James Moore's Blog, page 100

Psycho CA – Day 1: The Madness Begins

I woke up and I knew it was time for the heaviest weekend of my life to commence. What more could I do but open my soul to the chaos that was about to unfold and let it dig into my heart. Doom is deeply emotive music, and if you’re not read to really feel it you might as well not even bother. We were about to be exposed to weirdos of the highest order and it would be glorious. That being said, there’s a way you’ve got to dress and act for these types of things. Having been a doom freak for years, I felt prepared for what was to come, but little did I realize that my own level of freakishness was paltry next to some of the stuff that I would see. In the words of my friend Charlie Fell of Lord Mantis “There is no bottom” See, as depraved and ‘metal’ as you might think you are, there is always someone grimmer than you, and weekends like this only turned me on to the enduring power of that particular reality.

We got to the venue early and there was already a veritable horde of bearded dudes and dreadlocked ladies hanging around The Observatory. I couldn’t help but feel reminded of Hunter S Thompsons Hells Angels with their colored beards and unkempt hair, in some cases dragging out past the knees. It really came as no surprise that within five minutes of showing up I had bumped into my friends in Acid Witch, Parker from Cough and Windhand , and, perhaps most notably, Bob Lugowe of Relapse Records. This weekend was going to be a who’s who in the metal scene and I needed to be on my A-game. If that meant refraining from drugs and alcohol so be it, it probably would help the article to not have some sort of massive freakout this weekend. In retrospect – I’m still glad I refrained, so much happened, and so much needs to be documented. Despite that it’s still gonna take a while to digest.

Before I knew it the time had come for Atriarch to open up the festival. Later on they would tell me they had essentially ‘crashed’ the festival coming on as a late addition, but that didn’t seem to hinder their set. Their performance was everything I could have wanted from the band. They were just as tortured as I had hoped, the vocal lines seemed like they were torn from a demented beast. There was a cathartic sense of sublime annihilation that accented the entire show. The way that these guys simply deliver rib cracking sounds that reek of black metal annihilation without ever truly speeding up is impressive. Every note bowled over the crowd, we were left in awe trying to figure out what the hell we had just witnessed. Atriarch know how to craft ominous and thought provoking sounds that will have you gasping for air – which really is all you could want from a show like this. These guys rapidly won my heart and left me wondering what these tortured men would do next.

I had just a few minutes to talk to Bob Lugowe before the time came for Samothrace to take the stage. I had been into these guys since I was just a kid – so getting to see them, and to meet their vocalist, the possibly insane Spinks, was an incredible experience. On top of that, they absolutely destroyed the stage. These guys are as heavy as it gets and they created a sense of the divine over the Grizzly Stage. There was a sense of ritual to what these guy do – as if they themselves are tapping into something much greater than themselves, perhaps they, like many of my interview subjects from the weekend, view this kind of music as a sort of entity in and of itself, destined to be our salvation. It’s impressive to watch a band like this take the stage, merely because they are speaking to a reality that most of us only dream of. They are turned on to a much more powerful and poignant reality that shows a band who seem ready for all of the terrors of the world and will share this utter aura of destruction with us – their ever thirsting fans.

One of the most frustrating aspects of Psycho California is that the lineup is almost too good. It’s hard to figure out where you’re going to have pauses sometimes because there will just be band after band that you will have wanted to see for years. So the fact that I had fifty minutes before the time came for the apocalyptic live experience of Conan was an exception. I did get a chance to interview Atriarch at this time though and I was stunned at the sense of desperation that really defines those dudes. It explains a lot about the twisted soundworld they apparently live in and the surreal beauty that could unfold in their music – music that gives them a sense of liberation and shows the way forward in a world that too often has cast aside weirdos like them.

I had seen Conan twice already, back when I lived in France they came around fairly regularly, Jon and Chris are old friends of mine, but it was my first time meeting their new drummer, Rich, who brings a whole new dimension to the band. Where Paul would just hit – extremely hard – but still simply hit – it seems to me that Rich brings in a layer of almost jazziness to the sound. He accentuates the entire live experience – one that has rapidly grown since I last saw Conan back in June of 2014 at Hellfest. Jon’s stage presence has become almost rock star-esque at times, but I mean that in the best sense of the term. He raises the horns and gives every inch of his body over to the power of the riff. Meanwhile Chris has taken his vocals to new peaks of brutality. The sense of crushing might that comes down in a track like Foehammer is undeniable and seems incongruous for these charming Midlanders. Suffice to say – this is a band who seem to only be getting better and their unstoppable live force is something that needs to be seen to be believed.

At this point I had another pause (and another interview) before Bedemon came on. Though I was disappointed that those dudes wouldn’t be fronted by the original singer, the notoriously flakey Bobby Liebling, they had another stoned doom legend at the helm – Wino. He led the band through a slew of classics – their earth shattering old school sound fitting in nicely with their penchant for button downs. Sure – these dudes skew older but there is a sense of antediluvian might to the songs. The fact that a band could have their live debut more than forty years after their inception and still have a wealth of young fans speaks to the enduring power that doom metal has. Sure there have been few landmarks in the genre until recently, but that’s the point. Doom freaks are perhaps the most tenacious fans in the world and seeing dudes who no doubt had been waiting forty years for this band to play live alongside teenage kids was stunning. It proved to me that there is more to this type of music than meets the eye and we are made stronger because of it.

Midway into Bedemon’s set I was forced to cut out to interview Earth another one of those weird things that happens only at metal festivals. Why else would a journalist have to skip seeing a legendary band only in order to interview another? As soon as Earth finished talked to me though I hurried right back to the monarch stage to catch what I could of Municipal Waste before Bell Witch came on. Again – Psycho California is simply too good of a festival. You see bands you’ve loved for years back to back to back and are left mentally overwhelmed – it’s glorious and I feel weird complaining about it but what are you gonna do? All you can do is pray it will be back next year.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this particular Municipal Waste performance, to me at least, was the fact that they brought their own crowd. Sure there were some of the requisite doom freaks gathered about, or general heavy metal fans who happen to view Municipal Waste as a part of the canon, but they also brought in a wave of their own. Thrash kids who seemed wholly out of place in these weird surroundings. As Devin Holt of Pallbearer would later tell me “Thrash metal is best when you don’t have pubes- you need to be aerodynamic. Doom though – you need the gnarliest fuckin’ pubes you can have. You gotta slow down and catch every piece of resistance you can find.” Municipal Waste certainly seemed aerodynamic… There songs stomp across the listener, their trademark swagger showcasing these guys as incredibly skilled and savvy performers, conjuring up circle pits on a weekend when ‘moshing’ was seemingly a dirty word. They had a sense of humor too – joking about being the fastest band on the festival and showing that even this kind of very serious and heavy music can laugh at itself every now and then.

