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By Ash - Primetime! With Ash and Leeland - 04/24/2005

“Bow down to me!”. When I first heard Garbage, mainstream radio was still in an acceptable state. Their song “I’m Only Happy When It Rains” was, well, pretty much the best song on the radio at that time. On the air alongside Garbage were the Smashing Pumpkins, Oasis, the short-lived Kula Shaker, Bush and a variety of other radio-friendly bands that were just cool enough to make not-so-mischievous teens like myself feel somewhat rebellious. Those days have long since past and we’re now at the mercy of Coldplay, Keane and Interpol to save us from the tasteless disaster that is contemporary radio. While Garbage is not what they were at the time of their self-titled debut or even Version 2.0, they do remain significant. Although I never heard anyone say “Garbage is my favorite band”, they’re still a band that has managed to transcend both cultural and class barriers. Garbage is and has always been a band that falls into both the alternative and pop categories, depending on who one asks. Catchy enough to be mainstream, while very much at home with the marginalists. This was very evident at their April 24th concert at the Metropolis. Here, an enormous mix of people came together to sing along with and in many cases worship Shirley Manson, “supervixen” extraordinaire. While the boys at the concert admired Shirley in an almost masochistic dominatrix manner, the girls, dressed somewhat like her, seemed to be under her spell also, but for reasons I can’t truly comprehend.

Aside from being eye candy, Shirley also sang fantastically. She was right on song after song. I had my doubts prior to the concert, but was soon proved very wrong. Also, being Garbage (originally studio geek Butch Vig’s side project), the sound was great, almost too good. A flaw/quality to note -- depending on how you look at it -- was that each song was played perfectly. While I didn’t mind that each song sounded exactly as it would on CD, others may have desired some variation or creative changes on the part of the band. Still, we have to keep in mind that this is Garbage, not Iron Maiden. Another flaw/quality to note is that the show was for the most part made up of songs from the first two albums. Songs like “Paranoid”, “Push It”, and “I’m Only Happy When it Rains” really got the crowd going, as desired by the band, I suppose. Two songs I really didn’t want to hear were “Queer” and “Stupid Girl”. Still both were played and no one else seemed to mind. Overall, the concert had all the songs one associates with Garbage, a few of the new tracks and no fillers. I would have appreciated hearing “The World is not Enough” or “Milk” but you can’t have everything in life. A true downside to the concert was its length. It was definitely on the short side, especially for a band with enough catchy tunes to play twice as long -- make an effort! The stage itself was as good as it could be for the Metropolis. Cool lighting behind the band -- made up of many small bright dots on the wall -- perfectly complemented the band’s sound and look. There were also four television screens behind them flashing images at the crowd.

Overall, it was a very good concert with no extras. It brought me back to the days when Garbage reigned on the airwaves. Still, while it felt good while I was at the concert, I felt no urge to replay to their CDs once I got home or even to go out and purchase the new album. As a means of entertainment, the concert did not disappoint. However, as a means of promotion, the concert failed to rekindle the Garbage bug I had all those years ago.

[Tune in to Primetime! With Ash & Leeland Thursdays 8pm – 10pm]

By Johnnybot - Turn Down the Suck - 04/29/2005

This show had a bit of an odd bill. While both Arseniq 33 and Floating Widget are very good bands, they are completely different from each other. The contrast was a little too strong and the show suffered from it despite individually good sets.

France’s Wolfunkind were up first. Their sound was a sort of hard-rocking, almost metal, type of funk. While the term funk-metal would lead one to assume that a band sucked, Wolfunkind were actually pretty darn good. They were in complete control of what they were playing and presented it in tight little package. Wolfunkind were exactly the type of band that you’d expect to find opening for Arseniq 33.

