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Skin Back Alley’s Top Albums of 2015

I could try and write a lengthy summary of the year in music that was 2015 here, but let’s just get straight down to it, shall we?

What follows is the list of the 25 albums that Skin Back Alley considers the best of the year. These are the albums that have moved us, stayed with us, grown on us, blown our heads off at first listen or revealed their beautiful secrets over a longer period of time. All of them are damn fine.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that some of these releases were described and marketed as EPs during the previous 12 months. That said, we’ve worked using the definition of an album as containing four or more tracks and/or lasting more than 25 minutes. Each and every release in our run-down meets those criteria, so there ya’ go, no trolling now.

Feast your eyes. More importantly, feast your ears. Then be sure to let us know which you agree with, which you would fling out of the nearest window, and which no doubt awesome albums we’ve missed during the year.

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Agent Fresco - Destrier cover1. Agent Fresco – Destrier
Iceland’s Agent Fresco are a band working hard at the sustained peak of their artistic powers. Debut album A Long Time Listening marked the group out as ones to watch; a cohesive unit creating a unique and uncompromising kind of rock music, and one that has built an intensely devoted fan base that reaches beyond the boundaries of their homeland, despite the commercial challenges of physically travelling beyond those same borders.
They really are a band that defy categorisation, the ‘progressive’ tag just one of many that Agent Fresco get lumbered with, and yet one that somehow does not truly manage to encompass all the elements of pop, rock, post-rock, metal, electronic, jazz and classical that they successfully incorporate into their inspired and inspiring music.
Essentially the sound of a man navigating his emotional response to being the victim of an act of physical violence, Agent Fresco’s second studio album drew upon frontman Arnór Dan Arnarson’s street assault for inspiration, an event that left him bloodied, battered and with a broken eye socket. As the man himself told Skin Back Alley in interview earlier this year when discussing the album’s title (the name of a medieval warhorse): “Well, very simply put, this album acts as my Destrier. It was created to confront destructive emotions such as anger and angst. I just really wanted to explore that battle within and the Destrier just felt like a perfect, beautiful and powerful metaphor for this process and album.”
And so it proved to be. For all its emotional exploration of anger, angst and anxiety, Destrier was also an album of great hope and positivity, musical director Tóti’s instrumental work coming from a place of pure inspiration and creation, and holding in tension and balance the more destructive forces at work in the words of Arnór Dan.
Incorporating brooding piano lamentation and sinister synths, crushingly heavy guitar breakdowns, syncopated riffing and unsettling, off-kilter time signatures, the beauty of Agent Fresco’s Destrier was in its ability to fuse such seemingly disparate styles into such an organic, dynamic and engaging whole. A masterclass in the possibilities that remain within the world of rock music today, Agent Fresco and Destrier were in a class all of their own in 2015.

Iron Maiden Book Of Souls cover2. Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls
When news broke in the summer that Iron Maiden would release their new album in the autumn, the world of metal lost its collective mind. A new LP from the world’s biggest metal band was reason enough for excitement, but The Book Of Souls was no ordinary collection of songs even by Maiden’s ridiculously high standards. Not only was it the band’s first new material in five years, but it would also be their first studio double-album and contain the longest song the band had ever committed to tape in the Bruce Dickinson-penned “Empire Of The Clouds.”
When it finally landed, the music did not disappoint. From the more traditional Iron Maiden signature gallops of “Speed Of Light” and “Death Or Glory”, through to the twitchy progressive rhythms of “Tears Of A Clown” and on to the highly impressive aforementioned “Empire…”, The Book Of Souls quickly cemented itself as a bona-fide double classic and the best thing that the band had recorded since ’88’s canonical heavy metal landmark, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.
Add to this the extraordinary back-story of frontman Dickinson fighting and winning a battle with cancer of the tongue during the first half of the year, and the album seemed like even more of a triumph. Next year we’ll all get to hear how huge it sounds live as Iron Maiden circumnavigate the globe on The Book Of Souls World Tour in their equally huge customised 747 jet, Ed Force One, piloted by Dickinson himself. “Up The Irons!” indeed.

Nightwish Endless Forms Cover 640x6403. Nightwish – Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Over in the corner of symphonic metal, bigger really did mean better in 2015. Endless Forms Most Beautiful was Nigthwish’s first album with new vocalist Floor Jansen and the permanent addition of multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley. It was also the band’s most ambitious work of their career, inspired by evolutionary biology and culminating in a 24 minute suite titled “The Greatest Show on Earth” that featured spoken-word passages from Richard Dawkins and the full might of the London Symphony Orchestra. The grandeur of the music was entirely on point with the themes of the mysteries of universal science, nature and a timely reminder that Earth’s and our own very existence is one enormous cosmic crap shoot. Far from despairing though, Nightwish mastermind Tuomas Holopainen found beauty and majesty in the ideas contained within and delivered them in electrifying fashion.

