THE CD:“The Sufferer & The Witness” (Geffen)
PERFORMER: Rise Against
WEBSITE: www.riseagainst.com
CHOICE CUTS: Injection; Bricks; Under The Knife; Worth Dying For; Roadside
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF YOU LIKE: Politically charged, high-energy punk that fights till it dies and enough energy to make you forget about Red Bull.

Recently, Myspace put the new Rise Against CD “The Sufferer and the Witness” up to hear in its entirety. Skeptical of another pseudo-radical political punk band endorsing some crap like the overthrow of capitalism, I decided to give their new 13-song release, due out on 7.4, a listen. The band (Tim McIlrath, Joe Principe, Brandon Barnes, Chris Chasse) delivers a tight CD that will keep punk fans placated.

From the opening thrash on “Chamber The Cartridge,” the band catches your attention with their version of hardcore punk. McIlrath sings Is it to late to reverse what we’ve become? Save us from what we’ve become tonight…Eyes glazed with distrust/No sense of wrong or right. Not bad.

“Injection” is more in-yer face punk with nice tempo changes and good vocal harmonies. Oh yeah, the whoahs over the choruses set the song off proper. “Ready To Fall” is a more pop-punkish (you can check out the video here) tune you might like.

“Bricks” is straight-up thrash. McIlrath’s strong vocals combined with the tight, fast rhythm section (nice basslines) give this band (featured on the Van’s Warped Tour) a little bit of an edge over bands with a more derivative sound. I mean, sure, this band sounds like other punk bands, but these are punk bands I’d actually listen to.

“Under The Knife” is solid punk. “The Approaching Curve” features some spoken word lyrics over driving intro music, leading into slower, more powerful choruses. “Roadside” is a sullen tune that features female backing vocals, 8-bit sounding synth, and strings…something a little different.

There are a lot of rock bands out there that are good, and it’s tough to stand out when even Burger King is putting out punk music. Regardless of whether you think that music is an appropriate vehicle for societal change, Rise Against is a good enough band to to not need any political posture. Check ‘em out, see what you think.

— By Nick Harrah

THE CD:“Flying Under the Radar”
PERFORMER: The Kentucky Headhunters
LABEL: CBuJ
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF YOU LIKE: A dash of blues in yer Southern-fried rock.
CHOICE CUTS: Country Life; Back to the Sun; Go To Heaven; Ashes of Love; Rock On

After 36 years and over 6 million records sold, it’s hard to imagine that The Kentucky Headhunters would be flying under any radar. But that’s how it is with this recently released 15-song CD, comprised largely of their last three releases: 2005’s “Big Boss Man”; “Soul” (2003); and 2000’s “Songs From The Grass String Ranch,” the last two now out of print.

So the CD serves as a good introduction for potential Headhunter fans …fans of a more rockin’ blues and country format. “Louisiana CoCo” opens the CD with classic ZZ Top-sounding southern rock. “Country Life” is a feel-good, slow-life livin’ anthem. “Back to the Sun” is a rockin’ piano-ballad with some vengeance thrown in for good measure.

“Go To Heaven” is an uptempo, gospel-flavored tune, and it’s funny because it’s exactly the opposite of what n2 tells people all the time. The blaring guitar intro and pounding drums on “Big Boss Man” remind me of what it was like when that CD quickly became n2’s “drinkin’ CD” last year, with their version of “Like A Rolling Stone” setting things off.

The Headhunters (Richard & Fred Young, Anthony Kenney, Greg Martin, and Doug Phelps) redo versions of “Chug A Lug” (in Dance format with female chorus) and “Midnight Special,” a rockin’ version of the Leadbelly song, and honestly as cool as the CCR version.

If you’re ready to go out and buy the CD, wait — there’s more! The band will play the Rig St. Festival in Petersburg (WV) this Fourth of July. The band will then hit the Putnam County Fair in Eleanor 7.8, and bring it to the Boone Co. Fair in Danville August 4. Now, go out and buy the thing…

– nick2

THE CD: “Brightblack Morning Light” (Matador)
PERFORMER: Brightblack Morning Light
WEBSITE: Click here.
SUGGESTED TRACKS: Start at the beginning and just go, man.
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF…: a juke joint pulse keeps you from a bad trip.

No one can accuse Brightblack Morning Light of being spread too thin. Rocking out in their California teepee, the hippie quintet rarely wavers from the gospel and blues roots of their native Alabama. They go home a little too long at times, such as on the 25-minute, four-track medley built on a single, three-note blues tune.

But you really don’t notice. By the time the song breaks into the light, hop-scotch organ on “All We Have Broken Shines,” you’ve been sucked into the zone. Notes with visible and distinct personalities mingle before you. Kissing and fighting. Living and dying, man. Even the lyrics — none exceed a few lines — become sounds as they are breathed rather than sung.

Rhythm and sound pilot this record and go to crazy places if you relax and let them drive. BML exalts your soul with the hymn “A River Could Be Loved,” boils your blood once more with the hard-nosed “Black Feather Wishes Rise,” then dumps your unconscious body at the edge of camp with the tribal crash of the closer, “We Share Our Blanket with the Owl.”

Trance or not, the song names warrant a chuckle. And look for granola marketing ploys like the 100-percent recylced paper jewel box. And the cannibis-adorned spectrum glasses, lovingly inscribed “resisting babylon system one rainbow at a time,” seen here:

Available at all local record stores.

– by Morgan Kelly