Links:
Viva’s Homepage: http://www.vivamusic.info/live/
Viva on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/vivadeconcini

Viva DeConcini and her back up band released Rock & Roll Lover in mid-July.

Rock & Roll Lover is good, girl-fronted, girly-centric fun rock and roll. Many tasty ingredients make their way into this gumbo of a record.  The title track is a bouncy, funky, danceable song that should appeal to the rockabilly kids in the crowd, as should “Go-Go Boots,” and her instrumental cover of Carole King’s/ Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman.”

DeConcini’s vocals are skilled and show a plethora of influences. She goes from fun and flirty to slow and serious in the span of the record. Her voice seems better suited for the upbeat tracks more than the solemn track “Emily.”

The strings are mainly well-crafted blues and rock guitar with some late 60s Brit-psyche.  Nothing about the bass and drums stand out too much; the focus stays on Viva’s voice, the guitars and horns. Horns? Yes! Viva employed the services of a full horn section in this her release, and apparently takes a 4-piece with her on tour.

Rock and Roll Lover is over all a good record, a solid record.  It is not, however, a fascinating listen. I have always had the opinion that when a musical outfit plays a little bit of everything on a single record (for this record, it would be a psychedelic rock song, a few upbeat rockabilly-new swing songs, and an instrumental Motown cover, etc), they prove themselves to be a great studio band. They do not prove themselves to be a good independent band with their own sound.

Where the band may lack in a sound that they own, they make up for in playing decent songs. Overall, Rock & Roll Lover is a fun record to relax to and have as background music, or to see at a festival or show; not a band to make a point of seeing based on the contents of this record alone.

RIYL: Stray Cats, Motown records, Ani DiFranco, any alternative-Grrrl music, David Bowie, neo swing music.

Links:
Viva’s Homepage: http://www.vivamusic.info/live/
Viva on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/vivadeconcini

Viva DeConcini and her back up band released Rock & Roll Lover in mid-July.

Rock & Roll Lover is good, girl-fronted, girly-centric fun rock and roll. Many tasty ingredients make their way into this gumbo of a record.  The title track is a bouncy, funky, danceable song that should appeal to the rockabilly kids in the crowd, as should “Go-Go Boots,” and her instrumental cover of Carole King’s/ Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman.”

DeConcini’s vocals are skilled and show a plethora of influences. She goes from fun and flirty to slow and serious in the span of the record. Her voice seems better suited for the upbeat tracks more than the solemn track “Emily.”

The strings are mainly well-crafted blues and rock guitar with some late 60s Brit-psyche.  Nothing about the bass and drums stand out too much; the focus stays on Viva’s voice, the guitars and horns. Horns? Yes! Viva employed the services of a full horn section in this her release, and apparently takes a 4-piece with her on tour.

Rock and Roll Lover is over all a good record, a solid record.  It is not, however, a fascinating listen. I have always had the opinion that when a musical outfit plays a little bit of everything on a single record (for this record, it would be a psychedelic rock song, a few upbeat rockabilly-new swing songs, and an instrumental Motown cover, etc), they prove themselves to be a great studio band. They do not prove themselves to be a good independent band with their own sound.

Where the band may lack in a sound that they own, they make up for in playing decent songs. Overall, Rock & Roll Lover is a fun record to relax to and have as background music, or to see at a festival or show; not a band to make a point of seeing based on the contents of this record alone.

RIYL: Stray Cats, Motown records, Ani DiFranco, any alternative-Grrrl music, David Bowie, neo swing music.

Links:

Betie Serveert’s homepage: http://www.bettieserveert.com/
…and on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bettieserveert
Second Motion: http://secondmotionrecords.com/

Darlings of the indie rock scene Bettie Serveert return with their noisiest record yet, Pharmacy of Love.  Returning after a 3-year break between albums, The Betties (as they are also known) return with just three solid members, Carol van Dyk Peter Visserand Herman Bunskoeke. Joined by guest drummer Joppe Molenaar (on loan from Dutch band Voicst) for this thier 9^th studio album, Pharmacy of Love was recently released in March of this year, following a tour of Netherlands and Belgium.

