Aktiv Dödshjälp : 4:48 CD (Halvfabrikat Records)
This is a concept album from Swedish crustcore or metalcore band Aktiv Dödshjälp about a young woman committing suicide. 4:48 I apparently the most common time to commit suicide and the record is therefore built around a timetable leading to her death. Lyrics are in Swedish, but the singing is so throated that it could be Albanian to me. Luckily the record comes with lyrics, timetable and explanations of the single songs in English and lyrically the concept holds quite well. The record has 12 tracks in exactly 25 minutes, and that's it. I must admit that I have no deeper knowledge about this genre but musically this record seems very average in any way.
If you're a metalhead I guess this is very good for headbanging and killing yourself - so go ahead, I dare you …
http://www.aktivdodshjalp.com
If you dig: Headbanging and metal stuff

Tomsen

AMP - All of Yesterday Tomorrow 3CD (RROOPP RR02PP)
This 3CD set in a deluxe fold out packaging was released to celebrate 15 years of AMP and is a collection of singles, non-album vinyl only tracks (16 songs) and a lot of unreleased material (12 songs). The booklet also includes extensive details about each track. Each CD is over 70 minutes in length, so a lot of music for the money.

But for those not familiar with AMP, AMP is primarily Richard AMP and Karine Charff, but to say it was these two alone would not be giving credit to the more than 20 collaborators they have had including Marc Challans, Richard Dickaty, Olivier Gauthier, Dave Pearce (Flying Saucer Attack), Matt Elliot (Flying Saucer Attack), all Richard's mates from The Secret Garden (john and Guy Cooper, Gareth Mitchell) and many others..

As for the music, well, let's say that is challenging. The band has the approach to take natural sampled sounds from the world and mix and meld these with sounds they create and with in an improvised (not entirely) form create music that mixes sounds and noises with melody to create special atmospheres.. Most of the music is instrumental but not entirely. The vocals are not meant to lead the way but to be another instrument in the soundscape….. Special music from a special band…
http://www.rroopp.com
If you dig: Flying Saucer Attack, The Secret Garden, AMP

Scott

Atom Rhumba : Amateur Universes CD (Oihuka Records)
I was very impressed with these Basque rockers' previous album, "Backbone Ritmo" (produced by Mick Collins), and this is yet another fine funky slab of groovy and rootsy blooze stomp. Atom Rhumba's unique sound lies somewhere between Blues Explosion and Tom Waits, drawing influences from soul, c&w to garage rock. "Amateur Universe" has less of their previous Beefheart vibe, and is perhaps a bit more 'straight'. I'd really like to see this Spanish 6-piece on a stage with these tunes, I'm sure it'd fly even better in front of an audience. "Amateur Universes" are also available on double LP with an extra track.
http://www.oihuka.com
http://www.atomrhumba.com
If you dig: Cato Salsa Experience, Blues Explosion, Tom Waits

Jens

Atomic Workers - Wall of water Behind Me CD (Nasoni Records 066CD)
Atomic Workers are back with their 2nd psychedelic rock experience and quite different from the first one. The band still features Gary Ramon (Sundial fame) on multiple instruments and production but all the songs are written by Michele Rossiello (from That's all Folks). In addition, several other guests appear (Joolie Wood, Guy McKnight, Fabio Mongelli, Haj Yahya Ashraf). IT is an eclectic mix of hard edged tracks with strange vocals, acoustic psych stuff, stoned-tripped out psychedelia... Very cool 2nd CD… Nasoni picks another winner!
http://www.nasoni-records.com
http://www.myspace.com/atomicworkers
If you dig: Sundial, That's all Folks, Trip Hill

Scott

Baby Scream - Monsters EP (Beyond Your Mind Records)
This is a six track EP from the Argentinean band Baby Scream. The band started out in 2001 as a punk band and according to their band bio they developed through glam, britpop and trashmetal to become a semi acoustic kind of indie-pop band with strings - quite strange! So how is it? Well, actually very listenable, nice, cosy and pleasant. Most songs are built upon simple acoustic guitar structures and mellow singing. The first song "Blue River" has a very strong, almost sad cello to complete the simple arrangement. Next song "Monsters" is the most electric with nice lyrics. It's all kind of spherical and a song like "Mars" has a very clear reference to Bowie as Ziggy. The musical skills are evident and the singing is very competent, it's not just another average mainstream indiewank band. This is a nice popish EP that you can put on at a rainy day and start smiling.

http://www.babyscream.com
If you dig: Well, you have to decide for yourself

Tomsen

Backwash: Kick Ass! CD (Perris Records, 2007)
Halleluja heavy, hairy rock'n'roll - here we go again! From Switzerland five-piece band Backwash is self-proclaimed ready to conquer the world... I don't have the exact number of the huge amount of bands who're ready to change the world according to their own press material, but I can most certainly say that the phrase fills me with suspicion and an itchy feeling every time I read it. It takes quite a lot to conquer the world with music, guys, and I'm honestly not sure that an album called "Kick Ass!" is gonna make it, exclamation sign or not... Soooorry. Backwash is dressed up like Guns'n'Roses - And yes: Including the silly Slash-hat! We're strolling down 80'ies glam boogie-woogie rock hiway here with funky bass, all the right'n'straight guitar riffs and soloes and titles like "No Gun no Fun", "Feeling like a Bitch" (the album's ballad with extreme reverb-solo, accustic guitar and the lot!) and "Head Trash". We go way beyond comprehention on the track called "She's Rock'n'Roll" in which the band has hired a bunch of school girls to spell out "Backwash"... Please get another hobby, girls! This is not the mind-blasting experience that the band claims and I'm really not swept away by the "tons of sex appeal"... Way too many clichées!

If you dig: Europe, Satan Jokers, Lordi
http://www.backwash.ch

-Foxy

Bad News - Requiem for a Typewriter CD (Nicotine Records)
Italian band Bad News is out with their full length debut on Nicotine Records. The singer/guitarist Chris used to be in the outrageous punkband Orange Juice from the Crypt. They describe their music as a mix of blues, punk and gentlemen attitudes. It also has a lot of influence from the stripped down Cramps-like psychobilly. This is actually also much in the garage/surf style in my book. Two guitars and drums all stripped down to a very naked - yet distorted - sound. And it's good, and it's rolling, and it's fucking dirty, and I like it a lot. Especially a song like "Trash the Blues" is really killer. The last song on the record called "Bourbon Action" rounds everything off with an awesome wrecking riff with an almost psychedelic trashed-up guitarsolo and is simply cut at the end. This band is a nice addition to the Nicotine catalogue and can easily fit high on the bill for the next Gutter Island festival.

http://www.badnews.it
If you dig: Gun Club, Gaza Strippers, Legendary Shack Shakers

Tomsen

Franco Baggiani - Santur CD (Sound Records sound 1971)
Franco is an Italian jazz trumpeter and on this CD he collaborates with Madhava Das to create a unique mixture of electronic music mixed with world and jazz. The beginning of the CD begins very much like Shpongle, with uptempo techno beats, a lot of Indian music influence and some really cool and experimental trumpet or flugelhorn playing by Franco. Great stuff… Indian Dreams begins with some sitar playing and is quite a laid back track but some electronic beats get mixed in with the tables later in the track after Franco takes a very long solo. Transito is an almost ambient track. Dietro Sieve is quite psychedelic to start and the trumpet is really twisted and mutated over a really spaced out background. Manor House is quite a house-techno number but with a strange cycle of sounds over which the trumpet is played.. The CD ends with Tattoo, a very spacey track. Overall, this is a great and very successful experiment in mixing Indian electronic music with jazz… It got me hooked..

http://www.soundrecords.it
If you dig: Shpongle, Transglobal Underground

Scott

The Rick Ray Band - Nothing to Lose CD (Neurosis Records 2007)
It is not normal the Rick Ray does not put out a CD for a year but the band really took their time on this release. As always the band plays very well and produces 11 original songs and one cover song (Back to the River). One thing that really stands out on this CD is that Rick has really stepped back and lets the band really play. A lot of horn solos and more laid back rock tunes and not that many solos as normal.. This is to showcase his band.. The album starts to take off a bit around Blue Print for Ruin. Alex Abraham has a very special singing style that really takes some getting used to. Living in Sin has a really nice solo by Rick and great bass playing by Jack Ambrose. Substitute for Faith ha some nice political lyrics. Standing in Harm's Way is a nice blues track and the longest on the record. Hands of Circumstance is another long track, nearly 7 minutes and features acoustic guitar and nice horns. If we're Silent begins with some spacey synths before taking off and in a more jazzy rock vein and a great solo by Rick. The CD ends with Across the Bridge of Time, a track more like the older Rick Ray and a bit darker in nature.

While in the past I might associate Rick's records with Frank Marino and Robin Trower and this crowd, this record sees this line up coming into it's own. I think quite a few of the songs on the record are a bit too similar in pace and style and just not that exciting. The music used to have an edge, and the edge is quite soft now. Still, great playing by all.

http://www.rickray.net
If you dig: The Rick Ray Band

Scott

Monna Bell Y Aldemaro Romero : La Onda Nueva En Mexico CD (Vampi Soul)
'A completely unique concept of combining traditional Mexican music arranged by a cosmopolitan Venezuelan influenced by Bossa Nova, sung by a Chilean pop singer and orchestrated by Mexican jazz musicians, all on one record'. As a punkrock'n'roll bastard the above mentioned words does't make much sense, but it's pretty easy listening latino music that makes ya wanna drink and fornicate by the pool (if you have one). On a serious note it's a very rare record from 1970, and I find it rather sexy.
http://vampisoul.com/
If you dig: Groovy litano jazz pop from the late 60s

Jens

Big Fun : Passing The Time/Hold On 7" (Put On Records)
Rough edged yet catchy powerpop garagepunk from Brooklyn with female vocals. I really like it, but unfornately it sorta drowns in the recent flood of powerpop. Still, it IS 'big fun' and kinda reminds me of a mix of Creamers and early Donnas. Great potential, just add a little more originality in future releases would be my advice.
http://www.myspace.com/putonrecords
http://www.myspace.com/ilovebigfun
If you dig: DollSquad, early Donnas, High School Sweethearts

Jens

Black Rose Band - Hot Box c/w Hoochie Poochie 7" (Contaminated)
Newest band by that underrated genius King Louie and a damn fine one…of course. This time he has put the fucked-up, lo-fi manners of Persuaders (Make sure you get the compilation CD on Shattered with ALL of the Persuaders stuff on. It's worth getting for the title alone: "Forced to Fuck" and it's fucking essential if you haven't got the vinyls. Amazing!) away for a more straight rocking sound. Lots of rockabilly and south state rock influences. "Hot Box" is a fucking hit. Not only a hit but a fucking hit. Swinging groovy guitars and the most hilarious lyrics I've hear for quite a while, about being caught smoking in school. Amazing King Louie can even remember school. "Hoochie Poochie" is about being stopped by the police in you tour van and searched, an episode that apparently influenced the creation of the Black Rose Band. Two songs are way too little when it's this good and I can't wait for some more stuff from these southern rockers. This will appeal to many, who didn't like the earlier King Louie collaborations, and fans of the man will not be disappointed, and that's a pretty perfect way to go. Hint: Goes well with Bourbon!

http://www.contaminatedrecords.com/
http://www.myspace.com/blackrosenola

If you dig: AC/DC, ZZ Top, booze

Simon

Los Blankitos : You Make Me Drool 7" (Disco Chango)
This Brooklyn outfit made me think of a garagepunk version of The Gories, or a mix of Headcoats and a trippy more fucked up Cramps...or maybe not. Anyway, these 3 tunes rip, "C.H.U.D." even has sax and weird noises, great stuff. Someone even drew a picture of an evil sun with one eye and incl. it in this single just for this reviewer only. That's nice. The 7" is limited to 300 copies. BUY!
http://www.myspace.com/losblankitos
http://www.myspace.com/discoschango
If you dig: Thee Headcoats, Cramps

Jens

Brimstone Howl : Guts Of Steel CD (Alive Records)
"Guts Of Steel" by this Nebraska foursome is one of the very best records I've heard for this issue. Part bluesy roots punk ala Gun Club, part Oblivians/Childish lo-fi raunch, part 60s British Invasion slop; Brimstone Howl is ALL rock'n'roll, just the way I like it. Imagine a punkier Link Wray fighting in the streets with the kids of "Over The Edge", destroying one cop car after another in a pandemonium of sonic unrest. 12 tracks in 34 mins - perfection!
http://www.myspace.com/brimstonehowl
http://www.alive-totalenergy.com/
If you dig: Black Lips, Gun Club, Poison 13

Jens

Causa Sui - Free Ride CD (Elektrohasch EH122)
The Danish psychedelic rock band from Odense is back with their 2nd CD. As always, these tracks are mainly composed from just hours and hours of jamming and taking the best and coolest riffs that come out of it and turning them into songs. This time around the sound is very very guitar driven with very intense riffing and soloing. The CD starts off with the excellent laid back Free Ride track (easy going psych track) before tearing your head off with the intense Lotus. White Sun is a long 10 minute jam with a cool middle section with some spacey sounds and organ but the intensity just takes off at the end… Powerful stuff… Passing Breeze has a nice melodic groove in the song but still a very intense guitar. Top of the Hill features a bit more organ but it fits well as the intensity stays high… The band really jams this one out live! Flowers of the Eventide is a short acoustic track with hand drums. A really nice break. The CD ends with New Born Road, which begins with a very Hendrix like wah guitar (think Voodoo Chile) but is a killer track... Quite an amazing experience.. can't wait for the next one…

http://www.elektrohasch.de
http://www.causasui.com
If you dig: Blue Cheer, Jimi Hendrix Experience, MC5, Hawkwind

Scott

Circle - Tower CD (Last Visible Dog 112)
Well, Circle is back with yet another strange and intriguing CD. This one is collaboration with long time friend Mika Rintala (Verde). 6 tracks in 44 minutes. As always, Circle is a band that is very difficult to describe. I would say the music is quite laid back and melodic most of the time but with enough strangeness mixed into the sound that you know it must be Circle… Not surprisingly, there are no song titles on the CD or artwork and all the tracks sort of just run together…… Spacey….

http://www.lastvisibledog.com
http://www.circlefinland.com

If you dig: Circle, Verde, Flying Saucer Attack, Moon Fog Prophet

Scott

Cola Freaks 7" (Hjernespind)
WOW! Probably the strongest debut single ever released by a Danish punk band! Four short tracks of pure brilliant KBD/early Wipers punk sung in Danish. It's simple and catchy music which should appeal to a lotta people both into new and vintage punkrock, although the songs are vastly rougher and faster live. The name is from an old song by Lost Kids, one of the earliest Danish punk acts, and Cola Freaks isn't that far from their sound. The band features members of the sadly defunct Tæve, Rotter, Snöwball, Don & The Johns and other Aarhus bands. In August and September the boys are on a huge US tour through 39 states (!) which is pretty unheard of for a Danish underground act barely 8 months old!
http://www.myspace.com/colafreaks
http://www.kicknpunch.com/Sider/Hjernespind-diskografi.htm
If you dig: KBD punk, Wipers, Gorilla Angreb

