Re-Used - The Used - Imaginary Enemy

Hey, all! It's been nine whole months of this blog, and I've finally reached a repeat artist. For those of you who aren't avid readers (become one!) or those who simply haven't looked into my back catalog of entries (Do it, and post LOTS of comments!), I reviewed The Used's 2013 effort, Ocean of the Sky, in the first month of this blog's existence. In fact, it was my very first negative review, and to this day, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth (or maybe that was the cheap whiskey?)

Is it weird that I'm more creeped out by the censored faces than the heart on a noose? Nah.

Now, let it not be said that I am not a fan of The Used. Seriously, who said that? I'll cut you! I actually love them, and most of their over arching work. No, Ocean of the Sky was the sole effort that I despised. "Tethys" alone was 20 minutes robbed of my life. Ugh. But enough about that. We have a shiny new album for consideration, and I am excited (with certain reservations) that this will be considerably better than its predecessor.

My lovely girlfriend has been so kind as to whip up a lovely concoction that essentially amounts to a wine smoothie (so good, but so sweet), and I'm ready for another look at a new The Used album, so as I always say, on to the review!

Album:

The Used - Imaginary Enemy

Alcohol:

Wine Smoothie

The album opens on "Revolution". Lovely little sample. Classic The Used. Takes off right away settling into a quick-but-low-key verse. Opens up into the chorus and the song is setting up nicely to be a nice industrial punk track. I'm feeling good. LOVE the start of the second verse. Drop out of the second chorus into bass synth swells. Neat vocal affect, and the song starts to grow again mostly using drums. And kick to the mouth. Nice. Druma nd voice chorus. Drop out. And final chorus. Sample bump. Lovely.

Moving on, we have "Cry" opening fast, and dropping into a partially electronic verse. Nice low but heavy pre chorus, and heavy-yet-poppy chorus. I like it. Second time around, still nice. I really like that pre chorus part. I also really dig the held out phrasing on the chorus vocal melody. Holy shit, that bridge is fucking righteous. And slides right back in the chorus seamlessly. Okay, The Used, you found yourselves again. Thank you. =)

"El-Oh-Vee-Ee" opens with an electro poppy feel. The synths have this little dark feeling tag on the end of each phrase, and I love it. This song definitely has a more pop feel across the board, but damn that chorus is catchy. Seriously, that little end to the phrase in the verse... It's... Amazing. There's a similar call to that in the chorus as well. Oohh. Here comes something a little more aggressive.... Love it. Grows out of everything organically as well. And back in. This song is actually a perfect example of why I love The Used. They can toss back and forth from more bubbly pop to screaming punk, and connect the two with no ugliness.

"A Song To Stifle Imperial Progression" opens with an appropriate industrial beat before launching into a super aggressive rock tune. And as it moves on we drop into a pinky dance track, and back into that pure aggression. My mind is spinning and there is a smile on my face. The whole song, when you consider all of its parts should be disjointed and falling apart, but it's somehow beautifully cohesive. I love it.

Coming out of the sample ending the previous track is "Generation Throwaway". This song has a very modern pop feel to it. I can hear The Used in the tune, but I'm getting a feel as if this is their take on a FUN song. It's good. Just... A low point thus far. Lyrically nice at least. 

"Make Believe" opens with a synth sound, and kicks in with voice. a subtly fast moving verse, and opening up in the chorus. Fairly straight forward pop punk track thus far. Not bad. Not great, but at least its quick enough and interesting enough to keep things from dragging... Oohh. Drop down with a vocoder vocal line. Growing... And into the chorus. Legit.

Onward to "Evolution" that opens with a synth line, and shows itself to be a slower ballad-y tune. Very pretty, and I like the movement the bass is providing. It definitely stands out here. Neat heavy-ish breakdown. And back into the ballad. Keeping it interesting, The Used. I can dig. Getting aggressive here at the end. And trailing off with synth.

The title track comes out of that with a nice bass lick and moving into a nice little groovy jam. synth adding tension along wight he vocals. And the kick in to the chorus. this tune is fun and a great blend of subtlety abad fastness. Nothing super flashy, but good tune nonetheless. Drop into a nice slow bridge. And builds back into a killer riff interlude. The whole song growing here. And drop... And kick back in. Fun tune.

"Kenna Song" slows us down a bit again. Opens with clean guitar, and synth comes in wight he drums. Sounds like an electronic beat. Vocals come in bringing bass and real drums with it. Nice slow tune,a nd the bass carries the tune just as the previous slower track. Not a lot interesting happening lyrically or really vocally at all. It's pretty, but not super interesting. Meh...

