Category Archives: Review

Punk Rock Dogg – Songs For Deviant Dogs – CD Review

26 May, 2009 Brian Mc 1 Comment

Last week I received a package in the mail that I was not expecting. It was a copy of the promotional CD from Punk Rock Dogg with a note signed by Murphy Dogg.

Murphy Dogg? Yes, Murphy is a dog. Murphy did not really write the note. Come on people…haha.

Normally I might scratch my head and wonder why the hell someone would send me something like this but I did order some Punk Rock Dogg Hardcore Treats for my boys last month and I suddenly remembered the site’s owner telling me she wanted to send me something to check out.

Before I even begin to talk about the CD itself I thought I would mention that the Punk Rock Dogg Hardcore Treats were really enjoyed by my boys. I blogged about the treats a while back just because I thought it was such a great idea – human grade dog treats. I even tried a couple of them myself once I received them in the mail. They tasted like a bland biscotti and honestly I kind of liked them! You can read more about the treats I purchased on a previous blog by clicking HERE.

Honestly this CD is for people with a sense of humor and a true love for their dogs, cats, llamas, whatever… It is not to be taken serious and I am sure many of my punk rock friends with pets will laugh at the adaptations on some of the tracks. If you don’t find it funny then maybe you don’t know how it feels to have a dog poop in your shoe (that really happened to me) or know how awesome pets really are.

So let’s get back to the CD…

The album cover for Songs For Deviant Dogs had a liberty spike wearing, motorcycle jacket wearing, guitar carrying punk rocker and a Boston Terrier looking to tear up the mic. I was intrigued from the moment I laid eyes on it.

Seeing how I am a huge fan of Caninus I knew I was going to like this regardless from the get go. I have a strange appreciation for many things in life and dogs incorporated into music is one of them

Note: If you have not heard of Caninus, you need to at least check them out. They are Pit Bull Grindcore. Think hardcore vegan metal fronted by big ass barking dogs….I love it!

The CD begins with a statement welcoming the listener with a public service announcement declaring that the CD is for entertainment purposes only and that there may be some swearing in the CD. Seeing how swearing would not stop me from listening to any CD I continued on.

“Punk Rock Dogg”, a clear take on The Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl” was clever with a hilarious adaptation on the classic punk track from 1988 but funny lyrics about dogs and not a human. “My Dog Is A Punk Rocker” continues with the Weird Al Yankovic turned punk try on the Ramones‘ “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”.

Then there was “Mama’s Little Monster”, a track that had this Ron Burgandy flute-like playing that cracked me up as the song sang about a certain little pooch. “Punk Rock Dogg Bop” had some very impressive singing (barking) buy a canine punk rock dog. The song is sure to be a club hit at the pounds.

The closing song on the CD was a cover of Dennis Leary’s “I’m An A$$hole”, a song I used to worship when I was a kid, so needless to say I was curious to hear the Punk Rock Dogg version. The song of course had lyrics that pertained to dogs and not cancer sticks that spoke of doggie farts and other embarrassing dog trends that usually have their owners shaking their hears with a smile. As a dog owner and lover I could not help but to laugh while listening to this imagining my two dogs…

Sure the music is not top notch, the singing is not anywhere near in tune, but the idea of it is funny as hell. Any punker who has a dog or dogs will get a kick out of this CD for what it is worth. It was recorded for fun and was not meant to be taken seriously at all. In fact the note I received from Murphy Dogg stated his mama paid the guys in the band with beer and pizza.

So how do you get one you ask? Well I wish I could say you could buy a copy at your local indie record store, but the truth is you need to head to Punk Rock Dogg’s website, order $40 worth of treats or merch (or both) and they will send you one on them. Not too shabby.

Visit www.punkrockdogg.com to purchase some Punk Rock Dogg Hardcore Treats and to check out the awesome apparel for both humans and their four legged best friends.

