Live at the Thirsty Whale 8.15.09 by Hyatari
So, it was with great excitement and anticipation when we heard Barry Smith talking about working on a live Hyatari recording on Facebook.
Fast forward a few days, and somehow, we get hooked up with it...
Phantom Moon by John Lancaster
It would surprise nobody that the guy who used to front Chum would release a rockin’ solo debut of richly arranged, groove-based melodic hard rock songs. What may surprise you is how Huntington’s John Lancaster pulled it off, and who came along with him for the ride...
What We Will Be by Spirit Night
If Shepherdstown’s Dylan Balliett doesn’t do anything else with the education he received at WVU, he’ll at least have something to show for the time he spent in Morgantown. Together with his friend, FOX Japan drummer Pete Wilmoth, calling themselves Spirit Night, the ex-Russian Tombstones members have released one of the best CDs we’ve heard in our time here at WVRockscene...
Stalk and Slash Splatterama Pt. 2 by The Renfields
There are a few local bands that we’ve got to cover, that, it wouldn’t matter if they never played another show or put out another CD, we would be rocking ‘em out years from now.
Maybe no other band falls better into this category than the Clarksburg-based “Transylvania pogo punk” outfit known as The Renfields. Having, over the course of the last three or four years, snagged copies of The Night THEY Came Home, Bastard Sons of Ed Wood, and what is now Stalk and Slash Splatterama Pt. 1, we’ve quite honestly fell head over heels in love with Team Transylvania’s version of fun, horror movie-themed punk rock...
Distraction Packed by Todd Burge and the Odd Urges
Todd Burge, one of the premiere songwriters in the state, returns with hilarious, quirky, sometimes sad (but always with intelligent wordplay) folk-flavored and alt-country type songs on his latest release, Distraction Packed, with the Odd URges (Rodney Crihfield, Billy Matheny and Joseph Hale)...
Present Passed by Librarians
Depending on who you believe, Present Passed, the new 10-song CD from Morgantown “baroque pop” four-piece Librarians, is either the best new CD of 2010 (Grafitti) or a colossal waste of time (the Daily Athenaeum). The truth, as it so often does, lies somewhere in the middle...
Long Way To Go by The Fox Hunt
We’ve said it before: by the time we get our hands on anything awesome here it’s been out for a while. Such is the case with Long Way To Go, the new CD from the rockin’ Martinsburg-based bluegrass and country four-piece called The Fox Hunt.
Released waaaay back at the end of February, their third full-length (and fifth overall) since they formed in 2006 is packed with 12 foot-tappin’ road weary, love-lorn, drunken, (and yeah, sometimes sober) ditties...
Exit Anthem by Attack Flamingo
Let’s be honest; a large portion of what are known as mainstream Christian rock bands do not in fact actually rock. The phrase “Christian rock” has seemed like an oxymoron for a long time. And while, yeah we don’t want to generalize an entire genre from what we’ve heard on 93 K-Love, the bands? God awful.
And while their Christian faith is the driving force behind the music, Attack Flamingo really does rock...
The Dreadful Horoscope (self-titled CD)
We’ve got like a half dozen new CDs in the past month or so, and this eponymous 10-song debut from Morgantown’s Dreadful Horoscope, just kind of fell into our lap. We’d been on their MySpace page a few times to link ‘em to shows, but hadn’t paid too much attention to their overall sound. Released on Tucker Riggleman’s Big Bullet Records, we had a feeling it would be worth a listen, though, and are glad we gave it a spin...
My Bloodless Wife by It's Birds
When it comes to evaluating art -- music, film, messed up barbecue pits -- it’s been argued that a piece can and should stand on its own; that comparing, say, a new CD to previous works can be largely irrelevant. That’s good for us, because we’re starting fresh with It’s Birds recently released nine-song sophomore CD My Bloodless Wife.
The Morgantown-based math rockers follow up 2007’s Horses Love Me Yes I Am (which we didn’t hear) with more confounding time signatures, chord progressions that sound like M.C. Escher staircases look, and lyrical absurdity -- just look at the song titles...
Down the Narrow by Mark Bates
Over the course of 11 songs of Americana and alt-country, 22-year old Hurricane native and Nashville transplant Mark Bates, on his recently released CD Down the Narrow removes not only any doubt as to his musical talents, but also, the depths of his insanity...
The Forgetting Place by Jeff Ellis
Looking at things one way, it seems like Jeff Ellis just can’t catch a break.
Back home from serving in the Middle East in the Army Reserves, the 29-year old Huntington resident and Marshall University student barely seems to have time to make great records in between work, school, and, most importantly from a songwriting perspective, getting his heart trampled on by female love interests...
Introducing The Whiskey Daredevils by The Whiskey Daredevils
We didn’t set out this year to turn WVRockscene into OhioRockscene, but when there are bands we know about, and whose CDs we’ve rocked in the past, we are more than happy to take it any way we can get it.
At this point, the no frills cowpunk/rockabilly outfit The Whiskey Daredevils have released on average about one record a year since brothers Greg and Ken Miller, with drummer Leo Love, birthed the band out the side of The Cowslingers. Haling from Cleveland rock city, the Daredevils return with 13 songs and an awesome new guitarist (Gary Siperko) on Introducing The Whiskey Daredevils, a CD we were super stoked to get in the mail...
It Leads To Poverty by Legbone
We’re such big fans of the Dayton, Ohio-based punk rock outfit Legbone that, despite them being huge Buckeye fans, apparently, we just have to review their new 10-song CD It Leads to Poverty. And in case any WVU fans were looking for an “enemy of my enemy” type reason to love Legbone -- don’t worry, they’ve got one.
So yeah, we’ve had Legbone’s last two CDs, Different Path and the now 10-year old Natural Light-themed Beer:30 CD. Different Path is one of our favorite punk CDs of all time, what with its 15 songs worth of of gnarly, high-energy skate punk -- seemingly merging the tempo and tone of Pennywise, with the irreverent, party-or-die lyrics of NOFX...
Pull (EP) by Lake and Ocean
Remember the 1990’s? Back when grunge and/or punk were said to have broken? Well, if you’re a fan of bands from that era (as we are) you will love Lake and Ocean’s five-song debut EP Pull; we’re surprised how much we do.
The Magic Town-based indie/shoegaze sextet pulls together some nice Pixies/Sonic Youth-meets-Vaselines (?) grunge-flaked throwback sounding Brit-rock on their debut; what once was old is new again, or, depending on your perspective, never really got old...
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