Ripple News - LO-PAN To Begin Let Freedom Ding Tour; Vinyl Out Now!

Ohio rockers LO-PAN have unveiled their latest slew of tour dates in support of their Small Stone Records debut, Salvador. After scores of shows across the country with the likes of Truckfighters, Dixie Witch, Gypsyhawk and Fight Amp, LO-PAN’s Let Freedom Ding tour – allegedly named for the many bells that mysteriously occupy the dashboard of the band’s van – will find the outfit bringing their fuzzed-out soul rock bliss to the Midwest alongside heavy hitters like Bloodcow, Droids Attack, and Chapstik.

In addition, Small Stone’s 180-gram vinyl pressing of Salvador is available now in white and red/blue clear swirl. Whatever flavor you choose, it’s delicious, and available now at smallstone.com/store. The band will also have copies with them on the road, and they take credit cards. Seriously.


LO-PAN Let Freedom Ding Tour:

08/17/2011 The Mill - Iowa City, IA w/ Snow Demon
08/18/2011 The Waiting Room - Omaha, NE w/ Bloodcow
08/19/2011 Tennyson's Tap - Denver, CO w/ Low Gravity, Black Lamb
08/20/2011 Burt's Tiki Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT w/ Muckraker, Dwellers, Top Dead Celebrity
08/23/2011 The Aquarium - Fargo, ND
08/24/2011 Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN  w/ Droids Attack
08/25/2011 JB's Speakeasy - La Crosse, WI w/ Droids Attack
08/26/2011 Club Inferno - Madison, WI w/ Droids Attack
08/27/2011 Red Line Tap - Chicago, IL w/ Heaving Mass, Droids Attack
08/28/2011 Small's - Detroit, MI w/ Chapstick, Knife



Lo-Pan, Salvador vinyl track listing:

Side A:

El Dorado

Bleeding Out

Seed

Bird Of Prey

Deciduous



Side B:

Intro

Chichen Itza

Struck Match

Generations

Solo

Ocean Grove - Another Place To Stay

When Racer tossed me the new Ocean Grove EP release entitled Another Place To Stay.  I didn’t know what to expect.  When I queued it up for the first time I was floored.  Here was this band I had never heard of playing well-crafted rock rivaling that of Hall of Fame rockers.

The EP contains a scant five tracks - one of which is described as a “hidden track.” There is “Away” which  could have easily been written by an alternative rock Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers;  “The Best,” a song with a sound reminiscent of Paul McCartney and Wings;   the so called “hidden track,”  entitled “So Cool,”. which channels Freddie Mercury and Queen; and. “Take It Easy,”  a tune with a Graham Nash meets Warren Zevon poppiness. The final track, “Say Goodbye,” builds from a Flying Burrito Brothers-like country ballad to an uptempo alternative pop Train-like middle.  The ending, however, is like someone took the end of George Harrison’s “My Guitar Gently Weeps”  and crossed it with the end of Alvin Lee and Ten Years After’s “I’d Like To Change The World” culminating in massive rock guitar, drums, bass and tone.

When you hear music like this you have to ask, “Who are these guys?”  A quick search found that the band consists of John Taylor (vocals/guitar), Ryan Liestman (keys/backing vocals), Greg Garbowsky (bass/backing vocals) and Jack Lawless (drums).  I also learned that they have been playing together for years opening for, or backing, such artists as Stevie Wonder, Brad Paisley and Vince Gill. Now, they are on their own as Ocean Grove.

This summer Ocean Grove is touring the southwest U.S. from California to Texas.  Give them a listen or see one of their shows.  They may very well surprise you too..

- Old School

Abby Posner -The Gatherer and the Thief EP

Ever since I began writing for The Ripple Effect I’ve come across a wide variety of music artists, some good and some shockingly good. However, the one negative aspect is receiving requests from friends of friends and boyfriend’s sisters’ cousins’ uncles twice removed making requests for me to listen to their demos and CDs. Well, maybe it hasn’t been that ridiculous, but it’s not too far off. I mean a lot of people have come out of the woodwork asking for my help.

Although I respect and encourage them asking me politely, I feel weird trying to remain objective. This is probably due to the fact I have a BA in Journalism and feel morally obligated to abstain since there is a conflict of interest. Still, it’s interesting the music I have come across through these requests. There were several solid demos including one heavy metal band, but they were mostly pressed on CD-R’s and not “officially released.” Although I do have a preference for physical albums I don’t hold anything against a band with submitting a digital album. In the past I actually received a small virus from a batch of digital albums sent my way for reviews. Although it slightly hindered my ability to review music, it didn’t stop me entirely, but it made me take an unexpected break.

