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Kathleen Johnson
Deke Dickerson
We’ve all dreamed the dream. Dozens, if not hundreds, of times. It generally revolves around trolling yard sales or pawn shops where you excitedly uncover a rare, dusty gem patiently waiting for a new owner. Or maybe it’s finding a mint vintage piece in the attic or closet of an older relative, untouched for 50…
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Kathleen Johnson
Windhand
The doom-rock scene is experiencing a resurgence, and there’s plenty of good ol’ Sabbath-begot heaviness around to jack up your big ’70s-styled headphones down in the basement. This Richmond, Virgina, five-piece does it especially well. Windhand just gets it more right, as it were, than what’s been unleashed lately. The requisite doom elements are here;…
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Kathleen Johnson
Antiseen
Antiseen celebrates 30 years of raw, southern punk-and-roll with their latest CD. It’s an impressive milestone for any band, much less a rag-tag group of fringe-dwellers. Is that part of the reason New Blood sounds as vital and throttling as anything the band’s done. The scruffy underdog factor? Maybe. But there’s no denying the strength…
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Kathleen Johnson
St. Vitus
Drug addiction has a new soundtrack, thanks to this brutal and excellent reunion album by Doom rock pioneers St. Vitus. Lillie: F-65 (named after a barbiturate the band once struggled with) is a seven-track spiral through an addict’s world, a sonic retelling of mental and physical pitfalls and the frustrations of dealing with a less-then-sympathetic…
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Kathleen Johnson
John5
Rocker’s new album not what you might think
Don’t let John5’s stage persona fool you. Underneath that peroxide-white hair, sinister colored contact lenses and high-priest-of-evil wardrobe breathes one impressive and versatile guitarist. True, the Michigan-born guitarist (real name John Lowery) is most well-known for his 5-plus years as guitarist for the notorious Marilyn Manson, during which time he adopted the requisite shock-metal ghoul…
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Kathleen Johnson
Motorhead – Stone Deaf Forever (Box Set)
If bands got paychecks for being influential, Motorhead would buy your town. And then, of course, all the lawns would up and die. Founded in the mid 1970s by steel-wool throated bassist Lemmy Kilmister after he left premier space rockers Hawkwind, Motorhead and its Chuck Berry/MC5-on-speed-with more-volume bridged the gap between old metal, punk, and…
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Kathleen Johnson
Richard Lloyd
Still Broadcasting
Television always seemed to be from another planet. Alien-like, the band was an anomaly: a dichotomy of punk attitude and intellectual musicianship. To put it another way, they hated hippies, but liked guitar solos. “Television would be out of place anywhere,” co-guitarist Richard Lloyd said regarding the mid-’70s New York City punk/new wave scene the…
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Kathleen Johnson
Fu Manchu – Go For It… Live!
Britain’s NME magazine nailed Fu Manchu’s oeuvre when it dubbed them “damn near the most conceptually perfect rock band since the Ramones.” Now comes a damn near perfect double live album. Fu’s concept: Southern Cali pinball playin’ surfer dude into classic American muscle cars, ’70s hard rock and skate punk, belting fuzzed-to-the-gills, yet economical and…
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Kathleen Johnson
Steve Miller – King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents
Before he was FM rock radio king, Steve Miller was known as Stevie “Guitar” Miller. This live release, recorded in 1973 and ’76, shows why. Culled from Washington, D.C. and New York City shows taped for the “King Biscuit Flower Hour,” the two-disc set eloquently makes the case for Miller as consummate singer, songwriter, and…
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Kathleen Johnson
Audioslave – Audioslave
The news that former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell was joining the three musicians in Rage Against the Machine, the hard rock/hip hop group that lost rapper Zack de la Rocha, was a true headscr-atcher. Would Cornell start rapping? Would the Rage guys go soft behind a singer? No. And No. Cornell still wails and the…
