The Dirty Dozen – June 2010 (The Cavalera Takeover)

Black Chords - Pretty Little Thing (Dust Devil Music, 14 Jun)
Max: It's actually alright, y'know, for being "alternative rock". I can hear a little bit of Sonic Youth in the guitars. I think for what they're aiming for it's pretty good.
Ryan: Marks out of ten, sir?
Max: Six.

The Little Million - Bring Out The Blues (Seraphina Records, 7 Jun)
[Plays a minute before hitting a 'power pop' chorus]
Max [laughs, then cuts it off after a few seconds]: Yeah, I don't know about this one!
Ryan: Your thoughts?
Max: Cheesy...reminds me of Sum 41. Three!

Ventura - It's Raining On One Of My Islands (African Tape, 7 Jun)
Ryan: This might be more to your taste, they're a fairly heavy young Swiss band, featuring David Yow from The Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid on this particular song.
[Track kicks in with a dirty drum groove]
Max: I like this already, its got good bass... kind of a Big Black sound – almost industrial with those drums. Kind of Bauhaus-like vocals, I really like it! This gets a nine.

Local Natives - World News (Infectious Music, 7 Jun)
[Track begins - very soft guitar pop reminiscent of The Shins]
Max: What the fuck is goin' on?! This is weird, man... it's American right?
Ryan: Yeah.
Max: You can tell! It's got that whole US pop feeling to it. It's kinda creepy... kinda hippy sounding actually. Trying to go for that 60s vibe but it doesn't really work. It's a two!

Little Fish - Am I Crazy? (Custard/Island Records, 14 Jun)
Max (Looking at the cover): This band's called Little Fish? Where do you find this shit, man?!
Ryan: Ask the Music Editor...
Max: This is alright actually, it's a little bit Sonic Youth again. I think she's got a good voice and I like their musical approach, it reminds me a bit of The White Stripes too. I'll give it an eight.

The Xcerts - Slackerpop (Xtra Mile, 7 Jun)
Max: I wish the singer would scream a little more, but I think the music's good, it's kind of like Nirvana at times. Probably give it an eight.
Ryan: Yeah?
Max: You surprised I gave it an eight?
Ryan: Well, I think in general you've been far more generous than I might have guessed, but glad you enjoyed it!

We Are Animals - 1268 (Too Pure Singles Club, 7 Jun)
Max: It's a weird tempo but I like it, sounds a little bit backwards. Is that some keyboards too?
Ryan: Yeah, sounds like it.
Max: It's got a kind of electronic vibe going on, which is kinda cool. Good drummer too, really solid. I'll give this an eight too.

Limozine - Mutiny Girl (Open Plan, 14 Jun)
Max: This is like, punk rock, like Ramones. The vocals are a little too pop for me, though. I'd prefer to hear someone with vocals that were a bit more weird, like Joey Ramone. I'm gonna give it a six – if they had a crazy singer I'd probably give them a nine!

Sound Of Guns - Architects (Distiller, 21 Jun)
Max: The singer sounds like Bono...definitely got that Bono vibe; holding notes and stuff. It's quite good actually, doesn't match the name of the band, though – sounds nothing like guns! It's pretty cool...for "pop rock". I'll give this song an eight.

Kele - Tenderoni (Wichita/Polydor, 14 Jun)
Ryan: This is the debut solo release from Bloc Party's singer, have you heard of them?
Max: No.
[Plays to the chorus before it gets pulled]
Max: I don't like it. It sounds very 'disco', and I hate everything disco! Disco and country are the two types of music you'd not catch me listening to.
I'll give it a one!

Shabby Rogue - Old Man (Self-Released, 7 Jun)
Max: Let's see if we can get a zero here! Nah, that's mean.
Ryan: From the title, it sounds like this could be country...
Max: If it turns into country, it's done!
[Gets to a chorus that does not agree with Mr Cavalera]
Max: It kinda sounds like country – man, what the fuck is going on? The rest of it doesn't, it's got a vibe like The Doors.
[Turns it off]
Max: Yeah, that gets a zero!

The Volitains - Underground (Self-Released, 28 Jun)
Max: Now this is pretty cool. Some really noisy guitars going on here, I'm into it.
Ryan: And what's your final score for the day?
Max: For being noisy, and again, a bit like Sonic Youth, I'm going to go with an eight.