CLETUS BLACK – BLOODLINES TO THE HEART (Little Fish)
Cletus is a veteran of the Cleveland scene and you can hear the Midwestern rock experience in his voice – patient, soulful, a little weary, devious. I like this.
RATING: FOUR STARS
BRENT AMAKER AND THE RODEO – BRENT AMAKER AND THE RODEO (J-shirt Records)
Rawhide! I was skeptical about this one – country from
RATING: FOUR STARS
IDEAL FREE DISTRIBUTION – IDEAL FREE DISTRIBUTION (HHBTM Records)
Boring psychedelic rock for people obsessed with Love or Moby Grape. I might like this if I still took acid. Sadly, I’m only into beer these days.
RATING: TWO STARS
LIGION – ON THE WAY (Maple Jam Records)
Yikes! I think my first clue should have been that this band’s one sheet included myspace comments like “u guys are freaking awesome” and “rock the hell on.” It’s terrible, boring, and unimaginative. They may go on to have their couple of shitty “hard rock” singles on commercial radio and be forgotten about a year later.
RATING: ONE STAR
MY TEENAGE STRIDE – EARS LIKE GOLDEN BATS (Android Eats/Catbird)
Solid early 90s-style indie pop. At first it’s a bland light beer, then halfway through it becomes more of a full-bodied lager. The album is never a smooth stout, but good enough for the beer drinker on a budget.
RATING: THREE STARS
ADRIENNE PIERCE – Faultline (Nettwerk)
This music is like that reality show My Bare Lady where porn stars learn Shakespeare: pretty, well-meaning, and uncomfortably entertaining, but ultimately dumb.
RATING: TWO STARS
THE SPARES – BEAUTIFUL AND TREACHEROUS THING (
The lyrics are sweet, the music is sweet, and the vocals are sweet… The Spares are altogether a little too sugary for me (oh, but they have some lyrics about cigarettes – EDGY!). It’s more like Jewel than country. For my money I’ll take The Carter Family or Roger Miller over this any day.
RATING: TWO STARS
TIME TOY – FLY SWATTER/ICE WATER (Iron Horse Records)
Meager man’s Minute Men.
RATING: TWO STARS
VILLEBILLIES – VILLEBILLIES (Universal Motown)
I can barely type because I’m laughing so hard. It’s, um, oh man…banjos, Eminem, crank, Bubba Sparxxx, Deliverance, Sublime, moonshine, low riders, plumber’s crack, cow-tipping…you’re on your own with this one. I have no idea what else to say.
RATING: ONE STAR. OR FIVE STARS
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