It was all too soon though that I had to duck out of watching The Waste to see Bell Witch. This band was one of the biggest reasons why I had elected to come out to this festival and watching their fairly bizarre and deeply emotive performance was jaw dropping. I didn’t really realize the technical skill it takes to play Bell Witch songs but it makes sense given that the band features merely a bassist and a drummer. The trade off between the vocalists was equally mesmerizing. These guys have honed a sound that has an impossible to deny sense of gravitas. As you witness them perform you feel that you are on the precipice of something greater – something superhuman. They lurch forward torn apart by the primal darkness that they are trying to invoke. Tear jerking and simply beautiful Bell Witch proved that there is light behind the darkness of doom. That we can use this music to craft something grand and come out as stronger people.

I was still reeling from this monumental crush when it came time for Eyehategod. The band put on the best set I’ve ever seen from them, and many of my doomed and stoned brethren seemed to feel the same. Mike IX has a rather distinctive junky charm. Sure he’s a fuckup, but he admits to it and that makes him strangely endearing. He’s the kind of guy who delivers a show no mater what and his half mad ramblings between songs and twisted sense of humor seemed to only add to the bitter power that this band has. The punk rock side of Eyehategod seemed to be shining through on this particular evening but that only made things even more vital. These guys are aware of their own legend and seem to have no problem with desecrating it. Instead of conveying epic images of dirty streets they come off as a bunch of dudes just trying to have a good time and jam some heavy fucking music. Every song came across as incredibly tight yet also wonderfully dark. The legend of Joey Lacaze has yet to die and watching Eyehategod take on massive stages like this one suggests to me that his memory looms large in their hearts and minds.

By this point in the night my legs were on the verge of collapse. Festival life is not for the faint of heart and a degree of endurance is required if you want to make it through these things alive. Fortunately I found my erstwhile roommate John and we were able to get a decent sitting spot for Russian Circles… Fuck it, while I’m on this tangent let me just say – The Observatory is perhaps the single best venue I have ever been too. With plenty of places to sit with a view, three stages, a great VIP area and multiple bars it has everything one could want from a metal venue. Furthermore the place sounds great, a act that even the legendary Al Ciscneros of Sleep and Om was sure to point out during his bands performance.

The point being – Russian Circles blew me away. Sure these guys don’t do much in terms of a stage show, but that’s not really the point. For this band what really matters is the eternal power of the jam. Incredibly tight and mesmerizing to watch these guys have been able to craft something truly unique. It’s rare that you can wholly capture the attention of a group of people with instrumental music in the twenty first century – especially Russian Circles brand of nonstop and highly cerebral music – and yet somehow these dudes pull it off. They can’t help but sound refined and powerful crafting an incredible wall of sound that just slams the listener into the wall with every mesmerizing riff. These guys aren’t crushing – at least not intentionally – instead they are transcendent, guiding you into a sublime spirit world that is often hard to fully understand. The only apparent remedy is to see these dudes again as soon as possible.

The day was winding down and the freaks slowly cleared out – past the food trucks supplied by the festival and instead towards the In-N-Out Burger (Might I recommend their grilled cheese?) and the Del Taco (Might I recommend not going, ever?) I was left – eating In-N-Out for the first time in my life and pondering what I had seen. Sure, the next day would be a hell of a lot heavier, but it was a great inception to what would go on to be one of the best weekends of my life. I had gotten to meet Peter Tomis and Cat Jones, both big time doom maniacs I’d been messaging for years online and I got one of Liz Ciavarella’s legendary hugs. I collapsed onto my hotel bed in a neighborhood full of crackheads and heroin addicts and couldn’t help but smile – today had been a good day, the first in far too long.

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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Jim James takes a few hits off the Aurora Borealis on MMJ’s The Waterfall

If you’re planning to grow out your hair and stare profoundly into the sky all summer long, My Morning Jacket’s seventh album, The Waterfall, is the soundtrack you need.

The rollicking “Compound Fracture” would be a perfect opening song for your summer road trip mixtape. “In Its Infancy (The Waterfall)” is the song most bands hope to write in one career. It shifts from mood and tone with one count off the hi-hat, blending Classic Rock interpolations with thick-fingered shots of prog. The stunted falsetto of Jim James rises like mist from the instrumental downpour.

Since hitting it big time in 2003 with It Still Moves My Morning Jacket have strived not to settle into the same grooves and guitar crescendos that gave them their platform. Veering outside their formula worked magnificently on the follow-up, Z, two years later. Continuing the trend, however, backfired on the next two, Evil Urges and Circuital. Those albums are still decent additions in MMJ’s musical scope, but they’re lumpy, overinflated and only truly good in sections.

The Waterfall hones in more closely on the band’s strengths, but finds a newer psychedelic expanse where they have not yet been before. Their own Kentucky landscape still anchors their rootsy, woodsy, in-the-weeds sound, but here they find a more ethereal space to extend to. James gets high off Aurora Borealis fumes and it sounds so sweet.

James released his first solo album, Regions of Light and Sound of God, in 2013. The album finds James in a deep drift of meandering, drawn-out songs. That creative offshoot was a positive thing for this album. The songs on The Waterfall are more compact (save for the final two epics) and they find their hypnotic power instantly.

James looks inward on the well-wishing acoustic, “Get The Point.” He strums a hushed melody and sings directly to a true love that has since shed its truth. “I’m trying to tell you plainly how I’m feeling day to day,” he admits, “And I’m so sorry now that you ain’t feeling the same way.”

“Spring (Among the Living)” comes echoing off the canyon walls. Guitars twinkle like the opening lights of spring after an agonizing winter.”Thin Line” and the first single, “Big Decisions,” will both snuggle warmly into the setlists of the band’s tremendous live show.

By the time the contemplative “Only Memories Remain” falls into the tracklist The Waterfall has moved beyond the cliffs and rocks, downstream into a calming river flow. The album ends with the whiskers in Jim James’s beard burning down like dynamite fuses on “Tropics (Erase Traces)” and after ten songs, it’s time to find the path home.

