Two Gingers, Two albums, Too Drunk - Double Header RBR - Floater and Queens of the Stone Age

Hello, all, and welcome to one of the worst ideas I've ever had. No, not this blog in general (though, believe me, it's up there), but a review double header. Really, it's nights like these I'm reminded of why my liver hates me.

Any who, the first disc I will be doing is a band named Floater. This was requested by my lovely girlfriend, Brigitte.

Here we are with our "special" kitty.

The album I will be reviewing by Floater is 1995's Glyph. I've heard one song, and I'm pretty pumped about what else could be on this.

I am also wonderfully terrified of this cover.

The second disc will be the latest from Queens of the Stone Age (Henceforth known as "Queens"), ...Like Clockwork.

Yet another pleasantly haunting album cover.

This request comes from a good friend, Jonny, and incidentally, is the request I missed in November, so sorry, dude, I owe you a drink.

And if you give me that cute cigarette face, maybe two. *Wink*

Alright, kids, now that you know the important stuff, I have a lot of music to cover and too much booze to get me there, so I say, on to the review! ...s, I mean reviewsssssss. 

Album 1:

Floater - Glyph

Alcohol:

2 Gingers Irish Whiskey

"The Knowing Dirge" kicks off this ill advised drinking excursion with a creepy-esque sample. Subtle strumming thing building with a drum. Drop out. Stick clicks, and back into a driving bass with chords. Tremming vocals create a very cool and haunting feel. Hard to understand, but the atmosphere created provides more than enough understanding. A really cool mellow burst. A slow and eerie tune, but really cool feel. God, I miss the 90s. Granted, I was, you know, five when this came out. Such a cool lowkey tension. EXCELLENT drop out. The vocals coming more clear. Such a big sound yet a subtle song. Very modern Floyd-esque. I dig the very tribal drum soundGreat opener to set up a dark tone. 

"...but Rain Never Came" carries on the very tribal feel, and proves to be transitional track into...

"Cinema". Opens heavy and driving with a sample and into distorted vocals. Moving into a cool sounding low vocals. I love the push and simplistic drive. The subtle dynamics keep your attention well while the song scoots right along with a single riff. Into a more open up part. That moves into a nice riff break. I can hear the frethand movement on the strings. God, I love that sound. Breaking it down. The structuring of the songs thus far are amazing. So linear, yet all tied together. Finally a refrain of sorts. Cool ending.

Into samples to open "MIdnight Ride". Wait... This may be all samples. No. Here comes the music. With really cool guitar harmonics (I think) happening in the foreground with the bass and drums slowly building behind. Tribal beat here as well. Nice subtle build. into a haze of samples.

This leads us right into "All the Stories but One". The song opens with a beat and groooooovy guitar.  The feel of this song is sooooo cool. And here cuts in distorted guitar slowing everything down. Dragging it really. Such a cool feel created by the music. slowly returning to the groove. I like this tune. A LOT. Back into the sludge. Now growing into a fast pace. Awesome guitar line. Beautiful bass licks. This is easily one of the coolest things I've ever heard. And into heavy, fast awesome. Breaking down now. Fast again. Holy shit. And now completely breaking down. Were has this band been all my life?I think that's the only type of fade out ending I've ever been okay with...

Little slow guitar lick gives way to a scream and the heavy pushing guitars of "Dead". This tune has an excellent bouncy while staying super heavy. Breakdown to bass. And back into the heavy, bouncy guitar. I'm in love with all of the riffs on this disc. Nice pounding interlude. All of the awesomeness happening is not being done justice by my words... I'd better get a little more drunk...Sweet ending.

"Intermezzo" has some wind sounds and a guitar as it opens. This may be another transistional instrumental track. It works great to settle out the upbeat pacing created by its former tracks. What's will it lead to?

"Isolation" comes in with some samples of sorts, and a nice bass line and drums. Guitar comes in wet and slow. The flow of the albums is amzing and they are using trasistional tracks exactly as they should be. Holy shit! Fucking the growth here into an almost blues feel with the organ?! I'm in love. Dropping back. Moving back into that blues feel. Great bidge here. Guitars solo so nasty in an amazing way. Beautiful.

"Clean Plastic Baby" grows out of that with a heart beat sample. Heart montior beep. Into choral. Into heavy groove. I want the fingers of this bass player. Slow grungy jam here. The pace changing. It's beautiful in the song and is the perfect placement on the disc to keep from staying in a lull from the previous track with out abrasively changing pace. Soo much amazing. Faster and driving here. Drop. and into a more heavy bouncy again. This song is ALL over the place. I LOVE it. Dropping here and continuing to move linearly with the music. Slow groove... Driving. Building. So much build. Dear god. Still... Building. Getting heavy here.... And down again... Soo much tension right now... Heavy again.Cool slow heavy pay off. I will take it. Creepy deep distorted voice. Amazing.

Samples come out of that to open "The Face of Order", and the song opens in a bouncy heavy fashion. Setting in with the bass before bringing the guitar back in with the voice. I haven't talked much about the voice at this point, but it's, like, ugly. Good ugly. I mean, he sings well in terms of being decently on pitch, etc. But its so shouty and nasty, but in all the best ways. I love it. So fitting to the music. The transitions in and out of slow fast lowkey, and in your face are seemless. The song structuring is incredible, the riffs are amazing, the flow is beautiful. This albums is, at this point, flawless. Awesome speed up here. Into the end. Amazing.

"Pet" opens with acoustic gutar. Breaking up the pace of the heaviness of the preceding track to provide a much needed breather of intensity. Perfectly timed, but then, I would expect no less at this point. I'm on only my fifth drink at this point as I'm trying to pace myself a bit. I've never had alcohol poisoning before, and I'd like to keep that streak going. This song is super pretty. 

Samples open "PErsecutor" and into bassline. This song is bouncy, but like, bouncy happy. It's really cool, and really cool. It threw me for a loop a bit after the--oh, here's some heavy guitars. The song stays almost cheery though... In htat darkish, not-cheery sort of way. You know? No? Well, give it a listen. Cool guitar solo. Okay, the musicianship on this album is making me hate my hands and fingers for never achieving that sort of control, and my brain for not putting together amazing songs like this. But that a good thing. It's good when an album makes me hate myself. I am convinced that this band is capable of anyting at this point. 

Whoah... Acoustic guitar opens "Bottle", and the voice feels completely different... The flow into this song was seemless, but the voice has me lost... Jsut a second... Yep, different vocalist. Google, you rule.

And now the only song I've heard, "The Sad Ballad of Danny Boy". Fun and bouncy drinky tune. Into heavy jam. Love it, and it has not lead me into a bad spot, as this album is simple amazing. Bringing back the fun bounce. Great tune. Into that awesome riff in the bridge. Excellent. A little weird placement, but it amazzingly flows beautifully into...

...The final track, "Crawl Into You". Slow tune. Samples coming in and out. very pretty. The whiskey is just now making its presents known. Pacing is hard, and I'm slightly worried about making it through the next disc. Not to get ahead of myself this is a nice ballad. And there comes the heavy as the guitars come in distorted with a nice solo line. This is like Soundgarden and Pnk Floyd making swet love while Primus sits in the corner creepily stroking itself. So sexy. Incredibly sexy. Awwww! Fade out ending! Really! You gave me perfection and thats how you end it?! Fuck you! No, seriously, I love you. Please, come back to me? Yes? Yay!

