Disc Reviews
by Max Ink Staff Writers
The The dB's - Falling Off the Sky
The The dB's
Album title: Falling Off the Sky
By John Noyd
Posted: May 2012
Label: Bar None Records
(2552) Page Views
Alternating between hearts on their sleeves and chips on their shoulders, The dB’s original line-up return with fresh eyes and tested chops thirty years after their last album. Unrolling rosy chamber-pop serenades inside sweetly sad strings, brassy blue-eyed soul covered in Byrds-like jangle and Big Star oomph, the quartet’s effortless licks and pithy delivery send upbeat sustenance to recovering lovers and ax-grinding fuel for confused losers. Southern grit mixed with Britpop then marinated in snarky nostalgia, earnest concerns and unfailing wonder, “Falling,” flings hairpin hooks against subtle riffs capturing life’s twisted missions in ironic romances between underdog advocates and redeemed dreamers. The band’s s signature twin-guitar sound remains largely unchanged, proving great songs don’t need much make-up and well-dressed sentiments beat pseudo-hipster revisionists every time
Plants and Animals - The End of That
Plants and Animals
Album title: The End of That
By John Noyd
Posted: Apr 2012
Label: Secret City
(2282) Page Views
Facing an uncertain future, “End,” sits squarely on the crossroads blending endless speculation into snapshot biographies. Punching bag swagger from tumbleweed troubadours cruises loose grooves before panicked anthems blast past blown fuses and punch-drunk bruises; light swipes and deep dark bites swirl together to conjure hip, hallowed shadows, hurtling half-hearted curses before seamlessly shifting into lusty seductions. Predatory and victimized, P&A’s dynamic stamina binds breathless beatnik lyrics beside explosive crow-eating prose, tense tunes consume personal mementos. Limber honky-tonk bursts into steely fears as maverick tactics deploy six-string taunts and off the cuff lyrical cast-offs rolling in exasperated gasps and power-rock howls/ Blazing daylights swimming in late-night reflections covered in indie-rock bliss and heartfelt folk-pop side-stops, this versatile Montreal trio takes over Madison’s Frequency May 12th.
Paul Weller - Sonik Kicks
Paul Weller
Album title: Sonik Kicks
By John Noyd
Posted: Mar 2012
Label: Yep Roc
(1975) Page Views
Ever the adventurer, the man who helmed prickly British hit-makers The Jam only to go soft and soulful with The Style Council before exploring a solo career that honed hearty chamber-folk introspection alongside fist-shaking electric blues doesn’t slow down on his eleventh solo disc. Indeed, “Sonik Kicks.” is a clobbering culmination of Weller’s stylistic changes. Rustic cuts evaporate under singing wisdom dipped in daydream fevers and level-headed confidence, Weller caresses playful excesses, classical sentiments and crackling passions into throaty poems of pub-crawling philosophy, launching knob-twiddling space-rock from lonesome acoustic movements before fading into writhing reggae rambles. Fired up and limber, micro-experiments lay scattered in cosmic after-thoughts as, “Kicks,” seamlessly shift from pre-millennial jams to post-modern holidays; beautifully boisterous, quietly mystical, happily recreational and infectiously upbeat.
The Grasshoppers - Feed My Monkey
The Grasshoppers
Album title: Feed My Monkey
By Sal Serio
Posted: Mar 2012
Label: Grasshoppers Music
(2319) Page Views
How to describe the music on the debut release by Madison’s eclectic Grasshoppers band? Let me paint you a picture of summer sunshine and skies of deepest azure. Let there be beach balls and Frisbees and hula hoops and FUN. Let’s pawn off our worries and just have a damn fine time, alright all ready?
If YOU like to have a good time, then you should feel right at home with these Grasshoppers. You can sample some beefy thematic rock & roll workouts (“Feed My Monkey”), puff some ire island sounds (“Cup Of Dreams” & She’s So Serious”), and even get far-out weird in a head-bangy Oysterhead sort of way (“Frankie”). It’s ALL good. These guys shift from style to style better than most drivers merge lanes on the Beltline. No question.
