Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. With the next magazine issue around the corner from street release comes the next search for the hidden gem. Being the daring soul I am I jump in with a happy attitude, an open mind, and two open ears. So exactly what will I find this go around?
Dew Scented
“Incinerate”
www.myspace.com/dewscented
Style (hard core metal)
OK, this is just too simple. For starters should any hard core metal band, especially one populated by guys no less, ever be called Dew Scented? Was Mint Julep or Fresh and Dainty taken and Dew Scented was the next best name? I for one am running out tomorrow to get my black t-shirt with Dew Scented on the front. How cool I’ll be!! Then there’s the music. Wait, did I mention what the name of the band was - Dew Scented!! What the “F’ is this??? And the music is just as pathetic as the bands name. The sound is metal thrash with absolutely no purpose, no structure, no rhythm, the same barking howler monkey vocals (rah, rah, rah, rahhhhh!!!) heard in most of these bands, and no separation from one song to the next. It’s as if the whole CD is the same song recorded over and over again. Dew Scented sure is sticking up the place.
Rating ZERO (don’t quit your day jobs and change the name)
Psyopus
“Our Puzzling Encounters Considered”
www.myspace.com/psyopus
Style (metal / progressive experimental)
This is a sound, not sure if it can be called music, created by musicians who are trying way too hard to be different. The CD sounds like 4 guys who are fairly bright, but got picked on in school, and now are trying to intimidate while pounding on their hairless chests screaming “listen to me”. This stuff is so bad and senseless I can’t see how a single club owner would give them the time of day. The music is all over the place constantly starting and stopping throughout songs. It reminds me of a crash-up derby with a dozen cars going every which way but nowhere and the only time they stop is when they crash into something. This music is a total wreck. Lyrically, everything is screamed so I can only guess by the song titles they’re meaningful gems (“Scissor Fuck Paper Doll”, “Whore Meet Liar”, “Kill Us, and my favorite “Play Some Skynard”). This CD is truly an assault on your ears.
Rating 1
Talia Segal
“Nonprophet”
www.myspace.com/taliasegalmusic
Style (coffee shop singer songwriter)
Simple songs with good lyrics, well structured music with solid grooves and hooks. Talia’s got a voice that’s a little nasally in the midrange, but overall she’s got a sultry, sexy feminine voice that’s pleasant to listen to. A slight country influence can be heard in numerous tracks and I dig the use of percussions in the opening track. The song themes are typical subjects for a young woman but this doesn’t hurt the music, because let’s face it we’ve all heard these songs a hundred times before. Overall though not a bad sounding CD.
Rating 2
Clutch
“From Beale Street to Oblivion”
www.pro-rock.com
Style (rock, blues, 70's funk)
Put this CD on and you’ll hear a killer 70's blues funk groove that encapsulates your body and soul. This CD is “funky cool”. Listening to the song “White’s Ferry” I feel my spirit taken to a dimly lit bar, the red neon lights from the Budweiser sign kiss the edges of my tequila glass as I glance up to watch a sultry slow moving woman in a low cut dress and calf high boots gliding through the room to the jukebox. Cranking up the title track “From Beale Street to Oblivion” and “Mr. Shiny Cadillackness” and my soul is cruising down a long empty road in a white 1973 convertible Cadillac Eldorado with red leather interior. This CD is so smooth it’s like sipping a finely crafted and perfectly aged tequila. The one oddity to me is that the singer reminds me of Paul Stanley but with much more blues and balls in the vocals. Kinda trippy. All I know is the more I listen to this CD the more I dig it.
Rating 4+ (hidden gem)
Into Eternity
“The Shattering of Ashes”
www.intoeternity.net
Style (rock / metal)
My initial reaction to this CD was this is a bad sounding Iron Maiden influenced band. Then I got past the second song and started to hear the band and I started to warm up to their music, but I do have some reservations. The vocals are a mix of singing (middle to high tone), growling (high and low), some low toned howler monkey, and some harmonies. Normally these varying ranges would have me looking elsewhere but I’m actually not turned away, but… The guitars are a combination of quick sounding solos, typical metal chords, along with dueling guitars, which to my surprise is not resulting from two guitarist but one. And the drums are filled with lots of double kicks. To the bands credit this is a sound needing lots of production to pull all the pieces together, which they’ve done nicely. However, because of all the production needed to pull together the CD I’m not sure how the sound will translate live and to me that’s where a band makes its mark and where my reservation lies.
