In a music scene crowded
with trend hoppers and retro rockers, it’s always refreshing to come across
something unique and original. ‘The Book of Knots’ is just that. Of course the
downside is it makes my job a little harder. I can’t just tell you “it sounds
like such and such crossed with so and so”, but I can live with that. The best
description I could give is that the songwriting is very simple and
straightforward, but with interesting choices in arrangements, production, and
instrumentation. The sound is a mixture of melody and dissonance, acoustic and
electronic, all the while maintaining the nautical feel the band is going for
through sound effects and bits of sampled dialogue from Robert Louis Stephenson
(‘Treasure Island’, ‘Kidnapped’) books. It’s experimental, but not so much that
good song writing gets tossed overboard. The core of the band is Joel Hamilton,
Tony Maimone, Matthias Bossi, and Carla Kihlstedt, each with lengthy indie rock
resumes. Numerous guest performers also come on board through the course of the
voyage. Standout tracks include “Tugboat” and “Assistance”, both with Kihlstedt
on vocals, and “Back on Dry Land”, sung by John Langford. (Bob Ignizio)
The
Casualties ‘On the Front Line’ (Sideonedummy Records)
The Casualties new one is a
great example of a newer punk band being on the true punk rock road, and not
boring us with top 40 with a fast drumbeat and calling it "punk". Though they've
been around a few years, I've just recently really gotten into them. And am
glad I did. The best song on this, hands down, is "Leaders Of Today". This gem
of a song is punk at its most ferocious. The vocals scream at you with such
passion----verse-chorus, verse chorus, verse-chorus ----all without a break
before the guitar solo comes in, then its head biting vocals screaming again for
2 more go arounds. Kind of reminds me of old Exploited when they were in their
prime. Aside from excellent vocals, the bass player is also extraordinary,
which is always important in a punk band. Other rippers are the title track and
"Criminal Class". There are a few songs that are
"sing-a-long-with-the-bouncing-ball" type choruses, but all in all these guys
are a breath of fresh air in a modern day scene where "punk" is attached to that
which is not punk at all. And beware! The Casualties Army is storming thru a
town near you. So prepare for the attack. (Mike Salamone)
On the last Leatherface CD,
Stubb's voice was shot. Like he had blown his vocal chords but was trying as
hard as he could to get his vocals out. On this new one, his voice is nearly a
whisper. I hope he doesn't have throat cancer or something. Older Leatherface
stuff like the classic ‘Mush’ pointed to him being the Lemmy of punk rock. On
previous albums, Leatherface had a sound that featured Rough vocals mixed with
solid balladic punk and exceptional guitar work. The new stuff is in that
tradition, yet it seems more like they're trying rather than doing it. Don't
get me wrong, I can listen to it, but it’s missing that hard-determined drive
that once fueled this band. This one's more for emo fans or fans of softer(?)
punk. Maybe it's evolution, I don't know. But it's more weak than strong. I'm
not saying emo music is for weaklings. I very much like the Get Up Kids but
they, too, face the same dilemma as Leatherface. Once an outstanding band,
they’re now a shadow of their former selves. I guess not everyone can be a Billy
B. Childish and constantly put out top notch material. I'm sure my music would
wear out eventually, as well. Who knows? (Mike Salamone)
I just recently heard this
band for the first time on Cleveland college radio station WCSB and thought they
sounded pretty cool. So I went to my personal favorite place to buy cool music,
My Mind’s Eye records in Lakewood, and picked this up. For someone like me just
getting into this band, ‘The Great Old Ones’ makes a good starting point. This
is sort of like a “greatest hits” CD for a band that never had any hits. For
whatever reason, though (I’d guess some sort of rights issue), the versions on
‘The Great Old Ones’ are all newly recorded. If you already have most of this
band’s output, unless you’re a completist, you may want to pass. For the rest
of the world, if you like ugly, noisy, raw rock ‘n’ roll check this out.
Overall, I’d say this band reminds me of The Butthole Surfers in their more
straight forward rock mode, ala the ‘Independent Worm Saloon’ album. It’s
mainly because the songs I head on the radio by these guys reminded me of the
Surfers, while still having a flavor of their own, that I bought this disc. I
was not disappointed. The CD also has a cool cover featuring a sculpture of H.P.
Lovecraft’s Cthulu. Lovecraft’s fictional monstrosities, of which Cthulu is
probably the best known, are referred to as “the Great Old Ones” in his stories,
so it’s a fun play on the album’s title.
