Titled All Borders Are Porous to Cats, the eighth album by The World/Inferno Friendship Society will be released on Alternative Tentacles this October. The follow-up to their 2014 album This Packed Funeral is much anticipated, though little is known about the release at this time. As we reported earlier this year, the band has recorded […]
Titled All Borders Are Porous to Cats, the eighth album by The World/Inferno Friendship Society will be released on Alternative Tentacles this October. The follow-up to their 2014 album This Packed Funeral is much anticipated, though little is known about the release at this time. As we reported earlier this year, the band has recorded around 30 songs for the album, though the actual running length is not yet public knowledge.
Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
I’m going to start off by saying CJ Ramone’s The Holy Spell… (Fat Wreck Chords) is not a bad album. In fact, The Holy Spell… is a collection of really good songs – songs that would make an excellent batch of 7”s or a few EPs, as opposed to a full album. It’s an album […]
I’m going to start off by saying CJ Ramone’s The Holy Spell… (Fat Wreck Chords) is not a bad album. In fact, The Holy Spell… is a collection of really good songs – songs that would make an excellent batch of 7”s or a few EPs, as opposed to a full album. It’s an album that I don’t mind having on my iPod – when it is on random – but don’t particularly desire to listen to in one go beyond the times I did to write this review. So what’s my point? I am very conflicted about this as a singular piece of music, even though I quite like the individual parts when taken one to two songs at a time.
The thing is, for an album to really work, the songs have to have some variations in melody, harmony, speed, and song style. This one does not. Every song sounds pretty much the same, and as I was listening to it, I found myself becoming more of a passive listener than an active one, checking to see if I was back to the beginning of the album again, as opposed to hearing a new song that appears later on in it. Again, none of the songs are bad. They just don’t particularly stand out from one another in any appreciable way, with the two exceptions, “One High One Low” and “Rock On”.
“One High One Low”, the opening song, is pretty driving – especially for CJ Ramone – and sets up an album with a lot of promise. The last song, “Rock On” slows things down for a bit and is actually a welcome change of pace when listening to The Holy Spell… straight through. I also really like “Postcard from Heaven” which I think would have been an amazing single on its own and is the best song on the album, hands down.
Part of what makes the album blend together, though, is CJ’s voice. I feel like most people like it or don’t, and I do like it just fine, but he tends to sing every song in the same way – never venturing out of his niche or comfort zone and expanding his vocal capabilities to show us something different. This just contributes to the sameness and familiarity of the songs, probably more than the tempo and music, even. I also really crave more backing vocals and harmonies – some of the songs are all but screaming for them, and sound sparse as a result.
I realize this is a somewhat strange review, but as I said, I am conflicted about this album. I wish it was released in pieces, like I said earlier, perhaps as EPs or singles – all of which would get higher marks because they would be short bursts of music and not an album that seems to go on a bit too long, especially for the lack of diversity in the sound and style of the songs.
2.5/5 stars
Knoxville, Tennessee punk act Bad Idols have announced some upcoming tour dates. You can check out all the dates and locations below. Support for all dates are hometown buddies Burnt Toast. The band release their 3rd album Can’t Imagine in the Fall.
Knoxville, Tennessee punk act Bad Idols have announced some upcoming tour dates.
You can check out all the dates and locations below. Support for all dates are hometown buddies Burnt Toast. The band release their 3rd album Can’t Imagine in the Fall.
Spanish Love Songs have announced a ton of tour dates, taking in North America and Europe. All dates are below (although, undoubtedly, there will be more announced). The band recently released 7″ Losers, which you can order now.
Spanish Love Songs have announced a ton of tour dates, taking in North America and Europe. All dates are below (although, undoubtedly, there will be more announced).
The band recently released 7″ Losers, which you can order now.
Montreal pop punks Punchline 13 have a new single out. It’s called “Mirror” and is taken from the band’s forthcoming full-length album Newstatic. You can check out this teaser of the new record, which will be out in October this year, below. The previous release from Punchline 13 was a Christmas single, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” last […]
Montreal pop punks Punchline 13 have a new single out. It’s called “Mirror” and is taken from the band’s forthcoming full-length album Newstatic. You can check out this teaser of the new record, which will be out in October this year, below.
The previous release from Punchline 13 was a Christmas single, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” last year.
Simi Valley synth punks Danger Friends have a new single out and they’ve been decent enough to stick it up on bandcamp for you all to listen to. You can check out “Back to No Future” below. Danger Friends’s previous most recent release was a cover of the Misfits classic “Hybrid Moment” in 2017. That’s […]
Simi Valley synth punks Danger Friends have a new single out and they’ve been decent enough to stick it up on bandcamp for you all to listen to. You can check out “Back to No Future” below.
Danger Friends’s previous most recent release was a cover of the Misfits classic “Hybrid Moment” in 2017. That’s worth checking out too!
Midlands hardcore outfit Last Hounds have a new single out and they’re allowing you lot to stream it for free. The effort is titled “Running With The Dead” and is the first since the band’s 2018 single “Handmade”. You can check it out below.
Midlands hardcore outfit Last Hounds have a new single out and they’re allowing you lot to stream it for free. The effort is titled “Running With The Dead” and is the first since the band’s 2018 single “Handmade”.
You can check it out below.
Scottish folk punk singer/songwriter Tragical History Tour has just released a cover of the Dolly Parton classic, “Jolene”. It will feature on a forthcoming benefit compilation by Aberdeen-based label Struck Dum Records. The collection of tunes is titled Punks Versus Depression Vol 2 and will raise money for the Scottish Association of Mental Health. The single’s B-side is […]
Scottish folk punk singer/songwriter Tragical History Tour has just released a cover of the Dolly Parton classic, “Jolene”. It will feature on a forthcoming benefit compilation by Aberdeen-based label Struck Dum Records. The collection of tunes is titled Punks Versus Depression Vol 2 and will raise money for the Scottish Association of Mental Health.
The single’s B-side is a live version on the performer’s original track “The Fear”. You can check out both tracks below.
Tragical History Tour just released an album last month. Aphorisms is the first full-length from the artist’s 15 year career!
Florida rockers Cheap Gunslingers have just announced that they will release their self-titled debut album on June 21. Helping the band with the release will be Boston-based Rum Bar Records. To get you lot in the mood for the release, the band have been good enough to put out a track early. You can listen […]
Florida rockers Cheap Gunslingers have just announced that they will release their self-titled debut album on June 21. Helping the band with the release will be Boston-based Rum Bar Records.
To get you lot in the mood for the release, the band have been good enough to put out a track early. You can listen to “Good Time” by Cheap Gunslingers below.
Ahead of their latest album’s release date, California pop punkers Bracket are allowing fans to steam their newest single. “Arting Starvist” is taken from Too Old to Die Young, which is scheduled for release on Fat Wreck Chords on May 31. You can check it out below. “Arting Starvist” is the second single from the latest […]
Ahead of their latest album’s release date, California pop punkers Bracket are allowing fans to steam their newest single. “Arting Starvist” is taken from Too Old to Die Young, which is scheduled for release on Fat Wreck Chords on May 31. You can check it out below.
“Arting Starvist” is the second single from the latest effort from the veteran quartet. It follows “Canned in the Food Drive”, which came out earlier this year.