Hour of Power 01/05/13 (playlist)

Highlights from the week of 12/30/12 - 01/05/13

1. Lately (The Heavy Eyes - Maera) 2012
2. Set Me On Fire (Bottlecap - ST) 2012
3. Beyond the Stars (Palace in Thunderland - Stars, Dreams, Seas) 2012
4. Turn To Gray (HydroElectric) 2011
5. Sunshine Day (Jethro Toe - 7" single) 1968
6. Seaquake (Yama - Seaquake EP) 2012
7. Symptoms [of the Human Race] (Motherslug - ST) 2012
8. Diggin Down (Black Space Riders - Light is the New Black) 2012
9. Spirits of Fire (Year of the Goat - Angels' Necropolis) 2012
10. Evil Hearted (Dryasdust - Demo) 2013
11. Watch Me Kill You (Salem's Pot - cassette EP) 2013

Bottlecap - ST (album review)

We used to flick our beer bottlecaps between our thumbs and ring fingers, usually at each other, sometimes at inanimate objects.  Occasionally you'd hit something metallic and it would ricochet all over the place, bouncing from corner to corner, sometimes getting lodged between a wall and dresser, or bouncing from tree to tree in a last ditch blaze of unbridled freedom.  Bottlecap, the band, has this kind of energy, the energy of their namesake in flight, an unconventional projectile, but sharp enough to sting when it hits.

The Gothenburg, Sweden trio make their intentions known right off the bat with a snarling intro to opening track "Set Me On Fire".  A funky riff with vocals that fly upwards into falsetto during the verse then slam down with a scorched growl for the chorus.  "Wretches" blasts and pulses at almost seizure-inducing tempo. This is the song the band has chosen to shoot a promo vid for (see below), it's the distillation of the band's purpose and their most frenzied success.  "Wretches"' enthusiastic performance creates an energetic buzz and is the perfect showcase of what the band is all about.

Bottlecap capitalizes on the follow-up "Shake My Hand" keeping the funk groove on high heat.  Syncopated beats with cowbell and tambourine appear from out of the 70s like some long-haired, denim-jacketed, and mutton-chopped ghost slowly fading into view in a cloud of smoke, a ghost which hangs around for the hard rocking "Hang On".

There's simply no shortage of riot-starters on this album.  "The Torch" melts the pavement with a low end bass groove that is positively terrorizing in its buzzing tone and sex-maniac groove.  Rapid hi-hat tapping and heavy breathing complete the picture.  "Side Story" stomps, pounds and wails, putting on a 3 minute rock & roll clinic.

"Red Cucumber" is a builder that features not just multiple tempo changes, but multiple time period changes as well.  One of the most important inventions in human history will be the time machine, if it ever comes to be.  I submit, after hearing this song, that the time machine will not merely look like but will in fact be a red cucumber.  This song proves it.  We start in the 60s, fly through the 70s, passing Dr. Who along the way to wind up on a whirlwind tour of the 80s and 90s via fiercesome drumming and the tour itself leaves us dumped on our collective listener asses right back here in our own time.  If that doesn't get your organ grinding, nothing will.

"Soma" has a definite air of Joy Division about it, with the unmistakable interplay of and treatment as lead of the rhythm section.  That bass tone.  What if Peter Hook had joined Foreigner or Harlequin after Ian Curtis' death?  Take some "Soma" and find out.  The band gets one more bang at the post-Motorhead can with album closer "Up (From This Dying Sea)" on which is featured a very Lemmelian vocal melody and a strange deep saw-like vocal effect for the chorus.

The band clearly enjoy themselves and the music they have created on this disc, the performances are loaded with enthusiasm, with shouted yeahs, whoops and hollers and excited non-lingual harmonies.  The energy found herein is infectious.

Highlights include: "Wretches" and "Shake My Hand"

Rating: 4/5



Tracklist
1. Set Me On Fire (4:35)
2. Wretches (3:29)
3. Shake My Hand (3:38)
4. Hang On (3:04)
5. Carry Me All The Way (6:59)
6. The Torch (5:28)
7. Side Story (3:07)
8. Red Cucumber (5:46)
9. Soma (6:39)
10. Hang On, Mr. Porridge (0:46)
11. Up (From This Dying Sea) (3:10)
Total Run Time: 46:35

From: Gothenburg, Sweden

Genre: Rock, Post-Punk

Reminds me of: Molior Superum, Motorhead, Refused

Release Date: October 13, 2012

Bottlecap official website

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Crash the best rock & roll parties of the last 50 years or so in a red cucumber.

