Music Reviews by Kent Mathie
Copperhead: “Live & Lost” (Eastwinds Records)
A band that has been around the block a couple times and is still not interested in selling out is Copperhead. In 2002 they released a CD called “Live & Lost”, their third studio release which includes four live tracks, smack dab in the middle of the studio cuts.
Copperhead are in that tradition of that other great Southern band, Allman Brothers, including an organ player and smokin’ guitarist(s). I really dig “Live & Lost” – some down home rock & roll, no gimmicks, just straight ahead, rock steady jams.
The man behind the music is Lake James, NC (Blue Ridge Mountain-land)-native Neil Carswell, founder, songwriter, guitar player, vocalist and front-man. He lists such disparate influences such as Robert Plant, Paul Rodgers, Don Williams and Waylon Jennings that have all guided him and inspired him over the years and has lead him in the direction that he’s taken in the songs he has written thus far.
Besides the live stuff, which is pretty good, there are some catchy studio tracks too, including the opener, “Stricken”, “Get Out of My Way” and a cover of the oldie but goodie, “Drift Away” turned into a Southern-tinged rocker.
As for more recent stuff, there Carswell has a new solo album, entitled “Good Man’s Journey”, featuring guests including Barry Goodreau, from Boston, Chris Anderson of The Outlaws and Johnny Neel, who plays in the Allman Brothers band currently. There is also a DVD out now that features “Whiskey”. If you’d like to get more information on Copperhead, including how to buy their CDs, check out http://www.copperhead.info – KM.
It: “Live in Holland” (Nidus Productions)
This is It! It are a intense, young group of kids who play wild, devil-may-care, jump up & down screaming and waving all your limbs while loud, raucous punk-rock plays loudly enough for your eardrums to hurt a bit.
On “Live in Holland”, It was captured putting on a blistering, raw, intense performance; a CD of live stuff recorded at a smallish club in Amsterdam. It have a sort of Stooges-like swagger, the same kind of ragged guitar that dominates in between gnarling, growling vocals that, in a synergistic way, put you in a hypnotic reverie. So, this is where all the real underground bands are – they’re hanging out in Holland, getting stoned, kicking back and not missing much back home, here, where authoritarianism is creeping in not-so-slowly anymore and propaganda rules – with a smiley-face on it. But if you’re still stuck here in the good ol’ US of A, you can always buy this CD for starters; it’ll give you an escapist sort of catharsis, help you forget about all the problems surrounding you – your personal ones and that depressing, vague, collective feeling of malaise that hangs like a pall over America. I’d probably be a happier person, overall, if more of the CDs I received to review were as fun to listen to as “It: Live in Holland” is. http://www.nidusprod.com – KM.
Sklatch: “Bring the Noisemakers” (Nidus Productions)
The other day I was sitting around thinking about stuff when it hit me that there is a fundamental difference between men and women when it comes to art and the creative process. These observations are pure conjecture and haven’t been tested or scientifically worked out, but rather are just things I’ve noticed over the years in my pursuit of a sartorial life. What I’ve noticed about art is that when men create a painting, for instance, or a collage, for instance, they unconsciously, at least, use more symbols and symbolic imagery whether or not they’re trying to. When women create art they do so more consciously aware of what it is they’re trying to say or express and when they do use symbols or metaphors they do so consciously, knowing what it is they’re trying to get across with it. It makes more sense when you think about all the people in the Dada and Surrealist movements and the fact that they were all men: people like Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp and Andre Breton. Then look at something by Georgia O’Keefe – now no man could’ve done anything like those beautiful crocuses or other huge, bright flowers she painted; they’re so sublime, so implicitly feminine.
Sklatch –a punk band with pop aspirations have this new-ish album out now called “Bring the Noisemakers” – a bouncy power pop record with hooks galore and bitchin’ rhythms, good vibes and a dancin’ fool’s party time fun tool. There’s a little bit of that Grrl! – thing going on there, but it’s tempered by good lookin’ tunes and a low-down punk vibe that will cover your carpet with cigarette burns. They will rock your world and then come back for the moon and the stars. My favorite songs on “Bring the Noisemakers” are definitely “One-Eyed Jack” and “Parasite”, but, you know, the opening cut, “Getcha” is pretty damn groovy too, it is the first impression of the CD one gets which can be critical and they do well here to pull you in and impel further listening. (http://www.sklatch.com) – KM.
Eben Brooks: “Mirrors” (self-released)
In this modern age of micro-electronics that keep getting smaller and smaller and faster and faster we are able to do almost everything on our own that used to be only able to be done by companies with their money and their resources.
In this revolution of convenience and self-reliance more and more bands and artists are bypassing the traditional route of making a demo and then slipping copies of it under every record company in L.A. or mail it out there if you’re not on the coast. In the past few years I’ve begun to notice a dearth of CDs coming out by bands with no label support whatsoever and who’ve done everything themselves, from recording all the songs in their bedrooms to recording onto a bunch of blank recordable CDs and – voila – you’ve just released your own album – congratulations! Now, there are two ways of considering the merits of this new phenomenon: 1) It enables anyone so inclined to put out a CD of their own making; and 2) It enables anyone so inclined to put out their own CDs.
