Music Review - Burning Brides - Anhedonia

Back in August I saw Black Sabbath. It ruled, and my life will never be the same. While me and my buddies were out camping at the concert site, we had our nearest neighbors hang out with us for most of the time. They were two 40-something dudes from Portland and we spent hours swapping music recommendations and stories. One band they recommended was Burning Brides, so in honor of Kenny and Larry, I'm reviewing Burning Brides' 2008 album Anhedonia.

Burning Brides are a Hard Rock band from Philadelphia, and while I'd never heard of them until this weekend, they've toured with several of my favorite bands, including The White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon and even Peaches. The band is mainly comprised of lead singer and guitarist Dimitiri Coats and his wife Melanie on bass. Anhedonia is a 13 track affair, with the majority of songs within the 3 minute or under range, which is something I always enjoy. As much as I like songs that go longer, I think it's sometimes more interesting to see what a band can some up with in such a short time frame. An example of this is the second track, Summer Leaves, which has a cool riff and is supported by a QOTSA style vocal, and it comes in at two minutes and one second. It's in and out in two minutes and I still find it incredibly memorable.

The whole album feels kind of like a mix between QOTSA and Foo Fighters, but never as hard rockin' or distinctive as either. This isn't exactly a bad thing, as both of those bands are led by very recognizable people who keep their distinctive style no matter what they do. So on Anhedonia, Burning Brides have seemed to capture what makes both bands good that doesn't encapsulate either of those band's most prominent features.

I think my favorite song might be Fire Escape, it might also be the most Foo Fighters'-y track the album has to offer. The riff is just really nice and light and Dimitri is doing a total Dave Grohl vocal melody. It's just...pleasant. I think that's my overall feeling of this album. It's not going to win any awards for being unique, but it's just nice. It's a band that knows exactly where they want to be and what they want to accomplish and them going for it, and you know what, more power to them. Not everyone is cut out to be the big, unique, stadium-filling band. Some bands are just good enough to be recognized by those other bands as just as good.

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Music Review - Creature With The Atom Brain - The Birds Fly Low

I actually had Spotify recommend this album to me after listening to my last few MDM picks. The most accurate thing I've seen so far in relation to Belgian Alt. Rock band Creature With The Atom Brain is that they're the Belgian equivalent of Queens of the Stone Age. Things never get as heavy as a QOTSA record, but the same stylistic ideas and fuzziness are there.  The Birds Fly Low is the bands third album, continuing in their tradition of "fuzzy stripped-back Rock 'N' Roll noise with a generous helping of weird." It's just good ol' Rock 'n' Roll, bringing some great new riffs, vocal melodies and interesting beats into the fold from a place you wouldn't expect to rock so hard.

It's definitely weird, and dips into Stoner Rock and Psychedelic territory all over this record, like on Slide. Things get real weird on the bonus track R-Frequency, doesn't stop it from being fun. Tracks like the album openers Hit The Sky and Wolf Eye are reminiscent of 70's-era hard rockers, and follow similar themes. Lead singer/guitarist/keys player Aldo Struyf's vocals have a really nice grit to them. He sings pretty clean, but that layer of grit riding underneath is something I've come to really dig in hard rock. Black Rider Run features a guest vocal from Screaming Trees frontman/QOTSA collaborator Mark Lanegan, and the track is just...perfect Stoner Rock, with Lanegan bringing his haunting, barely there vocals to what would otherwise be a fun romp. The track Nightlife is definitely my favorite on the album, with a driving beat that just sticks with me, and that riff I find myself humming all day, and right after that, the raucous Red River.

This album is just a weird, fun, rockin' good time.





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Web Spotlight #7 - Black Prism

I found these guys through some clicks through the related videos section on Youtube.

Black Prism are an L.A. outfit that aren't trying to sound new. In fact, if you said they sounded like anything from the last 20 years they'd probably hit you. Black Prism are instead going for that Doom-y/Acid Rock-like vibe from mid-to-late 70's Black Sabbath. The guitars are fuzzy as all hell, the singer is howling in a not-unpleasant way reminiscent of 70's Ozzy, and it's wonderful. Hell, even their video for this debut single Satan's Country is made to look like some cheap 70's horror movie. The only thing that detracts from that image is the record label Easy Rider's Twitter and Facebook hashtag suggestions being in the bottom left corner.

It seems we're currently in a Hard Rock/Heavy Metal revolution that takes us back to the 70's, and I'm certainly okay with that. Black Prism aren't here to break any new boundaries, but instead explore a side of music we haven't heard from in a while. Check out the video, and if you like it, you can buy it for $7-8

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