Review: American Steel - Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts

I've kind of been avoiding writing about Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts, last year's offering from Oakland's American Steel for two reasons. First, I'm a little embarassed to be so behind the ball on these guys and this album. American Steel has existed in some form or another for 15 years. I've had since 1995 to find this band and I'm only doing now. Also Dear Friends was one of last year's sort of break-out hits and I'm only reviewing it now. The other reason I was hesitant to write about this album is that I'm a little nervous about whether or not I can do it justice, it's that good. Really.

This album is the kind of good, that it should make you despair of ever making music that's comparable while at the same time inspiring you to try. It's like nothing you've heard before while at the same time it's that comforting punk record to which you can always rock out. The hooks are razor sharp and fishing-worthy, the bass thumps along, the drums drive hard non-stop and the guitar veers from clanging punk guitar to lightly jangling delayed leads that would sound right at home on a Cure record. Lyrically this is a superb effort with poignant verses tackling a range of topics to shout along choruses that you have memorized by the end of the song.

The album opens perfectly with two undeniably danceable numbers 'Emergency House Party' where singer Rory Henderson assures us that "We only need a song to dance to, We only need a chorus to sing a long to" and 'Tear the Place Apart' which sees him exhorting us to "Get your ass up on your feet now baby, and tear the place apart." The album goes five songs without letting up once with could-be-hits like 'Safe and Sound' 'Your Ass Ain't Laughing Now' and 'The Blood Get's Everywhere.' That last is a strange little horror movie ditty which might put listeners in mind of old Alkaline Trio which was nice for me, because I can't help hearing a little of Matt Skiba in Henderson's voice.

'From Here to Hell' takes the foot off the pedal just long enough to get through the first verse and then puts it right back down for the next four songs. The final two songs however are departures each in their own way. 'Finally Alone' is a massively epic sounding song complete with a chorused vocal that will remind some people of the end of 'Welcome Home' by Coheed and Cambria. The last track is an odd little, down tempo number that might seem like a throwaway on a lesser album but on Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts it seems like a necessary cool-down period, you can't quit something this good cold-turkey.

You know I mean business when I say the appeal of American Steel is easily on par with that of Lemuria and almost on a Gaslight level (insert gasps and 'oooh's here). The only one keeping Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts from being one of your favorite albums is you. And that's a problem I seriously suggest you remedy.

American Steel - Tear the Place Apart

American Steel - Your Ass Ain't Laughing Now

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American Steel

Quick Video Interlude - or - Classic Clips Vol.2

Recently while reading an article on Gibson's website (and no, I'm not linking to it) I stumbled upon this great video of The Who doing "Won't Get Fooled Again." Now I have to admit, on my list of best Who songs, this one probably doesn't crack my top ten but this is a great performance. It's early enough that everyone is still alive and kicking on all cylinders and late enough that you avoid the weird fringed-buckskin and mod outfits of the early days and the Woodstock-Monterrey pop era. Daltrey is crushing it, Entwistle is showing off what a virtuoso he actually is (take a good look at his hands when the camera cuts to them, they're flying and he's being pretty nonchalant about it with lots of slides and little trills) and Townshend looks like he's having the time of his life. Watch him repeatedly go back to his amps to see if he can keep turning them up. My only complaint is that Keith Moon seems a little subdued by his standards, which is to say he slightly more active than almost any other drummer going. Anyway, do enjoy......The Who!!!

Review: GroupThought - [EP]

Many, many years ago when I was a lad in high school I was in a band called Modern Theory. It was a sort of Prog-Rock and while it was good fun, eventually we parted ways cause I wasn't really all that into Prog nor was I proficient enough at bass to really hold my own in a Prog band (to this day I'm not a huge fan of playing with out a pick). We should be clear, it's my memory that it was a mutual parting of ways, but it's also entirely possible that I was well and truly sacked.

Either way, the drummer for that band was a kid named Ben Smith who was more than slightly decent at what he did. He would end up going to school in Potsdam and starting a band called GroupThought. See why that gratuitously long anecdote was necessary? So now I'm going to reveiw GroupThought's Ep, a good year and half after it was first brought to my attention. Ben if you're out there....sorry about that.

The five song ep is a little bit prog-y and a little jammy. There are some serious grooves on here that even got my head bouncing around and at the same time a lot of shredding goes on. The album's opener "Sleep Machine" is a nice little microcosm of this as it switches between more wandering jammed out parts with elaborate instrumental work and solid grooves that see the band lock in together nicely. The next two songs show off the band's diversity with "Silent Scene," essentially a piano ballad, and the tersely-titled "III" which is a sort of ambient interlude.

"I Wish I Were Green" is a return to the formula of the opener of bipolar instrumentation going back and forth between a delay-laden guitar part intro and a grooving Flanger-ed and distorted riff. I have to say though I would like this song a lot better if it had been left as an instrumental. That's all I'm going to say about that, you'll just have to listen to it and see what I mean. Finally the record closes with the strangely named "ESPhunky" (I would love to know what the hell that means), an effects heavy meandering tune which, like 'Green; shows that each of these guys has some serious talent which they put to good use. These songs are dynamic and well executed and if you like your jam music a little technical or you like your prog-rock to groove a little then this might just be your favorite new upstart band.

I'm going to post a song here, but it's worth noting that all the songs can be acquired for free at the band's myspace here.

GroupThought - Silent Machine

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GroupThought

Bruins Preview 2010

So it's about that time of year where I talk about my predictions for the new Boston Bruins' season. This is due to the Bruin's training camp starting to warm up, and the Red Sox slow decline toward the end of their season (actually it's more like a tail-spin). This could be an exciting year for the Bruins. We've traded an aging defense-man (Dennis Wideman) to Florida for an exciting young forward in Nathan Horton. And thanks to taking a couple first round picks off of the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Phil Kessel, we've now transformed the farm system into a fairly formidable collection of prospects headed by our second-overall pick Tyler Seguin.

So I'd love to go really in depth about Bruin's prospects and maybe break down the team's strengths and weaknesses by position. I think that would be fun. But I'm not going to do it and there's two reasons why: There's Jimmy and Cathy and sweet Lorelei. Just kidding. If you don't get that then you should watch the Robert Altman movie Nashville. But seriously I'm not writing a big long thing because at least half my reader's really don't care and also, the New England Sports Network already did it better than I ever could so it's easier to just link to them.

Top Ten Prospects
10. Andrew Bodnarchuk
9. Max Suave
8. Zach Hamill
7. Ryan Spooner
6. Ryan Button
5. Jared Knight
4. Yuri Alexandrov
3. Jordan Caron
2. Joe Colborne
1. Tyler Seguin

Breakdown By Position

Goalie
Defense
Right Wing
Center
Left Wing *** (article went away)

Review: The Dead Weather - Horehound

Long time readers of this blog will remember Alison Mosshart from her ill-fated head-to-head battle with Jenny Lewis (if not I certainly have your attention now). Now she's back with the super group (sort of) she formed with Jack White of The White Stripes. Jack has made the exciting switch to drums relinquishing guitar duties over to a guy from Queens of the Stone Age. The weird looking bass player from the Raconteurs rounds out the line-up. Yes, a better journalist would have told you their names but we do things a little differently here at the King. Musically, the Dead Weather's first album, Horehound has its daddies' lying eyes, neatly combining almost unsettlingly offbeat sounds of Mosshart's post-Discount project The Kills with the fuzzed-out bluesy bombast that Jack White made his money with in the White Stripes. To be fair White is bringing more bombast than blues fuzz owing to his switch to drums but this still smells more like his project that anyone else's.

I'd like to take a minute here to talk about Jack White. First of all, why did it never occur to him when he began putting together a super group that it would have been way funnier if he had gotten Jack Black in on it. Get it?? Jack White and Jack Black?? It'd be hilarious. All kidding aside, I have to confess that musically Jack White has never really blown my skirt up. I could really only tolerate the occasional chorus of that one single the White Stripes had and I ignored the Raconteurs for the most part. That said, I find I actually have a lot of respect for Jack White. With every move he's made in his career, it's seemed clear to me that it was something he genuinely really wanted to do and he did it with no concern for whether or not it would meet with financial success. I think he makes the music he wants to make and listen to and he's not really concerned with how many other people will want to listen to it and that's always commendable. Also my dad says he was great in that movie he did with Jimmy Page and the Edge.

But back to the music. Horehound is filled with the kind of bluesy weirdness you'd expect and also like you'd expect with the caliber of talent assembled, it hits the target a decent number of times. First of all, '3 Birds' is one of the more listenable instrumental tracks I've heard in a while. It's not 'Green Onions' good, but it's interesting, kind of sounds like the soundtrack to a spy or a heist movie. The third track, the bizarrely named 'I Cut Like A Buffalo' is another standout. Contrary to what the title might lead you to believe this is the song where the weird gives way to some serious hooks that make the song stick with you long after you've returned to your old Discount LPs. Actually a good rule of thumb with this album is to go with titles that include similes since the other track I really loved (and oddly enough the other single) is "Treat Me Like Your Mother" which, again, has some seriously tenacious little hooks. My favorite moment is when newly converted drummer White starts playing with the rhythm and the band breaks only to come back grooving harder and faster than they went out for what is easily the best and most dynamic moment on the album.

So if you liked Jack White's other projects, this one probably won't disappoint you. If you liked Alison Mosshart's old projects on the other hand, you're looking at a bit more of a crap shoot. It's definitely worth a spin or a listen though and I'll be reveiwing their more recently released album the minute it comes up in my queue I promise.



I would also recommend looking up the video for 'Treat Me Like Your Mother' It wouldn't let me embed it, but it's worth seeing.

The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother****

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The Dead Weather

I Think Joseph Conrad Said It Best

The horror, the horror:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GncK6IuY8OA&ob=av2e

I'm almost glad that it wouldn't let me embed it on the page. There's enough ugliness in the world. But seriously click through and feel a little bit of yourself die.