Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews

MILD MANNERED – Believeland

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Mild Mannered’s history dates back to the early 2000’s, when Jennifer and Pat Casa – recording as Starberry – released two home-recorded albums. The first of those releases earned the pair a “band of the week” accolade from the Cleveland Scene online news magazine. Time passed, and eventually the pair hooked up with guitarist/bassist Tim Parnin [previously associated with The Chuck Mosley band, featuring – unsurprisingly enough – one Chuck Mosley, previously of Faith No More and Cement]. With the addition of Parnin, the Casas renamed the band Mild Mannered. Their debut album ‘Believeland’ features various nods to the 90s alternative scene and, for those who still hanker after those sounds, is a release which will strike in chord in a few places.

Chunky guitars crash against a barrage of hi-hats during the intro of ‘Back Home’ which sounds even better once the bass sits on top of the arrangement. Jennifer Casa’s lead vocal is full of long notes which, at first, sound slightly flat, but once the end of the chorus chimes in, it’s obvious, like Deborah Harry back in the 70s and Chrissie Hynde in the 80s, this is a probably a stylised choice. By the middle of the song, you’ll be transported back to the glory days of bands like Belly, Sleater-Kinney and Velocity Girl. The semi-acoustic ‘Keys To Rio’ has a pleasing jangle, but very little to back that up. Casa’s vocal is in a similar style once again, but doesn’t work quite as well as the opener; on the first couple of listens it seems like a rather long three-and-a-half minutes. Although the main hook could have been stronger, subsequent spins reveal previously undiscovered charms, so it’s a number worth persevering with.

‘Applehead’ is potentially nasty, due to a stabbed Casiotone piano, grating mariachi trumpet, and unrestrained vocal. The slightly out-of-tune nature is bound to remind some listeners of Denver, CO band Dressy Bessy, but unless you absolutely love those guys, this one’s a definite skipper. It could be worse though, it could include a choir of singing children… Oh. ‘Me’ brings things back into the land of sanity with a decent rocker, this time featuring sludgy rhythm guitars and a wailing lead. The in-your-face brand of 90s alternativeness here doesn’t bring anything new to the genre, though as before, if you spent the second half of that decade pumped up on Hole and Sleater-Kinney, you’ll probably love this. Similarly, the adrenalin-driven ‘Satifaction’ brings more guitar-based buzzes – and with this number, the big hooks come courtesy of a fantastically playful guitar lead during the intro and a good use of harmony vocals. In terms of actual chorus though, it’s severely lacking, but once those other elements are taken into consideration, that doesn’t really matter.

It’s on the not-quite punk pop number ‘Wonder’ where Mild Mannered offer a short burst of absolute brilliance. Over super-jangly rhythms and a hard snare drum, Jennifer Casa’s vocals are the album’s best. Gone are the slightly flat, stylised edges; in their place, a breezy delivery which recalls cult bubblegum punkers Cub. In a complete change of style ‘Eclipse’ is also enjoyable, being constructed via keyboard drones, electronic loops and a clicking drum machine. Once the guitars arrive, things are slightly more driven and Jen’s lead vocal has a hint of Kristin Hersh as she powers her vocal against the cold guitar sounds. Like ‘Applehead’, ‘The Ones Who Got Away’ turns down the guitars and brings the piano to the fore, but also like ‘Applehead’, it’s not especially good. The backing vocals are reasonable, but once again, the lead has elements which grate slightly. On the plus side, Tim Parnin’s bass adds a few good moments to this number, and it’s sixties girl-group vibe on occasion makes it easy to see what the band were aiming for here. Generally speaking, however, it’s another track which suggests they really need to stop tinkering with piano tunes.

Mild Mannered have some good – if not always especially original – musical ideas, and their various 90s moods are capable of making the listener feel a certain degree of nostialgia. But unlike other 90s revivalists Yuck, that nostalgia brought by Mild Mannered is more of the happy kind. They miss the mark rather dramatically on a couple of songs, but in the main, if you like any of the bands mentioned here, you could do far worse than check out ‘Believeland’.

August 2011

 

BRIDGER – Bridger

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Bridger is a melodic hard rock band which brings together musicians from two different camps. Guitarist Glen Bridger and bassist Greg Manahan are both known for their involvement with the latter-day line-up of classic rock band Head East (though in a live setting only, since as a recording unit the band has been inactive since 1988), while vocalist Terry Ilous is somewhat of a cult figure in melodic rock circles, having worked with XYZ. Given the people involved, this outing by Bridger could have been great. However, after only a few songs have passed, it seems to be one of those albums which feels like it’s dragged on forever. Even the once brilliant Terry Ilous sounds like he’s going through the motions, often only putting in a fraction of the effort he put into his early XYZ performances.

