After almost two years of languishing in development hell after being recorded for release on Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Records, Lansing’s Cavalcade have finally released their second studio album “Dear Entrails…” on their Bandcamp page.

Cavalcade, on this release, is: Zachary Warren (vocals), Cale Sauter (guitar), Craig Horky (bass, backing vocals), John Bruce (drums) and Brad Van Staveren (guitar).

Here’s a review of their long overdue sophomore LP.

An album about failure never sounded so successful in its vision. The self-described “weird metal” band have been combining disparate genres like avant, jazz, sludge, doom and even traditional instruments like tuba and saxophone since at least 2006 and here, after releasing their debut album a few years ago, finally show what their twisted vision is capable of.

“Agents of Bolivian”, with a backwards guitar effect in the intro, puts Cavalcade’s sound in an angular, skewed template. Guitar solos that could fit on a modern day thrash inspired-metal record clash with tuba and glockenspiel, although the latter is minimal while the overall tempo here is sludge and doom-inspired but maybe a little bit faster.

The album was mastered by Pig Destroyer and AxCx’s Scott Hull and the results fit the band’s sound perfectly. “Bury Sanders” pulls Warren’s vocals into the middle of the mix while guitar effects and pounding drums swirl around his raspy barks. “Cancer Fantasy”, one of my favorite tracks on the album, features guest vocals from The Break Ups’ Francesca Pierce, adding a beautiful, calming effect to the guitars and vocals, which are farther back in the mix. The drums here are fast, driving and fierce; they even have quiet a groove, showing groove metal’s influence here. You can probably dance to it if you wanted to. The mastering fares well, too, on “Untie These Vines” where acoustic guitars in the intro and distorted, white noise-layered guitars later on mix perfectly. Warren’s vocals later take on a spacey effect at points and the bass is punchy yet smooth. The guitar solo is loud and clear.

This band never shies away from horror movie and gore-inspired imagery and sounds. Instrumental “Poltergeists on Motorbikes” is no exception with a zombie groaning “I want your brains!” as sounds of a man being eaten alive by the zombie play before the encounter. The band also never shies away from sheer experimentation, as on “Big Sack of Tspiders” has the most danceable groove on the album. It’s fast, cathartic and even has hand claps, as guitar tones from previous songs make their way back here.

After a few more tracks of similar sounds, vocally and otherwise (“Walk Like a Magician” and “A Lifetime of Sick”), the experimentation takes a turn on the Russian-language titled “Призрак Захария”. With acoustic guitars, brooding synths with sounds recalling “Poltergeists on Motorbikes”, the second instrumental piece gives me the vision of wandering through a 13th century village in Transylvania at night (or something like that, and hey, that’s just me).

The latter third of the album really picks up in intensity and catharsis. “Michigan Winters” has pounding, fist-pumping power chord strikes with more power provided by a tuba in the chorus. That’s my favorite part of the track. “Bolivia Tremor Control” has some of the most powerful guitars on the album. They sound brutal and drenched in death metal fuzz and crunch. Bruce’s cymbal crashes sound bright and powerful and his bass drum kicks add a heavy weight to the song.

The album’s final two tracks showcase a lot of what the album has been about up to this point: bright instruments (bells, tubas, shimmering guitars, etc) and the contrasting, brutal vocals by Warren working together and sometimes clashing (but I think sometimes that’s their point). “A Jillion Years” has a cathartic chorus as Warren belts out the title of the song in only the way he can, then after the chorus, instrumentals take charge. Ringing guitars and bells close out the song to a sort of anti-catharsis.

“Cursing in Binary”, featuring Small Brown Bike’s Mike Reed during the chorus, pulls everything the album has achieved into one song. The guitars are the most powerful they’ve been so far, the drums are powerful and the bass is heavy. The chorus is drenched in layers of guitars as Reed’s yell of “This failure feels familiar” lays across Warren’s rasps of “Cursing in Binary”. The song ends with familiar brass instrumentation heard before and the backwards guitar heard at the beginning of the album.

I said earlier this album is about failure. The band stated in an interview with The Impact 88.9 FM a long time ago that this sentiment carried over the album. “Losing all desire. Losing, losing and losing some more” go some of the lines in “Bury Sanders”. Granted, a lot of Warren’s lyrics are hard to make out due to the rasps but from what I can pick out, there’s a lot of despair here. “What if those stories were right about me? What if those tales were as true as they seemed? What if I’m hating myself in a dream and what if it’s all a lie” Warren asks amid radio-like static coating his voice. “This Michigan winter chills me to the bone,” Warren screams on the track of the same name. The failure and despair culminates on “Cursing in Binary” with the already mentioned, and audible, audible chorus of “This failure feels familiar” by Reed.

