Label: Country Club Records Released: March 4, 2008 Pretendo play a dark angular pop that revolves around its rhythms, whether that is principally percussion, bass or guitar (or most often the interplay between them), while keyboard or guitar build an unsettling ambiance. The songs vary from the subtley Stones-influenced swagger of “Chronicle a Free Subletting” to the post-punk/dance meld of… Read more »
Label: Hot City Records Released: 2007 As their name implies, Crash Street Kids are big fans of Mott the Hoople. Even without that reference though, it would still be pretty clear. Their ability mix sugary pop with hard rock edge also raises the specter of early Sweet, but some of those guitar lines are unmistakable homages to Mick Ralphs. Throw… Read more »
Label: self-released CD Baby Released: March 4, 2008 Okay, I’ll admit White Zombie was kinda fun…for about ten minutes. I don’t know that I could ever take them in album-length doses. When the first track of A Single Drop of Red was nothing short of an homage to White Zombie, it was already off on the wrong foot. Unfortunately, it… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: March 4, 2008 The opening track of There’s Nothing Safe sounds like a cross between 80s synth pop and the Runaways. Over the course of the album, they throw in alt rock, new wave and post-punk. It may sound like a pretty bland stew that they’ve cooked up here, but they’ve largely taken the strengths of these… Read more »
Label: Daptone Records Released: October 2, 2007 Label: Concord Released: October 16, 2007 It would seem that the essential component of soul music (old school or new) would be the soul itself, yet that is often just what modern soul and R&B lack. Too often even a good R&B singer has a tough time overcoming assembly line songwriting and synthetic… Read more »
Label: Yep Roc Records Released: January 8, 2008 I usually listen to music on the cheap stereo in my little Toyota. But as I’ve listened to Angels of Destruction! over the past few months, I’ve encountered a problem that I’ve never, ever had before. The sound is just too big. In my book, big sound is a good thing. I… Read more »
Label: MVD Entertainment Group Released: February 19, 2008 After a brief introductory piece, this live recording from the 1989 ABWH tour moves into solo medleys by Anderson, Howe and Wakeman. While these clearly demonstrate things we already know (Wakeman and Howe are top notch technicians and Anderson is likely the not-so-distant descendant of an elf), there is little of real… Read more »
Label: Released: January 29, 2008 It’s not often that I find a record that offers as much musically as it does lyrically (unless, of course, it’s bad at both). On Highway Prayer, it’s hard to decide which Twilight Hotel does better. The songs fill the whole spectrum from the fun, upbeat opener, “Viva La Vinyl,” a song about record collecting,… Read more »
Label: Deep Elm Records Released: February 18, 2008 At this point, emo is pretty played out, so even the genre’s best bands struggle to be interesting. Desoto Jones is certainly among emo’s best, but the real question is, do they transcend its confines. Oddly enough, emo has become a genre more concerned with technical skill than emotional release and Aurora… Read more »
Label: WeirdBeard Records Released: November 2007 Before they had an album out, I wrote about the material Mongrels had up on their Myspace page. It was a raw, manic mix of garagey soul (or soulful garage). Either way, they tapped into the excitement of the late 60s Detroit that would profoundly influence much of 70s hard rock, even if few… Read more »