Hellion
Something never in short supply in our group is empathy, so that when a member told us of the challenge she’s facing to sing improvised dialogue in a community production of a spoof opera, we thrust ourselves into having a go, just to understand what it would feel like.
Beginning with a completely spontaneous, sung, remark from me, the dialogue was continued round the group, each person in turn responding to the one before with a new phrase. To our utter surprise, not only was the singing good, but the improvised ’script’ was hilarious and not one person failed to sing when their turn came along.
I think the exercise was a fine encouragement for our opera star member and it was a revelation, too, how some who regularly have difficulty with holding a melody line, were able to sing out loud and clear, improvising words and music on the spot. Wonderful what we can do when we just ‘let go’ and allow our deeper selves to direct us.
Perhaps this is something worth exploring further.
We will have to making a booking for the ENJOY MUSIC! crowd for that show when it’s staged.
After that, we sang ALWAYS THE SINGING with harmony in the chorus and HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING?
Finally, getting off the ’singing’ topic, we revised the harmonies for ROW ON and managed to sing it rather well, with a lovely, full sound which left just enough time for us to do some scales on the instruments, adding rhythm and percussion, at the end of the morning.
I would think the purpose of sending out a blanket blast of promos is to get someone’s attention, get your album reviewed, and use that press to build up more excitement for your band. So Terrordome, mission accomplished!
I received a 5 song blast from Polish thrashers Terrordome, and it hearkens back to the glory days of thrash. This is full-on, mash the accelerator and hold on for dear life music. It goes by in a blur, the average song length is only about 2 minutes, but they manage to pack a punch in every second that is recorded. The press release cites Slayer, Dark Angel, and Cryptic Slaughter as influences and they aren’t kidding around. If you ever thought Slayer and not Metallica were the height of thrash, this one’s for you.
And you gotta love bands where English is a second language. I don’t mean to poke fun at all; it’s just that they use English with such gusto, like the album title, “We’ll Show You Mosh, Bitch!” Song titles are good too, like the energetic “Thrash Til Deaf”, which I have no doubt would be the end result of a Terrordome show. I kinda like “Silence (While the Violence’s On)”, too, as a title. It’s like those European guys on Family Guy, they use the language as best they can but there are always little cues that English is not the mother tongue for them.
So anyhoo, this release is short and sweet and this review will be too. If you like early, old school thrash, if you like metal that relentlessly pummels while it makes you feel so good at the same time, get your mitts on this release and party like its 1984.
-– ODIN
My producer gives me a countdown inside my earpiece. “Three, two, one. We’re live.”
“Greetings fellow waveriders. My name is Penfold. Thank you for joining me this evening. If you look back on my writings for The Ripple Effect you’ll discover that I enjoy telling a humorous, entertaining yarn. It’s true. I count humor as one of my greatest allies in the fight against musical disinterest. Tonight however, I’m here to discuss a very serious topic that affects us all. That’s right. Not only does this issue affect grown men and women. No! It affects those most vulnerable among us…our children. What is this issue you ask? I’ll tell you. We fail to properly highlight the triumphs of our day to day existence.”
“Think about this for a moment. Did something magical happen in your life today? Okay, perhaps magical is not the right word. Did something great occur today thanks to your words or deeds? Still too strong? Fine. Did something good happen to you today? Ha! I knew it! Since that is indeed the case, allow me to follow up that question with another. Did anyone stand up and cheer for you when this good thing transpired? Uh huh, I thought not. How did that make you feel? Pretty unappreciated right? Well I’m here to tell you that those days of feeling unappreciated are over! That’s right folks, today we’re introducing a new product that is guaranteed to make your friends, coworkers, or anyone else around you stand up and cheer! Behold…the What Cheer? Brigade!”
