I’m not a slacker. The 2015 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble starts in just about a month and I aim to be ready for it. That means listening to a lot of new (to me) music. One song that caught my attention and made me hit repeat was this tune from The Static Dynamic. “Relentless” is compelling, dynamic* and melodic within its postmodern hard rock sound. Jess Collins’ vocals are stellar, deftly balancing power and restraint. The arrangement and energy are spot on. The band even flirts with prog rock tendencies while managing to keep things to a tidy 2:42. That kid of focus should make them a lean, mean, Rumble machine. The Static Dynamic are onto something.
Opening with the one-two punch of their recent 7″ and never looking back, Watts are keeping the flame of song-driven classic rock alive on Flash Of White Light. Right from the get-go it’s clear that Watts have logged more hours listening to Cheap Trick, The Raspberries, Kiss and AC/DC than I’ve spent doing just about anything. It’s in their DNA. When they toss out rippers like “Rocks”* or “Wasted Angels,” it’s clear where they’re coming from. They channel The Cars on “Better (For A Girl Like You).” They evoke memories of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” on “Flying Over With Bombs.” It’s everything I’ve come to expect from these guys. Thankfully. And then, with a sense of wonder and ringing in my ears, Watts reveal the man behind the curtain on “Trick.” Nice move, gentlemen.
Raise your hands if you’re ready for the 2015 Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble. OK, Kenny’s ready.
Rumble!
RUMBLE!
R U M B L E !
Here we go again, ladies and gentlemen. Anngelle Wood has done that thing she does and the Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Class of 2015 has been announced. One of these 24 bands will be the champ and don the Rumble Tiara. Which one? Your guess is as good as mine. Probably better. That’s the fun of the whole thing; it doesn’t matter! A good chunk of these bands will play the best sets they’ve ever played in front of large, appreciative audiences. If you’re shopping for a new favorite band, this would be a pretty good place to start.
The whole shin-dig kicks off April 12th. TT’s will once again play host. You can grab a full boat pass starting at noon todayright now over at the club’s website. Individual show lineups will be drawn from a hat live on the air Sunday night on Boston Emissions. Exciting. To tide you over, here are some handy links to get you jazzed. Jazzed!
I remember the first time I heard “Celebrities On Ice.” Parlour Bells had taken a bit of time off from live shows to do some writing. They returned to The Middle East last March with this stunner. I was hooked. Proving opposites attract, the cryonic preservation theme and raw, guttural guitar riffs team up for mischief. Other players in this sci-fi tragedy include martini robots, uncomfortable future truths, spacey synths, fleeting fame, holographic phones, extrasensory deception and a heavy hitting rhythm section. What does it all mean? I don’t know, but it sounds really cool.
OK, folks, time to put on our optimist hats. Sure there may be multiple feet of snow on the ground and piles of the dirty white stuff that reach high up into the sky, but winter can’t go on forever. Summer will be here in no time, complete with a brand new crop of summer songs. Looking back, it’s safe to say that the summer of 2014 was the Summer of Dudes Summer of Township. These guys put out four top notch EPs that season. I’ve written about a coupleof them, but failed to mention my favorite. The Life Goes On (Until It Don’t) EP is the most seminal, horn throwing, unabashedly rocking set of tunes the band has bundled for mass consumption. The title track is hooky, vital and impossible not to sing along with. “Diamonds In The Floorboards” might be the band’s best live tune.* The recorded version is just as killer. The vocals are impassioned while the riff goes for the jugular. EP opener “Chevy Nova 1979” sounds exactly like a song with that title should sound. So, roll down the windows. Crank the stereo. Township just provided the getaway soundtrack for your next big heist.
Animal Talk makes living, breathing dance music. A year ago, they released Kid, an EP with a pulse as human as it is electronic. Why am I writing about it now? Because, today, the triumphant buzz and thump of songs like “Tie Me Up” and “Mama Was A Teenage Rocker” are keeping me sane. In fact, if I can play “Color Wheel” on repeat for the rest of the day I might just live to post again tomorrow. Guitars and effects blend into a kaleidoscope of sound. These songs get in my head and suddenly the world seems better than it probably is. That’s something.
Picking up where The Russians left off,* Scott Janovitz returns with an EP of layered power pop that may just melt the 100 inches of snow that fell on my heart this winter. The warm inviting sounds of “Fall In” belie the song’s less sunny undercurrents. Scott singing “Hear it in my voice now it’s ringing true/Hear it in my voice/Listen to my voice” in the damn-near-perfect second verse provides one of those subtle little songwriting twists that make my giddy. The Fall In EP is loaded with those moments. Like the unusual two-line-plus-twinkling-melody verses of “The Worst.” Or the chorus postscript tacked on at the 2:50 mark of “The Big Reveal.” The end result is magnificent. It’s good to be warm again.
OK, so she’s put out another single since this one, but I just can’t let this fantastic song slip away without saying something. On “Fiercely,” Magen Tracy brings the Muscle Shoals sound to Boston. The Rhodes! The slide guitar! The backing vocals! It’s intense. The song is a slow, steady burn. Magen’s confidently restrained vocals go for honesty over emotional manipulation. There’s no melodrama here. This is real. This is good.
Worshipper
“Black Corridor” b/w “High Above the Clouds”
2015
This… I mean… Come on! How can a band’s first pair of singles be this good? Oh, Worshipper is John Brookhouse, Dave Jarvis, Bob Maloney and Alejandro Necochea? Well, there you go. “Black Corridor” and “High Above the Clouds” are a pair of towering tributes laid upon the alter of the metal gods. The riffs smoke. The rhythm section destroys. The tunes are timeless. The performances are inspired. This is everything I want from metal in 2015, which is pretty much all I’ve wanted from any metal ever. Go figure.
Oh, boy. I hate this. Wait, that came out wrong. I love My Face. That didn’t come out right, either. This isn’t going well. What I meant to say is that I love the new Sidewalk Driver record, but I hate that I can’t think of any good way to tell you that. And I need to tell you that. Ugh. Let’s get this over with.
So, how shall we proceed? Let’s start at the top. Sidewalk Driver’s magnum opus begins with the bang-bang combo of “Kidnapped” and “My Face.” These are two of my favorite songs, sans qualifiers, and no finer album opening salvo shall you find. “Call My Name” never fails to put a smile on my face.* “Five Steps” is a mind-blowingly awesome, dirty birdie rocker with a hair metal heart.** If a band like Tora Tora or Baton Rouge had had a song like this back in the day, they’d have been household names. Sidewalk Driver works some Fat Albert funk into “Because I Want You.” “So Close” is expertly crafted pop. The live favorite “Karaoke Guy (Monday Night)” always brings the house down; the recorded version does the same. “We’re Going Down” and “Rock Star” tack on a couple more big rock tunes before “Ya Know” gently brings things to a perfect end. Are you convinced of My Face’s brilliance yet? I hope so.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to listening to music instead of butchering the English language in an attempt to write about it. Write about the music that is, not the English language. Please make this end.
Full Disclosure: Nicole Anguish of Daykamp Creative did the artwork for this here record. You may have already guessed that since it’s awesome. The artwork and the record.
* That “my face” reference was unintentional and I hate myself for it.
** Anyone who knows me would recognize this as a compliment. It should not be taken otherwise.
