Hot Wigs
R*E*P*E*A*T's most special agent, Joe 90, smoothes down his plastic
locks and prepares for another battle with the forces of evil
A Death In The Family - The Microscopic War (album)
A Death In The Family kick things off with feisty track 'Familiar Strangers',
it's a strong track and keeps you interested enough to listen to the
rest of the album. Although A Death In The Family are a good band, they
seem to lack the originality that will set them apart, and the guitarists
need to realise that there is a difference between trashy guitars and
fuzzy guitars, with the guitars losing themselves in the mix because
they are too distorted. There are still some excellent tracks on here
though; standouts include 'Vacant' and 'Gasping', which makes A Death
In The Family well worth a listen.
7/10
(www.myspace.com/aditf)
The Dualers - Don't go
The single 'Don't Go' taken from the forthcoming album 'The Melting
Pot' gives a glimpse into the future of The Dualers, and the harsh reality
is, it doesn't look a very bright one. Although this song isn't all
that bad, it is very boring and just another standard ska punk record.
The Dualers are obviously a very skilled and tight band, the vocalist
in particular doesn't drop out of key once (however its rare a band
doesn't use an auto-tuner in the studio these days), but they just need
to up the level of songwriting and they could be a rather good band.
4.5/10
(www.myspace.com/thedualers)
Rockzilla - EP
You are probably thinking the same thing as I did when I saw this record,
"Rockzilla? Oh dear
". But if you look past the name
then this is an amazing CD.
Rockzilla truly have captured the spirit of Rock 'n' Roll, not being
afraid to blast out a bit of top notch guitar soloing. The vocalist
has all the attitude you would expect for a man fronting a band called
'Rockzilla'. A big hand goes to the producer of this EP, it is mixed
perfectly and none of the instruments suffer from being drowned out.
Rock at its horn-throwing best.
9/10
The Hacker - A.N.D N.O.W
Its quite hard to review this album as it really doesn't have that many
outstanding points to comment on, it is very run of the mill club/dance
music in vein of The Prodigy during the 'Music For The Jilted Generation'
era.
The main fault to find with this album is that the music doesn't have
that much presence, if comparing this CD to others in the genre, the
bass is usually thumping and the drums loud, but on this album it all
seems a bit lifeless.
3/10
(www.myspace.com/michelamato)
Jaed - My Way (single)
Jaed are a feisty female-fronted rock band with a truck-full of attitude,
the singer has a touch of Brody Dalle about her vocals, and the band
are sharp and punky.
Jaed's single 'My Way' will please most fans of the bratty punk genre;
people who like the drums to smack them in the face, and the guitars
to blow their ears to dust. Although this is standard punk, it is fresh
enough to stamp its mark on the scene.
Jaed look destined to be big
8/10
(www.jaedmusic.com)
From Mars - From Mars (EP)
Its hard to pick a genre for 5-piece From Mars, they are part rock,
but would also fit in at a Coldplay gig, but would be more than capable
of holding their own at a punk venue. This mix of sounds produces a
sound that is no less than breathtaking.
The first song on the EP is '1st May', which delivers a huge chorus
that could soon be the bands anthem, the rest of the songs don't let
the EP down either, keeping up the high standards.
The EP is also superbly mixed, and brings out the best in this collection
of songs, giving them to punch that they need.
9/10
(www.from-mars.co.uk)
Archstanton
Archstanton kick you in the face with their Funeral For A Friend-esqe
riffs and thumping drums and bass.
The biggest fault to find with Archstanton is their at times uncanny
resemblance to Foo Fighters, you can almost be fooled into thinking
the vocalist IS Dave Grohl.
But with that aside, Archstanton have produced a very strong collection
of songs that never slow the pace and have the urgent energy required
to leave a mark wherever they go.
8/10
(www.archstanton.com)
Dialog - Euro Pop
Last time I reviewed Dialog I wrote that they were a good band with
good guitar and vocal works.
But this is different, this sounds something like (90's pop band) Five's
entry at the Eurovision Song Contest would sound like, which, as we
all know, would be shit.
As bad as the sounds coming out of my stereo are, these are typically
crafted pop songs, and its just as good as all the other chart poppers
out there, which means they're probably destined for success.
2/10
(www.myspace.com/dialogonline)
100 Bullets Back - Refute Fake Icons
100 Bullets Back churn out great garage-pop tunes by the bucket load,
and the band perform these songs extremely well, with the keyboards
and drums sounding like the work of professional studio-musicians.
Drawing influences from The Pet Shop Boys and The Killers, the songs
on 'Refute Fake Icons' have that distinctive electro-rock punch that
the named bands have managed to make their own, but this doesn't stop
100 Bullets Back from sounding 100% original
7/10
(www.100bulletsback.co.uk)
Grandecobra -EP
Grandecobra bring a full-on force of distorted punk rock, often sounding
like a more polished White Stripes. The EP is poorly mixed, with overkill
distortion on the guitar tracks, often making it sound like one big
fuzzy mess.
When it comes to the songs, you have heard it all before, but if you
love trashy punk rock, you'll probably love it. But for the average
listener, it is very samey and actually gets quite boring by track two.
5/10
(www.grandecobra.com)
Nosferatu D2 - EP
This would be a very good EP if they had forked out the extra hundred
odd quid to get it mixed and recorded to do these songs justice.
Interesting guitar parts often keep these songs alive, but are let down
by the drummer, who needs to really concentrate on timing his rolls
more precisely, but he definitely has the potential.
Joy Division regularly spring to mind whilst listening to Nosferatu
D2, which of course, can never be a bad thing, but when you've finished
listening the EP, its hard to tell whether you've just heard a stroke
of genius, or a big, scrambled mess.
6/10
(www.nosferatud2.com)
Hot Wigs - EP
Hot Wigs are a very relaxed rock band based in London, but when you
use the word 'relaxed' for a rock band, its a bad sign..
Hot Wigs come across as Oasis without the balls, the vocalist lacks
any real attitude in his voice to set this EP up above the other numerous
rock bands around at the minute.
3/10
(www.myspace.com/hotwigs)
Little Me - Daisy Chains
Picture this; WoodStock Festival, when the hippy area was at its peak,
Jimi Hendrix is on the main stage, but you can hear some noise in the
background, and find out that its a band called Little Me.
That sums up Little Me, they have a very 'happiness and peace' vibe
about them, as track 5 'Try And Make It Happy' shows. The songs are
very average, with not much managing to hold down the attention of the
listeners.
This would go down an absolute storm in a field of stoners, all after
a good time, but anywhere else, it seems exceptionally bland.
4/10
(www.littleme.info)
Joe 90
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