Sandwiches (the) - Rock On Scubatron

Name: The Sandwiches
Album: Rock On, Scubatron
Year: 1998
Style: Twee Pop, Indie Pop, Geek Pop
Similar Bands: Belle & Sebastian, Ed's Redeeming Qualities, Mosquitoes, Imperial Teen, Soul Coughing, Rentals, Lincoln, Bicycle, They Might Be Giants
"One-Word" Review: Cutsey Juvenile Care Free Pop
Based Out Of: Minneapolis, MN
Label: Edible Records

Cover, Fold Our & Tray

Back, CD, Phots & Liner Notes

Rock On, Scubatron (1998)

1. Good Morning (Alright) 3:25
2. Get Down 3:32
3. Lucy Vittucci 4:19
4. Mermaid 4:51
5. Panic Girls 2:42
6. G-Spot Lamar 4:54
7. Horizontal 3:51
8. To Be Mine 1:52
9. Sonnet 29 3:41
10. Big Mouth 2:25
11. Get With You '98 3:42
12. Rockstar Sportscar 7:43 (Bonus tracks: Sandwiches / Glen the Ape)

Album Rating (1-10): 7.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Lord Ludicrous (Bryan Loften) - Vox, Guitar, Trombone
• D, - Trombone, Emcee
• Lila Karash Guitar, Guiboard, Vox (Chinch Bugs, 13 Hertz)
• Abraham Lincoln - Trumpet
• The Sexman (Jim Sexton) - Drums, Vox, Coronet (Chinch Bugs)
• Flavia Medeiros - Vox, Percussion 
• Louise (Sherman) Rocks - Bass, Vox (Chinch Bugs)
• Joey Molland - Guitar (Badfinger, Natural Gas, John Palumbo, John & Mary, John Lennon Plastic Ono Band, George Harrison, Chinch Bugs, Alias Smith & Jones, Eric Clapton)
• Bob Davis - Shakespeare
• DJ Scubatron (Christian Fritz) - Skratching
• Amy Olinger - Flute
• Jenny Loop (Loupe) - Oboe (Chinch Bugs)
• Abers - Sandwich Security
• Terry - Honz the Clown
• Glenn - Glenn the Ape
• Jeff - Chicken Man
• Bahama Donna - Sugar Momma
• Pak - Webmaster
• Eck - Loan Shark
• Mar(k)s Healey - Engineering, Mixing
• Doug Wild - Mastering
• Steve La Bore - Design, Illustration, Lay-Out
• Chris Hansen  - Design, Illustration, Lay-Out
• Jeff L Johnson - Design, Illustration, Lay-Out
• Amy Winning - Manufacturing Consultant

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band, but they look like a bunch of fun, lovable goofs, from the costumed headshots and names in the liner notes. From the name and artwork, i'm guessing it will be nerdy, Beatle-y pop. The notes suggest there can be big production with non-standard instruments and the band photos number 7, so as much as I feel it will be stripped down and personal lo-fi, i have to imagine the sound is bigger & catchier.

Album Review: They are a diverse band within the catchy pop genre, where the first track has a Belle & Sebastian sound, the second track has a Soul Coughing / Rentals vibe. Overall it's a quite nerdy, happy-go-lucky pop style of music (with some record scratching), in a dad-jokes, cleverly embarrassing way. Best comparison I can get is something between Imperial Teen and They Might Be Giants. But with some teenage-like sexual frustration/exploration.

They apparently had a fun, entertaining and randomly chaotic live show, where they wore costumes and would hand out sandwiches to the audience. 

Stand Out Track: Good Morning (Alright)

Links:
Spotify

Discogs

Allmusic
Face Book
SC Times

SC Times #2
Youtube - full album

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Jaxsta

Blister Rust - Who's Gonna Scratch Your Itch?!!

