Record Reviews

RECORD REVIEW: The Black Swans – Don’t Blame the Stars

The Black Swans Don’t Blame the Stars Misra, 2011 Jerry DeCicca is one hell of a songwriter. He has quietly amassed a catalog of gems over the course of several stellar albums, an ep and a handful of equally stellar 7″ tracks that follow a solemn tradition, a niche of singer songwriters that defy categorization. Americana? Folk? Country? The songs on Don’t Blame the Stars possess elements of all these genres, but are hardly bound to them. These are dusty, lived in ruminations on faith, friendship and the power of music, delivered in DeCicca’s unmistakable baritone. He is accompanied by an incredibly sympathetic cast of talented musicians (including long-time band-mate Noel Sayre, who tragically passed mere months after the recording of this material), resulting in the fullest sounding, most accomplished set of songs the Black Swans have produced yet. The guitar playing of Chris Forbes shines throughout. Songs like “Joe Tex”, “Sunshine Street” and “I Forgot To Change The Windshield Wipers In My Mind” are some of the most upbeat songs in the Black Swans catalog, providing a perfect balance to the somber title track and the sparse “Little Things”. Don’t Blame The Stars is as excellent an album...

Canary is the album I have been waiting for Southeast Engine to make. It is really good. Seriously. I have always had a great deal of respect for this band and Adam Remnant’s songwriting, but they’ve never before grabbed my attention the way this record does. In my almost 10 years in Athens these guys have always been a huge part of the music community here, but this one hits me all the way through. As someone that has seen this band dozens of times and heard their recordings over their career, I can honestly say that with Canary, Southeast Engine finally finds what I think they’ve been looking for. The tale told over Canary‘s 11 songs is one of America during the Great Depression, specifically the story of a miner in my own adopted home of Athens County who is struggling through a particularly rough patch of his existence. A story of poverty and hopelessness that really turns out to be one of searching and understanding. Rem’s songs follow through those themes of closed mines and mills and a beautiful and storied landscape and culture that have been stolen away. It is that underlying hope that frames Canary,...

RECORD REVIEW: Wheels on Fire – Cherry Bomb EP

This album seems like a demonstration of how deeply Wheels On Fire can worm four songs of their greaser surf-rock into your skull. It’s a cleaner break from the straighter rock sound of Get Famous!, and more in line with beach riffs of Liar Liar. (So much so that there’s a different version of a song off Liar Liar.) Cherry Bomb’s lead off, “Black Wave,” starts the dig in your head with a dark beach-party sound, its catchiness only covered up by the second track (“Broken Up”) and its insistence on including a kind of ‘keyboard cat’ riff. The title track demonstrates Wheels on Fire’s experimentation with doo-wop harmonies, and the final song of the set is a stripped-down revision of Liar Liar’s “Go Give Your Love Away”. These are all good songs, and the descriptions, admittedly, are simple bastardizations of how you’ll experience them, or what they actually are.

RECORD REVIEW: Orchestraville – Poison Berries

Orchestraville were one of the premiere bands as I came of age in the dingy clubs of the early ’90s Athens music scene. They stood out from crowd by infusing their music with quirky angularity and a much poppier feel than their contemporaries. I had, at a young age, developed an affinity for XTC, and damned if these guys didn’t nail the sound. It also didn’t hurt that Dave Pascoe was a complete badass on what was, up to that point, the only fretless bass I had ever seen. I was hooked. Two albums, a 7-inch and a few comp tracks later, however, that was that. The band fell into that hazy, excess-soaked gray matter not often called upon, dubbed “the ’90s.” It was quite a shock this past fall, then, to hear tell of a new record. I usually greet these types of reunions with a fair amount of trepidation. Putting an album out after so many years usually goes the way of having a release show in the lobby of a Holiday Inn or, at best, being a pale imitation of the reasons you loved the band in the first place. Orchestraville did neither of these things. ...

