Song of the Week: Catalina

Catalina - The Descendants - Milo Goes to College

The Descendants are punk. It's simple, quick, has plenty of attitude but never sacrifices having fun. That being said I really like it because although I respect how "punk" it is to me it sounds like hairy rock and roll to me, and absolutely I love it. It has angst, rhythm, speed, rebellion all things I associate with rock and roll, and love in this song. From a more technical standpoint I love their rhythm section and how they put their bass so far forward in the mix, it just gives the sound a fullness and hairiness that goes well with the scratchy guitars.

Song Here

Song of the Week: Wicker - Clutch

Wicker - Clutch - Pitchfork EP

Clutch is personally one of my favorite band, their self titled album is something I can listen to again and again, the whole way through. I love their sound tone, lyrics, and dynamics, all of which point to an insane sound especially in their earlier albums. Wicker has guitar tones that wash over you in distorted waves before switching to a choppy off beat riff for the verses of the song. The actual lyrics are contradictions and riddles, they're full of idioms and wordplay confusing meaning. I love it.

Midnight Special: Six Pack

Six Pack - Black Flag - Damaged

A good friend of mine first showed me Black Flag's album Damaged and this was the first song off that album to stick with me, most likely because of its opening bass line. To me Henry Rollins seems like an unnecessarily angry man, and a really poor comedian (Right here. Being angry and loud doesn't make you funny, it makes you an asshole.) but I do like some of his aggression and delivery. All in all well worth the two and half minutes.


Song: Here

Song of the Week: You Know Your Right

You Know Your Right - Nirvana - Nirvana

Looks like part of my musical brain is still stuck in the nineties. Kyuss, Mudhoney, Earth, The Melvins, and now Nirvana by far and away the most well known of the group. Much like all the aforementioned bands it's absolutely brimming with attitude, but also with changing dynamics. Going from that soft eerie bass oriented sound with weird guitar over to for the verse, to a full on angry scratchy distorted riff for the chorus only reinforces the moody and unbalanced tone of the song. As an aside, I really like Dave Grohl on the drums.

Song: Here

March Madness Album Review: Blues For The Red Sun - Kyuss

Blues For The Red Sun - Kyuss

This just has to be one of my personal favorite albums of all time. It passes any test I put it to. I can listen to it all the way through without being bored or a song at a time randomly and out of context (like when my ipods on shuffle). I've been listening to it for about a year and a half now and it hasn't worn out, and any part of any song I listen to (be it instruments or even moments) I find something memorable or new to enjoy. It is not, however, something I would go around handing out to people on the street. It's not that its the heaviest thing I've ever heard (or that the band produced) or the weirdest or least accessible, it's just takes a certain taste. I'd say if you liked some of the heavier Queens of the Stone Age, or aggressive bass heavy hard rock, give it a try. On to the review.

This music is absolutely mad for starters. Whether its in the slowed down form of Molten Universe (reminds me of Electric Funeral) or the hyped up 50 Million Year Trip, which in addition to being two great drugged out song names also form one of the greatest one two punches an album can offer. As I mentioned in my review of 50 Million Year Trip a while ago, it could be at any moment my favorite song of all time, the last two or three minutes are just amazing. That song is also a good example of some of the range the band has in sound, soft and light to dark and heavy while still being a little "mad" and out there. This album is just so unique; it almost sounds like the blues (Thong Song), it has bass lines (Freedom Run go to about 1:29 for actual song start), drums (Apothecaries Weight), a two minute song that isn't just filler (Caterpiller March), another two minute song that isn't just filler (800) a less than one minute song that still doesn't sound like just filler (Capsized), and dirty guitars (Green Machine). Any of those songs have the qualities of the others listed (For the time ones, lets just say its the quality of "not filler"), all have interesting drum, bass, guitar, and serve a purpose in the album. The small songs for example, aren't put next to one another in the album, because they act as transition pieces, instrumentals that can give context and flavor to the songs before them and after them. These small songs are done so well though, that I don't mind hearing them on their own. This album simply does it all, and its all mad. Freedom Run? Its intro and jam quality makes it mad standard. Apothocaries weight? Swirling guitars and non stop drumrolls: mad. Green Machine -> Angry -> Mad.

In the above review there were only two songs off that album and one bonus track that didnt get above. 1. Writhe Its not even a bad song. It's just one that didnt stand out as much as the others did. 2. Mondo Generator The clunker song of the album written by the bassist (Classic!). That one actually gets interesting once the vocals drop out at 3:25. Oh and the bonus...YEAH!

March Madness: High on Fire

I figured I'd do my own version of March Madness with a couple of posts during this month about some "mad" music. First up is High on Fire.

High on Fire was founded by Matt Pike the guitarist of Sleep after they broke up in 1995 due to their inability to get their single track, hour long, album appropriately called Dopesmoker released in it's entirety. The new band Matt Pike created took the same sludgy, heavy sound and sped it up a bit putting in wilder drums, faster guitar parts and more manic solo's. Personally I think there's a big difference between the earlier High on Fire and the newer stuff, and I really prefer the older. The earlier seems a little grittier, more rhythm and riff oriented and less about showing off how fast you can play that guitar solo without feeling. Old or new however, High on Fire definitely earn a spot in the "March Madness" tournament with their reckless tone, and low pummeling sound.

Some choice songs:

Hung Drawn and Quartered

Rumors of War

Live Performace Special: Night Goat - The Melvins

In trying to pick out a song for this segment, I wasn't just looking for a song that was good live, but was better than the studio version, and I think Night Goat achieves that. On the album Houdini it was a thundering heavy track, and live (with the addition of Joe Preston on bass and an extra drummer) it's dynamics are much more enunciated as it begins with sequels of feed back before a throbbing bass line enters. Add on almost operetic vocals that did not quite come out on the original and you have a song that went from good n' gritty to Pure, Rumbling, Four-Horsemen-Are-Coming, Rock and Roll. Lyrically speaking the line "I can make your teeth grind" sums up perfectly the live performance of this song.

Performance: Here