They Might Be Giants- Here Come The 123s

They Might Be Giants...or they might not be. That has been a question for the ages. Man or machine? Alien or human? Pop stars or pop superstars? Whatever the case, They Might Be Giants are here to rock and inform you whether you like it or not. They recently released their 12th studio album The Else, produced by none other than the Dust Brothers (which was accompanied by a bonus disc of rare material). Full of quirky pop gems, nerdy anthems, and goofy irony, it everything a Giants album should be. Now back in children's album mode, the Johns release their third of the series, about what else, the 123's.

The songs topics range from the numbers 1-10, to a dozen, to infiinty, as well as various other songs, like a cover of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme and a song about hot dogs. This isn't your typical children's album. It's a They Might Be Giants album first and foremost, so you'll sill get the bizarre humor that you've come to love, and they cover many styles: vaudville, disco, lounge, funk, and straight up rock.

Children's edutainment has really come a long way from the day's I was listening to Raffi sing about Baby Beluga and that fucking Bananaphone. Kids get to watch Yo Gabba Gabba! (created by the ska band The Aquabats, and featuring such guests as Biz Markie and the Aggrolites) and now they get to listen to They Might Be Giants. If I was a parent my kids would definitely get to listen to this. And while most kids shit like this (Kidz Bop anyone?) is annoying as hell, I still find myself singing along. Oh to be a kid again...

They Might Be Giants myspace

Lords- Fuck All Y'All Motherfuckers

Lords...Louisville's bastard children of raging punk rock. Featuring former members of Coliseum and Lickgoldensky and coming out of the legendary scene that brought us Breather Resist, Lords continue to do whatever the fuck they want. Fuck All Y'all Motherfuckers is a testament to the attitude these fuckers bring when they decide to rock. New album on Black Market Activities so you know they're in good hands.

Everything about this record tells you to fuck off. The artwork, the track titles, the lyrics...what self righteous bastards! Political, dirty, noisy, southern fucking metal. Either you get it or you don't. Rants against the government, religion, and dumb motherfuckers. Politically incorrect greatness. Muckier and dirtier production than their previous two records. Short and fast bursts of violating punk rock clocking in at under 23 minutes. A force to be reckoned with.

FUCK ALL Y'ALL MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

Lords myspace

Past Lives- Strange Symmetry

You may be sensing a theme, and that theme is bands breaking up. As you may or may not know, the Blood Brothers are no more. But the musicians involved have always been doing their own thing while doing the Blood Brothers: Johnny and Mark did the Neon Blonde project while Jordan and Codie teamed up with members of the Locust and formed Head Wound City. But the Blood Brothers have finally been put to rest. While I mourn the lose, I must look forward to the future. Several projects have already sprouted up featuring the Blood Brothers family. The majority of the group, 3/5 or 60%, have gone on to form Past Lives. Jordan (vox), Mark (drums), and Morgan (baritone guitar, synths) team up with former Blood Brothers bassist Devin (guitar). This 5 song EP is their debut on Seattle imprint Suicide Squeeze (Minus The Bear, Hella).

While the Blood Brothers were known for their chaotic, post-hardcore attack with dueling vocals, Past Lives shake off that notion and deliver a softer, more melodic sound. Shifting from quiet, trance like musings to Blood Brothers-esque ragers (albeit, Jordan's howls are toned down a bit from his blood curdling screams of the past), this little EP has a wide range of sounds going on. Xylophones and shakers, bubbling synth, bluesy Birthday Party guitars, and soothing feedback are jammed packed into 15 minutes. Noisy, but in a controlled environment.

Past Lives myspace

Git Some- Cosmic Rock

Out of the filthy ashes of Planes Mistaken for Stars emerges a new beast from the snowy mountains of Colorado. Git Some are 50% Planes and 100% noisy punk rock. In no way resembling the emotionally charged hardcore of PMFS, Git Some take all the primo punk bands from the 80s and roll them up into a big fat blunt and smoke the shit out of it. Black Flag, yep. Minor Threat, sure. The Dead Kennedys, why not? Unshowered, sweaty, gritty punk rock. These guys are putitng the fun back in punk. Shooting bottle rockets at government officials, getting piss drunk on PBR , bashing in the monitors with the guitars. There hasn't been a punk band like this in a while with so much energy beeing thrown at you from every direction. I can only imagine how they fuck shit up live.