Jens

Choo Choo : 4 Steaming Hits! 7" (We Make Our Own Records)
60s garagefuzz and 70s power pop get a groovy workover by this outstanding young combo from Switzerland. Four tracks of irresistible hipshakin' garage mod pop that oughta make even the recently deceased get up and dance! Now here's a perfect band for
Limited to 500.
http://www.myspace.com/choochootheband
If you dig: Len Price 3, The Urges, early The Who

The Chop Tops : Evil Six + Triple Deuces CD (Split 7 Media)
Above average rockabilly with plenty of hooks, good vocals and excellent twangy geetar strumming. Although this genre has worn me out during the years after seeing way too many bad rockabilly acts, The Chop Tops is worth checking out, despite all the obvious clichés of positively the most conservative music style ever, along with surf and psychobilly.
http://www.myspace.com/thechoptops
http://www.split7media.com
If you dig: Reverend Horton-Heat, Johnny Burnette, Highway 13

Jens

Clorox Girls : Double Mao 7" (Bachelor Records)
This Portland trio is one of those bands who absolutely rips on stage, saw'em recently with The Feelers, it was awesome - Justin is a total nut, but on wax they never really made a huge impact on me. It's decent fast poppunk and all, neat Simpletones cover ("I Like Drugs"), but nothing sensational. I think I'm just tired of this type of music when it's played as 'straight' as this. Red vinyl.
http://www.myspace.com/bachelorrecords
http://www.myspace.com/cloroxgirls
If you dig: Parasites, Sicko

Jens

Bob Crane - The Mighty Hurricane Machine CD (Inam Records 14)
This is self produced music in a simple digipack. It consists of home recordings done on a KORG hardisc recorder. There is an interesting use of percussion at times, some post rock like dreamy guitars and some space sounds as well. A few songs have some heavy riffs as well. The way the percussion is programmed it really gives it a robotic sound and feel, a bit of old school industrial stuff but the music is more into space. You get 12 compositions in 45 minutes.

http://www.myspace.com/bobcrane

If you dig: God Speed you Black Emperor, Mono, Swans (Saw this comparison in another review)

Scott

The Dadds : French Kiss EP CD (Beyond Your Mind Records/Cargo)
Seven tracks of solid garagerock, sung both in French and English. 13th Floor Elevators' "You're Gonna Miss Me" becomes "Je Vais Te Manquer", but what's up with "Johnny Thunders Is My Broom"?!? Anyways, The Dadds is a must for people into 80s garage like Fuzztones, Chesterfield Kings and Fleshtones.
http://www.myspace.com/thedaddsaregreat
http://www.myspace.com/beyondyourmindrec
If you dig: Fleshtones, Fuzztones, Chesterfield Kings

Jens

Alan Davey- Human on the Outside CD (Alan Davey Music)
Alan Davey, bass player in Hawkwind, is back with his newest solo CD. He has released quite a few things in the past years. This goes back to the days where Alan recorded all of the instruments on the record himself (not always a good thing). The CD features 13 diverse tracks from purely instrumental mostly synth music, very Hawkwind like songs and some rocking stuff (but not much) as well with many more keyboard solos and than guitar solos. The CD begins with a short synthesizer piece (Atmosphere) and this leads into Years ago Miles Away. This track is classic Alan Davey-Bedoiun style melodic space rock with a heavy bass line leading the music and spacey synths darting in and out. Alan's voice is sadly not what it used to be but nothing can be done.. He still sings ok… This could easily have been a song on the last Hawkwind record. Eyes Closed is another instrumental track and starts with some samples and then the bass kicks in and leads the track with the melodic synths. Could be a sort of indie space rock track.. Drum Head is a strange short piece with massively excessive bass. Marine Snow is a new agey track that you mom would like and sounds a lot like the synth filler tracks on some of the Hawkwind records (probably because Alan wrote those as well!). This goes straight into Nothing is Weird which features a female singer (sample). Not that interesting of a song. World of Fear is a very melodic space rock track. Ethnic Mosaic Pt1 and 2 are instrumental pieces and quite cool. The 2nd part becomes a bit new agey at the end. The Unseen is a deep space drone track with some distorted spoken words. This heads into Delusions of Ganja, a down tempo bass and synth driven number with some guitar and a mysterious feel to it. Quite melodic..
Dog Star is short another synthesizer space out that leads into the heavy rocker, Glass Wolves, which features Metatron on vocals from Meads of Asphodel and a guitar riff like Angel of Death by Hawkwind. A very solid CD and fans of Alan's music will not be disappointed but don't expect a lot of rock music..

http://www.alandaveymusic.co.uk

If you dig: Bedoiun, 2000 era Hawkwind, Farflung

Scott

Deadburger - c'é ancore vita su marta CD (Goodfellas Records 2701)
Never heard of these guys and I have to say this is pretty cool and special music. The band has been around since 1999 and this is their 4th release. The CD booklet and promo information is very extensive, with lyric translations, pictures and stories to accompany every track… The title of the CD means "There is still life on Mars"!. It is great to see the Italians experimenting and clearly having a lot of fun as well. Sometimes the music is a bit punky and noisy and other times quite spacey. A really good and cohesive mix of stuff..

http://www.deadburger.it
http://www.goodfellas.it

If you dig:

Scott

Dub Trio - Cool out and Coexist CD (ROIR RUSCD3804)
This CD is unlike anything I have ever heard (I own a lot of music…). This is a mixture of intense heavy metal guitar riffs and dub reggae. Somehow these guys make it work pretty well and keep it interesting. This CD was recorded live without any overdubs. It only lists guitar, bass and drums but clearly they can trigger some sort of samples as weird songs, scratching turntable like sounds, voices and stuff come from here and there. They don't stay in anyone one musical place very long either, keeping the listener on your toes. IT is a pretty cool mixture of stuff like nothing I have heard before. Try it, you might like it..

http://www.roir-usa.com
http://www.dubtrio.com/newheavy

If you dig: Dub and metal

Scott

Electric Orange - Morbus CD (Sulatron Records st0702)
The Electric Orange is back with a new studio CD and wow… This could very well be the best thing the band has made. IT is nearly all instrumental this music and if you are not familiar with Electric Orange they play really groovy and spacey at the same time. 12 tracks in 78 minutes of really tranced out tribal krautrock groove music with just spacey organ, drums, guitar and bass. Not a lot of solos, just steady grooves and rhythms to take you on a nice groovy trip. Great driving music for late at night on the autobahn!

http://www.sulatron.com
http://www.electric-orange.de

If you dig: Circle and CAN

Scott

Electric Riders - Music for a Family Gathering CD (Nasoni Records 064CD)
Electric Rider is a band that is new to my ears. This is the bands 3rd album and it appears they have played around quite a lot in Spain but no where else in the world. Where Hans finds these great bands or if they find him, is a mystery but this is a fucking cool jamming psychedelic rock record. Really great songs, loads of harmony vocals and just great rocking songs…. The music has influences from the 60's like the west coast stuff like Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver but really a unique flavour its own.. I don't think this CD has one weak track.. Highly recommended…

http://www.nasoni-records.com/
http://www.myspace.com/theelectricriders

If you dig: Widespread Panic, Mermaid, Black Crowes

Scott

Epicenter: Six Bullet Shooter CD (Self released, 2007)

Epstein Superflu - The War inside Darktown Demo 2007 CD (Italy)
This is a pretty new band starting in 2007 with members from Italy and the UK. The band describes themselves as Psychedelic heavy blues rock. This demo features 2 original tracks and two versions of Master of Puppets by Metallica but they base their version on the mellow middle part of the song. The band is a four piece with vocals, bass, guitar and drums and they are young… The demo starts off with The War inside Darktown, a pretty cool song with a strange Axel Rose (in his deep mode) like vocal. I like the way they really psych out and twist the music. Some heavy riffs as well. The Medium is the Message is another strange sounding track. Really bizarre guitar sound and a stoned groove. Now to the Master of Puppet thing.. I am not sure what the point is really… I really liked their original tracks much better. They do make it quite psyched out for sure.. Anyway, pretty cool psyched out rock music..

http://www.myspace.com/epsteinsuperflu

If you dig:

Scott

Nilo Espinosa : Shaken, Not Stirred CD (Vampi Soul)
Funky late 60s/early 70s latin soul jazz from Peru that packs a pretty massive groove, and gives you a craving for exotic drinks, bongo drums, and a little naughty dance. I really like this dude's take on the old Aretha Franklin's "Think" song, not so lucky with "Light My Fire" though. Anyways, Nilo Espinosa is one of the best Peruvian artists on Vampi Soul, so check him out. Peru's answer to Issac Hayes?
http://vampisoul.com/
If you dig: Latin Soul Funk from way back

Jens

Ethereal- Beyond Neptune (Chloroform Records CHL-005)
This CD took 7 years to complete and is a who's who of the American east coast Space rock scene. It was masterminded and put together by extraordinary musician, Richard Orlando from Alien Planetscapes. There is a very long write up on the myspace page link below describing each and every song on the CD but I will give you an overview. There are several synthesizer pieces at the beginning, middle parts and end of the CD with various players like Doug Walker (RIP), Doug McMahon (Scattered Planets), and Paul Williams (Quarkspace). The music has a wide variety of stuff ranging from Electronic Music, SpaceRock, Ambient, Psychedelic Folk Rock, and Krautrock. It features three female vocals (Lana and Robin Cook, Lynnette Shelley) that have fantastic voices. The CD is a loose concept concerning the gradual decay of Planet Earth & the journey to find a new pristine home in deep space, free of all the pollution, contaminants & nuclear destruction. A fantastic journey…..

http://www.myspace.com/etherealbeyondneptune

If you dig: Scattered Planets, Quarkspace,

Scott

The Glasspack - Dirty Women CD (Small Stone Records SS-071)
The Glasspack are from Kentucky and play rock and roll. This is their 4th full length CD from what I can find out about the band. The band play with an attitude, a in your face fuck off I'm gonna drink your beer fucker, kind of attitude in their music. The music is pretty straightforward rock and roll with nothing too special except the attitude and the really raw sound. Occasionally, Dave will rip out some wild and manically crazy guitar solos (like in My Curse) but most of the time it just riffing away… Lot Lizard is a real foot stomper like a really dirty version of Status Quo! Ice Cream is kicks it up in high gear like Nebula and gets really psychedelic with some cool guitars and piano! Fire in the Trailer Park, is a very bluesy Blue Cheer like track. Super Sport, is a more tuned down doomy stoner track. The 10th track, Louisiana Strawberry is such a killer track though (and about 1/4th the length of the total CD) that it is worth the purchase of the CD or at least that track as an MP3. Amazing song. Wow… Dirty, nasty…and great stuff…
http://www.smallstone.com
http://www.theglasspack.com/

If you dig: Blue Cheer, MC5, Nebula, Orange Sunshine

Scott

The Live CD was performed in March 2007 and features 4 new improvisations in 37 minutes. Shaken from Safety starts and slowly builds with just drums and bass and then some synths and it sounds like violin filter into the sound as it grows and guitar. The drumming starts to get more and more intense around 12 mins or so and mood of the music goes dark but the groove intensifies and the band really flies for a bit and then spaces out… Limbilical Tension is next begins not all that well but takes form on a cool bass line that the hand drums are now hooked into the spaceyness bubbles up from underneath. This leads directly into The Epidural, a very cool piece of repetitive drone groove music built on a heavy bass line. The groove slowly dies and leads straight into the last track, The Crowning. This track really picks up the pace and gets heavy and spaced out.. Far out stuff and a great trip! This live stuff is for sure for fans of the Finnish band Circle.. come and get it.. Hope these guys get into a proper studio…

http://www.myspace.com/gnodgnod

If you dig: Circle, LOOP, Kraftwerk,

Scott

Gotthard- Domino Effect CD (Nuclear Blast Records NB1816-2)
Gotthard is the most popular metal band from Switzerland and this is their 9th CD since 1992 and they still have the same original line up. A band that is truly dedicated to their art of making melodic heavy metal in the 80's style and these guys are masters. They still have some heavy rockers like Gone to Far but most of the material is quite commercial metal stuff and some love ballads, to get on the radio, etc… they know how to play the game… no risks taken…. Very professional. Not my cup of tea..

http://www.gotthard.com
http://www.nuclearblast.de

If you dig: 80's Scorpions, Def Leppard, Victory

Scott

Thee Fine Lines : Set You Straight CD (Licorice Tree Records)
This exciting trio may hail from Springfield, Missouri (how many Springfields are there?), but their hearts definitely belongs to England's Medway and Billy Childish. Mono-fied irresistible mod punk with hooks and attitude that'll make ya put on yer dancing' shoes! I saw'em last year at Primitive Festival and they sure delivered a great sweaty set of rampaging lo-fi 60s punk. "Set You Straight" is their 2nd album, and a must for everyone who worships the Church of Billy Childish!
http://www.myspace.com/theefinelines
If you dig: Thee Headcoats, Milkshakes, Mighty Caesars

Jens

Danny Fontaine and the Horns of Fury : Murder Suite CD (Demo)
This is a three track demo from Danny Fontaine and the way too long name. It's mainly a mix of Gogol Bordello style gypsy punk and ska. Cool and swinging, funny and happy, but not a record that sticks out in any way. I guess this band is really, really great live and with some more experience they will for sure write some good songs.

http://www.myspace.com/dannyfontaineandthehornsoffury
If you dig: Circus music, Gipsy Punk and Ska

Tomsen

Galacticka - Apocalypse Psychedelicka CD (Warmmilkrecords)
It seems like Tampere, Finland is actually Outorspace! Galacticka is a musical collective kind of the same way as Øresund Space Collective. They started out jamming and all songs were improvised. Later they developed some themes and arrangements to jam upon in live performance. Like ØSC all their recordings are live in studio with some post-production modifications and dubbings. Most songs are built upon slow hypnotic stonerlike grooves with Moog/Rhodes to create soundscapes upon. The music has the classic spacerock feel but is much more heavy and monotonous than usual and references to i.e. Isis or Tool are clear especially with the rhythm changes and use of 5/4 and 7/8. The guitar playing is focused upon riffs, noise and drawing pictures with distorted sound. Actually there's not a single ordinary solo - and it doesn't really matter. It's a dark, almost cold, ambient journey into a black hole and back out again. First track "Acid Rain" starts out with just the sound of rain and thunder, then a long marching drum fill builds up for the bass and guitars to enter and almost five minutes of progression follows before the song is slowed down giving the keyboard room to flow a little upon some heavy chords and then again progression for five minutes - wow!

http://www.galacticka.net
If you dig: Øresund Space Collective, Red Sparowes, Tool

Tomsen

Gogol Bordello : Super Taranta! CD (Kick Music)
4th album by these gypsy punks of New York. I wasn't too sure if I'd dig it due to my severe phobia of ska and reggae, although I always liked their amazing hyperactive live shows, but thankfully there's hardly any on "Super Taranta!". Probably their best record yet. Read they are probably gonna share the stage with Madonna in the near future!?!
http://www.gogolbordello.com/
http://kick.dk/
If you dig: Pogues, Flogging Molly

Jens

Holly Golightly : Slowly But Surely CD + You Can't Buy A Gun When You're Crying (with The Brokeoffs) CD (Damaged Goods/Kick Music)
"Slowly But Surely" is probably the most 'quiet' album by the former Headcoatees singer, but it then allows you to really experience what a great voice Holly has. The record neatly incorporates the twangy garagerock with jazz and pop in the charming heartfelt songs about, yeah, relationship problems. I reckon this is what punkrockers hear when they move in retirement homes, haha.
The Golightly/Lawyer Dave duo on "You Can't Buy A Gun" is kind of a lo-fi honky tonk detour from Holly's other records. Stripped down american gothic folk music that's beautiful, rough, and very haunting. "Jesus Don't Love Me" is a highlight, what a tune! Apparently Holly can't do wrong, this album ranks among my faves with her, and recently I saw the duo live at Loppen, needless to say they delivered the goods. "You Can't Buy A Gun" is probably my fave country record of the year. By the time you read this, they have played Roskilde.
http://www.myspace.com/hollygolightlymusic
If you dig: 'Adult' rootsy and twangy garage pop/rock with a lotta ballads.


