by David | Aug 28, 2014 | Single review
SINGLE REVIEW: “Summer Road” is a great closer for the Summer of 2014. Fuck, so much ear-candy on this song. He of course has fucking phasers on the drums. Classic Claude move – smoother than a brazillian waxing with plenty of guitar dueling solo action. Nothing brown about this song and a good teaser from his third album Laughing Hearts which we’ve been looking forward to for years. Claude Coleman Jr is of course the former Ween drummer and our brother from another mother. We met him in New Brunswick so many moons ago and saw his band Skunk play a few times and then in various projects since. Which were quite inspirational to guitar dorks like Billy Corrigans and myself. Listen back to back to Gish by the smashing pumpkins and Last American Virgin to hear what I’m talking about. Anyway, this single should set you straight that he’s beyond influences or ahead of them. Sure you initially hear the calming vocal tones of Elvis Costello and you will also notice the delivery on this jam is relentless. Just keeps giving on every listen because the church of rock is in session people.
To put it mildly you shall be overcome with fists of glorius crunching rock on the same level of The Hold Steady. Honetly, when Amandla does the tour thing you should do yourself a favor and go out that night. We will see you there. Claude’s music is uplifting and makes me smile a whole bunch of teeth ear to ear. Band website .
RELATED: The magic of Amandla – Before Tomorrow
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by David | Aug 28, 2014 | Album Review
ALBUM REVIEW: You would have to be a real asshole to not like Michael Fiore’s acoustic solo record. Now if I was walking by in hurry down Santa Monica Boulevard and I saw some kid playing guitar with his case open; you and me both would probably keep walking. He might even keep walking but by that fat fucking chance my ears would be listening to the right refrain or verse. I would stop for at least a complete tune. I did this a couple years ago when he sent me his band’s debut full length by Criminal Hygiene and I then decided I needed to re-arrange my record collection. I still enjoy their record today and have turned on lots of friends to their music. I’ve passed them this joint and again I pass this one to you guys. To all four Review Stalker blog fans who care about song writing in the raw. Just a dude and his guitar singing bits, maybe throw-offs that might be too Westerbergian for even criminial hygiene. Either way this is good song writing all the way throguh. Let me also point out I hate most singer song writers guys but came to terms that we are all this on guy corner in the end. He has a thankless job because he has the song maker bug. He’ll keep pluging away and in this batch there are jems. So enjoy and throw a $7 spot his way and grab a beer and enjoy.
Don’t be shy facehooker, give this a like because your mom might like this too.
by David | Aug 28, 2014 | Singles
We like noise. We like trash. We like Austin’s Spray Paint’s tune “Threesome Can Wait” from their third lp Clean Blood, Regular Acid. If you like shit that seems to crawl on the walls and stick there with some weird stuff glistening as if you injected some delay into a box full of devo bobble heads then that is what this song sounds like. Plus drugs but I don’t think I can agree with the topic. Unless they are being sarcastic. Given the opportunity I would probably would give a long frozen stare. “What did you just ask me?” Then this noise would start to play in my mind at which point. I would get it. I would. website | Bandcamp
RIYL: Scratch Acid, Butholes, The Fall, Swell Maps
Catch their noise on tour in September.
9/19 – AUSTIN, TX @ HOTEL VEGAS #!
9/20 – MCALLEN, TX @ CINE EL RAY #
9/21 – HOUSTON, TX @ WALTERS DOWNTOWN #$
9/22 – NORMAN, OK @ THE OPOLIS #
9/23 – KANSAS CITY, KS @ MINIBAR #
9/24 – CHICAGO, IL @ EMPTY BOTTLE #
9/25 – DETROIT, MI @ PJ’S LAGER HOUSE #
9/26 – LOUISVILLE, KY @ CROPPED OUT #
9/27 – MEMPHIS, TN @ GONERFEST #
! – w/ Ghetto Ghouls
# – w/ The Rebel (Ben Wallers from Country Teasers)
$ – w/ Merchandise and Institute
Like this shit facehookers.
by David | Aug 12, 2014 | Singles
We like to champion new bands here at Review Stalker. Mostly because we wish there were sites or magazines or writers who looked beyond the hype and wrote about our bands or paid attention to the sounds that were hitting their ears. We like passionate writers and if you think you want to take a stab by all means get in touch. Join us. We’re just here bubbling up and weeding through all sorts of shit in our boring days to give you first listens to bands that might be just coming-up around in their scene. No matter where it is. We listen then judge your band name or band photo. Not the other way around. Honestly, if we had more time to listen and feature more than we do – we would. Important to know it is a total labor of love who we do decide to put on the site. We don’t get paid to do. Anyway, enough about us here’s a bunch of quick blips on some music.
