|
 Acapulco
- Like To Win, Love to Lose (self released CD)
Un-officially titled "best of our Myspace hit songs",
the 5-song disc brings out the best in Acapulco. Even if it's
one of those "sure, I've heard it done in a similar way
half a million times before, but done right it still sounds
good" experiences. Comparison-wise there is some New
Bomb Turks riffage meets Orange County skateboard trash about
Acapulco. Catchy three chord songs with a break here and a
generic piece there, but enough of Acapulco's own snot to
make the punk rock cake rise properly. Song 1, X-Mas Of the
Living Dead starts with a stop and start part and goes into
a catchy chorus and half-way through, the song changes to
a faster pace. All the songs have the changes in pace in common
and the various B and C parts they throw in work well, too.
It's like all three members have something to say about putting
the songs together and not just one person dictating what,
where and when. Song 3 deserves a cookie for the great title
- Blow Denmark Away and the last two - Getting Through and
I Want A Lot are the musical pay offs, if you've liked what
you've heard so far. Live they're full of spastic energy and
chaotic ants in my pants moves and on Like To Win, Love To
Lose they sound a bit calmer. Never quiet, though. Each instrument
is clearly defined and crispy sounding in a good way. The
head spinning touch from their live show isn't as obvious
here, but on the other hand - the way they have worked on
the various songs in the studio and used some overdubs here
and there, adding some extra guitar and vocals with different
effects than on the basic track, gives each song something
of its own. The lyrics aren't that easy to decipher, but from
what I can hear there's plenty of personal observations and
humour in them, which fits the good-spirited fuck all attitude
in the music. I'm sure they have lots of friends at myspace
and this disc is likely to win over a few more, who like their
punk rock fun and slightly kaput. They have plenty of different
t-shirts designs, too.
http://www.acapulcoforever.com
http://www.myspace.com/acapulco666
If you dig: New Bomb Turks
Morten
 The
Ascent of Everest- How lonely sits the City (AOA-002)
The Ascent of Everest came to life in 2005 in Nashville, TN.
The band released this CD in July 2006 (sorry for the delay
in reviewing it!). The band features 7 members playing very
dynamic and beautiful and thought evoking mostly instrumental
music although they use male and female voice more as instruments
rather than something you are suppose to focus on. Quite cool.
5 long tracks ranging from 7-14 minutes in an interesting
slip package. Cello, violin, bass, drums, piano and guitar
are used to create the journey. Very relaxing and powerful
music. Check out the bands web site as it is really quite
cool.
http://www.ascentofeverest.com
If you dig: Mono, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky
Scott
 Big
Trouble In Little China : Diamond Cutter CD (Nolist Rec)
'File under Doom Punk - southern fried riff rock'? Hmm…BTILC
sounds like boring post-hardcore with some metal to me, not
very exciting. It's basically metalheads who are convinced
they're in a rock'n'roll band, this is pretty dismal, despite
a few alright tunes due to some decent guitar licks. The singer
is really annoying.
http://nolistrecords.com/
http://www.myspace.com/bigtroubleinlittlechina
If you dig: Helmet, Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator
Jens
 Bored!
: Self Titled + Take It Out On You & More CD (Missing
Link/Afterburner Rec)
I played the hell out of their "Negative Waves"
album which was released some odd 16 years ago. Thank god
Afterburn Records put out this excellent comp of the Melbourne
combo's early EPs, rare tracks, some from cassette tapes!
This is vintage Aussie Scuzz Rock deluxe which means raw-as-fuck
Stooges/Dead Boys fuzzed-out punkrock'n'roll with plenty of
fuck-you attitude. The booklet contains a hilarious boozed'n'drugged
out European 1990 tour diary by the late Tim Hemensley. Essential
stuff!
http://www.afterburnaustralia.com/
http://www.missinglink.net.au/
If you dig: Cosmic Psychos, early Mudhoney, Stooges
Jens
 Bjørn
Berge : I'm The Antipop CD (Kick Music)
Mr. Stringmachine has put out plenty of very uneven releases,
this is one of his better ones. The man is an insanely talented
blues slideguitarist, but I can't understand why he has to
show his love for horrible bands like Red Chili Pepers on
every 2nd album. Write more of your own material or cover
some old obscure blues tunes, I don't need more covers of
Rage Against The Machine or Primus. The good thing is that
his versions are better than the originals, haha! A mixed
bag. Well, go and see the Bjørn Berge one-man-show
on a stage, you'll have a heck of a time with this six string
wizard.
http://www.bjorn-berge.com/
http://kick.dk/
If you dig: Led Zeppelin, acoustic blues
Jens
 The
Bulemics : ...Still Too Young To Care CD+DVD (Scarey Records)
Marco & Scarey Records decided to celebrate the 10 years
of filth punk by Austin's top sickies, The Bulemics, and man,
what a party! 36 tracks and over 1 hour of live footage +
videos, truly a worthy testament of an extremely underrated
band. Like most Texas punk acts it's desperate, offensive
and superb fuck-you punkrock as opposed to the clean-cut shit
outta sunny California. The spirit of GG Allin lives on, but
this is way better than The Murder Junkies, believe me! In
the 90s The Sex Pistols left the stage at Roskilde festival
when a bottle was thrown at them, The Bulemics would have
jumped at the audience and murdered everyone in sight! These
fuckers are the real deal, and have during the years put several
people in intensive care by throwing bottles at the audience.
Now buy this comp and everything they've released and get
horny for evil - don't make me hit you with a bottle, okay?
http://www.scareyrecords.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thebulemics
If you dig: Early Dwarves, ANTiSEEN, GG Allin
Jens
 Captain
Murphy: Human Cannonball (Wild Kingdom Records, 2007)
Swedish old-school rockers Captain Murphy from Stockholm release
their second album "Human Cannonball" which is produced
by Chips Kiesbye who has also produced bands like Sahara Hotnights
and Hellacopters. The band's first album was very well recieved
and Captain Murphy has gained good respect on the live-scene,
where they have been extremely active having toured among
others with collegues Gluecifer, Hellacopters and Backyard
Babies. The inspiration clearly origins from the late 60'ies/early
70'ies and this album contains 11 groovy, very melodic and
totally catchy songs refined with accoustic guitar, glockenspiel,
sax and shakes. Instant hit on my cd-player was the song "Stuzie"
that bears qualities similar to the best of The Kinks or maybe
The Small Faces. Another more fast paced cool rocker is "Ooh
Ah Wap Shee Wah Yeah", but all in all it's hit upon hit
on this release.The guys have a great flair for writing songs
that really works melodicly as well as dynamicly. Twang-guitar
blends with the garagy attack of drums and bass, and the vocal
work is very convincing and well performed. Check it out!
http://www.captainmurphy.com
if you dig: The Kinks meets MC5
Foxy
Chooglin : S/T CD
Ex-members of Midnight Evils go boogie rock? Well, sorta,
Chooglin got their name off a Creedence Clearwater Revival
record, but comes across as a righteous mix of Skynyrd-esque
southern rawk, Stax soul/r&b (yup, there's a horn section)
and a bit of Swingin Neckbreakers/Supersuckers in the more
rowdy cuts. Amazing stuff! This is basically what American
rock'n'roll is about, and SHOULD be about; freewheeling hardrocking
soulful and kickass r'n'r, rooted in the 70s but more vital
than most new acts around today, and you can take that to
the bank! There's not a weak track in sight, all killer no
filler, pretty damn impressive for a debut album.
http://www.chooglin.net/
If you dig: Five Horse Johnson, Free, Mitch Ryder
Jens
 Ciper-
Elemental Forces (Burning Shed Bshed 0602)
This is the 3rd CD by the duo of Theo Travis and Dave Sturt.
Theo has played with Gong, David Sylvian, Palle Mikkelborg,
Porcupine Tree and is now currently in Soft Machine Legacy.
Dave Sturt is known from the UK band Jade Warrior. They are
joined on this CD by Steve Hubback (percussion). The CD features
6 tracks (50 minutes) of slowly floating ambient soundscapes
with flute, saxophones, bass and various synth sweeps, sounds,
etc and this is accented by some interesting percussion and
cool GONG sounds by Steve. The music is very relaxing and
freefloating. Beyond All Things, the opening track, begins
with a long solo by Travis and a little after half way, suddenly
stops and some cool gongs and sounds come in and then Dave
takes off with a cool fretless bass solo, over which Theo
comes back in with sax. Quite cool. Solid Earth is the only
short number at 4 minutes and has a sort of upbeat pulse to
it, despite being totally chilled out. Various interesting
loops are going on. Spirit of the Void has a repetitive keyboard
loop over which Theo plays the sax in a very slow, relaxing
way. Some percussion comes in a bit later. Shiki features
different chimes and percussion, a bit of an eastern feel
to it. Theo and Dave contribute in only a minor way to this
track with some background sounds and loops. Cool song. Into
the Air begins with some nice solo flute playing before the
bass begins to slowly work into the sound texture and the
gongs chime in as well. Theo later switches to sax. The CD
ends with the Sea Flows and again is upbeat in someway with
a minor rhythm going on and a nice eastern sound string instrument
that is looped. Quite a nice CD but perhaps too laid back
for most people.
http://www.burningshed.com
If you dig: No Man, Jade Warrior, and David Gilmour
Scott
 The
Defectors : Bruised And Satisfied CD (Bad Afro)
Man, these Danish garagepunks sure don't get more mellow with
age, no way José! "Bruised And Satisfied"
is sorta split up in a horror rock part (side 1) and a fuzzpunk
part (side 2), and it works like a charm. The songs are pretty
varied, from the doomy gloom of the title track to the frantic
(and very immature) "Fuck You Cause You're Looking Good",
but it's all gutsy and played with a furious passion rarely
heard within these shores. Some garagebands barely qualify
as a retro bands, The Defectors wanna do something else, they
wanna mess it up, turn it around and molest it's sorry ass!
