Car Seat Headrest: Teens Of Denial ALBUM REVIEW

Car Seat Headrest is the moniker of Bandcamp veteran Will Toledo, who has in the past 5 years or so, released over ten albums in total, all recorded with very modest means. The album he put out last year, Teens Of Style, was the band's first outing on a major label, and while that album did in fact have label backing, it still sounded like a bedroom project. However, on this new release, Toledo really shows of his chops as not only a songwriter, but also shows an almost day and night improvement in terms of production quality. In short, Teens Of Denial is not only Car Seat Headrest's best work to date, it may just be my favorite album released thus far in 2016.

Sure, it isn't a perfect LP, but the things that detract from it being a flawless ride just add character to the album, which is already full of character to begin with. The album spans an ambitious 70 minutes or so, but never feels like it is going on too long, and it mixes things up throughout, so not a single moment drags. In fact, the pacing here is superb, often going from an energetic track, like the opener "Fill In The Blank" to a longer, more complex tune like "Vincent". Or take the shift from "Unforgiving Girl (She's Not An)" to the sprawling and beautiful "Cosmic Hero". The album just flows so effortlessly, and provides some stellar tunes along the way.

For example, I absolutely adore the track "(Joe Gets Kicked Out Of School...)", a hilarious, yet contemplative song about getting high and the effects of the drugs themselves, which leads to some pretty interesting imagery. Or the amazing "Killed By Hippie Powers", which is so insanely catchy, I just can't stop myself from humming it to myself at random intervals throughout the day. In fact, darn near every song here is liable to get stuck in your head, even the longer form songs, such as the aforementioned "Cosmic Hero" which opens with a wonderfully 'Neutral Milk Hotel' esque horn part at the beginning.

And I can't talk about how great the songs are without mentioning the lyrics, which range from the ludicrous and hilarious, such as Will musing about trying to "Find the really good porn" to him wanting to hide his insecurities on "1937 State Park", the gambit of emotions that this album goes through really makes it feel like an experience when you sit down and go through the LP in its entirety; something that I think is required to full appreciate every track here. Because while there are some amazing stand alone moments, you can really feel the love of the album that Will has, and Teens Of Denial is a fantastic ALBUM.

My only complaints lie in some slightly iffy production moments; a murky guitar here, a slightly buried vocal part there, but all in all, I can't find much to complain about here. Though I can see some people getting hung up on Will's voice, which goes from a Strokes esque low croon, to a wild and frenzied shriek at the drop of a hat. But to me, I love both sides of is vocal range, and it really helps sell the humor and sincerity that these tunes present.

I've had this album on repeat for the past couple of days, and I have a feeling it will remain in rotation for the rest of the year. The way I can get lost in this album's flow is something that has been sadly missing from a lot of music released thus far in 2016, and I'm glad to say that I've finally found it.

9.5/10

Modern Baseball: Holy Ghost ALBUM REVIEW

Modern Baseball are an emo band that formed in 2012, this is there third LP titled Holy Ghost. Now as it always seems to happen year after year, I seem to find a modern emo album (a genre I usually despise) that I actually enjoy a lot, this is this year's model, I suppose. Because what I hear on his new album is the sound of a band releasing their feelings and experiences in short, controlled bursts, but by the end of this album, you can really feel the relief that goes along with the cathartic release.

However, this isn't a drawn-out release, with the album clocking in a around 27 minutes; in fact, you'd almost expect this album to have more punk influence, but instead the tracks here, for the most part, stick around just long enough to say something poignant (poignant to the band at the very least) and work in a catchy hook before ending and moving on. This formula works in the album's favor, because the band never gets stuck in a particular subject or story too long, and all of the tracks here feel like a cohesive whole.

There a few downsides here, mostly with the fact that the tracks that don't run all that long, such as "Coding These To Lukens" fail to leave much of an impression, and the album moves along so fast, moments like these are very easy to miss, despite having given this album a solid dozen listens at the time of this review. But when the songs stick, they really stay with you. "Wedding Singer" is a fantastic kick off to this LP and the following track "Note To Self" is some of the most bonafide, grade A emo I've heard in a long time. Other great moments include the more aggressive "Breathing In Stereo" and the closer "Just Another Face" which really leaves the album off on an emotional note.

