\nRotation of the Earth<\/em>
\n An unironic cover of the most overtly commercial song pop song in history (Wham!\u2019s \u201cCareless Whisper\u201d) says it all: Bayadera want to make it, and make it big.
\n Their template has potential. Gina Bandy\u2019s vocals are smooth as the synth sax in Wham\u2019s original while the light, Latin-inflected guitarwork is technically solid.
\nBut everything feels restrained. The choruses seem suppressed, Bandy\u2019s suggestive lyrics are too coy, and the music is always a couple bombastic riffs short of head-bobbing. What could be fun radio rock ends up being indistinct, mid-tempo mush. (bayadera.ning.com<\/a>) MP<\/p>\n
:::<\/p>\n
Company Car<\/strong> :::<\/p>\n Death on Mars<\/strong> :::<\/p>\n Marya Roxx<\/strong> :::<\/p>\n Down and Away<\/strong> :::<\/p>\n Sorrow Town Choir<\/strong> :::<\/p>\n :::<\/p>\n :::<\/p>\n
\nCollars<\/em>
\n There is a branch of emo that is fun, noisy, and self-affirming. Company Car embraces that side of emo with abandon.
\n Collars is garagey romp chock full of sloppy, infectious guitars and workman-like drumming. In a lot of rock music, however, the most important instrument are the vocals and singer Dave Parker knows it. His wail is whipping hurricane of a hook and from \u201cCouch Critics\u201d to \u201cDriving Star\u201d it never relents.
\n The songs themselves are almost completely indistinguishable from one another but it doesn\u2019t really matter. The sheer force of the music as a totality is what counts and that\u2019s what makes Collars hugely entertaining. (companycarmusic.com\/index.cfm<\/a>) MP<\/p>\n
\nTomorrow\u2019s Today<\/em>
\n Death on Mars scream prog-rock with their name and shout it even louder on the first track. \u201cTrue\u201d opens with a rapid drum intro, Mars Volta distorted guitars, and doomstruck lyrics about hell.
\n The album as a whole is much more eclectic though. Death disco (\u201cIn the End\u201d), lush balladry (\u201cCurve of the Earth\u201d), and even chamber pop (\u201cDoorways\u201d) infuse Tomorrow\u2019s Today.
\n If a particular genre dominates, though, it\u2019s post-punk. It never exactly fails but often the band has a tough time reconciling this Ian Curtis-style rage with its compositional perfectionism.
\n Overall, though, the eleven tracks cohere fluidly due its heavily textured soundscapes, as Death on Mars announce they are one of San Diego\u2019s most promising bands. (deathonmars.net<\/a>) MP<\/p>\n
\n 21?! the EP<\/em>
\n With its straightforward crush of guitars, monotonal vocals, and calculated iconoclasm, 21?! the EP<\/em> sounds like it\u2019s fronted by someone whose knowledge of American rock music is severely limited.
\n This makes sense with Marya Roxx. The 21-year-old singer is from tiny Estonia, the former USSR country in Eastern Europe. And what she lacks in breadth she makes up in energy. Marya barks her way through her punk-metal debut with the ferocity of Axl Rose and in general it works. From the album\u2019s opening chug on \u201c21?!\u201d to the death drone of \u201cNothing Going On\u201d the rage of 21?! never relents.
\n Lyrically, though, the album needs a lot of work. The whole \u201crebel\u201d angle is as authentically anti-establishment as Hot Topic (there is even a song titled \u201cRebel\u201d) and the guitar racket needs some variety. But on the whole the album is immensely entertaining and strangely endearing. (myspace.com\/maryaroxx<\/a>) MP<\/p>\n
\nReclaim the Radio<\/em>
\n Scandinavia has produced quite a few angsty left-wing rock groups given the area\u2019s political stability and quasi-socialism. Sweden\u2019s Down and Away is one of them and they announce it loudly on their fourth release, \u201cReclaim the Radio.\u201d
\n Their proletarian punk is energetic as expected and recalls the pillars of the movement, like Against Me!, The Business, and Rancid. But the political message drowned among interchangeable riffs, bland thrash, and derivative pop-punk choruses.
\n It\u2019s too bad because some of the lyrics are excellent. In \u201cYou Can\u2019t Break Me\u201d lead singer Marcus skewers corporate culture: \u201cAm I a number? \/ A face in the line? \/ I am somebody \/ Accept or decline.\u201d Unfortunately this acute lyrical punch is meaningless behind indistinguishable blasts of sound that are as anonymous as the monoculture they assail. (uppsikt.nu\/new\/user\/mainpage.asp<\/a>) MP<\/p>\n
\nEspinas De La Vida<\/em>
\n Even on the rocking opener \u201cSimpleton\u201d there is a latent sense of anguish. Excavate underneath Greg Dale\u2019s growl and slashing guitarwork you\u2019ll find a skeleton of moodiness and vulnerability.
\n That skeleton is revealed throughout Espinas De La Vida. Pitiless mediations on missed opportunities and self-doubt accompany every song.
\n Musically, meanwhile, Sorrow Town Choir borrows heavily from southern rock. But in tone it\u2019s dominated by Robert Johnson blues music, with its understated, Biblical sense of dread.
\n The only problem is that it\u2019s too understated. Beef up the Allman Brothers-style slide guitars and a major label might be calling for Sorrow Town Choir. (sorrowtownchoir.com<\/a>) MP<\/p>\n
\n The Press Project<\/strong>
\nGet Right<\/em>
\n The Press Project are one eclectic band with their fusion of lite funk, soulful grooves, and lucid rapping. But eclecticism doesn\u2019t guarantee good music. Look at 311.
\n Most of Get Right feels flatly uninspired. The injections of neo-soul and old school funk are flavorless and don\u2019t enrich the LP\u2019s hip-hop core. They just water it down.
\n There are some high points. The muscular lilt of \u201cMoment pt. 4\u201d evokes the jazzy pop of St. Germain and their lazy, mellow rhythms create a pleasant, chill-out whole to the album.
\n But few of the individual songs blossom out of their harmless, adult contemporary shell. If you want hip-hop to do laundry to buy this, otherwise stick with the Roots. (myspace.com\/thepressproject<\/a>) MP<\/p>\n
\n Mary Knickle<\/strong>
\nWeave<\/em>
\n Contemporary Celtic artist Mary Knickle\u2019s third album presents an interesting problem. Is Weave merely a homage to Irish-Scottish folk music that has been around for hundreds of years? Or are the traditional arrangements and anachronistic lyrics an attempt to accentuate simple, everyday values that we tend to forget about in our busy world?
\n My guess is that Knickle aspires to put her own twist on Celtic music and make it relevant to today\u2019s world. But instead Weave sounds like a facsimile from another century.
\n She doesn\u2019t do a bad job either. \u201cTears of a Woman\u201d is a great story and the stark, piano-driven \u201cGrail\u201d is plaintively beautiful. But most of the album is dominated by an expected stew of weepy fiddles, earnest harmonies, and \u201clost at sea\u201d lyrics.
\n All pleasant songs, but nothing you wouldn\u2019t hear at your local Irish pub for Tuesday night entertainment. (maryknickle.com<\/a>) MP<\/p>\n
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