4 Mag Nitrous – Southern Wisdom and Know-How

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4mag  2009 4Mag Music

Having known bassist and lead vocalist Kib from his days with a little ol’ band called Bone China in south Louisiana in the mid-90’s, I was really looking forward to listening to this disc after connecting with him and the rest of the BC crew in Louisiana a few weeks back.

Now let’s face it…if you have a friend who’s in a band, you know that feeling.  You want to be supportive of them so you really WANT to like the music…even if the music isn’t quite up to snuff.  All because you WANT to be able to tell them “Wow…you’ve got some really good music!”

Which makes it that much more satisfying when your friend’s band turns out to be legitimately able to level the place.

If you’re not into heavy music, make no mistake.   You won’t like this CD.  However, if you like grooves that are gumbo at a rolling boil and guitar that is pure cayenne pepper (red hot and nimble fingered while always putting riff and song first), you’ve got to check out this CD.

Imagine if Pantera, instead of going for the most extreme and abrasive sound, had instead spent more time eating Kentucky Fried Chicken and going to crawfish boils…all while listening to Motorhead, and you’ve got an idea of what you’re in for with 4 Mag.

It’s honestly difficult for me to pick one favorite here, as the tracks are all loaded with pure electricity…and damn if “Cut Throat” isn’t the Riff of the Year in my book, earning a permanent spot on my WakeUp playlist on Media Player.  “In the Straight,” “The Swamps Lie Dead,” “Texas and Back,” “Speed Demon”…heck, I might as well just name them all.

Southern Wisdom and Know-How is just a big shot of adrenaline and the kind of disc that keeps me excited about new music in my advancing age.  Kib, Jimi Hudson and Gabe Richmond all turn in stellar performances here, but I’ve just gotta give extra props to Hudson for showing himself to be the kind of guitarist whose playing can take an already great song and somehow still make it better.

And it’s a great soundtrack for mudriding!

Rating:  5 out of 5

CLICK HERE to download Southern Wisdom and Know-How FREE! (Thanks Kib)

CLICK HERE to buy their self-titled debut CD 4Mag Nitrous

Ween – The Mollusk

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Ween  1997 Elektra Recordings

Rumour has it that Dean and Gene Ween put together this, their magnum opus of twisted humour set to infectious eclectic melodies, on the northern east coast close to the shore (hence the obvious nautical themes).

Whatever the origin, the fact remains that there is no one making music quite like Ween.  From their inception, these goofballs from New Hope, PA have existed in their own world with an open invitation to all of us to visit anytime and stay as long as we’d like.

The Mollusk runs the gamut from Brit-pop to showtunes to beer-swilling sea-salt rantings (see The Blarney Stone – “If I don’t get some fresh bread soon, gonna punch in yer face an’ bark at the moon.”).   Man, just where did this stuff come from?

Opener “Dancing In The Show Tonight” sets their trademark tape-speed vocal experimentation to a Broadway showtune styling that will have you both tapping your foot and laughing hysterically at the same time.  It’s like the Chipmunks meet the Rockettes in a twisted way.

Title track “The Mollusk” follows immediately after and really sets the tone for the rest of the CD with its aquatic/atmospheric instrumentation and sense of fun that showcases two musical minds (that would be Dean and Gene Ween) focused more on having fun than anything else and being so talented that they can’t help but stumble upon melodic hook after melodic hook.

No matter what their musical mood in a given song, these guys just deliver track after track loaded with personality, experimentation and good humour.  Highlights include “I’ll Be Your Jonny On The Spot,” the aforementioned “Blarney Stone,” “Mutilated Lips,” and “Polka Dot Tail” (including the sidesplitting rhyme “Have you ever made a flan, and squished it in your hand?”)

Testimony to their penchant for memorable melodies with incredible mass appeal, however, is the crown jewel of this CD “Ocean Man,” which was a deserved and fitting inclusion on the soundtrack to The Spongebob Squarepants Movie.  Man, my kids love this song as much as I do…although there are other songs on The Mollusk that I prefer to keep away from their tender young ears.   “Ocean man, the crust of a tan man imbibed by the sand, soaking up the thirst of the land.” – There’s just nothing like a good pop/rock song with a healthy injection of vocabularic intelligence.