In a music scene crowded
with trend hoppers and retro rockers, it’s always refreshing to come across
something unique and original. ‘The Book of Knots’ is just that. Of course the
downside is it makes my job a little harder. I can’t just tell you “it sounds
like such and such crossed with so and so”, but I can live with that. The best
description I could give is that the songwriting is very simple and
straightforward, but with interesting choices in arrangements, production, and
instrumentation. The sound is a mixture of melody and dissonance, acoustic and
electronic, all the while maintaining the nautical feel the band is going for
through sound effects and bits of sampled dialogue from Robert Louis Stephenson
(‘Treasure Island’, ‘Kidnapped’) books. It’s experimental, but not so much that
good song writing gets tossed overboard. The core of the band is Joel Hamilton,
Tony Maimone, Matthias Bossi, and Carla Kihlstedt, each with lengthy indie rock
resumes. Numerous guest performers also come on board through the course of the
voyage. Standout tracks include “Tugboat” and “Assistance”, both with Kihlstedt
on vocals, and “Back on Dry Land”, sung by John Langford. (Bob Ignizio)
The Casualties new one is a
great example of a newer punk band being on the true punk rock road, and not
boring us with top 40 with a fast drumbeat and calling it "punk". Though they've
been around a few years, I've just recently really gotten into them. And am
glad I did. The best song on this, hands down, is "Leaders Of Today". This gem
of a song is punk at its most ferocious. The vocals scream at you with such
passion----verse-chorus, verse chorus, verse-chorus ----all without a break
before the guitar solo comes in, then its head biting vocals screaming again for
2 more go arounds. Kind of reminds me of old Exploited when they were in their
prime. Aside from excellent vocals, the bass player is also extraordinary,
which is always important in a punk band. Other rippers are the title track and
"Criminal Class". There are a few songs that are
"sing-a-long-with-the-bouncing-ball" type choruses, but all in all these guys
are a breath of fresh air in a modern day scene where "punk" is attached to that
which is not punk at all. And beware! The Casualties Army is storming thru a
town near you. So prepare for the attack. (Mike Salamone)
On the last Leatherface CD,
Stubb's voice was shot. Like he had blown his vocal chords but was trying as
hard as he could to get his vocals out. On this new one, his voice is nearly a
whisper. I hope he doesn't have throat cancer or something. Older Leatherface
stuff like the classic ‘Mush’ pointed to him being the Lemmy of punk rock. On
previous albums, Leatherface had a sound that featured Rough vocals mixed with
solid balladic punk and exceptional guitar work. The new stuff is in that
tradition, yet it seems more like they're trying rather than doing it. Don't
get me wrong, I can listen to it, but it’s missing that hard-determined drive
that once fueled this band. This one's more for emo fans or fans of softer(?)
punk. Maybe it's evolution, I don't know. But it's more weak than strong. I'm
not saying emo music is for weaklings. I very much like the Get Up Kids but
they, too, face the same dilemma as Leatherface. Once an outstanding band,
they’re now a shadow of their former selves. I guess not everyone can be a Billy
B. Childish and constantly put out top notch material. I'm sure my music would
wear out eventually, as well. Who knows? (Mike Salamone)
I just recently heard this
band for the first time on Cleveland college radio station WCSB and thought they
sounded pretty cool. So I went to my personal favorite place to buy cool music,
My Mind’s Eye records in Lakewood, and picked this up. For someone like me just
getting into this band, ‘The Great Old Ones’ makes a good starting point. This
is sort of like a “greatest hits” CD for a band that never had any hits. For
whatever reason, though (I’d guess some sort of rights issue), the versions on
‘The Great Old Ones’ are all newly recorded. If you already have most of this
band’s output, unless you’re a completist, you may want to pass. For the rest
of the world, if you like ugly, noisy, raw rock ‘n’ roll check this out.
Overall, I’d say this band reminds me of The Butthole Surfers in their more
straight forward rock mode, ala the ‘Independent Worm Saloon’ album. It’s
mainly because the songs I head on the radio by these guys reminded me of the
Surfers, while still having a flavor of their own, that I bought this disc. I
was not disappointed. The CD also has a cool cover featuring a sculpture of H.P.
Lovecraft’s Cthulu. Lovecraft’s fictional monstrosities, of which Cthulu is
probably the best known, are referred to as “the Great Old Ones” in his stories,
so it’s a fun play on the album’s title. 