{"id":4700,"date":"2012-10-31T08:56:52","date_gmt":"2012-10-31T15:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=4700"},"modified":"2012-11-05T10:45:52","modified_gmt":"2012-11-05T18:45:52","slug":"new-music-review-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2012\/10\/31\/new-music-review-2\/","title":{"rendered":"New Music Revue<\/em>: October 31, 2012 issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

KISS<\/strong>
\nMonster
\n<\/em>(Universal Music)<\/strong>
\n4\/5\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rating a KISS record is sort of like rating your grandparents. What can you say? Everything\u2019s weird.<\/p>\n

Here, on their first studio album since no one really cares, the long-running pseudo-parody\/rock band lay down the goods with surprising authority. It\u2019s impressive that a band so out of touch with reality can release an album with a crashing, natural production sound and a legitimately boisterous attitude. Some of the tunes are reminiscent of their \u201970s heyday sound, which is good news for those worried the band would try more \u201cserious\u201d fare like lots of old bands do, and like KISS have tried in the past. Doesn\u2019t work. We want cock rock, and we got it.<\/p>\n

But, wait, do we want cock rock? Well, in a world full of whining, sniveling, post-Nickelback bullshit, mopey-man stop-crying-on-my-fucking-sleeve, Pearl Jam-were-best-when-Vedder-was-being-sensitive rubbish, I say, hell yeah we do. Enjoy life a bit.<\/p>\n

-Greg Pratt<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tusks<\/strong>
\n Total Entertainment
\n<\/em>(Static Clang)<\/strong>
\n 3\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t Canadian indie rock just make you want to kill? Like, vicious, relentless, killing? Taking scrawny dudes and turning them into men by killing people together? C\u2019mon, admit it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that Tusks mainman Samir Khan doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s doing: dude has been in Snailhouse, Kepler, and Weights & Measures. It\u2019s just that what he\u2019s doing is so goddamn fragile you just feel like someone has been suggesting they tickle you with a feather for half an hour after listening to Total Entertainment.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are good moments, though. The near doo-wop, \u201950s innocence of second cut \u201cOceans\u201d makes up for the fact that the first song on the album just went in one ear and out the other (the FIRST SONG!). \u201cNew To Old Money\u201d is what happens when Canadian indie rock is actually good, while \u201cWake them Up\u201d threatens to do just that with a shuffle step and hints of \u201970s rock sounds.<\/p>\n

-Greg Pratt<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

July Talk<\/strong>
\n July Talk
\n<\/em>(White Girl Records)<\/strong>
\n 3\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n

The self-titled first album from Toronto\u2019s July Talk isn\u2019t half bad. It\u2019s actually half good, then ends up leaving me wanting something more.<\/p>\n

As we listened to the first few songs my wife quipped, \u201cIt\u2019s as if Oscar the Grouch decided to make music with Zooey Deschanel.\u201d It\u2019s a gritty, gravelly Tom Waits-like voice paired with an airy, sometimes ethereal one, and it mostly works. Tunes like the first single, \u201cPaper Girl,\u201d and the rockabilly tempo of \u201cThe Garden\u201d highlight the best parts of the dichotomy.<\/p>\n

I truly enjoyed about half the songs on this album. The music is well crafted and, for the most part, catchy.<\/p>\n

So why do I feel like something is missing? It falters just as it\u2019s picking up steam and doesn\u2019t quite keep me interested. That being said, I am very interested to see where July Talk go from here.<\/p>\n

-Dan Darling<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My Dying Bride<\/strong>
\nA Map of All Our Failures
\n<\/em>(Peaceville Records)<\/strong>
\n2\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Map of All Our Failures<\/em> marks the 11th<\/sup> excursion by the doom\/death metal band My Dying Bride. It certainly fits the genre, as listening to this album will undoubtedly leave you feeling somewhat mopey, if not utterly depressed.<\/p>\n

A Map of All Our Failures<\/em> steers away from the typical fast-moving riffs and lyrics of the death metal franchise, favouring instead melancholic stories of mortality and failure (sensible enough, given the title of the album).<\/p>\n

Most songs start with an eerie silence, then a noise seemingly in the distance, followed by a lone guitar strumming a steady tune. Shortly thereafter, a voice in more of a speaking tone than a singing one tells a story to the listener as other instruments chime in and add to the atmosphere; this formula is used for almost every song.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t recommend A Map Of All Our Failures:<\/em> this is something you lock yourself in your room and listen to in the dark. Alone.<\/p>\n

-Patrick Hallihan<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Winter Sounds
\n<\/strong>Runner
\n<\/em><\/strong>(New Granada Records)
\n<\/strong>3\/5<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Runner,<\/em> the third album by Nashville band The Winter Sounds, makes for decent background music, but that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n

Hailing from the land of country music, the band claim to be a mix of indie, folk, and punk. While I don\u2019t quite know where the \u201cpunk\u201d portion is (left behind on one of their old albums, maybe), you can certainly hear the inspirations of folk on this indie-rock disc.<\/p>\n

I played Runner<\/em> at a friend\u2019s games night recently and the tunes were very mellow and relaxing, creating a great atmosphere in the room. But listening to Runner<\/em> again, I feel somewhat bored by the music. The music just doesn\u2019t grab me or keep my interest.<\/p>\n

While the memories of that night remain strong, just listening to it on my own doesn\u2019t have the same feel. Runner<\/em> sets a great mood to a night of fun while playing in the background, but that\u2019s where it belongs: in the background.<\/p>\n

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

  KISS Monster (Universal Music) 4\/5\u00a0 Rating a KISS record is sort of like rating your grandparents. What can you say? Everything\u2019s weird. Here, on their first studio album since no one really cares, the long-running pseudo-parody\/rock band lay down the goods with surprising authority. It\u2019s impressive that a band so out of touch with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"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":[4,11,84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-issue","category-october-31-2012"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700","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=4700"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4782,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700\/revisions\/4782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}