Category Archives: cd

Good Charlotte Cardiology CD *w/Signed Cover & Free Tattoo*

*LIMITED EXCLUSIVE OFFER – INCLUDES A SIGNED COVER OF THE ALBUM AS WELL AS A FREE TATTOO.*


Buy it here!
  Rock sensations Good Charlotte return with their highly anticipated fifth album Cardiology almost exactly 10 years after their self-titled debut put them on the map as one of the most exciting bands of the decade. Originally formed as a pop-punk band in Waldorf, Maryland, in 1996, Good Charlotte – vocalist Joel Madden, his identical twin brother guitarist Benji Madden, guitarist Billy Martin, bassist Paul Thomas and the latest edition, drummer Dean Butterworth – have sold over 10 million records and penned countless mainstream radio hits such as “The Anthem,” “Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous”, “Hold On” and now from Cardiology, “Like It’s Her Birthday”.

Good Charlotte is a band who have constantly reinvented themselves and refused to limit their potential. This adventurous musical persona continues with Cardiology, an album that features everything from the dance floor-friendly first single “Like It’s Her Birthday” to future anthems such as “Silverscreen Romance”, “Sex On The Radio” and “Last Night” all whilst effortlessly retaining their signature sound in the process. The album also manages to work in elements from throughout the band’s classic catalogue to create a work that simultaneously summarises what Good Charlotte are all about and hints at where they are headed in the future.

Track Listing
1. Introduction To Cardiology
2. Let The Music Play
3. Counting The Days
4. Silver Screen Romance
5. Like It’s Her Birthday
6. Last Night
7. Sex On The Radio
8. Alive
9. Standing Ovation
10.Harlow’s Song (Can’t Dream Without You)
11.Interlude: The Fifth Chamber
12.1979
13.There She Goes
14.Right Where I Belong
15.Cardiology

Buy this LIMITED EXCLUSIVE OFFER Good Charlotte Cardiology CD *w/Signed Cover & Free Tattoo* here!

Bad Religion – “The Dissent of Man” – LP Review

Review: Lana Harris


Bad Religion
  It’s too easy to gloss over the name Bad Religion, tossing it quickly into the punk rock basket without thinking about semantics. Maybe it’s because the band has been around since forever (well, 1979) their name synonymous with punk and early influences and just ‘there’. But Bad Religion’s latest offering, The Dissent of Man, has a hard-to-miss lyrical focus on biblical styled topics across several of the tracks.

There are references to judgement day, evil, famine and plague (‘Only Rain’), Jesus and his impartial workings (‘Won’t Somebody’) and angels, devils and hallelujah (‘The Devil in Stiches’). These Christian references are the band’s way of exploring concepts

of freedom or the lack thereof, religion being a convenient metaphor when describing struggles around emancipation. Apart from the religion-as-oppressor imagery, the band’s lyrics have plenty of references to truth, lies and other social conventions which no decent punk rock act’s repertoire should be without.

The first few tracks on The Dissent of Man are stock Bad Religion songs, punk and energetic and immediately displaying the quality and technical skills that have seen the band last as long as they have. Opener ‘The Day that the Earth Stalled’ powers relentlessly along before bursting into a strong finish. ‘Only Rain’ moves fast with a strong chorus hook and ‘The Resist Stance’ lets loose in a blast of epic riffage. It is easily the catchiest song on the album. The tempo then drops a couple of notches with ‘Won’t Somebody’ and ‘The Devil in Stitches’ (first single). These tracks are quite melodic, a bit slower and more on the rock side of punk rock. ‘Pride and the Pallor’ introduces another wave of fast moving guitars that lasts for five powerful and compact songs before the speed is arrested with ‘Cyanide’. ‘Cyanide’ is melodic, a poppy anomaly only lightly tinged with rock and with a chorus line of ‘missing you is like kissing…’ inciting a bout of heavy cringing until the final word ‘cyanide’, which saves the line.

A lighter pace and sound continues for the rest of the album. ‘Where the Fun Is’ is the album’s nadir, disappointingly lacklustre considering its title. All the later tracks seem to be experiments in expanding what is traditionally considered the Bad Religion sound. This was an unexpected turn, but the songs do demonstrate the strength of Bad Religion as a band. All tracks on The Dissent of Man, regardless of style, are well executed. The only faults that can be placed on the songs are in regards to the personal preferences as a listener and expectations of Bad Religion as a band, and nothing to do with playing or song crafting abilities. The Dissent of Man has some new elements and some old, but all of the tracks demonstrate Bad Religion is a band who knows how to play.

The Dissent of Man (Deluxe Version) - Bad ReligionThe Dissent of Man (Deluxe Version) – Bad Religion


Related –
More articles by Lana Harris:
* Weezer “Hurley” – LP Review
* Soilwork “The Panic Broadcast” – LP Review
* Danza Contemporanea De Cuba @ The Playhouse (Brisbane Festival), 15th September 2010 – Live Review
* Polarity @ The Judith Wright Centre, Brisbane 13th September 2010 – Live Review
* Betrayal @ The Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane 10th September 2010 – Live Review
* Crow “Arcane” – LP Review
* Search for more article by this author…


Infected from Bad Religion on Vimeo.

