Three Way Tie for Last is like a punk rock “O Brother Where Art Thou.” It made sense to put the two together. The everyman genuineness of good punk has a certain commonality with the everyman genuineness of old-time country and bluegrass. This Bike is a Pipe Bomb packages it all up in an album about the struggles of the… Read more »
The new Kills album, No Wow, is like an album of love songs with all the romance of a seedy strip club. W’s sensuous, almost bluesy vocals have the allure and raw sex of an erotic dancer while Hotel’s mechanical neo-new wave beats are a reminder that you can’t touch. Hotel’s fuzzy garage guitar is just enough edge to make… Read more »
In a previous post, I suggested that Mars Volta may be on the verge of becoming the next Pink Floyd and releasing an album on par with Dark Side of the Moon. Tonight, while driving home and thinking of what to post, I wondered, “What if they don’t release something on the level of Dark Side?” A few seconds later,… Read more »
I just noticed today that Rhapsody has added Better Than Ezra’s Greatest Hits. Greatest hits? Should that really be plural? I remember “Good” being a decent song at a time when most things on the radio were decent. I vaguely remember that they had another single (from the next album?) that charted, but didn’t get that much play. Maybe I’m… Read more »
Awhile back, I posted about No Idea Records. Here’s a few more cool labels to check out: Turn Records – Turn is a great little indie rock label. The catalog is small in size, but big in coolness. Jeff, who runs the label, takes a personal interest in the music too, which probably accounts for the quality of the releases…. Read more »
Great albums are often great for fairly obvious reasons. Who can honestly question Sgt Peppers or Dark Side of the Moon or a Night at the Opera? Does anyone need me to explain why these albums stand head and shoulders above so many others? I doubt it, so I’m not going to waste anyone’s time with it. What I don’t… Read more »
Occaisionally, rock lyrics are poetry, but most often, they’re just words that are really only moving in conjunction with music. That’s perfectly fine, because the lyrics don’t have to stand on their own. How often do you sit around reading the lyrics to songs you aren’t listening to? The words are part of a larger whole that (hopefully) moves us… Read more »
Earlier this week, U2, the Pretenders and a few others were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I had the same reaction I do whenever I hear anything about it: So what. The whole idea of a Hall of Fame for rock n roll is ridiculous. If nothing else, rock n roll celebrates the freedom of… Read more »
“A lot of times I still feel like a kid. I guess we’re all kids…” Kevin Seconds said that at one point during the show, but he didn’t have to. Everything about 7 Seconds’ performance said it for him. Before they even got on stage, I noticed drummer Troy Mowatt limbering up for the set, jumping up and down like… Read more »
The third band on the bill was one I was somewhat familiar with, Kill Your Idols. I bought their Funeral for a Feeling album a few years ago and gave it a few listens. It’s one of those albums that falls into the “okay” category, because while there’s no reason to really knock it, there’s no reason to really love… Read more »