Fiercely Me

I love music more than you love your children.  Oh except for the fact that I'm always looking for something new and it takes a lot to keep the old stuff around.  Just like your children! Not-so-ridiculous record review rating scale: 1 day of beach vacation:  Really?  That's all you got? 2 days of beach vacation:  That's called a weekend.  Meh. 3 days of beach vacation:  Nice.  Almost enough to last a while. 4 days of beach vacation:  Quality time!  Worth the price. 5 days of beach vacation:  The best!  Classic!  Cool!  Conch! Band of Horses "Mirage" 2.5 days of beach vacation.  Simple.  Rock. The first song "Knock Knock" made me hopeful.  It's direct.  To the point.  Rock and roll with simple production.  There are other tunes on this new record that are also pretty cool.  However there is a lack of hooks.  The songs are all just kinda cool.  Nothing is "Knock Knock"-ing me out.  Highlights: "Knock Knock" and "S

Records spin one time over the Internets (usually).  I come up with some obvious yet slightly weird rating system.  Each record gets a rating and some snarky comments.  Okay maybe not snarky, but probably not very nice.  I don't like very much new music these days. 1 Sack of Jay Cutler - Ehh...most people living in Wisconsin can claim one. 2 Sacks of Jay Cutler - I guess that's pretty good.  But he probably still beat you down field more than 2 times. 3 Sacks of Jay Cutler - Cool.  He's rattled and probably threw at least one interception. 4 Sacks of Jay Cutler - Nice!  You probably beat his team! 5 Sacks of Jay Cutler - You are a BEAST!!!  We need your ring size! Patterson Hood "Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance" 3 Sacks of Jay Cutler.  Pretty cool. Patterson Hood is the main songwriter and vocalist in the band Drive By Truckers.  He is a true storyteller.  The songs on this solo album are not going to surprise you if you know his music.  Each son

Back at this being a jerk thing.  You know.  Writing about records and telling you that it's all crap. Random rating scale: 1 brand new air conditioner - Yuck. 2 brand new air conditioners - Ok, but it's still pretty uncomfortable in here. 3 brand new air conditioners - Nice.  Better than the Joneses. 4 brand new air conditioners - Now you are just showing off! 5 brand new air conditioners - Opulence! Smashing Pumpkins "Oceania" 2.5 brand new air conditioners.  Okay.  Heading in the right direction. History: I la la loved "Gish"!  Wanted to make my guitar sound just like Billy's guitar.  Wanted my band to sound just like the Punkins.  Then with each record that came out after "Gish" I slowly fell out of love with the band.  This one has flashes but as you will probably hear or read in other places it's not all that.  For me the problem is Billy Corgan is too grandiose in his musical vision.  He is much better when he is writing

Rock and Roll ain't noise pollution...at least not when you have your headphones on. Random record review ratings: 1 Grape Ape - Not good.  Not good at all. 2 Grape Apes - Meh. 3 Grape Apes - Good.  But average good. 4 Grape Apes - Cool.  Rock worth your time and moola! 5 Grape Apes - A brand new masterpiece worth your time and your exclamation points!!! King Tuff "King Tuff" 4 Grape Apes.  Tuff stuff! I knew nothing of this band.  I heard some mentions on a podcast.  Only heard the name and had no idea what the music is like.  So this is truly first reaction: Sweet!  I'm a sucker for raw rock riffs with wimpy indie boy vocals.  Reminds me of growing up on Superchunk.  The songs aren't knocking me over but they are fun.  Just enough roll with the rock.  I will be digging into this band more very soon.  Highlights: "Bad Thing" and "Anthem". Rhett Miller "The Dreamer"3 Grape Apes.  Genuine.  Countryish.  A little too long

Gather 'round by little children and let me tell you a tale of the olden days.  Back when you had to buy records from only hearing one song on the radio.  Maybe you heard someone else talking about the record before you bought it.  You kids with your Internets and every song ever created at your fingertips!  You don't know what hard work is! 1 Wyld Stallyn - Not cool.  Kinda weird. 2 Wyld Stallyns - Okay.  But did you pay money for that?  Ugh. 3 Wyld Stallyns - This is cool.  Might even pay a couple of bucks for this. 4 Wyld Stallyns - All my thumbs are up.  I like this. 5 Wyld Stallyns - MOST EXCELLENT! Best Coast "The Only Place" 5 Wyld Stallyns - San Dimas High School football rules!! I'm a sucker for catchy, poppy, strummy, upbeat indie rock and this is about as good as it gets.  Yes the first song "The Only Place" is basically a commercial for California it still gets my foot tapping.  Even when Best Coast slows it down a bit, "No On

