Music Reviews

By Cheryl Noland

Chris Isaak sings a familiar tune

By Cheryl Noland

TSC Writer

Do nice guys always finish last? Sensitive singer/songwriter (I guess I should add actor and heartthrob) Chris Isaak tries to dispel the rule on his eighth album Always Got Tonight. Though the CD echoes a familiar theme of love gone wrong and is packed with desperate ballads and trademark high pitch falsettos, Isaak makes it feel refreshing and new.

Capturing our attention in "Notice The Ring," no doubt his best song off the album, Isaak delivers a catchy surfer tune that the boys of Smash Mouth could cover. It's the only song Isaak produces on the album, though he's written all of them.

His stunning new single, "Let Me Down Easy," is currently being played in the promos for his second season of the Showtime comedy television series, The Chris Isaak Show. The original theme song, "American Boy" also makes an appearance on the album.

The track "Cool Love" sounds like a slower, slightly inferior version of his previous hit, "Somebody's Crying." He softly sings, "Love was so close. Finally it came to me." Once again, Isaak thinks he's discovered the "real thing."

It's hard to believe that a guy like Isaak has trouble finding love but it just goes to show that the stars don't have it any easier. B

Punk band, 1208 secures its place

By Michael Moeschler

TSC Writer

The debut album from 1208, southern California's latest offering into the punk rock market, successfully follows in the tradition of South Bay legends Black Flag, Pennywise, and The Descendents.

1208's debut on Epitaph, blandly titled Feedback is Payback, incorporates the ingredients necessary for any successful punk rock recipe: driving guitars, thick bass lines, battering drums, and vocals that scream intensity.

Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Adam Flynn, captures a sound reminiscent of Offspring frontman, Dexter Holland. The chanting chorus from bassist Bryan Parks and lead guitarist Neshawn Hubbard combined with Flynn's biting lyrics: "Give me my lesson for today/Fill me with hope and quickly betray/It's my fault" from the opening track "1988," left me in anxious anticipation for the following 13 tracks.

Produced by Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise fame and Darian Rundall, Feedback is Payback reveals powerful anthems that challenge authority, question relationships and confront pop culture.

As 1208 blasted through the 40-minute album, my hand never reached for the fast forward button on the remote control. Standout tracks like "Just Anyone," "Scared Away" and "Retire" highlight an album powerful enough to wage war on mainstream punk rock. On the speed driven track "Speakeasy," Flynn cries out: "Some say were a waste of space, I think we've found our place." 1208 has definitely found their place in the remarkable punk rock scene of so-Cal.

1208 creates a cocktail of punk rock potent enough to leave any listener's head spinning with pleasure. A

New distinction found in Distillers latest album

By Nate Seltenrich

Ass't Scene Editor

Take two parts female, two parts male, mix in unmistakable talent and punk sensibilities, and let rise. The result? Sing Sing Death House, the Distillers' second album - a raw, yet tasty and filling treat.

The Distillers know what street punk is all about and don't skimp on the portions. This album is served with the immediacy, honesty and ferocity of experiences that can't be faked or manufactured. And lead singer Brody Armstrong's memorable and profoundly unfeminine growl expunges any doubt that she's lived through the pain and rejection about which she sings.

All this is achieved with such musical competency that the band's story isn't told through quite the same sense of chaos that set it in motion. Rather, it is narrated by dancing bass hooks, perfectly loud and simple punk rock guitars and boiling drums that drive the music without getting in the way. But this approach doesn't filter the street from the music. It amplifies it, translates it, and paints it with a passion that is punk through and through.

Sing Sing Death House embodies the old maxim of taking something bad and turning it into something good.

As Armstrong said in an interview with Rockpile, "Punk rock is kind of like a savior. It saved a lot of people I know, and it saved me. Punk rock is your outlet instead of shooting someone."

The interplay between positive and negative in Brody's lyrics illustrates her message: "I love a man from California / He's the prettiest thing / We've got the same disorder."

The man she refers to is Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong, her husband. The Distillers were fairly or unfairly likened to Rancid after their first, self-titled record, but have nevertheless undoubtedly stepped out of the shadow with this album.

The Distillers are a punk powerhouse in and of themselves, and if they can do this much with their second release, it would be prudent to expect good things from them in the future. I devoured this album, but am still hungry for more. B+