Union Tree Review like to keep things local. By local, I don’t simply mean to the city of St. Louis, but to the very neighborhood they live and play music. Union Tree Review describe themselves as a Cherokee Street band, and they are an ideal candidate to lead the charge of reviving the St. Louis music scene, or rather shine a spotlight on how awesome it is already.

The evidence can be found looking no further than the street they call home. Surrounded by burgeoning arts scene, awesome ethnic food, and tons of people involved in all aspects of local music, one could be content never leaving the block again. This setting is the perfect climate for Union Tree Review’s blend of indie rock and alt country. By adding viola and the occasional horn section to the soothing warmth of singer Tawaine Noah’s voice, their songs shine in the small venues and coffee houses of which their neighborhood is in abundance.

Union Tree Review look to bring elements of the Cherokee community together for their next album. Drummer Matt Strom explains “We’re going to hopefully create an entire album from writing the songs to the people recording, producing and mixing the songs to the people making the album art all within five blocks of each other.”

While Cherokee St. may be tight-knit, Union Tree are tired of the city’s insularity. Noah expounds upon his frustration: “For a while, everyone had their own band and they were wrapped up in that. ‘Oh, you have a band? Well, good luck!’” UTR think St. Louis bands need to be more proactive in promoting shows – and the group practices what they preach. However, guitarist Jordan Howe explains how spreading the word only about yourself isn’t good enough: “You want everyone to work and succeed. If we get a lot of people at our show and Humdrum plays too, maybe more people will come to the next Humdrum show.” It’s this level of cooperation that will elevate not only Union Tree Review, but the entire St. Louis music scene. Isn’t that what “keeping things local” is all about?

Quick Tracks:

“Foreign Eyes”
Simple, sweet but melancholy folk tune with great harmonies, viola and horns that accent the emotion of feeling old at the age of twenty four. One listen, and you can see how it was written after a breakup in winter, while staring out a window over a cup of coffee and shot of whisky.

“Let Me Be”
Song for the over-worked and under-paid, otherwise known as the anthem of the young, post-collegiate city dweller whose frontier is growing up. Slower, low key Ra Ra Riot and Anathallo meet Ryan Adams. This song is itching to be heard live.

You can hear some of Union Tree Review’s music at Myspace and Facebook
They also have a Twitter

Kvelertak’s self-titled debut album is filled with sweaty, beer-swilling party anthems that are the perfect companion to summer: light, carefree and fun. There is plenty of gang vocal parts which are excellent to sing along to when a little inebriated, tasty twin lead guitar parts for the air guitarists at our bbq’s, the drums are huge and about every song has a hand clap or two. Plenty to get excited about.

Kvelertak are not simply straight cock rock either as there is a distinct darkness present on the album too. Not just any old regular darkness either, but Norwegian darkness. You know, that part of the world where there are whole 24 hour periods that the sun never shows itself. There are kvlt riffs here and there but the black is mostly in the vocal. The lyrics are all in Norwegian, and the main screaming is harsh and cold which separates the listener from the rather inviting band. That separation is typical in black metal and Kvelertak definitely feel that way.

At the same time the vocals are pretty similar to Swedish crust/punk and, as Metal Sucks so accurately pointed out, are very similar to vocal god Tomas Lindberg (Disfear, At the Gates). Harsh, throaty screaming over top of killer 70s rock and roll throwback that is heavy like Savannah, beer bellied, full-bearded metal. While the record is at times harsh, it’s mostly just fun, and the hooks are ridiculously catchy and just stay lodged in your brain.

While it’s difficult to sum up Kvelertak’s sound, I think the video for their lead single “Mjød” gets the point across rather well. See it here. Do you get Kvelertak now? If not, maybe wait for that next bbq, have a few brewskies, and try again.

