Mike's reviews - like walking on sunshine baby....
Katrina & the Waves – Screams “dated” from the opening drumbeat of “Red Wine and Whiskey”. In fact, I’m starting to think 90% of all albums made in the 80’s were produced by one person using multiple names. If I ever hear “Walking On Sunshine” again, it will be too soon. Regrettably, the Lucas’ penchant for Espanol continues on “Que Te Quiero”. “Cry for Me” is an embarrassingly bad cover, and the album’s best track, “Going Down to Liverpool” is vastly inferior to the Bangles’ version. Katrina & the Waves sounds just like Quarterflash, the Motels, and several other bands I happily ignored while they were opening up for talented acts. ½ star (for giving the Bangles a hit)
Bad Brains – I have heard Mr. Noseforbeer wax poetically about this band for years, so I was interested in the disc. I suspected it would be a little out of my comfort zone, but it didn’t offend my sensibilities so much as it bored me. I expected a real hardcore punk album, and this is diet punk with a splash of ska. The rhythm section is very talented, the guitar work adequate, but the vocals are brutally bad. The songs aren’t much to speak of either. Mildly entertaining, but forgettable. 2 stars
DBT – Blessing- this is the best CD of 2006 so far. Curse- this is my least favorite DBT disc of the past 10 years. The band has cleaned up the raunchy, edgy 3 guitar army sound of their last three discs and replaced it with a brighter, more polished sound showcasing keyboard and other flourishes. While the sound feels like a blatant attempt to go “mainstream”, you can put a $1000 dress on a prostitute, and she’s still a whore. As the title song states, “there’s more here than meets the eye, and the real story’s under the surface”. Crystal meth in the bathtub, champagne hand jobs, sucking on the end of a shotgun, all the usual DBT sordid lyrical fare is here; albeit without the “southern thing” frame it is usually posed in. Mike Cooley’s tracks (“Gravity’s Gone” and “Space City”) are the highlights. “Aftermath USA” shows the band can channel the Stones as well as Skynyrd. Like their other work, it gets better with each listen, particularly the closing number, “World of Hurt”. Not their best, but still essential. 4 stars.
Joy Zipper – Pretty darn good dream pop that goes up a notch when the female sings lead, and down a notch when she doesn’t. The first half of the disc is fantastic. “Go Tell the World” and “You’re No Good” sound like Mid-1980’s Joan Jett, and I mean that as a high complement. “For Lenny’s Own Pleasure” is the highlight for me, very catchy tune and great sultry vocals. The disc seems to run out of steam towards the end, particularly “Rockdove”, the low point of the disc. It took a few listens for this to click with me, but an enjoyable disc, with some excellent moments. 3 stars
Ocean Colour Scene – Because of my vacation, I didn’t get the disc until yesterday, and noseforbeer wont get his in time. I only got through it twice, but my initial impression is that this is a very good band. The songs are well structured, vocals are solid, good guitar work, and well produced. Another plus is that all the songs were in English. If any of this material is older than 10 years, it doesn’t come across that way. “One For the Road” and “Better Day” were standouts for me. A disc I will definitely be revisiting.
Discussion Question
As a youngster I didn’t care for any of my “holy trinity” of music, Bob, Neil and Bruce because of the vocals. Becoming more mature and understanding more of what their songs were about turned me into a fan. I also hated Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash growing up because my father played them incessantly and I thought they were hokey. Again, maturity and understanding the genius of these two artists turned me. Rick Rubin’s work with Cash was instrumental in getting me to look at traditional country music in a different light.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve reluctantly become a fan of the Grateful Dead. The CD “Dead Does Dylan” was a turning point for me, and I’ve learned to separate their music from the image and their doofy fan base. I can’t listen to them all the time, but every once in a while, I just get a hankering to hear them.
“Black Sheep Boy” by Okervil River and “Z” by My Morning jacket are discs I initially didn’t care for and wound up liking them after revisiting them for group reviews.
