By David Thomas
April 27, 2004
Pick of the Week
PROBOT, Probot (Southern Lord)
Dave Grohl is now officially a big enough force in rock and roll to do
whatever the hell he wants. If Mr. Grohl wants to record 11 songs with his
heavy metal, heroes someone is going to release it. The pounding assault of
drums alone make this record essential to those that have followed the FOO FIGHTERS' long career.
And there are a number of tracks, especially Lemmy's contribution, "Shake
Your Blood," that are serious rock tunes which deserve individual effort. But
the most glaring fact of this collective album isn't the resurrection of
metal gurus from VOIVOD, C.O.C, SEPULTURA and others. It's the two tracks featuring SOUNDGARDEN's Kim Thayil on guitar. Where has this guy been? Everyone else has their own
side-project-turned-success. Why doesn't Thayil get together with some of
the guys leftover from Seattle's heyday? Or join a stoner metal band and
sign to Ipecac?
Where was I? Oh yes PROBOT. Mr. Grohl again shows off as usual by playing
most of the instruments on the album. And sure, he does it really well but
couldn't he dig up some famous Seattle friend to play bass? Or Mike Watt or
something. Come on man, stop being cheap and pay a few bandmates.
Whatever Grohl's reasoning, this self-indulgent ride through memory lane is
pretty impressive until the last few tracks. It seems Grohl might've
overestimated the talent pool a bit and relegated some of the worse tracks, like
"Sweet Dreams," to the end. All the songs are brand-new for this project and
the singers sound like it was still 1987 and if they are a bit rough around
the edges, it still works. But for those thinking this will sound like QUEENS
OF THE STONE AGE, prepare to be battered with the real deal, old school
metal. And enjoy it.
Indie Pick of the Week
SEX POSITIONS, Sex Positions (Deathwish)
As hardcore acts continue to pile up on my desk week after week, I realize I
really don't like much of today's hardcore releases. Out of a recent
submission of at least half a dozen discs, only the latest by the
provocatively titled SEX POSITIONS perked my ears in a positive direction.
My personal favorite from this disc is "Worse Than The Plague." Besides the
obvious genius of the song title, the song is a disjointed attack on the
senses with odd feedback, chiseled riffs and those scratchy vocals
associated with every and any hardcore act. But the band does have a
slightly melodic side on tracks like "Aphrodite Dear" and "Doors are Harder
To Slam in Summer."
This is one of the few hardcore albums of the new year I'll actually listen
to beyond the first 30 seconds. I'm not sure if that is a truly ringing
endorsement but SEX POSITIONS is a stand-out among their peers.
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