Floating Widget, however, isn’t the type of band that fits with Arseniq’s style. This caused a bit of a problem, as the audience, who were there almost entirely there for Arseniq 33, didn’t seem to get it. At one point, I even heard someone explaining to his friend what “this new trend called stoner rock” is. Don’t get me wrong, Floating Widget is an awesome band, but they just didn’t manage to connect with the crowd. Besides that, the only other issue was that the vocals were a bit overpowering in the mix, but otherwise, it was a very good, very rockin’ set. The band played a couple of songs that aren’t on Praises –- it’s always a good thing to hear new material live. The song “I Wanna Be A Robot” was definitely a highlight of the night, as was the intro of “Resurrection”, which was pure desert rock magic.

Unlike just about everyone else present, I was there to see Widget, so there was some temptation to leave early since I was already satisfied. However, Arseniq 33 had just enough appeal to get me to stick around. Oddly, during their set, I had the weird feeling that I didn’t really belong there. I’m only a casual listener of Arseniq 33 and just wasn’t able to feel the enthusiasm that was spewing from all of their fans. I was left thinking: “Yeah, they’re good, but come on guys, they aren’t that good”. I do have to admit though that Arseniq 33 does deliver live. They’re super-energetic, frantic even, and were simply blazing. For example, their cover of “Ace of Spades” put Motörhead to shame; and surprisingly enough, the crowd actually slowed down during that song! For fans, it was an excellent set.

Overall, it was a good show, even if the sum of the parts was greater than the whole, if you know what I mean.

[Tune in to Turn Down The Suck Mondays 1:30pm – 3:00pm]

By Dan - Rocks In Your Head - 04/05/2005

Okay, admittedly this is not a full, encompassing review. I have neither the time nor the urge to do a full review. So instead, I'll hit you kids up with a two-part review, splitting this new Fischerspooner CD in half. Here goes part 1:

(Get your mofo booty on the dance floor, people!)

That should be the entire review, but I'll flesh it out a little for your reading pleasure.

Call it electronic/electro-clash/dance/whatever...this shit is pretty cool. I'd heard of the band's first release (#1, May 6th 2002) that supposedly contained a sweet track called “Emerge”, but didn't follow up too quickly. Word had it that the album was lacklustre apart from a couple of tunes. This new album, however, is pretty sweet stuff.

The album kicks off with “Just Let Go”, a synth-heavy anthem with a hint of noisy guitars. Clubbers will get the most out of this one if only for its delicately layered simplicity. “Cloud” has an opening bass line that carries the tune and never lets up, and has what I might call a post-shoegaze feel to it. Like if Slowdive had kept their dancier remixes going and Christian Savill had re-joined and contributed some of the mood that Monster Movie does so well. “Never Win” has a hook reminiscent of Pink Floyd meets Front 242, polished and packaged for the dance floor.

Things start slowing down at this point, but the steady flow of “Kick in the Teeth” and its uptempo chorus keeps the album flowing nicely. The song could easily become a raver's anthem considering its lyrical content: a subtle hommage to Ecstasy and the many gratifying pleasures derived therein. “Everything to Gain” is a darker tune than most of the album's tracks, and “We Need a War” has some sweet harmonizing to cap off the first half of the album.

There is a retro feel across this album, but there's none of that 80’s cheese that we've come to hate. Solid recording all around, though some will accuse Fischerspooner of over-polishing some of the tunes. The bottom line: this is better than most material destined for the dancefloor and it WILL sound really good and potent if the club's system is up to par.

If you're a DJ looking to get down with Fischerspooner, I recommend throwing in some Front 242 or New Order just to prime your listeners beforehand. Then when something like “Never Win” hits people's eardrums, they'll be sufficiently primed and pumped for more.

Part 2 of the review coming soon.

[Tune in to Rocks In Your Head Mondays 6pm - 8pm]

By Matt - Idle Minds - 04/22/2005

Awful, Excellent, and not the train wreck I was expecting.

Easiest review I ever wrote!

…what? I have to write more? Damnit…

For people who love bands that sound like other bands, last Friday’s show at the Metropolis was a night to remember. And I don’t mean that as a negative... these days, it’s very hard to find a band that doesn’t sound like someone else, or an amalgamation of various bands. The trick is to do it well.

