Rock Star Journalist

Uncut – “Modern Currencies”
(Paper Bag)

Uncut share a name and logo with the British entertainment magazine. The band pretty much jumps around stylistically, covering as much territory musically over the course of Modern Currencies as the magazine does over the course of an issue. There’s guitar noodling from Dinosaur Jr and vocal delivery from Bob Mould and Ian Curtis. It comes close to ripping off both Joy Division and every artist covered in Our Band Could Be Your Life – especially the dancy ones.

The whole of it is pretty middle-of-the-road, though: everything is all right, ok, or perfunctory – nothing jumps out and grabs the listener’s interest. The only time the album ever gets interesting is on the loud, herky-jerky “These Times.” Past that, it’s indie rock by the numbers. Uncut might actually want to tone down the rip-off act and see about trying something of their own.

“These Times“

Big Attack – “Big Attack”
(M-26-7 Music)

Big Attack is punky, with a touch of ska and reggae rhythm. The lead singer’s voice is informed by Avail’s rock, Rancid’s slur, and Hot Water Music’s declamatory style. It’s politically informed – animal rights, worker’s rights, and anti war, in Against Me!’s style of lyricism, but with a musical style that lies somewhere in the wastelands that border the GC5’s rock ‘n’ roll / oi! (a la the Hudson Falcons), the melodic hardcore of None More Black, and the sing along of the Explosion. It’s a hodgepodge, to be sure – “Moneylender” is kinda rockabilly, while “First Son” delves into Mission of Burma sketchiness.

Everything is good, but can easily be traced to its influences. Each song, you can listen to it and say, “Oh, there’s the hardcore bro-hymn sing-along part that they borrowed from Pennywise” or “that’s the nuevo-psychobilly thing that Tiger Army does.” I mean, seriously… there’s no way to describe Big Attack without mentioning at least five or six other bands.

There comes a time as a critic when you’ve heard so much music that something has to blend its influences seamlessly and amazingly to really make a positive “wow” result. Playing “spot where they lifted the riff / vocal style / drum fill / etc.” gets old after three or four hundred cds.

“First Son”
“Cold Hearts”
“Do The Things You Want Come In Boxes?”
“Keep us Apart!“

Turbo Fruits - “Turbo Fruits”
(Ecstatic Peace)

Featuring the guitarist and drummer of Be Your Own Pet, Turbo Fruits play fun – dumb fun – dirty rock. It’s very fresh and improvised sounding, kind of like they wrote the songs on Monday, practiced on Tuesday, and recorded on Wednesday.

There’s a lot of MC5 / Stooges influence on this record. As a matter of fact, a nice cover of the MC5’s “Ramblin’ Rose” caps off the record as the second-to-last track. It’s a fun and simple record. For the most part, however, it just sounds like someone gave the Black Keys a whole helluva lot of speed - but, y’know… in a good way.

“Know Too Much”
“Pockets Full of Thistles“

One of the earliest posts ever done here at Rock Star Journalist was this one about Rob Schrab from over two years ago. In it, I made reference to the sketch comedy troup called the Dead Alewives Schrab had been in years ago before “Going Hollywood.”

Well, thanks to a random discovery in my stacks of CD-Rs, I’ve got the very out of print album recorded by the Dead Alewives, Take Down the Grand Master. This is seriously funny sketch comedy. Usually, the sort of stuff presented here gets relegated to interstitial material on most stand-up discs. This is all quality, though.

As I mentioned a couple years ago, the Dead Alewives are best known for the “Dungeons and Dragons” sketch that’s been YouTube’d to death. Just a personal note - “Answering Machine” is what I heard first, and it’s even funnier than “D&D.” The whole album is near-perfect comedy, and the only thing bad is that there wasn’t ever another. So, download the damn thing and listen to Schrab and Monster House co-writer Dan Harmon (as well a slew of other talented folks from Milwaukee) before they got famous.

