Shit & Shine - Jream Baby Jream

Shit & Shine - Jream Baby Jream (Riot Season)
This time I am record reviewing the new Shit and Shine record from the Riot Season record label  - I have reviewed a Riot Season record before when I reviewed Hey Colossus which I enjoyed very much and I am very pleased to be reviewing this record because it is not even out yet and I get to hear it before anyone else.  Shit & Shine are an extremely noisy and extremely different rock group led by Texan Craig Clouse and in the videos that i've seen on Youtube they were dressed up as rabbits with loads of drummers and guitars and look like they put on a very good, very noisy show; I hope one day that I get to see them myself because they look like a lot of fun.

            This record then starts off with a short introduction of some robots talking before the first proper song Dinner With My Girlfriend starts. This song reminded me of the 1812 Overture because it sounds like music made with cannons and guns instead of drums but it is even noisier than the 1812 Overture and sounds a bit like a war fought in the future because it has robot voices in it and loads of air raid sirens. It is a very noisy song but it's very nice to listen to and I liked it very much.
            Next up is a song called Mermuda Triangle which starts of with a noise like wild animals chattering in the jungle and drumming like African tom toms then there are lots of other noises like a person breathing really loud and maybe some monkeys and someone welding something - it is a bit of a strange one that is quite hard to describe but it is very good.
          After Mermuda Triangle is Jream Baby Jream which starts off with a drumbeat a bit like the drumbeat that begins Apache by The Shadows but the rest of the song is not like Apache at all. This one is not as loud as the others and sounds a bit like a slow blues song. It is a very soft song and has vocals which sound like someone who can't sing very well making it up as they go along - I think the singer might have been a bit pissed when he recorded it and I think this is a good thing.

Pete testing his Rodeo Girls theory.

           Next song is Woodpecker which is another very noisy song with very big drums in it and guitars that sound like road drills and screaming like somebody getting murdered. In the middle the song goes softer and there is speaking that you can't make out properly but then it all kicks off again and it all gets a bit weird; Shit & Shine must be very strange people but it's good to be strange and not normal all the time.
           Rodeo Girls is next and is another very noisy electric guitar and drum track which made me think of a big group of elephants stampeding and going wild and making noise with their trunks. There are lots of other odd noises in this one and I reckon this is one you have to turn up really loud and let it get in head till your ears and head go all funny.
           The last track on this album is called Youth Led Worship and this is another quieter track which is quite relaxing compared to some of the other stuff on this record. I think it's good that the record ends on a softer tune because it gives you a chance to calm down after all the noise.
           Overall I would say that this was a brilliant record that I really enjoyed listening to and I think if people listened to it they would think this too. I would give this record 10 out of 10.

LUIK - Owls

UIK - Owls (Snowstar Records)
This CD that I am doing this week is by the band LUIK who are from the Netherlands. I was sent the music by Snowstar Records who got in touch with me after they read my reviews. It's good to be sent stuff from new people from different countries especially when it's as interesting as this music is. LUIK are a band who make slow, soft guitar music which is very lovely indeed and a nice change from a lot of noisy music that you hear - I like noisy music too but sometimes it's nice to have a change.
         All of My World is the first song on the album and It reminded me of some of the slower, folkier sixties records that the hippies used to listen to like ones by Donovon or Cat Stevens only even slower. It is interesting to hear music played this slowly and would be good to relax to after you've come home from work or whatever else you do during the day and you've had something to eat and can put your feet up and listen to it - I think it is very much evening music.
         The next song is called Brown Feathers and it's maybe a bit faster than All of My World but it's still very slow. I think that this song might be about sleeping because it mentions sleep a lot and blankets but it is hard to make out all the words as they are quite low down. What is interesting is that the songs are in English and not Dutch and I think this might be so that more people understand them and that way they might sell more records.
           After Brown Feathers is We're Both Extermined and Snowstar records have said I can post a download of this song for you to download to so here it is: We're Both Extermined. On this one you can hear the words a bit better and in it the singer sings about his sister and how proud he is of her. I have a sister called Dorothy but I don't see her much as we've lost touch. I think it's a shame I don't see her any more as we used to get on very well but I guess that's just the way things are, hopefully I'll see her again in the years to come. This is a very sad sounding but loving song and I liked it a lot.
            Next song is called Owls and is about looking out of the window and contemplating which means thinking about the things around you - when I look out of my window I look at the houses and all the different kinds of people going by; I like just relaxing and watching people going about their business and this song makes me think of this.
            Up next is a song called A Fool which is a bit darker sounding than the other songs. In the chorus the singer sings "a fool, a fool, a mad fool" over and over again - I think the singer must have had troubles with somebody and is a bit pissed off so has written a song to get back at him but I don't know for sure. Maybe he is talking about me because i was born a bit of a mad fool but I like it that way and wouldn't want to be any different, I am very happy being a mad fool.

           In the next song the singer sings about the windows in his room and how you can see the wonder of the world from them so I suppose it is a bit like the Owls song. There is a long bit in the song which is just instrumental and is very lovely to listen to just like the rest of this album.

A horrible looking spleen.

           Next is a long instrumental song called Spleen which is quite strange and atmospheric (atmospheric means moody) and has sounds in it which I think are meant to sound like the insides of a body where your spleen is - A spleen is an organ which helps keeps you alive by doing something to your blood. It is a horrible looking thing that looks a bit like a weird shoe but it is very important and you can't live without it. I'm not too sure why LUIK have done a song about a spleen as it is a strange thing to do a song about and it made me feel a bit sick reading and thinking about the spleen; it's a good song though.

          These Men May Grow is after Spleen and it says that men grow by getting wiser everyday. I think that people do grow because that's how nature works and you do get wiser every day because you are learning all the time. I think it's important to learn new stuff and that's one of the reason that I do this record reviewing; so that I can learn about different kinds of music from different nationalities.

           The last song on this album is called By & By so I suppose it's about how things go By & By and keep moving. This song ends with a very beautiful long guitar solo that is very nice to listen to and is a very good way to end this lovely, relaxing record. 

          I think that everybody who reads this review should go out and buy this record right away because it is a very good record from a very good band - if you would like to buy this record then you can listen to it first on this thing below to hear how nice it is. I would give this record 10 out of 10.