Is “vocabularic” even a word?   In the world of Ween, it doesn’t even matter.

Fill up your scuba tanks and dive in.

Rating:  5 out of 5

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE MOLLUSK AND OTHER WEEN MUSIC THROUGH AMAZON.COM

Steve Earle – Copperhead Road

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Copperhead  1988 UNI Recordings

As a metalhead in my college years, I tended to be adverse to music that didn’t have some semblence of heaviness about it.  Big, loud distorted guitars were typically the order of the day, but I also started to gravitate toward other styles that at least incorporated a sense of individuality in the face of accepted norms.  Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road disc was quite the surprise addition to my collection given my admitted (almost fearful) aversion to country music.

For starters, Steve Earle is an artist who, over the years, has earned rightful respect and credit for bringing the proverbial “big beat” to mainstream country and “rockifying” it.  Garth Brooks and plenty of other mainstream country artists owe at least a tip of the hat to Steve Earle for almost single-handedly bringing deep-rooted rock sensibility to modern country music with his seminal “Guitar Town” debut album.  Let’s face it, some of the old school country artists like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Conway Twitty (!) always had an old-school (and I mean OLD school) rock swagger about them that resulted in as-then unprecidented crossover appeal.

Steve Earle managed to take it a step further with his original output, particularly on Copperhead Road – an album which, while achieving gold status, never quite achieved the mass appeal expected by the artist himself.  Indeed, Earle was quite enamored with up-and-coming bands like Guns N Roses whatwith their rebellious thumbing of the nose to rock norms of the time, and it was never more evident than on this release.

The title track has been covered (and rightfully so) many times over in the live setting, as roots rock bands like the Badlees et al could see the crossover appeal and embrace both song and attitude alike.  A certain loner personality emanates from this album, almost as if Earle knew he was taking a tremendous risk and just didn’t care because he wholeheartedly believed in what he was doing despite his downward spiral into drug addiction.

Track after track moves with an honest country influence blended near perfectly with the hugeness of the rock n roll attitude.  I almost can’t believe to this day how much I love this CD, whatwith songs like “Johnny Come Lately”  and “The Devil’s Right Hand” blending outlaw country with a rock n roll attitude spiked with honesty like nothing I’ve heard before or since.

Crowning achievement on this disc is the fierce “Back To The Wall,” a foreboding and seemingly autobiographical tale set to music that has as much to do with Lynyrd Skynyrd as any pure country influence.   “Keep yourself to yourself and keep your bedroll dry, ‘Cos boy you never can tell what the shadows hide” pretty much sums it all up for this song and this whole CD.

Copperhead Road the album marked a bookend to the first chapter of Steve Earle’s career as his drug addiction and subsequent rehab would see him come back years later with his inimitable talent on full display, finally sober and able to capitalize on his curiously underground legend status and make a respectable career out of things.

Make no mistake…I’ve never connected with country music as a whole, but Steve Earle possesses a unique ability to bridge the gap between country and rock like no one I’ve ever heard and Copperhead Road is an incredible tour de force worthy of inclusion in your CD collection.

And turn it up LOUD!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

CLICK HERE TO BUY COPPERHEAD ROAD AND OTHER STEVE EARLE MUSIC THROUGH AMAZON.COM

Clutch – The Elephant Riders

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Elephant   1998 Columbia/Sony

If you’ve spent much time in the Abyss, you’ve probably figured out that Clutch is pretty much my favorite band ever…possessing all the elements I love about really great rock music.   The grooves, the guitars (LOTS of guitar), hooks and undeniable intelligence…it’s all here.

While Clutch really hit their stride with Pure Rock Fury, The Elephant Riders is the album where they really started to hone in on the elements that make them so unique.   Many Clutch fans regard this as their best disc, while I personally reserve that designation for Blast Tyrant or Robot Hive/Exodus, mostly because the production on this disc isn’t quite to my sonic liking.

