GNARBOOTS – A.L.B.U.M.

Comprised of members of Bay Area musical outfits including Link 80 and Shinobu, Gnarboots have been wowing crowds all over northern California with their eccentric live shows for a few years now — although when comparing some of the live show clips on YouTube to the material found on A.L.B.U.M., there’s quite a notice able difference.
 Most of their live material is quite silly, to put it bluntly, featuring the band freestyle rapping and performing as what appears to be comedy band.

While some of the lyrical content and delivery is done in a whimsical style, the 11 cuts found on this their debut album have a downright catchy, straightforward punk sound that is quite impressive. I will admit that it took a few listens to get accustomed to the vocals on a few key tracks like “Japan 2” (can you say “tone-deaf”?). With some of the more poppy songs like “Martian Chronicles” and “Grown Ass Man” going into some of the harder tracks like “Tinnitus” and “Omnivore,” one would think that the flow of this album would be off. On the contrary, the mix of tempos from song to song gives the album a fresh flow straight through to the 11th track.

There’s definitely something oddly appealing about Gnarboots’ musical style — something I can’t put my finger on. The first listen was not that pleasurable, but as I tracked through A.L.B.U.M. a few more times, it grew on me like an acquired taste.

(Asian Man Records, PO Box 35585, Monte Sereno, CA 95030)

HUMAANA – Comfort

Reviewing material such as this fine EP from Boston indie rock outfit Humaana always brings me joy. I really wish I could pinpoint the sound of this genre, but simply put, the music on Comfort does just that: it brings comfort. For a little background on the band, Humaana is an offshoot of the defunct group Late Nite Wars, featuring their bass player Aaron Bernard and drummer Tim Manning. Along with Manning and Bernard, Humaana features Ryan Stack on vocals and Jordan Ignacio on keys and backing vocals.

The music featured here brings a mix of repetitive guitar riffs, electronic tweaks, and the catchy, poppy vocals of Stack.  The sound is very similar to other bands that have championed the indie-electronic sound such as Minus The Bear, Facing New York, and Portugal. The Man. The opening track entitled “Passing Parade” draws you in with the spacy guitar cuts and the catchy vocals and leads right into “Live Like The Sixties” — full of  a hard and harsh bass guitar-driven beat. “Winter at Faneuil” closes out the EP with a stripped-down and slowed-down mellow track featuring acoustic guitar and Stack on vocals. It’s a real nice, and dare I say, comforting way to end the album. If you’re a fan of the indie-electro rock genre like I am, you will be impressed by this effort.

(Panic Records, no address provided)

TOTAL CHAOS – Battered and Smashed

It seemed that after the inauguration of Barack Obama, many of those in the punk community took a step back in vocalizing their disgust for the American political system. Los Angeles-based punk rock outfit Total Chaos, however, show no signs of backing down from speaking out about the troubles that still plague our country.

Featured on Battered and Smashed is Total Chaos’s signature mix of punk rock and hardcore that they have been producing for 20-plus years. While Battered and Smashed is full of political commentary, such as on the tracks “Wake Up America” and “Political Recession,” the album also features more fun-filled and lighthearted tunes, including the singalong opening cut “Hooligan’s Holiday,” as well as “Do The Tony.”

Musically, the album is pretty straightforward in delivery. The band’s rowdy and raucous style adheres to the traditional hardcore punk sound, but adds stellar guitar work by way of some blistering solos featured throughout the album.

Just past the halfway point in Battered and Smashed is a surprise in the form of the song “Going Down,” which is reminiscent of Sublime with its mix of a laid-back ska guitar riff and beat with a blistering, up-tempo punk rock chorus. The guitar breakdown mid-song sounds very much in the vein of Brad Nowell, and by featuring lyrics about drug addiction and abuse, I definitely think this was a nod toward the Long Beach band.

Battered and Smashed has its share of good tracks but I found some cuts were too repetitive in lyric and song structure. Even with its repetitiveness, the album stays true to Total Chaos’s brand of punk rock – especially when it comes to the political and social content of the lyrics.

