Bear, perhaps if they decided to go out into the country at night and take mushrooms with Explosions in the Sky. It does lack the croon that gives Minus the Bear their indie rock cool.They do shake this comparison when the bass urges the rest of the band to build up into something more metal and the vocals come back screaming. They caught me off guard as this wasn't done in the most formulaic manner and they keep this metal card in their back pocket rather than relying on it as they only game they have going. The vocals add more to this song than they did when they first surfaced on this album.
The bass continues to take you further down the rabbit hole with "Atom Smasher' stomping into more burly stoner rock. They do this without having to depend on the 70's vibe and warm vintage sound of Orange Amps, though the are capable of bringing the boogie when it suits them. The coarse vocals are buried even further in wall of guitars they slam you into . This album was given a lot of love in the studio and it pays off. It sounds big. Not big in the slick over blown arena rock sense, but big in steamrolling juggernaut of density way. The bass locks in with the drummers pound to make the chug they lock into really pay off. When they let back up from this to return to their beautiful nocturnal trip they really convince they know how to write a song and in hindsight it makes the heavier dynamic have that much more of an impact. They continue on the more ethereal side on "Nadir" which flows in a more post- rock direction. This almost feels more like an interlude since it's only two and a half minutes vs the rest of the album which tends to take you on eight minute journeys.
The bass player is this band's unsung hero. He lays down a very smoothly melodic groove that makes second part of "Reverie" coast along a different path than what you might typically expect from post-rock. They kick into a harder dynamic and the guitars do what is expected with the bass playing charting the coarse. The guitars are well layered into the more of the meat the metal to this song. The screamed vocals return to create more of a static layer. They bring it back down into the dreamy breeze they created in places earlier in the album. But it doesn't feel like another loud to soft , good cop bad cop modern metal stereo-type. The really begin to jam out into space rock for a few minutes and make it just as interesting as their more aggressive side. Around the seven minute mark the ramp back up for the big finish, which had to come, but it's handled has hard punched staccato accents before soaring into a sonic place they caters to both sides of the equation this album has formed. These guys caught me by surprise, this is very tasteful yet not afraid to get it's hands dirty, if post- rock bands leave you wanting, and most sludge feels like cave men screaming at you these guys have found the perfect middle ground. This album was just released on Deathwish Inc.
There days Post-punk typically means a band that rips of Joy Division. This German band digs into a sound that pulls from the genre once called "college rock" in the 80s before the term alternative got marketed by Mtv in the 90s. I can hear a hint of early R.E.M in where some of the vocal melodies want to go. There is a dead pan baritone that doesn't just karaoke Ian Curtis, but finds it's way into actual singing. His huskier rock voice has touches of New Model Army to it. Not unlike The Estranged in the explosive manner they attack this brand of melodic punk with a very organic rock n roll feel. Somehow it manages to be both stark and warm at the same time. The bass player certainly gets busy on "Behind the Doors" which tips the balance of the scales in a more rock direction. The guitar has a jangle that is not without muscle to propel it.
There is a more somber mood to "Like Ghosts" it's too upbeat for me to say that it's dark. The singer gets to glide his melodies with greater ease onto the jagged stabs of jerky guitar. The bass player gets most of the credit for making this possible. To play this style of music the bass player not only gets to step out from the shadows of the mix, but provide the glue to make these songs stick.The pace skips forward on "Paper Plane Revelations". The vocals stay in a similar spot for this one, but they have an endearing earnestness. The guitar tone takes on a brighter sonic space for "Silent Cries". It's also at this point in the album I begin to notice little electronic dashes swishing in from the corners. "Conspiracy" is a dynamic shift for the band with it dropping down into the bass line that has the guitar ringing in more like old school country at first, before the drums come in with a more rock beat. The rambling "Morbid Play" is like the previous song in that it also has touches of country mixed in like something New Model Army might do.
"Under a Red Night" finds backing vocals that remind me of Mike Muir from Suicidal Tendencies chiming in, this is first album Mike Muir not not rap metal Mike Muir. "Don't Look Into My Eyes" keeps a tension at it's frantic tempo, with some interesting guitar accents along the way.The album closes with the western reverb of " the Spectre". It jangles to life punk energy. The vocals drop down into a lower monotone chant for the chorus . Overall these guys influences can be felt by a discerning ear, but most of the time the album plays off of it's momentum to obscure this fact and take you long on it's bouncy road. I'll give it an 8.
The Deftones are the last nu-metal band standing that changed in their house of flies enough to remain relevant as the years have passed them by. Sergio Vega from Quicksand continues to fill in on bass making this his 3rd album with the band. The album opens with the moody "Prayers / Triangles" that benefits from one of Chino's smoother melodies that fits like a velvet glove on the groove. A more trip hop layer of atmosphere leads into "Acid Hologram". It swells into a Mogwai like drone. With very emo tinged vocals giving a fey croon that sounds like something more fitting of My Chemical Romance or Coheed & Cambria. The heavier "Doomed User" is the second single from the album. It is much more in your face metal, with a riff that reminds me of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". Chino's vocals are all over the place on it until finding a smoother hook. The intro "Geometric Headdress" fakes like they are taking a darker turn until the more chugged riff comes. Chino throws in some his old screams. It feels like Slipknot getting more melodic and if it wasn't for the way the riff resolves itself then I would think this is an April Fools joke and someone slipped some Mudvayne in on me. It's unapologetic nu-metal.
