Stereotactic – The Dawning © 2005 Avebury Records Stereotactic, hailing from the dusty desert plains of Bakersfield, CA –home to the likes of Buck Owens, Korn and Philo Beddoe–is a 4 piece emo/metal band with a remarkable facsimile like quality. The Dawning is the bands first full length after their regionally successful self-released EP. Sadly it boils down to the pop-emo-metal that I just can't stand. I forced myself to listen to about half of the CD before I wanted to rip it out of the player and smash the crap out of it. Though the band has reasonable musicianship, the talent falls upon deaf ears. The basic principle being, "Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should." The songs are all fully geared for the sterile sanitized realm of commercial rock radio and are comprised of pretty much all the things you've heard before–The crap I don't want to hear again.
Month: March 2006
The Secret Machines
The Secret Machines – Ten Silver Drops© 2006 Reprise RecordsThe Secret Machines upcoming release "Ten Silver Drops" out now in digital format and in hard copy on 04/25/06 on Reprise Records. This CD is a bit outside my normal scope, reminiscent of the rentals meets blondie minus femal vox. Ten Silver Drops pack 8 bronze tracks that ramble on to a length of about 3x my attention span. The disc seems decent, I suppose, for mellow music on a Monday morning, though I can see it putting me back to sleep instead of easing me to the waking world.
Shanty Town
Shanty Town – One More Last Chance© 2006 Mad Butcher RecordsSoulfull ska and reggae from Barcelona Spain, sporting a female fronted ensemble with sounds reminiscent of bands such as Isaac Green and the Skalars, and the legendary Skatalites, and a latin feel ala Jump with Joey. Very smooth mello and relaxing stuff. Shanty Town offers up 11 well done tracks especially catering to the jazz-ska style, though the CD never really gets into a real fast pace, the music has a nice flow and the tracks smoothly coalesce into each other. This is great Monday morning music that gently lifts you up and eases you into your day.{mos_sb_discuss:3}
Bullets and Octane
In the Mouth of the Young© 2006 RCA RecordsHoly crap, it's Rock and Roll. They don't seem to make it much like this any more. The forthcoming release "In the Mouth of the Young" by Bullets and Octane is some serious straight forward rock. Kind of in the vein of Motorhead meets Lynyrd Skynrd, the disc cranks out 12 tracks of fist banging and living room destroying rock and fucking roll. The new release is produced by Page Hamilton and the percussive and precise Helmet edge shows. As I like to do comparisons to more adequately describe the sound to folks who may be looking to buy this stuff, aside from the prior likeness, Bullets and Octane could be a crazy offspring of Iron Maiden and Clutch. Don't let me mislead you by my labels though, this is good stuff on its own, regardless of influence on their part or mine. My personal favorite is track 9 "Caving In". It has an evil sing-along quality to it. Take it or leave it, it has serious rock power, if not Pure Rock Fury.{mos_sb_discuss:5}
The Baboonz
Too Much is not Enough© 2005 Madbutcher Records Once again I get to reap some of the benefits of the German Ska scene and more specifically Bavaria, which appears to be a veritable hotbed of ska. I originally heard of The Baboonz through the 4 band split CD "Four of a Kind" which I reviewed previously. This time around it is a full length 13 track disc of their own. Though formed in 1998 things didn't get going until 2001. Since then they have played over 150 live shows through out Europe with a lot of heavy weight acts. I find that they hold their own with their catchy upbeat songs of anti-racism and anti-intolerance, good melody and great horns and just a touch of the blues. There are some punkish bits and some more traditional reggae sounds. Imagine Skankin' Pickle meets Bunny White meets The Invaders. Just to prove that their good, The Baboonz even Have Dr. Ring Ding on track 10 "A Change For The Better" – now that's a seal of approval, plus I hear they know how to throw a good party.{mos_sb_discuss:3}
Plowking
Plowking – Plant The Foot©2005 Mad Butcher Records South Germany brings us more smooth ska in the band Plowking. I don't know if they got their name from Homer "Mr. Plow" Simpson's rival, but I suspect they did. Aside from that, "Plant The Foot" is 9 full ska tracks and a happy melodic intro. I can't really surmise if Europe is behind the times in the ska scene, or there is just a way larger appreciation over there. None the less, I love the fact that there is still an outlet for quality diverse ska across the world, even though it is a bit of a popularity nadir here in the states. I couldn't glean a whole lot of info from the bands website and I just threw away the one sheet, so I'll just have to express that Plowking is a sweet 8 piece ska band. They embody a commonality and purpose that makes the world less huge, from despising the highschool hero to appreciating a sunny day when the cops aren't around. Good times, good music. Let's all have some beers and enjoy Plowking.{mos_sb_discuss:3} www.plowking.de www.madbutcher.de