9 solid tracks dot this marvelous map of music. Overall, the record shows good production, bringing the drums up near the front of the mix. The vocals are clear and seductive and the guitars bright and thick. The bass production is a bit spare, being left too often in the quiet background. This may be a reflection of the tinny Mac speakers on my laptop, but they certainly don’t stand out like the rest of the group. Pity. The album sounds familiar, but not in the sense that I’ve heard it all before. It sounds like this is either the source that others have copied, or the improved version of that which “I have heard all before.”

The opening track for the release, “Deny All,” is bright, punchy and poppy. Clocking in at the near-perfect pop song length of three minutes, the track includes guitar hooks, repeated use of guitar licks, multi-track vocals and aggressive drumming. Added bonus- van Dyk’s lyrics move from intense in the verses to rather cute and sweet by the end of the chorus.

The second of three tracks of note is the song “Souls Travel.” In this track van Dyk’s vocals are at their most honed. The multi-tracked vocals are pitched so well that it truly sounds like the Indigo Girls playing alternative rock. Really if you’ve ever wondered what that would sound like, check this tune out.

The seventh piece on Pharmacy of Love is a long one, more than twice the length of any other song on the album. Clocking in at just over nine and a half minutes, the first third of the song is ambient sounds played over a slow, ringing bass. At right about 3 minutes the drums kick in for an imaginative scene-setting tempo, then drop out. When the vox kicks in, they return. Meanwhile the guitars are just experimenting with single note distortion. Finally at about 5 minutes, the band gels together and begins a slow, at times complex, driving tune. The song length could probably have been cut down by a few minutes on both end, thus reducing the avoidance those with short attention spans may experience with seeing liner notes noting length. The upside is that those who are patient enough to listen to the whole song, the ending is rewarding.

Overall, this is a solid album. I’ve seen the band’s name before and have passed it up many times with the unfounded impression that it would be “boring chick rock.” I stand corrected.

RIYL: Indigo Girls, Breeders, Rainer Maria,

Links:
Band home: http://vimeo.com/9746894
Band MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/demander

Released in January of this year, Future Bright is an entire butt-load of fun. It’s a collection of somewhat simple yet rather punchy, energetic, aggressive pop tunes. Compared to their 2 earlier releases, the Future Bright LP is brighter and more experienced, while increasing the energy and focus. Demander practically requires crowd sing-along.  Obviously well rehearsed for the studio, Demander has to be a lot of fun live. I get the feeling many babies will be made listening to this record. I hope it was released with a disclaimer.

I’d be a bit surprised if they don’t get approached for radio and television video rotation.  This band would have enjoyed as much rotation on MTV’s120 Minutes as Pearl Jam and Nine Inch Nails had they existed 20 years ago. The alternative and indie labels should be ashamed of themselves for not beating down Demander’s door for publishing rights. Ashamed. Tsk.

Karen Correa sings and plays bass, Sian Harlap beats the drums like they deserve it, Jared Scott plays guitar. Included in the album are a whole host of guest artists. Go to their website to get the list.

The title track, “Future Bright” provides ice dynamic- break down with bass and drums, moving to piano chords, then on to high-distortion guitars with a definite industrial metal feel, and finally ends up in string section with myriad parts playing together. Honestly, it sounds more like a description for Norwegian black metal music than for power op, but I assure you it’s true. Karen’s sultry vocals reign throughout the track.

The fifth song, “Math” comes in at a brisk 2 ½ minutes long, with plenty of punch in the bass and bouncing steady drums. The guitars sound like Johnny Mars chords and strumming. Sing along vocals with repetitive chorus and guitar hooks and sounds. Check out the video link below.

“Coulee” has more fun guitar hooks and great vocal textures. It’s a dynamic piece, with slow crescendos and quick drops in the tempo. “Rising” is similar, but with almost steady energetic driving beat.

The production is good, showing some skeelz in the recording studio. The bright, energetic, and dynamic sound lends itself very well to the power pop and alternative rock that Demander delivers. With strong and breathy vocals, Karen sounds as if she were born for the role. The bass is strong and driving providing the backbone of the rhythm, and the guitars show a wealth of ability. The drums are full of highs and high-mids in the playback which is damned-near perfect for the album.

RIYL: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Killers, Strokes, Archers of Loaf.

Check out the “Math” video:
http://vimeo.com/9746894

Links:
Walt on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/walterschreifelsmusic

Walt’s Homepage: http://www.waltertown.com
Big Scary Monsters Recording Company: http://www.bsmrocks.com

For the uninitiated, unaware, or uncultured, Walter Schreifels is a bit of an icon in punk circles. I won’t give you the whole breakdown on Mr. Schreifels in this album review, but he has been a creative juggernaut in punk rock, hardcore, and post hardcore. With bright and clean studio production and raspy vocals, he reenters the indie world.

