1997 - Top Albums
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1997 - Top Albums
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» 1997 - Top Albums
Albums 1997
| 1997 Band | Votes | Album | Connors' Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foo Fighters | 12 | The Colour & the Shape | Jul19. Man, I have trouble splitting this and their debut. I know and love the songs on the other so well, but every time I listen to this one I am choosing new favourites (after the brilliant Monkey Wrench). I was a slow comer to Everlong but now agree it is one of their best. A very good album. 4.5/5 |
| Radiohead | 11 | OK Computer | |
| Faith No More | 11 | Album of the Year | |
| Jebediah | 8 | Slightly Oddway | Dec18. Some of the best fun you can have with your ears. Every song bar 1 (which I like) is in my 97 H100. 5+/5 |
| Regurgitator | 7 | Unit | |
| Silverchair | 7 | Freak Show | Mar22. Going into this listen, I have 'Freak' and 'The Door' in my H100 (Though thinking 'Slave' should also be in that group). Strangely, after constantly playing silverchair's first EP and album, I did not play this album a lot and many song titles seem unfamiliar to me now. 'Slave' is thumbed now. Whilst it drags a little through the verses, that lead into the chorus is as awesome a build-up you'll hear. I always like the overall sound of 'Freak', but it lacked something as the first single for me. I think some of the lyrics might be a bit lame. Maybe that's it? It is still a decent song, but not their best. 'Abuse Me' just did not do it for me as a single either. Is it too close to Nirvana's 'Rape Me'? The amped part is much more interesting than the rest of the song, though there is some decent background guitar noodling that adds something to the song too. The one-minute-twenty 'Lie To Me' is a welcome little moment of angst (and initially recorded as 'Punk Song #1'). Okay, so I had forgotten about 'No Association': not sure why, it rocks. Good tempo changes and that bass intro is cool. 'Cemetery' is the compulsory slow song. It even has strings. Then comes the big, mid-album pick-me-up, 'The Door'. This song soars and well, just rocks. This was them stepping out of the 'grunge' tag in a very good way. I still love the swagger of this song. 'Pop Song for Us Rejects' is exactly what it says it is, a decent little acoustic jangle. I don't even remember 'Learn to Hate' but this is another cool, fired-up chorus. It does the quiet-loud, soft-hard thing quite well. My 'new' found love on the album. I must have listened to the last few songs even less than the rest of the album. None of them seem familiar. There are eastern influences with sitar and tampura (yeah, I had to look this one up) on 'Petrol & Chlorine'. 'Roses' has a Pearl Jam-like start, then settles into a slow drive closer to Nirvana. silverchair copped a lot of flack for wearing their grunge influences on their sleeves, but this is what I liked about them. The critics seemed to like 'Nobody Came' as it shows these 17-year olds 'maturing'. It is a decent, but long, track, but you have to stick it out, as like most long songs, the best parts come late. I'd have thought 'The Door' was that different and 'stepping out of their lane' track, myself. 'The Closing' is a good track but I think 'Nobody Came' would have been a better closer (despite the name). Still, this is a fine album and one I have underrated my whole life. I now have more than half of the songs thumbed. Some good ups and downs here too. Good stuff. 4/5 |