Synth swell brings us into "Force Without Violence" and drums add some aggression to the intro. Cool guitar effect. This sets up to be a nice verse. slow and simple, but really cool and effective. picking up the pace into the chorus. not a lot. but enough. Back into the cool verse. Growing here again. And a little faster in the second chorus. I really like the growth in this tune. Drop down. tension. Vocals come in and we start building back up. and opens up into the final chorus. nice. Trail off into a crazy sample. And into an electronic rap? thing. Lovely wording. but rather abrupt and random. I'll allow it.

That brings us to synthy sounds opening "Overdose". Vocals come in very pretty. A quick glance at the time of this track clocking in at 14:41, and I'm having "Tethys" flashbacks, but there is already more songness to this than in any part of that track. And this is very pretty. Another rather poppy feeling tune but well done. Lyrically nice as well. The bridge part is weird but in a really cool way. The song ends... I think? Yeah, that's the end. I think my glance at the time has spoiled the surprise of a "Hidden track". Hmm... I haven't encountered a hidden track done like this in awhile, and to be quite frank, I've never thought about how to handle this in blog form. I must debate. Let me smoke and I'll get back to you... OH! sound! Drums... Like. Hand drums... And sand paper? Or many dragging a hand across the skins.... Yeah, probably that... Still.. Just that... Continuing... Yeah, about a solid minute of just that... Yep... Just that... Two minutes... Of... that...New Sound! Sounds like... Static? Growing! And now... A forecast? Pretty synthy background. Can't quite understand the voice, but we've moved on front he forecast for sure... Voice stopped and now we have pretty choral things... Voice back and fun music... I'm utterly lost, but not altogether disappointed. This is incredibly odd,b ut not bad. 

Final Thoughts:

Ughh... So not entirely sure what happened at the end there... I'm a little lost, but no matter, The album was solid. Nothing amazing for me, but it certainly redeems the previous The Used album. I liked parts of it, but it lacked a certain "wham" factor The Used usually packs. Particularly the second half of the disc was a little... Meh. Again. solid, but not quite the album I would hope for. Meh.

-Badhorse

Like what you've read? Then "Like" the blog for "real" on Facebook! Want to tell me how shitty my review was (it wasn't)? Pollute my Twitter! In a band with an album on the horizon, or know of an album you think I'd like/hate? Let's chat! If you are looking for a review with a little more coherency? I also write for EMURG.com.

Local Beer, Local Band - Semeron - Breathing Scarlet

So, I was in the liquor store to day (Like I do), and after a moment of contemplation, I decide I really wanted a local beer. Not that this is unusual for me, but I mention it for this reason:

A while back, I attended a local show. I was there to see some friends in the band, Vaudeville (I believe I've mentioned them before on here), but another band caught my ear. Now, I didn't have a lot of money to throw around at the time, but I had a five dollar-bill in my pocket, and to my fortune, the band had provided a coupon of sorts to purchase one of their albums for exactly that price. Well, I took them up on the offer, and briefly mentioned to the gentleman from the band who sold the disc to me that I did this blog, and they may appear on an upcoming entry.

Wow... Looking back, that was a really long winded way to say this: I got a local beer, so I decided I would review a local band. Sorry... Sometimes my fingers get away from me.

Anywho, what I know about Semeron:

They released this album.

So I know nothing. I know they once played with my friends' band, and (through my "vigorous" research) I know they have a neat story-esque bio that I skimmed because I are journalism good.

As for that local beer? I went with Summit's Saga IPA because one I haven't had yet. Two beers in, I'm not blown away, but I must say that it goes down smooth. So before I pour too many down my mouth hole, on to the review!

Album:
Semeron - Breathing Scarlet

Alcohol:
Summit Saga IPA

"Afro Blue" starts us out slow and prettily with an acoustic guitar before an electric cuts through urging us into a heavy driving tune. The riffs are nice and rock-y. A neat little opening solo line moves the song along. Dropping now, and that solo appears, at least for now, to be the focal melody. A lot of cool things happening. Really cool chord structuring and movement in the rhythm section, and the melody continues to draw you in. In the ways of instrumentals, I can dig it. It even has the courtesy not to last for days.

"Can't Take Me Alive" ramps up the energy in the opening before settling into a driving rock tune. Vocals are nice, and harmonies are solid here. A lot of really cool guitar things are happening behind the vocals, and kudos to whoever mixed this as they aren't buried nor do they distract from the vocals. Nice solo work there, and again great rhythmic compliments. The tempos changes keep this tune exciting, and give it a better-than-radio-rock sound even though there are a lot of radio rock elements to it. Nice little interlude-y part into... Oh... The end. Legit.

Punchy open to "Cherry Blossoms". The song has a nice slow rock feel to it. The vocals give a really nice feel. The harmonies are great. And the vocals flirt with pretty, but embrace gritty. I like it. This song features beautiful progression from verse to chorus, but fails to conitue the growth when the it refrains. Drop out to acoustic... Very pretty. Here the vocals do a lot of that "Flirting with pretty" I mentioned before. And even when we kick back in. The shout of sorts is done prettier. Soloing here again, and I LOVE the rhythm section. The soloing is great, but the rhythm section is what sells it. Cool.