Jens

The Good The Bad CD From 001 to 017
The Good The Bad is a new surfband from Copenhagen and may be described as a sideproject. The Adam (The AIM) plays guitar, and Johan Lei Gellett (Boat Man Love) tries to smash up the drums. When they perform live, Manoj (The Raveonettes, Spektr) is on the bass. I saw them when they played at Turbinehallerne together with KURvE and El Ray and that was a pretty intense performance mostly because of Johan's wild style. Lowcutters may remember Adam and Johan as being behind The Setting Son at Bad Afro's 10 years anniversary.I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of surf in general. But this is a nice record with some pretty catchy tunes. Adam has a cool sound and adds a little extra to what's usually the typical surf-guitar sound and the rhythm section is tight as a rusty bolt. My main problem with surf is that it lacks vocals, but that's how it's supposed to be. As titles are largely irrelevant in surf the songs are simply named from 001 to 017.
Check out the band for yourself at august 4th at Kulturhavn.

http://www.thegood-thebad.com
If you dig: El Ray, Tremolo Beer Gut, Aimology

Tomsen

The Goo Men : Making Love In Tight Pants CD (No Fucking Hippies/Kick Music)
2nd full lengther from our merry party rockers from Norway, and despite a weakass album opener ("Party Like A Lion"), the record deliver after a couple of spins. The recipe is still testosterone drenched r&b garage rock packed with organ & sax and a devil-may-care vocal that commands you to shake your behind like there's no tomorrow. Try see'em live, they're one of the very best scan acts if you wanna have fun the old fashioned way!
http://www.myspace.com/thegoomen
http://kick.dk
If you dig: Mitch Ryder, King Khan, Twistaroos

Jens

Gorilla Angreb : Complete Discography CD (Too Circle Records)
This Japanese comp offers 20 tracks (two rare early ones and "Cigaretter Og Kaffe") which was not included on the American 17 tracks "Complete Discography", so this is definitely more 'complete', and of course a must for all Gorilla Angreb fans. By the time you read this the Copenhagen punkrockers have played three shows at Roskilde, so check'em August 3rd at Stengade, their last Danish show (with Mai on vocals) before their Japanese tour.
http://www.myspace.com/gorillaangreb
If you dig: X, X-ray Spex, Adverts

Jens

Robert Green: Sleeping at a 100 MPH CD (Cph-Sound, 2007)
The five members of this Århus-founded band by the name of Robert Green have six years of live-experience on their backs before making this debut album and the long preparation time pays off in a well-played and tightly composed production. This is alternative rock drycleaned for any kind of cock-rock attitude or big gestures. The album contains ten songs dealing with emotional matters in a lyrical way with titles like "Learning to fly like an al qaeda man" and "Karma Hiroshima", and Robert Green blends their issues in a quiet, leaned back, repeating stew of organic and straight drums, nice guitar harmonies and the dusty and relaxed vocal by Rune Christensen. Competent work by a skilled band, and I like the sound production on this album. Robert Green leans on a number of sources of inspiration: While the first track on the album sounds a bit like Baby Woodrose, there're other parts which remind me of Foo Fighters, American Music Club and Flaming Lips. The band has done a good job mixing up their own blend of sound and expression, and "Sleeping at a 100 MPH" is a nice cd for a lazy sunday afternoon...

If you dig: Alternative rock
http://www.robertgreen.dk

-Foxy

Hackman - The New Normal CD (Small Stone Records SS-073)
Hackman is Guitarist Darryl Sheppard (Roadsaw, Milligram), and a mighty rhythm section that includes bassist Jase Forney and drummer Todd Bowman (Lamont). This is their debut CD full of riff laid rock, a lot like Bolero… Just head's down pure and simple fuzzed out, deep heavy bass lines and the all mightly riff.. NO time or not enough energy left for a guitar solo and when you have had about 30 minutes of this the band let you down easy with a nice acoustic track for 6 minutes to end the 37 minute trip, called Hackman… Oh yeah.. there is some singing or should I say screaming but it is mostly a destraction from the riff, on this mostly instrumental record.

http://www.smallstone.com

If you dig: Bolero, Nebula, Acid King

Scott

Hawkwind - Space Ritual Collectors Edition CD (EMI Records 0946 3 94701 2 5)
So they decided to release this once again.. Seems it has been remastered yet again at the Abbey Roads studio in London from the original stereo mixdown tape (on the original 2" multitrack tapes, which probably don't exist anymore). In addition to a really nice packaging and book, you get a DVD with the complete concert in very high end 5.1 audio (not true 5.1 as they only had the stereo mix to work with). IT also includes the original Silver Machine and Urban Guerrilla promo videos, the later, which had not been seen by many, including myself, who is a major Hawkwind collector! It is not a DVD of the live concert, only audio, just to set that straight. Also, they have included the full version of Brainstorm, which was edited on the original version. Why in the world did they not include the full version of Time we left this World Today (which was also edited), I don't understand, as a bonus track, we do get a full version of this song from another performance as well as alternative versions of Orgone Accumulator and You shouldn't do that.

Anyway, if you have not bought this classic LP on CD, then this is for sure the version to buy and if you are Hawkwind obsessed and have a really good 5.1 system, then you will be rewarded with a great sound experience and some heavy spaced out music for over 2 hrs!!!!!

http://www.hawkwind.com

If you dig: The Space Ritual……

Scott

The Headlines : Plug 'n' Play CD (Radio Rebel records)
This is pop-punk in the same way as Good Charlotte or Green Day or whoever of those kinds of bands. It might be out of scope for this magazine but to be fair this is my humble and most objective treatment. It sounds like most other pop-punk - not very original and not very interesting. Way too many "Oh, oh, oh" choruses and way too slick in the production. The band looks like they just went down to the nearest shop with punk clothes and got themselves an outfit complete with Jeepers Creepers. Cool for partying - well, if you're a teenager that is!

http://www.theheadlinesrock.com
If you dig: Rock Hard Power Spray and so on …

Tomsen

Steve Hillage - Live in Germany CD/DVD (Voiceprint VPDVD32)
This concert has been around a bit in the past as it was taken from Germany TV in 1977 but this is the complete concert, including the 3 songs not broadcast and the first 1000 copies come with the concert on a CD (74 minutes). This is really classic Steven Hillage band material. Steve had a fabulous 7 piece band at this time with three keyboard-synth players, drums, bass and rhythm guitar and of course Steve himself.. The set opens up with Salmon Song. Hurdy Gurdy Glissando is a strange and spacey intro to the real cover song and Steve really plays some great guitar as the track builds up into a long jam before they break into Hurdy Gurdy. Next up is the 14 minute long Solar Musick suite from Fish Rising… Really nice… Now they switch and go to the Lunar Musick Suite from their current album that they are touring on called L. This track really highlights what a great band he had on this long GONG like track.. Cool old spacey analog synths as well.. It's all too Much (George Harrison song) is played very differently but is great. The Encore is Elektrick Gypsies… The DVD also contains an interview with Steve Hillage. Great stuff..

http://www.voiceprint.co.uk

If you dig: Gong, System 7, Ash Ra Tempel

Scott

Hollywood Roses- Dopesnake CD (Deadline Music)
Hollywood Roses are a Hollywood California Guns and Roses cover band who decided to record a record of original and cover tracks. They must have a lot of respect on the scene though as they have some quite famous people guesting on this record including Mick Taylor, Traci Guns and Phil Lewis, Frankie and Fred from Cinderella and a few ex-Guns and Roses folks as well. The CD begins with a cover of Thin Lizzy's classic, Jailbreak. Their original tracks (Sleazy lyrics) are generally quite fast paced heavy rock songs and not that commercial, like you might expect. The CD ends with a fun version of Ice Cream Man by Van Halen. These guys have made a solid record of down and dirty sleazy party rock and roll… it might be for you..

http://www.hollywoodroses.net
http://www.abstractsounds.co.uk

If you dig: Guns and Roses, LA Guns,

Scott

The Hors D'oeuvres - Demo 2007
In 2005 The Hors D'oeuvres released the record Lemonade and now they are back with a vengeance! This demo is rough recordings of both new songs and also some older recordings supposed to be on their next record. The band is highly inpired by the californian desert rock scene and has clear references to bands like QOTSA, Earthlings? and Fatso Jetson, but inspiration also comes from Cream, Led Zep and The Doors. The band is a strong trio af highly competent muscicians and has a very cool laid back drive on their first record. This demo forewarnes a great follow up! A song like Yeast is so desert-like I almost have to dust off sand from my speakers. It has a very cool groove and is complete with handclaps and has the coolest bassline as outo. The Leak is an old song left over from the first record, but it's really nice and has a vibe that reminds of something Homme would have made for the first Queens record. It's kind of the same repetitive stop'n'go songstructure as Walkin on the Sidewalks and Lasses singing is so mellow, you simply gets sucked into the music. This is a great demo from a great Danis band - and I'm really looking forward to the next album.

http://www.myspace.com/thehorsdoeuvres
http://www.thehd.dk

If you dig: Desert Sessions, QOTSA

Tomsen

I.C.U. : 17 Minutes 7" (Put On Records)
Three raging tracks of semi-sludgy punkcore packed with great energy and female vocals. I.C.U. has an early brutal 80s hc feel before metal invaded the scene, but it's also pretty catchy. Speaking of metal, it actually sounds a bit like a less metallic Beyond Possession (if anyone remembers them), but it's probably more in the vein of Black Flag. I dunno. The b-side is an unrecognizable version of Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play". From Brooklyn. Features Memphis (Compulsive Gamblers) on drums. White vinyl.
http://www.myspace.com/putonrecords
http://www.myspace.com/icunyc
If you dig: Black Flag, Battalion Of Saints

Jens

IV Thieves: If we can't escape my pretty CD (Little Indian Rec, 2006)
In 2005 a young Nic Armstrong came out of Glasgow and exposed the world to his own personal variation of scruffy merseybeat on his debut album "The greatest White Liars" which was produced by legendary Liam Watson in his Toe Rag Studios. Armstrong played all the instruments himself during recordings. The debut gave Armstrong a lot of well deserved attention and soon he and his band The Thieves warmed up for stars like paul Weller, Oasis, The Pretenders, Jet, Razorlight etc. Nic Armstrong had made his first album all by himself but the magic of playing in a band opened new doors for him and soon the four-piece band started writing songs together and The Thieves bacame IV (4) Thieves. This present album is the result of the band's collective visions and it's mixed by Chris Sheldon who has produced albums for Pixies, Foo Fighters and others. "If we can't escape my pretty" presents 12 songs charachterized by powerful lyrics and very competent compositions. Great melodic work, nice guitar sound, catchy songs, well played beat/rock with Nic Armstrong's light voice above it all. Great, innovative album with a cool scruffy sound - go for it!

If you dig: My Midnights Creeps
http://www.myspace.com/ivthieves

-Foxy

Josiah- No Time CD (Elektrohasch 121CD)
Ok folks.. Josiah is back with their 3rd full length album and it rocks like a muthafucka…. I always wonder what people are thinking when they write in the biography for fans of: Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Only Living Witness… This band has almost nothing to do with those bands, except two of the 3 are also from England. Josiah is mostly a riff rock band, heads down hard driving 70's rock riffs and sounds. It is nice to hear the band stretch out with some bluesy stuff and some guitar solos as well like on the great title track of this CD. This song sounds a lot like something Leslie West might have written in 1971! Long Time Burning is back to uptempo foot stomping rock and roll. The Dark is a slow, moody 7 minute track and the band experiments with the use of their voice in quite an interesting way. Harvester of Lies kicks the pace up again but soon gets tuned down and a bit like old Pentagram or Witchcraft at times over the nearly 11 minute monster track. Finally, around 9 minutes he decides to play some lead guitar after a long period of mood development… not for long though.. I think he is really scared to come out and really jam and play.. I know he can… Great song.. Time to Kill is a very fast track. Silas Brainchild has a really nice catchy guitar riff and takes me back to the 70s… My Bird of Prey again sees the band stretching out to over 7 minutes with a slower, doomy, moody track, which again reminds me of Witchcraft… I can't seem to Find It ends this really excellent CD. This will remind you a lot of the old Josiah sound..

