No caption needed. Just play it.
Chickenfoot vs. Extreme
Step right up folks! It’s a battle of the bands — both have heavy guitar cred and both feature vocalists who worked previously with Van Halen. Let’s get it on!
Extreme “Saudades De Rock”
Beyond the fact that this is Extreme’s first album in thirteen years, we have both singer Gary Cherone and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt taking this record very seriously. For the band, it’s a welcome return to form on par with the group’s masterwork Three Sides to Every Story as the band proves that they still “got it.” Saudades De Rock boasts Cherone’s forceful vocals and Nuno’s incredible guitar licks on the opener “Star,” about a musical divas fall from grace. Nuno’s guitar brilliance shines on “Take Us Alive” another trademark fast paced rocker full of swagger and bar room funk. The riff on “Comfortably Dumb” sticks in your head, and doesn’t let go either. While the ballad “Interface” won’t make you forget the #1 hit single, “More Than Words”— it does sound melodic and the soulful piano ballad “Ghost” is sincere. And the band is excited to be back together and playing to their collective strengths. And clearly, the accomplishment is not lost on them. “It didn’t take long for us to be reminded of what we were capable of,” Cherone enthuses. “We always knew Extreme was special. We always knew it was a matter of time.” It’s nice to see a reunion that actually works — it’s like they never left.
Chickenfoot “Chickenfoot”
It’s a new “supergroup” featuring Joe Satriani, Chad Smith (from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and two former Van Halen members, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony. The majority of the Van Halen/Sammy Hagar fan base will enjoy this, as it’s by-the-numbers corporate rock. And let’s face it, Chickenfoot are just slumming it – they are an bunch of aging rockers who used to kick ass, and now they’re just jamming for their own amusement. They aren’t playing poorly, but they aren’t even remotely close to making it sound more than a well-produced garage jam session. Guitar deity Satriani prevents disaster here by adding a few well placed riffs as the skeleton for several songs. “Soap on a Rope” and “Get it Up” prove Satriani and drummer Smith are able to deliver, but the songs simply don’t move beyond a few bars. Anthony’s bass does his best not to upstage, to the point where he’s invisible. The same riff is repeated over and over, while Hagar does his best David Lee Roth impersonations. Most of the music is lifeless and unmemorable – and puts it in the category of generic rock and roll background music.
Winner by a knockdown: Extreme!
The Brownies "Ourknife Yourback"
If liked the punk pop of Brody Dalle’s Spinerette, you’ll love this Norwich, UK 5-piece The Brownies. It’s a female fronted band with plenty of ballsy, loud guitars and it’s not afraid to hurt your feelings. Lead vocalist Sophie Little gets your attention right away with the opener “Dance Romance.” The song kinda trends toward Elastica with punchy riffs and excellent bass work provided by Nathan Pounds, Stevie and Maxie Gedge. The album highlight here is the snarling pop of “Cougar” where Little starts yowling “You mark me like you mark your territory / I’ll ride you and you can claw me/ Slash slash it turns me on” pumping up the sexuality with each knife sharp riff. It’s this hostile combination of feminist aggression and gin soaked sex appeal that makes The Brownies so damn exciting. This is followed by the excellent tandem of “It Kills” and “Fight Night.” These first four tracks are as energetic, fresh and exciting as anything out there. Then it seems the band loses it way a bit as the other tracks can’t seem to ante up until “Cry Yourself To Sleep”which combines a synth dance beat with frantic guitar, drum combos and Little’s bold vocals. Fans of Be Your Own Pet, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Blondie will definitely dig this. So, If you like honest attitude with your power pop, blast this one through the speakers, why don’tcha.
The Leftovers "Eager To Please"
Hailing from Portland, Maine, The Leftovers deliver the combination of sun soaked melodies and raw, driving rhythms – power pop in the truest sense of the words. Produced by power pop fave Linus of Hollywood, we get tight arrangements at a dizzying speed. Sounding like the bastard child of Paul Collins Beat and The Ramones on “Telephone Operator” the band goes the extra mile to keep the music upbeat and catchy. The band has a nice platoon of guest stars, including Kim Shattuck of The Muffs, Brett Anderson of The Donnas, Parry Gripp from Nerf Herder, Coz Canler from the Romantics and Jon Rubin of the Rubinoos. So many highlights are here, “Girlfriend” is piece of power pop gold if ever I heard one and much of the other tracks follow in this mold. “Lost and Found” has the simple lyric about getting dumped, and bouncing back with a terrific riff, bells and hand claps. Fans of three-chord 70’s pop will also fall in love with this release, with even a little Beach Boys backing vocal on “Get Out Of My Head,” keeping the music zooming along at breakneck speed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t slow down at any point with a mid-tempo song, or ballad. But it ends well with “Party Till We Die,” which features a vocal duet with Donnas singer Brett Anderson, doing a sweet update on the Bay City Rollers “Saturday Night”. Fans of Elvis Costello, The Queers, and The Romantics will lap this up too. Without a single weak track, this band is eager to please — and you should be eager to pick this album up.
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See the video to “Dance With Me”
The Popfest Podcast returns
With Charlotte Pop Fest getting bigger and better, James Deem has started doing the podcasts again between now and September 24, 2009. Each episode will feature music and interviews with artists performing at Charlotte Pop Fest. Episode 26 features James Deem and Ed James highlight the music of The Knack, The Posies, Jellyfish, and The Spongetones.
It’s FREE – so listen in and you can also download the popcast as a MP3 file on the Charlotte Pop Fest website.