"Bruised And Satisfied" is their 4th album, and
probably their best. BUY!
http://www.thedefectors.com
http://badafro.dk/
If you dig: Fuzztones, Cramps, Screaming Lord Sutch
Jens
 Disen
Gage- Libertâge (RAIG RO17)
Wow.. this cool all instrumental Russian band are back with
their 3rd CD. I quite liked the last one but I think this
one is even better! The music on this CD was improvised and
recorded live with no overdubs on a single date in Jan 2006.
I really like the way that the band use this push and pull
like technique to interact between the instruments. I also
like the way they mix in some strange sounds and extra atmosphere
to the music. Quite a unique group… 7 tracks 56 minutes…
The CD begins with the slowly building Entrée. Very
melodic and it sounds like synthesizers some of it but it
is Guitar and the mood then changes to something more mysterious
and dark. I really like the improvised aspect of the CD as
it seems composed in some way, the band is always taking interesting
twists and turns in the music. The Crash begins with some
intense drumming and bass playing as the two guitar players
play against each other in some way before the track breaks
out gets quite psychedelic and very jazzy in some way. Attaque
de Blindés is next and begins quite strange before
the track builds on some cool bass playing and back and forth
between the guitars and then the drums kick in and the guitars
go back and forth with cool playing.
Bebe immobile di tutti I Sicilia is slow to start and then
really gets quite interesting with some guitar that sounds
like a woodwind instrument. Der Roboter is where the CD really
takes off. This and the next 14 minute track, H5N1 are just
killer stuff.. The music is intense and the playing awesome.
The CD ends with Sorte and this is quite a moody piece but
features really cool guitar playing. A really great and adventurous
and challenging CD.
http://www.raig.ru
http://www.disengage.ru
If you dig: King Crimson, Anekdoten,
Scott
Dogliotti - Candombe LP/CD (Vampisoul Records)
Records like this getting released is positive proof that
capitalism doesn't work: If Vampisoul can run a label releasing
obscure 70's Uruguayan Hammond organ music, hell, the only
reason why anyone should fail in the record business is greed.
Suck up to popular opinion? Follow the latest trend? Attempt
to get on MTV? But why, when you could be doing psychedelic
afro muzak instead? Dogliotti was a name on the 70's hotel
scene in Uruguay, playing jazz in hotel bars, and to promote
himself, he put out a couple if records that have now been
packaged in one album by Vampisoul. The music isn't far from
the cheesy Hammond organ music your grandma listened to in
the 80's, the kind they played on 80's quiz shows, but with
added afro beat percussion and a distinctly psychedelic flavour,
which leads me to suspect Dogliotti spiced his drinks to be
able to make through the long nights. This is a candidate
for the most obscure record you'll get in your record collection.
http://www.vampisoul.com
If you dig: Ole Erling, Tony Allen
Jon A
 Dollhouse
: The Royal Rendez-Vous promo CD (Bad Reputation Rec)
With "The Royal Rendez-Vous" our Swedish friends
continue their sonic quest of creating some of hardest rockin'
blooze rawk known to mankind. Definitely their best album
to date, the production which before was somewhat of a problem
is here expertly handled by Nicke of The Hellacopters, and
the result is pure fuckin' magic! Nine superior tracks that
reek of late 60s progressive hardrock blues and psychedelia.
Many of their contemporary peers try playing the blues, and
most fail, but Dollhouse hits bullseye, and then some!! I've
said before and l'll say it again; Dollhouse is STILL the
most underrated Swedish band of'em all!! Now get down and
boogie yer sorry ass to pieces!
http://www.mc5.org/dollhouse/
http://www.badreputation.fr/
If you dig: MC5, Ten Years After, Groundhogs
Jens
The Draft - In a Million Pieces CD (Epitaph Records/Target)
Post-grunge, it's called. It's supposed to have its background
in hardcore, which gives it cred, and then to have seen the
light with Kurt Cobain, possibly the most overrated person
of the 90's. The result is horrid, sounds like the worst of
MTV friendly melo-core mixed with second rate MTV grunge like
Bush or something. The Draft is made up of former members
of Hot Water Music. This is their debut album. I imagine if
you were into this kind of music, it might be decent in some
way, but I don't think you'd be reading this page, then.
http://www.epitaph.com
If you dig: Bush
Jon A
 Dragontears
: 2000 Micrograms From Home promo CD (Bad Afro)
This exciting project consists of some of the most prolific
musicians of the Copenhagen psychedelic scene (Baby Woodrose,
On Trial). The result, "2000 Micrograms From Home",
is a bold and uncompromising work of aural wonders that's
seldom heard within these shores. 6 songs in 40 minutes take
the listener on a trippy journey through an acid rock landscape
of fuzz drenched mountains and rivers of hallucinatory weird
sounds. Strange, beautiful, and haunting, Dragontears push
the limits for psychedelic rock in the 21st century. It's
experimental almost trance-like, yet founded in the legacy
of late-60s r'n'r, but with a new, fresh and very vital approach
that challenges the listener to go beyond what's considered
rock'n'roll today. This is DRUG MUSIC that'll give you a high,
completely legal! HIGHly recommended!! See interview with
Lorenzo Woodrose of Dragontears elsewhere in the issue.
http://www.myspace.com/dragontears2000
If you dig: Spids Nøgenhat, Hawkwind, Red Crayola
Jens
 Duster69:
Angel King (Decibel Record/ Sleezy Rider Records, 2007)
German veterans of Duster69 are back with a new album. The
band was founded in 1999 as Jochen (guitar), Peter (drums)
and Matthias (bass) left the ashes of the band Cursed (later:
Last View Down). They wanted to go back to the roots of making
relatively short tunes, hard rocking and essential music.
They released their debut "Interstellar Burst" also
in 1999 and from there it was full speed forward for Duster69,
who has managed to make a name of themselves on the stoned
areas of the European underground scene. The band has featured
on an impressing number of compilations and splits and "Angel
King" is their fourth full-lengh album. The sound is
really massive all the way through, featuring a dirty'n'greasy
fuzzed bass, a wall of thick leaned-back guitar playing and
some real hard kicking drumming. A kind of muddy sound the
Kyuss-way, a lot of repeating stoned riffs and an over all
wild and right-in-you-face expression are some of the trademarks
of this album. Weakest link in the chain is perhaps Lucki's
vocal that presents more shouting than actual singing - a
point that is typical for the entire scene of European stoner
rock by the way: The lack of focused work on vocal intonations,
tone control and phrasing. It's a shame, because this is otherwise
a very convincing release from an experienced band!
http://www.duster69.com
If you dig: Kyuss, The Great Escape, Hermano
Foxy
 Earthling
Society- Plastic Jesus and the Third Eye Blind (Nasoni Records
053CD)
Earthling Society is a very cool space rock band from England,
who seems to be getting more and more far out with each release.
The CD has 6 tracks (2 of which are long suites with multiple
parts) as well as a bonus live track with Harvey Bainbridge,
which was not on the vinyl release. This is a band, very much
like CAN, Amon Duul, early Hawkwind, that you must really
sit down and get into the sounds, otherwise you just won't
understand it. Council House Mystics starts the CD off in
a very mysterious way as the trip begins to swirl and take
form. As with the first CD, they have quite a special production.
Kosmik Suite No.1, only 8 minutes long but described in 3
parts. It starts very spacey and then kicks in to a groove
very much like the Mandra gora Lightshow society with a bit
of Funkadelic mixed in! Cool.. Plastic Jesus is only 2½
minutes long a laid back psychic mind twister before leading
into Psychick Sunday, which is a slow spaced out instrumental
piece. Girls Talk is a fantastic uptempo 60's inspired psych
rocker with cool lyrics.. Next up is the Kozmik Suite No.2,
weighing in at 20 minutes. It is quite spaced out to start
and then around 3½ minutes kicks into an uptempo and
a great space rock groove that is quite funky and spaced out.
Amazing track by one of the best bands in the UK at the moment.
