THE ITCHYWORMS, Waiting For the End To Start
A first single, the blues rocking “Armageddon Blues” from a forthcoming album titled
Waiting For the End To Start couldn’t help but raise alarm about end-times messaging in a period of pandemic induced stress and dis-ease. When the album got finally released, the artists concerned, The Itchyworms, put the initial distress to rest with nine original compositions that are musically satisfying to accompany lyrics that are far from run of the mill moon-in-June rehashes.
That said, the band’s first album for Sony Music Philippines is a journey to the ‘end’ sugar coated with some of the most melodic pop-rockers this side of OPM. “The Silence” is driven by a neat shoegazing undertow. A splash of doowop imbues “Give Me A Love Song” with a quiet soulful fire while a psychedelic riot runs through shifting sonic hues of “Mary Walter In The Water.” “The Life I Know” should be the most beautiful ode to the lonely and distraught this year, bar none.
A melancholy undercurrent flows through the album’s literate lyrics and the way they are delivered. Meaning, the once fountain of happy-go-lucky joviality that’s The Itchyworms proves themselves equally adept at reflecting the nuances of sadness in these troubled times.
ST. WOLF, Rmnnts Vol I
Constrained by lockdown, Pinoy four-piece St. Wolf chose to reimagine some of their early singles in the new sound of a remix. Surprisingly, “Lapastangan”, their latest composition in the 4-song EP shines brightest, reminiscent in attitude, fortitude and punky ethos of the golden years of electronica in early ’00s.
“Jealousy” fares better over the original only because it plugs boy band blah in the remix. On the other hand, “Papara” is a weirdly cool stitching of vocodered vocals, skittering drums and extended soul jazz jams in its 6-minute ripple. In all these, an irritating cat’s meow issues at unexpected moments.
MOANING, Uneasy Laugher
For their sophomore release for pioneering grunge label Subpop, LA-based trio Moaning sighs and whines their way across the gloomy landscape of post-punk ‘80s. They raise the ghosts of just about everyone who mattered then from Joy Division to the Cure to even The Chameleons.
Some pundit has uncharitably described “Uneasy Laughter” to have the redemptive value of archeological digging. It’s unfair since a lot of music going around today came from the pre-punk ‘60s and ‘70s and they don’t exactly smell like something rescued from the grave. To name three, The Beatles, The Stones and Led Zeppelin, mind.
So here goes Moaning’s brief trawl through the early days of new wave: the reverb vs. distortion clash in “Make It Stop,” the electroshock of “Fall in Love,” the jagged Kraftwerk recall of “Coincidence of Fate” and the definitive New Order in 2020, namely “Ego”
Fuck the copycat police! This kind of post-punk should be a joy to listen to anytime, anywhere.
THE JAMES HUNTER SIX, Nick of Time
Soul groove is at the heart of James Hunter Six’s latest release. Brit singer James Hunter leads a four-piece band whose patented musicality leans towards the legacy of The Temptations, Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson and probably the roster of artists in the Motown stable.
That’s pretty obvious at the starting gate of the “Nick of Time” album where the opening track, “I Can Change You,” sees James headed towards Sam Cooke domain. He reprises a similar vocal move subsequently in “Who’s Fooling Who” and closer “Paradise for One.”
Lest potential fans mistake him for a mere revivalist, or worse, a copycat, James with his great improvising band in tow, does the cha-cha in “Brother or Other” and the Latin vamp in his original composition, “Till Hear From You.”
On the whole, “Nick of Time” is largely a throwback tribute to another era of good music. It’s definitely good enough to dance to, get pleasantly drunk to cuddle up to and yes, make unhurried love to. Swell!
STRYPER, Even the Devil Believes
American Christian metal band Stryper continues to hustle hard to get the Good News across to believers and heathens alike. They initially found chart action on Billboard’s Hot 100 with their appropriation of New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) influences in the service of the Christian faith.
Their seventeenth and newest album titled “Even the Devil Believes” remains founded in NWOBHM, but sufficient room is given to thrash and power metal. In fact, NWOBHM tropes like guitar solos and blitz drumming fit right into power metal’s hyperventilating vocals and melodic finesse.
You get the usual dose of dispatches from the Golden Book from the Crucifixion to making sacrifices clearly proclaimed above the new metal mayhem. For young fans, it may be enough to headbang to in the name of salvation.