Name: Blister Rust
Album: Who's Gonna Scratch Your Itch?!!
Year: 1998
Style: Aggressive Rock
Similar Bands: Ugly Kid Joe, Animal Bag, Janes Addiction, Fungo Mungo, Candlebox, Green Jelly, Twisted Sister
"One-Word" Review: your dirty friend's HS band who took last place at a battle of the bands competition
Based Out Of: NYC
Label: Thundermug Records,

Cover, Liner Notes, Back

Lyrics, CD, Tray Artwork

Who's Gonna Scratch your Itch?!! (1998)

1. V-8 4:05
2. Age 2:38
3. Nail Me Down 3:26
4. Mrs. Christ 3:13
5. Answer to You  5:41
6. Winter 4:34
7. Recycle Me 4:23
8. Storyteller 5:22
9. Cleansing 5:03
10. NBC 3:30

Album Rating (1-10): 3.5

Members & Other Bands:

• Steve French "Colonel Dad"- Producer
• Terry Toajin - Percussive Noise, Backing Vox
• Otto Spumo - Guitar Noodling, Backing Vox
• Rx Rasputin - Vox
• Dug Spoon - Bass Cement, Backing Vox
• Peter Moshay - Mixing, Engineering
• John Hopkins - Engineering
• N.S. "Buck' Brundage - Guitar Amp Consultant / Tech
• Mark Wilder - Mastering
• Andriana Meyer - Cover

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band. From the tagged corpse imagery, the font of the logo and the tracks, i'm going to guess this is a border band between Nu Metal and Pop-Punk...I'm thinking like Sum 41or a less accessible Goldfinger. 1998 fits that style guess, too.

Album Review: The record starts out aggressive, angry but not as dense as expected. Sounding like a bad and very off key Ugly Kid Joe. They try the Sam Kinison yelling vocals, but coupled with the verse vocals, it doesn't sound good. Music wise, they use driving short guitar licks, and a few metal guitar solo sections, but overall, it sounds like your dirty friend's band, who's totally gonna make it.

Blister Rust is not just some "cool" sounding word salad. It is a disease originating in Asia that affects plants, specifically White Pines. They band, however, does not have much info on them out there. They had one album before this one, and planned to release a third in 2000, but that never seemed to materialize.

Stand Out Track: Mrs. Christ

Links:

Discogs

Allmusic

Soundclick

Twitter
facebook

Yperano

Rate Your Music

DJ Spooky (That Subliminal Kid) presents Haunted Battle Breaks

Name: DJ Spooky 

Album: Haunted Battle Breaks

Year: 1998

Style: Hiphop/Triphop, DJ, Electronic, Experimental

Similar Bands: Tricky, X-ecutioners, Jurassic 5, Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, Badawi, Aphex Twin

One Word Review: Haunting Collage of Steady Break Beats.

Based Out Of: Washington DC

Label: Liquid Sky Music, Home Entertainment

 Haunted Battle Breaks - Cover, Record

Haunted Battle Breaks - Back, Record

Haunted Battle Breaks (1998)

Album Rating (1-10): 5.0

Members & Other Bands:
Paul D'Shonne Miller (DJ Spooky / That Subliminal Kid) - Writer, Composer, Producer, Performer (the Alchemist)
Dan Yashiv - Engineer
Chris Flam - Compiler (Matthew Shipp)

Unknown-ness: I had heard of DJ Spooky, but I am not familiar with his music or style (or even that familiar with his genre). Figured I'd pick this up when I saw it in a thrift store and see if it was interesting at all.

Album Review: DJ Spooky, AKA That Subliminal Kid (name taken from the William S Burroughs book “Nova Express,” is a DC native, and has been making experimental, electronic music and spinning trip hop since 1996. As he has flown somewhat under the radar, he has worked with a great many people, is the executive editor of Origin Magazine (Art, Music, Humanitarianism, Sustainability, etc.) and is a professor of music/meditated art at the European Graduate School.

Since are no song tracks or names, I’ll be reviewing the album in full, with the style breaks where I can figure them out.

The record starts with a couple of samples scratched. Starting with vocals and flowing into a hip hop song. Then a steady drum-cymbal-woodblock hip hop beat flows steadily. My knowledge of this genre and other examples of it is depressingly low, so I’ll just equate this to a Beastie Boys rhythm for about 3 min.
The beat and rhythm becomes funkier, pulsing jazz horn, akin to James Brown. The beat is skipped and scratched rhythmically, and other funky “Fatboy Slim” effects are thrown over top, like a swirling Doppler effect, and bucket drum beats.
The “third” section begins with another vocal sample scratching, followed by repeating eerie space effects. A skipping bass heavy drumbeat stutters and hobbles along in tip-hop style.
Part four begins with scrabbling, paper crunching effects that birth a muddled, back skipping drum beat.