Track listing:
1. Talk Show
2. Mama Rap
3. Stay Put
4. Ray Bradbury
5. Marshall Brodean
6. Answering Machine
7. Water Out of the Toilet
8. Beaver Hunt (missing)
9. Tony Curtis
10. Dungeons and Dragons
11. Total Recallin’
12. Jazz Chat
13. Hearing Problem
14. The Date
15. Iron Man
16. Headache

Since “Beaver Hunt” is missing (I could never fucking track it down), I’ve included all the mp3s I downloaded from their now long gone website. The Captain Jerk material is masturbatory comedy cold, and the rarely heard sequel to “Dungeons and Dragons” is good for a chortle. “McGregor’s Kilts” is probably the best of all the bonus stuff, however. Better Scottish impersonations and humor than Mike Meyers could ever hope for.

Bonus Tracks:
Air Traffic Control
Captain Jerk Episode 1
Captain Jerk Valentine’s Special
Dungeons and Dragons Part II
Horror Scopes
Hot Lawyers
McGregor’s Kilts

Download Take Down the Grand Master

“Dungeons and Dragons”
“Dungeons and Dragons Part II“

This download is for Craig, Sarah, Sean, Chelsea, Paul, the Annex cats, the Nuthouse cats, my bosses, my coworkers, Astrokitty Comics and the Space Pussy kickball team, as well as everyone who’s helped out my wife and I throughout our whole hospital bill troubles and surgeries. You guys kept us in good spirits when we could have been really depressed, so here’s a lot of laughs as a token of my appreciation. If you’d still like to help, please click the donation button below. We’re in the hole a LOT.

Titan – “A Raining Sun of Light and Love, For You and You and You…”
(Tee Pee Records)

When I put Titan’s album on, I at first thought it was very much stoner rock. Then I thought the first track sounded an awful lot like Ween’s “Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy).” Then it started getting weird. The whole album’s like that, really. There are only four tracks on the disc, but they are epic prog-psych soundscapes.

There’s swirling, echo-y guitars that go from drone to feedback-drenched distortion, vocals that swim in and out of the mix, and rhythms that build into cathartic release. Basically, Titan is the sort of band that puts out albums that are totally meant for headphones and hallucinogenic drugs. It’s not surprising to find that this is the band’s first proper release after several sub-underground CD-R independent releases. Titan is the sort of band that will never get huge, but they’ll certainly have a loyal following - which they deserve, 100%.

“Annals of the Former World”

Ween - “Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)” (live)

The Magic Numbers – “Those the Brokes”
(Astralwerks)

The Magic Numbers’ first album had all sorts of blogs and magazines all agog about their style of pretty guitar pop. And, really, it is darned pretty. The harmonies between Romeo, Michele, and Angela are gorgeous. However, Those The Brokes is very sedate. Rolicking is never going to be a word to describe the Magic Numbers.

While “Undecided” has a slightly bluesy feel to it, most of the album is just a little too much like Coldplay. Even with the male / female vocals, and the fact that the band skews a little more Beatles-esque than orchestral, the Magic Numbers are the only band I’ve ever heard that come close to matching Chris Martin and company’s soporific nature

“Undecided“

Bob Burns & the Breakups – “Terminal Breakdown”
(Gearhead Records)

Oh, boy! More full-on garage snottiness coming down the pipes is always a good thing. It’s kind of like listening to the New Bomb Turks, or Zeke without the anger, or the Dwarves without the pedophilia fixation. Terminal Breakdown is fast, it’s loud, and it’s got a cocksure swagger. Bob Burns & the Breakups have this sound down, and know what to do with it.

It’s a sound that every band on the label’s roster takes and processes through their own filter. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Soldiers took it and added James Brown screams and a little T. Rex swagger, whereas Bob Burns & the Breakups have taken that basic sound, added Dickies style snottiness, and revved it up like the Buzzcocks.

It’s fucking Gearhead, basically. The “Epitaph sound” used to be So-Cal punk. You could pick up any Epitaph release in the early ‘90s and have a pretty good idea of what you were going to get, even if you’d never heard of the band. The “Gearhead sound” is pretty much the same – you know that when you see the crossed flags, you’re going to get fast, punked-up rock ‘n’ roll with occasional nods to ‘70s-era cock rock via screaming guitar solos.

