reviews:
Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power
Papa Roach: Infest
Pavement: Slanted & Enchanted
Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Pearl Jam: Binaural
Pedro the Lion: Whole EP
Pedro the Lion: It's Hard to Find a Friend
Pedro the Lion: The Only Reason I Feel Secure EP
Pennywise: Full Circle
A Perfect Circle: Mer De Noms
Pilot to Gunner: Hit the Ground and Hum EP
The Pixies: Come on Pilgrim EP
The Pixies: Surfer Rosa
The Pixies: Bossanova
Planes Mistaken for Stars: Planes Mistaken for Stars EP
Planes Mistaken for Stars: Knife in the Marathon EP
Pollyanna: "Fordgreensilverocket" b/w "Grover Washington" 7"
Powerman5000: Tonight the Stars Revolt!
The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land
The Promise Ring: Nothing Feels Good
The Promise Ring: Very Emergency
The Promise Ring: Electric Pink EP

Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power Here it is, the best album from the metal band that has influenced all the new metal acts we've seen. Deftones, Sevendust, Korn, Fear Factory, and others, have all cited this band as a major influence. This CD is blistering, fast, and raw. "Walk" is fucking amazing, "Fucking Hostile" is the same, and "Hollow" reminds me a lot of old Metallica. A lot of this sounds like some older Metallica, but it has an edge that makes it amazing, not just repetetive and old. Phil Anselmo actually sings on "Hollow," and he has a pretty good voice. The drumming is pounding, fast and good. Dimebag Darrel is one of the most under-rated axe men, and very good. The bass is also cool, grinding one second, mellow the next. But Phil holds it all together. His grated voice accentuates all this music so fucking well. These guys are hard, talented, and this CD is their best.

Papa Roach: Infest Live, they rocked. Album wise, they still do. "Broken Home" and "Last Resort" deal with domestic abuse and suicide, respectively. "Dead Cell" is the best song on the CD, keeping your ass moving with some of the best heavy guitar work I've heard in a long time. "Between Angels and Insects" takes a shot at techies and "Revenge" talks about love and how shitty it can be. This is no-nonsense great music for life. The only bad thing is that this type of music is getting kinda old. Papa Roach resurrects some of the better aspects, but loses on some of the others. I like this CD, but again, little originiality. I say, get it. Chances are you'll like it.

Pavement: Slanted & Enchanted One of my parents said this: "Whoa, it's distorted and weird and different, and... It's so catchy at the same time! This is great!" So yeah, you can list me down with the other million or so reviewers who absolutely adore this album. Pavement came out of the middle of California and dropped a neutron bomb on the planet. And everything in the above quote is true. This is album is distorted. It is weird. Yes, it definitely is different. And to add to all that, the last part: It's catchy. Damn, it's insanely catchy. You'll be humming these songs for weeks, and singing along everytime you listen to it after the first spin. The best example of all these factors above is that you open the album with the song which contains the extreme of most of them, "Summer Babe (Winter Version)." It's almost as catchy as "In the Mouth a Desert" and almost as weird as "No Life Singed Her" or "Fame Throwa," but is still the defining moment of this album. You haven't really experienced rock music in the '90's or beyond until you hear this album. Of course, every album you have will start to really annoy you when you realize that all the current albums you have just ripped off this one. But don't worry, it's not half as bad as you'll be if you buy The Pixies. And that truly is the level on which this album succeeds, for it is one of the few post-Surfer Rosa albums not to rip off The Pixies to some extent. And to accomplish that feat... Well, that's downright incredible. Besides, all your indie elitist prick friends own this, so jump on the bandwagon. Pavement'll treat you right, I guarantee.

Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain So, basically, in my view, life comes down to one simple question: Slanted & Enchanted or Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain? Of course they're both brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable, as inspirational and inspiring as they are fun to listen to and sing along with. But which one is better? Now that is truly a tough question to answer. It's not simple or easy, I can tell you that much. But, alas, I'm gonna have to lean towards Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain on this one. Sure, Slanted & Enchanted was a blissful slab of experimental pop, but the sound was completely and fully developed to its maximum extent on this album, with pop hooks snagging you left and right, along with the occasional clean guitar lines. Ultimately, this shows the attitude that Pavement brought with them, such as an anti-song edit track, "Cut Your Hair," and the best possible line in any song of the '90's, the one that completely defined Pavement's music, and everyone elses for that matter, in the track "Newark Wilder": "It's a brand new era, it feels great, it's a brand new era, but it came too late."

