Quick Licks Short reviews for your short attention span. Archers of Loaf White Trash Heroes (Alias) by Tim Den White Trash Heroes is forty minutes of rich, grainy, fuzzy-yet-warm rock for the thinking man. Full of ideas and vitality, the album is plastered with sound experimentations that shape each song into single entities. Distortionized jackhammers (at least that's what it sounds like), drum loops, and occasional Moog injections propel what might have been standard indie rock to a new level of potency. Nicely done - bold and adventurous without losing the rock. (2815 W. Olive Ave. Burbank, CA 91505) Jimmy Eat World (Fueled By Ramen) by Tim Den There's not much I can say about Jimmy Eat World. Their last album,Static Prevails, left me in such a daze that I have yet to recover and muster up the courage to critique this band. And after hearing their latest installment (a five-song EP), my condition has only gotten worse. I mean, what else can you say when the music says it all? Bold and smooth in its production (with drum loops, pianos, and other instruments serving as undertones), resonated with heart-breaking melodies and inventive vocals, Jimmy Eat World encompasses everything a pop/rock band should. From the swaying "Lucky Denver Mint" to the beautifully powerful "For Me This is Heaven," the waves of emotion embedded in this band just never let up. (PO Box 12563 Gainesville, FL 32604) Deadbolt Zulu Death Mask (Headhunter/Cargo) by Tim Den There's a new maniacal-surf-rockabilly band out on the scene, and it answers to the name of Deadbolt. Combining the atmosphere of James Bond films with voodoo-obsessed lyrics, Deadbolt will make you feel like you're swimming down the Amazon River with the evil Dr. Crockdickilous hot on your trail. This is definitely humorous surf rock at its funniest. Now all they need is to land an appearance in the Back To the Beach/Tales from the Crypt crossover movie. (4901-906 Morena Blvd. San Diego, CA 92117) Groop Dogdrill Lovely Skin (Beggars Banquet) by Jon Sarre If pissed and pissed-off limeys with stripper fixations drunk on lousy Helmet records turn yer crank, then Groop Dogdrill is probably already yer favorite band. 'Nuff said, other than I'm sure there's a support group or twelve-step program you can turn to; a counselor who could come and visit you in the privacy of yer own home, perhaps. Maybe you could just get out more, one day at a time, right? Remember, it's never too late. (580 Broadway #1004 New York, NY 10012) Cross My Heart XMH (Deep Elm) by Tim Den Wow, Deep Elm really knows their shit. First the Emo Diaries compilation, then Appleseed Cast, now Cross My Heart - they've definitely proven themselves to be the purveyors of enjoyable, though formulaic, soft-to-loud "emocore." Though only an EP, XMH is nice yet powerful with its singing/screaming vocals, mellow guitar passages, and poetic lyrics. The singer falls off key once in a while, but he still manages to carry the music beyond average emo standards. Nothing new or groundbreaking, but definitely something I'd put on all the time (just because I'm a sucker for this shit). Really enjoyable. (PO Box 1965 New York, NY 10156) Don Caballero Singles Breaking Up (Vol. 1) (Touch & Go) by Jon Sarre While I'm admittedly not a huge fan of instrumental rock, this Don Caballero collection of stuff up 'til now is pretty impressive: loud, gut-churning, no skimping on the bombast, yet melodic... It's... uh... heavy... like aggro proggy thrash goin' stop-start, slow-fast pulse like everybody's gonna cut loose, but then they change their minds, cuz control works well, too. After a string of art fag releases (like Blonde Redhead and Seam) by Touch & Go, this one's a welcome development in my CD player, even if the vocals are turned way down. (PO Box 25520 Chicago, IL 60625) Quincy Punx Nutso Smasho (Recess) by Chaz Thorndike With a title like that, you ain't expecting shoegazer indie schlock, now are you? Quincy Punx are full-tilt, straight-forward, hard-drinkin', mouth-shootin' punks from St. Paul, MN, and if they come though yer town, ya better have insurance. On Nutso Smasho, the patented punk snarl is high in the mix, the guitar and bass kinda in the mid-ground, and the drum machine-sounding drumming, unfortunately, right up front. But let that not deter you from buying this, having it blast your Lagwagon-listening ass to pieces, and