Final Thoughts:

Flawless until the final ten seconds. And those are in no way enough to spoil it. Liste to Floater. NOW!

*************

Oh god... Here we go...

Album 2:

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

Alcohol:

Still sucking down that bottle of 2Gingers.

"Keep Your Eyes Peeled" opens our second album with smples of crashes before moving into a really cool bass line and drums. That tone is... electronical awesomeness. The song itself is a nice slow jam plodding along. A flash of aggression. Really cool. Not far from the Floater sound actually. And I dig it. Ooo. Break into a distorted drum with pretty vocals. Theres the aggression again. Nice. Into a beautifull driving bridge. The guitar and vocal interplay is awesome. Drop into drum fill befoer moving bace to the slow jam. Drop out-ish. Bowed strings to end it.

Into "I Sat By The Ocean" which comes in much more standard rock and rool. Will a cool little guitar solo. I love the use of weird tones and affect thus far. This song is rather straight forward. But really fun. The use of the synth there is awesome. Nice building chorus dropping back into the opening lick. I dig. Shit. Sleepiness is combining ith alcohol. This means drink more, right? I will say that Queens is a group that I've always enjoyed, but never checked out. I'm, thus far, glad thatthis is the disc I'm diging in on. The first two track are cool, and that was an amazing ending.

Carrying into "The Vamp of time and memmory" yep. Song titles are getting short handd-ish right now. I'm doing well on tying for the amount of alcohol in my system and I'm not gonna mess it up (Watch me mess it up). By the way. This song is INCREDIBE. Sweet slow groove with some great sunds and cool things happening. I love the subtle harmonis. The lyrics are coming a cross a bit corny, bt the song is awesome. Another really cool solo. and again the guitar interplays with teh vocals. Cool track.

"If I Hd A Tail" comse in slow, and the drums kick in a nother grover track. Bowie-esque vocals and the whole song really feels like 80s Bowie, and I LOVE 80s bowie, so this is nid.e. IT's cool to listen to exactly how---cool guitars solo AGAIN! Exactly how little instrumentation there is yet the song writing creates so much depth. I love it. I can't read what I"m typing very weell, so I'm gonna got a head and wing it... I'm sorry for any lack of coherency. Weird ending thing...

Leads into "My God Is TTe sun". Driving. This woke me up, and that driving bass is keppker... KeikkFuck. Killer! Killer. keiller. Shit. :This song is cool. Driving,a nd yets still has that cool groover. Rally cool writing here. I dif this song a lot . that fall apart part is brilliatn! Holy shit. And drive int tohe hend.

"Kalopsie" I have no I dea if i yped that right.. This song is aweosme snyway. Slow into pounding. Rally cool. The tones ad sounds here are awesome. Theyve been making nice use of keys too. I keep hereing a bowie vibe. Guitar = AMAZING. holy shit. That kick in! Fvorite track thus far on the disc. Right here.

Group of voices open "Fairweather FriendS". Into a really nice set of guitar lines. Dynamics abound o theis sisc. The guitar work is so cool as well. God, the keys and gtar interplay is awsoe! Badass guitar. So badass. Cool abrub end int...

"SmoothSailing" now this is fucking groove. Holshit. This is playing with evey drunk bone in my body... Which is all of them. I love the vocals so much. It's all good. And the little guitar runs are so cool as well. This is the sort of song I want to have sex to and follow the rhythms witht eh thrusting until my girlfriend looks at me, like, why, I am not enjoyin gthis as much as you, just do me right... May have shared a little too much there... Still. Sexy tune. Whoah... That part moving towar the end... So weird and cool. POW!

"I Appear Missing" oves along opening with a very slow groove feel. I dig it.  Opens up nicely. Nothing uer special, it's really cool, but just a refrained section thus far... Lest see whre it heads.cooll tesion building. Drop out... Back in and... Drop... Back in... Repeating.. Nope heres. Shit it is repeating. Kind of. Really cool. I like all of the movement here. Cool guitar work again... No shredding. Just... Feeling int. Cool driving moving toward the ending... Another acceptable fade out as the musc fades to naked voice.

The title track, also the closer, "...Like clockwork" openss with ckeys. Slow and pretty. Keys and voice is all thus far.Really nice falsetto. I really love the voice. Hvae I said that? I think mayve?

Really cool grotwth as everyting kicks in. And yet agian some awesome guitarwork. Strings are cool too. Drop to piano. An bas and drums kink in. Nice push into the ending.

Final Thoughts (Again):

Really cool disc. Too drunk to say more. Check it out. I have to whn I'm less... thins....

Gotta rest... Comment. And... autsad.sf;hsadfjl;ksadf. Fuck typen.

-Badhorse

Celebration of Distractions - Panic! At The Disco - Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!

Hello, all. I would like to start this off by informing you that while I usually wait until I start typing out this blog to drink, tonight, I broke in to my beer early, and thus, I have a solid buzz going at this point. I am continuing my look back at albums I was not able to review over this year.

Tonight, I will be doing Panic! At The Disco's latest effort, Too Long to type out. Here is everything I know about P!AtD (Not sure if that's the appropriate abbriviation, but it's what I'm going with): They are signed to Fueled By Ramen (Go Vinnie!), A Fever You Can't Sweat Out is a beautiful work of art, I've heard absolutely nothing other than that album. Yep, that sums it up.

'I also know that they have a thing with long titles that may be butchered by my increasingly drunk self.,,

So before I get more drunk... On. To. The. REVIEEEEEEEEEW!

Album:

Panic! At The Disco - It's typed in the title...

Alcohol:

Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale

"This is Gospel" opens us up with a heartbeat... well.. beat. Going into electronic vocals. Building nicely. Excellent electronic explosion. Probably one of the best I've heard. It's weird being this okay with the electronic feel, but this is really good. God, that push into the chorus is incredible. Well, done. Strong opener here.

Heartbeat outro slows before "Miss Jackson" opens with female vocals. The tune move into a cool beat, and the verses have a nice groove. This is way too poppy for my tastes, yet somehow, I'm digging this hardcore. The drive and dynamics are nice. The groove is beautiful. It's definitely NOT anywhere near their debut album, but still excellent.Really cool bridge. Still gratingly popppy, but.... I like it.

Woah... Transistion threw me... Any how. Cool little thing, then we are into "Vegas Lights". This tune settles into a cool electro punk feel. Not quite as in-your-face as it's predecessors, but not bad either. Very reminicient of the Killers. I wish I were a little more sober to pick out more lyrics, but I dig this in a weird who-am-I? sort of way.

Moving into a REALLY cool electronicy "Girl That You Love". THis is how, like, ALL electronica should be made. Like, I'm not sure what I was expecting with this album, but I know this is not it, and I'm okay with that. Really okay with that. It's a pleasant surprise. Like aa Christmas gift you really needed but forgot you needed in the suffle of all the things you want. You know the feeling? No? Well fuck you then, just listen to the album. This track is super melow, but really cool.

"Nicotine" Comes in super cool wth some keys before a killer synth cts through everything. A very primal beat. And drp out. Cool tune. Like REALLY cool tune. Favorite thus far. Lyrically beautiful. Holy shit. Awesome tune.Gonna smoke a cig to this one. God. If you hear one song off of this album, make it this one! Amazing!

