|
* The Microphones: By the Microphones (K
Records)
Phil Elvrum pounds drums for Old Time Relijun, one of the
furthest-off-the-chain bands in all the punk rock land.
So, perhaps to balance some delicate gyroscopic guidance
system in his own mind, he assembles meticulous, mostly
quiet rock dreamscapes under the Microphones tag. This album
isn't without its eruptions of ragged noise, or without
the occasional refugee pop hook, but for the most part it's
a beguilingly low-key invocation of an electric sleep god.
* Ramonetures: Self-titled release (Blood
Red)
Truly one of the odder releases to meander through the
Reducer, this album consists of 16 Ramones tunes, reproduced
to the note, minus the glue-huffing urgency of the originals.
The gimmick: Davie Allan's twangy surf guitar replaces the
canonical nasal whine, mimicking Joey's vocal lines with
a precision that suggests a disturbing amount of practice.
This is one of those ideas that should have been abandoned
right around last call. Of course, one does suspect the
whole exercise is an excuse to use the cover photos, which
reveal the rather spectacular endowments of a raven-haired
young lady. The art may win this album a few more sales
than it merits.
* Hank Plank & the 2x4s: Rocket to Venus
EP (Piss Growler)
Local brainy barndancers dump another batch of smart trad-ish
country about fuckin', drinkin' and thinkin' too much. These
fellas know what they're doing when it comes to country
(thankfully, "alt" elements are tastefully muted), and it's
hard not to like lyrics such as "looks like my dick's been
cheatin' on my heart again...while under the influence of
strong drinks and subtle hints, wasted days turn into wicked
nights." Still, this five-song short-player sounds like
a fairly hasty recording. Hank and company would do well
to work these over a little.
* Lolita Storm: GFSU (Digital Hardcore/Fatal
Records)
Call 'em the Spice Grrrls--Lolita Storm's breakbeat hammered
electro-punk takes Girl Power to a methamphetamine extreme.
These screeching, digitally overdriven Brit knockouts are
the bad girls down at the disco, all smeared mascara and
smutty nonchalance, looking for cheap speed and a horny
boy with whom to get a leg over behind the club dumpster.
Any sonic resemblance to a Bikini Kill techno remix is probably
accidental. Incidentally: GFSU=Girls Fucking Shit
Up.
* The Softies: Holiday in Rhode Island (K
Records)
Hard truth be told, the Softies--Rose Melberg and Jennifer
Sbargia--put on one of the most mind-numbing live shows
in pop music history. On disc, however, their careful layers
of lovely voices and jangling guitars lull with all the
sweetness of morphine, without any of the nasty chemical
bite. An album to sleep to, which isn't all bad.
* Vágtázo Halottkémék (Galloping
Coroners): Naptánc (Dancing with the Sun)
(Neurot Recordings)
One presumes the chokehold squeeze scenesters exert on
American alt and indie rock isn't much of a problem in Hungary.
What with the secret police perpetually snooping around
like Red weasels, concertgoers being physically beaten down
by gig-raiding officers, and the threat of being tossed
into some consumptive-ridden gulag for the State crime of
playing rock-and-goddamn-roll, a Tyranny of the Cool and
Stylish doesn't seem particularly likely, you know? Thus
it's just fine that the Galloping Coroners toss a half-dozen
genres into their prog-rock melting pot. No one's gonna
complain when spinning-hippie acoustic strumming and drum
jams butt up against tranced-out krautrock drones, melancholy
neo-classical motifs, jagged Killing Joke guitars and Neurosis-ish
tribal breakdowns. In the Coroners' homeland, it's all good.
The question is whether America's genre-defining fascists
will embrace such freedom--or simply tighten their stylistic
grip even more.
|
