Saturday, July 28, 2012

Sunday Worship Music

Since it's Sunday as I type all you unwashed heathens should be worshipping. This video should put you in the right frame of spiritually uplifted mind.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Headmusic -The Ripple Effect Compilation






It seems it's a week for compilations as as soon as Good to Die records announced their comp. Our buddies over at the Ripple Effect released a comp to celebrate their five years of blogging. The album features a whopping 23 tracks of new heavy rock bands including Hosoi Bros.

Check your head and grab the Ripple Effect's Head Music here.




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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Good To Die Records compilation



Seattle based Good To Die are one of our favourite record labels and have released a compilation album of their noisy rocking bands for our listening pleasure.

The album features bands that have been reviewed favourably on this here blog like Brokaw, Absolute Monarchs, Sandrider, Deadkill, Monogamy Party plus a couple of others like Gaytheist and Rabbits.

Find the album here.



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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Monks of Mellonwah - Neurogenesis




It has been a while since I've reviewed a band from across the Tasman but then this EP from Monks of Mellonwah showed up in the inbox. With my x-ray eyes I possess the ability to see the puzzled look on your face and see you're thinking Mellonwah? Yeah, I've no idea what that is either. Monks of Mellonwah are Sydneysiders so maybe it is food from one of their swankier breakfast restaurants and totally out of my price range.

Hey, that sounds like Canadian political folkster Bruce Cockburn was my recalling thought as "Neurogenesis" opened the EP but then the band veer closer to the heavier side of Tool but as they favour the progressive side of rock, the Monks of Mellonwah don't completely leave their quieter side but the chanting is definitely not of the silent contemplative nature. "Neverending Spirit" is more of a ballad although the guitars shimmer through the underbelly and the beer-bloated overbelly. The strength of the rhythm section bounce through the sweaty audience inducing "Kyoto" aided along with a wall of guitar sound reminiscent of mid-80's U2 or closer to their own home around but from the same time period, v.Spy v.Spy. "You Shine" is a slow building ballad that is reminiscent of those many 80's metal bands found obligatory.

Fans of Muse and Tool will take to this radio-friendly rock EP. It'll be interesting to see what the Monks of Mellonwah produce when it comes to putting out an LP length release.

4/5



http://www.monksofmellonwah.com/




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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Drunk Souls - Revolution




One man to another says, "My wife went to the West Indies". The other asks, "Jamaica?" The reply is "No, she went of her own accord". Apologies for the lame joke, but it seemed appropriate to start a review for a reggae type band. However France where the Drunk Souls hail from is far from the first country that comes to mind when when considering reggae but to be fair the band cover more musical terrain than just music aimed at dreadlocked spliff smokers.

The album kicks off with the funky "Drifter's song" which gives no indication of what the listener is in for. The second song, "Human Race" is early 80's bouncy ska and is the strongest song on the album so it's no surprise the band's video has received a large number of views although the inclusion in a documentary about a French highline tightrope walking, base-jumping, and mountaineering group definitely helped. The video is below and well worth a squiz.

If Sting ever jammed with The Specials, they'd come up with a song similar to "Africa" which starts out like adult jazz mixed with pop but then the bouncy ska sound skanks over. "L'amour Dieteque" doesn't really fit in the album due to its slow sombreness changing the mood. The tight bouncy "Sullivan Story" is reminiscent of The English Beat. "Happy Death Day" slows the mood again and has Peter Gabriel written all over it.

In this day and age, it's refreshing whenever a band has their own website even if it does just link to the present standards of facebook etc. It's not difficult to imagine "Revolution" being played during summer when everyone around is wearing and barbecues are blazing and beers are freely flowing and it's also easy imagine these guys playing outdoors on a bill with Fat Freddy's Drop as the audience burn in the sun.

3/5

Video for "Human Race"





Drunk Souls website



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Beastwars - IV

After over a year off for various reasons, we have returned solely because we wanted to review the new Beastwars album. I really w...