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MUMMYDOGS
There?s no doubt that Thin White Rope was a great band, but there?s also no doubt that when told, ?the return
of Guy Kyser should be greeted with a frenzied anticipation akin to the second coming of Christ,? I?m gonna have to be more
than just a little bit skeptical. But while that skepticism remained staunchly entrenched throughout the first tracks of the
Mummydogs? album, ?Dark Green Car? and ?Fly Away,? it began to drift off during the elegantly somber dream of ?Pearl? and
was completely dispelled by the match of shimmering tones and bass guitar of ?Operator.? The Mummydogs version of Johnny Thunders?
?Ask Me No Questions? is an oddly appealing folky one, while Skip James? ?Look at the People? is a haunting hymn performed
with due reverence; harmonica lends dimension to the enigmatic ?Zulu Time?; and ?Tuco?s Theme? is one of the coolest instrumentals
I?ve heard since The Plugz? ?Reel Ten,? a satisfyingly melancholy western soundtrack that conjures up its own images. The
pained, yearning edge of Thin White Rope is largely missing here (really not much of a surprise after a ten-year maturation
period), due in part to the fact that Guy?s well-known throaty rasp no longer sounds quite as wracked and desperate as it
did on numbers like ?Triangle Song.? Instead a sense of balance seems to have been found, as Guy?s voice is usually joined
here by that of Johanna Kyser, whose dusky vocals are alternately bass-deep and velvety soft. While ?Paul of the Jungle? is
an unexplained Breeders-sounding novelty indulgence, and the harmonic nuptial vocals of the frequent duets can come off as
a bit sentimental (read: like hippie folk music), overall this is an album that just plain sounds good. And there aren?t nearly
as many of those as there should be.
* * * *
Frontier Records - www.frontierrecords.com
P.O. Box 22, Sun Vally, CA, 91353
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RANCID VAT
The Cheesesteak Years
Ah, the end of an era . . . Few would argue that Rancid Vat?s already brash & caustic punk rock ?n roll
wasn?t improved by their move to Philly and the consequent addition of the Cosmic Commander of Wrestling as maestro of the
microphone. With his even more caustic harangue every single song was now a provocation, an invitation to brawl offered up
ECW style, and Rancid Vat consistently laid out some of the most obnoxious and enjoyable songs to grace the Confederacy of
Scum?s hefty discography. The Cheesesteak Years here presents some prime cuts from their Philadelphia reign, the likes of
?Sucker Punch,? Simon Stokes? ?Big City Blues,? the all-time-classic testimonial ?Hostile City U.S.A.? (and, of course, ?Testify?),
?Old People,? the ode to ?The Dancin? Outlaw,? and ?Blobs Have More Fun.? Rancid Vat even squares off against Killdozer with
their own cover of ?Hot and Nasty.? The kind of album that defies you to remain seated or sober, The Cheesesteak Years is
guaranteed to make your ass sorry if you never witnessed the outrage of Rancid Vat live. (If you missed out, put this album
on, dump a bucket of borscht over your head, and run into a wall to recreate some small part of the experience.) There is
one potential bright spot to founders Thee Whiskey Rebel and Marla Vee?s relocation to Texas however: the possibility of new
Alcoholics Unanimous releases . . .?
* * * *
Steel Cage Records - www.steelcagerecords.com
P.O. Box 29247, Philadelphia, PA, 19125
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REBREATHER
Need Another Seven Astronauts
From the same stable that brought forth Dragon Green and the mighty Superhighway Carfire comes Rebreather,
with Need Another Seven Astronauts. Rich with heavy sludge that picks up the percussion and screams with the chorals, the
band combines the slow heavy bass drone of stoner rock with furious and triumphant metalcore crests. The properly-titled opener
?Earthmover? sets the tone for Need . . ., followed by ?Joy Bang,? a spurring march containing a chiming almost meditative
interlude. Solid pacing supports the wrenching vocals of ?Inaudible,? and the fifth and final track, ?Ropeladder/Seedspreader,?
brings the disc to an agonized close that winds down like a dying mechanical bull. Throughout the album calm rhythmic passages
are regularly interspersed with peaks of energy and rage, all making for a disc that can be thoroughly enjoyed either vertically
or horizontally.