RECORD REVIEW: Whale Zombie – Whale Zombie LP

The guys in Whale Zombie know what they’re doing. They’ve crafted a sound and persona that borrows from numerous characteristics of pop rock history while somehow maintaining an identity that’s all their own. Playing with the vigor of a bunch of teenagers who just bought their first battered secondhand instruments and the finesse of seasoned veterans, Whale Zombie have constructed a solid offering with the debut of their first full-length album. Musical genres are thrown in a blender throughout, but this is accomplished in a way that never jars the listener or upsets its own flow. This is, in part, because the fuzzy, lo-fi aesthetic is one of a few rare elements that remains constant. Add to that quality song writing and skillful playing, and there’s little fault to be found within these 35 minutes of throwback surfy psychedelia. Any number of Whale Zombie’s songs could be equally at home in a Nuggets compilation or on the iPod of a hungover OU underclassman. It’s apparent that they like to screw around with pedals, which will always earn high praise from me. Still, that never really prevents them from writing some truly catchy, rocking tunes. Some of my favorite tracks...

“Holy shit! These guys are fucking awesome!” That was how I responded when I first saw Megachurch play live at last year’s Aquabear County Fair. That exact same reaction held true when I first heard this album. Their music is a punch to the gut. It hurts a little bit, but it makes you feel like more of a man (or woman) afterward. Megachurch offers up the soundtrack to the end of days with driving, gigantic drums and a duo of talented bassists. The only vocals to be heard are samples from numerous preachers speaking the gospel to throngs of adoring followers. Plus, it’s all recorded and mixed so masterfully that you’ll feel as if you’re sitting in Ted Haggard’s congregation just as the floor cracks open and hell’s legions drag him down into the abyss. Through a mere six songs, Megachurch rocks out more than most bands can accomplish in their entire careers. Let’s break it down track by track.

by Laura McMullen The first few songs on Cleveland native, Tom Evanchuck’s album, Tom, have lots of talk about train stations, roads, coming home, etc.—the usual sort of reflective, acoustic shtick. But at about two tracks in, it’s clear Tom makes it work better than most. Sure, there’s the Lonesome Dove sort of fiction lingering behind his ode to his “darlin’ Mayapple,” and in a few tracks where Evanchuck can be pictured leaning against a tree in the Old West—guitar and brow dusty from livin’. But sometimes a guitar and a great voice can turn even the cutest, Ray-Ban-sporting twenty-year old into a weathered cowboy. Cue the bluesy “Bury My Wife” where he declares, “I’m gonna bury my wife under that old pine shade. Lord knows that woman don’t know how to behave.”

RECORD REVIEW: We March – Creator/Destroyer – Non-Prophet, 2007

- by Pencil - Full length number three from Athen’s vanguard of punk/hardcore/garage/psyche, WE MARCH’s “Creator/Destroyer”, ranges from the speed and fury of 80’s H/C punk to scrappy garage stomp and murky psyched-out jams, but don’t think for one second that this is anything but the most scathing Punk record you’ve heard in a long time. While “the kids” are out there trying to recreate the past glory of these genres, WE MARCH manages to destroy them. Whether it’s uptempo ragers like “beep beep beep” or “the choice” (from their 7’’) or slower swaggering numbers like “never compromise” or “wash away” you come away with the feeling that, just like the first wave of punks (who had no reference to what they were creating, unlike so much of the rehash of the past ten years), these guys don’t care about emulating their heros, just about creating music on their own terms, and for almost ten years (!) they’ve done just that. Released on their own NON-PROPHET record label “Creator/Destroyer” proves that even in the 21st century, punk can still be original, exciting and inspirational. Highly recommended. Contact them: wemarch.net, myspace.com/wemarch wemarchbox@hotmail.com

RECORD REVIEW: Percolator – Man is Not a Bird, 2007

- by Brian Wiebe The relationships we have with music are as varied and complicated as the ones we have with people. Sometimes a song or album is love at first listen—swooning as I hit repeat for the fifth, sixth, seventh time—enraptured in immediacy. Other times, the relationship takes a little while to develop. Maybe I haven’t heard the album in the right setting, or maybe I haven’t heard it enough, or maybe I just didn’t understand it right away. But I keep listening until eventually a deeper respect forms because of the piece’s slowly unraveling mysteries and complexities. Percolator has managed to do both. Man is Not a Bird is an album that had me from the get go, and then kept growing on me.

