More than a bit later than I had originally intended, but it’s here all the same; my usual roundup of monthly tracks for October. Aren’t you excited??

…that’s okay, I probably wouldn’t be all that excited either. In any case, let’s get on with it; and as usual, please feel free to suggest anything I may have missed.

Crystal Castles and Robert Smith – Not in Love

This is one where I am yet to hear anybody express a disliking for; it feels like Smith’s vocals couldn’t possibly be more well placed throughout the shuffling verse, but when that bright, overpowering chorus hits, it somehow sounds even better. While their second LP from earlier this year definitely proved the duo to be more than the flash in the pan act their debut made them seem to be, this ridiculously captivating collaboration has proven them to be quite a growing force in the indie electronica field.

Kno – La Petite Mort (Come Die with Me)

On Kno’s solo debut, he masterfully combines a storyteller-like flow reminiscent of Atmosphere’s Slug with the emotional, heartfelt subject matter of Kid Cudi – except he succeeds far better than Cudi ever did, with this track being a prime example. Over a dark yet seductive beat, Kno examines death (in one of the many shades taken throughout his consistently impressive album, Death Is Silent) without once coming across as self-pitying or shortsighted, always offering insight and always explaining why he feels what he feels, and is thinking what he’s thinking. With a flow, beat, and lyrics this good, it’s a wonder why he hasn’t taken off.

Be My Enemy – Disintegration

Another solo debut, this time from Phil Barry (half of the mighty industrial unit Cubanate from the late 90s), caught my ear in October, and it’s a fuckin’ scorcher. It may not be anything particularly new, but This Is the New Wave (and Disintegration especially) is a stomping, furious affair that is going to be every good industrial DJ’s secret weapon for some time.

Digitalism – Stratosphere

While the electro duo’s long awaited new single Blitz has been met with mixed reactions (and I personally found it painfully average), its parent EP of the same name is also home to the delightful Stratosphere. Gentle, hazy, and toying with its layers just enough to keep its simple elements interesting all throughout its length, this is a fun and downright euphoric house-y jam that’s got my faith in the group still going strong.

Agalloch – The Watcher’s Monolith

“Epic” is a term thrown around far too liberally these days, but it’s always been closely associated to this progressive black/folk/post/whatever-you-want-to-call-it metal group, and appropriately so. Not only is this typically long (clocking in at an anything but lean twelve minutes), but offers such depth that each listening gives a new perspective, and a song of this length that is able to ceaselessly grow on you deserves quite a lot of credit. An excellent set-up that threatens to meander but never does, a blasting, raging midsection, and a beautiful, piano led conclusion. Great stuff.

Sufjan Stevens – I Want to Be Well

It’s a wonderful thing when an artist capably moves on past their trademark sound, but it’s even better when they create a bridge of sorts and blend their previous element with the new – and that’s exactly what Sufjan Stevens (someone else who is no stranger to the “Epic” tag) does on I Want to Be Well. The woodwinds battling against the subdued, almost danceable glitches on this track could be one of the best musical moments of the year for me, it’s just so cleverly implemented that it becomes one of those songs where you’re baffled by the idea of someone not liking it. For anybody underwhelmed with the All Delighted People EP, this glorious standout off of The Age of Adz should be a breath of fresh air.

Trophy Scars – Sad Stanley

Post-Hardcore has become a very large blanket term for bands embracing hardcore’s energy, but Trophy Scars just might embody the very term with their new EP. Dropping the punk tendencies in favor of bluesy jams, jazzy playing styles, and progressive song structures, but maintaining that aggression has made their latest release an endlessly fascinating one. Sad Stanley finds them taking on blues quite strongly, but without sounding like anything but a hardcore band with more ideas than any one group could possibly have. It’s the perfect representative of Darkness, Oh Hell.

Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

Speaking of bursting at the seams with ideas, Skrillex’s latest release offers an ungodly meld of beautiful melodies and a downright filthy wobble,  registering somewhere in between dubstep and house. Considering that this is barely even a mid-tempo track, the sheer energy it gives off is insane, boasting relentless glitches and some the deepest, dirtiest synths around.

Ulcerate – Dead Oceans

Any death metal fan who is unfamiliar with these guys needs to be formally acquainted ASAP, and Dead Oceans is a great example of why. Off of their highly anticipated new album to be released in early 2011, Oceans is both blistering and groovy, with some of the best and most intricate drumming you’re going to hear in this genre (which is admittedly is a claim and a half, but still). Rousing beyond belief all throughout its seven minutes, and a bit more straight-forward than their previous album, it’s got me looking forward to what’s coming next.

Deadmau5 – Sofi Needs a Ladder

The house community is teeming with anticipation over Deadmau5′s upcoming compilation 4×4=12, and its first official single has only heightened the sentiment. While there is a bit of a difference in opinion over Sofia Toufa’s rather in-your-face vocal performance (with many fans preferring the original instrumental, You Need a Ladder), there’s no argument that the beat is spectacular. Starting out with pounding psychedelia that gives way to Joel Zimmerman’s trademark thick, dirty sounding bass, Ladder is a damned exciting track, one that frankly makes me feel as though I could use a ladder myself.

Holy shit. Is it just me, or was September bursting at the seams with good music?  From predictably great stuff to overwhelmingly pleasant surprises, it really felt like this month had it all. For the first time, ten felt like too small a number; there was just too damn much great stuff that I wanted to include here. But you know, I am a professional guy-who-sits-at-his-computer-and-rants-about-music, and as such, I finally whittled this week’s list down to the article’s namesake. So let’s get on with it, shall we?

Bad Religion – The Day That the Earth Stalled

Looking kinda old, but they sure as shit don't sound it

It’s so nice to hear an almost thirty-year-old band kick this much ass. Stalled kicks off the band’s latest with a fucking kick and a half, with Greg Gaffin sounding as youthful and energetic as he ever has (arguably even more than their somewhat sluggish late 90s period). This thing is incredibly aggressive and catchy as hell, armed with great vocal patterns and killer riffs that make the minute and a half fly by waayy too quickly.

