Label: self-released Released: 2007 The Underground Rebels have a decent hard rock pedigree featuring former Faster Pussycat guitarist Brent Muscat and former Cult drummer Lez Warner, but the band is really the creative (or not so creative) child of singer/guitarist Kurt Frohlich. Those expecting the swagger of Faster Pussycat or gritty hard rock of Electric-era Cult, beware, because this album… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: September 18, 2007 Zerobridge was formed by two Kashmiri brothers who grew up near the namesake of the their EP, Havre de Grace, Maryland. While this broader cultural experience may seem like a boon for the band, their music has little to do with the former and everything to do with the latter. Zerobridge relies on the… Read more »
Label: Q Division Released: June 2007 Soul and R&B have in many cases become so wrapped up in the influence of hip-hop that they’ve forgotten their own identities. When things like this happen, sometimes it’s best to hear someone get back to basics to reclaim a genre that’s losing itself. Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the True Loves may be just… Read more »
Label: Barracuda Sound Released: August 11, 2007 It seems odd that a band would mix something as generic as hard rock with something as unconventional as post-hardcore. Still, that’s just what Towers of Hanoi do on their latest release, Paranoia for the New Year. While most bands that dabble in the avant-garde seem embarrassed by any association to the formulas… Read more »
Check out this video from the Christian Science Monitor about the Somalian refugee music scene in Nairobi, Kenya. You don’t have to like hip-hop to appreciate how important music is for these kids.
Label: WolfGang Records Released: September 3, 2007 There really are far too many bands still lingering around from the hair band heyday of the late 80s. It seems like every time I turn around, there’s another one releasing an album that tries to recapture the days when they were more popular than they ever deserved to be or touring to… Read more »
Taking their name from a recent free speech case decided by the Supreme Court in which a high school student sued the school system after being suspended for displaying a banner with this idiotic slogan, Bong Hits for Jesus have a bit of ground to make up before I even played the music. Granted their hearts are in the right… Read more »
Label: Epic/Legacy Released: 1970 (reissued August 28, 2007) Released in 1970 to fill the gap between Stand! and There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Sly and the Family Stone’s Greatest Hits compiles many of the top tracks from the band’s early years. While every song on this album is also contained on the later Anthology release along with selections from their… Read more »
I posted a few days back about the upcoming Joy Division releases from Rhino. It all sounded great until I saw the price of the box set: $200! The individual LPs are only $18 each for the single LPs and $50 for the double LP (Still), so they want an additional $114 for the box? Frankly, even limited to 2000… Read more »
Label: Sandbar Music Released: May 2006 According to Mars Hill’s Myspace page, they are “one of the most original and finest bands of the 21st century” and they are “genre-defying.” The former is beyond a stretch. No offense, but they aren’t even close. The latter, however, is pretty accurate. The list of genres touched significantly by Mars Hill is longer… Read more »