Live Review- Soundgarden and Graveyard at the 02 Dublin- 16/09/2013

                               

I must admit, I felt a certain amount  of trepidation about seeing a reformed Soundgarden live, especially at the cavernous 02 in the heart of Dublin's docklands, which embodies everything that's shit about arenas.Six euro for a pint,sound of ,to be kind, variable quality depending on where you stand in the arena, and of course that horrific blue light emanating from the ceiling that puts one in mind of a Burger King toilet.Rest assured, whatever else happens in those ridiculously overpriced balcony seats, it's unlikely to involve any intravenous drugs.

Then there's the small matter of my ridiculously high expectations.Ever since the moment a decade ago that I picked up 'Superunknown' from the racks of my local Golden Discs store(don't look for it, its not there anymore) and decided to take a punt seeing as it was only eight quid and I liked 'Black Hole Sun', I have been a massive Soundgarden fan.One of the few heavy bands apart from Mastodon, Alice In Chains  and Clutch that even my Radiohead loving 'indie' mates agreed were fantastic, Cornell and co's body of work, in particular 'Superunknown' and 'Badmotorfinger' ,were afforded a most lofty position  in my pantheon of musical idols.

Then some stuff happened.Audioslave stuff.Timbaland stuff.More, even crappier Audioslave stuff after that, and my hero worship of Cornell faded a little.At least,I assured myself, Soundgarden would never be tainted for me, being as they swore that they would never reform, and no amount of money could tempt them to say otherwise.Except,of course, they did reform, and lo and behold,we have 'King Animal' ,a record which has proved divisive among many hardcore fans, myself included.Brilliant in places, in others it sounded weak, and like a band trying too hard to recapture former glories.However, when  it was announced the Seattle quartet would be playing a rare Irish date, I didn't hesitate, not even for a second.If they're shit, I told myself, at least I can say I've seen them.

Irish public transport being the unreliable farce that it is, we arrive a little late to The Venue Formerly Known AsThe Point,  just in time to catch Swedish retro rock luvvies Graveyard tearing through 'The Siren'.Grabbing a quick(expensive) pint, quickly perusing some(even more expensive) merch and quickly walking away when we see how much we'd be paying for it, we wander back over to catch the latter half of Graveyards's set.And it's mostly good stuff, the band acquitting themselves well, in particular drummer Axel Sjoberg, who channels the spirit of John Bonham so convincingly you have to wonder did Bonzo drop a couple of  illicit love children on a long forgotten Swedish tour.The band as a whole are slick, never really blowing you away but impressing all the same with some solid musicianship and some well crafted, proggy blues rock songs.Usually touted as the best thing since sliced Sabbath by stoner  rock fan boys,Graveyard don't quite live up to the hype, and they don't quite nail the retro-rock vibe as well as, say, Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats, but they appear to win a few fans tonight all the same,and one wonders how they'd fare on a smaller stage and as headliners.Their light show is also, and I'm not being sarcastic, pretty awesome. . . .well I liked it.


And so on to the main event.And to be brutally honest, at least to start, Soundgarden kinda suck.Or at least the sound does.Combine  the fact that the first two or three songs are all but unlistenable, and the bulk of the crowd are more interested in filming Cornell on their iPhones,and it's quite possibly the most underwhelming,flat start to a gig I've ever witnessed.A little voice, small but getting louder as things progress, keeps muttering "Please don't let this be shit, please" in the back of my mind. But things soon pick up.Cornell greets the crowd  after the band have run through their first couple of numbers, and then introduces the next song:'Flower',the very first song off their first full length, 'Ultramega Ok'.And all of a sudden, every thing's right with the world.The sound sorts itself out, the crowd wake up(a little, let's be honest, no one was expecting circle pits) and for the following ninety or so minutes,Soundgarden proceed to rock the fuck out.

Ok,  so the set isn't perfect.There's a little too much of 'King Animal', almost nothing from 'Louder Than Love' , not much more of 'Badmotorfinger' save  'Outshined' and a feral 'Rusty Cage', and the band seem to lack much chemistry or energy on stage(save of course, drumming demi-god Matt Cameron).But when the set is stuffed full of songs like 'Spoonman', 'My Wave', and a rare live outing of 'Limo Wreck', one tends to forgive a band an uneven set very quickly.Highlights include a thunderous 'Mailman', the deft complexity of choice 'King . . .' cut 'Non State Actor', and perhaps best of all, a final, crowd slaying stomp through  'Beyond The Wheel', bookended by a sickening wall of noise, Kim Thayil and Ben Sheperd standing backs to the crowd, lost in the primeval,perfect  howl of a wall of amps feeding back.

All in all, it's not a perfect show by any means, but neither is it a cash in tour or a sorry  attempt to reclaim past glories.Soundgarden tonight are loud , in your face and at times ludicrously brilliant.Cornell is charming, self effacing, even funny at times, and while he no longer possesses the god-like howl and imperious range of old, he's still in fine voice.The real stars though are guitarist Kim Thayil and drummer Matt Cameron, the latter anchoring the band superbly  and playing out of his skin, the former proving to all and sundry why he's still the thinking man's guitar idol,his combination of bizarre chorus-heavy guitar tones,oddball tunings and monolithic riffing still instantly recognisable.

Six quid for a pint is taking the piss though.

Rating: 7.5/10

Stephen O' Connor, Born Again Nihilist

You Should Be Listening To . . .Cast Iron Crow!

Hailing from Bay Area, San Fran, Cast Iron Crow are a four piece grunge/alt metal band that channel the spirit of  nineties grunge and alternative rock in all it's glory ,from the twisted  rhythmic trickery early Tool to the soulful streetwise sound of Alice In Chains circa 'Facelift' , the band were born after singer Jake Navarra shattered his collar bone twice and was forced to quit guitar and take up crooning instead. Considering most folk might give up altogether  after such a trauma, it's a testament to the band's testicular fortitude and belief in their music that Navarra simply picked up a mic and kept going, and this  hard working  is ethos reflected in the band's no bullshit ,straight up,  hard rock sound.Oh, and it just so happens that Tim Sult, bassist for rock gods Clutch, is a fan.If all that hasn't swayed you, then perhaps you're reading the wrong blog.Play Loud.

For fans of :Alice In Chains, Tool,  Soundgarden, Life Of Agony, Speedking
Listen here: http://www.myspace.com/castironcrow
Stephen O ' Connor
bornagainnihilist@gmail.com

Album Review- Uncle Touchy 'Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Violence'

Formed in 2010 from various other local bands, TN, USA (but based in that sludge mecca Atlanta GA) , Uncle Touchy state on their band bio that they 'just want to make your stomach turn'.It's as basic and brutal a mission statement as you could hope for in an age where every man and his eight string bass playing dog is making concept albums about solar cycles and the like, and , in these ten pleasantly unpleasant tracks of noise rock filth, one can find a perfect escape from all things  lofty and high minded.It also rocks , just a bit.

 .Opener ' Body Hammer' is as low and fast a gut punch as you could  hope to open the album, spastic rage belted out over some awesome syncopated riffing. 'Tiretread on Burst Stomach'  follows with some supremely sick , fuzzed out bass that segues into a sludge rock monster reminiscent of a sicker(if that was possible) Melvins, before the album breaks out of the traps with a psychotic fury , taking in skewed grunge rock , angular , Jesus Lizard style riffing,and pure snotty punk rock fury.'Soft Skin' sets your lizard brain a tingling with warning signs of  an approach of  bad , bad juju, , with a jittery , staccato DEP esque riff underpinning a highly disturbing refrain of "He has his hands in your baby's pants", clearly the work of men who truly  couldn't give a fuck about mainstream acceptance.'Forced Out' is a rock and roll monster, while 'Shithawks at the Dinner' is all smouldering , subdued menace, and bobbing, feverish bass. 'Dimebagged' meanwhile is the sound of Anthrax being buggered by the hicks from Deliverance, an addictive thrash riff coasting along on a spiteful chant of  "You folks are all so fucking lame".Closer ' The Sensual Yet Forbidden Pleasures of the Ladyboys of Thailand' rounds off the album with a skin crawling ode to said 'ladies' of the night', that makes one worry about the leisure time activities of these Southern dirt bags, but nevertheless rocks like a bastard, and hints at a band that can not only abuse their various instruments , but also play them quite well when they want to.

