Big Rock Finish… reviews of independent music

Name: Basement Arms Album: City Trash Released: 2007 Members: Dwight Schenk Jay Haddow Chris Eakins Brian Lahaie Website: www.basementarms.com Favourite Song: Over 50,000 Entries (Track 3)

Rock / Jam Band / Folk Rock. What the hell is a Jam Band? Isn’t that just a group of musicians who gather weekly in someone’s basement and they mess around until they have something that sounds decent then decide “Hey, maybe we should like do this official like and start up a band”?… Actually, now that I listen to this CD for the fourth time in as many hours, that sounds like it could have happened that way. They’ve got a nice up tempo, and it grooves and “swings” I suppose. But I feel like there was a lot of experimentation going on, since the songs don’t sound the same at all. It’s not rehearsed. They don’t have a formula for writing. This is refreshing.

I said already the songs don’t remind me of each other, right? Basement Arms is pretty heavy on some extraneous sound-effects, and I can’t say one way or another if it adds or doesn’t. I like clean music a lot of the time, instruments, voices, and not much else. But they don’t go overboard which is good. Overboard would be bad.

Where would anyone listen to Basement Arms might be a better unasked question than where would I listen to it. I listen to music at my computer, in my car, or at the club if I so happen to go. I’d like to see how they pull this music off in a live setting, that’s for sure. Some of the songs I could see playing at some of the crazier side-show performance type shows I go to though, It sometimes feels just creepy enough for it.

Name: Who’s Army Album: Promotional CD Released: unknown. Members: Travis Wood Cory Williams Greg Markham Max Trefler Website: www.whosarmy.com Favourite Song: When Dreaming (track 3)

I saw these guys I think for the first time at a jemo show. Then later I saw them again at… a jemo show. I do believe the first was at Lee’s Palace and the second was at Holy Joe’s. Anyways, I had a CD thrust into my unsuspecting hands at Holy Joe’s after their set, and I must say it was exciting enough to write about whether or not it’s a full EP or not. Which I don’t think this is. Well it could be, but when it’s written up to be a Promotional CD I’m no longer sure.

Who’s Army describes themselves as Alternative, Indie and Rock. Again, I’m never sure what “Indie”‘s classification is so I will leave that fairly well alone. However I will agree with Alternative and Rock, because it’s enough of what I would definately call Rock. It’s pretty powerful, and keeps your attention. I’m noticing a lot of alternative, or rock bands the vocals are a lot of non-singing, either what is more spoken with little melody, or lots of screaming with no melody. I enjoy singing with my music. And the person who does vocals? Great voice.

Not a *whole* lot of songs on here, and one song has a part 1 and a part 2, but I don’t mind. The entire set-up of this CD is really cool actually. The first song is the… loudest, hardest and fastest, and they progressively slow down. I really like it. Shows the band can do a lot of different things, instead of lots of bands I’ve seen/heard who do the exact same thing over and over. I like variety in my music.

This CD would be the perfect 15 minute party CD. That is if anyone really ever has a 15 minute party. It just winds down really nicely. I could see it driving from the gym to the yoga studio. Because I’m all amped up from the gym, and I’ll be all calm by the time I hit the yoga studio. Or actually, a 15 minute cardio work out. And I’d be cooling down by the last song getting ready to get off whatever machine I’m on, so it would make a great warm-up CD at the gym.

Name: Random Order Album: dimples and Anti depressants. Released: 2004 Members: Morgan Doctor Drums & Percussion John Jowlett Trombone & Gong S. Lynn Phillips Lead/Backup Vox & Guitar Leyla Tshongo – Bass Guitar Violin – Julia “can’t eat” Wedman Violin – Aisslinn “ace” Nosky Violoncello Felix “the cat” Deak Website: www.randomorder.ca Favourite Song: Double Standard Girls (track 2)

I saw this grouping of people at my first Senor Kasio show. They were having inter-instrument sex on stage. Disturbing in a donky-show type of fashion where you’re slightly disgusted, but you can’t look away. And me with my newly acquired super-camera taking picture like mad was the only reason the lead singer came up to me I think. It’s nice to be able to say “Not only am I a horrible photographer, I also review music!” is the reason you, my public, are reading this now.

My iTunes says Random order is Alternative (my internet connection is down whilst I write this, so no myspace cheats for this review!) and it’s definitely an alternate to what I normally listen to. I think calling it Funk would be a safe bet since it swings pretty nicely, Ska too. It’s a happy type of music. Is “Happy” a genre? It should be, considering “Emo” is a genre of music by now.

