Mix CD #48 - Welcome To The Real World

Good evening!
Here's the latest installment of Sapphire Bullets for your enjoyment, should you choose to enjoy it. There's no theme this Month, as usual, just a collection of songs I've been loving lately.
As does seem to be the growing trend with these blogs though, there are artists from a wide range of countries as far apart as Indonesia, Ukraine, Switzerland and beyond. Well, not beyond but you know what I mean. Other places and that.

This blog has taken me a while to get out due to busy real world stuff. I've been on nights during Fresher's Week so it's that's included an alarming amount of vomit (not mine), pissed up aggravations, ambulances and, at one point, the hefting of an unconscious girl. Then more vomit.
Given that I do most of my blogging on company time, it's meant I've had to do actual real work and haven't been able to abuse worktime privileges much. Hopefully, that will change and I'll get the next blog out in good time.

Cheers for reading (and listening if you listen)
Luke
x

The Riders - Welcome To The Real World
Robot Zombie Army - Taste The Rainbow
Isabelle Stillman - That Salinger Novel
Toxic Melons - Not In Love
The Short Fuses - The Pink
Destrage - About That
Amygdala - It Takes A Village
The Brought Low - This Ain't No Game
Clatter - Come Back
Cats In Boots - Shotgun Sally 
G.L.O.S.S. - We Live
Tarja - Railroads
Black Moth - Moonbow
Lamebrain - Repulse
Incendiary - The Product Is You
Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones - Ghost
MC Lars & Mega Ran - Bartleby, The Scrivener
Skypilot - Superdupernaut
Necking  - Boss
Carrying Goodness - I Don't Know You
Frozen Crows - Aeon

You can download the song HERE if you want. No pressure.



The Riders - Welcome To The Real World
Taken from the 2019 album Reality Resistance

This Ukrainian four piece Rock band released their debut album right at the beginning of the year but, unfortunately, split up shortly before its release. It's a shame because it's an enjoyable blend of Stoner Rock and Alternative Metal. Welcome To The Real World is the opening track to that album as well as this mix and it's a good introduction to the band with a lively verse, a hefty chorus and a great vocal performance from frontman, Denys. RIP chaps.

Robot Zombie Army - Taste The Rainbow
Taken from the 2019 album The Damage

Robot Zombie Army is a one man project from Pennsylvania that I think I stumbled across on youtube as he has a few cover videos on there. Ben Robson sings, plays and programs everything and The Damage is his first full album, though he has a few other bits and pieces available on his Bandcamp. Taste The Rainbow is one of the more melodic, less Thrashy songs on The Damage but it's still very riff heavy. I can hear a lot of Devin Townsend both in the vocal melodies and the Djenty, Prog Metal riffs. I love the way he ramps up the vocals in around the third verse or so in particular, but the whole song is ace. The album too.

Isabelle Stillman - That Salinger Novel
Taken from the 2019 album Middle Sister

Despite the title, this song isn't about Catcher In The Rye as such (a specific Salinger novel isn't actually mentioned) but whichever book it is is more of a MacGuffin in a song about a breakdown of a relationship, possibly a long distance one, and recalling the time she lent them the JD Salinger book to talk about while they were apart. It's a gorgeous, mournful song with some effective subtle cello. Isabelle sings it beautifully with hints of both resolve and sorrow in her voice. I especially love the chorus line of: "It's a joke to think love's something you can kick"

Toxic Melons - Not In Love
Taken from the 2014 album Bus Therapy

Another one person band project thing, this time it's an Indie Rock/Power Pop thing from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. I first of them through my wife as I think she knows Pablo Melons in passing. 
Not In Love is about single people plodding along through their lives, getting ignored in day to day things by loved up couples. It's a bouncy, chirpy song considering and there's the obvious Power Pop influences such as Jellyfish but also a bit of Ben Folds' plinky plonky, modern Pop and maybe some of Harry Nilsson's more playful side in there too.  

The Short Fuses - The Pink
Taken from the 2019 album Dawn Of The Deaf

Until the release of Dawn Of The Deaf I'd not heard of this Garage Rock band from Minnesota but they've apparently been around since the late '90s. I should check out their earlier albums too because this one really impressed me. The Pink has just been released as a single I think and it's one of the tracks that stood out to me too. It's a little longer than most of the other songs but the extra room to breathe isn't wasted. Full of AC/DC-esque guitars, Georgia Peach's sneering vocals and a massive chorus to boot. I like this song a lot.

Destrage - About That
Taken from the 2019 album The Chosen One

I've seen this Italian band described as Progressive Metal, Thrash Metal and Metalcore but none are really accurate. I guess there's definitely elements of all three in their sound though While they aren't the craziest band in town, they have a slightly wild sense of unpredictability but never let their sense of melody and the importance of a good chorus get away from them. 
The Chosen One is their fifth album and they've certainly found their stride by now. It's a little more restrained than previous albums but the songwriting has been tightened up and it's a very solid album. 

