Radioactive Cats - s/t

Name: Radio Active Cats
Album: s/t
Year:1991
Style: Roots Rock, Hair Metal, Blues
Similar Bands: Mr. Big, Blasters, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cheap Trick, Tesla, Primal Scream
"One-Word" Review: Swamp Hair Metal
Based Out Of: Burbank, CA
Label: Warner Brothers, WEA Manufacturing

CD

Radio Active Cats (1991)

1. Shotgun Shack 4:54 (single)
2. Hold On Tight 3:27
3. Bed of Roses 4:45 (single)
4. Finger in the Pie 4:55
5. Standin' in the Rain 4:24
6. Love Razor 4:18
7. Cry on My Shoulder 3:48
8. Think About Love 3:29
9. Cheap Mascara 4:28
10. Knock Knock 3:56
11. Wet, Hot Sweat 4:36

Album Rating (1-10): 6.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Andy Wallace - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
• Roberta Petersen - Executive Producer
• Shel Graves - Vox (TV in Flames)
• Michael Graves - Drums, Percussion, Vox (Broken Homes, Bang-Bang, Moccasoul, TV in Flames)
• Ian Espinoza - Guitar, Mandolin, Vox (The Breakaways, Dancer, Failsafe, Beachy & the Beachnuts, Honeys. James House, The Coup, TV in Flames)
• Ron Maldonado - Bass (Pappo's Blues)
• Michael Doman - Drums (Broken Homes, Goodie Mob)
• Joe Simon Seibert - Keys (Broken Homes, Rick Parker)
• Janet Levinson - Art Direction
• Andy Earl - Photos
• John Jackson - Asst Engineer
• Judy Kirschner - Asst Engineer
• Bernie Grundman - Mastering
  
  

Unknown-ness: I've never heard of this band...and since i only have the CD, there is not much to go buy. From the song names and the band name, plus year this was released, they sound like a made-for-tv metal band, like something that would have appeared on Married With Children. I know Andy Wallace's name from Faith No More producing and other bands of that type, so perhaps hair metal is spot on. And spacing matters with this band...as they are not the Radioactive Cats, they are Radio Active...as if they are dudes who are active on the radio.

Album Review: The songs are a touch southern roots rock while singing about metal themes of women, love on the run, and roses. The songs are not that threatening, but i wonder if that is just time and the genre pushing the bar up since 1991 that makes it sound almost quaint. "Knock Knock" sounds like a metal singer fronting Cake, which is strangely enjoyable. They suffered the wrong band at the wrong time syndrome, as Alt-Grunge was picking up speed just as they were releasing this debut. Not entirely hair band metal and not classic rock inspired grunge at all, their cover-all-basis music made them a band that was stopped before it started

Stand Out Track: Cheap Mascara (half of the song)

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Gaylor, Bobby - Fuzzatonic Scream

Name: Bobby Gaylor
Album: Fuzzatonic Scream
Year: 2000
Style: Spoken Word, Stories
Similar Bands: Jim Carroll, Dennis Leary
"One-Word" Review: Wankery Stories set to acoustic jazz
Based Out Of: Boston, MA
Label: Atlantic, WEA,

Cover, Lyrics, Back, CD Tray

Liner Notes, Pics, CD, CD back

Fuzzatonic Scream (2000)

1. Suicide - 6:27 (single)
2. One Moment 4:17
3. Hit a Guy With My Car 5:52
4. Smelt 4:03
5. Tommy the Frog Killer 8:08
6. Animals 5:48
7. Out the Window 6:06
8. Masturbation 4:20
9. Business End of a Gun 9:19
10. Suicide (Non-Explicit Version) 5:21

Album Rating (1-10): 2.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Bobby Gaylor - Words & Music
• Marc Bonilla - Producer, Arrangement, Music, Instruments (California Transit Authority, Keith Emerson Band, John Debney, Kevin Gilbert, Thomas Lang, Eddie Jobson, James Newton Howard, 3rd Matinee, Glenn Hughes, Masahiro Andoh, Lyden Moon, Eric Westphal, Jordan Rudess, Steve Porcaro)
• Don C Tyler - Mastering
• Michael Scott - Music, Instruments (Jeff Scott Soto, Koobaatoo Asparagus / Oasis of the Zombies)
• Bob Birch - Bass
• Joii Goodman - Backing Vox
• Nick Casinelli - A&R
• Doug Buttleman - Mgmt
• Elliot Groffman - Legal
• Jeff Newton - Production Manager
• Richard Bates - Art Direction
• Martin Ogolter - Art Direction & Design
• Gregg Roth - Cover Photo
• Michael Tweed - Photos
• Christian Staehr - Photos

Unknown-ness: I've never heard of this artist, but the photos make him look like an aging hipster, possibly an old punk frontman going out solo. Kind of an Elvis Costello vibe if he were trying to start a career in the 00's. The goatee screams some sort of previous life in rockabilly or ska.

Album Review: This is a bunch of self-wankery stories that the listener may or may not be able to associate with. Not poetry, more story slam songs with a noticeable Boston accent. The music accompanying the songs is a little jazzy maybe, but mostly generic acoustic Dave Matthews-y. Suicide is in poor taste, as half the monologue is about taking your life, and the other is about what you'd miss. And I had to skip past Tommy the Frog Killer...but i can guess where it was going.

Gaylor is an all-around media arts guy, including actor and stand up who moved from Boston to LA for his writing gig for the TV show Rosanne. He also voiced Buford van Stomm & wrote for Disney Channel's Phineas & Ferb. 

Stand Out Track: 

Links:
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IMDB
Phineas & Ferb Wiki

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Pop Matters

Tapes (the) - Party

Name: The Tapes
Album: Party
Year: 1980
Style: Post Punk, Punk, New Wave
Similar Bands: Talking Heads, Husker Du, XTC, Residents, The Jam, Wire, Television
"One-Word" Review: Disjointed Space-filled Angular Wave
Based Out Of: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Label: Passport Records, Jem Records, WEA

Cover, Sleeve, Record

Back, Lyrics, Record

Party (1980)

1. (I Fall) Head First 3:00
2. The Mating Season 3:48
3. Blue Thighs 2:55
4. Point Eighty Eight 3:38
5. Into Action 4:14 /
6. To Assemble 4:05
7. LG/DG 2:18
8. Lonesome Max 2:45
9. Party 3:20
10. In The Crocodile's Mouth 2:16
11. Inside Out 5:03 

Album Rating (1-10): 8.5

Members & Other Bands:

• Rolf Hermsen - Vox, Guitar, Cover Design (Mathilde Santing)
• Fred Hermsen - Mgmt, Writer
• Peter Meuris - Drums (Frits, Zonder Naam, Slagwerkgroep, Mathilde Santing, The Nits, Astrid Seriese, Julya Lo'ko, Trockener Kecks)
• Igor Roovers - Bass (Dynastie Van Oer)
• Michiel Brandes - Guitars (Mathilde Santing)
• Don Willard - Producer
• Angele Grevelink - Photos
• Peter O. Kapteijn - cover photo inspiration

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band. From the cover art (and back art, which is basically a cover for side two) of white outfits and ties, it would seem to project new wave. They look rather clean cut, so my guess is more to the synth side of new wave than dirty, hard, or blue collar new wave. 