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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Psycho California – The Journey To A Brave New World

Psycho California, now that’s a name that suggests things could get weird fast. Perhaps America’s largest doom metal festival we sent our worrisome journalist Matt Bacon out on the trail to try and get to the heart of the fucked up world represented by this festival. Seeing a ton of bands, meeting a lot of people and being surrounded by drugs can lead to a fascinating weekend if nothing else, and as Matt found out – there is a lot more to the demented depths of doom than might initially meet the eye.

California is a freaky place and I never thought my music writing would take me out here – but here I am – waiting for my plane in Santa Ana after the madness of Psycho California – one of the largest gatherings of doom freaks to ever take place on this side of the Atlantic. There is a sort of perverse charm to these kind of event – sure the bands are great and you get to see your friends but there’s also a anthropological interest generated by seeing so many dropouts and permafried acid lovers in one place. Are these people the new Hells Angels or are they something else completely? Suffice to say – it makes you look at the whole darned human comedy and wonder how it can keep perpetuating itself when shit like this is allowed to happen.

To be honest though the worst part was getting there. I found out three days before I was meant to leave that I had misbooked my flights and had to fix it at great personal cost. It’s all water under the bridge, but the weekend was not off to a good start. That being said – flying out to California went well and I even met a few doom freaks (Including Subrosa fans) along the way. The real issue though came with being picked up from Santa Ana airport. Due to a wealth of miscommunications and general poor organization on my part I would be staying with a friend of a friend who I only knew from Internet chats and phone calls. Probably not my best bet. Furthermore I would have to wait in the airport for 8 hours for him to pick me up -not a good time.

Yet somehow this stranger did pick me up and he decided not to murder me. As we sped down the highway, I saw my new friend, John, take a swig from a can. Had I fucked up this badly? Was I in the car with someone who so nonchalantly violated that sacred rule of “Don’t drink and drive”? Maybe this is just how California is… I was freaked out and felt obligated to say something:

“Make that your last beer eh?” I chided.

“What?”

“The can you just finished, that was beer right?”

“Oh shit dude – that was an energy drink!”

Well then. I guess being a worrywart doesn’t really pay off.

Suffice to say we arrived to our destination without further incident and I sunk into a real bed (!) for the first time in what felt like months. I had not gotten to see a lot of California in my first hours there, but I didn’t care. However, I got a vibe that this place was distinctly plastic and might be hard to full adapt too. What twisted visions were going to be unveiled before me? Perhaps the truly fucked up world was not the one I was about to enter the following day at The Observatory, but instead the one I was already in. My journey to the heart of a doomed hell had finally begun.

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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2015’s hottest European festivals

It’s May and festival season is just about to get into full swing. If you find yourself around the European continent this summer, though, what can you expect to see?

Rock en Seine, Paris, France

While its name might say otherwise, Paris’ best festival is a diverse, eclectic take on modern-day music that takes a selection of the brightest English language talent, throws in some local French artists and creates a hipster haven for those attendees. This year Kasabian, The Libertines, Chemical Brothers and alt-j are just a handful of the top acts on show, with the growth of the festival going from just two stages to its current five, there’s a lot on offer throughout the day on each day for all types of music fan. And with the great city of Paris just a metro ride away, for those who want a break from the music, a visit to the city could be on the cards.

Totalling at £75 for a three-day extravaganza, and just over the pond for the British, it offers a great alternative to the behemoths on offer within the British Isles.

Primavera Sound, Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona may have a number of exceptional music festivals, but the Catalan branch of the Primavera Sound branch is the best of the bunch. With a stage right on the coastline offering exceptional views of the lush tide, just a ride away from the city, it’s a perfect setting for a party. 2015 sees the likes of Run the Jewels, Patti Smith and Simian Mobile Disco on offer. It’s another exceptionally diverse line-up that promises a lot of different options to the music fans in attendance. It all kicks off in a couple of weeks time, as one of the first major events on the Euro festival calendar, expect some highlights in the Catalan sun.

Rock Werchter, Werchter, Belgium

Priced at £170 and rolling in on the same weekend as Glastonbury, this Belgian festival shares many of the same artists with the uber-cool British gathering. This year the major draw will be Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz and Chemical Brothers, some interesting performances there to be sure. Another look at the line-up will again tell you that the name of the festival isn’t the only genre on offer. With four days of rock, electronica and increasing levels of hip-hop, it’s Belgium’s biggest music gathering and rivals the experiences that you’ll have within Britain, or even, daresay it, the mighty Californian staplemark that is Coachella.

Mandrea Music Festival, Trentino, Italy

Reeling things back a little, the perfect setting of Lake Garda at the foot of the Italian Alps, Mandrea is a perfect antidote to the big, corporate shindigs that many of the festivals on this list represent. It’s a throwback to festivals of times gone by, from the hippie-style campsite, to the folk and reggae vibes that are on display on the sprawling campsite. With mountain biking and rock climbing also on offer, the £52 weekender offers a great getaway and alternative to the other offerings, Trentino isn’t a big city by any stretch, and the weekend may well only appeal to few, but it looks like a viable for option for those with festival fatigue.

Roskilde Festival, Roskilde, Denmark

Denmark isn’t a particularly well thought of nation when it comes to music and its impact on the industry. However, strip yourself of those thoughts and take a look at a festival began in 1972 by a couple of students. Roskilde is established just 20 miles away from Copenhagen, meaning visitors to the festival could take a look at the capital city that bewitches so many.Taking place in the heart of summer, end of June, and proving a little pricy, coming closer to £200, but with Muse, Pharrell Williams and the country’s own Mew, the line-up is of the highest order.

Lollapolooza Berlin, Germany

Rivalling Bestival as one of the latest and greatest end-of-festival season weekenders, Lollapalooza Berlin is a continental take on the American classic, and a two-day sojourn for those interested in indie and pop music. It’s cheap and offers the opportunity to time in a trip to the city with so much history, in the middle of September. With hot artists like James Bay and Wolf Alice alongside the established stars, Fatboy Slim, Sam Smith and Tame Impala, with one last big announcement to come at the start of June. It’s an exciting festival with the potential for exponential growth.

Flow, Helsinki, Finland

Taking place in the wonderful surroundings of Helsinki, with an intriguing mixture of old and fresh architecture, the Finnish festival offers a lot of English language artists, in varying genres. Major Lazer, Chic, Pet Shop Boys and Florence + the Machine, are just a clutch of the stars. For those willing to take a chance on a fresh, new environment, the stellar list of acts might just be the festival and chance to try something new. And who knows, with the clutch of unknown European talent on offer, a new fan favourite could be discovered simultaneously.