First up here’s Hidden Charms which are four young lads from London who play Rhythm and Blues. You know like the stones used to claim. These guys sound more like the Zombies at least from the vocal perspective and are no where near as proficient as the Rolling Fucking Stones but still well produced getting some nice breaks with just their very first single being made available here.
Black Lady Soul from Ontario Canada give you some slow soul grooves on their latest bandcamp offering. Stand-up basss that swing you along along.
Black Lady Soul “The Fall”
VIDEO: Mike Watt in il sogno del marinaio “il songo del fienile”
One minute we’re checking out the latest offering from Mike Watt with some dudes from Italy from a band called il Sogno Del Marinaio and then BLAMO. We get bands from Italy sending us music. Which is the is coolest thing I love most about doing this blog. We get music from all over the world and always make a point to check them out because we’re all about your maximum rock-n-roll experience. Dangerous Minds has more details on this one.
So Ladies and Gentlemen here’s Plankton Dada Wave and their latest bandcamp offering available as a 10″ called Haus Of Dada which goes for 13 Euro which I think is like 26 USDs or something(don’t quote me? Anyway comes with a nice multi-coloured Tee-shirt which is worth it right there. Oh the music you ask? Well son, if you dig when XTC got arty or watts bass playing on DOS. Then this interesting mix of psuedo prog punk will be your thing. This music is frenetic and whimsical. You know like a crazy persons must feel like with an entire circus of clowns going nuts in the inner lobe of their brains. The featured track “Ygolohcysp”, which if you were backing up into my blog you would see in your rearview mirror what this really spells. So tricky these Dada-o-ist. The lead track totally samples Trio and their tune Da Da Da and then they just blow it out from there. The lyrics are all in Italy so we have no clue what they actually singing about but the mood is totall fun. This music is brought you by Ghost Records. One listen through and you’ll feel nuts. Trust me.
Ok facebookers, ain’t nothing like the life of a pimp so give this a like.
by Paul Haley | Aug 11, 2014 | Album Review, New Brunswick, Uncategorized
ALBUM REVIEW: Brian Fallon, frontman for the Gaslight Anthem (GLA), always spoke in interviews of what to musically expect with each new upcoming GLA album. Ironically, every time he declared the band was taking their sound in a bold, new direction, they delivered yet another kick ass collection of familiar “punk-n-roll soul” with gritty, Ness meets Petty vocals.
This time around discussing Get Hurt, their fifth full length release, Fallon spoke about the wonder of some bands that drastically changed their sound and live to talk about it, a very risky move that often doesn’t end pretty for rock bands. Get Hurt is by no means Achtung Baby or Kid A but for GLA it is. Unlike their peers in the National and the Hold Steady, both recently releasing great but “safe” albums, in efforts to reach the next level of rockdom, it seems GLA courageously said “fuck that” and decided to shake things up a bit. The Garden State darlings finally kept their word, grew a pair and took the plunge, interestingly at a time when they too are eyeing that same rockdom and should play it safe. Audacious? Ballsy? Yup…I agree.
Quite simply, Get Hurt is far more rock and far less punk, more Petty and less Ness, full of ambitious, stadium size anthems with the band trying to live up to their very name. Sure you have the traditional punkish ferocity of “Rollin’ And Tumblin” that still packs a similar punch like “1930” does on their 2007 debut album Sink or Swim or “Orphans” on 2012’s American Slang, but is also the closest “typical” GLA song on the entire album and smack right in the middle of the playlist, reminding their fans that they didn’t forget where they come from and still punk as fuck. The intriguing title track sounds like a scrubbed up, leftover Horrible Crowes (Fallon’s side project, check out their excellent debut record, Elsie) number that is just begging for radio play. Other standout tracks include “1,000 Years,” “Helter Skeleton,” “Selected Poems” “Stay Vicious” and “Dark Places” (my favorite track thus far).
But yet again, perhaps both GLA and their fans should have seen it coming since it isn’t like the band didn’t flirt with different ground before . Mixing punk driven rock with 50’s sha la la’s and 60’s R&B groove has been constant in their music since 2008’s The 59 Sound (their second full length release). Or check out the Cure-ish “Old White Lincoln “on the same album. Then try listening to “Get Hurt” and “Here Comes My Man” from 2012’s Handwritten back to back. Pretty complimentary if you ask me. One could even argue that the band has already been mildly indulging in experimentation with 2008’s Senor and the Queen EP since the recording has a much different, almost disjointed feel to it despite decent songs (especially “Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts.”).
