kMNR... October 13th, 2005

In This Issue:

Get Hypnotized By System's New Song // "Why Don't You Ask The Kids At Tiananmen Square"

We're less than six weeks from the release of Hypnotize, System of a Down's accompanying disc to Mezmerize but I have a few not-so-small pieces for you to chew on until that time arrives.

First and foremost, if you head to their web site you can now hear the lead single bearing the same title. Let me tell you, it's fantastic and if it's any indication of what the rest of the album will be like we're in for something special.

Now, if you look closely at the intro page, you might catch a glimpse of the artwork on the forth-coming album.  That's great, but why glimpse when you can actually see for yourself, from the band themselves.  The band were also gracious to show us an additional piece from the album's art work.  The eCard is also available for viewing now.

You'd think with two albums and a North American tour that Serj Tankian would be too busy for anything else, but you'd be wrong. He produced Buckethead's (ex-Guns n' Roses guitarist) new album Enter The Chicken and even appears on the song We Are One. You can hear it on Buckethead's MySpace location and the album hits stores on October 25th through Tankian's Serjical Strike Records.

Lastly, you can hear an interview with drummer John Dolmayan on Detroit's WRIF FM. The interview has Dolmayan talking about the upcoming release but is preceded by Tankian speaking about the rally the band held in front of House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office asking him to support a vote recognizing the Armenian genocide. Dolmayan even takes some shots at the record industry, contemplating how well Mezmerize would have sold if it were released ten years ago.

CD Review: Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have It So Much Better

Written By: Andy Stewart

I have to confess something. With some of the recent crop of sophomore albums being dropped in recent months, I’ve been left wanting, wishing, hoping for something more. Something that lived up to the hype.  Something that lived up to my expectations.  Something that reaffirmed why I’m a fan of that band. Alas, that something never came…until now.

It seems oddly appropriate that the title of Franz Ferdinand’s new album is You Could Have It So Much Better, which I hoped was the case. Thankfully this album doesn’t disappoint, and it manages to pack all the cool you’ve come to expect from a Scottish rock band, with none of that dreadful Bay City Rollers after taste.

The first track on the album, The Fallen, provides a song as catchy as any previous Franz tunes, but crammed with some pretty religious overtones. Part of what makes Franz interesting to listen to is their ability to change things up mid song, and deliver the unexpected. This song is a perfect example of that little trick. The band delivers the changes so solidly that it’s hard to pay attention to the message being delivered. Case in point:

“So I’m sorry that I ever resisted
I never had a doubt that you ever existed
I only have a problem when people insist on
Taking their hate and placing it on your name”

When I listened to this song the first time, I was so engrossed in the music and it’s seamlessness that I missed the meaning completely. It was only on my second listen that I clued in to the song's deeper meaning. I guess you can get away with any sort of lyric if you have a solid pop-rock tune pushing it along.

The second track on the album, Do You Want To, starts with a very Beatles-esque feel to it only to turn into one of the albums many retro fuelled tunes. This song screams, Take Me Out, and I mean that in the most positive way possible. It will have you humming throughout the song.

The rest of the album skips from cool to frantic without missing a beat. This Boy pounds straight into Walk Away. Two more different songs could not have been put together, and yet they fit quite nicely together. This Boy is a solid display of how crisp this band can sound, which blends nicely into the slower, toned down Walk Away. The song itself seems to be the end of a relationship, with Alex telling himself to be strong only to crumble near the end of the song. At least that’s what I thought it was until “Churchill clapped Mao Tse Tung on the back”. At that point I figured it could be about anything, but didn’t care because it worked so well.

Not satisfied to slow down for any length of time, Evil and a Heathen kicks the album back up again, followed by You’re The Reason I’m Leaving. It’s only then that the band provides one of the albums growth songs, Eleanor Put Your Boots On. A surprisingly subtle ballad that works despite Alex’s warbling voice. Driven mainly by the gentle piano to replace speedy drums and tempo changes, the song moves Kapranos out of his vocal comfort zone to great result.

The rest of the album is solid, and a very talented display by a band that could have easily sat back and delivered a carbon copy of the first album. Thankfully they’ve found a balance which seems to have worked. Each song builds on the foundation laid by the previous album, and provides us with catchy songs all the way through. From I’m Your Villain to the albums sleeper hit Outsiders, the album is packed with songs that will leave you loving Franz Ferdinand even more.