| Grinspoon | 7 | Guide to Better Living | Aug20. I hardly need to listen to this to write a review. I love this album and all but three songs are already in my H100 lists. It is a rocking start and I still remember Phil dedicating Boundary to all the people sitting up the back at The Falls. Such a great live song with an easy to chant chorus. And so is DC x3, that is catchy one moment and heavy as a plutoniom core the next. Such good riffs on display here. Songs like Railrider and Post Enebriated Anxiety add some deep groove elements too. Pedestrian encapsulates everything this band is about in two minutes of brilliance. It is another simple but fun crowd sing-a-long for the chorus, and contains one of my favourite lines to start a verse: 'Pissed at breakfast!'. Just Ace is exactly that and a surprisingly catchy moment. Not sure how anyone could not love this one, and all over in under two minutes - this is a song I wish went longer :P. How is the cool, slower, groove-laden Repeat and NBT? Don't Go Away has always been a favourite of mine and is one of the deep cuts here. Bad Funk Stripe is a nice slower number before the awesome riffing and cry of Champion comes back to smack you around. What an album. It is rather long, but still leaves you wanting more. So many favourites on here. 5+/5 |
| Green Day | 7 | Nimrod | Jul19. Always remember this having some of my favourites in All the Time, Uptight and The Grouch. Still fun tunes along with Jinx and Platypus (I Hate You) (which I remember Dillon requesting on 'Recovery'. :) The experimentation started here. It was a good mix though. Still had all out rockers along with Hitchin' A Ride (their Living End moment), a Spiderbait-like instrumental and songs like Walking Alone, Prosthetic Head & Redundant showing where they were heading with Warning. Throwbacks too; Worry Rock & Reject sound like they could have been on Kerplunk! Of course the acoustic got a run too with one of their most famous songs - a solid slow song too. The building Haushinka is cool. It would be easy to penalise this album for being long, but there is not a moment I don't enjoy and it is a fun one to come back to. 5/5 |
| Pavement | 6 | Brighten the Corners | |
| The Offspring | 5 | Ixnay on the Hombre | Feb20. I liked that The Offspring still released two of the fastest/heaviest songs here as singles. All I Want and Meaning of Life are ripping tunes as punk as anything they had released. Some people chastised them for a move to a major label; a lot of shit was written, but let's stick to the album. Cool to Hate gives great lip service to these haters. Mota and Me and My Old Lady are a whole lot of fun early on the album. Gone Away is a very alternative rock song and (along with Amazed) a reason for critics to state they were trying to be 'grunge'… but again, listen to earlier albums - there were some tracks like this. In any case, it is a cool, soaring song. There is a lot of fun and some of their quirkiness in the second half of Ixnay…. I Choose, Way Down the Line and Don't Pick It Up were always favourites of mine. I have a lot of trouble separating this and Smash; both are a lot of fun. The biggest moments on Smash are just a little bigger, I guess. 5/5 |
| The Tea Party | 4 | Transmission | |
| Ween | 4 | The Mollusk | Dec18. Well… I am not sure whether I hated or loved that. One thing for sure, I will be listening to this again. :) 3/5 |
| Spiritualised | 4 | Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space | |
| Sleater-Kinney | 4 | Dig Me Out | |
| Supergrass | 4 | In It for the Money | |
| Blink-182 | 4 | Dude Ranch | Apr22. This album evokes so many good memories for me. I was totally obsessed with the band and this album. It was an such an injection of fun into my listening tastes when most of what I listened to was quite serious. This does not have to be your cup of tea, but if you just want some dumb, but catchy as hell, fun, then look no further. I love the self-deprecating lyrics and they kick off the album straight away with 'Pathetic' and 'Voyeur': 2 awesome songs and among my favourites, and yet things get even better. 'Dammit' changed everything for me. I cannot say much more than I love this song. It sits at #1 on my 1997 H100 chart as I write this. 'Boring' is anything but and then we get the acoustic-led, but upbeat brilliance of 'Dick Lips'. I love the dynamics of this song and the take on the teenager-vs-parents theme. Not sure why 'Waggy' was not thumbed. It is now. Another great song that ponders what could be and what a damn fine chorus. I love the second half of this track. This would have to be some of Scott's best drumming (and yes, Travis would smash it), as well as the intro into 'Enthused'. This one just has that cool punk rock beat to it. 