I think this is the best CD that the band has put out. Some really great tracks and the band stretch things out and experiments a bit.

http://www.elektrohasch.de
http://www.josiahrock.co.uk/frameset.php

If you dig: Leafhound, Mountain, Nebula, Hainloose, Witchcraft

Scott

Kamikaze Trio : Rain On Your Parade CD (In-Fidelity)
This album is an improvement over these Aussie's previous "French Lick" EP. It's still noise rock mixed with punk rock, a bit Dinosaur Jr/Spaceman 3-esque with some Sonic Youth. I prefer the opening track, "My Demons", and the last song ("7-to-1"), cuz they remind me of Sam and Andy's other band, the superior Digger & The Pussycats. The rest in between is okay, lotsa fuzz but also some indie rock-ish touches, although the voice is tougher than your usual indie crybaby whiner.
http://www.myspace.com/kamikazetrio
If you dig: Dinosaur Jr., Big Black, Spaceman 3

Jens

Kieltolaki : S/T 7" + Totaalisen Tuhon Huominen 7" (Moo Cow Records/CRI)
80s style Finnish hardcore, hey wait, it's not tuneless crust core, but very aggressive fast and wellplayed super-pissed-offed hc that brings back memories of countless shows in Ungdomshuset way back in the days. Unfortunately I'm a bit too old to really enjoy this I guess…still, Kieltolaki is one of the better bands in this genre. Maximum Rock'n'Roll is of course nuts about this band.
http://www.moocowrecords.com
If you dig: Discharge, Death Token

Jens

Kill Cheerleader - All Hail (Spinerazor Records)
Kill Cheerleader is another boring straight ahead hard rock band playing a mix of neo-punk and sleaze metal. Nothing new, nothing special - except that they're from Canada. Standard riffs and solos, silly rock clichés and stupid lyrics. The record even has two standard "badass" rock ballads so goddamn ordinary it stinks, but it's probably something a 13 year old white trailer thrash girl will find oh so sensitive. On the good side I have to admit that the band plays quite energetic and with a good feel - but that's just not enough. The press material says that Lemmy almost worship this band after he saw them somewhere in Canada. But hey, if Lemmy's liking in music reflects his liking in women I'm not surprised.The band states that: "Our mission is simple: play the ugliest and baddest punk-metal this side of the millennium and if you don't like it go listen to your lame radio rock shit and stay the fuck away from us!" Well, I'll stay away 'cause this is some lame shit to me!

http://www.cheerleader666.com
If you dig: Towers of London and Rock Hard Power Spray

Tomsen

Kill Kim Novak - 03:05 CD (A Team Distribution)
My ears are bleeding after hearing this CD several times. It's screamo/hardcore form Germany with lyrics in both German and English. If anyone is familiar with the band this CD is their first two EP's put together. It's fast, loud and actually very varied, but does not add much new to the style. I'm not a big fan of screamo but do acknowledge the quality of both music and production. If you dig hardcore the German style you should check this band out.

http://www.killkimnovak.de
If you dig: Snapcase, At the Dive-In, Earth Crisis

Tomsen

King Louie & The Loose Diamonds : Memphis Treet CD (Empty Records)
Just like Jay Reatard, King Louie is a busy man and involved in many projects (Persuaders, Bad Times, Kajun SS etc.) but this must be one of the most impressive lineups with Jack Oblivian, Harlan T. Bobo, Adam Woodard and Chad Booth. "Memphis Treet" sounds like the greatest album The Stones never recorded! It has that same rootsy greasy sound of the early 70s infused with some Tav Falco flavor and a bit a of soul and powerpop. Definitely one of the best albums I've heard this year so far. The recordings were thought lost after an electrical fire burned down Easley Studios in Memphis, but thankfully the masters were intact, and was later mixed by the legendary producer Jim Dickinson.
http://www.myspace.com/kinglouieandhisrocknroll
http://www.emptyrecords.com/
If you dig: Tearjerkers, Reigning Sound, Tav Falco

Jens

Kosmos- Pitu LP (Kosmos Music)
Wow..what a beautiful record and amazing music… This Finnish band has produced their 2nd full length LP and it is fantastic. It comes in a beautiful packaging with lyric sheet in English and Finnish and on 180 gram high quality vinyl. Finnish folk music including Finnish lyrics and female vocals, characterize this band.. The title translates into the Path. The title track starts the record off and finishes with just guitar and voice (The Path I and II). A Foreign Tongue is a really amazing track with a Middle Eastern flavour and nice instrumentation. Summer is a much shorter track with really nice flute playing and electric guitar solo. Omini'l Dakakos is a slow mysterious number which features some synthesizer and bassoon! This is a long track with a lot of slow moving moods and no percussion or drums at all. A gift or a Curse starts side B and it has a real English folk feel to it. I GOT Lost is a spoken word piece with mostly acoustic guitar and some mellotron. Quite spooky… Ouija features Theremin, violin and some synthesizers as well. This track is also very spooky and strange at the end and leads into My Youth. This is a really excellent record.. Buy it if you collect vinyl and like strange and interesting folk music. I really like the way they mix up the use of different instruments on all the different tracks. Brilliant!

http://www.nic.fi/~ovaltone/kosmos

If you dig: John Renbourn, Circulus, Incredible String Band,

Scott

Kryptonics : Rejectionville 1985-1992 2CD (Memorandum)
For every Aussie garagerock outfit like Scientists or Lime Spiders, there's one who didn't reach the public eye. Kryptonics is such a band, never heard of them, but then Memorandum decided to release a 2 disc deluxe edition with a neat 28 page booklet and 38 tracks. "Rejectionville" features ALL their tunes + several live and demo versions. It's almost too much, but thankfully Kryptonics is a pretty solid garagerock combo which mostly deals in Cynics-style r'n'r and a few Cramps-esque rockers. Highly recommendable.
http://www.myspace.com/memorandumrecordings
If you dig: Lime Spiders, early Hoodoo Gurus, Cynics

Jens

Kværn demo tape
8 short tracks of wonderful snotty fuck-you punk. Juvenile, immature, childish and retarded - just like I prefer my punkrock! I can't remember when I last received a cassette for review, is this a new trend? Thank god my old tape player still works. Anyways, it's recorded at Elværket in Helsingør, where bassplayer Martin (Kussekannibalerne, Rabalder Records) books kickass foreign bands who don't play Copenhagen. The sound is crisp yet raw-as-fuck which suit's the tunes perfectly. People who mourn the breakup of Tæve, should be able get their kicks with Kværn and their Puck Maxi Punk Rock'n'Roll. Check out my interview with the youngsters in Lowcut # 43.
http://funus.dk/kvaern/
If you dig: Tæve, early Dwarves and Necros

Jens

Leadfinger : The Floating Life CD (Bang! Records)
"The Floating Life" is the first solo album by Stewart 'Leadfinger' Cunningham who'd a 20 year career and was in the bands like Brother Brick, Proton Energy Pills, Asteroid B-612, The Yes Men, Challenger 7 etc. It's a pretty laid back rootsy affair, 'cept for the "Thin Lizzy" boogie rock tribute to Phil Lynott. I like it, although I could've used a bit more RAWK herer and there, but it's pretty emotional and personal stuff, lyrics-wise, it'll probably grow on me. "The Floating Life" is also released in vinyl version with a gatefold cover.
http://myspace.com/leadfinger
http://www.bang-records.net/
If you dig: Paul Westerberg, Alex Chilton, Replacements

Jens

Alison Faith Levy and Mushroom- Yesterday I saw you kissing Tiny Flowers CD (4Zero Records)
The San Francisco based Mushroom are back with a new CD featuring female vocalist Alison Faith Levy (Camper von Beethoven fame), who has appeared live with the band on a number of occasions, some of which are captured on this moody CD. Tracks 1, 4,5 and 7 are all recorded at Komotion Studios, while the rest are live (between 2002 and 2005). The CD starts off with a short mood piece (Electric Muse) to set the mood. Josh Pollock is next (yes that is the name of the guitar player as well) and is an 11 minute jam piece featuring quite a stoned spaced out vibe and Allison compliments this well with her vocal approach. Clay Alison is a really nice psych rock track with flute, Celeste, bass and bongos/congas, guitar and voice… A very nice audience recording.. Gas, Grass or Ass- Nobody rides for Free is a pretty funky track featuring some cool jazzy piano and trumpet. You Laugh…..(really long title) This one starts slow but then really builds up and the way the trumpet is played only very sparingly is quite cool. Her voice is quite haunting as well. Kraut Mask Replica rings in at 21 minutes and is the long space out track on the CD. Starts very strangely…Ocean Beach is a beautiful track, could have been on Jens (Spacious Mind) solo record. The CD closes with a cover by David Bowie… not one you would expect to hear… Great CD for the musically adventurous..

http://www.4zerorecords.co.uk

If you dig: Mushroom, The Spacious Mind

Scott

Litmus- Planetfall CD (Rise Above Records)
Litmus, are the UK's premiere Hawkwind inspired space rock band. This is the band second full length CD and shows that band playing harder and faster than every with an occasionally DOOMY touch to the music. Great spaced out synthesizers add a nice touch. This is very intense stuff and the band pretty much blow you away with their intensity for the first two tracks before getting a bit more spaced out and slowing down the pace with Lost Stations (reminds a bit of Assault and Battery). Under the Sign begins with quite aggressive space rock riffing before cooling off but remains a very intense 14 min track with a long jam. Planetfall is a short more laid back piece after the massive Under the Sign track. Psychotic Projection is another really high paced track and one of the more intense in your face tracks. Singularity keeps the aural onslaught going and is quite psychedelic with massive freaked out waves of synths attacking from all sides… Helios is a short synth based piece to give the ears and mind a break before the band kicks into the long 17 minute Expanding Universe track. This track has some heavy more doomy guitars (probably what Lee Dorin liked!) and in the middle section slowly builds up with tension and then explodes… The Machine Age picks up the high speed space rock once again and blasts you out into the galaxy once again. Very intense drums… Far Beyond does not let up either and blazes a path out into the unknown. The CD ends with Planetfall/S.E.T.I. This is a very very intense 76mins of music.. I am guessing too much for most people.. If you like high energy space rock, this is for sure your deal…

http://www.litmusmusic.co.uk http://www.riseaboverecords.com

If you dig: Hawkwind, Farlung, Pressurehed, Dark Sun, Helios Creed, Omnia Opera

Scott

Louis Lingg & The Bombs : Conspiracy CD (Ultrasonar Records)
Anarchist punk/new wave from Paris that's both political and very exciting if you're into bands like Revillos and X-Ray Spex. The songs are in English and French and possess an impressive knack for combining aggressiveness and catchiness. I'm not familar with Louis Lingg and the 6 other anarchists who was (wrongfully) accused of bombing Chicago's Haymarket in 1886 where 8 cops were killed, but now I am thanks to this French combo. Political hc/punk bands can be a pain in the ass, but not these guys, in fact, Louis Lingg & The Bombs got a pretty original sound of their own.
http://www.myspace.com/louislinggandthebombs
If you dig: Revillos, Buzzcocks, X-Ray Spex

Jens

Love Motor- Love Motor CD (Love Motor)
Love Motor is from San Diego, CA and play hard driving melodic rock and roll with a female voice. The opening track begins with a QOTSA like riff but develops into a quite hard driving song. Christy, the singer, reminds me of some of the female metal singers from the 80’s. She is also quite a good singer and gives the music a more melodic and indie edge to it. There are a few really ass kicking songs on the 8 track CD, like Delay. My main complaint is the CD just speeds right past you and you don’t really recall anything that memorable about the music??? Not bad but not that great.. high energy rock and roll with a stoner edge..

http://www.love-motor.com

If you dig: QOTSA, Misdemeanor,

Scott

Lover! : S/T CD (Empty Records)
Lover! is the brainchild of Rich Reatard (Lost Sounds, Knaughty Knights, Reatards), and along with Greg Roberson (ex-Reigning Sound) Lover! has created a neat 10 track loveletter to late70s/early80s powerpop/punk era. 'Cept for raunchy the NY Dolls-esque rocker, "Bo Deep And Frank", most tunes recalls the glory days of Cheap Trick, Zeros, Dickies, Ramones, Romantics - in other words; F.U.N. rock'n'roll for the summer!
http://emptyrecords.com
If you dig: The Undertones, Cheap Trick, Jeff Dahl

Jens
 
Love Tank - Bestial Glow CD (Phasepacket Records PPR-601)
Love Tank are a San Francisco based jazz band featuring John Law on Drums and Percussion, Brendan Rush Dance on Horns, Whistles and spoken words, Brandon Butrick on bass and guitar. This CD features special guests T. Reed on synths and effects and Nejdet Ulu. It is pretty laid back but also spacey at times but the main focus is on the horn playing for sure.. The opening track, Brown Cow, really showcases everyone in this band. The band totally experiment though with strange backing drones, bizarre spoken words.. This is no straight up jazz. Ages Gone is more laid back and prominently features the flute. Cold Future features programmed sounding drums at the beginning and some strange sounds and bells before the spoken words come into play. A really great and playful band, with a lot of surprises to be found… Great stuff..

http://www.phasepacket.com

If you dig: Primus, Inuit Ensemble

Scott

Lucifer Was - The Divine Tree CD (Transubstans 025)
The Norwegian band, Lucifer Was is back. If you are not familiar with this band, they started in the late 60’s and changed their name to Lucifer Was in 1970. They were active in the Oslo area up until 1974 and disappeared. In 1997, they found an old tape and decided together and record their old numbers and their first release was called Underground and Beyond. They released their 2nd LP in 2000 and a 3rd in 2005. This is the bands 4th record. They rarely play live still make some records, which is good for us. Anyway, the band plays heavy rock with flute, mellotron and Hammond organ and a blues hard edged guitar. The opening track features some fine guitar playing by new member Freddy Lindquist (Ex- Vanguards) and an interesting acapella vocal intro. Determination is next and a bluesy rock with some nice harmonica and solos from all the instruments. Very melodic vocal lines in this track, I should mention. On Earth is a slower melodic blues rock track with some nice guitar and organ solos but a pretty standard rock song. Almost Home reminds me of modern Deep Purple and I really like the ominous nature of the organ.. The singer… I am starting to figure out who he is like but still can’t get it… Who is it?? The First Mover starts with acoustic guitars but then a really heavy guitar with some slide comes in but then the track really changes. IT is quite a strange track and not at all your standard rock number. Crosseyed is the last and longest track (nearly 11 mins) on the CD. A really great song with nice layering of acoustic and heavy guitars and some flute in the jam section of the track. Cool stuff.

One thing you will notice is there is a lot less flute on this CD than previous releases, with the focus more on the guitars (they have always had heavy guitars) and organ and singing performance. Strong album..

http://www.record-heaven.net

If you dig: Jethro Tull, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple

Scott

Lush Lullaby: Lush Lullaby CD (Demo, 2007)
Here’s a demo from a three piece band called Lush Lullaby recorded in Århus in the spring 2006 – and I seriously have no clue why it took so long before it ended up on my desk for reviewing...Anyway. The singer/guitarist Lars Bredahl is the brother of Jacob Bredahl from Hatesphere who has mixed and mastered this well produced demo for Lush Lullaby – but here the connections end! Lush Lullaby plays polished punk’ish rock. Simple guitar chords, straight’n’chunky bass playing, hard beats on the drums. Elementary compositions without any surprises. There’s a bit of early New York punk-twang to Lars Bredahl’s phrasing and to the colour of his voice, and somehow it fits the expression and genre fine without being over the top. Everything on this demo is very straight and I miss a bite of the big cake of strange, experimental or personal touch to it. But then again: Maybe the band has done a lot of work and made a few changes on their sound and music profile since this recording-session from last year that I’m not aware of? It’s an okey-dokey demo, but not really ready for the rock’n’roll hall of fame...
 
