Maniqui Lazer
I Learn Everything on TV
Soundsister (2008)
I don't know much about music along the US-Mexico border, and the name Maniqui Lazer and the cartoonish sketches on the cover only intrigue me so much. Mostly, it gives the impression of a weird band with a lot of keyboards. Lo and behold, I got that part right. I just missed the crazy energy held within the cardboard package. The band's name is fitting enough, in fact, that their "lazer punk" motto is actually a fitting description. The intro track should've been thrown out, utilizing the instrumental "Dance Pills" to set the tone - it does that anyway, since "788662" is twenty-seven seconds of filler. They set the tone with energetic, bouncy keyboards, but the band doesn't hit their dancepunk-screamy math rock-metal stride until the third song when vocalist Jung Sing gets involved. The first half of the record is more on the dancey side, sounding somewhere between The Blood Brothers and maybe Death From Above 1979, but with a few intermittent screams and chaotic breakdowns. While the dancier songs might garner them some indie cred, Maniqui Lazer doesn't seem to be seeking that out, the recurrence of angry, short screamy outbursts in the majority of their songs see … Read more
Two Tongues
Two Tongues
Vagrant (2009)
When the news of Max Bemis (Say Anything) and Chris Conley (Saves the Day) collaborating to create Two Tongues was … Read more
Past Lives
Strange Symmetry
Suicide Squeeze (2008)
The hiatus and eventual breakup of The Blood Brothers in 2007 left many of their fans heartbroken. But honestly, with … Read more
Red Stars Parade
Lutine Belle
Thirty Days Of Night (2008)
Bands that are difficult to pin down to a particular genre are great. They might have a distinctive sound and … Read more
