Portland-based hard rockers White Orange’s

http://www.verbicidemagazine.com/2011/09/02/white-orange-st/

 

reviewed by Garrett Lyons

Portland-based hard rockers White Orange’s self-titled debut is filled with distortion and amplifier-blowing walls of noise. The sound takes influence from heavy rock acts like Mastodon, The Locust, and The Melvins with the distorted guitars of early Dinosaur Jr. Sometimes it comes off perfectly, with the wonderful track “Wonderful” being a simple stunner. Other times, the feeling of jabbing drywalls screws into your eardrums would be less painful, with the opening track “Where” being nothing more than a crash of repetitive chords with super-fuzzed out vocals. Happily, with the exception of “Where,” White Orange is a solid metal record. There’s nothing complicated about it. It’s loud, it’s simplistic, and it is chock full of hard-edged sounds. It’s a full on rock album that needs to be played at full volume to be fully appreciated.

(Made in China Records, PO Box 10608, Portland, OR 97296)

The throbbing, ropey guitars creative a sensual vibe to Black Pussy's

Black Pussy

On Blonde

Made In China Records 2011

http://www.nocturnalcult.com/newcontents.htm
The throbbing, ropey guitars creative a sensual vibe to Black Pussy's new album On Blonde.  With a deceptive bong hit to start the album's opener, Marijuana, we are treated to some fat guitar riffs with a retro 70s stompin' beat.  This is alternative rock with a punk ethos that echoes through the catchy yet repetitive chorus.  By the end of the song though it gets a little grating due to the excessive use of the chorus.  However, this is a minor point that is quickly washed away by infectious beat and warm distorted guitar lines of Can't Take Anymore.  The whole track has a really laidback cool texture and stands as a highlight of the album.  It's like as if The Ramones had big afros and platform shoes while writing songs.  The multiple vocalists swapping back and forth on the track only serve to enhance the "cool" aspect of the track.  Swim is up next and the band lays even further back in their recliners then on the previous song.  The wood block strikes instantly have your neck popping while the guitars take an indie rock approach to some Trouble inspired riffs.  A monstrous stoner doom riff and pulsing bass guitar storm out of the speakers on Ain't Talkin about Love.  The song drops back into some slightly unharmonious vocals and fat bass before ushering back in those menacing doom riffs and bluesy guitar licks.  And the cycle repeats.  My favorite track is the closer, Indiana.  It's a more emotional and barren song relying on some late afternoon fretwork and longing vocals.  In some ways it reminds me a bit of the approach Sleater Kinney took on their song Modern Girl.  Suffice it to say I am a big fan of Black Pussy's On Blonde album.  And if you like Indie rock with some serious retro 70s references then On Blonde will be right up your alley! 

White Orange serve fresh-squeezed doom rock

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You know what I always found odd? I don’t like oranges, but I like orange-flavored things. Orange soda, orange drink, orange candy, orange cake, orange gum. All good stuff. The actual orange? Not so much.

I’m not sure I’m going to get the Vitamin C I’m missing by listening to the new, self-titled full-length from Portland doom rockers White Orange, but I’m sure willing to find out. Actually, my guess would be if anything of substance were to affect my body because a White Orange album was playing, it probably wouldn’t be all that good for me, if you catch what I mean. You do.

Anyhow, I’ve had my hands on their debut, that is just getting ready for release, for a few months now, and it’s been a bit of a strange trip for me. First few times with it I was OK with the music, but it didn’t quite resonate. I returned a few weeks later, and something about it caught fire with me, and now I’m spending a lot of time with the record. Part of this could be I now have a better pair of headphones, and all of the psychedelic color is coming at me full force. It’s a record that’s all over the map, as you can hear strains of Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Dinosaur Jr., the glammed-out David Bowie era, really early Soundgarden and Mudhoney, and so much more. It’s kind of doomy at its base, but it swings. It has a lot of pre-grunge-explosion-era Seattle in the guitar work and melodies, and the vocals are clean and smooth, but with a snarl and attitude. It’s a really cool approach that, while it draws on many camps for the formula, sounds pretty unique compared to many of today’s bands of the same ilk. I could see these guys winding up on Tee Pee Records at some point.