GET IT HERE

OR HERE

Weekly Mailbag for 12/17/12 - 12/21/12

A look at what came in the mail this week with quickie reviews ...

It's been such a crazy busy week here with the year in review posts, not to mention my regular reviews it would have been understandable to not post my regular Weekly Mail Bag feature.  For one thing it's not my most popular feature, but I just can't disappoint its loyal fans.  You two better appreciate this!  If you've taken a look at the year in review posts they have a lot in common with the Weekly Mail Bag only instead of doing 5-10 'quickie reviews' I'm doing 120 over the course of 12 posts!  When I started this daunting task I thought I would burn out but I actually really enjoy it.  So there you go, it's nice to squeeze in a Weekly Mail Bag amid the chaos.  Some really, really great CDs came in the mail this week, pound for pound maybe my best haul to date ...

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY - 1919 Eternal - Now we finally emerge into uncharted territory, this is the first BLS album that I can't say I'd heard anything from before and guess what?  It's their best yet (of the first three)!  Way heavier than their previous efforts, it's more metal than southern rock. This album hauls much ass, and even the slow song is good.  Highlights include "Bleed For Me" and "Graveyard Disciples".  Rating 5/5

BOTTLECAP - ST - This one just came in, took a bit longer than expected, but it arrived.  It came with a pin, too (thanks!).  This energetic Swedish trio has a modernized retro rock sound (the ghost of the 70s haunts a lot of Swedish bands), not entirely unlike Lord Fowl from the states but in more of a Motorhead context here.  Highlights include "Wretches" and "".  Rating ?/5.  Review to follow

GANDHI'S GUNN - The Longer The Beard The Harder The Sound - For some reason I passed on this one the first time around, but after hearing the news of their signing with world's greatest record label Small Stone, I gave them another chance.  They craft terrific hooks and thick fuzz and they now go by the moniker Isaak.  The CD version was something I had to get as a kind of historical document.  Highlights include "Haywire" and "Under Siege".  Rating 4/5

HEAT - Old Sparky - This was just something I had to get.  One of the best releases of the year and definitely one the absolute best in the 70s inspired hard rock genre.  You don't always know what's even available on CD until you check the Ozium records website.  It's a treasure trove.  This CD will now sit nicely on the shelf between Hawkwind and High on Fire.  Highlights include "Warhead" and "Old Sparky".  Rating 5/5

MANFRED MANN - Mighty Garvey - This was prohibitively expensive ($70 - wtf?!?!?!) on Amazon for the longest time.  Finally importcds got some in and it was time to grab Manfred Mann's best album (with the possible exception of the 'Up the Junction' soundtrack).  Their most solid effort with great hook after great hook.  Also has "Mighty Quinn".  One of my top favorite albums of the 1960s.  Highlights include "No Better No Worse" and "It's So Easy Falling".  Rating 4.5/5

THEM - Time Out! Time In For Them - Last week Them's 'Now and Them' came in and I talked about this one.  This is the better of Them's two psych albums, one that I thought was really strange and kind of stagey the first time I heard it.  But before long I realized just how good this album is.  Moments verge on the heaviness of Pretty Things and this album out sitars anything else.  Certainly an underrated classic. Highlights include "Time Out For Time In" and "Market Place".  Rating 4/5

YEAR OF THE GOAT - Angels' Necropolis - Just gave this one its first listen and I can see that the review is going to be easy to write.  Some albums just do that.  The CD is a cool package with a pretty big booklet with full lyrics and photos.  Van records also sent some stickers, one for each of their December 7 releases (YOG, Gold, Vanderbuyst, Attic).  Highlights include "Spirits of Fire" and "I'll Die For You".  Rating ?/5.  Review in the works.

Also ...

Again I just had to gush about a book that came in.

"The Complete Books of Charles Fort" is something I've been wanting for about ten years now and finally I can read the original works of the original investigator of 'unexplained phenomena'.  If you don't know Charles Fort kind of popularized the whole paranormal thing as its own field of research.  His first book, "The Book of the Damned", was published in 1919 and since then his work has influenced countless writers, thinkers and philosophers, etc.  His explanations are tongue in cheek and his idea of a 'cosmic joker' has also gained traction as a popular theme for explaining anomalous or weird events.  He also has a magazine named in his honor, Fortean Times.