Weezer – Ruling Me

Taking time out to not look obnoxious for once

For all the Weezer fans who kept the faith throughout this past decade, who ignored how shitty Make Believe was (Perfect Situation withstanding), who gave credit to the band for experimenting with the Red album, who resisted irritation with the persona taken on Raditude (like “hey, white people rapping! That’s funny!”), and who didn’t even throw their arms up in the air and declare “to HELL with it!” when they found out that yes, the new album’s cover is a god damn close-up of some TV actor’s face: this is their reward. While Hurley is (thankfully) nowhere near as reliant on a scant handful of good songs as its predecessors, with as good as this song is, I don’t think even the most cynical Weezer fan would mind. The harmonizing vocals in the chorus are just plain brilliant, and the chugging guitar is somehow reminiscent of both old and new Weezer, without alienating either camp. This is easily the best song they’ve done in a long, long time.

Deerhunter – Desire Lines

Clem!

When your main hook is more than just a little reminiscent of a song as great as Arcade Fire’s Rebellion (Lies), it’s going to be a hell of a struggle to make yours really sound like your own. “No problem,” said Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox and Lockett Pundt, before crafting this ethereal, addicting, and flat out wonderful track. Like the rest of Halcyon Digest, Desire Lines sees a startling accessibility to the band’s take on psychedelia, even with the way the guitars ramble on and on to close things out. Despite being nearly seven minutes in length, this track never feels meandering or boring, and the smooth, relaxed chorus could well end up one of the year’s most memorable.

The Birthday Massacre – Shallow Grave

Everybody loves pretty gothic people

Dropping a bit of the creepy atmospherics this time around, goth rockers The Birthday Massacre display a startling grasp on anthemic choruses on their latest album, Pins and Needles, with Shallow Grave being a shining example. The new wave-sounding synths, loud guitars, and of course the lovely Chibi’s vocals all go together very well, with a fun dance beat and ear worm melodies to boot. They sound the closest they ever have to pop music here, and it works far better than one might have thought.

Enslaved – The Beacon

What is it with black metal and churches

For a while it was looking like Watain’s Lawless Darkness might clinch the best black metal album of the year title, but the ridiculously consistent Enslaved and their latest, Axioma Ethica Odini, have come along and snatched it without breaking a sweat. The band’s excellent musicianship is in top form here, finding them moving so briskly through The Beacon‘s different sections that even the bits that should feel jarring (stomping riffage stopping on a dime to accommodate mid-tempo chanting, for example) come across as completely natural. Anyone who’s looking to get into black metal should definitely check this album out.

Swans – You Fucking People Make Me Sick

We hate everything

For me, Michael Gira reviving Swans out of nowhere rivals Hurley as the best unexpected bonus of the year. Fourteen years after their last album, the band picks up right where they left off, with Gira delivering his special brand of misanthropy in typically forward thinking ways. A song with this sort of title might make you expect a loud, raging sound, but Sick takes a different approach entirely, really getting under your skin with its quiet intensity and creepiness. Devendra Banhart’s guest vocals are unexpectedly effective, but what really clinches it is the second half, with the dirty sounding piano and brass; the discordant notes the ragged instruments hit are unsettling to the point of making your skin crawl.

Interpol – Always Malaise (The Man I Am)

So moody... can't even stand it

I’ll make no apologies for gushing over this song a second time – it really is that good. In fact, I like it even more now than I did when I reviewed the album! Malaise pulls off such a gloomy, dramatic build-up that you can’t help but be in awe of it; Carlos D.’s arrangements are absolutely impeccable, with how the piano and progressing horns lead into that climax, and the drums and guitars kick in just underneath Paul Banks’ murmured lyrics. Incredibly powerful stuff, underlined even more by its abrupt ending.

Blonde Redhead – Oslo

Oh my

Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino has always had a highly seductive vocal, but on Oslo she really takes it to a new level. The XX, Brazilian Girls, Portishead, this song trumps them all just in how loomingly sexual it feels, with her breathy voice over stuttering electronics, lightly shimmering guitars, and varied percussion. This one is going to dirty up many, many minds.

Das Racist – You Can Sell Anything

We'ze fuktup

From the depraved creative minds that brought us Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell comes some more clever, self deprecating, good humored hip-hop. Diplo’s bare-boned production shows once again that all you need for a good beat is a catchy melody, while Himanshu Suri and Victor Vazquez absolutely kill it with their funny and astonishingly intelligent flows. At first glance, particularly with the Pizza Hut song from earlier this year, it’s easy to write these guys off as a novelty act. However, a much deserved closer look would show just how talented they really are.

Grinderman – Palaces of Montezuma

What're you lookin' at??

Only Nick Cave could sing about JFK’s spinal cord and make it sound romantic. Really though, everything about this song just clicks perfectly – from Cave’s always-poetic lyrics to the gorgeous vocal harmonizing, the band hasn’t sounded better than they do here. The added polish to Grinderman’s second album gives moments like this a slight Bad Seeds flavor, but it Montezuma still sounds like the quartet’s own unique brand of garage rock. Endearing, rousing, and assuaging all at once.

Drug use is such a prevalent theme in modern music that I’m surprised it took me this long to get around to blabbing on about it here. In any case, here’s another installment of my weekly blabbings, this time tackling (you guessed it) drugs – from fun times and general glorification to cautionary tales and the gritty details of addiction. As usual, please feel free to make any additional suggestions.

Cypress Hill – I Want to Get High

Let's get mothafuckin' hiiigh

Kicking off the outstanding Black Sunday is this doped up, half-sinister and half-giddy ode to smoking weed. B-Real is by turns energetic and sedated here, backed by a drowsy, hazy beat that hits you like that first cloud of smoke from behind the opened door of a hot-boxed room. Hell, my eyes feel a little red-rimmed just listening to this.

Primal Scream – Loaded

Background straight up trippin'

Another gem from an early 90s masterpiece, Loaded embodies the rave mindset of the time not with its music so much as its attitude. The whole psychedelic-rock-meets-dance-music of Screamadelica was perhaps best expressed by the sample from The Wild Angels: “We wanna be free, to do what we wanna do! And we wanna get loaded.”

Buckcherry – Lit Up

Wait.. you're not my dealer

There are many, many rock bands who do nothing more than make you wonder why they exist – Buckcherry would be one of them if not for the two good songs they ever wrote (seriously – I’ve had the misfortune of hearing a few of their albums from front to back… they’re pretty bad), and as you might guess, I consider this one of those two songs. It’s not difficult to make a coke-addled night sound like fun, but it’s the way they pull it off that makes it special.  While the contrived bunch clearly wish they were Guns N’ Roses, the band really captures that sleazy, boisterous feel almost as well as their hard rock idols, and it’s just so damn catchy.

