If It’s Too Loud reviews Keith AB’s ‘Without Grievance’
According to his brief Bandcamp bio, “Keith A/B is a singer-songwriter from the Providence area.” But that doesn’t really describe his newest album, Without Grievance.
The opening song, “Hey Kelly,” does not fit what you’d expect from a singer-songwriter. That term conjures an image of an acoustic guitar and something along the lines of folk, or maybe some mainstream, straight up rock music. Instead, “Hey Kelly” sounds like Jason Lowenstein’s contributions to Sebadoh. It’s much louder and more dissonant than a singer-songwriter usually sounds. From there “I’d Be a Success” sounds more like a singer-songwriter, but only because it’s more mellow. It still has an undercurrent of abrasive noise lurking underneath. It’s not until the fourth track, “No Black Magic Required,” that Without Grievance almost sounds like a traditional singer-songwriter, but once again even this song goes off in its own direction. And these are all good things.
The Callouts video for ‘Amelia’
video for The Same Thing Project’s ‘We’re Leaving’
Powerpopaholic reviews Minky Starshine’s “Dirty Electric”
Rob Anastasi’s Minky Starshine has a new LP produced by Ken Stringfellow and has enlisted the support of Mike Musburger, Ducky Carlisle, Corin Ashley, Fernando Perdomo, and Phil Aiken. The album starts with the laid-back “Art School” as the lead lyric seems pessimistic; “I went to school for art but ended up pushing papers” however it comes around to the upbeat “everywhere is going to lead somewhere.” But the darkness creeps in on “Everybody Loves to Party” despite the catchy chords and “London Metropole” focuses on the pain of loneliness.
The notable “Good Company” is a bright spot, with its hopeful melody and layered guitars. The production is artfully done, as Anastasi’s songs are emotional and resonate, but the edge seems much softer now. Especially on the apprehensive “Go!” which mixes a fast paced verse with a big arena-friendly multi-tracked chorus. Unfortunately, many other songs just didn’t stick in my head, which seems a long way from the brilliant Womanity. This is still music that deserves to be heard, and Anastasi is a world-class talent. Check it out.
David Tessier ‘Dreams in Hyperspace’ review in Motif
David Tessier – Dreams in Hyperspace
I first saw David Tessier and his backing band when they staged a production of the rock opera Hedwig and The Angry Inch. Since then they’ve done everything from tackling Jesus Christ Superstar to doing a run of shows as a Monkees cover band. On Dreams in Hyperspace, Tessier and his band, The All-Stars Stars, move somewhere between and intergalactic hybrid of Radiohead meets E.L.O. with a nod to ’70s Pink Floyd. Dreams in Hyperspace has a lost-in-space concept feel, but I guess hence the title, right? “The Good Afternoons” reminds me of Pink Floyd meets Spacehog. “Hey Mary” starts like Radiohead’s “Creep” before blasting off into something more operatic, which was how E.L.O. came to mind. The instrumentals between songs serve to move the narration of long and can vary from old school video game vibes (“The Dream Begins”) to spacey noise (“The Colder Still”). The closing “Edge of Contact” wraps on the story where unlike Ziggy Stardust, Tessier and The All-Stars Stars seem to find a home in space.
The Low Cards at Metal Nexus
State Of The Art: Rhode Island’s THE LOW CARDS
Hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, The Low Cards are a bluesy, swamp-rock three piece band led by frontman, singer/songwriter/guitarist Dan Baker. Baker has been writing music himself for some time; he has three solo albums where his first was released back in 2008. The Low Cards came to be when Baker joined up with bassist Brian Jablonski, who actually plays an upright bass, and drummer Matt Slobogan. Their debut, self-titled album dropped on November 29, 2017 and was recorded entirely live at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, RI. They did this with the intention to capture the raw intensity of their sound, and boy did they ever accomplish that. The audio was mastered together by West West Side Music out of New Windsor, New York. At first glance, The Low Cards have some musical resemblance to The Black Keys and in one track off the record I’m pretty sure they really wanted to be Johnny Cash, but the more you listen, the more you realize that these guys have a genuine sound of their own that I can’t seem to get enough of.
Baker’s lyrics, for the most part, focus on life and death. He’s a great storyteller about life and seemingly welcomes the idea of death. Being from a small town myself, his words and stories definitely hit home. For example, the first track, “Townie” is about just that; being born, raised, and dying in a small town. Baker does not hold back with his vocals. You can feel the emotion and inflection he uses to create his own sound, and when the rest of the band kicks in you know you’re in for something special. The second track, “Closer” is kind of like nothing I’ve ever heard before. The goofy guitar riff paired with the perfectly timed accent of Slobogan’s cowbell give this song the feeling of what you would expect to go along with a circus act. However, the lyrics go way deeper than that, as Baker talks about putting your ego aside and coming to grips with the nature of reality. I don’t want to focus too much on the individual tracks in this article, so I’ll leave that with what is probably my favorite line on the album. The third track and first single, “Suffer”, Baker says, “I don’t care if there ain’t no god. Though you might find it odd. I do suffer.” Between the context and the way he sings it, this part is just simply badass. The only problem with this band is their following is so small that it’s hard to find much information about them. They seem to tour rather locally around Rhode Island, which is ironic that a band with such a small notoriety is playing in a state smaller than most counties. They definitely deserve some publicity, which is the whole reason I’m doing this article. Hopefully we’ll see them grow and put out more music in the near future.
