Dead Child: Attack and The Sword: Gods of the Earth feature review (Orlando Weekly)

DEAD CHILD
Attack
(Quarter Stick)

THE SWORD
Gods of the Earth
(Kemado)

The Killing Joke
Prime new metal finds the cool kids getting serious

Hipster metal didn’t start with Isis, or Earth, or even Neurosis. It all started with Andrew W.K.

In 2002, “Party Hard” became the hard rock anthem of the summer. The Michigan native’s performance-artist-as-lunkhead routine had been developed through a series of underground releases (on the same label as Wolf Eyes), which appealed to a certain irony-desirous segment of music fans. But the sheer simplicity and life-affirming rock he delivered fit all too easily into the listening habits of … let’s say … less discerning folk. Andrew W.K.’s bloody explosion into the mainstream consisted of two primary statements: 1) Party hard. 2) It’s perfectly OK to party hard. The former was taken to heart by the ball cap–wearing masses, while the latter served as a reminder to crowds of indie-rockers that perhaps there was more to music than chin-stroking and 7-inch collecting.

February 2004: Dave Grohl finally delivers the Probot project. Thick with credibility among the cognoscenti and flush with cash from global stadium tours, Grohl has long been in an unusual position: The cool kids treat Foo Fighters records as guilty pleasures, but fully understand that Grohl has impeccable musical taste. When the drummer not only acknowledged his love of classic metal, but indulged it by recording a straight homage to the genre with guests like Lemmy, King Diamond and Cronos (and released it on acclaimed metal label Southern Lord), thousands of music fans were suddenly reminded how much they used to love the sound of True Metal.

Sure, there have been bands toiling in metal’s alternate universes of sludge, doom, drone and crust since before Probot and Andrew W.K. But those acts and others excelled at creating complex, challenging and experimental revisions on the metal template. What “Party Hard” and Probot did was bring unabashed horn-raising, head-banging, rocking metal back into vogue. Twin guitars, rhythmic, blast-beat-free drumming, soaring vocals, lyrics about swords and sin – and, most important, melody. With the ground now softened by those unlikely metal pioneers, a handful of bands have emerged who unashamedly traffic in classic metal stylings, only to be greeted rapturously by hipster audiences who have been perplexed (or ashamed) of what metal’s become in the last 20 years.

The audience ratio of indie-rockers to metalheads is way out of whack when Louisville, Ky.–based Dead Child plays. Dead Child was founded by David Pajo, who not only was in Slint, but also Tortoise, a band whose music rocked so little they had to call it post-rock. Dead Child – repeat, Dead Child – also features former members of non-rockers the For Carnation and the Shipping News. It shouldn’t be surprising that there are hipster-friendly, ironic markers all over the band; the catalog number for their debut album, Attack, is 666; the band’s debut EP was called Headbanging Kill Your Mama Music; and, again … Dead Child!

But if this is all a winking joke, then the members of Dead Child should keep right on laughing. Attack is a brutal and well-crafted exposition of classic metal’s thrashier tendencies. Sounding as though it should have been recorded in some Bay Area studio circa 1988-1992, Dead Child owes more of a debt to Testament than to their stated influences of Sabbath and Maiden. Punishing numbers like “Twitch of the Death Nerve” and “Chariot” (chorus: “Swing low!”) are thoroughly and unapologetically rooted in metal’s golden age. It’s a shame that the hesher metalheads who are turned on by similar-sounding contemporary acts like Warbringer would be unlikely to give Dead Child a fair shot; Warbringer is on a “real” metal label, while Dead Child shares a home with the Mekons and Rachel’s.

Sometimes, though, being surrounded by “real” metal bands goes a long way to remind fans of the genre what’s been missing. When the Sword played their first South by Southwest showcase in 2005, it was on a bill with Alabama Thunderpussy, Pig Destroyer and Zombi. This Austin group’s set, however, set jaws dropping throughout the venue. The Sword breezily evoked all of what was great about classic metal – riffs, melody, fantasy – and, though dressed in the standard-issue thrift-store uniform worn by hipsters everywhere, they did it without a hint of smirk.

