Since self-releasing their mini-album, "Left Fire", back in 2011 (with a physical re-release last year), ARCANE ROOTS' popularity has been gaining all the way with Radio One airplay- courtesy of none other than BIFFY CLYRO's Simon Neil, a record deal with PIAS and hype in pretty much every corner of the music press under their belts. But if such a huge surge of interest in the band in such a short space of time doesn't seem daunting to you then, with the release of their debut album "Blood & Chemistry", now it's time for ARCANE ROOTS to really put their money where their mouths are. With an even more dazzling array of genres mixed in than ever before; prop, pop, alt-rock, post-hardcore, math-rock and anything else they feel a track needs, ARCANE ROOTS manage to pull it all together into one cohesive product delivering an album that is innovative without being divisive and accessable without being overly commercialised.
Opening with the hardcore blast of "Energy Is Never Lost Just Redirected", it seems less like a statement of intent and more a full blown declaration of war proving that, while they've never disguised the pop vein to their music or their love of a good hook, ARCANE ROOTS are no conformists and do exactly what they want to. Next comes advance single, "Resolve" which has the aforementioned pop hooks in spades yet still willfully confounds expectations with a frantic variation on the main riff rearing it's head at the song's climax. They slow things right down for ballad "Belief" mixing math-rock noodles into what could be a slower cut from BIFFY CLYRO's "Puzzle" but the frenetic, angular riffing returns on "Sacred Shapes" which has shades of, "Left Fire" highlight, "In This Town Of Such Weather" with some 22 thrown in for good measure before a lush acoustic outro shows yet another side to their sound. "Hell & High Water" is a colossal anthem in waiting and "Triptych" illustrates the immense technical prowess of the band with an off-kilter blend of math-rock and post-hardcore and an insane mathcore bridge verging on THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN territory. Second single, "Slow" is anything but its namesake and isn't as easily accessable as "Resolve" but definitely warrants repeated listens and a reprise of the outro to "Sacred Shapes" asking "is love enough?" gives the album an overall cohesion rather than just being a collection of (admittedly brilliant) tracks. Following this, ARCANE ROOTS go in an entirely opposite direction with the heaviest track on the album, "Second Breath" but even at their most frenetic, there's still plenty of depth to the songwriting. The semi-acoustic "Held Like Knives" is the weakest track here but it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination while the best is saved 'til last with "You Keep Me Here" condensing the numerous sounds they explore across the album into one final outing. Their relative inexperience doesn't shine through at all and one wonders how long it will be before ARCANE ROOTS follow BIFFY CLYRO onto the arena circuit. (8/10)
"Blood & Chemistry" is out now through PIAS
It's easy to write THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN off as one of the numerous tech-metal bands who only set out to beguile the average punter but to do so would be to completely miss the point. On their fifth album, they remain as divisive as ever but their sound has much more depth than just the breakneck riffing and time signatures which makes their music so unpredictable. "One Of Us Is The Killer" brings together everything that's made the quintet's previous output so electrifying; the edge-of-the-seat intensity of "Calculating Infinity", the pop flirtations of "Miss Machine", the electronics flirtations of "Ire Works" and the jazz flirtations of "Option Paralysis" while adding in subtle horns in the most unexpected places just when you think you've got them figured out. With a BLACK FLAG-esque stance on line-up, only guitarist and lead songwriter Ben Weinman remains of the band that brought out their debut self-titled EP back in 1997 but the quality of their music has not wavered one bit and while they'll always have their detractors unwilling to give thir post-Dimitri Minakakis output a chance, they're the only ones who are missing out on one of modern metal's greatest innovators.
Opener, "Prancer" is the most straight-forward track here but it still charges out of the gate with THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's signature jarring riffs and hardcore bluster before "When I Lost My Bet" shows a seeming aversion to repeating sections running the gamut from jazz drumming to "Irony Is A Dead Scene" informed vocal delivery. The title track calms things right down and is perhaps the most surprising track here with subtle horn sections rubbing shoulders with more straight-up rock with Dillinger's trademark bag of spanners thrown into the mix. Next, "Hero Of The Soviet Union" sees the band channeled through DANNY ELFMAN while "Nothing's Funny" bears a passing resemblance to "Good Neighbor" (of "Option Paralysis") with more of an industrial vibe. The intro riff to "Understanding Decay" could have been written by AT THE DRIVE-IN but after this it veers off into more Mike Patton-era territory before "Paranoia Shields" provides another massive risk for the band with almost no screaming and a jazzy breakdownbut it pays off spectacularly as an album highlight. The cryptically titled "CH 375 268 277 ARS" is an instrumental apart from an indecipherable vocal sample and boldly mixes electronics with orchestral embelishments. The next two tracks, "Magic That I Held You Prisoner" and "Crossburner" sees the band back in more familiar mathcore territory before the album's conclusion, "The Threat Held By Nuclear Weapons" simultaneously channels both CAR BOMB and DEFTONES into one final 'what the fuck did I just hear?' moment. Needless to say, if you weren't already a fan of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, "One Of Us Is The Killer" probably won't change your opinion on them. However if you were already in thrall to the undisputred kings of mathcore then you'll revel in the opportunity to hear new music from them. While the band haven't quite raised their very high game this time round, they still leave the numerous pretenders to their throne coughing in their dust. (8/10)
"One Of Us Is The Killer" is out now through Party Smasher Inc/ BMG
It's amazing to think how much THE COMPUTERS' (8) sound has developed in the two years since the release of their debut album, "This Is The Computers". Gone is the sub-two minutes hardcore of old- a sound that saw them playing support to GAY FOR JOHNNY DEPP and PULLED APART BY HORSES and, in its place, a sophisticated mix of rock-n-roll, blue eyed soul and Elvis (Costello or Presley). Their sophomore album which they're touring in support of, "Love Triangles Hate Squares" sees THE COMPUTERS well and truly stepping up to the job of headliners.
