Monday, May 18, 2009

I Love My Face:

   Another monstrous slab of jerky paranoid punk. Like a geek with muscles, NOMEANSNO burst through your mind with raging fast paced bass lines that pound into your cranium, guitar that guts your soul, and insane drumming that gouges eyeballs left and right. Black Flag meets Minutemen? Lots of classick cuts on this one..."It's Catching Up", "Two LIps, Two Lungs And One Tongue", "All Lies", and the weird "Rags And Bones" which seems to incorporate some sort of pseudo-hillbilly rap. You think Lil Wayne was checking out WRONG back in '89?

XBY REQUESTX:



re-up of NOMEANSNO's essential THE DAY EVERYTHING BECAME NOTHING alburm is HERE
and a smattering of chocolat ~ HENRY and her mini A LA MODE cd can be found bundled together in THIS spot.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Low Times:

   Life Without Buildings were a short-lived, post New Wave-esque band who managed to  document their great sound with this sole studio album. The musical output rendered here is quite good; with a decidedly underhanded bass-led sound, the band whip through their tunes with style and confidence. Each line seems well thought out and is a good example of a band working within the "sum equals it's parts" practice. The vocals on this one will probably be a make-it-or- break-it factor for some. Sue Tomkins waifishly belts  out her words as if she was reading from her journal. Most of her lyrics are spoken in soft Scottish tones and she is fond of repetition within the music's seductive rhythms. Taken with the group's sparse "skeletal Smiths" sound, the vocals add a unique, quivering, frail touch.