Look out for a new CD in April 2007 on Nasoni Records.
http://www.nasoni-records.com
http://www.earthlingsociety.co.uk
If you dig: CAN, Amon Duul, early Hawkwind, and The Spacious
Mind
Scott
 The
Electric Family- Royal Hunt (Tribal Stomp TS 505)
Electric Family are a very cool German band and each record
is quite different and unique. Dark and brooding mood music
with great vocals and guitar. They are a bit hard to describe
but this is another great CD, the bands 4th. I reviewed the
bands first CD a couple of years ago and I think this one
is perhaps even better. Some great lyrics as well. The opening
track is a great psychedelic rocker with some cool guitar
and I love the spoken word vocals delivery. Tom has a cool
voice. Close to the Dustheap is a more straight up rocker
but these older guys know who to play with a lot of emotion
as well. The title track, Royal Hunt, is another great number
and I like the spacey Pink Floyd like middle part a lot. Souls
and Coins features a lot of acoustic guitar but gets quite
psychedelic. A really great song. Operation Stardust is another
great song with some really nice guitar soloing. Long Way
back Home changes the mood a bit with a cool assortment of
sounds and a strange sounding guitar. Misty Moon Ride ends
the regular CD and is an instrumental track with piano. The
CD ends with a bonus track, which is a very odd version of
Bitch by the Rolling Stones.. You really have to hear this..
Something totally different!
http://www.shackmedia.de
http://www.myspace.com/electricfamily
If you dig: German rock with a 60's as well as Krautrock influence
and a bit of Pink Floyd.
Scott
 Envy-
Insomniac Doze (Temporary Residence)
Envy are a Japanese band who play some pretty intense and
unique music but also quite hard to get into. The band has
been around since 1991 and this is their 5th release. From
what I gather the band started as a hardcore band but have
really evolved their sound as they play this very dramatic
and heavy post-rock- shoegazer music but with melodic vocals
but then sometimes these really awful horrible, screaming,
intense, death vocals, that do something to your inner psyche…
The band is really into long journeys with the shortest song
4½ minutes and the longest over 15 minutes. The music
can be quite intense but I found the record hard to get into
although some of the musical passages are quite cool. I am
sure the band is very intense live.
http://www.temporaryresidence.com
http://www.sonzairecords.com/envy.html
If you dig: My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai, Explosions in the
Sky, Isis
Scott
 Epicenter
: Six Bullet Shooter EP CD
This Danish r'n'r combo belongs somewhere between 80s hardrock
and 90s Swedish action rawk. It's very well executed and melodic,
but also a bit sleep inducing. I'm too old or too young for
this stuff, a bit more psychosexual madness and musical fuck-you
anarchy please! My cock hardly got aroused and I guess that's
a problem when you play cockrock. Some potential though.
http://www.epicenter.dk/
If you dig: Maryslim, Hellacopters, Pretty Maids
Jens
Escape the Fate - There's No Sympathy for the Dead CDS
(Epitaph Records/Target)
No sympathy for the dead, whatever that's supposed to mean,
definitely none for MTV generation emo kids. My guess, what
Epitaph is doing here, is getting everyone so worked up they'll
start beating up emo kids, and to protect themselves, the
poor things will have to cut their hair, return their mom's
make-up kit, and start listening to some proper music just
in time for Bad Religion to release their first decent album
since "Generator", which will then become a worldwide
smash hit and eventually carry Greg Graffin to the White House,
where he'll put an end to the US' imperial ambitions and finally
achieve peace in the world, ban vegetables that aren't grown
ecologically, and end all pollution. Escape the Fate will
have to be sacrificed in the first stages of the battle, of
course, but in time, they'll be remembered as martyrs for
the cause, and all copies of this ugly, little mini LP will
have been destroyed so as not to mar their sainthood.
http://www.epitaph.com
If you dig: My Chemical Romance
Jon A
Fallen Men : Fuck Off CD (Helicopter Records)
A Danish/Italian/British combo that excels in stripped down
minimalistic swampbluesy r'n'r that both sounds 80s Australian-like
and 60s Velvet Underground-esque. Pretty uncompromising stuff
that borders on the brilliant and pretty monotonous. I like
it.
http://www.fallenmen.co.uk/
http://www.delux.dk/
If you dig: Velvet Underground, Subsonics, Beasts Of Bourbon
Jens
 Feet
Punk : Gi Faan EP CD
Saw this outfit supporting Null$katte$nylterne completely
zonked outta my mind, but the friendly Norwegians gave me
this 7 track cd backstage. Fast fucked and furious punkrock
in hc speed with drunken Norwegian lyrics. Me like. Sorry
for all my insane boozed-up-ness that nite at Stengade, free-bar-AIDS-benefits
can do that to you!
http://feet-punk.com/
If you dig: Dean Dirg, Hjertestop
Jens
 Ferris
Mudd- Ferris Mudd (Ferris Mudd 2006)
These guys are really good players and write good compositions
but it is just too slick and poppy for my tastes and Richard,
while not a bad singer, has a very special voice and a bit
hard to get used to for my ears. The commercial aspect of
YES is a big influence on these guys (especially on Time to
Fly with the vocal harmonies). They clearly like Porcupine
Tree (vocally) as well. All but 2 of the 8 tracks are between
6-8 minutes so there is plenty of space for the band to play.
If you like progressive rock that has a very melodic radio
friendly bent (Unwrapped), then for sure check these guys
out. Great players and some cool tracks like Over your Head
(quite Pink Floyd- 1989 era meets the commercial Porcupine
Tree). A very good debut CD.
http://www.ferrismudd.com
If you dig: Alan Parsons, Yes (the commercial stuff), Porcupine
Tree, Genesis, Marillion
Scott
 Foobar
The Band: Hellride (Daredevil Records, 2007)
Five-piece rockers Foobar the Band is based in Gothenburg,
Sweden and the band was founded in 2004 apperantly over a
phone call, and since then a couple on changes has taken place
- f.ex. original drummer Janne Johansson now plays stoner
in Sergej the Freak and he was replaced by Peter Korsgård
(Cujo), who by the way has a real stabile and solid attack
that fits the sound real good. Foobar the Band has been touring
with bands like Mustasch and Rentokiller and this is their
first album. This is straight forward, high octane rock'n'roll
Danko Jones/ Backyard Babies-style. Like a heavy loaded truck
on the right lane of the highway one song takes the other,
wheels running, dirty riffs rocking, Jonny Zasella's kind
of spoken vox being the fuel, tight bass and drums running
the engine. This is good music for driving long trips in your
van. There is an obvious flow throughout the 12 songs of the
album and it's all played with a lot of pure and convincing
energy. But one thing I might just miss is a small break in
the power-outlet: A slow song to bring down my rising blood
pressure or a change in sound and attack perhaps on one or
two songs? It sure wouldn't hurt the otherwise real fine debut
from this hellriding band!
http://www.daredevilrecords.de
If you dig: Backyard Babies, old Foo Fighters, Danko Jones
Foxy
 45
Years Perry Rhodan- Operation Stardust (Tribal Stomp TS 504)
This is a pretty interesting compilation CD and dedicated
to the long running German Sci Fi character Perry Rhodan,
which appeared in more than 2300 magazines, novels, etc..
over 45 years. Most of the artists on this compilation are
German but the San Francisco based band, Mushroom, close the
CD. 80% of all the tracks are unreleased as well and created
specifically for this compilation. 16 tracks in 64 minutes.
A wide range of music but mostly spacey stuff. I have not
heard most of the bands (projects) on this CD. The Chino Berdino
Sound Experience start the CD with a short programmed mostly
electronic piece. Islo Mob performs some sort of 80's synth
pop like track. Die Kassierer play a strange Spanish influenced
track sung in German. Strange… Fantasyy Factoryy play
a killer track called Psycho Storm.
The Electric Family have an edited version of Operation Stardust,
which appears on their latest CD. Centrozoon produced a melodic
and weird all electronic track with vocals. The Pachinko Fake
play rock but with an electronic edge. Cool track. The Psychedelic
Keyboard Trio offer a short 2½ minute track which starts
will only a single piano, which slowly gets louder and a bit
of synths and noises and it is over. Zeitloop donate the track
Stonehenge (maybe the only track on the CD that has nothing
to do with Perry Rhodan) but it is a spacey number. OSI is
next with a very moody and spacey track. Good. Sula Bassana
created a track called Perry Rhodan and he plays all the instruments,
as usual, in this almost like 60's space surf track. Carlos
Peron performs the Golden Machine, which is quite an awful
take off of Silver Machine by Hawkwind.. Disco Darlings perform
the only straight up rock and roll pop song on the record.
Trashlords, perform a trashy 2 minute song, as they should.
Subverve play a strange track with the Carmina Burana theme
playing in the background. The CD ends with Mushroom recorded
live in San Francisco! A very nice digipack and booklet for
this mixed bag of a CD. Cool project!
http://www.perryrhodan.de
If you dig: Strange compilation records…
Scott
 Fuzz
Manta : Moon Stone Sessions demo CD
I've said it many times before; southern rock is one of the
hardest genres to pull off, you need the right amounts of
bluesy stony riffs and soulful vocals to get it right right.
Most fail in my book, cockrock attitude and a confederate
flag just don't cut it. And being born and bred in a southern
state of America isn't a sure thing, this shit is global!
