Tearin’ It Up Along Rock Sound Route 108

It’s that time again! This month’s Rock Sound CD is brought to you by the number 108, which is precisely the number of cards in a Uno deck - fancy! 108 is also the name of a Hare Krishna hardcore band - crikey. Anyway, 108 also happens to be the number of April’s cover CD. Will it be a drastic improvement on last months? (Actually, there was some okay stuff on last months in the form of HEALTH, Cursed and The Ocean so it’s not all bad.) Let’s see….

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1. Children of Bodom - Blooddrunk (edit)

A delicate keyboard-led opening that’s pummelled to bits by a quite formulaic metal attack that sadly doesn’t get any better as the grating and indignant vocals kick in. The inclusion of the hardcore chants of the song’s title, win this track a few more points and the solo at the 2.30 mark is an unexpected delight.

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2. A Girl A Gun A Ghost - Lizard in the Lights

Despite the shit-awful band name, A Girl A Gun A Ghost are actually pretty good. Their sound drops someone around the region of a cleaner-sounding Poison The Well, with an odd southern-metal twang. Unfortunately, it all goes a bit “Gallows” near the end, which is a shame. The Victory Records crowd would probably love this though.

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3. Thieves & Liars - When Dreams Become Reality

The opening bars of this smacked so much of “Woman” by Wolfmother, I became quite concerned. Instead, Thieves & Liars thump out some quite expansive riff-heavy rock “n” roll. Whilst not being particularly memorable, it makes a fresh change from yet another macho, ham-fisted dirge of idiot-metal.

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4. The Death Of Her Money - Clap!

Have you ever tried to drag a bag of wet potatoes around? I’d imagine it’s an arduous and plodding process, much like the first 3 minutes of “Clap” by The Death Of Her Money. Sounding like a poor-man’s Hey Colossus with a “tagged on’ zany progressive outro isn’t winning any smiles here - poor.

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5. City and Colour - Confessions

I think what stands Dallas Green out from other acoustic acts, is his ‘”I’ve fallen into an ocean of rich, warm tea”- vocals. Okay, so this might well be a sappy Dashboard by numbers, acoustic strum-a-thon, but his voice is a convincing, earnest instrument in itself that works in painting a picture of his low-fi campfire-emo. Great!

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6. Frank Turner - Imperfect Tense

Although I’m a massive Million Dead fan, Frank Turner’s solo work has never really captured me. “Imperfect Tense” moves away from the folk-vibes of his earlier work and stumbles down a jaunty, pub-sing along vibe and smacks of being “too safe.’ Gone are his strong political statements, replaced with a somewhat mediocre cry. Disappointing, as I really wanted to like this.

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7. Kill Hannah - Believer

Proof that Myspace-electro-scenester bullshit still isn’t dead. Horrible.

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8. Outl4w - No More Survivors

I thought I would hate this. The picture of the singer gurning at me from the article within Rock Sound was enough to make the blood boil, as was the “4″ in their name. But you know what, these guys are great. It’s like they’ve taken the best elements of Rancid, chucked in some U.S. Bombs and dunked their instruments in a thick layer of grime for good measure. Street-punk that’s worth a listen - good work lads.

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9. The Gutter Twins - Idle Hands

The only thing I really know about Mark Lanegan, was that he used to be in Queens of the Stone Age. Gutter Twins, were therefore something I considered to retain a similar swagger. In some places it does, albeit a more stripped down and feral one. “Idle Hands” is a dirty, groove-laden number best suited played from an open-topped Chevy, doing 80 down a dust road. Awesome.

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10. The Sword - Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians

With a name like “The Sword” and that frankly ridiculous song title, this metal/stoner rock mob must play Warhammer or at least Dungeons & Dragons. It smacks so much of Fantasy battles, it’s untrue. I couldn’t imagine anyone but those wearing “Gary Gygax: Rollin’ In His Grave” t-shirts, who wank over sexy elves and hyper-ventilate when they’re in the same room as a girl listening to this. Epic Fail.

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11. The Swamp Donkey - The Trouble With Crusades

With a name like The Swamp Donkey, this is exactly what I was expecting. Sludge coated bass heavy stoner rock that tries to be even sleazier than a male P.E. teacher in an all-girls school and as cumbersome as a truck load of dead pandas. If you’re after something with riff after riff and some nice Fu Manchu-cowbell antics, then The Swamp Donkey are worth investigating.

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12. Suicide Silence - Bludgeoned To Death

About as subtle as an anvil to the head, Suicide Silence deliver some hilariously bad metal. Tinny drums? Check. Gargled vocals? Check. The most uninspiring, turgid guitar work ever? Check. Horrendous.

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13. Azriel - Against The Wind

Azriel seem to fancy themselves as speed metal merchants it seems. However, they ruin it all with some predictable breakdowns that ruin the speed/timing/nature of the whole track. By the time they get back on track the damage has been done and all I can do is wait until the next plodding segment cuts in. Poor.

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14. Trigger The Bloodshed - Lovers

I’m not even going to bother reviewing this. Instead, I’m going to talk about episode 11 on season 4 of The Shield. The Strike Team are sort of back together and are investigating the death of two officers from the Barn. They’ve recovered a gun and a radio that belonged to the dead cops as well as 3 possible suspects, whilst Dutch and Claudette are investigating a shooting at a carwash. Oh yeah and Dutch is seeing Vic’s ex-wife - nice.

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15. Dead Child - Black Halo Rider

For a minute I thought this was Iron Maiden. Dead Child’s vocalist, Dahm sounds so much like Bruce Dickinson, it’s scary. The instrumental work also gives nods to the godfather’s of British metal, albeit a rawer, serrated sound with none of the wicked guitar-solos and falsetto shrieks. Sinister and a good finish to what has been quite a disappointing trawl.

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Links

See above, I’m going to chainsaw some Locusts in half.

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By Ross Macdonald