This is an odd combination of cack-handed vocals, which bring to mind Pavement and – oddly – Dexy’s Midnight Runners, and light-hearted, drunkenly sprightly indie guitar noise. The two songs are shot through with some electronic burbling and the result is a smile-inducing slice of out-there-in-its-normality, ever-so-slightly-post-punk low fidelity pop. There’s nothing earth-shatteringly amazing or original happening here, but in a time when every other band I hear seems to have some kind of agenda and (often misguided) belief in its bleeding-edge newness, is that such a bad thing? Support the cause.

Smokers Die Younger
Sheffield Phonographic Corporation

A 7″ packaged in a good-looking sleeve featuring photographs of what look like the fake trees you get to put next to your train set. Like A Stuntman are a lo-fi pop band with distorted vocals over fuzzy beats and rough guitars over Casio melodies. ‘Reduce’ fails to fully deliver – the self-conscious lo-fi-ness slightly overwhelming the tune and the song – but on the B-side ‘Homerun’, is great. Its Stephen Malkmus-style vocals float over a faux-epic miniature musical journey which builds and develops like a low-rent Brian Wilson offcut. It’s followed up with ‘Early career’, which should remind me of cool underground acts like Steward and Mahogany, but which instead reminds me of Blur’s knowingly simplistic pop. I don’t consider this to be a bad thing.

Like A Stuntman
Highpoint Lowlife Records

I listened to this and liked it before I started reading the press release. I am starting to get into the art of the press release writing stuff for Diskant. This one really trumpets the wrong things about the band and leaves a bad taste of them being after something I hope they’re not.
Because the music is good. The press release mentions Beefheart, Deerhoof and Jehu but this reminds me hugely of Elevate. The vocals are especially similar both in delivery and lyric. They have that same funk in the music as Elevate and their big brothers GVSB had. The rhythms jerk about but the songs are well conceived and have definable choruses and hooks.
It works best when you see it as a small concern, like most bands do except maybe AC/DC or the Crue. The press release makes me think these guys might be after more and I hope not. They seem to have a lot going for them as it is.

8 band label sampler. S’alright. Lots of bands who seem really angry about something but I am none the wiser as to what it is that has narked them so. Escanna sound more metal than I recall. You’re Smiling Now But We’ll All Turn Into Demons remind me of Trail Of Dead (maybe it’s the name). I remember seeing them play and the bassist hammering living shit out of his bass within about 30 secs. Despite their track having a “nur-nur nur-nur nur-nur nur-nur NUH NUH” bit it’s rocking enough to do it for me. Menendez are the surprise package. A bit like Quickspace/Stereolab and all that jazz it makes a welcome relief from all the noise and it’s a proper tune too. For Trucks is a pretty, woosily tuned, Drag City styled deal with some really raging full on “I have had enough to drink thank you barman” vocals and the song lasts about 13 seconds.
The less testosterone the better I think.

Instrumental, guitar/keys/drums craziness from Japanese folks.
I have this theory about The Wire and all that shit. You can release any old guff and if you call songs ‘works’ or ‘pieces’ or ‘compositions’ (or anything apart from songs) people will think you’re really serious and the sound of your finger being wiggled around in your earhole could be released under the title “Fishing For Wax – a series of new compositions” and some tosser in a black roll neck will start comparing it to Keiji Haino or one of those other dudes that no one really listens to.
This album is hideous. I am really sorry. I wanted to like it, the first track cracks off with some guitar freakout action and the rest of it spans freedom and hard, rigid King Crimsonisms but the keyboards just make it sound either too jovial or too dated and it’s all from the head. Even when they really rear up and try and throw off their rider, these horses are just too polite and considered.

I always think it’s weird to read things like
“Kinesis have always been anti-image, anti-media-led”
on a press release. I’m not knocking anyone for getting press shit together for a record but it makes me initially suspicious. Call me a cynic.
I thought this would be a hideous nu-metal album from the cover art but it’s actually a more eclectic brew.
The press release describes them as “a sonic stew of Muse, The Pixies and Rage Against The Machine”. I dunno, that sells them a little short but when you listen to a track like Everything You Thought You Knew To Be it should have read “a sonic stew of Muse, Muse and Muse…with a bit of a Smashing Pumpkins chorus”. The vocals especially and the rank, processed, unhuman quality of the guitar reeks of Muse so much it’s hard to handle and if it’s not Muse it’s Billy Fucking Corgan.
That’s not to say it’s all bad. Sometimes you think it’s going to go a bit Sparks, or Queen but it’s always held back by the vocals and the sonic qualities.
Apparently the band have split, which is a shame as this album should be their way of leaving behind 5 years of work and feeling proud but the sound of this record and the way they have dressed up and presented their songs is going to make this sound so dated in 5 years time it’ll be near unlistenable. But there’s a good quirky songwriter in there somewhere, underneath all the pap.

