DIRECT HIT - DOMESPLITTER [D - Underground]

FUCK YOU...  GET PUMPED!

THE ALBUM I AM CURRENTLY LISTENING TO IS "DOMESPLITTER"  BY THE BAND DIRECT HIT!!!!  I FEEL LIKE THIS ENTIRE REVIEW SHOULD BE TYPED IN ALL CAPS...  BECAUSE THIS ALBUM JUST HAS THAT KIND OF FEEL, BRO.

But for real, this band is taking pop-punk to an energy level that sometimes you can find, but the've managed to hone it in and keep banging it out tune after tune.

On this LP, I don't really notice any stand out songs, but I do feel like they've got something to offer for most punk/pop=punk fans all of the way through.  The production is fairly solid, the beats are pretty hard and it's definitely not for the faint of heart.  I'd recommend playing it at parties, drinking to, car ridess with friends and I can imagine it would be fairly DANGEROUS for working out...  you might get TOO PUMPED and explode from pure awesome.

I really hope this band sticks around for a while.  The Andrew WK-esque party, steamrolling rock n'roll is something I'm quite fond of.  I could magine this band being a blast to see live... The drums kick my ass (The fills can get pretty damn intense)  The guitars ring out gloriously while the bass clunks out with undying precision.  The intense, powerful vocal delivery is also excellent.  I hope to see them many times in the near future.

I would go ahead and give this album a 4.5/5 and you should go check it out!  "Snickers", "Living Dead" and "They Came for Me" are probably my favorite songs. 

p.s. unrleated to this band,

I'm sorry that I've been gone for so long!...  I've gotten a bit complacent, I got a new job and I've been in the process of recording songs with my band in the studio and teaching songs to our new drummer.  Check back within the week and I should have something new up!  Maybe even two things!...  

http://directhit.bandcamp.com/ - Click this for more music from DIRECT HIT!

Here's the video for "Monster in the Closet"

Peace, 

Robby

p.s.s happy 2012...  Let's make it a good one.

Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style [D - Mainstream]

Hello, it's Joseph Schultz again and today I'll be reviewing "Going Out in Style" by the Dropkick Murphys.

I still don't know anything about music so I still can't be trusted, but neither can any of MTV's 400 new channels, so really, what do you have to lose?

First I'd like to touch upon their last album, "The Meanest of Times".  Now maybe it's because I'm a bit of a wuss, but I didn't really like it all that much; it sort of felt like they were just yelling at me the whole time.  Now don't get me wrong, angry songs are cool and all, but only when you've got a real reason to be angry.  With the exception of "Loyal to No One", a song that I really liked, the whole album felt like it was being angry for the sake of being angry, which to me is just silly.

See? That's silly.  Now fortunately, "Going Out.." didn't feel like that, the songs were more varied in their sound and, uh, intensity, and it reminded me a lot of "Black-Out", which is a good thing.  Also, because I said "a lot" this is all I can think of...  Sorry...

Okay, cool, now that that is out of the way we can continue.

So, basically, here's a comparison of my feelings between this album and "The Meanest of Times".

Speaks for itself, really.  While this album felt, well, good, "The Meanest..." was kind of a letdown.  I only really liked one song on that one, but a handful of tracks really stood out to me on "Going Out..." "Climbing a Chair to Bed", "Broken Hymns" and "Take 'em Down" all really struck me as great, though that might partially come from how much I like their use of banjo and/or mandolin.

Remember, I know jack-shit about music, so it could be one or the other.

Alrighty, so in the end I suppose I really did like this album quite a lot.  Some songs were fast, others were slow, but just about all of them were pretty good.  A solid 4 out of 5, YO.

here's a fun review video to go along with this:

Cerebral Ballzy - Self Titled LP [C - Underground]

Tonight I'm reviewing Cerebral Ballzy's Self Titled LP

It's available on Williams Street records (owned by Cartoon Network's [adult swim])

This brash hardcore punk act from Brooklyn, NY gets on the ball right away.  They never really drift away from the rapid fire, almost sex pistols-esque vocal delivery.  The first song is one of the slower numbers... oh wait never mind...  They don't exactly ever slow down!  Lot's of power chord shredding and anger-filled lyrics are thrown in your face from start to finish.

"Don't Tell Me What to Do" is probably the most stand out track on this album.  It's a number than tells the tale of any daily punker's life... "Don't tell me what to do!  Not at all!  Not at all!  Don't tell me what to do!  Standing tall!  I'm standing tall!"... aside from that anthemic song there's "Junky For Her" which comes in second for my favorite song from the album.  That song thrashes hard.  If you go to this youtube page there are videos for a few of their songs...

The rest of the album is full of thrashing and pissed off vocals.  I still can't believe by looking at this guy that this voice is coming out of him.  I honestly pictured a white teenager from the UK with a red mohawk with his tone and inflection.  This album overall is a good hardcore punk album.  It's great if you're a hardcore punx...  The riffs are fun and the album goes by quick enough that it'll keep the attention of any punk fan aged 13-23.

Hey, if this is your thing then it's perfect... but for me?  It's fun energetic but overall I'd give it about a generous 3/5.  It's definitely good for a few listens as a casual punk enthusiast.  The record really makes me want to grab a skateboard, some graffiti and grind up the city.

Stay in school, kids.

here's the review video (Done in a parking lot.)

Adebisi Shank - "This is the Second Album of a band called Adebisi Shank" [A-Underground]

My ears are happy and confused!

With a relentless onslaught of high octane bass guitar, pounding drums, random electronic noise bouncing left to right, some talk/wah/vocoder sounds and a guitar that sounds like it was passed down from the gods themselves,.  Adebisi Shank has put out a record that kept me guessing the entire listen.

Not being familiar with this band at all, I was immediately thrown back in my chair when the first song "International Dreamboat" started.  Everything is pushed to the front, IN YOUR FACE experimental rock and roll and it doesn't lose a beat the entire record.  It does mellow out a bit later on actually...  as I was looking at at the track listing I saw "(-_-)" as one of the song titles and I uttered quite a chuckle.  By the time that you get to the song your face has been totally melted, you get a nice little slower jam with a lot of what sounds like electronic drum patches and some random sounds that just sound goofy.

As the album continues on, it gets weirder and weirder... but not a bad weird...  There are some really awesome mallet? sounds and the guitar has some wicked riffs and delays and all kinds of other stuff going on.  Damn son, this guy must have a buttload of pedals and from a picture of his pedalboard, this is confirmed!  This is definitely a band I would love to see perform live and see them pump out these insane sounds.

With all of the mix of experimental rock, funk, and electronica, mind blowing tempo changes and start/stops...  This album rocks very hard...  even though it isn't really my cup of tea...  But I'll keep this band in my collection for road trips.  You should really go check this out right away... and you can listen for free at this site:

http://adebisishank.bandcamp.com/

I give this record a 4.5/5

Nothing bad about this band or this album, now go check it out!

Here's a dumb video version:

Here is a good video of them live!:

Tomorrow's review will be:

My World 2.0 - by Justin Bieber

I'm just kidding! (or am I?! you guys gotta give me suggestions!)

If you have any suggestions for an underground band or artist that has a record released in the last year (Starting with the letter B!  please leave a comment here or send me an e-mail with a bandcamp link or any way I can check the album out!  If not I will pick the record myself.  Thank you very much!