The next shift begins with some eerie horror movie atmospheric notes, and after a bit of skip-scratching, bombards the listener with an energetic, in your face, skittering drum beat.  It ends with an Atari-like bomb-drop trill.

Section six is slow moving at first, sounding like static electricity focused through a zoob-tube. The sound grows and fades, and halts suddenly,

Shifting to what could be called a war-scape. A windy echoing void is filled with artillery fire, non-steady percussion and chimes that fade in and out on repeat.

More vocal and song samples begin the next track, with “We Gonna Get Ya” followed by voices, some with a beat, followed by a flat siren. Chaotic samples feed in one after another, with popping bubbles filling the space along with screams, quotes, footfalls and other war-oriented effects. Basically, the track comes off like channel surfing, but has a unifying, underlying meaning. This is basically an audio collage. Crowd cheers bleeds into electronic pulses that begin phase two of the collage. There are some haunted themes, along with war, and hip hop that make up the overall soundscape.

Side B starts with gunshots, bubbles and a haunted organ. More channel surfing effects like an old modem dial-up and hip-hop lines transition to a steady, jazzy dance-hop beat with some punctuating synth breaks.

A light breezy hook, followed by a vocal quote leads into another drum and racket ball beat.

Some tape rewind effects lead to a jazzy background to accompany an olde-timey vocal, which is then supported by old-time music, like a broken down take me out to the ball game and other rewinding effects.

This short segment is then replaced by a darker drum beat, with an echoing shock-synth break effect. Second verse incorporates funky bass, various classic hip hop samples: scratches and vocal samples. It ends abruptly, and some scratching intros the next track.

More tape rewinding effects are featured, and a couple haunting vocals, which leads to a steady, haunting reggae beat. It stops abruptly

Pipe percussion comes on next, and is replaced by a jazz-heavy, high hat drum beat. Thicker bass beats are added overtop, and the song cruises along steadily.

The song shifts, and an echo-fading sad siren repeats high and low octaves, supported by a back skipping, trippy drum beat.  The beats stop for a moment, but kick back in after one combo-rep of the siren.

The last track is not too much different than the one right before it, but the production is more industrial, and the deep bass rumbling percussion bubbles along, replacing the octave shifting siren. The whole album ends with a sudden halt of all instrumentation.

Stand Out track: A-5 (or A-6?)

Links:
Discogs
website
Wiki
Twitter
Facebook
Allmusic
egs faculty page

Drunk - To Corner Wounds

Name: Drunk

Album: To Corner Wounds

Year: 1998

Style: Minimal Indie Folk

Similar Band: Smog, Sparklehorse, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, World/Inferno & Ween Slow stuff.

"One-Word" Review: Rustic-Frozen-Somber-Folk

Based Out Of: Richmond, VA

Label: Jagjaguwar

 To Corner Wounds - Cover, Liner Notes, Record, JagJagwuar Insert

 To Corner Wounds - Back, Liner Notes, Record, JagJagwuar Insert

Lyrics (by request) to Andrei Rublev

Full Lyrics: Now with a better phone camera!

To Corner Wounds (1998)

1. Carved Slope 2:35
2. Council's Lawn 4:29
3. Andrei Rublev 5:19
4. The Peeled Birch 2:17
5. Epoxy 2:56
6. As We Go Down Together 1:48/
7. The Bark of My Body 3:03
8. Spit 3:27
9. Rake 5:55
10. Bonitov 3:27
11. Montana Delight 1:26
12. Cold Eel 1917 2:51

Album Rating (1-10): 5.0

Members & Other Bands:

Rick Alverson - Vox, Guitar (Manishevitz, Spokane)

Via Nuon - Guitars, Bass, Slide, Banjo, Vox (Manishevitz, Bevel, Spokane)

