Category Archives: punk

GATEWAY DISTRICT – Perfect’s Gonna Fail

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Anyone like The Soviettes? With each album those Minnesota punkers got better, finally perfecting their sound on their third release (‘LPIII’) before throwing in the towel. After their break up, vocalist/guitarist Annie and drummer Danny formed a punk/garage band called Awesome Snakes and their record was cool in an uber-trashy sort of way, but it was The Soviettes’ other vocalist/guitarist Maren “Sturgeon” Macosko who took the band’s truest spirit away with her.

Maren now fronts The Gateway District [sometimes “The”, sometimes not], whose debut full length 2009’s ‘Some Days You Get The Thunder’ sounds mostly like you’d imagine The Soviettes’ fourth album to sound, if only they stayed together and taken a small step backward to something a little rawer. Released two years later, their second full length ‘Perfect’s Gonna Fail’ works very much on the old maxim “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Driven by the buzzing rhythm guitars of Maren and Carrie (who also shares singing duties and solid drumming (courtesy of Brad, also of Rivethead), ‘Run Away’ sets the tone for the record, featuring a sound which -although hugely comparable to The Soviettes – has a similar carefree energy as the band’s label-mates The Copyrights. Carrie’s lead voice is tuneful and user friendly in punk terms, but when in tandem with Maren’s sounds even better. ‘Macy’ is tighter, faster and manages to be even more like The Soviettes, due to Maren taking the lead vocal role. The bass (played by Nate, also of Banner Pilot) has a much bigger presence too; his playing brings a superb rumbling edge. The band then take all of these great features and blend them perfectly on ‘Leaving Me Behind’, which features some great harmony vocals (from all band members) set against what is perhaps the band’s finest arrangement. This is punk-pop as it absolutely should be: two minutes of hard rhythmic chords with a strong chorus and no padding whatsoever.

‘Blue Halls’ couples Maren’s distinctive vocal against some buzzsaw guitar work and a rally cry of “worthless piece of shit” while ‘I’ll Take The River’ works well due to a bouncier mood, and a superb combination of ringing and staccato guitars. Despite a few of the vocals being noticeably wobbly in places, it’s still incredibly strong. After a brief moment of guitar work that’s reminiscent of The Jam’s ‘Billy Hunt’, ‘Let It Ride’ reverts to what Gateway District are best at: simple chords played at full pelt. This number captures the punky brilliance of ‘Leaving Me Behind’ with the addition of a playful guitar lead, which puts the band in the same frame as the likes of Pinhead Gunpowder.

Across 26 and a half minutes, the four musicians barely stop for breath, with ‘Fishman’s Story’ coming closest to the band “slowing down”, as the band chop in their high energy punk-pop for an alternative jangle, along with a few longer stretches of vocal with Maren and Carrie joining in harmony. But even then, the slightly more restrained moments are interspersed with a dose of typical punkiness, so it’s not too long before things return to normal.

If you haven’t discovered (The) Gateway District, then put them at the top of your list of punk bands to check out. Tunes delivered at the pace which often made The Soviettes so enjoyable, combined with great playing and plenty of sing-along choruses make ‘Perfect’s Gonna Fail’ a must have disc.

August 2011

RELIENT K – Is For Karaoke

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What was the deal with everyone and their dog putting out covers records in the summer of 2011? Within the space of a few months there were a bunch of really high-profile covers albums released, and pop-punk/alt-rock band Relient K added themselves to the ever growing list with the release of their ‘Is For Karaoke’ EP.  A few months later, with the addition of some new artwork and a further seven tracks, that EP became an album.

Of the fourteen covers featured on the full-length release, the most interesting  is a take on ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’, which replaces the pop tones of Cyndi Lauper’s original with lots of muted punk-pop guitar chords.  The Wallflowers’ ‘One Headlight’ has a hint of Relient K’s own style too, as they turn up the guitars a little, but since they don’t stretch the boundaries any farther it’s a case of “play it once, file it away, forget about it”.  For everything else, though, it’s as if somebody’s clicked the off-switch on “creativity” and Relient K work their way through the rest of the tunes just  about as faithfully as they can muster.