Make no mistake, this is not pleasant music.There are no chest bursting stadium anthems, or lovelorn desert rock groove- alongs to coast into the sunset to.This is  nasty, confrontational stuff, grunge before the money men got involved, a sneering, 'fuck you' to suburban alienation and rock and roll cliches , made by anti social, unfriendly men who sound like they would rather pick a fight with you then creep on your girlfriend than shake your hand after a show.It's also rather brilliant,a searing love letter to punk rock's hey day, when the term meant slightly more than selling teenager's own angst back to them on a forty quid hoody. Go on , make em famous.That'll really piss them off.

Rating:8/10

For fans of :  The Melvins, Black Flag, Unsane, Tad, McClusky, The Bronx, Amen

Listen here:http://uncletouchy.bandcamp.com/

Album Review -Kodiak Jack ' Your Death My Glory'(Angry Badger Records)

It seems in recent months, what with the upsurge in popularity of Djent/tech metal and the rapid increase in artists recording either through modelling/line  technology and the general popularity of poly rhythms and drier tones, that there's been a sort of reaction from certain parts of the rock and metal fraternity to this tendency towards futurism and synthetic sounds, with several bands looking back towards hard rock's warmer, rougher roots for inspiration for their latest releases.First I Decline updated Thin Lizzy's gentleman rock to thrilling effect with their fantastic 'Time To Shine' opus  , then sludge heavyweights Mastodon went all Rush and made an album of  stunningly melodic classic rock anthems in 'The Hunter',all seemingly without a Pod or muted fifth in ear shot.Now here to give their own spin on this mini  old school rock revival are Brit rockers Kodiak Jack, with an album of heartfelt grunge anthems in 'Your Death My Glory' that relies on good old fashioned balls out choruses and chunky riffing  to get their musical message across.

Although admittedly, first impressions aren't great.Opener ' Crossfire'  starts out pleasingly enough with a thick  , mid tempo heavy riff , but seems a little too mired in the hideously overwrought grunge of Nickelback and Theory Of A Deadman for comfort for this reviewer, and is somewhat of a weak start to the album.Thankfully, things pick up on second track 'Wasted Youth', a snarling COC style bluesy riff underpinning singer Bryn's  throaty , heartfelt roar.'Your City To Burn' is a propulsive headbanger with some nifty guitar work , while 'Prettier When She Smiles'  is a slice of sleazy shit kicking fun reminiscent of AC/DC.

Throughout this record, the one thing that stands out most is singer Bryn's fantastic vocals, equally at home with the soaring stadium rock of 'Anthem For An Underclass' as he is with the delicate balladry of 'My Condition' , a song which in a lesser singer's hands could have strayed horribly into drive time , Dad rock territory, but is actually oddly moving, with some nice use of strings and  a brevity that makes it an album highlight.

'Waves' and 'My Fake Jesus ' follow , the former a bizarre but again strangely effective mash up of Pantera-esque riffing  and hooky pop rock, the latter brilliantly recalling the stark  grunge of 'Undertow' era Tool  , and showing what this band is capable of musically.The final two tracks , the epic , eight minute 'We Are Your Saviours' and the closing salvo of the title track, are fine melodic rock tunes, with 'Your Death My Glory' containing some excellent soloing work from lead guitarist Jeff,  , but don't really wow in the same way as what's come before , and one feels at times that the band seem to be reining in their  more progressive instincts in favour of trying to appeal to a larger audience, not a crime by any means , and not one that they'd be solely guilty of if it was, but you can't help but feel at times that there's something about 'Your Death My Glory'  as  a whole that seems somewhat polished, too polite, when , going  on the evidence here, the band are more than capable of kicking ass and taking names in a far more brutal fashion.

That said, this is definitely an accomplished debut, and the band are clearly tight as a unit and solid musicians, singer Bryn being especially impressive, and the band have a bucket load of potential, and a sound which is tried and tested.A definite one to watch for fans of good old fashioned hard rock.

Rating:6/10
For fans of: Alter Bridge, Brand New Sin, Saliva
Buy The album here: http://www.iconic-culture.com/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=8410&idCategory=673
Stephen O ' Connor
bornagainnihilist@gmail.com