Girls/Girls?Boys is a cool groovy song, and P!AtD is hitting their stride a little bit. Or... Wait. this song is slightly less inspiring. Cool, but knidof meh... nt track. Cool parst, but I'm getting a vaugely filler feel. Goodish tune.

Cool electronic intro to "Casual Affair". Nice groove here. Why isn't every electronic song like this? P!Atd is selling me on electronic music right now, and I'm impressed. This tune has such n amzing feel ike. Ethreal and groove at the ame time. Cool brakdown-ish thing. I LOVE that chorus. Drop out. Beat comes back. Excellent break into keys to end the track.

And sythn coms out of that to start "Far Too Young To Die". Cool electronic beat here again... Nice growth into the chorus. Standard popish tune. I can dig it, bt not anythin astounding. Ooo. Cool heavy push coming out of the second chorus. Into heavy chorus. Nice end.

"Collar Full" opens with a nice synth line before kicking into a nice driving ellectro-punk track. Cool tune, but the album fells as though it's tappering off. This song is cool, but they are really going to have to give a nice end. That being said, I'm still sold on this disc. Whoah. Really cool shitty guitar line there. I dig it. Cool growth into the final chorus here aswell. 

"The End Of All Things" starts the end of the disc with a nice piano line. Starting a very ballad feel as stings come in. The vocals mirroring that of the opening track. I like that. Tension created here... Waiting to see where it goes. Fades... Piano saves it. Nice. Still ballady. Really cool play with the vocals and piano. Pretty. I can dig pretty.

Final Thoughts:

I could blame it on being drunk, but the fact of the mater is... (Gulp) Panic's Too drunk to type it is a great electronic disc.... Yes. An electronic album that I like. It happens. Sometimes. I love it. If you dig electronics, or apparently, even if that's not your thing, you'll probablly find something you like on this disc. And that will probably be track 5... Nicotine. I'm going to listen to that again. 

-Badhorse

Two Hearts and a look back - Dott - Swoon

Hello, friends, readers, people who find themselves here completely by mistake (I'm sorry), it is time again for me to make a mockery of both myself and as we progress, the english language as I provide you with my terrible-yet-always-accurate opinions on music I've never heard.

It has become apparent to me that we have reached an end of relevant albums being released for the year (at least so far as my lackadaisical internet research is concerned). Thus, I will be turning my attention to albums I have missed this year due to various reasons.

Starting out this few week run is a band by the name of Dott. I found them randomly, and aside from the name and solid recommendation from a random website I've never heard of and couldn't find again if I tried, I know absolutely nothing about this group.

However, if animal masks are any indication of music, I may like this one.

I made sure to fight through the snow to get myself some Bell's Two Hearted Ale for this because it sounded like a good beer to have. And since thats all I have to say about that, on to the review!

Album:

Dott - Swoon

Alcohol:

Bell's Two Hearted Ale

"Small Pony" brings us in with drums and feedback before kicking in nicely to a lo-fi feel that is nice. There is a lead instrument I can't quite make out. I think it's just guitar distorted awesomely. The farty bass is love ly. That drop out bofore the final chorus was nice. The kick in was subtle, but the drum fill was cool as hell. The oo's to finish are a nice touch.

And keeping with that heavy-yet-low-key feel is "Day That I Found You". It has a cool punk ballad feel. That farty bass continuing to drive the album. The songs are simple, but well done. And the trasition to the bridge was awesome. I really love the vocals as well.

"Rain Day" opens with naked voice before the drums come in with more beautiful bass, this time they dropped the fuzz, but the tone is still incredible. I really like the bouncy feel, and really cool explosion there. It's hard to read any formulaic structure here, and that's a good thing. Build. No big reveal, but well done nevertheless. I dig it. A lot.

Voice and claps open "Tefl". The track settles into an almost 60's ballad feel. Pleasant. Well done with the harmonies. This is a style that's easy to do, but not so much if you want to stand out while doing it, and this song is standing out to me. Even the cliche "Do-Wap's" aren't enough to bury this song into "overdone." it's a pleasant song. And executed well.

"Leave Tonight" opens with guitar and voice. I love the vocals here. Drop out. Excellent kick in. Subtle, keeping the pace down, but effective. Second drop out comes back bigger into the chorus. And nicely catchy with the oo-OO-oo's. Driving low again. a little more tension here. Beautiful cymbal build. Drop out. Chorus again, and I'm in love with the basslines. This may be my favorite moment on the disc so far. 

Coming in to slow the pace is "Talk toYou". Ballady fel here, but there is a nice slow build being felt with the drums. Growing into a really cool lo-fi epic feel. Parts of this give me a what-if-the-Deftones-went-lo-fi-indy feel. I dig. Very much.

"Love You Too" opens with big-ish guitars before settling into a nice bouncy tune.  I really dig these vocals. They are... I don't know... Subtly powerful? They fit the music in that way. This band could have gone straight pop-punk with better production, but they recognized that the feel of restrained power can speak volumes more. It also allows more depth without just turning into a wall of sound. Fun tune.

Driving bass carries on the uptempo feel set up by the last track on "Start All Over". This song is fun and bouncy, and I dig the chorus. Seriously compositionally, I'm loving the structures. It's, like, all over the place, but not enough to lose you. This drummer is fun to listen to as well. Lowkey chorus. Into big chorus. Excellent.

"Love You Forever" comes in with drums and cool vocals. I really dig her voice and the ways she uses it. This song is badass. Much more badass than I was expecting for a song with this title. Excellent building bridge. Cool explosion. New favorite track. Cool drop out ending.

"Last Summer" comes in as another sort of ballad. Thus far, the pacing has been a really cool blend of ups and downs. Nothing  abrupt or off putting, but flowing in and out. It's really well done. This song builds and gains pace through out and sets up to perhaps even not slowdown at all. It's so cool to have nice pacing while still not being able to predict the disc. My only complaint that I could even find at this point is a lack of complete climax. This, however, could be a product of the lo-fi feeling production.

"Cherry Blossom" comes in with guitar, and vocals soon come in and the song starts driving. Building into a second refrain of "Cherry Blossoms" Building still. This time with harmonies. I love this. Bass is amazing here as well. Vocal build here. God, that drum fill was killer! Okay... Album climax. We are talking spooge in the face with this track. I dig it. I dig it. Oh, and that bass to end it. On to the epilogue?

"Another Summer" opens as another pretty ballad. Cool bass lines abound, build into... Fake out. Build again...  Subtle pop... Cool as it moves. Building again. Drops down. Really cool power moving into the end captuing every bit of lo-fi awesomeness here. Drop out ending, and I'm sold.

Final Thoughts:

If you want a really cool listen with ups and downs and beautiful lo-fi presence, this is your disc. If you don't, you're probably reading the wrong blog. I really dig this disc. It's all there, the only concern one may have is the vocals. Personally, I love them, but they are a bit static throughout, so if you don't like them with the first track you hear, this is probably not your band, but if you fall in love as I did, get this one. It's good.

As always, leave your praise and worships below (also your hate and condemnations).

