Goes Cube - Another Day Has Passed (2009)

A few weeks back, as I watched the snowplow dump snow from my neighbor's unshoveled apron onto my clean one for the third time in less than an hour, I realized I needed to take a break from shoveling before that throbbing vein in my neck blew up.

So I settled into my bathrobe, bunny slippers, and NKOTB*-branded couch, and began to mellow considerably.  Now I just needed the prefect soundtrack to match my current state.  And drown out that plow, which I could hear coming down the street for pass #4.

Immediately, Goes Cube sprung to mind.  How could it not?  With soothing songs like "Another Day Has Passed," "Grinding the Knife Blade," and "I Hold Grudges," I knew I was just a couple of S'mores and some warm milk away from peace and tranquility.  Featuring mellow, melodic death metal underpinnings and soothing primal rage screams, it's what those "in the know" use to quietly lull themselves to sleep.

Goes Cube - "I Hold Grudges"

Okay, if you've listened to the video, you realize this is less Lawrence Welk and more a really angry Jesu or the lead singer from Face to Face with a chip on his shoulder.  So we'll drop the pretense here.  Utilizing a formula of switching back and forth from mid-tempo rock to thrash screaming (see Pennywise, System of a Down, Rise Against, Grade, etc.), Goes Cube crosses a gloomy tone with interesting melodies, finishing it off with both excellent musicianship and production.  It's really heavy tone done right.  If you like Mars Volta, just check out the title track and you will be hooked.


There's a small window for this kind of music for me, but this hits it.

CD Placement Rating:  Portable CD Case.

- Snilch

*New Kids on the Block, of course.  S'up?

NCAA Conference Tournament Viewing: Why You Should Root for the Favorites

For many of you, this will be the first time you have watched college hoops since last year.  For others, sadly, that time has not yet arisen.

So here is my advice for you all:  as you watch these smaller Tournaments, root for the favorite.  Every favorite.

This goes against the grain of the natural instinct we all have as fans:  seeing the Cinderella story, the impossible dream, the buzzer beater that gets the ugly kid into the big dance.  But the fact is that if every regular season conference champion won their tournament, the four play-in games would all feature 20+win teams (as opposed to the 20 LOSS Liberty team that has already qualified this year), and the back-end of the field would be much, much deeper.  And we’d still consider them Cinderellas, as who would expect a team from the Atlantic Sun or Big South to do anything anyways?

To me, this is the logical path towards a 16 beating a 1:  when a senior-laden squad from some tiny school that would typically be a 15 or 14 seed gets shoved back to 16, because the upsets by lower ranked teams in conference tourneys don’t happen.

My final point:  we don’t remember the thrilling conference tourney buzzer-beaters from years.  We do remember Tournament buzzer-beaters.

There are some exceptions, obviously.  Seeing chaos in the larger tournaments is a lot of fun, especially as upsets of the bigger teams does not take them out of a bid.  And if you have a rooting interest in a smaller school; self-interest wins out, obviously.

But in all other cases:  in one-bid leagues, hope the better seed wins.  It’ll make the real Tourney that much better, and Cinderella will still be attending in any case.  She'll just be tougher to get into the carriage at the end of the night.

- Snilch

Mötley Crüe - Too Fast for Love (1981, re-issued in 1999)

When That Metal Show did their "Top 5 Debut Albums" list, they listed some very respected bands: Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Guns 'N Roses, and Metallica. The fact that Mötley Crüe not only made the list, but were slotted at number three ahead of GNR (which my brain immediately processed as "HERESY!") as "the best Mötley Crüe album" meant that I had to take a listen.

In fairness, I only own two Crüe albums:  Shout at the Devil and Saints of Los Angeles.  And that was all I ever really needed, to be completely honest.

I've gone back and forth on this one.  An initial headphones listen had me loving this album, but subsequent listens have wavered dramatically.  There's definitely something here as a "straight rock album," but it seems to be lacking a great single or the sophistication to be really at that next level.  And yet I waver even on that.  There's something going on here.

In many ways, this is the most un-Crüe effort of their career:  it's more classic Sunset Strip, almost like early Ratt with Vince Neil on vocals. (To that point, Ratt may have ripped off the riff for "Come on and Dance" for "Lack of Communication" to boot.  Of course, on "Too Fast for Love" and "Toast of the Town" the Crüe ripped off the Sex Pistols.  Sharing is caring, people.)  Side note:  it's shocking how reserved Tommy Lee's playing is, as he would develop to one of the greatest drummers ever but you would never know here.  

Also, there is a surprising amount of cowbell.  As in "an alarming amount of cowbell."

Having heard the non-remastered YouTube videos compared to the cleaned up production, I'd say that this is one remaster you need if you want to continue listening to it.  The original video sound is just wretched.

