Good To Read While Getting Your Hair Cut: Reviews Of Recent Releases By Local Bands, Pt. 15
Obligatory Disclaimer: Record reviews are a tricky business. It's one thing to enjoy music, but to, like, pick out what you like about it? That being said, if I review your thing and I didn't like something, don't feel too bad. My opinion doesn't matter all that much.
The Chromes - Let It Roll - Abydos Records - 10 songs - CD, download
A pretty 'retro'-sounding record. Very classic rock based, with some of it hitting a glam feel. See, for example, "Little Evil," with an opening riff recalling T. Rex's "Bang A Gong," or the grooving "Talk That Walk." None of it would sound at all out of place if it came out in 1974. A good mix of rock and roll, glam, and pop. Some of it reminds me of Vanity Crash (see last issue's reviews), which makes sense, as singer/guitarist Brian Hager was formerly in that band. I enjoyed it, though I suppose some will see it as too old-school. Oh well. My favorites were the opener "Miss Crazy," the title track, and "Sunday Drive." 4/5
Joyframe - Where's Kevin? - Quality Time Records - 8 songs - Cassette, download
I felt that this record drew heavily on '90s alternative rock. You decide what that means to you. Definitely elements of grunge, but with strong pop overtones. Some of the tracks have a post-punk feel to them as well. Overall, I felt like the tape reminded me of a specific band, but I cannot remember which one. The strongest songs of the album were the immediately grabbing opener "Blue Rave," the crunching "No Sleep," and the '90-iest of them all, "Yer Out." My main issue here was that the production kind of muddies it and, at points, makes the guitar and bass hard to tell from each other and the lyrics inaudible. I did, however, feel that this was probably a stylistic choice and not an error. Hey, if you like heavy, melodic rock with boy and girl vocals, try this. 4/5
Know-So - Demo - Turbine Piss Records - 6 songs - Cassette
Simple, catchy punk. Pretty minimal and "lo-fi," but also pretty cool. Very catchy. I haven't been able to get "Chemical Drink" out of my head for days. Lyrics of sewer rats, bugs, and suburbia. "I keep seeing you around. Why? This is my town." I can relate to "No Patience" as well. The tape finishes with a hidden track, a cover of Devo's "Be Stiff." It worked well with the rest of the songs, I thought. I also appreciated the packaging, a reused library cassette case. If you like good punk (I suppose that's a good general genre description for it), you should check this out. I'm hoping to hear more from them soon. 4.5/5
Obnox - Know America - Ever/Never Records - 12 songs - LP, download
I guess this is a 'concept album,' with the theme of Obnox taking over a radio station (420 AM, WEDE) that won't play their records (which I suppose makes it something of spiritual usurper to the earlier Obnox song "All Hail The Deejay"). People like to fight about concept albums, so I'll just say this: even if you don't think that it works as a concept album, it certainly works as a good album anyways. The first song after the spoken introduction is the slow groover "Grease," which I believe may be one of the first times anyone has said, "Gimme my Cleveland weather." I'm all for it. This is followed by a noisy punk song, "Cracked Up," which is just classic Obnox, with pounding drums, loud guitar, and a catchy chorus. A classic for the ages. Cool Tommy Jay/Mike Rep cover, too, with "Village Idiot," which is of course given the expected Obnox-ification. Side B's centerpiece is another crushing groover, "Life Long Vine," featuring, among several other special guests, Archie & The Bunkers' Cullen O'Connor on organ. Actually, the whole album is full of special guests. Check it out yourself, I'm not gonna type out the full liner notes for you. The album ends with the two-parter "Safe Harbor," featuring Muamin Collective's "LSD" and closing on "Nox Take Over The Booth." One thing I'll say is that there were a lot of covers on the LP, but I suppose that fits with the radio theme. 4/5
Who Hit Me - Uncle Kenny - self-released - 7 songs - CD, download
I was pleasantly surprised here. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, given the band name and the album cover (depicting, as far as I can tell, a man pouring hot sauce into a bowl). What I got was catchy, uptempo punk rock. Strong basslines, cool guitar lines, and hard-hitting drums, with strong melodies and vocals. I'd say it sounded like it was inspired by early 2000s indie punk. My favorite tracks were the syncopated opener "Carbocide" and the very catchy "Live It Down," which was prefaced by a more minimal number called "Live It Up." "Daughter Of A Son Of A Gun" was pretty good too, with lyrics such as "I got a partner, I got a crime, I got a title: I'm killing time." I liked it. 4/5
Are you a local-ish band? Do you have a record out? Email vaguelythreatening@gmail.com or send it directly to Observer headquarters: The Lakewood Observer, c/o Buzz Kompier, 14900 Detroit Avenue, Suite 205, Lakewood, OH 44107.