Jake's Short Reviews #18
Posted 07/25/2012 09:12AM by Jake Oliver as Article
Horseback — Half Blood
While you might be tempted to bypass Half Blood because of the sheer volume of Horseback material produced (I think three releases this year?), you would also be doing yourself a disservice by ignoring this rather curious but very enjoyable offering that channels a kind of post-blackened-Appalachian-psych-doom-thing. Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Madball — Rebellion
Another release and Madball continues to find a way to remain vital. Freddy’s as pissed as ever, with his trademark undercurrent of resilience and hope painting the lyrics, while the rest of the band stays fat as a yo-yo dieter on the upswing. As far as recent releases go I would put this somewhere between the excellent Infiltrate the System and the solid-if-unspectacular Empire. Rating: 3.75/5 Stars (That’s right, I’m doing the cop-out thing again with quarter-stars)
Lita Ford — Living Like a Runaway
Living Like a Runaway does a lot of work to undo the bloated mess that was Wicked Wonderland, her first new studio material in a decade-and-a-half. Ford strips things down somewhat and does her best to recall the vintage material that helped make her a living legend. The take-away here is simple, though: she still looks good, and she can still snarl with the best, but chasing former glories doesn’t always produce the liveliest material. Rating: 3/5 Stars
Maximum RNR — The Black and White Years
Messy yet somehow still nondescript punk rock. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Rating: 2/5 Stars
Sleigh Bells — Reign of Terror
I’m conflicted here, because for all intents and purposes I should absolutely loathe this album. Everything about this band is bullshit and contrived, from their faux-“alternative look” masking blatantly dumb pop to their over-hyped appearances on the festival circuit. But fuck can this thing be catchy. Rating: 3/5 Stars
The Love Below — Every Tongue Shall Caress
Not an OutKast tribute band (disappointingly?), but purveyors of the kind of Holy Terror hardcore I am usually head-over-heels for. In this instance, however, the vocals are nowhere near powerful enough to convey the sense of rage and despair critical to this kind of aesthetic, and the instrumentals fail to transcend the derivative. Meh. Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Shaped By Fate — I Fear the World Has Changed
Also exceedingly negative like the release above, but the difference here is that these Welshmen remain firmly on their A-game. Continuing the sprawling metalcore template a la Johnny Truant found on their debut The Unbeliever, Shaped By Fate carries the torch for a dying genre with two shits not given for trends or a generally even content outlook (“The End is Fucking Nigh,” “Funeral Gloom,” etc). Nasty, bleak, foreboding…yes, please. Rating: 4/5 Stars
Burning Love — Rotten Thing to Say
There are a ton of bands doing this rock/punk/hardcore hybrid right now ( Coliseum, Cancer Bats, etc), but Burning Love makes a fine case to be included in your first breath with Rotten Thing to Say, a filthy bastard child that impels beers to be shot-gunned and pentagrams to be torched into earth. Or something. Rating: 4/5 Stars
Vayizaku — We'll Always Remember
I simply could not get into this one. It was like a second-rate Millencolin with piano. Yeah… Rating: 2/5 Stars
xLooking Forwardx — Down With the Ship
I was all set to write this one off for being run-of-the-mill…until I was completely won over by the band’s exuberant and unabashed straight-edge jams. The generic first thirty seconds notwithstanding (this would be the seemingly requisite “Intro”), Down With the Ship is an honest-to-God blast with no posturing or shameless pandering. There just aren’t enough bands out there making hardcore like this. Apparently these guys have been around for awhile but this was my first experience with them, and what a first time it was. Rating: 4/5 Stars
Comments
Minnesota
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Olympia, Washington
i'll be checking out Shaped By Fate, since you mentioned one of the most underrated bands, Johnny Truant, in their write-up.
Lehigh Valley, PA
How in God's name have you never heard of xLooking Forwardx before?!?!?!?!
This album was a big deal. It was their first album back after a loooooooong hiatus.
Wales
That's probably why. Obviously I'm gonna go peep their other shit. Hopefully it's just as good. From the sounds of it, it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLF9Cm4E15E
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