Listen To This! April 2005 [minimalist edition]
neddal ayad
I've very little to say right now, other than to tell you all to check out the Roadburn 'Fest!
So let's get straight to the music:
Black Moses - "Royal Stink"
Rootbag Records
Former members of Thee Hypnotics, Penthouse, and Gang of Four [?!] kick out a disc that would fit
nicely in a set with the MC5, JSBX, and Led Zeppelin. The songs are full of
big riffs, big hooks, and big beats. Groovy.
Last of the Juanitas - "In The Dirt"
Wantage Records
Jesus, the opening song, "Baghdad" is stunning. It blends deep dark droning guitars with lilting
country / folk melodies and some well placed yelling and sounds like a sad but unhinged doom waltz.
It gives me chills every time I hear it.
Following this, the Juanitas switch gears and move into the grimy math rock / metal hybrid [think Bullhead-era
Melvins and Slip It In-era Black Flag] that they've perfected over the course
of their past couple of records. The whole record rocks, but "Baghdad" by
itself is worth the price of admission.
Turing Machine - "ZWEI"
Frenchkiss Records
Whoa, it's like Shellac doing space rock. I'm not joking. Much like Bob Weston's bass
work in Shellac, Turing Machine bassist Scott Desimon's insistent bass
lines form the backbone of almost all the songs on "ZWEI."
At times guitarist Justin Chemo and drummer Gerard Fuchs seem like they're having
a bit of trouble keeping up. That's not to say that either of them are
slouches in the technical dept.
Chemo's guitar melodies are quite compelling, even if some of the non-freak out sections
bear a disconcerting resemblance to the non-wanking bits of a Joe Satriani
or Steve Vai record [I have friends that are into the shredding, ok?].
That being said, fans of Krautrock or the instrumental tracks on the first couple of Desert
Sessions discs will find a lot to like here.
Hater - "The 2nd"
Burn Burn Burn Records
I suppose I'm going to have to get into a bit of history here: Hater were a side-project featuring
then Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron, along with former
Monster Magnet guitarist Jon McBain.
They released a self-titled record in 1994 which was met
with decidedly mixed reviews. "The 2nd" is the follow-up to that record. The songs were originally
recorded in 1995-1996 while Soundgarden were in pre-production for "Down On The Upside."
The line-up on "The 2nd" consists of Shepherd, Cameron, and Alan Davis [currently playing in The Mark Lanegan
Band] although McBain [and what seems like half of Seattle] contribute.
Now that's out of the way, the music. These tapes were sitting around for almost ten years
and I'm not quite sure what prompted their release. Nostalgia? Anyone looking for a
lost grunge [or psych, I've not heard it, but apparently they first Hater record had some
heavy psych leanings] classic will be disappointed. The disc isn't amazing. It's a solid
collection of scrappy garage rock, but nothing mind-blowing. Fans of the players will probably
want to check this out as it prefigured a lot of their later work [Wellwater Conspiracy, Desert
Sessions, etc...], everyone else might want to approach with caution.
Vic Du Monte's Idiot Prayer - "Prey For The City"
Duna Records
Nick Cave casts a long shadow over this record; from the band's name ["Idiot Prayer" is the title of
a song on Cave's album "The Boatman's Call"], to frontman Vic Du Monte's [aka Chris Cockrell of Kyuss-fame]
persona and delivery [although there's a bit of The Saints' Chris Bailey and The Cult's Ian Astbury in
there too], to Du Monte / Cockrell's lyrics, to the music itself [the band sounds
like a less-refined -or perhaps less arty -Bad Seeds].
Whether this is a good or bad thing depends entirely on a] how one feels about Nick Cave and b] how
one feels about bands / musicians whose sound owes a lot to another, more established musician.
If you like Cave's work and can look past the borrowing, then this really isn't a bad disc.
The songs are catchy, the band plays well, and Cockrell / Du Monte conjures some nice imagery.
RTX - "Transmaniacon"
Drag City
RTX is Jennifer Herrema's, formerly of Royal Trux, new outfit. Anyone expecting Trux part II is
in for a shock. On "Transmaniacon" Herrema and company have... well, they've essentially
remade "Shout at the Devil" as a psychedelic rock record... psychedelic cock rock if you will.
The bizarre thing is that it works. What should by all rights be an unlistenable
mess is a great, if tweaked rock record.
The key, I think, is that aside from having a great ear for a melody, Herrema
and company play it straight. If there's any irony involved it's buried under mountains
of phasers, delays, and other efx. The resulting sound is surprising close to a
slightly more listener friendly Thrones, which makes sense in a way as
they're Herrema and Preston seem to be approaching the same territory from different
directions.
|
