ICEBIRD "Magnitude" - Flying Squirrel Records [Sept 2005]
If they gave awards for song titles, I'd nominate Icebird for their "The Clap, The Burn, The End." This garage trio from LA gives a down and dirty tour of the rock gutter on their debut LP. Led by the tall, thin, hairy and beardy Monahan brothers, Barry and Mike, who sandwich drummer Kate Wise. The Icebird sound is powered by note-based noise and underground song structures. Forget chord patterns, this is more sinister and loose, like The Fall, Mudhoney and something obscure like... Flesheaters. Clearly they're influenced by the outsider indie bands of the late 70s and early 80s, as well as protopunk like Stooges. On "The Starting Line," a simple propulsive beat allows some room in the song, space for Barry to get a little weirded out with tortured vocals and a monotone bass line. Throughout, the guitars are abrasive and on the offense, the songs are unwelcoming and aggressive - the way underground rock used to be and should be again.This record is fairly lo-fi and appears to have minimal, if any overdubbings and studio effects, like it was basically recorded live in the studio. I think this is a great way to capture some energy and vibe, a good move for a debut, rather than let the studio monotony suck the life out. Many of the leads and guitar-bass interplay sound almost goth, like a garage version of Bauhaus (think of "In The Flat Field"), but faster and without the pretense. There's a song here called "Birthday Party," and that should be a clue as to part of their ancestry, although nowhere near as self-aware. This is gritty, underground noise. --- 7/11 Sid Arthurtop

ICON OF COIL "Machines Are Us" - Metropolis Records
The electro pop assassins start their new wax with a robotic voice intoning, "we no longer fight the machines, the machines are us." The stage is set for a "Matrix Reloaded" scenario and soon you are propelled into a cyberdisco with pulse-laser beats guaranteed to get the floor moving. The imagery is par for the electro pop/dark electronic course, a high contrast image of a human fetus with tubes and wires and electrical monitoring devices in and around it. The difference is that Icon Of Coil gladly embrace this cybernetic future. If they were in the Matrix movies, they would've been helping the machines. And who can blame them? The technolust and rush to early-adapt gadgetry has created a subspecies of humans. IOC provides the beats for cybernauts brave enough to welcome this new world. This machine is built for the dancefloor and occasionally slips out of the black-clad pvc cool world into Eurodisco, which is regrettable. "Consumer" is 6 minutes of music with 4 minutes of ideas. My guess is that this and other tracks are engineered to be mixed live by DJs and so coherence from start to finish is not required. "Back to the crypt, nothing will last, we'll all fade away, in one single blast..." Andy LaPlegua foretells in "Shelter." It's signified by a floating high synth melody that gives way to machine-processed bass parts. This song blips to a halt at 4 minutes and then rebuilds itself with bonafide disco beats to another 6 minute finale. I wish they would've pulled the plug on these longer songs before they got redundant. IOC fare much better on some of the other choppier, more sinister cuts like "Mono:Overload?" and "Transfer:Complete." When IOC devotes themselves to making dense, alien rhythms with darker beats, they are great. The moments when they switch to lighter synth pop their artistry suffers. "Dead Enough For Life" would have fit in at an Ibiza. The music alternates between mirrored-lens cool and bare-chested boys swinging their shirts over their heads glee. Not what you want added to your dark wave spacetracks. That trumpet-like synth party has begun. You'd think there were two song writers involved in IOC because they show such disparate sides to their personality. This disc is a split personality, sometimes IOC dominate with clever soundscapes and infectious beats, and other times they are content to just party. --- Paul Leeds 6/11top

THE IDAHO FALLS "Concrete Prairie" - Idaho Falls Records [May 2005]
This second long-player from one of LA's outstanding and original bands shows that they have indeed unlocked a gateway back to Gram Parsons' 1973 world of country meets rock, rock meets desert, and desert meets city streets. The boy-girl harmonies (by Raymond Richards and Heather Goldberg) weave around each other on "California Day" and make a beautiful, breezy, summer afternoon of a song, soft enough to lay your head on and watch the clouds float by. This song is also juiced up by a gorgeous pedal steel guitar by Greg Vincent that shimmers with a mid-70s Stonesy feel. There are songs of pure sweet country where Goldberg tucks her chin and pouts, tremulous and adorable ("Jasmine"). This album has a myriad of styles that keeps the listener hooked, whether it's a campfire song, country rock, torch ballad, old timey vocal, or blissed out Topanga Canyon feedback. The title song actually melds several of those niches in a scant three minutes! The best part of Idaho Falls is the interplay between the sexes and the way the male-female vocals, both excellent in their own right, combine for maximum emotional effect. Listen to "Canyon Walls" for an inspired vocal that one-ups Ryan Adams and Gillian Welch. All in all, this album has a affectionate charm to it, it's fun to listen to, and the musicianship and songwriting are top notch. As an extra bonus, Heather handpaints a sheet of wildflower seeds for the CD insert: just water it and your bungalow off Sunset can become a prairie. ---Leeds 9/11 top

THE IDAHO FALLS "new EP" - Idaho Falls Records
If you play this through I-Tunes, it comes up as "Al Weber," with other titles. Very weird! Anyway, Los Angeles sextet Idaho Falls are back with a new EP again showcasing their honey-dipped tremolo-laden Topanga Canyon blissful country melancholia. Pedal steel guitar and harmonica blanket the first track, "I Take A Drink And Let The Devil Do The Rest." You only wish that singer Heather Goldberg were so casual, pal. She blends her melancholy with Raymond Richards' western yearnings. They trade off verses on "Country Song," and you might think you're listening to some lost "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" session. The IF seem to adhere to a more traditional sound than many of the alt-country acts like Gillian Welch. By sounding more sincerely devoted to this vanished style, they end up being more inauthentic, oddly enough. While Welch freely acknowledges her LA roots and familiarity with modern rock, The IF dropped straight from a flying saucer that picked them up in 1970. There is no kitsch in their playing - they are clearly in love with the shuffling rhythms of country music and the forms that allow sad-hearted women (and men) to sing about heartache and loneliness in clear, dulcet tones while the band nods gravely and those sliding guitar notes weave their own tale. The IF are sly enough to know it's a fun style to play, and they know no their sound is not a popular one, but by playing it true, they just might make a convert out of you. Because The IF play it so straight, there is not the hipster cred involved where bands like The Beachwood Sparks were able to parlay their Silverlake addresses into a deal at Sub Pop. This is real glittering country pop songs played by a lost tribe of Topanga Canyon refugees. You can currently here the final track on this EP, "Dead Horse" on the Culture Bunker jukebox. ---8/11 Leeds top

THE IDAHO FALLS
The self-titled debut from this 6-piece band evokes the forgotten charms of Topanga Canyon in the 70s. Picture Neil Young on his porch firin' one up for Graham Parsons, friends dropping by with wine and a campfire hootenanny erupting. Idaho Falls strength comes from a male and female songwriting/vocal duo (Raymond Richards and Heather Goldberg), western guitars, upright bass, jaw harp, banjo, pedal steel guitars and mandolin. If Beachwood Sparks picked up a groovy chick on her way to Palm Springs, this would be the noise they would make. The cover art, by Adrienne Yan, really hits the nail on the head. The picture of guys and girls, happy and beautiful, playing music in the beauty of the desert under a sky at sunset is exactly what this record is. Which is not to say that this is hippie rock. It's modern Western music via Topanga. You can hide poor songwriting with distortion pedals in rock music, but when you simplify and strip away effects, the songs have to be good. "Sunset Down" is a song that would be a classic if only it had been written earlier, the pretty vocal melody matching the song's honesty. The package is pretty boss too: free cd inside, LP on bright orange vinyl, and a handmade watercolor lyric sheet! --Paul top

