I am
a huge fan of Air’s ‘Moon Safari’, ‘Premiere Symptomes’, and ‘Virgin
Suicides’ albums. On those releases, they combined seventies prog rock with
“space age bachelor pad” type lounge music for a sound that is the sonic
equivalent of a bubble bath – warm, sensual, and relaxing. That’s why I was so
disappointed with their last full studio album, ’10,000 khz Heroes’. That album
was something of an experiment. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the experiment
was a failure. So it was with some trepidation that I approached the latest
release from this French band. And…it’s not bad. Unlike their previous
release, the band steers clear of guest vocalists, handling all the singing
themselves. This is a good thing, as it makes for a more consistent listening
experience. Of course some of my favorite tracks from this band, like “La Femme
D’Argent”, don’t even have vocals. The band touches on that side of their sound
with the tracks “Mike Mills”, “Alpha Beta Gaga”, and “Alone in Kyoto”, and I’d
have to say those are my favorite tracks here. For the most part, though, Air
stays within a more traditional pop song structure on this album, similar to
their “Playground Love” single from the ‘Virgin Suicides’ soundtrack. While
these songs are pretty good, don’t pay too much attention to the lyrics as
they’re pretty insipid. With some bands, that would ruin everything for me and
I’d just give the album a bad review. Air, however, has always been more about
mood than substance. Get yourself a glass of wine, curl up with your
significant other, and just let the music wash over you. While I did enjoy this
album, I’ll still be giving the first three releases a lot more time in my CD
player than this one. I’m not normally into giving concrete ratings, but in
this case I’d say this is about a “B-“, whereas their first three albums all get
solid “A”s. (Bob Ignizio)
While the Vic Bondi songs are
COMPLETELY different from the Articles of Faith (AOF) songs, one thing stays the
same: the presence of Vic Bondi. The difference is 20 years. The AOF songs, "Buy
This War" and "American Dreams", are the highlights here. AOF plays classic punk
from 1983 in the vein of GBH and the Exploited. These two songs are excellent,
fast driven punk. Pissed off and raw. The Vic Bondi songs are quite the
opposite. "Hardball", for example, is a straight forward rock tune with
absolutely no jolt. His version of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song
"Fortunate Son" (directed toward Pres. Bush) is just as tedious and simply
doesn't do it for me. I'll stick with the Circle Jerks version. Vic's earlier
work with AOF was much more to my liking, and wouldn't you know it, Alternative
Tentacles has also released 2 AOF-only collections!!! (Mike Salamone)
Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio,
Fast Mattress mixes the classic surf organ sound with rip-roarin' punk rock.
And in my opinion, this is one of the best bands around right now. The first
track, "Alcoholic" (which also appears on the ‘Cleveland: Ain't it Fun’ volume 1
compilation) is already a classic! The song is a sad tale of someone who's only
hope in life is being drunk and not caring about anything else. Driven by fast,
catchy punk with heavy surf organ, this song will grab you and probably remind
you of someone you know. The second track lightens things up a bit, dealing with
the embarrassment of being seen with your dad because "Daddy Has A Mullett".
This song also contains a few surprise bars of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man”.
Another outstanding song is the "Fast Mattress Theme", sung from the point of
view of the mattress. This band is very creative lyrically and musically with a
sound all their own, a rarity nowadays. Shelley's vocals are top notch,
challenging any riot girls out there. (Are there riot girls anymore?) I
hope these guys (and girls) go far. They definitely deserve it. Chalk this one
up as one of the best releases so far this year. Go to the band's
website to order a copy. (Mike Salamone)
Goosebread comes across as
being a lot like Tenacious D. It’s 2 guys, The Lifechanger (aka Wayne
Richards of Soulless, Caveman, etc.) playing acoustic guitar and contributing
backing vocals, with The Provider handling the lead vocals. Like Tenacious
D, the
song structures owe as much to metal as to folk, and the lyrics and attitude are
far from serious. But there are definite differences between The Bread and The
D. Goosebread seems to draw from a slightly wider musical palette, and the
lyrics are more Zappa weird than the lowbrow scatological humor of Tenacious D.
