One of the first, and best, of the seemingly endless wave
of Swedish rock revivalists, The Hellacopters may just have produced their
masterpiece with ‘By the Grace of God’. Plenty of bands are capable
of capturing the sound of seventies rock, but this is a collection of seventies
pop rock songs that actually stands up to comparison with Cheap Trick,
Sweet, AC/DC, and Kiss. “Go Easy Now” would have topped the charts back in
1973, while the band shows their rock side on tracks like “By the Grace of God”
and “The Exorcist”. Fans of the band’s earlier albums like ‘Supershitty to
the Max’ might be disappointed that the raw garage rock sound the ‘copters
started out with is gone, but for my money this is about as good as retro rock
gets. The import is a bit pricey so you may want to wait for the eventual
domestic release. Of course, seeing what’s happened with other Swedish releases
probably 3 tracks will get left off and one or two new ones added. Argh! (Bob Ignizio)
I think Bill Hicks now has almost as many posthumous
releases as Tupac. Considering the current state of stand-up comedy, though, that’s
not necessarily a bad thing. Hicks was one of those rare comedians who had
something to say and could still be funny at the same time. On classic albums
like ‘Relentless’ and ‘Rant in E-Minor’ he skewered corporate rock, the war on
drugs, and hypocritical politicians. His bit on Rush Limbaugh lying in a
bathtub while Reagan, Bush the first, and Barbara Bush…well, you’ll just have to
hear it for yourself, but it’s a true gem of darkness. The material on ‘LLAT’,
however, is hit and miss. Several of the bits are just slightly different
versions of material that has already graced other albums. The rest is good
but not great. While certainly worth owning for the hardcore Hicks fanatics
this is not the album to introduce you to Bill’s genius. For that, I’d
recommend either ‘Relentless’ or Bill’s “greatest hits” CD, ‘Philosophy’. (Bob
Ignizio)
This is more goofy fun from the brains behind The King
Dapper Combo, Michael “Zombo” Devine, here billing himself as Captain Not U.L.
Approved. If you like your music dark, edgy, and aggressive you’d better look
elsewhere. This collection of mostly superhero themed originals (and a few
unrelated covers) is just harmless old school gimmick rock played well by a band
that loves kitsch. They turn in a pretty good version of Devo’s “Girl U Want”, and even cover an Ed Wood song, “Love Feast”. The
originals are more or less rockabilly/surf tunes with a few good hooks but
unfortunately lacking the punch the band displayed live. Maybe one of their
arch enemies hid some kryptonite in the studio. Still, not a bad release and
cleverly packaged, too. For more info, visit Zombo's
website. (Bob Ignizio)
As the title of this EP implies, Rock City Morgue are more
than a little familiar with the Rolling Stones. I'd hazard a guess they've
also heard The New York Dolls, Iggy and the Stooges, and plenty of seventies glam, hard rock, and
early punk. While the much ballyhooed “rock revival” has music fans drowning in
a flood of retro bands, mostly from Sweden, RCM manage to distinguish themselves
from the pack through the tried and true method of good songs and good playing.
It also doesn’t hurt that the production is by Daniel Rey, known for his work
with The Ramones among many others. He gives the 6 songs here a powerful sound,
clean and clear without being overly slick. Big sing-along choruses
combined with raunchy guitar are the formula that makes songs like “Get Out of
my House” and “Beware” work, and there’s also a decent pass at that old Stones
chestnut “Shattered”. It’s nice to see Sean Yseult (White Zombie, Famous
Monsters) back in action again, but don’t let your opinion of Zombie sway
you one way or the other on giving this a listen. Aside from a shared
fascination with things dark and morbid, there’s very little similarity. The
only place to get this is at the band’s website or shows. (Bob Ignizio)
One of the first, and best, of the seemingly endless wave
of Swedish rock revivalists, The Hellacopters may just have produced their
masterpiece with ‘By the Grace of God’. Plenty of bands are capable
of capturing the sound of seventies rock, but this is a collection of seventies
pop rock songs that actually stands up to comparison with Cheap Trick,
Sweet, AC/DC, and Kiss. “Go Easy Now” would have topped the charts back in
1973, while the band shows their rock side on tracks like “By the Grace of God”
and “The Exorcist”. Fans of the band’s earlier albums like ‘Supershitty to
the Max’ might be disappointed that the raw garage rock sound the ‘copters
started out with is gone, but for my money this is about as good as retro rock
gets. The import is a bit pricey so you may want to wait for the eventual
domestic release. Of course, seeing what’s happened with other Swedish releases
probably 3 tracks will get left off and one or two new ones added. Argh! (Bob Ignizio)
I think Bill Hicks now has almost as many posthumous
releases as Tupac. Considering the current state of stand-up comedy, though, that’s
not necessarily a bad thing. Hicks was one of those rare comedians who had
something to say and could still be funny at the same time. On classic albums
like ‘Relentless’ and ‘Rant in E-Minor’ he skewered corporate rock, the war on
drugs, and hypocritical politicians. His bit on Rush Limbaugh lying in a
bathtub while Reagan, Bush the first, and Barbara Bush…well, you’ll just have to
hear it for yourself, but it’s a true gem of darkness. The material on ‘LLAT’,
however, is hit and miss. Several of the bits are just slightly different
versions of material that has already graced other albums. The rest is good
but not great. While certainly worth owning for the hardcore Hicks fanatics
this is not the album to introduce you to Bill’s genius. For that, I’d
recommend either ‘Relentless’ or Bill’s “greatest hits” CD, ‘Philosophy’. (Bob
Ignizio)
This is more goofy fun from the brains behind The King
Dapper Combo, Michael “Zombo” Devine, here billing himself as Captain Not U.L.
Approved. If you like your music dark, edgy, and aggressive you’d better look
elsewhere. This collection of mostly superhero themed originals (and a few
unrelated covers) is just harmless old school gimmick rock played well by a band
that loves kitsch. They turn in a pretty good version of Devo’s “Girl U Want”, and even cover an Ed Wood song, “Love Feast”. The
originals are more or less rockabilly/surf tunes with a few good hooks but
unfortunately lacking the punch the band displayed live. Maybe one of their
arch enemies hid some kryptonite in the studio. Still, not a bad release and
cleverly packaged, too. For more info, visit Zombo's
As the title of this EP implies, Rock City Morgue are more
than a little familiar with the Rolling Stones. I'd hazard a guess they've
also heard The New York Dolls, Iggy and the Stooges, and plenty of seventies glam, hard rock, and
early punk. While the much ballyhooed “rock revival” has music fans drowning in
a flood of retro bands, mostly from Sweden, RCM manage to distinguish themselves
from the pack through the tried and true method of good songs and good playing.
It also doesn’t hurt that the production is by Daniel Rey, known for his work
with The Ramones among many others. He gives the 6 songs here a powerful sound,
clean and clear without being overly slick. Big sing-along choruses
combined with raunchy guitar are the formula that makes songs like “Get Out of
my House” and “Beware” work, and there’s also a decent pass at that old Stones
chestnut “Shattered”. It’s nice to see Sean Yseult (White Zombie, Famous
Monsters) back in action again, but don’t let your opinion of Zombie sway
you one way or the other on giving this a listen. Aside from a shared
fascination with things dark and morbid, there’s very little similarity. The
only place to get this is at the band’s 