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I?m so glad I stumbled across this jewel of a record from 1998,going around in second hand shops can be just the trip you need to get your hands on a truly magnificent musical adventure like in this case with the L.A based 10 Speed?s one and only released album.
70?s glamrock is on the menue and the chef behind this pearl is Hutch Walker (no it?s not Butch Walker) who lets his guitar speaking like Brian May and writes songs like they were cousins to David Bowie?s "Life on Mars".
Imagine Tal Bachman having dinner with Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople while they were cooking something together,yeah 10 Speed is exactly what would come out of those 2 gents creation.
If you?re a fan of albums with Joey C.Jones and the Glory Hounds (1994),Marvelous 3 or Flipp - then there?s nothing to discuss.....start your chase after this trio coz 10 Speed will make your day shine so much brighter.
Oh I almost forgot,Hutch has a voice that sounds like a mix between Jorn Lande (Vagabond,Masterplan) and Adam Paskowitz (Jetliner,The Flys) - not bad,well more like excellent! |
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| Here we have a new modern rock group that I think can be very successful in the Us. The are the same label(Wind up) as Creed and have also been touring with them. With that kind of promotion the really have had a good push in their career. Musically 12 Stones are into metallic modern rock group like Adema and Seven Channels. They doesnt feel that tough compared to groups like Stereomud and Systematic but theyre edgy enough if youre into the little tougher modern rock. The level of the songs is very good with consistent songs all through and with no really sucker. My suggestion is that you surf to their website and listen to clips of "Open your eyes" and the Foo Fighter:ish song "The way I fell" and get your own opinion. But if you like the groups Ive mentioned its just a waste of time cause this is a really nice modern rock album. |
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New Orleans Postgrunge rockers 12 Stones had quite a success with their self titled debut from 2002 so now they are back with their 2nd album "Potter?s Field" that sounds very much the same as the debut.
There are no surprises on the new album,these 11 new tracks passes by without any bigger notice but then again-I?m no friend of Paul McCoy?s voice.
The fans of 12 Stones will feed their hunger till the next record and the sales will be satisfactory for their label Wind up but it?s pretty sad that such a great band like Seven Wiser gets dropped by the same label while they are promoting these mainstream rockers so hard.
Uninspiring is the word!,except for one song...."Photograph" is pretty good. |
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Three years has past since 12 Stones last effort “Potter’s Field, which was pretty uninspiring postgrunge album. And have they learned anything from that failure compared to the cool debut is a questions that some of you might ask? Yeah, I would say that 12 Stones have written some of their best tunes up-to-date with a handful of tunes ready for radio. And that is also the problem with the record since it feels that they have been listening to Nickelback way to much on some the tunes, including the first single “Lie To Me”, “Broken Road”, “Adrenalin” and “Hey Love”. A little close would be ok, but those are just plain copies of a very successful musical concept, which feels pretty cheap.
Another thing that I have to comment is that the album clocks just under 40 minutues and only contains 10 new tunes. Not that good!
But overall is it a nice album that will suite fans of Creed, Thornley, Theory of A Deadman and why not say Hinder even if they have lost most of their indentity. |
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Do you want your pop punk to have traces of powerpop? Then St.Louis based 12 Summers Old is definitely your cup of tea.
"This could get dangerous" is their 3rd album and the follow up to the 2006 album "Hairspray and Handgrenades".
"Corey Haim" and "Pictures sold me out" are the highlights here but there are more nice songs on this 32 minute long album to get a taste of.
They´re hardly groundbreaking but quite good and bring thoughts to The Get Up Kids and Riddlin Kids which can´t be a bad thing.
Music with a summer vibe so to speak! |
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This L.A based rapmetal oriented band recorded their 2003 EP "Poisoning the system" with Jim Wirt (Live,Something Corporate) which isn?t the first name popping up in my head if someone says funky rapmetal,don?t know the producer of this new one but the sound is awesome.