Check out The Murphy Dogg Blogg. I actually got a shout out on the 05/26/09 post! Nice.

Emo, Music, Music Video, Post-Hardcore, Review, Rock

The Blackout – The Best In Town – CD Review

22 May, 2009 Brian Mc 6 Comments

Post-Hardcore rockers The Blackout may have already turned some heads overseas previously in the U.K. but that was not good enough for them. The band recently recorded their second full length appropriately titled The Best In Town, signed to Epitaph Records, and now plan on invading the U.S. with their infectious music. The Blackout should have no problem doing so with a pretty intense album full of hard rock riffs and dual vocals that are sure to attract a much wider audience in due time.

Track opener “ShutTheF*ckUppercut” immediately has The Blackout declaring they desire attention with sick guitar playing, gut wrenching vocals, and even harmonious signing layered with piano. If the title of the song alone did not capture attention, the song itself surely would. Think hard rock mixed with post-hardcore and even some glam.

“Saves Our Selves (The Warning)” takes more of an emo Taking Back Sunday approach with a good rock feel. With no intentions of boring their listeners, The Blackout keep their first single off the album very interesting throughout proving the band really wants the spotlight fame they crave.

“Top Of The World” continues with a more rock song that many fans, old and new, will be singing along to instantly. “Children Of The Night”, the albums second single, carries on with a harder rock playing and multiple vocals including haunting children signing that could easily could accompany a modern day Lost Boys soundtrack.

“Silent (When We Speak)” slows down things for a moment and begs for lighters to be raised in the air and ignited with this ballad of sorts complete with your trademark guitar solo sure to set the mood right.

Dual vocal battle track “I Love Myself and I Wanna Live” mixed up aggressive rock with more emo type jams for a highly addicting track. Album closer “We’re Going To Hell… So Bring The Sunblock” not only had another hilarious title for a song but also escalated the energy of the band once again for a damn good finish to an album.

When Epitaph Records signs a band to their label there usually has to be a good vibe about that act. The Blackout are full of energy and musical abilities that will easily grab the attention of many and prove that Epitaph was right in adding them to their roster. Fans of post-hardcore bands and emo acts should check out The Best In Town as it is an album that will not disappoint.

Catch The Blackout at this year’s Van’s Warped Tour at a city near you.

“Children Of The Night” video:

Cleveland, Good Times, Indie, Live Shows, Music, Outlaw Country, Review, Rock

Those Darlins, The Dexateens, The Features – Grog Shop – Cleveland , OH – 05/19/09 – Concert Review

22 May, 2009 Brian Mc 1 Comment

It’s no surprise that all who attended the Grog Shop last Tuesday night to see Those Darlins, The Dexateens, and The Features had a blast. The sad thing though was the turnout for the evening and with tickets only $8 I really expected a bigger turnout. Nevertheless all the acts that night played just as hard as they would to a full crowd and I along with the handful of fans got our money’s worth.

Arriving early I had a picture perfect moment when Those Darlins came rounding the sidewalk outside of the Grog Shop. Clearly the ladies decided to check out their surroundings on a possible quest get a bite to eat and were returning to work. Respecting their privacy I kept the camera down and shyly smiled at them as they walked in the doors of the venue. I laughed when one of them screamed “blech!” as a Radiohead song greeted them when they entered. Not everyone can be a Radiohead fan I guess…

A couple of months ago Those Darlins had their first taste of Cleveland when they opened for Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys at a sold out show at the Beachland Ballroom. A nice size crowd greeted them as they took the stage. Sadly their return to Cleveland to play again had a crowd that barely made it to twenty. Still the sassy ladies of Tennessee did not let the lack of attendees kill their spirit and started playing through their songs at full force.