ILAD - "National Flags" - SYJIP Records [Aug 07]
Ilad's long instrumental stretches and less-is-more orchestrations build up slowly over time until the jazz drumming is joined to an indie rock wall of noise. What to call it, progressive minimalism? The vocalist does not take center stage and the songs are lead by their own pulses. When there are vocals, they come in reluctantly, quietly, buried in the back of the mix. Ilad tends to sketch the contours of a song around a drone chord and a spritely beat, then the other instruments color in the negative space. "Looking Glass" becomes almost hypnotic and spacey when the organ and singer's voice sync up. The music is nearly experimental, never using a rock beat or basing a song on the hoary verse-chorus-verse formula. "Subway'd" veers into Red Krayola land, or sort of like what a jam between Fuck Red Krayola would sound like. Not completely abstract or art in the eye of the beholder, the songs are melodic and interesting, so it's not like homework. --- Leeds 8/11 top

iLiKETRAiNS - "Progress, Reform" - Beggars Banquet [April 07]
Some cough-syrupy slow Mancunian gloom, again served up by the Beggars PR people in a non-descript white cardboard sleeve. Add to the odd band name the precious trait of having each "i" lower case in their name. I know Joy Division will be invoked in many reviews, but hear me now: this ain't the Wagnerian thunder of JD. This is more like the slow-pulsed grandeur of And Also The Trees faded into a lazy Spain structure. Tempos are half-time, guitars are heavily laden with delays and the notes hang in the air like cigarette smoke. "A Rook House For Bobby" is my favorite so far. Slightly more focused effort, the singer sounds like he's upright instead of reclining on a fainting couch sipping laudanum. ILT are so dreamy as to be narcoleptic. I'm sure fans of gloomy music will cling to them but there is really not an awful lot to actually cling to. Half this album comes and goes without leaving an impression. And I like gloomy music! Album closer "Before the Curtains Close - Part 2" (no part one, of course) is the most interesting song in the pack and serves as the best ender to a record that never seemed to really get off the ground. ---Leeds 6/11 top

IMA ROBOT - Virgin Records
I was skeptical of this LA band because they're too good to be playing self-conscious new wave. It seemed like they were slumming. The bass player Justin played for Beck, the drummer is the peerless Joey Waronker: a world-class rhythm section. I thought Ima Robot was just a lark for these studio aces, then I heard about their show at the ASU homecoming party. The crowd of angry meathead jocks stared in wonder at Alex Ebert's crazy stage show. Alex made fun of the crowd for ASU's defeat, getting more spastic and climbing atop the mains. Then Alex falls/dives off the mains, 20 feet into a bunch of scrubby bushes, and kept singing. Rocking from the bushes, not missing a beat. This is something musical poseurs don't do. Alex is the real deal, a raving ringmaster, a stage dervish selling outrageousness. He's got some big balls to spaz out like he does. The best songs on here are the ones that combine nightclub beats and synth new wave riffing, like "Dirty Life," which combines the disco, pomp and pageantry of Blur, Pulp and Devo into one heady concoction. The songs are fun and bursting with energy, and that's why I like the band. "Song #1" shows more ace, adrenalin-fueled playing. It makes you want to dance, try resisting it. "Scream" is sort of the tender song of the lot, a straightforward great pop song. They have their feet in the hyper-kinetic 80s and their heads in the indie punk sounds of the 00s. --- Paul Leeds 8/11 top

THE IMMORTAL LEE COUNTY KILLERS II Love Is A Charm Of Powerful Trouble - Estrus Records
In a rag-tag stripped-down-syndrome punk-psycho-billy full frontal-lobotomy style The Immortal Lee County Killers serve up their version of fixins to chew ham-hock and possum stew too, (while of course swilling corn licker from an old jelly jar). With their eyes apparently gazing toward the glory land of Fire of Love (an achievement even the Gun Club couldn't replicate) TILCK2 are closer to Doo-Rag, and maybe a drunk Oblivions, or an early free-basement tape of the Tav Falco. Never letting their ability inhibit their ÎV8 - step on it style, they barrel forward with reckless abandon. There's a mix of the fast and furious with a couple of slower pissed-off ballads. I'm still hoping to be convinced and look forward to their next installment, (but don't sell the milkin' cow yet). With several listenings, you just might get the hang of this loud cow-punk bottle-neck guitar scream, or at the very least swap it with the Birthday Party CDs when you need to get party guests to leave, or get even with your neighbors. For just two guys, they make a hell of a racket. This record follows their previous Estrus noise-fest, The Essential Fucked-Up Blues. The new album's a notch higher up. -- BUCKET top

IMPERATIVE REACTION 'Redemption' - Metropolis Records
The industrial dance outfit Imperative Reaction return to the dancefloors with their impressive follow up to 2002's "Ruined." For fans of the early IR sound, you will find a cleaner approach in both programming and vocals. It signals an end to sitting down with your head in the mud moping. Gone are the fuzzed out treatments and pushed to the fore is an infectious new method for getting your feet to follow your mind. "Giving Into The Change" is one of the more accessible tracks they've done, calling to mind the plaintive vocals of Clan Of Xymox with a backbeat regurgitated from the bowels of that dark fantastic club where all the hot chicks look like Kate Beckinsale in "Underworld." Don't be alarmed at IR's flirtation with straight up pop/dance, because they still have the same acrid imaginations. "Humans all plagued with such hatred (the world's malady), we are the core of such a sick disease" they admonish in "Malady." Your spine will dig the bass line and rapid fire drums but your mind is not filled with pablum. This track also sports the terrific singing of Lisbeth Phelps, related to mainman Ted Phelps (through marriage?) Hate to say it, but this music perfectly fits her voice and this fan would not mind hearing more of Lisbeth and less of Ted. Other standout tracks include the Nine Inch Nails homage "Guilt," and the Faint-like "Redemption," with bouncing synths and insistent techno programming. The only faults to be found with this album is that it kind of goes on auto-pilot every once in awhile and the programming is a bit too familiar. That said, they might lose some originality points but they do manage to make some catchy dancefloor EBM at the same time. On this latest release, IR has moved into the more popular mainstream of EBM and has crafted a secret weapon for DJs everywhere. --- Paul Leeds 7/11 top

INDIAN JEWELRY - "Invasive Exotics" - Monitor [Aug 2006]
You just took the brown acid. Your mind is playing tricks on you. You are surrounded by strange things, strange creatures and strange sounds. That friendly-looking head who sold you a tab called Indian Jewelry has burned you, and you are descending into a velvet-lined freakout chamber, the walls breathe and the floor ripples with every reverberating guitar note. Picture a band channeling The Doors in their ride-the-snake, writhe in the desert sand phase, with one or two freaks from Brian Jonestown dropping by the party space to spin some Amon Duul II and get everyone good and high: you would call this scene Indian Jewelry on a routine day. They even have a song written during this party, called appropriately enough, "Lying On The Floor." These songs are ectomorphs that can sound vaguely drug-rave ("Lost My Sight") with their synthed percussion and treatments, or can sound like tripped out psychedelic space rock ("Going South"). Along the way they leave no psychedelic stone unturned. The drums hypnotize, weird tones wobble around your ears and the singer drones from deep space. The music is a little scary, kind of bad trip/bad vibe territory, and the realm of Indian Jewelry is not one of happy hippy flowers and sunshine but your brain being destroyed by bad drugs. Do not forget to bring someone to talk you down. Recommended for fans of Primal Scream, krautrock, early Pink Floyd, drugs. --- Leeds 7/11 top

INFORMATIK 'Re:Vision' - Metropolis Records.
Essentially a remix of older tunes plus four new tracks, "Re:Vision" revitalises the back catalog of this Boston synthpop duo. Using a sonorous baritone to paint darkwave tones over the rhythm repetitions, Da5id Din is like a homegrown Andrew Eldritch. The remix phenom is something I don't readily understand. To give a completed song over to someone and have them refigure the grooves and beats and typically add some left-field element either creates a confused mess or an inspired new work. You get both here. The remix for "Over" slaughters the original song. "Autonomous" gets a facelift that gives it a few more miles of life. The new version of "A Matter Of Time" performed by Assemblage 23 grafts an otherworldy shine to the darkwave beats. Informatik aren't the most original act in this field, but the do come up with some serviceable songs. I guess this album is better than issuing a 4 song EP, but the remixes here are not daring enough to really warrant a re-release of the song. Informatik's synthpop overshadows their darker tendencies and it's up to the user to decide which works better. --- Vermin 5/11top