In one way or another, he has lent his hand to Youth of Today, CIV, Quicksand, Rival Schools, and Walking Concert. On top of all of these (and more) bands, he cuts another slice of Walter Pie with his solo record, An Open Letter to the Scene.

Primarily acoustic in content and alt-indie-rock-pop in nature, Open Letter is the logical next step in his musical process; this is Schreifles as a post-hardcore artist playing in an indie style and acoustic versions of post-hardcore songs.

The first track, “Arthur Lee’s Lullaby” is a slow and sweet tune about the American singer who died a few years back. Another cute track is “Ballad of Lil’ Kim,” a song wondering aloud what the hip hip mogul is like when she’s not busy keeping up her image for the cameras. Both of these songs are thoroughly enjoyable.

The third track, “Society Sucker” is an acoustic cover of the Agnostic Front (!) song. It’s a rambunctious song to hear in its original format, and even more difficult to make sound intelligible on the acoustic guitar; however, Walter delivers better than an ambulance driver.  Schriefels also covers “Don’t Gotta Prove It,” originally done by CIV. This second acoustic cover is much better suited to be heard in an acoustic format.

The title track, that’s number ten “if you’re looking for it” for the album bears special mention. This is the most endearing I have heard Walter thus far. As far as I can ascertain, the song is about punk icon Ray “Raybeez” Barbieri. Without getting into a full bio of Raybeez, which would be another full-length article itself, suffice to say he was an enormous asset to the East Coast punk and hardcore scene in the 80s and 90s.  The song is a recap of his funeral:

“…and not everyone really liked him all the time/at the Sunday matinee he filled the sky/to the dear departed/and to the broken hearted family/at the harcore funeral I cried and cried/for the passing of a hero of the Lower East Side….”

If you buy only one song from this recording from Indierocket.net, the title track should be the one…. but do yourself the favor- get the whole damned thing.

This record shows the increasing range of skills Mr. Schreifels has. His vocal range is stretched out a bit, but it doesn’t come off as untalented, but rather as endearing and heartfelt. An Open Letter to the Scene is the bright red tomato sauce in a steaming plate of vegetarian lasagna on a cold night. Thanks go to Walter for giving me material to review that I can finally give a 5 out of 5 rating.

RIYL: Rival Schools, Onelinedrawing, any East Coast punk/hardcore/post-hardcore of the 80s and 90s.

Walter Schreifels – “Society Suckers” Video

Links:

Look Mexico! On MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lookmexico
Look Mexico! On FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Look-Mexico/16634892739
Suburban Home Records: http://www.suburbanhomerecords.com/

Look Mexico! come from the capital of Florida, Tallahassee.  Their newest studio effort comes from Suburban Home Records, To Bed, To Battle.  This is their second LP and fourth release all told.

To Bed, To Battle comes so close to being a really good album. It really does. Sappy vocals on top of alt-punk music is usually a given for me that I will really like it. The record has some good songs with great parts, but no great songs.  It’s very much a music version of the “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skulls” movie- coming from good roots, expectations high, but falling short. Sigh.

The first track on the LP, called “You Stay. I go. No Following.” Is a strong track, maybe the strongest. The drawn-out chords and keyboards contrast the artistic drumming. The song fits the vocals, which are mostly drawn out like the slide guitars.  Slide guitars? Yes. I’m reviewing an alternative rock album with slide guitars. There is a hell after all.

Another track called “Take it Upstairs, Einstein” is not so strong.  I think what set it off burning into the deep end was the tail end of the hook, “…my girl says I should read more, but I like playing my guitar.” Really. Sigh. Again.  The track is primarily the acoustic guitar and (god- again) the electric slide guitar.

As a whole, the vocals remind me quite a bit of Engine Down (from around 2002′s Demure” with slightly less range. The guitars fall somewhere between The Strokes, Engine Down,  Idlewild, and maybe even INXS from around the time of Shabooh Shoobah. The drums stand out as rather imaginative, strong, and well produced. The LP is decent alternative rock for uppity alternative rock fans. There is an impressive number of instruments appearing on the album, showing good skill and variety, and it all ties into a pretty record over all. Slide guitars and even a hint of twang in vocals are almost always a deal killer, though.

