Metal Church - "Metal Church" (LP Review)

LP review, special Halloween edition...

On a recent business trip to Los Angeles, while working on slides in the hotel I found myself humming the opening lyrics to Metal Church's "Beyond the Black":

Negotiations are over
Troops are marching to their doom
All that I see is a nightmare
The smoke is blotting out the moon

Why?  I couldn't tell you -- I can't recall the last time I thought about this song, LP, or band.  I have a high school era tape copy somewhere (probably dubbed from Scott), but I never had this on vinyl or CD.  In the hotel room, I found a copy of the LP on Youtube and played it while I worked.

It was almost as good as I remembered it, complete with every heavy metal cliche but an umlaut.  But truth be told, I was only a moderate Metal Church fan even in high school.  And their self-titled LP (released in 1984, and then again in 1985 on a major label) is a notable point in the evolution of the Bay Area thrash metal sound, but "Metal Church" doesn't have the staying power of "Kill 'Em All" or even "Show No Mercy" (both 1983). My recent replay of this LP pretty much matched how I remembered it from 30+ years ago: the first three songs are great, the middle three are good, and the last three are just OK.  The closing cover of "Highway Star" is especially awkward and out of place.

Standout songs: "Beyond the Black", "Metal Church", "Merciless Onslaught"

Skip 'em songs: "Highway Star"

Final score: 6/10.  Good, but mostly from nostalgia.

Bonus link: full LP.

Molly Hatchet - "Flirtin' with Disaster" (forgotten song)

Happy birthday Danette!  This year Danette's song is... "Flirtin' with Disaster", to which you might reply "WTF?!"

OK, unlike previous songs there's not immediate, lyrical meaning here, it's more "meta-relevant".  There are several reasons why.

First, we both always sing along with it when comes on the radio.  It's not our favorite song or band but I'm pretty sure, owing to the time and place of our birth, we're incapable of not singing along.  It's genetic.  I should be more ashamed to admit this, but I know we're not alone. 

Second, is there a better use of a whistle in rock?  Danette and I have an ongoing commentary about the awesomeness of whistling in songs, but this has to be the very best.  It appears at about 3:26 as one guitarist trades off with another during the solos.  If you can whistle like that how come you don't do it every song, all the time?  (If I ever get around to creating songs via genetic algorithms, they will consist almost entirely of whistles like this, Bo Diddley beats, and Jamaican toasting, but that's a story for another time.)

Third, and somewhat related to the first point but slightly different, the sound and imagery connects me with my youth.  I recall the first record I bought with my own money was Molly Hatchet's 1980 LP "Beatin' the Odds", at the (now closed) K-Mart in Denbigh.  Molly Hatchet's sound was probably the heaviest of the southern rock bands, and their guitar sound was similar to the NWOBHM sound that Iron Maiden would popularize (and which would become my primary teenage soundtrack).

The imagery is equally important -- at that time Molly Hatchet exclusively used Frank Frazetta paintings for their LP covers.  You might not know the name Frank Frazetta, but you recognize his work (and his imitators) from Conan and others.  At the time of these LPs I was also deep into D&D, playing adventure games on the computer, and reading fantasy books like Robert Adams's "Horseclans" series (which featured cover illustrations by Frazetta's nephew, Ken Kelley) -- you know, all the things that young ladies find irresistible.  So with limited interaction with actual females, I probably formed some pretty unrealistic expectations about women being Amazonian warrior princesses.  But take a look at the images by Frazetta and Kelly, then look at these pictures of Danette flexing:

And it seems pretty clear that I did end up with an Amazonian warrior princess*.  Now to work on that metal bikini...

So happy birthday Danette!  I hope you enjoy our shared nostalgia <insert southern rock whistle**>.  And to teenage geeks everywhere: dreams do come true!*** 


Molly Hatchet - "Flirtin' with Disaster"


Previous birthday songs:

2015: Avett Brothers - "Kick Drum Heart"
2014: Ani DiFranco - "32 Flavors"
2013: The Green Pajamas - "Kim the Waitress"
2012: The Cure - "High"
2011: Blink 182 - "Josie"
2010:  Dead Milkmen - "Punk Rock Girl"


* No, seriously. 

** And: bomp, ba-bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp + Mikey Dread...  because I can't help myself.  

*** But not until you're about 30.  Hang in there.

Body Count - "Raining Blood" (the song remains the same)

You may be cool, but are you Ice-T, fronting Body Count, covering Slayer's "Raining Blood" cool?

Unless your name is Tori Amos, probably not.  

Body Count: rehearsal version, studio version.

Tori Amos: studio version.

Slayer: studio version, and as seen on South Park.