IN INK PLEASE / THE FOLIAGE split CD "How To Make Better Love" - Fall Records.
When the heat of the summer sun gets too intense, head indoors, make yourself some tea and let the romantic balladry of In Ink Please and The Foliage create a shady repose. This split record from two bands representing North Dakota in the indie pop nationals. Both bands are duos with one boy and one girl. Both bands are students of the lazy calm lo-fi pop of the Elephant 6 collective. IIP has a twee sweetness rooted in folk harmonies that would make Joni Mitchell smile. There's an imploring emotional fragility in Vanessa Palmer's vocals that seem to underscore the power of love as both a healer and a destroyer. Her voice is questioning but internally probing, not thrashing out at the world or the lost love. Essentially IIP sound like piano, acoustic guitar and plaintive vocals. As such, IIP have a caf? charm that befits an outdoor setting where you'd hear this over the speakers while reading a difficult novel (or Sylvia Plath, as the lyrics point out). Their split-mates, The Foliage, get 4 songs to IIP's 6. The Foliage have a more modern sound and more closely resemble a real band on tape. Marie Parker's vocal cumulous clouds on "Naomi" range from the fluffy-softness of Suzanne Vega to the suppressed anger of Kristin Hersch. Parker sustains a honey-voiced delivery that couples well with Charlie Gokey's mournful French horns. The last track is the oddity in that it sounds like a Mark Linkous b-side with its hushed vocals and aetherial harmonies and shuffling rhythm. Both bands indicate a keen interest in reviving the charms and inspirations of folk pop, and this might in fact be the key to making better love. --- 7/11 Leeds top

INSTRUMENTAL QUARTER - "Traffic Jam" - Sickroom Records [Sept 06]
Goddamn these lazy motherfuckers who couldn't even be bothered to find a singer... Just kidding. This is some great instrumental music, and although I did not understand what their bio was talking about, I did glean that this band is from Saluzzo, Italy, and I liked their mention of "fluttering birds and fiery sunsets." So, without a Halfordian frontman grabbing the mic, you weenies are lost. Let me say, then, that IQ are not as opaque as many of the instrumental sound hives emanating from Toronto, and they're not as spacey as their Scottish kin Mogwai. Instead, IQ rely on fairly organic sounding instruments and arrangements that might remind you of Explosions In The Sky and Always The Runner. The reverbed guitar on "Walking To the 5tth" makes me feel more drunk than I am, however. I'll decide when to distrust my ears, thank you very much. On the whole, IQ are an atmospheric band that paints in glowing colors. These instrumentals possess a vibrant life of their own, whereas a lot of instrumental music seems to be a half-completed thought relying on absent visuals. These songs are expansive and dreamy while firmly rooted in the sounds of post-indie rock. At times they uptempo their sound "Water Guns" and deliver a more intensive math-rock acousticality, and sometimes they strip it way back and allow violin to take over with a warm melodic vocal line "Illinois Breakfast II." In short, I like this sound a lot. --- Prof. Lionel Mutton, PhD. 8/11 top

IN TENEBRIS - s/t - Cortege Recordings [Oct 07]
In Tenebris is a gothic evil wizard synth band from Virginia. The de rigeur funny haircuts and gravedigger outfits are here, but what sets them apart might be Christina Fleming, the blonde mistress of the night who dips the ends of her flaxen locks in virgin's blood. It looks that way in the photo, anyway. In Tenebris' synth-laden, doomy pop bears a resemblance to Evanescence, in that both are essentially radio pop bands tarted up in goth clothes. The haunted house wall of synth sound is a bit much, though. I don't know why Fleming is wasting her time with this style of music. By all means, keep the same band, the guitarist is really good, they can all play, but this music sounds like novelty Halloween music. To sum up: Fleming has an awesome voice but it's not Halloween. --- Leeds 5/11 top

THE (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY "Armed Love" - American [Oct 2005]
Once upon a time Sweden produced a snotty, in your face, studio trickery band called Refused that boasted a new style of singing, crazy tempos, and pseudo Marxist slogans. The INC are the lineal descendants, and while they may have finally grown tired of hectoring American crowds on how wasteful and status-obsessed and profligate we are, they nonentheless are back with a new collection. First and foremost, this sound is not punk and seems an awful lot like mid-80s pop. I have a hard time with saxophones, and "A Small Demand" does not help. The INC also employ a ? and the Mysterians type of organ lead, giving them a retro 60s gloss. Not all of these songs are watered down and powerless. "Let's Make History" at least remembers how INC used to have some memorable bass lines and song structures (remember "Survival Sickness"?), but the choruses are just flat, without that punch you have come to expect from a band raised on punk. It sounds like the only member who wanted to really kick ass is the drummer. Everyone else seems to be lagging behind. You might hear "Black Mask," which sounds like the INC of old. It has a fiery guitar solo, a cool intro, and everything that ever made INC interesting. It and "Armed Love" are top notch songs but they are orphaned and surrounded by some rather lacklustre and boring filler. ---Leeds 5/11 top

THE INTERNATIONAL PLAYBOYS - "Cobra Blood Hangover" - Australian Cattle God Records [Feb 07]
The International Playboys play ragged hard rockin' punk jags that grow on you with repeated listening. Pabst Blue Ribbon named them Montana band of the Year, and just like that fine working man's elixir, they deliver cheap and sleazy fun without pretension or slick packaging. Drawing some obvious inspiration from No Means No (whom they thank in the liner notes), The I.P.'s unload similar high energy audio blasts punctuated with weird half time breaks and drunken punk chorus chants. The mixing and engineering on Cobra Blood Hangover is impeccable but somehow the I.P.'s have managed to retain the energy and sound of a good live performance on the recordings. Apart from the music, some of the lyrics are hilarious and their sense of humor is an added bonus. They throw in a funny home spun country fluke called "The Give A Shitter is Broken" and an over the top rendition of The Who's "Young Man Blues" towards the end of the record, but for the most part this is some consistently cool hard drinkin' hard rockin' shit from the mountains of Missoula. 8 on a scale of 1-11. The Swedetop

INTERPOL Turn On The Bright Lights - Matador
Alright, get it straight: Interpol does not sound like Joy Division. But if you like Joy Division, you'll like this band a whole hell of a lot. Every comparison throws around Joy Division like it's a given, but a more accurate comparison is to city-mates The Chameleons during their "Script Of The Bridge" era. Throw in some moodiness a la Belgian slowtempo rockers Siglo XX and French experimentalists Trisomie 21, and now you're talking. Be a little more creative, critics! Delve, find some bands on your own! If you happen to hear track 5, "NYC," first, however, you'll be thrown: it sounds like Interpol were trying to cover The Smiths' "This Charming Man" and ended up with their own song by accident because they couldn't learn it properly. Track 11, "Roland," has an identical intro to "View From A Hill" by The Chameleons. This means, yes, parts do sound familiar, but the bands Interpol are in love with have been neglected for so damn long that any homage to this great, gloomy music, is as welcome as the cavalry charging over the hill. Paul Banks does sing with a world weariness but is a more capable crooner than Ian Curtis ever was, although both singers leave notes dangling in the air, unwilling to nail them down properly into key. This works for both bands, but listen up: don't try this at home. Through the heart of every song, Daniel Kessler stabs shadowy guitar leads, extended by delay pedals, notes held and repeated, creating layers of mood and space. The rhythm section of Carlos Dengler (bass) and Sam Fogarino (drums) build and shatter cathedrals of tension. Something amazing is going on here. Interpol are the New York cousins of rainy Mancunian days, winter shadows covering the bleak industrial buildings, and all those tortured geniuses who created brilliant music despite, or because, of their surroundings. --Paul Leeds top

THE INVISIBLE EYES - "Laugh In The Dark" - Bomp! Records [April 06]
Things that go Bump in the night (and Crunch, Shimmy-Shake and Ka-Twang in the Midnight Hour). A lonely organ whines and wheezes from a cold, dark vestibule in the Old Haunted Castle (you know the one, just past the wrong side of the tracks.) Look Out The Invisible Eyes have got you in their sights. Amongst the BUZZ of barflies and stench of stale beer, these Mono-sters creep through dive clubs and dank bars to feast on drugged out kids, beats and punks, too stoned to stay away and too scared to go home. Vocals echo from the farthest corner of the cellar, reverberating and wafting up through a broken lead pipe in the soft pine floorboards. Songs of spite and sorrow - smooth like bourbon, the sour mash songs of specters, mashers and wraiths, blues blackened by the plague of the damned. A fiend fuzz guitar clouds your mind with impure thoughts, then strings you up to dangle in the wind. The Pied Piper of Transylvania Organ tenderly leads you by the cold and clammy hand down into the maelstrom of the 9 Circles of Hades. Train Rhythm churns to dripping faucet time, HISS, CRACKLE, SPAT - like thick-cut, apple-smoked bacon frying in a cast iron skillet. Beware of their insidious seduction; sweet lies, beguiling glances and broken promises, The Invisible Eyes have come for your women and children, who follow blindly and leave willingly (a little more willingly than I would have hoped). They are from the graveyard of the undead; distant 2nd cousins to "The Mummies" and "Groovie Ghoulies", but much closer kissing cousins to "The Oblivions" ('Play 9 songs with Mr. Quinton'), so if that works for you, all the better; if not stick it in your pipe and smoke it. This is a damn good record, if you like your meat still twitching, satiate your carnal blood lust and gnaw on these bones. In the land of the blind, The Invisible Eyes are King; and in the sound of BOMP, The Invisible Eyes have just made their mark. Give this one a 9 out of 11. The Invisible Eyes are Outta-Sight! ---Brother Buckettop

