Senser - How To Do Battle

Senser - How To Do Battle 2/5
[Imprint Music]

Despite good expectations from Senser’s latest release, ‘How To Do Battle’ it just doesn’t shine. It's unfortunate as the songs aren’t bad, but none stand out and make this album something to rave about. Kerstin Haigh’s vocals do offer an extra dimension but the songs simply aren’t good enough to take advantage of this. If Senser are looking to go to battle with this album, I wouldn’t be confident of victory.

Senser released their first album in 1995. It went platinum and was followed by tours with Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool. Unfortunately forteen years later the metal/rap genre is a bit more competitive with established acts such as Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and even more coming through in recent years. The politically charged lyrics of Senser don't carry the music to support it, and this latest release may easily get lost in the masses of alternatives available.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

JET - Shaka Rock

JET – Shaka Rock 6/10
[Real Horrorshow Records/Five Seven Music]

JET release their third studio album on the 7th Sept with Nic Cester (Vocals/guitar) calling it the band’s ‘most honest so far’. The band worked as co-producers with Chris “Frenchie” Smith on the album and unfortunately it doesn’t make a good first impression. First track, ‘K.I.A.” cringe worthily features kids providing backing vocals.

However, when you get into the album, tracks ‘She’s a genius’ and ‘Black Hearts (on fire)’ show JET coming into their own. The simpler songs, without much production really stand out, especially ‘She’s A Genius’ and ‘Seventeen’. These show off some awesome guitar solos and catchy melodies that can hook listeners.

Chris Cester (drums/vocals) says. “I can say the band is thrilled by Shaka Rock in every conceivable way. There are moments on this record that are just pure... and moments that just rock harder than we ever have before.”

To put it simply, for fans of pop/rock music then this JET album is definitely worth a listen. It doesn’t do anything new for the genre or for JET either, but they do what they do well and a lot of people will enjoy it.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Broadway Calls - Good Views, Bad News

Broadway Calls - Good Views, Bad News 7/10
[Side One Dummy Records]

Straight off the bat Broadway Calls’ second album comes at you much rawer than most other pop-punk out there today. First track ‘Midnight Hour’ sets the tone for much of the album, no frills just a guitar, a bass, drums and vocals. It’s a very simple format which Broadway Calls use very well, delivering a sound that's all too rare these days.

Originally signed by Billie Joe Armstrong, they have a resemblance to early Green Day, mixed in with some Jawbreaker and Alkaline Trio. “We’ve always written songs that we wanted to hear, and that’s definitely true with Good Views, Bad News” said Ty Vaughn (Guitar/Vocals).

Tonight Is Alive hits as the anthem from the album, a feel good song with front man Vaughn repeating the line ‘I’m singing for all of you.’ The mature sounding ballad of ‘At The End’ concludes the album and shows the variety of songs they can offer.

You can catch Broadway Calls playing a couple of shows in London (25th August) and Manchester (26th August) with The Offspring and also at Leeds/Reading Festival this year.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Kerrang! The Album '09

Kerrang! The Album '09 7/10
Rhino

Kerrang!’s annual album release tends to be one of the better compilation album you can find and the 2009 edition brings together some of the best songs yet. CD1 focusing on the pop/rock side can boast the big names of Green Day and The Prodigy but every nearly every song on it is a gem. Billy Talent’s latest release, ‘Rusted from the rain’ is a particular highlight. You find yourself having a need to listen to this song after the first time you hear it. Although these Canadians now have three albums of material this could be their best song yet.

There is the odd inclusion of Paramore’s ‘Misery Business’ from the 2007 album ‘Riot’. Not to take anything away from a great song but why include a song from two years ago on a 2009 album, especially when Paramore have more recent material from the Twilight film. Other than that the first CD continues to reel out great music with Alexisonfire, Madina Lake and The Blackout.

It’s nice to see Cobra Starship’s ‘Pete Wentz is the only reason we’re famous’. Despite not getting much expose in the UK Cobra have built up a great fan base and many will be happy to hear this bouncy pop number.

The second CD is much heavier in comparison with the likes of Slipknot and Dragonforce kicking it off, and what a way to start. The Ghost Of A Thousand and In Case Of Fire are two young British bands who put out great albums in the past months and their contributions really stand out.

Papa Roach and Fightstar make an appearance with two of the tunes for what’s left of the summer with ‘Lifeline’ and ‘Mercury Summer’. Brilliantly winding down the album is Sheffield’s latest big things in Rolo Tomassi and Bring Me The Horizon.

