Like Like The The The Death- Cave Jenny

So, I have this theory- bad band names result in better bands. I'm really sorry to start off with this, but "Like Like The The The Death" has got to be one of the worst band names I have ever heard. Heck, it's hard to even read that thing- and go ahead, try to say it. Out loud. Yeah, you see what I mean? ( Yes, as a matter of fact I have heard of the Silver Jews, what of it?)
However, the theory holds up- This is some good music. For me.  Your mileage may vary. See, the basic framework is this- take the spastic energy of one of the New Wave of New Wave bands from the early 2000's- say the Futureheads, or the Briefs, now apply that to grungy Noise rock, but don't let up on the punk-pop emphasis on simple melodies. Got that? Now have Rick Sims sing. ( I don't know if it's Kyle or Anthony, but one of them reminds me of Rick when the Didjits were new. And I would really like to hear them do a cover of either "Skull Baby" or "Plate in my Head" ) .For seasoning, play some math-y time signatures.  Then, slowly stew the whole thing so that more and more chaos creeps in, so that by the 9th or 11th track the audience will accept more dissonance and abstract, irregular, angular music than they thought they could. I think the wry, geeky humour helps, too. If you like just about anything on the noisy, speedy side, I think you'll like the ride. If you don't , you must be one of those Laughing Hyenas fans, or something.
Per my understanding, there's even a tie-in to the Almighty Die Kreuzen here.  Mark me as sold.
Now, I've seen the name before, but this is my first go-round with them, and I gotta say- between this, War Brides, Nonagon , Tyranny is Tyranny, etc- I really need to make a trip up to either Chicago or Wisconsin a priority. Something is going on there in terms of noisy rock.

Luder Adelphophagia

I was going to damn Luder with faint praise, and talk about how I liked them, but knew it was mushy, sugary ear candy, but then, I found myself listening again and again, and I started to realize they're really good.
 So, on the first listen, you'll hear a band that sounds exactly like Medicine meets Lacuna Coil. Yes, it's a hybrid thing, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't ( For example, I've seen several blogs going all runny over Watertank. Watertank are a great idea on paper- post-hardcore, a la Quicksand and Helmet meets Stoner  Rock a la QOTSA. In practice, the result is Nu Metal. Seriously, several tracks end up sounding like Taproot. I still think they have some talent, but, ultimately, they're not for me) . But, upon a repeat listen or two, I started to realize it was a bit more progressive than all that- more like Medicine ( Singer Sue Lott is a sonic dead ringer for Beth Thompson)  meets Isis, or maybe Pelican.  Yes, it gets a bit drone-y, and yes, they can beat a riff into the ground, but mostly, it's pretty engaging stuff. It takes some patience, but ultimately, I think what they could put up on the website would be " Luder is not Stoner Rock. Luder is rock that will make you stoned" .
So, despite the death metal title ( something to do with baby death in the womb) this isn't obscuro progressive, either-but, well, I can say this by way of a negative- one problem I have with psychedelic music is that most of the time, the band sounds like they're about to break into either "Tomorrow Never Knows" or "Sweet Emotion"- there's none of that here. More like they sound like they're going to beat up A Perfect Circle. If you're a hard sell, try starting with the crushing twisted metal cover of "I'm Afraid of Americans" then, try "Ask the Sky" then go back and listen to the whole LP- this is truly progressive rock, if that term is supposed to mean rock music that's going somewhere,  not just guys showing off how many scales they can play. I'm thinking , for example, of the difference between Jane's Addiction, and Phish. Both could be said to play "progressive rock" yet which one pushed things further? Luder are pushing things forward. I don't want to put down Small Stone, but give this band the kind of budget and push that Relapse and above can afford? They'd eclipse bands like Royal Thunder and Blood Ceremony.
So, despite my initial doubts, I'm really glad I gave this hybrid a chance to grow on me. What I'd really like now is to see them on tour...

Red Fang- Whales and Leeches

I'm sure you've read a review or two of this already. I'm not so full of myself that I think I'll have some big new revelation for you, or that I understand Red Fang somehow more. I just want to point out a couple of things about what they're doing that I like.
First, they have tightened up to an unreal degree- several songs on here have near prog-rock time signatures but you'd have to be a freak like me to notice because they're such an efficient machine. For guys noted mostly for beer and laughs,  this is like technical death metal. Even then, one thing I never liked about Metal is how often the song gets "broken" so that somebody can solo. Awkward key changes, sudden tempo shifts, and so on that just take me right out of enjoying the song as a listener, and suddenly I'm back at school learning scales. Well, there's none of that here- all the changes seem organic, and logical for the song.
Second, topics include vampires, despair, cannibalism, and family vacations- what, exactly could be heavier?
Third, and last- I'm blown away by just how solid this record is- I find myself listening to it straight through, sitting in my car for the two bonus songs, late for work, but trying to hear the whole thing, again.
So, yes, if you like tight, solid, heavy rock, you need this record. As for any more review, hell, the band do it best....