Amygdala - It Takes A Village
Taken from the 2019 album Our Voices Will Soar Forever

Amygdala are a ferocious Sociopolitical Hardcore band from San Antonio in Texas and Our Voices Will Soar Forever is their second album. Across that album, they vary the pace occasionally but never let up on the intensity, vocalist Bianca screams with such fury and rage that I'd be a bit concerned about her rupturing something. 
It Takes A Village is a short, sharp burst of anger, I think it's about the lack of support, understanding, and care women receive in modern society and how, ultimately, that's not just hurting them but also society too.

The Brought Low - This Ain't No Game
Taken from the 2006 album Right On Time

With three albums in twenty years, The Brought Low aren't the most prolific of bands, but what they lack in quantity blah blah. All the blurb I find online about this trio from NYC seems to bill them as Hard Rock but they sound more like Southern Rock or Country Rock to me. I stumbled across them whilst on the hunt for Stoner Rock because this album was released on Small Stone Records, a renowned Stoner label. Comments on forums about  Right On Time all seemed to be of the "Dude! This shit is sick!" variety. I gave that shit a listen and it is indeed, er, sick.

Clatter - Come Back
Taken from the 2019 album Pull Back For Sound

Originally from Missouri in the US but currently in the process of relocating to Stockholm in Sweden, this duo have released several albums of Industrial-tinged Prog Rock. They're somewhat erroneously named as they don't clatter so much as groove and flow. 
Pull Back For Sound is a concept album about the breaking down of a relationship and Come Back is probably the stand out track open there for me. More laid back than some of the other tracks, it's an atmospheric, bass-heavy song with a verse that's just as memorable as the chorus. About halfway through though, it suddenly bursts into a funky breakdown that boasts some surprisingly enjoyable cowbell.

Cats In Boots - Shotgun Sally
Taken from the 1989 album Kicked n' Klawed

This one is a blast from the past. I saw the video on, I think, Raw Power* and really liked the song but I never managed to track the album down. Over time I forgot, first the name of the band and eventually the song altogether, Scooby Doo forward 30 years and I was reading an article called something like Hair Band You Probably Forgot and, lo and behold, Cats In Boots were one of them!

Shot Gun Sally is very much of its time and sounds quite a lot like vintage Mötley Crüe. It's built around a great, sleazy riff and Joe Ellis rasps his way through a tale of falling for a beautiful woman who quite likes shooting people. 
It's a dead catchy song and, while it's dated massively, I don't think it's lost any of its charm.

*back in the late '80s/early '90s, the only way to see Rock/Metal music videos in the UK was to try and stay up until 3am on a Friday night to see this hour-long programme. I usually fell asleep at around 2.30am

G.L.O.S.S. - We Live
Taken from the 2016 mini-album Trans Day Of Revenge

G.L.O.S.S are an intriguing Hardcore band from Olympia, Washington that sadly split in 2016 after releasing one demo and this mini-album (both of which are available on their Bandcamp). What stood them apart from a lot of their contemporaries was that some, if not all of their members were transgender. Accordingly, their songs displayed fury and frustration about having to live in a society that judges and vilifies them. 
Unfortunately, their amicable decision to split was apparently based on the stress of touring but also the fact that their transgenderism was becoming too much of a focal point and apparently started causing unnamed but likely guessable issues for them and their fans.

While I understand that decision but I also think it's a shame, not just because they were a great band but, if you watch some of their LIVE performances, they were clearly very important to their fans and I think they had the potential to provided a voice to a far greater audience.

Tarja - Railroads
Taken from the 2019 album In The Raw

Despite the fact she's released more solo albums than she ever recorded with the band, Tarja Turunen is probably always going to be known as the former Nightwish vocalist. To be honest, however messy the split was, leaving Nightwish was probably the right decision. Free from the constraints of the fantasy-themed Symphonic Metal of that band, she's been able to refine and evolve her own individual style. She's also expanding her vocals and not singing exclusively in an operatic manner. 
Railroads combines subtly crunching guitars with emotive and classy strings. Tarja's vocals are instantly recognisable and impressive. The pre-chorus is fantastic, Tarja singing a to and fro melody in a more restrained voice while strings ape the tune underneath. It's an elegant, haunting song about rebellion and believing in yourself.

Black Moth - Moonbow
Taken from the 2018 album Anatomical Venus

At some point on my recent trawl for exciting new Stoner bands, I came across Black Moth, female-fronted band from Leeds, UK, which isn't too far from where I am. I gave their three albums a listen and they're all pretty decent. Obviously, the band have now just announced their farewell gig which is about fucking typical.
Moonbow is one of the singles from their final album and it's the right amount of melody and groove with a faint whiff of 70's Psychedelia about it. It's a really good song and one that I insist you like too.

Lamebrain - Repulse
Taken from the 2019 album For C. Marlowe

This young Rock band hail from Bandung in Indonesia, not a country I'd normally associate with alternative music I have to say. That's not to take anything away from Lamebrain because their debut album is really good. They play a brand of Alternative Rock that takes influence as much from Led Zeppelin as it does Nirvana. Repulse employs the quiet/loud technique of the former and marries it together with the flamboyant riffs of the former. LIke Black Moth before, there are touches of Psychedelia but they don't really descend into trippy wigouts and lengthy instrumental sections.