Eben Brooks is one such example of this phenomenon, having just put out “Mirrors”, a DIY CD with 12 folksy tunes on it. She wrote or co-wrote all the songs except the title track and plays guitar and various accoutrements. Helping out Brooks is Steve Langdon, who also plays guitar as well as the mandolin and background vocals, Justin Grinnell on bass and Nathan Hubbard on Drums as well as a few extra folks on background vocals, etc. “Mirrors” is a quiet, homespun folk record with hippie dreams and flashbacks. To tell you the truth, it kind of made me cringe to listen to the corny lyrics and goofy, unabashed, unironic, life-loving communists. But, hey, what can you do? Give it to your mom for her birthday. (http://www.music.ebenbrooks.com) – KM.
Deciding Tonight: “The Delusionist” (Hotfoot Records)
Rock ‘n’ roll looks like it truly is here to stay and no matter what you try to do to stamp it out it’ll keep coming back over and over again. While fads may come and go, subgenres rise and fall but the classic set-up of guitar(s), bass, drums, vocals and maybe keyboards/piano will always re-emerge, it keeps popping back up like a weed, determined to blossom.
To wit: Deciding Tonight. A high-energy hard-rock combo; their new album is “The Delusionist” with some original hooks and such but when it comes down to it – this is rock ‘n’ roll – as old as the Rolling Stones and still rockin’ steady.
I wasn’t awed by this CD, nor was I thrilled, excited or surprised. So, while it didn’t nauseate me it didn’t make me wet my pants in a fit of overjoyed ecstasy.
“The Delusionist” will fit in just fine on your city’s hard rock/heavy metal radio station – throw one of the tracks from this CD in between cuts by Disturbed and Sevendust. Not my cup of tea, but neither is it total crap. They had some able assistance in the studio with a producer, but they at least have the talent to jam well – they’d have to be able to if they want to survive some crazy summer metal fest concert or some such nightmare scenario.
(http://www.decidingtonight.com) – KM.
Billy Candler: “More Than This” (self-released)
Now that anyone can record and distribute their own CDs with minimal effort there has to be a new way of filtering all the crap out and letting the cream rise to the top. One way to do that is to just let it all out there, on the internet, for instance, and just let the “free market” sort it all out; the “invisible hand” of the market works like magic in an otherwise unregulated, laissez-faire economy. I think this principle works purest in an industry like the music biz, because quality, for the most part, matters a lot, at least as far as longevity and integrity are concerned – I’m not even thinking about the trashy pop music machine that creates pop stars out of whole cloth and spits them out after they’ve outlived their shelf-life. I’m really talking about serious songwriters and bands who strive for a perfect “sound” not the next schlocky gimmick.
Billy Candler has decided to go the route of DIY and put out his own CD, “More Than This” – a short, 6-song EP, really a kind of Demo but one that’s available to the whole world thanks to the ubiquity of the internet. Instead of hardcore punk bands and left-wing agitating folkies, the self-released CD is now becoming more and more standard as pop-star manqués, straight-ahead rock & rollers and sensitive, poetic tunesmiths all vie for space on the web to sell you, the discerning tune-o-phile a panoply of styles and genres of original and sometimes inspired music.
Well, Mr. Candler comes closest to the latter category, writing some mellow, plaintive songs. I guess you could call them smart pop or jingle-jangle rock & roll. It’s got some nice flowery, poetic lyrics, a few hooks here and there as well as some swinging, toe-tapping good licks. It’s got a pop-folk vibe to it, I suppose. It isn’t nihilistic or cynical; nor is it saccharine or phony or preachy. A good escapist EP you can bug out to on a sunny afternoon. To find out more about Billy and his music go to http://www.billycanlder.com – KM.
Rude Awakening: “An Act of God” (Nidus Productions)
Back from the grave (again) – Rude Awakening have woke us up with this release, “An Act of God”, another noisy bunch of mayhem from our friends at Nidus Productions. It starts off with a wicked, churlish number; snide snarling – I dig it, don’t get me wrong – it’s not unlike The Cramps. It has a dark tinge, a cool, Euro-nihilistic bent, even though I think they’re American. Heavy dark shadows cast about back and forth across the wall as the music plays at a titillatingly loud level. “Power of Attorney” is kind of a bitchin’ tune; it has a bouncy rhythm that one finds irresistible when it comes to bobbing your head up & down. “Possessions” is another one that came at me through the speakers, it really spoke to me, showed itself to me – it said “DO NOT IGNORE ME!” – Something that isn’t that easy to do anyway. But just when you think they’re just a one-dimensional rock band they do something like surprise the hell out of us when on track #8 they do a slowed-down, crooning, mellow number, a little jazzy undertones and some of that distortion-free, high-reverb guitar ringing like bells in the foreground; it re-lit my interest in the album at a point where most CDs nowadays start to lose me – about 2/3 of the way through a 75 minute CD filled to the brim with music whether you need it or not.