There are more synths on this album than I think I have heard this band use before. Some weird Mr. Bungle like noises bubble under the opening ambiance. It punches in pretty hard with a dirtier distortion sound than they used since the first album. The drummer is pretty fucking crazy, it's almost Tool level playing. This is proggier metal than I have ever heard these guys tackle. They go into a noise freak out before coming back in with a break beat. It's like they get possessed by Aphex Twin for half the song. I guess the Deftones have figured out what time it is an understand that there is not much of a middle ground any more as they crunch into "Pittura Infamante". The chorus makes use of more melodic vocals. I like the fact that this is done with more grit and doesn't come across as a stab to join the second string of nu-metal offspring on the radio wave of white suburbia. The come back with some tight alt-rock with pop-punk tendencies on "Xenon". This should prove to any of the Myspace metal kids that they can keep up. Here was another song where it sounded like some younger band slipped in as a Aprils Fools joke. It's very Glass Jaw like. It's not until the vocal melody in the final minute that I consider this could be Chino singing.
They get considerably heavier on "(l)mirl" . I'm impressed that they are bringing it this heavy. Sure there is some glue sniffing nu-metal like aggression, but if it is going to happen this is the way to do it. I guess when they said this album was going to more influenced by Morrissey they were joking. There is a more introspective vocal mixed into the title tracks more volatile turns. The albums continues to find them in one of their most aggressive moods since the first album, though older and wiser there is not the same youthful explosion in how the songs are propelled.This one ebbs down into a quiet melody at the end. There is a more melodic under current to the pulsing tension of 'Phantom Bride. Some of the riffs seem like circling wagons of bands they influenced. A good example of this in motion is how they close the album as "Rubicon" sounds like a long lost System of Down song mixed with some Candle Box.I guess it's this sense of nostalgia for the days of Adidas pants that sometimes feels like the leaders are following a path that saw it's day though when they do resurrect nu-metal it's done with convincing vigor that leaves me a little mixed about the direction at times, but my first impression leans in their favor enough to around this up to a 9.5, which is a higher score than I could imagine ever giving the band after "White Pony" .
There I was sitting in the waiting room at the Dr.'s office and some morning tele-vision talk show modeled after Oprah meets the View was playing. The host began to compare Janet Jackson to Elton John, both first ladies of pop music from different eras. The host said while John might have flashy suits, in the end his show is John sitting at a piano and singing, and Janet might be lip synching, but she is up working hard shaking her booty. So this Revelation that maybe music shouldn't be taken seriously and the entertainment it is what you are loading your brain with. So maybe we have been making to big a deal about people who can play instruments versus those who just push buttons or have their producer push buttons. So here are some match ups to explain why music now beats music then. Then being the music of the past four or five decades once thought to have shaped our culture.
Sam Hunt vs Hank Williams sr
Hank Sr
Hank pours his heart into every note he sings, but that can be depressing and who wants to be depressed. This was recorded in 1949 without the benefit of auto-tune, so you can hear when his voice cracks and strains. Many might regard this a classic country, but it sounds like the making of an alcoholic.
Sam Hunt
Hunt mixes country music with hip-hop, what could be wrong with that? Hunt the first country artist to have all of the singles from his debut album to peak within the top 40, so something must be working for him.
Hunt wins he doesn't need to stand there and play guitar when he can dance around like Marky Mark and trade his cow boy boots in for some Jordans.
Kesha vs Morrissey
Morrissey
Morrissey fronted the Smiths who created what spawned into indie rock. Lyrically, he always uses sarcasm and metaphor, so why can't he just come out and say whatever he needs to say? He might be the better singer of the two, but when was the last time you heard a solo Moz song on the radio? He is always in conflict with the record label for being a diva, you would think he could at least find a more valid reason to turn down money like having a producer touch his no-no box.
Kesha
Kesha knows how to use auto tune when she is rapping, that is an art form unto it's self. People try to touch her junk,while Morrissey wasted most of his life avoiding sex. Who knows if Kesha will ever enter a studio again do to producer phobia. Kesha wins this one because people want to dance and have fun rather than mope around and engage in painful introspection, after all that's why we take Molly and drink ourselves silly every weekend. Morrissey doesn't do any of that so he just can't understand what it's like to be young and stupid.
Drake vs Krs -One
Krs-one
Who the fuck is Krs-One you ask? What the fuck is Boogie Down Productions? He is sampled more than his songs are actually heard. Does any one under the age of thirty know who this guy is ? If not then how can he be any good at all. Who cares about where rap came from we only care about where it's going.