Sziget, Budapest, Hungary

The ultimate week-long getaway, the island just a stones throw away from Budapest, and is a much-hyped mega festival. And yes I said WEEK-LONG. Coming in at the price of your average big festival, with showers, camping and all that important stuff included, Sziget is making a legitimate claim to becoming one of the biggest, greatest festivals in the world. With the music heavy on some days ahead of others, there’s also the opportunity to escape the island for a beautiful city in Budapest, too. On offer this year, though, are Future Islands, Jungle, Florence, Robbie Williams, Enter Shikari, Tyler the Creator, alt-j and Foals. And to be honest that is not even the pick of the bunch, there are a tonne more options for those attendees. Throw in non-musical activities, like ‘Chill Pools’, art installations, a circus and a theatre, there is a plenty for everyone, even if you just fancy a week off work!

What other hidden-gems have we missed from this exceptional list of European festivals?

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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6 Greatest Publicity Stunts in Music History

With social media a key component in any musician’s publicity-filled arsenal in the 21st century, a lot of emphasis is placed on ensuring no artist succumbs to the many dangers of the internet. However, publicity stunts have been around for decades, and music has provided a tonne of memorable moments, here are some of them.

1. The Sex Pistols Play on the River Thames

This, the first in a number of exciting, raucous stunts by the punk rockers who shook up the music business in the 70’s, saw the Sex Pistols hire a boat, and sail it down the River Thames, their own unique tribute to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. They played single ‘God Save the Queen’, right next to the iconic cluster of buildings that is the Houses of Parliament. A short while later, police boarded and arrested the Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, but by then the power of the stunt had been unleashed on the world, and the single managed to make it to Number 2 in the charts. The Pistols legend was alive and well.

2. Ozzy Osbourne Eats a Bat

When the Black Sabbath frontman really was the ‘Prince Of Darkness’ he was known for throwing throwing animal parts, including pig intestines and cow livers into the audience during performances. Soon he got a taste of his own medicine however when a fan threw an unconscious bat onto the stage. Thinking it was a rubber toy Ozzy grabbed the animal and bit its head off. The singer was taken hospital to receive shots for rabies, but the incident has never been forgotten, and is arguably what the Birmingham-born frontman is known for…well that and the trainwreck that was ‘The Osbournes’.

3. Snoop Dogg Loves Star Wars

The rapper also known as Snoop Lion, isn’t afraid to ‘selling out’. He’s sold his voice to Call of Duty amongst other things and has thrown his weight behind no manner of products. During the 90’s, during the rapper’s rehabilitation phase, his record company even sent him out as a hip-hop Santa Claus, delivering presents to hospital-bound youngsters. But one of his more humourous exploits was marching through New York’s Times Square with a gang of stormtroopers and Darth Vader. The reason why? To promote a clothing line he was a part of. Oh Snoop, you do entertain.

4. Bands Playing on Roofs

The Beatles were the first to encourage this frankly risky practice, one of their last ever performances taking place on the roofs of Apple Records’ offices in London in 1969. Of course it didn’t take the police long to shut it down. Then came the turn of heavyweights U2, taking on the mantle in the video for ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’, an LA store being the rooftop venue this time, before the police promptly shut it down, again. Fast forward a couple of decades and this time it was a planned stunt on top of the BBC’s base in London to promote a new album. The irony was not lost on leadman Bono though, who said: ‘We’ve ripped the Beatles off on many occasions.’ There have been a lot of incidents since, but the most notable of which is probably Homer Simpson’s band in a memorable episode of ‘The Simpsons’.

5. John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Bed Press Conferences’

A second appearance for both a Beatle and the year 1969 in this list, came when John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, used the event of their wedding to promote world peace, proving that all stunts aren’t just for monetary gain in the music business. The Amsterdam Hilton, where the pair where holed up for a week saw daily press conferences taking place, with signs proclaiming “Hair Peace” and “Bed Peace” behind them. It went down a treat, which inevitably led to a ‘sequel’ in Montreal, just two months later, recording “Give Peace a Chance” with some pals (including Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers). While peace was the official agenda, the unusual form of publicity doubled as an ad campaign for the new collaborative entity “John & Yoko,” though the “& Yoko” part was a tough sell. As for peace, well, the war folks had a pretty savvy street team themselves.

6.  Janet Jackson’s ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’

Controversy wasn’t just a Michael hallmark in the Jackson family, no, Janet had some issues of her own. When it comes to the Superbowl, the half-time show can make-or-break that year’s event for millions of the worldwide audience. Well it happened that one year, Justin Timberlake, everyone’s favourite hearthrobe was partnering up for a duet with Janet, with a particularly saucy line from the American leading to a ‘wardrobe malfunction’, and the live broadcast immediately going down. CBS, the broadcaster was fined $500,000 for the violation of broadcasting standards, and the NFL announced that producers of the show, MTV, wouldn’t be coming back for the gig. That being said, neither have Timberlake or Jackson, but who needs unnecessary nudity when nowadays we have a certain ‘Left Shark’.

However, there have been all manners of special musical moments, comment below with your own personal favourites.

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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5 Years Ago Deftones Re-emerged with Diamond Eyes

Five years ago today Deftones hurled back with their sixth album, Diamond Eyes. “Let’s drink with our weapons in our hands,” frontman Chino Moreno suggests on “Rocket Skates,” the first single. “Let’s sleep in this trance.” Then, with the scream where you can actually hear the throat tear, “Guns, razors, knives!” With that Deftones announced a return to form in the wake of tragedy.

In the years leading up to Diamond Eyes, the structure of the group had nearly come undone. Their previous album, Saturday Night Wrist, came four year earlier in 2006 during a somewhat creatively stagnant time for the band. The album still had some great songs (“Rapture,” “Beware,” “Rats! Rats! Rats!”), but something about it felt over-labored and ultimately garnered little enthusiasm from critics or fans. It easily cemented its place as the lesser of all Deftones’ near-perfect albums.

The abyss that followed left the group looking like they may go the way of their pre-9/11 metalhead brethren: a scorching burn with a quicker fade to mediocrity. (See: Korn, Staind, Godsmack) Then, the fall of 2008 brought the devastating news that founding bassist Chi Cheng had been the passenger in a car wreck and was put up in the hospital, deep in an uncommunicative comma.

Eros, it was learned, was the name of the album they were working on at the time of the accident. It would be shelved as the group sought to find perspective of their misfortune. When it became clear Cheng wouldn’t wake up with any sort of ease, the band decided to soldier on without their brother in song.