The Notorious B.I.G. – Warning

STAY.

Yet another 90s classic – Ready to Die gave a lot of insight to the life of a drug dealer, and Christopher Wallace’s stories of these occupational hazards are still as captivating as they were when he first laid them to tape. Here, he goes over the paranoia of a well-off drug dealer, knowing all too well that the next attempted robbery could well be right around the corner, be it rival dealers or strung out customers, all with his trademark rapid-fire flow and that smart Isaac Hayes sampling beat.

Deftones – Beware

Hey look a penny

There are plenty of songs warning of the dangers of dabbling in drugs, but very few are able to sound not only this genuine, but this haunting as well. Chino Moreno delivers a typically passionate vocal performance, and the music is so dark and harrowing that it’s impossible to simply write this off as a cheesy “don’t do drugs, kids” sentiment. This bypasses preaching altogether and screams out experience with a staggering sense of creativity and force; it really is a lesson in how to make an anti-drug statement.

The Dandy Warhols – Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth

We're pretty. PRETTY APATHETIC LULZ

This one comes from the perspective of someone watching an old friend destroy themselves with heroin addiction, which goes oddly well against the bright, poppy, and hook-filled music. Courtney Taylor-Taylor’s smarmy declaration that “heroin is so passé” makes for one of the most unexpectedly catchy choruses of the 90s. As Patrick Bateman should say, it’s a “song so catchy, most people probably don’t listen to the lyrics. But they should!”

Velvet Acid Christ – Fun with Drugs

Blaarrgghhh

This song’s title (as well as the abundant Fear and Loathing samples) may give the impression that it’s embracing drug use, but the menacing whispers of “I see you, I feel you, I know you, I own you” and especially “I know you never wanted this” over that throbbing beat make its intent quite clear. Presenting addiction as a malevolent antagonist alongside the cheery samples shows the dichotomy of drug use very well, and that trademark EBM gloomy danceability certainly doesn’t hurt, either.

Alice in Chains – God Smack

Happy blue skies!

Dirt is one of those albums where it seems like if you look closely, each physical copy can be seen to be dripping leftover cooked heroin. Just about every song here feels dirty, dark, and overpoweringly hopeless, but then there were more philosophical moments like this. Layne Staley cleverly compares following a religion with addiction to heroin, reasoning that “God’s name is smack for some.” If only the band that took this song’s title as their namesake had ever been this interesting…

Spiritualized – I Think I’m in Love

Space: The best place for nodding off

Not many songs that seem to capture the feeling of being on heroin musically as well as lyrically, but I Think I’m in Love does it perfectly. The way the music gradually feels more and more warm and psychedelic as the track progresses is brilliant, as well as Jason Pierce’s murmurings. He starts out describing the beginning of the high, and then goes off describing a plethora of  feelings, all of  which he immediately contradicts, and they range from dry (“Think I’m in love, probably just hungry”) to nearly absurd (“Think I can fly, probably just falling”) to flat-out depressing (“Think I could be your man, probably just thinking”). Eight minutes about drug use as an escape from heartache that fly by every time.

Elliott Smith – Coming Up Roses

Do you mind? I'm trying to do drugs

It’s rather difficult to pick just one song by Elliott Smith, but this one won out simply because of how well he weaves the strong drug slang into his lyrics. He often said that these references were not meant to be taken literally, but whether or not that really was the case, this song paints a very bleak picture of seeking escape in drugs and shunning the resulting judgement of others, only to judge yourself even more harshly. Listening to tracks like Coming Up Roses now after seeing how clearly tortured the man was makes it all the more heartbreaking.

Inspired by one of the songs that appears here (and no, it’s not that god awful Papa Roach song), this week’s list is admittedly rather depressing. But there really is something to be said for songs that not only can pull you into environments where you really don’t want to be, but can convince you to let them as well – especially if you’ve ever experienced any of the material expressed here. As usual, feel free to add anything I may have left out. Now, on with the sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows…

The National – Conversation 16

"The fuck are you looking at?"

Easily the most recent song on the list, Conversation 16 details a man’s disenchantment with the married family life, and how it slowly descends into apathy. Probably the saddest part is where he starts bargaining, with lines like “I’ll try to be more romantic, I want to believe in everything you believe” and their less-than-believable delivery. That haunting, echo-slathered harmonization makes the song feel even more harrowing and hopeless… so much so, in fact, that the “I was afraid I’d eat your brains” sounds startlingly genuine!

Depeche Mode – Precious

With the humans oblivious, the trees made their move

It’s so impressive to see a band this old still churning out great singles like Precious. Dave Gahan’s soothing voice really drives home the sad haplessness of Martin Gore’s typically poetic lyrics, with that catchy and strangely danceable melancholy as only Depeche Mode can do it. The notion of children being caught in the middle of a taxing divorce is nothing new of course, but the take here is just so heartfelt and honest, accepting the blame and acknowledging that no, everything is not going to be alright.

Bad Religion – 21st Century (Digital Boy)

I'd hate to run into these guys in an alle-...oh wait

Now we go from torn, caring parents to the ones who throw gifts at their children rather than attention. A subject that could easily have rendered the song an exercise in empty self-pity, Greg Graffin handles guitarist Brett Gurewitz’s lyrics very well. There’s a real edge to his voice with the delivery, and the chorus is of such a fun, anthemic sing-a-long quality that it avoids any real heavy handedness.

Placebo – Black-Eyed

"...and he thought I was a girl! Can you believe that??"

A bit of a different approach here, Black-Eyed comes across more as a mocking of people who quickly use bad childhoods as an excuse for bad behavior. It’s quite clever too, what with how tragic and urgent the music feels, and it really makes the song all the more indicting. Placebo has always been one of those bands to get flak for receiving more attention from their image than their music, but as Black-Eyed shows, they’ve had more than their fair share of good ideas.

Billy Bragg – Valentine’s Day Is Over

Oh yeah, they look nice now, but...

The sadly forgotten 80s indie figure paints a rather bleak picture of a wonderful courting period culminating in spousal abuse here, with just a bluesy guitar and his passionate vocal. The way Bragg captures the female perspective in this song is unexpectedly insightful, particularly how it moves back and forth from listless musing over the failed relationship to the harsh reality of the situation. Very dark, but with a slight glimmer of hope.

