What people are saying about "Next Time Nail It Shut"
Their new CD, Next Time Nail It Shut, is one of the best chunks o' music that I've heard in years.
Philadelphia's Death-Rock Kings are back for another kick at the black cat.
It is a very powerful, catchy, stimulating album that put a smile on my face.
If you like hard and heavy guitar riffs, licks and overall mayhem; you may enjoy this CD. Norm Alger
and Rob Windfelder on guitar is a definite plus to this CD. Hard, Heavy and in your face style.
Dark and heavy rock n roll with thick, thick pounding guitars fused with enchanting vocal lines
that together bring these songs into a new realm of goth-tinged punk rock-n-roll. This is not an obvious
MISFITS clone band like most of the bands who do the horror punk thing fall into, this is much more
subtle, this is straight fuckin' rock-n-roll first but with a spooky edge and a blend that really
makes for a powerful sound. The songs are crafted very well indeed and that’s why they come together
so well with each separate element falling beautifully into place. Very atmospheric and very dominant.
Based on the album art alone, you could be forgiven for thinking Live Not On Evil is a goth band.
The ghostly image on the front, the skulls on the back, and singer Rob Windfelder’s Misfits-inspired
hairdo – it all kind of fits. Once you actually listen to this album, though, it becomes immediately
apparent that this is straight up punk, not goth or even death rock, really. That’s a good thing in
this case, because this is a great album, packed with tight riffs and just the right blend of moodiness
and aggression. Songs like “Love You To Death” and “End of Time” are hard, fast, and angry, with Windfelder’s
vocals betraying just enough snottiness to recall Jello Biafra. “Ghost In the Woods” and “The Great
Escape” are slower and darker, with haunting guitar work that hints at metal influences. The most
memorable song, though, is the more pop friendly “Broadway and Fulton,” which features great sung
melodies and an old-school hopelessness that recalls Mike Ness at his most cynical. Think Social Distortion
if they were East Coast instead of West, and get this album if you’re the least bit interested in
the moody side of punk.
It is ironic I should mention Naked Raygun the other day, because I mentioned them for the first time in living memory when reviewing the debut of this band earlier this year. That ‘Lucky Stiff’ album was a mercurial bastard, pitched between post-punk grime and Fugazi-like wrath and bluster, with a shrewd, seedy humour throughout, and we get more of the same here in a slightly harder, stockier form.
‘Dead Eyes’ pins you against the wall with angry guitar and seemingly offhand vocals, but as the guitar snakes around he isn’t just spitting out careless goodbyes to an old friend, it has some edge to it, and the brief, throttling tune, complete with wayward squiggling solo, prepares you for the cheeky ‘Shooting Stars’ which highlights desperation around Hollywood. (‘I’m sure that someone cares, and I know that it’s not me.’) Like Snuff with a more serious focus, they all but thrash with variety, clarity and brutish timing. ‘Ghost In The Woods’ veers towards Goth nettles, rolling and stumbling in mired anguish and slow burnished guitar, and they sensibly maintain the mood instead of jerking into a different pace. ‘All Is Vanity’ is classic pop-punk waiting to wet itself, riffing politely and adopting expected posture which is always fine when it sounds this cool., then ‘Lost Prophet’ is weirdness, with distant mumbling and guitar noise, short and mysterious. ‘End Of Time’ staggers in with dour bass and doom-ridden lyrics, where the singer still finds time to point fingers of blame. His funeral will be an appalling affair, as thumping is heard inside the coffin. (“Oh no you don’t!”) ‘Broadway & Fulton’ is an amiable fallow spot, which doesn’t seem to have much going for it, until the guitar sprawls outwards and you can tell the earnest lyrics are heartfelt, about something. Similarly, ‘Love You To Death’ is chipper punk, but puts solidity of sound over actual impact. ‘Crown Of Souls’ is a mixture of almost Gothy Astbury-like yowling, and dour punk guitar tricks, then a mixture of phases as they lurch to an elegant end. Things perk up and pick up with ‘Never Say Die’ with bloodshot bass and a brattish friskiness, and ‘The Great Escape’ then goes for a lolloping sour rock finish with some unexpected twinges, pulling themselves in tighter for a bit of angst with dense layers, but a fairly flat ending. (There is also a video on this CD for ‘End Of Time’ somewhere but I’m not attempting that with the state my pc is in right now.)
There is a keen sense of invective lurking in their manly bosoms, and it’s only when they take their
finger off the observational button that they become a bit predictable. While this may not be as dynamic
as their debut, it still has far more great highs than repetitive lows, and I hope this ensures they’re
on the map, so they go on to leave a fine legacy.
This will be the second CD I've received from garage punkers Live Not On Evil . The band retains it's hard-edged and rough-hewed sound in their latest offering, Next Time Nail it Shut, and the best comparison I can think of would be the heavier Bella Morte sounds or a Cult of the Psychic Fetus attitude with a bit more wall-of-sound musical style (the Fetus boys keeping their music somewhat simple). LNOE will smash their sounds together to create a very strong and sometimes dirty, un-tamed musical track.
