The Single Life - 7 Inches of Fun - Featuring Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Strange Haze, Glitter Wizard, and Dropkick Murphys/The Business
“Boxes of Stones” is a really beautiful song, musically and lyrically. Starting out simply with acoustic finger picking and a time keeping drum beat, which then grows with the addition of stringed instruments to create body in the chorus and the songs climax. This makes it come off sounding soulful and sweet.
The lyrics in this song mirror the music in the harmonious lyrics that Leftwich can sing perfectly.
“I am yours
I am free
I am flawed
I am here”
It is a romantic song that has the lyrics and the melody and it has been pulled together by a talented artist.
--Koala
Buy here: Pictures EP
Formerly known as Whooping Crane, Strange Haze have already graced the Ripple office with their blend of "James Gang power trio mid tempo boogie." Now expanded to a 4-piece, this tasty slice of vinyl proves that with the name change the boys have only gotten better. Yep, that big Joe Walsh guitar boogie is still intact with a killer rhythm section keeping pace. Toss in a hint of tribal rhythms and some head-spinning bass runs and "Let me Hear the Dropping Pin," is a retro-rock freak out of the first order. Flipside "Test Driver," ups the boogie quotient with a galloping bass line and a chorus that could've been written for KISS. There's even a nod to another power trio, Mahogany Rush, as Big Sir really lets some psychedelic magic fly from his six-string.
Strange Haze keep the retro rock alive and well without ever dipping too far into the past. Can't wait to hear what comes next.
Buy here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/strangehaze
Got to hand it to Bill Goodman of The Soda Shop. Sometimes it takes a guy a couple thousand miles a way to point me in the direction of a killer band right in my own backyard. Glitter Wizard are just what the name implies, a glittery, psychedelic brand of stoner rock and an image that can only be described as druidic. Yep, don't know where they're coming from with the middle ages garb. Obviously a nod to the Wizard part of their title, but if they keep plugging out riff mad retro-rock like this, I could give a whit about their image. "Black Lotus" is a riff-maniacal, spaced out Sabbath assault of pulverizing heaviness and psych flourishes. "Witche's Limbo," throws some Purple organ into the brewing concoction of stoner heaviness with a result that has to be tasted to believe.
The vinyl single is sold out, but you can download if for free here:
http://glitterwizard.bandcamp.com/album/black-lotus-witchs-limbo-7
Having loved the Dropkick Murphys since some eon before I was born (and growing more amazed by each passing day) and having recently fallen under the Oi! street punk spell of The Business, this gleaming platter of licorice pizza is nothing but a treat. On side two we got The Business blasting out a reved up version of The DM's Streets of Boston (Boston crossed out and replaced with London). Quite simply, The Business are legends, having formed way back in the real days of London punk, 1979. And they sound just as strong and vicious as ever. Then the Dropkick Murphys return the favor, tearing through their take of The Business's song "Informer," and filling that song with as much Oi! spleen and venom as if the song had been their own.
Then the piece de resistance is on Side One, when both bands get together and tear the grooves off the vinyl as they decimate "Mob Mentality." Two absolutely classic Oi! bands knocking amps and forearms together in this mosh pit of punk. Brilliant!
Buy here: http://www.taang.com/indexmain.html
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