Sub Pop

The Yo-Yos
Time Of Your Life
(single)

website: http://www.theyoyos.co.uk

The Yo-Yos have the over-produced pop-punk formula perfected on this single. You really couldn't ask for much more of a commercial approach, complete with Beach Boys style backing vocals. I'm torn between my cynical take on this as being custom made crowd pleasers with no genuine musical merits, and the overwhelming need to say it's just great feelgood pop-rock. I think I have to go with the latter. Any fakeness is far overruled by the the fact that the songs are just really cool.

Verdict: A fine if formulaic example of the genre.

Century Media

Various
Serial Thriller VII

I’m not sure how many Serial Thrillers have come through the Attitude doors, but let’s just say it’s more than a few. Strangely enough though, this is my first exposure to Century Media’s bargain bucket sampler series. So who’s on it? Some names you’ll have heard- The Gathering, Dark Tranquility, Stampin’ Ground, Rotting Christ; and some you probably haven’t – Tad Morose, Storm Hammer, Radakka etc.

The first thing that hit me when listening to this CD was the simultaneous variation and similarity between the bands, with really only The Gathering, Anfall and Radakka being the noticeably different bands. The rest of Serial Thriller VII seems to be dedicated to different genres, and therefore the CD goes through it’s black/gloom metal stage (Dark Tranquility, Rotting Christ), followed by Hard/Metalcore (Stampin’ Ground, Gurd, Rykers, Merauder) and finishing with total cheese (Stormhammer, Nocturnal Rites, Nevermore, Tad Morose). All the tracks are reasonably good, depending on your tastes, but the standouts include The Gathering’s Garbageesque progness, Gurd and the excellent Rykers hitting hard with some Slayeresque hardcore, and for total over the top Andrew Lloyd Webber type cheese metal Radakka can’t be beat (it’s either shite or amazing, I’m not sure which). Possible buyers should note that some of these tracks are hardly new, Merauder’s Master Killer is a good couple of years old, and it seems no work has been done to master the tracks to equal volumes, meaning some songs sound a little faint compared to others.

However the bottom line is that, as a cheap sampler of the Century Media line, Serial Thriller VII is a worthwhile release, and of possible worth to those of you interested in finding new bands. However, in the end of the day there’s not enough names or new material on the release to tempt most of you to part with your cash, so I guess you should move onto another review.

Rating: **********

Reign Of Erebus
Of Blackest Magick

There are some things in life that I'm grateful for, and one of them is that I'll never have to listen to this CD ever again. Not that it's awful you understand. There are many elements that show real promise and go beyond what most of the black metal world is doing, but at the end of the day I just don't like it. It's got some decent rhythms and melodies, particularly on the last track, but it's just not enough to raise this otherwise annoying album out of the mire. Perhaps in the future they will get better at knowing what bits to ditch, but for the moment I'm staying well clear.

Verdict: Poor album with hints of promise.

I Used To Fuck People Like You In Prison

Various
People Like You

This is a sampler from the fabulously named I Used To Fuck People Like You In Prison Records, distributed through Century Media for the low price of £4.99, not bad for 23 tracks.

The album has two main styles on it. Firstly we have a meld of high-energy semi-punk rock reminiscent of bands like the Backyard Babies and The YoYos (The Bones, The Generators, Frankenstein Drag Queens, The Spitts), and more raw versions of the same theme (Silver Tongued Devil, Unkinds). Next there are the stoner bands, like The Awesome Machine, The Mushroom River Band (yeah baby!), Sunride, Eternal Elysium, Unida, Red Aim, Solace, Spirit Caravan, Zebulon, Nebula, Dozer and Lowrider.

Special mention goes to Red Aim, The Mushroom River Band, The Bones, Frankenstein Drag Queens, Zebulon and Eternal Elysium, whose tracks stand above the rest.

For the most part the featured bands are all quality, which makes for an enjoyable listen. 23 tracks is too long for an album though and it does start do drag. This is not the fault of the bands at all, just the number of tracks. Use it as something to find other albums you like, not as an album in its own right - that's my advice anyway.

Verdict: Good mixture of quality bands. Recommended.

Gold Star / Epitaph

Dropkick Murphys
Sing Loud, Sing Proud

Bloody hell, I'm certainly getting put through my paces this month. The Dropkick Murphys are an unlikely seven-piece pseudo-Irish punk band from Boston, and this is a very cool and bizarre album unlike anything I have heard before. Throughout we have lively fiddle-esque tunes brought to life by guitar, tin-whistles, bagpipes, mandolin, and what sounds like 20 people singing in a pub. Bagpipes? Oh yes, and they are played by the one, the only, Mr Spicey Mchaggis! Yeah baby!

These sixteen tracks will, I'm sure, fit nicely into their already popular and lively live repertoire.

Verdict: Quality drinking music.