THOU SHALL BE RELEASED
A Look At What Is New In Music - WEEK OF 10.28.08
Tom Gabel - Heart Burns
Tom Gabel is not one to sit down and shut up.
While touring his band's (Against Me!) successful "New Wave" record earlier this year, Gabel, angry and frustrated at current politics, started writing songs he felt needed to be heard before the next presidential election.
Now, with a week to spare, Gabel has unleashed his debut solo EP, "Heart Burns."
The seven songs that make up "Heart Burns" move from full drum-machine loaded rock songs, to bare-bones posturing. And while it is Gabel's off-kilter yelp that helps sell everything he does, that slightly-out-of tune croon has trouble carrying full songs when only held together by sharp strums.
The EP starts strong with the stylistic experimentations of "Random Hearts" and "Conceptual Paths," but becomes a little grinding and self-rightheous by the time Gabel is yelling “Come back home from Vietnam!” over top of a single electric guitar on "Cowards Sing at Night."
At the center of the project sits "Anna is A Stool Pigeon," a song based on actual events surrounding an FBI sting operation. Gabel seems to want to make the whole thing sound shocking and ghastly, but with a healthy dose of harmonica and foot-stomping the number comes off more like a Springsteen B-side than an effective piece of anti-propaganda.
LoveDrug - The Sucker Punch Show
Lovedrug must want you to know they are grown-ups. From the freak-cartoon album art to utilizing strong sexual terminology on several occasions, the Canton, Ohio band seem determined to use their latest effort, “The Sucker Punch Show,” to shed the “sensitive-boy gazing at his shoes” act that characterized their first two recordings.
The band has armed themselves with serious guitar-riffage characteristic of the White Stripes (“Everyone Needs a Halo”), shout-it-out choruses that bring to mind the Foo Fighters (“Let It All Out”), and have suddenly minimized the piano-tinkling that used to layer their sound.
Some of their new experiments work. “Everyone Needs A Halo” bangs and rings with sincere venom, utilizing vocalist Michael Shepard successfully in a more aggressive setting. “Broken Home” is the closest thing to a pop tune, filled with acoustic guitar and the memorable line, “She’s a slut, I know it!”
Other stops along the 11-song journey fall short. "The Dirtiest Queen" is overwrought. "Dying Days," though slightly more traditional for LD, is drawn out and forgettable.
The band has armed themselves with serious guitar-riffage characteristic of the White Stripes (“Everyone Needs a Halo”), shout-it-out choruses that bring to mind the Foo Fighters (“Let It All Out”), and have suddenly minimized the piano-tinkling that used to layer their sound.
Some of their new experiments work. “Everyone Needs A Halo” bangs and rings with sincere venom, utilizing vocalist Michael Shepard successfully in a more aggressive setting. “Broken Home” is the closest thing to a pop tune, filled with acoustic guitar and the memorable line, “She’s a slut, I know it!”
Other stops along the 11-song journey fall short. "The Dirtiest Queen" is overwrought. "Dying Days," though slightly more traditional for LD, is drawn out and forgettable.
1 comment:
ehh. Sounds a lot like Marilyn Manson's Holy Wood album. Sorry I had to reference that.
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