American Alternative music reviews

I could not agree more with the previous review. This is light years beyond anything in independent music, or otherwise. In the words of Jad Fair himself, "We are living in a world that's gone very wrong"--and this album proves it!

...but insane. Each track a self-contained sphere, thus constituting in the record a breathless tour of an extremely nether, but often delightful, solar system.

It's a shame that such a good single has taken this long to reach our shores. This is the first single from Vertical's lastest LP, and it climbed all the way to #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Top 40. This single is sensational, catchy, and one which a true Vertical fan cannot live without. Trust me, as someone who hangs on Matt Scanell's every word, this is one CD not to be missed

American Hi Fi has done something that I didn't think possible. They have explained what happens with couples in America that I think about all the time. This song "Flavor Of The Week" reminds me of the relationship my old best-friend had with my VERY GOOD FRIEND, whom he happens to be going out with. If I were singing this song then I would say that it is one hundred percent completey true...... American Hi Fi ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

first off, at least for me, this is *not* easy listening music. it's something to sit and dig, not to find any great meaning, just to find the music! but when it hits you, this is great stuff. BotM used to put ridiculous cover songs on each of their albums (rocky and bullwinkle theme, simpsons theme) and masterfully deconstruct them- take them to their most abstract recognizable form, then take that to it's most abstract atonal form... but here, and i enjoy this even more, they do the same with their own creations, and create a soundscape great to engorge your brain and write reviews to. then it falls into chaos!

Just days ago, I awoke one morning from an oppresive sleep without dreams and felt for the first time the sad veracity of myself- how irrevocably small I was, how decidedly insignificant my days were, how pointless the rest of my days would prove to be. I experienced this dull pang of irrelevance first below the clavicle and behind the upper pectorals. The ache of this revelation gradually spread to my extremities, where it felt as if my arm and leg muscles where withering away, a catabolic retreat from the inequity of existence. I fixed my gaze on my immobile ceiling fan. It seemed much further away from me, as if I had actually diminished in size or my room, in correspondence with my new understanding, had expanded to mock me. I felt the urge to weep, but my shrunken heart, beating needlessly as it seemed, couldn't muster enough conviction to feel even loathing for itself. A little short of breath, I spent an unknown amount of time lethargically pulling the hairs that gave little resistance from my eyebrows and scalp before finally closing my eyes on the remainder of that inexplicable and piteous day.
Before I proceed further, I am compelled to say that good children's music that everyone can enjoy isn't necessarily (fortunately for me) hard to find. A day later into my self-imposed bedriddance, my bladder was so perilously near rupture that I considered saturating myself over exerting the necessary care to find the bathroom. I decided then and there that a little light-hearted, funnin' around music for kids couldn't make me feel any worse. I relieved myself over the toilet and then, with great trepidation, dressed myself and drove to my local Border's (sorry, Amazon!). My purchasing decision in the children's aisle that day is where this review, and the newest chapter of my life, really begins.
"Gacy's Place: The Undiscovered Corpses" by The Mentally Ill is totally the best collection of children's songs ever recorded! This album reminds me of the idyllic childhood that I never quite had. In its youthfulness, it rebuilds my hope in the future upon each listening. Gacy's Place, a sonic sanctuary that predates Pee-Wee's Playhouse, is a domicile of wonder and fun in which all things zany could happen at any moment. The opening track, a Sousa-esque march rife with lush banjo accompaniment, aptly sets the mood for the rest of the album: "Gacy's Place!/Gacy's Place!/Fun fun fun/For the human race!/Come on in/Pull up a seat!/'Cause Gacy's Place/Is the funnest place to meet!" Really, the highlights on this album are too numerous for me, to my discredit, to mention. One favorite of mine is "Split Crotch Straight Jacket", a wacky nonsensical song with a baroque string arrangement that preaches a simple message: "Split Crotch Straight Jacket/Lit Scotch Freight Packet/Bets Ball See Sends/Let's All Be Friends!" "All Mixed Up" is ostensibly a song for children who have trouble with math but also provides advice to those kids who have trouble at home: "All mixed up? Why?/'Cause two times three ain't five?/Well that's not all that's kinda funny/Cause' mom minus dad/equals no more lunch money!" The indisputable keystone of this hallmark album is "Ballad of the Mentally Ill", a song that gives perhaps more than just a nod to The Everly Brothers: "Let's color the whole world in black/'Cause its our favorite crayon in the box/Let's dispose of the bodies in the back/'Cause it's where we keep Goldielocks!" Simply put, I am born anew in this blissful affirmation of life, this album for children written for all those who wish to remain young at heart.
Hey- I think I'll go to work tomorrow!

P.S. The corpses remain undiscovered. Thanks Molly!

This is the most beautifully vulgar disc I've come across in quite some time. The gritty recording quality is completely suited to the depraved lyrical content. And man, the "singer's" voice, like nails on a chalk board that's been locked in a coffin. This disc actually sounds like it was recorded in the basement of Gacy's place. If you like your punk ugly and gutteral, do yourself a favour and buy this. NOW.

highly offensive. These guys are really sick.I love it!

Al Larson has gone beyond his already brilliant body of work to include great space keyboard work, and some of his best lyrics yet on this SVS's last album. Valley of the Clock is incredible.

Here's what shows how great a great band really is - Nomeansno made an EP of the three "No One" outtakes, and any one of them could find its way onto an imaginary "best of" compilation. The first track is "Sex Is Philosophy", with metallic riffs which make it sound as if they covered Megadeth - and it's brilliant, along with excellent lyrics. The next one, "No Big Surprise", is nothing short of a masterpiece - 11 minutes long, with a drum solo, a mean, slow bass line, and some damn fine guitar work by the new guitar player (Tom, is it?), especially in the last minute of the song. Excellent lyrics, of course. And the last track is an intentionally idiotic ska-punk goof (well, not really punk, it's just real fast), with a yo-ho-ho uplifting feel and hillarious vocals by John the drummer. And the lyrics? Well, how about this: "I know you're worried, you're all distressed/You feel the tension then get depressed/But I don't squibble and I don't cry/'Cause I don't care and I'll tell you why/I get up in the morning, go to bed at night".
So it's great, it's cheap, and it's smart. Get it.

This is some of the DS best work. The entire CD is a great listen without exception!

The lyrics are better than Minor Threat. The music is angry like Black Flag. The songs range from violent tones to melodic reflection. Easily one of the most overlooked records in hardcore history. Vic Bondi's masterpiece.

Starts out great with 'tomorrow never comes' and then kind of sucks until you get to 'out of nowhere' its just a dull first half. Lots of bluesy/rock guitar, which is cool, but the songs are just boring (dragstrip riot is a great example. Its nine minutes long!) But, the second half is pretty cool. Highlights would probably be 'Tomorrow Never Comes', 'Out Of Nowhere', and the classic 'Agony Shorthand' redone in a way that it is easilly the best song on the album. A cd for fans.

The self-titled debut album from the northwest's favorite delinquents, DragStrip Riot, is finally available on Go-Kustom Rekords. If you like bad attitudes and loud, dangerous rock n roll, you'll love this album.

13 tracks of scorching rock n roll combining punk with roots rock, and pumped full of .... n vinegar. Nothing's politically correct about this album. Compared to the likes of Social Distortion, Rev. Horton Heat, Link Wray, and the Misfits, DragStrip Riot carves a niche of their own while holding court with such heavyweights.

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