You Mean You've Never Heard Of...? (Bass Drum Of Death)

2000 saw the rebirth of rock in roll in the indie scene by using the "everything old is new again". And while post-punk and post-rock have got plenty of indie bands with an all new college radio sound (to put in in perspective remember there was a time when Collective Soul was considered college radio rock), no genera has had more loved shown to it then classic bluesy, rock n' roll. Lead by The White Stripes, everyone and there mother seems to be trying for the "stripped-down, raw effect" in music. The more low-fi the sound the better. The trouble with this is, that like many musical trends before, great artists are always followed by a wave of inferior acts, who at best are at least being honest (if terrible) and at worst are looking for a record deal and it shows. Vain, insecure musicians looking for public acclaim as the "next not-big thing" in indie music? Who knew?

But that's where Bass Drum Of Death come in. I'll be honest, I was original purely into them because of their awesome band name. But I learned that they were 1) a two-piece and 2) Their first LP, GB City , was recorded by only one of them in a basement with cheap recording equipment onto a a flash drive. There's a joke in there somewhere. Oh yeah and they sound AMAZING.

Sounds Like: Bass Drum Of Death bring the noise. Oh mother do they bring it. These two guys jam like there's no tomorrow and are defiintly channeling the White Stripes at some points. But while Jack White was in love with Mississippi River Delta Blues, Bass Drum Of Death (products of their generation) channel the sounds of an angry grunge fulled orgy. Think Sonic Youth meets Nirvana with some wall pounding garage rock thrown in. Bass Drum Of Death sound like a garage band should sound; young, rude, and loud.

New Van Halen: Or How I Learned To Stop Whining And Love The Fact They're Still Aorund.

I'm torn about how I feel about Van Halen  announcing not only a tour (With David Lee Roth no less), but also a new album. The tour sounds incredible and anyone who think Van Halen isn't a great touring band anymore is...well they probably have a point. fact is, we all get old kids. And you can't expect ol'd Diamond Dave to do the splits like he use to. But they're a damn sight better live now and days then pretty much ever single other hack hair metal band to try to stage a 'comeback'. Van Halen at the very least knows how to keep it real. They're not deluding themselves. None of them thought they would be alive to see 2012 with the decisions in life they made and they live for the moment. With the exception of Wolfgang "Eddie Van Halen's my dad so shut up" Van Halen, who if he didn't expect to see 2012 speaks volumes about how much Eddie fails as a father.

But my meandering aside, they are doing this not because they think for a second Van Halen's gonna "come back" and the world can pretend hair metal is suddenly okay along side Lady Gaga and Adele. But because they genuinely want too. It's callous and easy to think "Oh looks like Eddie needs another home" or "Dave, really? Coke at your age?" But think about it. 1984 was a commercial hit. Everyone in the band is pretty much set for life. And they are getting old. If you new that all you had to do was stay home and you'd be well off why would you ever risk personal injury trying to recapture the past? Only if you truly loved what you did, love your fans, or are just plain crazy.

Of course in Dave's case it might be all three

Van Halen are going on a monster tour because they WANT to go on a monster tour. And me, I'm glad I get to live to see it. Ant d that it's not Sammy Hagar. But what about new Van Halen? Can they possible write new material? Does anyone want new Van Halen? The answer to those questions in order: They did and a new album is schedule for a late Spring releasing by them. They have a plethora of hits to dig into and just play and play. They don't need to be writing new songs And honestly? No. Not really. Van Halen are a band that everyone knows at least one or two songs and frankly most of us would prefer they didn't. The fact is, they are very different people now then they were in the 80's.

See? There wearing sunglasses now! And Michael looks a lot like some punk kid who just got lucky!

Okay so they're exactly the same and it's the world which has changed. But the fact remains; new Van Halen is Old Van Halen and if Van Halen just started as a band today there's no way in hell they'd be hitting the top 40. Music trends change, and van Halen's left long ago. Unless they suddenly release a finely crafted pop music video with David Lee Roth in in outrageous costumes with a hint of social commentary...