Sergio Vega, who previously played in Quicksand, was longtime friend of the band and would fill in for their live shows. Eventually he would add his flex to the muscle of Stephen Carpenter’s riffs and Abe Cunningham’s scatter-shot drum blasts in the studio. The band rediscovered themselves amidst the darkest chapter of their creative lives. With Cheng heavy in their hearts they began to record new music.

On Diamond Eyes, the songs got leaner, louder and tighter. Cunningham ascends into another level of drum genius, matching the subtle twists in Carpenter’s meaty riffs. Just try to air drum to “Diamond Eyes,” “CMND/CNTRL” or “Rocket Skates” and not look like a fool.

“You’ve Seen The Butcher” turns a clunky guitar burble into a slithering sexual come-on. Moreno weaves between the riff. “You slowly enter ‘cause you know my room,” he sings. “And then you crawl your knees off / before you shake my tomb.” After lyrically phoning in it on the last album, Moreno gets back to cunning ambiguity, painting lines that point in different directions.

Vega brings a new lockstep groove that immediately qualifies him to fill the legacy of Cheng. Hear him creep around the crunch and scream of Carpenter and Moreno on “Prince” and “Royal.” Gone are the empty atmospherics that started to pervade the previous album. Frank Delgado adds touches of keyboards to wrap it all in a wave of dark radiation.

Sometimes a tragic moment can lead to unearthed expression. For the band and their fans the loss of Cheng will never be forgotten, but for those same people the music had to continue. Diamond Eyes is a testament to the group’s longevity and maturity. Their follow-up two years later, Koi No Yokan, would be even better.

Cheng would never wake up. He remained in quiet unknowing solitude until his death in 2013. On “Risk” Moreno sings out to his brother. “I’m right here just / Come outside and see it / But pack your heart, you might need it.”

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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Kintsugi tries to piece Death Cab For Cutie back together

Everybody leaves Ben Gibbard. It’s the very crutch of his art. Fittingly, then, that Death Cab For Cutie’s eighth album, Kintsugi, arrives in the aftermath of his divorce to New Girl Zooey Deschanel and, more recently, the departure of longtime member and producer, Chris Walla. Those twin departures can be read on every song. Their last album was 2011’s Codes And Keys.

Kintsugi opens with promise. “No Room In Frame” grabs the reins with a polished version of the group’s past. Ben Gibbard does his usual straightforward moping sneer in climbing reverb. The drums shuffle the song along through each subtle transition.

When I heard the album’s first single, “Black Sun,” I was filled with hope for the upcoming full-length. The song spreads out with a stuttering drum beat and Walla dropping in heavy doses of orbital keyboard. There is an extra tinge of hopelessness, of darkness here that hasn’t quite been heard from Death Cab. Most of their songs’ emotion stems from sadness, regret, loneliness, but never do they creep into the darker flip side of those emotions, vengeance and despair. Basically, it’s a Death Cab song, but with all the sap cut out.

Walla, who has been at the helm of Death Cab with Gibbard for 17 years, quit after the recording of Kintsugi was finished. As he makes his exit, Walla shows on “Black Sun” how this band could evolve into a tighter, more exploratory rock group. Unfortunately, the rest of the album follows the group’s recent two-album (or so) decline.

“Little Wanderer” should have been passed onto Josh Groban. (You still would’ve been paid, Ben.) Sounds like Gibbard lost his Internet connection and now misses some girl. Maybe the riff sat unused on a hard-drive and they forced it into this very skippable song. It’s a weak sequence of verse, chorus, verse, chorus. But, somehow it’s the only song from this album to get stuck on the track-mill in my head.

“The Ghosts Of Beverly Drive” and “Everything’s A Ceiling” are just flat out boring compositions. Gibbard, though, still nails the tragedy of life’s constant creation of distance from everything you know and love on the spare acoustic number, “Hold No Guns.”

Kintsugi finally finds a groove on “Good Help (Is So Hard To Find).” The drums and bass swivel to a disco beat while Gibbard plays guitar like he’s in the Dire Straits. Drummer Jason McGerr doubles down on “El Dorado” with a pummeling beat while Gibbard’s voice floats up into the California sun.

The final song, “Binary Sea,” plays on the waves of piano keys and sounds like a B-side from Transatlanticism, the album that continues to stand as Death Cab’s artistic peak. Kintsugi looks up at it and has to quint only a little to see it.

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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Interview with Albert Mudrian – Author of Choosing Death

It’s always an honor to get to sit down with a highly influential industry figure – especially one as well spoken as Albert Mudrian author of Choosing Death, perhaps THE authoritative text on death metal and grindcore. In an in-depth discussion of his life and work we get a better sense of what Albert Mudrin is on about and the exciting future for Decibel.

So how’s life been Albert?

How’s life? Interesting, complicated and busy. It’s good. I just don’t have a lot of time to sit around and think about how it is, I just kind of react to it.

So having death metal be your full time job is no mean feat?

I guess it is. There aren’t a lot of people who can make a living being involved in underground music and I’m fortunate enough to be one of those people and I try not to take that for granted. At times it does feel a little weird. Especially when you have to explain what you do and people are like: “Really?”

Well like – are your kids in school yet?

No, they’re little. My daughter is in three and a half and my son is nine months old. My daughter is in preschool.

Have you had any parent teacher meetings where you had to explain what you do?

I don’t think my daughter knows exactly what I do. She’ll flip through magazines and CD’s and record covers but she’s numb to it. She likes listening to some stuff. She was very much into Ghost and Baroness for a little while. I actually took her to see a Baroness soundcheck about a year and a half ago. She’s kind of moved on from that. I don’t know what she’s into know though. She kind of makes up her own songs now.

I was just reading your interview with Jonathan Dick of Steel for Brains and you were talking about how death metal has now spanned multiple generations. I noticed something similar when I stayed with Noisem for the A389 bash. Do you think the fact that now that we have death metal bands whose parents were into death metal going to impact the music?

It’s hard to say. I think Noisem in particular are still an anomaly. Those kids were exposed to a lot of good records from a very young age and took on the influences you would hope they would take on. These are not things that would generally move most other fourteen year old kids into extreme music. If you’re a fourteen year old kid now I don’t know how early Carcass would affect you. I think that would be something you could get into at some point but that might not be your introductory move to extreme music. The Phillips kids mom and dad are my age and if everybody who had kids in their teens started doing that I think it would be a huge positive effect on things. I don’t think you necessarily have to have parents who are into this music for it to be passed down. As long as the parents are supportive of it and don’t try to squash it that’s all you can really ask for.