Of course I just like listening to Wayne’s guitar playing anyway. He’s a
tasteful, melodic player who impresses you with his ability while at the same
time always working in service of the song. And Brad’s a decent enough singer who delivers this material with
feeling and doesn’t try to oversell the humorous aspects. If you like good music
that will put a smile on your face, go on over to
CD Baby and order yourself a copy. (Bob Ignizio)
I am
a huge fan of Air’s ‘Moon Safari’, ‘Premiere Symptomes’, and ‘Virgin
Suicides’ albums. On those releases, they combined seventies prog rock with
“space age bachelor pad” type lounge music for a sound that is the sonic
equivalent of a bubble bath – warm, sensual, and relaxing. That’s why I was so
disappointed with their last full studio album, ’10,000 khz Heroes’. That album
was something of an experiment. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the experiment
was a failure. So it was with some trepidation that I approached the latest
release from this French band. And…it’s not bad. Unlike their previous
release, the band steers clear of guest vocalists, handling all the singing
themselves. This is a good thing, as it makes for a more consistent listening
experience. Of course some of my favorite tracks from this band, like “La Femme
D’Argent”, don’t even have vocals. The band touches on that side of their sound
with the tracks “Mike Mills”, “Alpha Beta Gaga”, and “Alone in Kyoto”, and I’d
have to say those are my favorite tracks here. For the most part, though, Air
stays within a more traditional pop song structure on this album, similar to
their “Playground Love” single from the ‘Virgin Suicides’ soundtrack. While
these songs are pretty good, don’t pay too much attention to the lyrics as
they’re pretty insipid. With some bands, that would ruin everything for me and
I’d just give the album a bad review. Air, however, has always been more about
mood than substance. Get yourself a glass of wine, curl up with your
significant other, and just let the music wash over you. While I did enjoy this
album, I’ll still be giving the first three releases a lot more time in my CD
player than this one. I’m not normally into giving concrete ratings, but in
this case I’d say this is about a “B-“, whereas their first three albums all get
solid “A”s. (Bob Ignizio)
While the Vic Bondi songs are
COMPLETELY different from the Articles of Faith (AOF) songs, one thing stays the
same: the presence of Vic Bondi. The difference is 20 years. The AOF songs, "Buy
This War" and "American Dreams", are the highlights here. AOF plays classic punk
from 1983 in the vein of GBH and the Exploited. These two songs are excellent,
fast driven punk. Pissed off and raw. The Vic Bondi songs are quite the
opposite. "Hardball", for example, is a straight forward rock tune with
absolutely no jolt. His version of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song
"Fortunate Son" (directed toward Pres. Bush) is just as tedious and simply
doesn't do it for me. I'll stick with the Circle Jerks version. Vic's earlier
work with AOF was much more to my liking, and wouldn't you know it, Alternative
Tentacles has also released 2 AOF-only collections!!! (Mike Salamone)
Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio,
Fast Mattress mixes the classic surf organ sound with rip-roarin' punk rock.
And in my opinion, this is one of the best bands around right now. The first
track, "Alcoholic" (which also appears on the ‘Cleveland: Ain't it Fun’ volume 1
compilation) is already a classic! The song is a sad tale of someone who's only
hope in life is being drunk and not caring about anything else. Driven by fast,
catchy punk with heavy surf organ, this song will grab you and probably remind
you of someone you know. The second track lightens things up a bit, dealing with
the embarrassment of being seen with your dad because "Daddy Has A Mullett".
This song also contains a few surprise bars of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man”.
Another outstanding song is the "Fast Mattress Theme", sung from the point of
view of the mattress. This band is very creative lyrically and musically with a
sound all their own, a rarity nowadays. Shelley's vocals are top notch,
challenging any riot girls out there. (Are there riot girls anymore?) I
hope these guys (and girls) go far. They definitely deserve it. Chalk this one
up as one of the best releases so far this year. Go to the band's
