Label: Alive Natural Sound Records Released: 2006 Formed out of the ashes their previous band, Thee Shams, which was limited to some extent by its love of the Stones, the Gabbard brothers find a much more expansive, heavier sound with Buffalo Killers. They dip generously into the heavy psychedelia of Cream and Hendrix and alternate that with a dose of… Read more »
Label: Bad Reputation Released: November 2007 in Europe (June 13, 2006 in North America) The Flairs play a brand of hard rock that falls somewhere between glam and punk. Shut Up and Drive is a peppy album of chunky rhythms and snotty vocals that seldom lets up. Aside from a 3/4 female line-up, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. The… Read more »
Label: I Eat Souls Records Released: 2006 A clever name like the White Noise Supremacists could be a blessing or a curse. If the name’s that clever, how clever must the music be just to live up to it? While the name may be the best thing they’ve done thus far, their off-kilter rhythms and subtle melodies shouldn’t be dismissed…. Read more »
Label: Living Eye Released: 2006 Being a revivalist is a difficult task. How do you stay true to the past yet make it relevant in the present? The simple answer is…you rock! St Phillip’s Escalator does just that. There is no question where the heart of this Rochester, NY trio lies. St Phillip’s Escalator brings 60s garage rock to you… Read more »
Label: Underdogma Records Released: November 28, 2006 With a name like Wooly Mammoth, this band has a lot to live up to. They either have to live up to the name literally as the heaviest of the heavy or ironically as light and fluffy pop. Few will be displeased that they opt for the former even if they don’t fully… Read more »
Label: Vendlus Records Released: 2006 Brazzaville is the project of David Brown, saxophonist for and longtime friend of Beck. The band is known for layering lyrics about the world’s forgotten souls — the lost and lonely, the whores and addicts, the killers and the soon-to-be dead — in sultry musical canvases that conjure images of South American beaches and salty,… Read more »
Label: Storm Tower Records Released: September 5, 2006 Awhile back, I wrote a review of Overlord’s music from their MySpace page. Recently, I was contacted by George Pasles, who it seems pretty much is Overlord, who asked me to check out the CD since the tracks on MySpace were demos that he posts periodically to keep the page fresh. Knowing… Read more »
Label: Q Division Records Released: February 7, 2006 A number of years ago, I bought a 7″ from a band I’d never heard on a whim. The band was okay, but the thing that stayed with me was the voice. It was rich and mature, yet young and optimistic. It was beautiful. The band was Quite Satellite and that voice… Read more »
Label: Weewerk Released: October 17, 2006 You know it’s a fine album when a band pulls off a cover of a song like “Surrender” and it’s not even the album’s best track. Ox offers up this indie alt-country should-be classic that weaves its way from rock to country and back with a few detours along the way, all held together… Read more »
Label: self-released (available at CD Baby Released: 2006 Defying the Stereotype is a bit of a misnomer for this album. Perhaps Confused About the Stereotype or Lost in the Stereotype would be more appropriate. It’s certainly not “stereotype” that I object to, but “defying,” because this record defies nothing. From the opening track, Landonband spends their time genre-hopping. True, there… Read more »