Melvins - Freak Puke

[Ipecac Recordings, 2012]

The Mevlins, or Melvins-Lite as their press release is dubbing them, are back with their second record of 2012 (easy boys…) and, as the title would suggest, it’s a queasy, freaky beast of an album. The Melvins-Lite moniker heralds the band’s return to being a three piece and, rather that detract from the band’s almighty two-drummers-and-as-many-guitarists-as-possible power, the trio have condensed the Melvins sound into a streamlined force. King Buzzo and Dale Crover are joined here by Trevor Dunn (of Fantômas and Mr. Bungle renown) who brings some earthy low-end frequencies and rhythms with his stand-up bass.

And it’s this new nugget in the Freak Puke stew that most defines the album’s sound, or differentiates it from some of the band’s more recent releases. As well as the rootsy, almost jazzy feel that the double bass lends to songs like “Mr. Rip Off” and “Baby, Won’t You Weird Me Out”, the instrument also manages to rock pretty hard too. On “A Growing Disgust” the double bass slots right into the usual Melvins formula of pompous, strident guitars and Crover’s ever-monumental, substantial drumming. “Leon vs. The Revolution” is pure classic Melvins at their rawest – a raucous, three minute blast of old school rock n’ roll. “Let Me Roll It” is an unashamed seventies rock n’ roll pastiche the likes of which was featured heavily on The Bulls and the Bees EP earlier this year.

The stand up bass also brings an abrasive and experimental new element into the band’s sound. Dunn alternates between pleasing plucked notes and aggressive bow-work, adding an almost John Cale-esque layer of discordant noise to songs like “Mr. Rip Off” and the self-explanatory “Inner Ear Rupture”. “Holy Barbarians” is the most abstract, moody and densely layered song on the album and is one of the album’s most interesting moments because of it. Led by a restless bassline, it kind of plays like a David Lynch day dream (you can almost picture Audrey Horne dancing to it in some back-water diner), the creepy, otherworldly vocals lulling you away to another place before the title track brings you back with a frying pan to the face, Dale Crover sounding like he’s playing a set of dustbin lids. He probably is.

Final track “Tommy Goes Beserk” begins like – of all bands – Smashing Pumpkins with the nostalgic vocals and the hints of Siamese Dream-era strings and mellotron in the background. After picking up momentum and volume, Tommy finally goes beserk and we’re left with an unsettling orchestra of ominous low, bowed notes and a scratching of strings that sounds like a horde of bees. The final minute is a bizarre college of noises, bordering on musique concrète, and the album comes to its strange conclusion.

Once again, a change in line-up seems to have done the Melvins a world of good. As well as providing new avenues for introducing some light and shade into the mix, the addition of Trevor Dunn on double bass has reinvigorated the band who sound as playful, experimental and bombastic as they have been for some time (the band seem to be having a good old time shouting “fight, fight fight!” at the end of “Leon vs. The Revolution”). Freak Puke might take a few listens to really sink in but it’s worth giving it a chance because it stands up as one of the best albums they’ve released in the past decade.

[Originally published by the Sleeping Shaman, 31/05/2012]

http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/m/melvins-freak-puke-cd-lp-dd-2012/

Orange Goblin / Grifter / Desert Storm / Komrad @ O2 Academy 2, Oxford, 14/04/2012

Photo (c) Pier Corona

Last time Buried in Smoke and Pure Concentrated Evil brought Orange Goblin to Oxford it was in the grand and spacious expanses of the Regal, a venue that was perhaps too large to ever fill with Orange Goblin fans, especially in Oxford. This time, however, the promoters brought the vintage stoner rockers to the upstairs room of the O2 Academy, a venue far better suited to the band’s fan-base and brand of sweaty rock and/or roll.