If you’re going to listen to Relient K play works by Tears For Fears, Tom Petty and Toto with a workman-like, almost Karaoke disc clarity, surely your time would be better spent with the originals?  Even the band’s more left-field choices – ‘Interstate Love Song’ by Stone Temple Pilots’ and ‘The Distance’ by CAKE – have no real imagination behind their reconstruction.  In the case of the latter, they’ve even reproduced the trumpet sounds as closely as possible… Matt Thiessien’s vocal doesn’t have the slacker cool of CAKE’s head honcho John McCrea but, to give credit where it’s due, John Warne’s bass sound is quite cool.

Elsewhere, you can experience tunes by Weezer, Third Eye Blind and Nada Surf played without any sense of adventure; and there’s even opportunity to hear ‘Doctor Worm’ without any of the quirky, nasal charm which makes They Might Be Giants so distinctive.  For those who are still interested by this point, tunes by Gnarls Barkly and Justin Bieber are handled just as (un)imaginatively, while the bulk of Toto’s ‘Africa’ could possibly even be a karaoke disc, just with some extra guitars thrown over the chorus.

‘Is For Karaoke’ may be well played, but most of it is played so straight, it serves no real purpose.  It’s not bad – just hopelessly unimaginative.  Relient K have recorded some great tunes in the past (with ‘Come Right Out and Say It’ being a pop-punk classic), it’s such a shame they couldn’t stamp some of their own style onto this selection of cover tunes.   Still, for its faults, it’s still preferable to that Puddle Of Mudd covers record.

October 2011

THE COMPUTERS – This Is The Computers

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The Computers’ EP ‘You Can’t Hide…’ was a blistering seven song disc which firmly laid out the band’s intentions. It was raw. It was sweaty. Most importantly, it was impossible to be still while listening to it. This was the work of a band with a great promise.
Two years later, their debut full length album, ‘This Is The Computers’ really delivers on that early promise. From the off, the energy you loved about that EP still sits at the core of the Exeter band’s sound. It’s not a retread of old and completely familiar territory, however. The band has matured over the intervening years, leaving behind a few of their punkier tendencies; instead they bring more garage rock and punk ‘n’ roll influences into their sound than ever before. The album was recorded at the home studio of Rocket From The Crypt’s John “Speedo” Reis, which alone may have had a strong influence over the material’s overall sound. While the album was recorded live to tape over four days, it somehow manages to sound like it was recorded with a much bigger budget.

The first number ‘Where Do I Fit In?’ sounds a lot like The Computers of old, with the distinctive screamo vocals and the guitars buzzing at full pelt. In just over a minute, it’s over…and then, the real fun begins. Throughout ‘Lovers Lovers Lovers’, Sonny plays a guitar riff that’s a throwback to Rocket From The Crypt at their peak, which pitched against some great drumming from Aiden makes for superb listening throughout. ‘Rhythm Revue’ moves even further away from the band’s hardcore sound and into retro punk ‘n’ roll sounds than ever before. In just over two minutes, the band run through a great rock ‘n’ roll number – think Stray Cats meets The Cramps, turned up to eleven – without seemingly breaking a sweat. ‘Music Is Dead’ also offers some great punk ‘n’ roll thrills – all boogie rock riffs, rock ‘n’ roll solos and maximum attitude. This is far better than anything hinted at on that first EP. If this sound makes up the bulk of The Computers’ music on future releases, that certainly wouldn’t be a bad move.