* * * *
Infernal Racket Records - www.infernalracket.com
P.O. Box 4641, Bethlehem, PA, 18018
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SIRENIA
At Sixes and Sevens
Heavy dark metal orchestration from Tristania?s former lead, Sirenia blends male and female black metal
vocals into gothic choirs performing against opulent multi-layered instrumentation. While the female leads are sometimes so
muted that they aren?t quite ethereal enough to provide the ideal counterpoint to the savage growls and sepulchral pronunciations
of the male chorals, at their high points (the title track, ?Lethargica?) they?re still blessed enough to inspire transcendence.
And when all voices come together in sweeping arrangements aided by strings and proper effects the result is a stunningly
symphonic one. (Breaking pace a bit, portions of ?In A Manica? have something of a Tears for Fears quality which, although
not unpleasant, seems slightly out of step with the more fiercely gothic atmosphere of the rest of the album.) At Sixes and
Sevens is an expansive and majestic presentation granted a luxurious rush and flow that gives the performance undeniable dramatic
depth (just listen to the haunting Latin chanting of ?Manic Aeon.?), and although at rare points it almost seems as if the
band is more intent upon artistic arrangement than the potency of the ambiance they are creating, relieving it of some of
its potential emotional urgency, in the grandiosity of the total package there is more than enough theatrical furor present
to carry the album into the appreciable realm of the black opera.
* * * *
Napalm Records - www.napalmrecords.com
P.O. Box 1983, Port Townsend, WA, 98368
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SPACESHIPS PANIC ORBIT
That Carb In the Circuit Night
From the Virginia/DC Metro Area experimental music scene comes the being that is Spaceships Panic Orbit.
Self-described as ?electro-acoustic free improv,? the recording is indeed an experimental one; the musicians seem to take
a deliberately paced, almost cautious approach to their creation which leads to a performance that?s at once low-key and wildly
unpredictable (one of the listed instruments: ?hacksaw & vinyl?). Among the five tracks here (two of which are live) ?Sun
Long Dream of the Source, Inscribed? goes higher with the feedback and heavier with the volume to produce an intensifying
and somewhat unsettling piece, and the closing ?Eater of the Dead, Reprise? has expansion potential as a lengthier and atavistic
cult recording. Throughout the album subtle percussions, electronic sounds, strings, woodwinds, and other curious noises scuttle
about each other in a semi-cosmic dance of discovery. Not a crazed performance art piece, nor apparently a solemn musical
ritual (despite some of the imagery and accompanying text of the packaging) That Carb In the Circuit Night seems to invoke
an uncertain yet compelling mood that brought the phrase ?the doors of perception? to mind more than once during its playing
time. Inquisitive, thoughtful, meditative, and yes, at times irritating, this may not be my particular bag or the kind of
thing I?d play very often, but it is quite definitely an interesting and worthwhile experience.
* * *
www.panicresearch.com/spanorb
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SPEEDBALL BABY
The Blackout
Loaded with the strung-out twang of spooky urban blues and the reverberating echo of a doped-up country-western
drive-by, The Blackout is as dangerously erratic as its namesake. Vibes move from the dreamy DTs of ?Three Quarter Man,? the
smooth & pinhole-burned silken threat of ?Pimp Hand Strong,? and back alley lounge croon of ?Cash Cow? to the frenzied spasms
of ?Hanky-Joe Digger? and ?Bee in Flight,? and beyond to entrancing curiosities like ?Wanna Scratch It?? And then there?s
just plain groovy weird shit like the unsafe-sexy hymn ?Asphalt Blues,? Chet Atkin?s ?Blackjack,? ?The Jack Martin Story,?
and the all-in-the-family ?The Diddler? (?Daddy?s home!?). Slinky female back-up vocals provide an all-too-occasional choir
to the whoop-ass hollerin? and whispery, growly, snake oil leer of the vocalist, who at rare moments manages to sound impressively
like the bastard offspring of Drew Weaver. (Posing as a traveling revivalist toting a sample case stolen from Raoul Duke.)
