I have hundreds of albums to listen and eventually write a review, but when a band are back from the dead almost literally after 16 years, and this band really rocks the socks off once upon a time, I leave everything aside and focus on their release. This is only a six track teaser, probably the guys want to know if there are still headbangers out there interested in real Rock and worth the effort to come back full force. 16 fucking years! It was like yesterday when half of the rockers love them, the other half hate them for their success in 1992 with the single “Everything About You”, which peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart and made it into the Billboard Top 10. Later in the year the song was used in the movie “Wayne’s World.” “As Ugly As They Wanna Be” went on to sell over 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone becoming the highest selling debut E.P. of all time. But this mixture of satirical humor and Heavy Metal really got me back then, and till they disbanded in 1997, Ugly Kid Joe actually proved they are quite a serious and heavy band, well, keeping a good sense of humor is songs such as “Sandwich” or “Bicycle Wheels”. “Stairway To… Hell”? Are you kidding, don’t you? 😆
Their current line up is the last line up of the band crystallized in the mid 1994. Read more Ugly Kid Joe – Stairway To Hell, EP (2012)
rock
The Cult – Choice of Weapon (2012)
It’s definitively one of the most expected albums of the year. Ladies and gentlemen, The Cult are back! And they are back with some hard as a rock solid Rock. Kind of merging of two different eras of the band. One one hand we’ve got some real pounding classic Rock themes which lead us back to “Electric” (1987) and “Sonic Temple” (1989), on the other hand the album is filled with some dark, hypnotic tension which was characteristic for some of their more recent albums as “Beyond Good and Evil” (2001) and their previous “Born into This” (2007).
Bass player Chris Wyse describe it as a “Zep/Stooges mix of energy” – and the shadows of Iggy and Page are definitively hidden there. Read more The Cult – Choice of Weapon (2012)
The Constellations – Do It For Free (2012)
With a cover which reminds me of Sex Pistols and a sound which might result from the (imaginary) collision of the tour buses of Jefferson Airplane and House of Pain, The Constellations are back. Soul, 70’s Rock and 90’s Hip Hop is mixed up and pulsing around in their music.
Their debut album, “Southern Gothic”, released in 2010, is about what happens in Atlanta from 2 AM until noon, while the centerpiece, a delirious nine-minutes track, “Step Right Up” is a direct tribute to Tom Waits. “Atlanta is strange,” they said, “because we’re all basically pushed together. The hip-hop heads, punk rockers, and indie kids all rub shoulders and mix it up. “Southern Gothic” reflects that inclusive diversity in its far-reaching sound.”
Two years later, they are back with “Do It For Free” and the same flavor. Eventually less rapping, more soulful, kind of vintage spiced sound. Read more The Constellations – Do It For Free (2012)
Slash – Apocalyptic Love (2012)
The times when a Rock act sold 28 million copies of their debut album are long – and definitively – gone. But Saul Hudson, better known as Slash, are still doing fine. His previous solo album, imply titled “Slash”, debuted at No. 3 on the U.S. chart upon its release in April 2010, with 61,000 copies sold during the first week, pretty good figures for this digital era. It featured an all-star roster of guest musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, and Iggy Pop. To promote the album, Slash embarked on his first solo world tour with Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge (band including guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips, all of whom are also members of Creed) — on vocals, Bobby Schneck on rhythm guitar, Todd Kerns on bass, and Brent Fitz on drums. The album was produced by Eric Valentine and Eric is the producer of this new album as well. This time the band is consisting of vocalist Myles Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns, and drummer Brent Fitz (collectively referred to as “Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators”) and it is set for release on May 22, 2012. Read more Slash – Apocalyptic Love (2012)
Grand Duchy – Let the People Speak (2012)
Cooking Vinyl, home of artist such as The Prodigy, The Cult, The Proclaimers, The Enemy, The Cranberries, Asian Dub Foundation, Art Brut, Pop Will Eat Itself, more recently Marilyn Manson – among many others – on April 9th, 2012 released the second album by Grand Duchy. The band was formed in 2008 by Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV aka Black Francis aka Frank Black famous for being the primary songwriter and singer of Pixies, and his wife Violet Clark. Their debut effort, “Petits Fours”, was released in February 2009, the duo now seems even more creative and “Let the People Speak” sounds twice as good as their previous album.
Although this is an experiment, a journey to quite different moods and vibes and without being tightly tied or related to any particular musical genre. Read more Grand Duchy – Let the People Speak (2012)
Thinking Plague – Decline And Fall (2012)
![Thinking Plague - Decline And Fall [2012]](http://brushvox.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/thinking-plague-decline-and-fall-2012.png?w=150)
Generally empires are have this fate of decline and fall and I honestly believe that the Music Industry it’s an empire – and for sure it’s in deep and profound crises.