IRVING "Death In The Garden Blood On The Flowers - Eenie Meenie Records [May 2006]
This pitch perfect pop release from L.A.'s Irving has a cool sophistication and seductiveness that pulls you along by the hand through warm friendly fields of sound. The songwriting's solid and likable and rides along the same pop sensibilities of bands like Beulah while maintaining a slight edge that's hard to define. This is definitely good pop music (usually an oxymoron) but with a twist that's usually provided by tasty keyboard parts that weave in and out while sidestepping clich?. There's an element of tight control here that might be a turn off those in need of an occasional scream or blast of distorted feedback but Irving leaves that for other bands to pursue and focuses instead on solid harmonies, melodies, and arrangements with impressive results. Many of the songs have a laid back feel but they usually snap back with increased energy just when needed. And these boys can actually sing too. Many of the vocal harmonies have the unmistakable fingerprints of past masters like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, and others. While my personal listening tastes are usually a lot less mellow, try as I might I could find no fault with what Irving's up to and even found myself getting sucked in deeper and deeper on successive listens. It's that good. 9 on a scale of 1-11. ---The Swedetop

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JACKASS 'Plastic Jesus' - BYO Records
Remember when Supersuckers didn't suck? Jackass are like the Sheriff that takes the town drunk (Supersuckers) and puts him on a one-way train ride to somewhere else. Supersuckers have devolved into self-parody and Jackass has just declared this town ain't big enough for the both of them. Get on that train, or we've got a rope. These hardcore country sounds present a fusion of rockabilly, country, and good ol' punk rock served up in a dirty tin cup with a shot of moonshine. For anyone who's been to the yearly rockabilly-country-punk-barbecue Hootenanny extravaganza, Jackass not only fits in to that scene but was likely conceived in the back seat of Mike Ness' Chevy while X blasted from the stage. Jackass bear a resemblance to punk and American music the way The Pogues were a rogue group of Irish punks filtering their traditional music through the drunk-and-drugged nihilism of punk. If you're not a fan of traditional American modes of music like country, bluegrass and hillbilly, you are forgiven but not excused. Jackass will show you how it's done. You can listen to Jackass and still be cool, because, after all they are punks, and they're cooler than you. Did I mention that these inbred paint-sniffin' chucks can really play the lacquer off their guitars? Jackass shreds when the situation demands it ("Fuck O'Dear.") Just as quick, they can lay down some lapsteel guitar to make you weep ("Leg To Stand On") and you can feel Patsy Cline smilin' down from heaven. Be prepared to hit the "replay" button, because some lyrics bear further inspection, like "...a lip full of chew / and a gut full of gin / she's in the mirror / shaving her chin / and I'm blue yes it's true..." The glamorous models of Jackass also deconstruct some hoary old chestnuts, such as Madonna's "Music," and The Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way." You can sing along and pretend you never heard the original versions, you carpetbagger. Jackass are an amazing breath of fresh air, well, how about booze-soaked air, in a scene that hasn't been able to find it's own tail for years now. RIYL: The Johnnys, X, The Blasters, The Weary Boys. --- 9/11 Paul Leeds top

JAKS "Here Lies The Body Of Jaks" - Three One G [August 2005]
Here lies some very random and obscure noise that predates such celebrated and globally renowned acts as Sea Of Tombs and Love Life. There is an air of carnival freak about these songs (some recorded by Steve Albini and given his signature low end punch) that calls to mind the wild cavortings of the young and insane Nick Cave in his "Prayers On Fire" days. This CD gathers the "Hollywood Blood Capsules" album, their 7 inch singles and comp tracks: it's all here, bitches. Most songs have a wall of guitar noise punctuated by staccato drums and a singer howling through a delay or voice processor. Or food processor. The music is uniformly pummeling and carries a ton of feedback in glorious raunch-fidelity sound. The last 4 songs (which are the "Five-Nine" 7 inch) are recorded by Jeff Bennington and have a crisper sound that doesn't feel like every hit on the guitar strings is still swirling around in the mix somewhere. I think it's a better sound, creates more space in the tracks that lets the guitars really attack like dental drills when they need to ("Alamo"). These later tracks have clearer vocals and more of an underground sound reminiscent of "Hell Comes To Your House" type of punk rock. I would have loved seeing this band to find out if they can pull off this cacophony live. There are 2 women in the band, but I can't tell if one sings all the time, some of the time, or not at all. Yes, it's still got that lo-fi beauty that people like Jon Spencer paid top dollar for. It's not the easiest listen in the world but it's wild and bloody raw. ---Leeds 7/11top

JAWBREAKER TRIBUTE Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault - Dying Wish Records
18 bands try to go the distance with the great progenitors of the indie rock pop punk emo collage, Jawbreaker. Tribute albums can be hard on the listener. Some bands don't seem to pay proper respect and other bands just seem miscast. This Jawbreaker tribute has several things going for it, most importantly a song selection that covers the hits and one-off seven inches both. There are a few great versions here, ones that will surely bring a smile to Blake's face. The best song award goes to Duvall, fronted by former Smoking Popes ace Josh Caterer. They cover "Busy" in a cabaret style that pays homage to the original while crafting a new perspective. Duvall's vocals are also far and away the most accomplished on the album. Bigwig's "Ashtray Monument" is a faithful rendition of an epic song, they play it with studied devotion. You can believe Bigwig are true fans, that they really mean it. I've never heard Bigwig but I'd like to give them a listen now. "The Boat Dreams From The Hill" by Face To Face is a great rendition by a band that really shred when they are given direction. Who knows what they've been up to, but here Trever sings like a mo-fo and reminds you why his "Don't Turn Away" was such a great ride. Nerf Herder's guitarist Dave gets lead vox duties on "Chesterfield King," and the Nerfs do a fine job of bringing this song back from the grave. Aside from some of the bands on here being non-entities, some sound like they've never heard of Jawbreaker. Meaning, they suck in ways that almost become insults. The Travoltas change a line in "Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault" from "...blasting Zeppelin" to "...Maiden." That shit ain't funny, and if you think Maiden is better than Zep, you're retarded. Also, don't change Blake's lyrics, jackasses. Death to The Travoltas. Austin's Riddlin' Kids kick some ass on "Jinx Removing," playing it a little tighter and harder, but maintaining their own sound while complimenting the original. The version of "Million" by Counterfit is pretty good too, the singer doing a fair impersonation. For originality, The Aeffect's "Boxcar" is the clear winner. They turn this 3 chord anthem into a techno dance number and the Faint is jealous as fuck. A few too many of the bands on here are affected by the "sign-us-to-Fat" syndrome where they ape Fat Mike's vocal stylings. One Fat Mike is enough, fellas. I can't make it through For Amusement Only's song - they murdered it. Call the cops! Not stoked on Fall Out Boy either. This guy sounds like a cross between Journey and Cave In. The Reunion Show do a cool turn by adding a full band to the acoustic unlisted track on "Dear You," but they erect a wobbly bridge that nearly blows it for them. Too many extremo records in their collection maybe. Sparta add some drama and pain to "Kiss The Bottle," creating a new classic. Kill Your Idols do a scratchy version of "Do You Still Hate Me?" Mixing deep emo lyrics and Exploited vocals just doesn't work together. Sounds kinda like karaoke. Good Night Bad Guy smartly arrange "Jet Black" into a form that wonderfully suits its dark theme. Their acoustic version gives the song a soft despair that the original didn't have. Blake will most definitely dig this version. Mostly what this tribute record evokes is a painful need to hear the original versions. Some of these bands approached this task from a fan's perspective, others seemed content to riff on the songs with their own mediocre peculiarities. Maybe that's the life of a tribute album. Still, adding it up, over half of these songs are really enjoyable. The Sparta, Duvall, The Aeffect, Good Night Bad Guy, and Face To Face songs are great enough to buy this disc. With luck this tribute will awaken some new musicality in not only the current punk crowd, but also in some of the purveyors of this music. Of the 18 tracks, I like 9 outright, 2 are okay, 1 doesn't work, and 4 are travesties. Lastly, if you're not already a Jawbreaker fan, quit embarassing yourself and go buy their albums. ---Paul Leeds 7/11top

