For Those About Squawk: Waldo Pecks on Cloakroom, The Last Ten Seconds of Life and Saxon

What’s up, beak geeks? It’s ya boy Waldo here to review some good and not-so-good new releases for you. And remember, I’m not an elitist, you just have bad taste.

Cloakroom is releasing Dissolution Wave on Relapse. So, the first thing is this would not traditionally be called “metal.” It IS a heavy and more of a gloomy pop affair. Mostly a kind of doom gaze sorta thing here. Sludgy an oh the fuzz. What’s a real headscratcher here, is Dissolution Wave is described by the band as a “Space Western.” Uh, OK. I guess that makes a little sense since the band claims they write their music on acoustic guitars. (I mean so does James Taylor, so…)  This is good though, and like most “pop” records, not all the songs are the same. But really sticking out of all the distortion here, is Doyle Martin’s heavenly voice, it cuts through the heavy mire, and really brings this together as the centerpiece. Think My Bloody Valentine with A LOT of distortion… Pretty cool. 6 Fucking Pecks.

The Last Ten Seconds of Life are releasing a self-titled record on Unique Leader. Are you ready to pecking mosh? This is metalcore, to a “T” and while not super different than many from the genre, this thing is PISSED. A YouTube comment from the singer describes the vibe: “When I wrote this song, it was a fictional story of me losing everything.” Wow, that’s EXACTLY what this sounds like. Tight musicianship and screams. AND THE MOSH PARTS! The keyboard moments are a little odd, but… While not a fan of this genre, I dig this. 6 Fucking Pecks.

While I know people dig them, I personally see NO reason for Saxon to release Carpe Deim. Sigh. I know peeps are gonna hate but whatever. On second listen, I like SOME of this (the cheesy ballads can go.) So, you know what this is, rockin’ guitars, driving songs. The production here is solid, and they sound like they never lost a step. Singer Biff sounds just as good as he ever did. Surem there are some cheesy-ass moments here and clearly no “Denim and Leather” moments. This is a band that’s been around for 40 some years and still rocking and having fun. I dig it. 6 Fucking Pecks.

Waldo out!