Category: Bands/Comps/Splits
Motif Magazine reviews Sick Pills ‘Under My Skin’ album
Sick Pills — Under My Skin (75orLess Records)
I’ve fallen dreadfully behind on my record reviews, but one of favorite releases of the year is the sophomore release from New Bedford’s Sick Pills, Under My Skin. I got into listening to this biscuit a few weeks ago on a road trip to Philly where I literally listened to it on repeat for three hours. For the uninitiated, Sick Pills have a post-punk ’80s indie guitar swing feel to them. Sick Pills are kind of in between as far as singer/guitarist Chris (Dr. Evil) Guaraldi’s other bands. Sick Pills are not as heavy as Chris Evil & The Taints, but heavier than The Blood Moons. Under My Skin kicks off with a couple of punk stompers in “You Make Me Sick” and “Black Skies,” and then proceeds to sprinkle in different influences. “Close To You” somehow has parts that channel both The Knack and Sonic Youth. “Don’t Know What To Do” has this kind of epic indie rock blues sway. Tunes like “Get Away From Me” and “I Got Nothing” have a ’60s garage rock groove, while “All Day” has a mid-’80s era Replacements feel. Sick Pills do not play PVD often, but as it happens they are coming to Firehouse 13. I’m particularly excited for this show, not only because Sick Pills did my favorite local release of the year, but because it also includes Deadlands (top 10 local release last year), and you can catch The Lincoln Tunnel channel indie rock of bands like The Replacements and Sebadoh.
Catch Sick Pills on a stacked local bill with Deadlands, The Lincoln Tunnel and The Matt Fraza Band at Firehouse 13 on Jun 20.
David Simeone on the That’s Not incredible! podcast
Six Star General Live on WBRU
Bill Keough ‘The Slow Get Up’ review at The Noise
Drone-y and kinda minimal post-punk with an almost Krautrocky tidiness to the beat. It’s pretty audacious to open up with a song as repetitive as “I Know Where You’ve Been,” but Keough actually cracks the mold halfway through for a ripping guitar solo and some snotty, corrosive vox. And that’s the trick, here. You think it’s one thing, and then it’s something else entirely. “Self Doubt” has the ’80s indie-roar of Husker Du, “3:32 AM” is pure Pixies, “Back to Punk Rock” has the ragged beat and space-acid guitar of Chrome, etc. Something new around every corner, anchored by Keough’s mopey, Black Planet sensibility. “Deliver the Goods” is the killer of the bunch, though. It sounds like somebody hit Marc Bolan in the head with a frying pan seconds before T Rex hit the stage but he played the gig anyway, blood dripping through his corkscrew hair. I didn’t expect much, given the cover – it’s a dude’s hand, that’s it – but I got plenty. This dude knows what’s up.
Chris Evil & the Taints ‘Blackout’ review in The Noise
New Bedford’s Chris Evil & the Taints play a variety of hardcore punk that would have fit snuggly among the mid-’80s Taang! Records roster. They would not have been out of place on a bill with The F.U.s, The Freeze, and The Lemonheads. This reboot is a refreshing change of pace. While the Boston rock underground has been in the midst of a garage/psych revival and the alternative rock scene has been rediscovering the ’90s, this version of straight-ahead punked-up rock has been sadly neglected. Chris Evil & the Taints aim to fill that void. Though the range on these 11 tracks is fairly narrow, they hit on a whole variety of key touchstones. “Muscle of Love” brings to mind early Angry Samoans with a smidge less snottiness. “Baby Please Come Home” is pulled straight from Social Distortion’s Prison Bound-era catalog, with a dose of Alice Cooper mixed in for good measure.
Matt Fraza Performs Live on FCAT
Feng Shui Police – Thank You
75OL-206 Feng Shui Police – Thank You
$7.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Radar
2. Steps
3. Texting My Ex-Girlfriend
4. Without You
5. Shit, Man
6. Thank You
Forged in parent’s basements from cheap amps and cheaper coffee, the Feng Shui Police present Thank You. An EP of good times and jamming with friends. A beer in your hand and a sharp pain in your forehead.
