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The Beta Band: The Assessment
It's been quite a while since this most volatile and commendably
stubborn of contemporary rock bands last entered the fray. To some the
Beta Band will always be associated with kagools, beards and slightly
screwed up laptop folk grooves. The happy days when people didn't get
excited about every other half-baked 'garage' rock band from Detroit.
The Assessment comes as a wonderful respite. Chiming guitars,
fractured bass lines and Steve Mason's beautiful can't-sing-will-sing
voice delivering a chorus of heart stopping goodness before the tune
descends into a brass addled wig out reminiscent of 70s John Lennon.
So much more important then the White Stripes, the Strokes and every
other musically retarded indie schmindie horse shit outfit your stupid
girlfriend or dumb-ass teenage sister is listening to. |
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Brooke
You've gotta love Brooke. Any band that cites Bill Hicks, Brad and
Afghan Whigs as influences must be worth their blood on hip references
alone. Luckily for Brooke their music suggests that they're on their
way to meaning more then a gig upstairs at the Sunrooms. Ignore the
laboured anguish of opener "Middle Distance". It's the frazzled
dynamics of "Too much of not enough", with its thunderous, bowel
cancer inducing guitar riff, more terrifying then a rabid tide of
crack addled bison on the horizon, that cements Brooke's relevance.
Check the lush field recordings and Sigur Ros esque organ that kicks
off closing pain-a-thon "In Spite" before the song itself descends
into a curious hybrid of Talk Talk and Will Haven. I shit you not.
When Brooke marry their furrow browed intensity to phatter hooks
and drop the fuck-you-I-wont-tidy-my-bedroom vocal whine then surely
fame awaits. Then again, that kinda shit never done Pearl Jam any
harm.
More info:
www.brookesound.fsnet.co.uk |
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Beatglider: Dreaming of Roads
Its been a while coming. Time spent pulling themselves up from the
disappointment of a defunct indie label, smoking, drinking red wine
and listening to copious amounts of Neil Young by all
accounts…Raleigh's finest finally get round to releasing their second
LP. Beatglider no longer sound like Pavement circa "Slanted and
Enchanted" more Pavement circa the skewed lo-fi AOR of "Crooked Rain
Crooked Rain". So progress has been made one way or another.
Re-locating to LA (thanks to their latest paymasters, Sony affiliates
Lakota Records) to record with sometime Beck producer, Tom Rothrock,
has accentuated Beatglider's U.S. Alt. Rock tendencies manifold.
Indeed, "Dreaming of Roads" is steeped in Americana. Recent single "We
Gotta Coast" sums up Beatglider's ideological and aesthetic stance in
one three minute tribute to West Coast guitar pop: fuck work, there's
always tomorrow, pass me my flannel shirt and crank up that early 70s
Beach Boys LP. Or something like that. "Dance in the Milkyway" is pure
heartbreak, all melancholy harmony, cascading guitar chords and more
hooks then a butcher's font display unit. Closer, "Over the Skyways"
does a pretty good job of aping sad-core legends Red House Painters
while "The Treadmill" is an ominous acoustic lament a la Arthur Lee.
The best thing about Beatglider is how far removed they are from
current guitar trends. They don’t care for contrived notions of cool,
they don’t sport asymmetrical haircuts, they don’t do garage rock,
they do have a bass player. "Dreaming of Roads is a slo-motion love
affair with the heart, unpretentious and sporadically glorious. In
truth, the album could do with some stronger songs and what's with
that fuck awful Hank Marvin guitar sound? Probably the label's way of
making the Essex boys more FM friendly. So affable are Beatglider that
when they do it, sucking on corporate cock never sounded so
pleasurable. Will it break the boys into the big time? Fuck off and
ask someone who cares. I.e. not Beatglider.
More info:
www.beatglider.com |
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Bates Motel
One cannot argue with the perceived musical wisdom and economical
journalism of esteemed tome, Metal Hammer. "Heavy as fuck" they have
seen fit to deem Bates Motel. In truth it's not heaviness that Bates
Motel have nailed so well, more sludginess in that classic drop D
tuning style. Across the four tracks on offer here, its apparent that
Bates Motel have re-written "We Die Young" by Alice in Chains in four
different ways. This is, by the way, a very, very good thing. When
they re-write "Outshined" by Soundgarden in 4 different ways (i.e.
louder, heavier, shorter, er, louder…) I will love them even more.
More info:
www.batesmotel.net |
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Beat Takeshi
Beat Takeshi’s demo consists of 3 tracks of dark harmonising rock, and we can hear their upbeat Pearl Jam influences coming through. If things were more major and slightly more ‘happy’ then this band could almost get confused with a US surf band, and that certainly is not a bad thing! I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear more of Beat Takeshi in the future.
Better Thanothing
A demo sounding hardcore alternative rock band is not a bad thing. With a kind of Quicksand sounding vibe these guys are here to rock the music scene with their demo. Although it is not going to change the music scene, it does rock in its own way and for a demo has a nice tone. Good luck.
beyond the clones
A mix of electronic drum ‘n’ bass and breaks from Beyond The Clones. This is a ‘bedroom produced’ demo and is always great when we get them in. Without being too different or about to change the World with their creative diversity there is not only a lot of potential here, but a nicely produced work that even sounds good through computer speakers. We look forward to listing to material in the future.
BoxerMaN I$
Reviewed via the Record Scout MP3 player online (upload your MP3 and let us know if you want to be reviewed).
This tune kicks off sounding like early The Prodigy Experience keyboard but slowed down by about 100 BPM. The keyboards are very simple and do not change throughout the track. Enter the break beat. This works with the tune nicely. Without having too much to compare these guys with I can comment on the production. I think the vocal needs to come up a bit, but may be just from the computer speakers. Looking forward to the new MP3 to see how things have progresses. If you want to listen and write your own review check them out on the Record Scout MP3 player.
Brandy Alexander
Their CD available to buy at overplay.com and imusicstage.com have the weirdest artwork I have seen for a while. A chick making out with herself. Wicked!!! These guys have the hardcore sounds of old classics like Above All (Roadrunner). Exciting, discordant and dirty guitars and vocals. Not the sort of music you want to put on to sleep to, but the sort of music you love to hear when going to a raging gig.
Break Faith
Break Faith Demo compared to Rage Against the Machine and Machine Head. To be honest you can really hear the influences. After a long background with metal music I can rate these guys with qualification to the genera, and they are not doing a too bad job!
I think Break Faith would do justice to a small independent label and it is good to hear them keeping the metal alive.
Track 2 on the other hand as I am listening as I type sounds like some slow Faith No More song, but I am waiting for it to kick in… It hasn’t yet…3 minutes in to the track it still hasn’t. Turns out to be a balled. I was looking forward to it, but still not bad wither way.
Good luck guys. Small Indy labels out there, get their demo.
To be reviewed, click here.
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