The Grasshoppers’ keyboardist Joe Burbach has that big organ sound that speaks in Gregg Allman and Chuck Leavell tones, but also raves up in jazzy New Orleans style too. This pairs up well with Jimmy Sanborn’s solid guitar playing, punctuated by clean Gilmour-esque leads. All four Grasshoppers sing too, so 3 & 4 part harmonies abound on this extremely well engineered CD. I say, go see these guys as soon as you can, and then save a few beer bucks so you can buy this disc from the merch guy. After all, YOUR monkey need to be fed too.
Take Solace - Throwing Of The Die
Take Solace
Album title: Throwing Of The Die
By Sal Serio
Posted: Mar 2012
Label: Take Solace
(2234) Page Views
Now HERE’S something almost completely different. Take Solace, and be thankful, for this is one darn interesting group of musicians from Milwaukee.
From the opening Cake-like dry vocal on “Everything Is Bigger In Texas”, I knew this was going to be a challenging review. Still, with intestinal fortitude and tenacity, I dove headfirst into the Spy Vs Spy TV themed tempest, where punchy trumpet bursts swam aside reverb-drenched garage rock bashings. Although, I hesitate to settle on any convenient genre categorization, as it’s just not that simple. Take Solace playfully and skillfully dance around a culturally diverse musical landscape. Ultimately the journey is mysterious, uncharted, intriguing, and oh so worth the ride!
Dave Klapatch and Dirk Watkins are the guys up front, singing and playing the guitars, so you can’t miss ‘em. Their styles run the full gamut of everything to infinity, relatively speaking. Dirk’s lead guitar takes command of an array of effects pedals, adding flourishes of wah-wah and echoplex to the epic proceedings. As the peak subsides and the trip nears conclusion, we are at “The Show”. It’s funky, it’s poppy, it’s rockin’ and hoppin’ and happenin’. Man, I really lucked out with this throw of the die. Take Solace. We made it.
Doug Stanhope - Before Turning The Gun On Himself
Doug Stanhope
Album title: Before Turning The Gun On Himself
By Drew Madden
Posted: Feb 2012
Label: Roadrunner Records
(4283) Page Views
“Before Turning the Gun on Himself” is a refreshing return for Stanhope. You know that type of comedian who rants on his hatred for the napkin holder at that corporate coffee bar? Yeah Stanhope ain’t that guy. In this album he returns to the topics that made him great: abortion, politics, hookers, addiction, sex and drugs. The album answers questions you’ve been dying to have answered like; why this straight libertarian white man needs a big black cock in his mouth.
Not familiar with Stanhope? Remember when you were young and you hid porn under your mattress? Like when your erotica collection consisted of two Playboys, a Penthouse, a Oui, and two Betamax tapes filled with bootlegged Skinamax movies? Now imagine you found some wild German smut so disgusting you thought perhaps your family would disown you if they were to stumble upon it. Now imagine where you would hide it. That’s exactly where you would keep your Stanhope CD’s.
You always hear about comedians like Lenny Bruce or Sam Kinison and how they pushed the envelope, how they were so controversial, how you had to be there and how there will never be anyone like them. Stanhope is that guy now. Will you be offended? Yeah, if you get offended he will find a way to offend you.
Stanhope is reaching a seminal point in his career, and in his life. In the final track “Remember When I Used to Give a Shit/ Killer Closer,” Stanhope is struggling with the realization that the themes that echoed throughout his first albums are going to be the eternal themes that follow him throughout the rest of his career. And that in his striving for originality he is best when he does so within a very small number of subjects.
Stanhope started his career in Vegas doing dick jokes for free drinks. In many ways he’s still that guy. You can shave a mullet off, but when you’ve had a few beers, that metaphorical mullet comes back…and Stanhope has always had a few beers.
