Caffeinds’ 2014 release, the ‘HeeBee GB’s EP’, was an unpolished affair, but there was no denying it was a recording made with love. It was rough and ready, as you’d expect something DIY to be, but above all, it was fun. It didn’t get a lot of attention within punk circles (certainly not on a big scale at any rate), but that didn’t stop the band trucking on. That same year’s full length release blended influences from Screeching Weasel and the Misfits in such a way that you couldn’t help but like it – warts ‘n’ all – while 2015’s ‘No Gods, No Decaf’, with an increased recording budget and a bratty attitude, was their best work to date. With each release, it’s been possible to hear Caffeinds making a necessary leap forward.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
INDONESIAN JUNK – Indonesian Junk
Whether conjuring memories of ‘Surrender’ by Cheap Trick – the song from which this US band have taken their name – or Manic Street Preachers’ deliberately provocative 1991 single ‘Motown Junk’ (how many bands would dare to snipe “I laughed when Lennon got shot!” in little over a decade since the former Beatle’s assassination?), there’s something edgy and exciting about the word junk. Whether meaning trashy or the slang for heroin, it has a certain connotation. However, Indonesian Junk really aren’t as spiky or as confrontational as their chosen moniker suggests. For this Milwaukee based trio, it’s all about the relatively lo-fi, the fuzzy guitars and a general noise rather than any actual sharp edges, either musically or lyrically.
FIREWALKER – Firewalker
When Firewalker plug their debut release as “hardcore”, the four piece band from Boston means it in every sense. With numbers ranging from metallic crossover arrangements to an extreme crust-punk assault, the fierce sounds they make aren’t always about hooks; the band’s sound should be viewed as a blistering attack, driven by buzzsaw guitar lines and husky vocal growls. Looking at the bigger picture though, there’s enough variety within their material to suggest they’re about more than hashing out old grindcore and crust influences and considering that a job well done.
HANNAH FAIRLIGHT – Bright Future EP
In an age where there are a billion singer songwriters out there and a little of Nashville rubs off onto so many of them infusing the rock and the pop with country (seemingly the only way some feel they can make the big time), it’s surprising to discover a performer from Nashville who isn’t quite so beholden to America’s core musical style. Step forward Hannah Fairlight, a woman who not only mixes 80s rock and 90s singer-songwriter styles on her 2015 release, but also revels in unfashionable 80s AOR moods that are quite unexpected. Wrapped up in a knowing title, ‘Bright Future’ cares not for fashion and in some ways should be all the better for that. However, it doesn’t care for consistency or honesty either.
NORDLAND – European Paganism
Two years on from ‘Songs of Regression’, UK pagan metallers Nordland really upped the stakes for their forth album ‘European Paganism’. Not only does the album boast a better production value than before, but the band have taken their love of extended tracks to their very logical extreme. Whereas their previous few records offered at least two ten minute workouts, ‘European Paganism’ outdoes them all by presenting just three tracks within a near forty five minute span, with the opening number taking up the best part of half an hour.