Now that all is well I’m up to speed with listening and reviewing music. For the past couple of months I have gone through a ridiculously nostalgia streak listening to everything 1990s. Now it doesn’t seem that long ago, but it’s hard to believe that decade was 20 years ago. Recently I saw the movies Reality Bites, Singles and Clueless on TV and it reminded me of an artist I was turned onto recently.

Whenever a friend comes to me and says they have found “an awesome music artist I need to listen to” I’m usually not too surprised, but that changed earlier this year. During springtime one of my high school friends contacted me about a musician I should write about. Now I explained to him the policy of The Ripple and said, “I would give it an honest listen and if I like it then I shall write about her music.” Sure enough I’m doing that now. Whenever someone recommends a music artist from a genre of music they aren’t particularly fond of I know I’m in for a real treat. Instantly I become intrigued and almost always I seem to really like the artist(s) suggested.

Singer-songwriter Abby Posner recently released her first EP The Gatherer and the Thief in Spring 2011 and is currently working on her full-length studio album tentatively titled For You, The Spring. One of the things I absolutely adore about Abby Posner is her musical versatility. Whether it’s the musical instruments being used or her vocal technique, she echoes back to the late 1980s and early 1990s of classic female songwriters such as Liz Phair, Lisa Loeb and Sarah McLaughlin. Even at times I feel like I’m listening to a young  Jewel, Fiona Apple and Tori Amos.

It’s abundantly obvious Posner personifies what it means to appreciate world music using a diverse amount of instrumentation. At times, Posner sounds like the female version of Paul Simon during the Graceland period. The use of percussion in “Time to Go” is a good example.

Besides performing as a solo artist, Posner is involved in several side project bands including bluegrass-rock band Fearmia, rock band The Paper Tigers, the experimental jazz duo East Coast and the instrumental folk duo Bucket and String. Posner plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, drums, and didgeridoo, amongst other things. Talk about practically being a one person-band! Abby Posner can do it all.

 The Gatherer and the Thief starts off with “Moon,” which highlights Posner’s sultry, smooth voice accompanied by unconventional instruments. Anyone who can use an accordion (not named Weird Al) to make a song splendid is cool in my book.

 “Shame” is arguably my favorite song of this delightful debut EP from versatile visionary Abby Posner. The simplistic strumming of an acoustic guitar alongside Posner’s voice creates an incredible song you become mesmerized from beginning to end. The song continues to build and around the 1:57 mark the song just takes off with great background vocals. A must listen!

 “Darkest Winter” starts off with a banjo and is a nice crossover bluegrass rock song that is the perfect remedy for an enjoyable, relaxing song. “The Bees” starts off in a similar fashion and stings you with plenty of emotions before involving into a more experimental jazz composition. Posner’s voice is a perfect match with an acoustic guitar.

 “Time To Go” and “Sweet Love” are also true delights. This entire EP was a pleasant surprise well worth the wait. Abby Posner is practically a one woman band and I love anyone who is able to sing, write and play anything. There is just something about her folk/indie sound that captivates me. There are times where she seems to capture the essence of Alanis Morissette, the simplistic writing styles of Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) and the attitude of Fiona Apple to create a charming, creative indie sound all her own.

--Brownstone

Tyrannosorceress – Demo 2011

Tyrannosorceress is a 5 piece Blackend Doom Death band out of the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area, aka for me they are some hometown dudes. I found out about this band while clicking around through facebook pages. Honestly, there awesome name is what made me stop and take a listen to them. Tyrannosorceress, that's just an awesome fucking name! Boy, am I glad I stopped to take a listen.


There new 2011 Demo simply titled Demo 2011 is pretty bad ass. This three track demo begins with my favorite song on this demo, “Age of Vice”. Simply put, it is amazing, it's dark and it's slow methodical metal. Musically this track sounds like classic black metal mixed with a little doom. It contains double bass filled drums and simply awesome dulling guitars. The addition of blackend doom vocals gives this track a little something special. Vocally the lyrics are easily understood adding a real “I want to stand in front of this band while they play and bang my head and sing along” feel.