-Badhorse

Bruised Rib and a childhood hero - Boston - Life, Love & Hope

Long ago, this humble blogger was killing time while his father was doing work on cars. You see, cars were never a big interest, and although his father would try, the child would never take. However, in the garage, next to an old component stereo, there was a cassette case. This is always where the child's attention went when his father started to work. Sifting through its contents, he discovered the likes of Billy Joel, ZZ Top, .38 Special, etc. These were all fun to listen to; however, the one cassette that he fell in love with completely had a set of guitar-shaped spaceships on it.

As he got older, he learned of the magical tale of badassery that was this album's creation. The epic innovations of Tom Schulz, and the pure shitatical-ness that was the music industry. You can read all about it here.

Bringing us to today, when an album 10 years in the making is being released by a band I have adored for nearly my entire life.

If the future doesn't look EXACTLY like this, you can count me out.

I am beyond pumped for this one, and fresh off a Thanksgiving trip to my native Iowa, nostalgia is still lingering with me (Also lingering is the pain from slipping on snow and bruising my ribs to clarify the title). So before I carry on with anymore musings from my youth, on to the review!

Album:

Boston - Life, Love & Hope

Alcohol:

Rebel Yell Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

The disc opens with "Heaven on Earth". A nice riff gives way to a slowly building bridge. Not too much of an open up, but a nice ballad feel. The vocals are very low, but nice. And I like the guitar compliments. I'm not really being wowed here, but it's early, and I have hope. Cool guitar parts, but over all this one is kind of blah...

Opening with a phone ringing over an organ is "Didn't Mean to Fall in Love". This is another slow moving ballady tune. really pretty guitar work there. Whoa. Abrupt change up into that organ line. Vocals are still way too quiet for me. This song is giving me an 80s pop vibe, and I'm not sure how I feel about that... Fixed the vocals with my EQ; however, it did little for the 80s pop thing. =/ Not that it's bad thus far, but certainly off from my expectations. Ew. Fade out ending. Bad choice. ALWAYS.

"Last Day of School" opens with keys and some nice, promising guitars. Lost of cool things happening here. Still mellow, but this is quickly restoring my hopes. This seems to be an all instrumental track, and it's a beauty. Cool track.

"Sail Away" opens with a weird feel and some interesting samples. Epic feel as the guitars come in. Cool drop out into piano. Strings slowly come in. Such a tension with vocals and guitars. Building. Drop to the samples. Into an almost marching chorus. Cool feel, but still so far off of what I was expecting. God, those guitars are epic though. Second chorus, nothing too special. Interesting breakdown. Cool ending.

The title track comes out of the abrupt ending in a driving fashion, and again, my hopes raise. Still a little mellow, but the disc is definitely picking up pace. Cool vocal chords in the chorus there. But I'd like a little more umph. Thus far, the album has been considerably lackluster. There are cool things, but the songs over all are just.. blah...

"If You Were in Love" comes in with keys, and a female voice. Guitars add build. Really cool feel as the song grows. This is the one... I know it. Settling into a chorus... Drop out to keys and voice again. Build, but nothing pays off. Building again... nope. At the very least, this is pretty. Cool build. And the guitars seem to push through the utter muddiness that is the voice. It's like everyone is shying away from really ripping on vocals. They are just soooo static.

"Someday" comes in with a slightly up beat tempo, but still, the vocals are just boring. I appreciate the harmonies, but where are the soaring vocals that made me fall in love with the band? Am I listening to a choral rendition of the album? Did they forget to ad the lead vocal tracks to the final mixes? Cool harmonica. Also cool organ. Meh song.

Moving onward, "Love Got Away" opens with *gasp* a single voice with guitar. This has a kind of cool feel, but the vocals are so quiet except when there are ten of them, and then, it's like, in your face, but not in the good way... Really cool solo here. The music is SOOOOO ambitious, but I feel no justice is being given by the vocals. There may be cool things happening lyrically, but they are all either buried by too quiet single voices, or too muddy choral voices. What gives, Boston?

"Someone (2.0)" comes in with a cool organ and some nice guitars. The voice, again, lacking any umph whatsoever. Well, my hope is al but squandered here. And god, the music wants me to hold on, because its sooooo good, but you NEED the voice to be there. Sadly, I don't think I ccan drink this album better, but I am damn sure gonna try...

I was drinking, so I wasn't typing out anything when this song opened, but thus far the strongest vocal showing is here. Ohmygosh! Belting. Vocal swelling with guitars! It can happen! Oh! drop out with Naked voice holding a beautiful note. Guitar solo. Cool. drop out. Best song on the album thus far. Not saying a lot. Cool driving guitar behind pretty acoudstic. awesome kick in! There's BostoN! Took until the second t last song, but I knew they'd get there.

Final track. Opens with piane. And another 80s pop tun. Drinking again.... This song gives me the feeling that John Cusak i standing outside my window. Which makes me feel special and dirty at the same time. Mostly because I'm in my underwear, drunk, and, let's face it, I'd hit that just to say iv'e been there at this point. Goddamn you alcohol. What's that? Oh, the disc ended. 

Final Thoushts:

Sooooooo... I'm gonna go listen to the first Boston recod to wash out this bad taste in my ears. That is all.

-Badhorse

Giving Thanks for Leftover beer - Leaves' Eyes - Symphonies of the Night

Well, friends, I've been a craptastically lazy blogger. I went to see Less Than Jake this past Wednesday and have been in a state of recovery since. My apologies to my friend Johnny as his RBR has not yet been done. I will get to that, and I'm thinking I will do it in a RBR double header fashion. =)

That being said, I must persevere to not fall further behind. You people need, nay, deserve my drunken musical opinions (I'm sorry for anyone who actually thinks they are worth while).

Onward, we go! Leaves' Eyes is a band that I know literally nothing about other than they are releasing an album today. The band name and title lead me to believe they have operatic vocals and heavy guitars, so we will see if they can overcome my general ambivalence to that genre. Of course, they might be folk-pop. In which case, same situation.

I'm definitely going with folk-pop.

I will be drinking beers that I had forgotten about in my fridge. The poor souls were lost behind "legitamate" groceries, and I'm glad to be reunited with them just in time to pour them down my throat as they scream terrified little beer screams.

Now, before I anthropomorphize the deaths of any more inanimate food items, on to the review!

Album:

Leaves' Eyes - Symphonies of the Night

Alcohol:

Assorted and forgotten fridge beers

"Hell to the Heavens" opens with strings and pretty voice. And there are the heavy guitars. Growls. Subpar growls at that. But the female voice is really nice. The verse sets up a nice dynamic. Into a well done albeit somewhat abrasive chorus. The guitars take a tasteful back seat to the strings and voice in the verses. The diction could be better coming out of that soprano voice. And I think I hear hints of auto-tune which is mighty lame, but the overall composition is considerably better than I'd expect. Coolish ending and not a ten minute track, so I'm good with it.

Keeping with the fast paced yet drudging feel, "Fading Earth" comes in with some decent guitars and again sets up some great dynamics into the verse. The female voice starts expanding here, and I still dig that a lot. The guitars are there, but still very tasteful. Waiting for that ridiculous solo. This song is better than the first as it lows here into a somewhat breakdown. Drop out... Solo. Yeah, buddy. And not annoyingly long. In fact, it was almost too short. vocals and strings to end the track.

