GORBACHOV!

crazy? genius? horrible? there's a very very very fine line....

Our Last Night (Epitaph) at Zumiez Couch Tour 2008

Our Last Night (OLN) played Zumiez Couch Tour 2008 on June 22, 2008 in the parking lot of Monmouth Mall, Eatontown, NJ. They opened for Alkaline Trio and played a short 30 minute set. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the headliner. The only thing I've heard about OLN was the hype about their 14-year old singer, Trevor. I listened to several of their songs before the gig to get a taste of their style. I was curious to see how they fared on stage.

The parking lot setup was basically a simplified version of Bamboozle with tents surrounding the perimeter and a portable skate park that was constructed to the right of the medium-sized stage. When I arrived, I went over to the ramps to watch the skaters for a little bit since there wasn't much else to do. It wasn't too impressive. I also expected a little more out of the Flip Skate Team as they performed their "demo." I don't think that falling down every 10 seconds is much of a demo.

Anyway, the real reason for this blog is to briefly give my opinion on OLN. I'll start with the positive. For a young group of guys, their stage presence was fairly decent. If you play screamo / post-hardcore, you need to move on stage, and they did. The bassist stole the show with his slightly borrowed antics of twirling his bass around his back and flipping it up over his head. Trevor had tons of energy and if head banging was an Olympic Sport, he'd get a 9.2. Although, his main move seemed to be standing up on the monitor and holding his arms out, seemingly commanding the audience to thrash.

With this genre of music - at least for me - there needs to be some element that perpetuates the song besides moshing and screaming. I loved the technical playing in their guitar work, but I still need some sort of musical dopamine to hook me into the song. This can be achieved with melody, a memorable rhythmic pattern, anthemic lyrics, or even a gimmicky hook. Something. I felt like this was missing to some degree. If I'm going to suffer some sun poisoning, it better be worth it!

One huge negative aspect for me was how Trevor wasn't really the lead vocalist. Much of the melodic lines were sung by the guitarist while Trevor growled and provided some reinforcement in spots. This confusion I think is most detrimental. I know many would argue this point and even provide examples of how it can work, but I think that it would be more effective for a band to have a solid identity with a focal point for vocals. Other negatives for the set include a weakness for pitch control in the melodic sections and (to be blunt) saying dumb things between songs.

Overall, I think these guys have potential and with being so young, they have plenty of time to mature. The odds are against them, but if they have longevity, I'd love to hear what they sound like in 5 years.

~Robert

H2O - Nothing to Prove (2008, Bridge 9)

4 out of 5

“For those that don’t know, H2O GO!” Thus starts the first record in seven years for these NYHC stalwarts, and it’s screamed by a kid who wasn’t even born when the last H2O album came out (singer Toby Morse’s son). But that doesn’t even matter because this is just as good as what the band were doing back in 1995, the year they started (and the year that starts the record with the ode to days gone by, “1995”). It’s classic NYHC along the lines of Shelter & Gorilla Biscuits (whose singer, CIV, makes an appearance here on “Still Here”), with plenty of “jud-juds,” plenty of breakdowns & circle pit moments, plenty of PMA (“positive mental attitude” for those not in the know), plenty of railing (against poseurs, personal turmoil, etc.) and plenty of melody. It’s not all just mosh-core, and that’s a very welcome thing in these days of 28 different kinds of “-core,” most owing more to metal than anything else. Sometimes it’s just great to hear something that puts a smile on your face and makes you want to run around in a circle, windmilling and picking up change until your arms fall off. “Nothing to Prove” is a Bouncing Souls-style bro anthem (think the Souls’ “Manthem”) with its gang-vocal chorus of “Me and all my friends, we got nothing to prove, nothing to lose!” This whole record is a friend-laden affair, in fact, with the aforementioned appearance from CIV, as well as Lou Koller from Sick of It All, Roger Miret from Agnostic Front, Freddy Cricien from Madball, Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, Kevin Seconds from 7 Seconds, and even Michael Rappaport. Unfortunately, this also brings up the biggest fault with the album and that’s that there’s way too many quotes and interludes for a 10-song album. Nearly every song starts with some quote or another, and, however appropriate (Toby’s son’s intro to “Sunday,” a song about losing a father and becoming a father, is perfect), it still interrupts the flow of the album. Also, since when is 10 songs an album for a punk/hardcore band? Isn’t that more EP territory? You know what though? Those are minor complaints. Quit being too cool, go put on some baggy shorts and a heather-grey t-shirt, go to a matinee show, and go remember why you got into punk rock in the first place when you were young.

=james

Billy Bragg - Mr. Love & Justice (2008, Anti-)

4 out of 5

You know, for someone with such a thick – nearly Dickensian – British accent, Billy Bragg is an old pro at Americana-influenced songs, whether R&B, Country, Soul, or Folk (just take a look at his work with Wilco on the Woody Guthrie interpretations Mermaid Ave. 1 & 2 or the Band-ish “Sing Their Souls Back Home” on this album). This record, his first in 6 years since 2002’s fairly disappointing outing with his band, the Blokes, England, Half-English, shows that influence wonderfully, especially on songs like “M for Me,” which is produced to capture the sounds of the room and make it sound that much looser and folkier, which is exactly where Bragg is at his best. His lovelorn, forlorn and wartorn lyrics are hurt by production that’s too clean and playing that sounds too rehearsed. He’s much better when there’s a little grit like “I Almost Killed You” or “Something Happened.” That said, he’s perfectly at home singing both of the political (“Sing Their Souls…,” “O Freedom,” “The Johnny Carcinogenic Show”) and the personal (“If You Ever Leave” has one of the more devastatingly aching choruses in recent memory). Bragg came to fame playing by himself, a man and his amp, and it’s arguable that some of his best songs still lay back in that era, which makes me incredibly curious about the second disc on the deluxe version of this record, which includes every song recorded in that format, but, as it is, I only got the regular version (money’s a bitch like that, huh?). Either way, though, Mr. Love and Justice is a fine record and a great example of what a man can do with his influences, no matter where they’re from.