But first, the crowd needs warmign up and this job falls upon the shoulders of Cornish shanty-punks, CROWNS (7). With a small section of die-hard fans in the audience, they are made to feel right at home despite the venue being at around half capacity. Their fun, shout-along drinking songs quickly win over any members of the crowd who aren't familiar with them and on cuts like "Foreskin" their THE CLASH meets DROPKICK MURPHYS shtick provides a perfect warm-up before the main event.
With matching maroon suits and a Vegas style lighted backdrop, THE COMPUTERS certainly look the part, somewhat at odds with the tiny Deaf Institute. Vocalist and all around showman, Alex Kershaw quickly installs himself on top of the bar and spends the majority of the set there, walking up and down , crooning with inbetween song banter consisting of televangelical preaching of how THE COMPUTERS are here to save your soul. He seems dead set on getting everybody dancing, pulling out random members of the audience and coupling them up while chastising anyone caught not participating fully. While Kershaw is undoubtedly the center of attention with his natural charisma and wit, the rest of the band also seem to be having a great time liberally sprinkling tracks with organ solos and skits of "Surfin' Bird" and "When A Man Loves A Woman". Older material is scarce tonight with only "Rhythm Revue" and "Music Is Dead" from "This Is The Computers" getting an airing and nothing from "You Can't Hide From The Computers" is played but they manage to successfully integrate the songs into their new sound with clean vocals in place of screaming. Soon, it seems, their set is going to consist solely of material from their second album onwards. On the evidence of tonight though, this won't be a problem, despite the themes of love, lust and loss, the energy and fun is palpable and, if there's any justice, THE COMPUTERS will be playing venues double this size next time they come to Manchester.
IRON TONGUE play rock music. Pure unadultered rock with a Southen groove, a blues stomp and zero shits given before space-core or post-everything or whatever the new flavour of the month sub-genre is enters the equation.That's not to say "The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown" is all balls out, cliched riffing- they can be gentler when the need arises, it's just to say there are no pretentions whatsoever about IRON TONGUE. The seven-piece feature in their line-up, frontman Chris 'CT' Terry formerly of sludge miscreants RWAKE and, while the music itself is a different kettle of fish, they share the same love of the riff and both know that simple is sometimes best. Having shared the stage with the likes of SCOTT KELLY, HIGH ON FIRE, CROWBAR and more and with a split 7" with THE DIRTY STREETS already under their belts, it is with plenty of prestige already that IRON TONGUE drop their Billy Anderson (MELVINS, SLEEP, NEUROSIS, etc.) produced debut.
The album opens with the slow strummed chords of demi-ballas, "Ever After" which immediately shows what attracted Neurot to the band with a similar tone to the solo projects of SCOTT KELLY, STEVE VON TILL or NATE HALL- albeit with a full band and a ripping solo introducing a heavier side to the song. The band (completed by Jason Tedford, Andy Warr, Mark Chiaro, Stan James, Stephanie Smittle, JR Top and Tiffany Phillips) sound like a morec competent bar-rock band in a goos way with their simple, effective song structures and Kentucky fried lead lines. The main riff in "Witchery" sounds strangely like T.REX's "Children Of The Revolution" (minus the theatrics) channeled through a bar brawl with its filthy stoner vibe while "Skeleton" comes across almost like PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS somehow still seeming sparse despite the seven-piece line-up before another tasteful solo brings it back into blues-rock territory. The rest of the album continues in a similar way, like an amp-on-amp between a more straightforward NEUROSIS and ZZ TOP in an old Western saloon, IRON TONGUE aren't reinventing the wheel here and there's no attempt to convince you otherwise but, in their genre, they don't need to. If you like your rock low down and dirty with colossal grooves, then look no further than "The Dogs Have Barked The Birds Have Flown" (8/10)
"The Dogs Have Barked The Birds Have Flown" is out now though Neurot
With a career spanning over three decades and having been cited as an influence by everyone from NIRVANA to ISIS, it's not to far a stretch to call MELVINS the biggest cult band around and they're undoubtedly the biggest thing to come out of the niche doom hybrid of sludge. Combining sludge with grunge, straight-up rock and a healthy dose of experimentation, they are truly in aleague of their own and, at this stage in their career, they could probably release an album of yodelling and still recieve mass acclaim. For the record though, I'm glad they haven't. What they instead deliver is thirteen cover versions providing a fascinating insight in to the band's influences ranging from novelty pop and stadium rock to obscure punk and avante garde. This being a MELVINS album, it is no mere stopgap but a cleverly thought out album with a brace of collaborations and plenty of variety.
