Tag Archives: 2010 In Music

CD Review, Music

CD Review: Latin [2010]

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Band: Holy Fuck
Release: 5/2010
Label: XL

1. “MD” – C-
2. “Red Lights” – C
3. “Latin America” – B
4. “Stay Lit'” – C+
5. “Silva & Grimes” – C
6. “SHT MTN” – C+
7. “Stilettos” – B
8. “Lucky” – C-
9. “P.I.G.S” – C+

Comments: I tend to hold any band that has some sort of blasphemy in their name more accountable than usual. No different for Holy Fuck. “MD” doesn’t help their cause as it sounds like combination of being blown from a wind tunnel and taking off into space. This album’s all over the place, but WAIT FOR IT, that’s what the kids call improvisation these days. Ah, yes. For an electronica number, “Latin America” is pretty solid, but it’s not very exciting. I guess the cool thing about this band is they recognize when to keep fun tempos up like in “Stay Lit.” So yeah, this record as a whole doesn’t do much for me!!! It’s like eating a chicken cutlet without any batter or seasoning.

Grade: C (76)

Entertainment, Music, Song Review

Song Review: “I’ve Got A Feeling”

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Band: Eddy Current Suppression Ring
Release: 2010 [Rush to Relax]
Label: Goner

Comments: Heard this on WMBR yesterday and decided to give it another listen. It’s nice to know that this Aussie band knows the correct grammar instead of the lame “I Gotta Feeling,” which… makes no sense at all. Enough about that. Time to pop on the headphones. This is not bad. It’s a lyrically simplistic garage punk rhyme. It’s not so catchy, but almost innocently fetching. I’d say if it wasn’t for the bridge and the guitar solo at the end this would be really lackluster.

Grade: B

Listen: http://polaroidsofandroids.com/reacharounds/eddy-current-suppression-ring-ive-got-a-feeling/4606.html

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: $ (2010)

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Band: Mark Sultan
Release: 4/2010
Label: Last Gang Records

1. “Icicles” – B
2. “Don’t Look Back” – B+
3. “Ten of Hearts” – B+
4. “Status” – B
5. “I Get Nothing From My Girl” – B+
6. “Go Berserk” – A
7. “I Am the End” – A-
8. “Misery’s Upon Us” – A
9. “I’ll Be Lovin’ You” – A-
10. “Waiting For Me” – A+
11. “Just to Hold You” – A-
12. “Catastrophe” – A-
13. “Nobody But You” – A

Comments: This is Sultan’s follow-up to his (wonderful) tastefully distorted 2007 garage pop album Sultantic Verses. “Icicles” begins with four minutes of distortion before Sultan’s fuzzy vocals enter, making the song sound more psychedelic and experimental than we are used to. “Don’t Look Back” is heavy on the drums and jangly on the guitar. It sounds like it’s primed for a Western. To give some mnstrmrs a sense of direction, it sounds a little like “Brian Eno” by MGMT. “Ten of Hearts” is the album’s first endeavor into the world of classic oldies. The production on this track is excellent packed with vintage recording techniques and structures like doo-wop harmonies, a light bass, and horns. “Status” was the first track that we got a sneak of back a couple of months ago. My initial thoughts was that it was chaotic and maybe too much so. The ending is a tad unnecessary in one man’s opinion. “I Get Nothing” is another golden gem with strong lyrics, but a rather done before musical tonality. “Go Berserk” is the funnest gem of the first six! Great guitar prowess! Sultan shows off his vocal range on “I Am the End” in a near superciliously fascinating way. Say what? Basically, Mark Sultan is one of the only men in rock and roll that can sing. Sing sing. “Misery’s Upon Us” is up there as well. This version of “I’ll Be Lovin’ You” is a bit more chaotic than the King Khan and BBQ Show version. It’s slightly sped up, for better or for worse. More guitars, more drums, more distortion and plus it features a slow break followed by a doo-wop arrangement to top things off. “Waiting For Me” is another one of my favorites off of this LP. “Catastrophe” is cool. Not the best, but cool. “Nobody But You” is a neat closer. It’s got some very cool effects on both vocals and guitar. Overall, I really like this album. At first, I wasn’t entirely convinced, but I know its got a handful of really listenable gems.

Grade: A- (90)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

Re-CD Review: Gay Singles [2010]

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*A review for this album was originally made back in October 2009, but to keep up with the times here is a more official review!


Band: Hunx and His Punx
Release: 2/2010
Label: Matador

1. “You Don’t Like Rock ‘n’ Roll” – A
2. “Gimmie Gimmie Back Your Love” – A
3. “Hey Rocky” – A
4. “Movin’ On” – A-
5. “Cruising” – A
6. “Good Kisser” – A
7. “Don’t Cha Want Me Back” – B+
8. “The Last Time” – A-
9. “Teardrops on My Telephone” – A
10. “I Won’t Get Under You” – A-
11. “You Better Tell That Girl” – A-
12. “Do the Make Up” – A+

Comments: As Chris said in a concert review from October 3, “If you think you have seen homocore or queercore, then look again. Hunx and His Punx is just about as gay as it gets and unabashedly so.” If you ignore the hilariously creepy/flamboyant lyrics, these are pretty damn awesome glam pop-punk songs. You know, basic chord structures playing underneath an effeminate voice. Let’s not ignore lyrics for one second. Take “Hey Rocky,” which is about a gay one night stand with said man. Lyrics alone could be offensive to many, but a plethora of popular hip-hop/pop songs today are just as disgusting/immoral as this. You can’t make the claim that these songs aren’t catchy. Musically, they are as fun as can be. “I’ve got so many fellas, I make all the ladies jealous. Just hope they’re playing on my team,” hollers Hunx on “Cruisin’.” A typical immediate reaction might be: “Oh my…gay!” And that was my reaction. Try watching 10 seconds of the music video. But..but…”Cruisin’” is easily one of the rhythmically catchiest songs on here. A lot of these songs pop into my head randomly during the day. “You like Morrissey, you like U2…what the fuck is wrong with you? Are you deaf or just plain dumb?” This definitely grew on me with 6+ months of listening, so maybe I’m a little biased in giving this a really good score compared to most albums that I listen to in a day or so.