Unfortunately, San Diego’s http://www.louisxiv.net/ "> Louis XIV don’t do it well, at least not live. I’ve listened to their new album The Best Little Secrets Are Kept trying to get acquainted with their songs before the show and to be honest, they do a pretty good approximation of 70’s glam-era David Bowie -- faux British accent and all. Unfortunately their live act left a lot to be desired. What sounds like cool/retro on CD sounded like generic FM rock on stage (cough... CHOM... cough). Their second song literally sounded like a cross between Bryan Adams and AC/DC. And then there was the creepy dedication of their song "Illegal Tender" to "all the young girls out there", specifically the twenty or so 16-year-olds on the dance floor with the glow sticks. Yikes. By the way, the non-lead-vocalist/guitarist in the band should never be allowed to play the piano or sing again, unless he’s planning on starting a Simple Plan cover band. Then again, I've never seen such a good crowd response for the third band on a three-band bill, so what do I know. As they say, “chacun à son goût” (that’s French by the way… look it up).

The crowd cheered when the huge Futureheads backdrop came down during the downtime and I cheered up a bit (or maybe it was the beer). The 80s revival aspect of the other two bands is hammered home by the Elvis Costello and The Cars playing on the PA. Let me start by stating that I love the http://www.thefutureheads.com/ ">Futureheads album. Even though I usually joke that I preferred them when they were called XTC, these guys have talent in spades. Having missed them the last time they were through town (headlining... sigh), I was pretty excited to be seeing them. Despite some fairly spotty sound quality (I blame the venue), they didn't disappoint. Starting things off with "Le Garage" (the usual opener), the band from Sunderland played a fine selection of songs off their debut release. What struck me about The Futureheads was the tight musicianship and excellent vocals from all four members. The strength of the vocals was very apparent by their excellent rendition of "Hounds of Love" by Kate Bush where the members trade syncopated oh’s as a background to the main vocals. An excellent set by an excellent band that I hope to see more of in the future.

(Can you tell I like this band?)

The Futureheads left the stage, and a very high pitched "Hot Hot Heat" chant started on the floor. Did I mention the twenty or so 16-year-olds with the glow sticks? After hearing the same 3-4 songs from The Clash's London Calling a couple of times and a few delays -- at one point, the lights went out, and then came back on. My guess is that it was a hair malfunction -- Vancouver's http://www.hothotheat.com/ ">Hot Hot Heat took the stage.

Let me get this out the way…

To lead singer Steve Bays: 70s-era Roger Daltrey called... wants his hair back. And oh ya... I think Mick Jagger trademarked those crappy dance moves.

Ok... phew… now I can get on with the review.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, Hot Hot Heat’s set was not the train wreck that I was expecting. It wasn’t fantastic by any means, but it was enjoyable enough. I rank their Sub Pop album Make up the Breakdown as one of the better albums of the first half of this decade, and it still ends up in my CD player to this day. Their new major label debut Elevator left me a little cold. It’s growing on me a bit, but it’s nowhere near as good as Make up the Breakdown. That being said, the show’s strengths were the older songs and its weakness were the newer songs (shocking!). Truth be told, the new songs did sound a lot better performed live, but it doesn’t prevent them from being weak songs in the first place (don’t get me started on “You Owe Me An IOU”! Errr…).

For the most part, the set alternated between songs from Make up the Breakdown and Elevator. Highlights were “Island Of The Honest Man” -- best song on the new album, in my humble opinion -- an excellent version of “Get In Or Get Out” and the set closer “Bandages” which got the whole floor pogo-ing. Low points were a very sloppy version of “This Town” and “Save Us S.O.S”, some pretty horrible stage banter, a temperamental bassist and weak sounding drums. Overall, simply not a very fun band to watch live: the music’s alright, but the band just doesn’t have the dynamics for a good live act. I won’t be rushing out to see them again anytime soon.

To summarize again: Awful, Excellent, and not the train wreck I was expecting.

[Tune in to The Idle Minds Sundays 4pm – 6pm]