“Thunderous Drums Emanate in the Distance
Their Echoes are Carried Into a Vortex of Fog
Cold Void Drapes Itself Upon the Earth
To Reap Souls of the Impure
Beings of Spectral Light Beam from the Cosmos
Chanting the Death Knell; Hymn of the Great Demise
In the Era of Malice, Discord Awakens the Age of Vice
Once Buried by Time it’s Unearthed to Feast Again
Reaching Toward Skies of the Stillborn World
To Behold its Infinite Fallacy
Devourer of Light; Spews Darkness Unto Me
Reveling in its Blackness I Writhe, Writhe Eternally
Fires Consume the Forests Oceans Absorb the Shores
Fault Lines Erupt and Quake the Earth
To Sanctify the Impure
Beings of Light Surround Us
Chanting the Hymns of Death
Ascending Beyond the Gates
Cycles of Death Reborn In Another Plane of Existence
Where Knowledge of Life and Death Exist No More “


The Dallas area is not too well known for producing any black metal style bands....”this is Dimebag country” said in my most hick Pantera loving voice. Did I mention I'm not really a big Pantera/Dimebag worshiper.... Anyway, Tyrannosorceress is a band to be on the lookout for in the coming years. I see a big future in this band, not just in the Texas metal scene but nationwide.

Tyrannosorceress goes good with: Abigail Williams, Vader, Aborted, Baring Teeth, Goatwhore, Kill The Client

-Cicatriz

Stream here: http://listn.to/Tyrannosorceress/player#t=0&pos=0&p=

Get the Free Demo here: http://tyrannosorceress.com/

Benjamin Francis Leftwich- Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm

What is the best birthday present one may get? The album of someone you have been following for quite a while.

Pretty much since I have been writing for Ripple, Benjamin Francis Leftwich has popped up in my inbox periodically and I have grown to love him. So, imagine my joy when Racer manages to talk nicely and get me his album!

Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm now sits next to Priory in my favourite albums of this year. Much for the same reasons too- they are both beautifully constructed, connect with me, and have a deeper overall meaning.

Before we start I should just mention Benjamin Francis Leftwich has the most beautiful voice. It is so clear, in tune, just wonderful to listen to and his music just really supports that. I am in no way saying that the music is the background, and could be easily discarded- quite the opposite! You can simply not have one without the other without a feeling of hollowness. It is surprising to realise this is a debut album, because it is so polished- I can see no place for him to make this better next time round.

Every song on the album is amazing, but to avoid sounding like an old record repeating myself constantly, I will take you through a few favourites...

“Butterfly Culture” is a stand out on Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm. With the fingerpicking, sweet guitar, slow movement and lyrics matching up and pulling together a beautiful song. 
“The girl in that dress,
Will undress,
And distress you with the way that she moves”

“Atlas Hands” is what I believe one of the better known songs is, so I thought I would share it with you. (see youtube video)
“I will remember your face
'Cause I am still in love with that place
When the stars are the only things we share
Will you be there?
I've got a plan
I've got an atlas in my hands
I'm gonna turn when I listen to the lessons that I've learned”

“Shine” has a faster pace than the other songs, making it a nice change mid-album. The lyrics don't miss a beat, maintaining the simplicity and elegance.
“That I’m the one who has got your back, now turn around and don’t be sad
I hope you find the love that’s true, so the morning light can shine on you
I hope you find what you’re looking for, so your heart is warm for ever more”

The albums namesake “Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm” is hands down brilliance. The standard elegance in the guitar mixed with a lyrical line that has an honesty in it. It is all polished off with violins that add an extra dynamic to the melody.
“This is this the start
You got a cold heart
Don't you want to spend more time round here?”

Overall Last Smoke Before The Snow Storm is really a wonderful debut from Benjamin Francis Leftwich, it will be interesting to see where he takes things next.

-Koala

Horn's microreviews for you, the diligent consumer - Featurng Summon the Crows, King Giant, Trippy Wicked, Dark Angel, and Wormrot,

So here's the plan:

Recently, reading an article on another site we'll call... Grapefruits Impossible to Perceive With Your Eyes, I came to the worrying conclusion, stolen from said site, that perhaps music criticism is nearly unnecessary in the era of the internet. After all, if you want to judge an artist's music, you just find it on a site and listen for yourself-- you don't need a critic to spare you the financial risk of shelling out for a record you could end up hating.

Then it hit me: what you DO need from critics is enough of a nudge to know what to check out in the first place-- because that's the other side of the double-edged sword of the internet: while you can check out whatever you want, there's roughly a billion more things to check out.

You need less of a critic, and more of a Herald-- one who points you in the right direction and THEN lets you do your own judging.

So.

Here, in tiny/ sound byte/ on-the-go form is what boils down to psychedelic ad copy-- for you to quickly decide if even investigating an album will be worth your time.

Here are a series of shamanistic near-haiku: brief, transient as sand, ephemeral as tea leaves in the bottom of a pint. The visions of one specific seer, to guide your purchases and/or illegal downloads.

Who says the incredible, chaotic, undetermined, endless and eternal can't find niches in a consumerist, material-driven, commodity-based, filthy-lucre society?