J.T. Yost - Accordion, Piano, Harmonica, Magnus Organ

Russel Cook - Drums
Clancy Fraher - Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Cicadas, Bass, Vox, Tape DJ, Slide
Brent Lambert - Mastering
Cal Gardner - Clarinet
Steve Pletch - Drums
Joe Nio - Violin
Mr. Blasco - Flute
Bill Russel - Wurlitzer Organ
Kendra Feather - Vox
Patrick Kavanagh - Pennywhistle

Unknown-ness: I've never heard of this band. Picked up the record in a dollar band in a hipsterry record store. From the look of the record, I imagine it to be some sort of acquired taste, snotty chamber pop. But then again, they have a counter stuck-up name, Drunk. So I still think it will be ambiently modest in production, but might not be as pretentious as I’d imagine from the front & back old-timey artwork.

Album Review: “Carved Slope” starts with a lullaby of guitar and bass, with a cicada chirp in the background that fades in and out, giving the sense of nighttime out in a woodsy summer night. It feels like a somewhat progressive Ween song…like it might break into “right to the ways and the rules of the world”

“Council's Lawn” starts with a deepish, nasally vocal that sounds to be on live support. The slightly medieval musical accompaniment is dark, slow and steady with some woodwinds bringing a sad refrain. The instrumental end of the song is like an eastern European, Russian or Yiddish dance number.

“Andrei Rublev” also begins with sad, somber and quiet guitars. The same wavering vocals then begin in short phrased segments. I do get a similarity to a broken down, minimal slow World Inferno Friendship Society song. The strings come to the front of the song with an Irish style melody for a short segment. The song remains interesting the whole time, despite its lack of energy. It features many musical changes and melodies that keep it fresh.

“The Peeled Birch” with its plucked strings, and addition of organ bring the somber and rustic melody to life. It has a very rural country feel to it, as if it were the background music for a carriage ride from farm to farm on a bleak, cold, overcast day.

“Epoxy” continues the same sentiment, as if the album is one long, wintery, bleak track. The plucked string are like pin-pricks of cold. The flute paints a picture of a single human huddled for warmth playing in isolation.

“As We Go Down Together” begins with a single organ note and is already more upbeat than the rest of the album. The keyboard plays a looping melody that has some Welsh characteristics and is uplifting, even with the static found sound vocal track underneath, like samples of audio while flipping through tv stations. Thus, without vocals, it is basically an instrumental track.

“The Bark of My Body” begins side two with the slow, plodding tempo of near frozen joints trying to move but stumbling. The static vocals are layered underneath, and the Harmonica carries the supporting melody.

“Spit” contains the same fragile vocals we’ve had the whole time, but this time, they are “harmonized” by a second vocal. The side to side swaying is not as bleak as the rest of the album, but still does not posess any energy. This is an album to fall asleep to.

“Rake” has an eerie, wispy start, and blossums into a slowly building melody. This song really reminds me of something Ween would do, like the Argus mixed with Cold Blows the Wind. Half way through the song, the recorder/flute is brought in to accompany the melody, giving the song an Irish and Asian feel simotaniously. The melody is then replaced by a harmonica, and the rustic, mid west feeling is back. It is a melody that could repeat forever, but at one point it just ends and is bookended with the same eerie effects from the beginning.

“Bonitov” does noting to change the album’s mood, except its melody is carried along with a plucked banjo. The song has a bounce to it that is barely detectable, but I could hear this being the background to a slow & tedious Man Man song.

“Montana Delight” is a somewhat upbeat country and western song. It is a true campfire, jugband western song, rather than an awful radio developed twang monstrosity. But the song still carries an dark underbelly, mainly thanks to the fragile vocals.

“Cold Eel 1917” ends the album with the general album vibe of minimal slow, somber countryside funeral music. Like an old tyme funeral, the music does become more jovial, to celebrate life rather than just morn the loss of it. This song captures both excited and sad tones as the album comes to a close, making it representative for the entire album.

