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| The SermonVolume2004 Alternative Tentacles 
 Review by: greg0rb See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
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Published on November 26th 2004
Little late getting’ in on the retro-rock trend, doncha think, AT? SF’s The Sermon throw their hat into the ring, trying to make a buck at a current trend: MC5-inspired loud rock, where each band is trying to be louder than the last. Every band tries to add their own little twist to be apart from the others, but it really comes down to the songs. The Sermon’s twist? Apparently their singer also plays some theremin, but I could not detect it much on the record because it is buried in the wall of noise. Also, The Sermon like to stay more on the punk side of things, with most songs being up tempo. The Sermon has some ex- people contained therein, with members from The Dukes of Hamburg, The Fells, and Mount McKinleys, in case any of you know them `cuz I sure don’t. These guys do sound a hell of a lot like Born in the USA-era MC5, except they kept some bass in their mix, and they add even more fuzz on the vocals and stay away from melody more. To compare them to modern retro-rock outfits, they have the loose swagger and style of Mando Diao without the pop hooks, instead adding the punk speed and gritty vocals of The Hives without being as rigid. Although they are certainly not breaking any new ground, these guys are pretty fuckin’ powerful. This, their debut full length, starts off hard-hitting, as any album of this genre should, with “Time Has Come” a blistering rocker. Second track “Latent Image” features some awesome harmonica, the most intense harmonica I’ve heard. This song cools down the volume a bit in the verses but is no less passionate, and actually it reminds me a bit of Mando Dio’s “Motown Blood”, the “groove” part. Harmonica appears on the next song as well, but nowhere else, which disappointed me. The player is not in the band, but maybe singer Mike should pick it up and add it in more songs. “Miss A” was a favorite track of mine, even though it’s a bit down tempo (for them at least), it has one of the better melodies of the record and it has some cool “woo’s” at the end. “Luzerne County” is a strong track with some audible theremin squeals in the bridge, but the vocals are buried and try to hide the cool dark lyrics recalling a murder. “Surprise” fixes the vocal problem and it is actually kind of melodic and simple, it is one of my favorites. This album is powerful, but not any more than… well let’s say Mando Diao again, a band who vary their songs a lot more and snag you with hooks. The songs on Volume tend to blend one into the next, and I was pretty tired of it by the end. Each song listened to on its own stands up and is pretty damn good, but the wall of sound gets a little stale, sorry to say. I bet they’re kick-ass live though. Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
The Sermon have been around at least as long as the Hives ... they just didn't have the kind of backing behind them so that anyone had heard of them outside of the Bay Area. Wal-Mart is a chain, though... Shut up Fact: Wal-Mart is sells more records than any other record store and makes up for 20% of total music sales. Fact: In the US, being on AT assures that the major chains don't carry your shit. Best Buy and Barnes & Noble are where most people buy their music. " Especially if they're on a label with exclusively indie distro.". AT jumping on trends? Hah. Yeah, they're very trendy... dumbass. Have you heard www.purevolume.com/motorfalcon Ok, point taken. My bad. I don't like this record because it's on AT (even though AT is a great label)... It's good rock n roll, and really sounds nothing like the Hives. I would call it retro-rock if even their own bio compares them to MC5, Stooges and the Yardbirds. This doesnt sound anything like "retro-rock", sounds more like good punk rock to me, AT always release quality records. No band besides the Hives are popular and genuinely rock... It's no way to make money. I think the newest trend would be copying The Cure's quirkiness, but making it unlistenable dribble. yeah, it seems kind of low to accuse alternative tentacles, of all people, of trying to jump on a trend. "trying to make a buck at a current trend" |
