Mando Diao – Bring ’em in

Eddie October 9, 2003 0 Comment

While everyone races to find the next Stones or Velvet Underground, few actually deliver the goods. Enter Mando Diao, a Swedish quartet that borrows sparingly from the Kinks and the Animals without sounding coerced or manipulated. Although virtually unknown in the United States, the band has managed to stir up quite a buzz with its frenzied live show and the double vocal-guitar assault of Gustaf Noren and Björn Dixgárd. During such tracks as “Sheepdog” and “The Band,” the meter jumps all over the place, and the band seems to barely hold it all together. However, “Bring ’em in” manages to override any technical misgivings with infectious melodies and a hell of a 1960s vibe. Fans of Eric Burdon and the Libertines should lap this up like milk.

(RN&R)

Primus

Eddie October 9, 2003 0 Comment

Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People

Led by Les Claypool, a skinny, quirky bassist with a penchant for fretboard calisthenics and slap bass, the Primus machine always held its comedic edge while impressing throngs of musicians with its respective instrumentation. The current lineup is near-original: guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander. Since its humble beginnings as Sausage, playing weekly at various North Bay haunts, it’s attracted a loyal legion of Primus-heads. These fans have been waiting for just such a reunion. This collection features a DVD of all of Primus’ music videos and a CD with five new songs. If “Pilcher’s Squad” and “Mary the Ice Cube” don’t get you interested, chances are Primus’ upcoming tour won’t matter, either. But for the devoted minions, this new offering couldn’t have come at a better time.
(SN&R)

The Durutti Column

Eddie September 25, 2003 0 Comment

Someone Else’s Party

The latest album from Vini Reilly, a.k.a. the Durutti Column, serves to reconnect to fans of the late-1970s music scene after a lengthy absence from touring. Reilly, a gifted guitarist who released several ambient/electronic-leaning albums, delivers a potent 14-track affair aimed at the early New Order and Joy Division crowds of yore. Reilly still has a penchant for flowery guitar wash and isn’t afraid to stretch, as evidenced on tracks like “Requiem For My Mother” and “Spanish Lament.” Although his following has been reduced to today’s 30-somethings, chances are this album could draw some curious indie hipsters looking for influences from the early Manchester scene. Unfortunately, the Durutti Column revels in obscurity, mostly due to Reilly’s lack of touring and constantly evolving musical works.
(SN&R)

Boubacar Traoré

Eddie September 11, 2003 0 Comment

Je Chanterai Pour Toi

The soundtrack to independent filmmaker Jacques Sarasin’s documentary on this gifted guitarist and troubadour from Mali will be a real treat for fans of both Traoré and Ali Farka Touré. On this field recording extraordinaire, Traoré treats the listener to passionate and political soliloquies, both of which are integral parts of the film. When he teams up with daughter and vocal partner Rokia Traoré on “Sa Golo,” you can sense the spirituality and nobility of his dynasty. Others, like the lovely, lazy opening song, “Mouso Teke Soma Ye,” and the short “Adieu Pierrette,” require nothing more than imagination to guess where this sonic journey is going. Mix in one part blues with the pentatonic scale of his homeland, toss in some good ol’ fashioned grit, and you’re heading down the right path.
(SN&R)

Ghostride

Eddie September 4, 2003 0 Comment

So Italian, So Intense

From the sepulcher of Sacramento hardcore legend Will Haven comes a new project teeming with promise, vigor and urgency. Ghostride is three-quarters of Will Haven plus Tinfed’s Rey Osburn and Oddman’s Cayle Hunter. Ghostride melds mid-tempo, down-tuned guitars into a fresh, mesmerizing mélange that recalls Nebula, Sub Pop-era Soundgarden, Helmet and latter-day Deftones. More importantly, Ghostride finds Osburn stretching his increasing vocal range to new heights (“Long Live the Buffalo” and “Greased Up Robots”) against the din raised by Will Haven’s backbone of guitarist Jeff Irwin, bassist Mike Martin and drummer Mitch Wheeler. Until the band finds a proper label with U.S. distribution, this four-song EP will more than suffice. It’s available at www.ghostrideband.com and at shows.
(SN&R)

Slayer: War at the Warfield

Eddie August 28, 2003 0 Comment

American Recordings

When Slayer started playing the Los Angeles-San Francisco club circuit in the 1980s, it quickly garnered the support of fans and the press for its over-the-top themes and manic live show. Slayer’s latest DVD is a live recording of its December 2001 set at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre. From the opening “Disciple” to the closing “Angel of Death” comes a sampling of Slayer’s catalog that runs from “Hell Awaits”to the more obscure “Chemical Warfare.” Although vocalist and bassist Tom Araya struggles with some high notes, you can never go wrong with the dual lead-guitar work of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Never before had so many single notes been crammed into 16 bars of music. Amen to the guitar gods. Slayer. Dude.

(SN&R)

The Dragons

Eddie August 21, 2003 0 Comment

Sin Salvation

This San Diego-based combo is one of the few garage bands that manage to drink from the cup of their predecessors without reverting to stale song structures and, ultimately, swigging more than they can handle. Sin Salvation, the Dragons’ first offering for San Francisco-based Gearhead Records, is an eyebrow-raising affair complete with ganged vocals and wicked, soaring leads. “Play for Keeps,” perhaps the album’s best track, recalls both vintage Social Distortion and Backyard Babies without sounding derivative of either. Led by vocalist and guitarist Mario Escovedo and the driving leads of Ken Mochikoshi Horne, the Dragons’ high-energy delivery is unrelenting from beginning to end. Salvation for less than 15 bucks? You betcha. Vodka and Red Bulls, on the house.

(SN&R)

Ex Models

Eddie June 5, 2003 0 Comment

Zoo Psychology

With 15 songs clocking in at just more than 20 minutes, the Ex Models’ latest release is the perfect soundtrack to eating a bunch of diet pills and spazzing out. Although this New York quartet has been around for only a short time, these self-appointed guardians of the current wave of spazz-core bands aim for the hip as much as the psyche. Imagine Devo’s first releases after a couple pots of strong Colombian coffee, or any of Alice Donut’s fare, mixed up with the vibe of Liars or Sonic Youth’s Goo, and you’ll start to understand Ex Models’ sound. From “Pink Noise” to “The Mystery of Brine,” the juxtaposing rhythms and off-kilter vocal arrangements owe as many nods to punk’s forefathers as they do to bad disco and 1970s acid rock. Pass the, uh, coffee.

(SN&R)

Metallica returns, does not suck

Eddie May 29, 2003 0 Comment

“You wanna see Metallica at the Fillmore? I got an extra ticket,” said my good buddy from 98 Rock.

“Uhhh … let me think [pause for one millisecond]. Yes!” I exclaimed, realizing this was an invitation no self-respecting metalhead could refuse.

After a lengthy hiatus from music, Metallica made a triumphant return with a sold-out, four-night stand at San Francisco’s hallowed Fillmore Auditorium. The only way to get tickets was through the band’s fan club, by winning tickets on the air or by having a friend who worked in the music business.

Although rumors had run amok that Metallica traded its earlier sound (along with its onetime long manes) during the ReLoad era, the band proved otherwise, returning with a renewed vigor along with a slew of old-school classics and some blazin’ new material.

St. Anger, the band’s first recorded output of all-new material in several years, will be released on June 10. Though Metallica’s longtime label, Elektra, is keeping the album securely under wraps so it won’t be booted all over the Internet, the band managed to slip a couple of new tunes—“Frantic” and “St. Anger”—into its mostly vintage set list.

From the opening song, “Battery,” to “Master of Puppets,” the title track of the band’s third album from 1986, Metallica showed no signs of slowing down the pace. Singer-guitarist James Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett worked the crowd into a frenzy during “Ride the Lightning” with their rhythm-guitar onslaught, while new bassist Rob Trujillo (the ex-member of Ozzy Osbourne’s band and Infectious Grooves who replaces Jason Newsted) pushed drummer Lars Ulrich to new extremes.

This night’s set list, unlike the previous three nights, showcased the band’s speed-metal agility and musical dexterity. On such slower, more subdued moments as “One” and the intro to “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” both fans and band could catch a quick breather before being cast headlong into the thrash-metal fray of the first encore, “No Remorse,” and the fan-favorite second encore, “Breadfan,” the latter an obscure Budgie cover.

Because these shows were dubbed “rehearsals,” errors and mistakes were commonplace, and fans were encouraged by Hetfield to tell each individual band member when he messed up. Even the encore, “Breadfan,” was forced to a false start three times because of “tuning” problems while Ulrich jokingly berated the band.

Unlike the upcoming “Summer Sanitarium 2003” stadium-tour package—which features Linkin Park, Deftones, Mudvayne and Limp Bizkit—planned for July and August, these shows gave some hard-core fans a chance to experience the band up close and personal.
(SN&R)

The Garage is open

Eddie May 22, 2003 0 Comment

Following a number of visits from the fire marshal, the Capitol Garage now can hold regular shows again, with a posted room capacity of 150. The small all-ages venue had been chafing under local laws, newly enforced in the wake of the Great White fire in Rhode Island that killed 99. Capitol Garage’s previous capacity, 84, included band members, guests, staff, security and concertgoers; a rigid enforcement of that number drove the cover charges up markedly.

Last Saturday’s Capitol Garage show marked the return of Sacramento’s Hella, along with Relapse Records act High On Fire, which played locally for the first time. The Bay Area-based trio just completed a short mini-tour with Motörhead and the Dwarves and is doing a couple of shows during May to keep its chops up.

From the opening “Nemesis” to the crushing closer, a cover of Venom’s “Witching Hour,” vocalist and guitarist Matt Pike proved exactly why High On Fire—just like his former sludge-rock band Sleep—has garnered fervent critical acclaim recently.

Most of the material was drawn from the band’s latest release, Surrounded by Thieves; High on Fire also played a new, unreleased track. During its interpretation of Celtic Frost’s “The Usurper,” introduced by Pike as a song for black-metal fans, it was hard to find an audience member without his or her teeth clenched, hands doing the universal metal “devil-horns” sign, or who wasn’t causing some kind of ruckus.

The rhythm section was no chump act, either. Drummer Des Kensel laid down a ferocious percussive undercurrent against bassist George Rice, which had virtually everyone in attendance headbanging in unison.

It wasn’t until the caffeine-injected set from Hella that the audience realized just how much energy it didn’t have. Drummer Zach Hill—whose long list of side projects includes work with Primus’ Les Claypool and members of Dillinger Escape Plan, Deerhoof and Team Sleep—made everyone tired just from watching the syncopated bass-drum patterns slamming headlong against his trashed amalgam of broken cymbals and guitarist Spencer Seim’s incessant guitar lines.

If the caliber of the night’s show was any indication of things to come, the all-ages Capitol Garage should assume its rightful place alongside such San Francisco staples as Bottom of the Hill and Slim’s in no time. Bands are stopping in the River City and drawing crowds once again without being hemmed in by the constraints of overzealous city officials. The Garage’s calendar is filled for May, June, July and beyond, so you have no reason to stay home.

Hella will release an EP on Suicide Squeeze on June 10, a reissue of the release already available on 12-inch vinyl, and High On Fire is preparing for a possible King Diamond tour and a new October release.

(SN&R)