=james

Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (2008, Rhymesayers)

5 out of 5

This is technically the second album that Atmosphere has released this year, after the free-download Strictly Leakage from earlier this year, and upon first comparison, it’s not nearly as much of a party record, but it IS a great, sing-song-y, alternately bouncy and mournful, piano-heavy, mature record, whether it’s the smooth-jazz summer-breeze-y music of the opener, “Like the Rest of Us,” or the revival-tent gospel blues of the second track, “Puppets” (which also features an excellent turn on back up vocals by Channy Casselle of the band Roma di Luna). This album is actually full of experimentation: Slug and Ant also explore Minus the Bear-style indie rock-robot-R&B by way of Prince-ly funk on “Dreamer” and “You,” 80s B-movie sci-fi synths (“The Skinny”), Goblin-meets-TV on the Radio-esque hip-hop (“Your Glasshouse,” “Can’t Break”), slide guitar (“Painting”), and even one song that sounds like G. Love (of the Special Sauce) with a serious chip on his shoulder (“Guarantees”). What works the best in this album’s favor though, is that much like the greatest musical storytellers (like Tom Waits, who beatboxes on “The Waitress”), Slug is at his peak when he’s finding himself and enlightenment in other peoples’ lives and stories. Because the songs on this record are, at Slug’s admission, fiction, that bodes incredibly well for those listening at home.

=james

The Night Marchers - See You in Magic (2008, Vagrant/Swami)

5 out of 5

This right here is perfect garage punk rock & roll. It’s got the swagger and the snarl, it’s got the slash and precision of switchblade-wielding robots, and it’s got lines like “Let’s be best friends on your floor” and tongue-firmly-in-cheek song titles like “I Wanna Deadbeat You,” “Open Your Legs” and “Panther In Crime.” Just like front-man John Reis’s beloved “band who invented Rock n Roll,” Rocket From the Crypt, The Night Marchers owe just as much (if not more) to 50s rockabilly attitude & 60s “Nuggets” sounds as they do to more modern punk pursuers, and this record really actually does sound a lot like RFTC just without the horns. In fact, Reis is even here going by his RFTC handle, Speedo. But where another modern band with a foot firmly planted in the past, the Bronx, are dirty and disheveled, all torn jeans and old punk t-shirts (and maybe still a little drunk from the night before), the Marchers are a James Bond (or an early-Elvis)-like suave: slicked back, sensuous, and never without a drink in hand, though never really drunk. Reis & Co. are also not quite as Euro-perfect as a band like the Hives, and that’s not meant in the slightest as a jab. One of the best tracks on the album, in fact, “Branded,” is pure American West, a gypsy-cowbilly shuffle with a little bit of menace – imagine Yul Brenner’s character in Westworld singing a song of love and devotion. And “Open Your Legs” is a double-Elvis-entendre, with Sullivan Show hip-shaking rhythm amped to skate punk speeds. And “You’ve Got the Nerve,” is Rolling Stones cock-of-the-walk blues rock, but where Jagger sang about having a woman under his thumb, Speedo sings “You’ve got nerve/ Don’t cut me loose/ You’ve got nerve/ And I want the abuse.” Now if only Martin Scorcese would obsess over The Night Marchers…

=james

Testament - The Formation of Damnation (2008, Nuclear Blast)

4 out of 5

This is Testament's first album in 9 years, and unlike a lot of their 80s thrashgenetor peers' recent output (....cough....Metallica ....cough.....), this record is nearly unequivically awesome. While I can't really speak for a lot of Testament's material (call me guilty of being a n00b, but I really only just started listening to them), this record is chock full of thoroughly solid melodic thrash underlying singer Chuck Billy's monstrous bellow, which at times calls to mind (modern touchstone here) Randy Blythe of Lamb of God or John Pettibone from Himsa - who Billy likely influenced when they were still little metalheads - but with a little more slice and a lot less bludgeon.

"Dangers of the Faithless" and "Persecuted Won't Forget" are songs that are bound to (at least in my mind), draw comparisons such as "James Hetfield singing for Megadeth," and, for anyone who ever loved both bands (and didn't take sides in the fight that ensued after Megadeth's Dave Mustaine was kicked out of Metallica for being a drunken a$$h*l& before their first record ever came out), that couldn't be a more exciting thing, even if Testament stand completely on their own.

I hate to end on that, so let me say this: with as popular as thrash seems to be these days (both the goofy, party-hearty brand as well as the overtly-outraged "deep" brand), this record deserves to be at the forefront, and not just because these guys are the elder statesmen in a genre whose speed and trappings tend to favor the young (have you ever seen a chubby biker-looking dude with long, thinning hair wearing tight jeans?). It's also because The Formation of Damnation is a fast, brutal, and catchy record that is above all good.

=james