'Untitled' has another cool drum and bass intro that they do so well. Tom's nasaly vocals drive the song. I understand if people don't like those, but it is the combination of the different vocals that attracts me to the band and they harmonise them well at the end of this track. The lyrics for 'Apple Shampoo' have a such a fun innocence to them. Nothing wrong with 'Emo', but then we head into two of the best songs about specific girls to be placed together on an album. 'Josie' was my go-to sing-a-long for a long time. I played this as much as 'Dammit' in the day and have the CD single for this one. It has still settled into my Top10 for 1997. I love songs that reference oher bands too. :) Then we have 'A New Hope', an imaginary tale of falling in love with Princess Leia with lots of Star Wars references. 'Degenerate' returns to the self-deprecation and humourous/immature lyrics. The change of pace into the breakneck speed of the chorus is the best. "For a hobby I make bombs!" 'Lemmings' is just a solid pop-punk song. 'I'm Sorry' is one of the lesser tracks for me on the album and not the strongest finish, but it is still a good song. The hooks and songs on this album instantly put me in a good mood. Not only that, I just love the songs. I felt like this album was written for me at the time. I was 24. Yes, older than the typical teenage-themed lyrics, but immature and I still think maturity is overrated. :P A fucking great album! 5+/5 |
| Blur | 4 | ST | |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 4 | The Boatman's Call | |
| Primal Scream | 3 | Vanishing Point | |
| Machine Head | 3 | The More Things Change | |
| Rammstein | 3 | Sehnsucht | Aug20. So, going into this, I know to have tongue firmly planted in cheek. I have been told how a lot of listeners miss the humour in this band. It is hard, not knowing the language an all. The opening title track relies a little too much on the 'dance' side of Neue Deutsche Härte (dance-metal) for me, but the chorus has a cracking riff. Engle hooks you in from the opening keys. A cool melody that leads into a great riff. It is the riffs that get me through the next few songs that also have some cringeworthy moments. Of course Du Hast rocks and Buck Dich is pretty good too. Then we get a couple of slower songs that are okay, but don't really do it for me. The keyboard and dancey parts of Eifursucht are actually pretty cool. This was a little grating by the end, but no denying the cool riffs and when moving at a faster pace, this stuff is pretty good. Not an everyday type of sound for me, but something I'd listen to now and then, or enjoy if someone else put on ;) 3/5 |
| Strapping Young Lad | 3 | City | |
| Pennywise | 3 | Full Circle | |
| bZARK | 3 | Eternity in an Hour | |
| Veruca Salt | 3 | Eight Arms to Hold You | |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor | 2 | F♯ A♯ ∞ | |
| Incubus | 2 | S.C.I.E.N.C.E | |
| 311 | 2 | Transistor | |
| Megadeth | 2 | Cryptic Writings | Apr20. Alright, first things first. One thing I have always liked, is Megadeth's album covers. This cover is so uninspired and boring. Next, I am not the biggest thrash fan, but that is where this band cut its teeth. There has been a steady move towards accessibility, whilst retaining their bite. This peaked with Countdown to Extinction and Youthanasia still had the harder edge in parts, but have they tipped into the 'too far' range? I knew it was coming with the next album, but I fail to see how Trust, the opening song here, is Megadeth's highest charting single. I did not hate Metallica's Load era, but nor did I love them. They are okay if you just go into them as 'hard rock' albums and not 'metal'. Maybe I need that approach here. I also did not like a lot of the vocal effects and added backing vocals in some tracks. Fortunately, there are still some very good moments on here. I really liked Almost Honest, the chorus is kinda fun. Use the Man ends really well with wailing guitars. Mastermind was kind of annoying in parts. I didn't mind Have Cool, Will Travel and She-Wolf. Not much stood out really, not that this is a bad album. It certainly got better with a few listens. 3/5 |
