Artist: mewithoutyou
Album: catch for us the foxes
Label: tooth and nail
I suppose this could be considered the new art rock. There’s some parts brit-pop, other parts indie, which at that point might as well be college rock. Point being, don’t let the name fool you as it did me. Mw/oU is ahead of the curve, proving their peers wrong at every turn with dreary downbeats and boiling dance tunes on the same disc. Don’t sleep on this one.
Artist: Nirvana
Album: Sliver the best of the box
Label: geffen
Somebody in the corner office decided that what we needed was the 326th Nirvana collection since Kurt gave birth to nu-metal via a shotgun to the face. Sure you’re reading this in ’06 but let me give you a peek behind OZ’s curtain. This review is being written pre-xmas. That means everyone is doing greatest hits, box sets, dvd’s, and more to cash in on your holiday shopping. Sit tight, there’s more of these below. At any rate, if this is the best of the box, at least they’ve spared us from buying the whole box to figure it out. Home demos, studio demos, original versions, radio performances and more close out one of the least conclusive Nirvana collections to date. 3 versions on the disc are *previously unreleased. This one is for collectors only.
Artist: the roots
Album: Home Grown V1/V2
Label: geffen
Most any person I know will act like the worlds biggest fan of the Roots. I suspect if they were given a copy of Ill-1/2life they’d guess 50 cent before they said Roots. Hip-Hop’s premiere live act drops two volumes of greatest hits including a few rarities and your favorites from “What They Do” to Jill Scott cameo-ed “You Got Me.” Another ploy to grab your attention for a collection as dear to your wallet as your soul? Perhaps, but in my humble opinion, if you don’t already have a full range of Roots music, this can get you in at ground level.
Artist: over the line
Album: a wok in regress
Label: unsigned
I’m pretty sure OTL would love to have the worst review the magazine has ever given. However, the first band to ever grace the cover of Smash Magazine has taken their time and recorded it right. Ska…the dirtiest 3 lettered-4 letter word is all over this disc. If the 80’s/90’s ska-punk sound wasn’t your vibe you might skip it. If you’re too young to have ever actually been to the warped tour in the mid-nineties, get this. Over the Line keeps it traditional with a sound that carries humor, sincerity, and the chanted “Fuck the Cops.” Long live protest. Down with the man. A work in regress? This is anything but. Kudos to one of the Vegas valley’s hardest working acts for stepping up to the next level.
Artist: alexisonfire/moneen
Album: split ep
Label: vagrant
By a show of hands, how many of you can name 2 songs by Moneen? That’s what I thought. While its funny to hear someone else cover AoF, I’m not sure that I’d have chosen old Canadian pals Moneen as the band to fit the bill. A scheme to introduce the label’s act to the ever growing base of AoF fans? Most likely. Though I’d suspect this one does huge numbers in Canada. Musically, it becomes apparent to me that AoF has taken the time to truly craft someone else’s songs into their own. Moneen on the other hand may just have put down the Xbox controller just long enough to play their parts and get back to the boob tube.
Artist: slipknot
Album: 9.0 live
Label: roadrunner
So they released the dvd…this is the audio transcription of that release. Live tracks from Slipknot are surprisingly well done. Through Stone Sour and the evolution of the worlds angriest band, Slipknot, frontman Corey Taylor has proven to be more than just another meathead with a fierce growl. Put the mask jokes away and pay attention. For a band that’s 1 member short of a ska band, all 26 of them work together to make some pretty tight performances of their otherwise chaotic recordings. The radio tracks are on there, the crowd favorites are on there. Its another greatest hits of sorts but nice to hear that it isn’t like watching wrestling on tv. Its real, its sincere, and its not all angry.
Artist: Various
Album: Drive-Thru records greatest hits
Label: drive-thru
Ah yes, the label that turned a million kids anorexic. Do you weigh 90 pounds? Where a hooded sweatshirt? Studded belt? Are you under the legal drinking age? This label is responsible for all of that. The early success of bands including Fenix TX and A New Found Glory paved the road for endless Warped Tour’s to come. You’ll find the songs you know and love from these folks and more…like those zaney kids in Allister, the first stuff from Senses Fail, Finch, and newer additions like Hellogoodbye. The record is certainly a bit of a flashback, mocking and guilty pleasures aside, spend some time with your past. Don’t deny it…you know you put that Something Corporate track on a mixtape for her back in the day.
Artist: wilco
Album: kicking television (live in Chicago)
Label: nonesuch
Look, some of you are just really into this band and I don’t know if its my undying hatred for anything loosely considered hippy rock or what but I don’t really get it. Met these guys back in 1997 and they were the nicest doods but the majority of their songs are more than 6 minutes long a piece and sound like something my parents would listen to. Short of Motown, that means it wouldn’t stand a chance in my book. Do me a favor, if you’re into this band and you happen to pick this one up. You tell me about it. Maybe we’ll publish your review in the next issue, because if you think I’m going to even attempt to hear the second disc, you’re out of your mind.
Artist: Sublime
Album: Sublime Gold
Label: Gasoline Alley
That’s right kids, say it with me, it’s: ANOTHER GREATEST HITS! Sublime’s beach-lax style was one of the first to truly introduce a dj into what they were doing. Read the whole story inside the cover. It’ll give you a pretty good insight into what was going on while they were slowly building one of the brightest stars to burn out before its time. The cover is the infamous patio/pool shot, Lou dog included (is that dog still around today?) This one is a bit more of a complete career retrospective than just a greatest hits. The cd is dope though…possibly literally. Trust us. We know because of KRS-1.
Artist: Maylene and the Sons of Disaster
Album: s/t
Label: mono vs. stereo
So this is what the old front man from underoath has been up to? Imagine Jethro Tull playing hardcore…or maybe Terror covering Jethro Tull…lets go with that first example. Definitely doing their part to reinvent southern rock, the guitar tones are familiar in parts taking from some of today’s more popular metal but in the same breath a real southern rockabilly vibe comes through. With song titles like “Tough as John Jacobs” and “Hell on the Rise” I suppose you cant help but sound a bit tough. I’m guessing these guys have beards, guns and possibly even a jug of moonshine in the back of the van.
Artist: Kid Deposit Triumph
Album: Our Peace Will Destroy Many
Label: unsigned
The debut ep from Vegas’s Iron Maiden cover band. Seriously, its that good. If the open and close to this record were all you heard, you might think it were a Santana record. Just one track into the release and fair handed melodies collide with guttural screams leading the listener into sweet choruses you’ll be begging to leave your head. Solid production and packaging give yet another local band a chance to be taken seriously as this record cant be judged by anything other than pure musical capability and the songs delivered therein. Maybe you skip the remix at the end of the record just to save yourself from becoming what presumably is the butt of an inside joke but if you dismiss the 6 songs on account of “too much screaming” or maybe the opposite for you long-hairs “too much emo-whine” you might be sniffing too much of whatever you’re shoveling. This one’s another benchmark for unsigned musicians