Bring Me the Horizon “There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret” – CD Review

Review: Ben Hosking
Bring Me the Horizon (BMTH) have divided opinions since their arrival on the scene with 2006’s ‘Count Your Blessings’. While they certainly have their legion of fans – as evidenced by their recent chart success here in Australia – many more have been very vocal about their ‘hate’ for the Sheffield, England quintet.

2008’s ‘Suicide Season’ did well to win over some of the haters with its focused deathcore approach. However, it will be their newest release ‘There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret’ that will turn the tide for BMTH.

Only young tykes when they started, BMTH have clearly done some growing in the intervening six years. The addition of Jona Weinhofen (Bleeding Through) on guitars, backing vocals, keys and programming in 2009 has also brought a welcome intricacy and depth to their sound.
Continue reading Bring Me the Horizon “There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret” – CD Review

Interpol “Interpol” – Album Review

Review: Kenada Quinlan


Interpol - InterpolInterpol – Interpol
  Established in 1997 and with only 4 albums under their belt to date, Interpol have decided to go it alone for the self-released and self-titled 2010 offering. Kick starting with ‘Success’, the New York based quartet delightfully introduce their brand of Indie that over the years has refused to shift in any fashionable sense.

The next step of ‘Memory Serves’ is an atmospheric, thumping masterpiece that captures loneliness and loss with beauty and an infectious groove. The vocal line “You don’t have say that you’d love to – but baby please that you want to – some day…” resonating far passed the song’s inception.

The off-kilter latter beats of this composition making way for ‘Summer Well’ – a more spritely drum and piano medley. Breaking into an uplifting yet damning verse of harmonies, vocalist Paul Banks inviting drones raise precisely on time for a hop, skip and jump to graceful emotional ruin.
Continue reading Interpol “Interpol” – Album Review

BRING ME THE HORIZON DEBUTS AT #1 ON ARIA CHARTS


ThereBring Me the Horizon
  In an industry where times are tough and naysayers are plentiful, Shock Records has recently seen stalwart acts, defiant of trends and gimmicks rise to the forefront. Just three months ago Byron Bay band Parkway Drive stormed the ARIA charts to arrive at a number two debut. To many it was an unexpected ambush but at Shock we have no reservations about the power of the punk/hardcore releases that we have become so well known for.

Continue reading BRING ME THE HORIZON DEBUTS AT #1 ON ARIA CHARTS

John Legend featuring The Roots “Wake Up” – Album Review

Review: Jose Eduardo Cruz
One of the most powerful mediums to communicate the general condition of your immediate world is art. Art takes on different forms and its success will ultimately be determined by its public appeal or lack thereof. Art layered with social commentary has the ability to influence public opinion. For example, the Hope stencil piece created during the Obama presidential campaign in 2008.

African American history shows that black artists have had the ability to create transcendent music inspired by their surroundings and relevant political climate. Such music was prevalent during the 60’s and 70’s in response to the civil rights movement and Vietnam War respectively.
Continue reading John Legend featuring The Roots “Wake Up” – Album Review

Weezer “Hurley” – LP Review


Review: Lana Harris


BUY CD HERE
  Weezer have been around for a long time now. Their unique geek alt rock sound first surfaced in the nineties, when they experienced their peaks of mainstream success with the albums Weezer (1994) and Pinkerton (1996). Since then, they’ve copped a lot of flak regarding their direction and style, with one fan offering them $10 million for the band to not make another record. The band’s response? Up it to $20 mil and we’re in. Like all bands with a distinctive ‘sound’, there’ll always be criticisms when the group evolves. Perhaps it might be expected after coming up to two decades of existence with an image and lyrics that played on the innocent awkwardness of early adulthood?

Continue reading Weezer “Hurley” – LP Review

Rocketsmiths “The Bones” – Album Review

Review: Victoria Nugent

  The Bones by Brisbane band The Rocketsmiths is relentlessly, unashamedly rock with edgy guitars, and taut vocals by the bucket load. These guys have been described as vaudevillian rock, and there’s a definite hint at the weird and wacky in their songs.

The first track of the album is Monster Part 1, which features some dark riffs, a catchy beat, wailing vocals, and great dynamics, switching from loud to soft throughout the song.

This song is followed up with a later track on the album called “Monster Parts 2 &3”, and starts off with eerie organ, echoing vocals and a tempo that steadily gets faster, before breaking into edgy riffs and screaming vocals.
Continue reading Rocketsmiths “The Bones” – Album Review

Nick Batterham [Self Titled] – Single Review

Review: Victoria Nugent

 


Second Lovers
This unnamed single is intended as a taste of Nick Batterham’s debut solo album Second Lovers due out in October, and it shows a skilled collection of laidback folk from the singer songwriter.

