High Bias aural fixations
November 17, 2002

ABDULLAH
Graveyard Poetry
(MeteorCity)
Like a lot of bands lumped under the "stoner rock" banner, Ohio's Abdullah has been expanding its sound exponentially, adding elements from disfavored metal gods past to its psychedelic Sabbath core. Expanded from a duo to a quartet on its second album Graveyard Poetry, Abdullah puts its psychospiritual riff metal through the filters of early 80s British hard rock, 70s arena metal and 90s alternametal for an instantly recognizable yet distinctive sound. Unrelenting heavy hitters like "Black Helicopters" and "Strange Benedictions" contrast with groovier excursions like "Salamander" and "Medicine Man." While guitarist Alan Seibert capably colors the tracks with sludge-heavy riffs and fleet-fingered solos, the focus sits squarely on the shoulders of singer/songwriter Jeff Shirilla. His gruff but articulate projection and probing lyrics (from "Strange Benedictions:" "A strange blessing indeed when what I hate is what I need/And all desire is twisted into something unknown") form the core of what makes Abdullah special, and tunes like "Secret Teachings of Lost Ages" and "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" (title courtesy Harlan Ellison) sound like the realizations of a very personal vision of heavy metal. Graveyard Poetry shows Abdullah to be a restlessly creative, spiritually questing heavy rock band, and the world could always use a few more of those. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Spirit Caravan, Blue Oyster Cult, Judas Priest

BLACKALICIOUS
Blazing Arrow
(MCA)
Blackalicious' star-studded sophomore record Blazing Arrow is a smart, quirky, fun-loving hip-hop album, heavy on wordplay and positive concerns, light on posturing and the need for street creds. MC The Gift of Gab and DJ Chief Xcel prefer to sing praises to the creator, self-sufficiency and, of course, their own talents. Using gentle grooves drawn from jazz fusion, 60s and 70s soul and even Harry Nilsson, Blackalicious puts the focus squarely on the words, delivered in a rapid-fire but still conversational manner by Gab. The boys have some help as well. The Jurassic 5's Chali 2NA guests on "4000 Miles," Ben Harper adds his guitar talents to "Brain Washers," poet Saul Williams speaks up on "Release" and the legendary Gil Scott-Heron contributes his deep bass vocals to "First in Flight." "Chemical Calisthenics" features the percussive cutting and scratching of the 5's Cut Chemist. As good as those tracks are, however, the best cuts come from the duo being left to its own devices; "Nowhere Fast," "Make You Feel That Way" and the title track (which samples Nilsson's "Me and My Arrow") stand out as future rap classics. Blazing Arrow itself may be destined for that designation as well. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Pharcyde, Jurassic 5, PM Dawn

PETER CASE
Beeline
(Vanguard)
Peter Case has always existed in the margins of folk/singer/songwriter/whateveryouwannacallit music, which is a shame, because his scribbles around the main text are more interesting than most tunesmiths' full paragraphs. His latest album Beeline finds him rocking things up just a bit after the pleasant but uncomfortably homogenous sound of his last two albums. With his son Joshua on guitar synthesizer and samples, drummer Sandy Chila using polyrhythms and unconventional percussion sounds and a couple of pals on droning instruments like tamboura and harmonium, Case cooks up a sonic brew reminiscent of his first album in 1986, but with enough new wrinkles to avoid sounding like an attempt to regress. He lays down groovy acoustic rockers ("Something's Coming," "If You've Got a Light to Shine," Townes Van Zandt's "Ain't Leavin' Your Love"), soulful ballads ("I Hear Your Voice," "It's Cold Inside") and a solo folk number ("Gone") in the manner of old. He also adds a couple of trance/folk hybrids, "First Light" and the appropriately titled "Evening Raga," and a bonus scratch remix of "Something's Coming" that neither adds to nor detracts from the original. While this isn't a set of songs as spectacular as those on his first couple of albums, the return to a more varied sound definitely gives Beeline a brighter pilot light than on his last couple. No doubt next time he'll crank it into a flame. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: John Hiatt, John Prine, T Bone Burnett

EPICYCLE
Swirl
(Cirkle)
Brothers Ellis and Tom Clark have played with a who's who of Chicago indie pop, making significant contributions to records by the Chamber Strings, June & the Exit Wounds and Kevin Tihista. When they're not acting as hired guns, however, they're making their own whimsical psychedelic pop under the name Epicycle. Swirl is the sibs' second home-recorded witches brew, and it's a doozy. Joined by a dozen or so friends (not that they need help, multi-instrumentalist scamps that they are), the Clarks make a record with so much wit, melody, invention and heart that it should make the bands occupying the Elephant 6 and Kindercore universes slink away in shame. "Rubberband" and "I'm So Cool" show a devilish sense of humor and a willingness to be goofy for goofiness' sake. "Big Day" is the required-by-tradition heavily orchestrated epic, while "Crash" is a close-harmony session that stands up well to the Beach Boys, its obvious inspiration. "Rings" and "Lunatic" rock harder than most bands with this worldview ever dare. The pure pop "Sunday Girl," "Six in the Morning" and the impossibly sunny "You Should Know It" prove that the boys can play it sweet as well. Everything the Clarks do here is wrapped in delectable layers of melody and harmony, and they understand how to take inspiration from the past without becoming mired in nostalgia. The only misstep is a too-long-by-three-quarters ambient jam track that's fortunately unlisted and easy to skip. Otherwise, Swirl is contemporary psych/pop the way it should be done. Michael Toland