Company Flow – Last Good Sleep

El-P: If you don't like black and white photography, FUCK YOU

Speaking of dark, Last Good Sleep could well be one of the most disturbingly realistic depictions of spousal abuse ever committed to tape. El-P grabs you right away with the chorus, “At night I cover my ears in tears, the man downstairs must’ve drank too many beers,” and along with that incredibly sinister beat, he makes it clear that this story won’t have much of a happy ending. The perspective is from a young boy who witnesses as some truly vicious beatings transpire, simultaneously terrified and guilt-ridden by the fact that he is as helpless as his battered mother.

Eminem – Kim

It was loaded alright... with HILARITY

Even though this is essentially an anger purging fantasy, this is probably the only song of its kind that can stand up to Last Good Sleep in how fucking scary it is. Those sharp, stabbing piano notes are so extreme that the song is unnerving even before Em shouts “Sit down you bitch, you move again and I’ll beat the shit out of you!” Kim is one of the most fearlessly personal I have ever heard, and it gets very uncomfortable listening to him portray himself as this wounded monster who’s snapped into a homicidal rage – which makes it all the more remarkable just how spellbinding it is.

Stabbing Westward – Sleep

The male answer to a pretty girl surrounded by funny looking friends

And now we get into the child abuse. One of the better bands to come out of the post-Nine Inch Nails industrial boom of the mid 90s, Stabbing Westward was never a stranger to darkly intimate subject matter, but it probably peaked with Sleep. Backed by a very tense blend of samples, keyboards, and guitars, vocalist Christopher Hall tells a story of a young girl suffering abuse at the hands of her father, with a level of vagueness that only serves to heighten its upsetting nature.

Korn – Daddy

I needed a laugh... this week's list is really getting depressing!

I couldn’t have been older than eleven or twelve when I heard this for the first time, and it freaked me the fuck out…. to tell you the truth, it still kind of does. It’s not even the brutally graphic depiction of the act that gets me so much as the equally detailed parental apathy, and then when the song falls apart along with Jonathan Davis toward its end, there’s just no not feeling for him.

De La Soul – Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa

Scissors beats eye

Hip hop’s answer to Janie’s Got a Gun, by some of the genre’s earliest (and best) storytellers. There’s a very light foreboding to the song, cleverly splicing the in-the-moment obliviousness and after-the-fact hindsight that often accompanies a child’s sexual abuse. Despite the fact that the song culminates with the daughter snapping and killing the father, with an ending so abrupt that it almost startles, the beat is so gentle that the song never feels as grim as it should, and it works wonderfully.

Well, July has come to an end, and it shouldn’t come as a shock that yet again, a shitload of fantastic music came out. In any case, there’s not a whole lot more I can say about July being over, so without further ado let’s get on with yet another rant about ten different artists… as usual, whatever you think I’ve missed, please feel free to comment below.

M.I.A. – Meds and Feds

AROUSING.

As we all know, M.I.A. is one ballsy broad – calling out less-than-talented songstresses, feuds with reporters, performing shows when she knew full well she was about to pop, controversial music videos, and now releasing what will likely be the most polarizing album of the year. The tastes of dubstep and industrial all throughout the album are great in how cold, robotic, and ultimately challenging they are, but what makes this Sleigh Bells sampling track stand out for me is that it really underlines what this album is about with M.I.A.’s glitched-out “I just give a damn.” The loud and confrontational Maya isn’t out to make people love or hate it so much as to get in the listener’s face and force an opinion out of them, and on those grounds this album has been spectacularly successful.

Brandon Boyd – Runaway Train

This guy will probably be pretty 'til he dies. At 104.

Had it not been Brandon Boyd singing on this track (or really any on his solo debut), it’s highly unlikely that you’d be able to sniff out any trace of Incubus. Along with its predictably creative video, lead single Runaway Train shows Boyd exploring his musical boundaries, but smartly never reaching beyond his grasp. With a maddeningly sing-a-long chorus and a simple melody backed with busy acoustic instrumentation, this is a hard one not to get addicted to.

Cut Copy – Where I’m Going

How many fucking pictures are we going to take...

Still riding high on the monstrous success of their superb 2008 album In Ghosts and Colours, the Australian synth pop trio released this single as a teaser for their follow-up, which is slated for a January ’11 release. And this thing is loaded with hooks, from the verse’s lush harmonization to the psychedelic,  Lennon-esque bridge. And while the “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! WOO!!” of the chorus feels like it should be obnoxious, it’s just done too damn well, and I’m not gonna lie – when it doesn’t appear in the final chorus, there’s always a split second where I’m looking for it. Quite possibly the feel-good anthem of the summer.

Japanese Cartoon – All Sabotage!!! (STSO)

Wutchoo lookin at bitch

With his alternative rock based side project, Japanese Cartoon, Lupe Fiasco mostly succeeds where Lil Wayne failed miserably. One of the few tracks on In the Jaws of the Lords of Death where Lupe’s faux English accent doesn’t get to be a bit much, All Sabotage!!! (STSO) (if the abundance of exclamation points isn’t a hint) is pure energy. An incredibly inspired blend of punk, electronica, and hip-hop, this track proves that these kinds of crossovers are not always bad ideas.

The Books – I Am Who I Am

Get it?? BECAUSE THEY'RE CALLED 'THE BOOKS' LOLZ

Probably the most aggressive thing this duo has ever done, which may not be saying much given their more downtempo early material, but it’s a workout all the same. I Am Who I Am feels strangely faster than its BPM, what with how quickly all the samples fly at you. Some are distorted, some are buried underneath the main synth, but just about all of them feel utterly bizarre and strangely unsettling. Nuttiness.

Mount Kimbie – Blind Night Errand

Don't take the picture while I'm squi-*CLICK*...squinting.

One of the most appealing things about Mount Kimbie’s full-length debut is how it avoids dubstep extremes, particularly how it has a bit too much kick to feel loomingly atmospheric but not enough bass to feel as if it should be played in a club. With how well it’s produced though, and how alluring the simple, warped hooks are (this track being a glaring example), this is hardly a criticism. Blind Night Errand is some very ear catching stuff, particularly in how the beat progresses into an almost R&B sound near its conclusion.

Sun Kil Moon – Sam Wong Hotel

Bummed.

