Doug - Addison

04/05/05 Doug Shingler
Flesh For Lulu - Long Live The New Flesh (remastered)
Think solo Paul Westerberg backed by Flodland-era Sisters of Mercy. They had a minor hit in the 80‘s with the song “I Go Crazy“ when it was featured in the John Hughes movie “Some Kind Of Wonderful“. Finally this lost gem receives the Expanded, Remastered attention it deserves. Paul Westerberg even covered one of the tunes off this album for his Stereo/Mono effort. This is a must-have for you 80‘s-philes.

02/16/05 Doug Shingler
Tommy Stinson - Village Gorilla Head
While the following suggestion certainly sounds far more ominous than intended, one gets the feeling that hanging out with Axl Rose has started to rub off on Tommy Stinson. The former Replacements bassist has been a member of the Chinese Democracy-era edition of Guns N‘ Roses for a few years at this writing, and just as Rose seems oddly intent upon beating all the rock & roll fun out of his brave new version of G n‘ R, Stinson‘s first proper solo album, Village Gorilla Head, is significantly short on the rave-up excitement and loopy enthusiasm of his earlier sets with Bash & Pop and Perfect. Which isn‘t to say that Stinson has completely lost his sense of humor or his inclinations toward straight-ahead rock & roll - just check out the Stones-style raunch of “Motivation“ and “Something‘s Wrong,“ the ace Ronnie Lane lift of “Hey You,“ and the onslaught of attitudinal snot of “Bite Your Tongue“ and you‘ll get some much needed reassurance about the state of Stinson‘s abilities. But the electro-processed spookiness of “Without a View“ and the title track suggest he‘s been listening to trip hop without really figuring how to do it himself, “Couldn‘t Wait“ is blunt hard rock lacking in both hooks and swing, and most of the cuts on this album lack a much-needed élan - the songs are solid, the playing is great, but there‘s a certain sweat-inducing passion that‘s in unfortunately short supply. There‘s just enough good stuff on Village Gorilla Head to remind listeners of the scruffy kid with the flawless rock instincts they knew as Tommy Stinson, but at the same time there‘s a bunch of stuff suggesting that maturity and a more serious outlook are taking a toll upon him. Here‘s some advice: less Guns N‘ Roses, more Minus 5 in your musical diet, Tommy.

08/23/04 Doug
Bad Religion - The Empire Strikes First
I must say that when I first heard this newest disc from this classic SoCal punk band, I was less than impressed. But, with repeated listens, it has totally gotten me excited about guitar rock again. It has such a powerful 3-pronged guitar punch courtesy of Greg Hetson (also of circle jerks fame), Brian Baker (from minor threat, dag nasty and who could forget junkyard). And rounding out the triple attack is Mr. Brett (Gurewitz). Mr Brett quit the band about 7 years ago to fully devote his time to running his label, Epitaph. (not to mention: kicking a heroin addiction. ouch!). This one is a fully realized slab of punk fury that you can actually whistle along to. Especially the tune “L.A. Is Burning“. This is for fans of the “Stranger Than Fiction“ era of the band. And Greg Graffin‘s Lyric‘s are as intelligent and biting as ever. Purchase this now. It is punk rock for the discerning listener.

07/19/04 Doug
MONEEN - Are we really happy with who we are right now?
On its Vagrant debut, the Toronto quartet Moneen more fully indulges its mixture of emo dynamics with ambitious math rock songscapes. Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now? really reminds me of scrappy garage rockers like soul asylum‘s early days or early replacements with higher vocals and sappier lyrics. As everyone I work with has pointed out: This is by-the-books PAB rock, which is its own genre. For fans of Alkaline Trio, Soul Asylum and Promise Ring.

06/21/04 Doug
Amen - Death before Musick
New label, new band members, same hard-edged attitude. Casey Chaos has definitely been studying the work of Ian MacKaye and his band Fugazi. Chaos strikes a similar vocal inflection, while not sounding contrived. This is a must have killer album. It is revolution with a melody.

06/14/04 Doug
Grant Lee Buffalo - Storm Hymnal
Storm Hymnal culls selected tracks from Grant Lee Buffalo‘s four studio albums on one disc, with rarities, alternate takes, and B-sides assembled on a second disc. The first disc functions as a sort of greatest-hits, and the band‘s two best known songs are included,“Fuzzy“ (their debut single), and “Mockingbirds,“ arguably their finest moment. The rarities on Disc Two are sequenced well, and they play like an autumnal statement from the group, who split in 1999. Highlights from the rarities disc include lead singer Grant Lee Phillips‘ John Lennon-esque vocal on“Goodnight John Dee,“ and the R.E.M.-sounding “Halloween,“ a song for the late River Phoenix.

05/3/04 Doug
Bad Religion - Suffer
Always caring more about song craft than aggression, Bad Religion basically created So-Cal melodic punk/hardcore and without them, bands like AFI and Pennywise would simply not exist. Their sound, at the time, was totally unique. They managed to incorporate melodies and pop sensibilities with hyper-intelligent sociopolitical lyrics and blistering hardcore tempos. The result was divine, and it is shown in all its glory on Suffer, the best and quintessential Bad Religion record.
The album starts off with “You are (the government)“ and doesn‘t slow down from there. Tracks like “1000 more fools“, “Suffer“, “When?“, and “Do what you want“ will keep you coming back to Suffer for more. Bad Religion (and this album), as suggested in my title, are what I like to call the perfect median between pop-punk and hardcore. If you like Black Flag and Minor Threat, you‘ll like this (unless you‘re a die-hard hardcore fan and don‘t like anything more melodic and “softer“ than the aforementioned). At the same time, if you like Millencolin, NOFX, and other 90s pop-punk bands, you‘ll like this (unless you really, really like that “funny“ punk or songs about girls). Personally, I can‘t stand any 90s pop-punk, but I‘d assume that Suffer is something that a fan of it will like. This is an extremely accessible album, but, at the same time, never gets old. At first listen, the songs tend to all sound the same (a problem with practically all Bad Religion albums), but after you listen to it more, it really grows on you and you‘ll become addicted (to satisfy the addiction, you should definitely pick up No Control, their 2nd best).

05/10/04 Doug
East River Pipe - Garbageheads on Endless Stun
East River Pipe is a one man band consisting of F.M. Cornog. He was actually a homeless man at one point and sleeping in a Hoboken train station. He eventually got discovered and brought his subdued, beautiful melodies to the masses. This is for fans of Postal Service, Smog or the more mellow moments of Guided By Voices. There is a lot of orchestral moments and a lo-fi feel in other parts. I can‘t stop listening to it.

03/2/04 Doug
Starsailor - Silence is easy
After the first album, “love is here“, I had dismissed them as a not-so-killer coldplay rip-off, who in turn are a Travis rip-off who in turn are a radiohead rip-off. But this album, which is killer, totally changed my opinion of starsailor. A lot more killer electric guitar, killer chugging rhythms, and vocalist James Walsh has come to show how killer he is. Killer tunes like “fidelity“, “music was saved“, and the ultra-killer title track make this a must have killer collection full of killer tunes from killer start to killer finish.