Review Wrap-Up: April 2013, the hard rock edition

In today's Review Wrap-Up we are looking at the latest releases from three well-respected rock acts of different eras. First is Rob Zombie, the lord and master of many a teenage party in the 90s. He is back with album number five that he has decided should be called Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor for some ungodly reason. Second we have Melvins who have been freaking people out across the world for 30 years now. Everybody Loves Sausages is their very first full covers album and it is in a celebratory mood. And finally is Black Star Riders, the band formed from the ashes of 70s icons Thin Lizzy. With new vocalist Ricky Warwick in toe All Hell Breaks Loose is their official debut which hopes to survive on the former band's good will. Read on music lovers. - Prof Ric.

#1: Rob Zombie - Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor

There once was a time when Rob Zombie, along with Marilyn Manson, was the reigning king of shock rock. Nowadays he seems to be focusing more on his film career while being a musician sits on the back burners. While that is not a bad thing (some of those movies are really good) it may be starting effect his musical output. Hellbilly Deluxe 2 was fairly by-the-numbers but still contained moments of brilliance. Is anybody going to say the same for Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor and its quite frankly ludicrous title? Speaking of stupid names, 'Ging Gang Gong De Do Gong De Laga Raga' does its darnedest to recall to caustic rasp of Butthole Surfers. Speaking of Mister Manson, two of his former collaborators are now backing the Zombie: drummer Ginger Fish and longtime guitarist John 5, who manages a couple of standout moments on this record. These two are old hands at this type of anti-pop and are well up to the task. If only the songs were more memorable. We have all heard Rob bark about sexy demons and vampires and we have all heard him say “yeah!” more times than is absolutely necessary. It might be aiming at big dumb fun but that road is feeling a little too familiar.

Rating: C+

Recommended tracks: Ging Gang Gong De Do Gong De Laga Raga (which also takes the medal for 'Song title you least want to mention in conversation in 2013')

#2: Melvins - Everybody Loves Sausages

For nearly 30 years Melvins have been having their wicked way with their fans. With the creation of a new album you never honestly know what to expect. It could just as easily be an hour of painful feedback as it could be a muscular rock and roll workout. What we have in Everybody Loves Sausages is an old-school, honest-to-goodness covers album. This is not entirely unfamiliar territory given 2000's collection of covers and collaboration entitled The Crybaby. Cover albums are usually a way for die-hard fans to peek behind the mask and see what their favourite band's favourite bands are. With Melvins though, the eternal pranksters that they are, you do really have to wonder. These tracks range from the sludgy (Venom's 'Warhead'), to the raucous (The Kink's 'Attitude'), to the unexpected (a cutesy rendition of Queen's 'You're My Best Friend'). Punk to pop to thrash to glam: its all here. Along for the ride you can find Jello Biafra, JG Thurwell, and Mudhoney's Mark Arm among others. With all of these different musical genres and writing styles represented, Melvin's ramshackle approach to making albums really pays dividends. Everybody Loves Sausages may not have the acclaim of a full-blown new Melvins record but there are plenty of good times to be had.

Rating: B

Recommended tracks: Black Betty, Female Trouble

#3: Black Star Riders - All Hell Breaks Loose

First and foremost Black Star Riders must be commended for going under a new name as opposed to relying on the Thin Lizzy moniker to move units. The band consists of various members of the legendary band throughout the year. It is that sort of integrity that many other bands could have used when trying to continue after the death of a key member of their personnel. That being said Black Star Riders bring very little new to the table of All Hell Breaks Loose. Every song is wall-to-wall twin guitar riffs and endless bravado from new vocalist Ricky Warwick. The whole affair is exhausting and you really appreciate the few songs that aim to break the mold. 'Kingdom of the Lost' taps back into the Celt-rock vein that made 'Whiskey in the Jar' such a bit hit for the Lizzy. If you like your rock blunt and unambitious then have I got an album for you! Everyone else should just keep listening to your copies of Jailbreak and remember the good old times.

Rating: C-

Recommended tracks: Kingdom of the Lost

Album Review: Iron & Wine - Ghost On Ghost

When it was released in 2011 Iron & Wine's Kiss Each Other Clean saw the band pushing into more bombastic territory. It was a move that alienated some of their older fans while at the same time opening new doors for him His usage of electric guitars, organs, and horn sections on that album fleshed out the band's sound and signposted his moving away from the quaintness of his early work. The sound was bigger and louder than ever before and the singer/songwriter/whole-freaking-band Sam Beam dived into the turmoil with gusto. His new album Ghost On Ghost is, if anything, a quiet step backwards in that regard, favoring quieter moments over explosive ones and introspection over exhibitionism.

