album reviews

The Scotch Greens
Professional
(Bass Tracks, 2006)

   The Scotch Greens prove with their latest album Professional that they are certified power-country, and working on obtaining their bachelors in punk.
   The Scotch Greens are trying to create a mix of classic American roots country-western and punk rock. Most bands that have mixed these genres end up with a neo-rockabilly or psychobilly sound. Most psychobilly bands start out with a punk rock base and add on country elements. The Scotch Greens sound like they have started out with country and added some crunchy power chord progressions and sped up finger picked guitar. What they have actually done is created a style of arena-rock country on speed.
   They use the classic-country narrative style and although there is more to offer than a busted up pick-up truck and a lost dog, their story-telling lacks substance or any sense for that matter. Instead of opting for simple lyrics full of the achy-breaky cowboy blues or prison-cell woes, they move more towards vague indy-style poetry. However, whatever the specific sub-genre of a band, if they fall under the wide spectrum of rock and roll, there is always the love ballad. The song that makes up for all of the bar fights and groupies. By following this trend, the Scotch Greens have, surprisingly, produced an endearing,    Oprah-worthy track titled “Deaf Girlfriend.” As the title suggests, the song is about the singer’s deaf girlfriend who comes to all the shows, knows all the songs and doesn’t care about the damage the sound system will do to her already fragile eardrums.
   The Scotch Greens make quite a few mistakes on this album. The biggest flub is “Drinkin By The River.” This track opens with an organ and sounds more like new wave or indy. The organ is probably supposed to bring a southern gospel quality to the song since the lyrics take on a sin-confessing, retrospective tone. The chorus is also sung in a harmonizing church choir way. This song could have worked, but they added a semi-ska beat on the guitar that clashes with the already off-key organ and ends up being a huge mess of sound.
   The problem with this album is that they failed to mix punk with country, which can be done and done very well. They failed because they assumed that by making their songs faster and throwing in some power chords it would make them punk.
-Megan Carneal mcarneal@mscd.edu

 

Azma
Thru My Eyez
(Cadava, 2006)

   (Cadava Records) Few have tried and even fewer succeeded in altering the way people perceive social conditions that affect the urban community. Now that stone monuments have replaced the likes of once influential activists, who will lead the way? Entertainers, of course! On his latest release, Thru My Eyez, Azma Holiday is to rap as Malxolm X is to revolution.
   He would likely take offense if ever referred to as an entertainer, and Azma Holiday, is in his own right, a modern day militant. With a powerful voice and a gift for imparting upon reality, Azma brings forth an intelligent blend of street principles and reveals political corruption without reinstating the age-old ‘blame The Man’ dialogue.
   Throughout the disc, production by Denver-based producer and emcee, Status, holds steady with Azma’s swift pace and compliments his powerful topics with dramatic pianos heavy bass, and weighty guitars. A consistently gloomy climate of musical tones joins Azma on nearly every track to create tension between vocals and production.
   ‘ Movin’ On’ features the mournful crooning of S. dot while a background Chinese guzheng makes for an interesting combination that strangely works. A once-through listening of the disc articulates Azma’s obvious frustration with local faux-rappers on ‘Drop Tracks’, his condemnation for black on black crime on ‘Lost In A Maze’, and his experience of systemic injustice on ‘Streetz’. A thorough listen expands the content ten fold as heard on    ‘Understand It’, which attacks the corporate built version of hip-hop culture and its propaganda of a fame and fortune-filled life in exchange for a catchy hook.
   While the central theme of the disc is a ‘this is how it is everyday’ dose of reality, Burnin’ Bridgez’ along with ‘The Letter’ are a distressing personal account of Azma’s own family’s fight against drug addiction. Though the 21-track album could unintentionally throw any listener into a bout of clinical depression, upbeat tracks like ‘Writa’ Man’, ‘Bad    MuthaF’ and ‘How It Was’ break up the melancholy and offer a well-merited dose of cheer and humor.
Simply put, Thru My Eyez is a Malcolm X oration put to wax. Throw on your all black ready for combat gear and head for the streets. From the opening ballad reminiscent of a slave song to the closing sample from soul singer Gil Scott-Heron,    Thru My Eyez is testament that the revolution is on its way.
   Thru My Eyez is available at Cigaretti’s, 1555 Champa Street. Several tracks are available for download on www.cadavarecords.com, and at www.myspace.com/azma1
-Celia Herrera cherre12@mscd.edu

 

From First To Last
Heroine
(Epitaph, 2005)

Attempting to be original is one thing; sucking at it is another. With their sophomore release, Heroine, From First to Last not only lacks the originality, but they lack talent. The album is trite, overdone and insipid.
From First to Last released their debut album, Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count, in 2004 and made a name for themselves as an inventive young new band. Their newest album, released in March, was their attempt to be truly cutting edge; however, it isn’t.
Sonny Moore’s whiny, shrill voice takes away from the entire album, which wouldn’t be half bad with a different singer. Each word that pours from Moore’s mouth induces a killer headache. His only redeeming quality is when he actually shuts up long enough for the music to shine through.
The lyrics are laughable. Moore attempts to be poetic and dreary, but the result is something a teenager would have written in their diary. “Waltz Moore” starts with, “I can’t eat anything without shoving my hands down my throat and I refuse to meet the world without smearing on makeup….” Later Moore sings, “I’m staring at the mirror looking back at the person I hate.” His angst lacks maturity.
The guitar work of Matt Good and Travis Richter is fast-paced and lively and makes the album a little more bearable. At times it can be infernal and dismal sounding, giving the album a metal quality. In “The Levy” Moore goes silent for a long musical interlude, allowing Good and Richter to let loose and wail playfully. The ending allows the drummer, Derek Bloom, to finally be heard. His intense drum beats complement the guitars. Unfortunately the ending is only a tease.
While pretty much all of the songs on the album are annoying, the opening track “Mothersound” is the worst. It has a gothic, grim sound to it. Moore shrieks and whines then breaks down into singing, “oh oh oh” for probably 30 seconds. The guitars and bass are barely audible and the drums don’t match the beat. Eventually the guitars kick in, bringing an ‘80s feel to the song, complete with the long, wailing guitar solo.
“ And We All Have a Hell” is one of the better songs on the album. The guitar solos excite the senses and the drums are danceable. Moore’s vocals are less strident and everything seems to actually make sense. Lyrically, the song isn’t particularly strong, but it doesn’t pretend to be poetry. It is straightforward and clear cut.
Between the wailing, whining and screaming the album lacks direction. The band could be quite impressive if they lost Moore as a singer and found someone capable of holding a solid tune.
From First to Last’s biggest problem is that they can’t decide if they want to be punk, emo, goth, hardcore or dance music. Their songs feature elements of each genre and they come off sounding like they are trying too hard. On the band’s Web site, Moore says the band is truly proud and impressed with this album, but more than likely they will be the only ones.
-Cassie Hood hoodc@mscd.edu