Discovery
Action Action
"The Army of Shapes Between Wars"
Victory
'80s rock lives according to Action Action, whose latest 13-track homage to the decade is laden with a bevy of synths, tortured vocals, sugarcoated choruses, and lameness. Cashing in on the hipster dance rock phenomenon, this quartet's Depeche Mode by way of The Cars delivery is a hard pill to swallow even for fans that remember Duran Duran and Cutting Crew as incendiary artists. Avoid this disc unless you have an '80s fix that Wang Chung can't cure. www.victoryrecords.com
- Mike SOS
Little Toby Walker
"Toby Walker Plays Well With Others"
Independent
Toby Walker is the best guitarist I know. His approach is heartful yet virtuosic. He makes any style seem easy from the most difficult transliterations of John Philip Sousa to the emotionally arduous works of the traditional blues canon. Toby makes music as a way to communicate directly with the soul of the listener. Whether it's with pain or humor, picking or sliding, alone or in the company of some of the world's premier artists, in a local LI library or in a venerable pub across the pond, Walker is all there. Toby's newest is ripe with satirical wit as he describes going postal in "Been On the Job Too Long." Appreciation of soft skin and fine curves fills "She's Got Something There" while he tears through a gut shaking "Death Don't Have No Mercy." His gal has something on the side, some other guy's eating his filet mignon and there's wondering about possible afterlives showing that Toby does it all. The axework is fluid, lighning fast and perfectly phrased while his vocals are like a friend telling a story. Adding depth and dimension are the outstanding talents of his supporting and guest artists.
- Doc Blues
Bitterweed
BOO!
Buzz Factory
Gritty NYC rock band Bitterweed's latest offering BOO! showcases this female-fronted quartet's dark edged hard rock. Sparkling with an unabashed intensity throughout the entire 10-track collection, you can almost feel the personal pain seeping through on tracks like "Joy" and "Love," whose misleading song titles compellingly emit the opposite emotions. Displaying a keen sense of how to build a song to a hair-raising crescendo, tracks like "Living" with its jarring saxophone and tribal beat, the swirling big '90s rock stomp of "Pansy," and the somberly tender tribute "Estas Aca" are when Bitterweed are at their best; moody, brooding, and locked in a deep groove. There aren't a lot of smiley faces or sunshine rays passed around on BOO!, just a heap of grungy undertones, caustic riffs like the one in "Seizure," and a plethora of anger and confusion put to good work while exposing the underbelly of life in the Big Apple. www.bitterweed.com
- Mike SOS