Ripping through tracks from their upcoming self-titled debut release Those Darlins played just as good, if not better, as the first time I saw them. Hearing “The Whole Damn Thing” cracked me up as the ladies sang about getting drunk and eating chicken. Other tracks like “DUI or Die”, “Snaggletooth Mama”, and “Wild One” seemed to get some of the folk sitting at the bar to turn their heads and pay attention to the three country cuties up on stage. Their mustache wearing drummer even had a moment when one of the toms on his kit fell off while playing. All of the girls laughed mid-song and continued to stomp their boots and play hard. Ripping through a nice sized set I could not help myself from getting excited when their album is delivered to my front door (I pre-ordered it).

I am sure Those Darlins were a tad frustrated with the small amount of people at the Grog Shop seeing they drove all the way up to play out, but thanks to their great set they won a few new fans and I am sure the next time they return to Cleveland there will be a much bigger crowd waiting to see them. I’ll do what I can to make sure that happens.

Not knowing the two other bands I decided to stick it out and see what each had to offer. Alabama’s The Dexateens took stage and it seemed like a few more people actually surrounded the stage as they played including the mustache clad drummer of Those Darlins. Some of the fans looked to have been friends of the band but still, fans are fans. The band’s mix of southern rock and folk really won me over and I made sure to pick up one of their vinyl albums from the merch booth just so I could check them out more.

The main act of the night, The Features, took stage to a very small welcoming crowd including a handful of folk who traveled all the way from Erie, PA just to see them. The Tennessee indie rock band played well but was not what I was looking for so I called it a night.

As I headed to the door I spotted Kelley Darlin sitting at the bar with one of the guys who works at the vintage shop below the Beachland Ballroom called This Way Out. I did not want to pass up the opportunity to thank her for playing Cleveland again and also wanted to tell her that she would be seeing me at Bonnaroo in less than a month. Kelley Darlin smiled from ear to ear and give me a high-five / handshake / hold hands type response that had me smiling too. She was a real pleasure to meet and I hope to see her again next month.

Yes, I have a crush on all three Darlins. So what!?!

I really wish that more folk would have come out the the Grog Shop that night not just because I felt that the band deserved a fuller crowd but also because I think a lot of people would have had a great time even if they never heard any of the acts before. Better luck next time to the bands and the fans I guess. I am just glad I was there.

Here are some photos I took of the evening:

Those Darlins at SXSW:

-Visit Those Darlins to pre-order a copy of their debut release. LP drops on 6/23/09 and the CD drops two weeks later on 7/7/09.

-Visit Amazon.Com to download Wild One (or maybe check out one of my previous blogs)

-The Dexateens are giving away one of their albums for free (donations accepted!)

Cleveland, Good Times, Live Shows, Music, Music Video, Punk, Review

The Bouncing Souls, The Loved Ones, Black President – Grog Shop – Cleveland , OH – 05/07/09 – Concert Review

11 May, 2009 Brian Mc Leave a comment

It was a memorable punk rock event Thursday night at the Grog Shop thanks to The Bouncing Souls, The Loved Ones, and Black President. The three bands actually had just performed to a packed the house the night before as the bands made a two night stop at the well known Cleveland venue. Having not been able to attend both shows I am glad I was at least able to be at one seeing how great of an evening I had.

New Jersey’s The Bouncing Souls have taken this entire year to celebrate being a punk rock band for 20 years. To commemorate their success the band has been releasing a song a month for download available on their own label’s website Chunksaah Records for the entire 2009 year. The band also will be releasing a limited edition 7″ every third month of the year available online, at select music shops, and of course at their live shows. If that was not good enough for a festivity, the band decided to hit the road on a string of tours to select cities. Accompanying The Bouncing Souls were friends The Loved Ones and punk rock super group Black President.

Bouncing Souls Celebrating 20 Years — Bouncing Souls Celebrate 20 Years

The venue filled up quickly and featured all sorts of fans, many who were at the previous night’s show. Punk rockers of all ages hung out in the dark venue waiting for what was to come. I joked to my friends how old I felt seeing that I saw The Bouncing Souls open for NOFX in 1998. Still I refused to let age affect me and was excited to be a part of the evening as I had been looking forward to this show for weeks.

