BLOOD CEREMONY
Blood Ceremony
DIAGONAL
Diagonal
Rise Above CDs
www.riseaboverecords.com
On paper these are two extremely different sounding albums. Still, this is a moot point to consider when, despite both groups championing separate agendas, to the tune of heavy 70s psych each rock hard through hazes of Vertigo swirls.
Even that both are released through Rise Above seems irrelevant (although hats off to the label for being so bold) when you consider they forward think by tripping backwardly.
It seems like an age since Sabbath’s influence has been channelled to such devastatingly fluid effect. Blood Ceremony, hailing from Toronto, comprise dark riffs, heavy as mausoleum marble with the cult reverie flaunted by owners of Sacrifice by Black Widow. As ‘I’m Coming With You’ weighs in after a teasing start, flirting with doom and saving itself from kismet with the heavenly vocals and flute of Alia O’Brien offering a perfect union of Ian Anderson and an on form Mariska Veres. None more so than on ‘A Wine of Wizardry’, which departs from doom to acoustically, fill voids with May Blitz and Sunforest influence.
Back on this side of the water however, Brighton and its undying loyalty to all things indie is perhaps the last place you’d expect to find an internal feud between punk and progressive rock. Geographically, Diagonal may not fit the bill, but they are Nucleus or Keith Tippet to Blood Ceremony’s Sabbath. Five tracks of space lines, carved jazz scales and inexplicable time signatures that employ prog sensibilites and miles of nerve endings and receptors passing messages of death, black holes and odyssey.
Most importantly of all however, two debuts and two young bands that plough the annals of progressive psych rock, beyond the easily accessible Floyds and Gongs of this world. To make music that sounds totally out of it.
There’s not an inch of daylight between them in terms of faith and devotion.
Richard S Jones
BODIES OF WATER
A Certain Feeling
Secretly Canadian LP/CD
www.secretlycanadian.com
‘Gold, Tan, Peach, And Grey’, the opening track on this the second album by Bodies of Water, is a good indication of their mantra for the album: use all unusual colours on the palette.
This act has a healthy irreverence for most genres of music, having a bash at heavy rock, pure pop, easy listening, sideways funk and new wave, often shifting dramatically within seconds, or combining sounds in a very unusual way. They’re also amateurs at most styles, making their rough pioneer’s mettle even more exciting. Hearing something as fresh as A Certain Feeling is rare indeed.
‘Water Here’ is one of many highlights. Beginning as a gospel jam, it moves into a mini psych-out before gaining a funky trumpet, locked groove and, finally, guttural shouts. Amazing. If there’s comparison, it’s to the post-punk spirit of experimentation from bands like Young Marble Giants. But Bodies of Water don’t sound post-punk either – just like themselves.
A Certain Feeling is very marvellous, a strong contender for album of the year.
Jeanette Leech
THE CHYMES OF FREEDOM
Waiting For The Mystery Train
Self-released CD
www.chymesoffreedom.com
You can probably guess from their name that The Chymes of Freedom are exponents of ’60s styled folk-rock. At their best, they sound like Peter, Paul and Mary covering Dylan, backed by the first Rickenbacker incarnation of the Byrds; a folk-rock sound that never was, (but should have been.) Cindy Dale possesses a marvelous voice, reminiscent of Mary Travers, and the best songs are those where she takes the lead vocal, such as ‘Washington Rain’ and ‘I Just Can’t Stop Loving You’. Cindy’s husband Robert writes songs with a massive 12-string chime and jangle quotient, evoking the era of coffee houses, beat poets and Kerouac, particularly the excellent ‘When The Chimes Of Freedom Ring Again’.
In addition, Moby Grape’s Jerry Miller plays guitar on five songs. Some of the fourteen originals are less inspiring, notably the rockier numbers and those with a strong early Dylan influence. Nevertheless, this is a genuine contribution to the genre, not a pastiche.
Phil Suggitt
BART DAVENPORT
Palaces
Antenna Farm
www.antennafarmrecords.com
The sweetest. Even though he’s now in his late 30s San Francisco’s Bart Davenport maintains a childish innocence unlike any other contemporary performer, excluding Bjork – his music is wide-eyed, content, joyous, celebratory, almost naïve in its undeniable positivity. Davenport’s fourth solo album – his first after a stint singing with successful electro-poppers Honeycut – has the air of Linda Lewis’s Lark; an album steeped in sheer happiness. Davenport naturally blends the introspective LA canyon singer-songwriter vibe with falsetto-inflected Philly soul, funk, jazz and pop to create an instantly memorable, uplifting pop LP: the sort that is rarely made today. And although he’s always his own man, his wide palette of influences can once again be heard – more out of respect and his love of music than parody.