When music is only a product, sometimes quite secondary one of an industry self-titled “music” industry and all those products are pretty boring, predictable and tasteless, but similar pieces, bands like Thinking Plague are quite rare birds in the gray panorama.
Inspired by avant-art rock bands like Arts Bears and Henry Cow, as well as by contemporary classical composers, Thinking Plague has earned an avid international following by forging a singular synthesis of prog-rock with 20th century classical, folk, and jazz.
Founded in 1982 in Denver by Mike Johnson and bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake, Thinking Plague built its following the old-fashioned way, though word of mouth and recordings passed around by fellow musicians and fans. The band’s line-up was enforced by classically trained vocalist Sharon Bradford, keyboardist Harry Fleishman and drummer Rick Arsenault. Released their debut album, “….A Thinking Plague” in 1984 on their own Endemic label, and pressing only 500 copies of the LP, the band received national attention. Read more Thinking Plague – Decline And Fall (2012)
Marilyn Manson – Born Villain (2012)
This is one of the albums of 2012 I really waited for, but on the other hand I was kind of afraid of. When Twiggy Ramirez was often quoted as saying “It’s our best record yet, I think. I mean, everyone always says that, but I think this is our best work so far… It’s kind of like a little more of a punk rock “Mechanical Animals” without sounding too pretentious.”, and since the previous “The High End of Low” it’s an almost four years gap, the expectations are pretty high. “No Reflection” kind of scared me further because it doesn’t actually sound pretty convincing, although it’s a quite fair Rock track.
So, “Hey, Cruel World…” just set things right, it’s a huge Manson sound like (almost) anthem and even the following “No Reflection” make more sense now, still don’t know why it was picked to be the leading single of the album while it’s almost one of the weakest track of it. Or maybe this is the reason. Or simply there is no reason. And well, no weak tracks, boring moments on this album. Read more Marilyn Manson – Born Villain (2012)
Bang – my head! Free on-line game, play now!
I wouldn’t even think of, not to believe it: I’ve become a figure (face, actually head 😀 ) in a game. F*ckingunbelievable!
It all started with the Weekly Brief of February 22, 2012 on Indaba Music, for which I submitted an ironic track called “Bang [The weirdest party I ve ever been]” – while the task was to submit something defined as”the best party jam”. Said “ironic” because I’m quite convinced that some people up there (Mantis actually 😆 ) fucking hates me and generally I do not belong in this (so-called music) industry while I’m (still) interested in music and not in kissing asses and delivering tasteless, predictable, boring, trend following… products.
Anyway, JohnnySix asked me if it would be fine with me if he make a video for this track, and of course I said, go for it.
But he didn’t make it. He did something better! Read more Bang – my head! Free on-line game, play now!
Slide On Venus – Topless (2012)
Blending genres and styles, Slide On Venus find their own. Alban De Luca – Guitar & Vocals, Victor Malé – Bass & Vocals, Thibault Malé – Guitar & Vocals and Mathias Perles – Drums & Vocals, find the perfect balance between a gentle part of melodic and catchy Pop and the energy of the Indie Rock spiced with a tasty part of Post-Grunge feeling. The opening title track of their debut album, “Topless” simply explode in your face.
The parallels with bands such as Biffy Clyro and Foo Fighters are obvious, but this French quartet from Besançon added their own approach to it and this debut album flow in the right groove from the very first beat till the… last drop. Read more Slide On Venus – Topless (2012)
Jack White – Blunderbuss (2012)
Sex is probably the most powerful driving force in nature, in arts, implicitly in music. Some people believe that the power behind The White Stripes was the (sexual) tension between Jack and Meg White. When this flame faded out, Jack White moved over, eventually Jack find Alison Mosshart and we’ve got The Dead Weather.
The roots of “Blunderbuss” Jack’s first official solo album goes back several years when White was recording songs for several artists such as Tom Jones, Insane Clown Posse, etc. White was in contact with Wu-Tang Clan member RZA and they were going to do a recording session, but RZA couldn’t attend the session, so White recorded several tracks, which would ended-up into “Blunderbuss”. We’ve got 13 tracks, Jack delivering from raw blues to garage Indie Rock all the tricks and approaches he tried out in the last 15 years. Still, Jack managed to be timeless and fresh, shiny. This music is both simple and flawless! Read more Jack White – Blunderbuss (2012)
