Mark Morriss – I’m Sick
The Bluetones’ leading light, Mark Morriss takes time off to wander towards a darker, cosmopolitan, Mediterranean instrumental and self-pitying lyrical concealing direction. This single is part of the build up towards solo debut album, ‘Memory Muscle’ (out 02/06/08 on Fruitcake Music.) Morriss is keen to slow down and labour his vocals to achieve a more pedestrian lob, in order to show the difference between this and his main project.
That now infamous instrumental adventure is still there, but some lyrical mournfulness shows Morriss in a more sombre guise. This indicates that he has a genuine reason for going solo and those fearing that The Bluetones maybe running out of ideas need not worry, the lead man is simply exploring his soul.
By Dave Adair
A.Rex – Who Said I Was Running?
“Who Said I Was Running?” is the new EP from the band A.Rex. This is the bands third release to date. The release is an interesting hybrid of a young Wilco meets The Lemonheads. The record starts off with “Too Smart For Me” and you can hear a young Jeff Tweedy in the vocals and those melodies are right out of the Wilco playbook. “Don’t Let Me Get Away” has a great little piano hook and a tight melody. “Not Like We’re In Love” is the type of song that could become the bands trademark. It has a great anti-love feel in the lyrics and for the scorned lovers out there this is a nice tough. A.Rex are good guyswho write a lot of enjoyable and sweet songs. They are the type of guys who you wish all the success to and one day it will come for them.
By John Siwicki
The Charlatans – The Misbegotten
The Charlatans are releasing their album “You Cross My Path” in stores this May after giving it away as a download a few months back. “The Misbegotten” is the first single to get released in a physical format but it is really the third single from the album. The album is a really smart choice for a single and remains remarkably strong for a third single. The opening is really cool with some wacky little darting effects and then some crashing drums come in and Tim starts with some ‘uhs.’ The first few seconds are really attention grabbing. Then the song continues along at the same pace and never really changes much. The song does manage to stick in your head with those ‘uh uhs” coming up and Tim’s classic delivery. It sucks you right in and it is a great mix of classic Charlatans with a slightly modern twist.
By John Siwicki
The Sword – The Gods Of The Earth
The Sword is a heavy/metal progressive band from the lands of Austin, TX. If we can quote my older bother for a moment “everyone once in awhile you need some metal in your life.” If you buy one metal album this year make it The Sword because these guys are really on their own other platform then everyone else. In a lot of metal albums they over do it with all the rusty and falsetto vocals. For me, I listen to hard stuff to get those monumental licks and some loud banging drums. I don’t want the songs to be full of songs about mythical dragons and warriors. Let’s look at “Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephrians” one of the more vocally led tracks but you can even make out what he is saying but it is so intense and so powerful all around him. Then you get a track like “The Sundering” that is the most unrelenting two minutes on this album.
“The Gods Of The Earth” is as solid as they come in the metal community. The record is fast and unforgiving. We will all fall victim to The Sword.
By John Siwicki