Matt Mark Matt

Straight outta New Brunswick, NJ comes a post-grunge outfit "known for their dungeon master skills and lack of integrity who play rock music in the vein of Lita Ford and Quiet Riot." Well, I don't know all about that, what I do know is that 2011's Psychrockbullshit came out about fifteen years too late. Perfect mid-90's alternative radio indie fodder, the Dinosaur Jr.-esque trio blast through six sweetly melodic songs in sixteen minutes without devolving too much into their hardcore roots. This is the closest thing to "happy" music I've listened to in probably three months and it didn't disappoint. They have a few new-ish songs out there, all for free - check 'em out here. Enjoy.

Guitar Solos For Your Eyes

Dropping Anchor

Aah... what a blast from the past. Passing around an ounce of blow while driving down to celebrate the millennial New Years in New Orleans and this was like the one CD we had in the car for the whole fucking trip. Man, that was a fun jaunt down I-85. Made it down in record fucking time, too. Anyways, JCS had a pretty solid following in Richmond (shit, they were only like one state away) and floated down to play the now-defunct Flood Zone a few times. While I liked their quasi-hit "High" (beaten to death by zillion hours played of BMX XXX), the opener "Dropping Anchor" is definitely my fave - a rocking fucking tune that takes me back fifteen years every time I hear it. The rest of the album is just as good - a bit of a foray into the nü metal world notwithstanding - pop this one in at your next party and I'm sure you'll get some smiles. Enjoy.

Remenisce

Do Not Take My Underwear

Awesome, I don't have to kill myself just quite yet. Russian power trio Shit Happiness released Chicken, Wasp And Mole (best translation I could come up with) last month and it fucking kills. Playing a ridiculously addictive post-grunge/noise rock, if you dig Unsane then this is right up your alley. Unike most of their other stuff, the band recruited a quasi-prolific poet vocalist named Greedy Fedul for this release. He doesn't add a whole lot - I'd prefer it if his voice was a little more like Chris Spencer's - but it is nicer listening to songs that aren't just instrumentals. His rambling overdubs are pretty inoffensive - the music more than makes up for it. Solid, fist-pounding shit. Welcome back guys.

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Let The Alpine Play...

OK, so the album as a whole isn't much more then an adequate Weezer/Slightly Stoopid-flavored production by these Austin gents but none of that matters. What does matter is it contains the finest cover tune in the history of music - the Simon & Garfunkel-esque version of Eazy-E's indepensable "Boyz-N-The-Hood". What a brilliant concept and even better payoff - yeah, I get what Anthrax was doing when they covered "Bring The Noize" back in the day but this blows it away. Even your girlfriend will like it. And while the song alone is a 3-minute laugh, you gotta check out the video - the Izod garb is priceless...

Best. Cover. Ever.

 
Currently watching: V For Vendetta

Currently listening to: Two Live Crew Move Somthin'

Fuck "Possum Kingdom"

OK, OK, don't fucking get all bent out of shape, I actually like "Possum Kingdom" - I just wanted to piss off all the goth/Twi-hard dorks out there Googling their favorite song. Losers. Fort Worth's Toadies were one of those bands that got jinxed by a hit single. By the time they finally recorded their 1994 debut full-length they'd been kicking around various incarnations of these songs live and on various EPs for almost 5 years. The practice clearly paid off, Rubberneck is absolute gold, with almost every track a keeper (in my opinion, "Possum Kingdom" is actally one of the lesser tunes). Nice hooks and grooves as well as great lyrics (gotta love "Velvet") make this an essential post-grunge masterpiece. They've released some inconsistent follow-ups since and have recently (circa 2008) reformed with a new lineup. Check 'em out when they come to your town.

I Burn

 
Currently watching: Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!

Currently listening to: Big L Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous

Soundgarden II

I think the only reason I got this CD is because of one name: Rick Rubin. Saw it at Best Buy, figured it had to be good with the American Recordings label splashed all over it. To be honest, it wasn't what I expected (with Rubin it never is) but I was pleasantly surprised. Sounds like Soundgarden if they were a little bit more heavy. Or melodic. Who knows. I guess the band had a bit of a hit in 2003 with "Safe Passage" but that's about all the info I can find. A very listenable album, nothing too original but there's a lot to like. They broke up in 2004.

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