Now that this album is out, it’s finally a contender for LMTV Album of the Year. If you’re a fan of sludge bands like Down, Eyehategod or Superjoint Ritual or even experimental bands like Mr. Bungle (or any of Mike Patton’s experimental projects), check this out.

The Avett Brothers have been announced for the Commonground Music Festival held in downtown Lansing this summer and Frontier Ruckus have been announced to open for them.

Be on the lookout for more performer announcements in the future.

In other news, Lansing hip hop artist Jahshua Smith has released a new album called The Final Season.

Check out a review here, via Central Michigan Life:

Lansing emcee and BLAT! Pack member Jahshua Smith (formerly JYoung the General) released his new album “The Final Season” last week, and with almost an hour-and-a-half musical journey, the listen is a bit long but well worth it.

With cameos from a who’s-who of Michigan artists from Joe Hertler (on lead track “Seven Year Itch”) to fellow BLAT! Pack members Philthy, The Amature, Yellowkake and Red Pill, the diversity shown in the featured artists is just as diverse as the production on the tracks themselves. “Seven Year Itch” features Hertler’s soulful crooning on the chorus, while “Carry On/The Ark” features Philthy’s lisp-laden flow.

Smith’s lyrics range from the political to the personal, with a party track thrown in here and there. On “Censored,” he raps about making it to college “but still had to wait for Uncle Sam to split the bill.”

It’s a bit of a stream-of-consciousness, pointed diatribe with a bit of hope tied to it. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel here.

“The Ghosts of Medgar Evers” is another political track drawing on the mindsets of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

“They take up 130 words to sum up a black life,” Smith raps over a synthesizer and snare beat.

Smith’s flow is confident and powerful. Able to draw upon personal experiences, he channels a pent-up anger on his political tracks, while his laid-back style comes through on “Butt/Don’t Hold Back,” with its soulful guitar lead and interchangeable sample of the word “butt” with “but” cleverly implemented. It’s a party track “for the ladies,” as he says in a skit before the track.

He also takes time to dissect love and relationships with songs such as “Lylah’s Song.”

Smith’s travels down a few different avenues with this record and can cater to different groups. Including a few different bonus tracks, the album is a bit too long to listen to at once. The singles are where this album shines, but listening to the entire album helps the listener learn more about Smith: his triumphs, struggles and life. Regardless of what you listen to, you should pick this up. It’s got a bit for everyone and has Michigan roots.

Language is a new band from Lansing, MI, recently making their live debut (as well as releasing a self-titled EP) alongside The People’s Temple, Racket Ghost and Jake Simmons and the Little Ghosts at Mac’s Bar.

Here’s a review of said EP.

On first listen, a few different things come to mind from the self-described “post-art-pop” band. Although I’m not really sure what their stated influences are, I can tell they have a love for ’60s style rock and roll (similar to Lansing band The People’s Temple). Bands I can think of off the top of my head that they share sonic qualities with include The Velvet Underground (for their steady, repetitive rock and rough tones), the Beach Boys (for their harmonies and a pieced together feel somewhere near a similar sound) and Joy Division (for the vocalist’s droning style that actually carries a lot of melody behind it). Sonic Youth comes to mind too.

With all of these varied influences converging at a new point with Language’s music, I can’t say it’s something that’s entirely new in the large scheme of things. For the Michigan music scene, it definitely is. It’s a refreshing sound that I could get used to. Maybe there are other bands beyond Language as well as The People’s Temple who are doing something like this but probably not as exciting or interesting.

A lot of the instrumentation is really cool. “Indian Giver” has a dance-New Wave beat to it. The last song on the EP, “Lake Effect”, has a guitar tone very similar to The People’s Temple song “Sons of Stone”. Kinship indeed. The rhythm section is solid and spot on. It really drives the songs and helps them reach new heights as they progress. The drum fill into the chorus on “Koch Party” pulls you in.

The opener, “Sault Marie”, reminds me of a Joy Division or Velvet Underground song fronted by a singer who is gargling mouthwash. I can’t really understand him (beyond clearly hearing the chorus). Maybe that’s some of its charm. The guitar tone is fluid and trance-like. Good stuff.