Album Review: It's a tad funky, with some discordant, flat hooks similar to the Residents, and vocals similar to the Jam. They can be categorized right there in the middle of the new wave / post punk bridge. Lg Dg is quite frantic and a little spooky with the guitar sound meshed with the vocals.
Known as the Dutch Talking Heads for their first two records, this band from Amsterdam recorded 3 records, and took cues from the scene of XTC, Wire, and the aforementioned Talking Heads. This is the only of their records remastered & put to CD with bonus live tracks

Stand Out Track: Lg Dg, Into Action

Links:
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Allmusic
4 live tracks on Bandcamp
The Velvet Vox - in Dutch
No Longer Forgotten Music
Fredheadset - live recording
Rate your Music
Written in Music

Other Ones (the) - s/t

Name: The Other Ones
Album: s/t
Year: 1987
Style: Light Rock, Pop
Similar Bands: Sonic the Hedgehog sndtk, Thomas Dolby, Eurogliders, a-ha, Howard Jones, Eurythmics, ABC, Spandau Ballet, Animotion
"One-Word" Review: Overproduced 1-D pop
Based Out Of: Berlin, Germany
Label: Virgin, WEA, Atlantic

Cover, Record

Record, Back

The Other Ones (1987)

1. Holiday 3:32 (single)
2. Stay With Me (It's Not Forever) 3:28
3. We Are What We Are 4:25 (single)
4. Losing It 2:59
5. Moments 5:06 (single b-side) /
6. He's A Man 3:43
7. All That Love 3:15 (single)
8. All Day, All Night 5:07
9. It Makes Me Higher 3:38 (b-side single)
10. Stranger 3:47 (single)

Album Rating (1-10): 7.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Christopher Neil - Producer
• Simon Hurrel - Engineer
• Alf Klimek - Lead Vox (You Pretty Thing, Spliff, Alphaville, Klaus Baumagrt)
• Johnny Klimek - Bass (You Pretty Thing, Reinhold Heil, 030, Babyloon, Clemek, Effective Force, Holy Language, Pale 3, System 01, Nina Hagen Band, Franka Potente, Tykwer, Matador, Alphaville, Sir Simon Rattle)
• Uwe Hoffmann - Drums (Ca Lingo, King Kong, La Loora, Rockin' G & the G-Letters, White Russia, Zebra Zebra, Die Arzte, Silly, Nina Schultz, Wire, Wiglaf Droste & Bela B, Terrorgruppe, the Twins)
• Stephan Gottwald - Keys (Albert & the Heart of Gold, Zebra Zebra, Marian Gold, D Base 5, Spiro, Bobo in White Wooden Houses, Alphaville, 
• Andreas Schwarz-Ruszczynski - Guitar (Alphaville, Marian Gold, You Pretty Thing, Boy George, Trevor Horn, Klaus Schulze, Pet Shop Boys, Steve Lipson, Julian Mendelsen, Jack White, UKW, Albert & The Heart of Gold, Martin de Vries, Atlantic Popes, Andreas Feidbaumer)
• Jayney Klimex - Lead Vox (Alphaville, Marian, Bankstatement, Tony Banks, Tangerine Dream, Paul van Dyk, XII Alfonso, Terranova, You Pretty Thing, System 01, Simon Bonney, Johnny Logan, Atlantic Popes, Anita Lane, Xaver Von Treyer)
• Greg Fulginiti - Mastering
• Mike Schmidt - Cover
• Dieter Eikelpoth - Photos
• Margo Chase - Logo

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band. Their outfits (over-sized jackets with broad shoulders and fluffy mullets) scream mid-80's renaissance/jazz, and i'm getting a Shriekback vibe from the black & white photo. So i imagine this to be some weird overproduced chamber pop music or something.

Album Review: So the album is in fact quite overproduced in an ultra smooth synth way, but the record is very listenable compared to much of this era. It has enough catchy and lively song melodies buried beneath the extraneous guitar solos and synth sounds that don't quite sound like any instrument they are intending to mimic. The band consists of 3 Australian siblings and three German musicians who met after the Aussie family moved to Berlin in search of a European music break. They only have 2 albums and their big hit Holiday reached 29 on the US Billboard hot 100. Internationally, it was 22 in Switzerland, 13 in Austria, 10 in New Zealand and 4 in Germany. Johnny has made a career working in film and tv soundtrack composing, amassing credits for Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas, Sense8, Deadwood, One Hour Photo, and Land of the Dead.

Stand Out Track: It Makes Me Higher

Links:

Spotify full album
Wiki

Discogs

Allmusic

forever young 80s

tampa bay lost & found

Cosmic Meadows

Moonpools & Caterpillars - Lucky Dumpling

Name: Moonpools & Caterpillars

Album: Lucky Dumpling

Year: 1995

Style: Alternative

Similar Bands: Cranberries, Belly, Bjork, Velocity Girl, Veruca Salt, Letters To Cleo, Juliana Hatfield, Frente, Sixpence None the Richer

One Word Review: Hiccupy Alt-Pop

Based Out Of: Glendale/LA California

Label: Instant Record, Elektra, Warner Communications, Time Warner, WEA International, Eastwest

Lucky Dumpling - Cover, CD, Inner Photo and Back

Lucky Dumpling - Liner Song List, CD Tray

Lucky Dumpling - Lyrics

Lucky Dumpling - Lyrics

Lucky Dumpling - Liner Notes

Lucky Dumpling - (1995)

1. Hear 3:19
2. Ren 4:10
3. Soon 4:24
4. Trampleing Rose 4:20
5. Colossal Youth 3:51
6. Summertime 2:48
7. Heaven 3:52
8. Sundays 4:05
9. Traveling Song 3:57
10. The Buick 2:18
11. Koo Koo Koo 3:37
12. Jubilee 4:49
13. Crazy Old World 3:33

Album Rating (1-10): 7.0

Members & Other Bands:
Tim DePala - Bass

Jay Jay Encarnacion - Guitars (Fight, Tony Monaco, Brassknucks, Lost Sounds)

Kimi Ward - Vox, Harmonica

Gugut Salgodo - Drums & Percussion

Richard Gottehrer - Producer

Jeffery Lesser - Co-Producer, Recording, Mixing

John Yates - Engineer

Chris Laidlaw - Engineer

Greg Calbi - Mastering

John Heiden - Package Design

David Sheldon - Illustrations

Annalisa - Photography

Lara Hill - A&R

Scott Ross - Management

Unknown-ness: I must have read an article with them prominently displayed in CMJ Music Monthly back in 1995, because this has been sitting on my cd shelf for years, and I don’t remember why I bought it or what it sounds like. I do enjoy the Ren & Stimpy like Log advert artwork, and I appreciate the one band member wearing a Spam shirt…both of these things spoke to me back in 95. I expect it to be some sort of happy pop music, with fun, sweet hooks and polite accents. Maybe J-pop.

Album Review: M&C had minor success when they were first out in 95 when this album came out, but noting to hold the attention of the public or the record company. Some songs of theirs were used in commercials and movies, and they were one of the biggest bands of Philippine descent, featuring two heavy hitting producers (Gottehrer = Blondie, Go-Go’s & Lesser = Lou Reed, Barbara Streisand). The album is a product of its era, and was created to jump on the bill of bands with eccentric female vocals to acompany polite alternative-produced songs.

“Hear” was licensed by Volkswagen. It starts with a Ned’s Atomic Dustbin like bass line, and then crashes into a Letters to Cleo melody. There is a little Cranberries inflection in her voice, but the music is entergetic alt-pop.The vocals are also a little like Alanis Morsette. After 2 sections of verse chorus, the song lightens up and resets itself to rebuild into the chorus again. I remember this song after hearing it again now.

“Ren” begins like a Julianna Hatfield 3 song with a dreamy, loopy melody. The female vocals ride up and down in range at the chorus. This song is more dream pop, and lacks the energy of the first song. There are a lot of chosen hiccups in her voice, which give it almost a yodeling quality.  

“Soon” is brought in with a slow drum beat, and has more Irish style female vocal inflections, and the song floats along as a fuzzy ballad. The end of the song transforms her vocals with an echo enhancement and a harmonica is added to folk things up.