Soon after the showcase, they hit the road with Octopus Project and … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, and they essentially stayed on tour for three years. The Sword’s road-dogging relented long enough for them to pay rent and record a couple of albums, 2006’s highly regarded Age of Winters and the recently released Gods of the Earth.

Opening with that most metal of introductions – the sturdily plucked acoustic guitar blooming into a technicolor, riff-pummeling instrumental – Gods clearly states its fealty to True Metal tradition. Though no track here provides the same groove-based crunch that made Winter’s “Freya” a staple of Guitar Hero II, a harsher, more direct assault is made. The first single, awesomely titled “Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians,” is all breakneck, syncopated riffing decorated with frenzied ascending scales. The guitars and vocals are more crisply recorded, stripping away much of the warm, stoner-friendly glow of their previous work in favor of a brisk and menacing vibe. Even the requisite epic number (“The White Sea”) that closes the album feels less like a modular, Metallica-style journey than it does a sort of winding down after 40 minutes of bruising metallurgy.

Buy Attack at Amazon.com.

Buy Gods of the Earth at Amazon.com.

Zoroaster, Minsk, Mountain ov Dawn, Dark Castle, Six Dead Horses show preview (Orlando Weekly)

The presence of Atlanta sludge fiends Zoroaster and the similarly punishing Chicago-based Minsk on this bill is noteworthy for local underground metal fans, and those fans would be well-advised to arrive early enough to catch the three native bands that round out the lineup. Mountain Ov Dawn hails from Winter Haven and features former Dove member Jon Turner; they revel in aggressive, psychedelic heaviness, while Dark Castle dishes out a doom-and-gloomy vibe. But it’s the graphically named Six Dead Horses that should be paid close attention. Formed from the ashes of the dearly departed Railsplitter – an Orlando band so heavy and ballsy they named their CD Sunday Morning at the Church of the Head Splitting Riff – Six Dead Horses delivers an attack that’s even crunchier and faster than the acts topping the bill.

First appeared March 27, 2008 in Orlando Weekly.

Girls Rock movie review (Orlando Weekly)

“The best thing about Rock Camp is seeing all those lady rockers,” says nascent death-metal belter Laura. The outgoing and outspoken teenager may be stating the obvious about the Portland, Ore.–based Rock ’n’ Roll Camp for Girls that’s documented in Girls Rock!, but the amazed enthusiasm that’s in her voice tells the real story. As one of the four clever, strong-willed girls featured in Girls Rock!, Laura is pleasantly surprised that there are so many other girls who want to rock like she does. But she’s also incredibly inspired by the comfortable, no-boys vibe of the camp, as well as the presence of luminaries such as Beth Ditto (the Gossip) and Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney). Girls Rock! does an exceptional job of emphasizing this comfort level; all of the girls – once they get over their initial environmental shock – quickly learn how to creatively thrive. Gender politics are laid on rather heavily, but the camp’s fun atmosphere makes the film far from didactic.

First appeared in the March 26, 2008 issue of Orlando Weekly as part of Florida Film Festival coverage.

Wesley Willis’s Joyrides movie review (Orlando Weekly)

This is the second documentary made about now-legendary outsider artist/musician Wesley Willis. As Willis was the creator of more than 50 albums of rock poetry, it was understandable that the first documentary – 2003’s The Daddy of Rock ’n’ Roll – focused more on his music. Joy Rides, though, provides a more holistic portrait of Willis via interviews with collaborators, friends, family members and Willis himself. It’s not well-known that Willis initially gained notoriety in Chicago from his sidewalk omnipresence selling pen-and-ink drawings of the city’s skyline. Directors Chris Bagley and Kim Shively go deep into this phase of Willis’ life, and among the illuminating facts they put forth is that Willis was serious about studying to be an architect. The music came later, and Bagley and Shively put it into its correct context, treating Willis’ story with a sense of dignity and gentle humor.

First appeared March 27, 2008 in Orlando Weekly as part of Florida Film Festival coverage.

