Espousing Bombast: Reviews Of Recent Releases By Local Bands, Pt. 24

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. 

Archie & The Bunkers Meet The Cleveland Steamers - Hung Up On You - Smog Veil Records - 1 song - 7"

This one's only a one-sided 7", with only one song, so this review is gonna be pretty short. Everyone's favorite band, Archie & The Bunkers, team up with Cheese Borger's ClePunk veterans The Cleveland Steamers for this single song. It's a pretty rockin' number, augmenting Cleveland Steamers Nick Summa's snarling guitar, Meredith Rutledge-Borger's lead vocals, and Cheese's stomping bassline with Archie & The Bunkers' Cullen O'Connor's swirling organ and Emmett O'Connor's pounding drums. I'm not sure if regular Steamers drummer Steve-O appears on this, though I would think so, as the drum sound is pretty darn heavy. Maybe it's just a loud mix. Anyways, I think the only criticisms I would have are that I'd like to hear more from this collaboration, rather than just the one song. Hopefully there's something coming from that end in the future. Also, just to add to the Archie-ness of it, perhaps Emmett should have thrown on some backing vocals. Just a suggestion. I also like the Dome! label (that's a reference to legendary Cleveland label Drome, if you don't get it). Oh, right, I said this would be a short review. So, yeah, it's a good song. It seems to be only available through the Smog Veil website as part of a bonus if you pre-order the Mr. Stress or Robert Bensick records, so you can do that or try and track one down at an area record store, if you can. I don't rate things unless they have 3 songs or more, but it's a good record. Even if, for some reason, you like neither of the bands here, you should still buy one for its collector's item value. Not that I'm encouraging that sort of thing.

(smogveil.com if you want to order some of those other records, or hunt one down for yourself at…you know…around…) 

Heavenly Queen - Heavenly Queen - Phoenician MicroSystems - 10 songs - Cassette, download

Did you like the Queen Of Hell 12" from two columns ago? Well, perhaps you'll like this band as well. This is that band's alter-ego: a lighter, softer, poppier, and friendlier band who just want to have a good time, trading the heaviness for heavenliness. The liner notes feature a band bio if you'd like to know more, as well as giving more fun names to the band members– Sir Mortimer Treacle-Horne, Marquis "Madame" Spectacles, The "Candy Dandy" Archduke Dave "Davey" Molasses, and Lord Maximilian Horehound. So, onto the music here. In general, this is a great pop album. "Lollipop Dumpster," the opening cut, is a singalong number with, as my ears hear it, a strong Ohio Express influence. "Queen Of My Dreams" has got a Mod-styled power pop feel to it, kind of Who-esque, ya know? Programme A ends with a pretty good hidden track, "The Look Of Luv," and Programme B starts with a song that's definitely among my favorites here, "Banana Split Lip," with Mortimer's vocal delivery alternating between a drawl and a growl over a peppy tune. "Uh Uh Uh" was also great, continuing Morte's trend of singing in French (see Kill The Hippies' "Mustache"), and even though I didn't understand the words (I did catch "j'adore" in there somewhere), it's still a great song. Plus, it has a backwards guitar solo, so where can you go wrong with that? Another highlight is the closing number, "Root Beer Float," which alternates between a psychedelic part and a glam pop part (and then there's another hidden track). So, in conclusion, if you can't get enough of bubblegum, garage rock, glam pop, '60s pop rock, or anything along those lines, Heavenly Queen may be what's right for you. Also, the download code is on a stick of gum, so that's pretty cool too. They're really good live too, and they're playing August 3rd at the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame & Museum™ with New Planet Trampoline, and probably before then, too. Go! 4.5/5

(queenofhell.bandcamp.com for the download, catch a show or perhaps try Queen Of Hell on Facebook for the tape.)

Rip Smops - My Only Agendum - Rippy's Round Records - 2 songs - 7"

I'm suspecting that when my esteemed year-end list full of made-up categories comes out, this one may take "Best Unexpected Record." I know nothing about this artist, but I feel that that may be better for my writings, as I can focus fully on the music. The a-side, "My Only Agendum," is a weird avant-alt rocker, featuring frustrated lyrics that almost make it punk, sort of, in an odd way. The instrumentation (all performed by Mr. Smops) is almost goofily chaotic, going great with his near-manic delivery. His only agenda, in case you were wondering, is "hello." At least, I think that's what he said. The flip side is a bouncy 2/4 time folky rocker, entitled "Better Get Better." I'm not sure what to say about Rip's vocals, other than I didn't really expect them with this type of music. What type of music do I expect them with? I don't even know. It's also got a similar mess of instruments as the above, and the polka beat will surely have you nodding your head along. I don't know what I expected from this record, but I kinda liked what I got. 

(as both songs feature anti-technology sentiments, it's no surprise that there's nothing online for this. So, try to find one at an area record shop, or try the address listed on the back: Rip Smops, 38 Robin Park Boulevard, Oberlin OH 44074.)

Sockeye - Unruly King & I - My Mind's Eye - 27 songs - LP

It's always great when I get something to review where I can't put any lyrics or song titles. Okay, that's an exaggeration: I can't put 94% of those things. For those of you unfamiliar with Sockeye lore, this is sort of an "alternate version" of an album that I also cannot put in a family paper, but these are the demo versions, before they went into a studio and redid them, like the sellouts they are. Musically, I guess it falls under the category of punk, but who knows, because songs like "I Drank A Case Of Beer" certainly aren't all that punk. This record is completely stupid, quite intentionally. As the liner notes (by Sockeye head honcho Food Fortunata himself) explain, this was recorded during an "in-between" period for the band, between when they were trying to be as offensive as possible and as absurd as possible. I think they certainly got the job done. Also, there's a fun game for the consumer: there are songs listed on the back and in the lyric sheet that don't appear on the album! Try and figure that one out. My favorites here, of the ones where the names can be printed, anyway, were the smash-hit classic anthem "Destroy Everything," and "Fight For Change," which ends with an "oi!" for no reason that I can tell, except the "oi!" is said so morosely that it doesn't really deserve the exclamation point, but you can't type "oi!" without that particular bit of punctuation, so, there you go. I enjoyed the record, it was good for quite a few laughs, but it's definitely not for people without a sense of humor. 3.5/5

(perhaps by the time this review is published, this will be posted at mymindseye.bigcartel.com, but if not, try the My Mind's Eye store)

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.

 

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Volume 12, Issue 11, Posted 3:33 PM, 05.10.2016