Well, I just heard today via Lambgoat and the PRP that at a show last night (August 7th) in Cambridge, MA they announced that they are in the midst of finishing up a new album entitled White Silence. The record will be around 9 songs, and will be primarily of new material. It should be released by their long-time label Hydra Head. Great news!

Unfortunately, that is the extent to the news. I want to know more! I want to hear a new song and see the album artwork (even though I can’t imagine anyone has even begun to think about making artwork for the record given it’s unfinished.) After a quick search on Youtube I found a clip of one of the new songs. Check out “Centered” here. Sounds pretty awesome. I can’t wait to hear a proper mp3.

Ocean Rivals are a rock band. What you see is what you get. Listening to their music for the first time feels familiar. It doesn’t sound particularly new, it just sounds right. Their influences are culled from past half century of rock and roll: the Beatles, the Kinks, Oasis, Wilco, and Spoon, to name a few. However, Ocean Rivals’ sound cannot be summed up by any one of those bands alone. Their music feels old yet fresh at the same time, but most of all, it sounds damn good.

Ocean Rivals are four guys who have been playing in the St. Louis scene since they first learned how to play their instruments. Vocalist and guitarist Daniel Alexander and guitarist Andrew Joseph have been making music together since they were teens, and they formed Ocean Rivals with bassist Scott Edward and drummer Robert Lewis (and a third guitarist who has since left) after their respective bands broke up. “We felt like they had the same drive and mentality for the kind of music we wanted to play. It just felt natural,” says Daniel.

That was almost three years ago. Ocean Rivals have since put out a record, and are applying the finishing touches to a new full-length entitled Summer’s Dogs. While all the drums and the mixing are being handled by Firebrand Recording, they’re doing the rest themselves. Since there is no rush on the finished product, why not be a bit picky? “We really wanted to take the time to dial in very specific sounds for all the guitar parts” Daniel explains. Despite doing most of it on their own, there was no shortage of gear to go around. “We’ve been in the scene so long, and we’re friends with really cool people and bands, it’s so easy to call someone up and get a Les Paul for this, or a nice vocal mic for that.” It’s nice to have friends with toys.

Summer’s Dogs should be out by the end of the summer, and Ocean Rivals can been seen live August 6th at Lemmons with another St. Louis (and Eleven) favorite Troubadour Dali. Be there, and see if anything sounds familiar to you.

Quick Tracks:
“Submarine Plot Thickens”
An anthem with swing and swagger. A straight rock intro that gives way to something more complicated. Excellent vocal delivery of several tongue-twisting lines with a melody that twists and turns as well, but remains in your head. Think Modest Mouse and Oasis filtered through a Fender Twin Reverb washed in sea foam.

“The Cruise Ship Song”
A banjo and piano driven, folky pop tune about taking a boat ride off the edge of the world. Could be a Beatles B-side sung by Being There-era Jeff Tweedy. Cute and delightful. Check them out yourself as both tracks can be downloaded at http://www.oceanrivals.com/freetracks.zip

Check out Ocean Rivals at their Myspace page here
Eleven Magazine

Nails are a band that knows how dish out abuse and they don’t mess around. Unsilent Death‘s 10 songs have only three that clock in over a minute and half (and one is only 1:31) with three that just barely make the 30 second mark. Every excess has been cut. Indulgence be damned.

Having come of age in bands such as Betrayed, Carry On and Terror, Nails music share many similarities to the hardcore they grew up playing. Barked vocals, lyrics exploring staunch individuality, righteous anger against repression, and feelings of alienation. Their songs follow the verse/chorus/breakdown format common in hardcore but with speeds even the seasoned dancer couldn’t pick up change to not to mention having very few parts repeated long enough in order to get down. Nails get in, make their point and get out. Hardcore dancing be damned.