Git Some myspace

The Acacia Strain- Continent

These fellows are angry. And with global warming, a sinking economy, and the Presidential race at hand, why shouldn't they be? The Acacia Strain are pissed. Brutal metal, just face bashing, bite the curb metal.

The band has changed their sound quite a bit since their Prosthetic debut 3750. Their three downtuned guitar massacre has been chopped down to one, but on record they employ multiple guitar tracks, so you really can't tell. Things are still heavy as ever. Unlike many metalcore bands whose sound seems rather generic, the Acacia Strain have some pretty unique breakdowns, not unlike their peers in Bury Your Dead.

Continent is a worldwide attack on everyone and everything, a massive global hatred. As apocalyptic as anything you've heard in a while. They attack everyone, from bands who try to copy their sound ("Skynet"), to women ("Cthulhu," and about half of the rest of the songs), to the entire globe, where on "Baby Buster," vocalist Vincent Bennett talks about blowing up the planet, "I want the world to have my rape baby, so when it's born I can strangle it to death," and on "JFC (Jesus Fucking Christ)," he politely states "I pushed the button, I watched the sky rain death. Consider this global abortion."

While this is a very angry album and might be taken a little too seriously, there has always been a very tongue-in-cheek undertone to the band. Just from reading the track titles ("Skynet," "Dr. Doom," "Baby Buster," "JFC (Jesus Fucking Christ,") ...), you should be able to tell that this band isn't trying to be as macho or sadistic as they sound. The lyrics are obviously ironic and tongue-in-cheek. I mean, how can you take a line like, "I am the end of the world. My dick now lies in your rotting mouth.," seriously. There are some really fucked up, but humorous lyrics on this record. Too many metal bands take themselves way too seriously, it's nice to see a band sneek a bit of black humor into the mix. But don't laugh too hard, this is still a ripping fucking record.

The Acacia Strain myspace

Hot Water Music- TIll The Wheels Fall Off

All great bands must die sometime. Musicians lose interest and move on to different things. Such is the case with Hot Water Music, one of the most emotional, raw, and driving punk rock bands of the last ten years. No fights, no drama, just musicians moving in different directions. 3/4 of the band have recently formed The Draft, which is essentially in the same vein musically as Hot Water Music, while singer/guitarist Chuck Ragan is pursuing a solo career focusing more on country and folk music. Both groups are still making great music, and maybe it's better this way.

Hot Water Music has always been known for its dual vocal attack. In their earlier days, Ragan's guttural voice was up front while second singer/guitarist Chris Wollard, whose voice is more melodic, provided backups. As time progressed, they tended to take equal vocal duties in a duet style. By the end of the band, Ragan was doing back up vocals and Wollard was up front, maybe hinting at Ragan's desire to move on. This collection of B-sides, splits, rarities, and covers is a final goodbye to a solid punk band whose sound and style has been unique and continually copied.

Even their B-sides are really good. "Home" is the only song on here that you can't find anywhere else, and was cut from their final studio release, The New What's Next (which, while still good, is one of their weaker releases, and has a very foreshadowing title). Other songs are lifted from splits with Alkaline Trio (Wollard's acoustic take on "Bleeder" is powerful), The Casket Lottery, and a few others.

They salute their punk rock heroes and wear their influences on their sleeves with covers from The Clash, Government Issue, Midnight Oil, The Circle Jerks, Turbonegro, and the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen.

Their Moonpies for Misfits EP is included on here but is missing the track "Where We Belong," and "The Bitter End" from the Leatherface split is missing (although they do include a cover of Leatherface's "Springtime"). Also missing is a cover of John Mellencamp's "Authority Song" from the Totally Fucking the 80s comp. Other than that, definitely worth getting to complete your collection. There isn't a bad song on here. A great testament to a great band and what a way to go out. You need to here this band, end of fucking story.

