Big Rock Finish… reviews of independent music

Tupelo Honey - Machines & Robots

Name: Tupelo Honey
Album: Machines and Robots
Released: ???
Members:
Matt Landry – vocals
Tyler Dianocky – Guitars
Greg Williamson – drums & percussion
Steve Vincent – bass guitar & backing vocals
Dan Davidson – guitars & backing vocals

Website: www.tupelohoney.ca
Favourite Song: All These Things (track 2)

Tupelo Honey is one of those band names I not only don’t understand, I can’t even figure out how to pronounce. Thankfully the album name I know how to sound out. But the name of the band really gave me no clue into the inner-workings of what the music would be, so this got me very excited.

iTunes is telling me Tupelo Honey is a rock band. And rock they do. Lots of “straight ahead rock”… I don’t know where that line comes from. Anyways, Tupelo Honey sounds like a lot of bands I’ve heard, in that rock songs, after a while, all sort of meld together. But the vocals in this band somehow stand out beyond much others. I don’t know how to describe it. But the vocals. Definitely the vocals, to me, are what make Tupelo Honey stand out.

I like the energy. Not one single song on here I could find boring, or even potentially boring. Awesome songs, fast, slow, slow-ish rather, but not so heavy-handed? Am I still even talking in music terms here??? Anyways. What I mean is, I like all the songs on the album because they intrueige me.

Considering I’ve found a new job that’s a very short drive from my house, I am now open to shorter length CD’s being in my car. And I’m certain that Tupelo Honeyy will be making my rotation as I hit up the suburb side-streets to my 8 to 5 office job! Nothing better to wake me up in the morning, or keep me awake in the evenings.

D.O.A. - Punk Rock Singles

Name: D.O.A.
Album: Punk Rock Singles 1978-1999
Released: 1999?
Members: ??? Seriously, I can’t figure out the liner notes to save my life.

Website:
Record Label: Sudden Death Records (www.suddendeath.com)
Favourite Song: Whatcha gonna do? (Track 8)

Okay… this wasn’t exactly my ideal album to be reviewing. It’s somewhat of a Greatest Hits or a Best Of album, so obviously all the songs on here are going to be the best of the best (with just one best being anything worthy of going into studio to be recorded anyways) and the idea of reviewing this is just a little strange, but here we go!

These guys are punk. Punk rock if you need more than one word. But punk. End of story.

It’s a collection of singles. A big-assed collection at that. 28 tracks I’m sitting here listening to while I try and figure out which song I might actually enjoy. Simple punk songs are the best because they work on so many levels. You have to be a great musician to pull off something that can sometimes sound like you’re a terrible musician.

D.O.A. are a punk rock band. You listen to this kind of music at a punk rock show. Especially the loud and hard and fast songs. Because you can’t have a pit with a bunch of ballads.