Album Reviews

SIGH
Gallows Gallery
(Baphomet)
After a prolonged absence, Japan's Sigh returns with Gallows Gallery. Less overtly psychedelic and unabashedly eclectic than the quartet's masterpiece Imaginary Sonicscapes, the group's sixth album streamlines its influences into catchy, driving, progressive-tinged hard rock tunes like "Pale Monument" and "Silver Universe." In addition, the band brings in special guest soloists from Dark Tranquility, the Red Chord, Yakuza and others to play off guitarist Shinichi. Gallows Gallery isn't the mindblower that was Imaginary Sonicscape, but it's still high quality metal from a band that moves ever forward. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE STARLIGHT MINTS
Drowaton
(Barsuk)
Grave Blessings is the latest record from New York's finest Norman, Oklahoma would be the perfect place for a band like Starlight Mints: isolated enough to bring on visions from stir-craziness, but not so isolated that you can't get AM pop radio. Chief Mint Allan Vest breathes deeply of both accessibility and inscrutability on Drowaton. By turns whimsical ("There's cookie monsters in the kitchen," declares "Eyes of the Night") and at least slightly more serious ("Seventeen Devils"), the quartet's third record revels in melody most of all. "Rosemarie," "The Killer" and "Pearls (Submarine #2)" cleave to the earbones, regardless of what the hell Vest is on about, seemingly integrating the brilliant and the daft. Michael Toland [buy it]

JAKE STIGERS
Comin' Back Again
(Jake Stigers)
Alternating between wistful lyrics and power guitars, Jake Stigers blends folksy blues with good old-fashioned rock and roll. The record's first song "Do You Feel High" is written for the radio and even seems intentionally stiff. But if you can stomach the first track, the rewards are plentiful. The songs are light but solid and the record somehow toes the line between sappy pop and edgy rock. While Stigers isn't likely to dazzle the club set, his combination of catchy hooks and radio-ready melodies is worth a spin. Lance Looper [buy it]

SULO
Just Another Guy Tryin'
(Smilodon)
The lead singer and primary songwriter of Sweden's great Diamond Dogs, Sulo apparently has more songs than he knows what to do with. Some of the overflow is captured by a small, mostly acoustic ensemble on Just Another Guy Tryin'. The modest presentation emphasizes Sulo's heart-on-sleeve rock croon and bullshit-free, melodic tunes; "From Soul to Heart," "Could've Been Blessed" and "Harder Than It Looks" cut the fat and channel the guy's soul right into your speakers. I sometimes miss the ass-kicking the Faces-loving Dogs might've brought to the table, but the performances are so warm and the songs so strong that's pointless carping. If the Faces analogy holds, this shows off Sulo's Ronnie Lane side (always a good thing). Wonderful. Michael Toland [buy it]

SUN DIAL
Other Way Out/Other Way In
Return Journey
(Relapse)
Sun Dial is a name known more to psychedelic rock aficionados than to anyone else, and these records have been hard to come by even for them. Originally released in 1990 as the trio's debut album, Other Way Out (and its outtakes/demos companion Other Way In) stands as a landmark of the new psych, injecting trippy 60s guitar rock into the new era of alternative rock. Gary Ramon's lysergic guitar work combines with his melodic songs and personable singing into new acid classics "Plains of Nazca," "Dark Into Light," "Atom Heart Lover" and "Exploding in Your Mind." Also recorded in 1990 but unreleased until a few years later, the material on Return Journey has lower fidelity but similar strengths, with the same balance of lush melody and aggressive guitar freakage: dig "Through You" and "North Eastern." Dipping pop hooks into deep vats of acid, Sun Dial is the bridge between Spacemen 3 and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and a must for anyone with even the slightest Blue Sunshine twinkle in his or her eye. Michael Toland [buy Other Way Out] [buy Return Journey]

TEN MILE TIDE
Ten Mile Tide
(Ten Mile Tide)
Ten Mile Tide's third record features well-executed bluegrass and by-the-numbers mountain music. But the five-piece band hails from San Francisco, so I guess it's not really mountain music. The songs have an unusually polished sound that comes from playing tons of shows. The first tracks, "River Sun and Rain" and "Bad Girls" sum up the record—solid songwriting and rich musicianship coated in a healthy sense of humor. Ten Mile Tide is clearly a touring band, but this is a very good, very fun record. Lance Looper

THROTTLEROD
Nail
(Small Stone)
Slimmed down to a trio, South Carolina's Throttlerod comes smashing through the forest for another bruising tribute to all that's heavy and hard. Vein-popping shouter Matt Whitehead slams riffs out of his guitar like he's trying to bash in the heads of every person nearby; the rhythm section reigns him in enough to keep him from swinging wildly. There's a sense on Nail that the whole enterprise could degenerate into unformed chaos, but the band keeps it together with barely controlled rage. This is as barrel-chested as it gets. Michael Toland [buy it]

THYRFING
Farsotstider
(Candlelight)
Over a decade into its career, Swedish sextet Thyrfing is a veteran in the black metal underground. Unlike so many of its peers, the band's headspace encompasses an obsession with Viking mythology (it's named after a dwarven-forged sword wielded by a troll) rather than love songs to Old Scratch. Not that it matters much to us Yanks, since Thyrfing sticks to its native language, but I'd like to think it gives the band a bit more leeway than it would have if it wallowed in cartoon evil. Besides, it's the storming aggression of "Själavrak" and "Jag Spår Fördärv," the stein-swinging melodies of "Elddagjämning" and "Tiden Läker Intet" or the intricate textures of "Höst" that truly stick to the brainstem. Hitch the goats up to the chariot and ride. Michael Toland [buy it]

JOHNNY VASHER
Love Songs
(Sleazegrinder)
Former Lanternjack sparkplug Johnny "Flash" Vasher goes solo with Love Songs, expanding his reach beyond mere butt rock and into more sophisticated, mature territory. Oh, hell, no, he doesn't. Love Songs is more of what Vasher always does: glam-inflected, sexually decadent, ultra-catchy hard rock. The production's a bit lower-fi than his previous work, but the libertine charisma of his gritty vocals shines through and the hooks hit home. And at seven songs in 16 minutes, this is as lean and mean as it gets; there's not a wasted note. This may be what rock & roll is all about, baby. Michael Toland [buy it]

XASTHUR/LEVIATHAN
Xasthur/Leviathan
(Battle Kommand)
Part-time partners in U.S. black metal summit Twilight, Xasthur and Leviathan use black metal as a conduit through which to broadcast internal pain of a most excruciating sort. Both one-man acts incorporate melody and subtlety without lessening the vein-popping mania or trapped-in-the-basement claustrophobia one whit. The vocals are so inchoately despairing and deep in the mix they're just another texture; it's the unbridled force with which the libretto is delivered that's important, not the words themselves. Xasthur's mournful but brutal "The Eerie Bliss and Torture (of solitude)" and Leviathan's majestic but ravaged "Unfailing Fall into Naught" bespeak long nights alone with nothing but ProTools, a personality disorder and a loaded shotgun. There's real art going on under the mid-fi production and self-inflicted wounds if you cock your ear to it. But there's no attempt at any kind of popular accessibility —this is hate music so terrifyingly pure it would make the guys in Cradle of Filth piss their bondage gear. Xasthur/Leviathan is so nakedly, unselfconsciously misanthropic, yet so perversely appealing, it's either the next evolution of nihilistic self-expression or a sign of the complete breakdown of civilization. Horrific, frightening genius. Michael Toland