Stand Out Track: Montana Delight 

Links:
Jagjaguwar

I Hate the 90's

Discogs

sctas

Rhapsody

Jesse Poe
Allmusic

IDA Sessions - s/t

Name: Ida Sessions
Album: S/T
Year: 1998
Style: Electro Noise
Similar Bands: Sonic Youth, Early Flaming Lips, Braniac, Enon
"One-Word" Review: musical equivilant-to-ghostchild-horror-movies
Based Out Of: Portland, OR
Label: Red Alert Works

Ida Sessions - Cover & Record
Ida Sessions - Back & Record

Ida Sessions (1998)

1. Depth Charger 6:20
2. Dog Race 4:48
3. Give Us The Crystals 4:26/
4. Sick Man Of Asia 11:02
5. Time To Die 4:04

Album Rating (1-10): 5.5

Members & Other Bands:

Summer Mastous - Piano, Organ & Synth (the Fisticuffs Bluff, Octant, Miranda July, Love as Laughter)

Donovan Skirvin - Guitars, Vox, Cover Art & Design (Skurvy Dog Design) (Miranda July)

Tobyn McCormick- Drums & Casio (Kill Me Tomorrow)

Don Godwin - Producer, Recording, Mastering (Red Alert Works record label)

Unknown-ness: I had never heard of these guys. I saw the record in a thrift store, and got it…because…well, I don’t really know exactly why. The design looks cheap and amateurish in a bad way, and there are only 5 songs, all of them over 4 minutes, with one clocking in over 11 minutes: usually not my cup of tea. Plus, all the songs were recorded in 1997, so the genre could be anything from experimental to hard core to new age. I do like the song name “Give Us the Crystals” though. I did not realize until I did a little research that the name Ida Sessions was taken from the movie Chinatown, so not all bad. And in other movie tie-ins, two of the three guys worked with Miranda July, director of "Me You and Everyone We Know" on her album before this release. But it is not a long album, so it can’t be that much of a waste of time if it turns out bad.

Album Review: Reading the reviews, I’ve seen that this is categorized as a theatrical, crackling dark rock and art-punk. Lets see if I can review this without pushing into these specific categories.

“Depth Charger” fades in with some off key evil electronic work, a distant echoing drum beat and electro fuzz. The vocals are begging and shrill at times, like an abducted victim crying for her release. My first thought is Sonic Youth, with the slightly melodic structure buried under fuzz and echoing feed back. The song’s pace is somewhat driving with sudden breaks of form and what sounds like vocals gurgling up from the bottom of a murky lake. The driving fuzz comes back with the whining vocals. The Buzzing and driving music that picks up after it sounds like the song ended remind me a lot of Braniac. Then the tempo changes with help and guidance from a dark, eerie piano base into a wobbling bowling pin: thick and dense and ready to topple. This reminds me a little of when I saw Deerhunter live…except that they sucked and this is a better, more dynamic and way more interesting.
“Dog Race” starts with deep echoing bass sounding like it is played with a bow. A general omnipresent hum is in the background. A pleasant piano is played, giving direction and way to the fast vocals. The fuzz and noise is poured on top of the general piano melodies, which are given the chance to emerge every once in a while. The vocals remind me a lot of Tim Taylor from Braniac and John Schmersal from Enon. There are many little vocal sections just thrown together and overlaid across the piano and fuzz background, which itself, stays pretty consistent.
For the first few seconds, “Give Us The Crystals” displays a happy piano played at a distance, and in echo, but is masked with dark emotions and effects from the self-made music environment. The vocals are an emo-shouting, partly in monotone pitch, but not over-bearing, and occur at a distance too. The music drifts in and out of chaos, with the presence of bass added. The song collapses around 3:15 to a slow-down spiral, with a children’s piano effect brought to the front. Eventually the spiral burns out with a few final crashing instruments, and the ghostly remains of the piano and keyboard.

