Album Reviews: December 2013 Week 2

The Bug - "Filthy" 2013

This is a 4 song EP of a couple grime sounding songs. There is only 2 beats that are used twice each with different vocalists on the different versions. Neither of the beats does much for me, and i'm generally not into grime rappers due to the British accents combined with reggae patois sounding annoying to me, but this EP also has reggae artist Daddy Freddy and Detroit rapper Danny Brown on it. The song that has Danny Brown on it is even only OK. If this style of music is your thing, you might want to check this one out, i'm just not personally into it. Check out the video for "Dirty" featuring Flowdan and this video of a combination of 2 of the tracks on here for "Kill Them / Louder" featuring Daddy Freddy & Flowdan. Also check out "Freakshow" featuring Danny Brown & Kiki Hitomi.

Shannon & The Clams - "Dreams In The Rat House" 2013

This album is pretty cool sounding. It doesn't really sound like a new album, it has kind of a late 50's/early 60's surf vibe to it, or very rockabilly-like without the country aspect of that equation, and more lighthearted sounding, with a little doo wop splashed in. I wish there was a tiny bit more variance in the style from song to song throughout the LP, but this is a pretty solid package when it's all said and done. I would definitely recommend these guys to people who like garage rock stuff like Thee Oh Sees but also to people who like soul revival stuff like Daptone Records puts out. Check out the video for "Rat House". Also check out "Hey Willy", "Bed Rock", "Ozma", "If I Could Count", and "Into A Dream".

Moistboyz - "V" 2013

Well, even if we don't get any more new Ween albums, at least we can still get new music from the Moistboyz. This is the other band that guitarist Mickey Melchiondo aka Dean Ween is in, along with singer Guy Heller. This is pretty on par with the previous Moistboyz albums, quality-wise. Stylistically, this one is a little less 'in your face' and more laid back than the previous albums, but the trademark sense of humor and general feeling of middle fingers up defiance is still fully intact. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys Ween (obviously), Queens Of The Stone Age and Eagles Of Death Metal, or even Ministry. Check out the video for "Paperboy". (They had somebody create a little jacked up version of the classic video game for the video.) Also check out "Protect & Serve", "Down On The Farm", "My Time To Die", "One Cut At A Time", and "Medusa"