Along with the usual Macca and Gil Scott-Heron reference points, Prince, Randy Newman, Nick Drake and Roddy Frame can all be heard reverberating around the canyons of Davenport’s delicately crafted songs. Why this elfin character – a shining light in a corporate driven era – isn’t a star remains a mystery.
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills
DEAD MEADOW
Old Growth
Matador CD
www.matadorrecords.com
Five albums in and the greatest thing about Dead Meadow is that they are not “now” and never will be. The glossy sheen evident on Old Growth may drive many away after the cavernous growls of previous efforts. ‘Between Me And The Ground’ and opener ‘Ain’t Got Nothing (To Go Wrong)’ bark less than they do roar, but tracks like ‘Keep On Walking’ show that Dead Meadow still have positivity in a downtrodden way.
There’s no question that this is an album layered thicker than forest detritus, which is of course a good thing, but the highest point comes form ‘Seven Seers’. Cascading into the same folk progressions that seem to have Ben Chasney of Six Organs of Admittance snared lately, dark acoustic rhythms are lost in scores of swoon-addled strings and beats. As on ‘The Great Deceiver’, a smokeless but utterly unrelenting number that, like Dead Meadow, magically drags its own heels along with the heels of disbelievers slain in their wake.
Richard S Jones
THE DONKEYS
Living On The Other Side
Dead Oceans CD
www.deadoceans.com
When caught between a rock and hard place, sometimes, the best thing to do is just break out the sunshine. For if there are albums that only work at the right moment, Living On The Other Side can fit into every second of your day if your disposition is one of total slide.
From the idyllic ‘Walk Through A Cloud’, coasting introspective Beach Boy harmonies and CSNY country vibes to Byrds laden paeans like ‘Boot On The Seat’, The Donkeys dust themselves off from the back roads of the American badlands. Shaping a mellow effort, and overriding sense of optimism that could cheer the most maudlin of listeners.
Even if you can count on one hand all the reasons there are to be cheerful, it’d be easier to use this record as an excuse to be eternally wistful. It’s the sort that would take lesser bands a good five albums to sound so perfectly delivered.
Richard S Jones
THE FALLEN LEAVES
It’s Too Late Now
Parliament CD
www.myspace.com/theefallenleaves
The pride of many a West London basement, including the group’s own Parliament Club in Ladbroke Grove, The Fallen Leaves are as pleasingly antique as their amps. Much of that is likely down to the fact that guitarist Rob Symmons didn’t touch his instrument for 25 years after the original Subway Sect imploded in 1978. There are strong echoes of early punk’s ricketiness and angular chord sequences here, notably on ‘Go Now’ and the near instrumental Repetition, where you can virtually hear the vomit pouring down the Roxy Club toilet bowl. The prevailing sound, though, predates that by a decade. ‘Back To You’ starts out like a janglier ‘I Can’t Explain’, substituting teenage angst for some tremolo-backed “Ooh-oohs”. The overriding aura of inspired amateurism peaks with the penultimate ‘Higher And Dryer’, all handclaps and John’s Children-style vocal hooks; and the closing ‘Shining’, where a hint of Gene Vincent menace suddenly explodes and the Leaves’ gentlemanly guard gives way for a magnificently moody extended break. Retroactive!
Mark Paytress
LA FLEUR FATALE
Night Generation
Killer Cobra CD
www.lafleurfatale.com
Being halfway between the long lasting Swedish invasion’s ’60s garage revival and its more contemporary sounding (power) pop extremes, this debut could easily sneak up the international charts before you know it.
Swirling Farfisas and Vox Continentals, crunchy power-chords along with sunshiney vocal harmonies, are all set to please various kinds of tastes. Occasionally Eastern flavoured popsike, put through the Mancunian prism will surely recall the likes of The Stone Roses (‘Straightway Ride’, ‘Free The view’), or Oasis (‘Children of neon lights’, ‘Swift Flash Of mind’), and there’s even a song called ‘I Wanna Be adored’, equally slightlydelic, being a proof as good as any of the band’s own tastes. My own pick of the bunch, is the pair of ‘Night Generation’ with it’s moody Velvet Underground vibe with (much) more harmonies, and the late-Beatles-through-Fannies-like ‘Out Of Our Dream’, and in case you feel like air-guitar strumming, the early ’70s ‘Stones rawk-out of ‘Sister Fatale’ is good as it gets.
Goran Obradovic
THE FUZZTONES
Horny As Hell
Electrique Mud CD
www.fuzztones.net
Rudi’s back and he’s proud! Now based in Berlin, the enigmatic front man, and his new band run through Fuzztones hits old and new with the addition of a driving horn section and female backing vocals. Their take on garage-soul, heavy fuzz driven psych, biker-flick sounds and choice covers of Mickey Finn’s ‘Garden Of My Mind’ and The Pretty Things’ ‘Alexander’ show the ‘tones in fine form, sounding sharp, majestic, confident… and above all, unchanged. Today’s musical climate seems a very suitable home for this rejuvenated line-up to make their mark. We await an album of solely new material with baited breath.
