Day 91: Wisdom in Chains - We Never Sleep

Artist:  Wisdom in Chains
Album:  We Never Sleep
Source:  Spotify

Pre-listening Notes:  I have a weird listening history with this band.  I go through phases of listening to them a whole bunch and then a phase of not listening to them for a couple years.  Usually, I am retriggered to listen to them after seeing them live, because they have never disappointed with the live show.  They are a hardcore band that has definite punk and oi influences.  They have also been around for 12 years already and put out a ton of music in that timeframe with something like 5 albums and some EP's and splits.  This is the new EP.  The first side are two new Wisdom in Chains songs, then the second side are two Product of Waste covers.

Initial Reaction:  The first song, Exodus opens on the slower side of things.  It has some "woah wo-oah" parts and a solo in the middle of it.  The song seems to be about his place in the underground hardcore, punk scene. 

 
Random Thoughts:  The second song rips in and starts out as a much faster song off the bat.  The song slows down after a quick intro.  This is a song of nostalgia, and being fearless in youth.  The two cover songs are by Product of Waste and appear to be a tribute for the singer of that band, who died in an accident last year.  I never got too into Product of Waste, but from the more immediate, faster hardcore sound to these two covers, I think maybe I need to rethink that and go back and check them out.    

Final Reaction:  This was a bit of a teaser for upcoming release later in the year.  It was a pretty standard showing for this band, nothing that made me want to go on a listening binge, although I did go back and listen to Cap City real quick while on their page.  They mix hardcore, punk, and oi pretty well.  I just usually have to be in a mood for this.  Overall, it did enough for me to want to check out the full length later this year.  

Final Grade:  6.5/10

Day 90: Floor - Oblation

Artist:  Floor
Album:  Oblation
Source:  http://pitchfork.com/advance/403-oblation/

Pre-listening Notes:  The first time I heard Floor was on a No Idea Records compilation, with a song being that was a heavy, sludge tune that didn't really separate itself from a lot of the stuff I was listening to back then.  Fast forward about five years later and the next time is another No Idea Records compilation and the song is Scimitar.  This is the first listen of what I found out to be the first track on one of my favorite heavy albums of all time.  Floor self titled is a mix of equal parts heavy, melodic, upbeat tempo, sludgey riffs, and just about everything a metal band could want to put together and it blends it pretty amazingly.  I could not say enough good things about that album and the memories of all the times I've listened to it.  Then they broke up.  With Steve Brooks forming Torche, another awesome band, and Henry Wilson forming Dove, who were completely underrated.  Many years later, a reunion tour took place and it appeared to all the people involved that maybe there was more Floor left in them and a full on reunion was announced last year.  Here is the first, of let's hope many, album to come out.

Initial Reaction:  The album starts out with a promising sludge riff and then the outstanding vocals that came about on the self titled album and continued on into Torche, which treaded more into a poppy metal sound.  The first song, the title track, continues along at a slow pace with a heavy riff topped with sung, repeating vocals to form a nice intro. 

Random Thoughts:  The second song opens more upbeat with a song that sounds similar to an early Torche song, which is where I think Steve Brooks songwriting might have been going before the Floor breakup.  The song may touch a little more on the poppy side of things, but it still has an underlying heaviness to it.  There is some cool heavier breaks towards the end of the song.  Trick Scene opens and separates itself immediately from the poppier sound.  Thick, sludgy guitars that plod along until about the halfway point of the song and it breaks into a doom part.  This song is what I was hoping for from this.  Not that the first two songs were bad, but this one just sounds like classic Floor.  Find Away, which was the second song that was premiered off this album a few months ago, didn't hit me immediately back then.  It has since, with repeated listens, faired a little better over the months.  This is another one, though, that almost has an early Torche sound to it.  The slip a quick, upbeat, instrumental song into the mix before breaking the song New Man, which is a cool driving rhythm to it some quality melodic vocals to it.  The second pre release song, Sister Sophia, is up next.  This song has a similar sound to New Man to it, and was easily my favorite of the three pre release songs that came out.  The Quill, the album's second instrumental track, brings back in some more heaviness to it.  Love Comes Crushing has a slower, more sludge feel to it.  War party is the final pre release song on the album, but was the first taste of new Floor that I had heard in a decade.  Homegoings and Transitions opens with a weird guitar sound and ends with vocals over silence.  The song, Sign of Aeth, which is about nine minutes in length could have been shortened in my eyes.  The album ends on two shorter songs that basically fit in with the album as a whole. 

