Lesbian - Power Hor

Label: Holy Mountain
Year: 2007

Instrumental (mostly), sludgy, post-rocky, aggressive, varied, epic, spaced, loud, blackened metal. Four really long songs worth of it. Four really long songs that tend to pull in you in and make you forget where or when they started as they progress from idea to idea. It's grounded in that peculiar strain of USBM that comes out of the Pacific Northwest, but only tangentially. Like, you could understand how they might do a show with Wolves In The Throne Room, or just as easily, Thrones. Or, if you imagined Godspeed You! Black Emperor plugging in and letting it rip, than you can imagine this (which, by the way, GY!BE was one of the heaviest, doomiest live experiences I've ever seen...sidebar). You know?

DL

The Icarus Line - Black Lives At The Gold Coast

Label: Dim Mak
Year: 2007

The follow-up album to the criminally underrated predecessor 'Penace Soiree' which was posted here, but is most likely not there any longer. It marked the first Icarus Line record after Aaron North left the band to play with Nine Inch Nails (then Jubilee, then a real unfortunate downward spiral which I am hoping he has, or is, pulling out of, since he's super talented and creative it would be such a shame to waste away), so the primary songwriting goes to Joe Cardamone (also of Souls She Said) this time around. And while the signature anglophile signposts are still being followed, and the previously explored appreciation for Detroit circa 1970 is still evident, this record softens the edges a bit and opens up to more atmosphere and light. The venomous egos are in check, and some of the swagger has left the group, as if they had proved what they needed to prove on the earlier records and were now content to explore a slightly more accessible feel. Not that it's a pussy record by a log shot. There's still plenty of vigor and attack in most of the tracks, and they still play it loose and noisy which adds a "danger" factor to the whole affair.
The Icarus Line are unapologetic disciples of J Spaceman and Bobby Gillespie, and hey, nothing wrong with that, but if you listen up you'll hear shades of Rick Froberg's guitar style, shades of J Mascis' hazily cracking drawl, or some of the dark psych rock of The Warlocks (also direct descendants of Spacemen 3) filling in the gaps. It may not be as immediate a payoff as 'Penance Soiree' was (is), but this record stands up right next to it's brother and forges another corrosive scrawl across a formidable discography. It's insane that they haven't "made it" (whatever that would mean these days), because for  group this talented, this visionary, this reverential to the bedrocks of rock-n-roll, and this ballsy, success should be in their clenched fists.
Drummer Jeff Watson went from this record straight into recording another lost classic, Black Elk's 'Always A Six, Never A Nine'. Trivia for you.
Don Devore of Frail, Mandela, Ink and Dagger, Souls She Said, and a million other bands, appears for the last time in The Icarus Line on this record. Trivia for you.
This album (or possibly the Klaxons record that came out the same year) marks the last time Dim Mak messed around with rock music, and shifted to an all EDM (if that's what it's called) catalog. Trivia for you.

DL

Consular - Don't Cross The Swine

Label: Makeshift Origmai
Year: 2007

Southern Florida heaviness that brings the heat (and humidity). Taking the Cavity sound and running with it (into a brick wall and straight out the other side). Consular fit right in the mix with Capsule, Dove, House Of Lightning, Floor, the aforementioned Cavity, Black Cobra (1/2 south Florida...still counts)...all that.
If you like a wall of spiteful sludge with vocals akin to a sheet of metal being whipped by a tornado, then this is for you. Southern sludge the way only southerners can make it. Sounds like home.

DL

Motorhead - Motorhead

 

 

Label: Deadline
Year: 2005

This is the first Motorhead album. End of review.
(technical detail: this [much] later version [the fucking thing has been rereleased about 25 different times] has all six bonus tracks tacked on. Lot's of covers and shit. Play loud.)

DL

UT - Noise Deadening Barrier

Label: self released
Year: 2015

Straight from our Italian correspondent, Aaron Giazzon (yeah, I bet you didn't know we had an international bureau did you? Well, we do!), comes UT (not to be confused with the old NYC band of the same name) from Genoa, who you would swear were from DeKalb, Illinois or something. Total Midwestern noise rock a la Shellac, US Maple, Tar, Janitor Joe, Big'N and Colossamite.  
It pushes and pulls the way you want it to. Lots of wiry guitars picking and strumming over those rock solid bass rhythms that open into big, swinging grooves, and close back down on themselves into crunching chugs. You know what I mean.
There are bits and pieces that stand out to make this record more than just a throwback, UT manages to hide some legit melodies into the songs, complete with, dare I say, tasteful leads as well as some gut-punching twists and turns. Yes, it sounds like something you think you've heard before, but it's something really good that you think you heard before, and that's a good thing.

Thanks Aaron.