Pearl Jam: Binaural I believe my campatriot Mark at Western Homes has already pointed out this following fact, but what is up with people dissing Pearl Jam? For years, while the rest of the world has been too concerned to pay attention to them, Pearl Jam has been quietly putting out record after record of superb rock'n'roll music. They push a few million copies of the albums, tour, repeat. They have an excellent guitar duo, an extremely gifted singer, and a rhythm section built on a foundation of a low end connection and a rotating lineup of drummers. They write very well, as they have instrument parts that are complex yet catchy, intelligent lyrics, and songs that grab you in with their melodies. So there you have it, the reasons why Pearl Jam is one of the most significantly neglected bands in recent times. But I would be more upset if I thought that Pearl Jam didn't like this. They aren't in the media spotlight most of the time, giving them the power to put out whatever they want without fear of rejection for the most part. But getting to the actual music... Up above, I said that they've been putting out superb rock'n'roll records one after another. This continues the cycle furthur. It really is good, not year topping, but around the nether regions of the top ten, the same way Yield was. With most bands, you've got your rockin songs, your quiet songs, your catchy songs, and your slow songs. Pearl Jam just write songs. These musical numbers defy categorization. All the pieces on this album work splendidly by themselves, in groups, or as a whole album, and that is Pearl Jam's gift. To write really good songs that work constantly, over and over again, dissected with a microscope, whatever. And this is why Pearl Jam will be one of the bands that people look to for inspiration in twenty years. After all, if Big Star and The Who were around at the same time, who says that Pearl Jam and Modest Mouse can't both be important too? Watch out for the truly great popular groups; they are few and far between.

Pedro the Lion: Whole EP Ah. This is nice. Relaxing, enchanting music. This was Pedro the Lion's recording debut, before they became just David Bazan making pretty noise, when they were an actual band that cranked out some pretty rockin, mellow, but overly happy and satisfying tunes. Song topics are varied fairly well, with boy-meets-girl, an upbeat song about the junkie lifestyle, just general happiness, and God. Yes, sadly, Pedro the Lion is a band of Jesusfreaks. You wouldn't know it though, so don't get your panties in a twist. The music here is not great, not bad, it's just really, really good and enjoyable. If you enjoy good, low-key music, I urge you to pick this up.

Pedro the Lion: It's Hard to Find a Friend So, after their EP, Pedro the Lion have returned. This time, it's just David Bazan. Yep, all the other members are gone, leaving poor poor David to record the album all aloen to record the album by himself. Most of this album is made up of relaxed, soothing, pleasant, but ultimeately indescript and forgettable mellow guitar rock. There are quite a few hooks, like the track "Big Trucks" which latches in your mind, "When They Really Get to Know You They Will Run" about people presenting false imagines to others and living a facade, and "Secret of the Easy Yoke" which addresses questions about God's existance. I'd say the problem is that they're afraid to rock, and when they rock, they shine. David needs to write more uptempo, guitar and hi-hat heavy pop songs. If he does that, Pedro the Lion will be Seattle gold.

Pedro the Lion: The Only Reason I Feel Secure EP Coming up from the depths of (where else? maybe DC) Seattle, we have been blessed by Pedro the Lion with this five song EP with blissful upbeat pop and low key downers, both types working marvelously due to the superb writing of one Mr. David Bazan. David Bazan pretty much is Pedro the Lion, since he's the singer/guitarist/songwriting and is the only member of the band to be in every lineup they've had; bass players and drummers come and go in a revolving door method. It's strange to think that their first EP Whole and the full-length It's Hard to Find a Friend were leading up to this, as it has more quality than either. Not that those two are bad, it's just that this severely kicks ass. Bazan's lyrics tend to be downers when listened to specifically, with phrases like "It makes me feel so good to always tell you when you're wrong/ The big man that I am to always have to put you down" and "Clear as a bell are the short breaths that you take when you're distracted/ Same as the way that you roll your eyes when I've asked too many stupid questions" along with a whole slew of others. The first song, "Criticism as Inspiration" is the saddest six minutes of this band's career, hands down, but it is brought up by the uptempo "I Am Always the One Who Calls." The last song is slightly religious, but don't get your panties in a twist, as it's not overly so, and is soothing and relaxing at the same time, which is a new twist for bands, since most seem to try and go out with a bang. One of the best things you could get your grubby little hands on if you tried, and also a great introduction to a great band.