The songs rock pretty hard, but calling them straight-up metal is a bit of a stretch. Still, I think for those who like, say, The Sword, High on Fire and even a band like Baroness could find plenty to enjoy on this disc. The nine-track effort opens on a gnarly, stoner-friendly note with “Where,” the song most likely to get you into a full-on brawl at one of their shows. Not that we condone that kind of thing. “Color Me Black” has a bit of an ominous feel initially, with a dark, almost Danzig-like lead-in, before it melts into a sludgy groove, with Dustin Hill settling into a Josh Homme-like croon; “Dinosaur Bones” has that early ’90s indie rock slide, like it could have been something on the “Singles” soundtrack, and is one of the catchiest songs on here; “Kill the Kids” is dark, abrasive and almost hardcore-minded; and dreamy ballad “Sigourney Weaver” closes the disc on a trippy, honey-dripped note that keeps ringing out in your head after it’s over.

White Orange are like a fresh-squeezed glass of doom rock, with chewy pulp and a kick. It’s a great rock record, front to back, in an era when those things are growing increasingly rare. The songs are a blast and might even get you digging back into your dusty cassette collection from an era when the term “alternative rock” existed and when stoner metal was a drop of water on the floor and not an ocean of a genre.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.facebook.com/whiteorangeband
To buy the album, go here: http://whiteorange.bandcamp.com/releases
For more on the label, go here: http://madeinchinarecords.com/

This rough-and-tumble threesome

Red Hill Ramblers
Getting By (Spine PunchMusic)

by
DC Larson

This rough-and-tumble threesome wisely mixes the time-tested teachings of 'billies before (traditional and generally easygoing bop) with a modern, serrated blade-edge. Just as listeners are digging smooth grooves, up jumps a howling proclaimer. And that's when you know something serious came in from the back alley to prowl the hardwood. Fireplug guitarist/singer Steve and double bass-beatin' Mike Mallon, and hard-wired drummer Joe Covell have much of which to be proud.

Recommended "Jaded," "Pink Slips," "Hot Rod For Sale," "Look Out"

http://www.redhillramblers.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Hill-Ramblers/162962863742515
http://www.spinepunchmusic.com/

TO BUY CD http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/redhillramblers

VIDEO "Hot Rod For Sale" (live) http://youtu.be/7DM95_9epGY

Loud. Insane. Tritely comprehensive. A shit ton of fun.

http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/2011/10/05/album-review-white-orange-white-orange

Album Review: White Orange – White Orange

By Ron Trembath

White Orange - White Orange

Loud.  Insane.  Tritely comprehensive.  A shit ton of fun.  This could pretty much sum up Portland Oregon’s newly founded thrash rock sensations White Orange.  They are a loud brand of pyschedlic madness, the likes of which have rarely been noticed until now.  With their self titled debut album in hand, this is a group that is approachable for metal, punk, and good old rock and roll fans alike.
While a track with a title such as “Kill The Kids” might disrupt the average not-so-hard rock listener, it is actually a track that holds a 90′s alternative to everything sound that was so highly acclaimed when Sonic Youth did it a decade before, while being accepted in the grunge era as well.  Sure, White Orange is prone to a bit of screaming, but they are without a doubt a much finer portayl of thrash core than their previous successors of this age.  They take sort of classical element when composing tracks like “Save Me” and “Color Me Black”, the latter of which is very reminiscent of the highly underrated Stabbing Westward.
While we have become prone to only loving simplistic indie rock and understandable heavy metal, there should always remain a soft spot for the hard edged, exterminators of reality sound that a group like White Orange has blessed us with in this strangely distant day and age.  Sometimes we just need to rock.  But how can we do this without losing our artistic integrity?  Just throw in White Orange’s self titled beauty and begin to relive the glory years when “alternative” was not a brand name for bullshit radio stations playing “Spoon Man” on repeat while advertising mattress outlets.  Rather the period where you could be loud, proud, and purposely deprived of adhering to the social norms.  You know, the way rock and roll was suppose to be!