The venue was respectably – if sparsely – populated when opening act Komrad took to the stage, but more and more people piled in throughout the course of their set. Pound for pound, Komrad had more musical ideas going on than all of the other bands combined – often in the space of one song. Opening track ‘Robotmen’, for example, sounds like the soundtrack to a broken circuit and could probably be compartmentalised into an EPs worth of material. Watching guitarists Jimmy Hetherington and Russ Blaine shimmy up and down their respective fretboards so nonchalantly is quite disconcerting and I come away with something akin to penis envy. The rhythm section of drummer James Currie and bassist Dave Cranwell lock into some incredibly shifty, tumultuous grooves while James Greene half screams, half croons about parking restrictions in seaside towns and various other gripes. It’s hard to describe what Komrad do really – they’re kind of like Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band meets Faith No More. ‘Cowley Necktie’, their perennial set-closer and the band’s twisted ode to Cowley Road, is the song that finds the band at their most triumphant, head-nodding, crowd-pleasing best. An odd but excellent start to the night.

Oxford’s crowning stoner rock titans Desert Storm waste no time kicking into some mighty sand-swept grooves with frontman Matt Ryan temporarily transposed into the form of a whiskey-soaked and highly volatile Southern deviant. ‘Ol’ Town’, ‘Cosmic Drips’ and ‘Astral Planes’ all contain riffs that are pretty much too good to be true, kicking up almighty dust clouds along the imagined dirt-roads that the band are traversing. Sure there are occasional hints of Clutch, Kyuss, Sleep and Pantera throughout their set but one of Desert Storm’s strengths is being able to balance their influences with their own take on the genre, all with a sly sense of not taking themselves too seriously. They nod in unison, Chris Benoist rocks out with his legs spread dangerously far apart and Matt Ryan riles the crowd into a beer and Orange Goblin sized frenzy. It’s fair to say that the Oxford lot have done themselves proud tonight and Desert Storm prove that no-one in Oxford cuts a groove quite like these guys.

Next up are Orange Goblin’s touring mates, Plymouth’s good-time party band Grifter. One of Grifter’s biggest selling-points is frontman Ollie Styall who is as good an entertainer as you could ask for, the perfect hype man to get the crowd ready for Orange Goblin. In between songs about Guinness, buck-toothed women and “rock n’ roll” Stygall talks about Guinness, buck-toothed women and rock n’ roll, and wins the ever-cynical Oxford crowd over – no mean feat. Musically the band touch base with AC/DC, early Slade, Motorhead, even Spinal Tap on a few occasions (that’s no insult, Spinal Tap fucking rule) and even knock out a damn fine cover of ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ by Black Sabbath. The guys then reveal that one of their songs, ‘Sweat Like Horses’, is going to be used in the new series of Dog: Bounty Hunter. You get the picture – these guys aren’t out to change the world, they’re just making good ol’ fashioned rock n’ roll and the now-packed O2 Academy lap it up.

Orange Goblin. Got to be honest, not a massive fan – some of their stuff I can listen to, some of their stuff I tend to tune-out for. Last time they played in Oxford at the Regal I thought they were abysmal and over-hyped beyond belief. Tonight, in the smaller, cosier confines of the O2 they actually came across far better in contrast. Frontman/giant Ben Ward spends the first five to ten minutes of their set stomping around the stage, drinking beer, pushing the microphone stand out into the crowd and shaking his beefy arms in the air (presumably to appease/arouse the gods of rock or something) before the band cut into a set heavily composed of the new album with a handful of oldies thrown-in for, y’know, the oldies in attendance. The new album, apparently something of a return to form for the band after a few misses, is best represented by ‘Red Tide Rising’, a song designed to get the crowd moving. But it’s one the evening’s mellower moments that really wins me over – ‘Time Travelling Blues’, one of the band’s most beloved songs, a sort of homage to the lazy, nostalgic rock n’ roll of Lynyrd Skynyrd et al. But if the best that be said about your set is that it’s highly derivative or ‘alright’ then something is clearly off. The musicianship throughout is excellent but the content is too safe, too stale and too predictable to warrant the heroic reception these guys receive.

