The Melvins – ‘A Live History of
Gluttony and Lust’ (Ipecac)
The long and short of it is this is the Melvins 1993
‘Houdini’ album performed live in its entirety. I’m assuming pretty much
anybody reading this knows who the Melvins are and what they sound like, but in
case I’m mistaken – The Melvins are arguably the first “grunge” band to come out
of the Seattle scene, and also arguably the most interesting. ‘Houdini’ was the
band’s major label debut, and it combined their avant sludge sound with solid,
focused songwriting that resulted in an album that should have been bigger than
it was. Perhaps better than commercial success, however, the Melvins and this
album have instead developed a loyal cult following. Which brings us to this
release. A few songs appear in a different order than they did on the original
studio album, and of course this is live so there’s no overdubs and the sound is
more raw. If you’re a Melvins fan you probably don’t need me to tell you to buy
it. And if you’re a fan of heavy sludgy rock who missed out on ‘Houdini’ the
first time around, don’t make the same mistake twice. (Bob Ignizio)
Moi? is a rock n’ roll college freshman, complete with
theater 101 and poetry 101 credits on his transcript. A listening experience
that may not be for everyone, Moi? is an egotistical self-proclaimed poet and
genius. With themes like “water,” “sex,” and frequent mentions of “deserts” and
“sand” and “aging” this album is confusing. I’ve been told by a few people that
to be in a band you have to believe you are in the greatest band in the world.
This might turn off some listeners, not me really, but some people. Anyway,
about the album, it’s fun, it has a concise beginning, middle, and end, and if
you listen hard enough you can hear an entire story. Simple guitar riffs (most
of the time) barely audible drums (even though there are two drummers), and
constant focus on singing and lyrics. It’s like easy listening of the glam rock
persuasion. The music often changes- sometimes you are listening to the
soundtrack to a musical (a more modern ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’) similar to the
Polyphonic Spree. Next you are taken on a spoken word ride (not Dylan, or
Rollins), then you realize you are all the sudden thinking of sex reminiscent of
the way Prince used to make you feel, and then brought back to the music you
probably already listen to with a sub par guitar solo and a quick glimpse of
Eric Clapton in your head. Don’t take that the wrong way, if you like Eric
Clapton you WILL NOT like this. Moi? features a guy names Royce singing songs
like “Angelpussy” followed by tribute songs to his own mother, all while wearing
a fancy bedazzled shirt- and that’s really all you need to know! (Feowyn A.
MacKinnon)
The Mugshots – ‘House of the
Weirdos’ (Lombroso Releases)
This is some Italian horror rock band is sort of like a mix
of The Damned, The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Italian horror movie soundtrack
music, Oingo Boingo, and just a little touch of modern Euro metal topped off
with a vocalist who sounds like Dave Vanian crossed with Mike Patton in melodic
mode. It’s certainly a change of pace from another bunch of dudes with
devilocks singing “whoah”. On top of scoring high in originality, The Mugshots
also get good marks in songwriting. Even instrumentals like “Poliziasettanta”
have good hooks. “Love on Red Yesterdays” is definitely the stand out track,
but I enjoyed this disc from start to finish. It’s getting pleasant unexpected
surprises like this in my P.O. box now and then that makes doing Utter Trash
worthwhile. Thanks for sending this, guys! You can get a copy for yourself
through the band’s exclusive U.S. distributor Crypt of Blood Records, and get
more info (and hear some MP3s) at
http://www.mugshots.it. (Bob Ignizio)
New Bruises – ‘Transmit!
