Reviews Archives - Page 28 of 57

Heads Held High – Dogs and Cats, Living Together

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Because I’m so disorganized as of late, I’m not only running behind on reviews, but losing bios and other materials. At least I didn’t lose the CD, right? At whatever rate, I present to you Heads Held High, a melodic hardcore band hailing from Cincinnati, OH. Turns out they are actually from Cleveland. My apologies. (at least the interwebs indicate as such) Dogs and Cats, Living Together is their new release, out now on Failsafe Records (not that I could find them on the Failsafe site)

Dogs and Cats, Living Together is 10 tracks of melodic yet rhythmic hardcore punk with a mid-fast tempo and angsty growling, yet articulate vocals. It isn’t quite hardcore in the sense of SOIA or Blood for Blood. As opposed to the initial punch in the face, it is more the linger pain as the bruises heal. At the time of recording, the band’s lineup consisted of Elliot, Jack, David, Kevin and Rob. The album related feats of these mono-named entities shall remain unknown.

The tracks tend towards guitar riff oriented with overlayed talk/sing vocals in a manner that reminds me of a more aggressive Bouncing Souls meets Hogan’s Heros, with the exception of track 9, Van on Fire, Head Hurt which has more of a jangly sing-a-long road track sound. Track length is quick with all 10 clocking in at just under 23 minutes. There are pithy movie sound clips on many tracks including personal favorite, track 5, Groundhog Day. (I’ll just bet you guess what movie gets referenced.) The lyrics are philosophical and searching. While I rarely comment on lyrics, I appreciate the thought and emotion that goes into work that seeks deeper meaning. That said, open your ears when you listen to Dogs and Cats, Living Together

Overall, a decent release. I generally prefer things more anthemic. (see track 9) I’d like a few more tunes in that flavor, but maybe I’m not singing along, ’cause I just haven’t read the words enough. I would absolutely see these guys live.

–Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1. Refurbished Kids
2. I’m Probably Wasting My Breath, But?
3. Ex Machina
4. Waiting for the Barbarians
5. Groundhog Day
6. Dear Kilgore Trout
7. Live Average, Die Average
8. Stay Mad, Stay Outrage, Stay Puft!
9. Van on Fire, Head Hurt
10. This Too Shall Pass

Cobra Skulls Bringing The War Home

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Bringing The War Home is the new five track E.P. From Reno’s boys done good, Cobra Skulls. In addition it is their first release on their new home at Fat Wreck Chords. I hope everyone welcomes them warmly to their new label by going out and buying the disc and supporting them at shows.

I’ve been listening the Cobra Skulls for a while now and I like the vibe they are throwing down. They have a sound and a presentation that I truly enjoy. It isn’t overtly aggressive punk, and it isn’t quite hard rock folk. It is somewhere slightly in between while being outside the scope of either. The songs are tinged with the politics of injustice and lash out at perceived ignorance. If I had to marginalize, I’d probably label them something on the order of “roots punk”, but I think the music is accessible beyond the confines of narrow genres.

The tracks offered on the EP serve up 4 originals of the variety previously noted as well as a very unique tack on Bad Religion’s I Give You Nothing, done with an interesting blend of rockabilly and something that reminds me of Stepping Stone. At any rate, I love the EP (I’d give more stars, but well, gimme more songs) and you get five tasty tracks in the vein of a few other bands of similar sound such as, Dead to Me, American Steel, Menzingers and The Loved Ones.

These bands all have something similar in their sound, and I think is is a strong reminiscence of The Clash: Punk rock with political overtones and a nature that encompasses more than one sound can confine. So maybe forget what I said about “roots punk” I think now I’m going with “Clash-ic Rock”. No, I kid, I kid. I’m not going to say that.

–Jerry Actually

Freedom Assault – Welcome to 1984

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Welcome to 1984 is a newer (Oct 2010) release from multi-regional (both Maine and Arizona) “peace punk” band Freedom Assault. From the band’s website: “We are a political and socially conscience punk rock influenced band. We play mid to fast paced music with dual female and male vocals. We are Travis, Les, Brand-o and Rob.” The sound is very very garage/lo-fi with distorted hyper-fuzz guitar and drum over low-in-the-mix vox. A very DIY sounding effort indeed. I’m not saying that is a bad thing, I like raw music, but if you like a little more polish, Welcome to 1984 may not be for you.

