Category: Bands/Comps/Splits
Motif reviews Hope Anchor’s ‘Beautiful Corpses’
Hope Anchor – Beautiful Corpses
I did a half review of this album last fall when I only had access to three songs. I don’t think I did it justice. Jams that have been rocking my world on this biscuit include the primal “Primal Mover,” which just makes me think of the band Magazine Meets Wire on amphetamines. Before it came out, guitarist Terry Linehan warned me this was their goth record, but I grew up on that shit in the ’80s. The creeping “Skeleton Waltz” takes me down some dark hallways of my past; Paul Everett acts like a tour guide, leading you through an extended doom. The guitars on “Xoxosos” jump out like the sunlight hitting you exiting a bar at 6am. The piano outré duet between Everett and Lolita Black’s Scarlett Delgado leaves a haunting touch. One of my favorite local bands, The Lincoln Tunnel, is opening this show. They are great despite the presence of my mortal enemy, Christian Caldarone.
Motif Magazine reviews The Lincoln Tunnel Phone This One In
The Lincoln Tunnel – Phone This One In
On their sophomore record, Phone This One In, The Lincoln Tunnel return with a digital box of left-of-the-dial toe tappers. Singer/Guitarist Christian Caldarone and the boys serve up a triple shot of the shake appeal stomp of “Bangkok,” the ’90s indie supersonic grind “Bedroom Eyes,” and the brooding “Kennedy Plaza” alone shows how the band can now expand its palette without sucking. Although I can’t help thinking when listening to the opening “Time’s Wasting,” yeah Caldarone, mine, the rest of the album grooves like the suburbs getting lit on a Friday night. They successfully nail meshing a hillbilly twang with a grunge chorus on “Interstate Interior,” and even their downer Christmas tune isn’t bad. I could have done without the closing “Start a Fire” where I don’t know if Caldarone is lyrically inspired by ’90s techno kings The Prodigy or trying to write another verse to the Billy Joel classic, but the rest of Phone This One In is pretty sweet.
Deadlands Wonderland
75OL-273 Deadlands – Wonderland
$10.00 S&H Included
Digital download coming soon
Track Listing
1. Wonderland
2. (I Will) Disappear
3. The One
4. Chinese Locks
5. Manic Progression
6. Dying Day
7. Shortway Down
8. I’m Giving Up
9. No Promises
The Really Heavy Titan Clinic
75OL-265 The Really Heavy – Titan Clinic
$10.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Blood
2. Rusted
3. Punch
4. Dead Sand
5. Haunted House
6. Always All The Time (soundcloud)
7. Red Hot Heart
8. Melting
9. Dead Waves
10. Drain
Creep Church The Covers Record
75OL-276 Creep Church – The Covers Record
Limited cd copies to be randomly inserted in orders.
Digital download and streaming is available here
Track Listing
- Riches and Wonders (The Mountain Goats)/The Leopard and the Lamb (Cat Power)
- Eventually (Geoff Farina)
- When I Die (GG Allin)/I Love You All (The Soronprfbs)
Recorded live at 75orLess Records, Warren RI, Nov & Dec 2017.
Pixels Accessories cassette
75OL-264 Pixels – Accessories cassette (split with subModern)
$10.00 S&H Included
Track Listing
1. Internet
2. Debbie
3. Evil Eyes
4. June
Pixels Accessories compact disc
75OL-264 Pixels – Accessories cd /dig download (split with subModern)
compact disc $8.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Internet
2. Debbie
3. Evil Eyes
4. June
5. Internet (stereo) cd only bonus track
Matt Fraza Band Flies Through The Dark cassette
75OL-254C Matt Fraza Band Flies Through The Dark cassette
$8.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
[Cassette is limited to ten copies]
Track Listing
1. Black Mark 2:24
2. I Don’t Want It 4:05
3. Deep 3:38
4. Drugs 3:16
5. Circle 2:14
6. Moving Day 3:12
7. Mountain Lion 7:43
The Lincoln Tunnel’s ‘Phone This One In’ review in ‘The Newp’
The Lincoln Tunnel’s ‘Phone This One In’ review in ‘The Newp’
Alternative rock’s essence is capturing an emotion that doesn’t need fancy production or flashy sounds. Just a guitar, a bass, and a rhythm section will do along with the proper amount of amplification. The Lincoln Tunnel out of Providence achieves that with their sophomore album Phone This One In, which was put out via the Warren-based label 75orLess Records on December 7. Christian Caldarone leads the cavalry with his crooning voice and raw strums on the guitar. There’s also a powerpop sheen that’s adorned within the album from start to finish.
John Menard backs up Caldarone on lead guitar while his brother Keith blends his skills on bass with Mike Tomasso’s drumming. The musical tightness exhibited throughout Phone This One In is genuinely impressive. Caldarone’s lyrics are hard-hitting and honest to the point where there’s no confusion on what he’s really singing about. It’s an unapologetic and old-school take on a style that’s been continuously evolving since the early ‘80s. The Lincoln Tunnel’s new album can be enjoyed by music lovers both young and old.
Starting the album off is “Time’s Wasting” with Caldarone shouting at the top of his lungs. “Bedroom Eyes” has a pop-rock aesthetic while also having a consistent breakbeat. It echoes the songwriting of Paul Westerberg and Robert Pollard and it also maintains a bit of originality. Fitting for the holiday season, “Stay In Bed (This Christmas)” is a conflict of nostalgia and reality. John Menard has a sweet guitar solo that shines through too.
This rad band has a show coming up at Alchemy in Providence on December 28 with Boston rock act If We Go At All and fellow locals Nate Cozzolino & The Lost Arts and The Ghosts Of Industry. While you’re at the show, get a copy of Phone This One In. It’s real rock music with a lot of heart.
Mark Cutler ‘Travel Light’ review in Motif Mag
Mark Cutler – Travel Light
On Travel Light everything is a little darker, from the tone of the guitars to the vocals; it isn’t overtly political, so much as a songwriter trying to make sense of the world. Cutler’s voice retains a sense of leeriness on “Nothing from Nobody” as he sings “I don’t want nothing from nobody, don’t expect you to hand your soul to me” over a rollicking Chicago blues lick. “What About You” is a classic ballad that feels like it fell off of an expanded version of Tom Petty’s Wildflowers as Cutler croons, “I’m only a hobo when I’m not by your side.” “Gaslight” is a cool tune that reminds me of ’70s Neil Young set to a rhythm reminiscent of a stripped down version of Smashing Pumpkin’s “1979.” The starkness of “East of Eden” reminds me of a cross between Beggars Banquet era Stones and Time Out of Mind era Dylan. “Misfits” and the closing title track retain a youthful quality — hitting the road for the next adventure. If you’ve never seen Mark Cutler live, it is an all-night party as he and his band play non-stop for hours with one tune after another drawing from his expansive career and covers of anyone from Jonathan Richman to the Stones. It is not to be missed and pick up a copy of Travel Light while you are at it!