Short Attention Span Record Reviews, August 2016

THE LOUDER STUFF

BOUNCING SOULS – Simplicity
Pop-punk veterans still love to pogo. (7) 

DESCENDENTS – Hypercaffium Spazzinate
These guys  are not pop-punk veterans – they’d have to be 15 years younger to be called veterans. But 34 years after their debut they still sound fun, silly, and wild, you can’t help but feel like a teenager listening to this. (8)

DUNSMUIR – Dunsmuir
Featuring Clutch’s Neil Fallon and Black Sabbath’s Vinnie Appice this sounds just like Fallon fronting Dio-era Sabbath and it’s so good that everytime I play it it makes me alternate between laughing maniacally and crying. (8)

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE – Dead Revolution
Thin Lizzy-influenced NWOBHM riffs, Deep Purplish keyboards, just a touch of prog, a 19th century folk song, and a fantastic bunch of songs by Cobbett & Co. Good stuff! (8) 

PERIPHERY – Periphery III: Select Difficulty
Kicking off the album with a couple of their heaviest tracks ever Periphery display an affection for Slipknot this time around but as the album progresses they settle into their usual djent style with more prominent keyboards. The clean vocals are pretty weak and sort of ruin a good thing. (7)

VALIENT THORR – Old Salt
If you can’t dig these lunatics and their combination of Clutch riff-o-rama, Rollins Band aggression and “Powerage”-era AC/DC-esque attitude then you’re a lost cause for rock ‘n’ roll, give it up now. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

AUGUSTINES – This Is Your Life
Brooklynite indie-rockers go all U2 on your ass with bombastic production, huge drums, keyboard flourishes and arena-ready anthemic choruses. (7)

ELOUISE – Deep Water
Elouise Walker and her band call their music “blackgrass” – it’s supposed to be a dark, cinematic subgenre of bluegrass but to my ears this sounds like the Geraldine Fibbers unplugged. Nobody under 40 will get that last reference. Now that I think about it neither will anybody over 40. (7)
 
JONAH TOLCHIN – Thousand Mile Night
Whether you call this folk blues or Americana, it all boils down to stripped-down roots music that makes for cool summer evening listening. (7)

NATIONAL PARK RADIO – The Great Divide
Yet another good folk/nu-bluegrass band. Great songwriting, virtuoso playing on acoustic instruments, interesting vocal harmonies. If you’re into the Avett Brothers, Nickel Creek etc. you’ll certainly enjoy this. (7)
 
TEENAGE FANCLUB – Here
Scotland’s favorite jangly indie rockers return with a new set of low-key, Big Star-inspired tunes. (7)
 
VARIOUS – Back In Blue: A Blues Tribute To AC/DC
It’s fun the first time you play it. (6)