"Much More Than Purely Dismissive Music Reviews"
This is one of a bunch of long delayed music reviews I need to get to. So let's get behind it. This is the newest six song e.p. from No-Fi favorite AMPS ON TEN and I have to say that while it's good, I'm just not in love with it like their previous two CDs. The CD opens well enough with "And Me And Me...", but doesn't seem to go anywhere. I'd almost like to say that that it is an extended intro to the rest of the album. The second track "The Hammer Of Your Truth" reveals what I think may be the flaw in the album. I think the vocal mix may be off. These guys can really sing, but the vocals seem a little off on most of the tracks here. Bringing in more electronic sounds is welcome, but again the mix seems a little off and I wish some of the electronics were a little more in the background (or even somewhat distorted...we are No-Fi after all) and the guitars more in the foreground. All in all I like AMPS ON TEN a LOT and I have a strong feeling that all of these songs sound better live than what I'm hearing here. If you haven't seen them live, you really should, but check out their previous CDs first before getting this one. I look forward to booking them at another show soon (yes, we're FINALLY going to be doing shows again), so that shows you how little this CD impacted my overall view of them. It's not bad... It's not not up to par with their other releases. 
CLINIC are back and they are most welcome, but I do wonder if they are still having the same fun they were when they started. Don't get me wrong, this IS a good album, but there is something...(and I don't know what)....missing in the picture. I think it is a little softer than their other releases and I always say when you're leaning a little too mellow, better start rocking out even harder. (How TENACIOUS D of me.) Maybe some of the songs are too similar to other songs they've done. That could be my main nit-pick about the album. It's like they took a bus on a short trip from their last album to this one with no drop offs or pick ups in between. If you have any of their past releases, then you know exactly what they sound like. Now there is a good thing about that. Now admit it...you would probably still love David Byrne and other great musicians if they didn't discover "World Music". He and others changed their sound entirely and while some would say they've grown, others would say they just suck now. CLINIC certainly do not suck and nor does this album, but it's hard to review it without repeating myself. So to sum them up, take early 60s girl groups, mix them up with RADIOHEAD and THE RAMONES, and then turn down the vocals so you can sort of hear them, but not understand them (and something tells me that if you heard them, you STILL wouldn't understand them) and you get CLINIC. No one ever old THE RAMONES to totally change their style. Well, somebody probably did and those people should be punched in the craw. CLINIC are still what I would call one of No-Fi "Radio"'s flagship bands. So get this album, put it in a CD carousel with their other albums and you won't even know the difference.
So I'm going through our boxes that we used while moving to the new place;...some filled with old stuff, some filled with stuff we threw in there while moving stuff in. And here I find this album which was sent to me for review and I didn't even know it! (This isn't the first case of this...every month I'm finding stuff from earlier in the year that was sent to us during our moving period.) So I was upset and happy at the same time. DEAD KENNEDYS is one of my favorite bands ever (introduced to my by a mix tape . While I'm not old enough to have been able to see them live while they were together, this could be the next best thing as the sound on this live album from 1979, recorded live at The Deaf Club in San Francisco sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday. This show was actually recorded for a compilation of bands playing live at The Deaf Club, but only a few songs were used on the comp. This was also the last show that band member "6025" played with the DEAD KENNEDYS and his part in the band was surely missed in later albums. So there are 14 songs in this live CD including some of my favorites like "Ill In The Head", "Police Truck" and strange early versions of "Kill The Poor" and "When You Get Drafted (listed here as "Back In Rohodesia". The highlight of the show/cd is the totally unreleased song that I've never heard even on bootlegs called "Gaslight" which would be a great song even if it were recorded and released today. Good album art (and booklet). They could have made this the cheapest way possible, but they actually did a good job on the packaging. This is a great live album and I'm suprised it took so long to be released. Jello Biafra is funny in between songs like when he makes fun of the people throwing up sieg heil signs to him. If only I could have been there to see it all live. Well, now I have a recording of the show and now if you excuse me, I'm going to listen to it again. Get this to use for a pretend DEAD KENNEDYS show starring all your action figures...then stomp all over them in the pit.
