Brain Failure/Big D & The Kids Table – Beijing to Boston (c) 2007 Bad News Records Hell fucking yeah! Beijing to Boston is a split CD featuring Brain Failure—the first honest to goodness punk band outta China—and Boston's Big D and The Kid's Table. I have to say that I'm awfully impressed with Brain Failure. Their opening six tracks on the split evoke memories of Rancid, Dropkick, Social D and The Clash. Dickie Barrett (of Bosstones fame) lends a hand on the intro track “Come on Down to Beijing”. Despite the Clash reference, don't expect anything too political though, given how things seem to work in China regarding dissent, Brain Failure keeps the subject matter pretty light: songs about inviting you down to Beijing and living in a city and being brainless etc… No matter what though, it is freaking awesome to hear brothers in arms from another country breaking it out like the rest of us. Go world unity! Let us not forget our brothers from a different East. Boston's Big D & The Kid's Table shore up the final six tracks on the split. The tracks from Big D are all new and as always are nothing short of stellar. They start us out with the trippy and spacial "Faded" and then bring us back in to the more familiar and infectious ska punk that we've come to love these last 10 years. Here's the big breakdown, this disc is the mad note on a whole lot of levels. Two great bands, 12 great songs and a monumental cultural bridge. In a word, brilliant!–Team !upstarter
Category: Reviews
All reviews
Beneath the Sky [What Demons do to Saints]
Beneath the Sky What Demons Do To Saints (c) 2007 Victory Records Holy freakin’ anger for anger’s sake. Spooky and demonic and you can totally tell these tough guys mean business just by looking at their scary mugs. They can play fast and bust into a pick scratch and then Azreal takes over and turns it into sucking shit. I guess if what they are trying to do is piss off the parents of angsty teens, well then sir, they have succeeded. What Demon’s Do To Saints … um, I guess they’re good at what they do. Serial killers are good at what they do too, but that doesn’t mean they ought to get praise. 666 demon thumbs down. This is freakin’ awful and pointless.–Team !upstarter
The Queers [Munki Brain]
The Queers – Munki Brain (c) 2007 Asian Man Records Hello Munki Brain! – Brand new bubble gum surf (Beach Boys style) pop punk, festive fun from perennial fav's The Queers. It is good to see a band stay true to its roots as opposed to the atrocities that could have befallen them. Let it be know that The Queers serve as a much better gateway band than say, New Found Glory. The lyrics are catchy the songs are peppy and god damn it, they're fun. As an added bonus, if you couldn't find that brand new Beach Boys or Ramone's CD that you knew that was out there somewhere, look no further, Munki Brain is it. It is the epitome of pop punk without the baggage that comes en tow with the usual tripe. Bottom line: Totally sweet! you get 13 tracks of classic Queers, only its brand sparkin' new. What a deal! (They also get an extra thumb's up from Jimmy 'cause they said, “Fuck”) –Team !upstarter
Warsaw Poland Bros
Warsaw Poland Bros – Best of Ska & Rocksteady 1995-2005 (c)2006 Invisible Mass Records Best of Ska and Rocksteady is a great introduction into what really is some of the best ska and rocksteady ala the Warsaw Poland Bros. Don't expect to be dazzled by something brand fangled and new, but do expect a grip of quality examples of up beats horn bursts and full on dancing good times. Skankable and fun and a decade worth of material, how can you go wrong with that, huh? Bare in mind that it is often hard to review 'best of' CD's – not quite as bad as comps – but still a challenge. After all, what does one say when confronted by a selection of the best. I guess, here it is. This is the best example of what Warsaw does and well, its good. It is, in fact, skankalicious!–Team !upstarter
Mittens
Mittens – Fool's on a Holiday (c) 2006 Mittens = Americana. They are classic rock in the way that rock and roll itself is classic, not in the twisted and wrong ways of "classic rock". Their sound lends more to Elvis Costello or the Psychedelic Furs than say, Bob Fucking Segar. Fool's on a Holiday also has quite an Elliot Smith feel without all the trips to the hospital. The CD is cohesive, but at the same time each track has its own distinct feel. Its upbeat and melodic and overall pretty good. Breaking it down to the brass tacks, Mittens presents a softer more gentle side to rock. It is smile inducing and familiar like warm socks or hot soup. Get it. You'll like feeling better about yourself and the world around you. –Team !upstarter
Freya [Lift The Curse]