Nails are not always so brief though. On “No Servant” they find the time to squeeze in a guitar solo the song would be lacking without and during “Depths” the final breakdown seems to extend endlessly without ever hitting bottom. Even the wordless minute and a half of chugs and noise on the title track feel utterly necessary to underpin the idea that Nails “will never die a silent death.” The unchecked anger and emotion is fist-pumpingly intoxicating. While listening to Unsilent Death all I want to do is take a crowbar to somebody’s head. Unlucky bystander be damned.

The relentless aggression heard on the record is very much encouraged by Kurt Ballou’s (Converge) masterful production. The guy is without peer these days in terms of getting the nastiest, heaviest, and most massive sounds out of every band he puts to tape. Each instrument shines individually and pummels collectively and the few studio effects used are subtle, which is right in line with Nails’ modus operandi of no bullshit excess. Ross Robinson be damned.

The length of Unsilent Death is in itself a testament to Nails’ appreciation for straightforwardness. 10 songs that last 14 minutes. Despite being a young band, Nails avoided the pitfall that many bands who perform shorts songs do not by resisting the temptation to compensate for play time with a higher track count. Nails are not blind with rage, they are cold and calculating. Mistakes be damned.

Seldom does one come across a band as intensely furious yet composed and put together as Nails. Check out Unsilent Death, or you be damned.

You can check out a few songs over at Invisible Oranges
You can see if Nails will be in a town near you here

The lyrical conclusion of the third song from Trap Them’s latest musical assault, the 12″ EP Filth Rations is an apt insight to Trap Them’s overall sound: Swedish death metal, Manchester grind, Cross-over thrash, pissed-off punk and abrasive hardcore. Trap Them are a summation of old styles filtered through a new lens. Whether dredging old graves or digging new, Trap Them always leave bodies behind.

Filth Rations is 4 songs, and 14 minutes of all out rage. Capitalizing on the song-writing chops honed on 2008′s excellent Seizures in Barren Praise, the new EP is without a bad track. Guitarist Brian Izzi’s song craft is reminiscent of the death metal band Carcass in the way Izzi deconstructs a riff. Instead of laying parts together, songs are created by the complete realization one or two ideas. As a result, the songs have a logical flow and feel unforced. The process works really well for the first two thrashers “Carnage Incarnate” and “Degenerate Binds” especially. Trap Them know how to bring the hammer down, but on the third song, “Dead Fathers Wading in the Bodygrounds,” is where they let the axe fall.

Like “Mission Convincers” from Seizures and “The Iconflict” from 2007′s Seance Prime EP, “Dead Fathers” brings the brood as much as it does the wrath. While the first two tracks are more Georgio Romero in their violence, the feeling of utter dread in the third song is like Dario Argento’s Suspiria. This place (i.e. this town, this country, this life) is fucked and inevitably so because the cycle of exploitation will always repeat. “We are the old graves digging the new.”

It is this dismal viewpoint that sets Trap Them apart from both the hardcore and the metal scene. Vocalist Ryan McKenney’s lyrics have been united conceptually on each record by the story of the down-trodden, fictional town “Barren Praise.” McKenney’s bleak lyrics and the aggression in the music symbolize the anger and anguish felt throughout small-town America. Despite great, prophetic even, lyrics and quality songs, Filth Rations feels too familiar.

McKenney has said that Trap Them aspire to push the envelope and really experiment with their sound by releasing an EP in between each full length, however I feel this EP does not experiment enough. Trap Them outdid themselves on their previous record, which was one of the best releases of 2008, so it is no surprise that this EP sounds more like B-Sides than new material. Great songs that just blaze old trails.

On the upside, Filth Rations leaves me wanting more, and with a full length promised to be released later this year on Prosthetic Records, hopefully I will not have to wait too long. I also hope they dig new graves rather than dredge the old, even if those plots in the ground do feel so good.