RECORD REVIEW: The X Bolex – This Time Next Year You’ll Be Oxidizing Stone – Tower Control, 2007

- by Brian Koscho - The X Bolex began as a solo project for then Small Object a drummer Nate Scheible while he was still living in Athens, Ohio. But, The X Bolex is now a full band made up of some of the greatest musicians in the Cleveland music scene. Nate also co-runs Zombie Proof Studios and recorded “This Time..” with fellow engineer Paul Maccarrone. In addition to Scheible (who has spent/spends time in Cleveland acts such as Self Destruct Button, Neo Nothing, The Washout Corporation, and Thee Scarcity of Tanks), the band is filled out by Matt Majesky (State of Ohio), Lou Arocho (Small Object a), and Dale Ursic (Homostupids, State of Ohio). Scheible’s songwriting has always been spectacular as have X Bolex’s previous albums, but there is something special that develops on their new record.

RECORD REVIEW: Machine Go Boom – Music for Parents – Collectible Escalators, 2007

- by Brian Koscho Cleveland’s Machine Go Boom has been one of my own personal favorite bands for years. Music For Parents is their second album after 2004’s Thank You Captain Obvious, both were recorded by Paul Maccarrone at Cleveland’s Zombie Proof Studios. Machine Go Boom’s music is an audio sugar rush, with band-leader Mikey Machine’s voice ranging from a beautiful swoon to the tone of a small child on Christmas morning after twelve cans of soda and an entire birthday cake. Mikey and the rest of MGB make music that really is a breath of fresh air.

RECORD REVIEW: Southeast Engine – ” Wheel within a Wheel” – Misra, 2007

Adam Remnant, Southeast Engine’s principle penman and visionary, is a Dayton native living currently in that mythical berg of Athens, OH… a town often described as sleepy, dreamlike… you get the picture. Let me tell you about the Remnant’s house: piano, keyboard, drum here, drum there, harmonica, violin, organ… zounds of guitars. And that is not to mention the collective musical talent of the various characters often to be found lurking in and about the Remnant household on a given day: Adam Torres (backing vocals, guitar) lends a capable hand in the realization of Remnant’s musical vision, with distinct vocal harmonies that have become perhaps the most recognizable aspect of the band’s sound. Jesse Remnant (bass, keys), another Daytonite and recent addition to the band’s live lineup, and Leo DeLuca (drums), co-founding member and major hunk, round out the live band, which has recently completed its first tour as a quartet.

RECORD REVIEW: Casual Future – “Footnotes in the City Lights”

On their debut album, Casual Future gets into character as musicians from the slacker set, slinging well-penned quips filled with cynicism and absurdity, while keeping pretty level heads. It’s a well-balanced act owing much to lead singer Scott Spice’s almost ho-hum delivery, dancing drunkenly over lyrics finely calculated and clever.

RECORD REVIEW: She Bears – “I Found Myself Asleep” – Self-released, 2009

She Bears is a six-piece band from Athens, Ohio who have found their voice with their new release I Found Myself Asleep. I had the opportunity to play several of their earlier shows with them in my former band Casual Future, and one thing that stuck out to me was how good they sounded then. That of course led to the next thought of how scary it would be once they started to get really good. Their new album reaches that point. It’s a great record for sure but even more importantly it accomplishes something often lost in recording: She Bears sound like they should. More after the break….