One thing that takes a bit of the momentum from Sun Kil Moon’s latest is Mark Kozelek’s admittedly excellent, but at times over the top classical guitar. The virtuoso stylings don’t always mesh particularly well with the singer-songwriter format, but on tracks like this, he nails the balance perfectly. His playing is gorgeous, his voice is haunting, and the melodies are relentless, even more so throughout the instrumental sections.

Cyanotic – alt machine.edit

We're gonna be serious. Even though my beard looks dumb.

I know I’ve already gushed sufficiently over just how good this band is in my review of their latest, but they really deserved a spot on this week’s list. alt machine.edit is textbook industrial – brilliant electronics and samples, sharp guitars, and a pounding, danceable beat. I know I already stressed this in the review, but I’ll repeat myself anyway: this really is how industrial should be done.

Menomena – Dirty Cartoons

"Ooohhh shit" "Sorry dude" "Haha, NOW what's goin' on back there?"

Though this album leaked quite a while back (a fact the band understandably griped about on their twitter), it seemed appropriate to place on this list. The intense longing in the vocals is enough to reel you in, but the instrumentation merits multiple repeat listens all on its own. Steel drums, buried strings, and that throbbing bass are just a handful of things that are woven through this masterfully layered track. About as lovely as a song this sad can be, Dirty Cartoons is destined to be on many, many depressed playlists this year.

Big Boi – Tangerine

Too. Damn. Stylin'.

One of the few moments on Big Boi’s solo debut that can top the ridiculous ear candy of Shutterbug (if only by a hair) is a song about getting blown that is far more catchy than it should be. Tangerine is so loaded with hooks and fun melodies that it can almost distract from not just how great Big Boi himself is (as are Khujo Goodie and T.I.) but how damned graphic this song is! The colorful slang for ejaculation alone makes it a wonder that this song doesn’t feel sleazy in the least.

In this day and age, there are a great deal of things more rewarding than being a fan of industrial  - like picking your nose, for instance. The last decade (some would argue longer) has seen the genre revert to little more than bad techno with more creativity lent to its obnoxious image than the watered down loops of the music. The exception, however, is when a band like Cyanotic comes along. Their debut, 2005′s Transhuman, was a proverbial breath of fresh air, utilizing basic industrial conventions but giving them a new, interesting take. Their long awaited sophomore effort, The Medication Generation, is every bit as good as its predecessor, not only capitalizing on what made it great but adopting a stronger sense of adventure as well. Ultimately, it offers the best things about industrial metal – pounding beats, crushing guitars, cleverly placed samples, and a seething rage that actually has something to say.

Medication time

While the album’s themes of overstimulation, drug use, and societal ills are hardly revelatory, their presentation feels highly genuine. For example, drugs are never glorified or lectured over so much as discussed (well, as much as a roaring, distorted voice can discuss). The feelings of alienation and frustration are also expressed quite well; in lesser hands the lyrical template “We are the _____ of the _____” would sound extremely hackneyed, but here it’s very easy to get behind. Nothing feels as if handled with a single dimension; even fA510n v1k+um5, which details a clear irritation with the current music scene, does so with a surprising sense of humor – a few measures after frontman Sean Payne sardonically growls “This beat is merciless” is a sample of Chuck D.’s enthusiastic “Bring that beat back!”

What really sells it is how many different styles are at work. While the pummeling blast beat-led Dose Responsive and Sentient (by far the most metallic songs on the album) sound great, there are different approaches taken here as well. Efficacy is a glitch-heavy left field electronica exploration, but with a dark air that keeps it from seeming out of place. The Static Screens (In Syndication) and Brutal Deluxe are driven by aggressive breakbeats that call to mind the finest moments of Pitchshifter and latter day Cubanate, with the latter track being one of the heaviest here, despite being one of the least reliant on guitars. Then there is Monochrome Skies, which is easily the best melancholic industrial metal this side of Ministry’s Scarecrow, with a deliberate build-up, powerful groove, and fantastic layering.

in the ciiiiityyy

Repeated listens show that The Medication Generation was crafted with painstaking detail, even if judging solely by the samples being used. A Scanner Darkly, Videodrome, processed Slayer riffs, Homer Simpson, and God knows what else is meticulously placed in the mix to help Payne convey his point. And there is a point to each and every one used, which is the beauty of it; nothing is done simply for sake of sounding good, everything is an extension of Payne’s social commentary. Programmed and its introductory track The Same brilliantly use a sample from the film Palindromes to introduce the former track’s musing over growing complacence with the idea of helplessness over bettering oneself. The somber Comadose is a bit more straight forward, centering around a listless guitar and Payne’s murmurings of “I wish I felt safe, I wish I knew my place” and culminating in yet another like-minded sample. Not a moment is wasted here, and the result is a highly dense album which makes it clear that the band has been quite busy for the last five years. This isn’t just the year’s best industrial metal, The Medication Generation is a lesson in how to make it.

Last week’s list reminded me just how overly fond I am of music from the 90s, so for this week I wanted to go over favorite tracks from the decade. But the more I went through my music… the more I realized what a fucking joke it would be to try slimming down that many favorites onto a list of ten. So to make it easier, I neglected the more obvious selections and decided to pick more unsung (ha-HA, see what I did there?) tunes that though less people know about, I think everybody should love as much as I do. As always, if you have any suggestions please feel free to add.

The Dismemberment Plan – Memory Machine

The band seconds before a tragic accident

A great example of what a wildly imaginative indie rock band the Dismemberment Plan was, Memory Machine combines clever time signatures with a nearly anthemic, poppy chorus. The beginning is almost awkward, sounding as if it had been meant for the middle of a completely different song, and then it’s followed by a quick barrage of guitars and keyboards before finally settling into the verse. Experimental and weird, but never alienating, and extremely catchy to boot.

Screeching Weasel – Slogans

Yeah, red pants. Got a problem with that?

Whatever pop chord progressions the Ramones, the Buzzcocks, and the Descendents may have missed, Screeching Weasel managed to pick up. It’s a shame the band never saw much popularity; this song’s parent album, My Brain Hurts, predates the mid-90s pop punk explosion by a good three years, was hugely influential to all of the bands involved, and arguably did it the best. Slogans, like the rest of My Brain Hurts, is fast, catchy, and loaded with genuine personality. Plus, I can’t think of any other time that “I don’t really give a shit” has ever sounded so cheerful…

I-F – Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass

"Oohh yeeahh take off that top"

Mumbled robotic vocals, well layered electronics, and a thick, hook-ridden collective of dirty synths make this one a great electro dance number, but really it’s all about that bass. The back end in this song is absolutely towering, and with as much as he throws on top, it never loses control of the song. This is in that rare breed of electronic dance music, where it’s actually good enough to be repetitive for six minutes without getting boring.

