Wicked Good Scene

//Photo by Tommy Cole//

Destination : Rock Show – Semi Precious Weapons
with Christine Keenan

Read The Interview & Watch Episode 1!

We recently put our heads together to create a new web series based on the culture surrounding local music called Destination : Rock Show. Through a friend of Sidehatch we got the opportunity to hang out with Semi Precious Weapons on the set of their first major label video shoot. Lucky for us the shoot was exactly what we were looking for. The inspiration for the video was their life and experiences together as a band, which translates to: a rock and roll party at an intimate venue in New York City.

What are Semi Precious Weapons? In the words of lead singer Justin Tranter: “filthy, violent but beautiful rock and roll.” Picture four dudes from Berklee; now picture one of those dudes in skin tight leggings, high heeled stiletto boots, flashing his nipple while shouting obscenities and how he’s going to sleep with your girlfriend after the show…  More on this later. First let me tell you about their video shoot.

Read more »

Album Review: Lunar Sway – Where the Birds Don’t Fly

with Gio

Certain bands today like to play up their own grandeur over every other aspect of the music. Perhaps it’s the justifiable admiration for Led Zeppelin that makes these groups think they can pull it off just as well. Well I’ve got news for you: no one will ever be able to match the majesty of Led Zeppelin. Lord knows there are plenty who try, from Muse to Mars Volta to Cave In, and there are plenty of listeners waiting to just eat it all up (I’m especially partial to the first couple of Mars Volta releases). What hurts these bands is that sometimes it sounds as if they’re only playing for themselves. Then again, sometimes it totally rocks.

This is the teetering balance that is displayed on the debut EP, Where the Birds Don’t Fly from Los Angeles’s own Lunar Sway. The recording comes dangerously close to being cheesy, in that Nickelback or even Nu-Metal kind of way, but manages to hold steady mostly because they’re simply a better band. Vocalist Drew’s voice is a good match for the band’s grandeur, using a lot of falsetto and taking many cues from Muse and Bends-era Radiohead and his use of keys definitely recalls the very same bands. The rest of the band, guitarist Preston, bassist Clint, and drummer Barrett, sound really great with each other. Whether or not it’s true, Lunar Sway sound as if they’ve been a band for a long time, but they may have the drummer to thank, who took over the production duties and did a superb job.

Like most L.A. bands, Lunar Sway seems to be shooting for the majors, and let me be the first to tell you that they just might succeed in their quest. The MTV crowd could be easily wooed by the overwrought lyrics and power-choruses, which, I think, are where this album’s weaknesses lay. The verses tend to be stronger than the choruses and this can be sort of a let down, akin to seeing an over-anticipated movie sequel like Men in Black 2 only to find that it’s nothing like the original and your girlfriend wont make out with you. “St. Mark’s Square” for instance sounds like a sweet Radiohead b-side during the verses, and then quickly cuts into a power-stance, windswept-hair refrain.

The first two songs, “Where the Birds Don’t Fly” and “The Enemy is Me” are the best here, the former opening with a sweet, meaty riff, and the latter using expert atmospherics with nice keyboard effects, staccato guitar parts, and the best drumming on the EP. “Comfortable Silence” could easily be the single as it sounds the most like Muse and is pretty damn hooky. This band will surely grow to separate themselves from their influences. If they experiment with different dynamics and grooves, they will certainly have a strong full-length on their hands.

-Gio Coviello | (Y)OURscene Boston

Upcoming Shows:
Catch Lunar Sway live on their West Coast swing up to Seattle, WA.
Details at LunarSway.com!

Lunar Sway Online:
.COM | iTunes | Facebook | MySpace

Album Revisited: Kiss Kiss – Reality Vs. The Optimist
with Steph S. of The Thread Zine

The Thread would like to take a moment to revisit an album released a few years ago that did not receive the recognition it so greatly deserved. Kiss Kiss (Eyeball Records), hailing from Milton, New York debuted their first full-length album, Reality Vs. The Optimist in February 2007. With ghostly, asymmetrical time signatures, and a hypertonic, Tim-Burton-esque sound, the album literally blew me away.

The opener, “Janet” is a catchy canzone that jump-starts the album nicely, while the next song, “Iris and Eye” takes the listener to a dark, haunting realm mirrored throughout the rest of the album. The band’s use of electric violin separates Kiss Kiss from others in the genre and adds an orchestral tone that cannot be beat. Tracks 7 and 9, “Dress Up” and “The Cat in Your House” respectively, are two ravenous songs that have easily become my favorite on the album. The former is a fast paced, screamy tune that uses unusual samples of a chainsaw. Awesome. And the latter is a mysteriously sleek tune that builds up consistently throughout.

If all of the previously mentioned genius didn’t convince you to buy(or listen) to this album, the last two tracks alone will cause you to fall in love with the band. “Vagabond” starts out a bit poppy, but morphs into a truly beautiful song with a catchy chorus outro. And finally, the ballad, “Stay the Day” succeeds in bringing the listener down from the overwhelmingly powerful high sustained from the rest of the album.

Listening to Reality Vs. The Optimist is an ethereal experience and should have made more noise for Kiss Kiss. We here at The Thread give it 5 out of 5 stars.  If you’re really digging their style, check out Kiss Kiss’s latest album, The Meek Shall Inherit What’s Left.

Steph S. | (Y)OURscene NY

PS…  Catch Kiss Kiss live RIGHT NOW on their US Tour!  They are also playing at South by South West  in Austin, Texas this March.  Click HERE for tour dates.