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PIX
the best of the mid-atlantic
bullet • bullet
cactus patch • cactus patch
mushcup • drained
the sound of urchin • the jack and diane e.p.
Bands! Think your disc is pretty hot? Maybe we will, too — Directions for submitting your release to the Pix follow the column.
Never a bad month here at the Pix...
BULLET
bullet
produced & mixed: Steve Cawley & Bullet
engineered: Steve Cawley
co-produced: Justin Davis
@: The Attic Studio
art & web: Travis Feeser
booking: Charles Kern, B&S Management
phone: 717.261.9422
e-mail: bullet.h8@onemain.com
web: www.generationH8.com
York, PA’s Bullet fire out forty minutes of machine-gun hardcore with a message. Picture Jello Biafra fronting Prong, with the political leanings of Rage Against the Machine and a touch of System of Down’s musical complexity. Hypercharged singer Johnny spits angry and funny while guitarist Jason and bassist Justin riff out a barbed-wire-topped wall of sound. Producers Steve Cawley and Bullet push drummer Scott to the front, and like vintage Who material, many of the songs feature lead percussion. The album doesn’t let up until the very end, closing with an infectiously hilarious acoustic cowboy version of “Boot.” Killer music for the pit, killer music for the car, killer music for the mind.
CACTUS PATCH
cactus patch
[ garden of sweden ]
>> Cactus Patch:
produced: Brian Baker, Mark Thorp
engineered: Bruce Falkinburg, Mike Fanuele
@: Phase Recording Studios, College Park MD
mastered: Doug Milton
@: Cyberella Studios
booking, info: cactuslist@hotmail.com
web: www.CactusPatch.net
DC-area power trio Cactus Patch’s full-length debut. Producers Brian Baker (ex-Minor Threat, Bad Religion) and Mark Thorp join the band in creating accessible, bass-driven indie alt.pop at times comparable to SR-71, the Smiths, Smashing Pumpkins and Jeff Buckley. Singer-guitarist-songwriter Vince Sheuerman has developed a mercurial crooning style, and the group play in absolute unity. The building bounce of “These Hands” and “Bloodshot Room” is unrestrained and irresistible, but the album’s soul is its dynamic progression from uptempo hooks to more moody songs. “Sally” tells the story of a girl gone too far off the path, and “Handful of Loneliness” is three minutes of desperation. Cactus Patch sets a golden standard for original songwriting and performance.
MUSHCUP
drained
[ monkey noise ]
>> guilty parties:
produced, engineered, mixed: Buzzy Beck
@: The Audio Loft, Ambridge PA
doll & blood engineering: Brian Steff
legal representation: A.L. Steff, Jr.
management & booking: 724.891.4645
CD brought to you by: the letters D and V
e-mail: mushcup@hotmail.com
web: www.mushcup.com
Pittsburgh’s Mushcup enter the rap-rock sweepstakes, emphasis on the rock. Turtablist E.N. 4000 works the samples and keeps the art of scratching alive. But it’s Brian and Shaun’s twin-guitar attack that fuel the disc, and at the end of the day, Mushcup may be closer to early Guns & Roses than they are to Limp Bizkit. The six players pound out six songs, probably the most representative of which is “Wasted.” Bassist Scotty D and drummer Lusty Justy get a piledriver groove going while Kaos delivers rap and metal vocals with equally aggressive assurance. Buy a copy, but don’t tape it for your friends — “Unauthorized duplication is grounds for a severe beating.”
THE SOUND OF URCHIN
the jack and diane e.p.
[ RCA ]
>> Urchins ‘n ‘nat:
produced, engineered, mixed: Keith Cleversley
@: The Playground, Chicago IL
mastered: Greg Calbi
@: Sterling Sound, NYC
management: Rick Smith, Wild Justice Management
phone: 248.358.5818
booking: Matt Hickey, matt@highroadtouring.com
e-mail: stevenrecs@yahoo.com
web: www.SoundOfUrchin.com
NYC super-rock quartet Sound of Urchin are equally likely to make you shake your ass, laugh or bang your head. Producer Keith Cleversley (Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, Hum) helps make it happen. “Jack and Diane Part 2” is all groove. Wailing-guitar classic rock filtered through the New York underground, “Carbondale” and “In Between” show that the band can reign it in as well as they go over the top. And go over the top they do. “The Heater” is an un-song of a monster riff and beat, barely drowning out manic screaming by singer-drummer-songwriter Tomato11. With a full-length album due in January, Urchin’s latest EP is an appetizer that will leave you hungry for more.