While sitting here listening to the new Franz album, it occurred to me that the reason why they’re so damn cool is because they have the ability to make the complex seem so easy. They managed to pull that little trick off on their debut album, and not much has changed on YCHISMB. The boys from Scotland come through with a follow up album that oozes cool, angst, and is not ashamed to remind listeners why they could have it so much better with Franz Ferdinand.

New Bloodhound Gang Release Not So Hefty

Back in 1996 the Bloodhound Gang first emerged with Fire Water Burn from their debut album One Fierce Beer Coaster. It captured the college radio audience, and song titles like Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny and I Wish I Was Queer So I Could Get Chicks earned them immediate notoriety. They followed with Hooray For Boobies in 2000 with their monster hit The Bad Touch, and suddenly everyone was singing "You and me baby aint nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discover Channel".

Despite the insanely popular alternative-dance-rock-sex song, the rest of the album showcased Jimmy-Pop and company's uncanny ability to write catchy songs with ridiculous themes. Personally, songs like I Hope You Die, The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope, Three Point One Four and Mope were not only hilarious, but contained cleverly crafted, albeit extremely crude, content. Nothing like A Lap Dance Is Always Better When The Stripper Is Crying, but that should give you an idea of what BHG are all about.

Although the themes were often juvenile, the accompanying music was excellent, and near-perfect. Sadly, Heft Fine comes up significantly short from their last effort. When BHG released their first single, Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo (Get it? F.U.C.K.), it looked as if they hadn't missed a beat in the five years since ...Boobies. The song is conceivably a rock version of The Bad Touch with its catchy hooks and even more direct sexual references. The first few times you listen to it, it's fun and cool. However, with all catchy pop-rock songs, it starts to wear thin.

The album starts off with Jimmy-Pop declaring that if Eminem can swear to sell records, so could he. The first real song on the album is Balls Out which has a cool, grinding guitar riff that unfortunately becomes repetitive real quick. From there, the album continues with the same lyrical styling as in the past, but the music doesn't seem to want to jump out at you and grab you by the, ahem, balls. It's not for lack of trying though, as songs like I'm The Least You Could Do try to gain your attention where others like Farting With A Walkman On simply do not. (By the way, you may want to skip the track following Farting... It's a filler track titled Diarrhea Runs in the Family, and it's downright unpleasant.)

The song Ralph Wiggum is exactly what you may think: A song about Ralph Wiggum, the dim-witted child of Chief Wiggum on the Simpsons. The song itself is decent, and the lyrics are nothing more than direct quotes from the long-running TV show. "GO BANANA!"...Definitely a highlight of the album, especially for fans of the show.

If there's one thing to point out with this band, it's that they certainly know how to switch gears from playing new-rock to dance without missing a beat. This is no where more apparent than on Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss. Once again though, this song falls short of what they've been known to do, but the title is humorous for the way it mocks all dance songs.

By far, the best song on this disc is Pennsylvania, a song proclaimed on this BHG web-site as the best candidate to replace the state's current anthem. I'm not really sure what to make of some of the lyrics (I guess I need to be from Pennsylvania to understand), but the song is the most rockin' of the entire album. That's not saying much considering that it's accomplished by playing simple rock chords.

Overall, it's not a horrible album, but it's definitely lacking and makes me yearn for more of ...Boobies. Hopefully the band can recapture that feeling on their next release. Then again, when you're writing goofy songs about sex and farting, maybe they don't want to.

Public Enemy Working On Political Comic Book

Comic book nerds and rappers unite! Chuck D of Public Enemy wants to release a politically charged comic book addressing the same ideologies the band has been rapping about for year. He's teaming up with Adam Wallenta of American Mule Entertainment and they hope to have it out sometime next year.

Marvel Comics originally had a plan to do a Public Enemy comic book when Wallenta was an intern there, but the idea was scrapped. When Wallenta saw Public Enemy on tour, he was inspired to move forward with the concept.

"The fiction is they are members of a secret underground organization called the Underground Railroad, while they are touring the world they act as agents of peace and justice and help people whenever they are in need. They don't have super powers but they still kick major ass," he told www.AllHipHop.com. "There will be lots of adventure and action as well as social commentary reflecting many of today's issues."