Just like your friend after a few beers, there is an openness, an honesty in his body of work that is rarely seen. He will influence generations of comedians. There is a quote who’s origin is in question but I believe came from Brian Eno that says: “The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band.” Stanhope may not be the most widely known comedian, but he may be the most influential comedian of our time. He will never be packaged for prime time. He will never host The Tonight Show. He will never release an album that is played by your family after Thanksgiving every year as a new tradition. He will shock. He will offend. He will make you feel naughty the way you haven’t since you were fifteen stealing your Dad’s beer.
Stanhope is at his best when he is huddled in his dark cave of hate, drunk off his ass with just enough Adderall in his system to keep him upright and ranting. So should you buy this album, hide it in your sock drawer. And the next time that guy at work sends you a video, you know the disgusting kind that you can’t stop watching even though you’ll feel a little sick after, introduce him to Stanhope. Then go see him live so you can tell young kids hey I was there when…
Mastodon - The Hunter
Mastodon
Album title: The Hunter
By Sal Serio
Posted: Jan 2012
Label: Reprise
(2370) Page Views
This review may be a tad late, although perhaps not since we enter a new year, and upon reflection, 2011 was a milestone year for Mastodon. Not only did they utterly destroy the “follow-up to major success” curse with The Hunter release and it’s shorter power-punch songs garnished with lush space-rock numbness, but the Live At The Aragon album from earlier in 2011 is also truly essential. Especially if you saw the mind blowing Crack The Skye tour. Pick up the vinyl version that includes the DVD and it’s just like you rode the Tardis back to the concert!
Debut Hunter single “Curl of The Burl” makes for such a cool tune to hear on the radio. It’s catchy yet pretty challenging in it’s heavy-prog-meets-pop kind of way. It may be the most accessible thing Mastodon has done since their cover of ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid”. In fact, I hope big bands of the nu-emo-metal ilk take note, and add some out of bounds ideas to the formula. The Hunter, in it’s entirety, spins out of the box and is emphatically in your face.
Mastodon exists beyond all genre distinctions, off in their own ever evolving kick-ass time-tripping universe. I shudder with delightful anticipation of their next project(s)!
The Adults - Karmic Relief
The Adults
Album title: Karmic Relief
By Sal Serio
Posted: Jan 2012
Label: The Adults
(2587) Page Views
The Adults are the bar band you can’t ignore, not because of the deafening volume, but rather that the snarky wry humor and innuendo derail attempts at casual conversation. On the plus side, you could probably book them to play your ten year old daughter’s birthday party, and she would not cry.
For here lay some paradoxical yet pleasant musical ruminations. The fine guitar excursions by Pete Grennan and Jim Sheridan weave their way down Dickey Betts Boulevard and Jerry Garcia Lane, with a couple stops along Keith Richards Way. This be no retro mojo though, as there’s plenty for the Jeff Tweedy/Drive-By Truckers crowd too (along with their ten year old daughters).
A case could be made with the song “Slippin’”, with it’s laid back rhythms topped with a sort of Oye Como Va riffage and Mr. Sheridan’s Steve Wynn-ish nasal grin vocal. I propose the next Adults’ CD to be titled “Sinus Whimsy”! A different case (attaché?) could be made with “Would Be Good” where Grennan’s guitar took me straight to Shakedown Street where I Feel Like A Stranger at Terrapin Station.
Bringing closure to the proceedings is one of two intriguing instrumentals, the dreamy “Free Yourselves From This Madness” which is perhaps the main theme of these Connecticut prankster’s new album. Not taking things too seriously is a good thing, so The Adults find some time for the kids in us all.