Freya – Lift The Curse (c) 2007 Victory Records Forged from the fire of Earth Crisis and blessed by the Norse Goddess of TGIF, I submit to you, Freya. Lift The Curse is the newest effort from the Syracuse band that is equal parts metal and hardcore. The structure is certainly hardcore. Some of the guitar fills and breakdowns and the vocals are definitely METAL though. I have never been a fan of really harsh vocal growlings. Freya is on the edge there. The music helps reel it back in a bit, but overall Lift the Curse is a bit too vocal crunchy for me. Freya does go and keep it short attention span friendly though, with tracks lingering around the two and a half minute mark, with the exception of the prerequisite cover of War Pigs. All in all a good release, but again I’d like to hear less growl. –Jerry Actually
The Agency [Turn]
The Agency – Turn (c) 2007 Perch Records I'm scared. I really am. The massive resurgence of the sounds of the 70's and early 80's is naturally (or perhaps supernaturally) progressing in what I consider to be a negative direction. Let's take, for instance, The Agency. They kick off a vibe somewhere between Supertramp and Night Ranger or Lover Boy. Well, I say turn me loose, 'cause when you try to bridge that kind of gap you bound to end up in the anachronistic and perilous path of the mellow gold. Some of you out there may know what I'm talking about. The horrid drivel of mid-late 70's adult contemporary. When it comes to the point where bands are starting to sound like Andy Gibb or Johnny "Slow Dancin'" Rivers–holy crap–man, I want out! In all fairness The Agency has a decent pedigree, featuring members of Dashboard Confessional and Seville, and I'm not saying that they are all bad. I'm just saying that if your into it, maybe you should look into getting some new shag carpet and a disco ball for the ceiling of your bitchin' conversion van.–Jerry Actually
The Cast Outs [S/T EP]
The Cast Outs – S/T EP (c) 2006Cleveland's Cast Outs come correct. Their self-titled EP is a 7 track, dark and gritty punk dirge. The Cast Outs bring elements of early crossover (for those of you out there that think that crossover refers to crap like NuMetal … you couldn't be more wrong) along with the unusual addition of dense heavy keyboards to the sound. The disc is raw, but it has grit and substance. What could easily have been just another garage band transcends to a new level with quality riffs and well layered arrangements. Their sound becomes even more intricate if you consider that they operate as a three piece. Though claiming influence from the likes of Napalm Death and NOFX, I think they may have forgotten to include TSOL and Econochrist in that list. The bottom line is raw punk that holds plenty of promise.–Jerry Actually
Blinded Black [Under the Sunrise]
Blinded Black – Under the Sunrise (c) 2007 SideCho Records”Sir?”, “Yes minion. What is it this time?”, “Sir, there seems to be a problem with the Bandtronic.”, “The Band what?”, “The Bandtronic, Sir.”, “The Band Tronic? Didn’t I fire them in the 80’s?”, “No Sir, the Bandtronic 7431XR Talent Emulation Variable Audio Copier.”, “You know, that very expensive piece of equipment that we have that takes ideas from a bunch of current bands and then makes any band in the world seem palatable and sincere to the 14 – 25 year old New Rock demographic.”, “Well then, out with it boy. What is the problem?”, “Well Sir, it … it seems to be making every band sound exactly the same.” Welcome to “Under the Sunrise by Blinded Black. Out now on SideCho Records. It’s sudo aggressive. It’s melodic sometimes. It’s totally emotional. It makes me sick. I guess people tend to emulate what they like. It is too bad that Blinded Black seem to emulate so many of the sounds I hate. If you like to listen to New Rock Radio, then, by all mean, go get yourself a copy of Under the Sunrise and listen to it six times and pretend that it is your six bestest favoritist new bands.–Jerry Actually
Sin Voz [Death to the IMF]
Sin Voz – Death to the IMF (c) 2006 Sin VozStraight outta Berkeley comes Sin Voz (that's Without Voice for those of you too inept to use an online translator). They submit for your approval "Death to the IMF" I can only assume that they are referring to the "Interplanetary Magnetic Field" when they espouse their desire to destroy something that bears its initials. Aside from plotting something that would obviously irreversibly alter the world as we know it, "Death to the IMF" is also a sonicaly diverse eight song E.P. Vaguely like a cross species of Morrisey and Sublime, yet oddly Sonic Youth. Add a splash of some post Grundge Eddie Vetter. Speed it up a notch, on some of the tracks, and you've got some sort of idea of what I'm listening to right now. It seems to me that Sin Voz is working on making some rather transcendent music. I should expect no less from folks that haunt the UC Berkely campus. Overall a refreshing sound in comparison to much of the tripe slid across my desk, however it also is a bit on the depressive side. I think the mix would benefit from a little more edge. It seems as though it was softened up a wee bit too much. That aside if you like moody tempermental alternative, give ol' Sin Voz back some of their voice in the form of cold hard cash. Their E.P. is available via iTunes and CD Baby . –Jerry Actually