If you dig: Rock with a slightly punky attitude
http://www.myspace.com/lushlullaby

-Foxy

Mac Blagick: Mac Blagick CD (Glen Ghost Records, 2007)
Mac Blagick is a four piece band from Sweden and this self-titled album is their debut. According to the overwhelmingly happy press material from their label the band delivers an outstanding, timeless and new version of heavy rock high above the average level of today’s scene. Appearantly the band delivers sublime live acts causing the audience to applause spontaniously to unexpected parts of the music. That I cannot argue with since I’ve never seen the band live, but I’ll be careful with giving a standing ovation to this album recorded during the very hot summer of 2006 (containing the sound of sweat hitting the guitar pick-ups according to the press sheet! Wow!). On the first three tracks the guitar sound is a bit thin and somewhat surf’ish while the drummer works like hell beating with an attitude that would fit a heavy rock band fine. The vocal is pompuous and has the grande sound of 70’ies hardrock including loads of reverb. Track four ,“Lyin’ King”, has a bit more heavy sound on the guitar and it ends in an interesting sound experiment. Track six, called “Stars” , is a standard bluesrock ballad turning into boogie-rock and back. The album also contains a cover version of “Goodmorning little Schoolgirl” sounding like late Vanilla Fudge. The band delivers some fine riffs and they’re partly interesting, but the overall impression is a bit confusing, the music pointing in too many directions and contains too many breaks and changes. Personally I would prefere a bit more insisting on the basic riffs.
 
If you dig: 70’ies prog rock
http://www.macblagick.com

-Foxy

The Magnetix : You Are The One, Baby CD (Evilution)
This 2-piece is probably the greatest French band around today. Andy Moore of Digger & The Pussycats is the man behind Evilution Records, and my buddy has complied a bitchin' comp of rare tracks, out of print singles etc. with this duo which excels in shitraw lo-fi garagepunk that recalls the likes of Oblivians, Gories and Revelators. 15 godlike tracks of primitive snotty distorted caveman raunch, outrageously good! Euro trash at it's finest!!!
http://www.myspace.com/themagnetix
http://www.myspace.com/evilutionrecords
If you dig: Oblivians, Gories, Revelators

Jens
 
M.A.M.A. – Rock as Fuck CD (Matula Records)
This is straight ahead fuck ‘n’ roll from German band called Me and My Asshole. This is really high-speed punkrock with references to both old-school hardcore pub-punk and more up to date grind or crust or whatever. I like the old school songs the most. Many of them are pretty melodic and catchy in the punk’ish singalong way. This is perfect music for an evening with booze and pogo. M.A.M.A. describes themselves as to be between Motörhead and Hüsker Dü. The reference to Motörhead is hard to find unless it’s the manipulated picture with their heads and an extra person pasted into the famous picture of Mexican bandidos fronting Ace of Spades. Production stinks pretty much – of course!

http://www.myspace.com/meandmyasshole
If you dig: GG Allin, Zeke and Electric Frankenstein

Tomsen
 
Maserati - Inventions for the New Season CD (Temporary Residence TRR120)
Maserati have been away for a 4-5 years and this is their 4th release since 2000 and from what I can read on the biography, it is quite a different band now. This is the first that I have heard of them. The CD begins with a very repetitive delay guitar (think Run like Hell by Pink Floyd) under which more guitars are layered as the whole thing builds and it is not before 5½ minutes of this 9 min track that the drums and bass kick in and the track takes off.. Very hypnotic and trancey stuff. 12/16 is next and starts with some ambient keyboards that slowly drift and float and the guitar is very much like the whole melodic post rock thing… IT builds into a very melodic happy song but gets intense at the end. Kalimera fades in slowly and is only melodic bass and delay guitar. Nothing interesting really happens.. Synchronicity IV is next and has a really smooth melodic groove going and the same style of dreamy delay guitar. The track really does build up and groove but still the guitars never really take off and fly and played killer spaced out solos like they could in this background.. He tries to go there but then just does or can’t do it.. afraid… Nice try anyway… Show me the Season begins with a bass line similar to One of these Days by Pink Floyd and the way the drums kick in is similar but after that, it flys off into melodic post rock territory and builds up to quite a hard and noisy in the middle section but it is a lot like on the other tracks.. Are they playing the same riff over and over.. Try something new.. Kalinichta is another all delay guitar and bass number. The World Outside closes this CD and is much like the rest of the record.. Same melodic lines repeated over and over… Oh yeah.. the music is all instrumental.. They really need to add something extra to the mix.. I like the over all sound and groove they have but it is too much the same, especially the guitars.

http://www.temporaryresidence.com
http://www.ihaveadagger.net/

If you dig: Circle, Mono, Explosions in the Sky, Pelican

Scott

The Masters Voice - Unknown Instructors CD (Smog Veil SV66)
I have never heard of this project before but I immediately recognized the cool spoken word poetry of Dan McGuire, as we had worked together on the amazing Jamnation CD that he released. Anyway, this is the 2nd CD that this group has released and it includes Two members of the Minutemen (Hurley and Watt), David Thomas from Pere Ubu (vocals on 3 tracks), Baiza from Saccharine Trust and Dan McGuire.. It is quite a strange mixture of stuff. Swarm gives you a taste of what you will get but this track fades out in a sort of unfinished way.. The tracks come across as very stoned little pieces of jams (this was all improvised in the studio) that they later put these bizarre and sometimes quite funny and interesting spoken word pieces over the top.. I think musically, this is too strange to be of interest to many people but it was fun to hear a few times. Fans of the old SST records stuff will probably get a kick out of this though.

http://www.smogveil.com

If you dig: Strange jammed out pieces of music with strange words spoken on the top

Scott

Matadors : Flame The Whisper CD (Devil Doll Records)
Garagerock, punk, stonerrock, new wave, and twangy rock'n'roll all rolled into one sound? On paper this would normally be a generic mess of failed ambitions of trying to please too many people, but somehow Matadors succeed. 16 fresh brilliant tracks of different hardrockin' flavors, it's starts out pretty straight, then it gets bubblegum-ish, then some spanish flamingo, and suddenly we're in some Fu Manchu groove. There's also all sorts of weird neat little details in the music, which is greatly helped by a excellent production - I like it! Forget the new weak Queen Of The Stone Age record, try "Flame The Whisper" instead! This is Matadors' 2nd album.
http://www.devildollrecords.com/DDR/ecards/mat-ftw.html
http://www.myspace.com/matadorssupreme
If you dig: Nebula, early QOTSA, Fu Manchu

Jens

Nathaniel Mayer : (I Want) Love And Affection (Not The House Of Correction) - Savage Soul From The Streets Of Detroit. Complete Recordings 1961 to 1980 CD (Vampi Soul)
Mayer's recent "I Just Want To Be Held" album on Fat Possum was a fuckin' masterpiece of rawass soul, but I was pretty curious of what he sounded like in the 60s. Fortunately Vampi Soul has released this awesome 23 track comp of his complete Fortune 7"s. His young voice is of course higher, almost feminine compared to now, and kinda reminds me of Hank Ballard's 60s r&b hits. Garage artists like Holly Golightly, The Hard Feelings and Gibson Brothes have covered many of these songs. The last two tracks is from a 1980 single, and is more in the funk/disco mold. All in all, I must say this release is one of the very best reissues/comps this year so far. An absolute must for any serious 60s soul fan!
http://vampisoul.com/
If you dig: Hank Ballard and the Midnighters

Jens

The Missing Shadows : Western Waste CD (Matula Records)
I used to be a punk back in the 80'ies, now I'm totally not into that shit anymore. But this sounds exactly like music from back in the day. Some of these German guys used to be in a band called Colt Sewers - and that's supposed to ring some bells (?!). They were some garage band, and now they are back with punkrock that do have some garage influence.
Anyway, this is not really "good" music but do have some very cool energy. Some songs are a little like good old British sing-along punk as Sham 69 and maybe even a little bit of Damned. Not that they sounds like any of those bands at all, but they do have some influence. The singer is pretty good for this genre and has a nice provocative voice. In all, this is quite catchy and well crafted "no bull" punk 'n' roll as it's supposed to be. The production sounds like pretty poor DIY. I think a better production could do a lot. More distortion on the bass, drums up front and some overdubbed guitar noise - and then a good strong compression of the whole shit.
Some songs actually do have some strong hook lines and "Switched Off" and "Tail Fin Cruiser" do have kind of hit potential!?

http://www.themissingshadows.de
If you dig: A sixpack and punk karaoke ...

Tomsen
 
Mooch - Dr. Silbury’s Liquid Brainstem Band CD (Ambientlive Recordings ALR3020)
Wow…what a beautiful packaging for this double CD. For those who do not know, Mooch is author Stephan Palmers musical alter ego… Creative guy… He formed Mooch way back in 1992 and has since that time released 6 CDs. The band is a studio band though and does not perform live as far as I am aware. This is his most ambitious set of music with over 2hrs of music and a load of special guests including Bridget Wishart (Ex- Hawkwind), Don Falcone (Spirits Burning), Cyndee Lee Rule, Chris Gill, Jez Creek, Paul Dumore, Karen Anderson, Erich Z. Schlagzeug and Damien Redmond. The liner note card provides you with a small note about the track and who exactly performed on this number. There is a wide range of stuff from ambient electronica to jazzy stuff (Sandman) to dark music (Cycad). The sound is very clean and very digital and a great psychedelic vibe.. A really excellent collection of ambient psychedelic music. Not much rock in it though.. One thing I miss is a list of instruments used by Mr. Palmer… Next one… Music for the more polished, older, psychedelic spacehead…

http://www.stephenpalmer.co.uk

If you dig: Simon House, Anubian Lights,

Scott

Dennis Most : Sins Of Your Fathers Present… CD + DVD
Dennis Most & The Instigators : I’m Not Dead Yet! CD
I’ve previous heard Dennis Most and his ”Vampire City” (2004), ”Sins Of Your Fathers Present” takes us back to 1976 when he was raising hell with Audiolove. He started his reign of proto-punk as early as 1972, and is very inspired by Stooges and Alice Cooper. The cd comp spands 4 decades and is of course pretty uneven, especially in sound quality, but really gives you a worthy intro to Dennis Most. The dvd consists of 22 mins footage from a live show in 1976, despite sound troubles in the beginning, it’s a treat to watch him strut his stuff. Back to present, ”I’m Not Dead Yet” sorta follows the same path 30 years later, no-bull punk and hardrock with plenty of attitude, unfortunately some tracks are pretty bland in comparision with the early works. Still, a pretty solid release.
http://dennismostinstigator.com/
http://www.snapsmusic.com
If you dig: Stooges, Alice Cooper

Jens
 
Mozkovitch - Mozkovitch CD (BLP Music BLP 2007-04)
Mozovitch are a young (average age of 17!) new Swedish band that plays real 70’s style hard rock with a bluesy edge. The band played at the Sweden Rock festival outside the main festival area but I did not get a chance to see them, sadly.. The CD opens with a foot stomping track and the singer will immediately remind you of Phi Lynott. The band has a good sense of melody and writes good solid but not great memorable tracks. The real difference between the bands of the 70s and this one is mainly that these guys are totally holding back. When there is a keyboard or a guitar solo, they are all like 15 seconds long and right back to the “safe” chorus… A lot too much singing and far too less playing…but hey ..these kids are young and it is just great that they want to play this kind of music and not pop crap.. Give them some years to mature and if they open up and start to jam and improvise and play (if they can), they will be a great band.. This I am certain..

http://www.blpmusic.com/
http://www.mozkovitch.com/

If you dig: Thin Lizzy, Mountain,

Scott

My Midnight Creeps – Histamin CD (MMREC/EMI)
I reviewed this album just two days prior to the news of Robert Burås passing away – what a loss! R.I.P.

This is the second time around for the Norwegian garagesoulers, and it’s a very good follow-up to their much acclaimed selftitled debut. It’s more varied, more rounded - yet tuff as hell. This is guitar driven rock ‘n’ roll the way it’s meant to be. The dirty Detroit sound is still kept intact but the production is so much better with a deeper sound. The record opens with strange percussions, but then the guitar kicks in and “Speaking in Tongues” hits the ears as a real dirty rocker. There are more slow songs on this album than on the previous, but that’s not bad at all. Long trippy journeys with great guitar work and a lot of very cool percussion especially in the almost 9 min long “I’ll let the Light Shine on You” makes them hold. The record even has a song about lost love opening with acoustic guitar called “Love is Gone” and it’s all about loss and memories and sung with feeling and honesty - well a broken heart sure is hard to fix. On the other hand a song like “Shakin’ off My Demons” is an up-tempo rocker with a brilliant sax competing with the lead guitar about screaming the most in the background. I like this mix of fast and slow songs and the band seems more mature and with a more specific goal than just being a dirty garage band.

http://www.mymidnightcreeps.com
If you dig: The Stooges, Madrugada, Baby Woodrose

Tomsen

Nekromantix : Life Is A Grave & I Dig It! CD (Hellcat)
Used to be fan of the Danish psychobilly vets Nekromantix, but this bland and uninspired album sure doesn’t help. Definitely their weakest yet, the songs and vocals are boring beyond belief, the lyrics are a joke even within cliché ridden psychobilly genre, and the production is mindboggling impotent and lacks any punch. Maybe it’s time to call it quits, cuz “Life Is A Grave” is another nail in coffin of the life of psychobilly. Very harsh words, I know, but I expected a whole lot more from this combo which I’ve seen countless times. Maybe they’ll get back on track with the next album, I sincerely hope that.
http://www.myspace.com/nekromantix
If you dig: A zombified Nekromantix

Jens

The Nerds : Murder Is Now CD (Chorus Of One)
I really dug their early Dwarves-esque stuff like "Just Because She Didn't Wanna Fuck" and the cockrock-scumpunk of "A Black Star Burning Trails To Nowhere". But "Murder Is Now" is a pretty generic and uninspired compared to those great albums; The Boss' vocals sounds like any tuneless hardcore singer in many songs, and the metallic geetar riffs are nothing out of the ordinary. There are a few good songs like "Gods Of War" and "Last Nail In Jesus' Hand", but ultimately I expected a lot more from this Italian band.
http://www.thenerdsrockinferno.com/
http://www.scareyrecords.com/
If you dig: ANTiSEEN, GG Allin

