CD Reviews

Misfits | The Devil's Rain

Misfits Records (2011)

By MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | September 27, 2011

2.0 Stars

The reason there hasn't been a new Misfits record of all original material in a dozen years is because without Glenn Danzig, it's just not the Misfits. A Misfits lineup with bassist Jerry Only as the sole remaining original is akin to drummer Brian Downey pimping Thin Lizzy as legit. Thing is, Downey doesn't share Only's compulsion to release new material under his previous band's moniker. So you can expect this effort with Only at the mic to be rejected much as the late-'90s fiascos with singer Michale Graves were. That's a shame, because The Devil's Rain is chock full of good, campy horror business. But unlike Danzig, who eventually had the balls to go at it under his own name after the demise of the original outfit in 1983, Only lacked the confidence, reviving the Crimson Ghost in the mid-'90s. Unfortunately the legend stops with the glut of Hot Topic marketing, despite a valiant musical attempt here. "Monkey's Paw" has Only trying pitifully hard to ape the Misfits' "Last Caress," and tracks like "Curse of the Mummy's Hand" and "Ghost of Frankenstein" are too predictable to be more than schlock, though "Unexplained," "Vivid Red," and "Sleepwalkin' " are fun and frightfully ferocious. These guys just need another alias.

The Coathangers | Larceny & Old Lace
The Coathangers' abrasiveness goes beyond their band name's graphic, backroom abortion reference: riot-grrrl shrieks, slap-in-the-face lyrics, and badass post-punk energy are all up front on their records.
Coliseum | Parasites
Coliseum are a band acutely aware of their strengths — perhaps too much so.
The Men | Open Your Heart
The Men — a four-piece post-punk band that began playing Brooklyn basements and national self-booked tours in 2008 — have accomplished a feat.
Screaming Females | Ugly
It's nice to know a woman as talented as singer-guitarist Marissa Paternoster was influenced by Our Band Could Be Your Life, despite Kim Gordon being the only woman in it.
Nü Sensae | Sundowning
Grunge-punk shriekers Nü Sensae hail from Vancouver, and originally formed as the duo of bassist/vocalist Andrea Lukic and drummer Daniel Pitout.
Trans Am | What Day Is It Tonight? Trans Am Live, 1993 - 2008
Trans Am are distillers of guilty pleasures, mixing fat AOR riffs with sleazy electronic accents and a propulsive attitude typically reserved for arcade soundtracks. What Day Is It Tonight? covers the DC-area band’s 20-year history with high-quality, high-energy live cuts taken from their many tours.
Various Artists | Where the Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965 - 1968
More than three years in the making, the most recent installment of Rhino's legendary archival garage-rock series offers an amazingly comprehensive excavation of an absurdly fertile scene.
Various Artists | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966–1970
Girl-group records are great and everything, yet the countless compilations out there were becoming a little hit-or-miss until 2005, when the great Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found box set finally gave this diverse genre a proper taxonomy.
Various Artists | Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010
The notion that regional musical flavors exist independently in American cities is quickly becoming an archaic truism, seeing as how the world really is a stage these days, at least in the digital sense.
Bearstronaut | Broken Handclaps
There's a distinct absence of wildlife or astronauts on Lowell electronica quartet Bearstronaut's latest release.
Various Artists | Songs For Chris Knox
On June 11 of last year, Chris Knox suffered a life-altering stroke.
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Topics: CD Reviews , Music, CD reviews, punk, More

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