JAWBREAKER ETC. - Blackball Records
No more hunting through 7 inches for those out of print Jawbreaker singles, this disc combines 20 of them in one shell! This was supposed to come out in Spring 2000, so we've been waiting quite a while for it, and it was worth it. "Kiss The Bottle," "Sea Foam Green" and "Better Half" are all on here. The songs range from the earliest song they recorded (Shield Your Eyes) to outtakes from the "Dear You" sessions (Friendly Fire). It presents a history of a band that, despite tepid sales, developed an intense cult following. Blake turned the punk chantey into a poetic excursion into the twilight of relationships gone wrong, families in disarray, and ventured into areas later carpetbagged by any band waving the "emo" banner. This was "emo" before that word denoted softcore girlfriend rock and teary singers begging you to love them. What made Jawbreaker legendary was their blend of Chris' loping bass lines that had their own sweet melodies, with Blake's scratchy poems and Adam's hammer and tickle drumming. They distanced themselves from the punk scene and charged off into territory that seems familiar today but at the time was wilderness. Blake's honesty, his refusal to play the rock star, and the Kerouac-like beat sadness of his songs turned him into an alt hero. This record helps fill in the gaps. I saw Jawbreaker play about half a dozen times. The first several shows were at the sorely-missed LA coffeehouse Jabberjaw. Jawbreaker had the habit of touring right before their records came out and then playing live all the songs no one had heard. About 100 people paid four bucks and watched the trio sputter through an uninspired set. Blake was upset afterwards. A year later, saw them again, and this time the place was so oversold that every space inside was ass-to-elbow thick with sweaty bodies. The crowd knew the songs this time, and when the opening chords of "Chesterfield King" ripped out of the amps, the entire crowd began pogoing with joy. Blake turned this energy into inspiration and Jawbreaker, that night, were white hot and devastating. I saw them a handful of other times, right up to and including their last LA gig, at the Palace in Hollywood. Blake had traded his black Les Paul for a shiny white new one, and traded some of the scratchy high vocals for medium ones, saving his voice. I wondered then if Jawbreaker was slipping into that zone where a great indie band sells up and then starts to suck for dollars. Blake must've wondered too because he broke up the band, leaving a legacy that still blows away most bands these days. It's hard to explain their appeal to non-fans. These guys are top five for me and maybe this record will help you understand why. --Paul Leeds top

THE JEALOUS SOUND Kill Them With Kindness - Better Looking Records
TJS's eponymous debut EP featured some amazing examples of brilliant modern rock. All of the elements were in place: heady lyrics, instruments working with each other, and some of the sexiest singing ever. I mean, I'm sure girls find Blair Shehan's whisper-while-shouting voice enough to make them need a change of panties. That's all I'm saying. One of those EP tracks, "Anxious Arms," has been reworked and included on the LP. If you like Jimmy Eat World, this will get your heart racing. Producer-god Tim O'Heir has done a wonderful job of bringing TJS into the light and giving them a sheen and brilliance. Known for his work on Superdrag's stellar debut "Regretfully Yours," Tim O'Heir has some of the best ears in the business and his work here is impeccable. When I saw TJS live I expected some shoe-gazing but instead got a pretty energetic show. Pedro Benito and John McGinnis are the guitar and bass attack wing. Benito favors ringing note runs over barre chords, weaving a recurring melody over McGinnis' walking bass lines that sometimes accentuate the drums, and other times serve as counter and ballast to Shehan's vocals. The drumming has moved forward in the mix, a fuller, rock action sound than evidenced on their EP. In this age of digital piracy, the onus to create a saleable product falls on the label's shoulders. This record art and design get a big goose-egg: the cover is boring and there are neither band photos nor lyrics inside. You get a house graphic and a picket fence, thanks. Where are the bonus materials? Get hip, label. Anyway, TJS signed off on the art so it's as much their fault. Maybe they blew all the budget on recording. The record does sound fantastic. Except for one overly girly song ("Guard It Closely") the album largely delivers. I would have asked for at least one song that is tougher than the rest to anchor the record. A certain sameness pervades the songs, making them not immediately distinct from each other. TJS' gift lies in whispering a bitter line when another band would've belted it out across the hills. It's a pensive, emotionally searing record that lives in the space where your hate has left you and the numbness has ebbed. This is a band called ache. --- Paul Leeds 7/11 top

THE JEALOUS SOUND - Better Looking Records
This is a 5 song introduction to a band that fits right between No Knife and Jimmy Eat World. Mark Trombino masterminded it, so you know the sound: gentle vocals over chiming guitars, with piano and farfisa for flavor. TJS are totally skilled students of the blissful harmonies and melodies that ring like bells school of music. If "emo" hadn't been destroyed as a term by wuss rock bands with off-key singers, you could call this an emo classic. Eddy Numbskull turned me onto this band. He likes Refused. I can't figure him out. This sound is right up my alley, I'm not afraid to say. It reminds me of Christie Front Drive and the era when you had to explain to someone what "emo" was. TJS avoid sounding weak like Saves The Day and most of the new school losers pawning themselves off as emo, much less bands. Don't get any softer on your next record, boys, or I'll take back my words. --Paul top

JENA BERLIN - "Quo Vadimus" - Jump/Start [Oct 07]
Bad band name, fellas. Yeah, that's right: "Jena Berlin" is five young dudes rocking a post-hardcore storm. This has a DC hardcore, Dischord sound, intense and old-school emotional, thrashed vocals and a brew of sounds just this side of punk rock. Take a bit of Lungfish and a touch of Bluetip and a pinch of The Ghost, et voila. In the days before eyelinered pussies ruined post-hardcore, you could call this emo. Not anymore. There are some good moments where the genre is being bent, where the band reaches for more, (And Another Thing) and a few good ol' fashioned pit mixers (Crossed Arms). Occasionally the singer is a little out of his range, and the production needs more separation, more space. Jena Berlin are not the most original or creative band, but this tried and true sound will appeal to fans of mostly straight ahead hardcore. --- Leeds 6/11 top

THE JE NE SAIS QUOI "We Make Beginnings" - Coalition (Feb 2005)
This record has beaten my last three attempts at describing it. I'm gonna keep it simple. Between angular, stabbing guitars that run up and down filling in the blank spaces like Nick Zinner, you've got male and female singers, plonky mod keyboards, and a kinetic energy in the new wave dance mold like Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party. Try out "The Real Future Blues" and "Station To Station" - two groove oriented tracks that come from the lo-fi rock indie circuit. There's a bit of Silverlake/Williamsburg in them in their willingness to keep the music spiky and rough edged. When they switch drums for a rudimentary Casio drumbeat and serve a thick slab of soul keys (Live Transmission) it makes the reviewer go back and want to delete everything he just wrote. At times I can hear Gang Of Four and The Fall in TJNSQ's music. They keep it fresh enough by shifting enough musical gears that you can't pin them down easily. --- Leeds 8/11top

THE JE NE SAIS QUOI "Secret Language" EP - Coalition Records
I've been spinning this trying to get a handle on this band and I'm still coming up empty-handed. Just the facts, then. They are from Sweden. Their name is the French phrase used for describing that mysterious X factor, literally translating as "I don't know what." This band wants you to "tear up your living room" and "dominate the dancefloor." The music should appear only on dancefloors and in living rooms that cater to the noisy, fast, sparse, postpunk sounds of bands like Wire, The Fall and Public Image, Ltd. Maybe they meant "killing floor" instead of dance floor, because this is edgy and dyspeptic, with some artschool angst thrown in for flavor. The lyrics are mostly chanted and shouted, the singer opting for impact over technique. The band spends most of the time creating walls of noise, with cold, clattering guitar chops making a punctuated beat with the droning bass. When I first heard "The Crowd" I thought it was either Ikara Colt or some Drive Like Jehu offspring. Only one song, "The Reeling," has any sort of backbeat for dancing, and that's in more of a figurative sense because it is again full of white noise and robotic drumming. It collapses in a heap of distorted fury. Tallying up the marks, TJNSQ are a jagged artrock band with bags of edgy energy. --- Vermin 7/11top