“Silent Treatment“

The Born Again Floozies – “7 Deadly Sinners”
(Triple R Records)

Devotchka, Tilly & the Wall and the White Ghost Shivers have has a three-way love child. There’s tap dancing, lots of tuba, and tons of terrific fun in the Born Again Floozies - basically, it’s cabaret punk.. The band makes me feel like I should be listening to 7 Deadly Sinners while I sip a cocktail and unbutton the sleeves on a fancy collared shirt. It’s made it cool to dress like a gypsy or member of the touring company of Cabaret. Days of wine and absinthe and all that… still, it all starts to sound like somebody’s playing a Django Reinhardt album concurrently with the Squirrel Nut Zippers after a while.

Now, the band (at times) veers ever-so-slightly into Balkan, Gogol Bordello-ish tunes, but for the most part sticks to a ragtime meets indie rock sound. It makes me think of expensive, unfiltered cigarettes. Those cigarettes are very strong, have a very specific flavor, and you’ve got to be acclimated to their taste. Bands like the Born Again Floozies are very much the same – either you like them (or the bands mentioned above, or the Dresden Dolls, or whatever), or you find them icky and terribly pretentious.

“Born Again Floozies Theme“

My radio show, Sunglasses After Dark (Fridays, 10pm-midnight Central on KJHK 90.7FM) presented three local bands at the Jackpot here in Lawrence last night. I only started booking shows back in September of last year, but I’ve learned that every show has one issue or another, or something goes horribly awry - be it a band that cancels, or someone showing up late, etc.

Well, every show except this one. All the bands showed up on time, nobody pissed off another band, there were no equipment failures, and basically, the show just ran like fucking clockwork. It was nice.

Young Livers from Kansas City opened the show with an energetic st of cowpunk and rockabilly. Frontman Jody knew how to rock the mic and keep the energy level going. An especially nice touch was his stepping off to the side and combing down his pompadour during an instrumental break - definitely cool. Drummer Allister was twirling her sticks like Peter Criss while Ryan and Tripp rocked out on bass and guitar, respectively. A well-done cover of the Misfits‘ “Hollywood Babylon” just ended up being the cherry on a great kickoff to the evening. (Young Livers pictures here)

Also from Kansas City, the Rich Boys took the stage second. Rocking the stage like a band possessed, the group knocked out dirty rock song after dirty rock song with howling energy. Fantastic, and yet another reason why the KC rock scene could use some national attention. These guys are up for “Best New Band” in the Pitch Awards this year. You should go vote for them. (the Rich Boys pictures here)

Last up was Lawrence’s own the Havok On Polaris. It’s a testament to the talent of these pop-punkers that they held their own after two high energy groups of out-of-towners. After two sets of gritty rock, the melodic stylings of this three-piece was a really nice change of pace. There were tons of kids up front for their set, since they were shooting for a forthcoming dvd. The band didn’t miss a note, beat, or lyric the entire set, and it was like going back to Gee Coffee or an all-ages Bottleneck matinée ten years ago… man, I miss pop-punk. Big ups for the “Maneater” and “Linoleum” covers, as well - Hall & Oates and NOFX in the same set is certainly diverse (and fun). (the Havok On Polaris pictures here)

Thanks to all three bands for playing. It was fun, easy, and everybody there seemed to have a whole lot of fun. I didn’t see one bored or upset face the entire evening, the bands all went home with some money in their pockets, and I managed to make it through the evening without drinking. I think it was a success.

the Misfits - “Hollywood Babylon”
Hall & Oates - “Maneater”
NOFX - “Linoleum“

Ah, so I got bored sitting around this morning. So, we’ve got a downloadable comp for you here. All the songs are totally legal, and therefor you can download the whole thing and not feel guilty at all. Enjoy, kids. It’s amazing what you can find online if you’re willing to poke around for a little bit.

Yay for guilt-free freebies!

1. the Aggrolites - “Funky Fire”
2. the Vicious - “Sanity”
3. Career Suicide - “Saving Face”
4. Snuff - “Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?”
5. Big D & the Kids Table - “Myself”
6. Rancid - “Rejected”
7. the Bouncing Souls - “Quick Chek Girl”
8. Sick of It All - “Take the Night Off”
9. the Vandals - “Go”
10. Propagandhi - “Back to the Motor League”
11. Naked Raygun - “When the Walls Come Down”
12. the Tossers - “The Crutch”
13. Angel City Outcasts - “I’m An ACO”