“Yes my friends. What you see on your screen is the world’s first, and only, personalized marching band! Your eyes do not deceive you. For a low, low fee you can hire this fully accredited nineteen-member band to follow you or whomever you choose for an entire day. Over the course of their employment the band will monitor your activities. Upon receiving the agreed upon signal they will launch into an appropriately high energy, crowd moving number of your choosing. Remember all of those unaffected people from before? Well this highly motivational music is guaranteed to excite anyone within shouting distance. After all, the only thing those neutral observers lack is proper motivation. The What Cheer? Brigade will fix that quick, fast, and in a hurry!”
“With the What Cheer? Brigade in tow the good things in your day to day life will be celebrated in a manner you could previously only imagine. Here are a few examples. You’re at work and get the news that you’ve just been chosen for that highly sought after promotion. Boom! The Brigade explodes into your high school/college fight song! A customer informs you that you went above and beyond the call of duty to help them, and that they really appreciate your efforts. Bang! The Brigade is right there to play an energetic, feel good Motown classic. That cost of living raise comes through. Bam! Everybody starts gyrating to some serious funk thrown down by the What Cheer? band members.”
“What if you choose to send the Brigade to accompany your child? Excellent choice. Let’s say they get a passing grade on their most recent test or homework assignment. Perhaps they need a self-confidence boost at some point during Physical Education class? Maybe they’ve just been elected to student council? Shazam! The What Cheer? Brigade will make their bombastic presence known. Your child will then ride a wave of adoration, imagined or real, for at least the remainder of the school day. Trust me, kids of all ages love musicians with big drums and bigger instruments.”
“Best of all, if you call within the next twenty minutes we will slash the already low asking price in half! That’s right! Half off! Fifty percent! Simply call 1-800-NOT-REAL within the next nineteen minutes and fifty two seconds to take advantage of this special offer. Tell them Penfold sent you!”
Waveriders, this all started with a simple assignment. One of my bosses, the one and only Racer X, sent me out among the tubes and dump trucks that make up the internet superhighway on a fact finding mission to Skyscraper Media’s promotional site. When I arrived I was to find out if there were any musical offerings that struck my fancy. I browsed through the selections looking for something that really jumped off the page. Lo and behold, most of the way down the list I see a picture of several young musicians with a variety of brass instruments, horns, and drums under the name What Cheer? Brigade. Interesting. What is the name of the album? We Blow You Suck. Haha! That’s awesome! The site told me to file this group under marching bands, and punk. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
Due to my uncanny desire to discover interesting new music that falls outside of the well-established norm I could not wait for my download to finish. Let me tell you how ecstatic I was (and still am) when the music turned out to be better than I ever expected. A long time ago I was in a marching band you see, so I had some idea as to what this was going to sound like. Strangely enough, my high school marching band never sounded as cool as the What Cheer? Brigade. Not even close! This nineteen member strong band out of Providence, Rhode Island produces some downright infectious tunes. There are five trumpet players, one tuba player, one sousaphone player, two saxophone players, three trombone players, four drummers, one cymbal player, and a manager. I know that only adds up to eighteen people, but those are all the active duty members listed on their website.
Now I know what you’re thinking. Nineteen people? Really? Nineteen members make for an awfully large band, but here’s the thing. Impressively, all the individual musicians function together flawlessly. Seriously, this is one well-oiled machine! The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Several of the songs on this album were recorded live, and there is no evidence of a misplayed or poorly timed note! Furthermore, I would not be surprised to find out that the studio recorded songs were done in one take by the full band in one large room. I’m probably wrong about this, but the ‘one big room scenario’ is the way I personally like to picture the recording session. Now let’s get into the songs.
