 | | | | | |
| LAPDANCE LARRY |
| SEVENTIES SIMON |
| PHOTOGRAPHY |
| COMIC ART |
| INTERVIEWS |
| Sub-menu 1.2.1.1 |
| FESTIVALS |
| EXHIBITIONS |
Habeas Corpus – Living Things
I’ve always liked music with an opinion. A little righteous indignation never hurt the edge that rock music should have. Bands like The Clash and Rage Against The Machine used it as a tool in trade and it gave the songs they produced that extra edge. The brothers Berlin-Rothman (Lawrence, Yves & Josh) and their band, Living Things can be added to that list of groups with opinions.
After a few albums on various labels, this American act made a big impact with the Steve Albini recorded album, Ahead Of The Lions. The rage behind its lyrics set this work apart and caused critics to draw comparisons to some rather iconic rockers.
With their new album, Habeas Corpus, in that grand grumble rock tradition, they bitch about materialistic wishes (Mercedes Marxist), suffocating love (Oxygen), headline surfing (Snake Oil Man) with its line “War is murder with a noble name”, anti-American sentiment (Dirty Bombs) and working for the chain gang (The Kingdom Will Fall). Also in grand grumble rock tradition after having a strong opinion on all these topics, they offer no real solutions, just vitriol laced rants.
It must be beyond most rock rebel rousers take on things to actually offer solutions but the bigger the topic, the more complex the remedy and how many words can you comfortably fit into a four minute rock song. Until popular trends allow ten-minute songs to be played on commercial radio again, we will have to be content with more questions than answers but with music as easily ignitable as the 11 tracks on Habeas Corpus that will have to do, for now!
Rob Hudson
www.livingthingsmusic.com
| also featured |
|
| Tenacious D – Rize Of The Fenix Comedy and music have never been the most comfortable of bedfellows. Read more >> Allan Holdsworth – Hard Hat Area When you have a musician with as much facility on their chosen instrument as Allan Holdsworth has on guitar, there is absolutely no limitation on what can actually be played. Read more >> Jack White – Blunderbuss With a work ethic and musical output rivalled by few if any, Jack White sets aside all of those numerous other projects to create a set of songs under his own name. Read more >> The Decemberists - We All Raise Our Voices to the Air (Live Songs 04.11-08.11) Facing more obstacles than most in translating their studio confectionary into a meaty live sound, The Decemberists have attempted just such a thing with We All Raise Our Voices to the Air. Read more >> White Rabbits – Milk Famous Using their sophomore album, It's Frightening as a template, White Rabbits take a stab at progression. Read more >> Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth Do some popular music statements come out of a time warp or do they create their own? Read more >> Slivovitz – Bani Ahead When you have superlative players’ on board, things can easily digress into instrumental insurrection, on Bani Ahead, Slivovitz side step this problem by being almost completely consumed by the groove. Read more >> Big Deal – Lights Out All band notoriety aside, is there any subject matter that creates more column inches than love? Read more >> My Best Fiend – In Ghostlike Fading Like the Werner Herzog film the band is named after, My Best Fiend delivers an album deep in duality. Read more >> |
|
 |
|
| Stay up to date with modmove news | |
| about modmove |
|
| What to know how we got started? Read more >> |
|
| read the modmove blog |
|
| Check out all the random stuff that didn't make it to the website! Read more >> |
|
| contact Us |
|
| If you have any queries or if you would like more information about modmove, we would love to hear from you! Read more >> |
|
| join our mailing list | |
| subscribe to the mailing list and receive the modmove newsletter. |
|
| search | |
|
Privacy Notice | Contact Us | Site Map | Copyright © 2009 modmove.com | Entertainment and Popular Culture in Review at modmove.com