The Beatnuts – Watch Out Now

Now there's a good example for the children.

For the life of me, I don’t think I will ever understand how this didn’t become a monstrous hit. Oh wait it did, when Trackmasters and Cory Rooney all but stole the beat in 2002 for Jennifer Lopez’s Jenny from the Block. Ba-dum tsh. That addictive flute loop beat is great enough, but JuJu and Psycho Les are relentless over it; seamlessly switching between English and Spanish (which is not something I’m normally into), goofy shit talking, and a highly melodic chorus. Sooner or later, I’ll be at a party and hear this come on, and I’ll go fuckin’ apeshit.

God Lives Underwater – From Your Mouth

...we're fighting.

Toning down the industrial sound of their first album and incorporating more trip-hop influence resulted in a very hit-or-miss sophomore effort, but this song nearly made up for it all on its own. The unsettling synths and incessant scratching over that heavy beat go together beautifully. From Your Mouth manages to be catchy, intricate, and very chill all at once; if you’ve ever wondered what Depeche Mode might sound like with a bit of a hip-hop flavor to the music, check this out.

The Jesus Lizard – Boilermaker

Do you need assistance? I have three arms.

The opening track on their third album, Liar, Boilermaker‘s intensity gives the listener an idea of what the band’s notoriously chaotic live show might feel like. It wasn’t even just how crazy the music was; the songs were all tightly composed (especially here) and immediately engaging.  Right out of its gate, the guitar and snare are working in furious conjunction, while vocalist David Yow screams over it all like a madman. Best when enjoyed as loudly as possible.

Brainiac – Nothing Ever Changes

"BLOO-PEE-DOOOOOOH" "Shut. Up."

One of the most unique and insanely creative alternative rock bands to ever be so criminally slept on. In the thirteen years since vocalist Tim Taylor’s unfortunate demise, no band of this genre has come close to capturing their imagination, or handling their patented blend of punk, synth pop, and noise rock as well as they did. Brainiac had a spectacular way of taking wonderful melodies and deliberately fucking them up by playing them with odd sounding moog synths, bent guitar notes, and gleefully bizarre vocal treatments. A must-hear, even if only to think “…the hell is this?”

Prong – Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck

Tonight.... YOU

Tailor-made for metal dancefloors (yes, there is such a thing), Snap Your Fingers boasts a crunchy guitar hook that could possibly be the heaviest earworm ever written. It almost feels unnatural for something this crushing to be so immediate, but Tommy Victor and co. made it work. Dark and menacing with just enough pop sensibility, while groups like Pantera and Machine Head may have been given the groove metal tag, this was the real thing.

Fantastic Plastic Machine – Take Me to the Disco (FPM Original Mix)

Like if Mr. Cleaver was a DJ. And Japanese.

I am cheating a bit with this one, unless of course you judge the decade as 1991-2000 instead of 1990-1999. In any case, the trumpets and aggressive piano give this a very swinging start before the keyboards and female vocals come in, along with that trademark thumping beat that house is so.. er… known and loved for. Extremely cheesy, but never going over the top, and frankly it’s so bright and danceable that I doubt I’d care if it did.

The Tea Party – Army Ants

....we're a little confused

Mixing Nine Inch Nails and Led Zeppelin may not sound like the best idea, but on their fourth full-length, Transmission, the Canadian trio managed to pull it off with impressive style. The whole album has a great blend of eastern tinged hard rock with industrial sounding guitars and electronic effects, but they’re easily at their most aggressive on Army Ants. Jeff Martin switches between his much praised/criticized Jim Morrison-esque croon and an angry roar to great effect, with cleverly laced samples and excellent cymbal work propelling the song from behind him. A shame they didn’t stay with this style, it’s tempting to wonder where they could have taken it.

If there is one thing I have learned from my many late, drunken nights in karaoke bars, it is this: no karaoke bar in this country will EVER have a night in which Alanis Morissette’s You Oughtta Know will not be sung (Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats seems to be reaching this status as well, sadly). Now don’t get me wrong, I can certainly see why. While the song irritates me to no end, I have to begrudgingly admit that it is not just a 90s staple, but an admirably enduring breakup anthem. However, every time I hear someone butcher this song, I can’t help but wonder why there aren’t several other angry songs from the female view that are so cherished. Obviously I’m hardly an expert on the matter, but I thought it as good as anything to dedicate this week’s list to. As I’m sure there is much I am leaving out, please feel free to add your own suggestions. And with that, let’s get started.

Tori Amos – The Waitress

Hand bone connected to the keyboard connected to the google connected to the government

If there’s a more gloriously catty line than “I believe in peace, bitch,” I am yet to hear it. The verses detail an unreasonable hatred for a coworker, which I’m sure we’ve all had in some shape or form. Why do I hate this person so much? It’s just some douchebag, they don’t matter… but FUCK, they piss me off! The matter-of-fact “So I want to kill this waitress” starts things out perfectly, and that whip sounding noise in the background certainly doesn’t hurt things either.

Poe – Angry Johnny

mumblemumblemumblescream

This sadly forgotten 90s gem feels like a detailed revenge fantasy gone awry, but delivered with a cleverly sexual guise (the pause after “I want to blow you” and before “away” being a prime example). By the time the bridge hits though, and Anne Danielewski is taunting “where’s your pleasure now, Johnny,” the song starts to feel downright unsettling, and quite a bit more becomes open for interpretation than you might have cared for.

L7 – Shitlist

Oh my god this is so 90s

On a list like this, there’s no way a band with a tampon story this infamous could be neglected. Probably the perfect choice for the moment in Natural Born Killers where it pops up, Shitlist is classic L7; sleazy, pissed off, and able to express all of it with a simple snarl. Still, the best part is when Donita Sparks loses her cool around the minute and a half mark and screams out the second verse, only to slip back into that (somewhat) calm demeanor for the rest of the song.

Elastica – Stutter

They were talking shit about your hair Justine

Taken literally, Stutter is about irritation over a boyfriend’s impotence. With the passion that Justine Frischmann delivers in this incredibly catchy slice of britpop though, it feels like more of a metaphor for a failing relationship. It’s remarkable too, how clearly frustrated she sounds, and yet how bright and poppy she is as she gets her point across. Yet another example of a great band undeservedly damned to one hit wonder status.