DC4 - Electric Ministry
DC4
Album title: Electric Ministry
By Jeff Muendel
Posted: Dec 2011
Label: Metal Blade
(3466) Page Views
DC4 has heavy metal bloodlines. The group came into being when Jeff Duncan of the band Armored Saint recruited Rowan Robertson, one-time lead guitarist of Dio, to join DC4. Drummer Shawn Duncan also played in Odin, a band who reached cultish fame by being featured in the documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years. So what do you end up with? Some strong heavy metal that skips the grunge and nu-metal attitudes altogether. “We made a point of making Electric Ministry a real guitar album. Back to our roots…” says lead guitarist Rowan Robertson. From the opening track, “Wrecktory,” to the closing song, “Translucent Life,” the album is chock full of catchy, powerful guitar licks, driving rhythms, and thoughtful, sometimes funny lyrics. But the hidden gem here is the lead guitar work of Robertson, whose playing continues to reflect the reasons Ronnie James Dio plucked him from obscurity at the age of seventeen to front his band. Electric Ministry is a great classic metal album, and DC4 is a group on the rise.
Brittany Shane - Loud Nights on a Short String
Brittany Shane
Album title: Loud Nights on a Short String
By John Noyd
Posted: Dec 2011
Label: Painted Lady Records
(3053) Page Views
Dancer, teacher, singer, Wisconsin native and Austin by way of San Francisco transplant Brittany Shane continues to make waves wherever she goes. Sharp spurs on well-oiled saddles, “Nights,” alights with succinct winks and sly smiles moving through loose ska-riddled jangle and intricate folk-ballad tapestries dressed in flirty skirts and cowboy boots. A vixen-singing wingman to life’s romantic roadblocks, Brittany coolly refutes opposing views in simple astute rhymes which, casually landing on top of top-notch back-up, brings, String,” sizzling common sense suited to each scene and situation. Recorded over eleven days during a Texas heat wave., the resulting product smolders and sweats without tipping into crazed rage or imbalanced challenges, traveling well-trod paths with subtle updates and hook-rattling passions, fiery pop-rock trots offering cantering life lessons.
Joe Matera - Slave to the Fingers
Joe Matera
Album title: Slave to the Fingers
By Aaron Manogue
Posted: Nov 2011
Label: W.A.R. Productions
(4082) Page Views
I’ve written about his work before and he never ceases to impress. Former Geisha guitarist Joe Matera has finished his latest EP, Slave to the Fingers. Matera’s six-stringed attack features a previously released single “Face Off” which includes winding solos and melodic rhythm and is an excellent showcase of just how talented Matera really is. The EP starts off with an intro that is the album’s stamp on the ear of the listener. Quick and to the point, the intro warms up your eardrums for the delectable music on the way. Title track “Slave to the Fingers” is as smooth as a baby’s rump as it trickles along with a catchy beat and sauntering ahead in a leisurely stroll. There is a quick fret pattern towards the later half of the song that could fit in any metal song, but Matera finds a way to weave it into a melodic pleasure of guitar goodness. My personal favorite is the fourth track on the 5 song EP, “Out of the Blue.” The guitar licks and tones he portrays in the song are something out of the classic 80’s rock we all love, like a twisted musical love child between Van Halen and AC/DC. Just as the entire EP, this song is all killer and no filler! If you love guitars and people who know how to rock them, do yourself a favor and check out Joe Matera’s Slave to the Fingers.
Paul Kelly - Songs from the South: Paul Kelly’s Greatest Hits
Paul Kelly
Album title: Songs from the South: Paul Kelly’s Greatest Hits
By John Noyd
Posted: Nov 2011
Label: Gawd Aggie Music
(2884) Page Views
It’s hard to imagine after thirty years what Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly has left on his bucket list. Song-writer, world-traveler, occasional actor, recent author and crikey folk-poet chronicler of trains, love, cricket, history and gravy, Kelly’s 1997 compilation has just been updated and doubled in size. A muscular busker, kind-hearted huckster and homesick vagabond, Kelly’s tough but tender repertoire employ potent hobo bluegrass, swirling pub-rock blues and electric country-fried soul. Outback rascals, hopeless romantics and crusading criminals buffered in small-town joys and thick-skinned opinions inhabit family scrapbooks, honky-tonk hearts and upstart remarks. Coy references served in soothing cougar growls, “Songs,” showcase a writer’s eye for spirited lyrics, delivering the indescribable in nuance filled with exacting detail, an unblinking witness to foiled fates and unavoidable foibles
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