music reviews

by Sterling Preston

Tesla

Real to Reel

Covering songs by the likes of the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, the Beatles, the Temptations and other notable artists of the 1960s and 1970s, Tesla’s Real to Reel is a two-disc studio album released last summer. We only received the first disc but, according to Wikipedia, the second disc was only available to people who attended the band’s 2007 tour, or to people who purchased the August 2007 edition of UK Magazine “Classic Rock.” Eat your heart out, Tesla fans. [http://teslatheband.com] SP

T13C

This Florida-based band sends their love to our California-based publication by way of an EP with a song that states, “I’ve heard so much about California, sad to say that I’m not impressed.” All kidding aside, T13C craft taught rock n’ roll songs for the punk-wristband-wearing crowd. They’ve played with the likes of Hot Water Music and Sugarcult, they were semi-finalists on NBC’s 1st season of America’s Got Talent, and according to a Fan of the Month named Kayla, “…I basically got my heart stolen by them and their beats.” Oh yeah, and they win kudos for Best Closing Statement in a Letter to Reviewer. [http://myspace.com/t13c] SP

Daniel G. Harmann

Anthems from the Gentle War

Promotional comparisons to Elliot Smith, Sigur Ros and Sparklehorse are not unfounded in this gem I was lucky enough to pick from the Reviewer box. Soft and bittersweet, the songs on this album will delight any fan of the dreary-yet-optimistic Northwestern indie style. One can only hope that Daniel G. Harmann continues to make beautiful music in 2008. [http://myspace.com/danielgharmann] SP

New Years Day

My Dear

Crafting catchy songs for Southern California boys who wear eyeliner and the girls who date them, New Years Day differs from similar artists in that the singer, in this case, happens to be a very beautiful girl. The subject matter of the songs on this album would most aptly be categorized as: Matters of the heart. (Comparisons include My Chemical Romance, Tuesday and Muffs.) [http://newyearsdayrocks.com] SP

Patient Patient

Professionals and Convicts

Listen to Patient Patient and you can’t help but make obvious comparisons to early Radiohead and their musical offspring Muse. Whereas Radiohead drifted from their original sound, Patient Patient picked it up, carried it home to the Pacific Northwest and made it their own. I’m happy to own this particular album. [http://patientpatientband.com] SP

Olivea Watson

Way Down Deep

Olivea Watson is a very talented, very roots-y, very blues-y singer-songwriter hailing from Los Angeles. She also wears very, very interesting clothes. And in one of her more jiving songs, “Dirty Noise,” she taunts, ‘I’m a sinner/I’m a liar/I’m all those bad things I’m made of fire.” [http://olivea.com] SP

The Johnbenders

Self Titled

In John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, John Bender is the character played by Judd Nelson. He’s the troublemaker, the seasoned veteran of detention, and the namesake of Seattle’s The Johnbenders, a band whose three-song self-titled EP is a radio-ready study in old-but-new “emo.” Of special note is the opening track, “Nine Pound Hammer,” which is currently playlisted on their MySpace page. This definitely isn’t recycled Southern California-style pop-punk. [http://myspace.com/thejohnbenders] SP

Speaker Speaker

We Won’t March

Speaker Speaker are recommended if you like Jawbreaker, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists and the Weakerthans. It’s aggressive music without being brutish, and this five-song EP includes a cover of Jawbreaker’s “Do You Still Hate Me?” [http://speakerspeakermusic.com] SP

The Eat

It’s Not the Eat, It’s the Humidity

The Eat made a bunch of loud, obnoxious noise during the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Hailing from South Florida, it has been suggested that they formed a band simply because they didn’t want to join a bowling league. According to the liner notes of this album, “the Eat never gave a shit about whether or not anyone liked them.” I’ve had to use the word punk a lot in describing albums from the Reviewer box, but this is closer to the real deal. It could be argued, in fact, that it is the real deal. Humidity, a double disc offering with 59 tracks (29 of them are live), is part of the Alternative Tentacles Re-issues of Necessity series. This is definitely a must-have in any serious music lover’s collection. [http://alternativetentacles.com] SP

The Gin Riots
The Mother Ruin
EP
With a sound reminiscent of the Libertines, The Gin Riots offer a truly delightful 5-song EP. They proclaim: “We are four boys: one rotgut-ridden Irishman redeemed wholly by his genius songwriting, two pasty Englishmen and a raging Ozzie convict…” Head over to their MySpace page and check them out. [http://myspace.com/theginriots]

SP

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