Their new EP "Redeem" is a fine piece of super groovy numetal where they deliver some major heavy funkin? and I start to wonder if these guys haven?t been listening to Infectious Grooves,Heads up and Rage against the machine in the 90?s coz the similarities are there but 151 can also be compared to bands like Bionic Jive,Limp Bizkit and (hed) P.E.
We get 5 tracks plus a short thing called "Interlude" that could?ve been lifted off this EP coz it only contains a lotta ridiculous BS - who wants to hear someone hitting another person in the face on a cd?
The last track "Special delivery" ain?t as strong as the first 4 but it?s ok,we?re talking loud?n?heavy stuff from track 1-4 and all these are great riffrockers.
They are on the same label as modern rockers Jet Motor Crash even though these 2 bands play in different leagues soundwise.
Crank it up folks! |
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| Let us make it clear from the - here you have a great freeking album in front of you! This Matt Serletic-produced album with 16 Frames is nothing else than a monster album that you should not miss for anything in the world. Musically the band is somewhere between British arena rock mixed with a more American sound a´la Better Than Ezra, Dishwalla and Collective Soul. Perfect. Where It Ends features 11 perfectly-crafted songs, all written by Steve Sulikowski, 16 Frames´ frontman. The band have recently toured with Sheryl Crow, Crowded House, Pete Yorn and is recently on tour with Better Than Ezra. This band must have a big break. I mean with songs like "Back Again", the titletrack "Where It Ends, "Coming Home" and "Daylight" are all four of them huge hits in my ears, and that is just four of them... Nah -enough said folks. So far - one of the best albums of the year 2009. |
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This album from 2011 released by Los Angeles-based 16 Frames have just slipped through my Modern Rock filter.Actually thought they disappeared after their last Ep "Six From 16" that had some success with the songs on shows like "Jersey Shore", "Teen Mom" and "The World of Jenks."
Their debut "Where It Ends" from 2009 is a very underrated record that is must if you’re into softer Modern Rock with beautiful harmonies and melodies.This new album, which is only available as a digital download, is like their other material of high quality.Even though they have not had a bigger budget so it sounds good and the production is very suitable for their soft melodies. And when it comes to songs it's not much to complain about either.Front man Steve Sulikowski, is a very talented songwriter and has written for artists like American Bang, Brendan James and Benny Marchant so he sure know what he’s doing.This can also been heard on tracks like "She's Waiting", "Woman" and "Looks Like Diamonds" where he shows the best side of the band.
Overall, it’s not as good as "Where It Ends" where they had a major label behind them and big production signed Matt Serlectic, but it's better than expected and well worth checking out if you like their previous releases for sure. |
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Another band you can add to the big ocean of modern pop in the lighter EMO/punk school. And 19 Wheels are doing fine in that ocean. They have good production and the songwriting is solid. Still, I must say Im quite fed up with these American bands without any own identity. Its perhaps unfair to 19 Wheels as it is not their fault. Cause theyre good on what theyre
doing. But this scene will soon be quite dead, and all these bands with t-shirts, shorts and vans-shoes will drop dead. It is still a quality release in the genre and if you love this sort of music that bands like Fountains Of Wayne, Lit and you know the rest delivers this is a good
buy, cuz its quality. That without one minute of nerve though. Plastic music is one good word to describe it. |
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Butch Walker is truly the king of cool and innovative modern rock. Ever since the Marvelous 3, I have been a big fan of him and my enthusiasm has not declined over the years. It is fanatically how he managed to change the shape from the more punk orientated and tougher power-pop, to the screw-down singer songwriter rock to even this more like U2 rock. Impressive! 1969 was a short-lived projects with Michael Chislett and Darren Dodd, guitarist and drummer of his solo band the Let´s-Go-Out-Tonite. They wrote and recorded "Maya" at only three days which is crazy impressive, given what we have managed to create on this album. Would not like to say that it is the best Butch has been involved in, but the 1969 debut is a stylish and solid experience. Think early U2 and Echo & The Bunnymen, but to a more modern approach ala Angels & Airwaves with great melodies and direct choruses. Not unique or own, but uncomplicated and good song material all the way! It did not happen a lot with this project and it is doubtful if we hear anything more from them. A little sad to say since I think that they had a lot more to give us. But if you Butch and what he has done before, so this is somewhat inaccessible albums really worth to get.
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| For the first time, 1994's album "Please Stand By" is now released on CD. 1994 was a band that was really hyped by Kerrang and other rock magazines, and the charismatic singer Karen Lawrence was compared with names like Pat Benatar and The Wilson sisters of Heart. After first been with the band LA Jets and released an album in 1976, Karen formed 1994 in 1977 and released their debut-album in 1978 and this follow-up album the year after. Musically, we end up roughly in the same genre as Heart. There are good songs on the album and the favorite is still after 30 years "Our Time Will Come" which is a great song with ambitious arrangements and a great chorus. "Stop This Heartache" is still also as good as I remember it, but there are also a lot of songs that seem pretty weak 31 years after the album was released. The production signed by Eddie Leonetti (Angel, Legs Diamond) and Jack Douglas, has not much to complain about. So to sum up the review a bit I can say that it's charming to hear the disc again (I have probably not listened to it in 25 years) and that there are good songs, Karen sings as good as I remembered, but there are also some sleepy songs. As usual, Rock Candy have done a fantastic job with a nice booklet and personal written texts from Karen. In addition, the disc contains four bonus tracks. |
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May 27 will mark the release of Nineteen Ninety Seven´s sophomore album One The Run, the follow up to Better View of the Rising Moon. With the ever so popular emo bands these days and with the female vocals exploding on the mainstream charts, I think 1997 will have no problem fitting in. The album is a perfect blend of emo fronted rock but with the addition of the female vocals accompanying the mix. The band makes some good music on this album especially on the opening track One Track Mind, Four Track Heart. The song opens up at the chorus leading in on the female vocals. A nice addition on the album adding some original flavor.
Overall the album is good. It doesn´t have many standout tracks but the album sound is pleasant. I think we were looking more for something more original but I think this band will do just fine. With the way things are going on the mainstream front with Paramore taking the spotlight and a lot of the emo/rock bands getting their name out. 1997 will have no problem selling records and appealing to the masses. Check them out on myspace for a more in depth look into their sophomore album, One The Run. For fans of Taking Back Sunday, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World. |
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Want some classic hard rock in the 80´s style? Then Hollywood based 1rko´s debut 6 track EP "FirstRoundKnockout" is the answer for your prayers.
It´s a varied EP of rockers, ballads and more melodic stuff - I think they have done a good cover of The Sweet´s "Fox on the run" and the piano ballad "Hand in hand" could´ve been a hit back in the 80´s.
"Right now" is a great rocker made for the stage and the more melodic "So alive" bring thoughts to Paul Stanley´s song "Goodbye" from his 1978 solo album.
The best track on the ep is "One more time" that I also hope will be included on the band´s forthcoming 14 track album out in 2009.
1rko is fronted by the strong vocalist Simon Daniels who also plays guitar and keyboards, well it´s not a groundbreaking record but it doesn´t have to be now does it? |
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| Minnesota rockers 20 Dollar Love gives the listener a huge dose of non compromising rocknroll in the same vein as Georgia Satellites, Dr Feelgood and Danzig. There are also moments where my thoughts go to a more punkish sound a la Offspring but mainly, this is a boogie rocking album in the 70´s style. Music most often sounds better played loud but in this case, the album "High Dr" shouldn´t be played anything less than loud enough to wake your neighbors. Also available with the band is the 2006 album "Sex rock heroes". Cool stuff indeed! |
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| I love new discoveries, 22 from Norway fulfill every need I have within artsy progressive rock. They have released 2 Ep´s where "Kneel estate" is the latest one, this band sounds like System of a down meets Fair to midland with a touch of electro pop. The title track is stunning but we get 3 more absolutely awesome tracks with pro-musicianship plus a remix of the title track, you should check out their first EP "Plastik" as well because it´s equally good. |
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Did you know that?
When The Jimi Hendrix Experience released its first single, "Hey Joe," they did not have a US recording deal.
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latest reviews
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