Overall Get Hurt is a solid effort and, I will say it again, a ballsy move by a band whose engines have been noticeably sputtering a tad bit on their last 2 releases. If you are looking for the blue collar punk of the past you may be let down but I am kind of relieved GLA sound has pleasantly aged and matured from the first time I saw them at Asbury Park’s Stone Pony on their 59 Sound tour and from the New Brunswick basement scene where they hatched. Will GLA fans get hurt with this new release? If you grow a pair, dive in like the band did maybe you will suffer some scrapes or a bruise at most…and pleasantly so.
Give this a like Facehookers.
by Keith Hartel | Aug 5, 2014 | Album Review, Out Of The Empty And Into The Void
ALBUM REVIEW: What has gotten into Tom Petty that he feels a need to rock so fucking hard at this point?
Every now and again a very great and classic singer/songwriter/rock and roll type artist, who are believed to have more than earned the right to be “past their prime” and rest on their laurels, just for no apparent reason, up and make one of their greatest albums ever. My favorite examples of this are Dylan’s “Time Out Of Mind”, Bowie’s “Heathen” (well, maybe not one of his BEST but that’s a high fuckin’ bar) and of course the one that started it all; Neil Young’s “Ragged Glory”. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Hypnotic Eye” is one of THOSE albums.
I suspect that the Petty camp has been appreciating the strengths of the post-modern, lo-fi, soulful, semi-ironic primitive blues-ness of the Black Keys. At least that’s the first thought I had listening to the first tune, “American Dream Plan B”.
The sound is uncluttered and in your face with a “singing soulfully into a tin can” style vocal and a fat and rude low frequency distorted riff over a straight backbeat. It sounds like you’re actually listening to a guy in a room playing a drum set. Then, all of a sudden, the chorus comes and it is EXTREMELY Tom Petty-like:. “I’ve got a dream I’m gonna fight ’til I get it, I’ve got a dream I’m gonna fight ’til I get it RIGHT”. Somehow what he’s singing sounds both youthfully optimistic and worldweary-wise. It’s partly because of the music and partly because of the words, just like all great songwriting. And then Mike Campbell throws a crude, yet impeccably melodic distorted guitar riff in there, evoking (to this listener, at least) “Satisfaction” and Them’s “I Can Only Give You Everything”
Them – I can only give you everything
But the most remarkable event happens after the second chorus: the band launches into a beautiful “acoustic-strumming-with-slide” George Harrison tribute lasting less then half a minute and then Mike Campbell rips into a manic guitar solo that sounds more or less exactly like Dave Davie’s on the Kinks “You Really Got Me”
the kinks- you really got me
Post-modern cut and paste playful cultural appropriationism reaches its zenith in the second song “Fault Lines”, which is a fucking rhumba! But when the first crashing chord introduces the verse vocal, you instantly remember you’re listening to the new Tom Petty album. And the hook, line and SINKER: “I’ve got a few of my own fault lines running under my life” is just so classic it’s surprising no one ever came up with it already. “Red River” in the beginning reminds me of Aerosmith and the Stooges (in it’s use of the awesome one-note piano over heavy driving rock)
So let’s talk about the players: I’d like to start by first recognizing Benmont Tench as team player supreme. This album is more guitar driven than any Tom Petty album (at least any I can think of right now) and the keyboards are used here in a way similar to bands that don’t have a specifically designated keyboard player in them. Like the early Beatles or Kiss on Destroyer or early Aerosmith or Ozzy, etc. On one song ( “Red River”) they go so far as to utilize piano like the Stooges used to (wait a second; is SCOTT THURSTON on this album? You bet your ass he is! So that’s the guy doubling Mike Campbell’s badass riffs in “Fault Lines”) My point is you only hear keyboard at certain times and even then it tends to be near subliminal. As for Ron Blair, everyone always wished he could come back to the band and he sounds beautiful on this album. His tone is McCartneyesque. I think his playing is too, except he never plays in a way that draws attention to itself, which McCartney had no way of NOT doing. But like in 60s music, this is an album where the bass lives in it’s own sonic space and is separate from the guitars. It is FAT and fun and sexy like bass is supposed to be.
“Forgotten Man” appropriates the Bo Diddley beat to perfect effect. The song is just classic Tom Petty. Mike Campbell’s solo sounds like Clapton on the Bluesbreakers (best possible way to sound).
