It occurred to me the other day while driving and listening to some Dillinger Escape Plan that my favourite songs by Dillinger are those that showcase the power of Greg Puciato's voice. Spastic energy and jagged mathcore riffing are perfectly well and good, but the tracks I dig the most seem to be the ones in which Greg shows off his pipes.
Case in point: Option Paralysis opener "Farewell, Mona Lisa", which features some almost crooned choruses and devolves into a breakdown of an outro that pairs such purty singing with Greg's feral shriek. It's tasty stuff, and it further cements my theory that Greg is a big reason why I'm more into newer Dillinger than older stuff (much to the chagrin of Dillinger purists, I'm sure).
Have yourself a sample of Puciato right now, and then have yourself some sweet dreams.
So much heavy music -- especially any of the myriad subgenres we might for the sake of simplicity encapsulate with the word "metal" -- takes itself quite seriously. This is understandable, given the high levels of musicianship often present in many of these styles, and the often somewhat dark subject matter. War, death, depression, drug abuse, and good ol' Satan himself aren't exactly cheery topics. (I know I've cherry-picked some of the stereotypical metal topics that have been objected to by ignorant parents and politicians for decades, but bear with me, I'm going somewhere with this.)
I've got no problem with such subject matter, and certainly no problem with musical virtuosity, but I do think that metalheads and metal bands should lighten up every once in a while. Variety is the spice of life, right? So I was pleasantly surprised to discover this deceptively light-hearted romp from Italian outfit Destrage about how it's OK to shoot zombies in the face.
So have a listen to your song for tonight, "My Green Neighbour", from Destrage's latest, Are You Kidding Me? No. It's got all the spastic heavyness you could want, plus the fun zombie them. Win-win, really.
I make no secret of the fact that I think the musical output of The Mars Volta peaked early in the band's career, perhaps even as early as De-Loused in the Comatorium. There's no denying that pretty much anybody who's ever played with the band is a talented musician and performer, but I just feel that the standards of songwriting didn't remain as high as the standards of musicianship.
With each album after sophomore Frances the Mute or so, the songs get less focused, less precise, and more scattershot. It feels to me like the holes in the band's quality control filter got larger and larger each time out, when pretty much every note on De-Loused is so necessary and perfectly placed. Sure, "Tira Me a las Aranas" is a bit of weird throwaway in the middle there, but it still fits with detracting too much.
Of course, even with increasing amounts of these unnecessary bits from one album to the next, every Mars Volta record has some equally shining moments, moments that come close to rebottling the lightning of the band's early work. One such moment is tonight's song, "Ouroborous", from 2008's The Bedlam in Goliath, an energetic blast of salsa rhythm that surges forward like any of the best Mars Volta material. Have a listen a shed a tear for one of the great bands of the 2000's.
Finally back on top of things, and we're going to cap all this catch-up off with a quickie post for your Monday evening.
It hasn't been that long since Coheed and Cambria released the second part of their The Afterman double album, but I for one am already ready for new material. This isn't to say that The Afterman isn't a satisfying listen, because it is -- more satisfying perhaps than the couple of records that preceded it. Coheed is just one of those bands that I've been into for so long that I'm always interested to hear what they'll come up with next.
Tonight, however, we're looking back because we can't look forward to new material on the horizon any time soon. Your Monday song is "Delirium Trigger" from the band's debut 2002 LP Second Stage Turbine Blade. Enjoy.
For our last catch-up song,we're going with "A Night at the Spleen" from Closure in Moscow's 2009 LP First Temple. In addition to thinking you should all know about this band, I'm also hoping that featuring another song of theirs will somehow send a karmic ripple through the fabric of the universe that by some strange twist of fate speeds along the final stages of mixing and mastering on their forthcoming record Pink Lemonade so they can finally release the damn thing!
Things look like they're nearing completion on the band's Facebook, but I want to hear the record already. For the time being I guess we'll all just have to be content with something off First Temple, but those Aussie boys better hop to it -- the suspense is killing me.
On to Saturday, and the Weekend! It's been a weekend of good times with friends, and I can think of few bands that unite a group of my peers in fraternal singalongitude than the Beastie Boys.
Beastie Boys are just one of those groups from our collective youth that retains its power to move regardless of whether one is a fan of pop, rock, hip-hop, or metal. A good Beastie Boys song transcends genres.
OK, maybe that's overselling them. Maybe I just like to nod my head to a good beat and occasionally rap along so I can feel like I have some kind of flow. Either way, you should rock "Sabotage" from 1994's Ill Communication.
Slowly but surely catching up on all things Loud Noises here, so pitter-patter-let's-get-at-'er.
For a Friday song, we're going with something raucous and balls-out to celebrate the end my marking and the advent of the weekend. What something raucous and balls-out, you ask? Maybe a little bit of hardcore/post-hardcore legends Converge, that's all.
Friday's tune's going to be "Dark Horse", the high-energy opening track from Converge's 2009 album Axe to Fall. I'm sure Converge fans would point out the classic status of 2001's Jane Doe, but that doesn't mean Axe to Fall is an offering by a band past its prime. Tracks like "Dark Horse" demonstrate that Converge has still got it, and the furious pace of the song's verses is the perfect way to open a record to boot. Prepare yourself.