"Maid of Lorraine" moves us along by slowing the pace. Coming in with a nice violin before opening up with chugging guitars. Female voice again is nice. Guitar interlude is an awesome touch, aaaaaand they lost me with the growls. At this point, there are some really cool things going on, but I'm getting an overall generic feel. Waiting for that big umph! to grab me. Whisper growls. Oooo.... Ahhh... Honestly, I'm most impressed at this point at how lowkey they are keeping the guitars. There are times when they drop out, and mostly, they just chug rhythmatically. It's refreshing in a genre that plays up its use of strings while really just using them as accents and keeping focus on the guitars. Cool ballad, but not really anything spectacular. Creepy voice to close.

Into a muted acoustic to open "Galswintha". This song actually has a really cool feel. And I think that's a horn of some sort playing the lead. Guitars kick in, and driving double bass because of course. Still, the whole drive of this tune is badass. And the drop into the verse is beautiful. Building here. Goddamn it. Shitty growls. The only way I can really describe it is a windd bulldog with a phlegm overload barking incessantly at a postman. It's just sad, yet not sad enough that you don't find it so goddamn annoying.

Onward to the title track, "Symphonies of the Night". A really cool intro. buildin with the vocals.Burst into held chords. And this track isn't terrible, but not great either. There is a pleasant absence of growls so far, but also a distinct lack of interesting music. Nice high note coing out of the second chorus. I'm feeling rather meh about this whole album thus far. And drop out into a cool little string interlude. Full drop into the final chorus. Oddly enough, what I think they are missing is a significant guitar push. Fade out-ish ending.

Growing into "Saint Cecelia". I once had a turtle named Cecelia. I'm guessing this song is not related, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Slow build with vocals. Choral voicing. Pretty tune. These guys should seriously just drop the guitars and growls, and they'd probably have some grat tunage. This song is sort of bland, but cool in its own right. Nice marching beat driving it along. Anticlimactic.

Acoustic guitar brings us into "Hymn to the Lone Sands". Very pretty here actually. Into really cool guitars. Like... That line is super badas--goddamn growls! I hate you whoever you are destroying songs with your ugly voice. Seriously, the female voice can stand alone the range and style is excellent. And the beauty and the beast dynamic fails if we just want to see the beast speared in the face by the villagers. Well, we found our guitar bump. Really cool things happening there. They have all these awesome elements, yet manage to do their best to miss the mark on putting it all together. 

"Angel and the Ghost" comes in subtly, and god, that female voice is excellent. This song, however, quickly reveals itself to being yet another incredibly blah tune. Lame lyrically aswell. And the growls. I'm just going to stop typing and drink through the growls... Cool little solo. Growls.....

Not gonna try to type this title. It's not overly complicated, but I'm too lazy to dal with the accent marks. Also, the beer is kicking in. Slow intro into another cool guitar part. Driving octave chord line. Drop out. Drum fill. growlls.......................................... Ouffdah... power metal drive... Still loving the female voice... Growls.......................... Power metal drive again.... And STILL loving the female voice. Piano and string interlude. Waiting for that kick in. Female voice. Kick in.... Growls.... Belch (Sounded better than the growls). Speaking voice into epicy guitar. I dig this. And powermetal agin. Drop again. Subltly fades into the end...

"Nightshade" opens slow and pretty. Quick on your own research question... How many powermetal/blackmetal/operatic metal songs can you find with the some name as this one? Seriously, I think having a song with Nightshade in the titl is, like, a prerequisite to having a band in this genre. All that aside, this song is rather pretty, and has this nice slow growth. Pushing toward... Something, I hope... NOPE.

Closing the standard version of this disc is "Ophelia". Because they like writing songs about women with outdated names. And yeah, growls.... Again, song isn't bad just not... Good. Growlls........................... Drop out to voice and... Growls. solo and grols........................................... Final chorus... and growls...... Ugh....

On to the first bonus track, "Eileen's Ardency". Obviously keeping the 18th century girls' names theme.  Cool build intro. But, yeah... This song is going nowhere. Pretty... But blah. 

Bonus track number two, "One Caress". God, that female voice is really good.This song is pretty as well, but I'm not expecting much at this point. Really cool melodies and harmonies here. Again. Cool, but blah...Best lyrical moments are right here. Aaaaand thank god, it's done.

Final Thoughts:

Okay.... I admitt this is not my gnre of choice, that being said, if you don't hear anything you like in the first two tracks, nothing on the rest of the disc will change your mind. IF you are a power metal fan, I suggest listening to Maid of Lorraine, Galswintha and Hymn to the Lone Sands. IF you are a general music lover like me, One Caress may be the only track on the whole thing woulrh you time. So essentially. Take my word and avoid this, or give those tracks a listlen and decide for yourself. I willl not be gettign this disc.

Until next time... Tell me why you disagree in the comments, and I will tell you why you're wrong. Or just give me props and share this because my ego can ALWAYS use a boost. =P

-Badhorse

With a Rebel Yell, she cried: Polar Bear Club - Death Chorus

Things causing me immediate excitement: Alcohol sitting next to me, LTJ show tomorrow, the cigarette in my mouth, my distinct lack of pants, and finally... NEW MUSIC!

Yes, dooders and doodettes, it is time again for me to provide my uninformed, unsolicited, and oft-unsober thoughts on a full albums worth of music I've never heard. This week, the album is coming from a band I am mostly unfamiliar with, Polar Bear Club.

Here we see them putting on quite the live show.

Although the name of the group confuses me on whether this is some kind of supremacist gathering of bears or a stick fashioned to be used specifically for thwarting those Coca-Cola loving beasts, I have heard many good things about the music this band has put out. I am excited to dive into this one.

I can tell this is going to be cheery.

I am also excited to dive into a bottle of cheap whiskey. Rebel Yell is one of the best get-you-drunk-for-your-buck whiskeys out there. Cut that shit with some Dr. Pepper, and you have a drink that slides down better than any of the humor I've tried to throw your way thus far. So to avoid becoming any less funny, on to the review!

Album:

Polar Bear Club - Death Chorus

Alcohol:

Rebel Yell Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Dr. Pepper

"Blood Balloon" brings us in with static before the drums bring us into a powerful punk open before settling into a pop punk feel in the verse. Nice and hooky and I like what I'm hearing with the guitars. Settles into a slower, but driving chorus. Not quite what I was thinking with the blood and death themes, but I can't say that I'm disappointed. There are a lot of cool things going on here musically, and the vocals are nice and hooky. The pace changes are superbly done, and keep this song moving and interesting. Cool endding.

Moving out of "Blood Balloon" is "Graph Paper Glory Days". It keeps the energy high. Loving the driing bass in the verse, and that tone is gorgeous! Really cool movement here too. Nice hooky chorus. This is like pop-punk on steriods. So much going on, but still retaining all the bounce and fun of pop-punk. Cool tune.

Slowing only a little into "So I Buy". Nice subtle verse build into a chorus that is light and bouncy, but reatians a nice punch. This feels a little more straight forward musically than the preceding track, but still enjoyable. This bridge part finds the really cool movement already established. Drop out and nice punch back into the chorus. How have I not heard these guys yet? They even have my cat purring.

Slow intro that quickly picks up on "For Show". There is an almost rockabilly feel to this one. Not full on, but there-ish. This is, like, beautifully modernized 90s, and I LOVE it. Vocals showing a cool range with some near screaming there. Not saying htey've been soft, but it's nice to get that hint of an edgier sound. Good tune here as well. Rockabilly definitely wans't what I meant. but it's somehting... something awesome.