Now it's time for our newest segment, 5 Questions with The Snilch.  (Editor's note:  This would be the lazy man's way of ending this review.)

1. Is it better than Appetite for Destruction or Van Halen I?  In a word... no.
2. Do you have a reason why That Metal Show would rank the album so highly?  I'd say that it's probably like The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade -- if you got that album when it came out, there's a "time and place" element that blew you away at the time, as it was a revolutionary statement in the moment.  But ultimately Rubber Soul or New Day Rising might have more legs to stand on its own as a musical piece as time goes on. 
3. So in other words, you don't know.  That's not even a question, jackass.
4. No need to get cross with me... Is it their best album?  Well, from front to back it is the most consistently good album they ever put together... but, before you get started with me, yes, I'm ducking the question.  How about this:  is it the first Crüe album I will reach for when I go back to listen to them in two months?   Probably not.  It'll be vying with Saints of Los Angeles for second behind Shout at the Devil.  And that probably says it all.
5. Wait... did you just ask yourself the fifth question as part of your response?  What is wrong with you?  Do you not even get the basic concept here?  First of all, you asked three questions right there.  Second, question #3 was not even a question.  Third, I appear to be arguing with myself, which seems odd.  I don't get a lot of sleep.

CD Placement Rating:  Portable CD Case.

Compilation/Reissue Ripoff Index:  Non-existent.  If you like this album, you need the remaster for the 175% improvement in audio quality.

- Snilch

Vintage Trouble at TT the Bears - March 5, 2013

While I struggle with my next blog post, Denis and I hit the Cambridge, MA scene last night, with one goal in mind -- to prove we were not THAT old.  (Spoiler alert:  it turns out we are.)

But thanks to Alan's recommendation, we were lucky enough to get into the sold-out show for Vintage Trouble.  The scene was set outside TT the Bears with the custom Vintage Trouble tour bus, sponsored by... Supercuts.  (Pictured here -- if I get a photo from Denis with the Supercuts logo I will post it here.)  If you see these guys, you will realize how ironic that is.

Opener Leogun got one of the best receptions for an opening band you will ever see in Boston.  And they deserved it.  A great compliment as an opener on this bill, their mid-tempo combo of rock and pure enthusiasm made their jam-band feel from a three-piece really work.  Definitely worth seeing again; I will have to keep an eye on them.

Vintage Trouble's set was an old-time revival meeting celebrating rock and r&b.  I've never quite heard the guitar tonality they were producing in that acoustically challenged room at TT's -- it was awesome.  Slow songs had energy, quicker songs had fury.  A great group of musicians, with a absolute showman of a lead singer who managed to get Cambridge fans to interact with the band.  On a TUESDAY.  (If you've ever seen a show in Boston, you'll know how rare this is on a weekend.)

Fantastic energy, fantastic playing, great songs that never seemed to end (partially because they would "stop" for applause, then get the audience to sing along to the chorus  and go back into the song again), and just a fun show.  It would have been great to see the encores... but it was a Tuesday, and we were old.

Merch rating:  I bought their CD (and should have bought Leogun's too).  I will definitely watch them next time, although by that point they will at least be at the Paradise, perhaps even the House of Blues.  I would have bought a t-shirt as well if I didn't leave; next album is bought without waiting to hear how good it is.

- Snilch

P.S. If you want to get a taste of what these guys are like, check out their appearance on David Letterman (below) earlier this year.

Johnette Napolitano - Scarred (2007)

While the name "Johnette Napolitano" may not mean anything to you, the name "Concrete Blonde" certainly will.  "Joey" was a top 20 hit, and a number of other songs ("Caroline," "God is a Bullet", "Still in Hollywood," "Ghost of a Texas Lady Man," etc.) made them a huge act in the late 80s/early 90s prior to their breakup in 1993.  The have gotten back together a few times (even releasing two albums in the 2000s), but have generally been under the radar since their original breakup.

Napolitano, in the meantime, has been busy.  She's a sculptor, a poet, and (still) a musician (both her own releases and soundtracks).  She has released three other solo albums besides Scarred, but those were improvised and primarily electronic.  Thus far, this is her only true studio release.

Disclaimer:  I enjoyed the Concrete Blonde sound but cannot really be considered a fan; I don't own any of their albums.

That being said, let's get right to it:  it's great.  It's good enough that I wish I had heard it when it came out, as opposed to just discovering it now (six years later).  Napolitano's voice sounds better and clearer than ever, and it's evident that the songs are close to her heart:  at many points it's as if she's vocalizing a raw wound (in the best possible way).

