Kyle Shutt will probably be best known as the guitarist of Texan retro riffers The Sword, or to some of you have read this blog for awhile as one quarter of the Doom Side Of The Moon project where he bends Floyd into Sabbath riffs. Well this debut solo album he once again changes up his style mixing some Ramones-like punk on the Big City, a bit of fuzzy garage rock on Too Much Time Too Much Money, some electronic thumping on Set You All On Fire. Much of this album is rock n roll, with a chunk of Clutch on tracks such as Stronger Than Earth except for Awake which is probably the doomist track Shutt has ever been involved with, sounding a similar to Iron Man with the vocoder on the vocals. I know what you're thinking is, so it's a flight of fancy? A musician who got bored, grabbed a load of session guys and wrote an album? Well you'd be wrong in that respect as much of this album is pitched at the same style that The Sword were experimenting with on their most recent output and as far as the line up is concerned everything you hear is Shutt; guitar, vocals, bass, drums, synths, production the whole thing is a solo album in the truest sense and one that shows another side to this riff machine. 7/10
Hands Off Gretel: I Want The World (Puke Pop Records) [Alex]
Packing lots of attitude, Hands off Gretel play a genre that, for the purposes of this review, I am referring to as Bubble-gum Punk. It differs from Pop Punk in that while there is a focus on being catchy, there is still a lot of roughness left intact. I Want The World wears a sinister smirk. Finely polished in some moments and incredibly course in others, these anthems serve as proof that approachability and rawness need not be entirely detached. Combine that with strong feminist and outsider themes, and you’ve got an album which lives up to the assertiveness in the title.
A crunchy, defiance laden riff opens Kiss Me, Girl - without a doubt one of the most commanding songs on the album, with the way it stomps towards a euphoric chorus and a glorious finale. S.A.S.S, despite being mid-tempo bears tons of clout, the difference between the strut of the verses and the stamp of the chorus proving exciting. Everything’s subtly dark yet obsessively exhilarated. Lauren Tate, the chief vocalist, and guitarist packs tonnes of personality into her performances, while Hobbins and Baldwin keep down distinctive and forceful rhythms. Even when the songwriting verges on sentimental balladry, as on the sneeringly sarcastic it’s My Fault or the empowering Freaks Like Us, it never loses its cutely rebellious charm. I for one prefer when the tone becomes scruffier, exemplifying elements of Grunge or Riot Grrrl.
Milk begins on a throttling scream and braggadocious guitar furrows, keeping that ferociousness intact, before ending on a condemnation of sexual exploitation: "you’re just a body there’s nothing left". Despite being shorter and more reserved, the cheekily menacing nature of Fingers makes it seem that little bit more exciting upon exploding into life. Finishing on Rot (All The Good Things), the irony at the core of the act becomes clear. I know that the cute on the surface, vicious underneath theme has become tired out, yet rarely is it performed in a way which feels empowering or witty. By being forceful in their performances and taking a lyrical approach which is humorous and meaningful, Hands off Gretel not only seem genuine but impassioned in their resolve to adopt an adoring surface level appearance, while screaming defiance to their detractors,
While you may not have heard of these Yorkshire born alt-rockers, definitely check them out if you are into that style of rock, which is insanely catchy while bearing a lot of substance. There are distinct nods to No Doubt, Nirvana and Bikini Kill. Your satisfaction will vary depending on whether you prefer the leans into pop or punk. Personally, I would like to have seen a touch more of that fast, raucous and chaotic attitude, which is where this second full-length excels. Still, they thrive in finding that balance, creating a sweet yet explosive mixture 7/10
Twisted Tower Dire: Wars In The Unknown (No Remorse Records) [Manus]
Power metal kills when it’s done right. It doesn’t have to break musical ground, or go off in unprecedented directions or fuse elements of 12 different genres to be interesting. Straight up power metal may be formulaic, but there’s no need to change a formula that’s worked for decades.
Twisted Tower Dire’s sixth outing is a fine example of a power metal band being a power metal band. The vocals could be better, sitting mostly at midrange and sounding a little bland, but there’s more than enough in the instrumentation to make up for that. Aside from the nad-squeezing screeches, there’s everything you’d want from power metal in these songs. Galloping drums, ripping guitar solos and huge sing-along choruses are all plentiful. Power metal never has to change. 7/10
Cities Of Mars: The Horologist (Ripple Music) [Rich]
While you may not have heard of these Yorkshire born alt-rockers, definitely check them out if you are into that style of rock, which is insanely catchy while bearing a lot of substance. There are distinct nods to No Doubt, Nirvana and Bikini Kill. Your satisfaction will vary depending on whether you prefer the leans into pop or punk. Personally, I would like to have seen a touch more of that fast, raucous and chaotic attitude, which is where this second full-length excels. Still, they thrive in finding that balance, creating a sweet yet explosive mixture 7/10
Twisted Tower Dire: Wars In The Unknown (No Remorse Records) [Manus]
Power metal kills when it’s done right. It doesn’t have to break musical ground, or go off in unprecedented directions or fuse elements of 12 different genres to be interesting. Straight up power metal may be formulaic, but there’s no need to change a formula that’s worked for decades.
Twisted Tower Dire’s sixth outing is a fine example of a power metal band being a power metal band. The vocals could be better, sitting mostly at midrange and sounding a little bland, but there’s more than enough in the instrumentation to make up for that. Aside from the nad-squeezing screeches, there’s everything you’d want from power metal in these songs. Galloping drums, ripping guitar solos and huge sing-along choruses are all plentiful. Power metal never has to change. 7/10
Cities Of Mars: The Horologist (Ripple Music) [Rich]
The Horologist is the second album from Swedish progressive doom metallers Cities Of Mars. There’s a mix of styles and sounds throughout The Horologist with the bands core doom and stoner metal sound mixed with influences from progressive rock, post-rock, psychedelic rock and space rock. The songs are all nicely varied throughout and play around with the aforementioned influences from the sludgy riffage of Trenches Of Bah-Belon to the psychedelic soundscape of opener Necronograph to the crushing atmosphere of The Last Electric Dream. The two things that let the album down for me.
The vocals which are handled by all three members of the band are very weak and the band should definitely think of finding a full time competent vocalist as the vocals by the band are very lacking and generally I just didn’t find this album altogether interesting. I imagine these songs would work tremendously well in a live setting but on the recorded medium they generally failed to grab me. The Last Electric Dream was the only song that really stood out for me and was the definite highlight of the album.The Horologist has bags of potential but on the whole this potential fails to be realised. If you are a massive fan of proggy psychedelic doom then you will probably enjoy this but sadly this album did little for me. 5/10
The vocals which are handled by all three members of the band are very weak and the band should definitely think of finding a full time competent vocalist as the vocals by the band are very lacking and generally I just didn’t find this album altogether interesting. I imagine these songs would work tremendously well in a live setting but on the recorded medium they generally failed to grab me. The Last Electric Dream was the only song that really stood out for me and was the definite highlight of the album.The Horologist has bags of potential but on the whole this potential fails to be realised. If you are a massive fan of proggy psychedelic doom then you will probably enjoy this but sadly this album did little for me. 5/10
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