The lyrics are passionate and topical focusing on things like animal testing, terrorism and, you know, zombies. The tracks are quick almost entirely clocking in at under the two minute mark, just fine for me. Actually you get eight songs in just around 14 minutes. (a bonus Queers cover if you are one of the lucky ones to have the pre-order download.)

Overall, I like the spirit and I like the intensity. However, I would like just a little bit more control behind the production. The mix seems out of balance, way to guitar heavy and way too muddy in a way that it sounds like somebody hit record on a jam box during band practice. That said, Welcome to 1984 is a decent blast of DIY punk rock.

–Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1)Many Will Die…
2)Terror Front
3)Zombies!!!
4)Terrorized
5)DIY Pride
6)Survival of the Richest
7)System Failure*
8)Life Dogmatic With Pat Robertson*
9)Live This Life**

tracks 1-3, 8:
Travis – guitar, bass, vocals
les – vocals
Brand-O – drums, back up vocals

tracks 4-7, 9:
Travis – guitar, vocals
les – vocals
Rob – drums
Fernando – bass, back up vocals

*Included on the digital download
**Included on the preorder digital download, written by the Queers.
You can visit their website read more about Freedom Assault

Rebuke – Wouldworks

[rating:2/5]
(c) 2010 Kickass Records / Disconnect Records

Somewhere in Gothenburg, Sweden, there is a mad punk rock scientist toiling away in his punk rock lab. His creation? Rebuke.

The latest album from the Swedish quartet, Wouldworks, is an aggressive hybrid of the band’s varied influences. The melodic Gothenburg metal style is painted all over the California punk sound, so much so that at times it leaves you wondering if In Flames was jamming with Bad Religion with the occasional hardcore yell thrown in from time to time. With more tempo and time signature changes than Metallica’s …And Justice For All, Rebuke seems not unsure, but unwilling to settle on which direction they are heading in, with the short punk-rock-length songs (the majority of the album’s songs are under 2:30) resembling a teenager flipping between 6 different TV channels in 1 minute. Not one song of the 13 ever starts with a distinct sound and sticks to it.

Simply put, remember when you used to take a cup at the soda fountain and put some of each different flavor in it? Yeah, it’s sorta like that (and it tastes worse than you remember).

In the end, Wouldworks could have been a decent metal-tinged punk album, but just gets too mired in its own ADHD to come together.

Cold Blue Rebels – Blood, Guts, N’ Rock & Roll

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Imagine yourself walking through an apocalyptic 1950s Hollywood. An ominous wind howls down empty streets. A bone white moon hangs in the sky. The unsettling calm is replaced with the the sound of engines revving and tires squealing. The moon turns to blood. The scraping of shuffled feet draws near. In seconds you’re surround by pompadour-bedecked greasers and buxom undead vamps with low cut tops and the worst intentions. The upright bass begins to thump out a rhythm. Guitars wail. You don’t seem to mind that your brains are now becoming a meal.

For the undead rockabilly / psychobilly set amongst you, get yourself prepared to rock with the Cold Blue Rebels. Blood, Guts, N’ Rock & Roll is the brand new release from straight from Hollywood’s freshest dug graves.

Musically, the Cold Blue Rebels (CBR) run the psychobilly spectrum from the Stray Cats sounding, “Cold Blue & Beautiful” to a more straight up punk sounds of “Brain Food” and the Mad Sin-esque tones of “Drenched In Black”. Frankly it is nice to hear this amount of variety in what can often be a rather one-trick-pony sub genre.

Blood, Guts, N’ Rock & Roll does have, for better or worse, the trappings of the genre: zombies, zombie hookers, death, blood, gore, presented in a 50s horror film style. For what it’s worth though, a good part of the charm of psychobilly is the revision of the rockabilly culture with the horror kitsch spin; fast cars, fast guitars, switch blades, and the undead. … you know, right?

Pound for pound a damn fine effort for a bunch of undead.

For fans of: Stray Cats, Mad Sin, Elvis Hitler, Gene Vincent’s Ghost

Tracks:
1. Procession Of The Crypt Keeper
2. Cold, Blue And Beautiful
3. Hell Block 13
4. Worm Hole Hooker
5. Pumpkin King
6. Big Boss Man
7. Lil’ Grave Robber
8.Sock Hop Strangler
9. Brain Food
10. Zombie Love
11. Drenched In Black
12. Riot In Cell Block #9

Werewolfs – So Yeah, We’re Werewolves

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…So Yeah, Were Werewolves. Just from the band name you can tell that they’re one of them overly confident metalcore band that are oh so popular right about now. From Colorado, there’s not much to know other than they had a bit of a break, then reformed late 2010. Werewolfs was released in December, and is a re-release of their Cadavers EP and also features demos from 2008.