I fully expect my kids to rebel in their own ways. You just rebel at what your parents are into. I don’t expect my parents to have any interest at all in extreme music. I think as long as the parents are supportive that’s all you need. I don’t think you need to be like “I’m going to give my kid Altars of Madness when he’s 12 and see what happens” I don’t think that would have a real effect beyond the novelty.

Could you talk to me about Decibel Books? I’m very curious about that!

I’m very curious about it too to be honest with you! The only book on Decibel Books right now is Choosing Death. It’s the only book that we’ve published on our own ,the previous edition was obviously published via Feral House. It wasn’t until about December of last year that the plan began to try to release the book through Decibel. Originally the plan was Feral House but it got to the point that it didn’t feel like Feral House was the best home any longer. We worked on building towards getting the book out since it’s been done since last year. I wanted to get it out on our own. There were books published by other companies like Da Capo who put out the Hall of Fame book. That always felt weird to me, I thought there was a market for smaller runs of books. I realize that Choosing Death is bigger than that but it seemed logical to use the book that was in the process of being released. I hoped it would legitimize the Decibel Books thing also. Coming out with a title that people knew would help establish it more than saying “Here’s a three hundred page book on the history of Finnish doom metal between 1995 and 1998” Not that that’s a terrible idea for a book but that’s probably the tenth book you want to release, not the first.

That’s the deal with Decibel Books. I suspect that we’re going to release more books and we don’t know about the timetable yet but I guess there would be another one this year. In fact I can almost guarantee the next one won’t be ready until next year. We’re still getting the promotion for this book together still. I would like us to start working on the next one this year but release it next year.

So you have no idea what it would be about at all?

I have some ideas and I know some people are working on some books but it’s still too early to give you information that is worth anything at this time.

Is it weird for you that now we live in a world with multiple publishing companies just for books about metal?

I don’t see us at this point in the same kind of league as somebody like Bazillion Points who have been doing this for something like six years and have released tons of good stuff. Ian Christe is a good friend of mine and I really respect what he’s accomplished with that, but it’s really gratifying in 2015 to see books like this having an audience. When I wrote Choosing Death between 2002 and 2004 there were four publishers I pitched it too and two were completely uninterested. The whole time I thought I would end up at Feral House regardless, I figured they would be the only people interested. Knowing that more people have come to it during that time has made it cool.

I think it will allow for a more creative environment too. There are people who have ideas for books and now that they know that there is something that exists to distribute that people might be more willing to act on that idea instead of thinking “It will live on my desktop and never go anywhere” I think it’s going to lead to good things.

I’ve always admired how independent Decibel is. How do you maintain your independence as a magazine and now with Decibel Books?

Its easy, I don’t think there’s a lot of corporations or publishers who look at us and think they could cash in. I think it’s easy for us to pull the independent thing because we’ve never been tested, no one is going to wave a big check in front of us. That’s not to say that people haven’t come up to us with really gross ideas that I immediately shot down. I’ve also interviewed people for jobs who pitched ideas that did not seem to line up with our aesthetic at all even though I knew we could make a bunch of money by doing it.

For me it’s always been about the big picture and the long term success of the magazine. It’s not about trying to reach a bigger audience of Megadeth and Pantera fans and only trying to reach that audience. If we tried we could probably cash in on that for a little while and make some money, but I was building towards something that had a very clear aesthetic and did not want to deviate from that. You can push boundaries every once in a while but I think it’s really clear what we do. We have been able to use this to develop a strong brand that people identify with, they get it. I don’t want to fuck that up! I think that we’ve been doing this almost eleven years now and that’s a long time to do something. It takes a long time to establish that foothold and for people to get what it is. One Decibel tour with In This Moment headlining could undo all of that.

I think that Decibel is a reflection of what I like. As long as it’s like “Hey this is what I’m doing clearly other people have decided that they’re into it” so I just stay the course. I’m not afraid to try different things and diversify but you just have to do what feels right.

I saw you were talking about European metal press as compared to US metal press, could you elaborate your stance on that?

I haven’t seen a lot of it recently. Terrorizer still gets sent to me every month but to be honest with you I don’t take a very long look at it. I know that there are a bunch of others magazines in that market. I don’t know that much about it. I see Metal Hammer once every few years, the last copy of Zero Tolerance that I saw was in 2004 when I was in England. I’ve never seen Iron Fist even though I’m friends with their founder. The landscape is very different in and of itself in that there are so many competing titles. People are trying to get a niche within a niche. We’re fortunate enough that we don’t really have that here, the landsaoe is a bit more clean. That creates a situation where it’s a little more difficult to reach people. When you don’t have a lot of magazines it’s hard to put them in places that people will see them.

The models are completely different – I have no desire to really take Decibel overseas. It’s a crowded market and while we’re different than all of those magazines I’ve mentioned I just know that that market is over served and their has to be some attrition in the market before anyone else can move in. In terms of the writing I can only conjecture. What we do in terms of our presentation shows a little bit more developed sense of humor about things. The metal press over there is very serious and straightforward, especially when you get into the English as a second language countries. A lot gets lost in translation very quickly. I think that our stuff would go over well in most places but I think that there’s a certain American voice and attitude that wouldn’t necessarily work out well anywhere else.

I’ve always felt that a lot of European magazines tend to be a bit self righteous, and I don’t get that vibe in Decibel.

We’re not elitist in any way, we’re elitist. It’s funny because for years people have criticized us because we don’t cover shitty bands! (Laughter) There was some guy on twitter who used to write for us and now is with Revolver referred to us as a ‘purist metal magazine’ which I just view as a nice way of saying elitist. I don’t really believe that. I think that we need to make decisions about what we think people want to read about. I don’t really know anybody who is over the age of fourteen who wants to read about Asking Alexandria so… sorry I guess?

When you added the hundred pages to Choosing Death was that over the course of the ten years or was that in one flurry of writing?

I started writing it in October or November of 2013. It was probably about a years worth of interviews, writing and rewriting. It was done in that period. It wasn’t like I was taking notes for eleven years. But at the same time I kind of was since I had been publishing Decibel. I was involved in everything that had been going on in that entire period. Decibel came out almost simultaneously as Choosing Death and obviously death metal and grindcore is kind of what we do. I had a lot of mental notes but the actual writing and interview process was done during that period. It wasn’t pieced together between 2004 and 2013.

As a writer who influences you?