Final Reaction:  There are elements of what made the self titled Floor album so perfect in this album.  There are also hints that the first few years of Torche material is probably a similar sound to where Floor was going to head had they not broken up a decade ago.  This isn't as heavy as that album, but it still has it's heavy moments.  It's different and with any band that puts out such an amazing album, the follow up is going to be hard.  Then magnify that with the fact that there is a 12 year gap and a whole heaping pile of praise and hype have been layered on top of that timeframe.  I find it hard to believe that this album is going to get a fair shake from most people at first glance, myself included.  I will have to give this repeated listens to really digest everything.  But, on first glance, it's a good Floor record, but not great.  

Final Grade:  7.0/10

Day 89: Kelis - Food

Artist:  Kelis
Album:  Food
Source:  http://www.npr.org/2014/04/08/300284423/first-listen-kelis-food#playlist

Pre-listening Notes:  Kelis will probably always be remembered for the song Milkshake.  Up this point, that is just one song on five pretty well received albums, though, with this being album six for her.  She mixes a R&B, soul, dance, pop, and a hip hop into her music.  Her first two albums were both produced by The Neptunes, but then since she has diversified the production credits a bit on her next three albums.  Now, with this album she has gone back to a single producer, Dave Sitek, who is a founding member and has produced all of the TV on the Radio albums, so I am interested to see the tone of this record.  I am seeing that there is more electronic stuff mentioned for this album and even a trip hop feel.  So, here goes.

Initial Reaction:  The opener, Breakfast, starts off with a nice beat and after an opening segment some horns.  There is some funk influences in this and I'm loving these horns.  Vocally, Kelis sounds great and the sound in the headphones is fantastic, the production on this if great.  Nice upbeat, dancy opener, hope this sets the tone for this album.

Random Thoughts:  The second song, Jerk Ribs, which I think is the first single, opens with some kids talking that kind of meld into a chant to start the song.  This song seems to be a love song to someone.  There are more horns in this.  Also, I think NPR actually mislabeled these first two songs.  There is a line in this song that says "maybe we'll make it to breakfast' in this song, so I'm guessing the first song was Jerk Ribs and this is actually Breakfast.  Either way, both of the two songs have been pretty upbeat and awesome and makes excellent use of the horns that I've mentioned.  I will now mention that all of the instrumentation that is being used on this is pretty great, as I am pretty sure I've heard a violin and maybe some organ in there too.  Floyd slows it down a lot and the soul singer in her comes crashing out.  This is pretty great.  The song, Bless the Telephone starts out with an nice, simple guitar, and has Kelis singing along with a male voice.  I am not sure who it is, but the upon looking it up on the internet, this is apparently a cover by a British musician, Labi Siffre.  Biscuits n' Gravy is another one that uses piano and Kelis's voice in pretty great harmony.

Final Reaction:  This was excellent.  I had sort of lost touch with Kelis over the last couple albums, but this one has brought me right back.  There is no trip hop (as it sounds like that sound was scrapped for a more classic soul sound), but there is a fine blend of soul and R&B, and almost a bit of a indie rock influence in there.  The horns run rampant all over the album, but somehow are not overused and fit in perfectly.  There is a nice variety in tempos and styles to keep this interesting throughout the album.  I would not only listen to this again, I would even consider buying a copy of this.


Final Grade:  9.0/10

Day 88: Death - Death III

Artist:  Death
Album:  Death III
Source:  http://www.npr.org/2014/04/13/300585559/first-listen-death-death-iii

Pre-listening Notes:  This is a compilation from the band Death.  Not the death metal band, Death, but the proto-punk band, Death, from the 70's.  I, like most of the world, had probably never heard of this band before the documentary, A Band Called Death.  They were three brothers from Detroit, who started out playing R&B and moved towards a more rock approach after becoming acquainted with The Who, and other more energetic bands.  They never really were recognized during their time, but have been gaining some attention now (some 40 years later) and have even played some shows over the last few years.  

Initial Reaction:  The first track starts off with some guitar and bass sounds kind of jumbled up, before rolling together into the opening song, which is an instrumental and has a very raw feel to it.  It has a very demoish feel to it.

