Taking a hiatus from his Butthole Surfer bandmates, Paul Leary seizes the spotlight by taking over all the instrumental and vocal duties on The History of Dogs. An apocalyptic and paranoid song cycle, rife with B-movie horror and Gulf War references that tend to date themselves to the album's 1991 release, Leary has little of Gibby Haynes' wit or flair as a lyricist. Delivering his nonsensical and occasionally sophomoric verse with a falsetto that is equal parts Tiny Tim and John Lydon, Leary occasionally approaches the visceral drive of the Surfers in tracks like "Apollo One" and "He's Working Overtime." The strangely orchestral tones of "The Birds Are Dying" and "Fine Home" are triumphs in production but do little to distract the listener from his largely vague and nonsensical verse. Of course, it doesn't take an avid Butthole Surfer fan to find some humor in a song like "Indians Storm the Government," but for those who think they may fall outside of that classification, this disc comes without a strong recommendation.
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Nasty (in a good way) girl Donita Sparks is back with an all new release Transmiticate. The bad girl of the '90s has not thrown in the towel just quite yet. Although the years may have gone by Donita Sparks & The Stellar Moments sound like nothing has changed at all. This time around Donita Sparks focuses more on the vocal aspects of the band and not so much the guitar playing.
For those of you who have no idea who Donita Sparks is, you may remember a certain all female band called L7 that rocked out in the '90s. They had a musical style between punk and alternative rock connected with an attitude that may have been frightening but in fact was intelligent.
Donita Sparks was one of the tough front women for the pro-choice band. She shared vocals as well as played guitar. She was a little more outspoken at times and her actions on and off stage put her in the spotlight of the media at times most notably the Reading Festival in 1991. Donita Sparks along with the rest of L7 had a successful career with a couple of their albums going major attention and even having one of their songs on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack.
After the years went by L7 released six studio releases. By 2000 the record sales were not shaping up to what they used to be and L7 went on hiatus with no immediate plans of regrouping. Donita Sparks and L7 dummer Dee Plakas continues however and formed Donita Sparks & The Stellar Movements.
Starting off the 11 track CD is “Fly Feather Fly/” This song reminds me of the Breeders for some reason. It just had a grundgy raspy feel to it thanks to Donita Sparks’ voice. After hearing this song I really was curious to hear the rest of the CD. This was a good song to start with.
The first single off the CD Infancy Of A Disaster seems a little L7 at times but minus the attitude. The song is rather hypnotic at times and seems pop rock with edge reminding me again of the '90s music I used to rock out to as a kid. I have a feeling “Dare Dare” may be getting played at some dance clubs as it rocks out and has a move-your-body heatedly on the dance floor. This song unquestionably can kick some ass compared to some of that garbage people dance to. “He’s Got The Honey” is another track on the CD that makes you want to boogie.DOWNLOAD
New Jersey comedic hardcore metallists Mucky Pup paved the way for such future juvenile acts as the Bloodhound Gang (look no further than some of their song titles — "Death by Cholesterol," "Hippies Hate Water," "She Quieffed," etc.). The group originally formed in the mid-'80s, comprised of members Dan Nastasi (guitar), John Milnes (drums), Chris Milnes (vocals), and Scott LePage (bass), which led to numerous local shows and two demos that sold well. This led to a deal with the independent Torrid label, as the group issued albums on a steady basis for nearly ten years: 1987's Can't You Take a Joke?, 1989's ... Read More...
Conjuring a fiendish witches' brew of primal rockabilly, grease-stained '60s garage rock, vintage monster movies, perverse and glistening sex, and the detritus and effluvia of 50 years of American pop culture, the Cramps are a truly American creation much in the manner of the Cadillac, the White Castle hamburger, the Fender Stratocaster, and Jayne Mansfield. Often imitated, but never with the same psychic resonance as the original, the Cramps celebrate all that is dirty and gaudy with a perverse joy that draws in listeners with its fleshy decadence, not unlike an enchanted gingerbread house on the Las Vegas strip. The entire psychobilly scene would be unthinkable without them, and their prescient celebration of the echoey menace of first-generation rock & roll had a primal ... Read More...
True to their name, North Carolina's Southern Culture on the Skids offers an affectionate parody of local white-trash trailer-park culture, matching their skewed outlook with a wild, careening brand of rock & roll. SCOTS' music is a quintessentially Southern-fried amalgam of rockabilly, boogie, country, blues, swamp pop, and chitlin circuit R&B, plus a liberal dose of California surf guitar, a hint of punk attitude, and the occasional mariachi horns. Following an early incarnation as a relatively straightforward roots rock outfit, they morphed into a raucous, sleazy, tongue-in-cheek party band obsessed with sex and food; in fact, fried chicken became a crucial part of their live performances, whether it was used in eating contests or tossed into the audience. ... Read More...