I don’t know! I’m kind of at the point where… this is a sad commentary for me… but I don’t really read for pleasure at this point based on how my life is structure with work and family. I can’t tell you the last books that I picked up that weren’t music or sports related? Early on I was influenced by some of the mid 90s Terrorizer writers like Gregory Whalen and Dick Perry both of whom went on to write for Decibel at some point. Those guys were really good at having an authoritative voice that had a lot of personality and came to me early. Now continuing I’m probably influenced by the voices in the magazine. There’s so many great writers at Decibel! There’s a lot of talent to look into on a weekly basis. Maybe I’m in a bit of a vacuum but that’s kind of how it is. There isn’t anybody out there where I’m like “Aww man I wish that person would write for Decibel” who I haven’t already gone out to get. That doesn’t mean those people aren’t out there I just haven’t read them yet. There isn’t anybody in that sense who was a big influence at least.

At this point you’ve kind of altered the future of heavy music. You have a place in heavy metal history. Is that something you try to acknowledge? How do you deal with that?

I think we acknowledge it by showing our milestones. One example is the hundredth issue show we he had in Philadelphia or the tenth anniversary shows in New York. These are numerical milestones and self promotional tools that sell themselves. I don’t think that it’s up to us to walk around and say that we’re good at something. I think that if we just kind of present what we do it’s up to the public at large and the metal scene to cast those judgments. I think we’re an honest reflection of what is going on but as far as acknowledging what we mean, that’s not up to me. I think we just need to continue to do what we do and be that reflection of what’s happening and get people into things that they’re excited about that. Nobodies going to reward you with a plaque for your ten year anniversary, it’s kind of up to you to make a big deal about that and then everybody around you will be like “Oh that is a big deal” and celebrate with you. You can’t just sit around and wait for applause in that sense. There’s kind of a balance that I feel you need to have towards things like that.

Obviously you wear a lot of different hats at Decibel, how do you manage that?

I think you just have to have an ability to multitask and have a high tolerance for working a lot and working weird hours. You can’t really have a 9 to 5 job in that sense because in the off hours the emails are going to keep piling up. It’s disparate stuff. It could have to do with the tour, the flexi disc, or something else that’s going on. It could be a customer problem or a festival or whatever. You have to develop the ability to transition back and forth quickly. You’ve got to make things interesting. There’s not really time to chill out. There’s never a moment where it’s not like “I don’t have something from this arm of the magazine to work on” having a family with two young kids is also stressful. I haven’t seen a movie in years if that’s kind of an indication of how things move around here.

Have you always had that drive or was there a moment that triggered that?

I’ve always been motivated to do stuff. When I was fortunate enough to have opportunities I tried to turned them into something. I was really into Henry Rollins growing up too and maybe some of that drive helped. To me it’s just kind of simple, I try to do as much cool stuff while I’m here as possible.

Can you tell me what you love so much about music?

For me it goes back to being a kid and having that kind of soul. I grew up an only child and I didn’t have a ton of friends. I really just kind of allowed myself to get into music. Even some of the bands I liked when I was 12-13 like Def Leppard still resonate. I was way into Def Leppard it wasn’t like “Oh I’ll get a record and listen when I can” I had all the t shirts and as many posters as I could get. It seems for me that it got really deep. It’s hard to articulate because you have an emotional connection with it. It’s up to you as to how deep you want to go. Once you take one step beyond what most people take it’s really easy to just keep moving forward. The moment you find one other person who also has invested themselves in that way you’re like “forget it” and you’re all in!

What it means to me now is not what it meant to me then. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t mean as much to me now as much as it means something different. I’m not a lost sixteen year old anymore. I’m sadly an adult. I still love that stuff and it still triggers something in me. A lot of them are discussed in Choosing Death. The fact that I’m still excited about new records and bands shows that that part of me hasn’t gone away, it’s just processed a little bit differently.

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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The Black Parade: A Retrospective

It’s easy to forget the incredible impact that My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade had when it came out in 2006. I was 10 years old at the time – a bit too young for the record, and, like most kids my age I didn’t really get into it until late middle school when I hungered for modern music that built upon the classic rock I had become obsessed with. Billed as a “modern rock opera” my Pink Floyd addled brain immediately latched on to the potential of this record. Right as the first song – The End – kicked off (‘How edgy!’ I thought ‘What kind of genius artist would start their record with a song called The End? My mom will never understand this!’) I knew I was in for something special.

What we need to remember is that The Black Parade was largely successful because it fell at just the right moment in the culture for it to work. With the last dregs of the nineties swept away, the trophy generation starting to reach adolescence and rock and roll seemingly ‘back’ it fit the teenage zeitgeist to have a record that served as the artistic peak of these achievements. 2006 was also near the height of Emo culture which grew after the post-Columbine stigmatization of Goths. Essentially, The Black Parade stands as the obvious culmination of years of angst and frustration – this was supposed to be the ultimate answer, operatic and rebellious music that young people connected to and made them feel important.

It’s crucial to remember that part of the appeal of The Black Parade is that it’s the kind of music that kids think is meant for adults. I remember being a middle schooler and hearing the tortured soldier sampled in the track Sleep and thinking “Wow this is deep!” On top of that, there actually were a lot of 20 somethings who loved this record. My Chemical Romance’s massive debut I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love had made quite the splash and there were certainly a lot of people who maintained an interest in the band after their adolescence.

Now, I realize that it may sound like I’m trying to trivialize a record that many still view (quite rightly) as a classic. But I think it’s important to remember, the thing that has people still talking about The Black Parade nine years on is the sheer quality of the songwriting. Sure, rock was a big deal in 2006, but it definitely wasn’t the force it had been in the 60’s and 70’s. The fact that My Chemical Romance were able to get four charting singles off this album means that, if nothing else, they were great songwriters for their time and place. Seriously, My Chemical Romance is perhaps the only band in history who wrote riffs that would work on a groove metal album appropriate for 13 year old girls. There is something rather transcendent about these songs too, I’m sitting here as a kid who’s done nothing but listen to new music every day for the last 5 years and I’m still totally in love with The Black Parade.