So here, then, are your "blasts of leaden verse about leaden riffs, the nitroglycerin shrieks of advertising," in concentrated (i.e., psychically mainlinable) form.


Summon the Crows - One More For the Gallows

Very Southern Lord, very Disfear/ Kvertllak/ Nails, but with more snappy songwriting/ usually sounds like a Metallica cassette b-side, i.e., NWOBHM, but without clean singing/ "Trojan Whore" has a great riff at 2:15....

It's a detuned, slightly more modern version of every band Metallica covered on their cassette b-sides, The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited, and Garage, Inc.-- Budgie, Misfits, Diamond Head, Sweet Savage, and most obviously Discharge.

Brief songs, and the whole album's 25 minutes....

"Beasts of the Night" starts so much like "The More I See" you'd almost mistake it for that. But don't mistake the riffs baby. And not "doom" riffs, not Sabbath, but punk/ thrash riffs, downpicked over a groovy 4/4 beat....


King Giant - Southern Darkness and Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight's - Movin' On:

Southern rockish, Monster Magnet lite; although "TWatCHofK" get some originality credit: I've never actually heard the musical term for song sections said during the song before-- and during "Not What You Know" we get a scream of "Bridge!!" right before, that's right-- the bridge.

King Giant's "Mississippi River" sounds like Tom Waits on sludge and is worth getting in and of itself.


Dark Angel - Darkness Descends:

The live version included here of "Perish in Flames" is awesome-- at around 1:00 a second guitar suddenly enters on the left channel, and whether it was intentional or not, it sounds great, as does the longer version of the song. The whole album reminds you what true speed is-- there's a genuine sense of velocity, one that blast beats can't adequately convey; 27 years later, listening to Dark Angel still makes me think, "Fuck, they are fast." And unlike blastibeaty black metal, the vocals here try to keep up with the velocity of the drums, too fast here to even actually sing, they must just speak rudely.... it slows down temporarily, but only to accentuate the speed when it inevitably returns....



Wormrot - Dirge:

"Puckish," not threatening (unlike say Rotten Sound or Phobia), Wormrot are the most together garage band ever, and they fire at you strangely satisfying grindcore in standard tuning: there's a "clean," live, direct sound, one buzzsaw-like, and it makes Wormrot sound like Agnostic Front on the Joker's Smilex toxin... highlight is "Principle of Puppet Warfare," but if you like one, you'll like all. They're really just movements of a long single song. It's almost (more so than other grindcore) thrash metal (which makes sense, seeing as it came from hardcore/punk) gone completely off the rails, coming apart at the seams, like they've gotten going to fast to slow down and they've lost control. Except they never quite do. And despite the velocity and screaming, they sound like they're having fun.

More to come!

--Horn

XII Boar – XII

This is the 2nd installment in my random reviews. Racer sends me tons of stuff to check out and unfortunately I don’t get to hear all of it in a timely basis so once a month I pick something completely at random and write it up. The only rule is listen first, look at promo material later.

August’s victim is a UK based outfit called XII Boar and their new 4 song demo simply titled XII. Track one starts off with a blast of feedback, the drummer counts the band in and we’re off into the void of a metal rendezvous. I chose wisely! XII Boar describes themselves as a stoner/sludge hard rock band and who am I to argue? The first song is called “Trainwreck.” Fast n furious that brings to mind Entombed and Cathedral with a little bit of early Venom and Bathory thrown in. Production is crude but suits the music very well and the vocals are guttural but not completely buried in the mix.

“Beg Borrow Steal” is up next and is slower but more pissed off sounding. Especially when the singer yells “God damn! Fuck yeah!” I would gladly salute that in concert with my can of beer. About a minute in the band shifts into a faster tempo jam that sounds like it was inspired by Black Sabbath’s “Behind The Wall Of Sleep” then slows down again for a bass break and a “Snowblind”ish guitar solo. These guys cram a lot of riffs into a 5 minute song. The song “Sludge” is pretty much how you would expect it to sound. Heavy and sludgy but faster than a lot of bands that play in this style and they’re done in less than three minutes. The last song “Skol” is a killer pillaging machine of riffs with some excellent cowbell during the “Supernaut” drum break. Each of the instruments take turns trading solos before the vocals come back in and a very heavy jam brings things to a conclusion.

XII Boar play a little too fast to be considered doom metal, but have enough slow and heavy stuff to satisfy that audience. They also bring in a much stronger classic rock influence of Motorhead speed and Blue Cheer fuzzed up blues riffs to reach the grizzled old timers. Lucky for me I picked this one at random. Definitely looking forward to hearing more from these guys. You can download the entire demo at their website. Check ‘em out.

--Woody

http://www.xiiboar.com/