Part of Brooklyn’s extensive DIY punk and garage rock scene, The Meltaways are angry. Their self-titled release appeared on Mirror Universe Tapes in the summer of 2016 and thrust the influence of riot-grrrl music from the 90s sharply into the complacent face of the present. Via a recording that sounded like an explosive basement fury channelled into a collective of musical positivity, the trio presented combustible levels of attitude within their socio-political bursts of noise.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
THE NEEDY SONS – Vis-A-Vis
Originally a live project where friends played cover tunes and numbers from their respective catalogues as a way of letting off steam, The Needy Sons is a Boston supergroup of sorts. Mike Gent has recorded several albums with power pop/rock outfit The Figgs, Ed Valuskas has associations with Gravel Pit and the legendary Bill Janovitz has recorded various solo albums as well as being a member of Buffalo Tom (whose ‘Big Red Letter Day’ is one of the finest albums in the history of recorded music). Augmented by Eric Anderson and with their debut album ‘Vis a Vis’ mixed in part by Mike Viola’s matey Ducky Carlisle, you could say this band got off to a good start.
THE FOREIGN RESORT – The American Dream EP
“Welcome to our faceless lives” implores The Foreign Resort’s frontman Mikkel Jacobsen during ‘Suburban Depression’, a neo-gothic, downbeat look at the dark side of the modern world. Set to music conjured through a remoulded sonic image of the 80s and released as a standalone track via the Danish band’s Soundcloud account, this is both the perfect introduction to The Foreign Resort for unfamiliar ears and an equally perfect homage to the sounds of some thirty years previous. The recycled sounds of a Peter Hook-esque bassline placed against the measured rhythmic pacing of The Cure’s classic ‘A Forest’ forge ahead, as the tale of “your own private hell” unfolds. With the repeated refrain and suggestion that “everybody’s empty now” being bandied around with sheer abandon, some may experience knee-jerk feelings that the track itself is depressing, but nothing could be farther from the truth. There’s a sense of knowing within this band’s gothic throwback of a sound. As the track builds, never ever shifting from the basic rhythm – pulsing, pulsing – and the guitars increase, the bass holds firm and despite the familiarity, The Foreign Resort strike musical gold.
It’s not a fluke, either.
DAN OWEN – Hands And Enemies EP
Shrewsbury’s Dan Owen isn’t an artist who can’t by stylistically pigeonholed beyond being called a singer-songwriter. Judging by his 2016 EP ‘Open Hands and Enemies’, he principally uses the piano and acoustic guitar to write material (like so many), but on occasion, also seems happy to enlist many other hands to turn what could have been basic arrangements much bigger adult pop affairs. The four songs featured here range from the downbeat and folky to including big and bolshy strains of electronic beats and bass.
FLESH & BLOOD – Blues For Daze
Following the dissolution of their short-lived band Place Called Rage in 1995, the founding members briefly went their separate ways. Guitarist Al Pitrelli joined power metal band Savatage and drummer Chuck Bonfante stepped away from the spotlight. Reuniting in 1997, the pair provided the driving force behind an almost equally short-lived project entitled Flesh & Blood.