Thunderfist - S/T

Ok, where to start with this one?!

First off, I gotta say something about that cover.  I mean, come on!  If that ugly beast with the fingerless leather gloves isn't a nuclear explosion of face-erupting rock fury I don't know what is.  It's so awesomely ridiculous that I had no choice.  Must-put-CD-into-player.  Consider that a successful, subversive mission.  Cover art that is so awesome it demands I play the CD.

Now for the music.

Maybe it's because there was the famous mad skin banger back in the glory days of Samson (and Iron Maiden at one point too) named Thunderstick.  And maybe it's because there was a primo NWOBHM band named Fist who released some killer, thrashing metal back in the day.  Maybe its because the obvious combination of these two names would be Thunderfist, that I had all kinds of preconceived notions that what awaited me was gonna be a hell-unleashed fury of NWOBHM-tinged, explosive rock and roll mayhem.  Check.  Consider that another successful, subversive mission.  Name equals music.  Thunder and Fist!

Thunderfist are all that and more.  Raw and primal and full of spit and semen and scorn, the five crazies who compose the band churn out sleaze and slippery, uncut gunmetal rock with unfettered abandon. And damn, do they do it good!

Guitars wail and riff and destroy all land-based creatures in their path.  Drums harken the holocaust.  Bass vibrates the clothing off young women.   And throughout the whole mayhem, Jeremy Cardenas gasps and wails and screams and pulverizes any poor sap in his wake.  This is the unruly spawn of Motorhead in a love-oil fest with AC/DC in the NWOBHM pleasure tent of Motley Crue.  And the Crue reference here is only in the amount of my-own-dick loving sleaze that goes on here, not the music. Because, quite frankly, I'd listen to the real as fuck rock of Thunderfist over the cartoon hijinks of Motley Crue anyday.

Seems the Thunderfist crew have been at it for a while with a couple of other albums to their name, produced by legendary Jack Endino. Which makes sense.  I hear these guys and I think of other Endino creations like Dirty Power.   Pure, unadulterated, primitive rock.   The guys come from Salt Lake City, hardly the bastion of sperm-fest rock, but the boys insure us that none of them are married to their sisters and I suspect their middle-fingers are raised so often up the butts of the ruling Mormon elite that they gotta wear splints to prevent ligament damage.   Seems the boys like nothing more than riding motorcycles, fixing cars and beating the shit outta rednecks, then providing them with drugs.

Yep, that sounds about right.

What we got here are 8 original songs of neanderthal post-NWOBHM metal, and a couple of covers, including "None of Your Business"originally by the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs.  But the boys definitely take that one over, pounding out a primal-punk, metal swear-fest.   As for the original, hold onto your jockstrap coach, cause these misplaced Utah rockers are a terror.  "Cut and Run" is pure Lemmy-is-God, post Motorhead madness with supercharged tempo and mind-crushing riffs.  Man, that chorus is pure gold, with the backing vocals cutting in amongst the blitzing guitars.  A super, rifftastic song.

"Hit the Bottle Again" kicks off with the type of riff that I ate for lunch when the NWOBHM was fresh.  Rolling ascending, then descending runs of guitar madness.   Ride that E for a while then tear into the "All fucked up, all fucked up tonight" hook.  Yes!  Hit the bottle again amid a raging chorus that spits out like a lost treasure from some pre-historic metal album.  "Don't Get it For Free" again screams NWOBHM to me.  Maybe the real Fist this time, or the early killer Def Leppard stuff like "Rocks Off"  You know, back when Leppard used to be a real band.  I don't know.  Everything sounds kinda familiar to me, but all amped up and definitely made their own.  Thunderfist don't sound like anybody but a bunch of guys who love the fuck outta rock n roll.

And they do the whole thing with enough humor to reveal how much fun their having.  They named their record label, ECG Records, for El Chango Grande.  Why you may ask?  Because bandmate Jeremy looks like a big monkey when he performs.  And, yes, El Chango Grande means big monkey.  They keep that humor running through their music with such classics as "Eskimo Pussy is Mighty Cold" with it's soon-to-be legendary refrain "I don't know what I've been told, Eskimo pussy is might cold.  It's cold in here!"

There's not a weak cut here. (except for their cover of Eric Carmen's "That's Rock and Roll" - which in their defense isn't a bad cover, it's just that I'd much rather hear more of their own material).  From the epic doom majesty of "The Wizard's Lament" to the AC/DC Bon's-back-from-the-dead blitz of "As Good as it Gets" this is gunbarrel-shove-the-cattle-prod-up-the-religious-wankers-ass metal done right.

And I can guarantee you this baby will reappear in my Top Ten list for the year.  It's way too much fun not to.

--Racer

Confused Little Girl - Southern Gentlemen

Skeeters are snackin'. They're as big as half-dollars and they'll bleed you dry if you let 'em. The gators are patiently waiting. Some are stalkin' their prey. Shine a light and you can see the battalion of reptile eyes, like fallen stars strewn across the water's surface. Yes, we're in the icky Florida swamp, where it's scary-dark and it's nasty. I lived there once, and it's also where Confused Little Girl  and Southern Gentlemen rose from the filthy muck.

I told Racer that I've been listening to the independent release of this album for almost a year but I clearly wasn't the only one. Rotten Records took notice and signed the Orlando-based group, turning out Southern Gentlemen internationally on Oct. 11. They brought an exceptional and original rock band on board, in my opinion. Here's some information from their bio for those who haven't heard about Confused Little Girl yet.