You can read a great interview here with vocalist Ryan McKenney
You can follow Trap Them on Twitter
You can listen to the first song on Filth Rations, “Carnage Incarnate,” on their Myspace

My first assignment was a record review of a local band called roAds. Here’s the review below:

My initial thought after hearing the first 30 seconds of St. Louis natives roAds’ debut album, Return of the Band, was “this is cool.” On the record, the three piece, über-talented, instrumental band group tears through nine songs with a delicate ease characteristic of educated musicians. But after a few more listens, a question arose: “so what?”
Plenty of “cool” records come out every year — why should I listen to this one? See, roAds are a band that has the ability to do anything. They craft good songs with melodic and dynamic movement. They mix it up; each song has its own identity. They even mimic interesting non-musical distractions like a flat-lining EKG and heartbeat that effectively kill and resurrect the song “Lifeline.” Brilliant, surprising, and even kind of risky.
Unfortunately, most of Return plays it safe—afraid to push any riff over the top. Even though the band captured excellent performances and production in a live setting on their record, it still feels flat. I know roAds are capable of more, and on another effort I’d like to hear them prove it. However, as far as is concerned, there are tons of cool records I could be listening to instead.

If you would like to hear the record in question, it is available for free from their Bandcamp page here.

And here’s the cover of my first issue of Eleven & you can go to my Flickr page to check out my name and work in the magazine itself.

Part of that is my own fault. I didn’t go see Fuck the Facts last month (which I really regret. I really like their last two releases.) I didn’t go to the Liturgy show in March despite driving down to the venue only to return home because I got there an hour too early and they weren’t open yet and I really had to pee. I don’t take all the blame for that one though. It seemed reasonable to me that that since the show was being held at a local record store, APop Records, I’d be able to browse the records they had for sale. I was wrong, and my bladder made me pay for that mistake.

Whatever the excuse, it had been much too long. I was NOT going to miss Nachtmystium no matter what happened. I had been digging the band since last year when I first heard Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt. 1 and they were one of the first black metal bands I could really get behind. I had already heard two tracks off of the yet to be released Addicts: Black Meddle, Pt. 2 and I was pumped to see them live. So I set my sights on Fubar.

I arrived at about 7:45pm just in time to catch the last two songs of the opening band which I wasn’t saddened to miss. They were, um, thrash?? The vocalist was definitely doing a thrash thing, I think. The guitar and bass…. couldn’t understand a note they played. Glad I missed most of the set.

Moving on, I found out a good friend’s band, Fister, was up second. I was impressed with their set up. Bass: one Sunn 4×10, one Sunn 1×15 and a Sunn amp. Guitar: two Mesa 4×12′s, and a Sunn amp. I was expecting unrelenting heaviness. As far as their “sound,” Fister is Electric Wizard meets Zozobra on a path to the highest riff high Sleep ever attained; which is to say they’re a sludgy, stoner metal band that tunes to drop A.

Their set started off strong. Big riffs, big vocals, and solid drumming. Unfortunately after a few songs the bassist’s amp blew, and there was a good 10 minutes fiddling until a back-up amp was set up. The lull kind of killed the riffed out daze everyone was in. Well, at least I was in. Other than that, they were good. And rumor has it that Sanford Parker (Leviathan, Twilight) will be recording their album.

Up after them was Thorlock. Great, great St. Louis heavy rock band. I posted on Twitter the night of the show that “Thorlock are black robed priests following the left hand path of the metal god Thorrifficus,” and do they ever. In short, Thorlock are a blackened rock band with a bit of thrash and doom influences. They do perform in black robes, and they fit right into the “Black So-And-So” heavy music trend as though their name was “Black Thor,” or better, “Black Hole: What Your Brain Feels Like After So Many Of Our Sweet Riffs.” I enjoyed the hell out of their set, just fantastic all around. Nearly perfect even. The only thing I’d add is one really slow, sludge song right in the middle to help distinguish from the up-tempo, riff your face off rocking of the rest of their songs.

