Music
Shanghai Punk Band Channels Joe Bob Briggs with Newest Album, ‘Monster Vision’
Joe Bob Briggs is a name that will bring smile to the face of just about any horror fan out there. Many of us spent our formative years up late night watching Briggs introduce us to horror treat after horror treat. If you’re in your 30’s there’s a good chance Briggs is responsible for shaping your love of the genre, or at the very least he helped play a role in doing so. That influence has flooded over into the world of music where it has helped inspire the latest album from Round Eye, a punk band from Shanghai, China.
Round Eye’s latest album is Monster Vision and Briggs serves as the narrator. Punk and Joe Bob Briggs in one place? Sign me up!
The album’s name is wildly accurate because listening to it feels like you’re listening to a musical version of the classic Briggs’ show. The album opens with an intro from Briggs and then he appears in 6 additional tracks throughout the album, guiding us along, much like he did on our TV sets many years ago.
Briggs’ part aside, the album contains some wonderful punk mayhem, which is very much evident in the above music video for their song “Billy.” It’s heavily political with an outsider’s look at the 2016 US election. Despite the band being based in Shanghai the members are all Americans, but they’ve been living overseas for a number of years under a different oppressive regime which makes their take on what’s happening on the home front unique.
Pushing the political elements aside and the album consists of the energetic punk the band has become known for. Monstervision has been described as “the group’s most ambitious album to date, expanding their Minutemen/Stooges/doo-wop/free jazz freakout into further territories, from Oingo Boingo new wave to God Bullies noise rock to Butthole Surfers psychedelic insanity, making for a completely unpredictable album that exists on its own plane of genius.” That’s a pretty accurate description.
Monster Vision is available now. For more information please visit RoundEyeBand.com.
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…
Looking for New Episodes of “Chucky” on Peacock? Here’s What Changed
‘Mountain Man’ – Joe Manganiello Will Battle Zombies in Upcoming Horror Movie
‘The Blair Witch Project’ – Original Stars Release a Statement Asking Lionsgate for Residuals & Recognition
Dev Patel’s ‘Monkey Man’ Is Now Available to Watch at Home!
‘Trap’ – Official Trailer Previews a Wild New Horror Experience from M. Night Shyamalan
You must be logged in to post a comment.