Jets Can’t Land ‘As The Earth Shakes’ Review in Motif
Jets Can’t Land — As The Earth Shakes
The sophomore EP, As The Earth Shakes, from Jets Can’t Land picks up where their debut, You Can’t Linger On, left off and pushes the barrel over the cliff with seven sci-fi tales set to indie guitar swing pyrotechnics. You want rock, well on “Dc-10” and “Your Boyfriend Godzilla,” Jets Can’t Land deliver. The former has a bit of a Sister-era Sonic Youth vibe while the latter comes off as an ’80s hardcore played by aliens from the future in an after-hours joint on the edge of Tokyo. “Stranded On The Moon” and the closer, “Bones of You” both have a cool lost in space yearning that just makes me yearn for more Jets Can’t Land. You can get lost in space with Jets Can’t Land by catching them in their first ever all acoustic show.
Gaskill ‘Special Weapons’ EP review at Dead Rhetoric
Gaskill – Special Weapons (75orless Records)
The follow up to 2015’s The End of the World and Our War albums (the latter their tribute to Black Flag), Special Weapons is a five-song EP that sees the New Bedford, MA unit solider forward in their primal crossover hardcore/thrash sonic blend that keeps things pure and true. One minute the band channel inner Danzig or early Life of Agony for “Small Cake”, and the next swiftly kick rear-ends in D.R.I. meets Nuclear Assault madness during “Slow Crows”. Expect raw emotion, in your face punchy tones, guitar riffs that crawl out of your speakers to attack, and true half-time doomy transitions without forcing the ‘breakdown’ while vocalist Kevin Grant floats his psychedelic, forceful delivery into your soul. Proof that crossover contains potency even in 2018.
Review of Gaskill’s Special Weapons
If you pay attention to our Facebook page then you know we were so enamored by all the bands at the recent record release show for Death Kiss Volume 2 that we decided that we HAD to do a feature on all the current Bandcamp discogs from the bands that performed at the show.
But GASKILL just put out a new record. So we decided that we’d feature that instead. And still talk about their Bandcamp discography.
But I digress.
Believe it or not, my first exposure to GASKILL was the track they contributed to the latest Death Kiss compilation (Which you can read all about by clicking here). Once again, Mary Frances can pat herself on the back knowing she brought to light another local gem to, not just to me, but to so many others through the comp and her show on WEMF. And in turn, I get to shed a little more light through my medium of communication. Circle of life and all that shit.
So “I Am The Spider” was my favorite on the comp and it closes up Special Weapons nicely here. Like I said on my initial take of the track, it’s like Jello Biafra fronting Anthrax….but boy does Kevin Grant have range beyond that. In fact, my FIRST impression was that of the second coming of Stompbox while live they definitely added elements of early Clutch to their repertoire.
In other words, GASKILL is a mutt. A glorious mutt made from the bestest of the best to create this musical beast/hound of beauty. If you go back through their discography (See! I told you I’d go there!) which dates back to 1996 (The band formed in 1995), the evolution into this multi-faceted behemoth that offers you new music today is obviously apparent.
“I Know Your Name” is blistering and intense and, much like their Black Flag covers album (Our War, available here), is also direct and to the point. With Kevin Grant’s voice stabbing at listeners as Dan Jagoda’s cacophonous drumming and Craig Fleming’s wall of noise guitar fuzz provide the perfect soundtrack of organized chaos.
“Small Cake” alters the tone vastly with a slow groove that rumbles along like molasses with Grant’s bellows echoing out and resonating, careening into an almost Danzig-esque chorus. “Salt” really lets Mario Costa’s bass barrage shine during a track that encapsulates some of the great noise of Boston yesteryear (Think Sam Black Church and Tree in particular) while “Slow Crows” is all crunchy and dirty and gritty and all the things until it becomes a thrashing rager.
And “I Am The Spider” closes it all up. And you already know how we feel about that one.
Foul Weather Friend Self Titled Album review in Motif
Foul Weather Friend – Self-Titled
Don’t know why, but I didn’t think that I’d like this debut album from Foul Weather Friend as much I do. It was an irrational fear because I run into my pal Bruce Humphrey at every show I’m excited about from here to Boston. We obviously have similar interests. What was I thinking — that Bruce was playing in a one of those country pop bands? In the words of Husker Du, “It makes no sense at all.” I popped in the biscuit and it kicks with a tune, “Halo Moon,” that is so good that I spent three months listening to that on repeat and didn’t bother with the rest of the record (sorry Bruce!). As the title suggests, it is ethereal and not far from a stone’s throw to stuff like The Yawpers with a Stones opening punch like punk rockers mining the roots. Lines like, “We’re so sway by the lunacy around us” sum up these times. I did eventually get to track two, being the responsible journalist that I occasionally am, to “Fences and Walls,” which is impossible to think of without mentioning the orangutan President we are all so lucky to have according to one Twitter account. “Fences and Walls” reminds me of Mathew Sweet fronting a band inspired by mod-era The Who mixed with Psychedelic Furs. “Let It Go” reminds me of the Goo Goo Dolls, before they sucked, as a ballad. It’s not quite Replacements level, but what is? “Girls of Wild Strawberries” sounds like you crushed Nick Lowe and Tommy Keene in a blender and poured the result over ice. “Happy Bubble” is the rocker with runner-up status to “You’re Love Won’t Leave Me Alone.” The closing, “No Use to You Now,” captures the defeated heartbreak of The Replacements with an indie rock swing.