Moving on...

No one would want to here it. We listen to Van Halen because they SOUND like Van Halen. And it's a good if unchanging sound. You're not evolving it. So why just add more? "Aha! So it must be a cash garb!" says the hipster cynic. Yes, continue making fun of the silly old men making music, and hope you die before you get old. 

No one is denying that a tour and making an album would make them money. But back to my earlier point, money really isn't the issue. Maybe Eddie misses the music. Maybe Dave misses the spotlight. Maybe Alex misses being ignored but amazing. Maybe Wolfgang misses being in school. And maybe, just maybe they're surprised that they still have fans and wanna do something for them. Maturity? In Van Halen? It could happen.

So now without further ado, the new Van Halen song "Tattoo". With a music video of a couple of guys who may be old, and may not have the chops they use too. But that's not gonna stop them from having the time of their lives.

The Man Who Would Be Thom Yorke

Just listen to this:

What's that you ask? Let it fill your ears. This is what some kid with way to much free time happened to find one day; an unreleased "Bends" era Radiohead track. So far, no part of this story is confusing. Radiohead seem like the kind of band that for all their innovation, sure seem to have an awful lot of stuff that they don't release but then totaly do. The only hiccups really are the fact that this sounds disticvely like a "Bends" era track (which is better rare in the day and age of Radiohead recording impossibly boring innovated music). And the fact that NME decided to publish a story that had nothing to do with Noel Gallagher. Oh snap!

But here's the twist. It's not really Thom Yorke. And in fact, it's not even Radiohead. This awesome, beautiful, tune is actually the work of this guy.

Either a werewolf or Canadian. Could go either way really.

Yes, it would seem that we would have to thank Canada for this one. Christopher Stopa, like so many before, had the idea that he wanted to be a musician and hammered out this track sometime after either the best sex or the best high of his life. Quickly realizing it was all downhill from here and having a crippling fear of success, he quietly canned his music carer before it started, embracing his true love; baking

Leaving us all to wonder if only other artist could be so generous.

I've had a love hate relationship with Radiohead for years. And I'll be the first to admit that I really haven't liked anything they've done since OK Computer. That album was a nice sign of things to come. Becoming more and more "intellectual" while slowly killing any emotion there earlier music had. That's a discussion for another time. The point I'm trying to make is, this hoax did something no amount of pretentiousness, ambitous album relases or boring inspires live shows could do; made me remember how much I use to love Radiohead. And to think, it only took a Canadian to remind me of that.

You've still got a long way to go till we're even close to being even Canada.

And I leave you with this. I figure with all this talk of Radiohead, it would be a bit ass-backward to not feature any real Radiohead. Track 1 off The Bends

Album Review: Skillet (Debut Album)

Ahh, Christian Rock. Never before has there been anything as divisive as it. Ranging from decent at best to cheesy, awful at worst, there seems to be no middle ground as far as the fans are concerned; You either love it or you don;t. But here are the facts. 1) Whether or not you hate Christian rock, tends to have a little to do with the music, and alot to do with how you feel about Christianity (or at least, how's interpreted) and 2) Christian Rock is a very, very, VERY lucrative market. It's a miracle (pun totally intended) what adding a little Jesus to your lyrics can do with album sales. But even the most ardent believer can admit that this probably has alot less to do with the magic of the lord and lot more to do with the magic of having a fan base for which music is mostly secondary. Simple put, Christian Rock is popular for being Christian that happens to rock, and not the other way around.

Obvious brick out of the way, what does this mean for Skillet? Filling in the vacuum left by Creed after a certain Scott Stapp found a way to torpedo a meal ticket in ways no one thought possible (and frankly a vacuum nobody thought needed to be filled) Skillet arose on the scene to give those youth something to raise hell have good clean fun to. Skillet these days is really more known for it's anvilicious lyrics (They love them some Jesus), average to appalling vocals, and setting the bar for the most middle-of-the-road/generic as hell rock and roll this side The Niaggra. But shockingly enough, a quick trip to wikipedia (and finding the unicorn that is a Skillet fan over 25) revels that not only has their sound changed drastically, but so has their lineup. For instance did you know Skillet was a 3 piece band upon inception? And they sorta didn't suck such a fat one? Let the learning begin!