‘I’ve Got What It Takes’ is an effective stomper, full of gang vocals and downtuned strings. In terms of choruses, those gang vocals make this one of the album’s most catchy. The real star here, however, is Aiden, whose measured drumming really lays down a superb foundation with its relative simplicity. ‘Yeah Yeah But…’ revisits a few tried and tested ideas, with its hard drumming and harder vocal style being reminiscent of the band’s ‘Teenage Tourette’s Camp’. Here, though, the arrangements feel a little less slapdash, with a dual vocal adding an excellent extra dimension. ‘The Queen In 3D’ explores garage blues territory, with the band moodily stomping across two minutes with a swaggering riff and enjoyable blues-rock guitar leads. It’s still easily recognizable as being The Computers, though, since Alex is out front and centre, delivering a vocal about as loud as he can muster.

‘Hat Damocles’ slows things down to an intimidating chug, over which Alex screams intensely: “this could really be the moment of your reckoning” over a slow pounding drum line. As the track progresses, things don’t lighten up. The guitars alternate between a menacing riff and furious jangle. When the band toyed with similar grinding riffs on a couple of their EP tracks it didn’t always sit right. This time around they nail it, and just crank up the intensity enough to be threatening without ever becoming dreary. What are the chances of the next album being a Black Flag ‘My War’-esque pummelling of the senses?

‘This Is The Computers’ is a fantastic release. It’s only just of full-length duration (11 songs, 25 minutes), but it needn’t be any longer. The band arrives, tears it up and then leaves, knowing this was a job well done. In punk/garage rock terms, there’s precious little better than being able to leave your audience pumped up and wanting more. The Computers have that sussed…and then some.

September 2011

BRIDGES LEFT BURNING – Disappointment, Disapproval, Disbelief EP

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Having already released the ‘Life Behind Boundaries’ EP in 2007 and ‘Breath of Loss’ full length in 2010, Zweisel’s Bridges Left Burning had already begun to make a mark on the German hardcore punk scene. The first thing that’s notable about their third release ‘Disappointment, Disapproval, Disbelief’ – released by German DIY label Down The Drain Records – is its professional sound; one that’s almost tailor made for the cult American label Victory Records. The band is much stronger than before, both musically and lyrically, and this EP features some very hard edges and even harder messages.

From the opening bars of ‘Creationists Are Idiots, As All I Can See Is Stupid Design (the handrail on our way to idiocracy)’, the band power head on into a world of fiercely political messages backed by sledgehammer riffs, somewhere between hardcore punk and metalcore. Following a chunky opening, Christian Schwarz’s drums kick in and have a fantastic sound bringing lots of bottom end. Matthias Peschl’s vocals are harsh, adopting a raspy Gallows or Give Up The Ghost approach as opposed to Sick of it All style hardcore shouting (though the band resort to this on occasion). This is a vast improvement on his under-produced metallic growl on parts of the band’s earlier releases. There are moments where metal influences creep in via a musical motif which utilises a twin guitar sound, but there’s no mistaking the band’s punk roots, especially once those guitars are overlaid by a chorus of voices at the track’s end.

‘You’re The Change’ ups the pace, and with that comes more of a punky ethic; there are slight influences from post-‘Today’s Empires’ Propagandhi and Strike Anywhere, while the bulk of the number is still being driven by heaviness. The lead vocal is backed by gang vocals, while the guitars bring rhythm based riffs which have a very generic quality. Lyrically, once again, it shows Bridges Left Burning as a very politically charged band (“it’s time to make a stand, let’s turn these common wrongs to ethically acceptable rights. There are alternatives. Let’s cut the blinds! We must be the change we wish to see.”) ‘Slaughterhouse of Glass’ follows suit but has a slow mid section, bringing in a slight chuggy metal influence, before the twin lead guitars build up tension before returning to straight-up hardcore punkiness. ‘Horus of Disapproval (Adding God To Misery)’ bring nothing greatly different to the table musically (though a brief guitar solo makes an appearance), but lyrically previous messages of fighting for change make way for an anti-religious stance which, in places, is far more direct than those suggested on the opening track.

