Friday 26 February 2010

The Outsiders - Adrian Borland





























Before Adrian Borland found fame with The Sound,
he was in The Outsiders.

In 1977, I used to follow this band all over London -
man, these guys played high octane punk rock'n'roll
like their lives depended on it.

I always thought the 1st Damned album was an
Outsiders ripp off!

Adrian was my guitar god - I made a vow that one day
I would be able to play as well as him - 30 years of
trying and I am still nowhere near.

The odds were stacked against The Outsiders - Adrian
did not look "punk" - he sung with heart and passion
but did not conform to the Strummer/Lydon
shout/sneer and did not write songs about "smash the
state".

As a spotty faced kid who stumbled into this new fangled
punk rock, he would take time after gigs to show me
the latest 7" singles he had brought and give me an
update as to which albums were coming out.

This is a compilation which I have taken from the
2 albums Calling on Youth & Close Up + tracks from
the EP One to Infinity. If you want to hear a band
that has been locked in a room with only a copy of
Raw Power and a determination to outplay James
Williamson, give this a go.

I hate to use an overused cliche but I guess the good
really do die young.


Thursday 25 February 2010

Mutiny on the Bounty - Danger Mouth 2009



















Post-Hardcore with a metal edge, this
reminds me a lot of At The Drive In,
fantastic angular, quicksilver guitar and
hurtled vocals over explosions of songs
that do not outstay their welcome.


Wednesday 24 February 2010

Baroness - First & Second


















The Baroness EPs, called with huge wit and imagination:

First & Second. Very raw and heavy ......... nice!







Tuesday 23 February 2010

Thursday 18 February 2010

Taint - All Bees To The Sea 2009



















Taint are from Wales and this is a
4 track EP + tracks from their
storming Roadburn '08 set.

They have taken the blueprint
of Nirvana and Alice In Chains
and stomped down the thunderous
path blazed by Baroness and Kylesa.



Wednesday 17 February 2010

Church Of Misery - Houses Of The Unholy 2009










Church Of Misery are from Japan
and their style is early-era Sabbath
Doom with Psychedelic rock touches,
who sing about serial killers .............
hurrah, what's not to like!

Tuesday 16 February 2010

SubArachnoid Space










Red Veil - 2005




















Eight Bells - 2009

SubArachnoid Space are an instrumental,
metallic, neo-psychedelic hard rock band
with soaring guitars often splintering
into jagged distortion.

The thick fuzz at times drifts into lighter
tones and sounds, like being cast adrift
in deep space and floating with the stars
before being sucked into a blackhole of
sonic explosions.

I prefer Red Veils, which is slightly heavier.



Monday 15 February 2010

Behemoth - Evangelion 2009















Polish Blackened Death Metal!!!!

I would normally run a mile before
having to listen to this sort of growling,
face painted, head banging idiot, all
sound the same music but .......

this has such intense power and scope +
ripping guitar work that it works for me.

Excuse me while I bang my head quite wildly!



Friday 12 February 2010

Baroness - Blue Record 2009










In my top five albums of last year,
this Stoner/Rock/Prog-Metal masterpiece
needs no introduction to people with even
the slightest interest in the above genres.

Play the clip to see what all the fuss
is about - Listen



Thursday 11 February 2010

Generation Of Vipers - Dead Circle 2007



















Progressive/Post-Metal from the States,
channeling the same sort of aggression found in
Neurosis, Isis but with a bit more venom ......
that's all I know about them ....... let the music
do the talking.



Wednesday 10 February 2010

These Arms Are Snakes




















Tail Swallower and Dove - 2008
Easter - 2006
This Is Meant To Hurt You ep - 2003

Seattle based Progressive/Post-Hardcore
band who broke up in January this year,
serve up a treat of Math like guitar over
pounding rhythms with sparse but intelligent
use of keyboards and a singer with a vocal
range to maintain interest over the songs
rather than just a one dimensional grunt.






Tuesday 9 February 2010

Wo Fat - Psychedelonaut 2009













A bubbling psychedelic brew of
heavy rock riffs and electric fuzzed
out blues, its Sabbath meets Blue Cheer
who have a fight with Monster Magnet.



Monday 8 February 2010

Dysrhythmia - Barriers & Passages 2006








Dysrhythmia means a disturbance of
rhythm in sleep, heart patterns or in
this case music.

Instrumental Progressive Metal with
touches of tech-metal/jazz and rock,
this has manic drumming, taut bass lines
and guitar that destroys any concept of
scales, timing or musical notation that is
normally accepted.

The above does no justice to the music, it is
very hard to describe - just watch the video.



Friday 5 February 2010

Anti-Flag - The People or the Gun 2009










Tuneful Punk from the Pittsburgh
rabble rousers, known for their outspoken
views on the American government.

In the same vein as Rancid "Out Came The Wolves",
lots of anthems with frenetic bursts of guitar work.



Thursday 4 February 2010

Deterior - Antimonument/Cleanse














Cleanse - 2009




Antimonument - 2008

Deterior is a solo project from Andrew Arnold
who is based in Ohio. Producing and playing
everything himself, Deterior albums are based
in the world of Post-Rock/Experimental
and deserves to have a much wider audience.

Antimonument has a heavy, sludge feel to it
at times, while Cleanse has a more traditional
Post-Rock feel to it, with some vocals.









Wednesday 3 February 2010

Mouth Of The Architect - Quietly 2008













Post-Hardcore? Punk Post-Rock?
Fuck knows, all these labels get very
confusing and I hate to pigeon-hole
bands with a label but they are useful
to identify music that you have never heard before.

or ....... quiet echoey guitar that gets louder and
louder, heavier and heavier until the scary
looking beardy man vomits out his vocals
with such force that you can almost hear
his bloody and broken tonsils flap onto the
microphone ..... he might be singing about
his miserable and pointless existence in
his brief time on earth or maybe it's about
how he like to brush out the silky manes
on his extensive My Little Pony collection!

Make a guess.



Tuesday 2 February 2010

Motorpsycho - Heavy Metal Fruit 2010













I have always thought that their previous
albums have lacked a certain direction but
this is a consistent mix of psychedelic riffs,
rock-jazz out bursts, space rock which over
the longer tracks bring to mind a heavy Pink Floyd.



Monday 1 February 2010

These Monsters - Call me Dragon 2010



















Instrumental Post-Rock from the Leeds
four-piece, their debut album displays
plenty of riff driven, tension exploding songs
that are not experimental for effect.

A saxaphone player gives an added dimension
in a genre that is rapidly becoming full
of copyists.