The What Cheer? Brigade describes their sound as “an aggressive mix of Bollywood, The Balkans, New Orleans, Samba and Hip-Hop, played with the intensity of metal”. Unfortunately I am not qualified to confirm or deny the first portion of this statement as I am not very familiar with the musical elements of Bollywood, and I know nothing about music from the Balkans. I apologize. What I can say is that this music is undeniably intense and that I clearly hear the jazziness of New Orleans, the drive of samba music, and the funkiness inherent in hip-hop all throughout these songs. Album opener “Malaguena” is Latin to the core. “Green Eyes” and “Ederlezi” paint the picture of a band marching down a street in New Orleans strutting their stuff. “Missy Sa-Sa” and “Ja Helo” each have thunderous drumming comparable to the best hip-hop beats. If there is one song on the album that I would refer to as punk, it would definitely be the up-tempo barn burner “13 Monsters”. The beginning of this track even has hardcore-esque shout along vocals. To top everything off did I mention that they do a cover of Slayer’s “Raining Blood” that they call “Raining Buba”? That’s right people, and do you know what? Similar to the original, it rules! As a matter of fact whenever I currently think about that song, more often than not I hear the What Cheer? Brigade version in my head. I call that a ringing endorsement!
Waveriders, every now and then in your listening life you have the opportunity to come across something different. Something that is outside of your established patterns of likes and dislikes. The What Cheer? Brigade is something different, and I’m here to tell you that this band is good. Really, really good! Take a chance on this crew. You won’t regret it. Just don’t blame me when you start rifling through your closet/attic searching for that old instrument (it has to be somewhere!?!) that will allow you to play along.
–Penfold
Buy Here- http://www.whatcheerbrigade.com/buy/
Only one month into the year and I already have my #1 album of 2012. What’s a heavy music fan to do? Enjoy it for the rest of my life, that’s what.
The first time I heard a riff-laden Iron Balls Of Steel, the full-length debut by LOINCLOTH, I was streaming it on the computer, and not too long after that the vinyl was spinning in my record player and the album cover was in my hands. That might have been the quickest music purchase I ever made. In fact, I know it was. I ordered the record online almost a month before it was released.
I’ve really liked a lot of music coming from Southern Lord Records, but the problem is: I haven’t cared for a lot of the vocals. Well, the Lord answered my prayers on January 17 and my problem’s been solved. Seriously heavy riffs – no fucking vocals. Yeah, you know how I love that instrumental stuff.
This is 16 tracks and nearly 40 minutes of pure bone-jarring riffage. There’s no pretty acoustic guitars. No dreamy intros or fancy solos. I said pure riffage and I meant it. Quick, start-stop riffs you swore were just there. Lumbering riffs that kinda linger in the air. On this record, chugging riffs are everywhere. You’d better have Iron Balls Of Steel cause you’re gonna get kicked in the junk when you listen to it.
Former members of North Carolina’s death/doom outfit Confessor, Steve Shelton (drums) and Cary Rowells (bass), have joined up with Virginia’s man of many riffs, Tannon Penland, to create one of the most unique heavy albums I’ve heard in a very long time. This is one of my favorite metal releases in maybe 10 years or more. I love it that much.
About: “The idea behind the formation of riff-mangling instrumental/progressive act, LOINCLOTH, was to create a band that focused only on the things that made the members’ favorite form of music inspiring and powerful, steering clear of cliché formulas, and choosing instead to carve its name out sheer force of will. Punishing riffs and a mean rhythm section were all they were interested in…To them, metal was getting punched in the face by sinister riffs while a tight rhythm section kicked them with counter-beats to the gut!”
Iron Balls Of Steel is raw and stripped down to it’s… well…LOINCLOTH. (Gasp) It’s ter-RIFF-ic metal for all the people like me who want nothing more than to rock the fuck out and not listen to a growling, groaning or wailing singer while I’m doing it. I don’t need no stinking vocals.
I asked Penland if there were ever any plans to have a singer on this record.
“No, the plan from the beginning was to create something that focused on abstract rhythmical spaces with no interference from vocals or guitar leads,” he said. “We had thought about bringing in a singer as a guest to possibly do a cover. I strangely, have never played a cover song (in any of my bands-present or former). We just didn’t have time to do it. It would be interesting to hear a singer in context of Loincloth. I would imagine it would be pretty fucking frustrating for a lot of people to attempt.”