"Siouxsie Jeanne" comes in and slows the pace. Nice subtle guitars complimenting the voice nicely. Hint of a build... Vocals pick up, and settling into a slightly more pushing sound. The growth of this track is nice. Drops out and settles with a nice soft ending.

Growing out of it is "WLWYCD" that comes in subtle before awesomely punching you in the face with guitar, and exposing itself for the pace saving track it is. This album is beautifully laid out thus far. And this track is another nice one. Not sure I dig the "Why Live When You Can Die" line and message, but good track nonetheless. VERY nice drop out and build in the bridge. And beautiful transistion into the final chorus. Nice scream to close it.

"Chicago Spring" keeps the pace going. It's a bit more lowkey, but nice. Cool stop at the end of that first chorus. This song is feeling a bit static, but that's not to take away too much from it's enjoyablility. And into the bridge, we again get a good pacing change. God, that bass tone is sexy. To name this song for the low point of the album that is is thus far is a tribute to just how good this album has been.

Growing out of the static ending the previous track is the more urgent "When We Were College Kids". Here it's the held guitar chorus that allow the drums to push the pace giving a nice differential to what we've alrready heard on the disc. Same style, new tricks. Good tune.

Faux heavy intro leads into the driving "Twang". Another really cool track. And I've moved into buzz happy swaying music enjoymment mode. Whiskey makes me happy like that. Simple solo. Nice. 

"Upstate Mosquito" comes in with a cool albeit subtle guitar. And the voicing is nice along with it. Maybe my favorite lyrics right there. Comes in after the intro much ore up beat, and I'm digign it. That chorus is excelelnt. Great pop-punk tune. I can feel the 90s revival happening right now. Faux enign into a nice lowkey chorus. Really cool. This has got to be my favorite moment thus far. Waiting for the kick in? Teaser... Coming? Yes? Maybe? I can feel it... Not yet... No, I don't think it's happening... That's okay... Lets wee where they pick up as feedbak-ish sounds ring out...

"Saw Blade" punches in, and in a snap, brings all the energy up to ten. The stop and trat verse opening is nice before settling into a nice driving second half. The lead licks that happen REALLY need to be ixed a little higher. They are so cool, but I want to hear them MORE. ORE! Nice drop out. And unresovld endign! Beautifull.

Final Thoughts:

One of the more complete albums I've heard. Such a cool aproach to a generally pop-punk style that gives me hope for the future of music. Dug it. A lot. It is imperative that you listen to this disc. ANd even MORE impearative that you own it!

Feel free to agree with me and all of my rightness in the comments. Also share my damn blog! Please?

-Badhorse

With all the class of a 47 pound cock - Less Than Jake - See The Light

Tonight, my friends, is an exceptionally special night for this drunken blogger. It is NEW LTJ DAY!

Yes, it is time to rejoice in a band that I am convinced writes songs exclusively about my life (Of course they are loosely interpreted and changed slightly to protect the innocent). In honor of this day, I have decided to go all out and get myself a a liter and a half of some cheap, shitty moscato. Because I'm a classy bitch like that. =)

Oh yeah. The CLASSIEST bitch.

I was late to the LTJ train only hopping on in college when my shitty punk band opened(ish) for them at The Rave in Milwaukee; however, after seeing them, I was hooked, and they have gotten me through every major life event related to alcohol. It would seem only appropriate that they be a part of my current (and let's face it only real) life ambition: Typing out long winded descriptions of albums whilst drinking. Isn't alcohol great?

That is the doorway to amazing.

I am drinking a cheap wine from my past by Rex Goliath. RG was, apparently, a 47 pound rooster, so I affectionately call this wine my Big Cock Wine. So, with my Big Cock in hand, on to the Review!

Album:

Less Than Jake - See The Light

Alcohol:

Rex Goliath Moscato

Horns open "Good Enough" and it's wonderful. The song carries the up beat feel of LTJ and launches into a nice hooky chorus. Lyrics shine as always. And the production falls in line nicely. I like the horn break. As always, LTJ treads the line beautifully between pop-punk and ska amazingly.

Moving into the bouncy yet less punchy "My Money is on the Long Shot". This is the only tune I've heard already on this disc, and it's already in my head. Seriously, these guys should do a clinic on writing hooks. They manage to not only get song stuck in your head, but make you feel attatched to the song as you recite it. So brilliant lyrically. Andother really cool hornbreak into an aggressive bridge that takes us to the ending.

"Jump" comes in aggressive and stays up beat. Thus far this disc is calling me back musically to Borders or Hello Rockview, but lyrically, you can feel a nice maturing. Not in a Green-Day-is-all-of-the-sudden-political way, but more of a we-are-still-a-bunch-ofbarely-mature-fucktards-but-have-aged sort of way. I like it.

"The Loudest Songs" comes in fast keeping the energy high. There is a nice use of horns through out thi disc. The friend that introduced me to LTJ used to say how he loved what they did with horns because it was "Just enough." They didn't Over power you with blaring trumpets or two minute horn breaks, but they were ever present through out. I have to say. that assessment shines here.

The first pace break comes on "Do The Math". So groovy, and Roger gives me the hardest erections with his flowing bass line. Or maybe that's the wine? It may be that I was already a fan boy, but I'm digging this disc, and the flow is nice. Punchy opening. Keep the energy up, and as we head into the early middle, break it sown a bit.Just in time for the wine to hit. =)

"Bless the Cracks" comes in subtley with just guitars before growing into the verse, and bringing the energy back up beautifully. Settling back into the second chorus. Building again. May I take a minute to discuss how beautiful Roger and Chris' voices compliment each other? No. I would miss too much of the song. But it is amazing. This song is nice, but maybe the first song I've found in a low point. Especially as they use a fade out ending. Ew.

Ground out of that blasphemy is "John the Baptist Bones". A wonderful vaguely religious-but-not-really tune that has a really cool chorus progression. I will forever be jealous of the depth LTJ can create with their chord progressions. I'd e spiteful if I didn't love them so much. cool abrupt ending.

"American Idle" comes in up beat but mellow. And the verses have cool pace changes. And into the chorus I am reminded that no one does vocal trade offs as weel as LTJ. Horn break is nice. Lyrically, this song is hitting me Another song about my life. God, I lvoe thi band. Oh yeah... I'm cesing to care about my typing again. Deal with it.

"The Troubles" pushes th pace on ward. No one makes depressing as fun as these guys. Kudos. Really though... Pot heads have Tool, pill poppers have electronica, and drinkers like me have LTJ. I lucked out.

Slowing down a little bit into "Give Me Something to Belive in". A nice bouncy tune. And hello tto you wine. Feeling it now... IT is caousing me to compulsively sway with the music. Cig time. This song is nice. Not great, ut I dig it.

"Sunstroke" comes in subtlely with guitar out of the previous track and settles into a fast paced yet mellow tune. It's always nice when a band refuses to let their drumer rest even during tender, heartfelf tunes. Fck drummers. =P Shit. Wine's gone. Good thing I have half a bottle of rum@1 Nice slow ending.

"A Short History Lesson" oppens with a bell and sample into fased paced ska feel, and good to feel going into uplifting after a downer middle. Good downer, but yeah, great change of pace. My face is blushing... Im drunk.

