Review Archive: G

Sing Ready Steady Smash  

Even though I'm a big fan of the genre, most pop-punk bands I hear lately kinda bore me — it's hard to sound interesting when it seems like every three-chord combination has been used. But just when I think pop-punk is dead, along comes The Gain to prove me wrong. They have a sound like a harder Zoinks, or (I'm sure they hate this comparison) old Green Day with rougher vocals; one song sounds a lot a like a Bracket song from a while ago. In short, this is great stuff and would be a damn valuable addition to a pop-punkers' record collection.

Best Left Unsaid  

I've never gone out of my way to hear Gone, so this is actually my first time hearing Greg Ginn's instrumental trio. And the verdict? It's mediocre. For the most part I tend to find guitar solos boring and/or pointless, so Gone didn't have too much of a chance with me (not a whole album's worth, anyway). They work in a little funk and techno/industrial to keep it interesting, but it doesn't seem to blend in naturally with the rest of the music. It's just one of those albums that isn't horrible, but it's not anything I'll listen to again, either.

I Can Smoke!  

The second post-All album by Scott Reynolds' band, Goodbye Harry, shows Scott taking more control of the band (writing or co-writing all of the 15 tracks — one with lyrical help from his 4-year-old daughter). And apparently having more fun, too. While most of the songs is mainly in his poppy-punk style of Allroy Saves-era All ("I Don't Mind," "That Noise", "Roland Finn"), there are a couple enjoyable, almost silly songs: "Go Fuck Yourself" has minimal guitar work while Scott spits out fast lyrics over steady snare drumming (a great song), and "Angel" has a backwoods hillbilly sound to it. There's also a nice acoustic number to end the album. For the most part Scott writes about everyday life, and the lyrics are either depressing or funny...and sometimes both.

Operation Phoenix   

Good Riddance serves up 17 new tracks of real good melodic hardcore that come together for a damn solid record. There's not really a whole lot that can (or needs to) be said: fast and powerful music with a hint of Black Flag and All (thanks to production by Bill Stevenson and Stephen Egerton). Lyrics tend to be pretty personal and often angry (or at least pessimistic) all with gravelly vocals that are reminiscent of earlier Henry Rollins. And just to throw in a third Black Flag reference in this review, be sure to check out the hidden track, a great cover of "My War".

The Gravel Pit Manifesto  

The Gravel Pit sound like alternative rock stuff with vocals that sometimes remind me of Danny Elfman or Joe Jackson. The music's not all that bad, but it seems like they're trying to sound hard but it's just not working out--the keyboards are partly to blame; often times they just sound silly. The short of it: a couple songs are okay, most aren't. This just isn't my thing.