Various Artists
2K8 Fall Sampler
Deathwish/Malfunction
There is nothing better than free music. In this day and age, while most labels are struggling to make ends meet while competing with the online music boom, it’s refreshing when someone gives fans a little digital “thank-you” note for sticking by them.
Deathwish Inc. and its newly acquired partner Malfunction Records have released a free online album sampler showcasing all the talent they have released so far this year and a little preview of things coming in 2009. There’s a song apiece from each band on their roster8212;from 2008 standout Blacklisted to the highly anticipated Narrows and the newest member of Deathwish family, Lewd Acts8212;that shows the range and dedication the label has to signing bands that care about what they do.
Highlights include Belgian metal band Rise and Fall wearing their Integrity influence proudly on their sleeves, hard-core icons 108 showing they’re still very much in the game and the aforementioned Lewd Acts showcasing the raw energy and aggression that will fit them right in with the rest of the bands. All for free. You can’t beat that price. Check out www.deathwishinc.com to get yours.
The Cure
4:13 Dream
Suretone/Geffen
I’ve got to be honest here8212;I hate The Cure. I always have and I probably always will. That might not make me the best candidate to review the band’s new record, but it’s my job and it has to be done. While my hatred for the band mainly stems from young scenesters8212;none of whom were born before 19908212;proclaiming them as the only band their broken little hearts can truly identify with, I am able to put all that aside and listen to the album with no judgements (business and pleasure firmly divided).
4:13 Dream doesn’t contain much of the bouncy yet depressed feel that The Cure perfected in the ’80s, and instead the instrumentation, with full, orchestral guitars, takes the lead for much of the album. That leaves little room for Robert Smith’s trademark sing-whine, and even he sounds surprisingly upbeat most of the time. The lyrics are still perfect fodder for soon-to-be-overused MySpace headlines, but I’ll be damned if this album didn’t surprise me. If the band had only sounded this upbeat from the get-go, I wouldn’t have had a problem at all. Maybe it’s time to break out the old catalogue and give The Cure another chance. They’ve proved me wrong once already.