After four numbers of woefully predictable hard rock, things improve somewhat with the country rock influenced ‘Without a Sound’, which is better arranged than anything else on offer here. The guitars are more subdued, a piano fleshes out the sound rather nicely and ample space is given to a friendly steel guitar part played by guest musician Mark Murtha [best known to AOR fans as the guiitarist for London Drive, an oft forgotten band who released one album via BPM Records back in the mid-90s]. Terry Ilous’s vocals are slightly improved here too, but soon enough, everything reverts to being rather flat once the band launches into ‘I’m Free’, a track which makes them sound like a poor imitation of Blessid Union of Souls.

‘Gonna Get Better’ is the album’s punchiest track, with Ilous turning in a vocal which has a nasty sneer, but he’s still very much under par. In the hands of a more interesting band the amount of riffing and half-decent guitar solo could have provided a golden moment, but Bridger sound hopelessly uninspired. The harder riffing also shows up the less-than-perfect production values too. The strings and piano ballad ‘Once In A Lifetime’ shows a completely different, much softer side of the band, with Ilous’s curly vocal hitting the mark surprisingly consistently. The piano playing is decent enough, though not really in the big leagues with Journey’s Jonathan Cain, but Glen Bridger’s acoustic guitar flourishes are more than commendable. Given that it’s one of the tracks which raises the bar a little in terms of arrangement, it’s a shame the song is still pedestrian and unimaginative.

Closing the disc is something which you’ll probably never want to hear more than once. In tribute to the legendary Ronnie James Dio, the band soldier their way bravely through a cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Heaven & Hell’. On the plus side, it’s here Terry Ilous sounds the most like he did back in the day, but nothing else deserves any credit, especially not the slightly grating drum loops used throughout…

Who’d have thought an album featuring Terry Ilous could be so underwhelming? There’s rarely anything which truly lights a fire in the way you’d hope. Fact is, though, at least 70% of this album is dull. The songs are often so by-numbers they’re almost instantly forgettable, the production is middling and even Ilous’s voice lacks most of the power it once had. They say you should never judge a book by its cover but Bridger – both the band and album – is as uninspired as its “three minutes with a photograph and software” packaging – for which, let’s hope no professional designers got paid. Those who are very easily pleased may find something of worth here, but truthfully, ‘Bridger’ is just another melodic rock album to add to the already landfill’s worth of melodic rock albums which are destined to be forgotten.

August 2011

SLEEPING DERVISH – The Water Scared

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In 2007, when this Swedish three piece was known as Mark 0, they put out a demo recording which presented them in an alternative funk-metal mode.  Influences from Incubus were fairly obvious, as was the fact the band had clearly spent a lot of time listening to Foo Fighters and other great bands.  While they appeared to be musically tight, they lacked a sound of their own.  By the release of 2009’s ‘Paper Tigers’ EP, Mark 0 had become Sleeping Dervish and any desire to become the next Incubus had vanished – the late 90s funk-metal influences were swept aside in favour of a late 90s/early 00s jangly guitar based, alt-rock vibe.

For their 2010 EP ‘The Water Scared’, the band explores similar musical territory.  As before, their sound features traces of many different late 90s alternative rock bands, but there are not any really clear, over-riding influences.  ‘Cover Your Tracks’ has a slightly funky shuffle during the verses, although this is purely down to drummer Vanja Hadsic’s playing.  Andreas Hosio’s bass work refrains from stepping into the realms of funk, but behind the Goo Goo Dolls styled guitar work, his bass sound has an almost lead presence at times.  Gustav Classon’s vocals are clean and well-suited to the band’s general sound.  Despite the band’s style and overall volume, his voice never gets lost among the barrage of guitars and drums; for a self-financed release, the production is spot on.

‘Son of a Trader’ continues with more chiming guitars and similarly sharp production.  On first listen, this appears to be one of the EP’s weaker numbers, as it doesn’t quite have the urgency of the opener, but repeated listens prove the chorus to be something of a slow-burner.  As it stands, it’s a solid track, with Clarsson’s late 90s style guitar work providing just enough presence to keep things flowing.   The title cut opens with an almost circular guitar riff before settling into fairly predictable alt-rock territory.  Clarsson can be heard in good vocal form once again, and Hadsic’s crashy approach to the drums gives the number plenty of backbone. However, lacking a decent hook, this ends up in the category of ‘filler material’.

‘I!’ presents something a little edgier, as a crashy riff leads into a piece of music featuring a rolling bass part, which is almost completely buried underneath a wall of guitars.  Clarsson’s vocals feature a harder edge than before and a simple, repetitive chorus hammers the point home.  A mid section makes best use of a clean and angular guitar sound, moving the band away from semi-noisy indie-rock into a more progressive, Tubelord style territory.  This mid-section sounds like it was written separately and then wedged into the end piece, but still manages to work effectively.  This angrier approach carries into the following number ‘Are We Done?’ which has a great live sound – the lead guitars ringing out above a heavy rhythm.  Overall, it doesn’t bring much new to Sleeping Dervish’s mix of sounds and influences, but its lead guitar riff attracts attention with its bell-like clarity.