Kiss Each Other Clean and Ghost On Ghost are inescapably two sides of the same coin. While the overall sound of these two albums vary dramatically there is plenty of room for a common ground; a brotherhood of shared theme and motif. The latter's 'Low Light Buddy of Mine' plays out like a sequel to 'Monkey's Uptown' from the earlier. The cheerful refrain of first track 'Caught in the Briars' beams brightly as a pleasant introduction to the piece only to be thrown into prog rock explorations in the coda. These new songs kick at the borders already sketched out and bleed out into new territory. The days of the quaint troubadour are far behind us by now, glistening in the rear view mirror.

Iron & Wine are still pulling new tricks out of an infinitely deep bag it is just that the tricks themselves have changed. You will find less rockers and twangers but more jazz trio leanings and loose-limbed rhythms. This approach is best distilled on 'Lover's Revolution'. It starts quaintly like a bop outfit at a dive bar, gently and with minimal instrumentation. The song unfurls it many layers and it marches forwards; voices shouted out of the shadows, keyboards, and a steadily rising momentum. At the apex it ignites into an instrumental bridge like the unruly child of Van Morrison and King Crimson. The song is so dynamic and damned unpredictable it stands out a mile from its peers.

No matter what other instruments are on display the focus always returns to Iron & Wine's finest asset: Beam's voice. The only apt description for it is 'angelic' and it is front and center of every single song on this album. It aches in the slow-burning weepers ('Grass Widows' ) and elevates on the joyous rave-ups ('Grace For Saints and Ramblers'). Ghost On Ghost is not a particularly flashy album on the surface. It seeks to seduce you with its heart over cheap spectacle. The hooks are buried beneath the music's skin and it might take multiple spins to unpick them but the effort is well worth it.

Rating: A-

Recommended tracks: Lover's Revolution, Low Light Buddy of Mine, Singers of the Endless Song

Album review: Clutch - Earth Rocker

For over 20 years now, Maryland's Clutch have been one of America's most solid and consistent rock and roll proponents. Across their ten albums they have managed to crank out some of the most energetic and thought-provoking rock music of their age without ever pandering to the Top 40 crowd. The charm of Clutch lies in what is essentially their simplicity. They have never needed violins, armies of vocalists, Tibetan nose flutes, poly-rhythmic cyborgs, or Viennese castrati to have that point of difference. All they have ever had to do is be themselves because they are elemental in nature - an unstoppable presence in the music industry.

On Earth Rocker the band continue to gleefully cherry pick from rock's vast history and re-purposed every element to their own unique design. Lead single, and album opener, 'Earth Rocker' is a take-no-prisoners style barn-burner. Singer Neil Fallon appears to be channeling the groovy spirit of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, letting out a bone-rattling moan worthy of the original voodoo bluesman himself in the song's high-octane chorus. Between bellowing like a barbarian or groaning like a ghost, Fallon remains the one of the most literate front men in music today. At every turn you feel as though you have just missed out on catching some arcane reference or biting piece of social commentary. He may deliver the lines like a drunkard at a truck stop but he crafts them like a poet. None of this ornate prose gets in the way of shit kicking fun of course as Clutch can straddle the line between high and low art with ease. 'Unto The Breach' cribs an AC/DC riff and pushes it further into the red than you might have thought possible, further proving their party animal pedigree.

The one song that stands out from the pack is the downright creepy 'Gone Cold'. It looms out the mist and bong smoke right in the middle of the album and lays out a southern-fried swamp jam before receding back into Louisiana folklore. The main goal of the album might have been to retain a single-minded focus but 'Gone Cold' gives the listener a breather, like a surreal intermission straight out of the movie Deliverance. If this song does not grip at your heart with icy talons then you should probably see a doctor because I'm not sure you're alive. Earth Rocker is a record straight from their modern mold: lean, precise, and aggressive. It is this formula that was engineered on Robot Hive / Exodus, completely disregarded on From Beale St. to Oblivion, and resurrected in glorious fashion for Strange Cousins from the West. Their legion of fans already know what to expect and will lap this up hungrily. Everybody else, well, they are long overdue to catch up.

Rating: B+

Recommended tracks: Earth Rocker, Gone Cold