Addicted to This Addiction

Alkaline Trio – This Addiction

Back to basics for Chicago’s punk rockers means back to their best.

Goth punk rockers Alkaline Trio are back with studio album number seven and back to the ways of Maybe I’ll Catch Fire. This Addiction sees the band move away from making more melodic numbers as heard on more recent albums and back to simple generic jump around punk rock with dark lyrics.

This Addiction is everything that a punk-rock album should sound like with huge drum beats, fast paced power chords and sing-along choruses but as with all Alkaline Trio albums an underlying theme of misery and death. It’s not surprising though that this album is slightly more dark and depressing than it’s predecessors, with guitarist and one part of lead vocals Matt Skiba having a new subject to moan and groan about, divorce.

Right from the start of the album you will be jumping about and singing along to tracks like the album titled first single This Addiction and the catchy Draculina. The only problem with singing about dark, depressing subjects and playing generic rhythms is that every now and again previous material can be heard trying to escape. But don’t be a fool and let that put you off buying this album. After a decade and a half Alkaline Trio have finally found there true sound and it’s not worth missing.

4/5

Cheapdog

Love isnt something i would link to Angels and Airwaves

Angels and Airwaves – Love

Love is the third installment from the egomaniac that is Tom DeLonge and his band Angels And Airwaves. Unlike Blink 182 DeLonge has the chance to make more serious music with Angels and Airwaves and believes this to be his masterpiece.

To be honest Love is an easy listen but far from a mater piece. The album which is the bands third studio album, which was released free via DeLonge’s Modlife social networking website, a move he hopes that will change the way distribute their music. But the only thing he really has done is given away a freebie for a band that just doesn’t cut it.

The album is enjoyable but it’s nothing special since the tracks all sound very similar and seems to be that the band just keeps re-releasing their first album and modifying the songs to sound a little different. The album features the same heartbeat drum and spacey samples throughout. The repetitiveness makes it difficult to pick out any exceptional tracks.

There’s rush to go and listen to Love, as it’s nowhere near the masterpiece that has been promised. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t sit in a room with blinds closed and a candle in the middle of the room. DeLonge should of stuck with making music about relationships, farting and inter species relations.

3/5

Cheapdog

The dead sings again: Rob Zombie is back with Hellbilly Deluxe 2

It’s been a long time since Rob Zombie has played trick or treat with our ears since focusing more on creating his sadistic horror flicks but the time has come for Hellybilly Deluxe 2.

Last time we heard from him was with 2006’s Educated Horses, which saw Zombie taking a more experimental route with a psychedelic approach. But that’s not the case with Hellbilly Deluxe 2. This time round he’s back with tracks that will make your skin crawl and have you fearing that something about to jump out your speakers and rip your throat out.

Tension in the in songs are built brilliantly with the use of eerie melodies and samples that sound like the script taken from a horror film. But you wont be shitting your pants from fear it will be the awesome guitar riffs and solos from ex-Manson guitarist John Five.

It’s great to hear an album made up completely of fantasy. Although being an ass kicking album it doesn’t compare to it’s piss your pants predecessor Hellbilly Deluxe. But with tracks like Virgin Witch that has a bone crunching guitar solo and ending the album with The Man Who Laughs and it’s head spinning drum roll towards the end. So you need to change your shit stained pants and get the courage to get an album that will have you hiding beneath the covers for the next year.

4/5

Cheapdog

Artowrk by The Used

Bert McCraken is a man that is passionate about what he does and his band. So passionate that back in the early days of the band he would put so much into shows he would vomit during the set. This passion is defiantly evident in the bands forth studio album; Artwork.

This sensational album sees the band go back to their roots of 2002’s debut self-titled album but heading in a new direction with a slightly darker, heavier sound than ever before. For fans of the band’s more melodic songs such as On My Own and Smother Me, there is the like of kissing You Goodbye. The track is lyrically fantastic and has an immense guitar riff that kicks in about halfway through the song. It will have you singing along from the start.

Possibly the best song on the album is track two, Empty Without You. With an intro of mellow guitar riff along side a drum roll on the snare waiting for Bert to jump in with the lyrics it is easy to see that this is going to be a song that is full of energy. This song is a great example of the way that the band has gone back to the start, there is a huge amount of energy and I would expect it to be played along side the likes of Maybe Memories and A Taste of Ink.

2009 has yet seen an album that is as marvellous as Artwork and probably wont again. With this gritty, natural sound that they have taken they have shown the world that they don’t need their music computerised to sound amazing. And in ten years time when people talk about The Used it will be said that this was the album that defined their career.