sewing a Quincy Punx patch onto your backpack. (PO Box 1112 Torrance, CA 90505) Ten Foot Pole Insider (Epitaph) by Rich Romaine This 12-song, 33-minute platter of sugar-filled treats will have your head bobbing madly and your eyes scouring the lyric sheets (separately, unless you want to make yourself dizzy and throw up). Guitarist Dennis (also in Pulley) is still singing, and is coming into his own, but he kinda reminds me of a less-lilting Parry from Nerf Herder. Other line-up changes include the exit of bassist Pete (now in Nerf Herder, ironically enough) and the subsequent addition of Glen Vegas (a Canadian, formerly of 60 Cycle and the Tool-ish Dead Surf Kiss). These changes help make Insider a warm, peppy punkpop album filled with hooks and heart. (2798 Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90026) Fun Size Glad to See You're Not Dead (Fueled By Ramen) by Tim Den Pop-punk played using all the strings on the guitar (not just power chords) and beautiful vocal lines. Once in a while they'll throw in acoustic passages to show they're in touch with the emo craze, but never long enough to keep the punk from kicking in. Imagine one of the better Fat Wreck bands combined with Hot Water Music riffing, sprinkled with hints of Less Than Jake melodies, and an overall energetic-as-fuck vibe, and you have this gem of a disc. (PO Box 12563 Gainesville, FL 32604) Das Klown Antidote (Long Beach/Skunk) by Chaz Thorndike Fast and pissed, Das Klown are old school punk for those sick of the well-scrubbed "punk" that's so prevalent these days. With a distinctly vintage sound (i.e. shitty), Antidote is bare-bones, bare-knuckle punk late '80s-style with very few concessions. Manic, thinly-produced, violent like good ol' punk, and covering "Dustbowl" by Fear, complete with gutter-loving diatribe and guitar solo verses and mirror-smashing chorus, this is a keeper. (16572 Burke Ln Huntington Beach, CA 92647) Everready Festavus For The Restavus (Cool Guy) by Scott Hefflon While perhaps not a household name, Everready have a lot to offer. Produced by Mass at Sonic Iguana (SW, The Queers, Squirtgun), you might think this'd be radio-ready punkpop, but there's a surprising amount of guitar chordage knockin' about here. I picture a low-slung guitarist kickin' over amps and stickin' his tongue out at roadies as they leap to pick 'em up. While there's plenty of punk for the kids, there're also meaty hooks to sink yer claws into. Favorite moments include the Hüsker Dü cover, "Diane," and the rockin' duet with Co-ed's Kathy Cagigas - sweet and powerful without being sappy. (10140 Gard Ave Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670) One Hit Wonder Who the Hell is One Hit Wonder? (Nitro) by Rich Romaine Good time whoa-whoa punkpop rampages mixed with mid-tempo rockers that coulda been early Rancid tunes. With that unmistakable Nitro style (Vandals and Guttermouth mostly), and such songs as the traditional "Sloop John B.," One Hit Wonder churns out 14 melody-packed songs to get you through yet another day. An added bonus is the last track, "Freedom 'n' Drinkin'," an Irish drinkin' 'n' fightin' song similar to Big Country-meets-Dropkick Murphys with Offspringy "yeah, yeah, yeah"s thrown in for good measure. (7151 Warner Ave. F736 Huntington Beach, CA 92647) Raise Hell Holy Target (Nuclear Blast) by Martin Popoff Fellow scribes have mentioned Dissection and Children Of Bodom as similar warpspeed blacksters, and the comparisons are apt, except that Raise Hell have infused the form with youthful enthusiasm, splashing their bodies with blood and bullets, writing like fast fiends a little tipsy fer driving. I wish the vocals were a little more to the fore, and the production less crammed together, but other than that, this is black metal played well with a melodic ear, a nod and a wink to old thrash, and a slide rule to the complexity of speed. (PO Box 43618 Philadelphia, PA 19106) Sinister Aggressive Measures (Nuclear Blast) by Tim Den Ah... death metal. There's nothing quite like it. Sinister is back, and they're better than ever. While they were never one of the better bands to begin with, they play death metal the way it was meant to be played: fast, technical, and piled with grooves. You've heard it all before, but it's just such a goddamn relief to hear death metal in its purest form instead of more "new metal" bands. God, I