High Bias aural fixations
January 12, 2003

THE BLACK KEYS
The Big Come Up
(Alive)
For those disappointed in the White Stripes' recent turn toward a more pop-oriented sound, may we present Akron, Ohio's Black Keys. On The Big Come Up, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney keep these 13 songs chained to the bad side of town, the one with the juke joints where the blues freely lives and the most recent evolution of the form is the Animals and the Rolling Stones. Auerbach's primitive, grungy slide guitar and raw, heartfelt vocals and Carney's basic rhythms insistently push the cuts along like a stage mom behind her precocious child, never shoving hard enough to make the tracks fall over. "I'll Be Your Man," "The Breaks" and "Them Eyes" show a deep understanding of the roots of the blues, drinking deeply from a country blues well while remaining devoted to the demon electricity. It's as if Muddy Waters hit Chicago and couldn't find any musicians outside of a drummer. Still, the duo also experiments a bit; the heavily-delayed slide showcase "240 Years Before Your Time" uses film samples instead of vocals, and the Beatles' "She Said, She Said" gets the roughed-up blues treatment (which works just fine). The best thing about The Big Come Up is the complete lack of irony. While similar groups obfuscate their intent so much as to cause confusion, the Keys make their love and respect for the blues quite clear in the album's emotional simplicity and directness. Though the Black Keys are hardly the most forward-thinking of nuevo blues groups, this is still some of the most vibrant roots music being conceived. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: early Rolling Stones, the White Stripes, the Fat Possum stable

THE BROOKLYN COWBOYS
Dodging Bullets
(Leaps Recordings, 2167 E. 21st Street, Suite 231, Brooklyn, NY 11229)
Dodging Bullets, the second album from Nashville gang-twang the Brooklyn Cowboys, is country rock the old-fashioned way—no alt.country, no punk influence, just plain ol' revved-up country and twanged-out rock & roll. A group of Music City studio vets (Dylan steel player Buddy Cage, keyboardist/mandolinist Michael Webb, Amazing Rhythm Aces bassist Stick Davis) built around the songs of guitarists Walter Egan (yes, the "Magnet and Steel" guy) and Brian Waldschlager and drummer/producer Fredro Perry, the Cowboys worry less about fashion and authenticity and more about tunes. Guitars, honky-tonk piano and Cage's virtuostic pedal steel carry the music while Egan and Waldschlager's twang-drenched vocals get the sentiments across with little fuss. The songs themselves are just the right amount of clever and clear, using sardonic humor to deal with the usual shattered hearts and broken promises. "I Was Wrong," "The City is Different (Without You In It)" and "What You Call Love" will bring bemused eye-rolling as well as sad smiles. The sound is bit too plain, perhaps, which can lead to listener fatigue before all 14 songs are through; cutting a couple-three numbers would've benefited the record as a whole enormously. But if you're looking for unpretentious country rock from veterans who know their craft inside and out, the Brooklyn Cowboys are your team. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Buck Owens, Shaver

CRIMSON SWEET
Livin' in Strut
(On/On Switch)
This, dammit, is what "punk/pop" should be. NYC trio Crimson Sweet isn't about slick, radio-ready production that just happens to be built on three chords and some 20-something dude's horniness. It's about crazily catchy songs given raw, no-frills performances. Drummer "Electric" Al Huckabee and bassist Robbie Kongress pound out those 4/4 rhythms with enthusiasm and dead-on timing while singer/guitarist Polly Watson riffs like mad on her Flying V, making like Rick Nielsen if he'd never discovered heavy metal. With a pinch of garage rock and a dash of glam, Crimson Sweet makes a joyously uninhibited racket that's smooth as a cherry Slurpee and tight as John Ashcroft's chokehold on the Bill of Rights. The driving "I Want to Live," brash "Shandon Celebrity" and midtempo "White Heart" showcase the band's abundant talent quite nicely, though it almost upstages itself with a surprising cover of "Hello New York," from glam obscurity Silverhead (Michael Des Barres' first major gig). Crimson Sweet isn't doing anything new or innovative here, but once the rush of "Queen City V.A." hits your veins, you won't care at all. Michael Toland

For fans of: the Donnas, the Ramones, Blondie

DEMON HUNTER
Demon Hunter
(Solid State)
If the roaring, flesh-eating sound of this Northwest Christian death metal quintet is any indication, it takes its moniker seriously. Between the heavy-as-pun-intended-hell guitars, rampaging rhythms and lung-busting screaming, this is one band that's pissed off at Satan and ain't afraid to let him know. The songs aren't so much direct attacks on the Infernal One as they are explorations of man's fall from grace. Check tracks like "Screams of the Undead," "Infected" and "Turn Your Back and Run" for massive doses of self-directed invective, as the singer reminds himself that while there may not be more to life than depression and self-mutilation, the afterlife will make the pain worth it. "Lower me down under glorious green," he yells, "Eternity waits on a broken machine." The occasional clean vocals and midtempo tracks like "My Throat is an Open Grave" and "The Gauntlet" offer some respite from the vein-throbbing intensity, but, let's face it, it's the unrelenting nature of the band's furious metalcore that makes them effective. The brief piano-and-spoken word interlude of "A Broken Upper Hand" merely amplifies the fury in the rest of the cut. While spiritual views of a certain leaning may very well enhance your appreciation of Demon Hunter, it's by no means necessary. This is music to rage by, regardless of religious orientation. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Living Sacrifice, Zao, God Forbid