Two great CDs but, the likelihood is if you like the first disc, you won’t be too fond of the second and vice versa. This is the problem with Kerrang! The album ’09. Obviously there will be people that love both discs and people that hate both but they offer a good mix. Maybe you’ll find a new band you like that you wouldn’t have listened to, which is always good.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Serpico - Neon Wasteland

Serpico - Neon Wasteland 8/10
[WeSaySo Records]

Scottish quintet, Serpico, announce themselves to the rock world with their debut album and they could be around for a while yet. Their metal, punk, rock driven sound hooks you in and you'll be singing along in no time.

All songs, including first single 'We Own The Night' are really good rock tunes and feature some standout guitar solos especially in 'Alkaline Nights' and 'Last Honest Cops.' The most notable song is the anthemic 'Kultura' a treat to see live and you can feel the energy coming through.

It's possible some of you have already seen Serpico, the band preferring the classic route of extensive touring and promoting rather than being a MySpace band with 'some fancy haircuts.' Taking to the road in 2007 and rarely being off it, Serpico have provided support for AFI, Aiden, Kill Hannah, Elliot Minor and Black Stone Cherry amongst others. This was topped off with a set at this year's Download Festival.

'Neon Wasteland' is an impressive first showing from Serpico, and hopefully there will be more to come.

Comfort in Sound

Papa Roach - Naked And Fearless Acoustic EP

Papa Roach - Naked And Fearless Acoustic EP 8/10
[Interscope Records]

Although only three songs long this is a beautiful acoustic EP from Papa Roach. If you were wondering, the three songs it features are latest single 'Lifeline', 'Had Enough' and 'Carry Me' and all are done very well. The softness of the acoustic guitar, really lets you appreciate Shaddix (Vocals) voice more so than normal and the whole band shine on this trimmed down version of their latest work.

'Lifeline', the single released on the same day as this EP, is a great song with its easy to sing-a-long with chorus and catchy riffs, none of which is lost in the acoustic version. Overall a great show from the California boys of just how talented they are.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Rancid - Let The Dominoes Fall

Rancid - Let The Dominoes Fall 6/10
[Hellcat]
The last time we heard Rancid was way back in 2003 when they released Indestructible. Now their seventh studio album comes packed with more than enough to make up for wait. And when I say more than enough I mean quantity, nineteen tracks in total.

Looking at the track listings you would assume that there would be some filler which is unfortunately true. Still it's all listenable. It's Rancid, not at their best, but still good. Tim Armstrong (guitar/vocals) said “The crew is back doing what we do best... We approached every element of this record as a team, and the result is my favourite Rancid record to date.”

Rancid may be considered a typical ‘punk’ band and that's something missing from this album. But, to ignore their ska and country elements is an oversight, most notably in ‘Up To No Good’ which features Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Booker T. You definitely pick up a country feel in ‘Civilian Ways’ which is a stand out track, a mostly acoustic song inspired by the soldier’s journey of Armstrong’s brother to Iraq and back home again.

The final song ‘The Highway’ really gets Armstrong’s point across “just wanna play one more song and make some music with my friends.” And Rancid really get that feeling of playing for the joy of it across. It an enjoyable album, maybe not worth the six year wait though.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Chris Cornell - Scream

Chris Cornell - Scream: 3/10
Today is the UK release of Chris Cornell’s controversial album, ‘Scream’. This is the former Soundgarden/Audioslave front man’s third solo album following 2007s ‘Carry on’ and takes Cornell in a completely new direction. This change of style has led to Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails criticising Cornell over Twitter, and has already had a poor reception in the states.

The reason for this album being ‘controversial’ stems from it being co-produced by Timbaland and it is fair to say his influence can be heard. To Cornell fans who are thinking ‘I'm sure it’s not as bad as everyone is making out’, it really is; next to no guitars involved, lots of over production and nothing like the Cornell of old.

Some tracks such as ‘Time’ and ‘Two drink minimum’ do showcase Cornell’s amazing vocal ability and they seem to have escaped the claws of Timbaland on the most part. But, for the rest of the album I can already picture former fans cringing, especially with the electronic, chipmunk like, voice changing effects on tracks like ‘long gone’. It is more for fans of artists like Justin Timberlake than for fans of Chris Cornell. This new direction could create an interesting reception at Download Festival this year, which Cornell will be at after missing last years.

Cornell has already peaked on the US billboard charts at number 10, so if he was looking for chart success he may well achieve it to some degree. However, Scream seems to be for new fans, not fans of old which is disappointing.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound