Tag: Cheap Trick

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Initially formed back in 2010 as a trio, Cincinnati, OH-based punk rock act Vacation quickly released a slew of tapes, singles and albums through a number of DIY labels while playing pop-inspired punk shows throughout the Midwest and the rest of the country. Since their formation, the band has expanded into a quartet while managing to balance prolificacy with a relentless touring schedule that has had the Cincinnati-based punk rockers opening for the likes of The Breeders, JOVM mainstays Screaming Females, The Black Lips, and others.

Back in 2016 Vacation recorded a two-part album Southern Grass: The Continuation of Rock ‘n’ Roll, a miscellaneous collection of basement punk ephemera, and by the time of the album’s release that July, the members of the band had returned to the studio to write and record their latest album Mouth Sounds #2699 slated for a release through Bloomington, IN-based Let’s Pretend Records later this week. Engineered by The Afghan Whigs‘ John Curley at Ultraseude Studio, Mouth Sounds #2699 reportedly finds the band at their most experimental with songs that nod at Tom Petty, krautrock and punk rock; in fact, the album’s latest single “Deflector Head” is a prime example of what the band specializes in — ragged, gritty and rousingly anthemic punk with decidedly Cheap Trick-like power pop leanings. It’s the sort of song that you should raise your beer as high as possible and shout along lustily to the hook — as rock ‘n’ roll should make you do.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a bit about the Bay Area-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and JOVM mainstay Tim Cohen, who has written, recorded and toured with a number of different bands and creative outlets, including Magic Trick, The Fresh & Onlys (with whom, he may be the best known) and as a solo artist. And during that period do time, Cohen has managed to be remarkably prolific. Last year alone, the Bay Area-based singer/songwriter spent time touring with both Magic Trick and The Fresh & Onlys, wrote, recorded and released Magic Trick’s fourth album Other Man’s Blues and his solo debut — all while balancing the responsibilities of being a new father.

Cohen continues a prolific and busy period with a new Fresh & Onlys album, Wolf Lie Down, the first Fresh & Onlys effort in over three years. Slated for an August 25, 2017 release through Sinderlyn Records, the album reportedly finds collaborators and bandmates Cohen and Wymond Miles (guitar, production) stripping the layered sound and feel of their last few albums, with Cohen and Miles aiming to imbue the material with an uplifting and swooning romanticism paired with Cohen’s wry humor. Last month, I wrote about album title track and first single “Wolf Lie Down,” a track that found Cohen and Miles pairing layers of chugging guitars, an old-timey rock ‘n’ roll bass line, and an infectious, chant worthy hook with Cohen’s mischievously metaphysical musings in a summer road trip-worthy song that nods at the Ramones.

“Impossible Man,” Wolf Lie Down‘s second and latest single continues along a similar vein of its predecessor as it finds Cohen and Miles playing jangling power pop that mischievously nods at Cheap Trick, 50s and 60s rock and 70s AM rock simultaneously, but as Cohen explained to the folks at Consequence of Sound, “‘Impossible Man’ came from a song I came up with called ‘Invisible Man,’ based loosely on Ralph Ellison’s sole but legendary novel. In It, I fancied myself figuratively invisible, like Ellison’s protagonist, but realizing it would be construed as either a purge homage to another, expressly literal character or as a literal ghost story, I quickly changed the title to ‘Impossible Man.”  And while always possessing a wry, winking, hyper-literate irony, “Impossible Man,” much like its predecessor its wrapped around a populist sensibility and an anthemic hook.

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Mischievous Schoolhouse Rock-Influenced Animation and Live Action Visuals for White Reaper’s “The World’s Best American Band”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site for a while, you might recall that with the release of their self-titled EP and their critically applauded full-length debut White Reaper Does It Again, the Louisville, KY-based quartet White Reaper quickly became JOVM mainstays and received attention nationally and elsewhere. And after a busy touring schedule to support their full-length debut, the acclaimed band retreated and spent the past year writing and recording the material that would comprise their sophomore full-length effort The World’s Best American Band, which Polyvinyl Records released last month.

And from The World’s Best American Band’s first single, “Judy French,” which reminded me quite a bit of The Cars “You Might Think” and Moving Pictures-era Rush, the band has made decided change in sonic direction — and while retaining the power chords and sneering punk attitude, the material possesses a clean, studio sheen and anthemic hooks; in fact, the album’s second single, album title track “The World’s Best American Band” continues on the leaner, cleaner, meaner vein of its predecessor, nodding at Cheap Trick, revealing some ambitious yet incredibly accessible songwriting.
The recently released music video for “The World’s Best American Band” features a mischievous mix of Schoolhouse Rock-era animation and live action. Beginning with the typical pre-show/pre-set hijinks as the fans are waiting for their favorite band to get on the stage, we’re introduced to the animated dopplegangers of the band’s members — with lead singer Ryan picking up his bandmates and friends as they finish up some surreal situations, including a paying chess against an anthropomorphic hot dog. There’s also a dude who eats a psychedelic colored hot dog that makes him hallucinate that he’s turned into a different, anthropomorphic hot dog. And if there’s one thing to be certain of it’s this — don’t eat those concert hall hot dogs, man. They’ll fuck your shit up.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: JOVM Mainstays White Reaper Performing New Album Single “Little Silver Cross”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site for the past couple of years, you may recall that with the release of both their self-titled EP and their critically applauded full-length debut White Reaper Does It Again, the Louisville, KY-based quartet White Reaper received national attention and toured with acts like Deerhoof, Young Widows, Priests and others while quickly becoming JOVM mainstays. And after touring to support their full-length debut, the members of the Louisville-based band retreated to write and record the material that would comprise their long-awaited sophomore effort, The World’s Best American Band, which Polyvinyl Records officially released today.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve written about The World’s Best American Band’s first two singles “Judy French,” which revealed that the band had gone through a decided change in sonic direction — going from scuzzy, power chord-based garage barn burners towards a sound that clearly draws from 80s New Wave, power pop and prog rock with a studio sheen that reminded me quite a bit of The Cars “You Might Think” and Moving Pictures-era Rush. The album’s second single, album title track “The World’s Best American Band” continued on a similar clean, lean vein, while being reminiscent of the anthemic power pop of Cheap Trick. And from the release of their sophomore album’s first two singles, several websites have begun to tab the album as one to be on the look out for, if not arguably one of the better releases of the year. Building on the growing buzz that The World’s Best American Band has received, the members of White Reaper recently released live footage of the album’s third and latest single “Little Silver Cross,” and like its preceding singles, it possesses incredibly self-assured and ambitious songwriting and an undeniable studio polish — while retaining a vibrant, forceful, punk rock and garage rock urgency, the band reveals an ability to craft arena rock worthy hooks paired with a propulsive rhythm section and some inspired, blistering guitar work.

Interestingly, the live footage will serve as a bit of a taste of what the band’s live set and sound is like, as they’re about to embark on a lengthy national tour to support their sophomore effort that includes a May 30, 2017 stop at Baby’s All Right.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays White Reaper Return with an Arena Rock-Friendly Power Pop Anthem

With the release of their self-titled EP, their critically applauded full-length debut White Reaper Does It Again and a series of tours with nationally renowned acts like Deerhoof, Young Widows, Priests and others, the Louisville, KY-based quartet White Reaper quickly became JOVM mainstays and received attention nationally and elsewhere. After touring to support their White Reaper Does It Again, the band retreated to write and record the material that would comprise their long-awaited sophomore effort The World’s Best American Band, which is slated for an April 7, 2017 release through Polyvinyl Records.

Last month, I wrote about The World’s Best American Band’s first single “Judy French,” a single, which revealed that the band had gone through a decided change in sonic direction from scuzzy, power chord-based garage towards New Wave and prog rock and a bit of a studio sheen that reminded me a bit of The Cars “You Might Think” and Moving Pictures-era Rush while retaining a sneering punk attitude and rousingly anthemic hooks. Interestingly, the album’s second and latest single, album title track “The World’s Best American Band” continues on a somewhat similar cleaner, leaner vein as its preceding single while seemingly drawing to the anthemic power pop of Cheap Trick and others; and in fact, the single finds the band with the same sort of enormous sound you’d expect from the sorts of bands that have played arenas and stadiums.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Since their formation back in the 2007, the Atlanta, GA-based quartet The Pinx, currently comprised of Adam McIntyre (vocals, rhythm guitar), Chance McColl (lead guitar), Jonathan Lee (bass) and Dwayne Jones (drums), have developed a reputation across the Southeast for a relentless touring schedule that had the band opening for the likes of Ben Harper and Relentless7 among others, for songs that have appeared during highlights broadcast on ESPN and Fox Sports, and for a sound that draws heavily from The MC5, Cheap Trick, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead and others — or in other words 70s-leaning arena friendly power chord rock.

After a brief hiatus that saw McIntyre’s stint with fellow Atlanta-based band StoneRider during their European tour and a massive lineup change, the band reformed and with a change of songwriting approach and sonic direction. As McIntyre says of the material he wrote that comprised the band’s forthcoming new album, Freedom: “A lot of the stuff I learned about songwriting during my decade in Nashville came back. Not the formulaic bro-country aspect, but folks like Todd Snider and Dan Baird. Smart, funny guys who write songs that reflect themselves well. I wanted some of that to come through. It all has to mix with the rock & roll and the blues and soul and everything, and I put together a band tailor-made to do just that.” McIntyre also adds ““These songs are all true stories. I tried to write concise, simple little rock and roll songs. This is the set I want to play live.”

Freedom‘s latest single “Baby Won’t Ya” is an Southern double fried, whiskey soaked, The Black Crowes-indebted cover of The MC5 that retains the song’s anthemic, power chord-heavy swagger but with a studio sheen that doesn’t clean up the original’s sleazy dive bar feel.