Remote Control
April 25th, 2024
Where I’m at, we’re stuck in that back-and-forth between nice weather and just cold/rainy enough not to want to go outside. Feels like taking two steps outside and one back in. Yesterday I did push-mow my lawn though. That’s just the level of updates we’re at here, people. Small(er than Toronto) town living ain’t glamourous. Have you heard of this candy fad online, Swedish Bubs? The local store got some in, and I’ll tell you: they’re pretty good. Anyway, here’s some music. I briefly got off my thrash metal kick and then immediately fell back in but I’ve frontloaded this with non-thrash goodies for you.
As always, please reach out on the hellsite if you’d like or better yet join the Rosy Overdrive Discord server where I can be found now and again. You can also find me in the corners of Rate Your Music scrounging for obscure emo, hardcore, indie-rock and pop-punk.
Don’t forget: if you’re reading this in your email it will be cut off. Read on the web for the full list of reviews!
Cloud Nothings - Final Summer (2024)
Genre: Indie Rock
Haven't paid close attention to Cloud Nothings discography since Life Without Sound, not because their albums were bad or anything but I just lost interest in keeping up I suppose. Checking back in with their latest, and... hey not a whole lot has changed. Sounds like a Cloud Nothings album, feels about as consistent as you'd expect one to be as well. "Final Summer" hits hard and it's a bit tough to match it but the rest of the songs are good and the melodies are above average on the memorability scale. I say it a lot but this is very well rounded. Good riffs, solid hooks... nice.
Omar Ahmad - Inheritance (2023)
Genre: Electronic, Folktronica, Ambient
A reader (thanks Jeremy Shatan!) recommended this in my comments last week and I'm glad they did! Very cool if you like hypnotic and lavish electronic/ambient-style releases. It’s just really lush electronic/folktronica kind of stuff. Shares shelf space with stuff like Four Tet, Fennesz or maybe CFCF. Moments can be very ambient and gorgeous and other times it works up to a near IDM level of unpretentious art pop electronic music.
ahem - Try Again (2019)
Ahem have a new album coming out in a month or two (it's very, very good) so today felt like a good one to re-listen to their debut LP. Not that I'm unfamiliar, this album has remained fairly steady in my heavy rotation since it dropped.
This album is so firmly in my wheelhouse; they play power-pop indebted indie rock with some elements of pop punk. They remind me of a much airier, sugarier Superchunk. Other times they have that caffeinated guitar hook thing that bands like Martha or Doe do well. Some of The Ambulars in here too. They have trade-off vocals and there's also a good dollop of emo in their sound, as their chords churn into cathartic singalong releases like on "Halloween."
It’s everything I like about guitar rock; simple chords, played well, with earworms that stick, and a soft chewy emotional core.
This is one of those albums that I can't rate objectively. Somehow between the release of this record and their upcoming one, without me even realizing it, they went from "band I like and anticipate a new album from" to "band that means a lot to me, personally and emotionally."
New Creases - About Last Night... (2010)
Genre: Pop Punk
I know had listened to this in the past because I recognize the cover very vividly but in my head, it was more of a gruff orgcore band than a straight-up pop punk one. Either that or I got them crossed with New Bruises.
They kind of sound like a cross between Out Utero-era Lipstick Homicide with some The Ergs! (particularly their Tony Lombardo / Karl Alvarez-esque basslines.) And there are some 90s-influenced orgcore moments, instrumentally. Vocalist Mickey Mocnik reminds me a tiiiiiiiiiiny bit of Mimi from Nona.
Four songs, all pretty solid! Very enjoyable.
Toto - Hydra (1979)
Genre: AOR, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Yacht Rock, Pop Rock
This album rips. I love me some bloated, proggy AOR that is actually just a hook delivery service bloated with pretense. Just look at the cover, you know this goes hard (well, hard in the way that soft AOR rock can, lol.)
People seemed to love their debut but I always felt it was pretty uneven. This is the Toto album I'm usually reaching for. The only real misstep is ending the album on a sugary little piano mood piece. Even the ridiculous "All Us Boys" is a fun piece of propped-up baloney to me. IV is enormous from a production and single perspective too but something about this one gets me. Maybe it's the "spray painted van AOR" vibe it puts off?
Cornflames - The Farewell Drive (2003)
Stumbled onto this in a "fans also like" section of Spotify, then saw that it was featured on a list called "Rare Emo-Pop Worth Checking Out" so I had to give it a whirl. Cornflames (very bad band name alert!) play Belgian emo-rock of the second-wave variety. Not a twinkly midwestern emo thing but more crunchy mid-tempo power-pop kind of emo-rock.
Nothing rises too far above cromulent, but it wasn't too bad either. There are some gruff orgcore textures on songs like "Soften the Blow" which has a bit of a Hot Water Music or Small Brown Bike thing going on in the opening moments, before turning into a Hot Rod Circuit kind of song on the choruses. A number of these songs brought vague "what the hell band is this reminding me of????" thoughts to my head.
Honestly, it's not bad and maybe even a little above average for the genre, but it also lands in that place where it just isn't quite memorable enough to truly stick. Repeat listens might help define whether this is a bit of a gem, or just a decent diversion.
Servo - Everything's Difficult (1999)
Genre: Pop Punk, Emo, Twee Pop
Got tipped off to this from RYM user Serch. Servo mixes emo and pop punk with twee singing (tweemo?) and dual vocalist melodies.