Kungs vs. Cookin' on 3 Burners - "This Girl" (spotlight)

I heard this on 96X in the car the other day and the song stuck with me.  The DJ said it had been "big in France" for a while but it had just arrived here. Googling the next day I found out that it requires some unpacking. The song is "This Girl", and the 2016 release is from the French DJ Kungs (aka Valentin Brunel) and it's a remix of the 2009 song by the Australian funk/soul/Motown revival group Cookin' on 3 Burners (who remind me of St. Paul and the Broken Bones), featuring Kylie Auldist. 

The original version sounds like it was recorded in the mid 70s and the Kungs version is a sped up, house version.  Both are enjoyable and worth checking out.

Kungs vs. Cookin' on 3 Burners: "This Girl"
Cookin' on 3 Burners: studio, live

Burial - "Rival Dealer" (LP Review)

Burial's (aka William Bevan) 2013 EP "Rival Dealer" has been working its way up my playlist.  I have his critically acclaimed two full length LPs (2006's "Burial" and 2007's "Untrue") which I enjoy, but not nearly at the level at which this EP has captured my attention.  Other reviews do a good job of contextualizing this EP within the rest of his canon (Pitchfork, RA, NME), but for me this EP synthesizes everything I liked about his first two LPs, as well as what I liked about Andy Stott's "Luxury Problems" and Balam Acab's "See Birds".

Bevan himself said in a BBC Radio 6 interview:

“I put my heart into the new EP, I hope someone likes it. I wanted the tunes to be anti-bullying tunes that could maybe help someone to believe in themselves, to not be afraid, and to not give up, and to know that someone out there cares and is looking out for them. So it's like an angel's spell to protect them against the unkind people, the dark times, and the self-doubts.”

And there is a definite triumphant feeling to these songs, mostly abstract but some rather concrete.  Furthermore, he samples an interview with NASA Earth scientist Melissa Dawson at various points in the EP.  Although I haven't posted it here, I've shared with friends my theory that the US space program exists mainly to provide samples for electronic music, and with "Rival Dealer" Burial only reinforces my position.

All three tracks are great, but the corner stone is clearly the closing "Come Down to Us".

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Standout tracks: "Rival Dealer", "Hiders", "Come Down to Us".

Final Score: 9/10

Laurie Anderson - "Big Science" (LP Review)

In much the same way as Julee Cruise's "Floating Into the Night", Laurie Anderson's "Big Science" was a prominent feature in the soundtrack for my senior year of college.  One of my roommates (Jason, Terry, or Frey -- I don't recall) had the CD and we all loved it, so it was on heavy rotation.  Prior to living with those guys I had not heard of her before, so when I moved out I quickly got a copy of my own. 

"Big Science" is Anderson's 1982 debut LP (not counting earlier contributions to compilation / joint artist LPs), and its genius lies in finding the oh-so-difficult intersection of legitimate art and pop appeal.  This is the minimalist, electronic, art rock LP for people who would otherwise recoil at the description of "minimalist, electronic, art rock".  You may have heard "O Superman", the center piece of the LP (if not quite the "hit single"), but there is much more to this LP.  Rather than continuing to throw words at this LP, I urge you to just listen to this perfect LP:

1. "From the Air"
2. "Big Science"
3. "Sweaters"
4. "Walking & Falling"
5. "Born, Never Asked"
6. "O Superman (for Massenet)"
7. "Example #22"
8. "Let X=X"
9. "It Tango"

Of the above links, only "O Superman" is an official video (which is excellent).  Otherwise I've tried to link to fan videos, so keep in mind they are other people's interpretation of Anderson's work, not her own. 

Skip 'em songs: none

Standout songs: all (see above; here's the full LP in a playlist).

Final score: 10/10

The Smiths - "Panic" (spotlight)

Special Brexit edition...

"Panic", a non-LP single released in 1986 by The Smiths is an appropriate choice as the markets and the world in general react to this unforced error.

On the surface it's about music, but like Brexit it's really about culture, identity, and a side of xenophobia.

Panic on the streets of London
Panic on the streets of Birmingham
I wonder to myself
Could life ever be sane again?
The Leeds side-streets that you slip down
I wonder to myself...

Hopes may rise on the Grasmere
But honey pie, you're not safe here
So you run down
To the safety of the town
But there's panic on the streets of Carlisle
Dublin, Dundee, Humberside
I wonder to myself...

Burn down the disco
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music they constantly play

On the Leeds side-streets that you slip down
Provincial towns you jog 'round
Hang the DJ

"Panic" - official video, live 1986

And because it's been a while since I've blogged about The Cribs, here's a 2008 cover of "Panic" with Johnny Marr.