I listened to this after around 20 other CDs Marceline dropped on me like the envelope of hot shit they were.
I will drift from the subject for a moment if I may… a few years ago myself and Matthew Ernest Newnham (head honcho of the Gringo Records Empire) each took a week off work on compassionate leave after we heard the devastating news that the Tight Bros From Way Back When had broken up. I was pretty down. Matt at least got to see them play.
Raising Sand sound a lot like the Tight Bros. I suspect this may not be deliberate. This EP is nearly awful, nearly. But it’s not. It fucking rips. It’s just the right side of cheesy but ultimately it’s immensely good fun to live with for the length of it’s 4 songs.
The press release says the guitarist is Graham Bartram. Graham, I salute you. You are a BAD ASS guitar player. This man knows how to drop a Billy Gibbons let me assure you. Raising Sand are more on the lines of AC/DC (albeit a little more Southern Rock) but the guitars are straight up ZZ Top at times. And they seem to have taste too. I admit when the closing track Witness To The Storm starts I feel a little bummed out, it’s a kind of rock ballad that all bands have on their albums or EPs because they feel they should do. Led Zeppish, nice solo but a bit dad rock. But, like The Chain by the mighty Mac, the start proves to be a stooge for the most bitching ending and any subsequent listen is influenced by this knowledge. Like trying to follow the plot in a film with a really rude shag scene in it. Impossible, because you know what’s coming up. And what’s coming up is yet more smoking riffery.
Vinny Foreman’s vocals too are pretty smoking. He doesn’t shy away from getting Bon Scott when it’s needed and thankfully his Bon never gets too Brian if you know what I mean.
Plus, these dudes are from Guildford.

“Coyote began playing flute after having a dream about living in a renaissance world where sorcery and sex destroyed a kingdom.” So begins the press release for ‘Level 1′ – the debut album by American Zen – “America’s first Buddhist Rock Band”.
Ageing frontman Coyote is a Spanish-guitar-strummin’, flute-tootin’, self-styled folk mystic. With a trailerpark haircut. After leaving school, Coyote hitchhiked across North America with only a harmonica and a Bowie knife. The songs on this album are apparently true-stories of Coyote’s conflicts with Mormons(!). The songs on this album make you wish that all of those nasty hitchhiker horror stories were true. (Queasy Mormon-baiting flute-pop aside, there is also a selection of eleven poems (mainly) about children.)
Over the years, Coyote has played with Mick Fleetwood, Badfinger, Supertramp and Frank Zappa; whilst ex-bandmates have joined bands like The Eagles and Chicago. Is he bitter? Hell, no! Who needs cash, coke and album charts when you’ve got a song called ‘Whose Heaven Is This?’ that “features ukulele by Rory G.”? Eat your heart out, Les McQueen.
I’ll allow Coyote the last word: “I probably could be in a big name band myself, but that’s not my path. I’ve got my own stories to tell. Nothing’s better than sharing your creativity and getting some applause for it.”
‘Keep creating Coyote. We’ll keep clapping.’*

www.americanzen.org

*Not my words…

This is the eponymous second album from Jersey’s old-skool punk die-hards Bulletproof. It’s rough-around-the-edges and a bit clumsy in places, but, i’ll wager Bulletproof are probably the most exciting thing to happen to Jersey since Bergerac hung up his bomber jacket. They attack the usual worthy punk-rock targets (and spit plenty of venom in Dubya’s direction) but, with their re-heated Clash-isms, Bulletproof don’t really do anything that Rancid didn’t do much better ten years ago. Still, Rancid are punk-rock millionaires and don’t really need your support. Unless they are being bankrolled by fictional millionaire Charlie Hungerford (Terence Alexander), Bulletproof probably DO need your support. They’re not going to set the world on fire, but, in all fairness, who actually wants to set the world on fire?!

www.bulletproofonline.co.uk

This is the first Sub Pop release I’ve heard for a whole bunch of years.
I thought the label might have moved on a little from the stodgy pub rock of the early 90’s, but oh no.

This is yet another three-piece playing 1st graders rock’n’roll.
We listened to it in the car this afternoon and it was only seeing the track counter move on that gave us any idea that we were listening to different songs. It’s that staid.

Unimaginative bass rumbles, erm, rumble, guitars slash half-heartedly, the drummer keeps a nice and steady 4 beat and the singer has discovered one tune which, when half spoken, can work throughout any Thermals composition.

Sub Pop always promised so much more.