Cool oppening to the final track, "Weekends All Year Long". Cool feel to the track. Deep., but pusyingh thte pasce. Oh shit. drunk.. "Keep tripping over my own feet" exept I'm triping over fingers. Damn keyboards for being so tiny. Lyrics about my life again. Solid ending.

Final Thoushgts:
Yes. I liked this disc. If you like LTJ, youlll like it too. IF you don't,. Fuck you. Buy it I gonna. Too dunk to say more.

Comment follow and studdff. =)

=Badhorse

Octoberfest to start November - Isn't It Always? - The Optimist

Hello, Friends. It's nice to chat with you again. I'd like to begin this blog by taking a minute to appreciate social media and the interwebs. Ahh, such a beautiful thing, yes?

You see, thanks to social media, I can pollute your eye-holes with what I think of the things I am polluting my ear-holes with while polluting my mouth-hole with yummy, yummy beer. Also, while looking into the albums coming out today, I discovered that there was very little to offer. Basically I was limited to shitty, shittier, and holyshitwhyisthisevenathing (Yaw-seh!).

So when a band I had never heard, Isn't It Always?, of followed me on the Twat-Box, I jumped at the opportunity to review a group that was not out there in a big way and whose name was a complete sentence.

Adorable furry things always win me over... Also, umbrellas. I fucking love umbrellas.

Anywho, I said, hey, let me review you; they said, hey, here's our stuff and suggested Sam Adams Octoberfest as a nice accompanying drink. So yeah. Go Twitter. I'm really excited for this one, so on to the review!

Album:

Isn't It Always? - The Optimist

Alcohol:

Samuel Adams Octoberfest

"Ghosts At Play" opens the disc with a nice drum fill into a solid guitar riff. I really like the sense of urgency of the music under the flowing vocals. The production is of lower quality, but credit to the mix as the music stands out just as much as the vocals, and although the vocals are good, the guitars are TOTALLY stealing the show for me thus far. The little breakdown part is cool. Into a driving part. The outro is cool with the drop out ending.

"The Hazy Days" comes in with anything but haze. The guitars continue driving through the verse before opening up a bit in the chorus, and I'm getting the first real hook of the album here. The guitar interplay is just lovely in the bridge part. And though the choruses are rather static, they maintain a hook while the rest of the song progresses around them. Cool track.

Growing out of another abrupt ending is "Exhale" with again, some beautiful guitar work. And the coupling of the driving distorted guitar and the loud clean--ohmygod! That drop out was cool as hell! The movement of this track is awesome, and I like the flowing vocals over driving instrumentals again, that drop out was cool. I can dig this tune a lot.  First none abrupt ending, and you always have to love the feedack fade out. 

"We Are One" comes in semi-heavy, and settles into killer rhythmatic work int he verse before kicking into a chorus that again makes me melt with the guitar work. Seriously the pacing and writing musically is great. The vocals seem a little blah at this point simply because of the power and craziness of the the instrumentals, but with that being my only real complaint thus far, I'm feeling good about this disc.

"When I Was Invincible" comes in driving and settles into another really cool verse. The chorus is cool and the vocals are starting to get out of the constant flowy feel, and the drop out to open the chorus shows a nice bit a grit. Nice punkish music break into a pretty guitar line. rop out chorus. Into a final chorus with some nicely done duel vocals. ending with a pretty harmony and oh yeah, more feed back. =)

And bursting out of that is "Don't Quit On Me" At this point, I'm feeling a pttern. And while patterns on albums are usually not so good, this album is full of songs with so much variance within each. Like. Every song takes you in ten different awesome directions. Seriously, in this song alone, I'm getting some TBS, some Blind Melon, some Say Anything, and a fuck ton of awesome. Pretty Ending.

The eponymous track opens with the coolest opening set of riffs of anything. Ever. Settling into A cool verse, and this is my high point on an album that is full of nothing but. This is a rather straight fowrwad track by comparison to the rest of the album so it may be that that is catching me so much at first listen, or it may be that the beers are getting me all compliment happy. Either way. I dig this track.

Another cool opening on "Symphony of Epiphony" and although, I do love this album,a nd this song is good, I do find this title a little pragmatic. It's okay, though, I guess guitars ARE a stringed instrument. =P Seriously, If I experienced syle and tempo changes physically, my neck would be broken and I'd be lying on the ground dead. This album would have killed me with it's sheer awesomenees. This album is put together beautiffully.

Ooo... Acoustic open to "Utopia" and this is our first truly lowkey track. Little weird part there I'm gonna chalk up to editing, but good tune. And hearing vocals with out the crazzy instrumentals makes me feel better and better about them. Good placement of this tune, and good choice to leave it voice and guitar, these vocals needed a true spot to shine.

Closing the album is "The Pendulum Effect". Openingslow, but pressing. Oh, sexy vocals riht befoer the chours. I felt a build, but not quite the payoff I was hoping for. The bass also has been quiet but ever present here, and--oh, nevermind, my EQ was fucked. My bad. Bass is awesome, and probably always was. This song is cool, and fitting-ish as a closer, I enjoy finales more than heartfelt closers, but there is still time here, and that drive into the solo part could be--Drop out into the corus was cool as hell. The chorus was eh, but bring it back to give a heavy punctuation on this album that flat out changes the hook on that question mark into a straight line.

Final Thoughts:
Good disc. Like. I was hoping for good things, and Isn't It Always? delivered great things. And for $4 on band camp, if you don't own this album, you are wrong. Buy it. I'm about to.

-Badhorse

The Sweller is what they will soon be calling my liver - The Swellers - The Light Under Closed Doors

When it comes to dangerous liquors that I love to drink, tequila tops that list.

When it comes to bands I'm not familiar with but am going to review, The Swellers don't necessarily come to mind, but they fit the bill. All I know about The Swellers is they are a punk-ish band who has a new CD, and I suppose that's all I need to know to do a review.

The album cover appropriately featuring neither a door nor light under it.

I'm already two margaritas down, so if I am to maintain any coherency, we should begin. On to the review!

Album:

The Swellers - The Light Under Closed Doors

Alcohol:

Margaritas featuring 1800 Silver Tequila

Opening the disc is "Should" with guitar and vocals. The track settles into a pretty standard pop punk feel. Somewhat generic, but the little pre-chorus bit is kind of cool. Octave chord solo. This does kind of feel like a cookie-cutter pop-punk song, and I should know, I was in a cookie-cutter pop-punk band!

"Big Hearts" carrys on the feel in the intro, but the verse drop out is kind of cool, and I dig that it adds on as it oves a long. Fun and bouncy but still VERY generic. I like it, but not enough to praise it. That little slow down/fallaprat thing was cool. Feeling drunk already... This could be bad. The symbol swelling part into the last chorus was pretty cool. Neat ending, I guess.

"Got Social"opens again with voice and vocals. Cigarette reference. Must smoke. Yeah, I'm an addict. As for the song, meh. Pop punk again. Think of any heartfelt but up beat pop punk tune, and you are probably hearing this one. And on that note, let'smake a sloppy blog worse with a TEQUILA shot! =) Ouch. Drop out before the final chorus. Still not wowed. 

Slow heavy opening to "High/Low" cool progression in the drudging verse. Into a slightly less drudging chorus. The harmonies in the lead during the post chorus interlude is the coolest thing I've heard thus far on this disc. Neat ending.

