issue #02 pdf - Razorcake

this is the devil’s music, and it’s sizzle-fryin’
my ears somethin’ fierce! -
Roger Moser, Jr. (Get Hip
Recordings, Silver Tongued Devil)
SIXER
“Saving Grace” CD
Sixer chaotically create loud and
lively blasts of stormin’ streetscruff
sonic subversion that’s as rough,
tough, and gruff as it gets! And
“Saving Grace” is the life-altering
audial equivalent of repeatedly
smashing your skull with a jagged
chunk of concrete: it causes the body
to infectiously swell with thrashing
spasms of throbbing urgency, and it
overwhelmingly leaves an indelible
long-term impression upon the receptory
senses. The razor-slashed
vocals, riot-chant choruses, and frenetically
intense machinegun staccato
instrumentation is raucously reminiscent
of Rancid during their debut
and “Let’s Go” heyday (and toss in a
mayhemic mixture of The Clash,
Swingin’ Utters, and Dropkick
Murphys for tumultuously eartoastin’
good measure!). Yep, this is a
blistering blitzkrieg of pure punkrock
perseverance, and I wouldn’t have it
any other way... -Roger Moser, Jr.
(TKO)
SMOGTOWN
“Audiophile” 7”
“Hey, stupid ass, didn’t you review
this last issue?” Why, yes, I did. The
news is that it’s got a non-lame cover
of a giant 45-hole filler instead of the
Photoshop’d emboss-filtered dohickey
cover that pissed me off last issue
and the vinyl’s red. And I just want to
remind you that Smogtown’s one of
the best bands to never have left
California and you should urge them
to come to your town. -Todd
(Hostage)
SPEED OF SOUND
Self-titled CD
Very alternative. This CD has excellent
recording quality and good musicianship.
If you’re looking for some
chicks to hang out with, I bet there
would be plenty at one of Speed of
Sounds’ shows. That said, it’s too
nicey-nice. -Pete Hucklebuck (Speed
of Sound)
STONE COYOTES, THE
“Born to Howl” CD
Pleased to see the Stone Coyotes pop
back up with a new one just in time
for me to get this review in.
Basically the name of the game here
is Songwriting with a capital S -
okay, sure, sure they’ve got this
“family” hook, seeing as the band’s
comprised of wife/guitarist Barbara
Keith, husband/drummer Doug
Tibbles, and bassist/Doug’s son John
Tibbles, which makes for some different
media coverage and attracted
novelist Elmore Leonard’s attention,
but I don’t listen to records just
because a family made them,
y’know? Maybe people who buy
Danielson Family discs or Hanson
do, I don’t know. The Dylan-in-hisprime-quality
lyrics Barbara writes
kept me coming back to their last
disc, “Situation Out of Control,” and
after two or three listens to this one,
I’m already grinning at lines like
“Some of these new boys/They say
they want to fight/But it takes them
three days/To get the drum sound
right.” Ha HA! Sound like anyone
you know? The music does the job
of conveying the tunes properly -
sure, Doug’s not going to be replacing
John Bonham anytime soon, but
he gets the job done and he’s certainly
established a style, one that’s
refreshing in its Ringoesque simplicity.
Hell, at this point I’m just glad to
hear something this unique (without
that desperate, tattooed-and-piercedand-dyed
bullshit look-at-me-I’moh-so-unique
fakery every new rock
band seems to ooze), listenable, wellcrafted,
and solid. Who gives a shit
if it doesn’t fit into any marketable
categories? Here’s to hoping someone
like Joan Jett or Sheryl Crow or
Chrissie Hynde picks up on “First
Lady of Rock” (Mommy said to
Daddy, “Did you hear what she said?
She said ‘I like Black Sabbath and
Motorhead’”) and makes the Coyotes
some hit royalty cash to finance more
great Barb tunes. -Aaron J. Poehler
(Red Cat)
SUPER CHINCHILLA
RESCUE MISSION
Demo CD-R
Tickle me pink, paint giant polka
dots on my ass, give me a monkey
sidekick, and have me join the circus,
this is great. From the ashes (well,
one ash) of Gainville’s mighty
Panthro U.K. United 13, Jimmy “The
Truth,” lends his guitaring talent to
another band that seems to know
exactly what’s in my record collection
and play it back in a way I’ve
never heard before. Mixing the blatant,
joyous yelping of The Thumbs,
the tumbling, net-like instrumental
weave of Tiltwheel, the electric cutthough-the-shit
guitar of Leatherface,
and the dark excitement of a city in
the throes of a power outage on the
verge of a full-on riot is not a bad
way to release a demo. The handwritten
note said it was recorded at the
University of Maryland in five hours.
Fuck yeah. This CD was stuck in my
truck for two weeks. Literally. I think
it’s a wee bit fatter than a regular CD
(and it’s black, not shiny. Cool.), and
it wouldn’t eject, so I gave this about
sixty listens until Sean suggested I
pop the fuse. Worked like a charm.
Now it’s stuck in the home stereo for
pure enjoyment reasons. The only
question that remains is who’s going
to be smart enough to release it? -
Todd (Super Chinchilla Rescue
Mission)
SWELL MAPS
“Sweep The Desert” CD
The mind-boggling musical artistry