Random Thoughts:  The second song, North Street, sounds more polished.  This has a very similar vibe to late 60's, early 70's Detroit rock to it.  The comparisions to the MC5 are easily made.  Though they don't sound like a rip off.  I like the vocals, a lot.  There is the raw, soon to be punkish vibe, but there are the more melodic parts too, with cool harmonies.  It was a nice mix.  The third song, Open Road, showcases even more melody.  The song ends a little abruptly on this one, which almost leads me to believe this song may not have been completely finished.  We Are Only People is a bit of a ballad and lyrically seems to try to be a little more philosophical, but then kicks in and rocks a little more towards the end.  I like this half of the song better.  I do like how it was sort of a like a sneak attack in the tempo change.  Restlessness was one of my favorites on this, it had a nice driving drum beat and the guitar and bass fit nicely over it.  The vocals were good and the lyrics had a nice bookended theme to it.  His voice reminds me of Jimi at times.  Free had another demoish feel to it, like it was almost unfinished.  

Final Reaction:  I know that this compilation spans some different time periods and this is the third release for the band, with previous albums probably holding the bulk of the best songs they record.  But, there is some pretty good stuff in here too.  I enjoyed this and this band got overlooked hard when they were around.  The idea of what they could have put out with a little bit of assistance from labels and maybe some quality production work kind of interests me.  I will now go back and listen to the other stuff that has been released, that I have been sleeping on.  

Final Grade:  7.0/10

Day 87: The Afghan Whigs - Do to the Beast

Artist:  The Afghan Whigs
Album:  Do to the Beast
Source:  http://www.npr.org/2014/04/06/297714232/first-listen-the-afghan-whigs-do-to-the-beast

Pre-listening Notes:  I was never a gigantic Afghan Whigs fan, but the album Gentlemen is an outstanding record.  This is the first album the band has put out in the last 16 years, most of which was spent while broken up and with the members working on other bands.  They are an alternative rock band that came started hitting it's stride somewhere around the rise of alternative rock in early to mid 90's.  Take that for what you'd like, but they never quite fit in with that whole scene, at least as I saw it.  They definitely had some punk roots and they were influenced by R&B a little for sure.  Like I said, I was never a huge fan, so I'm not going to be able to go on and on gushing about them here, but maybe this record will make me want to go back and really get into their back catalog more than I have.

Initial Reaction:  After some technical difficulties getting the album up and running, I am now listening.  The album starts off with drums and some sporadic guitars.  Greg Dulli's vocals kick in and it's got a dirty, sexy vibe to the song.  It's got a nice driving rhythm and hits on pretty much all points.  The music is good and Dulli's vocals are strong.  The song is filling the headphones real nicely and I'm glad I chose to listen to it this way.

Random Thoughts:  This has an almost dancey vibe to it.  Or maybe it's not so much a dance vibe as they just write songs that they think people would want to have sex to, that's another feeling I get from it.  The third song, It Kills, starts off with some piano and some mellower singing.  It picks up a little after the intro section, but it's still the most subdued song of the first three.  Dulli has some range vocally on this song, there is a point where he sounds almost like Prince.  Great song.  Algiers, has a bit of a country vibe going on, and the pace is slower, but it's another good song.  At first, I thought the song Lottery might have been the first miss on the album, but all of a sudden, I got a sense of this is awesome.  Royal Cream is another one of the more sexier upbeat songs.  The album ends strong with These Sticks.  Nice driving, slower song.    

Final Reaction:  I don't know if this will hit with the long time fans, but I liked this a lot.  It's got a pretty decent variety to it.  There are upbeat, sexy songs.  There are slow tempo songs that would sound pretty great in an altered state of mind.  The pieces all work well together, which I'm sure has a lot to do with Dulli writing all the songs and for all intents and purposes is a great songwriter.  His voice still sounds great as he is pushing fifty.  I enjoyed each song on this album, including a few that I found myself singing lines to the song after it ended and before the next one began.  It also has done what I had hoped, I now want to go digging deeper into the back catalog.  

Final Grade: 8.5/10

Day 86: Iron Reagan - Spoiled Identity

Artist:  Iron Reagan
Album:  Spoiled Identity EP
Source:  http://ironreagan.bandcamp.com/

Pre-listening Notes:  I didn't listen to this band, for the first time, until the split with Exhumed that I reviewed back in January, which I really liked.  I have since gone and checked out the LP, which I also liked a lot.  It's crossover.  This EP looks like the speed is going to be ramped up a bit, with thirteen songs and only one of them topping a minute and about half of them don't even hit the twenty second mark.

Initial Reaction:  The first song hits hard and fast in about 11 seconds.  Nothing more to say than, it's a ripper.