Skillet features John Cooper on bass, piano and (laughs)..ahem. Vocals. Trey McClurkin on drums and backing vocals, and Ken Steorts on guitar, backing vocals, and something called a "guitar synth". No I didn't make up those names, and no I can't tell you where the hell those other two guys are. But Skillet the three piece, channel a very much Nirvana inspired sound on this album. Maybe it's just my weakness for grunge, but after gritting my teeth and pushing play, I was pleasnty surprised. Is it good grunge? No. But it's far more passable then one would give Skillet credit for.

Hear you quickly learn that the Jesus loving was never a gimmick they threw on later, but was as strong at the beginning as it ever was. Which at the very least makes Skillet an honest band. But you can't say the same thing about the lyrics which are just clumsy as hell. Granted with awkward song titles such as "Truth Blender" and "My Beautiful Robe" you don't exactly expect poetry. But here, the lyrics don't even sound cheesy and forced (as they would soon become later in their carer) they just sound BAD. It can be argued all day long which approach is better.

Thankfully as instrumentation goes, this really isn't a half-bad album. John can't sing worth a damn but for this kind of music, it actually sort of works. One badly wishes he could pull of a half-decent Cobain impression to bury the lyrics (have I mentioned the lyrics are bad?) but odds are he'd find a way to screw that up, so might as well cut losses. The drums are perfectly average (and there is nothing wrong with this) but the stand out on this album by far is Ken "That's my real last name" Steorts. The music stays heavy and catchy, riff after riff. And there's even some creative flairs with that "guitar synth" that geunely surprise in songs like "Paint" and "Boundaries". Ken left the band after the sophomore album, ending the possibility of Skillet sounding like anything but generic post-grunge and this album and their follow-up Hey You, I Love Your Soul (and the prize for most cringe worthy album title goes to..!) remain what-could-have-beens.

So Skillet went on to tweak their sound, add a few new members, and slowly kill any originality they might have had. And that's probably the greatest tragedy. Skillet has no fans who defend (and in most cases are even aware) of their earlier work. And people who didn't like Skillet to begin with (being played on the radio and being apologetically Christian) aren't likely to ever care. So who is this album for? Just the odd duck who happens to like listing to music and not reviews (and on occasion common sense)

Final Score: 6 out of 10 


It's better then you think.

You Mean You Haven't Heard Of?.... (Sleeper Agent)

A few years back a little band from a land time forgot (Bowling Green, Kentucky) emerged onto the scene and promptly rocked our asses. Cage The Elephant were that band that came from nowhere and were soon everywhere. At the close of 2011 they are on tour with 2, count em' 2, best selling albums. Not bad for a couple of local yokels. But the subject of Cage The Elephant and their ever changing sound (and the criticism that comes with it). Today's musing on the new?

Cage The Elephant did what Nirvana did for the grunge scene in Seattle. What was once an undergrounds phenomena (quite possible with it's own version of flannel) was suddenly shoved from it's crawl space and into the public eye. It remains to be seen if it turns out rock wasn't dead this whole time, just hiding in a backwater town in Kentucky like your step-dad. But for now, this rocking 6 piece has gotten my attention as my first "You Mean You Haven't Heard Of?.." band.

Sound?
Think grungey White Stripes. With some garage punk and some blues licks thrown in. Oh and a synthesizer. And a tambourine. And a bucket. Played by this guy.


That's right. At the same fucking time.


Songs To Check Out:
They have a strong debut album out now called Celebrasion. Pretty much all the songs on there rock, but if you're in a hurry for the hits:

"Get It Daddy"

"Force A Smile"

"Get Burned"