Jens

Nude Pube Banglers : New Wave of Norwegian Hard Rock CD (Chorus of One Records)
This is an Italian release of collected “hits” from Norwegian punk/hardrock band Nude Pube Banglers under the acronym N.W.O.N.H.R. At first this reminds me of a combo of Turbonegro and Gluecifer on speed, with a tiny twist of AC/DC. This is how I remember Scandinavian garage-rock to be years ago: dirty, scratchy and right in your face. And this is how any Scandinavian garage/punk/hard/whatever-rock is supposed to be! Most of the songs rocks as hell and although they differ in quality of production the whole album seems pretty consistent. My favourite track is “Sexual Famine” complete with AC/DC vibe, strong bass and sing-a-long chorus.
Let’s have a party!

http://www.nudepube.com
If you dig: Turbonegro, Null$katte$nylterne, Gluecifer

Tomsen
 
Obliteration- Perpetual Decay CD (Tyrant Syndicate Productions)
Obliteration come from Norway and play old school thrash metal but with death vocals (can’t understand hardly anything that comes out of the guy’s mouth!). Very intense music. Main difference between this and the bands I say they are like, is that again, the young generation have almost entirely dropped the guitar solos… It is almost completely just fast, heavy intense riffing…. One song after the next.. phew… really makes you worn out…

http://www.tyrantsyndicate.com
http://www.obliteration.tk/

If you dig: Slayer, Death, Autopsy, Death Angel

Scott

The Ones : S/T CD (Wax Waccine Records)
There are good, bad and sensational powerpop bands. Portland’s The Ones belong in the last category. And simply put, there seems to be two schools of powerpop; the British Elvis Costello/Nick Lowe vs. US’s Real Kids/Paul Collins one, again The Ones belong among the latter. Lotsa gutsy rock’n’roll riffs recalling Creedence Clearwater Revival…or maybe even more The Golliwogs. Nothing groundbreaking, just maybe the best damn debut album I’ve heard this year so far!!!
www.myspace.com/theonespdx
If you dig: Real Kids, Paul Collins Beat, Hypstrz

Jens

On Trial : Live At Gutter Island LP (Bad Afro)
It’s pretty rare I that hear a live record where I actually was present 3 feet from the band, but I do remember that On Trial had excellent sound at last Gutter Island (Denmark’s only garagerock festival of international class which is held every 2nd year). This is the 4th Gutter Island live release, previously bands like Burnouts, Defectors and Baby Woodrose where the pick of each festival since 2000. Back to the excellent sound which this album expertly captures, it was recorded by the Danish National Radio. The nine songs are crisp yet fuzzed out wonderful psychedelic rock mostly from their brilliant ”Forever” album and features an unreleased track, ”Pure Evil” and a cover of Love’s ”A House Is Not A Motel”, something for collectors, eh? Anyway, this is a must for fans and anyone interested in the cream of the crop of Danish r’n’r. Vinyl only, and limited to 500.
http://www.myspace.com/ontrial
http://badafro.dk/
If you dig: 13th Floor Elevators, Baby Woodrose

Jens
 
Orange Goblin- Healing through Fire CD (Mayan Records MYNDX058)
Ok.. Orange Goblin is back with another mean motherfucker… I have not much liked the last couple of OG records but this one is really back on track and see the band experimenting with some bluesy stuff and coming up with some great stoner metal things that have a kick ass groove to them. A bit like Dozer at times, perhaps.. The Ballad of Solomon Eagle starts the CD off and you know it is OG right away. Some nice guitar jams in this one with good harmony guitars and a killer groove. Vagrant Stomp is a real headbanger! The Ale House Braves has one of those Clutch like grooves to it and then even go into a section much like Communication Breakdown by Zeppelin. Cities of Frost is the heaviest track on the record and really blasts… Hot Knives and Open Sores is quite a lot in the same vein as the previous track but Hounds Ditch shows a more growly aggressive side of the band. Mortlake is a short acoustic piece that leads into They Come Back (Harvest of Skulls). This track becomes quite like Slayer in the middle section. Beginners Guide to Suicide ends the CD and this is my favourite track as is a slow doomy blues number with slide, harmonica and something completely different.

http://www.orange-goblin.com

If you dig: Dozer, Cathedral, Clutch

Scott

PEWT'R jjjjj : Byens Lys 061217 CD (There Is No Trouble In Denmark)
Looong instrumental psych spacerock freakout jams with plenty fuzz guitar mayhem. Can’t say I’m that familiar with Sunburned Hand Of Man or Jørgen Teller, but Ron and him are sorta the experimental part of the line-up while Causa Sui is the solid r’n’r backbone of these 100% improvised tunes. They keep it raw and spacerock groovy in a Hawkwind “Brainstorm” kinda way. It's pretty impressive to hear the band infusing inspired guitar patterns and landscapes in the maelstrom of LOUD sonic noise which almost has a Amon Düül II/Can krautrock feel to it. PEWT’R jjjjj also reminds me a bit of Øresund Space Collective but with way WAY more fuzz guitars. This cd consists of 3 tracks which was probably half or so of the show last year December 17th at Byens Lys in Christiania. The live recording is excellent, and the handmade package (limited to 200) is very neat. Great start for new Danish label; There Is No Trouble In Denmark - keep'em coming!
http://thereisnotroubleindenmark.dk/
If you dig: Experimental psychedelic space kraut instru rock

Jens

Pilotos - Thank god for the Devil CD (Self Released)
Pilotos have been on the Swedish stoner rock scene since 1999 and are still going strong! This Stockholm based rock band just keeps kicking out the funny rock and roll and this is their 4th release. This release is more just down and dirty rock and roll (7 songs in 22 minutes) than the other CDs that I have heard by them. There is also a lot of focus on the vocals with a lot of choruses with multiple backing voices. They are clearly really having fun as you can tell with songs like Blond Guy and the strange middle section of Malo. Urban Blues is a slow track and the first words are “I want to kill you”.. Great song… She’s one of a kind is a bit like QOTSA. Get out of his Way is one I am sure the crowds sing, if they play this one live… Not Alone is probably my favourite track on the CD as I really like the sort of spacey guitar and laid back groove and nice bass line and the only song with guitar solos and a bit of jam. De Devil ends this pretty good rock and roll CD… Fun guys as well.. met them once…

http://www.pilotos.se

If you dig: Dozer, QOTSA, Pilotos

Scott

Los Plantronics : Rancho Notorious! CD (Big Dipper)
'Mariachi Death Surf' is the brand of music this Norwegian combo claim to play. And yes, it's basically part instru surf and part garagepunk/rockabilly (with vocals) with lotsa Link Wray-ish twang strummin'. They band played at the Club Mau Mau HALLOWEEN party a few years ago, and it was definitely my best Halloween ever. I was of course dressed up as Osama Bin Laden, but I sadly failed to win the best costume prize. I lost to a fuckin' mummy! Anyway, Los Plantronics have been arond for 10 years, and "Rancho Notorious" is yet another great party record with righteous evil twang, and even some Morricone worship. How can you go wrong with a band who records a tribute song to Robert Mitchum's character in the hillbilly moonshine epic "Thunder Road"? The vinyl version has one track not incl. on the cd.
http://www.myspace.com/losplantronics
If you dig: Los Straitjackets, Link Wray, Man Or Astroman?

Jens

Ponamero Sundown – Heavy Rock (Demo)
This is the fourth demo from Swedish stonerrockers Ponamero Sundown. They sure know their roots and blends 70’ish heavyrock with “modern” Swedish stonerstyle. Singer Nicke Engwall sings his lungs out and has a quite good rusty voice. The rhythm section with Ola Nilsson on bass and Peter Eklund beating the drums is tight and heavy and therefore the ground is seeded nicely for guitarist Anders Martinsgård to harvest the fruits with some very competent and authentic playing. Track five is called “Simple Man” and it starts out as a mellow kind of ballad but soon kicks in like a hardrocking truck full of bricks. Nicke Engwall gives everything he has asking: “Have you got the answer/ why don’t you show me the truth”. Nice song and great energy. The last song is an outro with only guitar and static noise - quite cool way to bring you back down to the ground.
I really like what these guys do. But the production is pretty poor and there’s not enough variation in the sound, maybe because the drums seem a little buried in the background. Nicke really sings in a cool manner, but it sometimes feels a little too “pushed” – please relax and take a deep breath from time to time. Anyway, Sweden is the kingdom of stonerrock and I look forward to a wellproduced record from these guys. Go see them in at Helsingør festivalen in august.

http://www.ponamerosundown.com
If you dig: Abdullah, Dozer, Mustasch

Tomsen
 
Ponys – st 7” (Contaminated)
This is a re-ish and when I reviewed the first version in #15 I gave it full five razor blades. Hearing it again I don’t regret it at all. This is superbly spaced-out, desperate rock music with enough Stooges and Warsaw tendencies to blow it right up there in league with Spacemen 3. The Ponys have the same kind of arty feel with out being irritating and the loud fucked-up wah-wah solo and nihilistic lyrics reminds me of “OD Catastrophy” and “Revolution”. Anyway, since then this gang have recorded to albums for In the Red so everybody knows who they are. But even though those albums are great this is probably their best moments, so if you missed it the first time make sure you catch it now sucker.

http://www.contaminatedrecords.com/
If you Dig: Spacemen 3, Joy Division, Stooges.

Simon
 
Powderhog- Powderhog CD (Trechoma Records)
Powderhog is a new Danish band from Esbjerg on the new Danish record label, Trechoma Records. The band plays straight up high energy rock-metal. I got pretty bored with the first part of the record as the songs are all the same pace and quite a like in some way but around track 7, the CD gets more interesting. The vocalist has a quite harsh raw vocal and a bit screechy. Good rock singer.. Girl and Another Trip have a slower more footstomping rock and roll to them. Pretty decent debut. I am guessing these guys will be quite popular outside of Denmark… We will see….

http://www.powderhog.dk
http://www.trechomarecords.dk

If you dig: Hellacopters, Flaming Sideburns, Krokus

Scott

Primitive People - Ritual of Fire CD-R (Path of Action)
Primitive People are Chris Cullen from Graphite and Peter Smith from T30 Control. This CD-R Ep features 5 tracks in 30 minutes of pretty spacey and ambient trips… They can use sticks, machines, and all sorts of stuff to keep rhythms.. Not much voice but some.. Short compositions that keep you interested for the full 5 minutes or so as they move from space part to the next… Hard to describe…

http://www.pathofaction.com

If you dig: Alien Tape, Psychic Space Invasion, AMP

Scott
 
 
Queens Of The Stone Age : Era Vulgaris (Interscope Records)
Oops he did it again …! Yet another brilliant album from the dustiest desert rocker of them all. Era Vulgaris is simply fantastic and a record that every serious rock-lover should worship. So kneel down, bend over, spread ‘em and admit that Homme is indeed genius!
http://www.qotsa.com
If you dig: Desert stuff

Tomsen

Rabbits & Carrots : Soul Latino CD (Vampi Soul)
Some called Rabbits & Carrots Mexico’s answer to The Meters which isn’t that crazy. A groovy mix of funk, rock, soul, psych and latin jazz with covers of Rufus Thomas, James Brown and Sly & The Family Stone. The instrumental ”Soul Latino” was originally released in 1969, now reissued thanks to Vampi Soul with an 4 track EP (with vocals) of 1971 included. Definitely my Vampi Soul pick of this issue!
http://www.vampisoul.com/
If you dig: The Meters, Sly & The Family Stone

Jens

Radio Moscow – S/T CD (Alive Records)
Radio Moscow is two 21 year old dudes playing retro psychedelic blues-rock in the real early 70’ish freaked out way like Orange Sunshine. Parker Griggs handles guitar, drums, percussion and vocals while Luke McDuff plays bass. This record is all about guitar soloing in the extreme wanked-out way high on smoke. If you dig playing air-guitar you’ll be in heaven all 37 minutes. Especially the almost 6 min long “Deep Blue Sea” is pounding heavy yet slow and swampy with slide-guitar and so bluesy it’s hard to believe these guys were born in the mid 80’ies. The record is produced by no other than Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys - actually it’s even recorded in Auerbach’s own studio The Pie Co.
It’s a fine piece of retro rock that will warm the hearts of all stoned music freaks who think that lava lamps and blacklight posters is the coolest stuff ever invented.
http://www.myspace.com/radiomoscow
If you dig: Hendrix, Nebula, Causa Sui

Tomsen

The Raunch Hands’ Bigg Topp : Feel It CD (Licorice Tree Records)
In a world with more rock reunions than crooked used car salesmen this one is a welcomed one. Been a huge fan for decades of Mike Mariconda & Mike Chandler's Raunch Hands and their greasy rawass rock'n'roll, and fortunately "Feel It" possess the same high quality of previous albums. Swamp blues, punk, r&b, country, garage, rockabilly - Raunch Hands master it all. One of the best records I've heard this year so far. WELCOME BACK!
http://www.licoricetree.com/
http://www.myspace.com/theraunchhands
If you dig: The A-Bones, '68 Comeback, Tav Falco

Jens

Rawhypnols : Thank God We're Not Religious CD (Nicotine)
Yeah! A new punkrock'n'roll album from Pär & Co. which spands from almost powerpop ("Young & Addicted", "Opium Eyes") to speedy Zeke-esque motorpunk like "Overdose Maximus" and "See You Die". This album could've been released in the mid90s, but the songs are pretty timeless sex, drugs & rawk'n'roll. One of the best Swedish combos around today.
http://nicotinerecords.com/
http://www.rawhypnols.com/
If you dig: New Bomb Turks, Turpentines, Turbonegro

Jens

Rock’n’Roll Adventure Kids : Hot Dog/Panties In My Pocket 7” (Bachelor Records)
Wild frantic and crazy 2-piece noize from Oakland that celebrates the glorious legacy and lunacy of Hasil Adkins. Completely off the hook lo-fi madness that sounds as it was recorded live in studio one afternoon with a lotta cheap whiskey. I’d kill to see these fuckers on a stage!!! This is probably the first underground band I’ve come across who sells shoelaces from their website! Only 4 bucks per pair, haha.
http://www.rocknrolladventurekids.com/
http://www.myspace.com/bachelorrecords
If you dig: Hasil Adkins, Lightning Beat-Man, Black Time