(Stomp Records, 1223 Blvd. Saint-Laurent, Suite 305, Montreal, QC H2X 2S6 Canada)

THE DIAMOND CENTER – California/Bells

Blending musical elements of folk rock and psychedelia, Richmond, Virginia’s The Diamond Center hit upon their 17th release with this two-song seven-inch EP. Adorning side A is the featured cut “California,” a dreamy tune driven by the light and floaty vocals of Brandy Price with the backing of guitars and organ, giving the song a true ’60s throwback sound — imagine The Doors meet early Pink Floyd.

“Bells” takes up side B’s seven minutes and 19 seconds. Much like side A, the sound replicates that progressive psychedelic sound of the past. Here the sound has a much heavier Floyd influence, reflected in the chord progressions and the overall structure of the song (Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine” and “Echoes” come to mind). Vocals on “Bells” are shared by Price and Kyle Harris. While I personally enjoyed Price’s vocals alone on “California,” the addition to Harris’s vocals really round out the band’s sound and perhaps makes it more whole as a product.

As a two-track EP, I really enjoyed the down-tempo feel of this release — even if it’s just a tease of what The Diamond Center has to offer.

(Funny/Not Funny Records, no address provided)

BRENDAN KELLY AND THE WANDERING BIRDS – I’d Rather Die Than Live Forever

It has been more than 10 years since Brendan Kelly joined forces with Chris McCaughan and Neil Hennessy to form The Lawrence Arms. While The Lawrence Arms continues to roll along as a successful Chi-Town punk rock outfit, the need to break out of the punk rock niche seems to be what Brendan Kelly is looking for in the form of the semi-solo effort I’d Rather Die Than Live Forever.
 
The album features Kelly on vocals and guitar with a backing band to fill in the blanks. In many respects, this album feels like a stripped-down Lawrence Arms album. This could be because Kelly’s vocals are so recognizable and synonymous with the band’s sound. That familiar Arms’ sound can be heard throughout the album, especially in cuts like “Doin’ Crimes” and “What’s a Boy To Do?”

Mixed in with some of the more punk-ish cuts are a few toned-down tracks. “Ramblin’ Revisited” comes across as a driving acoustic Americana folk camp-side tune, which is perfect considering Kelly’s vocals scream to be heard in a song like this. Other cuts off of I’d Rather Die Than Live Forever range from the more catchy selections like the opening track “Suffer The Children, Come Unto Me,” to more straightforward rock tunes like, “East St. Louis.” Even with Kelly not settling to one particular musical on this effort, the flow of this album works nicely. Each track seems to flow right into the next. A solid album indeed.

(Red Scare Industries, PO Box 13285, Chicago, IL 60613)

Interview: Mike Mictlan of Doomtree

Photo By Prentice Danner

Don’t call them a collective. Don’t even call them a hip-hop group.

“We’re more of a legion than anything,” states Mike Mictlan of the Minneapolis, Minnesota hip-hop legion known as Doomtree.

Since 2001, Doomtree has been laying down beats and lyrics in the Minneapolis metropolitan area to an ever growing hip-hop community. Consisting of seven total members, Doomtree’s sound envelops several different musical styles, including punk rock. Most recently, they self-released the album No Kings, gaining mostly positive reviews from a wide variety of media outlets. As Mictlan puts it, the making of No Kings took on biblical proportions — well, sort of.

“All seven members of Doomtree sequestered ourselves in a cabin for a week in northern Wisconsin and wrote 11 out of 12 of the songs in about five different all-day writing sessions,” he says. “The music was made over the previous two months. After writing, we came home and recorded all the songs in about two weeks. Then the following two weeks we mixed and mastered it. So it’s very similar to the whole ‘Christian creation story,’ but we never rested on the seventh day. We just ate a lot and drank.”

I know when I think of hip-hop communities, both the West and East Coast come to mind — not Minnesota. But along with other hip-hop acts like Atmosphere, Doomtree have help build a thriving community of hip-hop and rap enthusiasts in the Twin Cities area. Each December brings what is known as the Doomtree Blowout, where the entire group takes to the stage at the First Avenue music venue in downtown Minneapolis. While New York has its set of bragging rights for their hip-hop community, don’t discount the camaraderie in the chilly Midwest.

“I feel like our hip-hop scene in Minneapolis is a lot more honest and hardworking than many other communities,” Mictlan explains. “There’s a big live show culture here that has always been here. But then again, I might be biased. Then again, I’ve traveled the country and there is no place like Minneapolis.”

The love for live shows in a place like Minnesota makes perfect sense — enjoy some live hip-hop while warming up in a sold-out music venue. But if you doubt the love for Doomtree outside of their local community, you should check out their touring schedule for 2012, including a stop back in March at SXSW in Austin Texas.

“I remember not sleeping, tacos, bratwurst, sweat and people,” recalls Mictlan. “Austin is already a fun town without what’s going on, so it’s pure madness with all those people.”
And while SXSW seems like a musical paradise for enthusiasts and concertgoers, it can be a daunting task to play.

“We definitely came and conquered,” said Mictlan. “[For some of us, this was] our fifth year in a row [playing SXSW]. My view is, you go there and kick ass, or else you’ll lose.”

While not yet on the mainstream scene, Doomtree has become established as a heavy-hitter in the indie hip-hop scene. Playing tours nationwide and having devout fans, including some who have tattooed the “teeth and wings” Doomtree logo — a logo that almost wasn’t.

“Well, it was either going to be that or a meat cleaver tied to a shotgun,” says Mictlan. “We thought the former would be an easier sale.”

With a community of hip-hop enthusiasts and other local artists, the addition of more crew members to Doomtree is a definite possibility in the future. With the group bringing together various different musicians and artists from the Twin Cities area, the option to expand Doomtree or promote other acts is always an option, though not exactly needed in a musical sense.

“Rapping isn’t our only asset,” explains Mictlan. “As of right now we have plenty of rappers. I see Doomtree expanding in a way that doesn’t necessarily depend on adding musical elements — there are plenty of people already close to us and live in our city whose music we would release in a heartbeat.”

With 2012 in full swing, Doomtree sets their sights on the future. With tour stops in Europe and their annual Blowout in December, things can only get better for the septet.

MIKE WATT: ON AND OFF BASS by Mike Watt

Three Rooms Press, 100 pages, hardcover, $25.00
 
Looking west from the shores of Long Beach, California stands the tall cranes of the Port of Los Angeles, and just beyond them sits the small portside city of San Pedro. It was in this city that author Charles Bukowski spent his last years of his life. It’s a place where the films such as Chinatown and The Usual Suspects feature some of their most memorable scenes.

For the punk rock movement of the early 1980s, it’s also the birthplace of the Minutemen. Unfortunately, the band’s existence was cut short when front man and guitarist D. Boon died in a car accident after the band’s van ran off the road in Arizona in 1985. Band mate and fellow San Pedro native Mike Watt went on to form the group fIREHOSE, as well as play bass in the revamped version of The Stooges.

Along with his love for music, Watt also prides himself as being a native and resident of San Pedro (his internet radio show is appropriately titled The Watt From Pedro Show). What is not commonly known is that Mike Watt has a love and interest in photography, especially capturing the environment that surround San Pedro. All of these things are examined in his photographic memoir, Mike Watt : On and Off Bass.
When I think of memoirs, especially those of rock stars and musicians, I think of a book full of stories from the road –- insight on the drama of being in a band, and a look into their youth and growing up. Basically, a book full of pats on the back and self-gratifying praise for being so lucky to do what you love (hopefully) for a living. This book, however, is the furthest things from that.

In these 100 pages, the focus is mostly on Watt’s amazing photographic images of San Pedro, taken from on land as well as at sea (via kayak): early morning shots of the Port of Los Angeles featuring the heavy coastal fog being broken up by the rising sun. Pictures of pelicans, seals, and seagulls resting ashore or on buoys. Images of cargo ships, large cranes, and other industrial equipment clash against the reflection of the water and the clashing of the waves. Watt’s ability to capture both the natural and man-made aspects that make up the community and elements that make up San Pedro really shines through.

Along with these amazing pictures, Watt also gives the reader a chance to read some insightful glimpses into being on and off the road — the emphasis being on the word “glimpse.” The written passages are quite short and small in detail. We also are given a few poems written by Watt. The diary passes span throughout the 2000s, and feature stories about particular performances, encounters with fans, thoughts on life, and his love for John Coltrane.

Mike Watt : On and Off Bass gives you a real down-to-earth look at who he is. It’s a very minimalistic look back at his life, combining the things he cares deeply about: San Pedro, music, and photography.  The book proves that you do not need to bash your fans over the head with anecdotes of how great your life has been — this simplistic approach makes for a refreshing and insightful read.