The album opens with an intro track full of noises straight out of a horror movie sound effect library. Then the screams, on ‘Majesticadaver’, scare you out of your skin as soon as they’re registered in your brain. By screams I mean vocals, if that’s what you wanna call them. The instrumental side of it is chaotic, with pretty much no structure whatsoever. There’s a slight hint of Every Time I Die to them, only slight. Don’t get too excited.

‘Jenny From The Blockadaver (Undead Version)’ starts with the typical chugging Hardcore guitar riff, joined by electro/keyboard sounds, think Enter Shikari. There’s a very long intro- 1 minute, as opposed to none at all on the first track, but not much difference from the track before it. It’s clear now that it’s going to be hard to tell one song from the other.

Straight into the screams again on ‘Anachronisticadaver’. The feral instrumentals continue onto this one, making it hard to tell where one track ends and the next begins. ‘Sunshine Friends/ Dr. Jurassic Park (demo)’ kicks off with a deeper scream- kinda like Candace from Walls Of Jericho. Then the insane, screechy yelps re-emerge. Damn. Gang vocals are added to the mix of out of tune wailing on the chorus of, this, the first of 2008’s demo tracks on this record.

‘Majesticadaver (demo)’ sounds the same as the mastered version, just not as polished. What you’d expect from a demo. Oh, and it’s 4 seconds longer. One demo track that’s better than the mastered version (and most of the other songs for that matter), is ‘Anachronisticadaver (demo)’. It actually has some structure to it. Again with the pointless empty 1 minute intro on ‘J- Dahm’s Bromance (demo), which is a shame because it is one of the best songs on the CD. There’s a pause in the middle of it, then it starts back up again, who knows if it’s two tracks in one. ‘Scott Beowolf (demo)’, the final track, is an epic electro instrumental piece. Well, until 2 minutes in when the yells kick in. That’s all it is, yells. No words, just yelling for over a minute. And this still counts as music how exactly?

…So Yeah, to sum it up, this compilation of an EP and demo tracks is essentially 25 minutes of deranged, unsettling noise. Which is pretty much the definition of math-core. So enjoy! I suppose.

–Frankii

Sadplant The End of Fun

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© 2011 Sadplant
[rating:3.5/5]

Connecticut’s prolific favorites are back with a new release. I know that it’s been like 16 minutes since the last new release, but hell if you got the goods, rock with it, right?

The End of Fun brings 12 new tracks of snotty punk rock songs of angst, despair, guts and a slight slight glimmer of hope. Along with that, if you’ve been following this band at all, you get a lot more synchronicity in the music. While the recording still has a garage edge to it, the music is more polished and I think the mix is finally right.

I try not to gush, but this band really makes me proud. They, like the rest of us have to deal with every waking day, but through daily struggles of life and lineup changes (new drummer) they continue to produce. I’m not sure I need to say much more.

Speaking of the lineup, Sadplant currently consists of Benny Social on guitar and vox, Amy Wappel on bass and box and Gabe Fonseca on drums and vox as well. The bottom line is that Sadplant rocks. The underline is that if you get bored with the last release, you get a new one in minutes.

On a side note, I totally dig male / female point / counterpoint vocals. … makes me think of the old school track Oki Dogs from Youth Gone Mad or Hopeless Romantic from Bouncing Souls (or heaven forbid, Renee Zellweger in Capital Records. … I kid, I kid. That movie rocks.)

Cheers!

Prize The Doubt – This Will Die Unrecognized

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This Will Die Unrecognized is the new EP from Ohio’s Prize The Doubt. Six tracks of intriguing, semi-melodic (I say semi-melodic because the songs drift from melodic to hyper-aggressive) rock. The vocals especially enforce the melodic nature of the guitar drive rock riffs.

Prize The Doubt (PTD) consists of Alex Webb on guitars/vox, Brent Bogard on bass/vox and Jeremy Hill filling the percussion roll. If you’ve read any of my reviews before, you’ll know that I have a bit of a bias towards the punk/metal/rock/[insert genre here] trios. PTD certainly doesn’t change that. I appreciate the way the songs are tighter knit to accommodate the stripped down cast.