Ladytron – Ghosts

A wed wose... how womantic

No, not really angry in the traditional sense, but there’s something to be said for a band that can sound so dreamy and so snarky at the same time. With as pretty and soothing as Helen Marnie’s vocals are, you can still picture her sneering as she sings “clock strikes and I know you will be drinking alone” or the rather harsh conclusion to the chorus, “doesn’t mean I’m sorry.”

PJ Harvey – Rub ’til It Bleeds

Insert generic 'all business' joke here, I guess

I’ve heard this song called “Handjob of Death” more than a few times, and it’s a difficult alternate title to dispute. There is such wonderfully brutal teasing in this song’s lyrics, as she goes from sweetly crooning “Baby, I’m your sweet thing” to viciously shouting “I’m calling you weak.” The music has that sexy, rough-around-the-edges blues sound to it, and when it builds up and explodes at the end, it’s almost as if it’s simulating.. well, you see where I’m going with this.

Snake River Conspiracy – Vulcan

Yeah we did her hair, what of it

Vocalist Tobey Torres is startlingly intimidating on this song. She starts the song with a resounding “FUCK!!”, and her seething roars are only delivered with more authority as the song continues. The way she screams “you fucking faggot” actually puts me into this odd state where I honestly can’t tell if I’m frightened or turned on. It’s not even the commanding vocals really, but the charisma behind them. As she asserts herself all throughout, you’d believe her even if it was just expressed with mere whispers. Plus the music is just so crushing; it’s hard to believe that a key role in the band is held by none other than Third Eye Blind’s Jason Slater.

Tracy Bonham – Mother Mother

I can almost hear the gruffy narration

Delving yet again into 1990s alternative. What really clinches this song for me, even more than those intense choruses that are frankly impossible to not get behind, is how personal yet relatable it is. It really captures lashing out against a strained relationship with a parent almost as well as the disillusionment that can sometimes follow striking out on one’s own.

Nikka Costa – Hope It Felt Good

She looks like a snorter

Nikka Costa’s biggest song is easily Everybody Got Their Something, which isn’t so much a hit as it is one of those songs that most people know but don’t realize it. Why she never achieved widespread fame has always baffled me; her voice is incredible, her lyrical subject matter is diverse, and the neo-soul sound backing her is fantastic. In an alternate universe somewhere, Hope It Felt Good became the smash hit it truly deserved to be. She absolutely rages over a sharp 70s funk beat, singing with a fire reminiscent of Janis Joplin. As far as jilted ex songs go, this isn’t an easy one to beat.

Bjork – Declare Independence

Damn this pic is old

God, what a great song. The synth alone sounds pissed off; it’s so heavily distorted and dirty sounding, and while Volta certainly isn’t her best album, this could well be the most sinister and brooding song she’s ever done. The pounding beat and crashing cymbals get so intense as the song progresses, but this is nothing compared to Bjork herself – you can practically hear her gnashing her teeth before she breaks into that blood curdling scream at the end. The best thing though, has to be the lyrics; written for (and dedicated in concert many times over to) various oppressed nations, they’re also just vague enough to be applicable to anything from an overly advantageous workplace to an abusive spouse. An easy track to leave on repeat.

We’re all familiar with the scenario – you’re driving, and a certain song comes on, and you get this sudden surge of adrenaline, and once you’re really getting into it, you look at your speedometer and think “Oh shit, I’m going 90… and this is a school zone.” For this week’s list, I wanted to go over what those songs are for me, the ones that kick so much ass that they just seize you and pump you so full of energy that you don’t even notice your foot planted flat on the floor… or at least that’s how I tried to explain it to the officer. So let’s get on with it, shall we?

Streetlight Manifesto – Everything Went Numb

Taking a break to make out during a set

While I love Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger as much as the next guy, I think Streetlight Manifesto’s first album was probably third wave ska’s crowning achievement, with this song being a perfect example of why. Starting out with an almost flamenco sounding horn section, the song crashes in with Tomas Kalnoky’s rapid-fire shouts, along with some frenzied guitar playing and a fantastic bassline (in a genre known for fantastic basslines, no less). And it’s so hard not to shout along with, too. Ski mask! CHECK! Sawed off! CHECK! Guilty conscience, fear of death! CHECK CHECK CHECK!!

Incubus – Priceless

We're very serious today.

An under appreciated gem on what is easily their least popular album, Priceless feels like a dash of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. in the middle of A Crow Left of the Murder’s jam rock stylings. The momentum to this song is so great that even the rather random bridge does little to halt it; Brandon Boyd’s vocals are fast and furious, Jose Pasillas gives his most intense drumming on the album, and the band’s overall energy is incredibly palpable.

Public Enemy – Rebel Without a Pause

YEEAAHHH, BOOYYEEEEE

I was a lover of It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back long before I bought Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but I’d be lying if I said I had already loved this track as much as that game taught me to. The turntable tricks that were mindblowing back when golden age hip-hop was in its prime may be a bit dated now, but it speaks volumes just how great this track still sounds. Chuck D is his usual raging-but-eloquent self, making the chorus’ turntablism sound ten times better merely by shouting “Terminator X!” Flava Flav gives another example of just why his goofy persona worked so surprisingly well with those frantic pre-choruses. Everything that made Public Enemy great really comes together here, and even without running down people on motorcycles and pulling drive-bys, this is still damned fun to drive to.

The Hives – No Pun Intended

We're so ironic, we must be cool

As interviews revealed, they were easily the most pretentious and obnoxious group out of the garage rock boom in the early noughties, but damn if they didn’t know what they were doing. The convoluted yet ridiculously catchy hook here grabs the listener viciously from the track’s very beginning, and doesn’t let go until the scant 2:20 flies by. While they never enjoyed the popularity of the White Stripes, the Strokes, or (insert random ‘the’ band here), these guys had a real way with injecting every song with seemingly endless energy.

Anthrax – Caught in a Mosh

Scott Ian always looks so cool. Sigh..

Anthrax never gave us a Master of Puppets or Reign in Blood, but they did give us this, which could well be the best thrash metal song ever written. It’s not just relentless, it doesn’t just have riffs that are as crushing as they are catchy, it’s just a fun song. The chorus has such a great sing-a-long quality, and every time I hear Joey Belladonna rush through the line “Now get the hell out of my house!” I can’t help but smile. It reminds me of that episode of Married with Children they were on… ah, those were the days. Incidentally, I didn’t realize this until I actually sat down to type this, but this song is another GTA staple! Well, how about that.

