11 Jul |
Review – Rancid “Let the dominoes fall” |
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Rancid – Tim Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Matt Freeman (bass, vocals), Lars Frederiksen (vocals, guitar), Branden Steineckert (drums) – as a band have always been imbued with a sense of place: the blue collar neighborhoods where they grew up, their place as individuals within their band, their band as part of a movement and their evolving sense of place in relation to the world at large.
Rancid’s new record Let The Dominoes Fall is much like their other records in the sense that it is filled with the stories and characters that populate the band’s lives and reflects the cultural and political climate in which it was written and recorded. It has classic Rancid songcraft: two minute songs packed with melody, personally empathetic and politically denunciatory. But Let The Dominoes Fall is also unique in that it is filled with the growing insight of a band who has been doing this for a while now: it feels natural and organic, written without an agenda or a bone to pick, rather the
culmination of lives lived largely with a keen interest in the world and a sense of brotherhood.
Tracklisting:
- East Bay Night
- This Place
- Up To No Good
- Last One To Die
- Disconnected
- I Ain’t Worried
- Damnation
- New Orleans
- Civilian Ways
- The Bravest Kids
- Skull City
- L.A. River
- Lulu
- Dominoes Fall
- Liberty And Freedom
- You Want It, You Got It
- Locomotive
- That’s Just The Way It Is Now
- The Highway
Video from the album: Last one to die
08 Jul |
Alexisonfire – Old Crows / Young Cardinals |
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On June 23rd Alixisonfire released their fourth studio album “Old Crows / Young Cardinals”. They describe their music as “Our sound is like two Catholic high-school girls in mid-knife-fight” (a reference to their song “A Dagger Through the Heart of St. Angeles”.
I have been a avid Alexisonfire fan from the start and after listening to a couple of tracks on the album, it will be going on my wishlist.
Find the track list on this album below.
Track Listing:
1. “Old Crows” – 4:17
2. “Young Cardinals” – 3:37
3. “Sons of Privilege” – 3:21
4. “Born and Raised” – 4:00
5. “No Rest” – 3:35
6. “The Northern” – 4:28
7. “Midnight Regulations” – 4:11
8. “Emerald Street” – 3:15
9. “Heading for the Sun” – 3:45
10. “Accept Crime” – 3:13
11. “Burial” – 4:18
12. “Wayfarer Youth ” (Bonus Tracks) – 3:41
07 Jul |
Against Me – The Original Cowboy 2009 |
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Fat Wreck Chords released today Against Me! The Original Cowboy. It contains a collection of demos for 2003’s release of As the Eternal Cowboy. The record is pretty well-timed. For most of the x-fans felt burned by the slick production of 2007’s New Wave and frontman Tom Gabel’s 2008 solo EP Heart Burns, this is something more grittier. For fans bummed to see drummer Warren Oakes leave the group, here’s one last shot of the sun. Super fans and newbies alike get a glorious history lesson
Read the original review here: http://www.punknews.org/review/8450
Read more...Granted, the demos and the finished product don’t differ too greatly. Original Cowboy was recorded, sans “Sink, Florida, Sink,” as a trial run meant to help producer Rob McGregor familiarize himself with the material. “Cliché Guevara” is still positioned as the second song and “Turn Those Clapping Hands Into Angry Balled Fists” is still near the end. Original Cowboy’s session for “Cavalier Eternal” actually ended up on Eternal Cowboy at label head Fat Mike’s request. And anyone who’s been to an AM! show knows that “A Brief Yet Triumphant Intermission,” renamed here as a triumphant “Introduction,” makes for a good opener. For the casual fan, the differences are minimal.
But for the dedicated, Original Cowboy is a treasure. A plugged-in version of “Unsubstantiated Rumors (Are Good Enough for Me to Base My Life Upon)” similar to the one on the Sink, Florida, Sink seven-inch is available. There are little differences in phrasings, like the ending of “Rumors.”
