Trollheart

Last album in round two, people. Discuss, review and comment here.

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Zhanteimi

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Zhanteimi

LetsTalkMusic

Psy-Fi

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
It sounded mostly like D.O.A. crossed with The Reverend Horton Heat but not nearly as interesting as either one to me.

2. What did you think of the opening track?
Sonded like Jane's Addiction crossed with The Reverend Horton Heat.

3. What did you think of the next track?
Sounded like "The Prisoner" by D.O.A. crossed with The Reverend Horton Heat.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?
Average for the genre.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?
Some of it I enjoyed and some of it sounded a bit mediocre.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it?
It went back and forth.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
What I could understand, generally sounded interesting to me.

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?
Some of it, yes.

9. What did you think of the production?
Sounded good.

10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
Had never heard of them before this.

11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
Not usually. When I'm in the mood for punk or rockabilly, I listen to one or the other. Not much into the combination of the two (with, perhaps, certain songs by "X" being a rare exception.)

12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
Listened three times. Liked some of it it a bit more after the first listen.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?
"Outlaw Heart" started out like a Johnny Cash song and continued with an outlaw country vibe all the way through. I especially dug the pedal steel guitar playing throughout the song.

14. And the one you liked least?
Their cover of "Twenty Flight Rock" wasn't awful but it seemed like the weakest track on the album to me.

15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated?
Listened to it first, found out it was a debut afterwards.

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
I might check into them some more just to see if they have any more songs similar to "Outlaw Heart."

17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
When I saw the album cover, I thought they were probably going to be a hard rock/metal band.

18. Did the album end well?
I thought the last track was one of the weaker ones on the album, so no.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
"Twenty Flight Rock" seemed a bit out of place. Maybe swap it for an original song which would fit in a bit better.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
I thought it hung together very well.

6/10

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MicShazam

This album made me think of a bunch of things, so I'll take them first.

Some singers employ this sort of forced whine/wimper with which they start every line and I just plainly don't get the appeal. It sounds awful.

Some genres of music, while I can hear that the songs are not literally the same, seem to consist largely of songs with a very particular vibe and no variety worth mentioning. Rockabilly, psychobilly, surfer rock, 50's rock-n-roll, pop punk... all of those genres seem criminally underdeveloped to me and I can't really stand any of them.

What's with the damn kickdrum on this album? It sounds awful. I have heard drummers do a similar clattering rhythm (is it even only a kick drum?), but this drummer is out of time constantly with that sound, plus it just sounds bad and is horribly mixed. Takes the cake for being the most baffling production choice I've encountered in quite a while.

It really is quite astounding how much variety there is in the complete musical landscape. I'd say I have fairly broad tastes, but there's still so many genres out there that offer all sorts of specialized listening experiences that I haven't heard or haven't developed any appreciation for. I definitely can't say that I'm one of those rare music geeks who like everything. I really do have pretty specific tastes if you take the entirety of what exists into account. This Tiger Army album has personality and it's going to be someone's favorite thing ever. To me, it's doing nothing at all that I want from an album.
I should definitely remind myself from time to time that I'm not as worldly and open minded as I sometimes think I am. If you hold my musical tastes against all music that exists out there, I've barely got wider tastes than your average top 40 radio listener. There would barely be any difference, if you calculated it as a percentage.

I could write a long list of genres I don't like, and psychobilly would be on that list as one of the first.

It's basically hard to talk about the album itself when I have no relationship with the genre. The songs sound largely the same to me. One was a bit more country. Some a bit more punk. But they evoke the same unappealing mood to me all the same.

Not only do I not like this album or even the whole genre, but I'm not going to bother even trying to like it.

At least I got the humbling experience of being reminded how I can't really say that I'm all that musically open minded. I try out lots of new things, but I also very much know what I'm looking for and what I don't like. Some of you in here have vastly broader musical horizons than I have.

3/10 - not horribly annoying, but there was nothing for me here.

OccultHawk

This is some very bad music. Like a subpar Stray Cats that want to sound like the Clash. A dollar short, a day late, and corny. As far as I know, the worst music to ever gain a foothold at Gilman. 1/10.

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Trollheart

I haven't listened yet, and I'm not prejudging, as often I like or even love albums others hate, but. But. BUT... Two of my least favourite genres together? It doesn't sound like a very good omen.
Back later.
Much, much later.

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Trollheart

I'm sure there was one released this year, so I expect I'll come across one.

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RiPS

Tiger Army - Tiger Army


This started out cool but as the album went on it didn't really go anywhere.

Kinda disappointing although the guitars stayed cool.


Two and a half stars.

innerspaceboy

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
I'm not particularly well-versed in psychobilly. This will be interesting. I'll preface stating that this really isn't the space I'm in right now after a long and arduous night of hardware troubleshooting, but I'll give it my best.

2. What did you think of the opening track?
Psy-Fi's assessment was spot-on. It's certainly got a steady and unrelenting beat.

3. What did you think of the next track?
Perhaps its my novice position, but I'm having difficulty distinguishing one track from another. The next several tracks seemed to have a uniform tempo, melodic structure, etc.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?
I'm not picking up anything exceptional from the vocalist. I was actually expecting a little more energy, but maybe his laid back performative style is par for the genre.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?
Definitely not bad. Again, not where I'm at today, but I've no issues with it. In the right headspace this could be quite enjoyable.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it?
Some vocal effect changes aside, the whole thing sounded very uniform. I'm not sure if that's a plus or a minus here.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
I couldn't understand any of the words. In part that a result of the muddy production quality. Though that might be intentional for the genre?

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?
Sure. Though the percussion left a bit to be desired in my opinion.

9. What did you think of the production?
See #7.

10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
Totally new to me. I spend very little time in rock territory, but this definitely wasn't bad.

11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
See anything I've ever posted ever.

12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
One listen seemed sufficient to forumulate a basic opinion on this one. There wasn't a lot to dissect or analyze. Straightforward psychobilly. And that's just fine.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?
Suprisingly I liked the cover track the best, possibly because it sounded the least like this new-to-me territory and was more in the style of the classic 50s sound I'm familiar with.

14. And the one you liked least?
"Werecat." It was more of the straight-up punk tracks and that's not really my bag.

15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated?
I was researching a bit about the band while I listened, and saw it was their debut around track 10. I'd be curious to see how their sound refined itself or evolved over the course of subsequent releases.

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
By the time I reached this question, "Outlaw Heart" was playing. I agree again with Psy-Fi that more of this wouldn't be bad at all.

17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
I cued it up without reading a thing about them, and the opening seconds sounded as if there'd be some atmospheric jazzy territory here. Sadly that was not the case. Surprisingly, it was the country elements that I enjoyed most about this record.

18. Did the album end well?
It ended with a sound consistent with the rest of the record. Nothing terribly novel, but a strong finish to the album.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
Percussion. Either get new gear, introduce greater variation, or record and mix the drums differently. Or better yet... all three.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
Definitely consistent. And a respectable first effort.

5/10

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FaSho

Misfits, but without the substance, and leaning more towards the rockabilly than punk side of psychobilly. I'm familiar with a couple of their newer songs and the production on here is definitely stripped down and less polished by comparison, but that is the nature of most psyhcobilly records I've heard. Saved three of the tracks (True Romance, Never Die, and Outlaw Heart), but otherwise this whole thing is fun but forgettable. Would much rather listen to AFI's first couple records
5.8/10

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