Cleveland's User proclaim
themselves the "saviors of instrumental slacker rock," a statement that fits the
band well. This is their third EP, their first with a bassist. Earlier this
year, guitarist Anthony Merritt and drummer Fill Collins added One Day We Die
bassist (and ex-electronic musician, formerly known as Prof. Falcon) as their
bass player. It was a great addition to an already powerful line-up. User's
music is all instrumental, with some interesting samples sometimes overlaid.
Their sound is a mix of heavily fuzzed guitars, low end bass lines, and solid
drum patterns that play like loops. Comparisons to Nirvana are not far off, as
well as any comparisons to bands like Pavement, Sebadoh, or even the crunching
fuzz of say, Mudhoney. Their latest, "Electric Knife", is a noisy yet moving
record that will likely leaving you wanting more. Their musicianship is dead
on. Anthony Merritt's guitars are powerful, and his playing is quite amazing.
His brother's bass lines add a perfect crunch to the guitars and, in fact, his
playing sounds much more upfront than many bass players. The album heats up to
its best moments on tracks 4 and 5. Track 4, titled "Piranha", is a song that
builds up into a frenzy, led by Collin's intricate drums. Track 5, called "S.M",
works itself on a loop until it fuzzes out into pure bliss, then slows down, and
repeats itself, but never tires. The closer, "Beach Song" is an 8+ minute epic
that melds Sonic Youth's noise with the timing and structure of a band like Yes.
User is one of the brightest bands out of Cleveland, and this record only
proves that. If you like this album, be sure to see them live. Their shows are
packed with the elements of this EP, but with some major experimentation and
improvisation. (Eddie Fleisher)
Today on the
chopping block is the double-disk compilation ‘Contaminated 5.0’, the second
comp of its kind from Relapse Records. Relapse, known mostly for housing many
underground metal bands, takes on different genres of metal and rock mostly on
the first of the two disks. Granted, most people steer clear of the mess that is
a compilation album, which is usually filled with just some mid-level band’s
singles. However, this one isn’t that bad. There were two factors that came
into play when purchasing this comp. One: I recognized some of the bands, and
the ones I recognized outnumbered the ones I didn’t. Two: the low price of only
8 bucks. For two CDs my money wad was not lowered all that much. Alabama
Thunderpussy, The Dillinger Escape Plan, High On Fire, and Nile bring the
heaviness to the first disk. Also on the first disc, Bongzilla delivers some
doom and Neurosis offers a lighter song to bring you down to earth. The second
disk is reminiscent of the first ‘Contaminated’ comp, ‘Contaminated 3.0’, in
which the whole disk is basically heavy. Both ‘Contaminated’ comps introduced
me to a few new bands along with the ones I knew already. The stand-out bands
on the second disk are the always heavy Dying Fetus, Origin, and Agoraphobic
Nosebleed, but there does seem to be a bit of filler on the second disk. If
you’re looking for a decent comp to hear new bands, or you’re just too lazy to
make a mix CD, at 8 bucks it’s not that bad. But if you’re looking for more
heavy and death oriented music, for the same price ‘Contaminated 3.0’ may be the
way to go. (John Doullis)
‘Destroys All’ is a tribute to
Godzilla and friends, specifically the classic monster rally ‘Destroy All
Monsters’. Appropriately enough, the music on this CD is just as monolithic and
destructive as the monsters it celebrates. Mostly there are a lot of sludgy
tunes with guys screaming or growling over top. A few tracks do stand out from
the rest, though. The disc gets off to an ominous start with Mammoth’s
didgeridoo flavored track “In This Dying Moment”. Cleveland’s own Terminal
Lovers display a little more subtlety on “Mr. Astronaut Glenn” (actual singing!)
but nonetheless leave the city in ruins by the time they’re through. Leviathan
A.D. still has the growling vocals, but the music is more straight forward doom
metal and the band lays down some solid riffs on “By North Star, Gamera”.
Solace, arguably the best known band on here, closes the comp out with a good
trippy instrumental called “Mother Godzilla”. The tracks by Solace and Terminal
Lovers are probably the only two I’d go out of my way to listen to, but the rest
is decent enough and it all feels in keeping with the concept. If you like slow
heavy music with ugly vocals (and I know some of you do) you’ll probably dig
this more than I did. (Bob Ignizio)
It's hard to review local CD's
sometimes. You want to have their backs, since you want the scene to thrive,
but sometimes you just can't lie. ‘Foundation 2’ is the second compilation
released by Synth Cleveland, who run SynthCleveland.com, an online forum for
Cleveland area electronic musicians. This installment has 15 tracks from Clevo
artists who play electronic music. This package was put together well, and most
of the tracks sound well produced. The compilation begins well, with an
interesting noise fest from Notech, titled "Now Anna Won". This track kind of
reminded me of Kid 606, but with less chaos. The second track is absolutely
amazing. It's called "After Subtraction", and is by an artist named Scinema.
It begins with a Fischerspooner-like bass line, and just evolves into an
amazingly crafted track. After this track, the whole comp sort of goes
downhill. It shifts into another phase that sounds more like hip new age than
electronic music, filled with generic sounds and very boring lyrics. The end of
this comp is mash of industrial attempts that gave me a headache. It's a great
idea, and it's nice to see that we do have people who are making electronic
music in this city. It's just that the comp doesn't hold up so well. I do have
to say, however, that track 2 alone might make it worth the purchase. It will
at least open your eyes to Scinema, who I think has a bright future in making
electronic music. Otherwise, I'd pass on this. (Eddie Fleisher)
Cleveland's User proclaim
themselves the "saviors of instrumental slacker rock," a statement that fits the
band well. This is their third EP, their first with a bassist. Earlier this
year, guitarist Anthony Merritt and drummer Fill Collins added One Day We Die
bassist (and ex-electronic musician, formerly known as Prof. Falcon) as their
bass player. It was a great addition to an already powerful line-up. User's
music is all instrumental, with some interesting samples sometimes overlaid.