RIYL: alternative rock,  Strokes, INXS, REM.

Links:

Haunted Stereo on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hauntedstereomusic
And their homepage: http://hauntedstereo.co.uk/
SoTones Records: http://www.sotones.co.uk/

Not calling the single a “single,” Haunted Stereo consider the release a “double A-side” release. Regardless of the species, it will be released on May 17^th. Spooky  experimental alt-folk ensemble from across the lake, this time the Mediterranean beachfront property of Southampton, England. This of course an inaccurate description of the city. I digress.

Haunted Stereo, a 6-piece group (how the hell do you fit 6 people with folk instruments on a stage?). According to their Facebook page, they have been creating and playing since 2007; and as evidenced by their release, have been doing it rather well. Only 2 songs on the release, but its chock full of goodness. “Lock the Doors,” borrowing a hint of a groove from the Peter Gun theme, and filling in the spaces with strings and thin vocals, is atmospheric and sultry. The male vocalist reminds me ever-so-slightly of Thom Yorke of the virtually unknown act Radiohead. Country-lounge music with dynamic hoe-down breakdowns, with absolutely no twang. That’s what makes much of American folk, country, and bluegrass shitty- the southern twang on vocals. Its so very refreshing to hear folk with no twang.

The other A side, (whatever), “On a Pin,” features female lead vocals. Violins, plucky banjo arpeggios, plinking pianos and warm drums picking up halfway through the track. The vocal breakdown at about 3 minutes in is just downright pretty without getting into Enya territory. Thankfully.

Very interesting listen, would very like to see them if they ever sail across the lake. Looking forward to more releases.

RIYL: The Builders and the Butchers, Pogues

Links:

Fresh Legs on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thosefreshlegs
SoTones Records: http://www.sotones.co.uk/index.php

Fresh Legs is a wonderfully frenetic indie/grrl-pop group sneaking its way in from the UK like mad cow disease in McDonald’s food. They bring to mind what  Debbie Harry, Th’ Faith Healers UK, and Siouxsie and the Banshees would sound like if they were fans of Butch Vig and just started putting albums out in the late 2000s. Fresh Legs are expertly named- their music is bouncy, energetic, sleek, and a bit sassy. Bright, clean chords, chunky power chords, powerful female vocals with strong shouting male vocals, very tight drums. Sounds like a gem already.

The tracks on the Julian EP are endearing and abrupt, and altogether fun. The track “Sexy So Sexy” is a perfect
example. Starting out with in-your-face balls-out guitar progression and frantic hi-hats on 16^th beats. After establishing the mood, the gears shift a bit and the second guitar plays the melody on the 8s, and breaks down to vocals and guitar, then picks back up with the whole ensemble. Great, great transitions. Passionate vocals for the lead with shouty vocals for back ups. I could see the aging hipsters in a dance hall getting trampled for douchebag dancing while the younger kids tear.shit.up. At lease I hope this is what happens. The track” Organs Black” even throws a slight taste of upstroke ska guitar as well. Also bright and poppy, with some driving distorted guitar chords to bring back some late-90s ska punk energy.

Very highly recommended listening if you like power pop from across the lake.

RIYL: The Walkmen, Killers, Th’ Faith Healers UK, and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Links:

Everybody Was in the French Resistance..Now! homepage: http://everybodywasinthefrenchresistancenow.com/index.php
and on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/fixingthecharts
Cooking Vinyl Records: http://cookingvinyl.com/

Oh my.

Everybody Was in the French Resistance… Now! is very interesting to say the least. I don’t mean “interesting” in the way a kind person describes their weird neighbors. EWitFRN is a rather talented and intelligent duo, made of members of other alternative art-pop bands. Eddie Argos of Art Brut fame, and Dyan Valdés from The Blood Arm, form a terribly cute and endearing band, recording some of the sweetest retro alt-pop I’ve heard in some time.

Everybody Was in the French Resistance..Now!’s Fixin’ the Charts Vol 1 is a fantastically crafted piece of work. When I hear the adjective “Art” used to describe bands, such as Art Brut and The Blood Arm had been described to me, I usually cringe and refrain from listening until the last minute. “Art-” anything, to me, other than when used to describe punk or metal, usually describes really bad music. Not “cool” bad, but “your drunk uncle hitting on you again” bad. That being said, I’m glad I gave these folks a try. Their songs are played with a primarily storytelling style, not too far removed from Joe Gideon and The Shark (see their album review, too). Simple 2-person melodies carrying all-too-sweet pop tunes with serious responses to mindless pop tunes.

