Album reviews I promised months ago finally here. More to come, sooner than later and another update later in the week.
Cheers,
Eric
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Matt Mays & El Torpedo If you like Matt Mays, and maybe even if you don’t, you should check this disc out. On Terminal Romance, the band’s second album (technically, Mays’ self- |
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| titled release and soundtrack album When The Angels Make Contact are solo records), the rockers rock harder than before, the ballads evoke more emotion than his earlier work and the band is tighter than ever. Perhaps it’s Jay Smith of Rock Ranger joining the group that gave it a kick in the ass, perhaps it’s just a band and its chief songwriter maturing – whatever the reason, it works.
The first half of Terminal Romance is just about as a flawless piece of rock music as you could ask for. The opening track “Building A Boat” is a catchy, tight rocker. “Digital Eyes” blends catchy rock n’ roll with cool effects that gives the song an extra kick. “Tall Trees” picks up where “Boat” left off, a rocker that will have everyone in the bar dancing. The irresistible “Rock Ranger Record” is a perfect slice of Ramones-esque punk rock that ends far sooner than you wish it would. Then comes the title track, a beautiful, tender ballad of heartache that sounds as if it were written the morning after a bad breakup. Honestly, if the record stopped there, it would still be among my favourites of 2008. The rest of the album is quite good as well, especially the power-pop of “Stand and Deliver” and ballad “Long Since Gone.” “Laser-Guided Love” and “Shining Eyes” don’t quite stand up to the rest, but I guess it’s the difference between good and great, so I’m not complaining. It’s been several months since Terminal Romance came out and I’m still surprised how much I dig it every time I turn it on. |
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Gallactus Like a big angry train barreling down on you, Gallactus’ 2008 record Nine Mile Woods is stoner rock at its finest. The 12 tracks on Nine Mile Woods are heavy, gritty and played with a furious passion. |
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| Don’t be turned off by the “stoner” label though – it’s not all gloom and doom. In fact, many of the tracks on Nine Mile Woods are quite catchy; there’s a rock n’ roll groove underneath the fog of distortion and the throat-splitting roar from Dan Hodgson. “DeathsHeadMoth” and “Solar Eyes” in particular have a swampy rock groove to them. It’s great to hear the band mix things up a bit.
Gallactus (also including Shaun Crawford, Chris Crawford and Jason McAllister) also serves up some furious metal on “Kilmister,” “The Fury” and “Scars of the Axe Handle” and some heavy doom on “Skin Job” and the title track. A big heavy punch to the stomach, this is well worth checking out. |
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Dave Marsh
The Joel Plaskett Emergency’s Dave Marsh releases his quirky debut solo effort, the first release on Plaskett’s new label, New Scotland Records. |
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| The record is interesting. It comes across almost like a scrapbook of songs that weren’t necessarily written or recorded together with the intent of releasing them as an album. They range in length from a minute and a half up to nearly four minutes and they run the gamut from the punk-leaning “The Way We Live Today” and garage rock of “Move You Around” to the mellow, funky title track, the dreamy pop of “I Know Nothing Anymore”, moody acoustic number “Got No Kids Of Our Own” and the just plain odd “Nav Com Tav.”
Marsh has quirky lyrics, a diverse batch of songs and sound that overall isn’t too removed from the Emergency’s own material. A few of the songs here could have been pulled from Emergency albums, such as “Backstreet Thread” and the excellent ‘70s pop of “Forsaken By The Beautiful People” and “The Smoke Easy.” The record was produced by Marsh and Plaskett and the Emergency frontman plays a lot of the instruments on the record. This is a thoroughly enjoyable record by a talented songwriter stepping out from the shadows of his full-time gig. |
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