mean, Satan bless Sinister. (PO Box 43618 Philadelphia, PA 19106) Night In Gales Thunderbeast (Nuclear Blast) by Paul E.G. Lee On Thunderbeast, Germany's Night In Gales do a fine interpretation of the Gothenburg sound without aping any band in particular. In fact, they tend toward mid-paced powermetal in the Iron Maiden vein with little death metal influence. Singer Bjorn Goobes reminds me of the amazing Swedes, In Flames. But it seems they're directly influenced by Maiden and only slightly affected by the Swedish scene. Guitarists Frank and Jens Basten do a damned fine modern rendering of the Adrian Smith/Dave Murray combo. While I still tend to favor the rawer Swedish stuff, Night In Gales provides a great dose of power. (PO Box 43618 Philadelphia, PA 19106) Solstice New Dark Age (Misanthropy) by Scott Hefflon With so much mind-boggling black metal and a few notable powermetal bands, it's sometimes easy to lose sight of their more somber, melancholy sibling, doom. Solstice are as dark and morbid as any of the lot, they're just slower flowing. New Dark Age plods like a fatally-wounded dinosaur, weeping its plight to darkened skies, passing luscious landscapes, seeing little past the blood in its eyes. Interspersed are acoustic dalliances, similar to "Embryo" and "Orchid" (Black Sabbath's Master of Reality - sorry, couldn't think of any top 40 hits to reference). Chanting monks, guitars screaming in the distance, mournful laments, and guitars that lethargically drip despair and quiet animosity like strychnine-laced molasses. (PO Box 9 Hadleigh Suffolk IP7 5AU England or Dutch East: PO Box 738 Syosset, NY 11791) Scholomance A Treatise On Love (The End) Epoch Of Unlight What Will Be Has Been (The End) by Martin Popoff Scholomance is what it professes to be, a mesmerizing pastiche of progressive black metal, soaking up all the complicated habits of the centuries. But despite the manic song structures, medieval heart strings, and cloak and dagger Yngwie guitarwork, A Treatise On Love suffers from two strikes: muddy production and use of a drum machine, albeit intelligently programmed beyond all human possibility. Fix those two areas, and you have a top-tier black metal machine. Tennessee's Epoch Of Unlight, on the other hand, raise a frothy pint to man-made speed (although this guy's drumming is so full and fast, one wonders), and their production is spot-on compressed urgency. Again, rum-flushed progressive black metal but with a hint of train-wrecked Witchery and The Haunted. Yeah, baby! (556 S. Fair Oaks Ave. #101-111 Pasadena, CA 91105) Compression (Chord Recordings) by Tim Den "New metal" that's better than most of its kind. While Compression possess most of the annoying qualifications that this genre calls for (super low bass sound, semi-sung/semi-screamed vocals, and "hip hop" grooves), the band makes sure that these traits remain nothing more than the foundation for the smarter things on top. Unafraid to fuck with noise, dynamics, and other technological wizardry that a studio can offer, Compression experiment with their songs and turn brutality into something interesting. (PO Box 15793 Philadelphia, PA 19103) Home 33 Live at Coney Island High (Gypsy/Velvel) by Tim Den Adopting Helmet's riffing and stop-and-go rhythms, Home 33 makes this played-out formula really enjoyable by simply rocking the shit out of it. Yeah, it's more metal than anything else (what hardcore band isn't these days), but the healthy balance of tempo changes, vocal variations (from powerful-yet-clear barks to actual singing), and above-average lyrics make these couple of chug-chug-chug tunes guilt-free fun. (740 Broadway New York, NY 10003) Joshua (Doghouse) by Tim Den Doghouse Records must be the pickiest of record companies. How else could a record label manage to sign and release only good bands? The tradition continues here with Joshua, a three-piece from New York that delivers nothing short of great, jagged post-hardcore. Armed with a great sense of melody similar to Into Another (though not as high pitched), Joshua plays with different timings, open chords, and catchy choruses, resulting in an enjoyable, intelligent mixture no less worthy than their labelmates Hot Water Music and Hankshaw. If anything, this band shows that Doghouse is not about to mess with its reputation. (PO Box 8946 Toledo, OH 43623) More Quickie Reviews