Overall, I think this is a very strong album; though I don't think it is necessarily a great one, I do think it is worth checking out if you're into the softer, more emotional side of rock music, but want something that doesn't rely on melodrama to make you feel something.

7.4/10

The Misfits Discography: Part 6 : The Devil's Rain

Just like I did with the Ramones discography, I am skipping the covers album that the Misfits did in the mid 2000's, despite actually having Marky Ramone on it!

So after the second dissolution of the Misfits in the late 90's, Jerry Only decided about 5 years after, to reassemble the group, but this time he recruited a "supergroup" of punk rock musicians; they released a single album in 2004, and the band promptly went on yet another hiatus, until the release of The Devil's Rain in 2011. But instead of going for the same line-up, Only decided to instead make the group a trio, with himself taking the reigns of lead vocalist on top of his bass playing. The result is sadly a lifeless affair that shows that maybe Jerry should of just let the band remain dead after all.

Unlike the last two Misfits releases, I have nary a single track on The Devil's Rain that I enjoy from start to finish. The album opens with the title track, which features a pretty unenthusiastic performance by the band, and some incredibly cheesy rain sound effects hanging in the background. And the lyrics themselves are just laughable. And this is kind of the way most of the tracks here go; we get a so-so instrumental with some weak vocals singing a song about a mummy ("Curse Of The Mummy's Hand") or zombies ("Land Of The Dead").

The only moment I could feel my blood sort of rising in excitement was on the track "Father", but that's because it is one of the few tracks here that doesn't rely on a simplistic chord progression for the entire run time and actually features a pretty decent lead guitar riff. There's also the slightly spooky violin intro to "Ghost Of Frankenstein" which was a nice change of sound, despite that track also featuring more cornball sound effects, this time grunts from the eponymous monster himself.

One thing that I just couldn't find any enjoyment from however were Jerry Only's vocals; he's fine as a backing vocalist, but he just doesn't have the chops to lead. I had my fair share of complaints about Graves, but it's like Only tries to combine both Danzig and Graves into one overly theatrical, whiny mess that doesn't work: not once. He also sounds so unenthusiastic, and like he just isn't having any fun with any of the material here. I mean, I would of loved to get a more menacing album from the band after their less than stellar 90's work, but if I'm going to get a campy romp instead, at least sound like you're enjoying it!

We haven't seen any news of a new Misfits album in 5 years, and like I said at the beginning of the review, I sort of hope it remains that way. I love this band's overall concept and early material a whole lot, but the second half of their career is just a slog to get through, and has very little in the way of redeeming qualities. Though, with news of Danzig and what is left of the 'original' line-up set to do some shows this year, maybe we can at least relive some of the glory days in a live setting, though again, please don't record another album unless it is some stellar stuff.

3.0/10

The Misfits Discography: Part 5 : Famous Monsters

After making their big comeback in 1997 with American Psycho, the Misfits seemed to be back on their usual roll as far as album releases go, seeing how they followed up the less than stellar American Psycho two years later with Famous Monsters, an album that is markedly more enjoyable, but in my opinion, still suffers from being an album that feels out of character for the once menacing Misfits. This feeling also translates to the image the band is putting out on this album, which is far less actual 'horror' and far more 'monster mash', I mean, just look at the cover; while it looks pretty great in a campy sci-fi/ horror camp kind of way, I would never think that the group were called Misfits by the title alone.

I will say without any reservations whatsoever that the album opens incredibly strong with what may be one of my Top 5 all time favorite Misfits tunes, "Forbidden Zone"; this track is insanely well constructed and has a massively enjoyable hook. This is an example of how well this line-up could work together, it is a shame that we never got to see this group go forward though, seeing as how shortly after the release of this LP, the band would once again disband for nearly 5 years, before bassist Jerry Only would reform, and later front the group.

And while no other moment on this entire LP trumps "Forbidden Zone", I have to say that the first quarter of the LP certainly holds up against it. Especially on the wonderfully cult-ish "Dust To Dust", which features yet another great hook. And another thing to note with the better tracks here; the band just sounds a lot more enthusiastic and in sync. A lot of moments on American Psycho (and even this album, admittedly) feel like the band is still shaking off the rust of over a decade of inactivity. But here, we see them return to form in a pretty big way.

