Never knowing what to expect
from a CD you buy is often bad because if it bites you're down 12 bucks. This
said I must say not knowing what to expect from a promotional item you got for
free is awesome. When buying CDs you know what it is you want and will usually
get; free stuff given to you to review is often of a genre you're entirely
unfamiliar with or wouldn't normally listen to. The album on trial today is
Captains Log's release ‘Matter’. The packaging was nothing special but at least
the liner notes were hilarious, showing that at least somebody on the west side
has a sardonic sense of humor. The music is a
folky-bluesey-I-got-drunk-and-had-an-accoustic-guitar-at-a-campfire kind of
sound. Quite honestly you never hear this kind of stuff out of Greater
Cleveland and I would love to see these guys play a show with the Wilmot
Proviso. The lyrics will make you laugh out loud as they really aren't ashamed
to say anything. Nary a bad word to say about this rolling little album of
rants and sing-alongs. For more info check out:
www.ihaterecords.com, or contact the cap'n (crunch) at
schaeffer@ihaterecords.com.
(The Nate)
‘Fire’ is almost worth the purchase price just for the
first single, the disco/rock novelty number “Danger! High Voltage”. Most of the
rest of the album mines the same territory with varying degrees of success, with
“Dance Commander” and “Improper Dancing” coming closest to capturing the same
magic. It’s fun stuff, but the premise does start to wear thin. More
successful are a couple of forays into other styles. “Gay Bar” shows the last
vestiges of this band’s previous life as garage rockers The Wild Bunch with its
surf rock guitar riffing, and “I Invented the Night” features a synthesizer
melody that recalls Gary Numan. The straight forward rock of “Nuclear War on
the Dance Floor” satisfies as well. Lyrics are of the so dumb they’re clever
variety, with lines like “fire at the disco, fire at the taco bell” the norm.
‘Fire’ ultimately is a good but by no means great album. Still, with its mix
of arena rock riffs and danceable beats it’s a perfect soundtrack for your next
party. Sure to get heads banging and booties shaking in equal measure. (Bob
Ignizio)
It ain’t no ‘Clandestine’ or ‘Wolverine Blues’, but
‘Inferno’ is a solid, stripped down to the basics hard rock album. Solos and
leads are few and far between although unlike Metallica on ‘St. Anger’ Entombed
haven’t abandoned them altogether. They’re just used sparingly. Overall I’d
say this sounds like a cross between classic Entombed and bands like Godflesh or
‘Psalm 69’ era Ministry. There’s some hardcore influence as well. But the
signature guitar sound is still there, the songs are well written and catchy but
still heavy as hell, and vocalist L-G Petrov turns in what may be his finest
vocal performance to date. Every track is at least worth a listen, and songs
like “The Fix is In”, “That’s When I Became a Satanist”, and “Night For Day” are
better than anything the band has done since original drummer/main songwriter
Nicke Anderson split to focus on his current outfit The Hellacopters. I’m
sure some long time fans will be less than thrilled, and I can understand why,
but overall I think this is damn good stuff. (Bob Ignizio)
Cleveland’s Lords of the Highway are back with another
collection of booze soaked rock and roll, and it may well be their best yet. On
the Lord’s last release guitarist Dennis Bell pretty much let his guitar do the
talking, with upright bass player Sugar handling the majority of the vocals.
