Mike Indest – the Pretty EP
Basement Tapes head honcho, deep thinker, and all around nice guy Mike Indest returns with a new EP of acoustic pop ditties. With provocative titles like “I’ll Be Your Jesus” and “You Think You’re Pretty Now”, you know you are not in for typical Top 40 radio fodder. The mood seems to be a bit more somber on this EP than some of Indest’s older outputs like Swimsuit Grandma. Mike says this is the first time in a while he has recorded with a guitar. I like the results. The other instruments are a nice touch, especially the melodica, bass guitar, and drum driven flourish a little over half way through “You Think You’re Pretty Now.” Short and to the point, as well as free – what’s not to like? See Mike’s BandCamp page to listen or download and check-out the re-mastered updated older projects of his as well.
Sunken Treasures: Dark Country – Tunes From The Darkside
Sammy Horner of Electrics fame explains the album in his liner notes as such: “Things were bad…Johnny Cash had died and I was in a bad place…me and old Jimmy D were suffering from something dark and mean…we got holed up in a studio with a baritone guitar and a lot of reverb…yeah, we wrote them thar murder ballads….critics loved this dark little gem….be afraid, be very afraid…” What you have here is a dark slice of Americana mixed with a touch of Celtic Rock. Plenty of reverb and vibrato guitar tones, heavy drums, both singers are great, gritty lyricists. Songs of murder, suicide, mystery, and booze, with an underlying message of faith and love. No filler on this LP – the song writing quality you’ve come to know Sammy Horner for. Sammy’s Bandcamp is chock full of great releases, solo, the Electrics, and amazing side projects such as this one. Some of the releases on the site are “Pay What You Like” so jump on those if you’re tight on funds. Horner is well deserving of your support!
RIYL: Nick Cave, Johnny Cash, the Electrics, Lost Dogs
[2003 Independent | Purchase: sammyhorner.bandcamp.com]‘Sunken Treasures’ are albums that had slipped under my radar and maybe some of yours too.
The Distortion Mirrors – Zeros and Kings
So what do you get from a band that lists everyone from Black Sabbath to Smashing Pumpkins to Keith Green as influences? Guitar-based noisy alternative rock that is just enough 90s to be retro cool while also being enough modern to not sound dated. The band probably best describes their own sound as a “Technicolor audio roller-coaster ride through fuzzy terrain.” “Prom Queen” is an insanely catchy song with a slight 80s influence that is being streamed as a single at several sites. Go look for it and I dare you not be hooked. The second “half” of this EP finds the band getting even more progressive and experimental – our readers will probably dig this material even more. Album closer “Empyrean Dreams” is pretty trippy stuff that is almost random noise at places – a bit different than the rest but very interesting. The lyrics explore a very interesting tension between dark themes and hope, between dealing with demons and finding redemption. These guys have been gaining quite the buzz all over the interwebs it seems, so expect to hear more from this duo in the future. I know I have found a new band to keep track of.
Sunken Treasures: The Insyderz – Soundtrack To A Revolution
Hadn’t listened to the Insyderz since 1998’s Fight For Your Life LP. I didn’t bother to check out the two worship albums they released, may have been due to over saturation of Skacore at the time, or maybe with my ever changing musical taste, might be because I’m not a fan of praise and worship music in general. I had no idea that they released a new album in 2003, so here I am 10 years later reviewing it! Soundtrack To A Revolution is really, really, solid, beginning to end. This band sounds as tough as their home town of Detroit: great heavy guitar work, rhythm section deep in the pocket, gruff vocals, and catchy horn lines. If you liked the first two albums by Insyderz, you’ll love this one! Also check out their outstanding 2012 Kickstarter funded release The Sinner’s Songbook while you’re over at their Bandcamp site, featuring a great duet with Reese Roper (Five Iron Frenzy) and Mojo (O.C. Supertones) on the title track.
RIYL: Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Insyderz, Flatfoot 56, Five Iron Frenzy, Street Dogs
[2004 Independent | Purchase: theinsyderz.bandcamp.com]‘Sunken Treasures’ are albums that had slipped under my radar and maybe some of yours too
Secret Archives of the Vatican – Storms
Secret Archives of the Vatican has been around for a long time. Like, “since the 80s” long time. They are a bit outside of the normal type of music covered here at DTL. SAotV specialize in electronic music mixed with ethnic instruments, rhythms, and ideas. At first you might say “So what? Hundreds of acts do just that. So are they Asian Underground, or Rai, or Arabesque, or Goan Trance, or what?” Well, yes and no. They have pretty much mixed every type of world music into their sound at one time or another. This time around the major influence is Turkish music. As a fan of world music, I love it when bands mix in ethnic influences. But I hate it when it is just a token sitar intro or a few beats on a dumbek that earns the label of “world fusion.” SAotV are mainly electronic, but the ethnic influences are very prominent. Storms is another excellent pay-what-you-like BandCamp album (they have eight more right now). I am still hoping for re-issues of their early cassette-only albums, but there is more than enough out there right now. You can check it out for yourself – so if you are a fan of the music I described, go give them a listen.
