|
Sleater-Kinney Dig Me Out (Kill Rock Stars)
Stealth Death of the Brains (2112/Cargo) After listening to Death of the Brains it becomes evident that Darryl Jennifer was, undeniably, the driving creative force behind Bad Brains. In Stealth, he retreads the Bad Brains formula perfectly, only sprinkling some hip hop over top. But the result ends up sounding like a Bad Brains tribute band (see 247 Spyz, Living Color, Rage Against the Machine). But while Jennifer may still be licking his wounds on Death of the Brains, the album certainly promises better things to come. 6.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Ben Lee Something To Remember Me By (Grand Royal) You know how teen sitcom stars always get their own spinoff once they hit college age? Those shows invariably sucked. Ben Lee was the teen genius behind Noise Addict, the Beasties' precocious New Zealand import. The naïve charm of that nonsense has been replaced with a 19-year-old's approximation of world-weary resignation. Awkward title, too, considering how forgettable this disc is. 4/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) Bobby Fuller Shakedown! The Texas Tapes Revisited (Del-Fi/Fusion III)
Forgotten today except for his outlaw anthem "I Fought The Law," Fuller was more than simply the West Texas delegate to rock 'n' roll's second wave (c. '61-'64). His untimely death ended a vision of remarkable scope--Fuller easily jumped from twangy surf to rockabilly to country-inflected ballads. The packaging of this two-disc time capsule, modelled after an old reel-to-reel box, is a perfect reflection of the lo-fi honesty of these recordings. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
|
I know I'm supposed to take post-grrrl rockers Sleater-Kinney oh so seriouslylike all those American criticsbut I can't help thinking that this trio are what the Go-Go's would have sounded like if they had really been a punk band. Lots of that is in guitarist/vocalist Corin Tucker's voice, but that voice is more about literal female bonding than pillow fights. A much better follow-up than Vacation. 8/10 (Chris Yurkiw)