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills
THE GRIP WEEDS
Infinite Soul: The Best Of
Wicked Cool CD
www.wickedcoolrecords.com
Having recorded at a home studio in Little Steven’s back yard of New Jersey for the past sixteen years, The Grip Weeds finally get some overdue attention via a compilation of tracks from their first four albums (plus one new song). Rickenbacker-driven mod psychedelia meets ’70s arena rock meets contemporary power pop – The Who running into Cheap Trick at a Posies show. Vocal melodies are the band’s strong suit, but the power-chord happy guitars and rock-steady drums are a driving force, as well. None of the sixteen tracks on the compilation stand out as classics, yet all of them are worth hearing.
‘Astral Man’ is going on my next power pop mixtape, and if there’s room, ‘Salad Days’ as well.
Brian Greene
THE JIM JONES REVUE
The Jim Jones Revue
Punk Rock Blues CD
www.jimjonesrevue.com
Take a bit of Jerry Lee, Rod and The Faces, Nod, Elvis, Little Richard, Mungo Jerry, a touch o’ Glam and a bit more Jerry Lee and the result could be a right mess. But, if you take the right bits, play it like you mean it and crank it right up, then you might just have something.
This lot have that something. The former Hypnotics front man has assembled a guitar and piano-fuelled rock ’n’ roll band that really rolls. This extremely lo-fi debut attempts to convey some of the sheer excitement of their blistering live act. I am unsure whether it succeeds, basically because they are so darn exciting on stage. It could be argued that they try too hard, but what on earth is wrong with giving it your all?
These days few plough the instant-party-boogie field, but The JJR are a band for those who weep at the Stones’ flaccid assertion to be the “greatest rock ’n’ roll band on earth”.
Vic Templar
KING KANDY
Acid Beach Party
Gina CD
www.kingkandy.co.uk
King Kandy have produced a ‘Notion-Picture Soundtrack’, incidental music for a ’60s surf exploitation B-movie that doesn’t actually exist… but should! Everything is authentic, from the stylish artwork and photos of imaginary stars to snatches of dialogue, crazy beat poetry and a trailer. Although this adds to the authenticity it wears a little thin on repeat plays – the nifty instrumentals are better on their own. Titles like ‘Cave Up!’ ‘Mondo A Go-Go!’ and ‘Theme From Acid Beach Party’ tell their own story. Guest vocalists with names like Chad Valli are used on movie-pop tunes like ‘Persephone’, but most of the tunes are swinging instrumentals, a groovy cocktail with a dash of surf, garage, pop and exotica.
Fans of all the above will want to give this a spin whilst imagining hordes of bikini clad starlets doing the Frug and the Watusi across the beach. Go on, you know you want to.
Phil Suggitt
THE LEFT OUTSIDES
And Colours In Between
Transistor CD
www.transistor-music.com
London duo The Left Outsides have carved an interesting reputation for themselves for their ability to unpick rock songs, stripping down songs by the likes of Mercury Rev and infusing them with a quiet sadness. Yet on their debut album, aside from a gentle reworking of The Living Children’s 1966 garage comedown classic ‘Now It’s Over’, Alison Cotton and Mark Nicholas spotlight their own songwriting.
And Colours In Between has many captivating features. The wordless vocals that conclude ‘Neon Rainbow’ are intensely dreamlike, ‘The Other Side’ has an unsettling insistent rhythm and ‘Leaving The Frozen Butterflies Behind’ is simply gorgeous. Unfortunately the vocal styles of Cotton and Nicholas don’t always gel, although they sensibly rarely share lead vocals within a song.
What is also refreshing about The Left Outsides is their lack of guile, raising this album above the morass of similar groups treading the indie-folk circuit.
Jeanette Leech
IAN McLAGAN & THE BUMP BAND
Never Say Never
Proper CD
www.proper-records.co.uk
Ian McLagan’s adventures in rock ’n’ roll are legend. He’s played more gigs, made more records, drank more brandy and forgotten more cities than the combined members of every other band in The Sounds Of Now reviews section... times ten.
Never Say Never is the fifth Bump Band album and finds him in fine form, delivering the kind of no-nonsense rock and soul he patented with The Faces. The memory of his departed wife Kim haunts much of the album, no more so than on ‘Where Angels Hide’ and ‘When The Crying Is Over’ where Mac’s charmingly grizzled voice and tasty piano playing shine. The band (featuring former Spirit bass player Mark Andes) are rock solid throughout, powering the likes of ‘I Will Follow’ and the title track.