I Think We’re Alone Now movie review (Orlando Weekly)

(four stars out of five)

A movie about a couple of stalkers – stalkers of Tiffany, no less – should qualify as the sort of ironic train wreck at which postmodern hipsters love to gawk. And, for the first five minutes or so, I Think We’re Alone is just that. We meet Jeff “We Kissed Each Other … No Tongue” Turner, who’s exactly the sort of middle-aged, soft-around-the-middle dude you would expect to translate a couple of backstage meetings and a peck on the cheek into evidence that Tiffany does, indeed, intend to be his bride. We’re also introduced to Kelly “I Love Her Down to Her Bone Marrow” McCormick, who’s as delusional about her athleticism as she is about her future status as Tiffany’s lover. Turner has Asperger syndrome and has spent $20 grand on “radionic psychotronic” devices to allow him to telepathically communicate with Tiffany. McCormick’s hermaphroditic status and titanic struggles with depression are deeply disturbing. Writer/director Sean Donnelly’s take on the two is far from sympathetic, but it’s equally far from cute.

First appeared March 27, 2008 in Orlando Weekly as part of Florida Film Festival coverage.

Rainbow Around the Sun movie review (Orlando Weekly)

(three stars out of five)

It seems unfair to ding a movie musical for having an overabundance of songs, but Rainbow Around the Sun makes Bollywood movies seem reserved in their use of tune-based exposition. More like a conceptually linked series of low-budget music videos than a feature, Rainbow Around the Sun does exude an infectious vibrance and witty self-awareness that makes its shortcomings worth overlooking. Dialogue is minimal to the point of being nonexistent, but given that protagonist Zachary (played by writer/director/songwriter Matthew Alvin Brown) can only communicate to the world via his music, that’s altogether appropriate. The numbers are middling indie pop, and like many indie musicians, Zachary is convinced that his problems (generally of the girl/band/drinking sort) are unique. Similarly, director Brown seems very taken with his post-something take on the musical, as nearly every scene feels like a knowing wink. With less winking and more character and plot development, Rainbow would be a lot more satisfying.

First appeared March 27, 2008 in Orlando Weekly as part of Florida Film Festival coverage.

Lovely By Surprise movie review (Orlando Weekly)

(three stars out of five)

Writer/director Kirt Gunn goes out of his way to pepper this quirky comedy with surreal moments, and by and large he succeeds. It’s debatable, however, whether his success is all that meaningful. Carrie Preston plays Marian, an author who’s crafting a book in which one of her characters becomes aware that he’s a character in a book. Marian loves her characters; her editor suggests she kill them for the sake of the story. Yes, you’ve seen that movie before. Gunn certainly indulges the Stranger Than Fiction angle with some supremely odd mini-stories (which were more fully explored in the web series The Neverything which initially accompanied Lovely). But there’s also the dismal tale of hesitant car salesman Bob, a widower obsessed with unanswerable philosophical discussions that leave his boss unimpressed and his young daughter alienated. Worlds, predictably, collide. Gunn does an insufficient job of illuminating the “real” characters, making them unsympathetic and inscrutable, which is ironic considering how compassionate Marian is with her characters.

First appeared March 27, 2008 in Orlando Weekly as part of Florida Film Festival coverage.

Excellent Cadavers DVD review (Detroit Metrotimes)

Earlier this year, a tiny convenience store opened in Palermo, Italy. This wouldn’t be noteworthy under nearly any circumstance if not for the fact Punto Pizzofree is openly proclaiming that it neither intends to pay protection cash to the Mafia, nor sell goods from vendors who pay for protection. And that fact should serve as a quick reminder that the Sicilian mob is alive, well and still willing to terrorize people. The makers of Excellent Cadavers go to great efforts to differentiate this doc from the glamorized reality of Goodfellas or the comical fiction The Sopranos by making explicit the bloody methods and political connections the Mafia has utilized throughout the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Based on the research-heavy work of author Alexander Stille, Cadavers homes in on the difficult work done by two prosecutors who attempted at great cost to chip away at the mob’s influence on the Italian political landscape. By telling the story through their work, the film becomes a well-reported insight into a violent reality that’s vastly misunderstood. In a world where A&E and the History Channel seem to devote half their programming hours to superficial “true stories of the Mob,” a movie like Excellent Cadavers is dense and richly rewarding.

First appeared March 26, 2008 in Detroit Metrotimes.