“Sins Of My Youth” is a nice bossanova, sort of a callback to the earlier rhumba and just a little hipsterish. Beautiful tremolo guitars on this one. Most Steely Dan sounding of the Tom Petty catalogue thus far. Not that it sounds very much like Steely Dan…
Now here’s another thing to always remember: Tom Petty is a cool stoner dude and that’s why he has a laid back funky song called “U Get Me High” which swaggers in with stabbing guitars and some big round fuzzy swinging bass. Totally lives up to the title. Do you think it’s got a good guitar solo? Mike Campbell, one of the greatest ever, on this solo, sounds like he may have heard Jack White at some point, and in a GOOD way. Show ’em how it’s done, Daddy! And then there’s some some golden-era of Clapton jewelry in the outro. Have I mentioned yet that this is really MIKE CAMPBELL’S album? The man is a national treasure.
There’s a tradition of the second to last song on a good album being the weak spot and they do a perfect job of it here. A blues called “Burnt Out Town” which is a fairly listenable showcase for the piano playing of Benmont Tench and the harmonica of Scott Thurston. I’m fine with it.
The last song is called “Shadow People” and it’s sort of a Lennon “Cold Turkey” format song with bluesy double stops on the guitar punctuating every line of the verse. Then in the chorus the guitar plays a riff that’s really sweet and sad and reminds me of Blue Oyster Cult’s “I’m Burning For You”, which is a compliment. And the guitar solo is just unbelievably great. Mike Campbell has never sounded so aggressive and balls-out rock.
So in closing, Mike Campbell is God, but so is Scott Thurston and here’s your proof:
IGGY POP – NEW VALUES
Ok give this a like facehookers and leave a comment here.
by David | Aug 2, 2014 | Album Review, Mp3s, Noise Rock, vinyl records
ALBUM REVIEW: 11 songs of noise rock on Slow Release by the Australian power crud rock trio Yes I Am Leaving have a few sharp and dull knifes up their sleeves. The opening track “One” below is a jesus lizardesque pounder and a great introduction to the swinging future punk swagger on the rest of the record. You really need to be a fan of AM/REP bands to appreciate the first three tracks or generally scorching your inner ear drums with cork screw. As the record gets deeper it’s get a little more melodic and husker du sing/song which makes them omni directional. The tracks “Alchemy” and “Timer” picks-up with just a little more of a show-gazer song-scape mentality nod (see what I did there) that I am talking about. So something for everybody here to make you look up the playlist a few times. This record is a follow-up to their 2013 record Mission Bulb. I couldn’t tell you the difference just yet but I can tell you they will be touring the states in Oct/Nov 2014; at least that is the plan anyway and if you were worth the prize tag of your hoodie you would just pick this shit up and check them out. This is minimalistically melodic when needed and has mucho bass thuds to rock the crud out of your head with a swift kick of their boot. You can listen to this record backwards and forwards and it will still be just as good. Facehook| Homeless Vinyl | Soundcloud
RIYL: Janitor Joe, METZ, Today is the Day, Laughing Hyenas
VIDEO: YES I’M LEAVING – FOUR CHORDER from MISSION BULB (2013)
RELATED:
Get some: July Crop of rock-n-roll singles (2012) w/ METZ, Fang Island, The Afghan Whigs
Day of the dead Kristen Pfaff RIP Janitor Joe download mp3 here.
BONUS NOISE:
Early Retirement MP3 by Janitor Joe from Big Metal Birds (1993)
My First Knife MP3 by Today is the Day from Willpower(1995)
Slump MP3 by Laughing Hyenas from Hard Times (1995)
Ok Facehookers give this a like on your stream. Thanks!
by David | Jul 27, 2014 | Singles
Lines West – Never judge a band with their obessions with trains. I know there are train people as I tend to be one every once in awhile but prefer the bus. Don’t ask. The answer is boring. However, this album by Lines West has all of the elements we love about Fountains of Wayne, Nada Surf all mixed in this alt-country kind of tinge with perfectly crafted pop songs that should be all over terrestrial radio at the very least. Founded by John Radzin and Brian Larney via Bridgeport, Connecticut. This is the good shit with a nice balance of keyboards, piano and well placed harmonies and smart song writing. Great for Sunday mornings driving over bridges vacation bound somewhere. Buy Itunes | Amazon | Visit: www.brianlarney.com
DOWNLOAD: Down To Me MP3 by Lines West from Stop Look and Listen
The Silence Kit has been making original alternative indie rock for awhile now and every track is crafted with care. We respect this and it comes through very clearly these guys know what they are doing. Here’s a cool song equaly parts baritone new wave vocals with some Haircut 100 thrown in this song called “Looking through” Swizzlings keyboards and a mix of Cure-esque simplicity from their new album Watershed. Check out their deep catalog on their bandcamp. If you love all the amazing sounds of real 80’s alternative then dig this man.
