MySpace Music Reviews, Vol. 30
Hi everybody. Lots of bands this week. Some of this stuff has been sitting in my "Friend Request" box for almost two months, and in that time, some of the acts reviewed here have decided that enough was enough and chose to sneak out the back door, thinking i wasn't paying attention. Hell, some of them have probably broken up already. But how wrong they were! What follows is not every band in the pile, but most of them and some that were, and no longer are.
* = accepted
WE'RE SOME AMERICAN BANDS: "Say Go" with the "action rock" of
DIG THOSE KRAZY ELECTRONIC BEATS: The Valley Dolls (Alternative / Electro / Punk) have a whopping one song, a thrown-together demo at that; the Blow Waves (Electro / Punk / New Wave) come closest to approximating a male Yaz; Electra (Electro / Powerpop / Club) has the guile-free "This is My Art!"-camp-sound; Belgian couple eToy* (Electro / Pop / Rock) have the creative use of primary-colored body paint and a sound to match; and Deltawave (Electro / Indie / Disco House) has the best song titles and the most memorable material. But all are like eating a can of frosting for lunch ... And you know a genre has lost its "edge" when people from
METAL, SOME: Through Hell (Metal / Thrash / Hardcore) is this week's batch of screaming dudes in hoodies. Sure, all the songs are Viking-friendly - and sound, like, exactly the same - but, no doubt, at least two of the guys will end up going through some sort of "we need to make our music more dance-y and electronic" phase in about two years, so enjoy it while it lasts. Oh, and the background of their page, which looks like a still from Video Fireplace. So, that kinda rules ... Meanwhile, also keeping it "real" is Beyond All Reason (Rock / Metal / Rock), a bunch of black t-shirt-and-feelings types from the UK, with intermittently shrill vocals and weedley-wee guitar further blurring what's left of the line between modern emo and 80s fluffer-metal. The hunch here is that at least two (2) of the dudes have the band name tattooed somewhere on their bodies ... Watch out, Evanescence! Colporter (Rock / Metal / Hardcore) - fronted by a lefty, 5-string bass-playing chanteuse - boldly assert their claim
THE "MOVEMENT" MOVEMENT: Three acts this week, vying for my Movement dollar. Philly indie-noodlers pattern is movement (Indie / Progressive / New Wave) boasts a puzzling 1 : 1 song / remix ratio, thus giving them a broader palate of ways to be formless and self-indulgent ... UK band White Rose Movement (Indie / Electronica) is that yelp-y Rapture-style professional rock that you go for but i do not. Only this time, a twist, in the form of an occasionally female voice occasionally intermingling, ethereally. Dance, young self-conscious people, dance! ... My countrymen The Movement (Powerpop / Rock / Alternative) sound like The Jam if they just sort of shrugged and decided to take that nightly gig at The Sands Atlantic City. It's official: "Movement" is a new must-avoid band buzzword.
ROUND THE HORN: Hey, The Tonic Bang* (Alternative / Rock / Pop), way to be a rock group of five Swedish teen girls, and NOT INCLUDE A FREAKIN' PICTURE ON YOUR PROFILE!! Alas, the strange lyrics and Slater-Blue Van sound more than make up for this glaring omission, so, nicely done. Still, making me determine your merits based on your music, that's kinda fucked up ... The MySpace Music Reviews Spirit Award goes to the drummer from Jimmy and the Wolfpack* (Rock / R&B / Rockabilly). Rockabilly has always thrived on the element of danger a bit more than most forms of music, and since its 2006 and the possibility of a knife-fight breaking out is nil - especially somewhere as "tough" as Brooklyn - wondering if the drummer can make it through a whole song without the number completely collapsing is close enough. Fun, Cramps-y stuff that goes good with $2 beer and girls with bangs ... On the flip side of that, the instinct-free drumming failing to propel State of Ohio (Rock / Indie) will get you right back in your seat, but maybe he's the appropriate choice for what is essentially Modest Mouse-on-steroids ... In only took 15 years, but thanks to Rara Avis (Pop / Country / Rock),
THE OL' MAILBAG: The talented - or at least well-trained - fellows in cellar steps (Indie / Rock / Progrsv House) wrote, oh, back in late July or so, pointing out that they'd be flattered if i panned their two-man quirk rock act. A backhanded dis, i suspect, but fuck it, i'm game, so here goes. "NERRRRRRRRRRRDS!"
NAP TIME: The Donde Stars (Indie / Alternative / Powerpop), Chaser (Rock / Club / Electro), one dollar peep show (Electronica / Alternative / Pop), Crash the Satellites (Indie / Rock).
THIS FINAL THOUGHT: Not that long ago, my band opened up for a man / act named Zed Never, a dude probably in his 50s who plays the bass, looks quite a lot like James Coburn and sings the hooks of fractured weird-uncle rock like "Pork Rinds" with gravely, a-melodic zeal. I bring this up because i feel like he should pair up with slop-punk combo BaTz* (Rock / Garage / Punk), and their Mozart-melody-lifting hit "F.U." for one last show at the Continental before it turns into a grimy sports bar. I mean, i'd be the only person in the audience, but i'd reeeeaallly be into it.
Well, there you have it: i'm not even close to caught up. Tune in next week, when i, in all likelihood, revert back to my trusty old band-reviewing formula.
MsMR
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