The closing number ‘Everything Is Sound’ shows Sleeping Dervish at their best.  Following a fuzzy opening riff with a heavy influence from early Placebo, the band find a busy, slightly off-centre groove which features an interesting drum pattern; this in turn encourages moments of spiky interplay from the bass.  The alt-rock riff provides ample backing for an okay chorus.  It’s an example of the band’s sound at its most angry, a feeling definitely helped by the pointed bass work.

The songs themselves may not always show a great musical range, but listeners should recognise the work of a tight musical unit throughout this release.  ‘The Water Scared’ is a release which doesn’t always hit the mark, but when it does (as on ‘Everything Is Sound’) there’s a feeling that Sleeping Dervish are a talented bunch.

February 2010

VARGAS, BOGERT & APPICE – VB&A featuring PAUL SHORTINO

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In April 2011, 80s rockers King Kobra (featuring Carmine Appice and Paul Shortino) released their fifth studio album.  While some praised the disc for containing rousing, anthemic choruses in an old-school rock style, in 21st Century terms what this actually meant was King Kobra peddled out a bunch of songs which were very clichéd and a little embarrassing.  The King Kobra guys were never the most sophisticated songwriters, but for all of the album’s faults, at least they made an attempt at writing their own material.

That’s more than could be said for Appice’s second release of the year.  This collaboration with his old Vanilla Fudge bandmate Tim Bogert and Spanish rock/blues musician Javier Vargas finds the stalwart musicians ploughing through a bunch of cover tunes.  Most of their chosen material is very well known, so that alone means this album often appears inferior.  …And by the time guest vocalist Paul Shortino trudges his way through most of the songs in his usual second division (often unsubtle) style, this album generally becomes destined for failure.

These musicians may have been in the business for decades, but longevity doesn’t always equal effortlessness and, as such, their takes on most of these tunes are bad.  The band almost completely misunderstands what made (and continues to make) Cheap Trick’s ‘Surrender’ a genre classic.  Gone is the glammy feel good streak of the original 1978 cut, and in its place, Vargas and co present  a bloated bar-band run through which sounds like mud.  Deep Purple’s ‘Black Night’ works better, with some of Vargas’s lead work hitting the mark during an unexpected bluesy intro.  Once things settle into the main riff, though, it becomes no more a workmanlike rendition, with an uninspired vocal and heavy-handed, ever-so-slightly slow drum part.  A rendition of AC/DC’s ‘It’s a Long Way To The Top’ has nothing going for it whatsoever, with the band choosing to play it as faithfully as possible but still managing to lose all of the original’s buoyancy in the process.  Still, at least it’s not quite as bad as Mickey Thomas’s attempt at AC/DC on his 2011 covers disc…

Some things are sacred, and the original version of ‘Parisienne Walkways’ could well fall into such a category. The pairing of the legendary Gary Moore and equally legendary Phil Lynott was magical, with Moore’s soaring guitar work providing the perfect foil for Lynott’s distinctive, charm-filled voice.   Unbelievably, Vargas, Bogert and Appice think they’re worthy of covering such a musical milestone… Vargas’s guitar tones are fine (not a patch on Moore’s mastery of the instrument, but fine nonetheless), but beyond that, it’s horrible.  Shortino sucks the life from the lyrics like the work-a-day vocalist for hire he is and Appice’s rock drumming just has no real class.  There’s no excuse for this.  Excuse me, I may have a bit of sick.

Moving away from the hard rock chops of most of the chosen material, the album includes a couple of left field choices.  While Shortino’s slightly gruff delivery seems reasonably in tune with Rod Stewart’s trademark rasp, there seems to be no other reason for these guys covering ‘Tonight Is The Night’.  The end result isn’t the worst thing on this album, but even so, could only ever be described as okay.  Or at least it could be, had the musical arrangement been approached in a slightly more sophisticated fashion.  The “live in the studio” sound gives the mood of a band rehearsal and Tim Michell’s synth is far, far too loud.  Vargas’s slide guitar work is about the best thing here.  Naturally, it takes more than a bit of slide guitar to rescue something so flawed… Bad it may be, but any attempt at covering Rod Stewart is not quite as misjudged as their attempting to tackle a well known tune by Mike + The Mechanics. Yes, seriously! ‘Over My Shoulder’ loses its well-crafted pop sheen and almost timeless radio appeal.  Someone has decided that the song could be improved with the addition of choppy guitars and an overtly loud drum kit.  Surprisingly, though, Shortino’s vocals are half-decent as he taps into a slightly soulier vibe.  He’s no match for Paul Carrack, obviously, and Mike Rutherford will probably welcome the royalty cheque to top up his millions (even though he’s not likely to earn too much from the twelve copies this album will sell), but nobody with any sense would ever prefer this awkward piece of ham-fistedness over the original.

