Ed. note: The A/V Club will feature semi-regular rants, reviews and recommendations by authentic KCKPL Audiovisual staff members. Enjoy.
REVIEW: Boris – Smile (2008) – Southern Lord Records
Boris is a hard rock/space rock/heavy metal/drone outfit from Japan. Their 2008 album, Smile, pulls liberally from this vast pool of stylistic approaches, resulting in an overwhelmingly successful effort. You don’t need to understand Japanese to connect with the passionate lyrical deliveries on songs like the album’s opener, “Flower Sun Rain”.
For those trying to rock a little harder, tracks like “Statement” display Boris’ ability to hash out high-octane super rock ala your favorite late seventies British rock band… With a few twists! All the while tracks like “My Neighbor Satan” and the untitled album closer see Boris in full outer-limits exploration dream-mode. Be warned, though- a few of the songs get a little lengthy. Not a disappointing listen for those who are game.
Contemporary outer-space metal from the land of the rising sun!
George oversees music collection development at the West Wyandotte Branch.
BONUS ROUND:
* Click here to place a hold on Smile
* George says: “If you like Smile, you might also want to check out these albums…”
- Earth/The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull
- Sunn O)))/Flight of the Behemoth
- Isis/Panopticon
- Tool/Undertow
Alex Gibney’s Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is one of the latest non-fiction DVD titles to make it onto our shelves- currently both our Main and West branches own copies.
“In a nation of frightened dullards, there is always a sorry shortage of outlaws, and those few who make the grade are always welcome.” So wrote Hunter S. Thompson of the Hells Angels after riding with California’s motor-psycho Mongol hordes in the mid-1960s, a feat of embedded journalism that left him mauled, marked, and famous. But the sentence’s true subject—as with so much of what Thompson wrote in the years after his nervy, electric Angels book—is its author.
