Vol. 3 Episode 18

Well, The Pains remix EP has not shown up on my door step at this time. I am very disappointed about this. I still have hope that it will show up but if it doesn't show by Monday I think there may be a problem. Anyway, on with the show...

Silversun Pickups – Neck of The Woods

This is the Silversun Pickups third album. It was just released this past Tuesday on May 8, 2012. I have known about this album for the past month. The group is on Dangerbird Records. I really wanted to have the colored vinyl release from the record company but they wanted to charge an extra five bucks plus ten bucks for shipping. Charging extra for colored vinyl is not so bad but ten bucks to ship, I have a real problem with that. I have never paid over 5 bucks to ship US to US. Even Slumberland Records has never charged over four bucks, thanks Slumberland. I got this at one of my favorite local record stores, The Electric Fetus. They have so much to look at, it is really great, I just don’t have enough money to buy as much as I want. I got the album on vinyl. It is a double vinyl with download. I am excited to listen to the vinyl but I am in the process of moving so probably will not get the chance to do so until the move and settle is over. That won’t be for a month probably. I want to listen to it though because the previous album sounds really fantastic on vinyl. I could only expect that this one would as well. The first single released from this album is called Bloody Marry (Nerve Endings). The song starts out with a simple two chord flow that turns into a four chord run. It is really cool but doesn’t sound like the group until the chorus hits. I like when a group tries new things just not so new that the group alienates its fans. This single is perfect and will make fans very happy. At least it makes me very happy any way. The album, after listening to it a couple times, seems to be a bit slow on the first half. The second half picks up the pace quite a bit. I really like the second half of the record for that reason. What I don’t like about the second half is that the tracks seem to be very long. It is a good record an will keep the fans happy.

The Hives – Go Right Ahead

This is the first single from the fifth album from The Hives. It was released for Record Store Day 2012. I did not get this 7” record on RSD. I did not have the money at the time. I went to one of my local record stores to get the Silversun Pickups album and went through the RSD leftovers. I did not see the other item I was looking for but was happy to get a copy of this record. It is a two track single. The A side of the single is the song Go Right Ahead. The song has a similar riff to the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) song called Don’t Bring Me Down. It was so similar, in fact, that The Hives actually asked members of ELO for permission to use the riff. The song is a cool song but it doesn’t seem to have the tension that I have come to expect from the group. The B side track is called 1000 Answers. This track seems to be pretty speedy. I like that it is straight forward speed punk. My favorite line is the chorus line, “I got a thousand answers, one’s gotta be right.” I wish I could have 1000 answers to every question. I can hardly get one answer out most times. The graphic on the cover was pretty cool too. It looks like it is a graphic displayed on a tube television. It is an idea that is fading as America has converted to digital programming and flat panel screens.

Beck – Timebomb

This is a non album single from beck. It was released in 2007. The single was released as a download on iTunes, single track promo CD and 12” vinyl. The vinyl has the single as the A side and an instrumental version on the B side. I think that I bought the download from Amazon first. I bought the download because I knew that the 12” was hard to find. I got it from Amazon because iTunes was not offering their music at a compression over 192khz at the time and Amazon was offering their MP3’s at 256khz. I loved the track when I first heard it. I did not think much of it at the time but around the time that I started looking for the 8-bit Hell Yes EP I learned that this single was released as a 12” single. I searched it out and bought it. I don’t think that I have even listened to the record but I do own it. I should record both sides and replace the single that I have in my database. The vinyl is basically a white label record. There are no graphics on it at all. It comes in a black sleeve with a hole cut out so you can read the label on the record. There is also a sticker on the sleeve with information about the record. All lettering is on a white label with black lettering. It is super basic but I kind of like it that way.

Jesus Jones – Doubt

This is the second album from Jesus Jones. It is their breakthrough album though. It was released in 1991. I bought a copy of this album when I was just a freshman in high school. It was my first step into the world of electronic rock. I bought it on cassette. The tape still sounds good to this day. If I found a copy of the album on vinyl I would buy it on the spot though. There were quite a few singles released from the album surprisingly, it was not just the big hit, Right Here, Right Now, but there were others that were released too. The first single released from the album is called Real, Real, Real. The song has a good synth bass line that pushes the song along. The drums aid to the bass and keep the song moving. The vocals are pretty much the same through the album. They come off as sort of sung but with a raspy voice.  This style of vocals can get annoying but it seems to work for the album. The next single, Right Here, Right Now, was the big hit from the album, climbing up the charts in both the US and the UK. The song was inspired by political events that happened around the world in the lat 80s and early 90s such as the fall of the Berlin wall. This song was the reason that I got the album. The third single released from the album is called International Bright Young Thing. This song has a cool beat that really kicks. The song uses a sitar along with samples. This was somewhat of a new concept in the early 90s for a band to do. It made them more recognizable than some of the other new rock groups that were coming up. The last single released from the album was called Who? Where? Why? This track made use of African chanting in the opening of the track. There was also a sample of someone saying the name of the band looped. It is a song that questions who we are and why we are here. They are questions that I ask myself just about every day really. Who am I and is this where I want to be in my life. How can I change it if this is not where I want to be? It is a good album for an early 90s pop record.

Hopefully that Pains EP will come in. I am also hoping that the My Bloody Valentine rarities will be released soon. That is all I have for now...