Speedball Baby?s performance has got some of that wild squawk & distortion of a Blues Explosion (no real surprise for a NY
quintet, especially as Jon Spencer shows up on a couple of tracks here) loaded with plenty of odd sounds and effects to face
off against additional input from sax, vibes, organ, harmonica, and the like, so it?s always gonna be somewhat uneven and,
at points, affected. But that?s all right, and in any case the sound always staggars back to its musical legs and, rousing
itself from the sea of whatever substance it?s been abusing, shouts out ?Testify!? Hallelujah.
* * *
In The Red Records - www.intheredrecords.com
1118 W. Magnolia Blvd., P.O. Box 208, Burbank, CA, 91506
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LOST CITY ANGELS -
Perky made-for-video punk/pop full of tears, lost love, feelings of the heart, apologies, and and all the girls who caused
such things. ?Edge of 21? may be a catchy one, but the weepy ?If You Go? with its youthfully soulful singalong chorus sounds
almost like a slightly amped-up Fifties ballad, the Pistols? punk chords are what come through most clearly in the Neurotic
Outsiders? ?Good News,? and the acoustic ?Caught In Time? is definitely one for the skip button. The lyrics are somewhat darker
than their wholesome performance might indicate, but for the most part the sound is a little too starched & studio pressed
to appeal to a jaded middle-aged fuck such as myself. *
Nitro Records - www.nitrorecords.com - 7071 Warner Ave., Suite F736, Huntington Beach, CA, 92647
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MACTATUS: Suicide -
A black metal attempt at being a more powerful and straightforward release than Mactatus? previous The Complex Bewitchment,
while Suicide contains a number of ferocious death metal passages that harden the album along with this come that genre?s
meandering and/or plodding instrumental segments that sound more like filler space than sinister invocation. Strong hellish
rampages like those in ?Dead and Alive,? ?Bringer of Silence,? ?Measurement of Discipline,? and ?Concluding Act of Violence?
are interrupted by blurry speed blazes or unnecessarily flashy noodling, which not only seem at odds with the gravity of the
album?s theme but completely detract from the mood the vocals and more aggressive rhythms attempt to establish. And instead
of generating supportive atmosphere, variants like the gothic touches of ?Broken Dreams of Death? and ?To Distance Death From
Life? just sort of lay there. It?s all a hell of a lot of noise, make of that what you will. Some good moments, but this disc
will probably get stacked alongside those by Centurian and Decapitated, releases similar in that they?re just too long for
the material. *
Napalm Records - www.napalmrecords.com - P.O. Box 1983, Port Townsend, WA, 98368
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MANDA AND THE MARBLES: More Seduction -
Punky new wave by way of Blondie and the Go-Gos, with sweet & sultry female vocals calling out over tightly wound strings
and the rattle of skins in a post-adolescent bubblegum thrall. More Seduction is a re-mastering of Manda and the Marbles?
second album, along with four new tracks mixed in for good measure. And while this is definitely one of those ?cute? bands
they at least carry enough of an edge to keep them from being too sugary. The cooler sound of ?Sex Object? and ?Sudden Attraction?
rise above the high school sensibilities of other songs about boys (?Through,? ?Seduction?), ?Fast Cars,? and aimless youth
(?Forget About the Day? and its Less Than Zero chorus, ?We?ll get dressed up and get messed up?), but all twelve tracks manage
to remain somehow appealing. A little sharper than Nikki and the Corvettes, but should still appeal to much the same demographic.
* * *
Go-kart Records - www.gokartrecords.com - P.O. Box 20, Prince St. Station, New York, NY, 10012
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MEATSHITS: Fuck Frenzy -
An expanded and remastered CD release of the MeatShits? cassette-only debut album, Fuck Frenzy more than capably demonstrates
the band?s stature as gore-porn death/grind pioneers. More elemental and sludge-laden than later releases, this gibbering,
pounding slab of hate-fucking metal gives you ripe slices of filth like ?Baptized in Shit,? ?Toilet Tricks Whore,? ?Pornoholic,?