Pennywise: Full Circle Punk is not only music. It is a lifestyle. Let's clear it up real fuckin quick. I'm sorry, but Blink-182, Lagwagon and these guys don't count. Pennywise do it the best though of anyone I've heard in a while. They incorporate the political ideals, fast drumbeats and choppy guitars, along with those unmelodic vocals we've all come to love. I quite like it though, which is surprising considering I'm a self proclaimed metal head and hardcore freak. "Fight Till You Die" is a perfect example. "Bro Hymn" is the best song and a must hear for all you punkies out there.

A Perfect Circle: Mer De Noms A Perfect Circle : hard rock/ metal :: Modest Mouse : indie rock. Both bands are incredibly clever and extremely original, both incorporate a little bit of everything in their sound, and both have become insanely respected in a fairly small time frame. This album is A Perfect Circle's debut, and it is very impressive. Althought the Tool comparisons will be many, aside from bits and pieces of the vocal style and the overall heaviness of a few songs, Tool and this band are two very different entities. Tool's entire purpose is to make people think, whereas A Perfect Circle just wanna rock. And rock they do. Most of these songs are heavy and grooving at the same time, with pop/rock parts stripped down to the very raw essentials of melody and covered with layer upon layer of guitars and pounding rhythm, and Maynard James Keenan's singing of course. Many of these tracks will get stuck in your head, like the awesome opener "The Hollow," the first single "Judith," and the midpoint song, "Orestes." The album also quiets down for awhile, giving way to silent moments after the relentless assault of other songs. Violins and percussion devices are involved in several songs, and make a good use of outside incorporation aside from normal rock instruments. So while it may not be perfect, it is far from bad, and will make a worthy addition to any music fan's collection.

Pilot to Gunner: Hit the Ground and Hum EP Pilot to Gunner have a really great name, as well as thier musical ability; they play catchy, hardcore tinged post-punk in the vein of Jawbox and Fugazi, and they do it, very, very well. On the insanely catchy opener of "Wires," they'll manage to have you humming the stop-start guitar verse for a few days. Seriously, if this song is released to an unknowing public, we'll never hear the end of it. "Put it in the Post" is a greatly achieved slab of hard rock goodness, trapped in among the other song. During the six minute "The Plunder and the Pay-Off" you'll find your head nodding along to lyrics that sound like a June of 44 song. Something about that seems wrong. When's the last time, not just you, but anyone would have considered June of 44 good old fashioned head-bobbing fun? The grooving drum opening to "New Dictionaires" erupts into a high pitched and a higher pitched guitar verse and a funky bass line. And on the last song, "The Dog-Shaped Cats," when's the last time you heard of an instrumental hard rock song, I mean pedals and everything? Pilot to Gunner does it all. S. V. Padden holds his own uniquely odd vocals above the mix through most of the material, giving the music a strange edge; this man does not sound like a singer, but with the music he does it so well, you can't help but wish there was a lyric insert so you could sing along. As two years have passed since this EP came out, hopefully we'll be seeing some more material from Pilot to Gunner. I'm waiting to find when I can mark my calendar as I type this last sentence.

The Pixies: Come on Pilgrim EP Originally not even an actual recording meant to be sold, just a demo that the group sent out to record companies, 4AD and Elektra eventually put it out as an EP. Even though it's a not-fully-realized form of the band, their trademark sound is still here; the distorted guitars, catchy songs and choruses, and great duel male and female vocals. This may have been put out as the record companies' way of showing where this band originally was coming from to the newer listeners and the people who had been influenced by them. Whichever, it's still great.

The Pixies: Surfer Rosa The Pixies are one of my favorite groups to listen to. And I think this is their best album to date (sadly they broke up many years ago). Most Pixies fans will tell you that Doolittle is the best Pixies album, I believe they're wrong. This album has it all! Screeching, loud, funny, witty, vocals backed up by simple riffs with open chords. Great songs that everyone can get stuck in their heads and not get them out. I really don't know how this band did what it did, they are just so damn good! The second you put on the first song called "Bone Machine", you'll think it sounds kinda poppy, polished, and boring, but that was just the bass line. Then the guitars start. It will change your idea of how the Pixies sound. When the guitar kicks in, it almost scares you with awesome sound and feel to it. Other great songs on the album are: "Break My Body," "Gigantic," and "River Euphrates." The rest of the songs are really great too, but the ones I just listed above stand out as some of the best rock songs of the decade called the 80's. Pixies had an EP out before the full length album called Come On Pilgrim. You should probably start off buying that, becuase it's only about 20 minutes long, but you can extend that listening pleasure to about 3 months. That's how long I listened to it. And after you're done listening to Come On Pilgrim, and you get this album, you'll notice that one of the songs from the EP ended up on Surfer Rosa. It's the song called "Vamos." It's almost a completely different version of it, but just as good, because it was done by The Pixies. To tell you the truth, I think that any person who listens to rock music should know who The Pixies are, and own at least one of their records.