Jens

Sacred Cowboys : Cold Harvest CD (Bang! Records)
Formed in 1982 this Melbourne swamp blooze roots rawk outfit has seen the ups and downs during the years, but in 2006 singer Garry Gray reformed Sacred Cowboys with mates like Spencer P. Jones (Beasts Of Bourbon), ”Cold Harvest” is the result. And what a bloody great record! Swamp rawk, country, and blues are stirred into a grand mix that could only come from Australia. Gun Club meets Ricochets and Sadies? Another winner from Bang! Records.
http://www.myspace.com/garrygraysacredcowboys
http://www.bang-records.net/
If you dig: Gun Club, Ricochets, The Sadies

Jens

Samael- Solar Soul CD (Nuclear Blast Records NB1898-2)
Samael is a Swiss metal band. They started off as a Black Metal band but have since given up the Ghost and headed into the mainstream. NO longer is the music that aggressive. The riffs are tempered and the keyboards play a very dominant role in the sound. All the drums are programmed. The Singer really reminds me of someone… Who is it??? Yes.. the singer in Sons of Selina. Music is a bit similar at times but does not have a sense of humor or psychedelic edge.. At times they remind me a lot of Rammstein. The music has a very industrial edge to it. A quality band that has really moved far from their roots but still shows imagination..

http://www.samael.info http://www.nuclearblast.de

If you dig: Rammstein, Godflesh

Scott

Schtöggminator- Schtöggminator EP CD (Luftwaffel Records WAF10)
Not sure what the hell the name means but this is like UK hardcore with a bit of strangeness thrown in. Fast, furious nasty complex angst rock from Trondheim, Norway…. It is going to be strange when you get guys from the bands Seid, Bomber, No Life Orchestra and Ping in the same room…. While this has a very punky hardcore nature to it, the songs are pretty complicated (at least some of them). You get 10 short blasts (only 1 track is over 3 minutes!). Some of the songs really remind me of Chaos UK (voice??) but then the band mix in some strange synths here and there. This is a quite unique take on UK style hardcore… Give it a shot…

http://www.luftwaffel.com

If you dig: Chaos UK, UK Subs, Discharge

Scott
 

Seizure Crypt- Hello my name is Madness CD (3:16 Productions)
Wow… it has been some years since I listened to any music like this but I have to say.. This stuff kicked my ass and I really got into. 8 tracks in 24 minutes… Pure NYC Hardcore..done the way it was by the originators but still fucking cool… Probably the shortest review I have written in a long time.. but no more words are necessary..

http://www.seizurecrypt.com

If you dig: Christ on Parade, Agnostic Front,

Scott
 
Separates – The Truth is in There LP (Radio Rebel)
After a couple of really good 10”s these 4 Germans return with a full length album. Great package with lyrics on the inner sleeve and white vinyl that actually sounds great! The music rocks as well. They have lost some of the Jeff Dahl inspiration of the earlier stuff, and that’s a shame I kind of miss that, and Hellacopters are even more present now. Too much some might say and they might be right. But it’s still one of the best rock’n’roll records I’ve heard for a long time. It recalls the halcyon days of the early Hellacopters and Gluecifer when the records were called stuff like “1995”, “Killing Allan” and “Dick Disguised as Pussy”, before they went totally Ted Nugent and Rory Gallagher on us. This has the same kind of fresh, energetic feel as those early releases by now burnt out rock combos. Now you have heard it all before, but fuck that cuz this is rock’n’roll, the biggest recycling phenomenon in the world. This is played with the heart and intensity many punk rock bands would dream off and the songs are great. All 12 of them rocks with great velocity and variety and technically better than ever from these guys. Great singer and lead guitarist and some pretty cool, original lyrics. This is good shit so check it out and rock on dude!

http://www.theseparates.com

If you dig: Hellacopters, early Gluecifer, Jeff Dahl.

Simon
 
 
The Setting Son : S/T CD + In A Certain Way/I Wish 7” (Bad Afro)
This is one of the most anticipated album debuts in recent Danish rock history, I saw their debut show at Bad Afro’s 10 year birthday party, and really dug their set. So does it live up to the expectations? Hell yes, and then some! 14 short tracks of divine garage psych pop, high on melody, hooks and fuzz drenched guitars. The Setting Son is the brainchild of Sebastian Kristiansen who’s nasal yet unique voice really drill the tunes into your head, this is radio ready r’n’r that ought to appeal to both rockers and teenage girls…in a perfect world that is. I’d be shocked if this fails to gather interest beyond the underground scene, then again I’ve been wrong before. Sebastian also handles guitars and organ, and is assisted by vets like The Untamed’s Marco Burro on bass and Lorenzo Woodrose on drums + backing vox, he also produced the record. The vinyl single features a great track, ”I Wish”, on the b-side that’s not available on the album.
http://www.myspace.com/thesettingson
http://badafro.dk/
If you dig: Baby Woodrose, Golden Dawn

Jens

Sgt. Sunshine- Sgt. Sunshine CD (Elektrohasch Records)
What a great surprise to see that this is finally out. Sgt. Sunshine is a Swedish band from Malmö lead by Cuban guitarist, Eduardo. The band released this CD several years ago and it has been out of print but still remains a classic in the stoner rock genre. If you really love this record, you will do yourself a favour and get this limited edition 180 gram vinyl edition. The music has been completely remastered for vinyl and the sound is amazing.. I won’t go into a detailed review as I have already done this before. This is a really great record. Yes.. it is very Kyuss influenced but has a very unique psychedelic edge and some really great guitar playing.. That is what sets this one aside..

http://www.elektrohasch.de

If you dig: Datura, Kyuss, Colour Haze, Los Natas

Scott
 
Sgt. Sunshine - Black Hole CD (Elektrohasch 118CD)
Eduardo is back with a new crew to back up his strange and cool songs. I should tell you that this record has nothing to do with the first Sgt. Sunshine record. The drummer and bass player are different and Eduardo (guitar, vocals, production) has gone back in time to the 60’s and early 70’s sound to create a strange but very cool and intriguing record. A Jimi Hendrix experience vibe persists on some of the tracks and the Kyuss influence is no where to be found.. If you liked the Saturnalia release on Elektrohasch, you will probably dig the stuff on here as well. This one has really grown on me.

http://www.elektrohasch.de

If you dig: Thin Lizzy, Mountain,

Scott

The Shimmys : Drive You Wild! CD (Off The Hip)
Shake your beehive and move your feet cuz The Shimmys mean business! Stompin' garage trash'n'roll with plenty of sexy raw energy, not unlike Gore Gore Girls, Pandoras, and The 5678s. Neat version of "Get Off The Road" from that Herschell Gordon Lewis bikerflick, which has also been covered by Cramps and Lunachicks. One of the best new names from Off The Hip, The Shimmys are ready to put the F-U-N back in r'n'r again - just remember to buy the gals champagne cocktails!
http://www.theshimmys.com/
http://www.offthehip.com.au/
If you dig: Gore Gore Girls, Pandoras, The 5678s

Jens

69 Charger : Ain’t Got A Clue CD (U-Sonic Records)
I fuckin' loved their previous album, "Trash Deluxe", and this is more of the same style fast punkrock'n'roll although there's a few powerpop touches here and there this time. This 4-piece of Eindhoven is somewhat related in sound to the likes of Columbian Neckties, The Stilettos (another great Ducth band), and of course New Bomb Turks. I think they call their music Drunk'n'Roll. Oh well. There's also an excellent version of DMZ's "Boys From Nowhere" included on album. Anyway, buy this awesome record, and read my interview with'em elsewhere in this issue, m'kay?
http://www.myspace.com/69charger
If you dig: Columbian Neckties, The Stilettos, New Bomb Turks

Jens

Sonic Negroes – Honky Bastard Blues CD (It’s Not About Music Records)
Debut full length from Swedish band Sonic Negroes out of Stockholm. Sixteen songs in 30 minutes that’s pretty intense. And intense is the word to describe the music. Classic Detroit motor city rock with strong inspiration from Stooges and MC5. Singer Hell Man is snotty like Iggy and the guitars are dirty and with good use of wah-wah from time to time. Especially the first track has the exact sound of The Stooges complete with piano and distorted vocals. This is Hellacopters anno 2007 on fucking amphetamine. Cool, that this band brings back the rock in Sweden as we used to hear it years ago. Well, this said and all hail to the band for delivering a sonic assault to my headphones, there’s also a few lowpoints on this record. Not all songs hold the same quality and that’s a pity. Anyway, this is a cool record for any fans of real dirty rock ‘n’ roll and a new one to put on when you want to smash things while drinking.

http://www.sonicnegroes.com
If you dig: Stooges, Hellacopters, The Hives

Tomsen

The Staggers: Live 7” (Bachelor Records)
Four cover tunes (Justine, Road Runner, Howlin For My Darlin, My Flash On You) recorded live at The Lovelite in Berlin last year. Hyperenergic raw garagepunk with a snotty devil-may-care attitude and a lotta organ. Can’t say I haven’t heard a zillion bands sounding exactly like this Austrian 6-piece, but they do a damn fine job at recreating that reckless Back From The Grave 60s punk vibe. They played the recent Primitive Festival, and I’m sure they tore down the house! Limited to 800 - red vinyl!
http://www.myspace.com/bachelorrecords
http://www.myspace.com/staggers
If you dig: 60s punk comps like Teenage Shutdown & Back From The Grave

Jens

The Stevenson Ranch Davidians – Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs (Beyond Your Mind Records)
This band claims to come from the town Stevenson Ranch near Los Angeles, but I guess they come from outer mind! The band consists of Dwayne, Jessica, Cary and Bryan - four people, but one symbiotic group. This is dripping slow neo-psychedelic stuff in the electrified new weird American way - and it’s damn cool. It’s slow, sloppy, droopy and lazy. This music creeps under the skin and travel through your cochleae too reach the most sensitive parts of your pleasure centre. Much of their music reminds of both The Warlocks and Dead Meadow, but in a less distorted way. The lyrics are delivered in the same drowsy laid back groove almost buried behind the music. It’s a very well produced record with an almost pleasantly polished sound. Gentle, nice and full of good vibes and on the same time it is surprisingly trippy. Especially the last song: “No Tomorrow” is a distortion-drenched sonic freakout. So turn out the lights and make love on your flying carpet – or whatever you may wanna do...

http://www.thestevensonranchdavidians.com
If you dig: The Warlocks, Pink Mountaintops & Howlin Rain

Tomsen
 
The Strange Flowers : The Imaginary Space Travel of The Naked Monkeys CD (Beyond Your Mind records)
Pisa based Strange Flowers offers 60’ies inspired psychedelic rock so beautiful that you just feel like floating away on a soft orange cloud. The music is full of hallucinogenic images and acidic rhythms. If you love bands like Sun Dial and Liquid Visions this record is a must have – no doubt! So what’s it about? Well, during a space travel of them Naked Monkeys sent off in 1965, all travellers were infected with space germs and their nervous system damaged so they lost all recent memory. While floating undriven in outer space the Monkeys exchanged views on past life. All conversation were recorded by an ANTANI board computer and released into space and were recorded by 14 year old Oronzo Scaricani in Italy. 40 years later the tapes were decoded and found to contain music. This record is actually The Strange Flowers delivering the music from the decoded tapes. Believe this?
Well, it’s a really, really good neo-psychedelic record and the concept of The Naked Monkeys is quite fun, but I think their previous “Ortoflorovivaistica” is a little more complete.

http://www.strangeflowers.net
If you dig: Magic mushrooms ad libitum …

Tomsen
 
Boris Sujdovic – Fuzz Machine (BANG! Records)
This is just a drum machine, two totally fuzzed out guitars and vocals. All is done by one man, and what a man. The name should ring a bell. He is a former member of The Scientists who had a strange and shortlived career back in the 80’ies, but still stands as a very influential band. This 20 min effort was recorded in 2005 and is now released at BANG! Records – why the fuck did it take so long? A description of this music may be stripped down to a mix of legendary Suicide and equal parts of Cramps, The Scientists and Fuzztones. The music is minimalistic, simple and so extremely fuelled with fuzz it simply melts down the walls. All songs have an energetic drive hooked to the simple drum textures. The singing is captivating, dark and has the strange cold early eighties feel like Suicide and Chrome. Although a former bassplayer Boris sure knows how to handle the guitar, so go get this record right now.

http://www.bang-records.net
If you dig: Suicide, The Scientists, Fuzztones

Tomsen
 
Suns of Freedom- Demolisten EP CD (Suns of Freedom)
Suns of Freedom play a down and dirty rock and roll. The band’s demo was produced in Joey Z’s (Life of Agony) studio in NYC. Demand more starts the CD with a bit of a jam and some cool conga’s mixed into the mix. This is a really cool song but the production sound is strange.. Cut Loose is another cool track with a Danzig like edge.. Wish the guitars were mixed more in your face though.. Weekend Warrior (not the Ted Nugent song!) reminds me a bit of the Atomic Bitchwax with Glenn Danzig singing… Scream Bloody Murder ends the 4 track demo and a heavy number.

Quite a promising demo of raw rock and roll with special lead vocals on the first two tracks before the singer transforms into a mix between Danzig and Hetfield..…

http://www.sunsoffreedom.com

If you dig: Pothead, Honky, Danzig, Atomic Bitchwax

Scott

The Suspicions : First Love/Teenage Heartache 7” (Bachelor Records)
Powerpop/punk from Seattle. It’s cute and cuddly as hell just like the red pandas I saw recently in Copenhagen Zoo. There’s a wonderful naïve feel to the music that ougtha melt even the most vicious scumrockers. It’s not that well played in musical terms but that gives The Suspicions an irresistible charm, like a sloppy version of The Donnas. A bit of 60s girl pop, 77 punk and early 80s powerpop infused with a touch of Thee Headcoatees. Me like. Limited to 500 copies.
http://www.myspace.com/thesuspicions
http://www.myspace.com/bachelorrecords
If you dig: Nikke Corvette, Headcoatees, Boobyteens

Jens
 
Südstern 44 - Südstern 44 CD (Nasoni Records 088)
Süstern is a pretty new German band on the scene and features Sula Bassana on drums. He has also played with most of the rest of this band in other projects including the Nasoni Pop Art Experimental Band. Like their debut CD-r release on the Sulatron label, this is jamming psychedelic rock. The first couple of tracks feature vocals reminds me of Liquid Visions (with a female singer!). Mindfuck has an interesting build to it and when you think they are going to just completely freak-out like Acid Mothers Temple, they don’t! Still pretty tripped out ending, though. Most of the rest of the CD is much more spaced out jamming though… Kauderwelsch maschine reminds me a bit of Sonic Youth, with it’s noisy sound (but I love the cool djembe playing in the world of feedback and guitars!).. Südsee is a 10 min trip and begins quite slowly but features some really nice guitar soloing as the cosmic groove moves forward… The CD ends with the 15 minute Freishwimmer, along nice jamming groovy number… Julius gets to show off a bit..

http://www.nasoni-records.com
http://www.myspace.com/suedstern44

If you dig: Liquid Visions, Nasoni Pop Art Experimental Band, On Trial

Scott

Taak- Koerapööriöö CD (Nailboard Records)
Taak are a six piece Estonian Doom rock band. The name means Heavy Burden. They also have another version of this band called Dawn of Gehenna, with the same music but the songs are sung in English. It sounds really cool in Estonian but you don’t know what the fuck he is saying… They describe themselves as DOOM rock, mainly based on the guitar riffs but the music is heavily driven by the organ to give it a unique edge. There are quite a few excellent tracks on the CD and few that sound too much like earlier tracks. Sometimes the singer sound a bit strained but in general I like his style. I wish the organ would take the lead a bit more and play some wicked solos rather just play an atmospheric role in the music.

http://www.estonianmetal.com/bands/taak
http://www.nailboard.org

IF you dig: Manilla Road with keyboards??