Nonetheless, the songs are most definitely there, and I’ve gained a new appreciation for this and Clutch’s earlier releases after hearing them in the live context (see Full Fathom Five).   The hilarious visual of Civil War soldiers riding into battle astride elephants pretty much says it all.   This is music that exists for the pure joy of sound, and if you care to dig beneath the surface you will find layer after layer of intelligence and humor that are well worth your time.

The strength of the riffs is undeniable, songs like “The Soapmakers” and “The Yeti” just enjoyable beyond belief even before you dig into the lyrics.   Everything good about classic rock is on display here, including eclectic variety on songs like “Green Buckets” and “Wishbone,” the latter containing one of many funny Neil Fallon musings.  To wit:  For Thanksgiving we had taters, succotash and rutabegas.

The only other person I know of to use the word “rutabega” in a song was Frank Zappa on “Duchess of  Prunes” (from Absolutely Free), and that’s pretty good company to say the least.

I’ve gotta give props to “Ship of Gold” as the first Clutch song I can remember really sinking my teeth into.   Living in Dallas when this was released, I remember listening to this track over an over and just being mezmerized by the groove.   I just simply had never heard anything quite like it.

The crown jewel of this thoroughly entertaining carnival of sound, though, is my favorite Clutch song of all time “The Dragonfly,” which paints a captivating picture of the rites of spring from the point of view of a newly hatched dragonfly:  Oh in the sun she warms her wings, and listens to cicadas sing.   Or how ’bout …trees are all bendin’ in one direction, because of somethin’ – cross-pollination on the legs of bees in spring, it’s a beautiful thing.  There’s just no other band that can pull this off with such total conviction.   This song, however, is best experienced in the live context as a superb opening call-to-arms on the fierce Full Fathom Five live CD/DVD.

There’s really not a bad Clutch album in the whole bunch, and if you want to dig deeper into their back catalogue (pre-Pure Rock Fury) this is a great place to start, The Elephant Riders offering song after song of memorable hooks and sheer fun.

Rating:   4 out of 5

Sisters of Mercy – Floodland

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Floodland   1987 Elektra/WEA

First of all, you either buy into this sound or you don’t.   Plain and simple.

The reviews I’ve seen of this disc are of both extremes…either totally sold on its apocalyptic and gothic vision or laughing hysterically at its seemingly overt seriousness.

Andrew Eldritch’s deep baritone vocals are the center of attention here (as they are on all of the Sisters’ scant releases) and for me this sound totally fits the bill in my most gothic of moods.  I’ve always felt that music is supposed to take you somewhere…somewhere you’ve never been before and, in the case of good music, somewhere you want to return time and again as years pass.

This disc brings back memories of my ill-fated stint as the host of the morning show on KLSU (Louisiana State University’s radio station) back in 1987-1988.   Man I was hated by most of the staff of the station because I wasn’t “cool” enough, but my time at KLSU was a time of expansion of my musical tastes.   As a metalhead, I felt a kinship with bands like the Sisters because of the heaviness of their sound, and this disc to this day finds its way to my Windows Media Player as a pure, unadulterated mood spin.

Dark, yet somehow hopeful, Floodland is chock full of big, bombastic sounds propelled by a machine-like (actually it IS a drum machine!) groove that in retrospect laid the groundwork for crossover bands like White Zombie.  Perhaps taking itself too seriously at some points, it nonetheless is a dark, smoky world unto itself with songs like “Dominion/Mother Russia” relentlessly weaving their way into your consciousness.  And has there ever been a more foreboding chorus than “This Corrosion?”:  Hey now, hey now now…sing this corrosion to me.

Now what the hell does that mean exactly?  And do I really care?