‘Call It Treason If You Will’ presents the band in best form though, featuring some great bass work from Benedikt Hain whose playing has a thunderous live sound on occasion. Once again, the content is extremely angry with anti-war and anti-propaganda themes (“And there we are, calling to arms again, fighting a war for no reason but one: The hegemony of few. A nation trapped in self-delusion, unwilling to change. Patriotic you follow blind, shun to think for yourself. You’re governed by an elitist group, depredating, raping, killing, searching for idiots like you, who do not demand answers nor doubt.”) Lyrically it’s very harsh…often making Bad Religion’s punk dissertations sound like whimsy. As before, the drum work is extremely tight, while the twin guitar attack of Daniel Rothkopf and Andreas Quandt provide riffs fusing hardcore punk and metal influences with fantastic results.

With a much better production than on their previous releases, Bridges Left Burning have an unshakable sound, with the best parts of ‘Disappointment, Disapproval, Disbelief’ recalling the work of the great 90s hardcore punk bands like Strife. In all, it’s a great EP, one worthy of a release on a bigger label.

[All proceeds from the sale of the EP will be donated to PETA, with it being offered on a “pay what you want” basis; click on the widget below].

May 2011

THE BLACK STOUT – Voices Of Generation EP

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PhotobucketOften sounding like a cross between The Lawrence Arms and Rancid, the Paris-based punk/punk n’ roll band The Black Stout arrive in size ten boots with a message. “We will kick your backside/since nobody did before us” shouts lead vocalist Vaness’ over the chorus of the opening number ‘Voices of Generation’, in a husky, drawling voice, influenced in places by Brody Dalle. She may have a point, since although France has spawned its share of punk bands over the years, few have made a significant breakthrough outside of their home country.

Across the three minutes of that opening number, the riffs have a classic pop-punk sound and the playing is tight; to reinforce the punk ‘n’ roll aspect of the band’s sound, on lead guitar, Dam offers a twangy, old school solo, with a few ugly notes for good measure. For those who want something in the straight up punk vein, ‘Prince Charming’s an Asshole’ is spiteful, fast and angry. The riffs in places sound like a meatier variant of the Adrenalin OD inspired material from the early Screeching Weasel discs. The jagged guitars and shout along chorus pack plenty of energy into just over three minutes during a number which barely takes time to breathe. Equally as good, possibly better, ‘Tell Us’ recycles the kind of punk-pop riffs and posturing you’ve heard from various Lookout! Records and Fat Wreck Chords album releases time and again. Vaness’s Brody Dalle-isms are at their most obvious here and with the shouty gang vocals on the chorus add to its style of “early Distillers cast-off”, but a simple, memorable hook and sheer energy and conviction behind the performance gives the track a great feel.

The best number, ‘Workers Mad Game’, has a slightly slower pace. Less punk, slightly more punk ‘n’ roll with a hint of rock, musically the band are at their strongest here, especially AL1’s rattling, high in the mix bass playing which provides a rock solid sound; a sound especially effective during the intro when set against Flo’s staccato guitar work. There’s a hint of the Parasites to be heard in places too. The only time The Black Stout miss the mark is on the retro rock number ‘Celebrate’, which is just a little too slow and shiny to make the best of Vaness’s ragged vocal style. The ringing guitars are pleasant enough and, once again, the backing vocals on the chorus provide something well rounded, but even so, it’s the kind of feel-good alt-rock track you’ll have heard performed better by a lot of other bands. Is it a skipper, though? Probably not.

On this EP, the song-writing is solid, the choruses are big, the production values are sharp and the riffs are sharper. The accented vocals can be a little hard to decipher in places, but not enough to stop The Black Stout’s debut being an enjoyable listen. Sure, you may have heard it all before, but that’s no reason not to check them out. Punk rock by numbers this may be, but The Black Stout’s enthusiasm, talent and self-belief really shines through.

You can listen or download the EP from the widget below.

April 2011