Saturday, July 8, 2017

Last Bullet - 80-69-64




Toronto's Last Bullet clearly take a get up and go approach to hard rock. It's apparent that they take a no-nonsense and take no prisoners attitude to rocking their audience whether in the studio or onstage. Last Bullet have taken the DIY attitude to serving this musical platter releasing this EP themselves rather than sitting and waiting for a record company to do it for them.

If you're looking for dishy hard rock, then you need look no further. The band's sound is rooted in the time in the late 80's when many of the hair metal bands were shedding their make-up. Just get a load of "Bright Lights"and try no think of the time Bon Jovi and Skid Row ruled the radio airwaves and bar jukeboxes. "Southern Lips"starts with an AC/DC swagger that coated with grimy dirty and hard Southern rock.

"Little Miss Filthy"has a driving beat with guitar solos coming through nice and clear.

While the six songs on the twenty minutes of "80-69-64" are good, it's difficult to shake the feeling that Last Bullet are a band struggling to stamp their individual musical identity on their tunes like their fellow hard rock countrymen, Danko Jones have managed to do.

2.5/5



Last Bullet's website



Last Bullet on Facebook

Friday, July 7, 2017

Bloody Hammers - The Horrific Case of the Bloody Hammers





Peter Murphy, Sisters of Mercy, Type O Negative, The Mission, Paradise Lost If you're a fan of any of these bands then there's a good chance that Bloody Hammers are right up your alley.

The cover of the album suggests a horror theme and the write up in the electronic press kit describes Swedish duo Bloody Hammers as a Horror Sleaze Rock outfit which to this reviewer's way of thinking suggests either the horror punk style of The Misfits or the B-movie rockabilly celebratory sleaze of The Cramps however this is really just Gothic rock with keyboards. There's no denying that Anders Manga does indeed have a bombastic powerful voice but whilst listening to his crooning it's impossible not to think he borrows heavily from the Gothic books of Peter (that's Peter Murphy and Peter Steele if you hadn't already guessed. His wife Devalia provides the synthesizer sounds. The album's opener "Gates of Hell" has an industrial rock beat not far from Marilyn Manson's "Anti-Christ Superstar" album but the vocals have the witching quality of Andrew Eldritch. "The Beyond" sounds a lot like a Peter Murphy solo track as it has a poppy edge but the hooks aren't as instant or catchy although there is a sense of wondrous gloom. The strongest song on this six song release is the album closer, "The Bloodsucker Leads The Dance" with its organ opening reminding one of early horror movies and the slow foreboding beat that makes you ponder whether The Doors were vampires.o

While there are a number of great ideas of this EP, most listeners familiar with the artists mentioned at the start of this review are just going to want to listen to the artists the Hammers take their inspiration from. Now where is that Joy Division CD?



2.5/5




Bloody Hammers on Facebook





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Thursday, July 6, 2017

Kamikazi - At the Age of Destruction



Kamikazi might have a Japanese sounding band moniker but these punk maniacs hail from Greece. On their bandcamp and in their email Kamikazi describe themselves as a punk/metal/hardcore band and their chosen style is definitely a hybrid of the three with some straight up rock 'n' roll added for good measure.

If you have any desire to sit down in a comfortable chair and just lay back while listening to this EP, you should reconsider and strap yourself in. There's no time to take in the scenery as Kamikazi hit full throttle along the punk 'n'roll highway with "Deathride". You shouldn't find your mind wandering then the metal tinge on "Crooked Path" but if you feel a little under the weather, there's no stopping or winding down the windows for fresh air, so stop your whining. "Cold Black Cells" features metallic guitar solos with a topping of punky shouting with gang choruses.



If Minor Threat had been a punk 'n roll band then they may well have penned tune close to the mark of "Fuck The World" although the metallic chug towards the end of the song would have been avoided but it propels Kamikazi along very nicely indeed.



The band have released 200 tapes of the EP.

3.5/5

Listen to the whole EP on Kamikazi's bandcamp

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Black Helicopter - Everything is Forever





On this four song EP, the circle of life is evident. Boston band Black Helicopter take their sound from 80's indie/college rock. Comparisons to Pavement, Husker Du and Dinosaur Junior will be made by many when they tune into the EP's opener "And I > Drive At Night". There's an undeniable geeky indie rock feel to both "Not Kewl Who"and "Show of Hams". "Not Kewl Who" comes across as a stripped back to the basics and much rawer version of Weezer. The follow-up song "Show of Hams" has a similar sense of fun and also a similar sound to the Violent Femmes. At times the vocals are reminiscent of Gordon Gano. The album's title track closes the album and it's a lengthy instrumental with a quirkiness that doesn't make the track outwear its welcome.

Right now you can listen to the album on bandcamp for free for a limited time so if any of the mentioned bands are of interest you should check out Black Helicopter's latest musical offering below.

3/5

Black Helicopter on bandcamp




Black Helicopter on Facebook




Monday, July 3, 2017

Sasquatch - Maneuvers






Soundgarden are history as are Kyuss but for those of us who were fans of both banging bands along come Sasquatch(actually they've been bubbling away for a while but they're recently risen to the brim). The opening track to Sasquatch's fifth album, "Rational Woman is pure Kyuss style desert rock fuzz but if that Chris Cornell guy was on vocals. Keith Gibbs vocals are really that close that's an amazing feat. Anyone that says Cornell was unique is proven wrong. Close your eyes and listen to "Destroyer" and there are a number parts where you could swear you were listening to Soundgarden at their peak. There are many moments where the instruments bind together in a similar hypnotic fashion as the first Queens of the Stone Age album.


Bottom line with this album is that you just need to imagine a top notch stoner rock band with Chris Cornell on vocals. This album deserves to be on a lot of end of year lists.

4.5/5

Sasquatch on facebook

Check out the opening track "Rational Woman" here.

Beastwars - IV

After over a year off for various reasons, we have returned solely because we wanted to review the new Beastwars album. I really w...