Incendiary - The Product Is You
Taken from the 2017 album Thousand Mile Stare

Have you ever seen What's In My Bag? Where celebrities and musicians wander around Amoeba Records and pick out a selection of books, movies and albums then talk about them I sometimes spend hours (when I should be writing up this blog) watching it, it's fascinating and addictive. It's usually easy to tell the people who pick the things that they think will make them look super cool and intellectual and those who just have a genuine love for the music and stuff they're talking about. It's also a good insight into their personalities too, my personal favourite episodes are: Gary Numan, Ethan Hawke, and Sebastian Bach, both for their stories and their obvious love of music. 


Why am I rambling so wildly off-topic you wonder? Well, on one episode of WIYB? somebody, possibly the dude from nailed, enthused about this album, I liked the tiny clip I heard and what he said about them and checked it out. Turns out it's fucking brilliant. Incendiary are a five-piece Hardcore band from NYC, which should give you a reasonable idea of what they sound like. The riffs are crushing, the vocals are raging and barked and the pace is breakneck. The production is flawless, everything is clear and audible but full and hard-hitting, there's no muddiness or tinniness to it. I can't recommend this band or album enough,


Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones - Ghost
Taken from the 2018 album Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones

There's a fairly drastic change of pace after Incendiary, with some sedate Blues Rock from Hannah and her bandmates. Ghost is a haunting (thank you) track about trying to move on after the breakdown of a relationship but little things being around the house that remind you of them. 
There seems to be a slowly growing group of talented female guitarists in Blues over the last few years. As well as Hannah there's folk like Samantha Fish, Ana Popović etc. I guess fat old men maybe have more to be blue about in general but, other than that, I think it's a good thing. 

MC Lars & Mega Ran - Bartleby, The Scrivener
Taken from the 2019 album The Dewey Decibel System

MC Lars might not be the most skilled of rappers but he's always a lot of fun, raps about things relevant to my interests and has an absolute ton of excellent tunes.  This collaboration with fellow Nerdcore MC, Mega Ran is no exception. One of the standout tracks is Bartleby, The Scrivener. It's a modern retelling of the short story by Herman 'Moby Dick' Melville about a man hired to transcribe some documents. He starts out well but increasingly does less and less things stating "I would prefer not to" when asked. 
The Bartleby in this song is a systems engineer and, where the original Bartleby seemed to exhibit symptoms of PTSD or Depression, the modern version feels more like he has Asbergers to me.
There are a few guest appearances on this song, the chorus is sung by Jaret Reddick (Bowling For Soup) and Kelly Ogden (The Dollyrots) and the music is supplied by Stacked Like Pancakes who I was not familiar with. I could Google but I'd prefer not to. 

Skypilot - Superdupernaut
Taken from the 2019 album The Affront

This Northern Irish trio have been pounding out their groove-driven Stoner Rock for almost 20 years now and yet The Affront is only their second album. There's been a scattering of EPs in there too I guess and quality/quantity and all that, The enjoyably titled Superdupernaut is a highlight of that album, based around a big rolling, repetitive riff, it steamrollers onwards and causes much headwobbling. It's best appreciated at wince-inducing volumes.

Necking  - Boss
Taken from the album

Cut Your Teeth is the debut album by this exuberant Post Punk quartet from Canada. It's a lively and concise album that's just over 22 minutes long. I don't if that technically makes it a mini-album or EP? Anyway, whatever it is, it's jolly good. 
Boss is about sleeping with your boss to get ahead and removing the stigma attached to that. It's one of the more restrained songs on cut your teeth. Hannah's voice sometimes reminds me of Poly Styrene occasionally and some of the melodies have a feel of Devo about them. I dunno if either thing is intentional or a compliment but there we go. I love how prominent the bass is in their songs and Boss is no exception. Towards the end of the song, there's a cool little high note bass line thing that I really like, listen out for it,

Carrying Goodness - I Don't Know You
Taken from the 2019 album For A Rainy Day

Carrying Goodness are a Pop Punk/Alternative Rock band from Moscow and For A Rainy Day is their debut album. It's one that I stumbled across on the Jamendo website and I'm glad I did as it's a solid album full of strong, memorable songs. Alex's voice is slightly peculiar, it's quite nasal and his Russian accent is quite prominent, so it gives them quite a unique sound. I Don't Know You is one of the faster, Punkier songs on the album but still catchy and singalong.

Frozen Crows - Aeon
Taken from the 2019 album How The Crow Stole The Sun

When I first listened to this album, I judged it solely on the bleak, monochrome album cover and was expecting some mopey Joy Division/Nick Cave influenced Goth Rock but it's actually some pretty decent Groove Metal with some Stoner, Progressive and Metalcore influences. Aeon is a great example of what this Swiss group are about. Starting off with some slightly Djenty riffing, it's soon barrelling along with Séb half singing, half screaming over a growing collection of awesome riffs. I love this song and the band (and the album)  in general were a pleasant surprise.