Short Attention Span Record Reviews, February 2018

THE HARDER STUFF

CANE HILL – Too Far Gone
Nu Wave Of American Nu Metal for fans of Slipknot & Korn. Funny how people who hated nu metal back in the day now think Cane Hill is da shit. (7)

FIRE! – The Hands
An interesting spin on the power trio format with sax instead of guitar, combining the metallic heaviness of Black Sabbath with Albert Ayler-like free jazz skronk. (8)

MACHINE HEAD – Catharsis
It’s not as bad as you’ve been led to believe but, speaking of nu metal – what the fuck was Robb Flynn thinking? (7)

MAGICK TOUCH – Blades Chains Whips & Fire
With THIS name, THIS album title and THIS album cover you’d be forgiven for passing on this as either run-of-the-mill epic metal or occult bullshit rock, but in reality you’d be missing out on some pretty decent retro-melodic hard rock a-la Night Flight Orchestra, Audrey Horne and Dokken. (7)

PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS –Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue
Pantera meets Morbid Angel meets the Dillinger Escape Plan in terms of heaviness, but not quite in terms of songwriting skills. (7)

WALKING PAPERS – WP2
You might’ve heard of Duff McKagan from his other band and the rhythm section (also featuring ex-Screaming Tree Barrett Martin) is a major selling point for this Jack Endino-produced Seattle quartet that plays 70’s melodic hard rock as reimagined in the 90’s. (7)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Dr. Demento Covered In Punk
Really fun compilation tribute to Dr. Demento, featuring lots of punk rock and lots of comedy. Highlights include William Shatner covering The Cramps, “Weird” Al Yankovic covering The Ramones, and Brak covering The Suicidal Tendencies. Good for the moshpit, even better for laughs. (9)


THE OTHER STUFF

CALEXICO – The Thread That Keeps Us
Louder and less polished than their previous albums and not as catchy, this is Calexico going full-on “indie rock”. (7)

FALL OUT BOY – M A N I A
They were nothing special back when they were a pop-punk/emo band, but incorporating EDM elements into their sound just makes them annoying. (5)

FIRST AID KIT – Ruins
Avoided these sisters to date because “Swedish Americana” sounds almost as unappealing a genre as “Chinese Rebetika” but turns out they’re pretty good, combining top-notch songwriting with telepathically perfect harmony singing. (8)

MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO – Impossible Star
Electronic music veterans strike a good balance between abstract ambient soundscapes and heavy beats. (7)

STICK IN THE WHEEL – Follow Them True
Exciting new band that will singlehandedly revitalize the UK folk scene. Not all their experiments work, for example I could live without the Auto-Tuned vocals on the title track, but by the time the haunting “As I Roved Out” closes the album all is forgiven. (8)

TY SEGALL – Freedom's Goblin
The first truly great album of 2018 – Segall takes garage rock to new anthemic levels, often throwing a brass section on top of the guitar fuzz for 75 minutes of pure, unadulterated, messy rawk ‘n’ roll fun. (9)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, January 2018

AT THE DRIVE IN – Diamante EP
3-song EP, quite possibly “In•ter a•li•a” leftovers but still pretty good. (7)

AUDREY HORNE – Blackout
With nods to Deep Purple added to the Thin Lizzy references this time around, Audrey Horne continue on their 70’s hard rock worshipping path. Fun, but I still prefer the Night Flight Orchestra. (7)

CHEAP TRICK – Christmas Christmas
This came to our attention after the holidays but we’ll keep it in mind for next year’s festivities – we certainly prefer listening to Cheap Trick covering Christmas songs by Wizzard, Slade, Ramones and the Kinks rather than the elevator muzak blasting from everywhere during the season. (7)

CORROSION OF COMFORMITY – No Cross No Crown
Pepper Keenan’s back and so are the Sabbath/Lizzy/Skynyrd touches. I really missed these guys and this is probably their best since “Deliverance”. Added bonus: Queen cover. (8)

DANIEL ROMANO – Nerveless / Human Touch
Canadian singer-songwriter who I’ve been convinced has a masterpiece inside of him releases two new albums simultaneously. The power-pop oriented “Nerveless” once again fails to deliver the fuckin’ masterpiece but the acoustic, naked “Human Touch” comes pretty damn close. (7) / (8)

HARAM – بس ربحت, خسرت When You Have Won, You Have Lost
The New York band’s Arab vocalist, Nader Habibi, utilizes his mother tongue’s idiosyncrasies to give an entirely new twist to hardcore punk. Any way you look at it, an impressive debut. (8)

JEFF ROSENSTOCK – POST-
Released on new year’s day and given away for free (or for as much money as you like) through Rosenstock’s Bandcamp, this is a thoroughly enjoyable power-pop-punk album, sometimes reminiscent of Weezer’s and Ted Leo’s finest moments. (8)

KEIJI HAINO & SUMAC – American Dollar Bill: Keep Facing Sideways, You’re Too Hideous To Look At Face On
Unrehearsed noise improvisations, this sounds scary as hell. (666)

NO AGE – Snares Like A Haircut
A slight departure from their signature lo-fi art-punk towards a fuller sound, at points reminiscent of a weird Dinosaur Jr./Japandroids crossover. (8)

SORCERER – The Crowning Of The Fire King
Missed out on this when it came out a few months ago, sorry! Great epic doom metal in the Solitude Aeternus/Candlemass tradition with huge vocals and lots of neoclassical guitar shredding. You'll love it if you’re into this sort of thing. (8)

THE HOOTEN HALLERS – The Hooten Hallers
Gothic Americana rock ‘n’ roll with gritty vocals and grittier sax for fans of The Legendary Shack Shakers, Reverend Horton Heat, Five Horse Johnson, “Heartattack & Vine”-era Tom Waits. (7)