HARV
Töst!
(Northside)
Töst!, the second international release from Harv, finds the Nordic folk group expanding from a duo to a quartet. Fiddlers Daniel Sandén-Warg and Magnus Stinnerbom augment their trad-folk stylings with guitarist Peter Ståhlgren and percussionist Christian Svensson for a more fleshed-out sound. Svensson in particular adds a key element, as his rhythms give the fiddle melodies a buoyancy they hadn't had before; Ståhlgren tastefully fills in any gaps. But the spotlight remains tightly fixed on Sandén-Warg and Stinnerbom, who weave their fiddles together like master craftsmen working with the finest tapestry. Tunes like "Cavalier's Halling," "The Fool" and "Ånonschottis" make the most of the unique Nordic style of melody, which seems to combine Celtic melodicism with Far Eastern tonalities. The songs, mostly penned by Stinnerbom, are catchy without pandering to pop instincts (which are certainly there), and sweet without being saccharine. "The Emperor" is the record's most striking track, a slide guitar-driven ballad that's unlike anything else in the band's repertoire and unbeholden to any specific culture. The next logical step in the band's evolution would be the addition of vocals, which might actually bring something to the party, but even as it now stands, Harv has joined the ranks of the best of Nordic folksters. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Swap, Boot, Anders Norudde

DAN ISRAEL & THE CULTIVATORS
Love Ain't a Cliché
(Persistent/Hayden's Ferry)
Simply put, Love Ain't a Cliché is the Cultivators' best record so far. Since the dissolution of the Minneapolis-based Dan Israel's former band Potter's Field, the most successful showcases for his heartfelt folk rock songs have been his solo acoustic albums, but this, his third platter with the Cultivators, is equal to them in every way. He's finally found the right balance between the smartly-crafted simplicity of his tunes and the full-bodied arrangements he's always wanted to give them. Building on a straight guitar-pop trio (with Israel himself ably handling the tasteful guitar work), Israel and producer/drummer David J. Russ add just enough keyboards and overdubs to enhance the performances without overwhelming them. The focus, naturally enough, is on Israel's personable singing and uniformly strong songs, the latter of which are some of the best of his decade-plus career. "Killing Time," "Friend in This Town" and "Sandbags" are simply great tunes given perfect treatment, and the full-band take on "Overloaded" (originally from his solo release Dan Who?) helps cement that ditty as Israel's signature tune. Love Ain't a Cliché proves that Dan Israel has been moving under the pop culture radar for way too long. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Freedy Johnston, the Reivers, Steve Forbert

SIXTY WATT SHAMAN
Reason to Live
(Spitfire)
If you're looking for one word to describe Sixty Watt Shaman, that word might well be burly. On its third album Reason to Live, the Maryland quartet comes lumbering out of its cave like a disgruntled grizzly bear, big, brawny and hungry for its first meal in months. Brandishing the bawdy growl of Dan Kerzwick and the firebreathing guitar work of Joe Selby, SWS backs Black Sabbath and Lynyrd Skynyrd into a corner and forces them to crossbreed, reveling in the scratches. These good old boys aren't the first to try that particular amalgamation, of course, but if Southern-accented nuggets of heaviosity like "One Good Leg," "The Evil Behavior of Ordinary People" and "Our Name is War" are any indication, they're ready to go to the head of the gene-splicing class. The group keeps it clean and simple&151;write Southern rock riffs, slow down the tempo to dinosaur stomp level and crank up the volume way past the earbleeding range. An easy formula, really, but SWS pulls it off, mainly because those riffs stick to the ribs like good barbecue and Kerzwick sounds like he's a born carnivore. Even "The Mill Wheel" and "When the Morning Comes," acoustic tunes featuring some fine picking from Selby, bristle with power; this is one muscular band. It helps that the foursome writes songs about more than just moonshine and getting laid. There's a surprising amount of introspection in cuts like "Breathe Again" and "Blind By Morning," and Kerzwick is more than capable of exploiting emotions other than anger and defiance. The record concludes with a special treat: "All Things Come to Pass" is a Sabbathesque jam that includes producer Scott Reeder (Kyuss, the Obsessed) on bass and underground metal legend Scott "Wino" Weinrich (the Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, Saint Vitus) on guitar, with Wino and Selby going head-to-head in a six-string cage match that rattles the thunderdome. All in all, brutality and musicality coexist quite nicely in Sixty Watt Shaman's universe. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Alabama Thunderpussy, Corrosion of Conformity, Down

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