Buffalo Sex Change – Here’s something for all you slow psych fans from upstate NY via Dadstache Records. Think Velvet Underground doing whip-its with the Black Angels and you shall have a Buffalo Sex Change experience. Order this debut on cassette you freaks from their bandcamp store. For fans of early Jesus and Mary Chain.
All three of these bands are awesome and you are welcome.
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by Lee Tacy | Jul 24, 2014 | editorial
Music sharing has never been bigger
The need for streaming and music sharing websites to broaden their scopes when it comes to pushing their product has heightened over the last five years. With the advances in technology, there has been a surge of apps hitting the market, so for premium brands such as Soundcloud, the need to launch new pristine apps regularly, is something that will always be in need for the company to appease the ever-changing needs of the consumer market.
Soundcloud revolutionized the format in which we stream music, and ultimately share it. It’s used by many different websites to showcase a diverse selection of songs to music fans. And now with the launch of their new app, the ability to port the app to iPhones, iPads and smartphones will give Soundcloud a spike in the reach that the Berlin-based online audio distribution company currently has. Its all-new iPhone app tracks the songs that you like, keeps you in touch with the trending artists and helps you organize your playlists.
But why is there a need for platforms like Soundcloud to continue to improve the apps they launch?
Back in 2013 Apple announced that there were over 1 million apps now available in the App Store. Although, there isn’t any concrete data, for the music industry, it means that there is now a significant amount of apps accessible to the socially active music fan. Online gaming developer Gaming Realms, which produced the online portal Pocket Fruity recently documented that the ‘growth in mobile Internet is one of the most powerful trends in the Internet landscape.” They went on to say that “the global smartphone and tablet installed base is expected to exceed the PC installed base.” And with there now being an estimated 1 billion smartphone users, the need for the most up to date innovative app on the market is of paramount importance in order to be recognized amid the deluge of music apps on the market currently. The need for slick aesthetics and easy navigation is what helps apps succeed in an oversaturated market. Fortunately for new freemium Soundcloud app, it ticks all the right boxes and has been deemed a success by many music and tech hacks.
What do you think of the new Soundcloud app? Let us know your thoughts below.
by David | Jul 16, 2014 | Singles
Here’s a debut single from Dundas, Ontario, Canada by a band called The Tallest Tree. Super cute power-pop all packed in nice little romp down inde rock lane called “Boat”. Two of the three are married in the trio. I swear I listened to this tunee 4x times in row. Definitely should be single for your summer twitter crush playlsit so go download it from their soundcloud space and give them a good stalking on their website.
THE TALLEST TREE – BOAT
Check out this video of a song called “I Can’t Return” by Immigrant Union, which features Brent DeBoer of The Dandy Warhols. This is the first single from their fourth coming album calledAnyway to be released Sept 23rd, 2014. It’s pysch-pop. There is dude making out with a very hot chick then he has regrets and jumps out of plane because of another girl stuck in his phone. I don’t know maybe another Twitter tryst romance gone wrong? Call me crazy. This terantino-esque video was shot in the desert somewhere and was Directed by Mike Bruce (Noel Gallagher, Black Mountain, Paul McCartney) and stars Omar Doom (Inglorious Bastards) and Carolyn Stotesbery (Love and Mercy). Yes, this is hollywood baby. The tune is super hooky and twisty so makes it good also for a classy single and another tune for your mix-tape. Check out their site for the latest.
IMMIGRANT UNION – I CAN’T RETURN
From sunset alliance here’s Captain Baby and a track called “Olive In the Ocean”. I think I like this mostly because the face painting has been taken to the next level. I could do without the 16th notes never changing but the singing is pretty cool. Just watch you’ll see what I mean. Their front-man guy and artist Asher Rogers has fun in his role being unserious. This track is the single from their debut called Sugar Ox. Very creative. A music is a little 00’s derivative but still twists and turns in the right places. Thankfully it’s not all EDM at which point we would just burn this part of the internet if bands like this didn’t try to be arty. Which is rare so we like this a fuggin lot. Ok? Check out the rest of their album on bandcamp.
CAPTAIN BABY – OLIVE IN THE OCEAN
okie-doke like this facebookers below.
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