Hot Water Music myspace
The Draft myspace
Chuck Ragan myspace

Alkaline Trio- Agony and Irony

I hate major record labels. And I wouldn't if I didn't have a good reason to. Now I know, you're going to be like, "Son, businesses are out there to make money. The almighty dollar. That's what this country was founded upon, money and killing people." But at the cost of compromising beliefs and putting out shitty music? Anyways, sorry to start out this review as a lecture, I've just got some things on my mind. I've seen quite a few bands that I've grown up loving (Green Day and AFI being two that come to mind) change their sound and attitudes drastically as they suck the cocks of the major record labels. I understand bands need to change their sounds to escape being bored and to grow, but there's this eerie feeling in the air when bands start to get big and sign on to major record labels.

The Alkaline Trio have been putting out great records for the last ten years. Dark, poetic, raw, morbidly humorous, and damn catchy. As far as "pop punk" goes, they have always been at the front of pushing the limits and refusing to be formulaic. As they've been getting increasingly more popular the last couple years, I've held my breath in hopes that they wouldn't put out a shitty record. And I've been lucky; Good Mourning and Crimson were both great albums while still being released by Vagrant. But the inevitable has happened and the band has gotten too big for its shoes and has exploded. They were going to be on V2 before the released all their artists to focus on their back catalog, which would have been a good fit. They're on Epic now. Let's not forget who else was on Epic, the Clash. And major labels aren't always a bad thing; Bad Religion put out a few good records on Atlantic (let's just forget about the New America though), the Melvins were on Atlantic too, which amazes me because they aren't going to sell records.

Anyways, I digress. As the album opens with the uptempo "Calling All Skeletons," their is a certain hope instilled for this album. Things seem brighter, the songwriting has improved (for better or worse), and the songs are disgustingly catchy. "Over And Out" sounds more like Matt Skiba's sideproject Heavens or even hints of the Cure than the more raw punk sound over the band's earliest days.

The subject matter is still dark and gothic, but not as clever as past releases. Dan Adiano's songs are slower, borderline love songs with hints of the Cars. But he makes his hatred for love apparent on the sappy anti-love song "Love Love, Kiss Kiss." Matt Skiba continues to write interesting and catchy pop punk with "Lost and Rendered" standing out.

This is still the Alkaline Trio. While they have always had a pop sensibilty, they focus on it more on Agony and Irony, while juxtaposing it with their dark side. Sure, the Hot Topic crowd will like it, but the Trio have a way of appealing to a lot of different crowds. I can breathe easy again.

Alkaline Trio myspace

Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts I-IV

The second (but first to be released) album of 2008 by Trent Reznor is titled Ghosts I-IV. A sprawling instrumental double album clocking in at nearly 2 hours, Ghosts has no song titles, but seems to be divided up into four sections with nine tracks each. Like The Slip, it is available to download for free via their website, except you can only download part one of four (but there are other, less legal ways of obtaining the album in its entirety of course).

Reznor is accompanied by some interesting guest musicians on this experimental outing. Andrian Belew, of King Crimson, plays guitar on three tracks and Brian Viglione, of the World Inferno/Friendship Society plays drums out of a drumkit he built out of scrap metal and various objects.

It's not surprising that Reznor has finally decided to put out an instrumental album. He did the soundtrack for the orginal Quake video game back in 1997 and has always been known for his expermintation. This collection of anything goes is filled with deep rich somber piano, minimalist tribal beats, haunting scraping heroin withdrawals, droning slumber, whisping auras, and electronic raptures. If you thought the Fragile was ambitious, you might change your mind.

The length of this record may be intimidating, but it is a rewarding listen if you take the time to listen to it all the way through, or in chunks. Either way, Reznor has a way of putting out interesting shit no matter what the format is.

Download Ghosts part I!

Nine Inch Nails- The Slip

Trent Reznor is much more productive off drugs. Since releasing the 2 disc epic The Fragile in 1999, Nine Inch Nails have put out three full lengths, a remix album, and double disc instrumental album. In the span of the last two years, three of these projects have come out. 2008 sees the release of Ghosts I-IV and The Slip.

The Slip, which is available ("legally") free to download from the band's website, was recorded in only three weeks and is being released through Reznor's new label The Null Corporation after he recently swore off all ties to any major record label.

The Slip is a return to the darker, more structured form of albums like The Fragile and With Teeth. Unlike Year Zero which was largely constructed of laptop improvisational noise, The Slip combines the poppier aspects of With Teeth with the harder industrial mindfucks and softer marches towards madness of previous Nails albums.

