Showing posts with label cannibal corpse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cannibal corpse. Show all posts
Friday, March 14, 2014
Key & Peele, "The Power of Wings"
With all respect to Barnes & Barnes, no musical groups do comedy better than the metalheads. An entire Dr. Demento anthology couldn't stack up to the laughs provided (intentionally or not) by Spinal Tap, Steel Panther, Dethklok, GWAR, Tenacious D, "Earache My Eye" or "I'm the Man." Hell, even some of metal's biggest "serious" bands are funnier than anything on Funny or Die. Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized?" Cannibal Corpse's "Hammer Smashed Face?" Give these men the Mark Twain Prize.
Key & Peele, currently mugging on the cover of this week's Time, are the latest to join the illustrious Metal Comedy world. The video for their song "The Power of Wings," which premiered on the team's uproarious Comedy Central show, is a deadpanned tribute to metal bombast that has me laughing even harder on the third viewing. Eat your heart out, Dragonforce.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at Coney Island
This week, I saw the Deftones, System of a Down, Cannibal Corpse and Between the Buried and Me. Last Thursday, at Coney Island's free concert series, Joan Jett handed each of them their asses on a plate.
Decades after she's had any sort of commercial success, Jett is still one of rock's most likeable characters. She blurs the punk-pop line tighter than anyone from the Clash to Green Day, and has found enduring appeal as a headbanger, punk, feminist, pop star and gay icon, both as a legend and a cult figure. She is not a great songwriter, as seen by any of her covers-heavy records, but she is a top level showman and interpreter, best experienced in the flesh.
Taking the stage to the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn," Jett and her Blackhearts blazed through an 80-minute show that covered everything a casual fan would want to hear. Other than a mid-set break into some moderately lame new songs, Jett subjected us to an admirable hit list, including "Bad Reputation," "Crimson and Clover," "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" and of course "I Love Rock N' Roll." She stripped the polish off "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and shook the self-consciousness from the Runaways' "Cherry Bomb," establishing herself as a perfomer in charge of her own vision, no matter how Kim Fowley remembers in.
Jett's most underrated ability, besides being the only lead singer in rock history who looks tougher when she smiles, is her guitar playing, a raw-toned weapon with a rockabilly knack for soloing. The Blackhearts, an expendable team of younger musicians who didn't always hit their cues, gave songs like "Love is Pain" and "The French Song" garage band character that emphasized Jett's tendency to sound both DIY and commercial. The band's missteps were all part of the Joan Show, and proof that there wasn't a bum note or a pop chorus that she couldn't electrify.
Decades after she's had any sort of commercial success, Jett is still one of rock's most likeable characters. She blurs the punk-pop line tighter than anyone from the Clash to Green Day, and has found enduring appeal as a headbanger, punk, feminist, pop star and gay icon, both as a legend and a cult figure. She is not a great songwriter, as seen by any of her covers-heavy records, but she is a top level showman and interpreter, best experienced in the flesh.
Taking the stage to the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn," Jett and her Blackhearts blazed through an 80-minute show that covered everything a casual fan would want to hear. Other than a mid-set break into some moderately lame new songs, Jett subjected us to an admirable hit list, including "Bad Reputation," "Crimson and Clover," "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" and of course "I Love Rock N' Roll." She stripped the polish off "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and shook the self-consciousness from the Runaways' "Cherry Bomb," establishing herself as a perfomer in charge of her own vision, no matter how Kim Fowley remembers in.
Jett's most underrated ability, besides being the only lead singer in rock history who looks tougher when she smiles, is her guitar playing, a raw-toned weapon with a rockabilly knack for soloing. The Blackhearts, an expendable team of younger musicians who didn't always hit their cues, gave songs like "Love is Pain" and "The French Song" garage band character that emphasized Jett's tendency to sound both DIY and commercial. The band's missteps were all part of the Joan Show, and proof that there wasn't a bum note or a pop chorus that she couldn't electrify.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Summer Slaughter at Irving Plaza
Five reasons why Summer Slaughter is the best metal festival of the summer.
1. It's not really a festival.
You're not getting baked by the sun all day, paying $6 for water or waiting 15 minutes to use the porta-loo. The bands that you want to see are all playing on the same stage, at separate times, all under a club roof for less than $40. You can see everyone you came to see and leave without heatstroke, dehydration and/or a hole in your wallet.
2. An embarrassment of riches.
Cannibal Corpse, Between the Buried and Me, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil Of Maya and Goatwhore may not be the kind of names you'd usually get at Mayhem Fest, but band-for-band this is a more consistent lineup and more bang for your buck than any tour that would impose Avenged Sevenfold or Asking Alexandria.
3. Periphery, the Faceless and Between the Buried and Me are playing new songs.
Don't pretend that you'll get a preview of Periphery II, Autotheism or The Parallax II: Future Sequence via some guy's cell phone footage on YouTube. It's the equivalent of downloading The Dark Knight Rises opening weekend and watching it on your laptop. You'll have to catch the tour or wait for the release date to tell if the new songs are better than those album titles.
4. Goatwhore.
See above.
5. You can leave any time.
Want to get back in time for dinner? Leave after Between the Buried and Me. Don't want to miss happy hour? Show up in time for Periphery. Even if you're sick of Cannibal Corpse, bored with tech-death or believe that death metal died with Chuck Schuldiner, you'll find something to enjoy here.
1. It's not really a festival.
You're not getting baked by the sun all day, paying $6 for water or waiting 15 minutes to use the porta-loo. The bands that you want to see are all playing on the same stage, at separate times, all under a club roof for less than $40. You can see everyone you came to see and leave without heatstroke, dehydration and/or a hole in your wallet.
2. An embarrassment of riches.
Cannibal Corpse, Between the Buried and Me, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil Of Maya and Goatwhore may not be the kind of names you'd usually get at Mayhem Fest, but band-for-band this is a more consistent lineup and more bang for your buck than any tour that would impose Avenged Sevenfold or Asking Alexandria.
3. Periphery, the Faceless and Between the Buried and Me are playing new songs.
Don't pretend that you'll get a preview of Periphery II, Autotheism or The Parallax II: Future Sequence via some guy's cell phone footage on YouTube. It's the equivalent of downloading The Dark Knight Rises opening weekend and watching it on your laptop. You'll have to catch the tour or wait for the release date to tell if the new songs are better than those album titles.
4. Goatwhore.
See above.
5. You can leave any time.
Want to get back in time for dinner? Leave after Between the Buried and Me. Don't want to miss happy hour? Show up in time for Periphery. Even if you're sick of Cannibal Corpse, bored with tech-death or believe that death metal died with Chuck Schuldiner, you'll find something to enjoy here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