Black President started off the evening and pretty much set the mood for the rest of the evening with their energy. Formed in 2005 well before Barack Obama because his quest, a lot of ticket holders thought that the band name was created after the fact of our current president. The band consisting of some pretty important punk rockers like Charlie Paulson of Goldfinger and Dave Raun of Lagwagon did not get the full credit they deserved by all who attended from the start but the crowd seemed to warm up to them. I myself was enthralled the moment the band broke into a Motorhead cover of “Iron Fist” and then announced it was their first time playing the song live. Blasting through selected songs from their self titled debut release including “Last F#cking Hope” the band won me over and much of the crowd as well.

The Loved Ones, hailing from Philadelphia, may not have been around for twenty years but they took stage and played their hearts out to the welcoming crowd. This Fat Wreck Chords act has been a favorite of mine for a couple of years now so it was great to finally see them play the stage. Playing songs from their recent EP Distractions as well as former releases Build & Burn and Keep Your Heart, including the catchy song “The Bridge”, the band sounded solid and looked to be having a great time performing to the near sold out crowd.

Before The Bouncing Souls even took stage fans were screaming the trademark Bouncing Souls soccer chant “Ole” jointly. The moment the Bouncing Souls took stage and started playing the temperature rose a good ten degrees in the venue from all the movement in the crowd. With arms in the air, and some legs too, the fans were truly going ballistic for the main act of the evening.

Greg Attonito and crew were all smiles as they ripped through show starter “True Believer”. Classic tracks such as “That Song”, Here We Go”, Lean On Sheena”, and “I Like Your Mom” continued the set with almost all the fans singing along to. At times the lead singer looked more of a lounge act as he slowly graced the stage to the left and right and just seemed so at peace with the environment surrounding him.

Towards the middle of the set Greg Attonito grabbed an acoustic guitar and played a very chill version of the Misfits‘ “Hybrid Moments” which brought grins to the faces of all the real punk rockers in the crowd. I sang along with everyone else and for a brief moment felt like a kid all over again.

I was not at a Bouncing Souls show that night, I was at a Bouncing Souls celebration for them being a punk act for 20 years. Having been a fan of them for most of those 20 year I felt so fortunate to be a part of the festivities and enjoyed every moment of the evening. Openers Black President were a treat to see live as were The Loved Ones making for an ultimate night of punk rock fun.

I managed to take a couple of photos that night at the show but the Grog Shop has terrible lighting and I do not use a flash out of repsect for the artists performing. Here are a couple that came out that looked ok in black & white. I would have gotten closer for some shots but the pits for all three performance were pretty insane and I love my camera too much to risk damage to it.

(ok, I’m not going to lie…these pics SUCK. Better luck next time I guess…)

Here is a video of the acoustic version of “Hybrid Moments” taken from another venue:

Black President music video:

The Loved Ones music video:

Cleveland, Good Times, Live Shows, Metal, Music, Progressive Rock, Review

Mastodon – Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH – 05/02/2009 – Concert Review

5 May, 2009 Brian Mc 1 Comment

I am sure it is safe to say that there was a lot of ringing going on in the ears of many fans who attended the Mastodon show at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH. Of the hundreds of shows I have attended in my time, this was by far one of the loudest. The show was sold out, and had been for months, so needless to say there were a lot of excited folk in the house.

When I first heard that Atlanta heavy metal / prog rock artists Mastodon were going to be playing at the Beachland Ballroom with special guests Intronaut and Kylesa, I knew it would sell out quickly because of the smaller capacity venue. Sadly I was not able to get a ticket in time and I really thought that I was going to miss this show. As luck would have it someone reached out to me with an extra ticket. Matt, you are my hero.