Could you describe your music in your own words?
Penland: “Loincloth is a difficult beast to describe. At the root it is quite primitive It celebrates the metal we love in a rather abstract way. How to kaleidoscopically explore a singular riff through its endless rhythmical possibilities and keep it HEAVY was our goal. As a singular tag, I really don’t know? ‘Steve Shelton Metal’? haha…”
He has a particular fondness for the dummer, no respect to the bass-player, however. “It was a joy to make this record. Steve and I were are able to create not only what we wanted to hear, but something that we wanted to communicate to a larger dialogue in metal. For me it is particularly special because I have always been a ‘drum nut’ and Steve is my favorite drummer on the planet. To play with Shelton was a true gift every time I walked into the practice space.”
As much as I love this album, the chances seeing the band in person in the near future seem to be slim and none.
“I do wish we could take this record out live, but it is a virtually impossible task at the moment. We live in different states and the other guys have pretty rock-solid work schedules. Also, for Loincloth to sound “right” live we would need a second guitar player and we don’t have one of those.”
Too bad. I’d love to see and hear them play live. I’ll just have to stick with my vinyl and hope I don’t wear it out any time soon. I suppose my digital copy is always an option.
The Japanese version of Iron Balls Of Steel (Daymare Recordings) contains remastered versions of old material, Penland added.
I’m not gonna try to compare this record to anything else because I don’t think I’ve heard anything quite like it. To me, it’s is a one-of-a-kind metal masterpiece and I won’t soon forget the day I got it in the mail and placed it gingerly on the turntable. The only thing that would make it better: if it would have come with an actual loincloth. I gotta get me one of those now, and I’ll rock out with my cock (almost) out. Best band name of the year for me, too. Maybe ever.
LOINCLOTH. Fuck yes. I can pretty much guarantee that I won’t like anything more than Iron Balls Of Steel this year. Guess I’ll keep looking for the rest of my top-10.
*footnote: I love this record so much that I personally made these videos (with permission) so you could hear LOINCLOTH for yourself.
–Heddbuzz
Mark Lanegan Band – Blues Funeral
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
Of Montreal – Paralytic Stalks
Dr. Dog – Be The Void
A Place To Bury Strangers – Onwards To The Wall
Fucked Up – Year Of The Tiger
Cocteau Twins – Stars And Topsoil: A Collection (1982-1990)
Gotan Project – La Revancha Del Tango
Ceremony – Hysteria 7″
The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know
Trailer Trash Tracys – Ester
Colour Revolt – S/T
Lindstrom – Six Cups Of Rebel
Wymond Miles – Earth Has Doors EP
Swell Maps – A Trip To Marineville (Reissue)
Swell Maps – In “Jane From Occupied Europe” (Reissue)
Deftones – Saturday Night Wrist (Reissue)
Steve Moore & Majeure – Brainstorm
Windy & Carl – We Will Always Be
Co La – Daydream Repeater
Donovan Quinn – Honky Tonk Medusa
Rockin’ Horse – Yes It Is
Useless Eaters – C’est Bon!
Digital Leather – Modern Problems
Inner Tube – S/T
V/A – We Are The Works In Progress (Japanese Disaster Benefit)
Mount Eerie – Distorted Cymbals 7″
Callers / Delicate Steve – Split 7″
Ambulance – It’s All Up To You 7”
Pamela – S/T 7”
The winter months are apt for dark and seductive synth-pop, even from artists on the West Coast that don’t have to endure the blistering chill. Nite Jewel (real name Ramona Gonzalez) doesn’t release her new album One Second of Love until March, but we’ve already heard a few tracks — like “She’s Always Watching You”
“Mrs. Sleepyhead” is the lead single off Swedish singer Marie Lalás debut EP, Search of Sound. Inspired by parts ’60s girl groups and Jazz-infused cabaret pop, Lalás’ music is accessible and radio-friendly; the only reason she hasn’t taken over pop airwaves yet is because her musical forays are brand new