They definitely don’t forget how to craft a good pop song among an overall washy mix. Songs like “Sweet Randy” have an overall dreamy tone to them but you can still tell where the verse ends and the chorus begins. It never drifts off into something unintelligible. They know where the songs are supposed to go and end where they naturally should (even if it’s a little abrupt like on the opening track and a couple others too).

Check this band out when you get a chance. They’re a refreshing sound in mid-Michigan that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Lansing punk band Little American Champ released a new EP last week entitled “Nothing Forward, Nothing Backward”.

Here’s a review.

Courtesy of the Little American Champ Bandcamp page

Little American Champ is Jonny Janis (guitar/vocals), Alex Janis (bass/vocals) and Danny Petrilli (drums/percussion).

This three piece has a ringing resemblance to other bands (Lemuria, Against Me and The Riot Before come to mind) while holding true to their Midwest roots. Sometimes the lead vocals have a Tom Gabel-esque approach in their melodic shouting ways. I really like them but they’re not really original. Heard it a million times but that’s OK. I could say the same for the guitars, drums, bass…everything about this band is something I’ve heard before. Not a bad thing at all.

For some bands, they play a style other bands also play down to a tee but what matters with a band like Little American Champ is the amount of heart and soul they put into their music. When they play their songs, they play the hell out of them. They love what they do. That energy is apparent all over this four song EP.

On a song like “We’ve Been On a Roll Lately”, with its distorted, feedback-laden intro and powerchords aplenty, Jonny sings the chorus of “relax and repeat” as the powerchords follow his vocal lead. The breakdowns are melodic and have room to breath with a rotating drum pattern, leading to a breakdown then a build up of cymbal crashes and droning power chords. Good stuff from this three piece.

The rhythm section is extremely tight and concise. Not a note or drum hit is wasted. The bass doesn’t have the hardcore punch but it’s not wimpy either. I like this rhythm section. I like this whole group as a musical unit. Sometimes even with a three piece the members can drift off into their own worlds but here, they act as one toward their goal of playing the best they can as a unit. Again, not a note is wasted.

“What’s the Secret, Max?” has the Gabel-like vocals I hinted at earlier. Jonny sings “I don’t have anything to report” and later “thank fucking God that you stayed home”. Although, I will say, it is a bit hard to understand his voice. I hear the lyrics correctly here and there but not the whole way through (maybe it’s just me and maybe my hearing’s going downhill worse than I thought).

Everything about this four song EP is essential Midwest punk. Honest, blistering, quick. The whole thing lasts about 15 minutes. Go check it out and download it for free. Do that here.

Edible Intention: S/T
(Good Time Gang records/Silver Maple Kill records)

Ryan Horky comes back to LMTV with a review of Edible Intentions’ posthumous self-titled release. Check it out!

This is a posthumous release from a Lansing, MI band that was active from roughly 2007-2010. Once they got outta the practice space they were basically the house band for the Lansing art-space/all-ages show collective Basement 414. If you lived in Lansing at the time and were remotely plugged into the local punk scene you probably saw these guys a thousand times. I’m not sure they ever got outta town. They played a pretty intense mix of free-jazz informed Stooges wail and Minutemen anything-goes stomp. This album was recorded near the tail end of when they were active and sat on the shelf for a while until the all-around good folks at Good Time Gang Records decided to release it (and Lansing label Silver Maple Kill records pressing it up). I was pretty curious to hear this. As much fun as an Edible Intention show was, they could turn into a hot mess of noise pretty quickly. (Not an insult, by the way….) I wasn’t sure their sound could be translated to disc. Producer Tommy McCord did a great job of making them palatable without sacrificing the noise quotient. The vocals are definitely an acquired taste (and they’re mixed suitably low) but I dig ‘em anyhow. Even if you can’t take the caterwaulin’, the guitars are pretty raunchy in a Melvins/Nuggets kinda way and the songs are short and varied enough to hold your attention. The cover artwork totally reminds me of an early 90′s SST release. (You know, it looks sort of awesomely terrible.) I don’t think this CD would necessarily have the same impact on anybody who wasn’t around to catch ‘em in their prime, but it’s still well worth checking out if you’re into more adventurous (but still way rockin’) sounds.-