| Mogwai | 2 | Young Team | |
| Hatebreed | 2 | Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire | |
| Children of Bodom | 2 | Something Wild | |
| Everclear | 2 | So Much for the Afterglow | |
| Deftones | 2 | Around the Fur | |
| Helmet | 1 | Aftertaste | |
| Helium | 1 | The Magic City | |
| Built to Spill | 1 | Perfect from No On | |
| Bodycount | 1 | Violent Demise: The Last Days | |
| Metallica | 1 | Reload | Jun19. I'll start by saying, I don't think this is a bad album, but bloated sure comes to mind. Every song bar the first two singles and mid-album track Bad Seed could all do with at least 2 mins being shaved from them. I get Metallica do some long epics, but these are not that. Just consistently long. Album sure is loaded towards the front and end with a bit of a snorefest in the middle. Guitars on Devil's Dance Floor sounded like Alice In Chains to me, so that is a plus. Bad Seed & Prince Charming had decent riffs, but did not do much with them. Last few tracks pretty good, but again, long. My score would certainly be higher if most of these songs got trimmed. 2.5/5 |
| The Wildhearts | 1 | Endless Nameless | |
| The Bouncing Souls | 1 | ST | |
| Frenzal Rhomb | 1 | Meet the Family | |
| Pond | 1 | Rock Collection | |
| Knapsack | 1 | Day Three Of My New Life | |
| Beanflipper | 1 | Garden Variety Manic Depressant | |
| Ricaine | 1 | The Clarity Of Distance | |
| Snot | 1 | Get Some | |
| Sevendust | 1 | ST | |
| Ben Folds Five | 1 | Whatever And Ever Amen | |
| Portishead | 1 | ST | |
| Dinosaur Jr | 1 | Hand it Over | |
| Front End Loader | 1 | The Last of the V8 Interceptors | |
| Hed PE | 1 | ST | |
| Three Colours Red | 1 | Pure | |
| Custard | 1 | We Have the Technology | |
| Smudge | 1 | Mo' poontang | |
| Kmfdm | 1 | Symbols | |
| The Prodigy | 1 | The Fat of the Land | |
| NOFX | 1 | So Long and Thanks for all the Shoes | |
| Something For Kate | 1 | Elsewhere for 8 Minutes | |
| Riverdales | 1 | Storm the Streets | |
| Beasts of Bourbon | 1 | Gone | |
| Cosmic Psychos | 1 | Oh What a Lovely Pie! | |
| The Dandy Warhols | 1 | Come Down | |
| Muffs | 1 | Happy Birthday To Me | |
| Entombed | 1 | DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth | May21. Okay, so I know of this band and I know Andersson of The Hellacopters was in the band, but I have never really listened to them. Prior to listening to this album, I tried out a lot of their songs and found some that interested me, though I was not a fan of the death vocals on many tracks. So, on this record, those vocals are mostly absent and what we get is some heavy riffing that stoner bands would be envious of. So this is what death 'n' roll refers to. This I can get behind. I see Andersson did a lot of the writing, so maybe this is why this appeals to me. There is definitely a heavier The Hellacopters vibe to a lot of the songs. The album kicks right from the start - I really enjoyed 'To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth' into 'Like This with the Devil'. 'Lights Out' has a very good stomp with chanted lyrics. it actually reminds me a little of another Swedish band, 59 Times the Pain. So does the song later on the album: 'Just as Sad'. 'Wound' is quite heavy but with some spacey Monster Magnet-like guitars. 'They' has guitars that mix heavy Soundgarden with The Hellacopters moments. 'Somewhat Peculiar' and 'Boat' have more metallic moments but mixed with riffs bands like Red Fang have come to master. Mid-album we get a little piano interlude to catch breath. 'Parasight' is a pretty good jump back in the death 'n' roll. 'Damn Deal Done' was an early one to stand out to me and opens with riffs Alice In Chains would be proud of. 'Wreckage' is a cracking close to the album. For my first few listens, I am very impressed. This is a good dose of heaviness, but with some groove and fun. 4/5 |
| Black Science | 1 | GZR | |
| Karma to Burn | 1 | ST | |
| Lard | 1 | Pure Chewing Satisfaction | |
| Unsane | 1 | Amrep Xmas | |
| Peter Jefferies / Jono Lonie | 1 | At Swim | |
| Bloodthirsty Butchers vs fOUL | 1 | Split | |
