Music Reviews

Eric Gieselman’s East Coast Ear Candy
Slightly Stoopid Closer To The Sun
T.S.O.L. Revenge
Matisyahu Youth
Social Distortion “I like everything and anything by Social D.”
Rise Against The Sufferer & The Witness

CDs

The Black Angels
Passover
Light In The Attic
The Black Angels are amazing-I’ll tell you why I think that. This band plays fuzzed-out, hypnotic, dark rock music that goes well with late nights, black boots, and driving muscle cars. They fit well with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Warlocks, but stand out on their own with a vintage soulful sound that will have you in a trance.-C.C.

Giant Squid
Metridium Fields
The End Records
For years, the giant squid has eluded Japanese scientists-a torn tentacle here, a ghostly sonar bleep there. A few hundred miles off the Bonin Islands surrounding Japan, sperm whales can usually be found feeding exclusively on the giant squid; scarred whales show telltale signs of immense and violent struggles between the two creatures. Often the victor, sperm whales use the giant squid as a sort of “fast food” for their young offspring. For a creature like the giant squid (averaging up to 65 feet in length) to remain so elusive proves that our oceans are vast, wide, and undiscovered. The band Giant Squid is a hauntingly heavy indie-rock outfit fronted by a husband and wife guitar-playing duo who rise from the dark depths and into the highest tides to rock you.-Aaron Schmidt

Pharrell
In My Mind
Interscope Records
Pharrell’s new album is like a who’s who list in the world of glitz, glamour, and bling. Big names like Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Nelly, and Slim Thug signify to the masses that the clubs will be bumpin’ half the tracks on In My Mind for the next year. Interesting factoid: Pharrell is down with the skateboard world. He owns a skate shoe company called Ice Cream with pro skater Terry Kennedy at the helm. If you like to get down and dirty all up in the club, then this is what you’ll need to listen to on the drive over.-A.S.

These Arms Are Snakes
Easter
Jade Tree Records
This foursome from Seattle, Washington rides a fine line of excessiveness and minimalism. They do it so well that it’s hard to determine whether you should bang your head around or gaze down and tap your foot in silence. Post-apocalyptic indie math core is what you’d call this caustic mix of virtue and ruin. These Arms Are Snakes will take hold of your innermost subconscious, leaving you frozen in your tracks like a deer caught in a hunter’s headlights.-A.S.

Slayer
Christ Illusion
American Recordings
What can be said about the band that started it all? It’s a band that forever changed the face of heavy metal as we know it. Forged in a molten lava pit of evil in 1982, Slayer scared the masses with morbid tales of the devil, war, and governmental corruption. Well, not much has changed in 24 years as Christ Illusion is chock-full of songs about the devil, war, and governmental corruption. Christ Illusion is the original band’s first new studio album since Seasons In The Abyss came out sixteen years ago, and it’s one of the band’s finest albums to date, ranking right up there with Reign In Blood and South Of Heaven. Tom Araya, Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, and original drummer Dave Lombardo are back at it, pushing the boundaries and scaring the masses yet again.-A.S.

Towers Of London
Blood Sweat & Towers
TVT Records
Brash, abrasive, and in-your-face punk rock has gloriously returned in the form of five snotty lads from London, England. You’d think that Towers Of London was a hair metal band from the 80s judging from the way these guys look on the cover of Blood Sweat & Towers. What you get on the album is fifteen tracks of pure “f-k it up” attitude and a sharp lesson on how to properly kill the pop scene. Destroying the current mind-set of new music, the Towers are here to stay and will be vviolently thrashing a hotel room in your hometown very soon.-A.S.

Three Quick Hits

Automatic Animal, In The Shadow Of Sound-Straightforward metal-rock from Santa Cruz. From the ashes of Santa Cruz’s finest metal band, Herbert, the new kings of NorCal rock are Automatic Animal.

Dirty Pretty Things, Waterloo-Always referred to as “the new band from the other guys in the Libertines,” Dirty Pretty Things should just be referred to as a raucous British rock group that will inspire you to trash a pub.

Sparta, Threes-Wow, a lot of new bands of old bands reviewed this month. Either way, Sparta is way easier on the ears than their other ex-bandmates band The Mars Volta-Threes is an album that needs to be heard!


DVDs

Queen: Under Review 1980-1991
Chrome Dreams/MVD
Focused on Queen’s amazing 80s world domination, a new installment in the Under Review series of rock-docs digs deep into the wonderful world of Queen, and also into the mind of the world’s greatest frontman ever, Freddie Mercury. With interviews, live performances, and new footage, Queen Under Review is a must-see for any fan of Queen.

Ultimate Sessions
Ira Opper
Ultimate Sessions is a compilation of classic footage from some of the most memorable surf video sections of the past 40 years. Shaun Thomson and Buttons at Off The Wall, Jeff Hakman at Honolua Bay, and Tom Curren at J-Bay are just a few of the moments showcased in the video. Perhaps its most striking attribute is how it shows the progression of surfing over time. Watching each session lends a clear scope that is sure to be captivating to any audience interested in the evolution of surfing. While the video doesn’t have any really huge waves or big airs, it’s full of idyllic waves that universally compose the dreams of every surfer.-Nick Jiampa


Peel: The Peru Project
T.J. Barrack and Wes Brown
Peel is a surf video infused with the beautiful but violent history and culture of the Peruvian people. This is a beautifully documented film with some amazing surfing as 2004 ASP Women’s Champ Sofia Mulanovich, Peruvian legend Magoo De La Rosa, and Quiksilver surfer Gabriel Aramburu reveal to Mark Healey, Randy Bonds, and small crew of travelers, the perfection that Peru holds. You get a lot in this video: theories about Peruvians being the first surfers, amazing footage of Machu Picchu, and the adventurous Hawai’ians and Californians confronted with the economic poverty, natural beauty, and perfect waves that Peru has to offer.-Nick Jiampa

Freakside: A Jamie O’Brien Film
Jamie O’Brien and Tim Reardon
Freakishly coordinated and versatile in all conditions, Jamie O’Brien is one of the world’s most spectacular surfers. So it’s no surprise that Freakside (directed, edited, and produced by the freak himself) is one of the most mind-blowing, ego-deflating, and envy-producing surf flicks of the year-a one-stop shop for any fan of radical surfing. Also, if you didn’t think Jamie had a sense of humor, just check out the hilarious North Shore redux scene-it’s classic.-Forrest Mack