Beastie Boys – Sabotage

The masters of sitting on stairs

Boasting one of the most legendary videos EVER, Sabotage is not only one of the most fun songs of the decade, but easily one of its most defining. The Beasties do a masterful job of blending punk and rap, throwing random turntable scratches (and even making a chorus out of them, for god’s sake) over an infectious bassline and relentless, fuzz-ridden guitars. And let’s not forget the Beasties themselves; like much of their catalogue, Sabotage is stuffed with far too much personality for just one song, and that’s why we love them.

Digitalism – Jupiter Room

Heh lookit my kool keyboard dawg

One of the progressive house acts that popped up a few years back along with Boys Noize, Simian Mobile Disco, and Justice, Digitalism came across as an even more experimental Daft Punk who were more hesitant than their contemporaries to fall back on simple, catchy beats. Which is not to say that they weren’t catchy of course, just a bit more challenging. Jupiter Room takes a while to build up, but provides a steady beat underneath a plethora of interesting sounds up to its incredible climax at around 2:55, where a futuristic and furiously pounding beat takes form and thrashes away for the better part of three minutes. When the track slams back in to the song’s original beat at the end, it sounds a bit different, not necessarily weaker, but after the song’s raucous peak barely anything is going to sound as aggressive by comparison.

Adam and the Ants – Beat My Guest

Will ye be joining us at the gay pride parade, matey?

This is about as fun as punk-inflected new wave ever got. The wonderfully obnoxious yodeling, the maddeningly addictive guitar hooks, the fact that it was these fruits you’re looking at up there actually making the music, these things all make up one of the best guilty pleasures to ever come out of the early 80s. Not to mention that it provides the soundtrack for one of the coolest moments in SLC Punk!, the ill-fated interstate beer run.

Outkast – B.O.B.

Aw shi' y'awll ferrell??

Deserving of Pitchfork’s ‘best song of the decade’ title? Maybe not… but it’s still pretty fuckin’ great. It’s really saying something about the duo’s abilities that with such a busy and quick on its feet beat, the most relentless thing about the song is the MCs themselves. Andre 3000 and Big Boi are godlike on B.O.B., sporting impossibly fast flows that upon closer inspection reveal surprisingly clever wordplay. It’s a bit cliché, but few songs merit it more than this one: If this doesn’t get you dancing, you might want to check your pulse.

Ministry – Burning Inside

I'll bet I look pretty tough right now.

One of the earlier – and best – industrial metal songs. Ministry was my introduction to the genre, and the first thing that grabbed me was just how fast paced, heavy, and generally intimidating the music sounded, with Burning Inside being a prime example. It captures everything great about industrial; it’s dark, pounding, fast, and just ruthlessly aggressive. It also says something that though the hook is merely two distorted notes, it reels you in just as well as any complex guitar riff could. With how Al Jourgensen continues piling electronic effects on the guitars throughout the song’s five minutes while shooting off that distorted roar over all the ruckus, the line “It kicks you in the face and suck you dry” is extremely appropriate.

Since Rob Zombie took up the writer/director role, his first musical career has been more or less tossed onto the proverbial backburner. After all, his film output has been very consistent, and yet this is his first album in four years, following up one that came five years after its predecessor. Not to mention that while 2001′s The Sinister Urge benefited a lot from Zombie toying with his sound, he pushed it a bit too far on his third full length, Educated Horses, and it resulted in a watered down, unsatisfying mess. Here, however, he’s reinvigorated his sound by simply restoring a lot of the elements from his solo debut, Hellbilly Deluxe (hence the title Hellbilly Deluxe 2). He’s still kept a lot of the ideas he’s picked up from his last two efforts though, and much like on The Sinister Urge, the mix works out very well, only here it’s actually better.

You should see the other guy... he's fine. He was huge though! Kicked my ass...

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 sets right out of its gate with Jesus Frankenstein, driven by that industrial stomp he’s known for, but the verses have a strange (and very welcome) reminiscence to La Sexorcisto era White Zombie, due largely to the slightly more complex guitar work, courtesy of John 5. Sick Bubble-Gum keeps the album’s startling energy going strong with one of Zombie’s trademark cheesy horror movie samples, an aggressive, processed riff, and of course his obligatory “MuthaFUCKAH YEEAAAHHH,” which naturally makes up a big chunk of the chorus.

After a very refreshing start, Mars Needs Women settles in with its gypsy hard rock intro (which I’m sure will have more than a few people tempted to bust out Extreme’s Hole Hearted), which shows a lot of the dimension Zombie explored on Urge and Horses. It gives way quickly though, and the song explodes with basically what makes a typical Rob Zombie song work so well – a blasting beat, a heavy industrial groove, and a fist-pumping melody boasting awesomely absurd lyrics. Speaking of which, the song titles are unabashedly Zombie-esque; I know I’m not the only one who heard Werewolf Women of the SS and remembered how badly I secretly wanted to see the Grindhouse trailer made into a deliberate B movie of its own. Seriously, I mean it couldn’t be any worse than Machete.

In the middle there are a few missteps, namely Werewolf Baby!’s blandness and Death and Destiny Inside the Dream Factory‘s gimmicky sound, and then there’s the completely unnecessary four minute drumline bit towards the end of closer The Man Who Laughs, which ends only to erupt back into the chorus; because apparently four minutes just wasn’t long enough. Still, What? is a fun, short and sweet single, and part of what makes the middle lag is not so much that the songs in question are bad; it’s just that Virgin Witch‘s blues-meets-industrial vibe and especially the powerful Burn, which slightly resembles a faster Living Dead Girl, are too strong to be placed among mediocre tracks without making them look a lot less impressive.

"Why do you have all that fake blood on you?" "FUCK YOU, THAT'S WHY"

For all its problems, Rob Zombie has released a rather consistent and damned entertaining record. The best thing about Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is not so much that he seems to have realized that the experimentation became more to his detriment, but that he’s regained his songwriting balance. Just as on the first Hellbilly record, Zombie has crafted a wonderfully sinister mood, but with the campiness still well in mind. No, it’s not as good as his solo debut, but it’s close, and with him hinting at this being his final physical CD release, it’s a great note to go out on.