First off....LOVE the cover. Pretty much anything that would have Kathleen Hanna's smiling face is a good design choice. The artwork inside the booklet is good too. Whoever Doug Cunningham is, he's welcome to draw for us anytime...mind you, most of the drawings I'd request would be of Kathleen Hanna; jumping, running, reading...thinking. Awwww. Well before I get lost in thought of hopeless visions of the very not-straight Kathleen Hanna, I gotta cop to the fact that I am pretty disappointed with this album. By far the most commercial work that Kathleen and the girls have done, its commercial pop sometimes outglosses even that of recent superstar divas whose names are rarely allowed in our, now, virtual pages. I loved their debut album and heard things I liked from their last album (which I don't have for some reason). I should have known there would be a problem when I started seeing bus stops and billboards adourned with the cover of this album around town. This album isn't bad...but it sure doesn't have any of the punk (or electro-punk) feel of their previous work in this and other bands they've been in. I guess any idea of punk is lost all together when you open the jewel case and see the "FBI Anti-Piracy Warning" in the middle of the CD that's actually more promenint than their own name and album title. This is a pop/dance album and I don't need to do anything more than direct you to their cover of THE POINTER SISTERS' "I'm So Excited" to prove it. There ARE a lot of great messages on this album, but if I had a little 12 year old sister, I'd probably end of giving this CD to her..."mysteriously" losing the pictures of Kathleen Hanna first (She's just soooo cute!). Plus while they are partying about recent huge steps in gay rights, they should have used this opportunity to tear several new ones in the administration that is trying their hardest to take it all away. If you've never heard LE TIGRE, I DIRECT you to buy their self titled debut album. Get this one for a dance party with your conservative friends...then laugh at them later for dancing to "their enemy".
It's so refreshing when we get new music from bands that so encompass the no-fi philosophy. This is the first full length CD by THE MONOLATORS (that I know of) and while I'm several months late in getting this review up, that doesn't mean I haven't been playing it a lot on No-Fi "Radio". The CD opens with a couple nice true garage rock tunes "Summertime In My Car" and "Radio's On". They set the tone for the rest of the album. The music reminds me of something in between the INSECT SURFERS (but with vocals) and BLACK 47. My favorites on this album are "Tiny Bicycles", "Office Drone", and "Prom Queen" (which will make you jump around the house singing along). A great debut CD, but I already want them to put out another. Well, maybe they'll put out some singles until then. Get this one for a late night or early morning drive along the beach. Hopefully those surfers'll get out of your way if they know whats good for them.
In almost every track on this too short CD, I find something that I like a lot. But just when I start getting into it, everything changes and all the sudden I'm listening to something else. And it is hard to figure out where songs are as some of the songs run together on the same track. It's like somebody broke the record and crazy-glued it all back together out of order. As long as it sounds good, I'm fine with that and while this album does test me, I still like it in general terms. Now if I only had the power to do my own remix album of this one. Best songs on this CD are "Autobahn", "Dance Party", and Spring Break". Get this one to play really loud on that boombox you have pointed at your neighbor's house. Hopefully I'll be hearing more from this band as I stand intrigued so far.
When I first put this in my car stereo on the drive to work, I took an audio double take. The lead singer's voice sounds sooo much like Jim McCray, former singer of SHLUMPF and GYMICRAE, it's frightening. In fact they are so almost exactly alike and the guitar progressions so similar, I had to look in the cd booklet to see if it was him. But no, this is somebody else entirely and I seriously doubt that this band has even heard of Jim McCray or any of his bands. Maybe part of it is nostalgia, but I really really like this CD. Any band that can write the lyric "I'm gay as a choirboy for you" (in the song "Nothing To You") is alright in my book. Lead singer Adam Stephens voice and guitar work is amazing and I don't care how silly that sounds. My favorite songs on this CD at the moment are "You Losin' Out", "Fail Hard To Regain" (which for some reason reminds me of a wilder POGUES...with better teeth), and "Nothing To You". It's a sound that I've been missing in my life and it is nice to hear it again. Luckily TWO GALLANTS are doing something different with it. Get this one to play in your car during a date. Just make sure you turn it up if things get to loud or sticky in the back seat.
I don't personally review a lot of solo artists here in No-Fi "Magazine", because I prefer to focus on the music I like rather than tearing down up-and-comers (even when they deserve to be torn down which is a pretty strong statement from me). Plus it is easier to "spread the blame" through an entire band than to tell somebody, "Hey, I don't like what you're doing." In Ethan Daniel Davidson's newest EP, I find it easier to review because while I don't like some of the song styles (blues or country rock is a personal no-go with me), I do like the spirit behind the songs and there are a few good tunes in here that don't fall in some of the genres I dislike. There is some controversial stuff here too and I hope it get's heard by a lot of people because he puts things in a perspective that you never get to hear in the mainstream media these days. My favorite track on this EP is the most controversial of all, "Terrorist" and it lays out the similarities between the people fighting in Isreal and Palistine is a very bold way that no radio station in the states would even touch. It is very different from the rest of the songs on this album with electronic beats and spoken word vocals. So, I'm impossibly far from being won over to the country/blues rock genre, I think that Ethan is a very capable singer songwriter and I think with more genre hopping songs, he will be far better known than he is so far.Send Tapes, CDs, or Demos to: For any other information, E-Mail Chris Beyond at the link below.
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