As with other talented but troubled artists such as Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, and Roky Erickson, Daniel Johnston fights a daily battle with the chronic mental illness that has plagued him nearly his entire life. However, despite recurrent bouts of delusional behavior wherein he has physically endangered himself and others, Johnston has carved out a respectable, influential career as a singer/songwriter of extraordinary talent who has grown since his first crudely recorded cassette was released in 1980. He became the singer/songwriter of choice of the alternative/underground rock scene, and at various times has had his work championed by members of Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Butthole Surfers, Half Japanese... Read More...
From Crucial Blast Records - The first "real" CD release from this North Carolina band comes to us circuitousy from the generally-baffling Russian label R.A.I.G., whose previous releases from artists like Womba, Mux, and Won James Won have been mappings of strange electronica/noise/spazz-rock terrain, all of which I have grooved on mightily over the past year, but it is a little odd to get introduced to an American psych-metal band through 'em. On the other hand, U.S. Christmas' Salt the Wound does fit in nicely next to those two Seven That Spells albums that R.A.I.G. issued, which makes a statement about the imprint's excellent taste in cosmic rock heaviness. Taking their name from an obscure Sam Peckinpah film reference, this quintet hails from Marion, a small town nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina, where they have concocted a ragged, burly brand of modern psychedelia over the course of two self-released CD-Rs; for their first "real" album, the band has taken material from their previous discs and reworked/rearranged/re-recorded them into Salt The Wound, with a sound that combines classic 70's psych rock, Caustic Resin, Neurosis like dirge, gooey sludge metal, blues and early country music, Hawkwind style spacerock explorations, and the expansive fire rock of late 70's Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Quite a heady mix, but Salt The Wound ties these influences and stylings together with a righteously loose energy as the band works out extended riff feasts littered with spacey theremin strains and some of the coolest molten synthesizer woosh this side of Comets On Fire, resulting in 10 jams of awesome life affirming heaviness. At just over an hour long, the band keeps it dynamic and ever changing as they move from the moving, distortion-caked country/space rock sludge of 'Lazarus' to 'Death By Horses' awesome motorik rush, the doomed cosmic boogie of 'Devil's Flower' and 'Thin The Herd''s instrumental Southern rock. Trippy, rocking, crushing, this is a stellar first album from U.S. Christmas, presented in a gatefold sleeve with great artwork by Victor Pushkin. HIGHLY
The early 21st century may be remembered as the rock era when bands began 'downsizing' the amount of bandmembers, A plethora of duos appeared during this time (who handled all the chores themselves), including British heavies, Winnebago Deal. Hailing from Oxford, the group began as a quartet however, during 1999. With a sound comparable to classic Sub Pop bands and Queens of the Stone Age (when Nick Oliveri mans the mic), two of the original members exited shortly thereafter, leaving Ben Perrier (vocals, guitar) and Ben Thomas (drums) to fend for themselves. Making a name for themselves the old-fashioned way (touring incessantly via van — for very little pay — and handing out demos), the duo eventually began building a ... Read More...
It seems that with each change of season, a member of Queens of the Stone Age is issuing a new album by one of their many side projects, as early 2004 saw the release of the debut full-length by the Eagles of Death Metal, Peace, Love & Death Metal. The group's chief contributors include QOTSA main man Josh Homme (who goes by the alias of Carlo Von Sexron, and handles drums, rather than his usual guitar/vocal duties), and Jesse Hughes (vocals, guitar). Both hail from Palm Desert, California, and have been friends since Hughes' family moved to the aforementioned arid location in 1979. The pair bonded as teenagers while playing together on the same local soccer team, but went ... Read More...