Bands! for best results, send CD/demo packages to all three Unsung Hero offices:
#1) UHero, c/o Pix, 116 Carlisle St., Gettysburg, PA 17325
#2) UHero, c/o pix, 12416 El Segunda • Suite 202, Lusby, MD 20657
#3) UHero, c/o Pix, P.O. Box 4024, Crofton, MD, 21114
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FRONTLINES DISC REVIEWS
bis • return to central
captain jack • nowhere fast
coo cool cal • disturbed
ned's atomic dustbin • one more no more
sage francis • sick of waiting tables
BIS
return to central
[ spinART ]
hyper kids gracefully enter their mid 20s
Alumni of the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label, the Scottish trio Bis were once hyperactive wünderkinds with the frenetic energy of Fraggles. Their smart initial efforts deserve the title “punk pop” better than any of the guitar-driven bands associated with the term. Firmly rooted in 80s synth pop, Bis’ fourth release is an electronica album entirely unlike their early releases. The disc has plenty of very good Depeche Mode songs. “Waiting” feature a dead-on Martin Gore vocals, and “Silver Spoon” isn’t far from Dave Gahan. Tracks with vocals by Amanda make the album contemporary and relevant. The irresistible “Protection” straddles the tempo line between pogo and dance. And despite ravey touches in “We’re Complicated,” the disc closes with the zero-gravity trip pop “A Portrait from Space,” suggesting that even the danceable songs might be intended for the armchair-headphones crowd. This one’s not for the kids, but then again, Bis aren’t kids any more.
[ www.bisnation.com ]
CAPTAIN JACK
nowhere fast
[ fall records ]
bass-driven punk pop high in variety
A highly energetic mix of punk pop, Captain Jack’ s Nowhere Fast sees the band craft smart and catchy songs while remaining true to their punk roots, evoking standouts such as the Smoking Popes and Hüsker Dü. The first half of the album sees guitar take a back seat to the drums and bass, the workaday rhythm section hammering out fast and catchy beats while the guitar complements the two with a ska flavor. The band blaze from song to song, keeping tempos up through the album. Halfway through the album, the band slightly shifts gears. The guitarist taps his distortion pedal and gives the band a slightly harder edge like less fierce Hüsker. The band’s simple approach to their music keeps it fresh and free flowing, and the album never bogs down or becomes repetitive.
[ www.captainjackmusic.com ]
COO COO CAL
disturbed
[ tommy boy ]
the dirty north
The Dirty South has been thoroughly strip-mined of its hip-hop talent, and until screwed catches on, the industry is turning to fresh territory. Coo Coo Cal hails from Milwaukee, where a hybrid style of East, West and South has developed. And while none of it emerges as stunningly original, he has plenty to work with. Bigg Hank handles the lion’s share of the production, mixing chilly East-Coast keyboard-note loops with West-Coast bounce beats. The pattern for the derivative disc becomes evident by “How Does It Feel to Ya.” The track updates G-funk by tapping Earth, Wind and Fire’s 80s faux funk. If the joys of riding and the difficulties of keepin’ it real in the ghetto are still intriguing subjects, and the perils of player hation remain unclear, let Coo Coo Cal’s encyclopedic big ball of hip hop be your study guide.
NED'S ATOMIC DUSTBIN
one more no more
[ gig ]
legendary buzz band return for a real live one
I’m still pissed at the former roommate that stole my copy of Godfodder, the first of three albums from Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. He stole the 1991 release, I’m sure, just for the hit single, “Grey Cell Green,” listened to it a few times, and passed it along to one of his friends. I barely had the disc long enough to realize that, despite the technicality that Ned’s only scored one big hit, the band were no one- or two- or three- hit wonder. Despite their permanent status as an buzz band, the collective media never really embraced their next two albums or next nine singles. The band faded away by the late 90s, but have perennially reunited. Recorded last year in Britain, One More: No More collects a set of tight, glorious versions of most of the singles. The material sounds better today than it did a decade ago.
[ www.nedsatomicdustbin.com ]
SAGE FRANCIS
sick of waiting tables
[ strange famous ]
one-disc boxed set from
rising underground MC and company
It used to be that artists dropped collections of demos and B-sides after they had at least one well-received album under their belt. Sage Francis’s second 80-minute continuous mix of studio nuggets, lengthy radio freestyles and live cuts arrives as the New England-based white MC inches toward his debut proper, slated for the San Francisco alt.hip hop stronghold Anticon. Highlighting his considerable body of work independent of that label, the disc summarizes Sage's past and hints at his future. In “I Apologize” Sage disses full-time suckas as Sole summarizes the high hopes the artist and his accumulating fans have for the next disc: “It’s the return of the boom bap / Trying to pick up where your favorite rappers fell off.” Another two dozen of Sage’s running buddies represent, and that nearly unbroken string of guest appearances are the tale of the tape: Pound for pound, Sick of Waiting Tables has less solo Sage than its predecessor, last year’s Still Sick anthology — but the disc is still pretty ill.
[ www.non-prophets.com ]
Frontlines Disc Reviews
UHero • 12416 El Segunda • Suite 202
Lusby, MD 20657
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