Author: chip midnight

The return of The Rentals

Has it really been seven years since the last release from The Rentals? Seems so though head Rental Matt Sharp has released some solo material in the interim. While Sharp hinted last year that his band was working on new material, there was very little evidence to support the claim.

Now comes word from The Rentals camp that a brand new 4-song EP featuring the tracks “Last Romantic Day”, “Little Bit of You in Everything”, “Life Without a Brain” and a reworked version of “Sweetness and Tenderness” (from 1995’s Return of the Rentals) will be available on August 14. Not quite as good as a full length, but it will be nice to hear something new from the former Weezer guitarist.

Itching to get back on the road, The Rentals have lined up 2 months worth of tour dates starting in August. Copeland and Goldenboy will join The Rentals on all dates.

Just for fun, check out this interview I did with Sharp back in ’97 shortly after Seven More Minutes was released.

Here’s an old school video (circa 1995) for “Waiting” featuring one time Rental (and current SNL cast member) Maya Rudolph.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ot19-TBVpXA[/youtube]

Rooney: This can’t be good, can it?

After spending their early career playing shows with the likes of Weezer, The Strokes, Travis, and The Donnas, it was just announced that Rooney will be hitting the road this summer with … Fergie. HUH? WHAT? FERGIE?

The band will be releasing Calling the World in July and the preview tracks on MySpace sound pretty good but, seriously, Fergie????

Tour dates after the jump.

Continue reading “Rooney: This can’t be good, can it?”

Review: Jani Lane – live in Columbus

Jani Lane / Friday, May 25 / Alrosa Villa / Columbus, Ohio

Word on the street … er … message boards is that Jani Lane shows over the past couple of years have been hit or miss, with a majority being of the BIG miss variety. While the former singer of Warrant seemed to have gotten his shit together on Celebrity Fit Club after bottoming out midway through taping, the “old” Lane reportedly returned once the cameras were turned off and another series of message board postings about missed shows, drunken sets that only lasted 3 songs, and treating fans like shit started popping up.

Now, before going any further, I will state for the record that Jani Lane is my [insert name of your favorite singer, the one you worship despite any bad things you might hear about the singer]. I’ll stick by him through thick (ha ha, NOT an intentional Celebrity Fit Club reference) or thin and I like to own everything he appears on, even if it’s just providing backing vocals (see: Crumb’s Seconds, Minutes, Hours).

Continue reading “Review: Jani Lane – live in Columbus”

Velvet Revolver / Alice in Chains to tour this summer

MTV reports that two of the biggest names in hard rock – Velvet Revolver and Alice in Chains – will team up for a summer tour with Sparta handling the opening duties. Now, I’m all for bands with dead singer reuniting and bringing a new singer (see: Blind Melon) but I’m not all that excited to see this new version of Alice in Chains. And Velvet Revolver’s first album did nothing for me, so I suspect this is one I’ll be skipping. Tour dates will be announced shortly. In the meantime, check out the brand new Velvet Revolver video for “She Builds Quick Machines” from their forthcoming Liberated album (in stores July 3).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwJhQnt34m0[/youtube]

The Evil Queens – Lovesong Werewolves

The Evil Queens – Lovesong Werewolves (Sunken Treasure)
By Chip Midnight

Let’s not get stupid and start making flippant comments like “the best blend of metal, punk, and grunge since Nirvana’s Nevermind – or at least since Alta May’s We As in Us“, but I’ll be damned if there is a hybrid album containing these different elements that I’ve enjoyed listening to more than the latest from perennial “these guys deserve a big record deal” Columbus stalwarts The Evil Queens. Wow, that was a long and slightly inaccurate sentence as the Queens do have a deal in place for this album with Sunken Treasure. On more recent releases, singer Jacob Sundermeyer has had a bit more control over his voice than previous efforts which were basically screamfests though he certainly hasn’t become a “smooth” vocalist – there is definitely some grit and grime in his vocals. Some of the chugga-chugga guitars (“Means to an End”, “Fight Song”) remind me of Monster Magnet and maybe even an in-tune Mudhoney who always seemed to be on the verge of being great but never quite could cross that line. There’s also an undeniable link between these Queens and another band of Queens (of the Stone Age variety), particularly on the title track and “Into the Drink”. If you’re looking for the one that’s going to truly blow your socks off (the one you should download from Napster if you’re not willing to buy the whole thing), it’s “Ditchdigger Blues”, with some buried soulful keyboard playing and fucked up guitar work by Sundermeyer and Mike Eckhardt (could this be a leftover from Sundermeyer’s now-buried, never released jackshit, side project, The Killionaires?). This CD might not change your life the way Nevermind did, but if you’ve got a long summer of drinking PBR tallboys to cool yourself off from the blazing summer sun ahead of you, this is the album you’ll want to … no … NEED to … own.

(Note: Lovesong Werewolves will not be released nationally until July but you can probably score a copy before the “official” release date by checking out SunkenTreasure.org)

Stream Lovesong Werewolves in it’s entirety here.

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