?Fuck of Death,? ?In Your Face: Massacre of Genitals,? ?Menstrual Fuck,? ?Sex Change Horror,? and ?Blood Orgy,? along with
the bonus tracks ?Jesus is Dead,? ?Eaten by Cannibals,? ?Sodomite,? ?Fuck Off & Die,? ?The End,? and ??? While ?Perversion?
is a lengthier piece of titular testimonial and ?Death Machine? and some of the bonus tracks have a hungry gang-banging quality
to them, a number of ?songs? are little more than a soundbyte of porno punctuated by a puking eruption of thrash. Nothing
too fascinating there in itself, but spread out over the length of the album (although this clocks in at only 44 minutes long
it goes on for 43 sample-splattered tracks) there?s an undeniably foul glee and vicious energy at work here that you?ve just
got to appreciate. Assuming of course that you?re not one of those ?fraidy PC fucks groveling in a pack of other uptight whiners
. . . * * *
Moribund Records - www.moribundcult.com - P.O. Box 77314, Seattle, WA, 98337-0314
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MEATSHITS: Gorenography -
A collection of 29 unreleased tracks recorded between the Fuck Frenzy and Ecstasy of Death albums, Gorenography is pretty
much what you might expect from the MeatShits: porn/slasher film/true crime samples cut in around schizophrenic bursts of
title-less death grind spasms, all wrapped in appropriately explicit imagery. The soundbytes, which often favor snuff and
Satanism, are generally much longer than the ?songs? themselves, usually a single epithet or phrase twisted in between a brief
rapacious blur of grudge-fuck metal. (Although toward the end of the album there?s a point or two where song structures and
samples do coalesce into more cohesive tracks of outrage, including an amusing little disco-porn ditty.) Unlike the companion
releases Fuck Frenzy and Violence Against Feminist Cunts, Gorenography seems not so much an album as a collection of extra
and experimental tracks that Robert Deathrage didn?t manage to fit in elsewhere in the MeatShits discography, along with some
film passages that were too intriguing to leave on the shelf. If you?re a fan you?re gonna want this, and if you aren?t yet
but dig acts like Anal Cunt and Fornicator I?d suggest trying Violence Against Feminist Cunts first. * *
Moribund Records - www.moribundcult.com - P.O. Box 77314, Seattle, WA, 98177-0314
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MEATSHITS: Violence Against Feminist Cunts -
Hey, at least they?re up front about it; if the title alone ain?t enough to clue you in as to what the MeatShits are all about,
then maybe song titles such as ?Chop Her Up Like Dog Meat,? ?Vicious Act of Machismo,? and ?Vaginal Torment? will. Unreleased
since its completion in 1994, Violence Against Feminist Cunts does its best to stand up to the label of ?The most extreme
anti-PC metal ever recorded? with its collection of masturbatory misogyny. While a good portion of this is the standard growly
rat-a-tat death-grind loaded with promises of bloody ass-fucking, with Violence . . . the MeatShits work a fine bit of variety
into their program of hatred. By more deftly and appropriately blending the sex & violence soundbytes into the music and having
the electronics, sound effects, and backward tracking smoothly mix with the album?s varied tone and pace, the band achieves
a more atmospheric serving of sleaze than might be expected. There?s even a little bit of an accomplished techno flair to
tracks like the opening ?Tenebrae (Woman-Hater Dub-Mix),? ?Sodomy Enigma,? and ?Asian Cum-Shot (Classical Dub Mix).? And as
this recording is typically loaded with cruel audio samples from gore & roughie porn flicks, so is the CD packaging decorated
with S&M shots, sadistic manga and CGI, and art from ANSWER Me!?s rape issue. I forget where I read the term ?groovy hate
vibe,? but the MeatShits have it and they?ve got it in spades. I?m not generally a big fan of the whole misogyny/power violence
genre (which often comes off as sounding more than a little bit on the ego-dystonic homosexual side), but for sheer ?fuck
the PC? guts and its vile variety Violence Against Feminist Cunts rates a top-ranking as a truly hardcore work of hateful
art. * * * *
Moribund Records - www.moribundcult.com - P.O. Box 77314, Seattle, WA, 98177-0314
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DAN MELCHIOR?S BROKE REVUE: Bitterness, Spite, Rage, & Scorn -
Rock and roll played at the end of a lonely street. In fact, one as far away from the rest of the city as possible. An appealingly
punky, vibrating, urban blues played to the tune of complete disgust with the modern world, Dan Melchior?s Broke Revue blares
and buzzes away against society?s countless ever-present superficialities. Cell phones, fashion, trends, conceit, fanciness,