"Trees" comes in slow, but rather epic feeling. vocals add tension. Growing sat the guitar comes in. The build into that chorus and the chorus itself are killer. Again, making that mistake of a simple rehashing of the first round of verse-chorus. But moves into a slow-but driving bridge that picks up. Seriously, the tempo transitions are smooth and beautiful. Just like a curvy woman. Still loving the solos. And yeah, that chorus is cool.

Guitars bring us into "Honalee". Nice punchy intro drops into a low verse, but the guitars bring back tension and growth. They keep building and dropping deepening the tension and drawing me in. Now full drop to voice and acoustic guitar... And here is our legitimate kick in. Riffs are killer, and the vocals really shine over them. And into a nice solo before dropping back to the tension feel of the last half of the first verse. This is how you build through out a tune. Getting better guys. And you weren't at all bad to begin with. I really dig this tune. It's like a really grab you by the balls ballad. Seriously, if all long winded solos had as much interesting rhythm changes underneath of them, I don't think I'd hate so much contemporary metal. Love it. Weird ending, but cool tune.

"Ship Of Fools" opens with very pretty guitar, and grows with equally pretty vocals. I really thought early on, while I like the vocals, they feel limited. These last few tracks gave me an abrupt slap to the face. There is some nice--oh shit! This... Like... Quick buts low-key part. Cool as hell! And back into slow and pretty. Cool. Drop out here. Weird reverb on the vocals almost took me out of the whole feel, but it's cool. the kick in snapped me back. It's so cool to hear music in a style you aren't typically fond of done in a way you can't possibly hate. That being said. If the next song completes a trio of ballads, I'm not going to be happy... Give me some energy..

Building bass give me hope. Guitars provide more hope, and "Crusher" settles into an angry feeling ball of tension. Opening up with nice guitar. Ahh.. Here we are back to straight up hard rock. Granted. Whoa... Guitar interlude is killer.a nd they keep it going under a killer solo. Yeah... I dig. Drop out to vocals and drums... And into driving guitars. You are really growing in your song writing over just one album aren't you Semeron. =P Seriously, though, this is a killer hard rock tune, and I'm not even heavy into hard rock... Does that mean it's actually a bad hard rock tune? Nah.

Slowing us back down is "Rain". while I have not complaints about the song, I really wanted continued energy from--oh never mind. Thatkick in will do... Drops out again, but it's enough. I mean... It is another ballad, but it makes sense as a setup to close the disc. I should also mention that it is a solid track. I have no problems with the song, but so many ballads--shit... That driving guitar is giving me all kinds of tension... Holy shit.. The mother of all pay offs that was cool. I'll just stop complaining now.

"Prelude In Em" opens pretty and acoustically. and I'm going to assume that it is going to say wight hat. I love the string noise... It's always a touch more intimate when that can be heard. very pretty.

And nice transistioning right into "Our Sky" although I could have seen the titels and placement and assumed that was the intention and what would happen. Anywho. Our sky is... SURPRISE! Another ballad. Pretty, but--Oh, here we go. Picking up. Give me something a little more. Where is my pay off? Not bad, but yeah... It's a ballad. At this point, I won't be a dick; this disc may be half ballads, but at least they all have their own unique touch to them, and all done well. I suppose ballads are just what they do. I'll accept it. And incidentally, enjoy it.

Final Thoughts:
Killer disc. Truly. But as a some of the songs. Not necessarily as a straight listen. They do so much so well, but no matter how good you are, put that many ballad-esque songs before me, and I'm going to start feeling like I have lead boots. Worth the listen especially for those rock fans out there who need to get away from the Five Finger Death Punches (Shutters) of the rock world. I give you a great local act that doesn't suck and is, in fact, really fucking awesome. I said it, so obviously, it's true.

-Badhorse

Like what you've read? Then "Like" the blog for "real" on Facebook! Want to tell me how shitty my review was (it wasn't)? Pollute my Twitter! In a band with an album on the horizon, or know of an album you think I'd like/hate? Let's chat! If you are looking for a review with a little more coherency? I also write for EMURG.com.

New Fox, Old Cock - Foxy Shazam - Gonzo

It's been a hell of a week, my friends. I traversed back to civilization from a weekend in the far and distant mythical land of Iowa. It was a safe trip. I then decided exactly 4 hours before it's start that I was going to the Against Me! show at First Ave, and that was one of the best decisions I've ever made (Even though I blew roughly $200 and had to work on only four hours of drunken sleep). Now, I am in the lovely position of listening to an album I'm extremely excited about: Gonzo, by Foxy Shazam.

Are those...? My god, I think those are ball sacks!

I first heard Foxy Shazam when I went to see The Darkness (also at First Ave), and they were supporting. I immediately fell in love with Eric Nally (I mean really. I thought he was a girl wearing a glue on mustache), and the band as a whole blew me away as no other live act has to date. Church of Rock and Roll (2012) is one of my favorite shower albums, and shower music for me is, like, sacred.

Also, near and dear to my hear is that 47 pound cock, His Royal Majesty: Rex Goliath. I drank the Moscato for my blog on Less Than Jake's See The Light, and to prove I'm a manly man, I'm drinking the Pink Moscato tonight. And as I am anxious to get this 47 pound cock into my mouth (Oh yeah, I'm that manly!), on to the review!

Album:

Foxy Shazam - Gonzo

Alcohol:

H.R.M. Rex Goliath Pink Moscato

The album opens with it's title track on a fun and very distorted guitar line. Trumpet comes in, and after a bit, the song settles into a slow groove. The production thus far feels rough, but not in a bad way. The song grooves on in a nice way. Swtiching to more of a drive here with the keys going in the background. LOVE that organ. And the groove comes back with the trumpet and vocals. Drop out and feedback. Kicking back into the groovy chorus. Cool open.

The groove continues on "Poem Pathetic". I really like the jazzy feel here. The vocals are actually mixed low which is alright. Growth here. And it opens us a little and then snaps back... Tossing back and forth from give to slow and pretty... Now back to the groove. Love a lot of what the trumpet is doing here. Drop down to synth and vocals... Now trumpet... Now kick in. I can dig. 

"Brutal Truth" Comes in with some sweet fuzz bass. Kicks in hard, and settles into a nice driving groove. This tune is grungy sexiness and thus far my favorite I think. The trumpet continues to be a highlight for me... The little licks are just fun as hell. So dirty. Naughty and dirty and awesome. 

Moving on, "Tragic Thrill" opens with keys and drums. Vocals come in softly, and I'm somewhat missing the force and power usually present in Nally's vocals... Like, he still is giving a great showing, but I'm missing that umpiness, and I think it's a product of the lowly mixed vocals... Ooo. Nice dynamic growth there... This is a really pretty tune. Not blown away here, but it's good. 

"Have The Fun" opens with guitar, and settles into this rove of sorts. I love that farty guitar. This song has this quiet power, and i like it a lot. A lot of gritty nastiness here as well. I really dig this tune actually... Like, I've been lulled into a trance by it... And oh, now its over...

"Shoe Box" a little more like what I'm used to with Foxy, and its good. Such a cool feel to it. The whole album is somewhere between 90s grunge and barroom jazz fusion. I can't knock on that. Its definitely a cool sound albeit not what i'm used to with Foxy. Still love their composition and arrangement... Lovely build there, and final chorus filled with energy. Cool ending.

Poppy groove opens "Don't Give In". feeling good here again, but still wanting more volume from the vocals. Such a pretty performance, and while the rest of the band is giving me a lot as well, if those vocals just popped a bit more... Ooo... I like that driving part. Liking the lyrics too... Just need to hear them... Whoa! This little heavy part is cool as hell! Fun Tune.

Bass takes us into "In This Life" giving a nice subtle groove. I love he set up happening here... Settles into a ballad chorus. Pretty 70s sitcom esque trumpet. I'm okay with that. The whole song really has a modernized 70s ballad vibe.... Nice build there... Very ballad, like, not in a typical ballad way though. You know? No? Just have to hear it, I guess.

"Story Told" begins the end of this album in a slow fashion. picking up from the 70s ballad vibe of its predecessor, and expanding on the jazzy tones. Ooo... Nice. groove and ugly ugly guitars ripping in in the sexiest of ways... And back down... Bringing back the trumpet--wait... Recapping the album in lyrics? Eric, be my wife? Killer... And getting nasty again. I dig this a lot. Lowfi-esque aggression... Beautiful.

Final Thoughts:

Alright, not what I was expecting from my beloved Foxy Shazam, but I won't lie (unless the authorities are involved). When I saw Steve Albini pro ducted, I knew this album was going to be out there, and out there, it was, but in that sexy out there kinda way that only Albini can make happen. I liked the disc, but I had to fight every fiber of my being against the desire for sexy soaring solos and straight up rock and roll. We've been taken to "Church" by Foxy, now we find ourselves in the sexy dive bars of the damned. Dark, dirty and sexy. Like the back seat of a high schoolers car after drinking stolen liquor at the debutant's ball. "I'm going gonzo." And indeed you have, Foxy Shazam. Indeed, you have.

-Badhorse

Like what you've read? Then "Like" the blog for "real" on Facebook! Want to tell me how shitty my review was (it wasn't)? Pollute my Twitter! In a band with an album on the horizon, or know of an album you think I'd like/hate? Let's chat!