“Sick Man Of Asia” needs preparation to endure the long 11+ minute track. But as it begins, feedback hum fades up, and tinny metallic guitar echos away. The spooky repetitive keyboard/piano slams home the uncertainty of where you are. Vocals cry and spackle the song, as weeping reminders of spirits once here. It really does evoke a mystical, haunting spirit with the production. The vocals are so out of key, they are almost painful when they sing “It’s all over.” Eventually, you get used to the tone, and it weirdly melds into one complete soundtrack. Again, it sounds like the Enon/Braniac duo, or any new electro vocoder based fuzz bands out there today, in its urgency and vocal style. The second section of vocals is performed at a fun head nodding pace, and takes all the attention away from the swirling background and neurotic piano playing. Around 6 minutes, the building fuzz makes it seem like the track is going to end. But instead, a quieter section begins, with vocals like the stereotypical horror movie’s killer child spirit’s playground chanting. The song changes gears slightly as the piano becomes a crystal like repetitively cycle, and together with the vocals, the song gains something that might resemble hope. And noisy guitar feedback ends the song.
“Time To Die” begins with a gospel chorus chanting angelically. But 22 seconds later, the crashing guitars disturb the peace, and the two fight for the spotlight. A dark, evil sounding piano repeats over and over again, bringing increased stress and edginess to the voices which have triumphed over the guitar for the time being. But the keyboard’s intensity slowly builds, and it feels like the song may come crashing down at any second. Sure enough the metal, electric guitar returns and somewhat of a balance is reached. The guitar, over exerted, shuts down again for a shorter interval and hard core begins to win out over the gospel choir. But it is the chorus that has the last “la la la” on the album.

Stand Out Track: Dog Race

Links:

PDX Underground Art

Summer's WikiaSCUM page

Williamette Week Online 7-8-98

Kill Me Tomorrow review

Donovan: Portland's Best Cobbler

Donovan: Shoe Article

Miranda July's Album on Answers.com

54-40 - Since When

Name: 54-40
Album: Since When
Year: 1998
Style: College Radio / Alt-Folk
Similar Bands: REM, Hootie & The Blowfish, Gin Blossoms
One Word Review: country-REM-rock
Based Out Of: Tsawwassen, BC
Label: Columbia

Since When - Cover, Inside, Back & CD
Since When - Liner Notes, Lyrics & Tray

Since When (1998)

1. In Your Image 3:52
2. Lost & Lazy 3:18
3. Since When 4:14
4. I Could Give You More 3:31
5. You Should Come Over 3:37
6. Runaway John 2:18
7. Pay For Living 3:17
8. Angel In My Bed 3:24
9. Playground 2:24
10. Gereatest Mistake 3:27
11. Stormy 5:32
12. Last People On Earth 2:10
13. untitled #13 1:25

Album Rating (1-10): 6.0

Members & Other Bands:
Neil Osborne - Vox, Guitar (Loud Rangers)
Phil Comparelli - Vox, Piano, Guitar
Matt Johnson - Percussion, Drums (People Noise)
Brad Merrit -Bass, Synth
Camille Henderson - Vox
Finn Mannihe - String Arrangement
Joani Bye - Vox
Tania Hancheroff - Vox
GGGarth - Vox, Producer
Darren Grahn - Performance Recording
Randy Straub - Mixing
Howard Redkopp - Asst Recording
Matt Marteinsson - Asst Recording
Gary Winger - 2nd Engineer
Josh Straub - Tea
Howie Weinberg - Mastered
Mike Roth - Artist & Repertoire
Tanya Nagowski - Prod Coordinator
Dave Allen - Equipt Management, Transportation
Steve Goode - Design
David Anthony - Photography
Allen Moy - Management (Popular Front)
Ralph James - Booking

Unknown-ness: This was another part of the CD mail package from my friend. I've never heard of these guys. The cover makes me think of the 60 rock era, with the Columbia logo, inventory number, and stereo logo displayed prominently on the front. The picture on the back shows that they are not a young band, and I discovered more about that as I researched the links. This is far from their first album. I am expecting a well-oiled, rock band with somewhat stagnant music, and a tinge of country elements.