We should be thankful that the years haven’t dimmed Mac’s musical vision or led him into blues-rock hell – he could show most of this issue’s whipper snappers a thing or two.
Andy Morten
THE MISERABLE RICH
Twelve Ways To Count
Humble Soul CD
www.humblesoul.net
The Miserable Rich call themselves “a bar room chamber quintet”. It’s an appropriate tag, for they specialise in pared-down orchestral sounds with lyrics similar to the circular logic of a pub argument.
Twelve Ways To Count is another take on the current fad for hyper-clear vocals against an understated but precise instrumental backdrop, in this case largely string-driven. Whether you like this album will depend very much on how you click with the voice of James De Malplaquet (now there’s a pop star name for you). He’s tremendously affected it’s true, but there’s still something compelling about his delivery, at its best when he yowls rather than pussyfoots quietly.
However, The Miserable Rich aren’t really special enough to maintain listener attention across a whole album. There are just too many similar bands out there and unfortunately they don’t do enough to stick their head above the parapet.
Jeanette Leech
SHAUGHNESSY
Big Wide World
Easy Money CD
www.easymoneyrecords.co.uk
There’s no way this Northwestern English modster can avoid being compared to Weller, which is how he’s being “pigeon-holed by the industry” already, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as heard herewith.
Terry Shaughnessy mostly sticks to whatever Paul has been influenced by for mod knows how long, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me saying that some of the album’s highlights are worthy enough of modfather’s own best moments. After the hard-rockin’ glam ’n’ glitter brought by the opening tribal rhythm, the following ‘I Believe’ will make you realise this yourself, as far as the author’s capability to come up with anything just as soulful goes. The same goes for ‘Can You Feel It?’, ‘Volcano’ or ‘Try As I May’. More or less derivative, he also gets quite good while taking an occasional psychedelic trip (‘Let It Burn’), the role of an acid-fueled folky (‘Transmission’, ‘Satellites’), as well as the one of an orchestrated band leader (‘Throw Me A Line’).
Goran Obradovic
MATTHEW SWEET
Sunshine Lies
Shout! Factory CD
www.shoutfactory.com
What Mr. Sweet does best are tough but tender pop songs brimming with hooks and harmonies, such as the excellent ‘Daisy Chain’ and the title track, where Susannah Hoffs’ vocals are used to great effect. ‘Byrdgirl’ is also great – and doesn’t sound remotely like McGuinn and co. As usual Sweet has deployed some of his regular musical buddies (Susannah Hoffs, Rick Menck, Richard Lloyd, etc) really well.
Most Sweet albums mix gorgeous power pop with some less inspired material. Matthew always likes to include some rockers, but the more he rocks out the more his sense of a classic hook or riff seems to desert him. The guitar noodling make tunes like ‘Room To Rock’ the least memorable songs. Long-time fans will love this, but, for new listeners, there may be too many guitar workouts for the pure pop fan, and too many melodic choruses for the guitar guys.
Phil Suggitt
VARIOUS ARTISTS
International Pop Overthrow Volume 11
Not Lame 3 CD
www.notlame.com
I know 66 tracks into 150 words won’t fit, but there’s enough space to alert you to the latest annual edition of the IPO set. Three CDs of melodic guitar-led pop should be enough to get you tapping your way to Not Lame’s website immediately.
David Bash has compiled another great selection of catchy new tunes by a slew of great artists. Here’s some that grabbed my ears: The Dirty Royals’ ‘Josephine’, unreleased thus far and the catchiest power pop number on the disc; The Ravines (buy their CD post free direct from their website www.theravines.co.uk); Wiretree’s ‘There Goes Pete Best!’; The Respectables’ ‘Charged By The Minute’ (unreleased and as Detroit as it comes). Then there are The Romeros, Service Group, Ken Case Group, Daisy, Kelly Fairchild, Alright Tokoyo, John McMullen and Fireking (new album soon please?).
Paul Martin
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Takin’ A Detour Volume 4
Detour CD
www.detour-records.co.uk
Every now and then, Detour takes a trip of a trans-global kind, introducing bands from all over the world, all of them fitting the label’s usual roster.
The band name of East End, might as well refer to London. While just as appropriate, it’s actually what a Russian threesome offers their own take on hard hitting Midway Delta sound under. The Japanese pair of The Nailclippers and The Fadeaways both deliver a pretty freaked out mix of mid-60s garage and ’70s punk, with the former also covering The Zombies’ ‘Indication’, and the latter admiting not to be “playing cool, but hopping their small bodies, shouting in broken English and sometimes tumbling to the floor”. The Austrian Parascopes had secured my own vote even before hearing them, thanks to the cover of The Eyes’ ‘You’re Too Much’.
On a more conventional note, Pittsburgh’s Camera is probably the closest to the Britpop kind of modernism America has ever come.
Goran Obradovic |