Step one: Listen to a new record in it's full glory streaming over the Internets with cheap headphones on so I don't bother my kids who are watching Disney movies. Step two: Type my initial reaction out in the form of a review. Step three: Give the record a random and somewhat useless rating from a random and somewhat useless review scale. Step four: Repeat. Random and somewhat useless rating scale: 1. iPod Shuffle-Small.  Gets the job done but doesn't do it nearly well enough to make it worth your money. 2. iPod Nano-Okay.  Nice colors.  Just seems a little inferior to the other things that do it better. 3. iPod Classic-Bigger.  Better.  This is the workhorse. 4. iPod Touch-Flashy. Does everything the others do and more. 5. iPhone-Better than the rest.  This will make your life worth living! Jack White "Blunderbuss" iPod Nano.  Only okay. Jack White's music is all right with me.  I've never really gone out and searched for an album of his

Internet record reviews.  I listen to the album streaming one time through then give my first impression.  Oh yeah...I also use a random rating scale.  I know...real innovative. 1 chocolate Easter bunny- Keep looking around the house.  There has to be more! 2 chocolate Easter bunnies- Okay but this won't last the night. 3 chocolate Easter bunnies- Good stuff.  Worth the time invested. 4 chocolate Easter bunnies- This is so good you might get sick of it! 5 chocolate Easter bunnies- The best!  Should last till Halloween! The Shins "Port of Morrow" 1.75 chocolate Easter bunnies.  Weak showing. I hate, Hate, HATE when a single comes out and it shows so much promise for the album.  It rocks.  It's catchy.  It's really good.  Then it ends up being the best thing by far on a weak album.  Case in point is "Port of Morrow" by the Shins.  I'm not a huge fan of the Shins but I like some of their tunes.  This album shows that the Shins are pretty good

Shaky from the coffee...wired from the sound...ready to take on the World...only because I won't be sleeping for hours if this feeling doesn't go away. Record reviews (I hope): Random scale of randomness... 1 wide awake hour of creativity.  This is probably not worth the time. 2 wide awake hours of creativity.  Ehhh...I'm just not convinced this is the real thing. 3 wide awake hours of creativity.  This is the norm.  Something worth the effort. 4 wide awake hours of creativity.  This is better than the rest, but something else is probably the best. 5 wide awake hours of creativity.  Great, greater, the bestest! Cursive "I Am Gemini" 2 wide awake hours of creativity.  Indie Dream Theater for sure. I admit it.  Years ago I had a musical affair with Cursive.  I came across 2003's "The Ugly Organ" and loved it, loved it, and loved it again!  But as it sometimes happens Cursive and I fell out of love.  Ok so it was me.  Still...we could have

Welcome!  Bienvenidos a mi blog!  How do you say blog in Spanish?  I'm going to have to check Google translator.  Be right back!  Cool.  In Spanish it is blog!  Like you didn't know that was coming.  Today on Fiercely Me (the blog sent from Heaven): I review 3 new records and then tell you why they suck.  No that's too negative.  I might have good things to say too.  Nope.  I don't. Don't forget that I listen one time through the whole record, I give the record an unfair rating from a random and arbitrary rating scale, and then I try to express my feelings about the record with written words. Okay this has gone on way too long!  On to the random and arbitrary rating scale! 1 hour nap.  Not even worth the time it took to try to fall asleep. 2 hour nap.  Not bad but really it could be better. 3 hour nap.  Good.  This should be the standard that others are measured by. 4 hour nap.  Now this is getting ridiculous!  This is so good that you might as well just

New music!  New music!  New music!  Rock n Roll!  My reviews are set in stone.  The stone that builds this blog.  Blog stones.  Stoners blog.  But I'm not one.  Here is my random record review rating scale: 1 great song.  This may sell as a single on iTunes but it won't carry a record. 2 great songs.  This may get some people's attention but again...do you really want to buy a full-length? 3 great songs.  This is something many artists never accomplish.  Take notice. 4 great songs.  This is a lot of sentences starting with this.  This is worth your cash. 5 great songs.  What?  A sentence that doesn't start with the word this???  Different!  True greatness is on the horizon. Craig Finn "Clear Heart Full Eyes" 3 great songs.  Solid man!  Solid! Craig Finn is the lead singer and lyricist of the band the Hold Steady.  I am not a big fan of that band.  The "talky" vocals wear on me after a while.  I love melody and there are not a lot of catchy

The following reviews are written by a music-obsessed amateur scribe.  If you put any importance or weight into the following opinions you are taking a chance with your music-listening time.  We will not be liable for any injuries or mental anguish caused by the words or word pairings below.  Thank you.  The Fierce Management 1 Beatle - Not worth your time.  Probably not one of the good ones anyways. 2 Beatles - Okay but really it's not what you REALLY want. 3 Beatles - This is good.  This is getting really good.  Can I say really more? 4 Beatles - What everyone wants.  Excellence and craft. 5 Beatles- This is George Martinesque. The shine on the Apple (copywrite, trademarked, do NOT even say the word Apple anymore!) Run Dan Run "Normal" 2 Beatles.  Okay but not...well great. This Charleston, SC indie rock band is not bad.  Huge similarities to Nada Surf.  "Normal" finds the band exploring rich textures, typical rock sounds, and somewhat catchy melod