DL

Worms - Worms

Label: Dark World
Year: 2013

Here's a good idea; take the snaking sound of Unwound, add in some lo-fi grit in the vein of those Sebadoh songs that are real vicious sounding (you, the songs when Lou Barlow screams and stuff, not the other Sebadoh stuff that isn't vicious), bake (pun intended) in the laconic heavy riffing of Dinosaur Jr., and fly under the blackened banner of the original Christian Death lineup (the goth inspired punk version, not the punk inspired goth one). That would be a good idea. A real good one.
And hey, look who's using their big brains and thinking up all these good ideas, Worms.
The band from Amherst, MA (hence the Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr comparisons...they're basically neighbors!) does a convincing job of channeling Unwound (which is a really hard thing to do...just ask around), and Unwound's subsequent offshoots; Young Ginns, Worst Case Scenario. It's a messy, noisy take on catchy songs, with the added elements of lo-fi sludge just to stir up the reprobates in the house. It's exciting to hear. I'm excited to hear it!
This band used to go by the name Whirl, but then changed to Worms, which a fair number of other bands have also decided is/was a great name. But don't be confused, this Worms is the best Worms.
Tip of the hat to Decibel Magazine for pointing this one out, otherwise, like most things in life, I would have missed it.
Highly, highly, highly recommended. I promise you will like this one.

DL

Starting The Week Not With A Bang, But Whimper.

Just a quick note in lieu of an actual music post. Been doing lots of vacationing and taking time away from computers when I'm not shackled to a computer for work, so things have been slower than they should be on this end. For that I apologize, I of course want you all to be happy and satisfied with your experiences here. So I'll work on it.

In the near term I have tons on tap to post, stuff that's been backing up for months, as well as new things that people have sent in. Which, by the way, feel free to send things digitally through the Facebook page (the email page goes to Ipecac who is currently indisposed) and I will evaluate them for possible posting. It's fun to hear new things, so please do shoot whatever you think would be a good fit.

So, until tomorrow, please enjoy this little taste of Depeche Mode for no other reason than we do what we do to please the ladies. Ladies are important, they make the world go around.

Taipan - 1002: A Rock Odyssey

Label: Supernova
Year: 2007

When Steve Austin speaks (or plays music rather), you would be well served to listen. That's a sort of "law of the land" type thing. Steve Austin brings the real deal with maximum prejudice pretty much every time. All the time. His contributions to music still go mostly unheralded, even though he's one of the best guitarists in his genre, he always surrounds himself with impeccable rhythm sections, and he has a unique voice, in both tone and content, of anyone anywhere.
So, when there's a band involving Steve Austin that isn't Today Is The Day, it's going to be worth checking into. I think we can agree on that. This particular band also includes one of his Today Is The Day cohorts, Chris Debari, and the drummer from Iron Boss, Patrick Kennedy. So far, so good.
Musically, you'll hear (early period) Today Is The Day bleeding through (or on depending on how you look at it) all the songs, especially vocally. But what you may not expect to hear are shades of Afghan Whigs swagger, some rollicking garage rock, some proto-punk messiness (including a partial Stooges cover mixed in there), some of that Caustic Resins by way of Neil Young laconic swing,  swamp blues boogie, Sonic Youth-esque indie rock, cock-rocking metal, and menacing murder ballads. It's a wide gamut, but Austin's voice and a general veil of sick darkness pull the album together (mostly, anyway). Apparently this record was recorded a full six years prior to it's release, but time has been kind, it still sounds fresh now, 14 years after the fact.
As Today Is The Day once said, "it's a sweet ride mama". It's weird and varied and often caustic, but...isn't that what makes things interesting? Seems so.
If you're a Steve Austin fan, then most definitely dive in. If you're on the fence or something about Steve Austin, then...not real sure what to do with you. But for sure, dive in anyway.

DL

Buzz Rodeo - Sports

Label: self released
Year: 2015

Two items to tackle before we can dive into this posting in earnest.
1. Buzz Rodeo is a rough name, it sounds entirely too much like some also-ran C Level 90's alternative band struggling to play a local stop on the 1996 Lollapalooza Tour (well after that tour's expiration date). I hate to get stuck on that, but I am. Sorry.
2. This is not a track by track cover of the Huey Lewis and the News album 'Sports', which I suppose is a good thing, although...no...it's a good thing.

Ok, with that out of the way, let's get into the music.
Start with 'Umber' era Bitch Magnet, then work in a less mathy version of Trumans Water, a less bass-y and staccato version of Shellac, some Six Finger Satellite, and give it a bit of that Midwest Big'n drive. It comes out very "nineties", but as a compliment, in so much as the nineties put a fine point on what post-hardcore music sounds like, with it's noise rock and math rock and indie rock, and rock rock and all that. Buzz Rodeo is a throw back for sure, but they've thrown back to a particular sweet spot in contemporary music, so I'm not complaining.
Very well played, very well balanced, and very enjoyable all the way around. Highly recommended.

DL

V/A - Jabberjaw - Good To The Last Drop

Year: 1994

Label: Mammoth

Originally this was a series of benefit 7"s to raise money for the Los Angeles venue/coffeehouse Jabberjaw featuring unreleased material from bands who had taken the tiny stage. The lineup is pretty impressive:

Girls Against Boys

Unwound

Hole

Hammerhead

Beck

Teenage Fanclub

Slug

Chokebore

Mule

Helmet

Southern Culture On The Skids

Karp

Jawbox

Surgery

Unsane

Seaweed

Inch

That Dog

Further

Plus, "Broken E Strings" might be the best Unwound song ever, and that's saying something. AND "Cleaning Woman" might be the best Hammerhead song ever, which is also saying something.

*originally posted 09-05-08, reposted 07-07-15

DL