Food for Life Ministry Benefit Compilation
Thumper Punk continues to bring the punk, this time with their second benefit compilation. I wish I knew more about some of these bands to know if these songs are available elsewhere, but I am assuming that some of them probably aren’t. As with most comps, the quality varies from song to song. But it goes to a good cause, so if you like any of the bands on here, why not grab a copy? Some of the bands I immediately caught my ear were Platoon 1107 (with a Deliverance cover no less), False Idle, No Lost Cause, Living Fire, and LIV. But it’s not all punk – the comp ends with a few acoustic tracks and then a poetry reading. For a punk compilation, there is a lot more diversity than I thought would be on here. Proceeds go to support Food For Life Ministry, which is an organization “committed to serving those in need with food and encouragement…. Food For Life Ministry desires to care for the whole person, providing food for the body and nourishment for the soul.”
Sunken Treasures: Alpha Charlie – …And I Wait
Former W’s front man Andrew Schar formed this combo with former W’s touring drummer Courtney Stubbort after the dissolution of the aforementioned band. The two are joined by Courtney’s brothers to form a very interesting combo. Hard to pin down the sound of Alpha Charlie: a blend of 60’s Power Pop, Funk, Rock, Swing, Gospel, and some other randomness. This album was rather hard to find until recently, now available for download on Bandcamp along with a live album I’ve yet to purchase. Andrew and Courtney also have a new project called The Big Fix that released a single last year on Bandcamp. It’s more of the W’s vibe: thebigfix.bandcamp.com. I enjoyed “..And I Wait” from start to finish, not a weak track in the bunch! Some of the tunes were penned for the third W’s LP that never happened. I love this album, gets better with every listen! A deal for $7, get it!
RIYL: Cake, the W’s, Bloodhound Gang, Ben Folds, Soul Coughing, original sounding music!
[2001 Independent | Purchase: alphacharlie.bandcamp.com]‘Sunken Treasures’ are albums that had slipped under my radar and maybe some of yours too.
Dime Store Zombies – Dime Store Zombies
I can see the movie trailer for the documentary in 20 years: “In a world… where musical talent actually mattered… bands like Dime Store Zombies would have ruled the charts…” So, the story goes that zombies ate SLIDE and they were resurrected as Dime Store Zombies. Seems like a little undead buffet action was pretty good for the soul of this band, because the re-vamped version is even better than the original. What you get on this CD are several SLIDE classics re-recorded in zombie mode along with several new songs. The sound is similar to SLIDE but at a new level with less electronic elements and more organic ones – especially guitars. Oh, and some sprinklings of horns, accordions, mandolins, and a few other random instruments. I know that sounds like experimental weirdness, but each instrument works great in the various ways they are used. The re-worked SLIDE songs might throw long-time fans for a loop – but I think you will like most changes if you give them a chance. The new songs kind of pick up where the old ones left off and keep moving forward. Lyrically, the humor and fun of SLIDE is still present, even when addressing serious subjects (their video for “Political Zombie” should prove that they have a funny bone if you miss it in the lyrics). But as usual the Zombies don’t shy away from tackling modern day problems head-on. Everything from political tensions to social media trolls to societal fakeness gets tackled head on. If there was a true “rock” music scene alive and well today, Dime Store Zombies would own it with this release. I never once wanted to hit the skip button, and I kept letting the CD start over from the beginning once it was over. Yep, it’s that good. So be sure to grab it on the 17th.
Christ’s Sake – Christ’s Sake
I’m trying to figure out who Christ’s Sake sounds like. There is something about the vocals that sounds familiar. Online I see them recommended for fans of The Ramones, The Clash, Black Flag, and Social Distortion. Maybe the vocals sounds like all of those mixed together – but at times I hear the influence of about a dozen hair metal bands. But there is no denying that this is punk, so I am sure punk fans will love this. I am listening and wishing for a few more curveballs or different influences to shine through. I know punk rock is not supposed to be the most original genre in the world, but for 13 songs you need a bit more diversity. There are some acoustic tracks on the second half that help. The lyrics are straight forward Christian lyrics, so if you have been missing out on some of the Christian punk of the 90s, this will fit the bill.
Platoon 1107 / The Cants split
Platoon 1107 starts off this split with blazing heavy fast punk. Remember the dirty guitar tones Blenderhead dialed in for their first full length? The guitars here remind of that, just used instead for straight up working class punk. Platoon 1107 blazes through six songs that mostly float around the 1-2 minute length mark. The Cants bring in a bit lower production value on their four songs. They sound interesting and catchy, but just a bit hard to hear. You also get long, interesting song titles like “The Real Predicament for Any Body Snatcher is The Body.” If you are hearing a slight Blaster The Rocket Man influence in that title, I think you will find that in the music also. Slight, but still there. In the end, you get two really different punk bands that end up working well together.