The
Listening Lounge: A student cusses and discusses
popular and not-so-popular albums
By Ryan Ritchie
On-line Forty-Niner
Audioslave
- Cochise
For those not in the know, Audioslave is
three-fourths Rage Against the Machine and
one-fourth Chris Cornell from Soundgarden.
This cd only had one song on it, but it
sounds like Rage is one step closer to finally
realizing its dream of becoming Led Zeppelin.
Jeremy
Campstay - S/T
Is there nothing else going on in this guy’s
life other than Jesus? Does he not have
any sappy break-up songs to sing? Does he
care about things like the economy, the
environment or terrorism? How many songs
about Jesus are too many? At what point
would Jesus tell this guy, “Ok, I get it,
you love me. Move on.”?
Good
Charlotte - The Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
- The Last DJ
Will these guys write just one bad song
to make other songwriters feel better about
themselves? This band is old enough to drink
and they still got it. In a perfect world,
Petty would be the world’s last disc jockey,
because most people do not have as much
talent. Nothing bad can be said about this
record. The songs are phenomenal, the production
is superb, the band sounds amazing and the
layout and artwork are so good they’re almost
edible.
Rocket
from the Crypt - Live from Camp X-Ray
Now that garage rock is cool, this band
should become as big as they always should
have been. How a band can stick around for
more than a decade and keep getting better
is unknown, but Rocket from the Crypt is
doing just that. “X-Ray” is another installment
of Rocket from the Crypt Elvis and James
Brown inspired punk rock and once again
proves why they are the best punk band in
the world. People who think the Hives are
rock’s saviors should buy this and realize
whom Sweden’s been ripping off.
The
Distillers - Sing Sing Death House
Remember the ‘80s when boys had He-Man and
girls had She-Ra? Remember the early ‘90s
when boys had Nirvana and girls had Hole?
Now boys have Rancid and girls have the
Distillers. Is it a coincidence Distillers
singer Brody Armstrong is married to Rancid
singer Tim Armstrong? Probably not. These
songs are not terrible, but if she weren’t
Mrs. Rancid, her band probably would not
have a record on a big label. As far as
punk bands that rehash that old school sound,
the Distillers are pretty good. They’re
definitely not re-inventing the wheel on
this album, but not many punk bands do.
Ric
Sandler - Rhythmunderground
Everyone buy this record immediately. Not
since “Bill Cosby: Himself” has there been
a funnier record. Oh wait, this isn’t a
comedy record — scratch that. Don’t buy
this record. Don’t even think about buying
this and definitely don’t ever consider
giving this to someone as a gift. Sandler
looks like the real-life inspiration for
“The Simpsons” character Disco Stu and probably
acts like him too. There are 13 songs on
this record and 13 different genres. The
only reoccurring theme is they all suck.
He tries to get funky on the title track
“Rhythmunderground,” and punks it up on
“You Don’t Know Me.” Sandler, pick a style
and stick to it. Perhaps if he does, his
next record will still consist of 13 terrible
songs, but at least it will be easier to
swallow.
The
Blackouts - Everyday is a Sunday Evening
The Blackouts aren’t bad. That’s twice this
semester this paper has received decent
records. This record is reminiscent of the
Violent Femmes, Matthew Sweet and the Kinks.
In a perfect world, bands like this would
be considered pop while groups like N’SYNC
would die a slow, painful death, but bands
like these do not sell records like boy
bands. The first song, “I Don’t Think its
Alright” is by far the standout track. The
rest of the songs may be a tad bit too long,
but it sounds like the Blackouts will figure
that out by the time their next record hits.
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