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Review Summary: The Canadian Christmas present. Quietly released right in time for the year's end lists, Sandveiss' debut, Scream Queen, takes the hard rock/stoner sphere by surprise. Hailing from Quebec, Canada, these newcomers have a lot to offer in terms of both skills and groove, even though they have been active for only two years now. Their music mixes classic, blues-influenced riffs that echo the likes of Clutch, Sasquatch or The Black Keys, with cool, Southern US-like vocals, reminding of fellow peers, The Flying Eyes. The results are shockingly effective, in a genre where it gets harder and harder to come up with something fresh.
At only eight tracks, Scream Queen wastes no time to settle in, as opener 'Blindsided' brings a bit of everything to the table. Starting with a cool, mid-tempo jam, the crunchy guitars constantly throw groovy riffs, often breaking into soaring solos, while the vocals, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the album, are always melodic yet powerful. Then, rather unexpectedly, the band breaks into an slick, boogie-like shuffle coda, reminiscent of Five Horse Johnson's output. Other tunes like 'Scar', 'Do You Really Know' or 'The Bomb' are immediate and downright catchy. They are energetic and make use of more intricate, stop-start rhythms, full of guitar licks and drum fills, all topped by the infectious vocals. These guys have also focused on minutiae to keep the songs gripping, constantly shifting tempos, using several phrase variations or detours. Towards the end, 'Bottomless Lies' diversifies the overall sound with its gritty, doom-influenced riffs that wouldn't sound out of place on a Red Fang album. The track is one of the heaviest here and definitely a highlight.
With the sound of an already seasoned band, Sandveiss are truly worth keeping an eye on, as Scream Queen delivers a serious dose of hard rock that's fun from start to finish. There's no doubt the record will find its way to the right listeners and slowly, but steady, these guys will get the recognition they deserve.
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Album Rating: 4.0
These guys came out of nowhere and they rule. Definitely a must listen for the fans of the genre.
Stream the entire record here - http://sandveiss.bandcamp.com/album/scream-queen-2
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Cool band, but didn't strike me as anything special. I'll give them another try though.
Don't miss Humanfly man
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I really like these guys, the record is guilty pleasure. Scar is arguably the best track for me, however, Bottomless Lies, The Bomb, Blindsided and Do You Really Know come close. The rest are fun too.
I have just downloaded Humanfly's latest record. I'm gonna listen to it, no problem.
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It will blow your mind ; )
I'm loving how you can churn out these short but detailed reviews so well, I wish I could. Congrats on 100 reviews btw, I doubt I'll ever get there
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks. I haven't had much time to write this, but it came out ok. It took me 5 years to write 100 reviews, I'm so lazy lol. I wasn't expecting much when I started, but it's fun. You should keep writing.
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Well, I've written 11 reviews in a year and a bit, so maybe I'll have hit 50 in five years... I find it fun, mainly because I can give lesser-known music exposure, but it takes me so long to write and I never have enough time or incentive :
I wouldn't call about 2 reviews a month lazy, you're probably one of Sputnik's most prolific reviewers!
Could you do me a favour and give The Grand Astoria a 'stoner rock' and 'psychedelic' tag, it's really annoying that stoner rock never shows up despite it being their main genre, and pyschedelic's pretty close behind, but I ran out of tags xD
Did you ever listen to Punkadelia Supreme? It's grown on me again, probably back up to a 4/5, they're a very interesting band
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I review mainly new music since I've been promoted to Contributor status and this year's been full of cool releases. You can write your ideas down and arrange them the next day or whenever you feel like. There's no rush and you can spot the errors when repeatedly coming back at them.
Apparently, stoner rock it's the first genre, then's punk and progressive. There's nothing much I can do except asking the mods to replace tags on the forum (you can do that too). I have listened to it when you wrote the review, but not much since then. I'll give it another spin.
| | | Album Rating: 3.8
Great review, Raul. The record's interesting.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks Greg. It's a really fun, guilt-free listen!
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@insomniac if you give TGA another stoner rock tag, that tag will have more votes than the other genres so it will always show up as the main genre and affect the pie charts I that way!
I usually have most of my ideas about the album in my head and then get them down all in one go, but maybe it'd be quicker if I wrote them down first. I'll see what happens on my next one, thinking of doing The Pineapple Thief - What We Have Sown
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
The Pineapple Thief are cool, like their labelmates, Gazpacho, NoSound or Amplifier now :D. KScope are one of the most consistent record labels at the moment. Try and see how it goes, because while you listen, ideas pop out and writing them down helps.
I'll give them the stoner rock tag then.
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Kscope was pretty much my bridge into music, all of those are some of
my favourite bands. Nosound's debut is incredible and I don't think I've heard a Pineapple Thief or Gazpacho album below a 4.0
Thanks for the tag, it's mostly just me being pedantic about genres
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I have gotten into these bands when I started listening to Porcupine Tree and No-Man (both are amazing). Regarding the genres, it's okay, now that we can submit the actual genre and not only the main ones, they can be more accurate.
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