The plan is to also include a bonus CD with the comic, featuring new Public Enemy material and featuring artists from Chuck D's own label, Slam Jamz.

I Told You It's Not Safe At Mötley Crüe Concerts

Not three weeks ago, I told you that going to a Mötley Crüe concert was dangerous. Not only did a fan fall from the fourth floor of the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA, but Vince Neil himself fell off the stage hurting his leg.

This week in Casper, Wyoming, drummer Tommy Lee caught fire.  I don't mean in that, he was pounding the shite out of his kit, he's on FIRE way.  I mean literally.  Some fireworks went off, he was suspending the air playing multiple drum kits, and he caught fire.

Need I say more?

In Stores Next Week

Back in May, Audioslave did something bold. They played a free concert in Havana, Cuba, which quickly became international rock history. Now, you can witness the show for yourself as the band is releasing Audsioslave: Live In Cuba next Tuesday. It appears that there will be two versions of the release; one containing only the DVD; the other being a CD/DVD combination. The performance includes songs from both Audioslave albums, covers of Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun and Spoonman, and covers of Rage Against The Machine's Bulls On Parade and Sleep Now In The Fire. Whether or not the Cuba performance is as good as what I witnessed earlier this month remains to be seen.

Depeche Mode return October 18th with Playing The Angel, their first release since 2004's Remixes 81-04 and their first album of new material since 2001's Exciter. The band is embarking on a world tour November 2nd, with stops in Vancouver on November 15th, Toronto on December 1st and Montreal on December 4th.

Next week also marks the release of a couple of new punk releases from both Mest and Thrice. You can hear some tunes from the CD/DVD release of Photographs from Mest on their web-site. Meanwhile, you can listen to Thrice's  Vheissu in it's entirety on their MySpace location.

Lastly, I've been talking a bit about Newfoundland's Bucket Truck lately and with good reason. Their new album Favour The Bull finally hits stores next week and I encourage anyone who loves hard rock to go out and support this Canadian band.

This Week's Releases Reviewed

Is the title of this weekly segment as tongue twisting as it is fat fingering? I always seem to fuck it up when typing it up. Regardless, check out what the good folks at Chart Magazine had to say about this week's new releases such as the self titled Broken Social Scene, an early Christmas album from Reverend Horton Heat titled We Three Kings (and you can be sure that this isn't your grand-daddy's Christmas album), X-Amounts from Controller.Controller (who'll be at Broken City on October 21st), and much more:

http://chartattack.com/damn/2005/10/1111.cfm

Upcoming Calgary Shows

October 14, 2005 David Gogo with The Tony D Band Bowness Community Hall
October 14, 2005 Good Question? CD Release Party The Gateway (SAIT)
October 14, 2005 Cuff The Duke, The Old Soul Liberty Lounge
October 14, 2005 Twin Fangs, The Ultimate Power Duo Broken City
October 15, 2005 Corb Lund MacEwan Hall
October 15, 2005 Black Halos, Illuminati, Blind Assassins HiFi Club
October 15, 2005 Cripple Creek Fairies, Fallout Frequency, 800 Prospect The Stetson
October 17, 2005 Sweatshop Union, Mood Ruff HiFi Club
October 18, 2005 The Rocky Fortune, Fallout Frequency HiFi Club
October 20, 2005 Dropkick Murphys, Gang Green, Lost City Angels, Darkbuster MacEwan Hall
October 20, 2005 Moses Mayes, The Rocky Fortune Broken City
October 21, 2005 Controller.Controller, Magneta Lane, Sylvie Broken City
October 21, 2005 Judas Priest, Anthrax Saddledome
October 22, 2005 Dojo Workhorse CD Release Party with Cape May, Lions Tigers and Bears HiFi Club
October 25, 2005 Summerlad, Gunther, DJ Chris Vail HiFi Club
October 25, 2005 Matt Mays and El Torpedo The Whiskey
October 26, 2005 Metric, The Most Serene Republic MacEwan Hall
October 29, 2005 Tangiers, The Deadly Snakes HiFi Club

~~ kMNR v2005.088 ~~

If you would like to hear about or if you have any information on a particular band or artist, please email and I will do my best to cover them.