television, hypocrisy, and other irritants are condemned with elemental grace and bashed out in a most unabashed way. Unfortunately
there?s an abrasive yammering quality to Melchior?s vocals (which sound predominantly British although take an almost southern
turn on some tracks (?Black Light,? ?Gatecrasher?)), and while I suppose this fits the album?s title it?s moderately annoying
nonetheless. But this still isn?t enough to occlude the full dirty glory of the songs, which stand out as good music for bad
moods. * * *
In The Red Records - www.intheredrecords.com - 1118 W. Magnolia Blvd., P.O. Box 208, Burbank, CA, 91506
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MR. AIRPLANE MAN: Moanin? �
Another couple of blues-horny broads trying to get gritty, playing a buzzing guitar and a rattletrap drumkit and doing some
Moanin?. And surprisingly, despite the shitbox of the opener ?Like That,? the title number and songs like ?Not Living At All,?
?Jesus On the Mainline,? and the sweetly sour ?Very Bad Feeling? are actually kind of fetching in a comely scar-faced sort
of way, while ?Uptight? actually picks up and rocks. I don?t know if the poor production is a part of whatever image is trying
to be broadcast here, as it often sounds like tracks are recorded through a wall and the blurry music is played so deliberately
roughly that it often resembles a practice session, but I take it it?s all part of the old-timey streetwise gimmick. Sometimes
it works and sometimes it don?t, but in any case Mr. Airplane Man can provide some fine little slices of soundtrack to whatever
you?ve got going on in your life. * * *
Sympathy for the Record Industry ? www.sympathyrecords.com
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ONE MAN ARMY: Rumors and Headlines -
With the effeminate vocals and the sweet, almost too-clean punk rock sound of One Man Army, I really didn?t wanna like ?em
at first. But Rumors and Headlines is one tight album, resounding with a classic punk trio quality and a compelling singalong
style that?s difficult to dislike. ?It?s Empty? and ?She Wants Me Dead,? in particular, swell with cheer despite their subjects.
Kinda poppy, yeah (watch out for those handclaps), and a little heavy on the heartbreak song quotient, but still sharp, catchy,
and upbeat enough to appeal. * * *
BYO Records - www.byorecords.com - P.O. Box 67609, Los Angeles, CA, 90067
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PAVEMENT: Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe -
This deluxe reissue is quite the little package: inside the textured slipcover is a 2-CD set containing not only ?the definitive
indie-rock album? itself, enhanced with various outtakes and Pavement?s unreleased June ?92 John Peel Sessions recording,
but also a second disc featuring the Watery Domestic EP, another unreleased John Peel Session, and a live & previously unreleased
12-song set from Brixton Academy. AND, a full color booklet packed with liner notes, lyrics, photos, scribbles, etc. As far
as Pavement?s music goes, they?ve already been covered between more hallowed pages than these but I?ll add my two bits here
just the same. Influences of the Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, The Fall, and others drift throughout Slanted and Enchanted
(which, as I read the considerable historical notes, I realize are all mentioned therein, among a number of others), along
with a bit of Slint and the Pixies, for a set of young, arty, and moody guitar-heavy songs just waiting for college radio
adoration. It?s a melodic laconic sound that?s mildly appealing, but as a re-release several years later doesn?t seem to carry
the immediacy or urgency of a ground-breaking group?s best work. Some of the better selections found within Luxe & Reduxe
are the layered mantras of ?Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era? and the lively moaning of ?Baby Yeah,? but a lot of this
archival material sounds to me like it might as well just have remained in storage. If it sounds as though I?m less than enthusiastic
about what was received as a monumental release, I?ve got to say that I was never a Pavement listener when these tracks were
originally released (or unreleased) in the early ?90s, so a decade later, well, they?re ten years older. Still, at 48 tracks
long this is truly a deluxe edition aimed at completists, who will appreciate it regardless of how they were impacted by Pavement?s
influence during their heyday. * *
Matador - www.matadorrecords.com - 625 Broadway, New York, NY, 10012
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THE PIRANHAS: Erotic Grit Movies -
Art-punk is a dicey territory � is it a better concept than realization? More theater than music? A better live show than