Bring_Me_The_Horizon_Thats_The_Spirit4. Bring Me The Horizon – That’s The Spirit
Upon its release much was made of the softening of Bring Me The Horizon’s metallic edges on That’s The Spirit. It’s true to say that the electronic, melodic and, yes, pop elements of the band’s sound were front and centre of this brilliantly realised album, but there was no sense of Oli Sykes and co. trying to follow outside trends or piss on their metal roots. In it’s thematic and sonic coherence, it felt more like an organic culmination of this ridiculously hard-working group’s efforts to cement their sound and grow in to their own skins. Emotional, cathartic, both excoriating and yet beautiful, That’s The Spirit sounded very much like the definitive mainstream rock album of 2015.

Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase Cover 640x6335. Steven Wilson – Hand.Cannot.Erase
When Steven Wilson revealed that he was putting his band, Porcupine Tree, to one side for the foreseeable future, some corners of the rock, metal and prog scenes cried out in dismay. They need not have worried as Wilson’s solo career in the years since has produced an embarrassment of riches, including this year’s sublime album, Hand.Cannot.Erase. Inspired by the true story of Joyce Carol Vincent, who lay dead in her apartment for nearly three years before anyone realised, the album explores themes of alienation, detachment, loss and the anonymity of modernity against a rich musical soundscape that draws on rock, electronica and orchestral arrangements to deliver a heartbreaking work of staggering beauty. A prolific producer and musician, Wilson has already confirmed that his next album, 4 1/2, will be out in January.

the-river6. Zero She Flies – The River
Releasing “Small Mercy” (their debut single as a band) in May, Zero She Flies were back just a few short weeks later in the summer with The River, a stunning collection of electronica-tinged, ambient-inflected folk rock featuring a set of songs all themed around water. Anchored by the crystalline tones of singer Maria Milewska, the music drew on a wonderful array of instruments including keyboards, flute, 6 and 12 string guitars, cor anglais, oboe, recorders and double bass to deliver a highly evocative set that was as hypnotising as it was transporting. Building on the core quartet of Milewska, Jamie Field, Wendy Marks and Shane Webb, guest spots from Jonathan Edwards, John Pearce, Hannah Simons and Robert Kelly rounded out proceedings and left our appetites whetted and wanting more.

Meleches - Enki album cover7. Melechesh – Enki
From the moment that lead single “Lost Tribes” appeared early in 2015, it was clear that Assyrian extreme metallers Melechesh were about to serve up something extraordinary in their new album, Enki. When it did arrive, the band’s sixth full length collection evoked the very qualities of the LP’s namesake, the Sumerian god of craft, creation, water, wisdom and mischief, who mythology tells us also saved humanity from the Deluge sent to kill us by Enki’s half-brother Enlil. A raging river of Middle-Eastern themed black-metal, the songs rode high on an all-conquering wave of dynamic groove that laid waste to all before it. The likes of “Tempest Temper Enlil Enraged” and “Enki – Divine Nature Awoken” delivered epic and atmospheric blasts of sagacity, roaring out of the desert like a vicious and vengeful deity. The album set the bar high for the rest of the year.

Periphery Juggernaut Alpha_Omega8. Periphery – Juggernaut: Alpha & Omega
Intricate, jazzy and dense, Periphery delivered the one-two suckerpunches of their mighty double album, Juggernaut back in January. Split into two distinct sections, Alpha and Omega, the 80+ minutes of music saw Misha Mansoor and co. break out of their restrictive djent mold and move more squarely into contemporary progressive metal territory. By Periphery’s previous standards, Juggernaut concentrated a little more on story, mood and atmospherics, rather than technical complexity for its own sake. That said, it took many-a-listen before the themes and patterns became clear, particularly given that Periphery themselves seemed reluctant to discuss the specifics. Nevertheless, for those who wanted meat on the bones of their metal, Periphery were more than happy to deliver their most fully-rounded work to-date and let the fans explore in the weeks that followed.

Vintage Curses cover9. Tairrie B – Vintage Curses
Before her 20 year, highly-acclaimed career as a screaming metal potentate in her band My Ruin, Tairrie B. Murphy blazed a trail in the world of West Cost rap and hip hop, recording skillful slabs of seditious word-play for N.W.A. lynchpin Eazy E’s Ruthless Records imprint, Comptown Records. In 2015 Tairrie returned to the old school with a proverbial bang, dropping a new solo rap album, Vintage Curses, in August. Big beats (including live instrumentation from husband and co-producer Mick Murphy), inspired samples, fiery poetry and a wholly undiminished flow delivered a collection of songs of otherworldly energy that was spellbinding in its intensity. Wordslinger, truth-bringer, multi-faceted and mercurial maven, on Vintage Curses Tairrie B almost single-handedly brought the heart back to hip hop, paying respect to those who came before, and laying the groundwork for those who will surely follow.

