Whatever Brains

Whatever Brains

Rapper's Delight II 7"

Funny/Not Funny Records, 2010

www.myspace.com/whateverbrains

http://www.funnynotfunnyrecords.com/

So, admittedly, I'm fairly behind the curve on this one. As I searched for great music from all over the country, I slept on what was slowly festering in my own backyard. I'm ashamed to admit that for a long time I thought Whatever Brains was a f**king reggae band. I don't know why, it was just an assumption. Perhaps it had something to do with the peace frog logo. I don't know. I thought they were like a Toots and the Maytals cover band or something. Lame. Whoops. But what I do know now after doing myself the favor of actually giving these fellas a proper listen is that I haven't been as excited about a local band since Superchunk. I'll keep this short. Whatever Brains f**king slay. Their songs are more infectious than that guy with the cough at work in the cubicle next to yours. It's actually ridiculous. I know these guys are kind of billed as punk or whatever, but I honestly think they're more in the tradition of the indie guitar rock of the 90's but with the snotiness of 70's brit punk. Whether they like it or not, they write some extremely catchy s**t. Everyone in the Triangle area and beyond would be well advised to follow these guys. They're for real, and I have a new favorite local band. Cheers boys, we are here to do your bidding.

These Arms Are Snakes

These Arms Are Snakes

Tail Swallower and Dove

Suicide Squeeze, 2008

http://www.thesearmsaresnakes.blogspot.com/

http://www.suicidesqueezerecords.tumblr.com/

I'm going back a few years on this one. I always have a hard time deciding whether Tail Swallower or Oxeneers is my favorite TAAS record. I'm going to post Tail Swallower though because it's easily the most (gasp) accessible. This is way more straight forward than their other records as far as song structure and overall songwriting. For those who are not acquainted with TAAS, they were essentially a super group of Seattle post-hardcore juggernauts including former members of Botch, Kill Sadie and Minus the Bear. Since they disbanded in late 2009, members have continued to garner respect and remain more than merely relevant by going on to play in projects like Narrows and Russian Circles.

It's really hard to describe TAAS' spastic, aggressive, yet melodic sound to anyone who has never heard them. And they sound nothing like the respective bands from which they came from. Sometimes I think that TAAS sounds like what Nirvana would have sounded like if they had kept evolving towards the heavier more experimental songs off In Utero. TAAS is way more precise musically and utilize keyboards at just the right times to blow your f**king mind though. Tail Swallower is the place to start if you want to check these guys out. You will not be disappointed. Then check out Botch, Kill Sadie, Narrows, Nineironspitfire, Russian Circles...

Alcest

Alcest

Ecailles de Lune

Prophecy Productions, 2010

www.alcest-music.com

www.prophecy.cd

Shoegaze post-black metal. Yes, that is one of the many descriptions heaped on Alcest, the project of French musician Neige. Yeah, if pressed, I would definitely categorize his other work as black metal. But it's so much.. prettier. Just like Ecailles de Lune (Scales of the Moon). I would hesitate to call it shoegaze. To me, it's more Sunny Day Real Estate than Ride. But then the black metal kicks in and the machine gun snare and strained vocals take over, and yadda yadda yadda. Which is fine. Hey, I like black metal as much as the next guy. But Alcest is already stepping way outside the black metal box, so to speak, by making a record that sounds like Diary, so why try to throw in aspects of black metal that are so predictable? I like this record. It sounds like the soundtrack to a movie adaptation of a graphic novel, which might be slightly lame but the fact that it's all in French totally makes up for it. If you like catchy pop riffs, 10 minute songs and don't mind a little bit of evil, this is your s**t.

Helms Alee

Helms Alee

Night Terror

Hydra Head, 2008

www.myspace.com/helmsaleemusic

www.hydrahead.com

What the f**k. Is it really 2011? Ridiculousness. It feels like this record just came out. I'm a huge Harkonen fan so naturally I picked up this record because of Ben Verellen. I'm also a huge fan of Hydra Head as a whole, so how could I go wrong? Fortunately, I did not go wrong. Night Terror is very good. Not quite Harkonen good, but good. Imagine Harkonen mixed with the Pixies being played at half speed. I had no idea at first that they were a three-piece. I also had no idea that the bassist was a female, which was a pleasant surprise because Dana James' vocals blend perfectly with the total assault of such songs as "New Roll". I also knew that the drumming was absolutely brutal, so imagine my surprise when I found out that, yes, the drummer too is a woman. For some reason this makes me like Helms Alee more than if they were all guys. Is that sexist? Whatever.

Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne

I Am Not a Human Being

Cash Money, 2010

http://www.lilwayne-online.com/

http://www.cashmoney-records.com/

I've never been a huge fan of Lil Wayne and even less a fan of Cash Money. I always felt like Lil Wayne was kind of a douche and Cash Money is known for not paying royalties to producers. Double douchey. I like the fact that he attempts to come across as being absolutely out of his mind and will readily admit that he has some great tracks. I still bump "A Milli" because it's a fantastic track, but that's mostly because of Bangladesh's otherworldly production skills (most recently the work he put in on Nicki Minaj's "Did It on 'Em"). But on the whole, I've never been that impressed. I also find it laughable that some critics are quick to call him "the greatest rapper alive." But most people know that's total garbage. I think. Anyway, Lil Wayne's rhymes are clever, but that's about it. Album sales don't dictate lyrical ability.

I Am Not a Human Being has some decent tracks. The opener "Gonorrhea" had me thinking "okay, maybe this will be at least as good as Tha Carter III. " Unfortunately, it all quickly began to sound the same. It's not terrible, but not memorable either. It's good music to listen to when I don't want to think about anything. Kind of like Gucci. For mainstream hip hop it's alright, but I'll take Wiz Khalifa over Wayne any day. Turns out this is nowhere near as good as III but INFINITELY better than Rebirth, which I'm not even going to touch here. So in the end, I wasn't that surprised. It's pretty much what I would expect from Tunechi. Mediocrity.