Sting, Paul McCartney , Steve Winwood, Santana and Rod Stewart fit into the category of artists who I can’t listen to anymore because of the wretchedness of their recent efforts, which is a shame since their early work was really good. Eric Clapton is apparently striving to make the list, but has narrowly missed thus far. I’m bracing myself for a Neil U2 rant on this question….
Bad Brains – I have heard Mr. Noseforbeer wax poetically about this band for years, so I was interested in the disc. I suspected it would be a little out of my comfort zone, but it didn’t offend my sensibilities so much as it bored me. I expected a real hardcore punk album, and this is diet punk with a splash of ska. The rhythm section is very talented, the guitar work adequate, but the vocals are brutally bad. The songs aren’t much to speak of either. Mildly entertaining, but forgettable. 2 stars
DBT – Blessing- this is the best CD of 2006 so far. Curse- this is my least favorite DBT disc of the past 10 years. The band has cleaned up the raunchy, edgy 3 guitar army sound of their last three discs and replaced it with a brighter, more polished sound showcasing keyboard and other flourishes. While the sound feels like a blatant attempt to go “mainstream”, you can put a $1000 dress on a prostitute, and she’s still a whore. As the title song states, “there’s more here than meets the eye, and the real story’s under the surface”. Crystal meth in the bathtub, champagne hand jobs, sucking on the end of a shotgun, all the usual DBT sordid lyrical fare is here; albeit without the “southern thing” frame it is usually posed in. Mike Cooley’s tracks (“Gravity’s Gone” and “Space City”) are the highlights. “Aftermath USA” shows the band can channel the Stones as well as Skynyrd. Like their other work, it gets better with each listen, particularly the closing number, “World of Hurt”. Not their best, but still essential. 4 stars.
Joy Zipper – Pretty darn good dream pop that goes up a notch when the female sings lead, and down a notch when she doesn’t. The first half of the disc is fantastic. “Go Tell the World” and “You’re No Good” sound like Mid-1980’s Joan Jett, and I mean that as a high complement. “For Lenny’s Own Pleasure” is the highlight for me, very catchy tune and great sultry vocals. The disc seems to run out of steam towards the end, particularly “Rockdove”, the low point of the disc. It took a few listens for this to click with me, but an enjoyable disc, with some excellent moments. 3 stars
Ocean Colour Scene – Because of my vacation, I didn’t get the disc until yesterday, and noseforbeer wont get his in time. I only got through it twice, but my initial impression is that this is a very good band. The songs are well structured, vocals are solid, good guitar work, and well produced. Another plus is that all the songs were in English. If any of this material is older than 10 years, it doesn’t come across that way. “One For the Road” and “Better Day” were standouts for me. A disc I will definitely be revisiting.
Discussion Question
As a youngster I didn’t care for any of my “holy trinity” of music, Bob, Neil and Bruce because of the vocals. Becoming more mature and understanding more of what their songs were about turned me into a fan. I also hated Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash growing up because my father played them incessantly and I thought they were hokey. Again, maturity and understanding the genius of these two artists turned me. Rick Rubin’s work with Cash was instrumental in getting me to look at traditional country music in a different light.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve reluctantly become a fan of the Grateful Dead. The CD “Dead Does Dylan” was a turning point for me, and I’ve learned to separate their music from the image and their doofy fan base. I can’t listen to them all the time, but every once in a while, I just get a hankering to hear them.
“Black Sheep Boy” by Okervil River and “Z” by My Morning jacket are discs I initially didn’t care for and wound up liking them after revisiting them for group reviews.
Sting, Paul McCartney , Steve Winwood, Santana and Rod Stewart fit into the category of artists who I can’t listen to anymore because of the wretchedness of their recent efforts, which is a shame since their early work was really good. Eric Clapton is apparently striving to make the list, but has narrowly missed thus far. I’m bracing myself for a Neil U2 rant on this question….
posted by mphopkins @ 11:33 AM
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