This time around Dennis’ vocal stylings get a chance to shine on rollicking
numbers like “Drink, Drank, Drunk”, “Damn You Miller”, and “R’N’R”. Most of the
time Dennis sings with a strong melodic voice that recalls the best fifties
rockabilly hollerin’, but on “Ready to Rock” I’d swear he was channeling Dead
Kennedys’ frontman Jello Biafra. Sugar still gets to belt out a few; the waltz
time number “The Devil Made Me Do It”, the moody “Gone Missing”, and a cover of
Danzig’s “Twist of Cain”. Unfortunately I just don’t think “Twist” is a good
fit for the band, and they fail to make it their own like they did another
Danzig penned number on their previous album. Other than that, no complaints
whatsoever. This is excellent rockabilly worthy of national attention. It sure
as hell beats the last few Reverend Horton Heat albums. (Bob Ignizio)
Never knowing what to expect
from a CD you buy is often bad because if it bites you're down 12 bucks. This
said I must say not knowing what to expect from a promotional item you got for
free is awesome. When buying CDs you know what it is you want and will usually
get; free stuff given to you to review is often of a genre you're entirely
unfamiliar with or wouldn't normally listen to. The album on trial today is
Captains Log's release ‘Matter’. The packaging was nothing special but at least
the liner notes were hilarious, showing that at least somebody on the west side
has a sardonic sense of humor. The music is a
folky-bluesey-I-got-drunk-and-had-an-accoustic-guitar-at-a-campfire kind of
sound. Quite honestly you never hear this kind of stuff out of Greater
Cleveland and I would love to see these guys play a show with the Wilmot
Proviso. The lyrics will make you laugh out loud as they really aren't ashamed
to say anything. Nary a bad word to say about this rolling little album of
rants and sing-alongs. For more info check out:
‘Fire’ is almost worth the purchase price just for the
first single, the disco/rock novelty number “Danger! High Voltage”. Most of the
rest of the album mines the same territory with varying degrees of success, with
“Dance Commander” and “Improper Dancing” coming closest to capturing the same
magic. It’s fun stuff, but the premise does start to wear thin. More
successful are a couple of forays into other styles. “Gay Bar” shows the last
vestiges of this band’s previous life as garage rockers The Wild Bunch with its
surf rock guitar riffing, and “I Invented the Night” features a synthesizer
melody that recalls Gary Numan. The straight forward rock of “Nuclear War on
the Dance Floor” satisfies as well. Lyrics are of the so dumb they’re clever
variety, with lines like “fire at the disco, fire at the taco bell” the norm.
‘Fire’ ultimately is a good but by no means great album. Still, with its mix
of arena rock riffs and danceable beats it’s a perfect soundtrack for your next
party. Sure to get heads banging and booties shaking in equal measure. (Bob
Ignizio)
It ain’t no ‘Clandestine’ or ‘Wolverine Blues’, but
‘Inferno’ is a solid, stripped down to the basics hard rock album. Solos and
leads are few and far between although unlike Metallica on ‘St. Anger’ Entombed
haven’t abandoned them altogether. They’re just used sparingly. Overall I’d
say this sounds like a cross between classic Entombed and bands like Godflesh or
‘Psalm 69’ era Ministry. There’s some hardcore influence as well. But the
signature guitar sound is still there, the songs are well written and catchy but
still heavy as hell, and vocalist L-G Petrov turns in what may be his finest
vocal performance to date. Every track is at least worth a listen, and songs
like “The Fix is In”, “That’s When I Became a Satanist”, and “Night For Day” are
better than anything the band has done since original drummer/main songwriter
Nicke Anderson split to focus on his current outfit The Hellacopters. I’m
sure some long time fans will be less than thrilled, and I can understand why,
but overall I think this is damn good stuff. (Bob Ignizio)
Cleveland’s Lords of the Highway are back with another
collection of booze soaked rock and roll, and it may well be their best yet. On
the Lord’s last release guitarist Dennis Bell pretty much let his guitar do the
talking, with upright bass player Sugar handling the majority of the vocals.
This time around Dennis’ vocal stylings get a chance to shine on rollicking
numbers like “Drink, Drank, Drunk”, “Damn You Miller”, and “R’N’R”. Most of the
time Dennis sings with a strong melodic voice that recalls the best fifties
rockabilly hollerin’, but on “Ready to Rock” I’d swear he was channeling Dead
Kennedys’ frontman Jello Biafra. Sugar still gets to belt out a few; the waltz
time number “The Devil Made Me Do It”, the moody “Gone Missing”, and a cover of
Danzig’s “Twist of Cain”. Unfortunately I just don’t think “Twist” is a good
fit for the band, and they fail to make it their own like they did another
Danzig penned number on their previous album. Other than that, no complaints
whatsoever. This is excellent rockabilly worthy of national attention. It sure
as hell beats the last few Reverend Horton Heat albums. (Bob Ignizio)