The only time this collaboration rises above the doldrums is on a cover of Ray Barretto’s 1972 cut ‘Right On’.  Firstly, given Vargas’s musical background and time playing with Santana, he’s more than adept at salsa styles.  Secondly, although the production and general rock posturing is still somewhat stodgy, the addition of horns gives things a lift.  However, although it’s probably the best thing on this release, it’s still not great.  Between them, Vargas, Bogert, Appice and Shortino manage to make Barretta’s once bustling Santana-esque tune sound a bit heavy-handed.  Things are rounded out with takes on Beck, Bogert and Appice’s ‘Lady’ and ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’ (in the Vanilla Fudge mould, but still inferior). Neither are particularly inspiring, but at least Bogert and Appice have, at least, some small claim to these tunes.

Since the performances rarely rise above middling and the album comes with awful, awful production, this is only ever going to be of interest to a select few.  While it’s likely Vargas, Bogert and Appice had fun making this record, it’s really not too much fun to listen to. Having said that, as bad as it is, it’s marginally better than Vanilla Fudge’s 2009 collection of Led Zeppelin covers, ‘Out Through The In Door’.

Carmine Appice is supposedly a well respected musician.  In his sixth decade as a recording artist at the time of this album’s release, you have to wonder why he is so respected when so many of his career choices have been questionable.  Oh well… Compared to this, at least some of the praise heaped upon that dodgy King Kobra record seems justified.

August 2011

BLACK BISCUIT – Blueline

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In December 2010 I received an email from Black Biscuit – a band formed by a couple of guys who’ve been playing hockey together and making music since high school.  They’d discovered REAL GONE via my rather negative, overtly opinionated Quakers On Probation review and asked if I’d mind giving their album a similarly honest appraisal.  The lightweight tone of their message suggested they weren’t a completely serious band, and a visit to their MySpace page where they claim that the band was a result of “numerous hockey-related head injuries of the three frontmen” helped confirm my theory.

There’s a difference between being a joke/novelty band and just not taking things seriously, though, as ‘Blueline’ proves.  Granted, there are a couple of songs which were possibly written to amuse, but most of the album is made up of alt-rock tunes, played too slowly and – in some cases – very badly.

‘Surfin’ in Afghanistan’ is their most obvious attempt at writing amusing material. It employs a rudimentary surf rock musical motif, against which a croony vocal tells a tale of surfing disappointment, leading to being tied up by extremists.  Although it’s easy for the listener to understand what Black Biscuit are attempting here, it’s not something you’d listen to more than a couple of times.  ‘Robbie The Robot’ sounds like a bad impersonation of early Soul Asylum, with additional annoying croony vocals thrown in for good measure.   Not that entertaining to start with, and after a couple of spins, once again, it’s hard to imagine anyone coming back for more.   ‘Don’t Touch My Cigarettes’ is an ode to never giving up smoking, delivered in an early J. Geils Band style.  Its simplicity makes it one of the album’s better numbers, but Black Biscuit lack the energy of those they’re attempting to emulate.

Due to a lack of musical sharpness, most of Black Biscuit’s material completely misses the mark.  ‘Gun For Hire’ is sludgy with a tuneless vocal and an even worse guitar solo (although I suspect this was tuneless on purpose).  It’s obvious where the hook is, but the vocal style makes the song unlistenable.  The country rock vibe of ‘Suburbs’ has the feel of a Cowboy Mouth cast-off…but only if that great band got hit on the head and forgot how to write anything melodic.  If there’s anything to be learnt here it’s that three part harmonies shouldn’t be attempted by non-singers.  ‘Say Goodbye’ is better, but Black Biscuit don’t really deserve any credit, since it’s memorable parts are a total rip off  of The Beatles’ ‘No Reply’, twisting it into something which sounds like a bad wedding band along the way (with an appalling lead vocal to boot).

During ‘With You’, Johnny Maxwell breaks into a decent bass solo. However, it’s stuck in the middle of a rather busy number which melds a Minneapolis style alt-rock sound with a slightly garage feel, and as such, that bass work feels a little out of place.  It’s one of the only moments where this album manages to claw its way out of musical despair, and for that, I’m briefly thankful.  Maxwell is clearly the only band member with any real musical ability.

Sadly, the bulk of Black Biscuit’s songs are either middling or forgettable.  Even their fun stuff isn’t too much fun.  Presented with this mish-mash of demo-quality recordings and half-baked ideas, I don’t really know what the band was thinking.  Simply put, ‘Blueline’ is a bad record.  I hope their collective hockey skills fare better than this.

January 2011