grand mal - maledictions
this is a supossed indie-rock supergroup. main man used to be part of st. johnny part of the slacker brigade. this is a continuation. nice new york sleazy guitars meet glam mixed in with becks understanding of drum loops and samples. several songs are wonderful full on glam stompers, catchy melodies and scuzzy guitars. the vocals take a bit of getting used to, but i love em. theres even a death in vegas remix which threw me as its the most primitive garage recording - expected dark trip hop kinda vibes. v.strange.
as ever, a great band - gets lp released and then dropped. see website for more details on lost second lp! typical.
amazing. never expected to ever see this lot back.
they have found a deal with arena rock recordings (who i believe superdrag are also on - another great 'lost' guitar band).
so whats the deal ? more of the same as maledictions .. in other words rock-n-roll boogie piano, fuzzed up glam guitars, excellent melodies, harmonies and chorus's that after 2nd listen lodge and wont go away.
instant pop highlight has to be 'duty free' with its full on 70's rifferama and catchy happy vibes which just melts the winter blues.
there seems to be less in the way of processed beats and much more attention in the actual live feel of this set of songs. 'flowin' tide' even comes over as a country blues bar band. obiously bill whitten - the bands mainstay/songwriter - has been studying all aspects of classic 70's rock and has moved on from the rolling stones/t-rex, adding spice of jesus and mary chain/brmc wall of noise guitars and cooler than thou vocals which take other new yorker lou reed as their blueprint.
all this rock-n-roll history rolled into one excellent package.
11 songs - 40 minutes. perfect in many ways.
i am seriously happy about finding this.
you would be too if you grabbed this.