“Trampling Rose” keeps the moonlight ballad feeling going with this watery, row-boat at midnight acoustic guitar loop. The vocals to this song remind me of Juliana Hatfield and Frente. The chorus is a bit stompy and uses the hooting vocal explorations.

“Colossal Youth” begins very pop-punky with a fast, driving Blink 182-ish guitar hook. Once the vocals start, the instruments are pulled back, and gently added back in and it builds up to the chorus, which makes the song feel like something that would have been featured as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-Nightclub band. The instrumental is highlighted with the electric guitar echoing and playing with the established melody.

“Summertime” was used in Disney’s Babysitters club. It begins with the familiar “Low Rider” harmonic hook. Bass is the heavy carrier for this song, sounding a little like a New Order bassline. It gently glides along, threatening to rock out with energy, but never quite reaching the peak potential.

“Heaven” is a straight up ballad, with an acoustic guitars playing an “I can’t help falling in love with you” melody. The vocals are cutesy and full of life, and walking a fine line of country. This would be the slow dance at the rock show or middle school dance.

“Sundays” kicks in with conga drums, and a tribal chorus singing “Hey-Ya” in the background. The organic spirit is removed once the lead vocals come in. They are mixed up a little too shiny and bright, as the music takes a big back seat to their spotlight. I feel like I may have heard this song too, elsewhere in the past. After a couple of tramples through the verse chorus mix, the backing vocals are brought back to compete with the lead in a cohesive blend.

“Traveling Song” slows it back down with reserved vocals, and a slow, methodic melody. About 1:45, it kicks in (ever so slightly) with heavier guitars and drums, and she experiments with the rollicking and expressive mountain side vocals. The fuzzy guitars stick with the rest of the song, keeping the bar raised.

“The Buick” is a start stopping momentum song at its heart. For short periods, the fuzzy guitars and extra drum licks add in a constant tempo. The vocals, while still sung, are delivered with more of a spoken word, poetic delivery.

“Koo Koo Koo” is so much a jangly, college radio style song that I expect to hear Michael Stipe come in at any second. But after the intro, the guitars give way to vocals and bass/drum’s slow tempo movement. The jangles come back in to support the chorus, and cut out again when it gets to the next verse.

“Jubilee” is a light song with precious Juliana Hatfield style vocals, with a “Walk on the Wildside” bassline. The song jumps into the fast stream at about 2 minutes in with a quickly sung part with vocal skatting and instruments that match the pace and intensity. The song exhausts itself and retreats back to the calm intro style. It finds a middle ground of anthemic intensity and singing in the round to end the song.

“Crazy Old World” ends the album with a very quiet guitar intro and vocals that maintain a quiet volume with small bursts of emotional loudness. The second round of verse finds a jangly guitar and steady drum beat added. It builds to a Sixpence None the Richer climax and just ends the album there.

Stand Out Track: Hear

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Kara's Flowers - The Fourth World

Name: Kara's Flowers
Album: The Fourth World
Year: 1997
Style: Radio Pop
Similar Bands: Maroon 5, Weezer, Fountains of Wayne
"One-Word" Review: Many-Holds-Barred-Pop

Based Out Of: Los Angeles, CA
Label: Reprise, Time Warner, WEA International

The Fourth World - Cover, Liner Photos, CD, CD Inlay

The Fourth World - Back, Liner Photos & Notes

The Fourth World (1997)

1. Soap Disco 2:40
2. Future Kid 4:44
3. Myself 3:05
4. Oliver 2:38
5. The Never Saga 3:58
6. Loving the Small Time 3:32
7. To Her, With Love 2:52
8. Sleepy Windbreaker 3:05
9. Panty Queen 3:46
10. My Ocean Blue 3:11
11. Captain Splendid 5:59

Album Rating (1-10): 6.5

Members & Other Bands:

Rob Cavallo - Producer (Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, Michelle Branch)

Jerry Finn - Mixing, Engineering Mickey Madden - Bass (Maroon 5)

Jesse Carmichael - Guitar, Vox (Maroon 5)

Ryan Dusick - Drums, Percussion (Maroon 5)

Adam Levine - Vox, Guitar (Maroon 5)

Ken Allardyce - Engineering

Steve Howard - Engineering

Mark Agostino - Second Engineer

Billy Bowers - Second Engineer

Tony Flores - Second Engineer

Barry Goldberg - Second Engineer

Brandon Harris - Second Engineer

Bill Kinsley - Second Engineer

Josh Srebalus - Second Engineer

Mike "Sack" Fasano - Drum Tech

Mike "Micro" Shaw - Guitar Tech

Adam Day - Guitar Tech

Bob Ludwig - Mastering

David Campbell- String & Horn Arrangement

Roger Manning Jr - Keys

Cheryl Jenets - A&R Coordination

Katherine Delaney - Layout

Noah Gershman - Photography

Unknown-ness: I don’t really remember if I had heard of these guys before I bought the album. I got it from a clearance bin at a local record shop back in 1998 which let you listen to the CDs. I got this via my usual chain of events of looking through the bins for CDs that looked interesting, listened to them, and then I bought the best ones (3 for $8). Of course I could have heard one of their songs and then saw the name in the bin too. All I know is that I don’t know why I bought it, and I could not tell you one bit about this album’s sound. The packaging and artwork makes me think of Fountains of Wayne: primary color head shots of the band in suits, and on the back, the band in shadow atop of what appears to be a stadium. Looks good enough, but I’m really basing this on the fact that I must have listened to it and liked it enough to buy it. We’ll see if my listening prowess from over 13 years ago still holds true.

Album Review: Little did I know that this band would become the easy-to-hate Maroon 5. But I must have liked it for some reason…perhaps it is because Roger Manning Jr. plays keys on this, the same Roger Manning from Jellyfish (who apparently frequently works with this album’s mixing & engineering guy Jerry Finn) who I have loved since 1991.
“Soap Disco” was their “single.” And right off the bat, it sounds like Weezer with the catchy harmonic melodies of Fountains of Wayne. The vocals are harmonies and layered in the chorus, and the rest of the song has fuzz, but it is at a very anticipated and controlled level.
“Future Kid” begins at a quieter pace, a slow and reserved ballad that explodes with a pop version of shoe gazing fuzz and drone. But they do not sacrifice the harmonies and melody. The song has a light fakeness to it, where the mood and tone set feels superficial or hollow.
“Myself” has an unusual start-stop melody for the verse, and the chorus builds with harmonized vocals supporting the lead with la-la’s Again, like Fountains of Wayne combined with some green album Weezer.
“Oliver” drives and builds from the get go. It is a very fun pop song. Like an oldie in style sped up a bit and filtered through pop-punk mentality. Then the music backs away for a short, harmonizing show-tuneish section repeating “Oliver.”
“The Never Saga” is built as a complex, layered pop song. On one hand you have crunching guitars and grungy production. But the harmonies and light vocals give the image of a wimpy boy band. And added in the background is an orchestra of strings. The song then transitions into mostly clean and smooth production. And the orchestra takes a bigger, bolder part in the song.
“Loving the Small Time” is a trendy pop song, complete with non threatening vocals and continuous driving beat that give it a false perception that they might be a pop-punk band. It sounds generic, and if I knew what band it sounds like, I could not pick it out from a crowd of radio pop bands.