THE FENG SHUI POLICE ARE:
Dash Elhauge
Evan Harris
Hariz Johnson
Jodie Treloar – Voila
75OL-208 Jodie Treloar – Voila
$8.00 S&H Included
Digital download available here
Track Listing
1. Marionette
2. Credit Score
3. I’m OK
4. Sonic Boom
5. Lovelorn Lullaby
Voila is the first solo release from Rhode Island based singer/ songwriter Jodie Treloar. This 5 song EP blends elements of indie folk, country and influences include Laura Marling, Camera Obscura, Sharon Van Etten, Ryan Adams, and Deb Talan to name a few. Recorded at Plan of a Boy studio in Providence, RI 2014.
players:
Eric Sampson – Bass
Daniel Ulmschnieder – Drums
Steve Demers – Guitar
Amy D’Souza – Violin
Kraig Jordan – Tambourine, Drones
Jacob Haller – Cabin Fever
75OL-209 Jacob Haller – Cabin Fever CD
$10.00 S&H Included
Limited to 50 copies on compact disc. All cd purchases will receive an immediate download code for digital download. Forty of these were pre-ordered through a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Track Listing
1. My Little Lobster
2. I’m Sick (of This American Life) (by John Linnell and John Flansburgh)
3. Maybe I Know (by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich)
4. I Wish That I Was Vegan
5. Swat the Bees
During the winter of 2015, Rhode Island songwriter Jacob Haller kept his spirits up by sharing some old and new home recordings with his friends. Once the weather calmed down a bit, he and 75orLess Records sorted through the recordings, picked out five or their favorites, and put them together to form ‘Cabin Fever’. Despite the brevity of the album, there’s a lot of variety here, from the disco beats of ‘My Little Lobster’, to the accordion-and-drum-machine blues cover of the They Might Be Giants song ‘I’m Sick (of This American Life)’, to the Lesley Gore acoustic tribute ‘Maybe I Know’, to the folksy singalong of ‘I Wish That I Was Vegan’, to the spoken word insanity of ‘Swat the Bees’.
Praise for Jacob Haller
“Providence musician Jacob Haller is as unique as his lyrics are clever.”
– Annie Messier, Providence Daily Dose, 10 May 2012
“Jacob Haller does music as though he were the secret love-child of Warren Zevon and Burl Ives.”
– Jeffrey Channing Wells, Skin Horse co-author
The Noise reviews I am Tom Cummins, Suicide Bill & the Liquors, and Coma Coma
SUICIDE BILL & THE LIQUORS Cricket Wisdom
12 tracks
Low-budget Big Star worship abounds here. The fact that this is their fifth album and it sounds like a clunky demo might be worrisome to some, but I think it works. They never land square on the beat, their timing is always slightly off, the solos have duff lines here and there, the vocals slip out of tune, and it always sounds like it’s all happening in a basement next to a leaky water heater. These guys are not swashbucklers, they’re bunglers, but endearing bunglers with decent record collections and open hearts who probably remember their friends’ birthdays. Most of the songs are about how girls don’t dig them, which is cool. A few of the songs – funny/sad power-popper “No Friends,” the Husker-y “Cool Fail” – would be hits if somebody, you know, more competent recorded them. Overall, I’d say Cricket Wisdom squeaks by on low-watt charm. It’s not as good as I’d like it to be, but what is these days? (Sleazegrinder)
I AM TOM CUMMINS Holiday 3-Pak
3 tracks
A cruel person might suggest that “Squirrel Song,” with its ukulele accompaniment and spacy keyboards, is like something a mentally challenged person might conjure up—but I beg to differ; it takes a good deal of talent to come up with and put across this faux-naif approach. “Downy Woodpecker” is another supposedly poignant encomium to the natural world, replete with aah-ing chorus. “Resolve to Start Again” is a bit like a terminally depressed Mr. Rogers decrying the commercialism of the Christmas season. Short and sweet, but, all in all, a bit twee for my taste. (Francis DiMenno)
COMA COMA The New American Dream
10 tracks
If you like indie rock, I would say this album is above par. I’m not sure why, I just feel like if you like stuff like this, it’s a prime example. The end. (Sleazegrinder)