[Originally published on Music in Oxford, 15/05/2012]

http://www.musicinoxford.co.uk/2012/05/15/orange-goblin-grifter-desert-storm-komrad-o2-academy-2-oxford-14042012/

Spring Offensive - Worry Fill My Heart

(Self-released, 2012)

“Worry Fill My Heart,” the latest release from the ever entrepreneurial Spring Offensive, continues the band's knack for packing all of their songs to the gills with poignant real life sentiments while being impossibly catchy. Making ends meet, being stuck in a dead-end job, identity crisis - they weave all of these topics into an epic modern tale, with jerky call and response guitars and some of the most impressively concise songwriting in Oxford. The contrasting breezy production helps to offset the heavy subject matter to make this an unlikely foot tapper. B-side “Carrier” is just as good and perhaps twice as emotive. Both songs are also accompanied by excellent videos and once again prove Spring Offensive to one of the most ambitious bands in town. Show me a better indie band in Oxford right now – oh, you can't.

[Originally published in Oxfordshire Music Scene magazine, issue 18]

http://www.oxfordmusicscene.co.uk/images/oms_issue18.pdf

  Enjoy the videos!

Melvins - Scion A/V Presents: The Bull and the Bees EP

(Scion A/V, 2012)

What do Melvins records and buses have in common? Wait for one and two show up at the same time. Also they’re both massive, they’re both slow and would both crush you if you got in their way. The venerable sludge/grunge pioneers will soon be treating us with their next album proper, the charmingly titled Freak Puke under their new Melvins-Lite moniker but before that though we have this little beauty of a free EP brought to us by the lovely folks over at Scion A/V. For those who don’t know, Scion Audio/Visual is the record label department of, bizarrely, the North American branch of the Toyota Motor Corporation – apparently these dudes love their cars to be chunky and reliable, and their music to be slow and dirty.

Well luckily it’s a marriage made in heaven because you could describe the music on The Bulls and the Bees as “chunky and reliable” too. The Melvins are in full-on Kiss-inspired pomp mode here and, surprisingly, this is a great thing for the most part. All of the songs – barring one (more on that later) – are extravagant and fun, even with titles like “We Are Doomed”. Lead single (or the one they bothered to make a video for and play on National TV) “War on Wisdom” comes in with Dale Crover’s clattering drums before AC/DC, Kiss, and even Queen are channelled and filtered through the Melvins’ characteristic rhythmical chug. It’s a triumphant start to the EP, so triumphant in fact that by the time the middle eight comes a-knockin’ King Buzzo sounds like he’s joined Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Imagine that! Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young and Buzzo. It has a kind of awkward ring to it.

Second track “We Are Doomed” is also a complete belter and it’s the song that comes closest to introducing danger into the mix, the lengthy outro containing a certain Melvins menace that isn’t found anywhere else on this brief EP. “National Hamster” is great too, even if it reminds me of “Now I’m Here” by Queen. But it’s “A Really Long Wait” that is the real surprise here – a beautiful, sombre, choral piece with a mixed orchestra of strings and guitar feedback. I’m certain King Buzzo has never sounded sweeter. In fact the vocals throughout the EP are massive, Buzzo’s booming voice taking centre stage amongst the often lush backing vocals.

For a free EP this is a pretty strong release from the Melvins, a band whose recent material has met with a mixed response from fans and critics alike. It might be a bit too classic rock for some, not deathly slow enough for others but the songs are there and the melodies, while strangely familiar, are strong enough to get lodged in your brain. To be fair, I might not have been so favourable if this wasn’t the Melvins and this won’t be making my end-of-year list but fortunately the Melvins have put enough of their own personality into the derivative songs that make up The Bulls and the Bees that it doesn’t matter. Still, can’t complain – it’s cheaper than a bus ticket…

[Originally published by the Sleeping Shaman, 09/05/2012]

http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/m/melvins-scion-av-presents-the-bulls-and-the-bees-digital-ep-2012/

Bastard of the Skies / Catatomic - Split LP

(Speaks Volumes Records, 2012)

Bastard of the Skies will probably need no introduction to readers here at The Sleeping Shaman – the Blackburn sludge four-piece have been kicking up an almighty racket for some time and their last album, Ichor, Ichor, was very well received by Paul Robertson back in 2010 in his tentacle-oriented review. Well, the filthy blighters are back again and before they treat us to their next album proper they’ve thrown us a vinyl-shaped curve-ball by doing a split release with a largely unknown artist by the name of Catatomic.