Scott

Tatort Toilet : Heil Hightech CD (Matula Records)
Holy Sauerkraut! ”Heil Hightech” is one of the strongest debut albums ever released by a German punk outfit. In fact, it’s so awesome it’s ridiculous; fast, raw, and catchy vintage Killed By Death punk, sung both in English and German. Somewhere between Zodiac Killers and The Briefs, but with a sound of their own, Tatort Toilet belongs in the top league of Euro punkrock. Come tour Denmark like fuckin’ soon!!! The first 500 LPs are handnumbered and come in 180g heavy pink vinyl.
http://www.matularecords.de/
http://www.tatort-toilet.de/
If you dig: KBD punk, Zodiac Killers, The Briefs

Jens Jørgen Teller & The Empty Chairs : Wunderswim CD (VME)
I must admit I was quite unaware of who Jørgen Teller was until last year's show with him, Causa Sui, and a guy from Sunburned Hand Of Man, at Byen at Christiania under the name PEWT'R jjjjj. He was the more experimental part of that great performance (see review elsewhere). So I didn't knew what to expect of this project. "Wunderswim" is their 3rd album, and consists of 6 looong tracks of instru kraut/space/noise rock that's quite hard to compare to other artists. Apparently it's totally improvised in the studio (just like the PEWT'R jjjjj show), and it's pretty 'out there', but not as avantgarde as I feared, since the drummer is a friend of mine, haha. Would make a great soundtrack for a very sinister movie.
http://jorgenteller.dk/
If you dig: Druggy electric noises that may or may not damage your mind

Jens
 
Test Patterns – No Translation 7” (Contaminated)
Fast, catchy and tight US pop punk with a serious dose of 77 UK punk inspirations shining through, like Buzzcocks and early Stiff Little Fingers. Both male and female vocals, by Dan from the Radio Betas and Yago from GitoGito Hustler, and when Yago, who I guess is Japanese, sings it sounds like…yeh, well, Japanese girl pop punk. Musically it’s very well-played with some fast riffing, seriously great guitar harmonies and tight breaks, and Yago’s high pitched little girl voice suits the music perfectly. Three songs that make me want to hear more from this fine trio. Cool! 
http://www.contaminatedrecords.com

I you dig: Buzzcocks, Marked Men

Simon

Tia Carrera - Heaven/Hell EP (Arclight Records AR19)
While they make you want to think this was recorded in 1970, it is not.. This is a 3 track 30 min EP by some Texas freaks who love to jam in the style of the early 70’s bands like JPT Scare Band, Josefus, Mountain, Cactus, etc… Great free form instrumental guitar jams and solos. I am hooked.. If you can’t get your fill, go check out the band web site where they put up a new jam every month like Abunai and Gas Giant used to do.. You can buy them on CD-R as well for like $4… Cool new band..

http://www.arclightrecords.com
http://www.1970tiacarrera.com/

If you dig: Thin Lizzy, Mountain,

Scott

Under Brooklyn Palms - Gestrüppgestäuch CD (UBP Music)

http://www.underbrooklynpalms.de

If you dig: The God Machine, Colour Haze, Blue Cheer,

Scott

Valse Triste - Madon Luku CD (IF Society IF-38)
These guys are pretty crazy…. Very high energy Finnish punk rock. 20 tracks in 28 minutes! The CD comes in a really nice digipack with all the Finnish lyrics in a nice laminated booklet. I have never heard of the band but they have been on the scene since 1986, producing a lot of music. This is their 5th CD and they have put out a load of split LPs, 7” records and demo tapes, if you look at their web site.. Some of this stuff has a quite noisy dissonant guitar sound and a very raw sound. Can’t understand a word, though.. The tracks range from 36 seconds long to 3:16 seconds at the longest. Crazy stuff…

http://www.valsetriste.net
http://www.ifsociety.com
If you dig: High energy Finnish punk!

Scott

Vegas Kings : Dead Money CD (Mere Noise Records)
Andy of Digger & The Pussycats gave me this album when I recently met the Kamikaze Trio in Copenhagen. And Vegas Kings draw influences from sorta the same origins as Digger & The Pussycats, hell, they even do a cover of ”10 Car Pile Up”! Pure roots blooze punk with slide guitar mayhem galore that oughta make any Gun Club fan wet his jeans. ”Flying Jesus Judo Kicks” is probably the best song I’ve heard all year, definitely the funniest! The singer and Jesus go out to raise hell, get in fights and score chicks, Jesus even nails the singer’s girlfriend, but that’s okay cuz he’s Jesus, haha. Vegas Kings will be going on an Euro tour in October so try catch’em - cuz these Brisbane motherfuckers are the shit!
http://www.myspace.com/vegaskings
http://www.myspace.com/merenoise
If you dig: Gun Club, Digger & The Pussycats, Blacktop

Jens

The Vicious : Igen 7" (Hjernespind)
After a couple of 7”s and an 12” EP in English our Swedish punkrockers release a single in their native tongue (the b-side in English though), and the result is probably their best yet! Previous releases kinda shows their influences (The Adverts, The Damned etc.) but ”Igen” gives them a more original sound. Less punky, more moody, this is classic KBD punk with dark but haunting melodic touches. An outstanding seven inch record with three sublime tunes!
http://www.myspace.com/theviciousumea
http://www.kicknpunch.com/Sider/Hjernespind-diskografi.htm
If you dig: Cola Freaks, Gorilla Angreb, The Adverts

Jens

The Village Idiot : Labores Solis CD
2nd album by our man Kenni aka The Village Idiot of Helsingør, and like the 1st "Labores Solis" delivers a healthy dose of dark country twang. This time the backing band plays a bigger role in the sound, but it's still moody and bluesy murder folk with sinister lyrics from the dark side of life. This could and should appeal to a lotta people, not just punks who digs Johnny Cash but also fans of 'alternative country' as well as Tom Waits and Nick Cave freaks. I'm really looking forward to Kenni's 3rd album!
http://www.myspace.com/thevillageidiotdk
If you dig: Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, 16 Horsepower

Jens

Winters- Black clouds in Twin Galaxies CD (Rise Above Records)
Well, anyone heard of Nirvana???? This is totally like the old Nirvana stuff (Bleach era) but with a singer who sounds like Kurt on heroin. Stoned and spacey vocal.. a bit annoying after a while.. Not sure I get it??? Why is Rise above releasing Indie Nirvana wanna be bands??? Ok, the last half of the CD diverges from these first 4 songs. A few of the songs are a bit more doomy at times. Life was so Simple is like this but with some Beatles like stuff as well. I’m a Destroyer has a heavier riff with a clear early 70’s influence like Pentagram but then the dreamy vocal, which does not really fit that well. Not a very interesting release. Did I not give it enough of a chance, after 3-4 full listens??

http://www.riseaboverecords.com

If you dig: Nirvana, Nirvana..

Scott
 
Xylotone - 005/006 CD (Path of Action)
Xylotone are a duo from England ho produces short pieces of minimal electronic beat music. The CD features 11 tracks in 28 minutes and some could easily be soundtracks to some cool short pieces in movies or commercials. The beat is often made by a repetitive part on an organ, while spacey sounds are filling the background. Not sure what more to say… Check out their myspace page…

http://www.pathofaction.com
www.myspace.com/xylotone

If you dig: minimal electronic beat music

Scott

Zone Six - Live at Berg Herzberg Open Air 2006 (Sulatron Records st cdr 004)
As the title says, this CD-R (limited to 100 copies) is an excellent soundboard recording of Zone Six’s live performance at last years Berg Herzberg Festival. What an insane performance it is as well.. The CD is 5 tracks in 77 minutes and begins with Rain. The track begins very slowly with space synths and then a very relaxed jam begins and Michaela begins to appear here and there with some space vocals, which kind of bother and annoyed me at times. They build up to some intense jamming already by 6-7 minutes and plenty of guitar solos. Flashflush is only 7 minutes long and begins with some djembe and spacey bass playing before the strange psychedelic tribe takes over. Again, I find Michaela’s vocalizations mostly distracting and annoying from the cool music happening. Very cool track… Kopfeck is next and a long off beat kraut thing and quite strange with weird keyboards and acid mother’s temple like madness at times. Traumatanz begins with some djembe, spacey sounds and Michaela doing vocalizations and slowly builds up. About 6 mins in the groove gets going with the real drums and bass. Nice keyboards. Infernale Grande ends the CD with some really insane stuff. Phew…

While there is some really cool spaced out music on this CD, I have to say that Michaela’s vocals just don’t do anything for me and in fact take more away from the vibe than they add in my opinion, making this one of the weaker Zone Six live recordings. Love some of the music though. Really cool spaced out trance rock..

http://www.sulatron.com
http://www.zonesix.de

If you dig: Sula Bassana, Damo Suzuki, Acid Mothers Temple, Seven that Spells

Scott

V/A Desperado/The Sound O.E. – Split CD (Heckspoiler Music)
This split CD from the German label Heckspoiler contains four songs by Norwegian Desperado previously released on their own label and five songs by The Sound O.E. also previously released as the EP: “Am I Off or On?”
Desperado starts out in ultraslow mode before they turn into almost symphonic hardcore and screaming vocal. This screamo vocal tend to get pretty annoying after a while although it’s very, very energetic! The music is cooler and has some nice progressive elements and is very dynamic and captivating. In my ears there’s a lot of influence from Isis and Neurosis and the result is pretty interesting. The sound is excellent with lots of layers and a killer bass sound especially on “A Tribute to the Living Dead”. The last song is fucking fast and well played, a massive attack and the singing is full of despair – great track!
Next up is The Sound O.E. and this is quite a surprising kind of music. Apparently they used to be a hardcore band, but changed into hard style indie with elements of hardcore. Call it indiecore – if such a term exists. Not the usual cup of tea and the result is great. No indie-wank but strange and complex songs. The vocal is very screamy, but also calm and angst filled – almost mellow. There’s even keyboard on the songs and the last track has an outro with violins! Inspiration must be bands like Fugazi, At the Drive-In and maybe … Trail of Dead. The band has had some airplay at Swedish Radio and have played some major Swedish festivals – would be cool to see them in Denmark.

http://www.heckspoilermusic.de
If you dig: Post-hardcore and so on …

Tomsen

V/A !Gózalo! - Bugalú Tropical vol. 2 CD (Vampi Soul)
Can't say I'm familar with Peruvian latin soul of the 60s, but that's why we have labels like Vampi Soul! It's almost too much with 28 tracks in 79 minutes, but it's very easy to be smitten with these cheerful party tunes of sexy exotica. "!Gózalo!" puts tropical images of sun, palm trees, dancing girls with big hair & tight skirts and colorful tall cocktails in your head which isn't bad considering the deceitful Danish summer. There's even some mambo fuzz psych on the comp, Los Destellos's "Boogaloo Del Perro", and also a track by Nilo Espinosa (an album of his is reviewed elsewhere). Let's Go Tropical and do the Bugalú!
http://www.vampisoul.com/
If you dig: 60s Latin Soul and Exotica

Jens

V/A Innocence Is Bliss CD (Dionysus Records)
The wonderful Dionysus label has really struck gold by releasing this 16 track comp of all girl (well almost) powerpop/garage/punk acts from around the world. I was familar with excellent combos like Zombina & The Skeletones and Boonaraaas, and I’m glad to inform you that the rest of the album belongs in the same league of greatness. Bands like The Plungers (very Devil Dogs-ish), Anna & The Psycho men (The Trashwomen meets Sin Alley!), The Portugal Japan, The Young Werewolves (sounds exactly like The Untamed!), Mydolls (Cramps meets Blacktop!) are some of the highlights. ’A Female Frenzy Of Sensational Sounds!’ - you bet!!
http://www.dionysusrecords.com/

Jens

V/A Shielded By Death Vol. 4 : International Punk 1978-88 CD (Dagger Records)
Mucho kudos to the guys behind these comps of very obscure punkbands from USA, Canada, and a few from Europe. Unfortunately vol. 4 mostly consists of generic semi-metallic hardcore, no wonder you never heard of these names. Expect for tracks with Automatics feat. Johnny Thunders ("Wild One") and the Nihilistics, there wasn't much for me to like among the 26 tracks. Maybe the earlier volumes are better.
http://www.myspace.com/daggerpromotions
If you dig: mid80s hardcore

Jens

V/A Turbonegro/Rippers 7” (Satan Records)
Ebba Grön’s ”Staten Och Kapitalet” was supposed to be on Turbonegro’s ”Never Is Forever”, it kinda was, as a hidden track sung acapella by bassist Bengt ”Bingo” Calmeyer in the Bitzcore reissue of the album in 1999. It’s included on the ”Small Feces” comp. Our Olso madmen also do Fear’s ”I Don’t Care About”. Both are excellent cover songs and a reminder of how punk-as-fuck Turbonegro actually were in the 90s. The Rippers (not to be confused the Italian garage rockers) of Spain deliver one punky stoner metal rager and a slower tune, I never liked Entombed but I’d imagine they could sound like this if they were any good. This seems to be a bootleg (I think, it’s limited to 500 copies) released with no real info other than the name of the label. Strange. But highly recommended for Turbonegro fans.
http://www.turbonegro.com
http://www.therippers.net

Jens

V/A You Only Get One Shot At The Big Time - Obscure Power pop & Punk 1979-1985 CD (Wizzard In Vinyl)
This is one impressive comp of rockin' power pop, 22 tracks, five (unknown to my ears) bands, all high quality r’n’r raunch. I prefer M 80s and Sterics cuz they got the sound PERFECTLY down, the rest is a bit more punky and/or less focused. A MUST for fans of vintage powerpop!!! A great deal of work has been put to this release which comes with a neat booklet with info on all the bands.
http://www.wizzard-in-vinyl.com/

Jens