MIME RIOT
Fear
(Self)
Melodic metal band Mime Riot shows
its musical diversity on its new six-track
EP, Fear. With a solid foundation built on
driving metal grooves, the Chicago quartet
also slips in several energetic orchestral
segments ("Opus 99") and reflective
acoustic arrangements ("Learning To Lie").
The racy "Jezebel," with its quasi "Wango
Tango" baseline and fuzzy guitar twang, is
complimented by the soaring rock star
vocals of Brian Duffy. Tackling Michael
Jackson's "Beat It" is no great feat for any
metal band and why Mime Riot chose to
have it as the lead-off track is anyone's
guess. Although guitarist Steve Rotter is no
Eddie Van Halen, he certainly knows his
way around the fret board, as he displays
often throughout the album. Mime Riot
has delivered a worthy debut album.
(www.mimeriot.com)
– Kelley Simms
6
7
WON'T BACK DOWN
POWERMAN 5000
Builders Of The Future
TOM PETTY & THE
HEARTBREAKERS
Hypnotic Eye
"Hypnotic Eye" ups the ante from the
Heartbreakers' wonderfully ragged 2010
album "Mojo." On "Mojo," the seasoned
unit thrilled by winging it with the spirit of
a garage rock band. "Hypnotic Eye" puts
that same spirit in service of superior
songs.
After a career spanning 38 years, Petty
and his cohorts return with attitude intact.
"I'm going to keep on fighting 'til I get it
right," Petty sings on "American Dream
Plan B." He remains vulnerable, too. "I've
got a few of my own fault lines running
under my life," Petty sings on the raging
"Fault Lines," while the Heartbreakers
howl at his back.
"All You Can Carry" suggests running
from the past as if it were one of Southern
California's nearly annual forest fires. The
snaky bossa nova "Sins of My Youth" is
another song assuring that the present has
plenty to offer.
A couple of down-and-out stories feature losers who don't seem very likely to
get lucky anytime. With its Bo Diddley beat
and acoustic jangle, "Forgotten Man" is
brought low by lost love. The John Lee
Hooker shuffle of "Burnt Out Town" toasts
the wreckage of a failing economy. "Here I
am, stealing gas with a garden hose," sings
Petty.
The paranoid blues of "Shadow People"
sketches characters both desperate and
determined, but unsure whether there's
anyone, anywhere to trust. It's the cynical
companion to the apocalyptic optimism of
"American Dream Plan B." "I ain't on the
left, and I aint' on the right," sings Petty. "I
ain't even sure I got a dog in this fight." The
tension in Benmont Tench's organ recalls
"Something Big" from "Hard Promises."
Although Petty is the rallying figure, his
tightly-knit troops more than justify their
own acclaim. Guitarist Mike Campbell is a
one-man master class, spinning broadly
varying influences including Roger
McGuinn, Mick Taylor, George Harrison,
Chuck Berry, Neil Young and Joe Perry into
his signature sound. He nods to Dave
Davies' snarling "You Really Got Me" solo
on "American Dream Plan B." During the
soft-shoe "Full Grown Boy," Tench's piano
sets the mood while Campbell's deft touch
implies a subdued run at "Killer Queen" by
Brian May.
While other acts of similar vintage are
playing hits on package tours or simply
folding, the Heartbreakers have made one
of their most bristling and raw albums. If
the band is going down anytime soon,
they're going down swinging like Sonny
Liston.
– Jeff Elbel
8
SINEAD O'CONNOR
I'm Not Bossy,
I'm The Boss
(Nettwerk)
Maybe it's the way that the line about
always having to be the lioness ("How
About I Be Me") recalls her first album. Or
maybe it's the way that nearly each of
these songs – from the raucous ("The Voice
Of My Doctor," "Kisses Like Mine") to the
primally screaming ("Harbour") to the
Princely ("Your Green Jacket," "Maybe
28 illinoisentertainer.com september 2014
(T-Boy/Universal)
After dropping out of art school in
1991, Michael Cummings, aka Spider One,
bought a cheap 4-track drum machine and
Powerman 5000 was born. Cummings, the
younger brother of Rob Zombie, has followed in his big bro's footsteps, albeit on a
smaller scale. PM5K's pulsating electroindustrial beats and rhythms are often a
source of comparison