The first half of the album is catchy nihilistic industrial dance, angry anarchist digital hardcore, and poppy 80s electronic post-punk, much in the vein of With Teeth or moments of Year Zero.

The second half of the album drifts deep into a haunting trance, with a soft piano ballad ("Lights In The Sky") melting into a dark ambient landscape ("Corona Radiatata"), followed by a moody trip hop murmer ("The Four Of Us Are Dying"), and disintegrating into a build up of restrained terror.

This isn't as thematic or collective as previous albums. A good collection of emotions. Less dancy than the last few albums have been, less political, and not nearly as noisy as Year Zero.

Download the album here!

Dr. Dooom- Dr. Dooom 2

OK, so Kool Keith isn't the most consistent rapper out there, and why should he be? The man has been doing whatever the fuck he wants since the bizzarely stunning Dr. Octagonecolygest came out 12 years ago. And I'm sure people kept expecting him to put out Doc Oc 2, but he didn't care. Still staying close to the genre he supposedly created (acid rap, horrorcore, pornocore, but hey, what do labels mean anyway?), he released albums under a slew of alter-egos including Black Elvis, Mr. Nogatco (whose album Nogatco Rd. is Dr. Octagon spelled backwards), the Diesel Truckers (with Kut Master Kurt), just Kool Keith, and Dr. Dooom (not to be confused with MF Doom).

Dr. Dooom supposedly killed off Dr. Octagon in his first album First Come First Served, but Kool Keith "brought him back" for a second record in 2006. Produced by One Watt Sun, this album wasn't even supposed to be officially realeased. It is for all practical purposes old vocals of Kool Keith slapped together with some half-assed beats. On Dr. Dooom 2, Keith as Dr. Dooom kills off Dr. Octagon for good on "RIP Dr. Octagon."

First Come First Served, while not following a particular theme, was a dark album filled with science fiction, eeire acid bumps, and Keith's perverted goofy lyrics. But forget all that. On "Mopped Up," Keith spits, "The first thing you gonna do as a journalist is compare this to the 1st Dr. Dooom, fuck you." If anything, stylistically it's closer to something like Sex Style, with plenty of hooks, but this isn't your average rap album. Keith stills jacks off all over your face with plenty of monster movie imagery with his distinctive quirky and offputting flow. Name checking everything from Jason and Michael Myers to the Indiana Pacers, it's still the same Keith that you either love or hate. And Kut Master Kurt is back with his icy, haunting beats that just add to the perverted vibe of the album.

Kool Keith's attitude about people liking this album can be summed up on "Always Talkin' Out Your Ass," where he states, "Yo everybody always wanna talk shit, when you make a new album, it's not good as the last one, how many are sold?" He also attacks fanzines, people with ipods, the Village Voice, and bitches that won't fuck him.

This is Kool Keith's best work since Nogatco Rd., and just goes to show you that he still has it, and never lost it. Fuck that fake ass Dr. Octagon sequel, Dr. Oc is fucking dead, and Dr. Dooom is the new sinister villian.

An Albatross- The An Albatross Family Album

Philly's An Albatross have sort of followed in the footsteps of The Locust, but they sound like an entirely different drug. Sort of an East Coast v. West Coast battle for electronic spazzed-out grindcore punk mayhem kings.

Their previous album BOTPBFATBWK (look it up for the full title) sounded like a Fear and Loathing circus acid trip complete with grinding organs, a demented horn section and vomiting on the carousel. Their move to Eyeball Records sees the band exploring more psychedelic landscapes while keeping intact their full-on hard-on of speeding start-stop punk rock mixed with that sinister organ and bastard brass. Tribal drumming, haunting flute, and primal shrieking vocals push this record to the brink of insanity.

Things spiral into a cosmic state of spiritual healing on "The Hymn of the Angel People" as a bizzare monologue of science fiction and fantasy explains the tale of pilgrims, lovebeasts, and the cosmos, something right out of a Manowar record. But as you start to lose yourself you are awaken from your dream and brought back into the nitemare. The room starts spinning around in slow motion on "Starving on Rabbit Meat." Ride the groove on "Floodgates Released," and trip back into a mournful state as the album closes with weeping violins that melt into a calming aura only to be destroyed by the chaos once more as you crash to your majestic, apocalyptic death.

An Albatross myspace