“To Her, With Love” is a lonely acoustic ballad, sounding a little like a slowed down “More Than Words.” Strings are added in the background to enhance the romance, but the song stays true to its style all the way through.
“Sleepy Windbreaker” becomes a pop song after 30 seconds of quiet, near empty space. Then it is a straightforward driving pop song without any hint of pop/punk elements and lots of harmonies, which even seem to be in overkill usage here.
“Panty Queen” has a slow beginning, but there is a chance that the song could take off. And when it does, it is a cocky, over aggressive melody. And then as if the song knows this, it backs off a bit. The melody reminds me of the verse in the cranberries’ song “linger.” By now, the vocals have become annoying in their pathetic-ness.
“My Ocean Blue” breaks tradition and is more like a sublime song, at least in the beginning, in the verse. The vocals sound like they are slightly echoing, and the guitar has the care free Sublime bounce to it. There is no fake edginess here though; this band leaves its nonthreatening poppiness clear for all to see.
“Captain Splendid” picks up without a break using the buoyant sailboat theme music as its basis. It is quiet and drifting. It gradually transitions to the feeling of being on a carousel in slow motion. There is a little likeness to Blur in the verse melody. Around 4:10, heavy carnival theme guitars pick up the slack, not deterring from the melody, just increasing its power and potency. The energy burns itself out, and the acoustic guitar ends things with a slowed up melody that winds down.

Standout Track: Soap Disco

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Alien Crime Syndicate - Dust to Dirt & From the Word Go

Name: Alien Crime Syndicate
Albums: Dust to Dirt~ From the Word Go*
Year: 2000~*
Style: Alt Rock
Similar Bands: OK Go, Weezer, Foo Fighters, Lit, Dramarama
"One-Word" Review: Frat-Boy-Fist-Pumping
Based Out Of: San Francisco, CA
Label: Collective Fruit~, Will Records*, ADA*, WEA*, Time Warner*

~Dust to Dirt - Cover, CD, CD Case

~ Dust to Dirt - Notes, Lyrics, Tray Picture

* From the Word Go - Cover, CD, Back

* From the Word Go - Notes, Lyrics, CD Tray

~Dust to Dirt (2000)

1. Take Me to Your Leader 3:51
2. What I Said 3:41
3. Outerspace 3:44
4. Some Kind of Way 3:24
5. I Want It All 3:12
6. Tripping Up to the Clouds 3:54
7. Nothing Beats the Surf In 2:12
8. Do It Again 2:46
9. Pimpin the Land 3:15
10. Here With You 3:47
11. Always Running 3:39
12. Atmosphere 3:54

*From the Word Go (2000)

1. Take Me to Your Leader 3:52
2. Land We Made Up 3:13
3. Supergirl 3:25
4. When I Get Home 3:54
5. Outerspace 3:46
6. Always Running 3:45
7. Trippin' Up to the Clouds 3:55
8. In A Dream 3:18
9. Atmosphere 3:50
10. Another Time 3:52
11. Everything Around 4:21
12. Earthgirls Are Cool 4:18
13. Revolving 4:20

Album Review (1-10): ~7.0
*5.5

Members & Other Bands:

Jeff Rouse - Bass, Vox~*Recording* (Loaded, Vendetta Red, Sirens Sister)

Joe Reineke - Vox, Guitars~*, Producer, Mixing~,Recording* (the Meices)

Jason Krevey - Guitars, Vox~* (U Catastrophe)

Nabil Ayers - Drums~* (Long Winters)

Jon Ervie - Assistant Engineer~

Jim DeVito - Mixing

Howie Weinberg - Mastering~*

Gil Norton - Arrangement~Producer, Mixer*

Barbara Mitchell - Publicity~

Jason Sutherland - Design~

Karen Mason Blair - Photos~*

Debera Heesch - CDI Footage~

Scott Corl - Editor of Footage~

Ben Hillier - Engineer, Mixer*

Wade Goeke - Assistant Engineer*

Toby Miller - Assistant Engineer*

Chris Frankfort - Assistant Engineer*

Don Gilmore - Mixed*

Shawn Trudeau - Recording*

Lisa Socransky - Legal*

Anne Dixon - Design*

Josh Gundling - Enhanced Video*

Unknownness: I've never really heard of these guys...but their name and imagery reminds me of something between 311 & Alien Ant Farm, that I can't help but imagine them to be huge douchebags. They have a greasy clean cut look that came off as very superficial back in 2000, which is when these albums are from. The albums have a large number of the same songs, so perhaps one album was self funded and one was a major label release. I'm not looking forward to these albums based on my preconceived stereotype notions. I mean, what's with the "go" cover of hands, a bright light and bills falling from the sky? It is just stupid.

Album Reviews: So apparently, this is the first album they recorded before having their label go under. So they packed up & went to Seattle and recorded a second debut record. Five songs are the same on version 2, so I can leave them out of the second review.

*“Take Me to Your Leader” is quite poppy and catchy, reminding me of a heavier Fountains of Wayne or OK Go. It has a very OK Go chorus of “Here we go” in echoing repetition. But the metal guitars are much heavier than either band would dare produce. It is a shame that the song is based on something so cheesy and tacky as aliens, though.“Land We Made Up” has a nice beat at the outset, but the vocals don’t sound as confident as the music would require. Eventually it balances out at the repeating chorus, with the added texture of horns. It again feels like it could be an OK Go song, just played a little heavier and dirtier, and not quite as daring.
“Supergirl” is quieter and suspicious sounding. It gives a crafty feel and dare I say the vocals sound like Ok Go again? Perhaps that’s the only comparison I can make because it’s in my head. The singing is actually just rhythmic talking over the verse, and the chorus is repetitive and sung with a group vocal effort.
“When I Get Home” is more of a straightforward alt-rock song. This could be a Gin Blossoms song or something equally mundane as that. The majority of the song is not as heavy as the first two songs, but there are a few times when the guitar wails in the background. But again, it’s got a very repetitive chorus.
“Outerspace” has the chugging guitar driving the song on. The vocals are melodic, but not too interesting. The chorus’s shining characteristic is a group effort shouting “Space.” It is kid of meandering song, never really finding its style. Lots of variations are thrown into each verse, but it sounds tried and predictable rather than complex.
“Always Running” begins with a quiet keyboard. And is interrupted with a ringing guitar. The structure of the song is emo, with short sections broken up by pauses which reemerge with an emotional strum. It kinda feels like a Third Eye Blind song.

*“Trippin' Up to the Clouds” is a light pop ballad until the chorus hits. And for a brief moment, it leaves the Goo Goo Dolls boredom and rocks out. The vocals remind me a bit of Dramarama and Soul Asylum. But it is not as good of a song. The instrumental bridge feels like it is going to peter out and just go on forever, but it blasts back in with an injection of power chorus.
“In A Dream” starts with a dancy drumloop, which I guess is the dream that this song is trying to paint. It has nothing to do with the rest of the song. The rest is all power guitars and washed out sound that mimics a dream state. The end of the song builds with increasingly volume whiny guitars.
“Atmosphere” is a constantly building and chugging along song, with more of the Drama-Asylum style vocals. The chorus has a bit of harmonized vocals. And by the second chorus, the guitars explode and shimmer down to the original pitter patter melody.
“Another Time” has an angular dance pop groove that all the kids loved with the Franz Ferdinand. But that fades out after 30 seconds. The pace of the song is fun and bouncy; the melody is kind of catchy. But the vocals are too emo for the song to be considered good.
“Everything Around” starts with a buzzing bee guitar sound. The vocals are whisper-distorted spoken. The spell is broken with the emo call and response chorus. This is what I’d expect to hear on the crappy radio now-a-days.
“Earthgirls Are Cool” has drums and deep bass start it off, distorted, reverbed vocals follow up with a spacey Zooropa vibe. It is liquid and minimal, yet there are a slew of effects that are shot through the song as it progresses. It feels like they just bought a shiny new synthesizer and wanted to put all the cool effects one at a time over the standard drum bass loop. Like a big declaration “This is the shit we’re capable of.” But it is not that exciting.
“Revolving” returns us back to the hard power rock. It is a nicely crafted song, all the spaces are filled with grungy guitars and a bold, cocky vocal melody. Reminds me of a band I liked a lot growing up Fig Dish. This feels like it is right off of a 1996 debut record. The vocals remind me of Dramarama again.

