Asides

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.

Download: Year of the Cretin
Download: Wildflower

Guitar Hero Encore

Found this tidbit over at Blabbermouth.net

Classic tracks from SKID ROW, FASTER PUSSYCAT, POISON and EXTREME are among the newly added covers that will be featured in Activision‘s special 1980s-themed Guitar Hero title, dubbed Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. The last game in the series to be developed by now-MTV-owned Harmonix will ship for the PlayStation 2 this summer.

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s tracks so far:

ASIA – “Heat Of The Moment”
BILLY SQUIER – “Lonely Is The Night”
BOW WOW WOW – “I Want Candy”
DIO – “Holy Diver”
EDDIE MONEY – “Shaken”
EXTREME – “Play With Me”
FASTER PUSSYCAT – “Bathroom Wall”
FLOCK OF SEAGULLS – “I Ran” (original recording)
POISON – “Nothing But A Good Time”
QUIET RIOT – “Metal Health”
RATT – “Round And Round”
SKID ROW – “18 And Life”
THE POLICE – “Synchronicity II”
TWISTED SISTER – “I Wanna Rock” (original recording)

As of now, 13 of the 30 songs that will be featured in the game are known, with others to be undoubtedly revealed bit by bit over the coming weeks, according to GameSpot.

Seaweed to reunite

The early stuff didn’t quite do it for me but I put Seaweed’s 1993 release, Four, up there among the best CDs of the ’90s. Just writing about this now is making me dig out ’95’s excellent Spanaway (which saw the band jump from SubPop to Hollywood Records) for a spin. Sadly, the band split up after ’99’s Actions and Indications (Merge Records). A recent blog entry on the band’s MySpace page by guitarist Wade Neal indicates not only a reunion show but work on a new record.

Here’s what Neal says:

Wade Neal here. Well, the reunion show is a go.

All rumors are true. Seaweed is getting it together to do a reunion show at Bumbershoot, Seattle’s greatest music festival. Date/place/time is September 2 at the EMP Sky Church-9:30 PM.

The band is shockingly thrilled to get back together and play in front of our friends and fans once again. All members have returned except they are now playing with long-time friend Jesse Fox of Polecat and Leuko, two excellent NW bands.

Also Jesse and I are working hard on new tracks as well in a shack in South Tacoma–demos should be complete by the end of summer.

The best Seaweed album is yet to come. Tentative title-Small Engine Repair.