I think that Rude Awakening would be a fabulous live act, that they’d probably put on a show worth remembering – one I’d not soon forget. Of course, the audience would all have to do their part by showing up looking absolutely gorgeous and freakishly outlandish. Check out more at: http://www.rudeawakening.com or http://www.nidusprod.com – KM.
JDJ Band: “Cruel Way” (RPG Records)
OK, the world is a bad place, full of hate and misery and everything sucks and life is not really all that it’s cracked up to be, why not kick back and let apathy take over? JDJ Band hate the world and they prove it on “Cruel Way”, which sounds like it was recorded in someone’s garage, with the doors closed and the car running. Imagine J Mascis making a Dinosaur Jr. record while stoned on a handful of Tuinol and you get the drift.
JDJ Band is the new vehicle for JD Jackson, who used to be in another legendary punk band, the cult-followed Destroyers. On “Cruel Way” Jackson delves into deep, dark ravines full of sludge and mud. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, but I kept on listening and I think I figured it out. A little bit, maybe.
“Cruel Way” is a bunch of dirge-like, punk-Goth suicide jams to prove that depressed people like to do stuff too. I dig it, though, it makes for an eerie soundtrack late at night or when you’re in a jaded, cynical mood and want to blast some I-don’t-give-a-damn music. It actually starts to grow on you as you listen further and further. Either you get used to it after a while or else the songs do get better as the album wears on.
My favorite tunes on this CD, “Serial Killer”, “She’s So Heavy”, which has a hypnotic hook to it and “Rising from My Grave”, a demon-jam, all have a devil-may-care aloofness to them and would fit in perfectly as a backdrop in a dark, dreary dive bar where people drink beer and stare into space while loud music drones on. Remember the scene at that bar in the Twin Peaks feature-length movie, “Fire Walk With Me”? This could’ve just as easily been the band playing there and it would’ve been just as cool a scene. For more information, check out http://www.rpgrecords.com – KM.
Mastery: “Lethal Legacy” (Spinerazor Records)
Instead of a growling cur spitting out venom, Mastery have decided to ditch the “vocalist” altogether and do an instrumental metal album. The result is “Lethal Legacy”, a fiery balls-to-the-wall set of supercharged speed metal. No sentimental ballads or experimental stuff on this CD, rather, you can probably lift a car up with the adrenaline rush you’ll get from playing this on your 6’ high Klipsch speakers at about level 7 – because there’s no way you could turn up Klipsch’s all the way and live.
The operative word on “Lethal Legacy” is SPEED- everything’s fast: double-dipping drummers, 32nd notes being played on the guitar and bass. It’s a riot of speedy proportions. But do you know what the best part of “Lethal Legacy” is? I’m really glad that they decided to go instrumental and leave the growling, guttural ralphing for Cannibal Corpse or Slayer. One can appreciate, if that’s the right word, the music a lot more than if it had the interference of some schmuck screaming into a microphone. The tight arpeggio-laden guitar licks, the double-thumping bass drums going “brrrrrrrdrdrdrdrdrdrdr” and the whole thing going faster and faster, ending up in a case of whiplash. This should be an object lesson for other screaming metal yahoos out there that keep on ruining their albums by covering up the otherwise tight musicianship with the cacophony of a guy who can’t sing or who purposely doesn’t sing but growls. “Official” website: http://www.masterymetal.com – KM.
The Red Button: “She’s About to Cross My Mind” (no label)
Yet another label-less, DIY release by some chaps with a British pop-music sound, a big, lush, pop music that owes allegiance to the United Kingdom (did you ever notice that Queen Elizabeth has some really big tits?). Although, I can’t pretend to know where they’re from, but there’s some pretty pop on this CD, “She’s About to Cross My Mind”, the latest from these two guys, Seth Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg who, together call themselves The Red Button. On “She’s About to…” they get help from a whole slew of guests, people with names like John Fields, Mike Datz and Stevie Blacke.
Why they don’t have any label support is beyond me. Is this a demo? Well, it’s not packaged like a demo, which is why I was shocked to not see the logo of some record company on the CD cover anywhere.
Some examples of pure pop pleasure from “She’s About to…” are: “She’s Going Down”, a crooning, swooning, snap that evokes sunshine and crisp flowers; “I Could Get Used to You” is a levitating sweet smell that keeps the smile on your face going a bit longer; then there’s the Beatle-esque “Hopes Up”, wherein you can almost hear John Lennon singing harmony in the background.
It’s all very pop, very upbeat and quite, quite English. Go get yourself a copy and maybe we can help these chaps get a record contract and a visa so they can come over and visit! For now, though, you can go here and buy their music, write them love letters or just take a peek at their website: http://www.theredbutton.net – KM.