Monday, February 23, 2009

Fudge Tunnel - Hate Songs in E Minor

Fudge Tunnel were from Nottingham, England and lasted from 1989-1995. They put out three albums and a handful of singles/EPs. Hate Songs in E Minor (also called Fudge Tunnel's First Movement) was their first full-length. It came out in 1991 on Earache Records.

The band had a sound that didn't fit comfortably into any one genre. Although, at times, they were saddled with both the metal and grunge tags. I've also heard the term noise-rock used to describe them and supposedly the band named Big Black as an inspiration for their sound.

This record is great. I used to have it on cassette but lost it years ago, so it's cool to rediscover it. Heavy as shit, but not overly repetitive and monotonous, there's enough variety in the songs that you can listen to it often and find something new to like each time.

Check out an mp3 of the song "Tweezers" and a video clip of the band's cover of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" below:

Tweezers



Earache only has Fudge Tunnel's last two records for sale on their site, but you can find used copies of Hate Songs on Amazon or download it on emusic.

Friday, February 20, 2009

I'm Blipping Now...

I'm on this blip.fm thing. It's a good idea, but there are a lot of bands that can't be found and a lot of times when you can find a band but not the song you want. Still, I'm liking it. Songs I've picked are here.

More BBB updates soon. No... really, I promise.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The Arrivals - Marvels of Industry



Marvels of Industry is the third full-length by Chicago's The Arrivals. I'd describe it as melodic yet gritty pop punk, but singer/guitarist Isaac Thotz doesn't like the pop punk tag. In an interview, he said: “I don’t know if I’d call us pop punk. We’re pop punk like Chicago pop punk, like Naked Raygun and Pegboy. I think we fit in that kind of vein. We’re that middle-school, ’80s Chicago pop punk, but not pop punk after Green Day." They definitely have more in common with Raygun/Pegboy than Green Day, but the band they remind me of the most is Dillinger Four (which makes even more sense when you know that Paddy from the D4 is in the band now).

Even though the songs on Marvels of Industry are catchy, no one tune stood out the first time through. It's the kind of album that grows on you the more you listen to it. No weak songs, so it's not easy to pick which to share. Check out the YouTube clip of the band playing "I'm Sorry For Saying Sorry" and an mp3 of "Open Faced" below:


Marvels of Industry is available from Recess Records. The band's first two records were released by Thick Records.