Demos
- November, '03
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Babylon Bombs
4 songs
Website
Babylon Bombs are Stockholm strutters with hard rock hearts, and I
am quite aware that that town is lousy with flash metal bands and cock
rock bands and sleazy long haired motherfuckers with guitars and bitchin'
record collections, but let us cut the wheat from the chaff and tell it
like it is- the Bombs are better than 99% of their brethren, and the other
1% are only faking it anyway. I dunno the last time I've heard such a
scientifically perfect fusion of shameless raunch and high gloss class;
maybe the Backyard Babies, but more likely Hanoi Rocks. Sure, the million
dollar production on these tracks has something to do with it, but not
much. These are finely chiseled hard rock songs with hooks as big as the
sky, that burn straight into your brain like a tattoo, and stellar
musicianship that hits the mark like a sniper that takes his job
personally. How's it sound? Kinda like Skid Row, if Sebastian liked all
your favorite bands just as much as he does KISS, but mostly like the wild
new sensation that it is. Three of the four tracks (Let's Roll,
Delirious,
Suicide Street) are fist raising, heart racing anthems,
glorious odes to the rock and the roll from a gang of outrageously
talented true believers, and the 4th track, Crucify is an organ-heavy 70's arena rocker with a
deep rolling groove and a giant, affecting chorus. I've listened to this
everyday since it got here, and I don't see myself retiring it anytime
soon. The Babylon Bombs are, simply, a fantastic rock and roll band. Trust
me on this one, I'm pretty good at this kind of thing.
Seriously, if I had the wherewithal, I'd take the next red-eye straight to
Stockholm, drag these fuckers outta whataver pile of groupies they're
currently groping, and sign them, in blood or anything else available. I'd
release a monster of a record (double vinyl gate-fold for the cool
kids), and put 'em on tour until they either broke big, or died trying. If
anybody out there has brains AND money, then you oughta already be on that
plane. This is the best goddamn demo of the year- and it's been a great
year. Don't let this band slip by you, brothers and sisters. Do yourself a
favor, and get Bombed.
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Buzzsawyer
4 songs
Website
As
opener Piss Out the Jams so ably illustrates, North Carolina
power rockers Buzzsawyer are pretty much the living embodiment of a
drunken MC5. Dig, if you will - I'm listening to this thing, and I
haven't slept in 18 hours, and I'm exhausted with two XX's and an
exclamation point, but fuck if I'm not ready to roll for another 18
by the time it's over. Stylistically, this the same kinda stoner-punking,
heads-down, damn-the-torpedoes locked groove as Lofreq or the PB
Army, only with an extra shot of 60's fuzz-drug power and a few well
placed metal licks. It's freak-flag waving revolution rock, for sure, but
with enough gruff redneck groove to keep the bikers just as happy as the
latter day insurrectionists. Buzzsawyer also have the good taste to
keep their bludgeoning riff n' roll nice and simple- doesn't take a sober
man to figure out what songs like We Bad and Last
Action Fuckers are about- they're about Buzzswayer, and how much
ass they kick, including yours, if ya don't get in line and worship
accordingly. No argument here, brother. Only 4 tracks, so that's only half
a street riot, but the full, meaty testimonial can't be far behind. Then
we can all get real, real gone. Can't wait.