Music like this doesn't come out that often; nowadays, in the metal scene, everyone seems to be doing what bands from the 80's and early 90's already shaped, most metal music kept recycling itself over and over again until we sadly got used to that fact without minding much. When a band like D:S:O suddenly appears and breaks the whole metal scheme with such an original sound and renewed vibe, I just can't help to be utterly impressed as I am right now.D:S:O successfully combines a rich and meticulous preference for diverse connotations such as Swing, Flamenco, Jazz, Gothic Metal, Progressive Metal, Symphonic Metal and Orchestral undertones in the whole album (who knows which genres I'm missing here); and in the end we have one of the most interesting albums this year. "The Butchers Ballroom" is an overwhelming experience that generates all kind of feelings from the beginning to the very end, making you want to replay the piece over an over again until your ears feel anesthetized.I can't even explain how worthwhile this album is; from the overture you'll understand this is like nothing you've ever heard before. Songs like "Heroines", "Pink Noise Waltz", or "Wedding March For A Bullet" are blatant explosions showing the strength and power that D:S:O dwells, but cuts like "D'angelo", "Balrog Boogie" or "Zodiac Virtues" manage to show an astonishing ensemble that perfects the ability of music as a complex art. Musically, "The Butcher's Ballroom" is so complex and intricate that it could take a whole article to analyze the depths of every single track wrapping it; the instrumentation is skilled, the vocals are both beautiful and dominant, the atmospheres are dark in Act#1 but strong in Act#2, so as you can see this album has everything a music fan could wish for.Production-wise the album is really clean, the layout is very suggestive and the lyrical content is outstanding, to find out more you'll have to buy this album. To sum things up, D:S:O is the most promising band this year; if their debut had such an impact in the audience I can't even imagine how their next albums will sound like. Highly Recommended!!!
After the band's enthusiastic if somewhat stumbling transformation into a sort-of English Beastie Boys on Box Frenzy, Pop Will Eat Itself transformed itself into a much superior beast on the brilliant, underrated This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! The secret ingredient was Flood, who brought his considerable production skills to the fore and helped shape an album that was its own sprawling but self-contained universe. While calling the bandmembers skilled MCs in a conventional sense would be pretty silly, their own particular mesh and mix of U.S. and, importantly, U.K. pop culture in with the metal riffs, disco backing, monster drum stomps, and more are their own reward. The band's sound has never been thicker and more detailed, and while the sampling and arranging are always clearly a product of their late-'80s times, like the Beasties did that year with Paul's Boutique, PWEI comes up with its own sharp synthesis. The brilliant, shuddering singles alone are worth the price of entry — "Def. Con. One," a ridiculously goony but very catchy portrayal of Armageddon Judge Dredd style, the propulsive "Can U Dig It?" and its cataloging of everything the band loves from DJ Spinderella to Dirty Harry, and particularly the wonderful "Wise Up! Sucker," as perfect a frustrated love/hate song of the era as anything else, with a sharp, mocking backing vocal from the Wonder Stuff's Miles Hunt. Then there's the wickedly bizarre "Not Now James, We're Busy...," a sort of anti-tribute to the Godfather of Soul and his legal troubles of the time. But beyond those deserved highlights, there are all sorts of intriguing surprises throughout the album, including a fair dollop of moody goth/post-punk touches that inadvertently predicts where Massive Attack partially ended up. The murky beginning and breaks of "Inject Me" and the collapsing inward drones and feedback of "Wake Up! Time to Die..." certainly give the lie to the idea that PWEI was only ever a one-dimensional cartoon.
This brazilian compilation is hard to find, but its also an excellent overview of independent rock music from UK circa early 90s. There's a huge number of unfairly forgotten/obscure/lost bands on this one (as well as a couple of so-so bands, mostly the ones who were trying to cash in on grunge craze). God Machine are represented by "Home" - not their best track, but probably the most commercial song on otherwise fine debut "Scenes From The Second Storey". Th' Faith Healers are going noisy/weirdo rock route with "Pop Song". Leatherface are doing fist-pumping "I Want The Moon" and then there's Jesus-Lizard'esque "Em" by Headcleaner. All in all, there are plenty of genres presented - from rockabilly (Gallon Drunk) to noisy rock (Silverfish, Headcleaner, God Machine) to punk (Leatherface, Sofahead) and almost anyone will find something to his/her liking on this sampler.NEW LINK DOWNLOAD
New album from this great band. Very good.
A violently energetic amalgam of fractured punk rock and vintage video game sound effects, Polysics gained recognition quickly due to their spastic live shows and trademark uniforms: matching orange or yellow boiler suits, straight-bar sunglasses, and badges stamped with the letter P. The band was formed in 1997 by Japanese high-school student Hiroyuki Hayashi, who named the group after his first keyboard, a Korg Polysix. After watching some live footage of Devo and becoming heavily inspired by new wave music of the West, the fledgling frontman/guitarist decided to quit his soccer team and form a band that would expand on the cartoonish image and musical ideas of the zany art-punk icons he had seen on TV. He linked up with drummer Junichi Sugai... Read More...
Bad Chopper was formed by CJ, Mark & John Chadwick in Long Island, NY in June 2000. Originally called the Warm Jets, they recorded and released one single (She Says b/w Diabla) under this name. Brian was added on second guitar soon after. This line-up played the NY area through 2000-2001. In mid-2001 they changed their name to Bad Chopper to avoid confusion with the UK band with the same name. A South American tour was booked for September 2001. John Chadwick could not be present so Mark (originally the drummer) filled in on guitar and John Evicci filled in on drums. In winter 2002 Bad Chopper became a 3-piece with Brian Costanza taking over all guitar duties. In mid-2002 Brian left the band and John Evicci was once again recruited for a short tour of Japan in October 2002 with Mark, once again, taking over guitar duties.