The EP, as mentioned, offers six tracks all of which seem to run from dreamy to screamy within the same song. Generally I find that formula a bit off-putting, but PTD throws it down in a manner that remains enjoyable. I think the quirky beats and vocal counter point goes a long way to keep the songs fresh. … Don’t get me wrong though, it could be totally better if the screamo direction would be kept at a barest of bare minimums. There is also an appreciable level of complexity to the arrangements that makes this EP hard to overlook.

All said and done, a solid EP and I would definitely listen to Prize The Doubt again.

Tracks:
1. Forget And Forget Again
2. Innocent Subjects
3. We Are Too Separate
4. Daily News Is Dead
5. The Purity Of Conformity
6. October 17th

Do It With Malice – The Burned Over District

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Do you ever listen to new music and hear an influence or similarity, a subtle influence in the sound that makes your mind battle to figure out who or what it reminds you of? Well damn if I don’t have that going on when I listen to The Burned Over District, the new release from Do It With Malice.

Do It With Malice (DIWM) hails from the city of Buffalo in the great state of New York and plays an intriguing blend of metal punk ska. As a five-piece, the band is stripped down for efficiency considering that they have a 2/5 horn player ratio. I say hells yeah, good for them, less people to split the income with.

The Burned Out District features 10 tracks running reasonably on the quick side of the tempo spectrum. The majority of the songs are, to one degree or another, ska influenced and run heavy on the metal. An interesting note is that a good portion, especially in the early tracks of the disc, lead in with very 80’s style intros. Just listen to the single note metal riffery of “Fermeta Armada” and the clean/chorus guitar intro on track 2, “6-18” and you’ll know exactly what I mean.

In addition to previous, It also feels like there is a bit of funk influence as well. Overall, I think The Burned Over District is a solid and competent, if not completely cohesive release. I think maybe I would have arranged tracks a bit differently and I think I would ditch a lot of the guitar effects, but hey opinions vary. … But what the hell does this remind me of? Now that I think more about it, the entire sound makes me think of newer Catch 22 mixed with 311 … if you add that up, you get Catch 333 … coincidence, I think not.

Bottom line: Solid ska/punk/metal outta Buffalo. I think I would totally dig them live.

Tracks:
1: Fermata Armada
2: 6.18
3: Take The Stage
4: Russian Roulette
5: No Music
6: Nickel and Dime
7: Rabiddz
8: Pirt Egnarts
9: Choke Me Running
10: Commodity

For more info: www.diwmny.com

Bust – Suck Kuts

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As per the !upstarter m.o., this review is rolling in a little on the late side. I’ll go ahead and blame the holidays. At any rate, here is some manner of review.

Behold Suck Kuts (No seriously behold that cover; chick-son-of-bitchin-magnet says I.) the new release from the dynamic duo of Kyle Stembaugh and Jon Olson, heretofore known as Bust. Suck Kuts flings forth with 10 (suck) cuts of punk bombast at the fever pitch that only garages and their related ilk can generally thrust forth.

The diddys are short and sweet and laden with the disenchantment of boredom and life of better laid plans. As I alluded to above, the sound is classic “garage” punk rock, raw and gritty. You know the sound I’m talking about. A band on a mission. A band without 80 brazillion dollars in studio gear and engineering. Don’t get me wrong, I like the occasional ultra-polish, but I believe a band is best heard in the raw and Suck Kuts is done the way I prefer.

For the vinyl aficionados out there, Suck Kuts is carved onto white vinyl and includes a mp3 download code for the kiddies. The liner assures me that Bust would like to thank “Cool Bands, Cool Dudes, and Cool Zunes”, so all you Microsoft mp3 players out there that fit some of that bill, cheers. Oh, and rumor has it that if you purchase the vinyl, “You also have a 1 in 500th chance in finding Matt Skiba’s cell phone number scribbled inside.”

Bottom line: 10 tracks of duo-istic punk rock served old school on white vinyl

Tracks:
1. The Whinery (Merlot Blow)
2. Who Wants to Fuck Bill Rogers?
3. Pear At Heart
4. High on Life, Drunk off Mouthwash
5. Push Ups
6. That Don’t Impressuh Me Much
7. Talk Nerdy To Me
8. First Bench
9. Unsmooth Moments
10. Sascrotch

For more info: www.bustbustbust.com/