This past week I have had the privy of listening to 6 CDs of bands that released albums over the past year. Perhaps this isn’t much original thought but I have decided to review them here for you now so that you can be more informed when making your next iTunes purchase or whatever it is you do to get music. If you’re on the internet enough to find this post then you’re probably a pirate, shame on you.
First of there is old Punk Rock icons Rancid, still at work. I used to listen to these guys when I was in elementary school back in 1994 with their album called…something about wolves being released or coming out. ’Ruby Soho’, ‘Poison’, and other songs followed and I became a big fan, albeit I was like 12 years old. Well I have since grown up but Rancid have not. They released this album last spring and why not check it out right? Well this is the worst fucking album I have heard in some time. Vague political statements (that aren’t really saying anything) are followed by tough-guy posturing and the same old bullshit from the East Bay losers. Wow, I am so disappointed by these guys I have pretty much decided I am never going to listen to Rancid again. Tim Armstrong and co. should have moved on by now, well probably sooner than now. Man they suck and now you know. Sorry to all you Rancid lifers out there, but it’s time for you to move on too.
I was told to listen to Mike Sniper’s musical project Blank Dogs because apparently this debut album Under and Under was very similar to the kind of music I personally make – one guy recording it all, kind of a recluse, and with very distorted vocals. Well to my surprise this suggestion wasn’t too far off and Blank Dogs has actually made a rather sweet album. DIY home rock’n'roll with a bit of an electro feel to it but that could just be because of the vocals.
This is a definite buy, and I rate it as one of the best albums of ‘09 and the first month of ‘10. What do we call this decade now? The teens?
A Place to Bury Strangers released their debut album Exploding Head in October I think and I pretty much bypassed the album at the time because I thought the band name/album name was too stupid to reconcile. Kind of like how 10 years ago I didn’t listen to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s debut album because I thought their band name was stupid, only for me to become a big fan years later, so what’s in a name?
Well apparently nothing as this is actually a pretty decent album. I won’t say rush out and buy it but there is definitely something here mixed in with all the noise. Sometimes I feel like the deep scary voice is the sound of Leonard Cohen making fuzzy rock music. A general good time, and I am not sad that I heard it.
Wavves is another noise rock band that released a debut LP in 2009 entitled Wavvves (yup just add another V). I thought that I needed to hear this band when Jay Reatard’s band (may he rest in peace) left him to join this one, so I thought they must be good. Upon first listen Wavves is sooooo distorted that you feel like you can’t pick up on anything even if you are generally a lo-fi listener, this goes a bit far and I wasn’t sure if I liked it. But upon further review I couldn’t stop listening to it and found myself really enjoying the album and getting it more and more with each listen. I can even pick out some of the words the singer is saying!
Kind of a fun surf punk rock with a lot of distortion, and I would give it a friendly and warm thumbs up in the end despite my initial reaction.
Oh Crocodiles, perhaps the leaders of the San Diego is so hot right now movement (which also includes Wavves and Christmas Island). I listed this album Summer of Hate in my top 5 albums of 2009 and although that was probably pretty generous there are some real bangers on here like Soft Skull that make it all worth while. There are definitely some songs you should skip, like the slow ones because Crocodiles are no good at that type of song but overall this is a solid album and I can see this band doing big things in times to come.
Quick pretend to like them now so that you can be a fan before all of your friends and then discard them when they become too popular and mainstream. Yea, that would make you cooler than everyone!
Last but not least is a Canadian band from Calgary called Women who recorded this self titled album with the prolific Chad Van Gaalen (or however you spell that crazy Dutch style last name). This is an awesome album and also made it high on my list of best records of 2009. This is noise pop ladies and gentlemen. Women manage to take regular boring indie music and infuse it with a little bit of crazy sound exploration into noise to create something a little bit better than any of the other shite you think that you like. This album is a definite buy and probably the best one of these six I look at today, epitomized by the song ‘Black Rice’, what a doozey.
Quit reading this and go buy this CD already!
That’s it for the recent albums I have listened to. Pretty much all good to exceptional except one glaring blemish. I have also come across Comanechi’s album Crime of Love and Is Tropical’s single release ‘When O When’ but they already have their own articles per se, so they don’t need to take up more space here. Short reviews of CDs indeed but think of this as a good buying guide. If you have anything you want me to listen to and give a comment on (even if it’s your band, doesn’t have to be someone famous) leave a comment or write in to tell me where I can find such a CD.
But as far as you should be concerned, when it comes to music my voice should pretty much be God to you, so follow these reviews verbatim and do as I say. These are all CDs that have been out for months now so you should have no problems getting your sweaty little meathooks on them.
-j
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