Right from the start with Dead Eyes, LNOE tear into their tirade. Usually their music blends well together, strong and blaring, but occasionally the unpolished nature of it can get a little gritty and mish mashed. Dead Eyes, however, is more of the former with a strong showing from all members on an equal basis. Sometimes vocals can be lost in the mix a bit, as in the case of Shooting Stars, but with Live Not On Evil it's the aggressive and blaring music that you're typically here for. The boys can bring it all together into a solid track, however, and even slow it down to a darker crawl. Ghost in the Woods is moody garage at its best - strong, powerful, but not relying on simple speed, infusing the atmosphere with a simpler brooding and nightmare. All is Vanity, however, picks up the pace and has become one of my favorites. Just a simple, no-nonsense straight up heavy guitar deathrock track. Another of my favorites is a speedier tune called Never Say Die that you'll come across on the tenth slot on the album. It's got a flair of thrash about it with, again, a rather dirty and unpolished sound. It seems much of Next Time Nail it Shut was recorded in a live atmosphere, and from all indications on the CD the band must excel at playing out.
I wouldn't go all out and say Live Not on Evil are the best rock group in the world - but what they
do provide is some good, old fashioned, unmarred by modern mixing garage death rock. So if you're
missing the days when you got to hear what a band actually sounds like BEFORE you go to a concert,
Next Time Nail it Shut is a good choice. If Cult of the Psychic Fetus went out and found another member
or two and then took lots and lots of meth, they might sound something like this.
Broodily spooky and creepy with heavy guitar aggression and distortion. Live Not On Evil is a band
who makes music that is powerful, disturbing, and twisted with madness. Haunting with emotional anger,
anxiety and paranoia. A combination of punk, gothic, and deathrock. "Next Time Nail It Shut" is the
new cult of modern America's Rock. The CD is enhanced with music video "The End Of Time" that is entertaining
with a frenzy horror twist. You'll get ghostly chilling tales like "Dead Eyes", "Ghost In The Woods", "Love
You To Death", "Crown Of Souls",and "The Great Escape". Live Not On Evil is a hot rock 'n' roll band
who have integrity to deliver a finest supreme product that's very raw, mature, and pretentious. Looking
for something to make you scream and do the slam dance? This band is the one for you. So let the nightmare
begin.
What people are saying about "Lucky Stiff"
"Aarrrggghhh!!! Bone cracking, shaking you from left to right, and leaving you stiff necked from
head banging, a must have. After Tragic Black, Bloody Dead and Sexy, and Murder at the Registry here
is another name to keep your eye on in the international death-rock panorama."
"Fat guitars, broad sound and a very huge Punkanteil."
"This is one of the best rock albums that I have heard in years."
"The guitars are heavy and bloody and the singing is full of emotion."
"Live Not On Evil has combined all its influences to ultimately create a record all its own. Live
Not takes its metal tinged, guitar dominated rock and molds it into something unique. The music is
dark, heavy, and fuzzy, with a melodic side creeping in at times. L.N.O.E. also combines its shadowy
and gloomy music with equally ominous lyrics of paranoia, passion, and terror."
"Live Not On Evil brings you some spooky rock in the veins of. . . I don't really want to say it.
. . but they remind me a little bit of the Misfits with Danzig with a heavier edge to it. The vocalist
has the perfect voice for this type of music, dark, powerful, and brutal. The lyrics are pretty much
what one could expect from a band like this, but that is what makes it so good! Bonus: This CD comes
enhanced with a video. The video is entertaining, with an awesome horror movie effect feel to it."
"Snarling vocals backed by out of control guitars, the black cloud in my CD player."
"They are like the Misfits meet Christian Death. They have a hard driven fast movin' beat with punk
themes and gothic treats!"
"Live Not On Evil is a creepy little Goth-Punk band, cool tunes, cool image, with catchy, fuzzy,
guitar driven songs. Try to imagine old school Goth-Rock with the Stooges and other 70's punk. A unique
sounding band in a genre that produces a lot of clones. Recommended."
"Live Not On Evil creates horror rock the good old fashioned way with guitar, deep bass, drums,
and dark vocals. If you like the Damned or the Brick Bats you will dig this band as well. The vocals
are strong, dark, and matched well with the music."
"Lucky Stiff is piercing, distortion driven fun. Live Not On Evil gathers all their dark influences
and creates an aggressive melting pot of impending doom."
"It is raw, stripped down, aggressive, slamming rock and roll. This album could get a mosh pit going."
"This is a great CD and I'm the Lucky Stiff to have a copy."
"One of the best albums of 2002."
"The Americans play a hard, dark, and melodic music, their lyrics are full of anger and they have
an attractive death-rock image. What else do you need? I recommend it!"