I reviewed two CDs for Hardcore Ink Magazine

[Kire]

Harcore Ink Magazine, Issue #14, Release Date: December 20, 2005

Biology
Making Moves
Vagrant Records

Francis Mark is evolving. The "fish with feet" logo of his new band, Biology, is the first clue. A listen to the album should be your second. The "melodic half" of the vocal team of From Autumn to Ashes has created something that has mixed visual art with music to make the finest side project I have ever seen (and heard).

The function is the same as the team of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, but the form is Indie/Hardcore with a Quicksand flavor to it combined with paintings of robots, owls, war criminals, skulls and the gimp from Pulp Fiction. These are the pictures in the CD sleeve, which is worth getting, so avoid downloading. It serves as only a warning shot, though. The live show, and exhibit, promises to be a multi-dimensional experience.

Another way I can tell Mr. Mark has evolved is the lyrics. Loss, regret and pain were all dealt with by FATA, of course, but Biology deals with it without screaming. My favorite line is from a song called "Measure of My Worth". The first half is kind of a bummer, but it picks up with "We're the kind of cats that bring an axe to a knifefight/It's such a scene you second guess you're vision/I swear we're not dumb we just make bad decisions." In reality, this makes a bad decision, but as a lyric it makes for great art.

Recommended. -EA

Nickelback
All The Right Reasons
Roadrunner Records

So, I opened the package I am supposed to review and out pops Nickelback, a corporate behemoth up there with Creed and Three Doors Down. "C'mon, what is this shit?" I thought. "This is not what I signed up for. I bet these guys don't even have tattoos." Unless they have some strategically placed somewhere, the photo that comes with the press kit does'nt prove me wrong. This is going to be like reviewing the Teletubbies for the Journal of Child Development, or Pat Boone for Ebony or Jet.

The worst part about this thing is that I've actually heard the single "Photograph," and secretly liked it, and now my guilty pleasure is going to be splashed all over the pages of a magazine. It is a "wake up" song, for me. I remember listening to it on K-Rock while I was in the shower at four am on a Sunday morning. If I were actually going somewhere, like work, school, or fishing or somewhere, it would be something, but I wasn't. This was a private moment, swaying side to side, "infected by the melodies" and reminiscing old memories from High School. I even shed a tear when I read the lyrics accompanying the song. Hey! Private fucking moment. It won't happen again.

The truly subversive act is to take a subject more seriously than it takes itself. So all I can suggest to you all is, call up your local "Heritage Rock Station" and request "Photograph" by Nickelback - Morning, Noon and Night. Do it every time you hear a really obnoxious commercial. Use different voices, but don't give yourself away. This is not a joke. You have to be serious. Say it's a great "wake up" song. To accomodate the demand of so many requests, they will have to reduce their playlists so low that listenership will dwindle in a downward spiral, forcing them out of business for good. That's the goal anyway. If that's too much, just make sure you don't give them any of your money. -EA