JENNY PICCOLO - s/t - Three One G [Sept 06]
You know Jenny Piccolo was responsible for sweet little Joanie finally tossing aside her virginity as casually as a lipstick-smeared fag-end. So it's fitting that Jenny Piccolo the band are the type of band who, if you were a sensible parent, you'd never let near your sweet innocent band. It's kind of typical 31G insider grease: you either get it or you don't. This is hardcore with some more breaks than are typical for this music. Back in the day, JP was out there getting the 31G name out with fellow freaksters The Locust. I like the frequent low-end bassy grind of some of these songs, and with (seriously) 52 songs on this CD, you get a lot of noisy fucking 'core for your buck. Now we can sit here all day debating whether bands that stray into white-hot noise so often are really trying to be a band at all, or whether they're realistically more like noise terrorists, but after a lot of alcohol it's really easy to get inside this music and have a good time. JP are somewhat less technically marvelous than The Locust, and somewhat more listenable than Daughters, but nonetheless you could sandwich them between those two bands. The digital remastering seems to be a waste of cash, as this CD sounds as hi-fi as a recycled 7 inch, but that's fitting for this sound. --- Prof. Lionel Mutton, PhD. 7/11 top

THE JESUS LIZARD - "Live DVD" - MVD Visual [Aug 07]
My friend Jeff Death was touting a new band called Qui and as soon as he said the words "David Yow," their singer, I was in. Jeff started to explain who Yow was, and I cut him off. How could any self-respecting music fan not know the primal yow-ling of David Yow, his bands Scratch Acid and The Jesus Lizard being icons of the independent music scene, renowned for their heavy bass and drums, blistering guitars and the aforementioned Yow's throat-bursting songs. The Jesus Lizard's work with engineer Steve Albini cemented their thundering sound, their indie credentials, and combined with their often violent, occasionally indecent live shows, The Jesus Lizard are legends. Now you too can witness the power (get to your phones!). This 1994 show came on the heels of their great works, "Head" (1990), "Goat" (1991), "Liar" (1992) and "Down" (1994). You will hear classics like "Fly On The Wall" and their first single "Nub," the band sounding powerful and looking dangerous. Yow gets shirtless and sweaty immediately but does not, alas, produce "little David" like he did in the 90s, resulting in him being arrested for indecent exposure after a show. After the 1994 set, there is a David Yow interview from Hype TV that not only gives you a good look at Yow the humble frontman but also Yow the staunch indie icon. Yes, The Jesus Lizard went to Capitol in 1996, but as Yow explains in the interview, they tried to use the local networks and shows to promote the band and to make a living but the dominance of MTV and the realities of the size of the USA and the cost of touring forces bands to at some point make a decision: pay the bills or fold up the tent. At any rate, this great uncut interview reminds one of how conservative the 90s really were, when The Offspring and Green Day were breaking America. Yow praises Nirvana and thumps Green Day, calling them The Knack with English accents. As an added bonus, 5 songs recorded at CBGB in 1992 round out this package, including a cover of Dicks' "Wheelchair Epidemic," Yow giving low-five to his Austin brothers. This DVD is highly recommended because it did what a good video should do: remind you how great a band is. --- Leeds 9/11 top

JET Get Born - Elektra Records
Currently riding a wave of pre-release hype, Jet are pegged to be the next rock superstars. This Australian retro-rock outfit has been playing all the summer UK festivals and grabbing covers of mags like NME. Like fellow Aussies The Vines, Jet have been propelled by a publicity juggernaut claiming Jet are the Second Coming. But, we must ask, of what? Unlike The Vines, Jet have no ear for breezy melodies and never stray far from an AC-DC lite style. Jet live, however, are supposed to shred, so that's one skill they have up on The Vines. Comparisons: mid 70s Stones with Highway To Hell-era AC-DC. Call it, Highway To Mainstreet. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" is a sturdy facsimile of a thousand other rock 'n' roll songs, banging like "Lust For Life" meets "Get Free." Vocal breaks, handclaps, tambos all over the place: it's a familiar stew of garage-harsh vocals and riff rock. Not bad stuff, but nothing compelling either. "Big black boots, long brown hair, she's so sweet with her, get back stare," is a sample lyric. "Roll Over DJ" is a rockin' call to arms for DJs to ignore their playlists and sounds like something Cheap Trick would do for a movie soundtrack, or what The Star Spangles, The Pattern, The Makers, any number of bands are doing now. The retro-rock cliches are ubiquitous: "alrights" and "yeahs" and "woohs" before and after every verse, in the choruses, you name it. Where The Hives and The Mooney Suzuki were playing for years before they got noticed and emerged from an underground scene, Jet arrive with "love us" signs around their necks, all the major label gloss and muscle trying to ape/pimp the rock underground. "Move On" and "Look What You've Done" are the de rigeur ballads. Their moment to harmonize and say, "we're not total drunken Westie yobs." It reminded me of Extreme. Ballads are clearly not their strong suit nor where their hearts lie, but I'll bet the record company was happy. "Cold Hard Bitch" might be the single. It teases the listener with nibbling little riffs before lurching into a Who-esque "yeahhhhhhhh!" and more riffing. I'd rather listen to the Stones doing "Bitch," cos if you're gonna bite someone's rhymes, you'd better up the ante, which Jet don't, unfortunately, do. It's enough for them to have a song mimicking a Stones classic because who cares about the Stones these days anyway? The kids will buy it when the radio stations shove it down their throats. Jet is just a few degrees of the dial from being cobber pub rock. Some chunky riffs, some catchy choruses and interesting bits, so why the HYPE? Is this going to replace one of your other garage riff-rock favorites? Probably not. It's not awful, but it's not great either, and Angus Young could shit this record out in his sleep. --- Paul Leeds 5/11top

JET LAG GEMINI - "Fire The Cannons" - Doghouse Records [Aug 07]
Jet Lag Gemini is the next setting on the music dial for bands who like both Def Leppard rock 'n' roll and The All-American Rejects bubblegum pop. Unlike a lot of bands who claim to have some tenuous connection to punk and metal, JLG are basically a melodic rock band with a crazy shredding guitar player and a singer who has a great voice but wants to have his cake and eat it too. JLG has some high note showmanship just like The All-American Rejects but bring their "Pyromania" obsession to the forefront of their music, throwing in blazing riffs whenever they can. As the AAR moved closer to this sound on their 2nd record they got less interesting and the songs more boring. It's stitched together pretty well here, none of that cookie monster singing or drum solos, but it feels over produced and inauthentic as artifact from the underground, and only seems to make sense as a glossy major label created outfit. If that's your thing, hop aboard, and maybe it will be the thing for the next gen. I didn't get through the whole record. --- Leeds 4/11 top

JIL STATION - "Still Love" - The Platform Group [Nov 06]
Jil Station is a band, not a woman, from Atlanta with an average age of 19. They're going for a UK new wave guitar sound (at least their press kit thinks so) but to my ears sound.closest to the altpop of The Lashes. Why do they bother dropping names like Radiohead, The Jam, U2 and The Smiths in their bio, have they never actually heard these bands? Okay, off my soapbox. Jil Station are good and have a cool enough sound, especially given they're still teenagers, so it's a modest achievement in itself for them to even try to imitate those hoary UK sounds. Singer Kyle Dreaden is well on his way to developing a crooning style he can own, part Martin Kemp and part Jarvis Cocker. One thing that sonically separates them from the bands they want to be likened to is the omnipresent piano. Another is their modest guitar powers, which is not a big deal in itself, but don't compare yourselves to bands with The Edge and Johnny Marr if you're not going to deliver. The Last I'm going to say on that score is Jil Station sound nothing like any of the bands they think they do. Advice they might have needed to hear during recording would have been, don't make every song play out at nearly the exact same tempo. This album is competent but lacks energy. Jil Station can play but they certainly don't play like they're desperate to get the gig: theirs is a chilled out pop, and I doubt they break a sweat live. Good songs, nothing great, nothing really stands out: it's all medium tempo, moderately heartfelt pop songs played with almost a sense of detachment. --- Leeds 5/11 top

JIMMY EAT WORLD "Futures" - Interscope
Allow me to begin by saying how much I wanted to love this album. While not into JEW from the beginning, I was won over by "Static Prevails" and have seen them probably about a dozen times since then. For me they always existed on a higher plane than the other bands shamelessly ripping them off, even though, it's been said, that they owe more than a passing debt to bands such as Christie Front Drive and Jawbox. Be that as it may, JEW has made some inspiring, incredible, jaw-droppingly brilliant music. Their secret weapon is guitarist and sometimes vocalist Tom Linton, who sang the entire self-titled JEW album. Since then, Tom has gotten more fond of the herb and less fond of penning tunes, so JEW has become Jim Adkins' band. Which is all well and good, because Adkins has a delicate sensitivity to his voice and a passion that rivals anyone. However, Linton's voice is great enough to warrant his own band, and the infrequent contributions he has made to JEW have been among their best tracks ("Rockstar", "Episode IV", "Seventeen," etc), and without his voice, JEW has been sliding down the slippery slope of weakness. Their last outing, "Bleed American," featured a band in turmoil, caught between the throes of getting MTV hits and surviving with their artistry intact. The results were mixed. Some of the edgier songs on "Bleed" grabbed you by the neck, but others, notably the hits, were substandard pap. There was an indulgence in the ballad, the slowed tempo, the acoustic breakdown, and if that's not kept in check, the band itself becomes feminized. On the new album, JEW are like an old girlfriend you run into on the subway. You remember the sweet nights, and the bitter fights. "Futures" has four kickass songs that will please even the most stringent JEW fans. "Futures," "Just Tonight...", "Pain," and "Nothingwrong" are the songs you've been waiting for. They show you that JEW is not a band to be underestimated or fucked with. They can hold their own against anyone. The production is different, though, as longtime knob-twiddler Mark Trombino was unceremoniously dumped in favor of Foo Fighters fixer Gil Norton. Gone are the exotic 3-D soundscapes of space Trombino creates with drums and guitars. In its stead is a more recognizable "rock" sound with more straight ahead, on the beat, drumming and thicker sounds. Formerly drummer Zach Lind has played interesting rhythms wihtout sticking to the 1234 cymbal crash formula. This record is too on the nose. Too commercial sounding. You can't fault a band for wanting to stretch, but ditching Trombino might turn out to be their Waterloo. The new record sounds a lot like a cross between the bright pop of Weezer and the semi-rock of Foo Fighters. The remainder of the album is filled with soft ballads and moments that will surely play well live, when the stage darkens and one spot is lit, and Jim comes out with his acoustic and closes his eyes and tells it like it is. Trouble is, JEW already have far too many songs that fill that niche. We did not need any more ballads. And that is not to say I don't appreciate the ballads, because some of the most hair-raising moments in their shows are moments when Jim comes out and plays "On A Sunday" or one of these tunes by himself. If this were a new band, they'd get a higher score, but I have been a fan for too long to let them get away with this half-assed stuff. If I had 3 wishes for JEW, they would be: 1.) make Tom sing half the songs, 2.) forget the weepy ballads, and 3.) they all get 10 million dollars each so they can go back to writing music that really matters. --- 6/11 Leeds top

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KAISER CHIEFS - "Yours Truly, Angry Mob" - Universal [May 07]
While I appreciated KC's first album it never really stuck with me and I hardly listened to it, despite digging a few of their songs. The new album seeks to dispel that inertia from the first song, "Ruby," which is as tuneful and energetic as anything on their debut. The old specter of Duran Duran rears its ugly head from time to time, and I'm no fan of DD. KC's use of pianos and brassy pop sounds, an unabashedly commercial approach, reminds me of the final phases of Madness, when the nutters had abandoned ska and were just making orchestrated pop. "Learnt My Lesson Well" is another good track, with singer Ricky Kaiser keeping things fresh and fast, just like "Thank You Very Much." I guess I really only like their songs that have a fast tempo, because all the mid-paced songs remind me of "Rio." I know, in one part of my brain, that this is a really good band. They sound good. The pop is bright and airy, but something just doesn't stick. I honestly don't know what it is because I like dozens of bands that are as commercial and pop as these guys, and they do have some catchy tracks. I think it's the exhaustion of getting through a whole album by them that makes them not a favorite. They will always be a great designated hitter, when you are making a mix CD, because they have a cultured, classy sound, and maybe that's enough. ---Sid Arthur. 7/11 top

KAISER CHIEFS "Employment" - B Unique Records [March 2005]
With their suits and stripey shirts and occasional porkpie hats, you'd think the Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs would be a Two-Tone revival act. Well you're wrong. They're new New Wave. To explain: they don't scream like The Others or saw through guitar strings like Futureheads. KC take their cues from the more musical and sonorous bands like Psychedelic Furs (circa "Forever Now") and Pulp, with a nod to Duran Duran. Much, much better than The Killers, but very similar. Their first single, "I Predict A Riot," was catchy and brassy without having enough mayhem in it to actually make anyone really think about rioting. It might have been better called, "I Predict Leaving A Spiteful Note." Anyway, KC (named after a South African soccer team) are long on melodies and piano leads (You Can Have It All) and even backup singers (Na Na Na Na Naa). KC deserve their recent accolades because their tunes are fresh and accomplished and hummable. Too many of the UK's current bands are taking an intentionally sloppy aesthetic (cf. The Strokes) because that is part of the post post punk vibe. KC jumps right over that hurdle and mine the 80s and 90s pop bands that were aiming for the charts not veins. It's hard to tell if they're ahead of the curve or behind it, but all that aside, this debut album is packed with rich songs full of harmonies by a band brimming with poise and confidence. You'd think they already sold a million records. --- Leeds 8/11 top

KASABIAN s/t - RCA [March 2005]
Named after Manson's mindslave-cum-star witness Linda Kasabian, these longhairs might have you expecting a northern version of Kings Of Leon's phony blues based bullshit. No. Despite the scruffy appearance, Kasabian throw down digital beats and sneering vocals awash in an E-tab sea. Think Cooper Temple Clause meets Liam Gallagher... well, that still sounds just like the Coopers. Imagine the aforementioned plus LCD Soundsystem. Two things piss me off about this disc: I can't load or play it in I-Tunes (due to copy protection) and fuck Linda Kasabian. That said, this is a pretty slick album. Loud, echoing, Bonham drums come thumping out of a darkness held down by a ropy Peter Hook bass riff, right before the sneering, slightly off the rails singer comes in to send "Club Foot" into orbit. Kasabian improvise on the stoned and grooving template of "Fools Gold" by Stone Roses and traipse through the minefield of "Kid A." Recently opening for (the dreadful) The Music, Kasabian are unafraid of the occasional synth lead and processed beat and get people moving in a totally different manner from the wannabe Jane's Addiction goblin-faced headliners. Some songs are near clones of the Death In Vegas song that Liam sang, but with some more northern sole seeping in. If I were to throw another comparison in, it would be The Verve on their 2nd album set to a Madchester beat. Check out "Test Transmission" and you will feel yourself back at the Hacienda. The 4 best tracks are amazing, if Kasabian had managed to chuck the soft songs and make an entire album like this it would be album of the year, no question. --- Leeds 8/11 top

