Charger
Charger
Pirates Press (2019)
The debut from Charger finds that gray area between punk and metal that’s hard to pigeonhole to a specific genre. You’ll see more than one Motorhead reference in this review, which is both a good place to start and a pretty good complement.Motorhead is really what comes to mind on a play-through of this ripper: just 7 songs over 19 minutes. Even knowing the lineup, it took until halfway through the second song, “Victim,” to really identify Matt Freeman’s bass style. He’s also on the microphone, but it’s nothing like his scratchy warble with Rancid. Instead, his Charger vocals are sharp and gutteral. (Jason Willer sings on "Victim" and "Fall Out.")Neither bass nor vocals define Charger. Instead it’s the guitars, which is why I’d put it more on the metal side of that fuzzy line where we put our bands into boxes. There are a lot of influences that show, which I’ll name later, but the overall tone is forceful with an ear for hooks and secondary grooves. While guitars dominate the sound, there’s the trademark Freeman bass solo in “Victim” and an effects-pedal jammy interlude in “Damaged.” Meanwhile, the songs blaze past, mostly in that two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half minute … Read more
Drei Affen
Seguimos Ciegxs
PIFIA RECORDS/THROUGH LOVE REC/LEFT HAND LABEL/ZEGEMA BEACH (2019)
Some bands really know how to unite. Drei Affen is one of those bands. They make a sport out of … Read more
Evening Standards
World’s End
Lets Pretend (2019)
It’s a dramatic understatement to say that music has changed since I first discovered DIY in the 1990s. But in … Read more
Black Dots
Everything Has Gotta Change
Snappy Little Numbers / La Escalera Records (2019)
Some albums just hit you right away. I was vaguely aware of Black Dots – some friends saw them at … Read more
Aaron Rice
Neverfade/For Dusk
Elizabeth Label (2019)
Aaron Rice deftly wades through the debris of a break-up on his debut solo LP Neverfade/For Dusk, where his songs … Read more