Before I even continue I need to make it clear that I am “one of those fans” meaning that I am not a long time Mastodon fan. I have heard of them since they started and checked out their material but it was not until Crack The Skye that I really started to appreciate them. Since the release I have collected the band’s entire catalog and realized what I had been missing. Call me what you want, Crack The Skye is still my personal favorite album by the band so one could imagine my excitement to witness the entire album being played start to finish with no interruptions.

My two friends Shannon and Josh from West Virginia had mentioned they were making the 4+ hour drive to see Mastodon and that they had purchased tickets earlier. We decided to meet up and attend the show together. After many hours of showing them around Cleveland (My Mind’s Eye was a fav stop for them) we finally arrived to the Beachland Ballroom three hours prior to showtime. We arrived early to meet up with Matt and also check out Music Saves as well as other shops on Waterloo.

As luck would have it members of Mastodon, more specifically Brann Dailor the drummer, and guitarist Bill Kelliher were checking out Waterloo Ave, mostly looking for some food. Shannon spotted Brann while we were shopping inside Music Saves, and being the huge fan she is she took off out the store and was able to get the ultimate concert souviner, a photograph of her and Brann. Brann was more than kind to pose with her and even thanked her for having the picture taken with him. Shannon’s day was complete and the show hadn’t even started.

Metal fans young and old filled up the Beachland Ballroom at a quick rate and Intronaut began the show to cheering fans. Having never heard their material before I got a kick out of how they would throw in almost jazzy sounding instrumental breaks in between their brutal heavy metal playing. Sadly they only knocked out a couple of songs and left the stage leaving some of the fans wanting much more.

Kylesa was up next and having never heard them either I was not sure what to expect. While the band set up Josh noted that there were two drum sets on stage and in no time the sludge metal act were hammering out songs impressing me and my out of town concert buddies. I loved how the singing duties revolved around the stage while the duel drummers almost seemed to out drum one another. I’ll be checking this Georgia act out some more soon.

The crowd in the venue seemed to double just before Mastodon took stage. Just prior to them doing so I was able to exit the Beachland Ballroom and hand off a ticket to Adam who had to work late but managed to meet us there just in time. We all found a spot just in front of the soundboard and planted out feet for what was to come.

It seemed that Mastodon came to Cleveland to do their job and then leave. They never said hello, they just picked up their instruments and began playing “Oblivion”, the first song off of Crack The Skye. The stage was clear of distractions with the exception of a giant screen hung behind them. During the performance, strange visuals were propped up on the screen showing black and white images that reminded me of something H. P. Lovecraft might have written a story about with helmeted warriors, wizards, and fair maidens as well as a cosmic atmosphere.

The band members some bearded and messy haired, minus drummer Brann Dailor who is more of a clean cut chap, were not there to entertain, they were there to perform. The band collectively kept concentrated while executing their latest masterpiece to the fans and did so very well. The band continued playing until the album was covered start to finish and then left the stage for a break. Hearing the entire album played live was just incredible.

While on their short break a great Mastodon album cover morph animation displayed on the screen that kept repeating itself almost hypnotizing the fans making them scream louder and louder for the metal band of the night to continue their performance.

The band returned to stage and offered a selection of tracks from their past albums Blood Mountain, Leviathan, and Remission. The songs were much faster and, to some, were songs fans came to see. Even if I am “one of those fans”, I enjoyed what I heard and a couple of the tracks were familiar to my ears. I was enjoying every eardrum destroying moment and felt cheated when the band finished their final song and exited stage. I was selfish and I wanted more.

Considering the band will be touring with Metallica this summer I think it is safe to say this is the last time Mastodon will play smaller venues. I am glad to have been a part of a more intimate show that evening as were everyone else surrounding me. It was a top notch performance by an up and coming metal band I have the feeling will be going places in the music world.

Here’s a video a fellow concert goer took of Mastodon opening the show with “Oblivion”. Not the greatest quality but it should give you a taste of what I experienced that amazing evening: