Disc Reviews
by Max Ink Staff Writers
Warpaint - Warpaint
Warpaint
Album Title: Warpaint
By John Noyd
Posted: Feb 2014
Label: Rough Trade
(1989) Page Views
Swimming in lingering images layered in dark flavors, attractive distractions and simmering rhythms, the swirling underworld sounds inside Warpaint’s sophomore effort conjures a velvet-wrapped casket; impenetrably menacing while irresistibly beckoning, the hushed harmonies, spooked-out electronics and sultry bass cultivate an aloof beauty that is strangely intoxicating and deeply intriguing. Masked in brooding grooves of nomadic pneumatics, the moody yet direct, obscure but self-assured, “Warpaint,” circles its curious black widow stealth in seething dreaminess, pensive tension and prowling beats for a suspenseful monsoon in a cocoon effect that floats, emotes and provokes without ever overplaying its hand or understating its cause. Kittenish ninjas armed with bewitching fits of seductive luster, L.A.‘s narco-pop sirens visit Madison’s High Noon Saloon March 30th for their only scheduled Wisconsin appearance.
Warpaint Online
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Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Wig Out at Jagbags
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Album Title: Wig Out at Jagbags
By John Noyd
Posted: Jan 2014
Label: Matador Records
(2041) Page Views
Vivid and slippery, the ever-irreverent Malkmus’ infernal journaling and coded motives makes for evasive persuasions doused in literate innocence and Styrofoam ironies. Soldered with cosmic epoxy, foxy pop melts into self-mocking slacker-rock as careening feedback attracts brassy magpie zig-zags for a loopy stupor of musical voodoo; boyishly charming in its splintered whimsy and outlandishly disarming in its expansive banter, vexing subtext and casual genius. A hoovering coolness exhumed from street-wise muses, “Wig,” dishes a hot mess of unmuzzled puzzles with cultural potshots seasoned in sturdy absurdity; a groovy, goofy goulash mashing classic indie appetizers into a strange deranged banquet. Witness the internal combustion that is Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks when they play their only Wisconsin appearance at Madison’s High Noon Saloon on February 19th.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks Online
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Robert Ellis - The Lights from the Chemical Plant
Robert Ellis
Album Title: The Lights from the Chemical Plant
By John Noyd
Posted: Jan 2014
Label: New West
(2049) Page Views
While swimming in pedal steel, bluegrass tapestries and Ellis’ Texas drawl it would be a mistake to call, “Lights,” a country album; at its core the album’s beautiful narratives owe as much to their dreamy pop influences and rich jazz side-trips as their waltzing twang-sanctioned insights and plain-spoken poetry. A tender blend of hope and regrets, hindsight and longing, Ellis nestles life’s poignant revelations in a well-crafted batch of contemporary parables where sympathetic heroes trapped in everyday struggles gain wisdom and redemptive perspective. Steeped in tradition and colored with subtle adventures, “Chemical,” delivers cozy easy-going introspection, bolstering hard-luck with a steely determination to uncover silver linings in simple pleasures. Opening for Jason Isbell, this Nashville-based story-teller and ace six-string guitar-slinger plays Madison’s Barrymore Feb 7th.
Robert Ellis Online
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Camper Van Beethoven - Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
Camper Van Beethoven
Album Title: Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
By John Noyd
Posted: Jan 2014
Label: Omnivore Recordings
(2168) Page Views
Twenty-five years ago the major labels looked to indie-rock for the next big thing. Fostering a healthy dose of jaded joy and mischievous cynicism, Camper Van Beethoven may have seemed an unusual choice for the executives at Virgin Records, but against all odds, fashioned a landmark album that impressed long-time fans and catapulted their skewed visions to an international audience. A curious mix of smarmy styles hiding snide smiles, “Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart,” gleefully rocked out with odes to Death, Patti Hearst and cowboys on acid; mastering a strange brew of gypsy-folk, gonzo-rock and college-pop. The freshly minted reissue brings a sharper sound along with heaps of bonuses, from unreleased songs to live recordings, for an invigorating return to the days when old empires were falling and fresh ideas were taking hold. Along with, “Beloved,” Omnivore Records also has triumphed in remastering CVB’s follow-up, the equally ingenious, “Key Lime Pie.”
Camper Van Beethoven Online
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The Hidden Cameras - Age
The Hidden Cameras
Album Title: Age
By John Noyd
Posted: Jan 2014
Label: Evil Evil
(1824) Page Views
Reggae beats, medieval harmonies and pointed lyrics trapped inside propulsive pop-rock melodies, Canada’s The Hidden Cameras have produced a wonderfully cohesive album despite an eclectic intellect drawing from disparate temperaments. Dark, sharp and moody, “Age,” simmers in quick-witted shifts, artfully navigating between earnest concerns and droll chic with a splash of party-crashing panache and chattering satire. The collective’s first full-length effort since 2009, singer, writer and mastermind Joel Gibb’s malevolent magic has matured into a leathery bellwether grafting defiant dissection onto alluring affection, deconstructing dysfunction while sculpting slick, vigorous tidbits of lubricated grooves whose devilish relish and bittersweet beats cruise, sooth and seduce. Divisive, conflicted, yet brilliantly insistent, the suave, shadowy, “Age,” conveys a swift riveting gift for polishing post-modern gloss from complicated sexual politics.
The Hidden Cameras Online
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Patty Griffin - American Kid
Patty Griffin
Album Title: American Kid
By John Noyd
Posted: Dec 2013
Label: New West Records
(2089) Page Views
A banner year for Griffin, 2013 saw back-to-back releases from this talented story-teller whose root-infused grooves draw from Appalachian folk to Delta blues and mountain gospel. Featuring several songs other artists have already made famous, “Silver Bells,” was originally recorded thirteen years ago but only just got officially released on the heels of Patty’s tribute to her late father and first album of original material in six years, “American Kid.” Well worth the wait, “Kid,” delivers brawling honky-tonk waltzes, torch-song prayers and tender country confessions with little more than a guitar or piano; terse first-person worries conjure wandering promises as vagabond songs and evangelic recollections become living relics of hard-won lives. Griffin plays Madison’s High Noon Saloon along with cerebral folk-singer Anais Mitchell January 29th.
Patty Griffin Online
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Califone - Stitches
Califone
Album Title: Stitches
By John Noyd
Posted: Dec 2013
Label: Dead Oceans
(1941) Page Views
Sporting a post-rapture appetite for cinematic atmospheres, Califone’s astute musing and rugged conundrums coax desert-born folk-rock into an addictively wicked picture chock full of Lost Boys charm, hitch-hiker calm and buzzing electric head-trips. Laced with hobo haikus, alt-country rumbles and mesmerizing pining, “Stitches,” dishes funeral crooning alongside chain-link twang; incandescent sentences transcending roots-riddled genres accentuated in sad brass and draped in rusted dreams. Standing defiantly between desperate eloquence, heart-felt experiments and artful charges, Chicago’s own navigates a no-man’s land of suspended amends and dissolving resolve, doling out woeful indie-rock majesty smeared in weary theories and steely abstractions. Califone plays Madison’s High Noon Saloon January 23rd with ambidextrous Lambchop guitarist WILLIAM TYLER, whose breezy, breath-taking tapestry, “Impossible Truth,” topped many a best of lists last year.
Califone Online
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Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana
Speedy Ortiz
Album Title: Major Arcana
By John Noyd
Posted: Dec 2013
Label: Carpark Records
(2012) Page Views
Charming carnal marvels twisted into guyville-styled spitfire guile, guitar-powered indie-rockers Speedy Ortiz pit slowly growing dynamos against prickly riffs whose throbbing combination of short-fused barracuda grooves, fast-pitched conniptions and faltering stock-car waltzes hurtle topsy-turvy curve-ball logic down crooked nooks of jagged attacks reveling in savage see-saw fragments. Spring-loaded front-woman Sadie Dupuis balances tough and tender challenges in staggering pageantry wrapped in savvy re-imagining. Sparking land-shark smarts prowling corrugated mazes, “Major Arcana,” hosts potent broken cobras slithering in blistering gifts for roaring disjointed portraits which stand among the cunning rubble of prime nineties icons like Pavement, Liz Phair and Helium. Opening for The Breeders’ Last Splash 25th anniversary tour, Sadie and company hit Madison’s High Noon Saloon December 13th in a double-fisted twist of torch-passing passion.
Speedy Ortiz Online
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Kyle Henderson - Brand New Chance
Kyle Henderson
Album Title: Brand New Chance
By Sal Serio
Posted: Nov 2013
Label: Kyle Henderson
(2069) Page Views
Reinventing one’s self is oft-traveled territory for musicians that refuse to quit, and in this instance, ‘Brand New Chance’ is quite an apropos title for singer/guitarist/songwriter Kyle Henderson, of The Producers fame. Henderson has taken the lessons learned from the power pop years and his more recent soul leanings, and applied them effectively to a red-hot electric blues format.
Employing excellent back-up musicians most certainly does not hurt, so lead guitarist Michael Ripp and drummer Chris Sandoval provide Henderson’s new material a razor-sharp and in-the-pocket groove throughout this new CD’s eleven tight compositions. Occasional keyboards by Jimmy Voegeli also toss some pepper in to the gumbo, and keep the music jumping and bopping along, at times invoking a feeling like the final incarnation of the Stevie Ray Vaughan Band met the iconic Stax/Volt studio group in a South-side Chicago juke joint.
