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Ivan The Spell (Tox/Sélect) It would be easy to shun Ivan Doroschuk's solo debut as a grotesquely unfashionable collection of synth-pop ditties, the likes of which took him international with Men Without Hats in 1983--despite the current electroniculture. But Ivan's ace is that he embraces the very synthetic nature of the form, and he still aspires to write the perfectly hummable pop song. Set to cold Moogs, his plaintive theme of time (slippin' away) seems even warmer. 7.5/10 (Chris Yurkiw) Melvins Honky (Amphetamine Reptile) Perhaps due to a defiant "we'll show them" stance when dropped by their major label and a subsequently smaller recording budget, the Melvins' West Coast power surge is stained with signs of hastiness all over Honky. Sure, there's speaker-toasting noise ("Lovely Butterfly") and thick spine-thrashing thunder ("Mobius Hiabachi"), but sadly, fans are still left jonesing for that requisite primordial hi-fi crunch. The end of the world as we know it? 7/10 (Lorrie Edmonds) Heavy D Waterbed Hev (Universal) As the new president of Uptown Records, Heavy D is now officially retired from the MC life--though he may not know it yet. On his latest we find him hiding behind factory-line R&B beats and openly fantasizing about flowing like the Big Poppa. Recruiting the Lost Boyz and MC Gruff does little to resurrect what last shreds of ancient street props Hev may have. Hopefully Heavy D has more skills on the waterbed than he has left on the mic. 6/10 (Manchilde) Dead Fucking Last Grateful (Epitaph/Cargo)
Grateful is indeed grating, but also has many moments of greatness--this is punk rock at its youngest, loudest and snottiest. The mud-o-rama production perfectly mirrors the character of these musical brats. Keeping in the tradition of fellow musical irritants Flipper while sporting the attitude of the Dwarves, DFL prove that their main talent isn't not having any. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)
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