Grade: A- (92)

7" Review, Entertainment, Music

7″ Review: Best Friend

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Band: The Drums
Release: 3/2010
Label: Moshi Moshi

1. “Best Friend” – A-
2. “Baby, That’s Not the Point” – C+
3. “You’re the Only One Who Makes Me Happy” – B

Comments: Quirky post-punk/art rock comes from these Brooklyn jammers. With elements of surf, baroque pop, and electronica, “Best Friend” comes through as a success. The echo-laced vocals on “Baby” don’t really get my ears buzzing, to borrow a phrase from Hunx. “You’re” is a return to form with a very catchy bass sequence despite stale vocals.

Grade: B (84)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Punk [2010]

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Band: Reverend Elvis and the Undead Syncopators
Release: 3/2010
Label: Suzy Q Records

1. “I’m A Blues Punk” – B-
2. “Trouble” – B+
3. “The Angel of Death” – B
4. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” – B+
5. “Never Let You Go” – B+
6. “666” – B
7. “Tainted Love” – A-
8. “I Still Believe” – B
9. “Dead Before You Died” – B+
10. “Boppin’ The Blues” – B
11. “Country Heroes” – B-
12. “Rockabilly Riot” – B
13. “Honky Tonkin” – B
14. “Killer Wolf” – B+

Comments: A cross between Bob Dylan and Bloodshot Bill, Reverend Elvis is a great story teller and his back-up crew, the Undead Syncopators, play some sweet licks behind him. “I’m drinking all night long and getting high/I’m drinking all night long not afraid to die” sings Rev. Elvis on “Kill” with a drunken delivery. The band channels fellow rockers King Khan and BBQ Show on “Never Let You Go” if only because of the line: “Oh, little girl I love you/ I love you so and never let you go.” Side note: singing about little girls never gets old does it? How old is little? 20? Hopefully?  Ever wanted to hear a rockabilly cover of Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” ??? I was actually expecting a GG Allin cover based on the first few chords, but no go. Rev. Elvis really does the chorus great. Ever bopped the blues? BBT has bopped the blues. Unveiled for the first time: a new KLYAM designation. See below.

Grade: B (85)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Volume Two [2010]

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Band: She & Him
Release: 3/2010
Label: Merge

1. “Thieves” – B+
2. “In The Sun” – A-
3. “Don’t Look Back” – C
4. “Ridin’ In My Car” – C+
5. “Lingering Still” – C+
6. “Me And You” – B-
7. “Gonna Get Along Without You Now” – B-
8. “Home” – C+
9. “I’m Gonna Make It Better” – B+
10. “Sing” – B+
11. “Over It Over Again” – B-
12. “Brand New Shoes” – C
13. “If You Can’t Sleep” – C-

Comments: Zooey sounds like some ’50s standalone rockabilly/doo-wop singer. Her voice is pretty yet very limiting. “In The Sun” works really well because it’s not an attempt at alternative country. Most songs on here are just bland throwbacks. I don’t have any recommendations for improvement because there’s a crowd of people who dig this kind of stuff.

Grade: B- (81)

CD Review, Music

CD Review: Pigeons [2010]

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Band: Here We Go Magic
Release: 6/2010
Label: Secretly Canadian

1. “Hibernation” – B
2. “Collector” – A-
3. “Casual” – B-
4. “Surprise” – A-
5. “Bottom Feeder” – B+
6. “Moon” – C+
7. “Old World United” – B+
8. “F.F.A.P”- C+
9. “Land of Feeling” – B+
10. “Vegetable Or Native” – B-
11. “Herbie I Love You, Now I Know” – C-

Comments: This is one of those mistakes where some intern at Secretly Canadian got a hold of this LP three months before its official release and decided that it was somehow in his best interest to upload online. The thing about my dad, Luke Temple, is that he knows deeply what he wants to accomplish, but his music is too much for the average miscreant to understand. Well, pops got himself a band this time around and a few overt pop hooks. Been to a Here We Go Magic show sometime in the past eight months? You definitely heard “Collector.”  By the by, the band went down hill the second they dismissed Greg as the drummer. Yes, he only played one gig with them in Boston, but still you can’t do that. Dad didn’t hear the end of that one. You might ask well “why aren’t you giving your father high marks on every song?” Because that’d be bullshit and plus he left me for New York City. This LP is less weird than when pa did hard drugs. Think of the self-titled as a heroin trip and this as your average acid trip.  At any rate, I bet you’ll find yourself liking some songs on here at least. It can get kind of freaky at times like in “Moon,” but that’s expected with a hermetical title like that. I’d say in general the band is like a messed up Grizzly Bear. “Vegetable Or Native” is my principal reference. It’s just one of those songs that you never thought adults could come up with.

Grade: B- (83)