Album Review: “In Your Image” begins with an orchestral hum, and simple acoustic guitar picking and a maraca drum beat start the song off. At first note, I thought it was slightly Bob Dylan esq. The song is simple and folky with dual layered vocals at parts. Strings are included after a minute and a half. The melody is very catchy, and changes pace for different sections of the song. It feels sort of like a Celtic sing-a-along. “Lost And Lazy” follows with a more rock / alt-country / REM feel. The pace is not quick, but it has more energy and drive than the first song. REM is the perfect description for the song. “Since When” starts with a funky synthesizer hook that reminds me of “Green Onions.” It feels like a 60’s rock song until it gets to the over-produced chorus. There is that classic organ sound from the keyboards, and the go-go beat help with the imagery. “I Could Give You More” begins with acoustic guitar, then piano is added behind it creating a slow ballad. It picks up a bit in the instrumental, and couples it by adding female vocals, which also layer with the main vocals as the song ends. “You Should Come Over” feels like the Gin Blossoms a bit, with the sound of the guitar and relaxed vocals. The vocals are nearly anthemic. “Runaway John” is a dark song with guitar and dual male/female vocals only. It kinda feels like a demo or a half finished song that you expect to kick in at any minute, but never does. “Pay for Living” begins with the annoying alt-country guitar that played in a loop. It never really gets better from there, feeling like a Hootie & The Blowfish song. “Angel In My Bed” starts as a deep vocal song, featuring rhythm acoustic and countrified electric guitars. But the regular vocals return after the first verse. “Playground” has country vocals, but is all piano & bass musically. Again, it feels like an unfinished demo, ready to kick in at any moment. The only thing that kicks in is an orchestral string arrangement, which slows the song down even further. “Greatest Mistake” slowly rises in volume, and the music and backing vocals come in creating a swaying shanty of a drinking song. “Stormy’s” quiet acoustic introduction only picks up in volume and a bit in strength by the chorus, but it still drags its feet, waiting for the strings to catch up. It slowly builds, but never really amounts to anything memorable. “Last People On Earth” starts as a quiet, revolving song save the guitar buzz in the very beginning. It becomes a bouncy poppy song, complete with hand claps, but is drenched one distorted guitar effect. It winds down the way it begins into the “Untitled Track” which sounds like an orchestra warming up, and is mainly just quiet piano and a trumpet communicating. Nothing worth hanging on for.

Stand-Out Track: Since When

Links:
54-40 - allmusic
54-40 - myspace
54-40 - wikipedia
54-40 - official site
54-40 - lost & lazy site
54-40 - Youtube video vault
54-40 - Bio

Co-Ed - Sometimes Always, Maybe Never

Name: Co-Ed
Album: Sometimes Always, Maybe Never
Year: 1998
Style: Pop-Punk
Similar Bands: Greenday, Veruca Salt, Blink 182, Juliana Hatfield, Hagfish, Jane Anchor
"One-Word" Review: Girly-Poppy-Punk
Based Out Of: California
Label: Cool Guy Records, 

SAMN - Cover & Back

SAMN - Inside

SAMN - Record

Sometimes Always, Maybe Never (1998)

1. My Escape 3:10 (sample)
2. From Afar 2:06 (sample)
3. X-Files Addict 3:31 (sample)
4. Unlucky 2:37 (sample)
5. For You 1:36 (sample)
6. Aware 2:19 (sample)
7. If I Ran the Zoo 2:53 (sample)
8. Rub 1:40 (sample) /
9. Progress 2:34 (sample)
10. Always 3:11 (sample)
11. Vacationing 1:41 (sample)
12. 5th Level Thinking 3:04 (sample)
13. A Satirical Dedication 2:25 (sample)
14. Grounded 3:44 (sample)
15. Postscript 2:00 (sample)
16. accoustic bonus track 2:08

Album Rating (1-10):
9.0

Members & Other Bands:
Mac Thmopson - Guitars & Vox, Production Asst.
Kathy Cagigas - Vox
Waleed Rashidi - Drums, Additional Guitars & Bass (Revolution Mother, Jr. Juggernaut)
Jeff Hancock - Bass
"E" - Produeced & Mixed
Paul Miner - Produeced & Mixed
Charlie Watts - Mastered
Jeff Caudill - Artistic Assembly
Jason Lee - Band Members Photos

Unknown-ness: Never heard of these guys. I found the record at a thrift store, and had to match the record up with the sleeve because they were in different places. But I liked the white vinyl, and the home movie quality of the photographs. I imagined this to be some sort of smarty pants indie band.

Album Review: The guitars that begin "My Escape" are very much like Blink-182's pop-punk style. But those fall off quickly, and the sound becomes a Greenday-like wall of sound. Fast chord changes, and down-scale Aye-yeayee-yeayee's end phrases. The music is like that of a good cheesesteak or a White Castle burger: it has one complete taste. You cannot divide out the individual ingredients that make the meals; they all form one great taste. The sound from Co-Ed is like that. Sure, you can pick out the drums, the guitars and bass, but together they create one stream of sound. "My Escape" is a classically structured pop-punk song. As is "From Afar" which utilizes a double layered, call and response female chorus, and a male-female layered verse. But the ingenious aspect is that even over top of the male-female verse, a stronger female lead is layered still. And the song itself is catchy as hell, propelled by the guitar hooks & bouncy bass. "X-Files Addict" begins with an audio clip of Mulder & Scully. Unfortunately, this song dates the record, but it is still a strong pop-punk song, structured like a top 40 radio hit. Many bands try for the pop-punk recipe, and many times, the bands fall to either side...it is hard to find such a well-balanced middle ground as Co-Ed displays on this record. Blistering paced music, and fast drumming thrust the songs forward, but both the happy sound that comes out of the guitars and Kathy's voice are cheerful, catchy and non-threatening like a pop song should be. But still, the sound comes out as one element, and perhaps that is a compliment to the production department. Even if the style and subject material are dated, the sound is timelessly enjoyable. "Unlucky" starts off like a Ned's Atomic Dustbin song. It maintains the pace, but features middle sections that slow down, only returning for a quick delivery. "For You" and most of these are songs that you could hear being played more angrily by bands like Rancid and NoFX, but Co-Ed proves there is no need for that extra aggression if it is not genuine. "Aware" is another song that could be a Greenday number from start to finish. The song has some nice pace changes that makes it feel like a roller coaster. "If I Ran the Zoo" starts off slow with three notes on guitar and bass, picks up a hair, and then breaks through the wall like the Kool-Aid man, with its driving force. "Rub" takes advantage of the guy and girl vocals paired up to give depth and dimension to the song. This sounds like a Goldfinger song, but the guy's vocals are similar to Billie Joe from Greenday.

"Progress" starts side 2, and the chugging guitars and catchy music reminds me now of Hagfish. Especially the breakdown toward the end, with vocals paced by a drum, and launching back into the music before a quick ending. "Always" starts with a minute and a half of studio recording a silly cover of G N' R's patience. It would seem that the singer did not know she was being recorded, but they decided to keep it for the album anyway. Because it is silly and playful, and adds a nonchalant, care-free element to the band's repertoire. The song then begins with another rolling, driving wall of sound, the singing is more choppy than before, but still catchy as it follows the melody. "Vacationing" follows it up: another short song, but full of sing-song energy. "Fifth Level Thinking" is the dark track on the album, with deeper vocals and guitar...at least until the upbeat chorus hits, which is happy pop-punk. But overall, the song does have a dark tone. "A Saterical Dedication" is sung with male leads, and again, we are treated to the whiny Green Day-like voice. But the song is the most sinisterly metal song on the album. And there are female vocals in the background. "Grounded" is their ballad, which sounds more like Juliana Hatfield (and Jane Anchor) than any punk song. The sound is not as thick, and there are male call back vocals in support of the lead. The drums and bass are slower (but they are not slow). The chorus is emotionally heightened, but it stays in pop ballad control. The energy picks back up in the Blink-182 ish "Postscript." Alternating driving and start/stopping guitars guide the song. Finally there is a bonus acoustic track to end the record. It took me a while to figure this was a bonus, unlisted track, because I had the song numbering and lengths all mixed up. But the song illustrates the lighter, demo side of the band; the Unplugged version if you will. It just feels like it is going to take off at any moment, but it is acoustic all the way through. I'm sure this is an acoustic version of one of their songs that they usually play loud, perhaps from a different record.

The album is really a lot of fun, easy to listen to, and very enjoyable. It is the best combined elements of pop and punk, and great example of that style. Her voice is equally capable of singing and cruising over the fast changes in a punk melody.

Stand Out Track:From Afar

Links:
Co-Ed - allmusic
Co-Ed - amazon.com.
Co-Ed - CD Universe
Co-Ed Interview: aversion
Jr. Juggernaut - Myspace
Jr Juggernaut - Co-Ed mentioned
Waleed Rashidi's web page
Waleed Rashidi Interview
Co-Ed Blog article
Co-Ed on Last FM
Full YOUTUBE Album