Batterham is a former member of Blindside and The Earthmen, and in more recent years has been doing sound design, producing music for film and TV and playing guitar for Cordrazine.

The disc kicks off with ‘Dragonfly’, a melodic folk tune with simplistic lyrics and gentle acoustic guitar. ‘From Now On’ starts with a slow piano intro, with husky,

slightly gravelly vocals giving the song a melancholic feel. The occasional chime of bells adds to the atmosphere, as does the addition of slightly seventies sounding electric guitar.
Continue reading Nick Batterham [Self Titled] – Single Review

Nicholas Roy “In A Shoebox Under The Bed” – LP Review

Review: Ben Connolly


In a Shoebox Under the Bed - Nicholas RoyNicholas Roy
  It’s a great romantic ideal, isn’t it? A fresh-faced boy with a heart of gold, a far-away stare and a modicum of musical ability notches up a home recording completed in his dreary Melbourne abode. Everything about it screams eyes-rolling type cliche, that we’ve read the story a million times to know it backwards and that nothing new or exciting can ever come out of that set up again. But that’s exactly what Melbourne lad Nicholas Roy has attempted in his first long player Nicholas Roy, released in August through indie label Little Tribe. And it’s a solid effort which manages to take a slightly different route than the troubled singer-songwriter path, but has it worked?

Continue reading Nicholas Roy “In A Shoebox Under The Bed” – LP Review

Blame Ringo “In A Hurricane” – Single Review

Review: Ben Connolly
Brisbane band Blame Ringo is a band steeped in its own curio past, to the point of it almost being written off as a comic band. The name itself, and the mileage the group got over the official rebuke from Ringo Starr over its previous name, set it up early on as a tongue-in-cheek piss-take. They followed that through with curious film clip for single “Garble Arch” off its first long player – which became a bona fide Youtube viral phenomena – and then a cute tour concept of playing in laundromats; an audience would be forgiven for thinking this band’s interest was firmly in taking the mickey, rather than solid songwriting. And there would be nothing wrong with that; there are plenty of decent and long-lived acts in this land and abroad who could stake their claim firmly in piss-takery, whilst still holding credible assertions of musicianship (think The Fauves, TISM or, further afield, The Duckworth Lewis Method).
Continue reading Blame Ringo “In A Hurricane” – Single Review

Filter “The Trouble with Angels” – CD Review

Review: Ben Hosking

  At least in this country, Filter has never attained the level of success that they deserve. Besides a couple of chart-bothering flirtations with tracks like ‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’ and ‘Take a Picture’ way back in the mid-to-late 1990s, Richard Patrick and company have travelled unfairly under the radar. Hopefully the Cleveland, Ohio group’s luck will change with the release of their fifth studio album, The Trouble with Angels.

For those not familiar with Richard Patrick’s talent, take note: he began his professional career with industrial genius Trent Reznor as a touring guitarist

with Nine inch Nails between 1989 and 1993. After this he started Filter in 1995; Patrick’s bread and butter ever since – although certainly not his only musical preoccupation.
Continue reading Filter “The Trouble with Angels” – CD Review

Soilwork “The Panic Broadcast” – LP Review

Review: Lana Harris


SoilworkSoilwork
  Helsingborg? Where the Helsingborg is that? Turns out this Swedish town is the fertile ground where Soilwork first plied their craft. Soilwork (both the name and the band’s philosophy) represents commitment and determination. Building from the roots of things and seeing them through to fruition via a lot of hard work. More of a biologically based metaphor than the grave digging that initially came to mind when the name ‘Soilwork’ is heard in connection with the words ‘death metal’.

The Panic Broadcast represents Soilwork’s eighth album and is a lesson to others in how to keep the momentum up after several releases. The energy presented could have it confused with an early career offering but the song structure and quality belies the truth: this is a band with extensive

experience in song craft, especially from singer and founding member Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid.
Continue reading Soilwork “The Panic Broadcast” – LP Review

Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele – EP Review

Review: Natalie Salvo

There are some people out there who’d readily agree that the words “Radiohead” and ukulele should never be uttered in the same sentence. Not so if you’re Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn fame. There was the potential for Palmer’s covers EP to be career suicide or simply oh-so-bad as diehard purists murmur things about sacred cows and masterpieces best left untouched but in her hands it is simply a collection reflecting her own effervescent personality – it’s full of theatrics, a DIY attitude and is brimming with creativity.

It is fitting that this is also Palmer’s first release after a less than amicable split with her record label. She adopted a Radiohead-esque user-pays-what-they-like system (save the 84 cent donation to cover administrative costs like filling Radiohead and PayPal’s coffers). But ultimately Palmer is the one that’s laughing after selling $15,000 worth of merchandise in the first three minutes of sale, in what was a perfect way to stick it to the former label and celebrate her newfound freedom and independence.
Continue reading Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele – EP Review