I think my first comment is going to be due to growing up in the bubblegum pop generation. I keep thinking these songs are endless. My iTunes confirms many of Random Order’s songs are closer to the 5 minute mark, rather than the 3 minute 10 second maximum of radio airplay. Not that I know where one would be able to successfully make any of their songs shorter, but there we have it. I love the fact Random Order has instruments other than the very standard guitar, bass and drums. I think it’s because I love saying “Trombone”

My opinion in where I would listen to Random Order? Live on stage. Their stage show is so awesome it’s definitely a must-see. If you’re confined to listening to CD’s and/or legally procured mp3′s, then I would say at a party. While I’m not entirely convinced a band enjoys hearing they make great background music, Random Order is a band you can easily groove to with a group of people, and is non-offensive enough that it’s safe no matter who walks into your humble abode. After the last comment, is it to risque to say Random Order makes good make-out music? I might have to try that some time soon.

Name: Rayna Album: Empty Room Released: 2006 Members: Rayna – vocals, accoustic guitar Andrew Lauzon – bass, electric guitar, keyboards Michelle Hallenbeck – electric guitar Ian Macchiusi – drums Website: www.rayna.ca Favourite Song: one day. (track 5)

More and more I’m using the artist’s myspace page to be able to properly classify their music. Because I’m really not much for labels, and considering there are so many labels, and I’ve heard rumours that some artists get offended if you mis-classify their music, that this is just safer. Rayna describes her music as Acoustic, Alternative, and Indie. Good enough for me! Not to mention that I agree with the Acoustic, and Alternative. I’ve yet to discover what true “Indie” is, since I was always under the impression that Indie stood for independent, which is what *all* the artists I review are in my description of an independent musician as someone who is not signed to a major record label.

I need to stop listening to this album, for the sake that the more I listen to it, the less I want to write about it. Or the less I can write about it. The fact that it’s slowly rendering me speechless is likely a good thing, since I’m getting more into just listening to the music, as opposed to listening to it for the sake of writing an entry. I can say Rayna’s music is hopeful. I may have unlocked a theme of learning from the past while running towards the future. I have to say I love tempo changes, and it’s pretty awesome to have one song end pretty slow, and the next song starts up pretty fast.

I almost grow tired of saying I listen to music in my car. My car is almost the only place I actually listen to music, since it’s the only place I am isolated from the world in my own metal and fabric covered bubble. But Rayna will definitely graduate to my “car stack” of CD’s for a rotating set of “what I feel like today.” I would most likely be very tickled by the idea of seeing Rayna live. So far with music such as hers, I’ve found live performances to be pretty mind-blowing.

Name: Bishop Album: Steel Gods Released: March 6, 2007 Band members: Tommy (Guitars, Lead Vox) Rocky (Drums, Vox) Vinny (Bass, Vox) Website: www.bishopmusic.com Favorite song: Outlaw Beaver

A problem with a lot of the hard rock floating around the radio waves is either the down-in-the-dumps attitude or the seriousness bordering on laughability. All of this is usually thrown together in a sort of mish mashed fashion, processed with cookie cutter bleak lyrics, and then passed around the local scene for a few years before getting noticed. All of this with the only real intent being to have brain dead teenagers bob their heads up and down like they really mean it. Like they’ve got a deep sense that something needs to get done, right now! Of course, one could argue that any reason for bobbing your head up and down in retaliation against that certain something has long since passed, what with the wars having been replaced by “peace keeping missions” and cultural problems that have been run through the water filter so many times it’s tough to distinguish where oppression ends and simple indifference ends.

So it’s refreshing to hear a band that seems to have dropped out of nowhere with only the bare essentials for a rock outfit and start playing good, hard rock, oblivious to the BS everyone’s ankle deep in right now. The kind of hard rock that has no pretensions about it, just an energy and drive to say “Listen to this” as they proceed to blow the skull out of your head. These guys don’t introduce anything new, let me say that first of all, but the earnestness in which they play their music is electrifying. Take ‘Burnout Bitch’, the first song on the album, thumping drums, pounding bass lines, thrashy guitar, and speakers turned past 10 all the way to 11 (Eleven. Exactly. One louder.) And this formula works so well just because that is essentially it. They don’t try and throw in any complex structure arrangements or theatrical excess, and they certainly aren’t prancing around in silly clothes (I hope).

The rest of the album is all killer, opting out on any teary eyed ballads or 10 minute prog breakdowns that usually end up with the listener comatose, drool dribbling down the chin. No, this album rocks, rocks again, and then commands you to play it all over again. I suppose there really isn’t a whole lot else to discuss about this band that hasn’t been discussed about countless other hard rock bands. Sure, they bear a strong resemblance to Guns n Roses or any other hair metal band you can think of, but these guys manage take it in stride. It’s like they have actually come to grips with their musical lineage and are content making music that is just like that, with all the force and energy that was brought to the scene several decades ago. And it is this acceptance of the past and hope for a future filled with thrashy guitar solos and fist pumping that makes them a definite threat to all the other cookie cutter bands currently residing in Rockville.

To sum things up, these guys stop about 10 miles away from being anything resembling originality, but who cares? This stuff rawks.

<3 ~Polly Plumps