"Brand New Buzz!" reviewed by Gregory Nicoll for Creative Loafing, Atlanta
Both known and unknown bands often mingle on local compilations, but in the case of Shut Eye Records' Brand New Buzz, we've got a new label with -- as the title implies -- an equally fresh assortment of artists.
Of the 20 Atlanta-area acts represented on this disc, so far I've seen less than half a dozen of them playing out.
But that will change.
One outfit I'm now curious enough to catch is Rocket Surgery, whose "Lorraine" is a pretty rendering of a Girl's Name Song done in a gentle '60s style.
Star Collector goes them one better, though, with "The Flag." It's a gloriously crafted tune with glistening harmonies and an unforgettably catchy chorus of "If the flaaa-aaag should fall ...." Tea Leaves brew up "Manresa Boulevard," an understated love song in the Los Huertos vein, and the cryptically named Forum Bane check in with "I Don't Believe It," which sounds like Morrisey singing for Simple Minds, with the Edge guesting on guitar. (Envy's "Greenville" treads similar territory here, but their effort pales in comparison.)
On the harder-edged side, Atomsplit's vicious "Love Triangular" offers Pete Shelleyish vocals, fuzzy guitar, and a bassline throbbing like an overworked heart; Wonderlust's "God Won Again" is unadorned crunchy pop with gravel-rough singing in the Westerberg style; and the X- Impossibles' "Come On" is a powerful Iggy/Dolls kicker with a discordant piano clinking away eerily deep in the mix, an element they've not yet exploited in their live sets.
Another gem is the acoustic version of Painting Churches' "So Afraid." Beautifully rendered with mandolin and bongos, it's an electric pop tune given the haunting air of a medieval madrigal.
Plexorjet blast out a hard-rock instrumental, and groups such as Baked and Dang Dang Dang contribute other memorable tracks.
Predictably, however, not every song's a winner -- Lord Jim's plodding "Pack Rat," for instance, is uninteresting and Ultra Violet's "Decipher the Green" makes little impression, the group's liner note quotation showing more wit than their music.
The real story about Brand New Buzz, though, isn't so much the bands and the music as the label itself.
Founded by young former musician Pete Knapp, it's the first release from his new label.
Handsomely packaged and properly promoted, the CD comes with a 12-page booklet offering photos additional info on the groups.
There are a few miscalculations, such as the omission of band member credits (when Humcycle announces, "This is the first song we've ever recorded with Cory," there's no indication who Cory is).
And the booklet's center pages look like a what-not-to-do textbook from the "Four Ugly White Guys Staring at the Camera" school of rock photography.
But Knapp has already recruited scene heroes 17 Years for an upcoming release and, in a moving and appropriate touch, has dedicated Brand New Buzz to the late Richard "the Dancin' Machine" Parker.
His business may be called Knapptime/Shut Eye, but it's clearly operating with both eyes open -- and an impressive sense of vision.
Check out the artist's website:
http://www.shuteyerecords.comTrack List:
1. Rocket Surgery - Lorraine
2. Tea Leaves - Manresa Boulevard
3. Atomsplit - Love Triangular
4. X-Impossibles - Come On
5. Forum Bane - I Don't Believe It
6. Wonderlust - God Won Again
7. Ultra Violet - Decipher the Green
8. Dropsonic - Sometimes Sad
9. Star Collector - The Flag
10. Plexorjet - Vertigo
11. Lord Jim - Pack Rat
12. 60 Cycle Hum - Blame Me
13. Baked - And Those Are the Good Points
14. Envy - Greenville
15. The Vox Pops - Lotus Flower
16. The Features - Reasons Why
17. Humcycle - Already Gone
18. Dang Dang Dang - Off My Mind
19. Hindge - Backwards God
20. Painting Churches - So Afraid
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