The Pixies: Bossanova Okay, you turn this on and say, "What the hell am I listening to, and why?" It's only the first impression. My God, if you turn it off after that, you'll be cheating yourself. This album is fantastic. More than that possibly. It just destroys Doolittle and the Come On Pilgrim EP. It's even better than Surfer Rosa, not by much though. I should have listened to this before listening to Surfer Rosa. Now the scores are all jacked up. This is just amazing. Frank Black is now singing, yes, singing, and still screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm going to list all the best songs now: "Cecilia Ann," "Rock Music," "Velouria," "Allison," "Is She Weird," "Ana," "All Over the World," "Dig For Fire" (my favorite), "Down to the Well," "The Happening," "Blown Away," "Hang Wire," "Stormy Weather," "Havalina." Well, that is every track I guess. It's amusing to see The Pixies name a handful on songs on this album after women's names. My guess is, if The Pixies stayed together longer, they would have taken the place of Nirvana in changing the face of rock music in the early '90's. And they should have, because Nirvana basically ripped them off. I can't say anymore right now. I'm listening to Bossanova.

Planes Mistaken for Stars: Planes Mistaken for Stars EP The world needs more records like this one. Hardcore/punk-tinged rock that soothes your soul and blasts you outta your chair at the same time. These boys know how to rock. You can just imagine these guys playing, sweating from head to toe, thrashing about, missing the mic when trying to sing, cutting themselves, missing chords, blasting ahead at breakneck speeds. There are three "long" songs on the EP, and a group of shorter ones, although it all adds up to great proportions in the end. The opener, "Copper and Stars," is one of the best indie rock songs I've heard in a long time, and could be fated to reside up next to Slint's "Good Morning Captain," The Dismemberment Plan's "The Ice of Boston," and Sunny Day Real Estate's "In Circles" in the future. Two minute-long songs are between that and "The Past Two," which calms down at the middle the lyrics tell of how "December killed the best of me." The EP speeds up right quick, reaching its peak in "Knuckle Hungry," a damn angry song, before the seething closer "Where the Arrow Went Out." The song speeds along, before reaching an acoustic break with the 'would be cheesy but he meant it' lyrics: "If I never see your face again it won't kill so much as it will keep me alive." Then the song blasts off again, throttling you, and then reaching a conclusion that has instrument parts that are so numerous I can't identify everything at once. 24 minutes is a little short, but otherwise, this is great. My wonder is when the full-length will come out.

Planes Mistaken for Stars: Knife in the Marathon EP Planes Mistaken for Stars are back, and this time, they're kicking your ass even harder. Goddamn, these guys know how to fuckin' rock! Maybe that's why I love 'em so much. They have some of the best hardcore-tinged post-punk out there, and are better at it than anyone else. It's a wonder that a band like this got onto Deep Elm Records, as this is a little more blood-thirsty than most of their acts. The first song is a nice, slow groove at first, and then it kicks into gear as the band breaks it all down. Another nice thing about the band is that there is one break on this whole EP, which makes you a) pay attention or b) say "fuck it" and just enjoy it. Spastic, lethal, and full of more emotion than any bullshit "emo" band around right now. So what more can I say? Get off your ass and go buy this.

Pollyanna: "Fordgreensilverocket" b/w "Grover Washington" 7" Another band from down under on DeSoto, Pollyanna play a lighter, quicker version of the rock by labelmates Big Heavy Stuff. If the tempo was a bit higher and the guitarist screamed, this would be punk. Instead, it's just really good rock. The A-side is pretty good, grooving along, and making you wiggle your booty. The B-side is "Grover Washington," a Seattle scene soundalike almost, with more hiding underneath after the first few bars, plus it'll make your head bob. This is pretty good, not as much as Big Heavy Stuff, but better than a lot of the other stuff out there right now. Pick it up.

