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Slash's Snakepit • Type O Negative • Less Than Jake • Lower East Side Stitches • Tidewater Grain
Slash's Snakepit, Ain't Life Grand (Koch Records)
Why didn't someone tell me Slash was still playing? My God, the time that's been lost mourning the days of Guns N' Roses. Meanwhile, the guy with the hair and the guitar and the hat has been here all along. Not to harp on the past, but Ain't Life Grand, the new release from Slash's Snakepit, is so haunted by old music, if not just because those guitar licks helped define '80s music, that it's hard not to bring it up.
What's ironic is that the album is somehow refreshing. Ain't Life Grand can probably best be described as the good-time rock 'n' roll that we associate with the old days, when grandpa came back from the farm with plenty of whores for everyone. Devoid of computerized loops and fills, the album is just a few guys showing off their instruments to get chicks. Pure raw libido. Clearly, no one has told Slash's Snakepit that the '80s are over. But I mean this in the best possible way. Because they blend so well as a band, they're obviously having fun, and the result is an energetic "all-expense paid joyride."
"He had a seven-year itch/Losing and scratching himself/She was a complicated bitch/She'll fuck with your mind – put your balls on the shelf." So goes "Life's Sweet Drug." Awesome.
The album begins with "Been There Lately," which is like Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll" with a GNR twist. From there, a great deal of the CD, particularly the title track, takes on a Vegas strip-tease sort of feel, and Rod Jackson's scratchy vocals carry the illusion along well.
I imagine Slash's intentions are not to mimic the current mainstream, but to do what comes naturally to him as a musician. And Ain't Life Grand succeeds at this. If you like, or ever liked, any of the following: sweet guitar licks, '80s rock, music you don't have to think about, or music that belongs with videos of scantily clad women, then go, go, go. Get this album. It's very hard to go wrong. And I'll bet the live show is quite good as well.
Type O Negative, The Least Worst of Type O Negative (Roadrunner Records)
"Never before," says Josh Silver, founding member of the Doom/Goth/Metal/Industrial/Nihilist band Type O Negative, "has an album been so appropriately titled." And so we present: The Least Worst of Type O Negative.
From the :39 opener, "The Misinterpretation of Silence and Its Disastrous Consequences (Wombs and Tombs Mix)," or rather, :39 of thumb-twiddling silence, to the previously unreleased moody rock of "12 Black Rainbows" and "Stay Out of My Dreams," the Least Worst stands as a tribute to a "Decade of Depression," a must-have for any fan. Now, after two gold albums, Bloody Kisses (the one with the cover that probably burned the name "Type O Negative" into many a teenage boy's mind) and October Rust, the band can celebrate their success by releasing a few of their favorites, and some rare tracks to boot.
Among the previously released tracks are "Everyone I Love Is Dead," "Everything Dies," "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend (Cheese Organ Mix)," and "Black No. 1." Even the song titles are depressing. And the lyrics are much worse: "You make me hate myself/I know you're fucking someone else/(He knows you're fucking someone else)" ("Unsuccessfully Coping With the Natural Beauty of Infidelity"). Still, the gloom is very tongue-in-cheek. If it weren't, it would be, well, pretty gloomy.
Consequently, they are most fun at their gloomiest.
Doom rock doesn't usually bring to mind images of band members in Playgirl and a very healthy sense of humor. But I guess that's why Type O Negative are different. It's easy to picture Peter Steele someday getting ready to perform on stage, warming up his deep Dracula vocals, and wondering to himself if he just looks silly. "Guys, do I just look like a freak? Yeah? You look weird too. What the hell are we doing? Maybe we should drop the whole Goth thing. Write some more love songs... not necessarily about necrophilia...." So enjoy the glumness while you can.
Interview with Pete Steele of Type O Negative, including photos of band
Related Artists: A Perfect Circle, Rammstein
Less Than Jake, Borders and Boundaries (Fat Wreck Chords)
Luckily for me, I can live with myself if I erroneously define ska as punk with a horn section. I'll categorize Less Than Jake, then, as ska, since it's very poppy punk that usually has horns aplenty. It's extremely upbeat, catchy music that I can't imagine disliking, except that it's a tad repetitive. With its major pop chord progressions and bouncy rhythms, the album comes together in one inoffensive blur. Seriously, I got to track 10 and checked my stereo to make sure it wasn't accidentally set on "repeat." But if the draw of the music is for dancing (or "skanking" according to ska brethren) then repetitiveness in this case is as much a boon as a drawback.