After a few listens, I called this "uneven," but since then it has grown considerably on me.  I'd highly suggest a headphones listen on this one:  there is a lot of TLC in the production that you might otherwise miss.  As for the songs:  "Scarred" is a haunting picture of regret, anger, and sadness.  (Think Shelby Lynne's cover of "Mother" with more angst.) "Save Me" shows Napolitano at the top of her lungs best.  "Everything for Everyone" is a great confessional rocker.  "Amazing" sets the table for the album, with a well thought out  musical plan combined with a display of her amazing vocal range.

But the crown jewels here (for me) are "Just Like Time" and "I'm Up Here."  The former is pretty reserved in the context of the album, but it's an 80s/90s top 20 song that just happened to be created in 2007.  It's also the most Conrete Blonde-ish siong of the lot, which may be why I like it so much.  Great lyrics, smartly packaged musically.

"I'm Up Here," (which I have included here) on the other hand, is damn raw.  It's also all over the place, with plenty of twists musically and lyrically -- the refrain doesn't even hit until over two minutes in.  It's probably my favorite song:  deceptively simple, but unbelievably powerful. 

In the end, the music is very good, but the vocal performance is transcendent.  Amanda Palmer is the only other vocalist that comes to mind that regularly delivers this kind of emotion, but Napolitano does so with an out of this world register.  It's a great comeback and hopefully not the last one.

CD Placement Rating:  Car CD Changer.

- Snilch

Songs to get you through Winter Storm Nemo

Today we'll be counting down the Top 10 "Snow/Winter Weather Storm Songs" in honor of Winter Storm Nemo. These are winter songs, so tropical/rain songs ("Rock You Like a Hurricane," "Rain," etc.) are not under consideration.

I'm giving bonus points for songs that are actually ABOUT weather. (On Twitter, I also timed this so the songs could be listened to between tweets.)

So let's get started.

10: "It's a Cold Night for Alligators" by Roky Erickson and the Aliens. (And indeed it is).

9. "Cold as Ice" by Foreigner.  (You can opt out of the ad.)  Not necessarily about weather, so classic song drops a bit.

8. "The Weather" by Built to Spill. Great song; we're now moving into ones that are actually more weather-related.  (This is actually from the album Ancient Melodies of the Future, which means our YouTube uploader was very, very lazy.)

7. "Ice Cold Ice" by Hüsker Dü.  It's kind of about the weather, right?  Right?  (You had to know Bob Mould was getting in here somewhere.)

6. "Snow Day" by Fossil. This is so obscure that there's no uploadable content for it. It's all about the joys of a snow day.  Rest assured, it's a great song.  Rest assured.  

5. "Blizzard of 77" by Nada Surf.  A favorite of Scott's, which is good enough for me. We are now fully ensconced in actual weather songs.

4. "Hazy Shade" of Winter by The Bangles.  Sadly, I did not know this was a cover until just now.  Don't look at me like that.  (FWIW, the YouTube clip sounds like it was recorded off a warped vinyl copy.)

3. "Like the Weather" by 10,000 Maniacs.  Ruined  Immortalized forever by my freshman roommate Sean's drunken warbling Bahstahn rendition. It went something like this: "Shiver in me bones just tinking... about the weathaaaah." (And yes, "tinking" is spelled correctly.)

2. "The Sound of Winter" by Bush.  A great song by a band who finally figured it all out 15 years later.

And at #1... drum roll please....

1. "Snow" by jj72.  It's just awesome. Such angst and confusion, it's really quite brilliant.  A long-forgotten Scottish Irish band.

That's my list... so what did I forget?

-Snilch

Ride - Smile

You have to love 5+ hour plane rides...

After listening to 1990's Nowhere and 1992's Going Blank Again (both CD Changer albums), Dan suggested I look into the third piece of the Ride trilogy, 1990's Smile.  This is actually a compilation of their first two EPs (Ride and Play) and is just as high quality as their previous offerings.

There's no slouch in the bunch here, although the latter part of the album holds the two undeniable gems, "Like a Daydream" and "Furthest Sense."  It works as an album too:  much like Nowehere, Ride sets the mood early and then lets the big guns loose later to finish the album off.  "Like a Daydream" is personified by its dreamy guitar sound and cloud-like vocals (and I am not even being sarcastic here, but sincere, so pardon the appropriate puns); "Furthest Sense" can be summed up with the chorus "It's time for a change/I'm not asking, I'm telling you."  Indeed.

Ride - "Like a Daydream"

It's another great album by a band on top of its game.  I think of these guys as a shoegazer version of the 1970s Buzzcocks or Wire: an initial three albums of brilliance, followed by a serious come-down.  But they were awesome when they were on form:  a little bit of rock, a little bit of tranquil atmosphere, and a little bit of flowing vibe.

CD Placement Rating:  Car CD Changer.

- Snilch