The
reviews section is done by Tom Schmidlin. The opinions expressed are his and are
in no way official opinions of Cincinnatishows.com or others involved with the
site. Send your responses to cincyreviews@yahoo.com
and we'll post them. To have your band's CD reviewed on here, send it along with
any helpful information to:
Cincinnatishows.com - PO Box 42815 - Cincinnati,
OH 45242-0815.
Posted 6/27/04 |
| The
Gamits - Antidote (Suburban Home)
The Gamits have quietly been making underappreciated
high-quality pop punk for years now. This album is their latest and greatest.
Pretend for a minute that Green Day had their current songwriting maturity, but
they were still hyperactive and pissed off...you'd get an approximation of what
The Gamits are capable of. And the lyrics don't totally suck. What more could
you ask for from a pop punk band? Recommended If You Like: Green Day, Descendents,
The Invalids | | David
Cross - It's Not Funny (Sub Pop)
If you don't know who he is, you should.
Cross is the funniest man alive, and the heir apparent to the legacy of Lenny
Bruce and Bill Hicks. And if you don't know who they are, you're beyond my help.
Get yourself educated or do yourself in. The rest of us will be busy laughing.
Recommended If You Like: Bill Hicks, Lenny Bruce, Lewis Black |
| The
Soviettes - LPII (Adeline)
I was pleasantly surprised by this disc. It's
a jangly blend of the B-52's and the Riverdales, with sweetly aggressive female
vocals that are occasionally interrupted by Danny the Whiny Drummer. The songs
are short, the way they should be, and catchy as a sinus infection in a college
dorm. Forget The Donnas and their bullshit, and listen to this. You'll feel better.
Recommended If You Like: B-52's, Against Me!, Teen Idols, Riverdales |
| A
Faith Called Chaos - Forgive Nothing (Volcom)
Imagine that D.R.I. took
themselves really seriously and before writing each song listened to a lot of
80's symphonic metal. The result would be this album, which has a chance at becoming
the new official soundtrack for the Steak & Shake parking lot at 3am. I was
listening to this with my girlfriend, and the music prompted her to ask, "Why
would you do this, if you had any talent?" I just laughed and shook my head.
I couldn't think of an answer. Recommended If You Like: Grade, Victory
Style bands, Finch |
Posted 5/27/04 |
| Nada
Surf - Let Go (Barsuk)
Once in a great while it happens: a band achieves
huge commercial success with their first album because of a fluke single, then
releases a far superior second album that gets them dropped from their major label
like powdered mouse bones from a barn owl's ass (because as we all know, with
very few exceptions, quality doesn't sell), and finally, after a stretch of 'is
this whole music thing worth it' soul-searching, decides to go ahead with it anyway
and puts out the best album of its career on a midsized-but-decent indie label.
Such is the case with the latest Nada Surf release. This disc is tastefully written
with interesting sonic dynamics and melodies that are catchy but not overbearing.
I give them props for recording a song in French, even if it's the weakest on
the record. Recommended If You Like: Death Cab For Cutie, Superchunk, Weakerthans,
Jets to Brazil | | Dynamite
Boy - S/T (Fearless)
The songs on this disc are catchy, and as the band's
bio claims, this album is full of 'radio singles.' That's precisely the problem...the
music is bland and predictable, and the lyrics are so cliché and trite
that after one listen my eyes were sore from rolling back in their sockets. I'm
just sick to death of listening to yet another twentysomething suburban white
male singing about 'making it through the bad times,' or trying to find some marginally
clever way of using the phrase 'everything's all right.' It's insincere, tired,
lame, and just so fucking boring. But it sells, so there you go. Recommended
If You Like: The Ataris, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte |
| Down
To Earth Approach - Another Intervention (Vagrant)
Here's a shocker: the
newest Vagrant band sounds like a slightly better emo/pop/punk version of Dashboard
Confessional. Look, I understand that it's the business of a record company to
sell records, especially if you're at that crucial 'almost-a-major-but-not-quite'
stage like Vagrant, but it's the business of self-righteous disgruntled fan/critics
like me to bitch about it. This record is slick, polished, catchy, and would be
the perfect soundtrack for that lonely and angry drive home from your junior year
homecoming dance where your date spent the better part of the allotted three hours
cheek to cheek with some superbuff, mulleted jock who was rumored to have only
one testicle. And you bought that bitch an orchid. An orchid, for chrissakes.
Sometimes life just isn't fair, and growing up sucks, and maybe if we stick together
we can get through the hard times, my only love, we know right where we belong.
Hack! Pardon me. Must be all those Marlboro Lights. Recommended If You Like:
Dashboard Confessional, feelin' sad 'bout stuff, shopping at Pac Sun, going to
the big game but not watching it, etc. |
Reviews
Archive
A Faith Called Chaos - Forgive
Nothing
Against Me! - as The Eternal Cowboy
Bagheera - Twelves
Brazil
- A Hostage and the Meaning of Life
Court Date Monday
- The Half-Life EP
Cross, David - It's Not Funny
Down
To Earth Approach - Another Intervention
Dynamite
Boy - S/T
Duvall - Volume & Intensity
Days
Like These - Charity Burns Green
Ee - Ramadan
Elvis Costello - North
Gamits,
The - Antidote
Get
Up Kids, The - Guilt Show
Helicopter
Helicopter - Wild Dogs With X-Ray Eyes
Jawbreaker
- Dear You re-issue
Lawrence
Arms, The - Greatest Story Ever Told
Light
Wires, The - S/T
Limbeck - Hi, Everything's Great
Lost
In Translation soundtrack
Nada
Surf - Let Go
Off
The Record - Nothing New
Punchline
- Action
Soviettes, The - LPII
Theraphosa
- Blondi
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell
Cincinnatishows.com
HOME
 |
| |