a recording? Or best just kept in the garage with the homemade mummer suits? Whichever, Erotic Grit Movies is a fourteen-track
pile-up loaded with chaotic noise, a spastic ejaculation of rabid testimonial and ululation pouring out amongst squawks and
feedback from invisible sources. Oh yeah, and there?re some traditional instruments hammering along here as well. With the
vocalist?s primal caterwauling and the ever-present organ battling the raw guitar chords this almost sounds like a post-Millennial
version of the Stooges, high on jazz and PCP. But not in a good way. At any rate, the inebriated carnival of Erotic Grit Movies
doesn?t quite do if for me. I tried it drunk, I tried it sober, and I don?t think I?ll be trying it again. *
In The Red Records - www.intheredrecords.com - 1118 W. Magnolia Blvd., P.O. Box 208, Burbank, CA, 91506
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REIGNING SOUND: Time Bomb High School -
Time Bomb High School starts off fine with a throaty and soulful version of ?Stormy Weather,? and a retro feel also infuses
much of the rest of the album as the organ pulses through gently stirring melodies of wistful love songs crafted from generations
of influences. Stirred in with the particularly poignant ?You?re Not So Pretty? and the sad prom night sound that drifts through
songs like ?Dressy? are the punkier title track, the low-key sneer and drive of ?She?s Bored With You,? and pick up & stand
up numbers like ?You?re So Strange.? Fine covers of ?Brown Paper Sack? and ?I?d Much Rather Be With the Boys? are also included.
Former Oblivian Greg Cartwright?s voice seems close to cracking at times as it reaches through the slower songs, lending them
an additionally plaintive note, while the music itself drags Fifties pop through the Sixties and the garages of more recent
years for a style that bridges the new and the classic, sure to evoke a broad range of feeling. * * *
In The Red Records - www.intheredrecords.com - 1118 W. Magnolia Blvd, P.O. Box 208, Burbank, CA, 91506
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RIVER CITY REBELS: No Good, No Time, No Pride -
Suicidally snotty punk rock . . . with a brass section? The horns aren?t quite as compulsively raucous as those of the Mad
Caddies or Kings of Nuthin?, but the rest of the River City Rebels are raw and excited enough that this doesn?t much matter.
They still manage to do lots of screaming themselves hoarse, yelling ?fuck you!? and shouting along through songs like ?(I
Should Have Been) Aborted,? ?Life?s a Drag? and ?No Good.? With or without the horns though this is still yet another young
band who believes they?re the ones keeping ?real punk rock alive? with the same old tired anti-church, anti-state, anti-working
class, anti-establishment, anti-everything songs & sentiments. (Enhanced CD contains a ?River City Rebels tour documentary?
that I somehow managed to skip.) * *
Victory Records - www.victoryrecords.com - 346 N. Justine St., Suite 504, Chicago, IL, 60607
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JUSTIN SANE: Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Justice -
A solo album from Anti-Flag?s front man Justin Sane. As a poli-punk performer utilizing only voice and guitar, comparisons
to Billy Bragg will be inevitable, especially with the sound of the opener ?For Pat.? Songs range from satirizing mindless
greed in ?If It?s Good For the Economy, I?m For It!? to the ballad of punk romance ?61c Days Turned to Nights,? with themes
of social injustice, peace, anti-statism, unity, etc. constantly running through the album. Despite my cynicism (fully admitted,
as I didn?t much care for Anti-Flag?s most recent Mobilize) there are some bright and shining moments to Life, Love, and the
Pursuit of Justice, where Sane?s voice and lyrics rise with crystal purity to state naked truths and emotions. But these are
rare, as more often presented are stereotypical self-appointed youth spokesman/Pied Piper pieces like ?The Youth of the Modern
World? and ?We Found a Place,? along with other lines & tracks for and about ?THE KIDS!? And then you have elitist lines like,
? . . . they could never understand / All the foreign concepts in my mind,? and that needling touch of hypocrisy where some
songs appear to encourage individuality and resentment of a conformist and judgemental mindset, while others deride yuppies
and college students in the very same way ?THE KIDS? are looked down upon by mainstream adult society. With Mobilize I was
left with the very distinct impression that the entire project ran along the lines of, ?Here, let me write you directions
on how to think for yourself . . .? With Life, Love . . . that impression is not quite as indelible, but it still remains.