Comets on Fire hail from Santa Cruz, CA. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarist and vocalist Ethan Miller and longtime friend bassist Ben Flashman, who were seeking to create a rhythmically and sonically intense music that paid no attention to categorizations — all the while being suckers for anthemic rock riffs, psychedelia, and crunching crescendos. The band came together when Flashman's pal Noel von Harmonson and his Echoplex entered the picture and drummer Utrillo Kushner showed them what he could do with a drum kit. (No less an authority than Julian Cope states quite correctly that Kushner plays like two drummers thinking they are Keith Moon... Read More...
S.O.D.'s Speak English or Die was an important record in the fusion of hardcore punk with thrash and speed metal, making even more explicit the connections that Anthrax's music implied. The tone of the music is crushingly loud, fast, and aggressive, but not at all serious — the record is filled with goofy, macho humor, some of which holds up well (i.e., the three-second "Anti-Procrastination Song," an ode to "Milk") and some of which is quite racist and sexist. However, the music blasts by at such a frenetic pace (22 tracks in under half an hour) that the more offensive lyrics are often incomprehensible, so some may find them easier to ignore. Still, it's the loud-fast-rules music that made an impact, and mosh fans will quickly understand why. [In 2000, to commemorate the album's worldwide sales of one million copies, Megaforce put together Speak English or Die: The Platinum Edition, digitally remastering the original recording and appending two new studio tracks.
If Never Mind the Bollocks and London Calling are held up as punk masterpieces, then there's no question that Singles Going Steady belongs alongside them. In fact, the slew of astonishing seven-inches collected on Steady and their influence on future musicians - punk or otherwise — sometimes even betters more famous efforts. The title and artwork alone (the latter itself partially inspired by the Beatles' Let it Be) have been parodied or referred to by Halo of Flies and Don Caballero, which titled its own singles comp Singles Breaking Up. As for the music, anybody who ever combined full-blast rock, catchy melodies and romantic and social anxieties owes something to what the classic quartet did here. The deservedly well-known masterpiece "Ever Fallen in Love" appears along with Love Bites' "Just Lust," but the remaining tracks originally appeared only as individual A and B-sides, making this collection all the more essential. The earlier numbers showcase a band bursting with energy and wicked humor - the tongue-in-cheek "Orgasm Addict," details the adventures of a sex freak with a ridiculous fake orgasm vocal break to boot. However, the slightly more serious but no less frenetic singles are equally enthralling. "What Do I Get?" with its pained cry about lacking love, the deeply cynical "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" and Diggle's roaring "Harmony in My Head" are just three highlights on an album made of them. The final songs show the band incorporating their more adventuresome side into their singles, as with the slower, very Can-inspired "Why Can't I Touch It?," the semi-jokey stop-start thrash "Noise Annoys," and the Murphy's Law worries of "Something's Gone Wrong Again."
Part of the reason the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is so distasteful to the legions of blues purists is that Spencer cherishes not the mythology of the blues or the songcraft, but the groove, the actual sound of classic blues records. He could care less about songwriting or technique; what's important is the feel and the grit of the performance, whether it's on-stage or on record. Often, that means that the Blues Explosion's records are better when they're playing than they are in memory, but there's no question that ever since Extra Width, the New York trio was exceptionally shrewd in crafting albums that pack real sonic force. They also were sharp enough to subtly explore new territory with each album, gradually moving from the Stonesy blooze of Extra Width through the funky Orange and gutbucket Now I Got Worry to Acme, where pure sound matters more than ever. Like the Stones, the Blues Explosion never abandon their signature sound, even when they're branching into new territory. No matter how many electronic bleeps, hip-hop loops, or cut-and-paste arrangements rear their heads on Acme, or how many producers or remixers are employed (including Calvin Johnson, Steve Albini, Suzanne Dyer, Alec Empire, Jim Dickinson, and the Automator), the primal, two-guitar racket remains at the center of the Blues Explosion's sound. But the electronica and hip-hop flourishes aren't folly, either — they confirm Spencer's ultimate goal of sound over structure, force over sense. And while there are only a handful of songs to latch onto — the slow, sexy "Magical Colors," the gonzoid rant "Talk About the Blues," the Jill Cunniff duet "Blue Green Olga" — the dynamic explosions of sounds guarantee that Acme is a captivating listen, at least the first time through. While frequently exciting, the sonic experimentations sound cerebral instead of primal.