Random Thoughts:  Even though some songs are only twelve seconds, they don't all just rip through with speed.  Zero Gain starts off slow and throws a little blast of speed in at the very end.  The title track, the previously referenced title track, starts out with a twenty second intro and then comes through with the best song in my eyes.  Your kids an asshole is seven seconds of just letting you know that your kid is, indeed, an asshole over and over.  Cops Don't Like Me, I Don't Like Cops rips through about twenty-five seconds with unrelenting speed.

Final Reaction:  This will tide the world over until the new LP is done, for Relapse.  It's fast, pissed, and pretty awesome.  It comes in at under five minutes, total.  I almost couldn't keep up with comments, because by the time I finished a sentence a new song, with a new ripping idea was raging through.  But, that doesn't mean they don't pack in a bunch of different ideas and it doesn't leave you wanting more.  I'm definitely becoming a fan of this band, fast.  

Final Grade:  8.0/10

Day 85: Off! - Wasted Years

Artist:  Off!
Album:  Wasted Years        
Source:  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/arts/music/pressplay.html?_r=4&

Pre-listening Notes:  Keith Morris is vocally responsible for one of the three best hardcore seven inches of all time, as well as two awesome LP's with the Circle Jerks.  When I heard he was forming Off!, I honestly thought there was no way he was going to be able to pull it off, considering his age.  Then tons of people started raving about the string of EP's that followed and I ignored it.  Then they put out an LP and I ignored it.  Finally, I gave the EP's a listen and it was decent, but I wasn't convinced.  Then I didn't love the first LP and I feel like I'm about the only one not loving this band.  So, here is my final attempt to love this band.

Initial Reaction:  The album opens with the song Void You Out, which is fast, and has that sound similar to the early 80's hardcore scene.  Maybe I was just missing it with previous releases, but this song rips.  I'm still not 100% on Morris's vocals, they are notably weaker than his youth, which is not a surprise considering he is getting close to sixty at this point.  But, overall this might just have the vibe I was hoping this band would have.

Random Thoughts:  I love the idea that only one of sixteen songs come in over two minutes long.  The second song has a creepy crawly breakdown in it.  No Easy Escape opens with some trademark Keith Morris talky part.  If I ignore the fact that his voice just doesn't sound the same, this is pretty decent.  Lyrically, it's got a touch of political, a touch of social injustices, a touch of outcast relating.  So far, this has all been short, fast, and to the point.  The drumming, provided by the great Mario Rubalcaba, is pretty much on point through this whole thing.  I guess for a bunch of old timers, the energy that flows out of this is kind of unreal.  As the songs moved on, I sort of got used to the slightly weaker vocals.  

Final Reaction:  I think I need to revisit the EP's and first LP.  I liked this.  Keith Morris has been doing this for a really long time and still seems to love doing what he is doing, which I can respect.  The music is fast and great.  I got used to the vocals about halfway through the album.  Lyrically, it's punk, but not in a way that it seems weird for a dude in his 50's to be singing.  Modern hardcore and punk bands can learn a lot from Keith Morris and this band.  If someone who has been around since basically the start can still do it and enjoy doing what he is doing, then someone who is young and full of life and energy should have no problems doing it.

Final Grade: 7.0/10

Day 84: Cult Leader - Nothing For Us Here

Artist:  Cult Leader
Album:  Nothing For Us Here
Source:  http://www.slugmag.com/articles/7415/Cult-Leader-ndash-Nothing-For-Us-Here.html

Pre-listening Notes:  Cult Leader is three quarters of Gaza, who put out an extraordinary album in 2012 called No Absolutes in Human Suffering.  That album was brutal and punishing metal that was parts grind, sludge, and hardcore.  This new band is all but the vocalist of Gaza, with the bassist moving to vocals and a new bassist coming in to fill his shoes.  The Deathwish bio says metal, hardcore, punk and compares them to Converge and Coalesce.  Both bands I am fond of.

Initial Reaction:  It opens with feedback and distant vocals.  I'm assuming this is an intro, as it is only about a minute and a half long.  The vocals sound strained and seem to be pissed off about God and there being nothing for us here.

Random Thoughts:  Alright, so Flightless Birds kicks in and I can see the comparisons to Coalesce, it is sort of an extension of Gaza, but still different.  It's got sludgy parts, faster almost blasty parts, and the vocals are very Sean Ingramish.  It reminds me a lot of Premonitions of War, as well, which makes sense because they were heavily influenced by Coalesce.  The contrasting more screamy vocals that accompany the end part with the growls of the main vocalist are pretty cool.  The next song, Mongrel, kicks in with the more screamy vocals over a guitar riff, reminds me a little of Trap Them, then the bass and drums kick in.  The songs all seem to be of the shorter variety, in the two to three minute range.  The fourth song, Indoctrinator's Deathbed is the best, so far.  The closing track, comes in at six minutes long, slows things down considerably.