For fans of: Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd, early David Bowie, the Small Faces

HIGH ON FIRE
Surrounded By Thieves
(Relapse)
Surrounded By Thieves, album number two for High On Fire, is a damn near unrelenting exercise in sonic brutality. Drummer Des Kensel pounds his kit furiously like a starving carnivore making sure its prey is dead, guitarist Matt Pike sprays gallons of fuzz and power chords over everything in sight and bassist George Rice holds everything together like a nail through a baseball bat. Pike delivers his oddly poetic lyrics—Robert E. Howard meets William S. Burroughs—in a harsh bark, as if he's just been released from prison after 20 years and is finally getting the chance to unleash all the bile he's had built up. This is not pretty music, folks. HOF takes Sabbath-styled stoner rock into the gorge, burying it up to its head in the dark, waiting for the ants to come. The riffs come down on your head like hammers, then the solos echo your painful screams. The rhythms take 4/4 time, throw it in a gunny sack and beat on it with garbage cans. The songs abound with lyrics like "Come, enter the feast/Eat flesh of kings" ("Nemesis") and "Come all ye losers, don't you know you're the children of life?" ("Hung, Drawn and Quartered"), which from Pike's lungs come off as strangely spiritual. The smoky production and precision heaviness combine for a sonic sludge so thick it's almost sensual. "Razor hoof coming down/Coming down/Coming down" Pike growls in "Razor Hoof," and that's as apt a description of his band's music as any. While it's not quite the metal statement of purpose that is HOF's debut The Art of Self Defense, Surrounded By Thieves is probably the most efficient way to sandblast your inner ear and acid-wash your inner eye. A lot of folks think High On Fire is underground metal's best-kept secret; this is why. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Angel Rot, Cathedral, the Entombed

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
Songs for the Deaf
(Interscope)
Queens of the Stone Age transmogrified from Kyuss, who ceased to exist in '95. Now they are a revolving collective of musicians who tour and/or record with former Kyuss members singer/guitarist Josh Homme and bassist Nick Oliveri. This time around the honorable Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) is on board, with contributions by the likes of vocalist Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) and guitarist Dean Ween. Songs for the Deaf is QOTSA's third CD, and unfortunately, the first to cross this desk. It won't be the last.

"Don't think stoner rock" was the advice given to me regarding this CD, and that helps. These boys cull some of the best stuff from that genre (Sub-genre? Bio buzz phrase?), such as thick tones and big riffs, and pair it with explosive yet economical arrangements and catchy vocal parts. Hell, they even make the stuff that shouldn't succeed work, such as the dipshit Partridge Family backbeat of "No One Knows." What starts off feeling like embarrassing pop nonsense builds into a heavyweight rock romp.

High points abound. "First It Giveth" is the song that'll get you a speeding ticket; it's that persistent beat and that seductive cushion of bottom-heavy riffage and Homme's richly layered harmonies. Over and over the band reels in the listener with that very formula. "Hangin' Tree" sounds exactly like a drive through the desert as Lanegan croons lazily over jagged licks. The title track is all tension and release, circular licks and squirrelly sounds as the band gives the impression that something big is going on.

Also included in the "Special Edition" version of this CD is a DVD containing a few songs performed live, as well as some studio and interview footage. Most of the concert footage is just dynamite, as the band rocks rocks rocks in a small venue. The lighting and camera work are perfect for the band.

Songs for the Deaf is one of those CDs you'll keep around to play for your unsuspecting friends, your buddies who still fall asleep to 80s metal each night. This is one of those CDs you'll use to try to lend your friends some taste. And whether that works or not, you'll enjoy each spin. Brian Briscoe [buy it]

For fans of: Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs

THE SIGHTS
Got What We Want
(Fall of Rome)
THE SIGHTS http://www.thatsightsband.com Got What We Want (Fall of Rome) http://www.fallofrome.com The Sights' second album Got What We Want draws most of its impetus from the 60s, from the R&B updates of the early Rolling Stones to the frazzled garage psych/punk of Love and the tuneful power of the Who. Which is strange, when you think about it, as Sights principals guitarist/vocalist Eddie Baranek and bassist Mark Leahy are barely old enough to have been shaving long. But the Detroit trio's relative youth allows it to assay this approach with enthusiasm and a sense of freshness absent from most 60s-obsessed combos. Gnarly rockers like "Don't Want You Back," beat-happy ravers like "Sweet Little Woman," pop confections like "Everyone's a Poet" and blues jams like "Sick and Tired" sound familiar but not retro, reminiscent of past rock & roll styles but not imitative. In fact, the most slavish homage on the record is the final track, the bluesy screamer "Nobody," which copies the group's Motor City homeboys the White Stripes more than anyone from the Flower Power era. Besides, Baranek and Leahy write sharp little songs and play them like there's nothing in the galaxy they'd rather be doing. It's nice to know the 60s can still inspire the young'ns without inducing them to become copycats. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Jam, the Pretty Things, the White Stripes

Copyright © 2002 High Bias