Their sound is a mix of heavily fuzzed guitars, low end bass lines, and solid
drum patterns that play like loops. Comparisons to Nirvana are not far off, as
well as any comparisons to bands like Pavement, Sebadoh, or even the crunching
fuzz of say, Mudhoney. Their latest, "Electric Knife", is a noisy yet moving
record that will likely leaving you wanting more. Their musicianship is dead
on. Anthony Merritt's guitars are powerful, and his playing is quite amazing.
His brother's bass lines add a perfect crunch to the guitars and, in fact, his
playing sounds much more upfront than many bass players. The album heats up to
its best moments on tracks 4 and 5. Track 4, titled "Piranha", is a song that
builds up into a frenzy, led by Collin's intricate drums. Track 5, called "S.M",
works itself on a loop until it fuzzes out into pure bliss, then slows down, and
repeats itself, but never tires. The closer, "Beach Song" is an 8+ minute epic
that melds Sonic Youth's noise with the timing and structure of a band like Yes.
User is one of the brightest bands out of Cleveland, and this record only
proves that. If you like this album, be sure to see them live. Their shows are
packed with the elements of this EP, but with some major experimentation and
improvisation. (Eddie Fleisher)
Today on the
chopping block is the double-disk compilation ‘Contaminated 5.0’, the second
comp of its kind from Relapse Records. Relapse, known mostly for housing many
underground metal bands, takes on different genres of metal and rock mostly on
the first of the two disks. Granted, most people steer clear of the mess that is
a compilation album, which is usually filled with just some mid-level band’s
singles. However, this one isn’t that bad. There were two factors that came
into play when purchasing this comp. One: I recognized some of the bands, and
the ones I recognized outnumbered the ones I didn’t. Two: the low price of only
8 bucks. For two CDs my money wad was not lowered all that much. Alabama
Thunderpussy, The Dillinger Escape Plan, High On Fire, and Nile bring the
heaviness to the first disk. Also on the first disc, Bongzilla delivers some
doom and Neurosis offers a lighter song to bring you down to earth. The second
disk is reminiscent of the first ‘Contaminated’ comp, ‘Contaminated 3.0’, in
which the whole disk is basically heavy. Both ‘Contaminated’ comps introduced
me to a few new bands along with the ones I knew already. The stand-out bands
on the second disk are the always heavy Dying Fetus, Origin, and Agoraphobic
Nosebleed, but there does seem to be a bit of filler on the second disk. If
you’re looking for a decent comp to hear new bands, or you’re just too lazy to
make a mix CD, at 8 bucks it’s not that bad. But if you’re looking for more
heavy and death oriented music, for the same price ‘Contaminated 3.0’ may be the
way to go. (John Doullis)
‘Destroys All’ is a tribute to
Godzilla and friends, specifically the classic monster rally ‘Destroy All
Monsters’. Appropriately enough, the music on this CD is just as monolithic and
destructive as the monsters it celebrates. Mostly there are a lot of sludgy
tunes with guys screaming or growling over top. A few tracks do stand out from
the rest, though. The disc gets off to an ominous start with Mammoth’s
didgeridoo flavored track “In This Dying Moment”. Cleveland’s own Terminal
Lovers display a little more subtlety on “Mr. Astronaut Glenn” (actual singing!)
but nonetheless leave the city in ruins by the time they’re through. Leviathan
A.D. still has the growling vocals, but the music is more straight forward doom
metal and the band lays down some solid riffs on “By North Star, Gamera”.
Solace, arguably the best known band on here, closes the comp out with a good
trippy instrumental called “Mother Godzilla”. The tracks by Solace and Terminal
Lovers are probably the only two I’d go out of my way to listen to, but the rest
is decent enough and it all feels in keeping with the concept. If you like slow
heavy music with ugly vocals (and I know some of you do) you’ll probably dig
this more than I did. (Bob Ignizio)
It's hard to review local CD's
sometimes. You want to have their backs, since you want the scene to thrive,
but sometimes you just can't lie. ‘Foundation 2’ is the second compilation
released by Synth Cleveland, who run SynthCleveland.com, an online forum for
Cleveland area electronic musicians. This installment has 15 tracks from Clevo
artists who play electronic music. This package was put together well, and most
of the tracks sound well produced. The compilation begins well, with an
interesting noise fest from Notech, titled "Now Anna Won". This track kind of
reminded me of Kid 606, but with less chaos. The second track is absolutely
amazing. It's called "After Subtraction", and is by an artist named Scinema.
It begins with a Fischerspooner-like bass line, and just evolves into an
amazingly crafted track. After this track, the whole comp sort of goes
downhill. It shifts into another phase that sounds more like hip new age than
electronic music, filled with generic sounds and very boring lyrics. The end of
this comp is mash of industrial attempts that gave me a headache. It's a great
idea, and it's nice to see that we do have people who are making electronic
music in this city. It's just that the comp doesn't hold up so well. I do have
to say, however, that track 2 alone might make it worth the purchase. It will
at least open your eyes to Scinema, who I think has a bright future in making
electronic music. Otherwise, I'd pass on this. (Eddie Fleisher)