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5 songs
Website
Who's
Dave? On opener Stockholm Syndrome,
Dead Electric keep yellin' "Don't put
the blame on me, Dave!" Dave must be a dick. Maybe even a Swedish dick,
which I hear is the worst kind. Anyway, that's entirely beside the point,
because there are much bigger fish to fry here. See, these Dead
Electric characters (the name reminds me of something, but I don't
know what- probably a repressed traumatic memory) are one of the most
blazing motorpunk outfits in the good 'ol USA, never mind Chicago, the
burg they reside in. Dig the megaphone bellow of the simply named Josh,
who sounds like some kidnapper barking out sexy and unreasonable orders to
a team of drugged and blindfolded cheerleaders; feel the double-damned
slink and slither of Kevin and the awesomely named Maction,
as they rip into riff after catchy, venomous, glampunk riff; sing along to
sex party anthems like Burning Sensations and
hellfire-fueled swagger rock scorchers like Teenage Layover;
and for christ sakes, live a fuckin' little, would ya? Dead Electric
didn't just shoot outta nowhere - they've got a mile long pedigree that
includes collective and individual stints in The Ruiners and
Plastics Hi-fi, among 666 others - so you know they've already learned
their lessons in how to dirty up a pop song with so much spit and grease
that it starts to sound like something spewed up from a black lung. And
now that all these Chi-town superfreaks have finally coalesced into one
monstrous gang bang of a cock rock band, all hell is most assuredly about
to break loose. Here's yr first lesson in cool- 5 songs to kidnap
cheerleaders and save rock and roll to. Righteous. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 songs
Website
Firepower is
never a curse, baby, but it's part of my 'stay breathing'
policy not to argue with dudes from Virginia. These Hellbilly 'Tones are
out for only one thing on this triple-speed assblaster- blood. More
specifically, yours, and maybe yr mama's too, if she's around. Their
modus operandi involves a big, splintery, nail-filled mallet made outta
Motorhead, Dwarves, and Zeke riffs. And a maybe little
Skynrd. "CWF" is part hardcore
punk,
part psychotic reaction, and all manly, death racing skrawk n' roll. The big
hit, if yr askin' me, is closer Belligerents, a hook heavy,punked-out stomper of a song, with more "fucks" and "motherfuckers" and "fuckin'
motherfuckers" than that time you puked all over yr new Nashville Pussy
t-shirt. Sure, drummer Rik Surly rides the cymbals so much that I
was sure concussion grenades were shattering all the windows in the
house be the end o' Cursed, but I'm not about to subtract points for
enthusiasm. If you dig it hard and fast- and you do, I've seen the video
tape- than the Deviltones are sure to rattle yr skull in all the right
places.
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4 songs
Website
The Frozen are from Austria, and the combination of band name and homeland
is enough to scare the bejeezus outta ya- I mean, this has gotta be either
forest-dwelling Pagan freak metal or fire-breathing Fascist industrial-core,
right? Nope. The Frozen are actually a pretty bitchin' power grunge band
with a few classy side-steps into stoner rock and power metal territories.
Epic opener Shine in Black is the clear standout here, a growling, soulful
dose of hard rock thunder that's kinda like a gothy Soundgarden, and it
rocks like crazy. Not in the frivolous, burn-down-the-shithouse way, but in
the big, bombastic, arena-ready way. The other three tracks follow a similar
path, through post-Seattle, post-post Led Zep terrains of groove and power,
just with less emphasis on crunch and more raw, jagged emotion. Sure, it all
sounds so fuckin' serious that I'm about ready to go drink myself to death
or something, but that's always been the appeal of this kinda stuff anyway,
right? Yeah, it's dark- they're Austrian, remember- but it's GOOD and dark. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 songs
Website
Wave are a Finnish, female-fronted goth metal band. Personally, I am such a
sucker for the spooky, raven haired sad girls and their soaring, Siren's
wail distress signals that I drank a bunch of ice water and channeled a few
melancholy memories just to get myself in the proper mood. Turns out Wave
aren't all that moonstricken, really, but what the hell. The two tracks here
both have an 80's 'classical' metal vibe, and are more pop-infused than most
of the girl-powered batwing headbangers outfits out there. Matter of fact,
despite the ominous title, Big Bang and Black Holes is almost an out-right
pop song- an apocalyptic pop song, surely, but pop, nonetheless, and doesn't
sound a million miles away from the goth-Tori Amos stylings of Jesus freak
chart toppers Evanescence. So, you know, it's hard to say exactly what Wave
are up to with just these two songs to mull over, but one thing's for sure-
Mira Warlatscheff has a voice that's as powerful and exotic as her name is,
and it'll be interesting to see where she takes it from here.
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-Sleazegrinder