Evil Wine » Music Reviews

Sister Machine Gun – Sins of the Flesh

dustin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:00:11 +0000

I’ve made an honest effort to love these guys, but it hasn’t happened yet. The music is almost there, but the lyrics and vocals are not.

I’m completely fine with instrumental songs, so perhaps instead of focusing on trite, predictable lyrics they should focus all efforts to the music side. Maybe it’s just a deep rooted prejudice because the singer looks almost exactly like Michael Hutchience from INXS.

“Wired” official music video

Official Site

Buy Album

Released September, 1993
by Wax Trax Records

Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come

dustin — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:00:26 +0000

I don’t know what it is about European punk bands that touch either the complete shitty end of the spectrum or teeter on amazing greatness. The Shape of Punk to Come is the new classic punk album. Even Jello Biafra agrees.

Anybody who’s listened to “punk” music in the last 15 years should be able to see how the split was coming. One side went to pop music, and the other turned into hardcore. The few stragglers left went back to old rock n’ roll punk like the Stooges or Kinks. Well, the Refused have stayed with what punk has and should move to. Incorporating more instruments and electronic sounds to fill out the sound that the other bands utilized hardcore and pop music to achieve this effect. These Sweedish guys managed to still play heavy, aggressive music with a sly smirk, like the old days with a completely new sound.

“New Noise” official music video

Official Site

Buy Album

Released October 27, 1998
by Burning Heart

Sugarloaf – Self Titled

dustin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 11:00:21 +0000

There were so many bands in the 60′s and 70′s with just one or two hits, and their name is never remembered. Sugarloaf is one of those bands.

Their claim to fame is “Greeneyed Lady.” But their reach extends much past that. Their songs have been covered by Aeorsmith, Van Halen and Scorpions to name a few. They were some of the most influential song writers of the 1970′s and rocked like motherfuckers.

“Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You” official music video

Buy Album

Released 1969
by Liberty Records

Evil Mothers – Crossdresser

trey — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:00:37 +0000

Who likes Pigface? I do. I do. The man responsible for the New York Tattoo Festival and the renovation of Pigface after ohGr and Reznor left is Curse Mackie. This was his band before he did anything with Underground Inc.

These guys are bad ass. They’re a progressive industrial band that doesn’t rely on synth or the same fucking bass drum in 4/4 over and over and over. They were a four piece from the Eastern US during the 90′s that played real instruments.

MySpace Page

Buy Album

Released November 17, 1992
by Invisible Records

Soundgarden – Louder Than Love

dustin — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:00:01 +0000

I know that this is a stretch, but imagine Chris Cornell not being a sell-out douchebag. I’ll give you a moment to let this sink in.

He was not always an AOL spokesperson toting around the decayed corpse of Rage Against the Machine in Audioslave. He was the lead singer for one of the bands that helped change music as a whole. Many people attribute this to Nirvana, but who did Nirvana get their influence from? That’s right. Kurt Cobain was sited to have been an extreme fan of this album in particular while recording Bleach.

“Flower” official music video

Chris Cornell’s official site

Buy Album

Released September 12, 1989
by A & M

Embrace – Self Titled

dustin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:00:50 +0000

After Minor Threat broke up, Ian MacKaye formed Embrace–before Fugazi.

That’s what I find funny about this album. It is a direct mix of the Salad Days EP by Minor Threat and Repeater by Fugazi. This band was a good transition. The entire recording is very listenable, and increasingly rare. It has that nice melodic edge that Fugazi has mastered, but the animalism of Minor Threat’s teenager-straight-edge angst.

Live bootleg video from 1985

Official Site

Buy Album

Released 1987
by Dischord Records

Clutch – Robot Hive Exodus

dustin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:00:04 +0000

For the longest time, I had the biggest prejudice against these guys. This album transitioned me to a full-fledged fan.

There’s something great to be said about fully-bearded men playing lumberjack anthems. Well, they don’t sing about trees, but they are one of the rare bands to fall into the “lumberjack metal” category. Speaking of their lyrical content, it is completely asinine. “Ribonucleic acid freakout!” is a personal favorite of mine.

“Burning Beard” official music video

Official Site

Buy Album

Released June 21, 2005
by DRT Records

GWAR – This Toilet Earth

dustin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:00:21 +0000

Mmmmmm…. GWAR is sexy. They have always been sexy, and will retain all sexy attributes regardless of age.

This Toilet Earth is a special album. It’s so fucking special because almost the entire album was recorded wholly drunk. In fact, there were so many fuckups, the band just kept jamming on the fuckups and made what is now known as the “Slave Pit Singles” featuring songs like “Mexican Prick Fish” and “Don’s Bong is Gone.”

Fun fact: The track “BDF” was banned from all releases, so any copy you find now will have tracks 1-7 and 9-16. Number 8 is just gone from the liner notes and the track listing. Fuck censorship.

“Jack the World” official music video

Official Site

Buy Album

Released March 29, 1994
by Metal Blade

Death Ride 69 – Elvis Christ

dustin — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:22:19 +0000

This is the band where the girls from Thrill Kill Kult came from. This is their first album which is considerably more raw and punk than their later, almost industrial endeavors.

What I like best about these guys is their energy. It’s very raw, while being seemingly calculated.

These guys are no longer together, which isn’t such a loss. After hearing all three of their albums, I’m satiated. No more rehash needed.

“I Do Drugs” unofficial music video

Death Ride 69 Unofficial Bio w/interview

Album is OOP

Released 1988
by Little Sister Records

Circle One – Patterns of Force

dustin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:00:39 +0000

Something all too overlooked about LA is their intense Hardcore Punk scene. Most of the time you think East Coast: Agnostic Front, Minor Threat, and so on. Circle one helped reform the SoCal punk scene.

I was fortunate enough to hear about these guys from the lead singer’s (John Macias) cousin who happens to be a good friend of the family. These guys toured and opened with the best of them. You name the classic punk band, and these guys were playing with them. Very respected amongst the punk scene.

Tragically, John Macias was murdered by the Santa Monica Police department in 1991. Remaining members play in the band Wasted Ones in southern California.

John Macias YouTube tribute slideshow

Short Bio

Released 1983