A part of this is due to the orchestral nature of the music. The cry of “To carry on” on Welcome To The Black Parade fits underneath layers of synth and guitar tinted production. Meanwhile the occasional swearing (Perhaps most notably the use of the word ‘fuck’ in the bonus track Blood) helps to make the album sound dangerous and – once again – grown up. There is a distinctly epic vibe that My Chemical Romance seek to communicate with this record and it gives the entire thing a rather distinct flavor. The sense of grandeur that defines The Black Parade is hard to emulate – this is more than just a product of epic sounding production. It’s the compositional mastery of this record that makes it so fascinating to us, you find yourself lost in it and it’s hard not to fall in love with what they’ve done here. Seriously, how is a lonely teenager not supposed to embrace lines like “I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone”? It’s essentially custom made for the profound desperation that can only be found in suburban American culture. On top of that you have the bands anthem, Teenagers – perhaps the most punk rock song on the record. It makes youth feel as if they are a part of something greater to themselves – only serving to make the album even more entrancing to adolescents.

Contributing to the grandeur of the record is the lyrical content. These songs speak to typical teenage struggles – yet Gerard Way finds it in himself to couch them in a greater borderline cinematic context, one that makes the listener feel grown up and struggling with adult problems. The repeated refrains that define this record all seem to hint at both incredible trials but also hope. What better way to speak to depressed kids who never properly learned to socialize and who were always told they were the best at everything? Listening to The Black Parade even now as a jaded music critic, I can’t help but feel that I am a part of something greater and have to carry on with the hope of better days. The magic of this record is that it captures the entire cultural zeitgeist in just thirteen songs (As a middle schooler I thought that they arbitrarily picked thirteen to maximize edginess) and through that they have managed to become a rather unique cultural touchstone, one that nearly everyone currently between the ages of 16 to 25 can connect with.

It’s kind of weird then that nowadays The Black Parade is largely viewed as a nostalgia record. I mean, it makes sense considering the previous mentioned role in the culture but it also guided a generation of teenagers through a very weird and tough time in their lives. I think part of the issue is that now we look at what we think of as ‘typical MCR fans’ and associate them with the false-Goth poser-supporting monument that Hot Topic has become. I feel like in the dearth of good rock music My Chemical Romance have suffered a death by association with bands like A Day To Remember and We Came As Romans. The whole ‘swoopy hair’ look seems pretty silly now too – especially after the whole crabcore …thing… with artists such as Attack! Attack! and Chunk! No Captain Chunk (Do all crabcore bands need unnecessary punctuation?) who took that entire look to its logical extreme. Suffice to say – I don’t imagine the band wanted this record to end its life as music college freshmen listen to in order to reminisce about 8th grade.

I think though that we need to realize what this record means for the larger context – not just ‘scene’ music. My Chemical Romance were a band that helped a lot of young people get deeper into rock and start listening to albums in their entirety. While most fans may have matured past their sound, the ideas introduced by The Black Parade remain constant. After all – much of the lyrical content of this record essentially hearkens to Romantic period notions in high art music and these topics are still explored in a lot of music today. What The Black Parade did that is truly remarkable is that it made thousands of young people realize the power that art can have. Sure the bands look was silly and sure it can be perceived as angsty but suddenly masses of lost teens were able to get a look into the world of punk rock with this pop coated masterpiece, and some of them chose to dig deeper. It proved that music was still relevant to the youth, and that young people should be going out and creating music, even in a world where music piracy was rampant. Perhaps things weren’t quite as dire as I’m suggesting, but it’s impossible to deny that The Black Parade was a crucial shot in the arm to a flagging music industry.

Today electronic music is back on the rise and modern thirteen year olds are saying things like “I wish I was a teen during the mid to late 2000’s when real music was coming out!” Even as someone who lived through it – it seems hard to believe that just ten years ago a fairly heavy rock record that even featured a few screams was able to score a number one single. I think that had My Chemical Romance continued they could have very well been the next Led Zeppelin – hell they almost made it. Enter any Hot Topic and you can just about see the high water line when smart rock and roll almost wholly re-entered the mainstream. My Chemical Romance stand as proof that rock bands can still dominate the world in the 21st century. Only time will tell if any band can any band learn from My Chemical Romance and profit off the cultural zeitgeist and create the same sort of transcendent rock record that reaches out to the lost and forgotten to change the world.

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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Modest Mouse Spend Eight Years to Sound Like Modest Mouse

Isaac Brock has spent the past eight years sputtering in the wilderness of his creative mind crafting Modest Mouse’s sixth album, Strangers To Ourselves.

The title track slips in casually with the opening seconds. Brock’s depleted quivering lisp mixes in with strings in a swirl and brushes on the snare. It’s a slow-rocking somber opening, but the second song and first single, “Lampshades On Fire” kicks the mood up into the sky.

In its three-minute presence the perfect recipe is heard from a band that’s been cooking since 1993 when they formed in their native state Washington. There’s the hearty drum beat, Brock’s spittle on the microphone and harmonic guitar squalls that poke from the rush of movement. In 2015, one could call this the classic Modest Mouse sound.

Strangers to Ourselves is the group’s first with the absence of bass player and founding member Eric Judy. The album is the follow-up to 2007’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, a mostly uneven set of songs, that fell from the aftermath of “Float On,” the single that catapulted them into new heights. It was 2004 and suddenly everyone and their mothers were singing “Float On” and “Hey Ya” by Outkast on the way to school.

Nearly every song on Strangers To Ourselves is busy, working like a village of tiny lemmings and packed front to end with full instrumentation. The band’s earlier records had more space to breathe, while their more recent releases jerk the listener around.

On “Sugar Boats” we hear an oddball chunk of New Orleans funk with horns dodging Brock’s wound-up guitar. “Shit In Your Cut” is weighed down by a chunky drumbeat and a bassline that teeters left to right. Brock’s vocals fall into his lower register, monotone and spectral, for the haunting chorus, “I guess we’ll ride this winter out.” The song slips away like the sunlight on a winter day.

On “Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miama, FL 1996)” Brock sounds like your drunk uncle talking at you after downing a bottle of cough syrup. It’s a froggy demented party-time track. “The Ground Walks, With Time In A Box” locks into a Modest Mouse groove with guitar sparkling at the edges. The hi-hat hits consistently on the offbeat through a wavy, woozy chorus that spins around from ear to ear. The songs stumbles into an avalanche of guitar crunch and harmonic flurries before leveling off in the wake of quaking horns and glass bottle tops.

The album’s best song is “Coyotes.” Its simple acoustic strum leads the way as Brock addresses the disappointment of what it means to be human. He suspends his drunken bard’s croak to whisper warily on the wind, “Mankind’s behaving like some serial killers.” Not only the best here, but since anything off The Moon & Antarctica.

Strangers To Ourselves is a good time, and better as their last, but it fails to make much of a lasting impression after an eight-year wait. Modest Mouse is still one of the great live acts of the current day, but on their sixth album they only cements their formula further.

As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.

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