Music

Album Review: Early Graves ‘Goner’

Published

14 years ago

June 26, 2010

Do you like old school heavy metal? Do you like old school punk rock? Would it warm the cockles of your heart if those two genres were combined into one? Well then, my dear reader, look no further as Early Graves have released an album that will suit your tastes entirely: ‘Goner’. This album exudes classic heavy metal with serious punk overtones and an aggressive, balls-out attitude that will make you reach for something just so you can throw it. Read after the jump for the full rundown.

The album starts off with the title track, ‘Goner’, which is a perfect example how Early Graves is melding heavy metal with punk. Set to a frantic pace, there is an unbridled chaotic energy to this song that makes you realize that these guys must have been REALLY pissed off when they wrote this. Honestly, I don’t know what they’re upset about, as I can’t understand a word the singer is saying. But I’m sure that it must be something really important. Oh, and the use of guitar feedback as a part of the song? Get used to that, it happens a lot more throughout the album.

The production of this album is pretty awful. However, having said that, there is a sense of nostalgia as this album sounds like something that you got from your friend back in the day on cassette. You blasted it in your garage, wearing that always cool jeans jacket with band patches sewed on while jumping around, ignoring your parents yelling at you to ‘Turn that racket down!’ The guitars have a very raw, edgy sound and feedback cuts through all the time. The bass is rarely heard but the presence is definitely there. The drums, unrefined and unpolished, sound like something that was recorded in the garage and the vocals are a bit low in the mix and are practically unintelligible. Having said all that, there is a certain charm and nostalgia to the sound quality. It’s a throwback to what I used to hear 20-some years ago.

Overall, this is an album that doesn’t fuck around: The majority of the songs are two and a half minutes or under and they all have the same passion and intensity to them. However, even with all of that, this album just did nothing for me. I neither disliked it nor liked it: I was completely blasé during the several times I spun it.

Overall 2.5 out of 5

JonathanBarkan

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

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Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…