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03/9/04 Salim
Candy Butchers - Hang On Mike (RPM/Sony)
New York based Candy Butchers‘ third full-length release, HANG ON MIKE, brings an intense leap forward in leader Mike Viola‘s songwriting evolution and lyrical expression. Shucking vague metaphor, polished production and easy electric fuzz, the record delves brazenly and deeply - perhaps too deeply - into Viola‘s life as a struggling musician. From the joys that stand through time and trial (“What To Do With Michael“, “Kiss Alive II“) to pain and disappointment that can never truly leave “Painkillers“, “Superkid“).Baring one‘s life so nakedly to strangers is a task that requires either great insanity or great courage. Both are readily apparent on this album, backed by a band consisting of longtime friends and musical companions. (Most noteably Pete Donnelly and Mike Gent from The Figgs). There are some frightening, dark valleys here, as well as shining peaks, but through it all you can hear and feel the love that pervades both the music and the life on display.
Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers have assembled a rare thing: a record that is incontrovertibly true to itself. It recalls pop greats like the Beatles, Costello and Squeeze but stands on its own as a truly original work because Viola‘s songs capture his own life in such an affecting manner. This is already one of my favorite albums of 2004 and a must buy for anyone who loves ‘Beatlesque‘ pop music. Go buy it NOW!

03/29/04 Salim
Faris Nourallah - Problematico (western vinyl 2003)
The best thing about Faris is his ability to write songs that sound like something you might have heard before but end up being almost totally original. They stick with you for days and take over the involuntary, humming portions of your brain with ease. Case in point: “A Day to Remember,“ which is a bouncy sing-along with serious undertones that truly stake its claim on the chord-changing, brain-hooking turns that end each verse. “I Know Your Name“ could have been written by any number of pop-song masters - it sounds like a French band playing on the banks of the Seine. Fact is, it all comes from Faris‘ over-abundant imagination. He has the sound of a home-trained savant, the kind of guy who just picks up a guitar and discovers that writing catchy songs comes as naturally to him as breathing. Many of the vocals on this record bear more than a slight resemblance to the Davies‘ brothers. The title track “Problematico“ is the best song Ray Davies never wrote with its
“I‘m all right“ chorus and supercool, effortless bridge. Great sarcastic lyrics too!! The melodies and 60‘s pop production are bound to appeal mainly to indie pop fans of Belle and Sebastian, the Shins and Elliott Smith. Problematico is a fun, bouncy album that will brighten up the darkest night.

02/16/04 Salim
LIBERTINES - UP THE BRACKET
“If you‘ve lost your faith in love and music, the end won‘t be long,“ slurs Libertines singer Pete Doherty in his cigarettes-and-alcohol Cockney rasp on “Good Old Days,“ the 11th track off his London four-piece‘s full-length debut, Up The Bracket. But his warning is wholly unnecessary, as it‘s impossible to imagine anyone who‘s just listened to tracks 1 through 10--from the vaudevillian shuffle of the jazz-scatty “Vertigo“ and “Death On The Stairs“ to the pogo-punk of “Horrorshow“ and “Time For Heroes“; from the marching-band/sea-shanty swagger of “Boys In The Band“ to the effervescently Clash-y title track; from the ragged country waltz of “Radio America“ to the truly unhinged, bar-brawling beautiful mess that is “The Boy Looked At Johnny“--losing faith in rock ‘n‘ roll, period. Yes, the Libertines are that good--despite their best efforts to muck up their shambolic sound with sloppily shouty or mushmouthed vocals that make Shane MacGowan sound like Henry Higgins, more time changes than a transatlantic flight, and a mish-mash of enough seemingly disparate musical styles to drive the listener look for “kitchen sink“ among the album sleeve‘s listing of recording equipment. The group‘s innate intelligence and almost shocking ability to forge something new and thrilling out of typical garage-rock influences (usual suspects like the Jam, Kinks, Who, and Pistols, with a bit of the LA‘s/Smiths-style brit-pop tossed in to ensure this disc‘s perennial popularity at drunken parties) always shines brightly through the thick Guinness fog. Living Clash legend Mick Jones produced it, and by the time the Libertines tear into their aggressively celebratory, knee-slapping album coda, “I Get Along,“ one can practically hear him passing the torch into their grubby little hands.