After Thorlock was a brutal nü-metal band whose name I can’t remember and I don’t care to look up though I think is something like “Black Tusk” which pissed me off because there is another Black Tusk I really like whose new album is awesome and I was stoked when I first saw them listed under the bands playing this show but as it turns out it was this brutal nü-metal band instead and not just brutal, but br00tal. On top of pissed, I was baffled. Brutal nü-metal? Is it necessary? Why not just play death metal?  Hmm, maybe more on this soon…

Now the touring bands. First up, from New Orleans, Haarp. They were so AWESOME. I made more crunched-up, “guitar faces” during their set than any, probably, ever. Slow riffs to head bang to. Their singer was hilarious. Short, fat, bald, probably over 30 wearing a New Orleans Saints jersey bent at the waist as though out of breath from a short jog after hearing the ice cream truck come down the block screamed so loud, and for so long I was amazed, and delighted. The dude also spent more than half the set in the pit, interacting with the fellow head-bangers, just having fun. When he wasn’t screaming, he was head banging and smiling. When I was “guitar facing,” I was doing the same thing. Such an enjoyable set.

Nachtmystium was next. I was amped. I made my way to the front, made sure my camera was ready, and was set for their first song. As soon as vocalist/guitarist/main-dude Blake Judd started screaming his mic stand started falling. After Judd tried twice to correct it to no avail, I jumped on stage, and tightened everything. An action like that is always kind of embarrassing for me, but the six people standing directly in front of him didn’t do anything about the falling mic, so I took it into my own hands to help the guy out. Anyway, the sound directly in front of the stage was severely lacking in clarity, not at all like Haarp who sounded incredible from up front, so I moved to the back. Once in the back, I couldn’t see shit, and it only sounded 2.6% better, which is to say it sounded VERY muddy AND they even brought their own sound guy. Not sure who is to blame as the guitarist’s gear was decent. Perhaps the bassist and his cheap bass run into a guitar amp were the culprit? Either way, disappointing set, and they only played two songs I knew well.

Last band was Eyehategod. By this point I was pretty tired. It was about 11:30pm and I had been standing since about 2pm. I decided to stay for at least a few songs because I had low expectations. Before the show, I had only heard Take As Needed For Pain, and while I think that is an incredible record, I didn’t expect to hear very many songs off of it. Boy, was I wrong.

EHG opened with my favorite song, the lead off to Take As Needed…, “Blank” and my jaw fell. Not only did the entire crowd of headbangers who, up to the moment before the first chords of “Blank” were struck, had barely moved from their respective places except to take a step to prevent an unchecked headbang from taking themselves out, explode into a wall of shirtless, football moshing douchebags; my ears were knocked on their asses by EHG’s overwhelming aural force. This band was loud! LOUD! Loud AND they had such great TONE! A Les Paul into a Marshall full stack obviously sounds awesome but to my surprise on the other side of the stage there was a Parker Fly (into another Marshall full stack.) Really? You choose to play a Parker Fly? And it sounds not only good, but really, really great!? I was shocked.

EHG played not only one, but two songs I knew first thing. And in between the songs their singer proved what you may have or have not heard before: dudes from New Orleans are probably the coolest, nicest, most laid back dudes you’ll ever meet. They also seem like the kind of dudes who’d know where to get weed. And they’re probably nice enough to share it with you.

SO. EHG blew through song, after song, after song and after probably 45 songs… okay, more likely 20, I was spent. I looked at my phone and it was 1am, and it was time to go. So I bounced before their whole set was finished but not until after hearing the singer talk about how “nigger is just a word man, just a stupid word” when mentioning how they were going to play “White Nigger.” (I also heard him chant both “drugs, guns and pussy,” and “fuck the police” and countless other un-understandable phrases, but I attributed them to his being either drunk, high or both.)

All in all, I’d see Eyehategod again if I had the chance. I’d definitely see Haarp again. I’d maybe see Nachtmystium again in a bigger club, or with other more tr00 black metal bands since I’d love the spectacle of a band like Watain or Portal or something like that. Some videos of the show are here.