"Confused Little Girl are a four-piece, deep-fried, southern swamp-rock band from Orlando, Florida. Their songs are filled with themes of drinking whiskey, murdering people and burying them in the bellies of alligators, pigs and the bottom of the water in the Everglades, and of course, selling your soul to Satan. The music that accompanies this subject matter is filled with loud guitars; heavy, groove-based big drums and enough fat-bottom for even Freddie Mercury to be disgusted. Since 2005, these beloved bastards of rock have been working tirelessly to shove their brand of heavy rock and roll down the throats of as many people as humanly possible."

Influences include: AC/DC, ZZ Top, Black Sabbath, Down, C.O.C., Clutch, and Queens of the Stone Age. What more do you need to know? Want details? Too bad. I don't know much else about Confused Little Girl, aside from the fact that Billy Van Muddlestein, David Washburn, Red Reilly and Josh Henry like booze, bitches and barbecue. Hell, who doesn't?

"We come from the Swamp," Confused Little Girl says. "We play rock-and-roll music. Loud, angry, drunken rock-and-roll. Being from Florida, where tons of southern rock bands came from, we have southern music in our hearts. The details about how we met and who we've played with and all of that bullshit isn't important. It's music, you listen to it. So listen to it. "

I have listened to Southern Gentlemen - many times. Too many to count. I'm listening again right now and I'll tell you something: it never gets old. Like I said before, I've been playing this release since the beginning of the year and I'm not stopping now. I won't bother with trying to describe every song because it's all good. The guitars are southern-scuzzy; the vocals are hefty and raunchy, but they're definitely still clear enough for me. The bass and drums are just monstrous. It's everything I love about swamp rock. No wonder I can't get enough.

Oh. And the song titles. Don't get me started on that. "I'd Rather Booby Screw A Walrus" is a favorite, along with "Honestly, Who Gives Their Genitals Pet Names". "Hookers on Horseback", "(Hey Dad) Stop Looking at Porn on My Computer", "Jordan Catalano Needs to Break Up His Shitty Band" and "How Satan Stole My Heart". C'mon. Aren't those some of the most interesting song names you've ever heard? Just reading those names makes you want to listen, doesn't it? Go ahead. You'll be happy you did.

The sick, 12-song Southern Gentlemen was sort of an obscure title earlier this year. Well not any more. I'm glad to see Confused Little Girl get signed by Rotten Records. Now the world has a better chance to hear the swamp-rock I've been trudging through for months. Head to the Rotten Records site for this record and get your copy NOW.

Hail the swamp!

--Heddbuzz


http://store.rottenrecords.com/confused-little-girl-southern-gentlemen.html
http://www.bastardsofrock.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/confusedlittlegirl

AC/DC – Backtracks

This was one of the easiest reviews I ever had to write. If you’re an AC/DC fan, you need this. If you’re not, that’s fine too. More fun for the rest of us. This 3 disc set contains 1 CD of studio rarities, 1 CD of live rarities and a DVD of videos that didn’t make the Family Jewels compilation from 2005.

Disc one contains all the rare Bon Scott era songs that fans have been wanting for years. Why they were not included in the Bonfire box set or as bonus tracks when the catalog was reissued by Sony in 2003 is anyone’s guess. There’s nothing shocking or incredible, but anything from the Bon Scott era is always welcome. The first few AC/DC albums had different track listings than the ones that came out in the UK and eventually America so fans have often been confused by imports. “Stick Around” and “Love Song” are both from the Australian version of High Voltage that was originally released in 1975. “Love Song” is the only shocker on this collection. It’s an actual love song! It’s slow and everything. “Fling Thing” was the b-side of “Jailbreak” in 1976.


“R.I.P. (Rock In Peace)” was on the Australian Dirty Deeds and is surprisingly not on Bon’s tombstone. “Carry Me Home” is probably the best of the Bon tracks collected here. It was the b-side to “Dog Eat Dog” and has a hilarious monologue from Bon about being too drunk to get home. Unfortunately it turned out to be true one too many times. “Crabsody In Blue” was originally on Let There Be Rock but was replaced by “Problem Child” in the world outside Australia. Another great song is “Cold Hearted Man” from the Powerage era. This was released as the b-side to “Rock N Roll Damnation” and then forgotten about. The rest of disc 1 is made up of b-sides from the Brian Johnson era. They’re all fine songs that wouldn’t sound out of place on some of the less exciting AC/DC albums of the late 80’s.

Somewhere in the vaults is a version of a song called “I’m A Rebel” that was written by Angus and Malcolm’s brother Alex Young. Bon was apparently very drunk when it was recorded in Germany 1976 and it was never released. When Alex passed away he requested in his will that the recording not be issued. It’s unclear if the backing band was actually AC/DC or Accept. The song later turned up in 1980 on Accept’s second album.

Fans will cream over the live recordings on disc 2, especially the live version of “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” from 1977. “Dog Eat Dog” comes from the same 1978 show in Glasgow that most of their live If You Want Blood… album came from. There’s also killer live versions of “Back In Black” and “T.N.T.” from 1981’s For Those About To Rock tour. Flick Of The Switch has always been a fan favorite album and there are 4 songs from that 1983 tour including a high energy take of “This House Is On Fire.” The live version of “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” was recorded in Moscow in 1991. The local police must have freaked when they turned the cannons loose on the crowd. LOUD!

The DVD is comprised of commercially released videos for songs like “Big Gun” and “Stiff Upper Lip” from the 1990’s, but there are some nice extras for hardcore fans like the “Jailbreak” video with Bon. Not much in terms of extras, though.

Like I said before, most of the music should have been released before, but it’s getting close to the holidays and few people are going to complain if they get this stuffed in their stocking. If you’re feeling really generous to yourself or loved one, check out the $239 deluxe version that comes with all of the above plus a LP, another DVD, 164 page hardcover book and working amplifier! --Woody



buy here: Backtracks (2CD+DVD)

Buy here: AC/DC Backtracks Deluxe Collector's Edition





buy here: Backtracks (2CD+DVD)