There’s a story there; BOTS singer and guitarist Matt Richardson met Catatomic frontman/mastermind Howie D. Voigt on a Matamp forum and the plan to release a split vinyl on Howie’s own Speaks Volumes Records grew from there. Attempting to find much information on Catatomic, Howie or Speaks Volumes Records has been nigh on impossible though – for all I could ascertain this is Catatomic’s first release and the ‘band’ is more or less the work of Howie with a little help from a few friends. Apart from Howie’s arrest sheet for being drunk and incapacitated (which is included on the vinyl artwork) the only other information I can offer about the allusive chap is that he comes from Wisconsin and likes Matamps.

Anyway, back to business and this is Bastard of the Skies’ first recording with new drummer Matt Aldred and bassist Claire Horrocks which has promoted (or possibly demoted) former bass-player Rob Beesley to second-guitar duties. In brief, this new line-up is beastly; anyone who has had the pleasure of catching these guys live in the past few years will be able to attest to that. But thankfully the power of their live performances has been captured beautifully in all of its metallic, scraping, chugging glory by Matt at his own Full Stack Studios. “Willalee Bookatee” is the perfect two minute blast to get the BOTS side off to an arse-kicking start but it’s the lumbering, rhythmic “The Knuckles of Saint Bronson” that, appropriately, pummels the listener with its Harvey Milk-jamming-with-Melvins-shaped fists. “Grays Sports Almanac” follows in much the same vein (that is to say that it’s also a huge bruiser of a tune) and will no doubt please Back to the Future enthusiasts and leave the Biffs of the world knocked out with mouths full of horse manure. On “Human Skull” proceedings slow down by at least 20 bpm, bringing us firmly into head-nodding territory. The band pitches stoner simplicity against their penchant for awkward, unexpected metal twists and turns and the result is kind of like listening to Sleep transition into High on Fire – a beautiful, unnerving sound to behold. After such an assured and brilliant four tracks the band then decide to take a bit of a risk with a cover version…

As a massive Neil Young fan I was in two minds at the thought of a metal cover of “Don’t Let it Bring You Down” (I guess it could never be worse than Annie Lennox’s attempt…) but the Bastards pull it off, sounding like Crazy Horse fronted by King Buzzo. They manage to put their own stamp on it whilst staying true to the original, throwing in one or two alternate notes to put a sinister spin on the otherwise cheery middle-eight of the song. The risk clearly pays off and it’s a great way to end their 5-track contribution to the split. Pat yourselves on the backs lady and gentlemen.

Following on from BOTS’ tightly-wound, multi-faceted and disciplined assault, Catatomic come across more like the eccentric Doc Brown (let’s keep the B2TF theme running as long as possible).  Firstly, there’s a notable difference in recording techniques – the drums sound dull and the guitars are more airy and free-roaming compared to BOTS’ more claustrophobic sound. In the eleven-minute curio “Void”, Catatomic find their way into an old-school doom groove and Howie sounds like a karaoke combination of Lee Dorian and a hoarse Leonard Cohen (see “Diamonds in the Mine”). Meandering acoustic passages weave their way through the song and it seems that musically and lyrically Howie is still on the same drunken bender that got him arrested. Don’t get me wrong, there is something to be said for the sheer scope of the song and the fact that it doesn’t implode somewhere around the eight-and-a-half minute mark is impressive but as a whole it sounds too much like a series of unrelated ideas stuck together with glue, semen and any other adhesive close at hand. Second offering “I Went to You” fares worse, sadly. The bizarrely confessional acoustic tale of woe sounds like it was largely improvised and contains lines like: “You don’t know what love is until you grow old and shit yourself.” It’s awkward and embarrassing because it kind of feels like we’ve stumbled across a demo that isn’t meant for our ears except it’s been neatly packaged and put on wax so it clearly is.

