Dave's Reviews
Mike's Reviews
CD Review for Randy- The Rest Is Silence
Randy is basically a Swedish Propagandhi. Trust me this is a good thing! Randy's great guitars combined with strongly opinionated lyrics are very similar to Propagandhi. Propagandhi are possibly the greatest punk band that not many people know of. There are a couple things with Randy that are unique to them. The first is that of the lead singer's vocals, they sound like an obnoxious european teenager. At first I didn't like it but it grew on me very quickly and now I don't love it but I don't mind it. The next thing that stands out about Randy is that they have a lot to say in their songs and instead of trying to fit them into a 3 or 4 minute song they still try to fit it into only 2-2 1/2 minute songs. When I opened up the lyrics I thought each song would be at least 4 minutes. I was stunned when I tried to follow along with the singer and he went through a line of capitalism bashing before I was done the first two words. This fast-singing is the most unique aspect of Randy and is a major reason to buy this CD. The lyrics outshine the music but you need the lyric sheet to understand what he is singing. The lyrics are possible the most political i've ever heard and are worth the price of the CD.
I am going to give this CD a 91 out of 100. The guitars are incredible and the lyrics are amazing too. If they slowed down the lyrics it might be a bit better, but that is up to them not me.
Review by Mike Case
CD Review for Randy- You Can't Keep A Good Band Down
You know how in my review for The Rest Is Silence I said that the only possible thing they could improve would be to slow down the vocals and space everything out a bit? Well....THEY DID!!
They realized (unlike many other punk bands) that you don't need dirty, shouting, in your face lyrics to get a strong political message across. They let the lyrics stand for themselves and allowed more melody into their songs. Don't get me wrong they didn't go soft or anything they just smoothed it out a bit. When you buy this CD (and you will) you get two gifts in one package. You can read the lyrics sheet alone and be amazed and you can just listen to the music. When you put the two together you get something very rare and extremely special.
This CD is everything I could have hoped for and more. I give this a well deserved 96 out of 100. It is extremely well done but I still can't compare it to my favourites Bigwig and Reset even if it is probably more well thought out.
Review by Mike Case
CD Review for Randy- The Rest Is Silence
I bought this CD after hearing only one song- Whom To Blame, and I thought it was only okay. I popped it into my CD player and heard the fucking coolest guitars ever!!! They reminded me a lot of Propagandhi's earlier stuff (How To Clean Everything) and I couldn't believe how fast they played their songs, it's incredible. Now, when I first heard Randy's singer I thought "His voice is a little whiny, but what the hell." I have totally changed my opinion, well he's still whiny but now I think he's got a great voice and clicks so well with the music. he also writes really inspiring lyrics that tell of his views and opinions of how the world is going to hell, and he's doing his best to make the world a better place. This CD really grew on me and because I liked it so much I went out and bought You Can't Keep A Good Band Down. These guys in a nutshell sound like Propagandhi(guitars and lyrics) crossed with Millencolin(singing). If you don't like the mp3s the first time around try again later, because I didn't think they were that great when I first heard them, but now I think they are amazing!
I gotta give this at least 93/100 because it just makes you want to jump around and... stop eating meat!!!???
Best Songs(At Any Cost, Whom To Blame, On The Rack and Kiss Me Deadly[Cover])
Review By Dave Norman
CD Review for Randy- You Can't Keep A Good Band Down
I got this CD after I bought The Rest Is Silence, and I was...confused, at first. It sounded really different, slower and less punkish. I wasn't disappointed, I just wasn't sure if I liked it or not. That's all changed, because now I love this friggin' CD!!! It so good and original and different and thought-provoking it's freakin nuts man! The lyrics are similar to The Rest Is Silence (which I like) and the two non-primary singers sound much better. They sing Step Out Back(not very good), Epidemic Ignorance(amazing), Me And The Boys(best guitars on the CD), and Powergame(not that great). But with 14 songs they are pretty much all really good. I think this CD, musically, sounds like Sloan and Weezer sometimes but a little harder and faster. Ahh I can't explain this CD very good, just listen to the MP3s already.
Great CD, 95/100 because I don't know if I like it better than The Rest Is Silence.
Best Songs(The Exorcist, Epidemic Ignorance, They Fear Us and You Are What You Fight For)
Review by Dave Norman
Dave's choice from The Rest Is Silence:
On The Rack
Mike's choice from The Rest Is Silence:
At Any Cost
Dave's choice from You Can't Keep A Good Band Down:
The Exorcist
Mike's choice from You Can't Keep A Good Band Down:
(coming soon)