Copenhagen Fuzz Manta knows where it's at, and lo and behold
they got female singer (Foxy of Cherry Overdrive)! Yes, ain't
it great that gutsy dedication and geography can transcend
everything that's fuckin' holy in our lives? Five tracks of
pure southern stoner rock heaven, "Mountain" being
the stand out r'n'r delirium be-all-end-all stomper. Everybody
needs to look out for this new combo, risen from the ashes
of Trigger Bells, in 2007 - they will blow yer sorry minds!
http://www.myspace.com/fuzzmanta
If you dig: Five Horse Johnson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Clutch
Jens
Fuzz
Manta- Moon Stone Sessions Demo 2006
Fuzz Manta are a new 5 piece 70's influenced stoner rock band
from Copenhagen. They feature Per and Foxy from the Davolina's
as well as Morgan, Freddy and Morten (guitar, guitar and bass)
all from the band Triggerbells. This features 5 tracks (26
minutes) recorded on a hard disc recorder in the rehearsal
room. Decent sound for sure but the guitar could sound much
more massive as some of the riffs are just awesome! Night
Fright is a really great song and features a monster riff
and great vocals by Foxy. She really shines here. Lots of
killer guitar solos on these tracks.. Love it. The Big city
sleeps on a Tuesday night is next and an uptempo radio rocker
in some sort of sense but very 70's with the guitar solos
leading the way….. Last Winter's Candles is a mid paced
rock song and a bit bluesy. Mountain picks things up with
a real foot stomping rock number and features some slide guitar
as well as duelling solos. Who sees you ends the CD and is
a killer slow blues rock. Wow.. This band has a future.. watch
out.. Can't wait to hear the full length record.
http://www.myspace.com/fuzzmanta
If you dig: Siena Root, Mountain,
Scott
 Graveyard-
Demo 2007
Graveyard is a new 70's influenced Swedish blues-psych rock
band. If I am not mistaken have a member or two from the disbanded
Albatros. The demo begins with Evil Ways and this is a really
cool song that is very much like old school early 70's hard
rocking stuff. I really like the low down psychy blues sound
and vocals. Blue is the colour of my Soul is the next song.
A very good song with a great melody and raw sound. I really
look forward to hearing more from this promising new band
from Göteborg, Sweden.
http://www.myspace.com/graveyardsongs
If you dig: Witchcraft, Albatros, Abramis Brama, Magnolia,
Pentagram
Scott
 Güdenläwd-
Good and Loud (Old Skull Records)
This is the debut CD but this San Paulo, Brazil based band.
The band is a power trio and the songs are based on down tuned
heavy riffs. I can hear a little bit of Gov't Mule and Warren
Haynes influence in this music but it is not that blues based
really and the players are not of the quality of the MULE..
Another Chance is a heavy rocker with a very Sabbath influenced
riff. Flames has a little punky flavour to it and quite an
attitude! Pay my Dues is one where I can hear the blues side
of the band come through but the vocal delivery is still quite
punky in some way. Cool guitar solo! From the Ashes is an
instrumental jam track with the guitarist showing off a bit.
Great track, shows a lot of sides of his guitar playing. Always
Shines is based on a heavy slide guitar riff and one of the
more melodic tracks. We ain't the Same is quite Gov't Mule
inspired. Home is a down and dirty rock and roll song. The
CD ends with Chance Revisited. A pretty cool heavy rocking
record with a bit of punky attitude. This is a record you
really have to hear a few times to get into and let it get
a hold of you.
http://www.gudenlawd.com.br
If you dig: Black Sabbath, Los Natas, Spirit Caravan, Gov't
Mule
Scott
 Hectic
Watermelon- The Great American Road Trip (Predator Fish Records
PF3346)
This California based band lead by guitarist and composer
John Czajkowski, have released quite a cool musical work out
with a sense of humor (the use of vocal samples) as well.
John is quite influenced by both John McLaughlin and Frank
Zappa and has an amazing bass player and drummer backing him
up (Darren DeBree and Harley Magsino). They are joined on
9 of the 11 tracks by Jerry Goodman on Violin (Mahavishnu
Orchestra, Dixie Dregs). All kinds of styles are found on
this CD as well, with more metallic like guitar on The Third
Derivative of James Brown to more fusion pieces where the
violin and guitars really come together or when you hear the
bluegrass influence. John is quite a creative and expressive
guitarist shifting back and forth and using quite cool effects
at times. This is very much a CD for guitar players to enjoy
but you hear the band having a lot of fun as well with this
very complex music. Only really good musicians with amazing
memories could play this stuff, like people who played with
Zappa! A very enjoyable CD for fans of jazz fusion…
http://www.hecticwatermelon.com
If you dig: Frank Zappa, Dixie Dregs, Alan Holdsworth,
Scott
 Highschool
Lockers : Never Ending Party CD (Nicotine Records)
These Italian rockers blend poppunk, powerpop, '77 punk &
rock'n'roll and they do a damn fine job at it. Then why ain't
I completely floored by Highschool Lockers? Well, it's kinda
like the later Martin Scorsese movies, it's competent and
wellcrafted but somehow fail to make a huge impact on me.
Maybe it'll grow on me, I dunno, I've just heard lotsa similar
bands do it better like The Briefs and The Marked Men. But
again, it's not bad.
http://www.nicotinerecords.com/
http://www.myspace.com/highschoollockers
If you dig. The Smugglers, Neurotic Swingers, Ramones
Jens
Hærværk : Dyster Definition EP CD (Boston
Tea Party)
Pissed off punkcore with great (female) vocals. Non-metallic
early 80s style hc with an asspocket full of hatred, yet very
catchy, again the vocals of Lisa is very impressive and puts
this act way above the average of the genre. The slogan like
lyrics (in Danish) makes you wanna riot on the streets. Me
like.
http://www.haervaerk.org/
If you dig: Battalion Of Saints, Hjertestop
Jens
 The
Indecision Alarm - The Indecision Alarm CD (Tic Tac Totally)
Sometimes, it must suck to be in a band: You spend long evenings
in badly ventilated rehearsal spaces, you finally come up
with a bunch of songs that you're proud of, you spend all
your money on studio time to record them, spend months knocking
on record labels' doors, then wait for half a year before
your record is finally released and you hold your little baby
in your hands. And then it's mailed out to someone like me,
who goes "that one? I've heard a thousand other bands
that sound exactly the same," after two tracks. And it's
not like the reviewer can just give the album to someone else
in the staff, because everyone else in the staff hates melo-core,
he's the only one who comes close to liking it, and thus he's
got to listen to records like this every month. If I was away
somewhere distant on holiday with no music and someone put
on this one while we were drinking, I'd probably not think
it was too bad. Or if strippers danced to it. But I've got
thousands of records within arm's reach from where I sit now,
so it's hard to see why I should be bothered with giving this
one more time.
http://www.tictactotally.com
If you dig: Bad Religion
Jon A
 Jam
Camp- Jam Camp Live (Flying Spot Entertainment)
Jam Camp come from Washington State and has been playing for
10 years or more and this is a live CD (although you rarely
ever hear any audience) that captures the band between the
spring and summer 2006. The band plays all instrumental jazz
fusion rock with ripping guitars, hot drumming and bass and
saxophone. While you can't deny that these guys can play their
asses off, sometimes the music comes across too much like
a musicianship's workout and not a band just really letting
it flow and groove. The people who have reviewed the CD and
called it psychedelic rock are way off, that I can tell you,
although one of the two lead guitarists has a bit more psychy
feel at times. Anyway, very high quality playing and some
really cool tracks and a great sound production. Amazing saxophone
player..
http://www.jamcamp.com
If you dig: Steve Morse Band, Eric Johnson, Soft Machine Legacy,
Zero, Frank Zappa
Scott
 A
Kid Hereafter : Rich Freedom Flavour promo CD (I Wave Rec)
You want eccentric pop that doesn't really sounds like anything
you heard before? Try A Kid Hereafter, the flamboyant brainchild
of Frederik Thaae who successfully throws everything at ya;
punkpop, powerpop, hardcore, 70s progrock etc. I've been humming
the tunes for weeks, they just stick in your mind like candy
flavored cancer like a deranged version of The Buggles!?!
The only problem is that "Rick Freedom Flavour"
might be a tad too all over the place, the few reggae tunes
didn't really connect with me. One of those bands you can't
really explain if your life depended on it, just go see'em!
Interview elsewhere in this issue.
http://www.akidhereafter.com/
http://www.iwaverecords.com/
If you dig: Sparks, Frank Black, Revillos
Jens
 La
Ira de Dios- Archaeopterix (Nasoni Records 045CD)
La Ira de Dios are a very cool and stoned band from Peru.
This is their 3rd release. Their CDs are like free form Hawkwind
style jamming from the early 70's with some occasional singing
just to mix things up. It is a special music and sound that
they have and not everyone will dig it but us freaks out there…
this is some cool stuff… Just bass, drums, guitar, and
sound effects with a bit of singing. The title track starts
things off with some spaced out sounds and then the totally
stoned Status Quo thumping bass riff kicks in and then some
ultimately stoned guitar and spaced and brief vocals before
they take you back to the stoned space of your mind. El Llamado
is next and starts quite slowly and spaced and makes you feel
like you are floating in a dream until about 3½ minutes
when the spaced out guitar kicks in and the sound effects
guy spaces your mind. At 5½ minutes you think the track
is going to end, but no! The just increase the intensity of
the spaced out music.. Al Viento (17 minutes) is next and
starts slowly and is a very very stoned blues tune to start
but then gets totally heavy and out there… some really
great bass playing at the end of this track.. Nave Fénix
is next for 8 minutes before the monster 24 minute Cordillera
closing track. This one starts spaced and silent but then
totally explodes into 1971 Hawkwind style over the top space
jamming. Cordillera again begins quite slow and features some
acoustic guitar that sounds like it was recorded in a cave
but this leads into a most spaced out heavy and stoned freakout
jam.. Quite an amazing trip of a CD… definitely for stoners…
http://www.nasoni-records.com
http://www.lairadedios.com/#inicio
If you dig: Hawkwind, Space Doom, Los Natas, Gas Giant
Scott
 Robert
Lawson- Evenings Empire (Tiny Tapes)
Robert is back again with a new CD-R release. He manages to
put out a new one every week or two, which is quite cool.
He has just finished his 70th CD-R! I think this is 68 or
69! He usually plays all the instruments (guitar, bass, drums,
and organ). Anyway, this is the closest I have heard him go
into playing space-psychedelic rock stuff and I like it very
much. I think this is the CD that I have played the most in
the last few weeks. The CD is 4 basic tracks with 3 short
and strange interludes (1-3). The CD starts off with Space
Ways, and as the title suggests, this is good old school space
rock lead by Roberts's cool guitar. Wah Wah Jam is next and
like the title says, features Robert's wah wah guitar. The
bass riff is a bit like a very slow You shouldn't do That
by Hawkwind to start but then the track picks up into something
heavier with some organ and the wah wah guitar leading the
way.. Next up after the interlude is Tam O'Shanter, which
is an amazing track. It is 11½ minutes long and some
Irish chap, perhaps, Tam tells this very dark and far out
tale while Robert plays super cool spaced out and dark music
in the background. A must hear! Love this one. The CD ends
with the title track and is a mellow and beautiful closing
track, a bit like some Pink Floyd from the Soundtrack to the
movie, More. Excellent stuff.
tinytapes@yahoo.com
If you dig: Robert Lawson, Space Rock
Scott
 Los
Natas- El Hombre Montaña (Nasoni Records 55LP)
The Argentinean group, Los Natas are back with some rock and
roll. After making some pretty experimental and spacey records
Toba Trance and The Munchen Sessions), the band is back to
hard rocking 70's sounds. The record was recorded in Argentina
but engineered by Billy Anderson! This is the best set of
material the band have put together of this type of music.
The Kyuss clone sound is gone and they just rock in their
own Argentinean psychy way! The opening track El Bolsero is
a great rocker and they seem to be going for more complex
arrangements and more guitar solos. Amanecer Blanco and No
es lo Mismo are very melodic tracks but very uptempo. The
don't bring it down a bit until Humo megro del Vaticano. The
very uptempo but melodic La Espada en la Piedra ends the first
side of this vinyl release. Great sound. The CD version was
released on Small Stone records.
Side B starts with El Ciervo (the best track on the LP), and
it has a great guitar riff with a bit of wah and fuzz. Another
hard driving track and quite jamming. El Camino de Dios is
an acoustic song and provides a nice break from the fast and
hard hitting stuff so far on the record. De las Cenizas, El
Hombre goes back to the slow heavy stoned stuff and is a great
song, with a bit of a mysterious feel to it.
Sique Sique ends this excellent record. I really think this
is the best record the band has ever recorded. Great stuff.
http://www.nasoni-records.com
http://www.losnatas.com
If you dig: Kyuss, Buffalo, Colour Haze
Scott
 Loudness-
Breaking the Taboo (Tokuma Communications TKCA-73137)
Wow.. Well, Loudness is back with another heavy, thrashing
rocker but also some more melodic songs (probably influenced
from their first tour to the US in many years last year!).
Akira has a guitar sound to kill for and the band play as
well as ever. In some ways though I think this record is not
as good as the past many records. This is the bands 26th record
and they have all the original members! They did not always
though.. The CD does have some amazing tracks like Brutal
Torture, which sounds like good old Bay Area trash, ala. Exodus
and Testament but with cooler guitar! Sick World is another
really great track with a cool riff. Don't Spam Me starts
with a crazy sounding guitar before the guitar sound slowly
morphs into a more clean sound and riff and then the chorus
part of the song goes back to some of their more pop sounding
stuff from the 80s and back into this crazy guitar sound.
Far out! Damnation is a real 80's metal riff and this brings
back the crazy headbanging days including the silly chorus
meant for American radio! Cool guitar solo though.. The Love
of my Life has quite a cool groove to start the track off
before the spacey guitar kicks in for this ballad track, which
is sung in Japanese and English. A Moment of Revalation brings
back the monster heavy riffs again but a catchier chorus.
Dynamite is killer heavy again and some really cool far out
guitar is played as well. I love the way Akira experiments
like crazy, never just normal HM riffs, but always putting
in crazy sounds and effects and the guitar is mixed totally
in your face! Diving into Darkness is a totally different
style song that starts quite funky actually and Akira plays
a cool phased out wah guitar… The CD ends with Without
You, again going back to the bands 80's style. I really like
some of the stuff on this record a lot but I can also hear
how this record is probably going to be released outside Japan
and the band have tried to become a bit more accessible compared
to records like Terror. Still this is quality heavy metal….
Top notch..
http://www3.livemedia.co.jp/loudness/
If you dig: LOUDNESS-what else??
Scott
 Maryslim:
A Perfect Mess (Wild Kingdom Records, 2007)
Swedish band Maryslim presents their debut album containing
12 tracks. The band has been touring with bands like Hanoi
Rocks, Backyard Babies, Soundtrack of Our Lives and Mustasch
and claims to have made a substancial impact on audiences
whereever they have played. "A Perfect Mess" presents
a band capable of writing catchy pop-rock songs with riffs
by the book, with all the right A and B parts put in order
according to the great manual of dynamic composing and including
all the melodic solos one could possibly ask for. The sound
production of the album is totally professional, everything
sounds really good and the compression makes a solid impression.
No doubt the guys can play and sing - in facts they are all
quite skilled musicians! But it all turns out a bit too perfect
and calculated in the end. I miss a bit of dirt in the sound,
I miss a surprise every now and then composition-wise, a personal
touch, the mess, I miss the song that sticks out from the
flow of the overly well-produced melodies. This is definitely
fit for rocking MTV without messing up the fragile listeners'
illusion of what rock should sound like. After one spin you
can sing along with the chorus of most songs on this album,
but to me the party ends right there I'm sorry to say. I'm
sure this is gonna be an international hit, but it doesn't
really hit me...
http://www.maryslim.com
If you dig: MTV rock...
Foxy
Mr. Peter Hayden - First Cycle Complete 7" (PRCH)
It's a spooky little record, this one. Apart from some scrawling
on the inner label, which reveals its origin as probably Finnish,
there's not much info here, and the music itself doesn't give
away much. Esoteric, gloomy, repetitive, dark, occult doom
metal with occasional vocals far behind in the mix and arbitrary
voodoo drumming on top. Two alternate versions of one song,
one of which sounds like Black Sabbath, the other like Hawkwind,
both of which sound like they crawled out of the tundra and
belong to some secret order. I'm a bit scared by this record,
I must admit that, but no more than I've been putting it on
again and again these last few weeks to keep the demons at
bay.
http://www.mrph.tk
If you dig: Neurosis, Cult Of Luna
Jon A
 My
Sleeping Karma: My Sleeping Karma (Elektrohasch Records, 2007)
Back in 2005 when German stonerkings of The Great Escape unfortunately
found themselves in the crap situation of breaking up the
scene lost some good musicians and a good band. It's therefore
a pleasure to hear that cool bass player Matte and excellent
drummer Steffen kept up the good spirit and formed this new
band freaturing guitarist Seppi and atmospheric keyboard playing
Norman! My Sleeping Karma takes a quite different and refreshing
turn on the German autobahn of music. This is their first
release: Six dynamicly performed tracks with no vocals but
with a lot of intonation and stories to tell nevertheless.
The band deals with hard rocking and stoned guitar riffs,
with space-bubble sounds and delay, with psychedelic dreamy
elements, with groovy repetitions and with some very melodic
bass-lines running through all of the tracks. This is definitely
not a classic headbangers ball, but on the contrary a thoughtful
and sometimes heavy journey for your mind and body - and a
nice, organic sonic trip to take when you need to clear your
head and drift away. Nice work, guys!
http://www.mysleepingkarma.eu
If you dig: Void Forum(light), Weltraumstaunen added a solid
rocking guitar.
Foxy
My
Sleeping Karma (Electrohasch 120)
For those who don't know, this is the band that was born out
of the ashes of the Great Escape. The music is all instrumental
and very groove and repetitive in nature at times. It features
guitar, bass, drums and keyboards (used more for texture and
effects and not as a lead instrument most of the time). Intention,
the opening number is quite Circle inspired but with it's
own flavour. Just listen closely though as this is probably
the weakest song on the record. The tracks just get better
and better as the record goes on. 23 Enigma is quite post
rock like to start but you can sort of hear a sinister ness
in the guitar that will later bite back when the riff gets
hard. Hymn 72 really picks things up and reminds me of Colour
Haze and Hypnos 69 with it's groove and melody. Glow 11 is
quite melodic until the last minute when in explodes and a
killer heavy groove takes off with some cool spaced out synths..
Awesome.. but it should have kept going for much longer. Drannel
Xu IIop is next and a pretty hard driving track with some
cool spaced sounds as the groove is really rocking on this
one. The CD ends with the best track called Eightfold Path.
It has a very cool groove and mysterious feeling to it and
just builds and gets totally psyched out. Cool stuff.. The
one thing I really miss in the music though is there are no
guitar solos….anyway… a great release on Elektrohasch….
If you dig: Monkey 3, Colour Haze, Circle, Loop, Hypnos 69
Scott
Nahemah - The Second Philosophy CD (Lifeforce Records/Target)
Nahemah are the kind of band I'd like: They play post-metal
in the vein of Cult Of Luna and Isis, the kind of music I'm
listening to a lot at the moment, they're not afraid to be
epic, and they're from Spain, which gives them an extra mark
in my book. Shame then, that "The Second Philosophy",
their third album, is marred not only by a ridiculously pompous
title, but by swathes of keyboard, and laden with gothy pop
hooks. Which might make them appealing to fans of Evanescence,
but with the rest of the music as heavy as it is, most likely
they'll just end up alienating both the MTV crowd and the
stoner fans. When it's good, though, and it is for the better
part of the record, Nahemah are right up my alley - they just
need to make up their minds about where they wanna go.
http://www.lifeforcerecords.com
If you dig: Cult Of Luna, Isis, Neurosis
Jon A
 Phased:
Medications (Elektrohasch Records, 2006)
Phased was founded back in 1997 by Swedish guitarist/ singer
Chris Sigdell, the band has undergone some changes in line-up
since then and now it's an international trio with members
from Sweden, Switzerland and Finland. I wonder how they manage
to rehearse? Anyway, "Medications" is the latest
release from the band, a follow up to the very well recieved
"Music for Gentlemen" - and their first record to
be out on German based Electrohasch Records. The band has
a quite unique sound and plays a strange mix of genres. While
the opening "Worship the Sun" is very doomy and
dark and a song like "Reminder" has an almost punky
3-chord, fast paced attack there are also really spaced out
elements the Hawkwind-way to be found on this album. A trademark
for this band are the monotonous and kind of tribal compositions:
Slow, repeting riffs dragging through heaps of gravel, heavy
back-beat bass and droned drums that eventually makes your
head bang. The dark theme of the lyrics deals with effects
and side-effects of the use of different drugs, but the guys
seem to add an ironic twist to the subject. There is some
good bass-playing to be found throughout the album, and the
band manage to explore the forces of being a trio: There is
enough space in their production for everyone to stand out
- and that's meant in a positive way! "Medications"
grows on you the more you listen.
http://www.phased.ch
If you dig: To be spaced out in the dark desert of auditive
drugs
Foxy
 The
Poodles- Metal will stand Tall (AMF Records AMF-155)
Well, the Poodles are hugely popular in Sweden and are now
trying to take over the rest of the world. They recently played
here with Hammerfall and Krokus but I did not see them. Horrible
name for a band. I think these guys came around about 10 years
too late but apparently not, as they are a gold selling band
in Sweden. This is a band of guys who try to make metal anthems
like Manowar with no balls (Metal Will stand Tall) and a lot
of metal ballads. I am sure these guys get laid a lot but
this commercial music for trying to get laid style of metal
is just not my thing… Not original at all. I simply could
not hear the whole record more than once..
http://www.thepoodles.se
If you dig: Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt
Scott
 Rebolt-
Made is Spite EP (In Spite of Records)
Rebolt are a new Norwegian rock and roll band with a slight
80's commercial metal edge to them. This EP features 4 songs
with a really cool production but not much new as far as rock
and roll goes. Opening track (Bad Boy) reminds me of Saxon
with the guitar riff and drive of the track but it is a bit
too pop for Saxon. My Generator is next and another rocker
and features the guitarist who is really into the 80's style
metal sound and that Zakk Wylde tremolo thing! High Road Down
is the best song on the CD and has a nice groove to it. Instant
Star closes the EP. I have never been a fan of this style
of heavy metal. Good players and good production.. Check it
out.
http://www.rebolt.no
If you dig: Saxon, Krokus, AC/DC
Scott
 Reefus
Moons- Waiting for my Albatross (Insect Eye Records Squish5)
Wow.. it has been 11 years since Reefus put out a new CD,
with ROAR being his last. I was not sure if we would hear
from him again but he is back with 10 new songs (36 minutes)
of his Syd Barrett, Robyn Hitchcock 60's influenced but very
much his own sounding melodic psychedelic pop rock! These
are all well crafted (sometimes quite a lot a like sounding)
songs but they will have you in a happy mood quite soon and
feature some really fun and funny lyrics as well as song titles
like Moss is on my Shoes, and the Loon in the Moon. As always,
Reefus plays all the electric and acoustic guitars, drums,
bass and keyboards. Fans of his earlier records will love
this one as well. Reefus has put out another set of quality,
classic Reefus Moons material. How can you not like this stuff,
so happy and uplifting and cheerful!
http://www.reefusmoons.com
If you dig: Syd Barrett, Robyn Hitchcock, Kitchen Cynics,
Octopus Syng
Scott
 Refrigerator
Mothers- Ghosts of a Primitive World (URCKarm Recordings)
Really nice package on this quite strange and far out CD by
the members of the Hop-Frog Collective. There were about 10
people involved in making what you hear on this CD and they
play all sorts of synths, guitars, effects, drums, harmonium,
bells, piano, effects processors, bass and pipes and chains.
The key to their quite spaced out approach is to have some
sort of basic rhythm that drives the track along and allows
them to experiment. The rhythm can be beating on a drum, bass,
guitar, just about anything.. Clanging on a pipe. The music
has a quite eastern flavour to it in many ways but is very
spaced out. The opening track is like a 21 minute psychedelic
raga without any sitar. I really liked the CD a lot but I
am a freak.. IT is impossible to describe adequately. One
must hear to experience the sound and mantra of the Refrigerator
Mothers…
http://www.hop-frog.com
If you dig: Eastern inspired psychedelia
Scott
 Rupture/The
Nerds Rock Inferno CD (Scarey Records)
Gus Chamber of Rupture died in 2001, when the Aussie punkrock
outfit had recorded 15 tracks without vocals. Flashforward
to the present, my buddy Marco of Scarey Records thought a
tribute was the best way to honor Gus, so lo and behold, he
got Jeff Clayton of the infamous ANTiSEEN to offer his gruff
voice on 8 tunes, while The Boss of Italy's Destructo punks
The Nerds took care of the other 7 songs. And The Nerds recorded
an additional 6 tracks. And what did we get? 21 rowdy-as-fuck
scum punk ragers from an international allstar line-up, all
dedicated to boozy and lewd anti-social rawk'n'roll that'd
make ol' GG Allin proud! The result isn't as uneven as one
would expect, I prefer the 1st part with Jeff Clayton, I just
worship that outlaw's voice, and the new Nerds songs sound
like Poison Idea on a VERY good day. Though I must say that
Rupture w/The Boss doing "Doom Day" that ends with
a nod to Sham 69's classic "Sunday Morning Nightmare"
put the biggest grin my face. This is a great fuckin' album!
http://www.scareyrecords.com/
http://www.myspace.com/rupture88
If you dig: ANTiSEEN, GG Allin, Poison Idea
Jens
 Saturnia:
Muzak (Electrohasch Records, 2007)
Portugese musician, multi-intrumentalist Luis Simões
is the master-mind and performing artist behind the project
called Saturnia. The concept was established back in 1996
as a community of artists dealing with music and visual arts
got together, and after a long series of different colaborations
between Simões and other performers, succeded by a
line of releases, this present one-man project is finally
released on German label Elektrohasch Records. Simões
has written all music and lyrics himself and the 10 tracks
of this album were recorded between 2003 and 2005. Album title
"Muzak" is an ironic understatement: Wow! This is
one of a kind! Organic dub meets strange sounds from outer
space in a melting pot of humming vocals that might remind
the listener somewhat of Pink Floyd, arabic-sounding scales,
floating keyboard-drones, delay-guitar, the sound of a tennis-ball
generating the beat on one tune, transcendental avant-garde,
and a very advanced, yet totally succesful post-production
of the music. This is no question one of the most interesting
and innovative releases of the year. So many layers of details
to be found on this atmospheric release that it seems like
you can listen to it a thousand times and still find something
new to it. It gets under your skin. I'm impressed and completely
blown away. Don't waste your time - get this album right away!
http://www.saturniamusic.com
If you dig: Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon), Hypnos69,
ØSC
Foxy
Saturnia-
Muzak (Elektrohasch
Nice cover, eh?? This is basically a one man band by a guy
from Portugal named Luis Simõnes who knows how to create
a psychedelic trip! Let's get into this cool CD on the great
Elektrohasch label. Mindrama is very much like 1968 Pink Floyd
and features a very heavy bass line and all sorts of spaced
out sounds and great organ. Next up is Organza, which features
Nik Turner from Hawkwind on flute. This track has a heavy
drive to s tart but then gets totally spaced out to the max.
Heavy head stuff… Kite is a mellow piece taking you again
back to the late 60's. Infinite Chord is based on a heavy
bass drone (will overwhelm your stereo if you don't turn down
the bass) and then loads of spaced out layers of synths, organs,
and sounds.. Cosmic music is the best description.. Analepsis
begins with some people playing tennis and the spacey Pink
Floyd like guitar and spacey David Gilmour influenced vocals
slowly floats in. It is very cool how nearly every song develops
into a sort of cosmic space jam.. Aqua is another quite dreamy
song and very Pink Floyd (old) like. Nipple begins with some
tribal like drums and the Richard Wright organ from the old
Pink Floyd that we all love.. Around 2 minutes the cosmic
ride begins and develops into a very cool spaced out piece.
Hedge Maze is free floating and psychedelic and this leads
into the last closing track, Syrian which features the spoken
words of Daevid Allen from GONG! This track stands out as
quite unique compared to the rest is a sort of raga with sitar,
tabala drums, and the cosmic space of Saturnia. Amazing record….
http://www.saturniamusic.com
If you dig: Pink Floyd (circa 1969), Anubian Lights, Farflung
Scott
 Since
the Flood - No Compromise CD (Metal Blade Records/Target)
That's "no compromise" as in staying true to the
hardcore, doing it the true way, the way Jamey Jasta says
it's always been done, ever since hardcore was invented back
in 1993 (a year or two after metal was invented by Pantera).
Actually, I guess some of these records might actually be
listenable if they didn't put out 50 identical records every
other month. And if you hadn't tired of the crowd these shows
haul in. A year or so ago, hell, half a year ago, I myself
still enjoyed listening to this music, doing exercises or
whatever to it, but it's complete overkill: I can no longer
judge what's good and what's not. The last Sick Of It All
record was good. I liked Terror and Raised Fist's respective
records. As for the rest of it, I'm gonna wait until someone
puts out a compilation of what was best about metal core in
the mid-2000s.
http://www.metalblade.de
If you dig: Terror, Hatebreed
Jon A
 The
Sirens : More Is More CD (Musick Recordings)
The Detroit glamazons are back! And nothing has changed, 'except
for a few new guys in the band, Muffy Kroha & Co. still
crank out the perfect 70s glamrock soundtrack for a rowdy
friday party. 13 inspired covers of MC5, Bowie, Girlschool,
Shangri-Las, The Sweet. All 3 tracks of their Sweet "Hellraiser"
7" tribute are included, which is a bit of a bummer for
me, I would've loved 3 other cover tunes, but that's a minor
complaint. Rock'n'Roll ain't rocket science but a platform
shoe celebration of all the tried and proven clichés
seems to the immortal credo of The Sirens, and that's fine
by me when it's done as charming and fun as "More Is
More". Yes, indeed!
http://thesirensdetroit.com/
http://
www.myspace.com/detroitsirens
http://www.musickrecords.com/
If you dig: Slade, The Sweet, Runaways
Jens
 Skambankt
- Eliksir CD (Kick Music)
Yes! They have done it again. The hard rocking Norwegians
in Skambankt comes up with a new hell child. More of the same
power-metal-punk whatever, sung in their native Norwegian
language. And again they absolutely rock my socks of. The
songs this time may be slightly different, some of of them
a bit more laid back. But they all kick ass. "Ordets
Gud" has organ on it and the song actually sounds if
you mix hard rock/heavy metal with any average 60’s garage
band. A nice mix in my opinion. "Idylillusjonen"
is another killer with its chilling riffs, crowd pleasing
chorus and semi-slow steady beat. In fact, if I should make
it a very strong candidate for top ten lists of this years
best songs. Again, I can not recomend Skambankt hard enough!
http://www.skambankt.com
http://www.kick.dk
JT
 The
Sleepers- Push it Nationwide (RockSauce Records RSR-001)
This is the debut CD by the Chicago band, The Sleepers. IT
was produced by Jim Diamond (White Stripes, Jon Spencer, Dirtbombs)
and it is pretty simple straight up Rock and Roll with an
occasional bluegrass-country-blues to it. They have the sing
along choruses, the catchy rhythms and some really good songs
as well as some songs that just don't do anything for me.
IT is well produced rock and roll but with not much original
about it. What more is there to say????
http://www.thesleepersonline.com
If you dig: The Rolling Stones, Kinks, Blue Van,
Scott
 Sleeze:
Sleeze (demo, 2007)
What in the name of the good Lord of rock'n'roll is this?!
I don't have a clue how this particular demo ended up at Lowcut,
but I have a suspicion that our dear editor had a fun day
handing it over to me to review... On the press sheet this
Århus-based band declares that they aim to bring back
rock'n'roll playing "true sleezy Hollywood style",
as they call it. If this brings back rock'n'roll my ass can
fly, I have five legs and the world is made of bonbons! They
guys wisely admit they have added all the clichées
to their music, but unfortunately they also stole the worst
possible parts from any scene ever: The pop-heavy of the ugly
80'ies! Welcome to Europe-style solos, hello vibra-vocals
the Meat Loaf-way (without the voice to bring it forth), hey
there to a pompuous, overloaded, yet thin pop sound with a
bass sounding like a worn-out rubberband, delay on the snare
drum and lyrics seeking old and best forgotten areas of banalites.
Add to this stew: No ability to kick ass playing and an integrity
like an amateur high school cover band dressed up like Axl
Rose and you get the picture. I know a 10 year old girl who
plays a Stratocaster and has more true rock in her heart than
this! I'm really sorry, guys. Unless this is a very nasty
practical joke I suggest you go back to your daily works,
sell your bandanas and sunglasses and wash the term rock'n'roll
out of your mouths...
http://www.sleeze.dk
If you dig: Europe
Foxy
Snöwball : Le Mosaik Du Cheval Blanc demo CD
This extremely wellproduced and rectum annihilating 13 track
demo contains an onslaught of sensational punkrock tunes seldom
heard within these borders. If you dig the "Sugarfix"
Dwarves period then you'll creem yer Levis full of hot jizm!
All tunes rip like a mutha, it's catchy yet raw piledriving
classic punkrawk like vintage Ramones. I can't see why this
hasn't been released as an album cuz it completely obliterate
most of today's punkbands. Snöwball features Lars of
Godless Wicked Creeps (awesome vocals!) and ex-members of
Tæve. Man, I'm proud as hell that music like this is
recorded in Denmark - positively the best Danish band I've
heard so far in 2007!
http://www.myspace.com/inbedwithsnowball
If you dig: Early Dwarves & Supersuckers, Ramones
Jens
 Sound
Proof- Sound Proof (Nasoni Records 059CD)
I'll start by saying that is this not what you would expect
from Nasoni Records but don't let that put you off. Sound
Proof are a Florida based 60's inspired blues-folk band. They
feature male and female vocals (ala. Jefferson Airplane) and
feature electric and acoustic guitars, percussion, blues harp
and bass and keyboards on a few of the more electric tracks.
This is quite stoned blues stuff in a good 60's way. Very
retro in sound and feel but that is cool. A lot of the music
is improvised and jammed, which I like quite a lot. You can
tell they are having a good time and you will too if you light
one up and have a cold beer and crank this sucker up!
http://www.nasoni-records.com
If you dig: Country Joe and the Fish, Hot Tuna, Jefferson
Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company
Scott
Type O Negative - Dead Again CD (Steamhammer Records/Target)
Peter Steele thinks I'm gonna rip him off. That kind of paranoia
you might expect from a New York former cop and red-blooded
fascist, which is what Peter Steele is, so it's not really
that surprising. But he's so convinced I'm only out there
to try and rip him off, he's gonna take every precaution to
avoid it, even if it means screwing it all up for himself.
So when he releases a new TON album, he's going about it as
if it was a Radiohead album: Every two minutes of the promo
for this album, a voiceover comes on to state that the recording
is property of TON. So much for the listening experience.
Listening to a TON album has always been something of a hatefuck
experience anyway: As much as I like the Carnivore and early
TON albums, as funny and provocative and extreme as they are,
it's hard to swallow a song like "Der Untermensch",
and it's hard not to let that affect your impression of what
it is Peter Steele does. But on the other hand, it's equally
hard not to like the music, or at least it was in the early
90's - these last 10+ years, it's not much I've heard from
TON. "Dead Again" is the big comeback album, marketed
as a return to the "Bloody Kisses" style, and it
does have its good songs, and it's heavy, and it's doomy,
and it's metal, and some of it's even excellent. But just
when you're about to let yourself get carried away, the voice
comes on to remind you that your enjoyment is property of
TON. So there you go.
http://www.spv.de
If you dig: Type O Negative
Jon A
 Vibravoid-
Triptamine EP (Nasoni Records 58)
This is a limited edition clear vinyl LP, only 300 copies
made. The A side features outtakes from the Void Vibration
recording sessions in 2002. 2 of the 5 songs are unreleased,
including the cool first track, Playing with Beuys. The Demo
versions of Black and White, Vivid Vision and Creepy People
are quite similar to the originals but with a rawer sound.
Black and White is quite powerful. In some ways I like these
rawer demos versions better than the cleaner sounding CD release.
Children of the Void end the LP and is a short psychedelic
number with sitar and flute. Very spaced. The B-side was recorded
live in Dortmund in December Lovely Lady Deb O'Nair is from
the first record. Ballspeaker turns into a long spaced out
jam, some of which is not that interesting without seeing
the visuals that they would have. The LP ends with a short
edit version of Mother Sky (CAN). A great record for the Vibravoid
fan and collector.
If you dig: Pink Floyd, Octopus Syng, Saturnia
Scott
 Viva
Vertigo - Vulcan Gas Company
(Sling Shot Sound)
Second album from Viva vertigo is more of the same melancholic,
tender, dark yet still very catchy pop/rock/garage music.
The brain behind is Simon Beck, and he has a great talent
for writing songs. Yes, I know, we don't really like the term
'singer/songwriter' here at LowCut, but in the case of Viva
vertigo it fits well, 'cause this is not the bonfire cumbaya
crap that we all hate, it's serious, personal and rocking.
Again the songs center around lost love, suspicious girls,
drugs an other seedy things. Viva Vertigo is some kind of
a Danish eqvivalent to the 'art rock' era of new York in the
seventies, or something like that. I don't want to pin out
certain songs, because they are all fine and I catch myself
humming along all the time. This time the cover even have-
gosh! - colours!
JT
 Volbeat
- Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil CD (Mascot Records/Target)
By now, the entire Danish mainstream press has praised this
album to the sky as Danish metal's big international hope.
This says a lot more about the Danish mainstream press, as
well as the mainstream and the Danes as such, than it does
about Volbeat: These last few years, Danish metal has experienced
something of a resurgence, but the mainstream coverage has
been non-existent (bar a few curiousity stories about Danish
metal doing well internationally), and I guess by now some
people feel it's time to give it a chance. And with Volbeat
they have the professional and commercially accessible product
they have been waiting for: This is the kind of metal record
that does no harm to anybody. This is so nice, so polished,
so melodic, it might even get airplay. And everyone's gonna
write about how Michael Poulsen sings like Elvis instead of
growling, and how Volbeat experiment with country flavours,
and it's so. Fucking. Predictable. This is about as inspiring
as when Metallica went pop on their black album - and you
know, that's when the mainstream started caring about Metallica,
too. Those who remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
http://www.mascotrecords.com
http://www.volbeat.dk
If you dig: 90's Metallica, new Danzig
Jon A
 Walls
of Jericho - With Devils Amongst Us All CD (Roadrunner Records/Bonnier
Amigo)
So, how are we gonna sell yet another metal core records that
sounds identical to the last 25 we put out? Oh, wait! How
about a female vocalist? Yeah, that should do it!
OK, so I admit the possibility exists that WOJ's female vocalist
got into the metal core scene because she actually dug the
testosterone-laden atmosphere - I've seen girls at metal core
shows, I've even seen groupies for Jamey Jasta - and it's
possible she herself thinks she's doing this for the love
of the 'core. But Roadrunner, they're into this for the novelty
value, that's for sure. Can't be for the music, because WOJ
have nothing to offer that's not been done a hundred times
before, and a hundred times better at that. In fact, this
is so bad, I only dragged myself all the way through it, because
I was convinced there'd be a power ballad somewhere on this
record, and sure enough, almost at the end of the record comes
"No Saving Me" in true Evanescence style.
Oh God, make this stop!
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk
If you dig: Hatebreed, Unearth
Jon A
Willycranes : Gone Fighting CD (Punk Spark Records)
Pretty standard Swedish punk'n'roll, fast and well executed.
Not bad, but nothing you haven't heard a gazillion times before.
Recorded in 2003.
http://www.willycranes.com/
If you dig: The Turpentines, The Robots
Jens
Witchcraft- If Crimson was your Colour 7" (Rise above
Records)
Witchcraft are back with a 7" teaser before their full
length album will come out in summer 2007. The band played
the title track when we saw them at Roadburn last year. This
is a super number and classic Witchcraft but a bit heavier!
I know you killed Somebody is on the b-side and is a very
bluesy track but a great song. I think this is quite promising
if the new material is a good as these two tracks! Awesome.
http://www.witchcrafthome.com/
If you dig: Black Sabbath, Abramis Brama, Pentragram, The
70s…sound
Scott
With Passion - What We See When We Close Our Eyes CD (Earache
Records/Target)
Prog death metal was an idea that almost caught on in the
early 90's, before death metal was all but wiped out by the
onslaught of black metal. Bands like Atheist, Cynic, Pestilence,
and Death took the extreme aspects of death metal, the brutality,
the speed, the fury, and fused it with the technical finesse
of prog. The result was mostly baffling, often pompous, but
not without its moments, and with Fantômas and Dillinger
Escape Plan paving the way for high speed avant-garde metal,
a few bands have taken up the lead again. Among them are With
Passion, who look like MTV skater kids, but play like freemasons
in some ancient ritual trying to invoke Bacchus. It's impressive,
it's complex to say the least, it's also a bit too much at
times, but it's nothing if not ambitious, and it's way above
the formularized death metal revival of which you get so much
these days.
http://www.earache.com
If you dig: Atheist, Dillinger Escape Plan
Jon A
 Zeitloop-
Stone Age (Tribal Stomp TS 503)
Zeitloop is an all instrumental band from Cologne, Germany.
This is the bands 3rd CD. I had only known of the band from
hearing that they had played with Damo Suzuki before. Stonehenge,
the opening track is quite a cool and uptempo rock track with
some Pink Floyd guitar. The track gets faded out quite soon….
The rest of the CD is actually quite different and more ambient
from the opening track but features some really cool psychedelic
music. Eyes Act starts quite solo and builds slowly and features
a cool guitar solo. Marrakesch has a very special sound compared
to the first two tracks to start and then wow.. then the sound
opens up and the band have quite a cool groove that they jam
on. Sunrise is a 10 minute track that really has a cool slow
groove and some really nice guitar playing as well. Osmosis
has a sort of jazzy bass line and drums as the two guitar
create the melodies for this track. The track gets quite spaced
out in the middle. Lava begins with a synthesizer loop and
the band slowly begins to come in and build upon it with delay
guitars. This is the most experimental track on the CD. The
CD ends with Kaklus, which goes back to a more ambient space
kraut sound. A really cool CD.
http://www.zeitloop.de
http://www.myspace.com/zeitloop
If you dig: Pink Floyd, Cul de Sac, Øresund Space Collective
Scott
 V/A
: Gonerfest 2 DVD+CD (Goner Records)
The Memphis Goner festivals must be the ultimative in punk
& rock'n'roll entertainment! The proof is this godlike
package of a live dvd (75 min) and a live cd (60 min) of 2005's
festival which contains the cream of the crop of American
r'n'r, check out the acts; Reatards, Reigning Sound, Angry
Angels, Tokyo Electron, Persuaders, Knaughty Knights, Demon's
Claws etc. - it's so off the hook it's insane!!! The cd has
excellent sound quality, but the dvd is the true nugget here,
seldom have I seen a more professional made testament of a
weekend of the trashiest, swankiest and hardest rockin' bands
known to man! It doesn't get any better, this film should
be shown in theaters all the world to show how REAL gutsy
r'n'r should be played. My favorit clip; The Rat Traps who
rock so hard they're about go up in flames, ending with the
drummer puking on his drumkit! My pick of this Lowcut issue,
no fuckin' contest!
http://www.goner-records.com/
If you dig: The best music on the face of the earth right
now!
Jens
V/A : Not Psycho Enough!? Vol. 2 & 3 2x7" (Dull
City Records)
The rowdy Aussies, The Cosmic Psychos, have brought a lotta
joy to my life during the years, both on records and on a
stage with their brute caveman punkrock, so of course they
deserve several tributes. Vol. 2 and 3 in the 7 inch series
consist of great bands like Lothar, Jerry Spider Gang, Spank
My Jones, The Dry Retch, Hell Crab City, Meatbeaters, Interstater,
and Gazoonga Attack. There's not a weak tracks among the 8
covers. Pretty impressive. The only letdown; WHY CAN'T I SEE
THE COSMIC PSYCHOS THEMSELVES RIGHT NOW?? Anyway - BUY!
http://home.online.no/~gt-john/
If you dig: The Cosmic Psychos...what else?
Jens
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