To be clear, Fixing the Charts, Vol. 1 is a theme album. To avoid simply repeating the bio notes from their home page that explains each song individually, suffice it to say that EWitFRN set out to record responses to the stories relayed in 12 pop songs. But sometimes the songs are just abstract versions of the originals. Confused? Take the example of one of the greatest and most highly acclaimed singers of our modern time. Now forget her entirely and consider pop tart Avril Lavigne. Not to say that Avril Lavigne invented the notion of stealing someone else’s girlfriend, but she made a few pennies off of singing a song about the topic (In related news, check out the copyright conflict with her song “Girlfriend.” Interesting). Salaciousness sells! In her song, as well as many others that have become popular as of late, the act of “stealing” a boyfriend from another girl is celebrated. In Fixin’ the Charts, Vol 1, the band sees to it that this topic is addressed with mature responses. “G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N. (You Know I’ve Got A)” doesn’t make for good gossip, but it does say a lot for the bonds that tie good couples together. The song, while serious and mature in nature, does not spare the infectious pop tunes in its own right. Check out the refrain near the end, and check out the video for the song on their website.

Other tracks of note are “My Way (It’s Not Always the Best Way)” – their response to Sinatra’s “My Way,” and “Think Twice (It’s Not Alright),” their response to a Bob Dylan song.

RIYL: Joe Gideon and the Shark, classic rockabilly-doo wap, etc.

Links:
Virulence on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/511096803
And on their own website: http://virulencetheband.com
Southern Lord Records : http://www.southernlord.com/

Virulence should be logged in the punk rock annals as one of the original heavy-punk innovators. Taking blues-punk guitars from late Black Flag and the Melvins, and running (maybe jogging- the music doesn’t exactly match hardcore punk speeds) with it, making their own flavor of heavy, blues post-punk. Virulence could easily have patented their sound and made millions off of countless Amphetamine/Reptile records bands that sprang up 5-10 years later.

Virulence existed for just 5 short years before disbanding in 1990. Immediately following their disbanding, they reunited under the name Fu Manchu, releasing many LPs under their new moniker. For both of you  who are curious, Fu Manchu sounds like the very logical progression from Virulence- cleaner, tighter, better produced.

Their anthology record If This isn’t a Dream… 1985-1989 was released in January of this year. According to their website it contains all of their recorded material. Included in the release is their LP If This Isn’t a Dream and other demos and live tracks, including a 52-second live cover of Void’s “My Rules.”

The record is a perfect example of dirty, predominately late 80s punk-quality production. For a short description, take Black Flag’s “In My Head” and make the drums deeper and the make Hank Rollins start screeching…. That would closely resemble Virulence. Heavy bass and guitars, both set to about as fuzzy and over-driven as was possible with amplifier rigs at the time. The percussion is varied and heavy, showing a competent and heavy-hitting drummer, and a great singer/screamer vocalist to front the project. Many tracks exceed 3 minutes, which may sound anathema to the uninitiated, but the length is essential in this sub genre of punk.

Tracks to check out would be “Blank Stare,” “Dead Weight,” and as mentioned earlier, their love cover of “My Rules” from cohorts Void. “Dead Weight” starts off so close in fact to the sound of Black Flag’s “In My Head” that I had to check to see if an error on my iTunes came up. Nope, no error, and the vocals soon differentiated the two. Powerful, dirty, and mixing in great bluesy post-punk break downs, this track picks up and throws down for the entire 4:39 track. “Blank Stare” starts of with the guitar making siren noises then diving right into liquid asphalt. Both frantic and slow, the sludgy, muddy track is best appreciated on rather loud and powerful speakers. I imagine that listening to his track on earbuds would throb and throb to the point of acute headache before it ends. Awesome. Finally, their live cover of Void’s “My Rules” actually reduces the length of the original. The Void version is 53 seconds long (studio), and the live cover version, with a bit of banter, is only 52 seconds. Fun stuff.

Highly recommended for: fans of late Black Flag, Fu Manchu, Negative Approach, Melvins, and Amphetamine/Reptile Records Bands.