This makes the rest of the album a pretty big disappointment.  While there are some decent moments here and there in the form of "Die Monster Die" and "Living Hell", there are some downright laughable ones too. The biggest offender being the saccharine sweet "Saturday Night" which is the sound of the band shooting for a 50's crooner, but ending up with a mopey punk song with no guts whatsoever. And we get a couple 'songs' here as well that just feel like a riff or hook but never come together, such as "Witch Hunt" or "Pumpkinhead".

But the biggest problem I have with this album is actually Grave's vocals, not because I think they're overall terrible, in fact I think he really makes the tracks that I enjoy here all the better. It's when he forgets to clear his nasal passages before singing on cuts like "Scream!" or "Crawling Eye" that I start cringing. The sound of his voice on these tracks is just so grating and annoying, it makes me wonder where the vocalist on "Forbidden Zone" was that day, because he ain't here now!

Did I enjoy this more than American Psycho? Certainly. But I'm not going to lie to you and say that I think this is a great album or anything. Sure, it has worthwhile cuts here and there, and one downright fantastic one. But it also features some of the worst tracks I've yet heard from the Misfits. So approach with caution.

5.6/10

The Misfits Discography: Part 4 : American Psycho

As great things often are, the original lineup of the Misfits wasn't long for this world. Not only had they replaced their guitarist during the release of Earth A.D., but after that that album's release, the band saw the departure of perhaps the most important piece; lead singer Glenn Danzig, an occurrence in the band's career that would ultimately cause their fanbase to split into two categories: those who though that the band went downhill from that point on, and those who though 'ehh, they aren't that bad'. Now who got the opportunity to fill the legendary shoes of Glenn Danzig? Well, a young upstart musician who went by the stage name Michale Graves, that's who. In fact. the loss of Danzig caused the band to go into a near 14 year hiatus, before finding graves and recording their followup to Earth A.D., titled American Psycho. This means that the band replaced Danzig with a guy who would have been around 3 years old when the band first game on to the music scene.

But, age is just a number, and for all the problems that I do in fact have with American Psycho, not all of them involve the merit of Graves as a vocalist, more that I think his talents would have been better suited for another band entirely. Because while he does pull of some decent Danzig esque vocal performances here and there, such as the title track and the cheekily titled "Walk Among Us". Both of which are definite highlights here. But it there are some tracks here where the vocals are just too innocent and immature sounding, such as "Blacklight" which is hardly a song to begin with, and "Day Of The Dead" which is just kind of laughable.

Also, the track "Dig Up Her Bones" is, in my opinion, the sweetest the band has ever sounded, and it makes me feel like I'm getting cavities just listening to it. Sure, it is not a horrible tune, but it is a bad Misfits song. Because for all the outrageous antics of a song like "Last Caress", at least that song reflects the name of the band! You feel kind of devious listening to lyrics like that, and its campy-ness  works in favor of a great song. Whereas the campy aesthetic on American Psycho just goes way too far, leading to an album that sounds like a punked out 'Monster Mash' Halloween music compilation.

As far as the instrumentals here, the band seems to be in autopilot a lot of the time, simply churning out one simple chord progression and drum line after another. And it says a lot that I'm complaining about repetition, considering that I just spent two weeks listening to the entirety of the Ramones discography. But what makes it such an issue here is that the songs just aren't that great most of the time.

So, while I did find at least a couple of moments to enjoy on American Psycho (not to mention the cover art is fantastic), I just could not get over how cornball a lot of this album is, and how much a shift the tone of the band has taken on this LP. I guess they were trying to compete with the pop-punk scene of the late 90's, but even the big players in that game had moved on at this point. Go ahead and pass on this one.

4.5/10

Skepta: Konnichiwa ALBUM REVIEW

The U.K. grime scene is not one that I'm well versed in, but when I saw that a new Skepta release was out, I figured I should go ahead and check it out. I mean, he and guys like Dizzee Rascal are both names that I recognize and have enjoyed in the past, plus it seems as though that style of music is preparing to make its big entrance into the American charts for the first time in a while, so might as well see what all the fuss is about. However, you have been warned, I'm no grime expert.