Small Houses‘ new full length, “North”, is a great record to listen to on a walk by yourself. It’s quietly beautiful and subtle, drawing on elements of classic country, top 40 country, indie rock and traditional folk music and even gospel music with a cover of “I and My Maker” by Jeremy Cassar. That’s not to say Jeremy Quentin, the man behind the Small Houses moniker, rehashes these styles. Quite the contrary. Songs like “Country Flowers”, with their whimsical banjo (courtesy of Frontier Ruckus’ Davey Jones) and mandolin (courtesy of Chris Bathgate) compliment Quentin’s choked up yet tuneful vocal delivery perfectly.
Less is more with “North”. A song like “Late July” with its subdued vocal by Quentin, quiet acoustic guitar melody, ringing piano chords and lap steel guitar, has more than a few musical elements but holistically they act as one quiet, emotionally subdued piece.
Even when more sounds are added, like on the title track, such as cymbal crashes, lap steel guitar or backing vocals on top of banjo, acoustic guitar and slide guitar, everything is mixed perfectly. The cymbal crashes sound off in the distance and the backing vocals are warm and soothing. Just because more musical layers are added, doesn’t mean the music can’t still be ethereal, quiet and beautiful.
The fastest track on the album, “In the Lawn”, draws on hoe down rhythms and a catchy violin melody alongside female backing vocals by Samantha Crain.
I had seen Small Houses perform in Brooklyn, NY in May by himself along with an acoustic guitar. I really enjoyed the intimacy of the performance and the album captures that atmosphere to a tee.

Happy Human, a side project of Elliot Street Lunatic, is releasing a new EP this Friday at Mac’s Bar. The EP is entitled “Pale is the New Tan”. Happy Human is Jordan Hahn (vocals, guitar, synth, percussion) Jason Marr (drums, bass, guitar, vocals, synth, percussion) and Liz McDaniel (synth, piano, vocals).

Here’s a review.

I don’t like to describe things as “cute” but that’s really the only word I can use to accurately describe the overall feeling of this record. Everything about the record has a child-like innocence to it. The synths on “Like Robots Do” sound like they’re coming straight from a children’s cartoon like Blue’s Clues or something similar. The drums, all via a drum machine, are simple. The hand claps help add to the childish, cute attitude here.

The title track features a rotating, circular drum beat as well as a single kick drum as Hahn’s drone of a voice says “You’re cold but your heart is warm/you emit too much carbon dioxide/you’re pale just like me/soon you’ll see that you’ll be alright…”. His voice (as a few others have said) has a Lou Reed sing-talk, monotony to it. It, at first, is a novelty but then after a few songs it begins to lose its luster. Thankfully, the backup vocals from McDaniel and Marr (along with friends CJ Kjolhede and Elon Parker) helps to spice up the monotony.

My favorite song on this EP is “You Are the Best”. I love the summer-envisioning acoustic guitar chords and the kick drum pounding. “I can’t wait any longer/To get this off my chest/I just have to tell you/That you are the best” Hahn sings with an affirming, yet subtle vocal. Backing vocals from Marr help add to the catchiness. I love the instrumentation. A piano, acoustic guitar and a kickdrum are all that’s used here. I was starting to get sick of the cutsey synth and dancebeats. Unfortunately, this song is in the middle of the EP.

I am aware that this EP was written, recorded and totally finished in about a month, so I can understand why some of the instrumentation was not varied as there wasn’t much time to try new things. What I do like about the second half of this EP is the lengthy instrumental section on “New Feeling”. I love the guitar solo; the tone of the guitar is subdued yet bright and sunny.

Go see them play at Mac’s Bar with Roll Over Radio, This is My Suitcase and Commodore Cosmos this Friday at 6pm. Tickets are $6 in advance and $8 the day of. The show is All Ages.

So, it’s been a little while since the album release for Josh David and the Dream Jeans‘ full length, “Can You Believe We Landed On the Moon?”. Here’s a review of said album.

The immediate difference between Josh David and the Dream Jeans and every other Lansing band that I’ve encountered is their front man, Josh David. When he performs with the band live, he goes wild, strangling himself with the mic and running around in his underwear. This live presence translates well to the record. David screams at the top of his lungs (and surprisingly) has the occasional bit of melody seeping out, like on “Tall Paul Rides Again”.

