SOAF album review, and some other stuff

Some things confuses me. Actually, a lot of things. Like for example, I am bewildered by the fact that some people like to drink coffee in late noon. At Starbucks. I also wonder why some people walk so slow, my Grandma who is in her late 60s and has Parkinson's, can outrun them fast enough that she can do that before dinner time and settling in for a session of crossword afterwards. She loves crosswords. And oh, I also detest the contestants of the Biggest Loser and Aussie's Got Talent. And Big Brother, which is airing on TV again, even after all that turkey slapping last year. I don't mind turkey slapping, really, I don't. But I have this irrational hatred against Big Brother. I don't know why. I just do. Much in the same way that I hate Dr. Phil and Oprah. And Tom Cruise. And Cricket players.

And no, I'm not going Seung-Hui Cho on you guys. So put your sticks and guns away, and just read on. Thank you.


- So anyway, yesterday I was listening to "Lover, the Lord Has Left Us..", The Sound of Animals Fighting' second album. I like SOAF. It is a music supergroup. Not unlike Audioslave, The Yardbirds and The Mars Volta. However, unlike those groups, SOAF changed their lineup for this album, with the exception of their vocalist/producer Rich Balling and vocalist Anthony Green. Balling played in RX Bandits as a trombonist, and Green sang for Saosin and is now performing (and recording) with Circa Survive. SOAF's lineup consists mostly (or consisted) of ex and current RX Bandits bandmember. And RX is a ska-band.

So is SOAF ska? Hell no. Is it indie/alt rock, like Saosin? No.

As I said, the changes in lineup means that their sound changes from album to album. They only released two albums, but the differences are immediately apparent from the first track. It's not Master of Puppets v. Load/ReLoad different, it's more like Master of Puppets v. Frances The Mute. Which is, yes, coming from two different bands.

Their first album, Tiger & The Duke is aggresive. Plenty of distortion and fast drums. Chaos. And with an all star cast as well: Finch, RX Bandits, Circa Survive, and The Autumns. "Lover.." sounds more like Sigur Ros and Bjork than say, your steorotypical alt rock band (read: what you kids call 'emocore' nowadays). It also has that Circa Survive sound in it, especially in the harder tracks (track 6: Horses In the Sky is one of the heaviest in this album). The rest of the album are more laid back, but in a sublime way. Like, huge.

And oh, one other thing, a couple of tracks are sung in Sanskrit.

Does it work? Does it fit with the music? Yes. Well, the tracks that are sung in Sanskrit are like ethnic Indo music (a Sanskrit song from the album: "Prayers on Fire"). What are the instruments used by the band? Guitars, Keyboard, Bass, Drums and some programming. I also feel like adding Opera Vocals as one of the instruments.

I recommend this album to anyone with a rather strange taste in music. Or just want to try listening to something different, other than your typical radio and myspace rock.

- I'm supposed to upload a photo of the red tree today, but I haven't taken a photo since Friday. As soon as I get the chance, I'll upload it here. You should be able to see the changes in color now, seeing that autumn is here and all. I mean, it was 'fine' this morning but so friggin cold.

- At Frankston, a couple of girls had a suicide pact, and their bodies were found on a river this Sunday. On Saturday, the girls said goodbye to their friends (and boyfriends). Using Myspace. And now their profile (the newspaper article said: "The girls said goodbye through their website". I don't think having a single myspace page constitutes as having a 'website'. Anyway..) are flooded with comments asking where they are. Nobody took their suicide note seriously. So here's a tip, if you're going to kill yourself, make sure you announce it using loudspeaker, not a bulletin board message in Myspace.

- Anyway, Heroes episode 19 is out today in the US. Hell, I can't wait. I wonder what'll happen to Peter Petrelli..I mean, with Sylar slicing his head and all. Sylar is a badass.

- I took this photo yesterday.


Gotta go.

Putra

Playlist: Circa Survive, SOAF, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Alexisonfire