In any case, I liked a lot of what I heard on Konnichiwa; in fact, I love the title track/ opener, which features a banging beat and Skepta is spitting bars that mention The Matrix and how he's ready to concur the rap game; he sounds hungry and his energy is infectious. This energy also carries over to tracks like "Lyrics" and "It Ain't Safe", both of which have fantastic hooks and again, some pretty solid bars from Skepta.

There are some sort of big drawbacks to this LP however. While I love how Skepta keeps his energy up, it tends to drown out the more mellow tracks here, such as "Text Me Back" or "Corn On The Curb" both of which would have gone over better if he changed up his delivery a bit more. Also, what's with the overly long skits at the end of some of these tracks? I mean, I get that he wanted to tell a story with some of these tracks, but I don't like listening to a 2 minute outro when I'm going back through an album. These moments are okay the first time through, but are completely passable after that. And I can't deny that the track "Ladies Hit Squad" is a dud through and through; it may be someone else's cup of tea, but to me, it is grade A sleaze that has no place on an album as hard as this one.

But these problems aside fortunately didn't stop me from enjoying this album quite a bit, because the album follows this stinker with three of the best tracks on the entire project. "Numbers" proves that Pharell is at his best when he's producing bangers and "Man" and "Shutdown" are so incredibly hard, it is a wonder why a track like "Ladies Hit Squad" was even considered for the final cut.

Overall, I'd say this is an album worth paying attention to, and if the U.K. grime invasion brings us more albums of this quality, then colour me excited.

8.0/10

The Misfits Discography: Part 3 : Earth A.D./ Wolfs Blood/ Die, Die My Darling

Released only a short while after their proper debut in 1982, the followup to Walk Among Us, titled Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood is easily the bands most intense and brief effort. In fact, the initial release of the LP, which carries the aforementioned title, clocks in at a staggeringly short 14 minutes. Whereas latter editions of the album included tracks from the Die, Die My Darling EP which rounded things up to 21 minutes overall. Either way, the third Mistfits album is not going to take up much time, and in my opinion, it also cuts a lot of the crap that some of the band's later LP's would wallow in. But before I move on to the album itself, I should probably voice my opinion on which version of the LP is 'superior' since there are people out there that prefer the initial release. In my opinion, if you want a fast, no frills hardcore punk album and nothing more, go for the Wolfs Blood edition; you'll be hard pressed to find a leaner, more satisfying punk album. However, if you would like to have a few more shots of melody, then the Die, Die My Darling edition is for you. Personally, I love the three tracks that the latter edition adds, so I choose that one.

All that aside, the album on offer here is one lean mean punk machine. It just doesn't stop from the moment the track "Earth A.D." kicks things off, to the moment that "We Bite" squeals out and crashes. This LP is hardcore punk, a genre that kind of seems like pure noise to the untrained ear, but I'd argue that this album would be appealing even to someone who usually writes the genre off completely. Not only are the riffs here hard as nails, but Glenn Danzig is such a compelling frontman and his voice just soars above the mix in such a fantastic way. I've probably listened to this album a good two dozen times in the past week in preparation for this series, and each time I go through it, I appreciate Danzig's vocals even more.

That's not to say that the playing here isn't fantastic as well, I mean, these guys are playing their guts out on every track here, even if the production leads to some of the finesse being lost in translation. Still, there are some fantastic tracks here, such as the studio version of "Mommy, Can I Go Out & Kill Tonight?", the grinding "Green Hell" and the menacing "Blood Feast" which for the original cut of the LP is the lone moment that the band slows things down to create a more moody atmosphere. However, with the later editions we get the classic Misfits tune "Die, Die My Darling" as well, and the wonderfully catchy "We Bite" which is the closest this album comes to revisiting Static Age in terms of style.

Aside from some murky production here and there, there's not really any other negatives to point out here. Sure, it isn't the catchiest, or most immediate Misfits LP, but I'd say it is the most viscerally satisfying by a long shot. So, if you're in the mood to trash around for a good 20 minutes, put on some Earth A.D.!

9.3/10