| Ice-cream hands | 1 | Memory Lane Traffic Jam | |
| Dimmu Borjir | 1 | EDT | |
| Immortal | 1 | Blizzard Beast | |
| In Flames | 1 | Whoracle | |
| Reef | 1 | Glow | |
| The Hives | 1 | Barely Legal | |
| Mad Caddies | 1 | Quality Soft Core | Dec18. Never felt this was as strong an album as their others. Relied on 3 songs I love (and the popular Preppie Girl is not one of them). Has No Se that got me into them. Still. I had more fun with it this time through. 3.5/5 |
| Aerosmith | 1 | Nine Lives | |
| Dream Theater | 1 | Falling Into Infinity | |
| Devin Townsend | 1 | Ocean Machine: Biomech | |
| Fates Warning | 1 | A Pleasant Shade of Grey | |
| KISS | 1 | Carnival of Souls | |
| Marcy Playground | 1 | ST | |
| Days of the New | 1 | ST | |
| AFI | 1 | Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes | |
| Quorthon | 0 | Purity of Essence Disc 1 | Oct19. Okay, this was not what I expected to hear after seeing this guy is the founder of Bathory and involved in the Scandinavian black metal scene. First song reminded me of a Hellacopters-Skid Row mash-up, in a good way. I like this song. Next one is a slow metal ballad any hair metal band could have churned out. One of Those Days sounds strangely Australian and a mesh of Hoodoo Gurus and a band like Mantissa. There is also some wah-wah, Alice In Chains sounds on here too, especially on songs like Hit My Head. Whilst there are some good songs, most of this is middle of the road rock, but well worth another listen. 3/5 |
| Pulley | 0 | 60 Cycle Hum | Nov19. I have always loved opener If. It is a brilliant song, but I felt there were no other standouts here, despite it being a consistently good album. Let's see how this listen goes. Locked Away is worth a mention for sure. Reality has some cool little guitar parts. Scab and What are both a minute of fun. Padded Cell is a surprising, non-punk song midway through that leads into probably the most punk sounding song on here, Noddin' Off. Separated has an Offspring feel to it then breaks into a short, 'metalish' solo. I love Scott's voice. It almost seems unfair that someone with a good enough arm to make MLB pitching also has one of the best voices in punk rock. This is the stuff I love, but the songs just aren't as strong here, especially when you consider what was to follow this album. 3.5/5 |
| No Fun At All | 0 | The Big Knockover | Feb20. Opens with one of my favourite songs by NFAA; the rapid-fire Catch Me Running 'Round. Suicide Machine follows and despite a relatively catchy chorus, it has that fast drumming, that is more prominent on this album. Should Have Known is a sign of where the band were heading with the next album. It is a pretty accessible song with cool vocals and a driving riff. Lose Another Friend is just a brilliant song that so many people can relate to and the guitars shine on this song. When the Time Comes sound like their older stuff and has some cool bass noodling. The production and sound was better on this album. The guitars sound crisper and more 'biting' and drums not as muted. I used to think this album did not run as deep as their previous album as far as individual songs go, but it certainly does. The first 8 went straight back into my 1997 Hotterest 100 list along with Nobody's Perfect & Break My Backout of the last 5 songs. I still really like all the other songs too. I don't recognise several of the songs here by name, but as soon as they start I am singing along. Another fine 90s punk album! 4.5/5 |
| Orange Goblin | 0 | Frequencies from Planet Ten | Mar20 Okay, so there are two tracks on here with Tolkien references. I am not sure why I am surprised given the name of the band and all ;) The album kicks of with some straight up rock in The Astral Project, though some organ kicks in to make it a little different. Magic Carpet opens straight out of the 70s with its fuzzy bass and noodling guitar before it kicks into a soaring riff. Saruman's Wish has a similar riff but with more whah-whah pedal. Instrumental, Song of the Purple Mushroom Fish is as trippy as its name suggests and sounds like it was recorded underwater too. Aquatic Fanatic reminds me of the later Orange Goblin that I have heard more of. Also has a Fu-Manchu feel to it. Land of Secret Dreams is sounds like a cross of Red Fang and The Sword which is a good thing. I enjoyed this album, but there wasn't any track that really hit me. 3/5 |
