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: Smithsonian Folkways Released: August 28, 2007 (Paul Robeson) & October 9, 2007 (Pete Seeger) On the surface, these two albums have little in common. But I happened to put them both on my iPod, and by hearing each artist’s songs randomly mixed with Primal Scream and Pedro the Lion and Picastro (it was a “p” kind of week), I… 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: Exigent Records Released: 2007 Prize Country’s Lottery of Recognition comes off as a mix between the post-hardcore leanings of Fugazi and the dense hardcore of Quicksand. Or perhaps as the dark side of Hot Water Music. However, you describe it, their music is simply unrelenting. Its noisiness belies the band’s tightness. They are riffy, but without any of the… Read more »
Label: Five One Released: September 11, 2007 Awake and Alert’s music centers around Maya Peart’s voice. She has great range and movement and is as dynamic and smooth as a jazz vocalist, but at the same time, her voice is down to earth as if she’s singing right to you. Unlike many gifted singers, she also trusts her voice enough… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: 2007 Papertrigger’s Riot Lovers EP is an odd pop record that does more than just dabble in cabaret music. It is dense and often organ-dominated with jazzy rhythms and a dark, seedy undercurrent. While they play it loose and perhaps even a bit sloppy, the album shows their innate sense of being a band instead of a… Read more »
Label: Viva Hate Records Released: September 21, 2007 When dealing with any of the post-this-or-that sub-genres, you’re almost always going to have music that is a challenge to even the most patient ear and largely inaccessible to most everyone else. There are, of course, exceptions and Long Distance Calling is one of them. Their strong layered approach can be spellbinding… Read more »
Label: Metal Heaven Released: October 26, 2007 Time changes some things, but not all. This is certainly true of Steve Grimmett. The music hasn’t taken any great strides, but time has tempered his once distinctive voice. Other than an occasional hint of modern metal (and I do mean hint), Personal Crisis doesn’t explore any new territory. It is a fine… Read more »
Label: Red Leader Records Released: October (?), 2007 One of the best recent trends in punk rock is the burgeoning punk/folk (or punk/roots or punk/country) movement. While this may seem to have its roots in bands like Uncle Tupelo and the Violent Femmes, that’s only partially true. Bands like This Bike is a Pipe Bomb and the amazing though little… Read more »
Label: Warner Bros. Released: October 30, 2007 Avenged Sevenfold are one of those bands that makes me wonder what all the hype is about. It’s not that they’re bad, just that they don’t seem to really separate themselves from the pack so to speak. Their self-titled follow-up to their major label break-though, City of Evil, both justifies my question about… Read more »