{"id":13262,"date":"2017-01-18T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T17:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=13262"},"modified":"2017-01-18T12:14:26","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T20:14:26","slug":"new-music-revue-beachheads-louise-burns-khodara-terrifier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2017\/01\/18\/new-music-revue-beachheads-louise-burns-khodara-terrifier\/","title":{"rendered":"New Music Revue<\/em>: Beachheads, Louise Burns, Khodara, Terrifier"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Beachheads
\nBeachheads
\n<\/i>(Fysisk Format)
\n2\/5<\/p>\n

Norway\u2019s Beachheads are best known for having members of metal band Kvelertak in their ranks, but here on their debut album they veer far away from metal. Heavily influenced by power-pop bands of yesteryear, the band shows potential but is dragged down by mostly depressing lyrics and songs that just sound too much alike.<\/p>\n

Opening track \u201cMoment of Truth\u201d features fervent power chords that are almost indistinguishable from the second track, \u201cBreak Me Down,\u201d which sounds like the third track, and so on. Most of the album continues in this vein with a few exceptions.<\/p>\n

Things don\u2019t really change until halfway through the album, when the band channels one of their major influences, Teenage Fanclub, on \u201cGive Me Some Love\u201d\u2014so much so that it actually sounds a bit like Teenage Fanclub\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m In Love,\u201d which came out just a few months ago. While Beachheads may not have even heard this track when recording this album, the influence of their muses is certainly evident.<\/p>\n

The band says they\u2019re influenced by trailblazing punks H\u00fcsker D\u00fc, but this doesn\u2019t help the album become its own creature. For any band to really stand out, they need to discover their own sound, even if they\u2019re trying to capture the sound of a particular genre. It\u2019s not enough to imitate one\u2019s heroes, especially when Beachheads clearly have the talent to play and write very earnest and heartfelt lyrics about love and loss.<\/p>\n

These songs could be really good if the band had spent a little more time finding sounds that match the emotions they are trying to convey rather than forcing their lyrics to fit music they want to play. Hopefully Beachheads will find its own voice soon, instead of relying too heavily on those of the past.<\/p>\n

-Patrick Newman<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Louise Burns
\nYoung Mopes
\n<\/i>(Light Organ Records)
\n2\/5<\/p>\n

Even though she\u2019s been involved in the music industry for nearly two decades, the sound Louise Burns has chosen for her latest LP, Young Mopes<\/i>, doesn\u2019t feel quite right. It\u2019s fun and upbeat, with some meaning and emotion mixed in, but something\u2019s off.<\/p>\n

The album feels too forced, too busy, and a little too \u201980s. Burns\u2019 voice is beautiful and unique but is consistently drowned out by the raucous instrumentation and persistent, rude percussion.<\/p>\n

Young Mopes<\/i> does, however, have some high points. The brave mixture of pop\/rock with some country gives it flair, and Burns is a skilled lyricist. Also, the title track, despite having the same problems as every other song here, manages to break from its instrumental fetters and run free.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s hope that for her next album Burns will drain out some of the background noise and really let herself rise.<\/p>\n

-Jayden Grieve<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Khodara
\nWhere\u2019s Your Love
\n<\/i>(Independent)
\n3\/5<\/p>\n

Khodara showcases her beautiful, soulful voice on her self-produced debut EP. Even though it\u2019s her debut, she\u2019s got some experience behind her: she trained in Rome, where she sang for two popes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Your Love\u201d is a disco-pop track that recalls the Donna Summer and Diana Ross sound of the late \u201970s but showcases Khodara\u2019s voice in a way that makes it more homage than derivative. \u201cSee You Later\u201d is a dreamy little number that deserves to find a home on radio. \u201cTrees\u201d is smooth and sultry, while \u201cMagic\u201d closes things out on an upbeat note.<\/p>\n

One can only imagine how hard it is to find your own place in pop music, and very few will ever be able to make it to the top no matter how talented they are. Khodara is talented, and it will be interesting to see what she could do with big production behind her.<\/p>\n

-Patrick Newman<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Terrifier
\nWeapons of Thrash Destruction
\n<\/i>(Test Your Metal Records)
\n2.5\/5<\/p>\n

\u201cFine\u201d\u2014that\u2019s the word that comes to mind when listening to Weapons of Thrash Destruction<\/i>.<\/p>\n

As a thrash metal fan, my first thought on the opening track, \u201cReanimator,\u201d was that it was awesome, with classic thrash characteristics at play. The vocals are stellar, the guitar riffs the musical definition of beauty.<\/p>\n

But as the album wore on through tracks like \u201cViolent Reprisal,\u201d I literally had to check what I was listening to because it sounded so similar to other songs on the album or to other thrash bands. \u201cBestial Tyranny,\u201d however, is a fresh song, with vocals that are not overpowering and that shed light on the band\u2019s other talents.<\/p>\n

The talent is there, but the choice in composition felt a little on the lazy side, with the riffs and hoarse thrash vocals too repetitive. Every few songs they bring in an original sound, which shows promise but for now results in the tip-of-the-tongue feeling the album suffers from, never quite fully satisfying.<\/p>\n

-Adam Marsh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beachheads Beachheads (Fysisk Format) 2\/5 Norway\u2019s Beachheads are best known for having members of metal band Kvelertak in their ranks, but here on their debut album they veer far away from metal. Heavily influenced by power-pop bands of yesteryear, the band shows potential but is dragged down by mostly depressing lyrics and songs that just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,180],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-january-18-2017"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13267,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13262\/revisions\/13267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}