Back in the late 80s/early 90s, White Lion released a couple of great albums in ‘Pride’ and ‘Mane Attraction’. By more modern standards, the production on ‘Pride’ is a tiny bit trebly (okay, maybe a lot trebly), but it had the songs to back up any technical shortcomings. A couple of ‘Mane Attraction’s songs were noticeably weaker – and they even padded out the disc with a re-recording of ‘Broken Heart’ (the original can be found on their 1987 release ‘Fight To Survive), but in many ways, it was a perfect swansong. Vocalist Mike Tramp’s follow up project Freak Of Nature attracted a solid fan base, but the more alternative leanings in the band’s sound turned off some more “traditional” rock fans, leading to decline in record sales. His later solo album ‘Capricorn’ was more than decent, but by this point Tramp’s sales figures were practically non-existent compared to former glories. In that respect, it’s almost understandable as to why by 2008 Frontiers Records would want Tramp to release another White Lion album.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
THE MINORS – Intruders EP
The Minors are a Brooklyn based duo comprising of sometime Swimclub member Greg Adams and his multi-instrumentalist/producer/engineer nephew Tom Jebb. The idea of a homespun family duo brings back unpleasant memories of 2010’s oddball, misguided release by Quakers on Probation and while The Minors, too, could have used a little more of an outside influence from time to time, the core of their material actually shows promise. Their chosen sound – somewhere between a 60s power pop outfit and very light rock ‘n’ roll – is both user friendly and strangely familiar.
AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE – Shoot EP
US hardcore/industrial metal outfit American Head Charge made a few waves with their 2001 album ‘The War of Art’, released on the American Records label [original home to The Beastie Boys and Black Crowes, sometime home to the legendary Johnny Cash and metal titans Slayer]. It’s opening barrage of tunes hit like a concrete hammer, while the shouty, uncompromising and scratchy vocals from Cameron Heacock bore a resemblance to Sick of it All’s Lou Koller (circa 1998). A great combination of tough musicianship and hard-hitting material proved a winning combination…and then the band disappeared for four years. Perhaps this was a little longer than they should have been away, since by the arrival of 2004’s ‘The Feeding’, the band were reported suffering from internal problems. Not long after, they were missing, presumed gone forever.
THE OYSTER MURDERS – Mourning Birds EP
Following their 2012 debut album and tour, The Oyster Murders set about writing and recording new material to follow up ‘Winter of the Electric Sun’. While the prospect of a new full album would have been very appealing, this six track offering is a welcome enough release – it’s six songs and twenty two minutes showing off the Australian dream-pop quartet’s surprisingly accessible sounds in a lean fashion, the EP format cutting down any potential filler material.
BLACK BISCUIT – Up All Night
In 2008 US bar band Black Biscuit released their debut album ‘Blueline’. It was ragged (often in a bad way), had odd attempts at novelty material and – most memorably – included a shameless rip-off of The Beatles’ ‘No Reply’. It was hard to tell whether, as a band, they were playing things for laughs, or just not especially good. Either way, ‘Blueline’ was a notoriously bad DIY record – in misguided terms, beaten only by the staggeringly awful 2010 effort from the now defunct Quakers on Probation.