Shotgun CD reviews are short reviews on CDs that you can usually pick up for $10 or less. For further explanation, check the FAQ

DigitalDarryl recently let me know that I’ve been seriously neglecting my Shotgun CD reviews, and I’d say he’s right. Although I have a ton of them written, they’ve just always been pushed to the back burner by other posts.

Let’s see if we can’t get back on track and get you through today with a little music…

Zeke - ‘Til the Livin’ End (punk):
You remember Zeke, don’t you? They took the number two spot in my Top 10 Driving Albums List. This album is 15 songs in 30 minutes, which puts it in the category of blazing punk rock. When you consider that the other two Zeke albums I own have more songs and average 10 minutes shorter, this is actually their slow album. Like all Zeke’s albums, there is barely any time to breathe before the album is over, but the extra 10 minutes allows for some three minute songs to break up the absolutely blistering pace that Zeke normally doles out. Three minutes can feel like a twelve minute stoner anthem on a Zeke album, but I think the longer songs create a on-ramp for stoner fans to merge onto the Zeke superhighway. B+

The Dirtbombs - Horndog Fest (garage/rock):
The Dirtbombs are a Detroit rock band fronted by Mick Collins of Gories/Blacktop fame. Their sound is a rough combination of garage, punk, and Motown that comes off sloppy at times and truly inspired at others. Even though the disc was the band’s first effort way back in 1998, it doesn’t show the amateurish tendencies of a freshman release. The style is an extension of the garage influences that Collins developed in Blacktop, and is a stylistic forerunner of the later Dirtbombs releases. It’s sloppy, catchy, and fun to listen to when you’re walking with your headphones on. It has that “theme music of the badass” feel that makes it impossible to avoid adding a bit of swagger to your gait. Solid. B

Gluecifer - Automatic Thrill (rock):
Scandinavia might be best known for the inaccessibility of both its bikinis and its death metal, but they have produced a number of solidly accessible rock acts. Among them are the Hellacopters and Backyard Babies from Sweden, and “Demons” and Gluecifer from Norway. Unlike their peers, Gluecifer tends to ride a little too close to the pop/rock path for my taste. It’s rock, but the pop influence makes the disc largely forgettable. Yet one track, “Car Full of Stash“, kicks enough ass keep me from trading the CD out the door. If only the rest of the album were like that one track, I might listen to it more. C

Six Feet Under - Graveyard Classics 2 (death metal):
I found this for $4 in the death metal section during the Tower Records going out of business sale last year. At the time, I had no idea that the band was a Cannibal Corpse side project, but when I flipped the disc over and read the track listing, it immediately went into my buy pile. This is a note for note remake of AC/DC’s “Back in Black”, but with the death metal vocals. I can’t tell you how hard I laughed the first time through. Now, I actually enjoy it, and it was the gateway that got me used to Cannibal Corpse vocals. If I ever get around to making a compilation of covers that I’ve been promising Digital Darryl for years now, you can be sure it will contain something from this album. B

“Demons” - Stockholm Slump (punk):
The best way to describe “Demons” is Sweden’s greaser punk answer to the New Bomb Turks. They only put out a couple of full length albums on Gearhead records, so I couldn’t believe my luck when I happened to spot this at a local record store for a buck during one of Keidra’s visits to Boston. The tracks average three minutes in length and although nothing really stands out, it’s not a poor listen. Short, undifferentiated tracks are just the nature of this genre. When you’re not in the mood for the frantic insanity of Zeke or the ripping treble of the New Bomb Turks, “Demons” fills in the middle ground with plenty of foot stompin’ greaser punk rock. B

Iscariot - Lifeless design (metalcore):
If Phil Anselmo (Pantera) decided to do death metal vocals over a weird mix of grindcore, thrash, prog rock, and melodic metal, it would have been called Iscariot. I love this album. Even though the changes between the styles can be sudden and difficult to predict, it’s a rhythmic wall off noise. At times, it makes an absolute mess all over my speakers as if someone uncorked a big bottle of crazy, but that’s something that I tend to enjoy. You might pick it up for the melodic leads or the juggidy jah jah rhythm, but you’ll start getting used to the heavier style and end up buying only albums with decapitations on the cover. And I won’t blame you, because this album has so many different styles blended together, I see it as a gateway drug to heavier music. A-

Dozer - In the Tail of a Comet (stoner):
I have a big soft spot in my black little heart for riff-driven stoner rock, man. I really do. At one time, Dozer was considered to be Sweden’s answer to Kyuss, and this release is considered one of the high points of their discography. Unfortunately, it was also their first release. The vocals sound like they were sung by John Garcia himself, and the riffs are channeled right out of the Kyuss song book. Because it was released on Man’s Ruin records before they went under, it’s incredibly difficult to acquire on the cheap, but for stoner fans, it’s an absolute must-have. Thanks to my crazy parents, I got it as a gift, and I can’t thank them enough. A

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