| Judas Priest | 0 | Jugulator | Oct20. Okay, so after a ripping metal album where I am sure metalheads would have said these guys were smashing it, they… split? Then got together 6 years later with a new singer. The new singer has the deeper metal voice but also wails - way too much for my liking. Opening title track has some cracking guitars as usual, but overall does not do a lot for me. The riffing has certainly got a 90s vibe to it on this album. I hear some Pantera and Sepultura sounds for sure. I'm surprised this one doesn't get more love from the metal lovers. The song titles and lyrical content certainly got a lot bleaker too. I was not really into the next couple of songs, but I actually liked the crazy nature of Death Row. Doomy metal one minute, 80s glam the next, silly spoken word, etc. It had a straight ahead catchy chorus too; no high-pitched wailing, so that was good. Decapitate was pretty ordinary. I got a bit tired of the long slow introductions to songs too. Just get to the good bits ;) Some songs I just had to skip, or skip into. The plodding riffs became a bit repetitive (or just pummeled me into submission, I am not sure). The good parts of Cathedral Spires were very good, but like the whole album, there were parts I did not ejoy too. 2/5 |
| Samiam | 0 | You Are Freaking Me Out | Mar22. After a few play-throughs of this I am very impressed. From the few songs I heard of these guys on punk samplers in the 90s I had them pegged as a run-of-the-mill 90s punk band - and that would have been cool by me - but this album impressed me with its variety. I was not expecting that. Not only that, there are some cracking songs on here. 'Full On' opens proceedings with a guitar sound that Rise Against later perfected, but then also slows down in parts for a bit of Dinosaur Jr and then the awesome shouted, gravelly chorus. Wow, what a start. 'She Found You' then starts with an almost ska guitar (reminding me of Less Than Jake) before it too busts into an awesome chorus like something Face to Face might do. Then 'Factory' starts with a more poppy vibe that reminded me of Ash, but it too changes for the shouted chorus. I am loving these vocals. Then 'Ordinary Life' starts with a sound not that far from NOFX but also has a gravelly, rocking chorus. 'If You Say So' returns to that Dinosaur Jr sound and is the first without the coarse vocals in the chorus. What a great little riff that comes in between the vocals of the verses too. 'Good Enough' is a straight up rock song, 'Mr Walker' is somewhere between alt-rock and Social Distortion, and 'My Convenience' combines all these aspects. The 'Charity' sounds like a fun, beachy sing-a-long. It picks up the pace in parts and then slows down into a bass-heavy section Sublime would have adored. 'While You Were Waiting' actually brings the 90s skate-punk sound that I thought would dominate here. Man, then 'Nothing New' is all pop-rock with some fun reminiscent lyrics. This track reminded me of a Diesel Boy track. Very cool changes of pace here. 'Out of My Mind' has similar dynamics, but the noodling bass stood out during the verses of this one. Then we finish with a song that gets their Beatles on. This last track really reminds me of Aussie bands with a similar sound, such as Even and Hot Rollers. What a surprise finish. Well, I must say, this whole album was not what I expected. I enjoyed every moment and now feel bad I did not take them more seriously when this stuff was my main diet. I am now. This is a fantastic album. 4.5/5 |
| Flanders | 0 | Anky Fremp - EP | |
| Millencolin | 0 | For Monkeys | Oct22. I am against a lot of fans of the band, but I liked the stuff that came after this album a lot more. I saw these guys and No Fun At All live together, just before their albums for this year came out and I much preferred NFAA at the time. Listening through again, and I stick by that. 'Puzzle' is a decent opening track, and whilst it did grow on me, is nothing compared to ones they opened later albums with. 'Lozin' Must' is the most popular song here, and I like it, but it is nowhere near my favourite Millencolin song. It has a fun, bouncing melody. They then do their ska thing with 'Random I Am', and I maintain this is not what they do best. 'Boring Planet' is a lot of simple fun. My kind of song. 'Monkey Boogie' does the old-school ska thing and has a good sing-a-long part in the chorus. Yeah, this one is one of their better goes at ska. Then we get to 'Twenty Two', a straight up, fast, punk song, and my favourite here. It is also one that shows how young the band were for their 3rd album. I must admit, I do not know a lot about the second half of this album prior to these listens. 'Black Gold' is a good rock song about missing home when on the road. 'Trendy Winds' has a nice bass intro and then kicks into a nice, fast riff. 'Otis' is about missing a friend and has a good rhythm to it. None of the last three songs really stood out. Each has their good parts. I still feel this is one of my least favourite Millencolin albums. There are no tracks on here I would have to have on a compilation of theirs, for example. Still, it is fun music that I enjoy more than I don't. 3/5 |
| 180 Discord | 0 | Eppenfrene EP | Jan23. A band I remember seeing at The Rat in Ballarat. I recall them being fast-hardcore punk and mainly remember them because not long after this, Tom the guiatirst joined Bodyjar. Anyway, just found myself discussing this band so found the EP (both on CD and on YouTubeMusic) so thought I would give it a few listens and write my thoughts all these years later. 'Black Arts' kicks things off and is pretty representative of what you will get here. It is my favourite track (along with parts of the final track). 'Endian' is not a great song but has a solid guitar sound and I can see why Bodyjar went with Tom - this is not a world away from their guitar tone. The same holds true for middle track 'Ain't No Accolade'. 'Hot Bed' brings the metal. Starts with a slow, sludgy riff and distorted vocals before switching to a fast-paced punk song with parts that remind me of Pulley (not the vocals obviously). Final track, 'Mini Mobile Bonsai World' has a cool dueling guitar intro. The pace, guitar tone (after the start) and drumming of this song remind me of fellow Aussie punks Game Over. It does switch to a chugging riff that is more alt-rock for a bit later on. A decent close to the album. Whilst not ground-breaking, this is a good first release for a local punk band. 3/5 |
| Pollyanna | 0 | Hello Halo | |
| Steakknife | 0 | Songs Men Have Died For | Jan24. So, this seems to be a punk band that completely passed me by. After coming up in my Twitter feed, I decided to check them out. It seems they are a German band with connections to The Spermbirds, a band I have heard of. They have an anarchic, viceral sound bringing to mind bands like Sex Pistols, Guttermouth and even Dead Kennedys, but with their own style too. The shouted vocals are good and a few songs stood out on first plays. The album is good without blowing me away. Big Mistake is a pretty good start, but Powerkiller with its fuzzed-out bass and chanted chorus is better. Rednecks & Lipstick channels more of bands like The Cramps. Real Mean has a fun beat (very Guttermouth-like) and It's My Life could well be the best song here. I love songs singing shit about everyday life. Who Killed Kennedy? has a phrenetic beat that grew on me and the scream of the chorus in Hell Yeah kinda reminds me of Nirvana's Lithium. This is a cool song. Just Trust Me is another fun upbeat punk song and then Callin' My Lawyer slows things down and has some fun lyrics. Driving in a Dead Man's Car is also worth a listen but there is not much in the songs after this for me. The album seems a few songs too long, but I made several discoveries here. Very good for a band I had not heard of and probably should have. 3.5/5 |
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” – Harry S. Truman
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