While this release goes down very smoothly as a total experience, there are a few tracks that I especially gravitated toward, mainly due to blistering leads by guitarist Ripp. “Walkin’ Shoes”, “Better To Roll How You Roll”, and “Good People” are obvious stand outs.
Saturday, December 14, the Kyle Henderson Band will perform at the Brink Lounge in Madison, for the Brink’s Holiday Extravaganza.
Kyle Henderson Online
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Kill Devil Hill - Revolution Rise
Kill Devil Hill
Album Title: Revolution Rise
By Sal Serio
Posted: Nov 2013
Label: Century Media
(1880) Page Views
Goodness! There’s no sophomore slump stigma to be associated with Kill Devil Hill’s new CD! On the contrary, the eleven concise and carefully constructed compositions display an attitude and more focused sense of purpose than their self-titled debut… not to say that first release was shabby in any way at all! ‘Revolution Rise’ just seems to further define the identity that was initially showcased on last year’s effort.
For those who need the reminder, KDH is the new project by drummer Vinny Appice (Dio, Heaven & Hell), and Appice’s main conspirator, ace guitarist Mark Zavon. Rounding out the band is legendary bassist Rex Brown (Pantera) and future metal vocal hero Dewey Bragg. The new songs have a more “band-oriented” sound, which makes sense since their initial tours and studio work are now behind them. There’s also a fresh new commonality to this material, which, to me, adds up to an album that both the hard-core metal heads, and the folks who like more radio-oriented music, will all appreciate. “Long Way From Home” may illustrate this notion most poignantly, with it’s almost Alice In Chains type feel. Bragg’s singing is more impassioned than ever, and Zavon’s leads are unbelievably well crafted. KDH’s two “new guys” are testimony to the wealth of talent that must be out there, because Appice got a pair of heavy hitters for this band! There are not enough stars to adequately illustrate how much I endorse this release. One million stars!
Kill Devil Hill Online
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Testament - Dark Roots Of Thrash
Testament
Album Title: Dark Roots Of Thrash
By Sal Serio
Posted: Nov 2013
Label: Nuclear Blast
(1680) Page Views
Witness the document of Testament at the sold-out Paramount Theatre in Huntington, NY, February 15, 2013, on the ‘Dark Roots Of Earth’ tour. I was fortunate enough to attend a Testament concert about 3 months before this CD/DVD was recorded, and can “testify” first hand to the power and bone-rattling fury of their live set.
This is an inspired set list that focuses on the legendary thrash band’s strongest material, perhaps wisely skipping a great deal of the mid-90s albums. Best of all – NO FUCKIN’ BALLADS! How does a band like this continue at the same pace as the years progress? Metal must evoke the same restorative powers as the proverbial fountain of youth. It’s mind boggling to think singer Chuck Billy ever had been stricken with cancer. Billy is a grizzly bear of a man who’s voice is as huge as his physical stature. Guitarist Alex Skolnick’s lead runs add a classical/jazz virtuosity to his intense metal riffage. Former Dark Angel/Death drummer Gene Hoglan proves himself to be one of the most accomplished and appropriate skin-men of the thrash genre.
While the CD set alone is a terrific listen, I’d highly recommend the deluxe edition with the DVD, which has outstanding cinematography and sound, and transports one directly from their living room couch straight in to the mosh pit!
Testament Online
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The Book-Burners - People’s Songs
The Book-Burners
Album Title: People’s Songs
By Sal Serio
Posted: Nov 2013
Label: Latest Flame Records
(1857) Page Views
A great deal of my readers will be too young to remember, but there was a time in the late 1960’s when pop music turned a corner, became more socially conscious, and lyrics assumed a much more serious role. The “yummy yummy yummy I got love in my tummy” sentiment was replaced with “there’s something going on but you don’t know what it is Mister Jones”, yet the music, in many ways, remained in the AM radio friendly pop format.
When I listen to The Book-Burners, I feel this 1967 vibe updated for the post-grunge generation. Sorta mid-tempo-ish pop-punk short songs occasionally see-sawed with a clean guitar sound in one channel and more fuzzy tone in the other. Impassioned vocals that can be soft and soothing, but then leap in to tortuous screams. Inventive, melodic, bass lines pull the guitar parts in, and lock the compositions in to synch. Sometimes female backing vocals add a pinch more “indie college rock” flavor to the proceedings. To this extent, I feel a loose association to the Chicago 90’s band Eleventh Dream Day, but I’m not super comfortable going there. Ultimately, this is to The Book-Burners credit. The lack of apt comparison is a powerful statement to their intense originality.
The Book-Burners Online
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