Interesting that on the YouTube upload of this album (of course it was uploaded by that Travis M. account!!!!) has comments talking about how much it reminds them of Superchunk. I see where they are coming from but I'm not so sure that's where my mind would go immediately. There's a scrappy, shove-every-guitar-line-that-we-can-fit-into-this-song vibe that does bring to mind Superchunk's earlier work for sure. At some times reminds me of the faster, punkier Tsunami songs, or maybe Charcoal era Sarge. Or some Discount.
Some of this leaves me wishing it had more memorable hooks, but it is effective at what it is trying to do and there are some stand-out tracks that stuck in my mind.
More Thrash Metal Reviews
Sorry, not sorry! I know I’ve been on something of a tear but lately listening to 80s and 90s thrash metal has become an obsession. Much like with movies, finding the hidden gems has overtaken my brain when I haven’t been listening to new stuff. Instead of reaching for an old favourite, I’m reaching for a question mark wrapped in a denim jacket that smells like stale beer.
Vengeance Rising - Once Dead (1990)
Genre: Thrash Metal, Death Metal
Christian thrash with death-textured vocals. Honestly, I often enjoy diving into the Christian corners of certain genres - see also: Christian "gangsta rap" - and so I was interested to see what this would sound like.
"Warfare" is a sick-as-hell opening track, and I was surprised how solid a mix of styles they were working with on some of the next few songs. A few progressive thinking song structures, quick grindy blasts of intensity, groove-based riffing, stop/start thrashin', and even a sprinkle of more mid-tempo stuff (that I wouldn't call power metal but some solo licks feel of that vibe.) Even when this feels derivative ("The Wrath to Come") it still rips, so who cares?
This got my head moving a bit while working so I consider that a success. The biggest issue here AS ALWAYS is why the hell is this 55 minutes long?! Especially with a few big chunks dedicated to songs like "The Whipping Post" or "Into the Abyss." Cut this to like, 35 or 40 minutes and I'd consider ranking it even higher. Ditch the "Space Truckin'" cover at the very least. What's up with metal bands always tossing a shitty cover smack dab in the middle of their album?
Quit making albums that are way too long, metal bands and pop-punk bands. Leave us wanting more!
Hydra Vein - Rather Death Than False of Faith (1988)
Genre: Thrash Metal
Kinda cartoonishly evil thrash metal that hits the spot. Pretty grimey guitar tone with thick, fuzzy riffs. A good level of dynamics to the riffing, definitely not a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thrash band which I appreciate. Very solid stuff!
Exumer - Rising From the Sea (1987)
Genre: Thrash Metal
I know this is usually spoken of as lesser when compared to their debut, but a quick peruse of both albums had me gravitating toward this one. Not sure why but this felt to me like there was a pinch more variety in riff styles and tempos. I do love it when tech thrash peppers in slower groovier moments of gut-level riffing and this does that well without over-relying on it. There are some good headbanging mid-tempo moments thrown into faster songs too. All around solid and maybe a little underrated.
Attomica - Disturbing the Noise (1991)
Genre: Thrash Metal, Technical Thrash Metal
Another album I'd call meat and potatoes thrash; just a bunch of violent, heavy thrash riffing. Appreciate that they make sure these songs have a lot of variety including more than just the full-speed-ahead riffing you expect from thrash, but also adding in pummeling moments of technical riffing and some gut-level groove moments. Some Slayer, and Sepultura in their sound but not so derivative either. Just all-around solid stuff that I'm surprised has less than 400 ratings on Rate Your Music.
Energetic Krusher - Path to Oblivion (1989)
Genres: Thrash Metal, Death Metal
Kinda sludge-y thrash metal from the UK with fantasy metal ass artwork that has a 90s straight-edge graffiti crew hardcore band logo or something slapped on it.
Doesn't sound like the record cover really, but their grimy thrash riffs have bleach-gargled near-death vocals on top and it's a pretty good mix. You get used to the bass performance being kinda buried on a lot of thrash records but there were a few times that the bass performance left the expected root riffing and perked my ears up here which is a nice surprise.
There's also an interesting push and pull between their technical prowess and a general air of sloppiness that is endearing. Another oddly underrated release considering how many just pretty good albums seem to get cult followings it seems???
Acid Storm - Biotronic Genesis (1992)
Genre: Thrash Metal, Progressive Metal, Technical Thrash Metal
Awesome Brazilian tech thrash meets prog metal. There's a ton of really sick jumping around on this without sacrificing a through-line to these songs or just turning into that kind of technical metal that feels like it is showing off for no other reason than to show off.
Some of the vocals dip into that operatic speed/power level of singing but the music for the most part keeps everything grounded in technical badassery. A few well-utilized moments also let the bassist shine which I feel continues to be something of a novelty when listening to thrash. Someone in the comments box called it "Forbidden with a bit of Agent Steel" and you know? Right on.
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.
No genres, no masters.
I've also been on a 2nd tier forgotten thrash kick lately, and have been hitting repeat on Texas thrash band Devestation's "Idolatry". Their last album, came out in 1991. There was a ton of good Texas thrash, a lot of bordering on death metal. The vocals on this one are killer; a bit feral like German thrash.
I don't know how you manage to articulately evaluate Omar Ahmad and Cloud Nothings whilst, in the same breath, critique 80s thrash metal but you somehow do and I'm here for it.