Paul McCartney - New

I cannot begin to pretend to review the new Paul Mccartney. It's good, and it reminds me of Muse and Death Cab for Cutie, at the same time.
But, there's plenty of places to get a review of it. I just have a thought about it- can you imagine the weight Paul McCartney lives with? He really does carry the weight of the Beatles- probably the biggest name in pop music since World War 2. Possibly, this biggest name in pop music, period. If he wants to release new music, that's the weight he has to carry. Alone. John and George are dead, and Ringo hasn't done anything new in years. But still, Paul soldiers on. How does one write a song that anyone can relate to, if that's the weight you carry? Then, yet more difficult, how does one please multiple generations- again, with that weight? So, my hat is off to the guy for even attempting a new record. That I find some value in it should say something- I'm pretty far afield from his target demographic, so that's some pretty broad appeal, there. All done with with this giant mountain of expectations and desires that the Beatles culturally represent. I'm impressed...

Monster Magnet-The Last Patrol

I think we all owe Dave Wyndorf. Before Kyuss, and alongside the Melvins, Monster Magnet basically invented the "Stoner Rock" thing.  Sure, you had your early 1970's influences- Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and The Stooges on the one side, with Hawkwind, Iron Butterfly and Blue Cheer on the other, but I really think it was Monster Magnet who first thought to filter all that through the lens of late 1980's "Alternative"- what made it something new is that Dave Wyndorf filtered all his early 1970's childhood through his punk rock experiences of his teens- so Monster Magnet was heavy psychedelic rock, with a Ramones/Misfits attitude. Everybody from Clutch to Kyuss to Rob Zombie took little bits from it.
So all hail- but do we need a new LP? I think we do. I think it's not enough to leave it with Mastermind, which was good, but not the end cap to a career as brilliant as Monster Magnet.  I don't really foresee an End Cap ... I don't think Dave is out of ideas, yet, either. I mean, I love Lemmy, and I own too many Motorhead LPs, and T shirts, but Lemmy hasn't really had a good, new idea since 1995. Dave is like Lemmy on Orgasmatron: still coming up with new ways of doing a garage proto-Metal take on Space Rock. What does that mean? Pure riffs, met with drones, and sound effects, played with enthusiasm, to support psychedelic/Science Fiction/ surreal lyrics. It's a bit more introspective, but this is still the psychotronic  Space Lord.  It's dynamic, and thrilling, and it'll make you think in small doses, and will switch your brain off, if you listen to the whole thing.  So get your mind blown.

A preliminary jab at Red Fang's Whales and Leeches

I expect the critics will like the new Red Fang LP. It's got airtight songwriting, with marvelous production and is even a step up in all ways from the great last LP, which was reviewed well. However, I expect a backlash from a certain contingent of fan. There will be certain boys- and yes, I mean boys, males aged 16 to 25, who will claim that Red Fang have gone soft, that these are pop songs, that it's not heavy enough; essentially "they sold out". At the risk of  constructing and attacking a straw man, I'd like to talk about that- and to make it transparent, my point in that is to explain my reaction to the LP.
See, first of all- I wouldn't think it's a bad thing for Red Fang to adopt a pop element to their music. Pop song structure is economical, and efficient. It's effective, and aesthetically pleasing. It's just not the only game in town. But Red Fang haven't adopted pop songcraft- it's Rock, and more specifically, it's Heavy Metal.
As such, I don't think it's lacking in heaviness- I think that such a perspective is lacking in understanding as to what they're going for. The music is no less heavy than Kiss, than Dio, than The Melvins, than Ted Nugent, and certainly no less heavy than contemporaries like Torche, Valiant Thorr, Tilts, or Turbonegro. Expecting them to be as heavy as Kowloon Walled City, Neurosis, or even Kylesa would be expecting them to be a different band than what they are. At the heart of it, that's what cries of "Sell Out" tend to be- an expectation of an Artist to be something other than what they are. ( there's certain rare exceptions- but usually I don't mind them. What I mind is when an Artist tries to sell me, as a fan, out. People like Trent Reznor, or Liz Phair trying to get me to accept a crappy, half assed attempt at what they think I want to hear, in an effort to get me to buy said lame attempt, because that's all the more they value their creative expression. ) I see Red Fang as being much more in the vein of always wanting to be something like the Melvins than something like Slayer, and yes, I hear them hit some "Slayer riffs" on this- but the overall feel of their thing is still Beer Metal,

Two CDs in the post today

Got two compact Discs in the post- after listening to the download for awhile, I've finally got the Tyranny is Tyranny CD, and I was surprised to see my pre-order of the groovy 3-D cover version of the new Red Fang. I'll talk more about both, but this is good!

