Bitter:Sweet
The Mating Game
(Quango)

C

Website: www.quango.com

Codec & Flexor
Killermachine
(Kitty Yo)

C-



Website: www.kitty-yo.com

I just can’t get into this disc by German electro-popsters Sven Zalac and Matthias Freund. Their first release on the Kitty-Yo label is summarized on Welcome when vocalist Flexor chants “welcome to insanity” for six agonizing minutes as frequency modulations bounce inside your brain. Repetition seems to be a recurring theme on this disc, and the song title is repeated 22 times between squeaky plinks and plonks on the endless My Arms Are Tired. I keep wishing for the boys to stay true to their word on I’ll Be Gone because Flexor squeals out the worst falsetto my ears have ever had to endure. Flexor tries to sound tough as he screeches on the title track, but he ends up sounding like a wannabe ’80s rock star, with dance beats taking the place of guitar riffs. Save your sanity and kill this disc.
Shannon Ander

Ministry
Rio Grande Blood
(13th Planet/Megaforce)

B-



Website: www.ministrymusic.org

Crazy Al Jourgensen is all over Dubya like a glam rocker on an eight ball of coke. Jourgensen, who is Ministry for all intents and purposes, first lit into the American idiot in 2004 with Houses of the Molé, and now he’s back at it with Rio Grande Blood — in a big way. Critics hailed Houses... as a return to form for the wayward industrial rocker, and the new alb is cut right from the same blood-stained cloth. Samples abound, as do brutally fast tremolo riffs, slightly distorted vocals and aggressive beats. That’s signature Ministry stuff, and it’s wicked on tracks such as The Great Satan. Still, you can’t help but hope Ministry isn’t becoming a one-trick pony, even if that pony is bent on trampling some of the greediest bastards to ever run a nation.
Mike Warkentin

Revolting Cocks
Cocked and Loaded
(13th Planet/Megaforce)

B



Website: www.revoltingcox.com

Put some of the weirdest freaks on the planet together in a recording studio, and this is what happens. The first RevCo offering in over a decade sees Al Jourgensen, Gibby Haynes, Jello Biafra and others cranking the distortion, kicking in the effects and maintaining a truly elite level of insanity at all times. The flavour here is industrial, but ZZ Topper Billy Gibbons and Cheap Trickers Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander lend the project a bit of a fuzzy blues-rock vibe. The motley crew hits its stride on the last half of the disc, where you’ll find Dead End Streets and Pole Grinder. It’ll be interesting to see how this shit goes down at the June 5 show at the Burt. One guesses it’ll be a wild ride — in a hotrod built by Jesus himself.
Mike Warkentin

The Alarm took U2’s name literally — meaning The Alarm could be U2. Still, Under Attack isn’t a rip-off. First, The Alarm has been around for more than two decades. Second, on this alb these guys serve up an enjoyable, slab of uplifting rock ’n’ roll that could be compared to the work of many great artists. My Town sounds like a modern-day version of The Boss’ Born to Run, but with Jon Bon Jovi singing. Sure, the title is a little bit cheesy and (Mellan)campish, but hey, sometimes its fun to stop bitching and just be happy. On Cease and Desist, the band conjures up some punk attitude with a Ramones-style rocker that just might get you blitzkrieg bopping. Finally, album-opener Superchannel is way more rocking than anything I’ve heard from U2 in a long while.
Jared Story

Last year’s brilliant Hotwalker was a kind of career peak for singer/songwriter Tom Russell. That wholly unique and terrific homage to all things beat put Russell (at least for this one time) in the realm of the immortal super-creative storytellers. Following that up would be seem an insurmountable task, but like many of the shady denizens in his expositions, Russell is a tough nut to crack. Love & Fear is the morning-after hangover to Hotwalker. It features many of the same sorts of characters written into songs that smell of the same kind of day-to-day desperation. Russell plays the central character in many of his songs — he’s the guy at the bar taking notes on all the chilling action while aiming his gaze on that last crack of daylight on the saloon floor.
Jeff Monk

When I first put this one in the CD player, I imagined that someone must have slipped a copy of Lou Reed’s apocalyptic disaster Metal Machine Music into the Tony Wilson jewel case. Then I thought to myself, ‘Well, it has to go somewhere from here.’ But Horse’s Dream doesn’t go anywhere particularly interesting. It’s just lots of bombastic and self-indulgent sheets of electric guitar folding into what feels like endless noodling up and down the fretboard. Once in a while something a bit more palatable begins to surface, but it’s quickly folded back into some far less focused track. And of the ones that come close to working — including a remake of John Coltrane’s Venus/Offering — nothing is sufficiently striking to make me want to give the project repeated listenings.
Jamie Howison

Similar in scope and style to Willie’s fabulous 1978 tribute album Stardust, this album features the country music legend wrapping his nasal croon around a baker’s dozen of wonderful tracks from the pen of the relatively unknown Cindy Walker. Miss Molly, Cherokee Maiden and the title track may only ring one bell with even the most seasoned country music fan but, as is his wont, Nelson makes all these decades-old gems sound as current as they could ever hope to be. Nelson gave most of his family band the week off and recorded this gold with a gang of studio vets, and they give these well-worn ditties a special gloss that makes them sound great. While many of Nelson’s recent releases are forgettable retreads, You Don’t Know Me rises above to hit the mark again and again.
Jeff Monk