Anybody who owns a Reel Big Fish album should know Fishbone by now, but the sad truth is that few people do.  One of RBF's biggest influences, their song "Lyin' Ass Bitch" is featured on the RBF/Zolof split release "Duet All Night Long."  Their songs have been in such films as "Say Anything" and "The Mask," yet somehow they have stayed almost entirely obscure for over twenty years.  They're not done by a longshot, though, as "Still Stuck in Your Throat" proves:



BREAKDOWN

PROS:  Some fun, pre-1997 sounding third-wave ska.  Definitely a band that influenced Reel Big Fish. Awesome cover of "Date Rape."

CONS:  The first three tracks on the album are a cacophony.  Avoid them.

RATING: 6 out of 10.

SOUNDS LIKE:  Reel Big Fish, Bigger Thomas, Coolie Ranx-era Toasters.

Once upon a time, I thought that metal wasn't a worthwhile genre.  I believed that it wasn't so much music as it was thrashing around to guitars, with growling replacing actual vocals.  Then I went to college, and learned that the Scandinavians have had the metal market cornered with respect to actual music for decades!  The subject of this review is one such band from the land of fjords: Nightwish, and their latest release is entitled "Dark Passion Play."



BREAKDOWN

PROS: Epic power metal on display, especially the opening track.  Moving slow ballads as well.

CONS:  New lead singer.  Not as memorable as previous albums.

RATING: 7.5 out of 10.

SOUNDS LIKE:  Epica, Paradise Lost, Kamelot, Blind Guardian, Evanescence (only good).

P.S.:  This album is also available in a Collector's Edition 2-disc set, which I recommend to those who enjoy fantasy.  If you were ever looking for truly great fantasy background music, disc 2 is all instrumental versions of disc 1's songs. 

It's funny how cyclical the music industry can be.  When they started in the late '90s, The Epoxies were trying to be as uncool as humanly possible.  A punk-new-wave sound complete with keytar and Devo-esque outfits couldn't be less in-trend, and they liked it that way.  Fast forward to the synth-heavy sound of faux-indie bands like The Killers and The Bravery, and suddenly the Epoxies are being dragged back to the cool kids' table in the cafeteria.  Throughout it all, Roxy Epoxy and her gang of cyborg/clone/android synth-punk-rockers have given some of the most energetic and rollicking performances around.  Their latest EP, "My New World," features a sampling of old, middle and new styles from the band.



BREAKDOWN

PROS: Clever lyrics and manic energy to spare.  Even a touching slow song!

CONS: Too short!  If you don't like synthesized f/x, stay away.

RATING: 8 out of 10.

SOUNDS LIKE:  New Wave meets Punk Rock, with female vocals.  Make your own comparisons.

I could probably do you all a favor and just paste in the band bio and latest reviews for this release, but since that's plagiarism, I'll endeavor to do these myself.  If you want to know about the band, their myspace.com page really says it all.  As for the album, let's get to it!



BREAKDOWN

PROS: Moving orchestral numbers, rollicking cabaret tunes, still-appropriate social commentary.  Impressive for a period concept album. Re-recordings sound even better than the originals.  Bold, memorable artwork.

CONS:  "Fiend in Wien" was excluded from the final release.  Some fans may resent the inclusion of re-recordings instead of original songs.

RATING: 9.9 out of 10.

SOUNDS LIKE: Other World/Inferno Friendship Society releases, Gogol Bordello. Influenced by The Hold Steady, Leftover Crack, Sticks & Stones and Grand Guignol.

I recently came to doubt my own reasons for loving Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer as much as I do.  It occurred to me that while I enjoy the band's music a whole hell of a lot, I saw them live before I heard their recordings, and the fond memories of Rachel's adorable Final Fantasy-esque pixie hair might be coloring my musical tastes.  Thankfully, Sam pointed out an important fact to me: You can't see her hair when you're listening to the record.


One weird thing for Zolof fans: This is the first album to drop F-bombs, on the first and last tracks.  So skip those if you're playing them for the kiddies.

BREAKDOWN

PROS: It's sunshine, rock & roll, and good (mostly) clean fun.

CONS: If you don't like sweetness, stay away.

RATING:  9.8 out of 10.

SOUNDS LIKE:  ...

It's hard to sum up the Hub City Stompers' attitude any better than they do themselves at the beginning of many shows: 

"We came to wreck everything and ruin your life.  GOD sent us!"



BREAKDOWN

PROS: If you love Jersey, HCS loves you.  Great boot-stomping, oi!-yelling, blood-pumping skinhead ska, with plenty of fun departures thrown in to keep you interested.

CONS:  If you don't love Jersey, HCS will kill your family.  If you're an oi! purist, you might not like some of the more diverse songs on the album.

RATING: 8.5 out of 10.

SOUNDS LIKE:  Inspecter 7, The Business, Bad Manners.

As some of you probably know, Deal's Gone Bad is the Chicago-based soul/blues/ska band that wrote one of my all-time favorite songs, "Games People Play."  This was the first non-show-title song to make the Rude & Reckless all-star list, back in the days of Drea's and my radio show.  It's quite a tough act to follow, especially after the major lineup change that the band has undergone since that song was written.


BREAKDOWN

PROS: Motown soul, Jamaican roots, and good-old-fashioned American fun.

CONS: If you don't like any of the above, this obviously isn't for you.

RATING: 9 out of 10.

SOUNDS LIKE:  "Oolooloo" - The Pietasters; The Blues Brothers - original motion picture soundtrack.

This review connects directly to # 3, in which I explain the connection between the songs on this CD and those on "Beijing to Boston."




BREAKDOWN

PROS: Big D moves away from the thrash to concentrate on happier, more danceable music.

CONS:  This band is far better at fast songs than slow ones.

RATING:  6.5 out of 10.

SOUNDS LIKE:  "Shot By Lammi" - Big D & the Kids Table; "Unstoppable" - The Planet Smashers.

In the great tradition of NOFX/Rancid and RBF/Zolof, this review is of a split CD.



BREAKDOWN

PROS: Dicky Barrett, Rancid-esque punk rock, Big D's characteristic slamming pit anthems.

CONS: Only 6 tracks from each band, Big D's choruses are often very repetitive.

RATING: 8.5 out of 10 (combined).

SOUNDS LIKE:  "Indestructible" - Rancid; "A Jacknife to a Swan" - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (Side A).
"Gypsy Hill" - Big D & the Kids Table; "24-Hour Roadside Resistance" - Against All Authority (Side B).

What can I say about Bad Religion that hasn't already been said?



BREAKDOWN

PROS: That Bad Religion super-sonic punk rock goodness, with a few lovely experiments thrown into the mix.

CONS: Gets a bit repetitive at points.

RATING: 8 out of 10.

SOUNDS LIKE:  BR's last two albums; Flatus (music); Anti-Flag (lyrics).

Allright, let's give this whole reviewing thing a shot:


BREAKDOWN

Pros: Rocks out with its c*ck out.  Great use of piano & backup vocals.

Cons: No ska :-(

Overall Rating: 9 out of 10

Sounds similar to: The Gadjits, (to a lesser extent) strokes, hives, vines, arctic monkeys, etc.