“Flood I” and “Flood II” are atmospheric and propulsive at the same time, while “Lucretia My Reflection” is probably my fave of the entire Sisters catalogue.   Guitars, funereal keyboards, bass buried in the mix but always evident, and Eldritch’s incomparable vocals (hey, he IS the Sisters of Mercy)…it’s all here.  This is goth music pure and simple, and if you like it then you’ll like this disc.  If you’ve never been into goth but have been curious as to what it’s all about, I recommend this disc (for better or for worse) as a dimly shining example of the best the genre has to offer.

By now old, but not really sounding dated, Floodland stands the test of time…existing as its own universe and challenging enough to demand more attention than mere background music.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

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Chris Leblanc Band – Talent Show

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talent-show 1998 Sweetroll Records

From Baton Rouge, Louisiana comes a unique talent that is equal parts classic Texas blues and sweet hooky pop.   It’s tempting to reference the Fab Four when trying to describe the pop hooks and melodies you’ll find in some of Leblanc’s music and you’ll find plenty of it here along with the soulful and tasteful guitar stylings of the band’s namesake.

Whereas on The Chris Leblanc Band‘s 1995 debut the songs bore more of the Austin blues influence, on “Talent Show” Leblanc’s love for sweet melodies ala the Beatles or Crowded House shares time and makes these songs memorable.

Songs like “World of Know,” “When She Says No,” and “My Surprise” wear Leblanc’s influences well, especially the latter with it’s Sergeant-Pepper-Meets- Purple-Haze intro.    This then relaxes with a little bluesy-funk during the verses which makes it easy to get lost in the groove.

“Repo Dan” is a crowd favorite and yet another strong and memorable track on this disc.  My favorite, though, has got to be “The Other Side,” with one of the most soaring and sweet vocal melodies I’ve ever heard come chorus time.   A great guitarist and kickin’ songwriter, Chris Leblanc’s music deserves more attention and you can check it out for yourself by clicking here.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

CLICK HERE TO BUY Talent Show AND OTHER CHRIS LEBLANC BAND MUSIC THROUGH AMAZON.COM

Clutch – Full Fathom Five (DVD)

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clutch1 (2008 Weathermaker)

If you’ve spent much time in the Abyss, you’ve probably figured out that Clutch, Swell and The Tea Party are my favorite bands.  We all have those bands whose albums we don’t need to hear before we buy them.  We buy them because we know they’re going to satisfy every time.  These are three of mine and Clutch just seems to be an unstoppable freight train.

I’ve watched this disc so many times…even let it play on after I’ve fallen asleep late at night.   Song after song just relentlessly grooves and captivates you with riffs you can just chew on forever.   If you’re looking for flash and hype (hey, I still love watching the old KISS concerts from back in the day), you won’t find any here.

What you will find is a guitarist (Tim Sult) in total command of his style, a lead vocalist (Neil Fallon) who is incomparably intelligent and incommand of his vocabulary, and a rhythm section (Jean-Paul Gaster on drums and Dan Maines on bass) who is the most underrated in rock.   I used to say that about Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden before that great band sadly broke up.  I mean Gaster and Maines are just relentless and on the money to the point where I have to think Fallon and Sult just couldn’t be any more comfortable in their respective roles.   I’ve never seen anyone get more out of a simple jazz kit than Gaster.    I just don’t think there’s anyone better.

The song selection is very satisfying, although I could have used more from “Pure Rock Fury.”    The DVD opener “The Dragonfly” (from The Elephant Riders CD) really sets the tone and sounds better than the fine studio version.

If you’re a Clutch fan already, you MUST own this.  If you’re not a Clutch fan, it’s a fine introduction to the otherworldly machine known as Clutch.

The greatest rock band of the 21st Century.

CLICK HERE TO BUY Full Fathom Five: Video Field Recordings 2007-2008 THROUGH AMAZON.COM

UPDATE 3/3/09:   Just saw these guys (finally!) live for the first time two nights ago at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster.  Wow.  The place was packed and Clutch just took over.  I remember leaving very satisfied with the songs in the set that night (opener “I Have The Body of John Wilkes Booth” just blew the roof off the place and set the tone) while at the same time noticing the absence of some of my faves like “Escape From the Prison Planet,” “Pure Rock Fury,” and “The Soapmakers.”   These guys have so many good songs there’s no possible way they could play them all in one show.   While they may not be as huge as Phish, Clutch shares that characteristic with that band and, like Phish, delivers time after time for their fans.   If this is how Phish Heads feel about their favorite band, I understand now after watching this DVD countless times (and still running) and finally going to a live show.  I’m hooked now more than ever.