And my opinion is still no, thank you. *
A-F Records - www.a-frecords.com - P.O. Box 71266, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213
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THE SNAKES -
Anything billed partially as ?folk-rock influenced funky rock? is bound to trigger a little skepticism on my part, but fortunately
The Snakes have a glamorously wasted groove that makes them well worth a listen. Some of the best here are the Floyd/Warlocks
psychedelic strain of the instrumental opener ?Hourly, Nightly,? the luxurious fuckpiece ?Little Deaths,? ?Happy,? and the
beautiful drift of the deep bass & glimmering guitar of the bonus love song. There?s even a bit of glam strut with ?Scene
From a Cadillac.? ?Jesus? Son? sounds like pure rock star posturing however, and The Snakes are none too shy about borrowing
musical influences from the Sixties & Seventies ? just play this and see if the image of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and Leonard
Cohen getting caught in bed together doesn?t pop into your mind. But that?s all right, it is an album that sounds for the
most part like it?s all about getting it on. And that ain?t a bad thing. Bitchin? interior foldout art as well. * * *
The Committee to Keep Music Evil / Bomp! Records - www.bomp.com/Committee.html - P.O. Box 7112, Burbank, CA, 91510
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SOMEHOW HOLLOW: Busted Wings and Rusted Halos -
Shudder � another entire album of generic sound-alike emo-metal/wusscore crap about breaking up with some chick, played by
young tattooed boys whose weak sentimentality borders on religious mania. One of the few discs played here that actually merits
a negative rating. (Shudder.) 0
Victory Records - www.victoryrecords.com - 346 N. Justine St., Suite 504, Chicago, IL, 60607
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STAVESACRE: Stavz?a?ker -
This is one of those odd releases that will have a couple of beautiful standout songs on it but when listening to the rest
of the crap on the album you can?t understand how it all managed to come from the same band. Stavesacre?s methodical and impassioned
approach to their deliberately paced metal shines most brightly on the opening ?Witch Trial,? with its wave-like chording
and soaring chorus, and the effusive anguish of ?Why Good People Suffer.? But the majority of the album steps down from these
heights into a pretty, glossy, professionally polished display that sounds aimed more at moderate Top 40 airplay than honest
expression. Some of Stavz?a?ker falls straight into a made-for-MTV soft metal ballad category (?Alice Wishlist?), while other
songs are pure disposable pop metal (?Island?) or worse (the weepy ?Yes?). The flashy production, moderate vocal range, and
affectation presented here give Stavesacre something of a Creed-like quality, which is not a good thing. If it weren?t for
the two previously mentioned close-to-great tracks I?d have to place this one on the skeet pile, but as it is I?ll have to
go middle-of-the-road. * *
Nitro Records - www.nitrorecords.com - 7071 Warner Ave., F, PMB 736, Huntington Beach, CA, 92647
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SUBINCISION -
More Berkeley punk, clattery mid-paced 3-chord stuff with Clash & Dead Kennedys influences. Some goofy obnoxious shit here,
which at least indicates the band doesn?t take itself too seriously, and although the frequently non-linear and non-traditional
song structure rambles a bit in an irritating way it is, literally, a change of pace. Songs about shows, booze and dope, brats,
and farm animal fucking are fair, ?Army Life? and ?Trashman? are pretty good, but uh-oh, ?(I want to be Jack) Kerouac!? Not
the total shitpile I was expecting after the first song, but not a number I?d spin on a regular basis. Your call, punk. *
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Substandard Records - www.substandard.com - P.O. Box 310, Berkeley, CA, 94701
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tmcrites@earthlink.net
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