"MUSICAL ACTIVITIES FOR YOU TO DO!"
I thought the front cover of this CD was great, but that the back cover didn't live up to the artwork set up on the front. Still, I had an idea that with good CD art may come good sounds from within. ...And it totally paid off. The music is nice and different with a hint of the bands that probably inspired them, but not so much that you can instantly figure out who those bands are. Good punkabilly meets garage bar band (that is if you have a bar in your garage) that falls somewere between the Red Aunts and Guitar Wolf. I think it's a safe bet that The Thingsz would be just as good live...something that can't be said about most bands...and in a good way, I mean. All the tracks are good in fact, but "Flem Snopes", "Chicken In A Graveyard", and Picnic Table Massacre" stick out in my head at the moment,...but ask me next week and I'll have picked another three. (Plus they are on the same label as Bladder Bladder Bladder so they get respect for that right away in my book...er..."mag.") Get this for a fast midnight drive in the moonlight.
This is a prety decent CD by a band I've never heard of until I saw them on myspace.com. Basically it seems that I like every other track on this CD. "The War Is Over" sounds like they are a little tired (maybe that's the idea?), but "1999" picks the CD right up while "Warm Bed On A Cold Night" brings it right back down and so on and so on. "California" sounds like it could easily be played on Clear Channel or Infinity Broadcasting stations like KROQ here in L.A.. While I can imagine playing a few tracks on our radio show here, I don't know if I'd ever listen to it on my own. Still it's pretty good and worth checking out if you ever come across it. Get this for a bus ride across the city.
I may have said this before, but it is rare when I get a CD sent to me that I can't stop listening to. This new CD by 8-Bit is one of those CDs. Think of the music contained within the ninja star packaging (which you must unfold to get to the CD) as Nintendo & Atari music meets booming lowrider rap. The first track (which I've come to skip when throwing this CD back on) introduces the band as a band fleeing from their home planet, after the analog revolution, only to come her and and bust some hardcore gangsta rap. The other 9 tracks are very catchy with samples pulled from all sorts of original Nintendo games like The Legend Of Zelda, Double Dragon, and a bunch more that I recognize, but don't remember their names. Sometimes the rhymes are a little flimsy and the vocals could have used some effects in places, but I REALLY like this CD and recomend it to anyone looking for something a little weird or fans of old school video games. My favorites from this CD right now are "Zelda", "Oxygen", and "Bubble Tint". Get this for an all night session of River City Ransom or even Halo on the X-Box (as I did).
I don't like reviewing short CDs, but I love reviewing good CDs and this is definitely a very good one, but also way too short. I guess it's just a demo, but I really love it. Using the word jazzy to describe something might turn off some people, but that is just too bad. The first track on this CD "Dressed in Gray" reminds me of like 70's era jazz. It has a bit of a big band sound, doing a more mellow song, and it's kinda loungy. And the other song, called "The Scene", is way more upbeat and sounds a little like Ben Folds or Son, Ambulance...but also with a jazz influence. You should definitely make the effort to check out this band. And if you go to their website you can hear both of these songs for free. I can absolutely say that Layabout is making music that you don't hear anywhere else right now. Give them a listen.
If you haven't noticed, our No-Fi "Concert Calendar" (with shows all hand picked by us) is quite dominated by shows by Scott Sterling known as "The Fold" which take place at different Silverlake clubs like The Silverlake Lounge, Tangier, and until recently The Derby. That means Scott had to wrangle several shows in one night at different venues at times. You book shows like that and you are going to meet a LOT of cool bands; many of which are featured here in this new CD compilation from last last year called simply The Fold Compilation. This doesn't mean that you have to have heard of any of these bands or be a local to enjoy them, though, as many of these bands are actually doing quite well here in the U.S. and elsewhere. Bands featured here like The Polyphonic Spree, Earlimart, Silversun Pickups, and Metric are just a few of the 29 bands featured here with exclusive or alternate tracks for this CD comp. Also included are two videos, one of which, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, was recorded live at The Silverlake Lounge. My only cavet with this comp is where are The Centimeters?!? They really should have been in cluded in this 2 disc set to show yet another direction of the many great bands that play at The Fold. Still, it's a great set and a great way to listen to a bunch of the great bands that have passed through this great independent club. Get this for a long cross country car drive.
This one's a bit too metal for my taste. But I really think they could be pretty successful. It reminds me a little bit of Faith No More, which is a band that I've always liked and I have more respect for Mike Patton than most people in the music industry. I think the hit on this album is "Last Train Home" oddly enough one of the softer songs on the album. And I swear I've heard this song on KROQ whilst flipping past... or right before Love Line starts. Maybe this band's already huge...I don't know. But it's catchy...and like I said they got the whole Faith No More thing going for them. It's better than Linkin Park. It's a lot better than Stain'd (or is it just Stained? ...how the hell would we know?).
This CD is really good for the most part. I found myself enjoying the first half the most. But some of it is that sort of futuristic sounding rock that I love so much. And I love the keyboards. AND this is another band with a sense of humor.Ý I think this band would be great playing with Pine Marten...and if you know that Pine Marten is one of my favorite bands, then THERE YOU GO! There are a few songs on this CD that I'll skip over while listening to it, but I will be listening to most of it. I think there needs to be more bands like Pro Audio. And there's something to be said for a band that has a good album cover. This one is among the best. It reminds me of a cross between Tool, Oingo Boingo and Dinosaur Jr.. Okay, I'm going to go listen to this CD for the rest of the evening. I hope we hear alot more from this band in the future.
Oh, I don't know...it's not terrible. But, I don't really like it. There's a bunch of religious references, which is all fine and dandy...I have a few Sensefield albums and I'm a huge Pedro The Lion fan. But this is closer to Live territory. And I can't deny that Live is/was a good band, good musicians and everything. It's just not what I want to listen to. So, when I compare this band to Live, I truly mean that as a huge compliment. This music just isn't for me. And if you listen to my radio show and enjoy it, it might not be for you either. If you want to hear pretty singing and guitar you're better off getting Cat Steven's Greatest Hits which is a fancy way of saying the Harold And Maude soundtrack. That would be my recommendation. But if you want to sing out, sing out and if you want to get the Raman Sachdev CD, get the Raman Sachdev CD.
Compilations featuring bands you've never heard of OR have heard of but never actually HEARD can always be scary, but it can be pretty cool too especially if you're like me and are always craving new music. This compilation features six bands, giving each a single's worth of space (about 5 songs each). It's a cool way to showcase bands, giving them a better shot for you to hear what they are really like. The bands featured here, Nazis From Mars, Peelander-Z, Lipstick Pickups, Bobot Adrenaline, Zero Content, and The (No) Apologies Project, are all pretty good. I can imagine playing more than a few tracks from this comp on No-Fi "Radio". I guess if I had to pick a favorite from this CD it'd be Lipstick Pickups with their raw garage sound that makes me want to hop around. Zero Content had some interesting tracks as well, although only one of their five songs lasted over a minute. The idea for the cover and theme is pretty cool. The girl at the top looks like some girl I knew in high school named Carrie Wright. I like the way each band has their own page in the booklet. Oh, and the cover lies... It says there are 24 tracks, but there are actually 99 if you can figure that one out. Get this CD for casual listening at work or while you finally cut that lawn everyone's been bugging you about.Send Tapes, CDs, or Demos to:
No-Fi "Magazine"
attn: Reviews
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