---

Friday, 19 March 2010

Hell City Kings * Born Liars * Automatic Thrill

Hell City Kings - (Houston, TX) "Show up at a Hell City Kings show and you might get hurt. The Houston five-piece's new full-length comes on like a full-on brawl between the Misfits, Turbonegro, and Social Distortion, all chainsaw riffs and lyrics obsessed with death and destruction. Its music for binge drinking, making bad decisions with the opposite sex and most likely waking up in jail. with titles like "scumbags & scallyways" and "Soundtrack to the Apocalypse" you were expecting Death Cab for Cuite?" -Chris Grey, Houston Press Review Road to Damnation "Wolf is one of the best frontman we have seen around this town in some time, and he brings a totally full-contact vibe to the HCK that wasn't there before. He's abrasive, scary, and unpredictable live. Anyone who has seen him front the Homopolice can attest to this. The first song we saw him sing with the band was "Never Let Go" from the band's newest album, Road To Damnation, and he completely took ownership of it. With Christian Larson and Bill Fool up front on guitars, the band couldn't be quiet if they tried. It's fun relentless drunk stuff that never fails you. This was a good move on the bands part and we can't wait for their next show when they open up for this new bastardized version of the Misfits in a few weeks. We may just leave after they play seeing that the Danzig-less Misfits suck now." - Houston Press

Born Liars- (Houston, TX) "This Houston quartet's songs combine the streetwise switchblade blues of Exile on Main Street-era Stones with some of the Replacements' boozy entropic tendencies, and their live shows usually result in bloodshed, bail bonds or both. Luckily, they released this vinyl-only LP back in March for those of us who sometimes have a little trouble remembering." - Houston Press Best Texas Albums of 2009 "Go-for-the-throat guitar steams off this flat black platter like chilli off an extra-hot Tex Mex gourmet pizza, which is less than coincidental given that Born Liars are from Houston. This is Album Number Two with a third in the pipeline (the first is reviewed here) and that's an indication that things are good in Born Liars' small corner of the rock and roll universe. It's a place that's uncluttered by concessions to style or fashion, which means you won't hear them much on radio or see their fllimclips (if they bothered to make any) on TV. Cool by us. "Ragged Island" sits somewhere between a clear-headed Heartbreakers in its tight-loose intensity, The Dragons for its skilful guitar attack and the early Groovies for its nod to rock and roll roots. Raw, rambunctious and band-mannered, "Ragged Island" reels off its 10 songs like matches off a book of them, each flaring brightly until the next one's ablaze. There's nothing especially complicated about Born Liars' songs or delivery: Big backbeat and Jimmy Sanchez's whiny sneer over a rumbling bass and the sparring guitars of lead guy Scott McNeil and the singer. The raw, stripped back production (courtesy of Chris Ryan at a cut-price place called Dead City Sound) sounds like the aural equivalent of a fuck-you finger raised in the direction of commercial radio. Which all the best stuff is. The opening salvo of "Little Match Girl" sets up the show with driving, serrated guitars that set to each other like cats in a hessian sack. "How It Gets" might be a love song but it's not exactly handled with care. Sounds great, though. "Spare Change" careers around like the Kinks in a car accident. Take your pick from just about any track. They're all in the same class." - I-94 "Funny how just a slight change of direction can make all the difference. Instead of following the tried and true path of a zillion Rip Off/Mummies/Supercharger clones off the cliff into faceless oblivion, these kids make an end run around all them other punters and turn in something more memorable simply by approaching the same material with a nod to ‘80s bands like the Lyres. The result loses none of the rawness or intensity, but the delivery is so much more assured, diverse and, I dunno, real than most peddling similar wares these days. Impressed is I. “Don’t Tell Me, I Know” makes good use of the same chords as the Standells’ “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White,” too. The 7” is more of the same, with two tunes from the LP and one that ain’t."- Razorcake

Automatic Thrill- (Houston, TX) They have a new page with some music on myspace they are working on - check it out.

 

Last Update Monday 8 March, 2010