Helmet – Aftertaste

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   1997 Interscope

Helmet was arguably the first “Alterna-core” band.  Bursting on the alternative scene in 1992 with ‘Meantime’ (their second official release), the strict, sharp and disciplined riffing of Page Hamilton and Peter Mengede’s guitars struck a major (albeit brief) chord with the masses in a time of confusion when alternative was struggling to redefine itself.

Those who were riveted by the heavy riffing and heavy, grunting – almost hardcore – vocals that occasionally lapsed into shoe-gazing melody on ‘Meantime’ were no doubt thrown for a loop by the muddy, ragged and often confusing follow-up ‘Betty.’  Indeed, when ‘Betty’ was released people pined for the overplayed (but still cool) ‘Unsung’ from the debut over new cuts like the lackluster ‘Milquetoast’ or even the cool ‘Biscuits for Smut.’

‘Aftertaste’ takes the best elements of Helmet’s heaviest moments and melds them with a more powerful updating of Hamilton’s slacker drone.  The atonal grunts are gone for the most part and reveal a dark, emotional (and often introspective) depth to Hamilton’s vocals.  Not so much in academic tonal quality, but in honesty.

Dave Sardy (mastermind of one of my Abysmal faves, Barkmarket) produces this one and, while some have been very critical of his production job, I love it.  The mix is brutally white hot and the sound just shreds your woofers from the first tortured, rhythmic chords of the opening track “Pure.”  From there, it just relentlessly hits you with some of the most precise, hooky, minimlist riffs you’ll ever hear.

It’s sad that this disc wasn’t the followup to ‘Meantime,’ as sonically it’s a more logical step forward than ‘Betty.’  Flip side of the coin is that ‘Aftertaste’ probably couldn’t have existed without ‘Betty’ coming first, as the vocal elements that were so droning and powerless on ‘Betty’ have been refined into a nuclear weapon here.

“I’d rather be insulted by you than someone I respect” roars Hamilton on ‘Birth Defect’ and his brutally honest delivery makes me a believer.   Incidentally, ‘Birth Defect’ possesses one of the aforementioned minimalist riffs honed to perfection.  “Renovation,” “Exactly What You Wanted” (YYYYyyyyeeeaaaahhhh!), “Diet Aftertaste,” “(High) Visibility” and “Insatiable” are some other high points on a disc that grabs you simultaneously by the neck an the heart and refuses to let go.

An amazing achievement walking the tightrope of power and emotion without ever lapsing into self-parody, which the band eventually did on their “comeback” release ‘Size Matters.’  Oh, well, this is really the only Helmet album you’ll ever need as they’ll probably never top it.  Every band deserves to have at least one disc where everything just comes together.  This one is Helmet’s.  Would be a 5, but toward the end of the disc I find myself in need of a bit of a respite from their relentless bludgeon, as a sameness kinda creeps in.

Rating:  4 out of 5

CLICK HERE TO BUY Aftertaste AND OTHER HELMET MUSIC THROUGH AMAZON.COM

Judas Priest – Stained Class

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   1978 Columbia

WOW.

When one thinks of Judas Priest, visions of ‘Hell Bent for Leather,’ ‘British Steel’ and ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ most commonly come to mind.  And with good reason, as this was perhaps the commercial peak for the band (ok, ‘Defenders of the Faith’ should be included in the mix, too…though the lunkhead factor was creeping into their lyrics by then).

However, the year before 1979’s lauded ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ (‘Killing Machine’ in the UK) Priest released what is, to my ears, their true masterpiece.  I don’t mean to sound like one of those creeps who complains that a band was better before they got popular, as there’s no denying the quality of the aforementioned releases, it’s just that ‘Stained Class’ is better.

This disc embodies just about everything I love about REALLY good heavy metal.  The riffs and the power are certainly there, but what Priest had in their earlier days was an intelligence about their lyrics that seemed to erode with the passing years.  Let’s face it, 1986’s ‘Turbo’ was just a bad album with even worse lyrics.  2 or maybe 3 good songs in that bunch.

One listen to this disc and you’ll wonder how they got from point A to point B in only 8 years.  This disc is one of the most textured, soaring, intelligent and heavy discs you’re likely to hear.  Yeah, it doesn’t sound quite as heavy by today’s production standards (just turn it up LOUDER!), but man are there some great riffs here.  Leadoff track “Exciter” is the earliest speed metal toon that I’m aware of and it’s amazing.

Other standout tracks are “Invader” and “Saints in Hell,” which kick off the stunning second half of this disc, which contains one of my favorite metal one-two punches of all-time…”Savage” and “Beyond the Realms of Death,” the former being a heavy masterpiece and the latter possessing so much melody and dynamics that you could argue it’s their “Stairway to Heaven.”

This is the album that was at the center of the highly publicized suicide lawsuit against the band that was rightfully thrown out of the courts.  I used to go to sleep listening to this disc…and I’m still alive to tell about it.   This is a must for any metal fan’s collection and a great example of what good, intelligent music heavy metal can be.

An unsung cornerstone in the foundation of heavy metal.

Rating:  5 out of 5

CLICK HERE TO BUY STAINED CLASS AND OTHER JUDAS PRIEST MUSIC

Tribe After Tribe – Tribe After Tribe

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   1991 Megaforce/Atlantic

In an era where grunge/alternative/modern rock/whatever was the trend du jour, these guys were unjustly thrown into the “metal” category due to their early output being released (and overlooked) on the label that spawned Metallica, Anthrax, Metal Church and other heavy/thrash pioneers in the early 80’s…Megaforce.

Guitarist and band leader Robbi Robb might be a familiar name to some of you hardcore Pearl Jam fans because he joined forces with Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament in the band Three Fish.  If you’ve ever heard any of the Three Fish albums, you’ve got a pretty good idea of the sound you’ll find here…except that Tribe After Tribe’s songs are a little more accessible.

The sound of Tribe After Tribe is really difficult to categorize, as it’s a power trio of a different variety.  Yeah, there’s the guitar work of Robbi Robb – equal parts power and atmosphere, and the bass and bass synth stylings of Robby Whitelaw – unique and creative in its own right.  But the real secret weapon here is the man known only as P.K., who brings a real (read: honest) tribal feel to the music with his use of African percussion and a definite non-traditional sort of drum kit.

The band’s South African origins color the music, bringing a unique flavor to rock song structures like “Build A Subway” and “Sally.”   If you want to sample the sound for yourself, “White Boys In the Jungle” and “Come To See You Fall” are as good of a place to start as any (click the links to check ’em out on YouTube), since the sound itself will determine whether you buy into this band or not.   The way the latter tune builds is as intimate and real as anything you’ll ever hear.

I’m sold no doubt about it.  If you like the sound on the aforementioned songs you might as well search out this long out-of-print gem online and buy it.  You won’t be disappointed..and you’ll want to revisit this disc over and over again.  It’s hard to believe it’s 17 years old as of this post and it sounds even better with age.  Totally timeless and immune to trends, Tribe After Tribe creates music for the pure joy of it…and it’s here for all of us to experience, beginning with this breathtaking debut from a band that fortunately is still doing it after all this time.

Unfortunately they only have 2 discs that saw stateside release…this and the equally worthy followup ‘Love Under Will.’  I’ve gotta give kudos to Johnny Zazula and Co. at Megaforce Records for having the guts to give it a shot with a band that no major label would touch because they didn’t know what to do with them.

There’s only one thing to do with music like this.  Listen.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

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