On Borders and Boundaries, Less Than Jake definitely try to capture a live sound rather than a highly produced masterwork. Don't let this fool you though, the band is in solid form. Borders and Bounderies reeks of youth, and as such, the band appeals to this group. Still, it's easy to see why Less Than Jake are popular with many. The songs are well structured, with a strong horn section providing a nice twist to what would otherwise be fast pop with punky drums. With different arrangements, they could even emerge as a mainstream pop band – if that is something to be desired.
Related Artists: Might Mighty Bosstones, Goldfinger, No Doubt, Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, Vans Warped Tour
L.E.S. Stitches, Lower East Side (Ng/Artemis Records)
If you saw the movie Summer of Sam, you might recognize the Lower East
Side Stitches, the band Spike Lee chose to play the scene at CBGB's. If you didn't see it, and you're not familiar with the New York City circuit, there's a good chance you've never heard of them. The L.E.S. Stitches are one of those bands you can't imagine ever leaving NYC, regardless of their disdain for Rudy Giuliani's, uh, bourgeois regime of terror. Their newest release, Lower East Side, speaks of distaste for what their NYC neighborhood has become ("safer" but with a "loss of character") along with a more generic punk cynicism about society at large. One song in particular, "Badge to Kill," directly addresses NYC politics. Singer Mick Brown growls, "Did you hear the gunshot… No I don't know where you're from/But even I know a wallet don't look like a gun/They got a badge to kill, badge to kill…" Ain't hard to figure out what they're singing about. Despite the importance of the issue though, the Stitches are better when their music is less socially conscious.
Because a true punk band is at least 75% live performance, it's somewhat criminal to judge the Stitches by their recordings. Songs like the raucous opener "Desensitize" might shine onstage, but are far less successful on plastic. The band purports that this is the first album they created without previously stage-testing the songs, and maybe that's why it seems to lack a bit of feeling.
The Stitches are less interested in melody than the sound that constantly pounces at you.
A few of the tunes, "Miss You," "Don't Drop the Ball," "Lisa," and "Another Girl, Another Planet" (a cover of the Only Ones), are standouts because, while no less ripping, they do feature some melody when all is said and done.
Sharing a common love for bands like the Ramones, the NY Dolls, and the Dead Boys, the Stitches are trying to put the edge back in New York. Whether they can do this on CD is questionable. For now, go catch a live show.
Review of L.E.S. Stitches' 1998 Release, STAJA98L.E.S
Related Artists: Rancid, The Ramones, Johnny Thunders, Sex Pistols
Tidewater Grain, Here on the Outside (Warner Bros. Records)
Here on the Outside, the debut album from Philadelphia rock band Tidewater Grain, is a good start to a promising future. The band, which has been playing with the likes of Alice Cooper, Jimmie's Chicken Shack and Kid Rock among others, has released a collection of songs that range from decent to excellent. The opening and title track is an automatic mind-sticker. It's about the sadistic high school football team on which frontman Kevin McNamara and guitarist John Daley played. "One Man Show," is a lugubrious tune about getting old and watching your friends and family pass away. "Rocket Ship" is, of all things, something of a soaring ballad, yet done in true rock style.
If you haven't already guessed, what separates this band from others is not necessarily their sense of melody but their lack of typical rock angst and the hint that they might actually experience other emotions. Sure, rock is not where you turn to find your sensitive side, but hell, McNamara is apparently very good-looking, so he can get away with it.
Tidewater Grain are not quite the new Aerosmith or GNR, or even the new Bon Jovi (thank God). But their songs are a nice surprise. If I had to pick one slight problem with Here on the Outside, it would be its inconsistency. The album wavers a bit between top 40 pop rock and something much heavier, which is fine, but it will make them hard to recognize commercially, especially as they're still very much a fledgling band. That aside, my suspicions are that Tide Water Grain could turn out to be keepers.
Related Artists: Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Kid Rock, Foo Fighters
October 2000
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