Transmit!’ (Kiss of Death)
New Bruises unleash an album’s worth of very modern
sounding punk on ‘Transmit! Transmit!’. There are lots of interesting guitar
parts and atypical arrangements, but also plenty of memorable hooks. Sort of
like they took notes from post punk bands like Fugazi and incorporated what they
learned into a more straight-up punk sound. The music is both powerful and
melodic, and while the vocals are mainly shouted they don’t detract from the
tunefulness. I especially enjoyed the title track, “Coffee with a Side of
Confrontation, Please”, and “Homo Erectus Americanus”. The band delves into
social and political subject matter on some of the songs, but a lot of what they
sing about seems more personal than anything. Whatever topic the band tackles,
though, the lyrics are smart and well written. There’s maybe one or two tracks
that seem kind of weak by comparison to the best this album has to offer, but
nothing terrible. Definitely worth checking out. (Bob Ignizio)
The long and short of it is this is the Melvins 1993
‘Houdini’ album performed live in its entirety. I’m assuming pretty much
anybody reading this knows who the Melvins are and what they sound like, but in
case I’m mistaken – The Melvins are arguably the first “grunge” band to come out
of the Seattle scene, and also arguably the most interesting. ‘Houdini’ was the
band’s major label debut, and it combined their avant sludge sound with solid,
focused songwriting that resulted in an album that should have been bigger than
it was. Perhaps better than commercial success, however, the Melvins and this
album have instead developed a loyal cult following. Which brings us to this
release. A few songs appear in a different order than they did on the original
studio album, and of course this is live so there’s no overdubs and the sound is
more raw. If you’re a Melvins fan you probably don’t need me to tell you to buy
it. And if you’re a fan of heavy sludgy rock who missed out on ‘Houdini’ the
first time around, don’t make the same mistake twice. (Bob Ignizio)
Moi? is a rock n’ roll college freshman, complete with
theater 101 and poetry 101 credits on his transcript. A listening experience
that may not be for everyone, Moi? is an egotistical self-proclaimed poet and
genius. With themes like “water,” “sex,” and frequent mentions of “deserts” and
“sand” and “aging” this album is confusing. I’ve been told by a few people that
to be in a band you have to believe you are in the greatest band in the world.
This might turn off some listeners, not me really, but some people. Anyway,
about the album, it’s fun, it has a concise beginning, middle, and end, and if
you listen hard enough you can hear an entire story. Simple guitar riffs (most
of the time) barely audible drums (even though there are two drummers), and
constant focus on singing and lyrics. It’s like easy listening of the glam rock
persuasion. The music often changes- sometimes you are listening to the
soundtrack to a musical (a more modern ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’) similar to the
Polyphonic Spree. Next you are taken on a spoken word ride (not Dylan, or
Rollins), then you realize you are all the sudden thinking of sex reminiscent of
the way Prince used to make you feel, and then brought back to the music you
probably already listen to with a sub par guitar solo and a quick glimpse of
Eric Clapton in your head. Don’t take that the wrong way, if you like Eric
Clapton you WILL NOT like this. Moi? features a guy names Royce singing songs
like “Angelpussy” followed by tribute songs to his own mother, all while wearing
a fancy bedazzled shirt- and that’s really all you need to know! (Feowyn A.
MacKinnon)
This is some Italian horror rock band is sort of like a mix
of The Damned, The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Italian horror movie soundtrack
music, Oingo Boingo, and just a little touch of modern Euro metal topped off
with a vocalist who sounds like Dave Vanian crossed with Mike Patton in melodic
mode. It’s certainly a change of pace from another bunch of dudes with
devilocks singing “whoah”. On top of scoring high in originality, The Mugshots
also get good marks in songwriting. Even instrumentals like “Poliziasettanta”
have good hooks. “Love on Red Yesterdays” is definitely the stand out track,
but I enjoyed this disc from start to finish. It’s getting pleasant unexpected
surprises like this in my P.O. box now and then that makes doing Utter Trash
worthwhile. Thanks for sending this, guys! You can get a copy for yourself
through the band’s exclusive U.S. distributor Crypt of Blood Records, and get
more info (and hear some MP3s) at
New Bruises unleash an album’s worth of very modern
sounding punk on ‘Transmit! Transmit!’. There are lots of interesting guitar
parts and atypical arrangements, but also plenty of memorable hooks. Sort of
like they took notes from post punk bands like Fugazi and incorporated what they
learned into a more straight-up punk sound. The music is both powerful and
melodic, and while the vocals are mainly shouted they don’t detract from the
tunefulness. I especially enjoyed the title track, “Coffee with a Side of
Confrontation, Please”, and “Homo Erectus Americanus”. The band delves into
social and political subject matter on some of the songs, but a lot of what they
sing about seems more personal than anything. Whatever topic the band tackles,
though, the lyrics are smart and well written. There’s maybe one or two tracks
that seem kind of weak by comparison to the best this album has to offer, but
nothing terrible. Definitely worth checking out. (Bob Ignizio) 