Dogs Die in Hot Cars – Please Describe Yourself

 

 

 Ok, Before you get turned off by the name of this band, I beg you to read the rest of the review. Theres plenty more to get turned off by other than that.

 While the name Dogs Die in Hot Cars connotates some type of Satan worshiping, animal sacrificing, viking hard rock group, taking a quick listen to the CD will give you quite a surprise. Please Describe yourself is full of new wave guitars, keyboards, and probably haircuts that would make “Flock of Seagulls” jealous. All the tracks are very upbeat, somewhat dance-y and electric. My personal favorites include the single “I Love you cause I have to” and “Godhopping”.

The Lyrics are somewhat questionable. Why would anyone want Paul Newman’s eyes? I sat and wondered if they wrote this under the influence of some sort of drugs, just jotting down what ever words sounded good in a psychedelic haze. I’m pretty sure that they are genuinely fucked up.

If anything, they will always serve as a public reminder. Roll your windows down a bit so Spot can get some air!

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Notable Tracks: “I love you cause I have to” “Lounger”

Jazz June – Breakdance Suburbia

 

Alright kids, Listen up. This album is a perfect example of why you singers need to step up to the mic and enunciate your words properly.

From what I’ve read, Breakdance Suburbia is the Jazz June’s 1999 release of b-sides and rarities. but J.J. obviously forgot rule number one when releaseing a b-sides: You have to have songs on a REAL album that people have heard of, and you have to be a popular band.

Now, I personally never bothered to listen to any of their real tracks after listening to this album, mainly because I fear its not going to be far off from what I heard on this one. Every single song on B.S. suffers from sypha-singertoofarawayfrommicrophone-itis-disease. I think that if the singer wasn’t screaming into the studio from the building next door, I may have been able to understand the themes and story behind the songs (although it was highly apropriate for the track “Bleach in your eyes” because thats what I imagine what I would sound like if I have bleach in my eyes.)

Rating: 2 Stars for the effort. Thanks for coming.

Tiny Tim – God Bless Tiny Tim

 

 

 

 Terrible. Just…Terrible. Please make it stop…

 

 

 

 

 

Audio Karate – Space Camp

Ahh, who can forget the days when being in a band was a pissing competition as to who could play the loudest? When I decided to create this blog, this album was right on the top of the list for me to talk about. A perfectly almost unknown band that could survive in the pop-punk realm of loud repetivity.

Space camp was released in 2002 as Audio Karate’s debut album. I think I stumbled upon this when I was searching for another song with “nintendo” in the title. I downloaded the track (“Nintendo 89″), gave it a listen and I enjoyed what I heard at the young, feeble, impressionable age of 15. I purchased the CD from the local Strawberries and gave it a listen.

I pretty much wore out that track on the CD, with the addition of the next song, “Halfway Decent”. That was about as far as I got, not because I didn’t the rest of the songs, but because I was too young and stupid to listen to anything else. But enough of the past, back to 2008.

Audio Karate’s debute album is just that, a rough (very rough) debut. I’ve come to expect debut albus as a collection of songs that are tossed out there to see how many can be played on the radio ( the musical equivilant of sticking to the proverbial wall) (Also See: Brand New’s “Your Favorite Weapon”). Most of the songs had the same punk 3 note chord mashing that you expect from a high school talent show. Like all good stories, though, Audio Karate had a good ending. Their next release (“Lady Melody”) was much more grown up.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Notable Tracks: “Nintendo 89″

Less Than Jake – GNV FLA

 

GNV FLA is Less Than Jake’s seventh studio album. Named after their hometown (Gainesville, Florida), most songs seem to have something to do with the city. This will be the first album availible on their new indie label, Sleep It Off Records. This is excellent news for old school LTJ fans, letting the band get back to their roots, or so it would seem.

I’ve been through most of the album now and I have very few bad things to say about it. The tracks are a lot different (and a lot more homely) compared to the commercial rock feel that “Anthem” had (not saying anything was wrong with that album either). The single for this album, “Does the Lion City Still Roar?” still has the punk radio feel, but I think that for anyone who liked that song, the rest of the album will not feel as a departure from that.

Here’s the problem with a lot of LTJ albums. After listening to a few tracks in a row, the songs start to blend together. It makes for great flow, but its also very boring and makes me very tired.

All in all, I’d recommend this album to my friends. Whether they get past the 2 or 3 pop-ish tracks, I’m not sure.

Rating: 4 Stars

Notable Songs: “Does the Lion City Still Roar?”, “Abandon Ship”, “Devil in my DNA”