Ruins

Crust,  as a musical genre, is good soil. Yes that works as both a metaphor and a joke.  I was a big fan of certain Crust bands, and that has borne fruit, whether it is Disfear making the most creative D-beat based metal LP in a decade ( Live the Storm. If you haven't heard it, it is to D-Beat and Crust what Ride the Lightning was to eighties Thrash Metal) or whether is is Damad turning into Kylesa and creating a whole new genre in Southern Stoner/Sludge .
So, I keep in touch with the Crust scene, but mostly to scan the periphery- the bands and Artist pushing out from the confines of what is, after all, a pretty limiting genre. Germany's Ruins are not limited. That said, I just caught up with Ruins, who I believe have the raw material to become another great heavy rock band. The crust basis is still there, but they're reaching around, and skipping ahead to incorporate the "post sludge" melodic elements of Tragedy, Baroness and  Kylesa.  Yes, it shares characteristics of doom, but it really deviates from that in the lack of claustrophobia- they have a great sense of space, and are prone to go off on nearly math-rock angular grooves, before bringing in swaying hypnotic melodies- it's that denial of traditionalism that brings them into their own musical turf. Good stuff- and I can even give you a "RIYL"- If you like Tyranny is Tyranny, Tragedy, and early Kylesa, you'll like some of this.

My Limitations: Future of the Left- How to Stop your Brain in an Accident

I'm pretty good at "reading"- getting an understanding of what someone is trying to communicate. But I fall short pretty often as well. Such is the case with Future of the Left. This new LP is the first by them that I can get any kind of handle on. But even that is limited. I know that musically, they're wedding Gang of Four type nervous dance beats with Birthday Party styled explosiveness but I know there's more there that I'm not getting. Lyrically, it seems like the notebook diary scratchings of a hyper-intelligent sophmore at University, half-informed, and half hormonal. But, I think there must more there, as well.
So, I'm throwing this over to you. Can someone please get me up to speed on them? I like it, and I'm going to keep listening, and trying to decipher them, but it'd be nice to feel like I'm not posing by liking them...

Ghosts of Mars....

So, have you heard the new GVSB ep, yet? You should, it's good. Better than the new Soulfly and Sleigh Bells put together (since I won't be talking about either, elsewhere, I'll just say that Max, you're a good man, better than what you've done. I know that the fans just want Chaos AD over and over again, but I liked Soulfly for being something very different-and I bet you did too. Your heart isn't in this. Sleigh Bells, on the other hand have collapsed into exactly what I thought. Complete self-parody. Like an advertiser's idea of Punk Rock, doing covers of "Hey Mickey" over and over.) and better than You Can't Fight What You Can't See. Sure, it's just an EP, and, it could be argued, much the same as the Super Fire EP- but it's exactly what I like about Girls against Boys- grooves so cutting they cross over from dancing to danger, matched with lyrics that cross over from cheesy to sinister. I know most self-loving indie nerds hated Freak-on-ica but I'm not that kind of nerd- I saw it as a logical progression. What GVSB  do is take a certain type of male psyche, and expose it- debride it- until you can see the disgusting muscle and infection under the scab.
That type of male would sign a major label deal while trying to keep credibility, while getting more and more psychotic. That LP reflected that. That GVSB do this musically, rather than just lyrically makes it ring all more true. That I, like many others, have a bit of that psyche within me makes it sting a bit. Most of us have never done the evil in a Slayer song, or even been in a relationship as dysfunctional as an Afghan Whigs song, but we have pursued our base desires with an unhealthy disregard for the morality of it, and sometimes we revel in it. That point, when we want to possess that car, that gadget, or that girl, and we don't really care if we have to steal or take it by force ( and yes, emotional force counts) Girls Against Boys is all about that avarice that we rationalize and disguise. They go inside it and expose it. So, on this one, it's been 11 years, and that's explored- what happens to the hound when it gets a bit too old to hunt? What happens when you are still following the most trivial of pursuits well after the time to get serious?
Keep in mind this is done musically, as well- references to "Ghost Rider" by Suicide  on "Fade Out", and the slow electronic grind of "60 is greater than 15", not mention the burning pulsebeat of "Kick" ( like a gangsta war drum from 1995) don't really speak to an audience under the age of 40. But what they say? Well, think about the lyrics to the aforementioned Kick- "You say things have changed/ they only seem the same/to me. The 1990's? The Double Zeros? The Cleopatras?  The Neros.  There ain't no crazy ride. There ain't no war inside. And I still feel the same. I still feel the same." - I bet that you don't know all the references there if you weren't involved with Punk Rock in the early 1980s- admissions of defeat coupled with defiance abound- they seem to be saying that nearly sociopathic desire for conquest is wrong only because it's for the wrong things, and because of that, we're going to keep on trying, even though we're doomed to failure.