Drake
Now here is a guy with something to say. He is obviously hard as hell and from the streets because he is concerned about who is calling him on this cell-phone. Krs-One might get up in your face and diss you, but that won't get you bitches and isn't that what hip-hop should be about? So that is why Drake wins.
Babymetal vs Iron Maiden
This one is easy. Iron Maiden might have invented the post- Sabbath brand of classic power prog metal and has high-brow lyrical content about every other book in the library. However, Baby Metal wins because, well they are little Asian girls in leather skirts who perform anime-style dances with the promise of a happy ending. Baby Metal, you will love them long time.
Nicki Minaj Vs Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Sure Kate has a four octave voice and Tori Amos and half the female artists from 90s would not exist if not for Kate, but you can't dance to her songs, because they sound like mini operas.
Nicki Minaj
She really has it all... the boobs for white folks and the ass for bruthas. How many decades ago was it that you could masturbate to Kate Bush? The 70s and even then she was dressed like a refugee from the Muppet Show, sex sells and Kate Bush is now writing songs about snow flakes and washing machines, not even Prince could add sex appeal to her sound.
Lady Gaga Vs David Bowie
Bowie
It's not secret Bowie's popularity soared after his death. His last number one hit after "Let's Dance" was the duet he did with Mick Jagger "Dancing In the Streets". He has Gaga outclassed when it comes to acting, but we are talking about music, maybe not substance, but sales in recent years, that is where he certainly loses the edge here.
Lady Gaga
She proved at the Grammy's she can't beat Bowie at this own game. She beats him at the numbers game when we are talking about units sold in the past five years. He might be a more convincing as an alien than Gaga, but she looks like an alien and still convinces people to buy her albums so that is where she wins here.
Ghost vs King Diamond
King Diamond
The King might be an actual satanist, but his voice is scary. There is no way King Diamond could tour with Avenged Sevefold, the 12 year olds would get to scared of him and that's no fun. Is isn't metal supposed to be fun, if people want to watch a horror movie they would pull on up on Net-flix. Ghost might have come out decades later and trying to sell you a kinder and gentler version of their Hammer Horror, but it goes down much smoother than King Diamond's more aggressive brand.
Ghost
Ghost can change singers at the drop of their pope hat. Now they are on Poppa Smurf number four, and this one is the best yet, he sounds like the dude from Linkin Park. That is why Ghost is packing stadiums with kids who don't care about who influenced who, and don't are know who Blue Oyster Cult is. Why should they? Ghost doesn't even have to play actual metal, they can write something that is catchy with half the balls and it's more marketable, next time you drive your moms car to Warp tour count how many Ghost shirts you see versus how many King Diamond shirts you see and that will explain why Ghost wins this one.
Miley Cyrus vs Peter Gabriel
This one is the wrecking ball vs the sledge hammer . First off Peter might have gotten his start in the prog legends Genesis, but without Phil Collins they would have never made it on the radio to begin with. If Gabriel had not snagged key placement in 80's teen dramas would anyone know him? He got his start taking on different personas, but did he every settle on who he was as an artist? And yes that's Kate Bush at the beginning of the song below.
Miley
Hannah Montana might have been having a party in the usa way before she was twerking, she clearly is the dominant force in this match-up, with little confusion in what genre she was trying to appeal to or having to rely on a name someone else built in the past, be it family or past band mates. Gabriel has a distinct vocal tone, but Miley goes from her speaking voice that sounds like a chain-smoking forty-year-old to a producer's wet dream. Speaking of which, would you want to see Peter Gabriel swinging around in his underwear on YouTube? So Miley wins.
Bruno Mars vs Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye was ground breaking in his day and has an incredible voice. But while the compositions on his 15th album, "Here My Dear," might have been masterpieces, it was a commercial flop. In the studio, he and his backing band were all high on cocaine and created something that was a hybrid mix of soul, funk, and disco. So it brings up the age old question if a tree falls in the woods and know one hears it...does this make Gaye's album worthless while Mars is heard by millions?
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Bruno Mars-
On his hit song "Locked Out of Heaven" Bruno Mars being the genius he is takes a riff by the Police and weaves it into pop gold that plays in the bathrooms of Wal-marts every where, while Gaye is reduced to elevator music.Sure Gaye might have brought social issues of the day to top 40 radio, Mars makes powerful statements in regards to racial stereotypes in his video for "the Lazy Song".
Mars is headlining stadiums and Super Bowl halftime shows, so obvious he is the winner here.
Kayne West vs Prince
Prince
Prince had a revolution, a new power generation and transformed from a symbol back to being himself. He produces his albums all by himself while Kayne has 26 producers on one album. This might tell you Prince doesn't play well with others. He is an enigma while Kayne stays in your face, when was the last time anyone thought about Prince?
Kayne
Kayne is a master of auto tune and knows how to pack a studio full of producers. He might not be able to play a single instrument while Prince can play all of them, but you won't care because you will only think of the massive media brand that he has created for himself. Prince is a recluse only known for his golden oldies while the rest of the world is waiting for Kayne to tweet his farts. So Kayne wins this one. In the final blow to the music of yesteryear.
