CD Reviews

Helmet

Aftertaste

(Interscope)

Oooh! They're sooo angry! (Giggles and sighs). I don't know, you could pretty much take any review from any other "heavy" band album and place it right here. Helmet seems to have more of an underground, punk reputation, for whatever reason, but a band that is based on "complex structures and arrangements" and "multi-hued riffs" backed by "intense" lyrics is doomed to the unworthy pretentious file.

No, I've never heard their previously AmRep material, never heard Betty and I didn't listen to all of Aftertaste, but I try and leave the alternative, self-proclaimed "jazz-influenced" bands alone. This is for my own benefit. The third track on this new album sounds like the Red Hot Chili Peppers (my worst enemies) only with gruffer vocals. The guitars are crunchy and the bass gives the songs sort of a funky groove. Intense.

This album I'm sure will sell thousands of copies, or however many Helmet and such bands are used to selling. While rushing to work one day, I'm sure I will inevitably be cut off in traffic by some frat dude with dreads and a tank top on, listening to this new Helmet album. At this point, I will be embarrassed to vaguely recognize the tune blasting from their BMW stereo, but will mistakenly wonder why I know a Rollins Band song.

-Fen Hsaio

Lush

Topolino

(Polygram Canada)

One of the most aggravating phenomena to have developed in the past few years in the music industry is that of the "two-part single." To try to get as much money as possible out of the music-buying public, record labels in the U.K. recently began to release two separate CDs for many of the singles they released with different B-sides on each one, so that the true fan would have to spend twice as much to collect all the songs. As a result of this, for Lush's last album Lovelife, six CD singles were released for the three singles off the album. The cost to purchase them all at import prices would be more than $60. That's why it's so nice to see a release like Topolino.

Aside from the first track, "500 (Shake Baby Shake)," all the rest of the songs off Topolino are B-sides from the "Lovelife" singles, including "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend," which was previously only available as a 7-inch B-side. Of course, Topolino is also an import, but it's from Canada, so it's considerably less pricey than European imports. Not all of the band's recent B-sides are included - there were 20 released, 11 of which are on this CD - but some of the best are here. (Be careful, though - there's a Japanese release by the same name with fewer tracks.) The dreamy cover of "I Have the Moon," the fast-paced, swirling guitars and vocals of "Ex" and the foot-stomping drive of "Demystification" are the strongest tracks, but all the songs are worth hearing.

Topolino is ideal for the fan who wants to own these songs, but can't afford to spend the money to buy all the singles separately. And it's also worth buying for another reason - with the suicide of Lush drummer Chris Acland a few months ago, it may be the last release we see from the band for a long time.

-Doug Levy

The Newlydeads

The Newlydeads

(Mutiny)

Today, electronic music is being hailed as the "alternative of the future." While that may or may not be true, it can hardly be denied that technology is indeed having a major influence on the music of today. Everyone from U2 to David Bowie is jumping on the bandwagon, and some pretty damn good stuff has come from this new progression. However, Taime Downe's new project, the Newlydeads, does not qualify for that distinction.

Back in the days when Guns N' Roses was the number one band in the country and Motley Crue and Skid Row adorned the covers of Rolling Stone, America found itself trapped in a realm of cheesy metal delirium. While Axl Rose and Co. were actually breaking some new ground and carving out the market, the copycat bands inevitably sprouted up, and among them was Faster Pussycat, Downe's previous band, one of the cheesiest and most easily forgotten relics of the era.

Now he's at it again. The Newlydeads is Taime's new "industrial" band, and the album sounds like a combination of Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and the Butthole Surfers, etc. In other words, it's a clone of previously successful music that does absolutely nothing on it's own. Not to mention the fact that while the Newlydeads rehash the sounds of old industrial music, the artists who created that music have already moved on to explore more current sounds and styles. Once again, Taime Downe has broken into a field of music just as it's dying out. The guy must have a knack for it or something.

-Doug Levy

Monks

Black Monk Time

(Infinite Zero)

"It's beat time, it's hop time, it's Monk time!" and with that, the unaware are allowed yet another undeserving introduction into the reissue of the Monks' Black Monk Time. One of the first pre-punk, pre-art punk bands to consciously emphasize minimalism without losing their high energy, the Monks were changing the approach to rock 'n' roll as far back as `65.

Five crazies who were ex-GI's stationed in Germany, the Monks dressed up in monk attire and shaved their heads, spawning the anger of many audience members to the point that they were sometimes attacked on stage. More absurd than that is their ability to beat out some of the most frenzied, radical music to be heard of at that point in history(and this point).

"The idea was simplicity, repetitiveness, simple lyric lines, and don't make the song too long," explained lead vocalist and guitarist Gary Burger in the reissues' liner notes, also added to by Ugly Things' Mike Stax. The product of the Monks' noble concept was a sound that offered the brilliantly raunchy attitude of an electric banjo and an insanely aggresive organ. The Monks then added deliriously screaming vocals and the most minimalistic lyrics (partly an attempt to bridge the German/English language barrier) to the explosive mixture, giving to the history of rock 'n' roll such rapid, demanding tunes as "I Hate You" and "Complication." Black Monk Time is a fantastic compilation of the short-lived but influential music of the Monks.

-Fen Hsaio