KENNEDY "Pink Afros" - Sea Level Records
As a professional amateur musical reviewer, I hold myself to a higher standard of critical excellence. I thoroughly road test all proffered material numerous times under varying conditions. In this instance, having already given a couple initial listenings to the 6 song Kennedy EP "Pink Afros", I decided to give it a more concentrated study under heightened listening conditions. Boy, am I glad I smoked those bong hits because it helped me understand. Having seen Kennedy perform around town several times in the past, I had some rough expectations of what to expect. Cleanly recorded Arena scale vintage 70's rock with panache and humour. I couldn't have been more wrong, except for the humour, which is still hidden there in the lyrics of each vastly different song. "Pink Afros" is a musical experiment that travels along six separate spokes emanating from the unifying theme of Kennedy. Kennedy is a fine musician, so a certain distinctive fingerprint exists on all the songs, and it's admirable that he's trying his hand at so many directions on one release. Of course the inevitable risk is that everyone has their tastes and prefers easy cohesion, so many may feel alienated from embracing the record as a sum of its parts. The advantage to the shotgun approach is that you're sure to wing something in the spread pattern, and I'm happily picking out a few pellets with a jack knife as I type. The opening track is an absolutely perfectly executed 70's Roller Disco hit, and the rendition is so dead on its absolutely terrifying. I could literally feel my socks stretching into knee high striped tubes after just a few beats. The second tune moves us into the future...of more contemporary dance club music. Once again, more perfect engineering choices are noted with the use of sterile generated drum beats, 80's retro/contempo keyboard, swooping sequencer effects, and even that trippy electro modulated vocal effect that recently revived the corpse of Cher on the dance club music scene a couple years ago. Again, a perfect club friendly tune that you might let slide into the background if you didn't know it was being ironically generated by someone noted for playing big-balled rock in the past. The thing is, the same care and precision he poured into that material is present here too and be it tongue in cheek or not, it's extremely well done and the production values are excellent. The record progresses on into other less familiar styles, including a dreamy acoustic vocal chant called "Big Drag" that sounds like it could trundle lazily through the background of a modern Western. The next song is as unlike any of its predecessors as it could be, and to me was by far the best of the bunch. An echoing guitar lopes into view, and then huge distant sounding vacuous drums begin a slowly cantering beat, a fuzzy guitar occasionally peers over a rise in the background, and the vocals drape over the top in a Brian Wilson colored quilt. It had the feel of a peppier Mazzy Star song if Mazzy Star's singer was a bespectacled Kennedy instead of that hot junkie chick. One of the best mellow songs I've heard in a while and it grows on you like a stubbornly pleasant foot fungus. "Canada" stubbornly refuses to resemble any of the other tracks on the release too, and is also a good solid song that's a little more what you'd expect of the old Kennedy. A swinging rock country number complete with cool slide guitar licks, it maintains a bouncy likeability throughout. The last one was a Robyn Hitchcock cover ("Heliotrope") that came across like a psychedelic emo croon. It must have been included as a calculated ploy to moisten the panties of the more romantic female listeners, because I didn't really get it, but again it was well done for not being my cup of tea. Besides, since Kennedy's basically attempting completely separate genres on every one of the 6 tracks, it makes sense that there'd be at least one bullet in the revolver that didn't like me. This one is Goddamn impossible to rate on a numerical scale because of its scattering of styles. If solely based on execution I'd give it a 9. You'll definitely totally dig at least two of them, possibly three, maybe even four for the dance kids, but never all six, unless you're so musically open minded you have no opinion or personal tastes at all. Still, whichever songs you bond with alone makes it worth checking out and Kennedy brings his own uniquely unapologetic pop sensibility to every track (? On a scale of 1-11) --- The Swede PS I just checked out the additional interactive DVD features on the disc and I highly recommend this for any Kennedy fans. There's two music videos of the more rockin' (not Moroccan) Kennedy staples, including "Cocaine Junkie O.D." and the classic "Cold Pussy", as well as a video slideshow and three rough and tumble live performances supposedly filmed at the legendary Abbey Road studios. Kudos to Sea Level Records for including the perks on this disk. Definitely helps capture the Kennedy experience in a more well rounded way and reveals the rock roots from whence it sprang.top

KILL CRUSH DESTROY "The Weaker We Get..." - Dark City Records [Jan 2006]
KCD make a point that punk rock has been taken over by something other than pissed off outsiders. This debut album pays homage to the early 80s punk rock that was just starting to flirt with metal fans, like Black Flag's "My War." The guitars are low and rumbling with verse fills, and I think Greg Ginn is calling his lawyer. Elsewhere, KCD freak out and get spastic, spraying punk rock phlegm and piss all over the place ("Saturday Night Fever"). Youth Of Today fans, check this out. This band is stretching hands back to the mystical land of punk rock before radio whored it out. Best song here is "Action/Reaction," an unrelenting, pit-churning, kick in the head. And sci fi fans should note that the band gets its name from some aliens on "Lost In Space." ---Sid Arthur 7/11 top

KILLING JOKE Killing Joke - Malicious Damage
The new Killing Joke record is a joke. High hopes existed that these veterans of the punk wars would come back with a sonic blast to slay the new masses of alt-metal followers. Instead, we get KJ shamelessly aping the alt-metal sound to the point where it doesn't sound anything like them. Granted, KJ have morphed their sound over the years, dabbling in dancey punk ("Follow The Leaders") and jackhammer rhythms ("Wardance"), to slowed down goth ("Love Like Blood"). Maybe sounding like Disturbed is the logical next step. The last thing I expected was for these godfathers of heavy, nearly industrial drumming and shouted choruses from beyond the grave, to sound like cheap imitations of very boring rock. The occult dabblings are still on display, and their creepy intonations are the best things about the record. "The Death And Resurrection Show" has some gravelly singing that's a far cry from Coleman's usual wind-tunnel screaming. One thing that used to just kill on the old KJ records was the drum pummeling. It used to sound like 100 people were slamming drumsticks down at the same time. That sound has been replaced with largely synthed drums. A couple of these songs don't completely confuse and destroy one's love of KJ. Notably, "Dark Forces" is almost on form. I'll also give a nod to "Inferno." Both songs feature Coleman almost singing in his old style. The overall problems with this disc are evident even on these "good" songs: the drumming is uninspired, too slow, and the guitars just buzz along in the way you've heard every Ministry clone do. KJ are better than this, or at least, they were. I recommend buying "Fire Dances" to hear their gothy side, or "What's THIS For?" to hear their migraine inducing drum power, instead of this record. Sure, sometimes they were monotonous and wack, and you couldn't wait for the song to end, but other times the music was dark, heavy, nearly black and white, stark, and insane. It was a great recipe, but ever had a shitty martini? Same ingredients, same thing. Now it's drivel. --- Paul Leeds 2/11 top

KILLING THE DREAM "In Place, Apart" - Deathwish [October 2005]
Unhappy music for unhappy people? KTD are a metal/hardcore band with lots of screamed vocals. Lots of chugging guitars and songs timed for the mosh pit, fast parts and then a breakdown for everyone to catch their breaths. In hardcore tradition a lot of these songs clockin at under 2 minutes - they are to the point and direct bursts of mostly adolescent rage. Sometimes I can start digging this kind of music, when it becomes almost a mental blur of noise and thrashing drums, like on "We're All Dead Ends," but then I get thrown when there is the de riguer tempo change. I just wish they'd keep grinding it out until the song is over instead of embellishing the one idea in the song, do it like Some Girls, where it's just a pure dose. My favorite song on here is "Writer's Block," but it barely nudges past the 1 minute mark. Less is more, in song length for this genre. KTD might have some lineage to the Swiz school of chugging guitar style. The playing, by all parties, on this record is not particularly exciting or original, call it entry #2000 in the hardcore derby. ---Sid Arthur 4/11 top

KILL YOUR IDOLS Funeral For A Feeling - SideOneDummy
Personally I don't miss The Exploited. Sometimes I still listen to my Discharge records and I'm still amazed at how unrelenting their sonic warfare was. Someone is really jonesing for that sound, though, 'cos Kill Your Idols are the new incarnation. This record would be cool in the carousel at a party but listening to it straight through is just a little too much. I think these guys are from Philadelphia. Not that this fact should influence you one way or the other, but just to say that I don't know what's going on out in PA. Why do they sound English? There's being hardcore, and then there's being hardCORE, man, and these guys are going for the latter. It's just an approach that doesn't seem relevant anymore. There is a singer, but there is no singing. Not to be purist, but you gotta come up with at least two notes, dude. This record sounds like The Exploited's "Let's Have A War." If you need some of that, this is your fix. This is gravel-voiced, monotone lyrics over gravel-chord, monotone guitars, with machine gun drumming. Perfect if you missed it the first time around. --Scott top

KINGS OF NUTHIN' - Sailor's Grave Records [May 2006]
The Kings of Nuthin' are a Boston based punkabilly ska type band that walk the same streets and musical avenues of fellow Bostonians The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and more recently Street Dogs. The singer's got a gravelly throated delivery and sounds like he's gargled razor blades and Irish whiskey since birth. There's a solid sax section propping up most of the breakneck paced pub culture tunes and they're all peppered with high energy yells and chants. Pretty good shit actually but definitely by and for the punkabilly, Teddy Boy, and hot rod punk crowd. What you have here is a cross between a 50's sock hop and a barroom knife fight with no quarter. The Kings of Nuthin' celebrate the whole drinkin', fuckin, and fightin' mentality and do it well. They pay homage to their punk roots with covers of Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Anti-Nowhere League, and Stiff Little Fingers, and also throw in a Hank Ballard tune and a Niteriders song to cover traditional rockabilly bases too. One of the better bands of the genre and they're probably great to see live if you don't get trampled to death by drunken Boston Irish creeps fighting over Bettie Page look-alikes. 7 on a scale of 1-11. The Swede

KINGS OF NOTHIN' Fight Songs - Disaster Records
Boston does rockabilly. In the new Kings of Nuthin' album, Fight Songs, the swing bandwagon gets a "Punk as Fuck" bumper sticker and wears it proudly. The music is catchy, and the lyrics are head-bobbin' fun. That said, I would like to make a complaint. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the Return of Swing scene. There's nothing quite like a great rockabilly song for dancing till you drop. However, the lead singer theems to have a thpeech quality I just couldn't get my brain around. It's a li