I really enjoy the lyrics on this album. They’re quirky yet meaningful. “Aware of the Riverman”, about fellow Lansing-via-Seattle friend and musician, Johnny Unicorn, mentions Unicorn by name. “His name’s John Benjamin Adams but you can call him Johnny Unicorn” David scowls. It’s really great that David is paying tribute to such a great friend in song. “Capitol City 2-Step” is about David’s hometown of Lansing, MI and the pride he has for the city and the mitten state. “Lansing Michigan’s where I call home” he screams.

Guitars here are noisy, dissonant. Blasts of noise and feedback occur frequently as well as power chords that chug throughout the album. Guitarist Nich Richard shreds with little regard for the well being of the instrument (or his own well being for that matter). The occasional solo happens but they’re kicked out fast. The bass, played by Michael Boyes, is audible and usually follows the guitar lines. Boyes reaches toward the top of the neck occasionally, adding a bit of dissonance on the low end too. The drums (played by Christian Urabazzo) are tight and fast. Usually following the hardcore 1-2 snare downbeat, they keep things moving.

My only complaint is with the length of the album. 14 songs at (mostly) under two minutes, with little changing musically throughout the album, can make it hard to sit through. My favorite tracks are “Capitol City 2-step” and “Aware of the Riverman”. I encourage full listen straight through to see what sticks with you but, in my mind, only a few tracks stand out. That’s not to say that all of the other songs are sub-par. It’s just that 14 tracks on a punk rock record is a lot to sit through.

If there’s an album that makes you think of old school Michigan punk (like The Meatmen or The Crucifucks), it might be this record. Regardless of what it makes you think of, check this out here.

So, the Good Time Gang has finally entered the world of vinyl with a split 7″ featuring The Plurals and Frank and Earnest with two songs a piece. About damn time!

Here’s a review.

The bands alternate tracks here, starting with The Plurals’ “The Best Years of My Life Were in College”. The song features everything you can expect from The Plurals: throaty melodic singing, tight instrumentation, noisy guitars and thumping bass. Bassist/vocalist Nich Richard’s signature line here is “Who gives a fuck about tomorrow?/Who gives a fuck about today anyway”. The song just kind of feels average. Nothing special; a good song but given the band just put out a full length, it just has B SIDE written all over it and rightfully so. Not a good or bad thing. It just is.

The next track by The Plurals fronted by vocalist/guitarist Tommy McCord, “Summary of Your Life”,  has a lot more going on than the previous track. McCord’s vocals are pretty standard. Melodic yet screamy; tuneful yet oddly stoic. Backing vocals by drummer/vocalist Hattie Danby and bassist Richard are a nice layer and counter to McCord. The song features lots of guitar textures from lone guitar notes feeding back to scratchy, high end wails and sawing guitar chords. “I recognize I’m not the one” is the chorus line here.

Frank and Earnest’s side of the split features two of my most favorite live tracks to hear from them at shows, “Turning Pipe Dreams Into Pipe Realities” and “GTG Fest”. McCheese’s humbucker guitar lines slice through the more solid chords of Hassenger. The drums are tight and the bass pushes the song along nicely. I really like the dueling vocal between McCheese and Hassenger as well. Hassenger sings “I don’t want a life of fame and fortune/I just want a world without the torture of politics, overtime, the red and black on the bottom line/World with borders and boundaries out of sight”. Hassenger thinks it could be his “pipe dream” while McCheese counters in shouts, “Fuck your pipe dream/it will never be your pipe reality”. The mental story in the song is really intriguing. It gives you a sense of the second thoughts we all face in our daily lives and our directions in life.

The second track by Frank and Earnest, “GTG Fest”, is a short and fast song about the Good Time Gang festival, GTG Fest. One of my all time favorite lyrics is in this song. The line “forget about tomorrow/this is where I wanna be” describes how I feel when I go to a great show, hanging with lots of friends having the time of my life. It’s that feeling when you walk away from the show just absolutely blown away and you’re living in the moment. It’s that feeling when you know you’ll never forget what you just witnessed. As heavy as I’m describing that one lyric, the song is short and sweet, which is apt. It can’t be too long or it loses its power. The power chords and single note guitar lines crunch and chime along. During the chorus, drummer Ryan Horky kills the bass drum and smashes the cymbals. A great song that describes a moment in time that you’ll never forget.

Overall, The Plurals side is a good set of songs but given that they just put out a full length, the songs have B side written on them. Nothing bad about that, it’s just the way it is. Frank and Earnest’s side features some live favorites on tape. Great lyrics and awesome instrumentation although hearing and seeing the songs live makes them even more special. Go pick this up here.