Final Reaction:  This is something I would have eaten up in the late 90's, early 2000's.  Similarly to Gaza, there are definite comparisons to the bands that blended metal and hardcore in ways that I loved a lot back in those days.  However, there is just something missing from this that would send me into the realm of "gotta buy this, gotta see them, gotta buy merch".  To the best of my knowledge, very few bands are playing this style these days.  It's got a lot of parts that I like and I'd be interested to see where they go next.  While this may have just fallen a little short of what I was hoping for, I could see a few tweaks getting this to the point of something I would get all excited for.

Final Grade: 7.0/10

Day 83: Swans - To Be Kind

Artist:  Swans
Album:  To Be Kind
Source:  It's a secret

Pre-listening Notes:  Swans are a tough band to describe.  They were around for 15 years originally, then reunited about 4 years ago, so they are coming close to being a band for 20 years, although they started over 30 years ago.  I didn't get into them until during the breakup.  I started just checking them out because I saw a bunch of bands, and musicians, that I liked name checking them.  This is album thirteen total and the third since reuniting.  The last one, The Seer, was one of my favorites from 2012.  It's post everything (rock/punk/no wave/experimental/art rock/whatever) and it's all those things at the same time.  It takes some focus to really enjoy, but once you do, you can put it on and just kind of let it wash over you.  This is broken down into two discs, with five songs each.  The shortest song is five minutes long and the longest is about thirty four.  I'm going to give this a whirl with headphones on.    

Initial Reaction:  It starts off with an intro of bass, drums, and a little synthesizer.  The vocals kick in and the song plods along adding in some guitar and piano.  The song is giving me a sense of anticipation.  There is some chaos to the song towards the back end adding some additional instrumentation and hitting that point I was anticipating.  That was a nice build up to the ending.  So far, one for one on songs.

Random Thoughts:  Nice stoned out feel to the start of this second song.  Nice and minimal, with some parts where Michael Gira going off vocally.  The laughter part sounded pretty neat in my headphones.  As it plods along, it starts to intensify in parts, with some other sound effects popping in along with more instances of the laughter parts.  The song has a definite bluesy feel to it, which makes sense considering the title references Chester Burnett, also known as Howlin' Wolf, a fairly prominent blues musician.  Track three, A Little God in My Hands, kicks in with a funky, upbeat intro.  A decent contrast to the downer feel of the previous song.  Nice break into a chaotic noise part and then back to the rhythm of the opening part again. The layers of sound at the end of this song are exploding through the headphones and I am loving this.  The next song, or what appears to be two songs combined, name checks the man who lead the revolution that created the independent state of Haiti (I didn't know that off the top of my head, I had to look it up).  It's thirty four minutes long and starts off with some heavy drumming and a droney guitar riff.  It then drops down to a slow, droney pace again, with another anticipation build up.  Then about nine minutes into this song, it hits me hard.  This is excellent!  The second song in this piece starts off with more of the experimental side, with Michael Gira just yelling Toussaint L'Ouverture's name and it ends with a noisey, chaotic part.  The final track on disc one is a song called Some Things We Do, which is very minimal musically and vocally it is just a list of, quite literally, things that human beings do.  And on to disc two.  She Loves Us! picks right up and has a similar vibe to some songs on disc one.  It's got the droney parts, mixed with more spastic parts, and also contains the lyrics "fuck" and "Hallelujah" probably close to 100 times each.  Oxygen starts with fuzzed out guitar and then kicks in with a nice faster paced song.  With only two more songs, Oxygen has been my favorite of the songs, so far.  And the album ends on the title track.  Which opens with very sparse music, which is mostly piano, and vocals.  It kicks in about the five minute mark and ends chaotically.

Final Reaction:  This band is not for everyone, that's for sure.  For me, this was pretty great, though.  Listening the first time through headphones was a great idea.  In the future, I can see me probably only listening to one disc at a time, as two full hours of this got a little tough to digest towards the end.  This is all over the map, but it has a definite underlying tone and theme that stays throughout all ten songs.  I started to lose a little focus towards the end.  This fell a little short of what The Seer did for me, but ultimately it's definitely something I'll come back to.  

Final Grade: 8.5/10