Or, if I didn’t have a day job we would have already been jamming these jams, so I’m gonna keep things brief.
Last Friday, Noisey premiered “We All Rage in Gold,” the lead track from Neurosis’ forthcoming Honor Found in Decay. It’s grungy, dirty, heavy as all hell, and if possible, has me even more stoked for October 30th.
Remember that time when the internet was aflame with rumors the Black Keys had a second Blakroc record in the can? There was a promo video on Youtube it had to be true. Of course, it turned out Blakroc 2 was quite literally in the can, as in the sessions were ultimately tabled.
Now, some good news for those who like their groovy, retro-rock with a hip-hop kick. Dan and Pat have teamed up with RZA for “The Baddest Man Alive,” from the soundtrack for RZA kung-fu film The Man With the Iron Fists. Don’t dig it? Wait for RZA’s first verse. It hits just past the minute-thirty mark.
While the first couple tracks released from King Dude’s Burning Daylight featured the fearsome and haunting baritone of TJ Cowgill against a familiar backdrop of folk and blues, “Holy Land” does a much better job of connecting the proverbial dots in Cowgill’s bewildering background. Here, modern doom and drone rule the roost while that baritone, with the aid of modern audio trickery, is spookier than ever.
While I still have the same complaints about Jeff the Brotherhood’s Hypnotic Nights, namely, where’s the heavy, and where’s the freak outs found on your singles and EPs, it has been growing on me. It’s a solid, pleasant rock record with potential pop singles on every other track, and, yes, back to the point, it could have used an out and out growler like “Turpentine,” the Hole cover on their recent split 7″ with Hell Beach.
In one sense, Columbus’ Times New Viking are back where they started. Their next release, the Over and Over EP, will be put out by their first label, Siltbreeze, on October 16th. Yet, take a listen to “Sleep-In” and you’ll realize this isn’t a step back for the band, but a refinement of the kiwi-pop influences first unearthed on their Merge Records LP. The pop pushed to the forefront on Dancer Equired is now accompanied by that sense of recklessness which made their first three releases so daring.
Even if I wasn’t about to tell you that Cleveland’s Gap Dream are doing some support dates on King Tuff’s never ending tour, you may have been able to figure that one out on your own. With its slacker vocals, ’70s pop sensibilities, and good-times vibes, “Generator,” fits snugly aside many of the tracks on King Tuff’s recent Sub Pop release.
