9. July 2014
Things You Can Buy Today 9 July 2014
So, here in a few minutes you’re gonna find that there is nothing bananas, twisty brained, drunkenly or goofball about this week’s Things You Can Buy, Nope, simply two need to have albums swimming in diversity and some history.
First we’re looking at a Scottish duo that the internets have rightfully been going Oh Hell Yes about and then some old school metal legends doing what they do and you’re not going to change that. Own it!
Hey, grab something to swig on and let us begin to dig in with what we’re listening to this week and thoughts from around the web. (Click the album title for more infos)
Honeyblood – ‘Honeyblood‘ (FatCat) (Pre-Order)
Scottish duo Honeyblood (Shona McVicar and Stina Tweeddale) have a lot going on. At first glance you may think “Oh God, not another female pop duo!” and that is fair enough but look again. Their unpretentious power-pop, casual clothes and manageable hairstyles make them appear approachable on many levels. Is it deceiving? Probably not, they are less a pre-planned marketing ploy and more of who these two ladies are and hopefully remain. Garage rock pop with little boundaries, exploring the world around them perhaps without fear of trying to fit the mold, whatever that may be…They do not seem to aggressively forcing rockstar on themselves.
That is how it should be. That is how you last in the bigger picture of the music business, supposedly. Trying to do what you think is meant to be never really works out in the long run. The charms of Honeyblood are that there is nothing perfect about Honeyblood, there isn’t any reinventing the wheel in their sounds, they are trend free, their egos seem normal size and they seem in awe of all that is happening. Endearing, tangible and a little tease here and there are a grand foundation materials for these two, soon to be rockstars, to build on.
It isn’t just the band’s accessible without becoming candy music that has peeked my interest but how they present themselves in the media. Open, honest and, again, in awe of the goings on around them. One fine example is this interview Honeyblood vocalist Stina Tweeddale gave Noisey’s SarinaBloodgood. Stina cited Bikini Kill and Babes In Toyland, talks about the emotions of playing to bigger audiences and how people perceive them, “When I was a kid, I loved girly, punk rock bands like Babes in Toyland and Bikini Kill. All of these bands are really important to me because at school, there was definitely that aspect of you can’t play guitar. “What do you need an electric guitar for? You’re a girl.” I got that at school a lot. It made me feel like if these bands that I love can do it, I can, too. That was something that I really connected with and something that is really important to what we do. Generally when you’re on tour, you do find a lot of that and that is just the reality. Especially when you’re on big, long tours and you’re tired, grumpy, and have been driving for hours and some guy gives you attitude. You’re just like fuck you!”, and Tweeddale added, “There have been times where people have scoffed at us and I’ve been so angry. But, after we play, they’re usually apologetic and see that we can play. But, mostly the type of stigmatism we get is for not having a bass player. I’ve had a lot of people come up to us and tell us we need to get a bass player. They could just say to me hey, you should be a guy, but instead they say we should have a bass player. [Laughs.] It’s the same deal. I wish that was not true, but it is true. You always get treated differently and I think it’s more difficult as a girl touring because you’re always the minority. (full Q&A here)
Do what I have done and scour their YouTube spot and check out Honeyblood’s offerings and then order up their self-titled album out 14 July for further investigation. You’ll see, Honeyblood are refreshing fun. –Walter Price (The GTC)
Judas Priest – ‘Redeemer Of Souls‘ (Epic)
We’re almost embarrassed for the big-time music mags and online blabber junkshops that have had the nerve to slight the all mighty metal Thundergods Judas Priest and their new and 17th album Redeemer Of Souls.Calling out the rifftastic band on their ‘nothing new here’ approach to this album. Shameful.
If you want, inventive metal go play on Bandcamp and discover some totally fresh hard rockers with killer guitar solos. Bands.who ultimately got their unique style from Priest, Maiden and Metallica, then please come back and tell the world that Redeemer Of Souls is an album that was made by older, lazy in creativity and comfortable to a fault has-beens going through the motions. Indeed.
We give huge fuzzy heart shaped kudos to Loudwire’s Graham’Gruhamed’ Hartmann who got it right about the album. In part Hartmann said, ““Besides Judas Priest’s ‘Turbo’ period, ‘Redeemer of Souls’ seemingly touches on each style the ever-evolving band has tried out, and for fans of Priest’s earlier work, the tracks ‘Hell and Back’ and ‘Crossfire’ will catch your attention. The two songs are steeped in a blues-heavy groove, reminiscent of the heavy Black Sabbath influence found in ‘Rocka Rolla.’ The sound can feel slightly disjointed from the purely epic first half of ‘Redeemer of Souls,’ but the progression is also significantly refreshing and keeps the album from becoming stale.” And he finished his review in perfect manner saying, “All together, ‘Redeemer of Souls’ is a strong release from a band that created some of metal’s greatest and most timeless works. When fans eventually compare ‘Redeemer of Souls’ to Judas Priest’s 16 other full-length albums, the 2014 record may not rate among the very top of their discography, but must-hear tracks like ‘Halls of Valhalla’ and ‘Sword of Damocles’ can hang with Priest’s greatest songs. To grab a copy of ‘Redeemer of Souls.” (full review here)
Right!
What are you listening to this week?