~“Take Me to Your Leader” – see previous album.
“What I Said” continues with the same feeling as the prior song. It’s sung a bit more like a chili peppers song in parts. But it is not as fun or straightforward as track one. It is produced like it is meant to be a 311 song, but does not have any identity of its own like 311 has.
“Outerspace” – see previous album
“Some Kind of Way” begins with jangely guitars and launches into a bland alterna-folk song. The bass in the bridge sounds somewhat like New Order, but only because it has the same sound. The chorus is actually really catchy and deserves a better song.
“I Want It All” has a siren like guitar at the outset. But it stops after 15 minutes and is exchanged for a whiny pop song. Kinda reminds me of weezer or the Rentals, but they are both more competent bands in their prime. The chorus is a cutesy repetition of the title, and it is even brought back into the verse, punctuating each line the second time around. This takes us back to a comparison of OK Go. It is that level of pop, but is not afraid to add heavier guitars. The cutesy repetition gets annoying, but it cuts off abruptly before it reaches the point of skipping ahead.
“Tripping up to the Clouds” – see previous album
“Nothing Beats the Surf In” is a lighter nasally sung song, it starts with a nice sounding beach boys guitar (which returns with the start of each verse). It sounds a lot like this local band I like called Echo Obiter. Then it gets a little more aggressive, and the chorus kicks in with pop-punk power. I get a hint of Goldfinger here, but with nasally polite vocals, rather than aggressive angry vocals.
“Do It Again” kicks off with a wah-wah guitar version of the Breeder’s Cannonball. Then it changes direction to a chugging, building rock song. The wah-wah effect is brought back periodically, as the simple chorus repeats.
“Pimpin the Land” carries the wah wah guitar effect over, but it is layered in the background. This album is definitely more pop punk than before. The tempo is quick and the guitars accent the time changes typical to a punk song design.
“Here With You” has a music box like keyboard start off. The music is slow, but the drum beat is quicker, noting that the song will become faster or bolder at least in the future. And bolder it becomes. The guitars come in and are played like they are climbing a latter of melody: one rung = one strum at a time. This reminds me of Soul Asylum’s middle era work, right before they got big with that MTV hit. The chorus is a little emo.
“Always Running” – see previous album
“Atmosphere” – see previous album

Stand-Out Track: ~ Nothing Beats the Surf In

* Revolving
On Both: Take Me to Your Leader

Links:

allmusic

Wiki

Myspace

Last FM

In Music We Trust - article

Duff McKagan

The Stranger - Q&A

Facebook page

(the) Hatters - You Will Be You

Band: The Hatters
Album: You Will Be You
Year: 1995
Style: Jam Band, Alternative
Similar Bands: Animal Bag, "Real Thing" FNM, Collective Soul, Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveller, Barenaked Ladies, Flowerhead
"One-Word" Review: filthy-smug-hippie-jams
Based Out Of: NYC
Label: Atlantic, WEA International, Time Warner

You Will Be You - Cover & Liner Pics
You Will Be You - Liner Notes & Lyrics & Tape

You Will Be You (1995)

1. Dive 3:13
2. Where the Wind 3:55
3. The Naked Song 4:13
4. Statues 4:25
5. Colors 4:10
6. Yeah Bloom 6:52
7. I'll Walk 8:01
8. Skyline 5:09
9. Supermarket Pony 4:04
10. Underfrog 5:50
11. Joy Ride 3:31
12. You Will Be You 11:28

Album Rating (1-10): 5.0

Members & Other Bands:

Adam Hirsh - vocals, guitar (Ahab)

Adam Evans - guitar, vocals

Billy Jay Stein - keyboards, vocals (Strange Cranium)

Jon Kaplan - bass

Tommy Kaelin - drums, Rhythm (Famous Unknown, Gent Treadly, Dreamspeak, Gravity, Ahab, Michael Parrish Band)

Joe Bonadio - Percussion

Peter Denenberg - Backing Vox, Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Water Bottle

Larry Freemantle - Art Direction

John Halpern - Cover Art

Jesse Harris - Acoustic Guitar (Once Blue, Bright Eyes)

Ted Jensen - Mastering

Thom Leinbach - Recording, Engineering

Rory Young - Cello, Sitar
Mbzuki Batswami - Quica
Captain Cranium - Bass
Chunky J - drums
Peter Malkin - Management
David Sonenberg - Management

Wendy Berry - A&R Management

Janet Billig - A&R Management

Nick Ferrara - Legal Advice

Sonjay Kothari - Photography

Danny Clynch - Photography

Stuart Cottingham - Logo

Unknown-ness: I don’t remember when or why I bought this tape. For some reason I think that I thought that they were a ska band. But now, after a little research, I realized they were quite different: a jam band. "Oh man, this is gonna suck" I thought as I began putting this entry together. So why would I have ever bought this? I cannot tell, as even the cover art is kinda lame. The only redeeming quality is the font. Kind of. This is going to be bad, especially if i'm heading into this review with a negative feeling.

Album Review: “Dive” starts with heavy metal guitars. The vocals are similar to Patton’s Real Thing era forced nasally vocals. And this style was used in bands like Animal Bag and other dirty alternative bands of the time. But the verse is almost catchy, in a collective soul way, better than I thought it would be. “Where the Wind” sounds like a terrible Dave Matthews Ballad. It has this holier than thou feel to it, and a snotty, hippie at peace feel to it. It is kinda new age with the piano and light groove. It treads near Hootie and the Blowfish territory as it builds toward the chorus. This is a terrible cringe-worthy song. I’d feel embarrassed if someone were to walk buy and hear this song playing. Damn, the bad band comparisons keep coming. “The Naked Song” sounds like Barenaked Ladies mixed with Blues Traveler. Its all in the vocals, which have lost all potential of being interesting from the first song, and now are run-of-the-mill nasally, grating “yeaahooow” vocals. The chorus is a harmless “take off your clothes, put your birthday suit on” not much more else is needed to be said. I can just picture a band of filthy people kicking around in the dust frolicking and spacing out as this band wastes everyone’s time. Okay, the momentum in “Statues” is pretty good, a bit of Dinosaur Jr guitars, but then the vocals come in and hack the song apart. Well, the hook is not too bad in the chorus. But it is the music here, the driving drums, guitars and bass that keep this song going, unlike typical jam band songs. Piano introduces “Colors” and it is a terrible adult alternative nu-jazzy type piano, and the vocals have that jam band country hickish John Popper style to them that just sucks. It has that smug care-freeness that nothing matters in the world. This is usually a nice way to live or think, but it is the underlying smugness that really makes it feel offensive, if that makes any sense. “Yeah Bloom” starts with a good dark alternative jammy groove, and then the vocals scratch across the song. It fits into the style from bands like Flowerhead back in the mid 90’s “Singles” scene, but it is dated and reminds me why I did not enjoy the Blues Traveler scene back then. This long song has a breakdown that stretches to the end of the song with soaring anthemic guitars that transform into lead metal solos and the piano is played with the same chord over and over again like an alarm.