I don’t buy into judging split EPs by each band’s contribution – splits normally come about because of some friendship, loose connection between people or a mutual respect between the bands. Splits as a whole tend to polarise opinion and this, I’m sure, will be no exception. At the very least both bands have brought a lot of their own unique charm to this curious and mostly brilliant release and, for the most part, this ought to be encouraged. There’s no doubt that Bastard of the Skies will continue to destroy  as they have done here when their upcoming album is released – let’s hope Catatomic take the time to work on the structure and cohesion of their songs and ideas for a much stronger outing next time. Great Scott!

[Originally published by the Sleeping Shaman, 04/05/2012]

http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/b/bastard-of-the-skies-catatomic-split-lp-2012/

Mares of Thrace - The Pilgrimage

(Sonic Unyon Metal, 2012)

Calgary, Alberta sludge duo Mares of Thrace have only been going for around three years but they’ve already made one hell of an impression with their fierce, complex and, above all, uncompromising metal/hardcore racket. 2010′s critically lauded The Moulting was an impressive and distinctive debut and The Pilgrimage, a concept-album based around the Biblical story of David’s seduction of Bathsheba, demonstrates the band’s ambition and scope without messing with the formula too much.

The most obvious difference between The Pilgrimage and the Mares’ previous work is the recording quality and the tone of Therese Lanz’s guitar. While the previous recordings were slathered in a dense layer of bass tones (perhaps to compensate for not having a bass player), Lanz’s baritone guitar, fitted with both bass and guitar pickups, now has a clearer distinction between bass and treble. As a result the leads are far more wirey and frantic, and the chords are heavier and deeper. Stef MacKichan’s drums also have much more of a ‘room’ sound which helps to give a better impression of the band’s live sound and adds to the eerie ‘oh-shit-they’re behind-me’ vibe of the album. You wouldn’t want these two on your case, believe me.

The album ebbs and flows beautifully too – riotous hardcore sections bleed into mellow comedowns such as “The Three-Legged Courtesan…” which features some of the album’s most beautiful, emotionally ambiguous guitar work. Most of the songs on the album, particularly “Act I: David Glimpses Bathsheba” and “The Pragmatist” weave together old school metal with sludge and hardcore seamlessly. “The Perpetrator” even throws in some schizo rock for good measure before settling into an awesome groove and then kicking out of it again. Some songs evoke the restless, jerky energy of 90′s post-rock pioneers Slint while elsewhere you can hear echoes of contemporaries and fellow female-fronted sludge behemoths Dark Castle. I may be well off the mark here but some fleeting moments even bring to mind the guitar-work of fellow Canadian Neil Young. “Triple B” on the other hand is a kind of pulsating, electronic nightmare – not in the same way as Neil Young’s Trans album, but in a good, atmospheric way. Regardless, you get the idea – the album is a complex montage of styles and genres.

Therese Lanz’ vocal chords take a good old thrashing on the album too, screaming herself hoarse until the microphone can take it no longer and begins to distort under the pressure. By the end of the album I wanted to force Therese to drink some hot lemon with a spoonful of honey but I’m sure the suggestion would have been spat back in my face, quite literally. The combination of Lanz spitting razors, the pounding drums and the cutting, serrated guitars makes for a hugely unnerving record about one of the more controversial allegories in the Bible.

Truth be told, the Biblical context of the album could easily be overlooked in your enjoyment of it; although the story ties the album together thematically and gives the album a seamless feel, it’s all incidental compared to the drama that the music evokes. With The Pilgrimage, Mares of Thrace channel the fury of women scorned and prove that they’re a fiercely original and crushing force to be reckoned with.

[Originally published by the Sleeping Shaman, 26/04/2012]

http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/m/mares-of-thrace-the-pilgrimage-cd-lp-dd-2012/