Category: Bands/Comps/Splits
The Noise Reviews Matt Fraza Band Flies Through The Dark
With heavy jazz elements and vocal effects, Matt Fraza creates a nostalgic, classic rock sound. The use of the harmonica and melodic electric guitar support Fraza’s vocals. Admittedly, the vocals do not sound the strongest and the clear effects on his voice feel forced.
The lyrics tend to create a story and “I Don’t Want It” sounds like Fraza is just talking to the listener with some instruments supporting him. The instruments are very reflective of songs one would classify as classic rock, but there does not seem to be too much modernity in his songs.
At times, the EP feels a bit bland, at least vocally. “Deep” focuses mostly on Fraza’s voice, which fall a bit flat in front of the calm guitar work. The emotion in his voice is there, it just needs to be brought to the surface.
“Drugs” is a better track, evident of the potential for a more passionate song. This song sees a heavier sound with honest lyrics about Fraza’s friends supposedly dying due to drugs.
The drums are a crucial component of Fraza’s sound and are varied throughout. “Circle” has a stronger element of the cymbals and this adds some distinction between the other tracks.
With strong instrumentation courtesy of electric guitars and cymbal-heavy drums, Flies Through The Dark provides a solid classic rock sound.
Bill Keough You’ll Disappear, Just Like They All Do CD
75OL-255 Bill Keough – You’ll Disappear, Just Like They All Do
$10.00 S&H Included
Digital download and streaming available here
Track Listing
1 – I Am The Lighthouse
2 – Beds
3 – Gentle Smile
4 – The Battle For Feelings
5 – Things Have Been Going On
6 – I’m Taking Off
7 – Drink Myself Into The Pavement
8 – Maybe It’s Just You
9 – Audrey Meadows
10 – If You Were Perfect, You’d Be Boring
11 – You’ll Disappear, Just Like They All Do
Produced by Kraig Jordan at Plan of a Boy in Providence, RI
Mastered by Tom Buckland
A bastard child of PJ Harvey and Bob Mould; a darker, sketchier Frank Black with inside your head vocals and cross-hatched riffs; a heavy handed Mark Bolan out on the town drinking by himself… Bill Keough: a long time fixture in the RI music scene as both a promoter and musician, this is the follow up to his 2014 solo release “The Slow Get Up”.
Bill Keough’s Video for ‘You’ll Disappear’
Keith A/B – Unbridled Optimism
75OL-239 Keith A/B – Unbridled Optimism
$10.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. We’ll Send Our Sympathies 4:50
2. Your Mother Needs a Man 3:34
3. Capital S 3:33
4. An Hour a Day 3:13
5. Fortune Cookies 3:11
6. One Bad Egg 2:47
Keith A/B is as Providence area singer-songwriter who’s Unbridled Optimism is a delicious mixture of indie rock, garage and power-pop. The EP features Keith’s clear, somber melodies over big guitars with lyrics about little people asking big questions or puffing their chests. All tracks were recorded in Mr. A/B’s home studio over the course of a year. For fans of Jeff Buckley, The Walkmen, Tame Impala, Deerhunter, Polvo, Cobra Verde, and Guided by Voices.
All songs written, performed, recorded and mixed by Keith A/B. Mastered by Bradford Krieger at Big Nice Studio, Lincoln, RI.
MV Times Covers Jodie Treloar Live at Pathways in Chilmark
Matt Fraza Band Flies Through The Dark
75OL-254 Matt Fraza Band – Flies Through The Dark CD and Digital Download
$8.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
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 Noise reviews Matt Everett’s ‘White Sugar’
MATT EVERETT
75 or Less Records
White Sugar
8 tracks
Matt Everett is a Rhode Island artist, who performs vocals, guitar, synth, strings, and more on these eight tracks. He is accompanied by Stu Powers, on drums and Greg Motta, covering drums and percussion. This is essentially pop music with elements of modern disco. But, can you dance to it? It may very well inspire you to dance to it, but to my ears, these tracks play more like pleasant background music. That’s just the vibe that I get from it. The music feels as if it is striving at times, to reach something akin to the slick, smooth style which Davie Bowie performed so strikingly well when he was in dance music mode, most notably so, on track 7, “The Greatest Thing.” I loved it when David Bowie did it, but if I am right about what I am hearing and those are the heights that Matt Everett is aspiring to reach, then by comparison, this music has a long way to go. Is it bad music? Not at all. Is it DANCE music? I’m not feeling that. As I’ve said, this would work best for me as background music played while chilling in the comfort of your living room, or while cruising in your car.
Track 5, “Cheap Plastic Shovel,” seemed interestingly out of place amidst the rest of these tracks, and I mean this in the best possible way. There are some heartfelt, genuinely moving lyrics in this song. It had a story to tell. One that I wanted to hear. I would have liked to hear more like this one. Out of all eight tracks, this one really caught my attention, making me stop and listen and really hear. Track 6, “Quickening,” rated as a winner for me as well. It’s smooth, quality music, easy on the ears, it falls nicely into its own sort of groove, a pinch of trance, a dash of ambient sound, and there you have it. So, my take on White Sugar? I wasn’t blown away by it, but all in all, pretty sweet. Check it out.
Eric Baylies Top 10 in The Noise
Top 10 New England Bands
1. Doomsday Student: Doomsday Student is one of the best live bands in the world and put out incredible skronky post-everything albums.
2. 6 Star General: 6 Star General have been one of my favorite bands for about 10 years. The pride of Warren, Rhode Island, they consistently put out fantastic albums almost annually.
3. Lazertuth: the pride of outer space and southesatern Mass. Lazertuth is a modern day Magma.
4. Goon Planet: Providence has produced a lot of great noisy bands over the years, and Goon Planet is the latest in a long line of geniuses.
5. Pyramid: If Blondie or the Pretenders were a little more punk, but kept the great hooks, they would sound like Rhode Island’s Pyramid.
6. Sick Pills: Chris Evil and company have been cranking out punk gems for a long time, but Sick Pills add touches of The Modern Lovers and Cars to the mix.
7. Picniclunch: Picnic Lunch is the new kings of no wave.
8. David Carradine: Providence thrash punks have been destroying stages world wide for over a decade.
9. Ioneye: Newport, Rhode Island’s Ioneye is the solo project of Stephen Lepre, one of the greatest shredding guitar players on the planet.
10. Olneyville Sound System: OSS has been one the pillars of the Providence noise scene for 20 years, but is set apart a little due to the fact that they happen to also write great songs.
Eric Baylies Favorite Things in Boston Hassle
75orless records and Load records: still awesome after all these years.
Motif names Tall Teenagers and Jets Can’t Land in Top Local Albums of 2016
Best Local Albums
4) Jets Can’t Land – You Can’t Linger On (75OrLess Records) – Indie guitar swing at its finest, complete with all the bells and whistles. Jets Can’t Land even accomplished this without using any bells or whistles.
1) Tall Teenagers – Self-titled – Tall Teenagers’ debut is an homage to indie rock in the vein of Surfa Rosa Pixies. The tension in Damian Puerini’s and Chelsea Paulhus’ vocals makes me probably like this record better than the 2017 Pixies album.