Ooo... Getting me more into it with the fast paced "Great Lakes State". NOthing special, but considerable more fun coming out of that last tune. But meh, the energy drops going into the pre-chorus, but it picks back up for the chorus, and this is probably my high point on the album thus far. And that's not saying a lot when I'm pretty sure I've heard all of these songs before from better bands. Cool-ish ending.

Into the fake out slow sstart of "Becoming Self-Aware_. Cool tune, but still waiting for something to et this disc apart from, well, anything. This song is reminicent of a less good Rise Against. And I think it's the cooll use of that awesome punk beat. Props to their drummer for trying his damnedest to make up for the over-the-top generic guitars. This, like many of the track preceding has a lot going for it, but nothing significant.

"Friends Again (We Can't Be)" is another track that falls in line with the idea that this is a good track, but not stellar. Ugh. That drop out with the vocal distortion is far too over done. Guitarist stretching his fingers. Not bad. Another cool symbol swell part again. To be honest, I can't like this album (Sung in parody).

Heavier tune in "Designated Driver". Aw... A spmg about waking up alone. How... Done before. Better. Seriously, you know how some songs will haunt you when you hear them because you feel like you know them, but can't be sure and can't place them? Yeah, listen to a string of 10 of those songs instead of this album. Time for another shot because excitment stimulus is needed.

"Favorite Tune" is a poor nme for this track. And Ill bee onedst missed half of the song trying to take that shot. And yeah. I think I've stopped caring. I like the tone of the guitar in that solo, but meh to the solo. 

Okay. Last track. Wow me? Nope. Settling into anohter haeart felt pop-punk track. It's like they wer trying to make an album of radio hits for the early 2000s but forgot to put in significant hooks. Seriously as a fan of pop-punk when you release an album like this and manage to miss the mark on almost the entirety of it, you need to do something else. For instance, I sucked at writing music, so I found work in a factory, and now, write reviews like I have a significant voice on music (the alcohol works to convice me, but probably not you). The album ends. And I'm okay with that.

Final Thoughts:

The tequila may have made me bitter about my own short comings in the pop-punk scene, but I really think this album is boring and generic, but everything I said preceding this probably already told you that. However, if generic pop-punk is your thing, and you don't mind rehashings of everything you've heard before, go ahead and get this one. It's not that it's bad. It just... Isn't good.

Tell me why I''m wrong in the comments, or foloow because I'm not. Or do both to be really cool.

-Badhorse

RBR: Never Mind the sobriety, here's too much caffeine: Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols

A great Venusian ambassador once told me, I had to hear this album as it was "the only album the Sex Pistols ever did." This piqued my interest as I haven't really ever given the Sex Pistols a good listen. I have adored Johnny Rotten's etiquette (Or lack there of) with the press, and know the standards: God Save The Queen and Anarchy In The U.K., but alas, never took the time to listen to them at in depth. Now, thanks to my Venusian friend, Mr. Kirk, I will dive head first into their iconic album from '77.

Mr. Kirk pictured here in casual Venusian garb.

Also, per the request of Mr. Kirk, this blog will be fueled not by alcohol, but by caffeine. I started my night with soda and will be moving on to coffee for the rest of this endeavor. We will see how my mind fares with jitters rather than haze.

The "bollocks" here meaning my blog.

Get ready for the most coherent-yet-scattered blog yet. On to the review!

Album:

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols

Caffeine:

Folgers French Roast Coffee

"Holidays In The Sun" comes in with a clap/stomp beat and builds with guitar before ripping in with a nice little riff. Then settles into a driving punk feel. Bouncy and actually better production than I was expecting. I like the added guitar licks the before the bridge part. Johnny Rotten's voice is wonderful. The mess that is the instrumental break is phenomenal. Beautiful end.

Into the building "Bodies". Drop out into a break-neck punk feel. It's definitely easy to hear how Rotten's voice has influenced current punk voices. The writing in this is nice as well. And the abortion reference makes for an interesting statement for the time. Definitely a cool tune.

Keeping up the pace is "No Feelings". A straightforward punk track about narcissism. And they make it sound so appealing. The song as well as the act of. I love how they can stretch three chords to a full song without feeling like there is anything lacking.

"Liar" comes in with what may be considered almost new wave by today's standards, but definitely has a harsher edge. Out of the second chorus comes an abrasive guitar solo that makes me smile. I'm starting to here general messiness that the Pistols are known for, and I'm liking it.

"Problems" is another driving tune, and I'm really loving Rotten's vocal stylings here. The building chorus is cool and the soloing on this album so far is cool as hell albeit rather simple. Everything comes out as a wall of aggression but yet has a surprising amount of depth, and the bits of lyrics I've been able to catch-Haha! The "Problem" refrain at the end is wonderfully awesome.

As the familiar "God Save The Queen" comes in, I'm discovering that coffee makes me fiendy for cigarettes SO much more than booze. I love this song for so many reasons. The first being the complete disregard for holding rhyme schemes. Not too mention the social context of when it was released. So abrasive yet it remains catchy. Great tune.

"Seventeen" comes in with a cool little guitar intro. Lyrically, I'm loving this one. "I'm a lazy sod!" Beautiful. The best messy drum fills I've ever heard. Feedback ending.

And the pinnacle "Anarchy In The U.K." Interesting that the songs that would live on from this album find them selves right in the meat of the album right where things start to settle. In a manner of speaking. The songs still stay driving, but feel more subtle or at least accessible. That makes sense, I suppose. Good tune still. 

"Sub-Mission" opens with some held out chords and reveals itself to be the slowest moving song on the album thus far. This speaks volumes as the song is still upbeat and driving. Rotten's lackadaisical vocals are great here. And the chirps? I don't know why they're there, but I like them. It's hard to approach this after hearing years of music that this album help to inspire. You can definitely draw lines back to many of the songs on this album from current punk music.

"Pretty Vacant" may have the most "poppy" sound on this album. Definitely the most catchy track thus far. Good tune, but rather static. I do like that chorus though. Sooo many cigarettes thus far.

"New York" comes in a little heavier with a nice build intro. I really love the use of guitar fills all over, but over the course of a full album, the lack of instrument knowledge is really starting to show. Not that I mind a whole lot, that's part of the Sex Pistols' charm. I dig this tune. Guitar fills into the end.

Closing us out is "EMI". If I'm not mistaken, this song is a shot at the label who almost signed the Sex Pistols before doing everything they could to distance themselves from the band. As it goes on, I really enjoy it as a closer. It's hard to put a finale on an album that has so much energy throughout, but I feel like a good ol' fuck the music industry song is perfect. As was the end to this song and the album.

Final Thoughts:

I have discovered coffee doesn't get my fingers flowing as freely as alcohol, but I will take jitters (I've got 'em bad) over the in ability to walk straight at the end of a blog. That being said, there is a reason this is Albums and Alcohol. As for the album, thoroughly enjoyable, and although it featured little variance, it managed to not once loose my interest. Perhaps it was my sobriety or maybe the face that I have enough focus from coffee to hold my interest on a metronome for hours right now, but I'm gonna go with the fact that this is a solid punk album, and I'm glad to have not gone longer in my life without hearing it in its entirety. 

So, until next time, fuck the man, or if you aren't so rebellious, fuck your lover.

-Badhorse