Rating 2+
The Fades
“The Fades”
www.myspace.com/thefades
Style (Punk, Alt Rock)
A band out of England with an edgy punk alternative rock sound that’s warm, fuzzy, and fun. From the start of the CD I found myself drawn into the Brit punk rhythm’s of The Fades. This is the type of sound I dig hearing walking into an off the main drag bar in an industrial part of town with piss filled alleys and an unshaven bartender in a dirty white (well off white) t-shirt. A lesson in not judging a book by its cover because the CD I received was an advanced copy without any artwork in a nondescript plain white CD sleeve.
Rating 3
Autovein
“Bullets and Bruises”
www.myspace.com/autovein
Style (Rock / Alternative)
A band out of the midwest with a sound too similar to most of the bands playing The Viper Room on the Sunset Strip so maybe I’m a little jaded to really get into this CD. I’m sure just a coincidence but because I live here in LA and have heard this sound often enough it’s not really pulling me in. However, to be fair the music of Autovein isn’t bad. The CD has a strong rock sound with decent songs, some good musicianship, and because it’s not overly polished their organic raw energy comes through. And I think in the hands of a talented producer this CD with a few minor tweaks could get some notice.
Rating 2+
Shannon Moore
“Evaporate”
www.myspace.com/shannonmooremusic
Style (Singer Songwriter / folk rock)
Now maybe it’s me but I would think it’s never a good thing to be out of tune on your CD’s opening song especially if you’re the singer / songwriter. But oddly enough that’s exactly what’s going on with this CD. Granted, being a little out of tune live could work to your advantage and possibly add some flare to your sound but not on your CD?? And as it turns out it’s not just the opening song. Vocally Shannon’s flat, out of tune, lacking emotion, has limited range, and all her notes sound the same, which are all undesirable qualities for a singer. The one saving grace, if there really can be one given the vocals which become more painful to listen to as the CD progresses, is that the backing music and song arrangements aren’t bad. Before ripping the CD out of my player I read on the inside jacket Shannon can be compared to the Pretender’s Chrissie Hynde, Amiee Mann, and Sheryl Crow. Now I don’t know who wrote that but I would surely ask for a recount because she is nowhere near the quality of those three women. Harsh I know but given this offering someone wasn’t performing quality control when this thing was mixed.
Rating 1 (only because of the music)
Asteria
“Slip Into Something More Comfortable”
www.asteria-music.com
Style (Alternative Rock)
Your basic run of the mill alternative rock sound with the same middle to high key guitars, vocals which are constantly on the verge of being screamed, but are sung and are in key, and drums with upbeat tempo. The best way I can describe Asteria would be to take 10 typical bands either played on KROQ or just wonder up and down the sunset strip and gather the sound of 10 different alternative rock bands, put them together in a test tube, heat to say boiling point, and then pour out the contents and that’s what Asteria reminds me of. Not really selling me on the sound or the songs because quite frankly their basic sound doesn’t show me any emotion. But I’m sure there’s an audience out there that’ll scoop em up.
Rating 2
The Haunted
“The Dead Eye”
www.the-haunted.com
Style (metal)
Strong metal sound with powerful drums and a constant guitar assault. The things I hear that separate this band from the other metal bands I’ve been listening to is in the vocals and also the song pacing throughout the CD, which changes constantly. The singer Peter Dolving has a strong raspy quality that during the fast paced songs is right on the verge of the typical incoherent barking roar (what I like to describe as howler monkey), but he’s pulled it back just enough to let his natural raw ability shine through with lyrics that are understood and not barked into oblivion. The one quality though I’m not getting from the CD is that mosh pit rhythm that I should be hearing in a band playing this genre. A trait I’m sure only lacking on the CD because I wouldn’t be surprised these guys kick it up an extra notch live to get the crowd moving.
Rating 3