They kick off proceedings with the heaviest track on the album, a fairly straight-forward run through of VENOM's "Warhead" with guest vocalist, Scott Kelly's (NEUROSIS) instantly recognisable rasp lending the track even more weight. This is then followed by the sheer contrast of QUEEN's "Best Friend" and so it continues with polar opposites of sound rubbing shoulders with gleeful abandon. Next, they turn the simple chant of RAM JAM's "Black Betty" into a mantra bearing more than a slight resemblance to the opening track on '10's "The Bride Screamed Murder", "The Water Glass". After this comes an early highlight in the form of cult punks, THE SCIENTIST's "Set It On Fire" with Mark Arm lending a hand. As anyone who's heard this year's "Vanishing Point" can attest, MUDHONEY have got their youthful exuberance back and it's clear that Arm (and MELVINS) are having a blast turning "Set It On Fire" into a "Superfuzz Bigmuff" era sludge/ grunge dirge. Another highlight of a completely different kind immediately follows in the form of an experimental take on DAVID BOWIE's "Station To Station". In the liner notes to "Attitude", MELVINS self deprecatingly comment that "THE KINKS recorded this around the time they were raking in royalties from VAN HALEN's cover of "You Really Got Me". Unfortuantely, they won't be making anywhere near as much from this" proving the ethos behind this album of the band as music fans before anything else. While this is billed as a regular MELVINS album, the next track, "Female Trouble" (the theme to the eponymous John Waters film) is the first of three MELVINS LITE tracks with the other two being "Timothy Leary Lives" and "Romance" by POP-O-PIES and TALES OF TERROR respectively with Trevor Dunn's upright bass playing creating the soundtrack to the world's coolest lounge. Elsewhere, ex-DEAD KENNEDYS legend, Jello Biafra sounds positively unhinged on a creepy rendition of ROXY MUSIC's "In Every Dream Home A Heartache" with the album concluding on a solo jam of "Heathen Earth" by THROBBING GRISTLE courtesy of Buzz Osbourne.
Overall, it's an album of highs and lows but when it's good it matches the quality of their back catalogue and there's enough great covers to earn it a place in any MELVINS fan's music library. (6/10)
"Everybody Loves Sausages" is out now through Ipecac
Discounting the meteoric rise of NIRVANA when they put out "Nevermind" in 1991 (on Geffen), arguably no other band has done as much for the grunge scene or for Sub Pop as MUDHONEY have. Signing to them for the release of their classic debut EP, "Superfuzz Bigmuff", it's an alliance that Mark Arm and co. have kept to this very day, save for a mid period dalliance with Reprise, through the ups and downs of their career. On "Vanishing Point" though, the band are here to prove that theyr'e back on the top of their game.
Opening with the admittedly weak "Slipping Away" seems like a bit of a mis-step but thing pick up with an early highlight in the form of "I Like It Small". A tongue-in-cheek assault on excess, you can almost see the smirks on the band's faces as Mark Arm professes "when I orgy, I cap it at twelve/ any more than that and I get overwhelmed". "What To Do With The Neutral" is similar in tone to "Slipping Away" but executed much more competently before the punk rock pace of "Chardonnay"- an ode to "the grape that launched a thousand strippers". In just the opening four tracks, MUDHONEY manage to successfully navigate the different facets of their sound with the youthful rage of their earlier material rubbing shoulders with slower, more mature numbers. As always, the band don't take themselves to seriously with plenty of dry quips scattered across their lyrics and, while they're undoubtedly not breaking any new ground, it's all good fun.
On "Vanishing Point", MUDHONEY reinstate their place as the kings of grunge still standing head and shoulders above new acts like METZ whom the band's influence upon is clear. They don't quite recapture the vitality of "Touch Me I'm Sick" or "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More" form their classic "Superfuzz Bigmuff" but they do prove that they've earned the respect newcomers to the scene pay to them and they haven't pissed all over their legacy yet. For anyone looking for a nostalgia trip, "Vanishing Point" provides it in spades while still retaining a relevance that will hopefully attract a new generation of fans. They've still got a few more decades of grunge goodness in them! (6/10)
"Vanishing Point" is out now through Sub Pop
Following on from their surprise reformation, hardcore legends BLACK FLAG have released the first fruits of recording sessions for their upcoming album. And what's better is they're offering it as a free download here!
Hear the song below then download it then get stoked for their 2013 tour.
The band, who are currently performing under their 1979 line-up with Ron Reyes on vocals, also released the following staement about Keith Morris' (OFF!, CIRCLE JERKS etc.) new cover band FLAG:
"not to be confused with the ‘fake’ FLAG band currently covering the songs of BLACK FLAG in an embarrassingly weak “mailing it in” fashion. We urge you to check out the real BLACK FLAG when they hit your area."
BLACK FLAG play Hevy festival in August.
