Jen's Music Review

Jenness Mitchell • Published 28 Jul 2010 08:31 0 Comments

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Violent Soho: Violent Soho

Returning with their self-titled second studio album, Brisbane's Violent Soho have a flavour of early Silverchair and The Pixies mixed with a sprinkle of Weezer.

The bass is heavy, the vocals will scratch your eardrums and the banging beats will have your foot stomping and head swaying with each track.

Regarded as their debut release through the re-recording of old songs, I am very happy to see the reappearance of lead single Jesus Stole My Girlfriend as it is an absolute blinder.

Punk grunge at its best, Violent Soho are easy on their lyrics but give serious thought to the riffs as heard on Son of Sam, Generation and Muscle Junkie.

Outsider and Slippery Tongue slow the record down, but any sweet listen is soon forgotten with the metal melodies of Love Is A Heavy Word, Bombs Over Broadway and Narrow Ways.

In little over 30 minutes, Violent Soho have delivered a record that in turn could tempt grunge to make a comeback.

Ellen Woloshin: Water Into Wine

I am going to be as delicate as I can with Ellen Woloshin's second studio album, but unfortunately I really did not like it. I like love ballads like the next woman, but when the opening track (Making My Way Back) would make for excellent elevator music, you know you are in trouble.

The second track, Joanna, was bearable as the instrumental reminded me of a score you would find within a Disney cartoon, but by the time I reached track three (In My Dream) my attention was beginning to wander.

A native of New York and with a background in jingle writing, I am actually surprised Woloshin seems to have been unable to create a single track with a great hook.

Although her lyrics are solid, it is the music I find extremely vanilla. Round We Go Again has a hint of excellence, but is missing sparkle which I have to blame the vocals of Woloshin herself.

Monotonous and lacklustre, I believe Woloshin would get on better if she had someone else front the songs penned. In its entirety Water Into Wine is very poetic, but when the only morsel of life on the album is a cover of The Beatles' We Can Work It Out, there is not much left to say.

Step Up 3D:

Various Artists

After our very own StreetDance 3D, I did not think it would be long until the Yanks answered with another episode from their Step Up series.

Ignoring the premise of the movie, which I am sure will be Oscar worthy, the soundtrack itself is pretty neat.

From the likes of Flo Rida ft David Guetta, T-Pain & Roscoe Dash, MIMS and Estelle, there are plenty of alternative dance numbers to have you jumping in your cinema seat.

Personal highlights included N.A.S.A's Whachadoin? (featuring my woman Santigold), Jesse McCartney's Up and Get Cool's Shawty Got Moves.

iTunes Download Recommendation:

Oscar Charlie/Little Buddha

Both Oscar Charlie and Little Buddha were recommended to me by Ava Sim of Shetland and Rachael Woods of Glenrothes respectively whilst waiting in the crowd at T for Florence + The Machine to appear onstage.

Who would think a random meeting in the middle of a field would result in two of the coolest recommends I have received in an age?

Hailing from Scotland, both Oscar Charlie and Little Buddha each have a unique sound that I instantly liked.

Along with Jack Butler, Pareto and Stevie & The Moon, Oscar Charlie could easily take over the indie Scot rock scene if given half a chance.

Their track The Do's is an absolute epic number and may possibly become my anthem for the rest of the summer.

With Little Buddha, think along the lines of Sonic Youth, Morcheeba and a very light Veruca Salt and you've hit the mark.

Lead vocalist Kat McDonald sings with a swagger in all the right places, which in turn will captivate any audience.

Check out http://www.reverbnation.com/littlebuddha for a selection of their sweet sounds.

Extra Info:

If you've got a recommendation of artists you think I should tune into or an idea for the Classic Collection section, hook me up on Twitter. You can find me by searching Jenster13. Your suggestions may then find themselves in print.

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