In a press release for Original Cowboy, Gabel noted that, “Listening to it today, there’s a part of me that feels foolish for ever recording these songs a second time.” And while these demos aren’t as fully fleshed out as, say, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska or PJ Harvey’s 4-Track Demos, there’s a heck of a lot of truth to that statement. Original Cowboy is overdub-free, dirty without sounding too muddled, and certainly not a mere throwaway recording. Heck, these straightforward live takes outclass the band’s actual live record, Americans Abroad!!! Against Me!!! Live in London!!!. Aside from some flat vocals here and there, the songs are remarkably conceived despite their rapid-fire formation. The rock-out at the end of “Clapping Hands” benefits from the grit. “Cliché Guevara,” as kickass a song as it was in 2003, sounds even better with raw production, as do “Rice and Bread,” “Mutiny on the Electronic Bay” and “T.S.R.”. Eternal Cowboy is by no means an overproduced record, but Original Cowboy is unquestionably the better rock record, and arguably the better Against Me! album in general.
Now, I’m a super-fan. I knew I was going to like Original Cowboy before I even heard it, and Eternal Cowboy is actually my least favorite AM! full-length. So, I decided to try an experiment. See, most of you have probably already heard Eternal Cowboy. You know how the songs go. For some of you, hearing slightly different versions of those songs might sound “wrong.” So I wanted to test Gabel’s assertion that he felt silly for re-recording these songs by playing them for someone who wasn’t familiar with Eternal Cowboy.
My girlfriend is an Against Me! fan who has never heard Eternal Cowboy, or any of the band’s EPs. She has heard Reinventing Axl Rose, Searching for a Former Clarity and New Wave. She’s seen the band in concert multiple times. She prefers Gabel’s shouting voice over his singing voice. She is a big fan of what Tori Amos calls “audio porn” — that is, clear vocals and discernible lyrics. She’s less concerned about instrumental clarity. However, she also prefers PJ Harvey’s 4-Track Demos over its studio counterpart, Rid of Me. She heard the former before the latter. She’s also wicked hot and I want to make out with her like all the time.
I asked my special lady friend to listen to my copy of Original Cowboy for at least a day straight, take two days off from AM! listening, and then play Eternal Cowboy for at least a day straight. In the interest being an amateur scientist, I hypothesized that she would prefer Original Cowboy for its raw intensity, as well as the fact that she experienced that record first. On both counts, I was right. With the exception of “Slurring the Rhythms” and “Rice and Bread,” she loved the demo sessions more. She was turned off by the acoustic songs, preferring the demos’ ferocity. “Clapping Hands,” her favorite of the demos, ended up being her least favorite on the finished album, feeling that the music sounded defanged and that Gabel’s vocals strained too much towards melodrama. Were it not for “Sink, Florida, Sink,” Eternal Cowboy would be irrelevant for both of us, as well as new fans.
Lest we forget, some folks, myself included, felt that Eternal Cowboy was a weak followup to Reinventing Axl Rose. Original Cowboy corrects this misstep. It isn’t overcooked, nor is it sloppily thrown together. Perhaps it is like Nebraska, in that it’s a beautiful accident, a collection that captures the band’s ideas without fussing over them. Against Me! is going to start recording their next LP with Butch Vig soon, and while that album is expected for 2010, Original Cowboy is a compelling argument for a fall 2009 release.
06 Jul |
Rise Against – Appeal to reason |
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As with all Rise Against albums “Appeal to Reason” Follows the similar political / get off your ass and do something mentality you would expect from the previous releases. Following the “give up” attitude and apathy many people both young and old have after the last 8 years of living under Bush control “Appeal to Reason” is a birght light and wake up call to everyone to not give up or give in and to well rise against the current trend of laziness of apathetic train of thought.
This album has many ground breaking and mind opening songs that really draw out the funk of the last seveal years and show that there is some hope to live for. Appeal to reason has epic songs that are charged with power and reason that will keep you playing songs on repeat and singing along like “The Strengtht To Go On” or Collapse.
I have nothing but positive things to say about this album. Not only is this a great release with many outstanding songs as should be expected by Rise Against but lyrically the album is brilliant and though provoking.
Track Listing
1. Collapse (Post-Amerika)
2. Long Forgotten Sons
3. Re-Education (Through Labor)
4. The Dirt Whispered
5. Kotov Syndrome
6. From Heads Unworthy
7. The Strength to Go On
8. Audience of One
9. Entertainment
10. Hero of War
11. Savior
12. Hairline Fracture (ft. Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio)
13. Whereabouts Unknown
Band Members
Tim McIlrath: lead vocals/guitar
Zach Blair: guitar/vocals
Joe Principe: bass/vocals
Brandon Barnes: drums
06 Jul |
Anti-Flag – The People Or The Gun |
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After a couple of records on major label RCA Records, Anti-Flag returns to an independent label to release their 7th proper full length, completely self-produced by the band and only mastered by Mass Giorgini.
The new album sounds more like an EP than an album, a little bit like their previous “A Benefit for Victims of Violent Crime”, but this time all the ten plus one songs have never been released before.
The disc is all about anti capitalism anthems that deal with what is wrong with the world nowadays (religion, suffering, slavery, exploitation of workes and people) and a lot of energy comes out of the stereo, with lots of aggressive punk rhythms and poppy choruses. Basically, after I heard this disc the first time, I wanted to go down in the streets with a molotov. I think this is Anti-Flag should be proud of this result. I am serious.
“Sodom, Gomorrah, Washington D.C. (Sheep In Shepherds Clothing)” opens the dances: it deals with religion, gods and basically it shows how Marx already knew it all along. It’s quite fast and aggressive, melodic but not as poppy as “The Economy Is Suffering…Let It Die”, which sounds very catchy, with a simple guitar riff that drive the songs into its verses and choruses (singing along on “Do you want to live your life as a slave? In chains from the cradle to the grave” will soon become all fans’ favorite lines at shows). The record then goes on with slower songs as “The Gre(A)T Depression”, which let me down, it’s a mix between a marching band song and a Green Day “Minority” era song (no matter if Greg Attonito of the Bouncing Souls, Tim McIllrath of Rise Against, Wade MacNeil of Alexisonfire, and David McWane of Big D and the Kids Table sing on this one). The real good stuff comes with “We Are The One”: Eve tough the intro guitar riff was stolen from “Sold As Freedom” and the melody from “Tearing Down The Borders” (or viceversa?), I must say this song is killer. Back to the “Terror State” era for sure: awesme singing alongs and super angry lyrics you will need to sing with your closed fist or with your finger towards the sky. The end of this song, which is the beginning of the following one is the most punk rock attitude I heard on a record in quite a few years. “You Are Fired (Take This Job, Ah, Fuck It)” is definitely my song. Even tough it is a minute long, it is super fast, almost crusty, with screams and a direct message to their previous label, which basically is: fuck off, you don’t care about music but about producing ring-tones. Did I already say I love these guys?
Oh yeah, the other songs are good enough but a little but a little bit too slow for my punk guts: “This Is The First Night” and “On Independence Day” remind me of their major label albums. While “The Old Guard” has got the best intro of the whole record, reminiscent of their “Underground Network” LP. The 11th and hidden track (supposedly called “Teenage Kennedy Lobotomy”) is fast, anthemic, almost a joke, but it’s far better than other songs on this LP.
If you want a GOOD punk record to dance to, and that features some reasons to change, this is it. The change starts inside you.
Read more...06 Jul |
Propagandhi – Supporting Caste |
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The four Canadian skids are back after four years since their previous full length “Potemkin City Limits” with a brand new disc, and also on this new release the band keeps on playing the hard, metal influenced music they have been playing since “Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes”, when John left the band, and Todd joined. And so, from the twelve new tracks, don’t expect soft poppy stuff, because even tough someone says this band rips Venom off, I truly believe the originality of these guys is above all.
“Supporting Caste” starts with a song sung by bass player Todd: “Night Letters” is a fast, short and angry anthem that is filled with metallic influences. As well as most of the other songs, Propagandhi plays fast, without space for intermissions.
Lyrically, the band deals with a lot of politics but not just that: most songs deal with personal issues too (vegetarianism, as on “Human(e) Meat (The Flensing of Sandor Katz)”), the world’s worst happenings (as the war in Afghanistan on “This Is Your Life”) and praise towards bands that Propagandhi enjoy (”The Banger’s Embrace” is about the band Sacrifice). The most outstanding track is surely “Potemkin City Limits” (named as the band’s previous album), which deal with the run of a pig out of a slaughterhouse, and I must say it’s very touching.
I think this is the best material the band released since “Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes”, with both catchy and fast, hardcore, speed thrash and metal anthems, that will make you want to trash your head and make you think about what’s going on around you, too.
Read more...