Powerman5000: Tonight the Stars Revolt! Can a band be this monotonous? I mean, come on Spider! You aren't that bad! So what if your brother is a fuck up?! You can kick ass! Oh yeah, you suck too... and instead of this darkness devil fetish the elder Zombie carries, you got some robo-space thing going... Jesus, you silly bastard stop! Your new CD, Tonight the Stars Revolt! sucks! Both of your guitars play the same damn thing, which defeats the purpose of having two in the first place! Wake up! Your CD on first listen isn't all that bad. Kinda clever, if you overlook the robot thing... (seek therapy!) Then it gets boring! With that William Shatner wannabe idiot doing your intro on the world blowing up or some shit... Man, you show a small glimmer of hope with "Super Nova Goes Pop!" and now it's a single... There goes the one decent song on the record. It must suck to live in the shadow of a dead guy and blow. All in all, this CD is old after you hear it twice. The riffs are repetitive, and show lack of musical ability. The drumming is the same, as the basslines are so easy my dick could play them. Maybe I'm being too critical... Nah! What I find horrible is that Static-X opened for you and your putz brigade; that's digusting. People, I urge you, please don't buy this. Maybe they'll quit, but don't count on it.

The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land It is hard to imagine what electronic music would be like without The Prodigy. It is doubtful whether any band has ever combined the influences of dance, rock, rap and fuck-off attitude so effectively. Rock and dance had always been traditional enemies, and although some degree of cross-over emerged in the 80's and early 90's with the industrial scene, it was The Prodigy who brought it kicking and screaming into mainstream conscious. Infiltrating the charts with apocalyptic juggernauts like "Firestarter" and "Breathe," the Prodigy revolutionised a tired genre with a unique style of their own. It was with The Fat of the Land that the band finally laid rest the ghost of their dodgy rave music past, and developed the style of their excellent Music For The Jilted Generation album to its full potential. Notions of what was rock and what was dance were instantly discarded as The Prodigy threw them all in a big pot, and stirred up one fucking beast of an album! Masterminded by Liam Howlett- a music technology genius to rival Trent Reznor- and fronted by Keith Flint- a deranged Sid Vicious for the nineties- it was inevitable this record would be huge. Do yourself a favor: drop any preconcieved notions you have of dance music, go out and buy this, then take it home and play at full volume! I guarantee you from the second "Smack My Bitch Up" explodes into life, to the dying throws of "Fuel My Fire," you will not be disappointed.

The Promise Ring: Nothing Feels Good The sheer energy of this album blew me away the first time I heard it. After the toned down, popped up, and almost mature work of 30 Degrees Everywhere I though for sure that The Promise Ring would be one of those interesting bands that stay on a lot of people's "to buy" lists but never makes it off. With this album, my faith in the power-pop genre has been restored. All these songs click, while some stay in your head for longer than others, such as the brutally and beautifully fast and fresh opener "Is This Thing On?" After the quick and simple "Perfect Lines" comes the album's second major highlight, "Red & Blue Jeans." The only really sad song is the title track, but the band is generally in good spirits across most of the record. if you're in the mood for some simple, happy, but intelligent pop music, The Promise Ring may be just what you're looking for.

The Promise Ring: Very Emergency So, originally The Promise Ring played this really great pop music with emo tendencies. They gradually made there way through two albums, two EPs and a whole slew of 7" to the point that they're at now: full throttle power-pop. And they still kick ass! Blasting through songs with verse-chorus-verse at breakneck speeds (but still something you can wiggle your booty to), I think that The Promise Ring have finally found their niche in the indie rock food chain. Because while this music displays all the best qualities of pop/rock, there's no way this stuff could be marketable to a mass audience through radio or MTV. The hooks cut deep, but are too subtle and restrained for the mass public to totally get, and as for MTV, these guys aren't studs, so I doubt they'll sell many records that are necessary with the new cut-and-paste dime-a-dozen groups popping up left and right on Empty-Vee. Obviously, these days, not being on MTV or radio is a good thing, so kudos to the Ring for staying away from all that bullshit. I don't think the band fully realizes the areas they could explore with their new sound and structure types, even though the pair of not quite ballads show a direction The Promise Ring will hopefully head more often in the future. As always, the band's major weakness is the lack of lyrics, but this is improved upon by leaps and bounds on this record. Overall, once again, The Promise Ring show a strong return to the field and a preview of bigger better things to come.

The Promise Ring: Electric Pink EP Undeniably one of the worst things I've heard this year, which is odd, given that Very Emergency was one of the best last year. Although this isn't as worthy of the severe ass-reamings that other zines and blogs have given it, it's still pretty bad. The major problem is that it's completely uninvolving, not pulling in the listener at all. It's also pretty boring, and the songs aren't that great either. If you're a diehard, this'll disappoint you; if you're a newcomer, please don't make this your first Promise Ring listen, as it will completely skew your opinion of the band. A major letdown.