“I'll Walk” reminds me of U2, with its early morning waking atmosphere. It feels like it will take an hour to finish the song. The chorus sounds like the Steve Miller Band’s “Take the Money and Run.” And it ends with a 30 second fade out with a Middle Eastern vibe. “Skyline” I want to say that this reminds me of Joe Cocker and the Allman Brothers, but I cannot really verify that…I don’t know either Cocker or the Allman Brothers that well. This is a light song that feels like it should have come from the early 70’s, except it is modernized with fuzzed out guitars. Their choice of grand piano sound seems to not be a good choice for a streamlined sound. Even thought I dislike the music, I see what style they are going for. But the piano takes that style and makes it feel like muzak. The funky 70’s jam rock song “Supermarket Pony” sounds much better than the other songs. It is much more like the first song “Dive.” It mixes in the fast singing, rap-rock-metal genra that MTV tried to pin on FNM a few years earlier. The piano is played here and it is much better, jazzy, and it adds to, rather than subtracts from the song. The only problem is that the song should end after about 2:45, but it goes on for another 1:15 of jamming guitar work and echoing chorus. Sloppy sounding guitars introduce “Underfrog.” It is a combination of stoner metal and jam alternative, again popularized in the early mid 90’s with tie-dye and dirty flannel. After what seems like the song will just go in one direction endlessly, the songs breaks pattern and creates a more funky section for the chorus. But it reverts back to the tedious storytelling song pattern, and see-saws back and forth between the two sections. It also adds a spacey-psychedelic new age section that lingers on from about 3:30 minutes for a minute until the chorus is brought back one time more. The song ends with evil crazed laughter cackling. “Joy Ride” could only be described as funky DMB jam music. And this is not a good thing. This song feels like filler, like it was part of a song idea they just fleshed out into a long jam. “You Will Be You” is introduced with a gospel organ and whining guitar. It breaks down into a funky beat and continues on with uncharted vocal range. There are some nice tempo changes and grooves, but the song comes in as an 8 minute song only meant to prove they are a jam band. The guitar lick is catchy, and I could see how it could be played to infinitum. The only problem is that the very catchy groove only lasts for two lines. And the rest of the song that builds around it is not as interesting. The tinkling piano duels it out with the much cooler organ, which obviously wins. But the duel is just part of the long stretching jam to add minutes onto the song, and take years of off your life. The song returns to the chorus for one measure and dives back into the jamming drone that is just so damn tedious. The guitar goes on for the last two minutes, and I don’t feel like giving more of my time to this song.

Stand Out Track: Dive

Links:
allmusic

Artist Direct

The Music Box

Jam Bands

Dreamspeak Kaelin Bio

Jesse Harris Music

Strange Cranium

Hirsh Wedding Announcement NY Times

Blog review

Treeadams (Adam Hirsh)

Jon Kaplan Site

Jerry Harrison - Red and the Black~ & Casual Gods*

Name: Jerry Harrison
Albums: The Red & the Black~, Casual Gods*
Years: 1981~,1987*
Style: New Age New Wave~ Synth Rock*
Similar Bands: Talking Heads, Brand X~, Max Rebo Band (Star Wars)~, Lou Reed, INXS*
"One-Word" Review: Buried-funk-rock-under-overdatop-synth
Based Out Of: Milwaukee, WI
Label: Sire, WEA Records, Warner, Warner Bros*

The Red & the Black - Cover & Insert

The Red & the Black - Back & Insert

The Red & the Black - Record

Casual Gods - Cover, Liner Notes & Tape

Casual Gods - Inner Photo

The Red & the Black (1981)

1. Things Fall Apart 5:03
2. Slink 4:22
3. The New Adventure 5:07
4. Magic Hymie 4:52/
5. Fast Karma/No Questions 4:00
6. Worlds In Collision 5:09
7. The Red Nights (Instrumental) 4:02
8. No More Reruns 4:27
9. No Warning, No Alarm 3:36

Casual Gods (1987)

1. Rev It Up 4:17
2. Song Of Angels 3:35
3. Man With A Gun 4:35
4. Let It Come Down 4:52
5. Cherokee Cheif 4:20 /
6. A Perfect Lie 4:25
7. Are you Running? 4:20
8. Breakdown in the Passing Lane 4:36
9. AKA Love 4:10
10. We're Always Talking 4:40
11. Bobby 4:03

Album Rating (1-10): ~5.0 *6.5

Members & Other Bands:

Jerry Harrison - Vox, Produced, Arrangements, Guitar, Bass, Synth, Clavinet, organ, piano, Melodica, Percussion, Mixing, Sleeve Design, Cover Photo~*(Modern Lovers, Talking Heads, Bonzo Goes to Washington, The Flying Hearts)
Dave Jerden - Producer, Engineering, Mixing~

Nona Hendryx - Backing Vox, Arrangement, Lyrics~
Bernie Worrell - Organ, Clavinet, Synth,~Bass Synth*,
Yogi Hornton - Drums~*
John Cooksey - Drums~
Steve Scales - Drums, Percussion~
Georde Murray - Bass~
Tinker Barfield - Bass~
Adrian Belew - Guitar~
Dolette McDonald - Backing Vox~
Koko Mae Evans - Backing Vox~
Butch Jones - Engineering~
Eddy Schreyer - Mastering~
M& Co - Sleeve Design~*
Chris Callis - Cover Photo~
Ernie Brooks - Asst. Producer, Songwriting, Vox*
John Sieger - Songwriting*
Arthur Russell - Songwriting, Vox*
Monique Dayan - Songwriting, Vox*
Alex Weir - Guitars, Bass*
Chris Spedding - Bass*
Robbie Mcintosh - Bass*
Rick Jaeger - Drums*
David Van Tieghem - Drums, Percussion*
Jim Liban - Harmonica*
Dickie Landr - Sax*
Arlene Holmes - Vox*
Lovelace Redmond - Vox*
Joyce Bowden - Vox*
David Vartanian - Recording, Overdubs, Mixing*
Jay Mark - Recording, Mixing*
Dave Avidor - Overdubs*
Robin Lane - Overdubs*
Eric E.T. Thorngren - Overdubs, Mixer*
John "Tokes" Potoker - Overdubs, Mixer, Additional Engineering*
J.C. Covertino - Overdubs*
Don Peterkosky - Asst Studio*
Nick Delre - Asst. Studio*
Tony Masciarotte - Asst. Studio*
Mark Roule - Asst. Studio*
Fernando Kral - Asst. Studio*
Stan Katayama - Can Am*
Tom Vercillo - Sountrack
Bob Brackman - Soundtrack*
Jack Skinner - Mastering*
Sebastiao Salgado/Magnum - Photography*
Gary Kurfirst - Management*

Unknown-ness: I was not familiar with him when I bought the record and tape. It was only after I looked up information that I realized he was in Talking Heads, whom I like, but am not a huge fan of obviously. I got the record first because of the usual draws: its artwork and year. The repetitive nature of the album name and the stylized photo of Jerry on the front stood out from the rest of the records. It looks like an album full of energy with the Chinese-styled sunburst on the back. And 1981 was the tail end of the great new wave/rock records that I like. Knowing the Talking Heads ties, I can only hope for their earlier style, but looking at the song lengths, they will probably be the (still good) percussion driven, drawn out style of latter Heads stuff. And as far as Casual Gods, I got it because I recognized the name from the record I had just bought, still not knowing the TH connection.

Album Reviews: ~“Things Fall Apart” starts off with some xylophone and tribal beats mixed together with standard drum. The grooving, danceable bass begins with the jangley repetitive guitar. His moderately deep vocals are reserved, sounding like he’s leaving off the last syllable of the lyrics as he rushedly sings. A chorus of female vocals backs him up. They rise in energy together and settle back, paralleling each other. Synth and electronic sounds glide around, and sound like 80’s new wave jokes in its production, rather than bringing the funky element I’m assuming they were going for. “Slink” is next, with funky Talking Heads style rhythms, and vocal performance both from Jerry and the female chorus. The music is splattered with the 80’s over-the-top synth production. I really can’t believe this is not a talking heads song, and I guess that is just a hat tip to how important Harrison is to the Head’s sound. “The New Adventure” begins with high pitch vocals echoing as they fade in. More laughable synth effects add. I mean, what is that supposed to be: A trumpet, sax, or just a weird keyboard? The vocals are tired, but calculated, alas, they are not to my liking as they don’t flow very smoothly over the off-tempo song. There is a sitar sounding instrument used for part of the song, and the nonchalant vocals return, part joy division, part Lou reed in their seemingly non-existent effort. It fades out without any notice, and “Magic Hymie” begins. A sparse, yet funky bass beat leads into a drum fill that starts a song that sounds like something out of Return of the Jedi: Jabba’s Palace. There are oddly placed vocals and samples layered deeply on the track, and it really just chaotically runs over the steady drums and bass beat. It is impossible to reference all the style changes and idiosyncrasies that draw and quarter the song in different style directions.

“Fast Karma/No Questions” begins the second side with a more refined style with its funky bass and keyboard beat over steady drumming. The lead vocals are mixed with echoing reverb. It never strays from the basic rhythm, even if it displays some energy filled vocals toward the end, the music carries it well. It fades into the next song, “Worlds In Collision.” A humming, metallic bass beat, combined with an industrial sounding drum beat and spoken vocals give way to a funky Stevie Wonder style keyboard section. It then reverts back and forth between the two styles, continuing with the monotone, barely sung vocals. Dog barking is added, along with a soaring synth guitar sound. It is one part Russian Propaganda recreation and one part Van Halen played as a midi file. The song breaks down at the end to the point where it should just end, and it fades out, but right into the instrumental “The Red Nights.” It is an ethereal, hollow song, like new age relaxation music. It is aquatic sounding and like a whispering wind through the trees at the same time. Cue some chanting female vocals and rock metal guitar mixed low in the back, and you have yourself a perfect musical accompaniment to those black t-shirts the dirty kids wore in high school with a wizard summoning lighting bolts while perched on a mountain top. A driving, alarm sounding guitar and grooving bass beat fade in at the start of “No More Reruns.” The vocals are more sung here than they have been in the past, kinda like a deeper version of The Walkmen. It is a good song, but it comes off a little long, with a long fade out to boot. “No Warning, No Alarm” starts out strong, but the synth production of the time period drag it down, and away from the solid Talking Heads song it could sound like. The vocals are a type of chant rapping, and keep the rhythm going. He breaks out with some good singing vocals for the chorus, supported by the choir of female vocals. Lead metal guitar (courtesy of Adrian Belew) solos come in for no real reason, detracting rather than adding to the song. But even as it ends the album, it is the most consistent, and funky song on the record. And it too features a long fade out as the record ends.

* “Rev It Up” is the first song on the tape. And instead of the stereotypical synth sound, we first hear a very tinny guitar strummed and echoing drums. This is more straightforward without all the superfluous production. There is still a huge Talking Heads style presence here. And then the squeaky synth keyboards play their annoying, grating solo. “Song Of Angels” begins with techno dance synthesizer and morphs into a light OMD ballad, yet still with the funky beat. The vocals are reminiscent of David Byrne, especially with the female chorus supporting his voice. Part Lou Reed, part Robyn Hitchcock, “Man With A Gun” quietly creeps along with catchy guitar hooks, and proud, smooth vocals. A second comparison of the vocals could be made to Flight of the Conchords’ Jermaine, when he tries to sound mature and knowledgeable. It is a good song too, though. Drum Machine sounding percussion and back to the first album’s synth sounds start “Let It Come Down.” The vocals here sound like Michael Hutchence when his vocals were calm and reserved. It also sounds a bit like the Dire Straits, but I fear that I compare most things that sound like this to them, so I’ll just end the comparison there. Right as the song gets set to build up, it fades out. “Cherokee Chief” is a growling metallic synthesizer, dirty and shady in its sound. It is a barroom stomp, driving and motivated by the static drum beat. Toward the end, he totally breaks into a David Byrne chorus chant. It sounds identical to a myriad of TH songs. And it fades out.

“A Perfect Lie” enters with a typical bass beat and jittery reggae organ synth. Here, Harrison shares the vocals with female back ups that come to the front. It feels very simplistic, especially given the back catalogue of what we’ve co-me to expect on these albums. Sure, a loud guitar solo fills some space, and his vocals are much more melodic than the first record, but the percussion leaves an empty feeling for the song. It seems the same bass beat continues into the next track “Are You Running?” It has the same formula of dual vocals and odd synth sounds in minimal usage. The synth sounds would not be out of place in video games, especially Sonic the Hedgehog. Adding extra echo & reverb to the vocals, “Breakdown in the Passing Lane” loses no time in picking up the slow funky yet simple dance beat. The song evolves into another INXS type song played to the musak genre. Oh, but there is a harmonica in this one. And there is a long, well, breakdown that features an “I Just Called To Say I Love You” era Stevie Wonder sound. More echoing synth effects splatter on the front end of “AKA Love.” As the album is more melodic, that mindset is quickly fading into nonsense as most of these synth music numbers are stripped of their thick, full complex sound, and instead come off as abridged samples, where the high or low end of the stereo is tuned out, leaving out crucial sections of the production. Perhaps the album is just 2-3 songs too long. A cold drum beat along with a catchy vocal melody introduce “We're Always Talking” and it leads into an even catchier chorus. The synthesizers do not draw attention away from the dark dance beat of the track. But then around 2:30, the synth effects are introduced as a buzzing assortment of distraction, and offer reason to be turned off from the song. But the chorus is perhaps the catchiest thing on either album. The final track, (also repeated as an un-reviewed remix on the album) “Bobby” possesses a liquid bubbling effect acting as the bass. There is nothing else much to the song except the slightly tribal percussive synthesized beats. It feels very minimal and empty of production. The vocals are calmly uttered, with injections of shouts and emotion along the body of the song after the first 2 minutes. Synth keys begin around 2:30, and the song slightly grows thicker. The vocal is distorted with a barrage of effects, really, whatever seems to be found as keyboard functions, one at a time. The album winds down with what sounds like a distorted didgeridoo swirling like it is flowing down a bathtub drain.

Stand Out Tracks: ~No Warning, No Alarm

*Song of Angels

Links:

Wikipedia

Allmusic

NNDB

Discogs

Quotes

IMDB page

Apple article

Talking Heads Bulletin Board

Talking Heads JH bio

Trouser Press

Big City Rock - s/t

Name: Big City Rock
Album: s/t
Year: 2006
Style: Dance-Pop
Similar Bands: Franz Ferdinand, Under The Influence of Giants, U2
"One-Word" Review: Dreamy-Dance-or-Anthemic-Pop
Based Out Of: LA, Cali
Label: Atlantic, WEA International, Warner Music Group Company

Big City Rock - Cover & Back
Big City Rock - Inside, CD & Tray

Big City Rock (2006)

1. Sink 3:23
2. All of the Above 2:57
3. As Soon As I Find Out 3:41
4. I Believe In You 3:40
5. Human 4:01
6. Kind 3:50
7. Better Place 3:26
8. Shelter 3:28
9. They Won't Mind 3:08
10. Touch The Horizon 3:10

Album Rating (1-10):
5.0

Members & Other Bands:
Nate Bott - Guitar, Vox, Lyrics (Stinkfish, Siren Six!)
Frank Staniszweski - Lyrics, Keyboard, Vox (Stinkfish, Siren Six!)
Tim Resudek - Bass, Vox (Stinkfish)
Kayumar - Drums
Andy Barr - Guitar, Vox
Brian Malouf - Producer
Adam Schlesinger - Producer (Fountains Of Wayne)
Chris Lord-Alge - Mixed
Geoff Sanoff - Engineer
Stephen Marcussen - Master
John Rubeli - A&R
Audyard Lee Cullers - Asst. Record
Arjun Agerwala - Asst. Record
Keith Armstrong - Asst Mix
Mark Endert - Asst Prod & Engineering
Jordan Feldstein - Management
Lisa Socransky - Legal
Brian Manning - Booking
Jason Miller - Booking
Dane Venable - Product Managment
Anne Declemente - Project Admin.
Craig Roser - Project Admin.
James Minchin III - Photography
Alex Kirzhner - Art Direction
Andrew Zaeh - Art Producer
Carmey Ground - Packaging Coordinator

Unknown-ness: This was another part of the CD mail package. I've never heard of these guys. From the packaging photography, they look like a trendy emo-pop outfit. Specifically in the way they have different logos and their lyrics printed on hipster pins and their clothing style (converse & pumas & ironic t-shirts). The one saving grace I can see if that this was produced by Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne and the fantastic song “That Thing You Do.” That does not mean this album will be fun, catchy pop rock, but at least with his fingers in the musical pie, there is a chance that the record will be listenable.

Album Review: The first track, “Sink,” is a quick paced, guitars cranked out dance-pop track. Each verse has a different style of guitar backing it up: from the cranked guitars, to chugging, then to melodic, to whiny and finally to quiet guitars repeating at random. The chorus is catchy, but the breakdown toward the end loses too much pace. “All of the Above” is an 80’s inspired cymbal driven dance-pop song. The synthesizers are a great touch, but the song just feels somewhat flat. “As Soon as I Find Out” is still 80’s inspired pop with a danceable drum beat, but this pop song floats along more dreamily than rocking. “I Believe in You” slows the pace down further, making another dreamy song, this one in sentimental ballad form. I can see the U2 influence in this song (as listed on allmusic.com), the song is quite boring. “Human” starts out with the humming of the synthesizer. After the first round of melodically spoken lyrics, (think: “put the message in the box/put the box into the car/drive the car around the world”) the dance-pop beat picks up, but it is not as strong as the first two songs. “Kind” starts out with a piano similar to Van Halen’s “Right Now.” Once the drum beat picks up, it is just a pop-rock song uttering a save the world message. It is repetitive and catchy, but it feels like it is missing that one thing in production that would make it great. The first couple of notes of “Better Place” made me immediately think of INXS’s “Beautiful Girl” The song has many same characteristics in its tempo, but it lacks the emotion, honesty and depth of the INXS song. His voice sounds like Bono here. “Shelter” feels like album filler, it just follows a simple pop-rock format that has nothing particularly special, and kinda feels like a song from an American Idol contestant’s first solo album. “They Won’t Mind” begins with a siren type keyboard effect. But I had to cringe when the chorus came on. Perhaps it is alright, but it just struck the wrong chord with me, and it continues to. The pitch turns up on the work mind, and it sounds like his voice is backed up with a synthesized version of the words. “Touch the Horizon” ends the record as a U2 inspired anthem.

Stand Out Track:
Sink

Links:
BCR - allmusic
BCR - Wikipedia
BCR - Band Website
BCR - Myspace
BCR - Virb
BCR - Flickr

The Blasters - s/t

Name: (the) Blasters
Album: s/t
Year: 1981
Style: Oldies Rock & Rockabilly
Sounds Like: Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Stray Cats, Jerry Lee Lewis
"One Word" Review: Country-Vocal-Ruined Rock-a-oldies.
Based Out Of: California
Label: Slash, Warner Bros Records, WEA International

Blasters Cover

(the) Blasters (1981)

1. Marie Marie (2:06) (Sample)
2. No Other Girl (2:32) (Sample)
3. I'm Shakin' (2.24) (Sample)
4. Border Radio (2:42) (Sample)
5. American Music (2:14) (Sample)
6. So Long Baby, Goodbye (2:22) (Sample)/
7. Hollywood Bed (3:31) (Sample)
8. Never No Mo' Blues (2:52) (Sample)
9. This Is It (2:11) (Sample)
10. Highway 61 (3:02) (Sample)
11. I Love You So (2:51) (Sample)
12. Stop the Clock (2:02) (Sample)

Album Rating (1-10):
5.0

Members and Other Bands:Phil Alvin - Vox, Guitars, Harmonica
Dave Alvin - Guitars (Dollar Store)
John Bazz - Bass
Bill Bateman - Drums
Lee Allen - Sax
Steve Berlin - Sax (Los Lobos)
Gene Taylor - Piano
Gustav Alsina – cover design
Gary Leonard - Photos
Steve Bartel - Art Design
Roger Harris - Engineer
Pat Burnette - Engineer
David Ahlert - Second Engineer
J Ruby Productions - Packaging
Shelly Heber - Manager / Agent

Unknown-ness: I thought I had heard of the is band, but I've not. The cover art looked very interesting, and a powerful name (and logo) like the Blasters, and a production date of 1981, I was expecting a high energy, new wave or punk record.

Album Review: The first time I heard this tape, I hated it. The second time I listened to it, I hated it again, but perhaps a little less. I kept listening to it and now, although there are some elements that I appreciate, I still find it somewhat unlistenable. Although the music is good, I find his high, squeaky voice very irritating most of the time. And as I've said before the voice is what makes or breaks a band for me.

"Marie Marie" is the first song, and it has a great rock n' roll beat, and classic oldies guitar solos, but his voice sounds like a whiny pubescent-breaking pathetic man. "No Other Girl" sounds like a great Elvis Presley record. The vocals begin normal enough and do not get too out of hand, but still, there are cringe-worthy moments where it seems it will break too far. The rockabilly bass and honky-tonk piano are really good, and really save the song. I cannot stand the bluesy "I'm Shaking." The cat-like-strut of the bass, drums and sax is something that makes me shiver with annoyance almost as much as I get from "Personal Jesus'" bass line. The vocal quality of his gospel chant of 'I'm Shakin' is very irritating. "Border Radio" is a slowed up version of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man." The vocals are somewhat steady in this tune, and the result is a good oldies, radio friendly song. "American Music" is a quick paced, bouncy country swing song. It borrows song construction from Chuck Berry's "Rock N' Roll Music." "So Long Baby Good Bye" is another oldies-rockabilly-country song, where the singer is crying in his annoying country crooning whine. The brass is really good though, it actually sounds like a harmonica (perhaps there is one buried under there too).

"Hollywood Bed" is a piano based country song, that is perhaps the best example of the high pitch annoying vocal styles, most prevalent in his "Hey-Hey-Hee" & "Who-Who-Who-Wee" vocal bridges. The drums are a quick march, like machine-gun fire. The bass trips up and down, and the music recreates the image of a rag time saloon. The song fades out without vocals, and the next be-boppin' rockabilly song "Never No Mo' Blues" comes on, with the most irritating feature being the vocals. But this time, they go from bad to worse, as he adds yodelling into his arsenal of grating effects. "This Is It" is a Jerry Lee Lewis rocking song. I figured out the most annoying aspect of the vocals: his little upturns in pitch at the end of every line. It is that which I detest about this and country music as well. "Highway 61" is a bluesy bounce full on with harmonica filling in the gaps behind and between the lyrics. He sounds like Mississippi Gary from "Kids In The Hall," but somehow, worse because it is not for comedy. "I Love You So" rocks out at first with guitars, then adds shaking maraca, and a bouncy bass line. I'm just gonna ignore the vocals. Or try to at least. A tick-tocking wood block starts the final song "Stop the Clock," which carries the same melody as "Whole Lotta Shaking Goin' On." Again the song blends the great qualities of oldies and rockabilly.

So without continuing to be harsh about the vocals, I will focus on the music, which upon further review, is fantastic. The authentic oldies and musical structures belong in the late 50's. I've read it in many reviews, and I can agree that they take many elements of old music, and rebirthed them as if just discovering the new time signatures to make new Rock N' Roll.

Stand Out Track:
No Other Girl

Links:
Blasters Allmusic
Blasters Wikipedia
Blasters Album Wikipedia
Blasters Webpage
Blasters testament
Phil Alvin interview 2004
Dave Alvin Page
Blasters on Trouserpress
Blasters Interview Pop Matters
Cover Art Gallery Page
shoutfactory: the blasters