Album
Noah’s Barks pages relating to music albums.
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The Shaggs – “Philosophy of the World” (1969)
Haha, what the hell is with Helen Wiggin’s drumming? She never stops tapping away for even a second. It’s like someone sat her down at the kit and flipped a switch on her back to the “on” position and walked away. Obviously, no one in The Shaggs is known for their musicianship—quite the opposite, which… (read more)
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Vampire Rodents – “Lullaby Land”
Vampire Rodents’s Lullaby Land is brutish, misanthropic industrial in the vein of Skinny Puppy. In fact, Lullaby Land has a lot specifically in common with Skinny Puppy, most noticeably in Anton Rathausen’s sinister gremlin-like vocals that sound almost identical to Kevin Ogilvie’s style. For one last comparison, Lullaby Land sets up the same kind of… (read more)
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Royal Trux – “Twin Infinitives” (1990)
On Twin Infinitives, Royal Trux use their constantly mutating guitar lines and faint, twinkling, sustained keyboard notes to paint an acid-soaked vision of a nighttime cityscape’s dark underbelly. Streetlights sparkle through a veil of smoke, carrying a heavy drug-induced haze protruding from shadowy alleyways and underground clubs. Jennifer Herrema is the star vocalist on Twin… (read more)
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Roy Harper – “Man & Myth”
You know, for someone who spent most of the ’80s directionless and confused about what the values in his music were, Roy Harper has made quite a stark recovery since 1990’s Once. Each album since has been an enjoyable affair from the cult-classic wordsmith and elegant string-picker, culminating in 2000’s The Green Man, which can truly be… (read more)
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Lizzy Mercier Descloux – “Press Color” (1979)
Lizzy Mercier Descloux’s classy, lounge-esque vocals on “Tumour” coupled with its perverse, post-punk guitars imitating saxophones it an indisputable highlight. Press Color is generally not energizing enough to be a great dance-punk album, and doesn’t go far enough into no wave territory to be endearingly abrasive. The combination of two genres known for their energy… (read more)
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Suicide – “Why Be Blue” (1992)
Somewhere along the line, keyboardist Martin Rev and vocalist Alan Vega lost their initial one-of-a-kind chemistry and began to pull in different directions. If you ask me, it happened with Why Be Blue. I won’t deny Suicide’s self-titled debut album is easily their best, and neither would most people, but I still think they had… (read more)
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Suicide – “American Supreme” (2002)
Another Suicide album, another different sound. Martin Rev plays minimalist techno beats on American Supreme, which are kind of fun, but you quickly realize how repetitive they can get when not backed up by the layers and rhythmic complexity of classic techno albums, like those by Underworld. At the very least, they don’t necessarily play… (read more)
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Kyuss – “Welcome to Sky Valley” (1994)
Often considered Kyuss‘s best album, and I’m on that side. I said before on my Blues for the Red Sun review that while the psychedelic meanderings of the album were very charming, there were times when they tested my patience and the album could often lose focus and the momentum it had going. Welcome to Sky Valley… (read more)
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Sons of Kyuss – “Sons of Kyuss” (1990)
Technically the first Kyuss release—same band, different name. They’re already unquestionably stoner rock at this point, though the base in blues rock is more visible here than even on their faster and more aggressive “real” first album, Wretch. And as mediocre as the production was on Wretch, on Sons of Kyuss, even the recording itself is… (read more)
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Kyuss – “Wretch” (1991)
As everyone says, the production on Wretch does indeed suck (I wouldn’t call it wretched, but I want you to know I thought of the pun and could’ve used it). Everything’s too low-level, and this can’t rock as hard as it’s trying to. But you can still feel the energy, and Wretch is Kyuss‘s most… (read more)