Lindi-Ortega-Faded-Gloryville10. Lindi Ortega – Faded Gloryville
A Canadian of Irish-Mexican descent, Lindi Ortega has been releasing the finest goth-rock-country music from the fringes of the country scene since her Last Gang Records debut, Little Red Boots, in 2011. With new record Faded Gloryville, it felt as though 2015 might finally be the year in which the singer and songwriter crossed over into the mainstream consciousness. The album contained some of Ortega’s finest work, garnering a hugely positive response from both fans and critics alike, and Ortega’s self-aware vignettes such as “I Ain’t the Girl” and “Run-Down Neighborhood” painted engrossing pictures of characters existing on the margins, accepting themselves and their own skins with grit, determination and wry humour. Stripping the genre of its sentimental hoke, Faded Gloryville nevertheless gave us an authentic country record that it was a delight to rally behind.

Diemonds Never Wanna Die cover11. Diemonds – Never Wanna Die
Diemonds have always played a straight-up, no frills, balls-out brand of hard rock and have never apologised for doing so. And nor should they. Bringing some contemporary touches to their classic sound, the band bolted together huge riffs, driving beats and a snarling rock n’ roll attitude on this, their third studio album and first for new home Entertainment One. From the first salvo – the cathartic emotional blast of “Over It” – onward, Never Wanna Die delivered everything the band are known and loved for, just sounding a little bigger and better than before. As frontwoman Priya Panda belts out during the album’s closing track: “Here’s to the misfits / We are the ones that keep it alive / Let’s raise our voices / I’m sent here to save your life.” Quite.

Baroness Purple cover12. Baroness – Purple
It seems that 2015 really has been a year for triumph over adversity. By the band’s own admission, Baroness’ devastating bus crash in 2012 loomed large over Purple. In its wake, some band members quit altogether, whilst others soldiered on, months of recovery and chronic pain seeping in to the process of healing and the music itself. It’s a wonder to behold, then, that Purple represents nothing short of the most rich and absorbing work that the band have ever recorded. Sounding more expansive and melodic than before, Baroness have essentially distilled down the sonic progression they made on sprawling double album Yellow & Green into its essential, still sludge-tinged core. The ebb and flow of tracks like “Morningstar”, “Chlorine & Wine” and “Shock Me” helped to build a remarkable album that, despite its traumatic gestation, moved forward with an overriding sense of positivity and release.

James Taylor Before This World13. James Taylor – Before This World
“I’m not smart enough for this life I’ve been livin’, a little bit slow for the pace of the dream,” lamented James Taylor in lead single “Montana”, taken from his new album, Before This World. Taylor’s bewitching, keenly observed poetry musing upon life, love and the expanse of the universe suggested otherwise. Nevertheless, nothing about the album suggested that the singer and songwriter was being disingenuous, rather he seemed simply to be reflecting on the beauty of the world around him and wondering at the fact that he is still around to make music in the way only James Taylor can (“Somehow I haven’t died”, he observed in the up-tempo “Today Today Today.”) A little nostalgia could certainly be forgiven then on this first collection of new songs in 13 years, as Taylor proved that it was definitely worth the wait.

Sometimes I Sit And Think cover14. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
In 2015 Aussie alt-rock troubadour Courtney Barnett solidified her reputation for brilliant, insightful, witty and literary observation, raising the most mundane aspects of human life to the level of Shakespearean tragi-comedy. Like her previous collection, The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit set the darkly comic poetry against a spiky backdrop of squally and memorable guitar-driven rock n’ roll. Her songs typically lampooning numerous targets and operating on a number of levels, mini-masterpieces such as “Pedestrian At Best” were self-lacerating, whilst at the same time poking fun at Barnett’s external critics. “Put me on a pedestal and I’ll only disappoint you,” she sang. On this evidence, Courtney, not bloody likely.

WELLHUNGHEART_EP_COVER-Web300px15. Well Hung Heart – Well Hung Heart
LA alt-rock never sounded in such rude health during 2015 as on Well Hung Heart’s self-titled release. The California-based band’s single and accompanying video “Throw It All Away” seemed to embody what Well Hung Heart were all about. Spiky, punchy, memorable and bouncing along on an up-tempo beat, the track brought together the best elements of rock and pop, infused it with a touch of grunge and then mixed in a guitar breakdown the likes of which Rage Against The Machine would have been proud of. They then topped it all off with the incendiary vocals of frontwoman Greta Valenti and blew our collective, sun-drenched minds. Valenti may have capped the year with a Star Wars inspired nerdcore side project, The Rebel Scumbags, but it was here in Well Hung Heart that she and her bandmates forged our ongoing fandom.

Tesseract-Polaris-Album-Cover16. TesseracT – Polaris
TesseacT’s third studio album saw the band teasing out ambience and atmosphere and paring back some of the more thunderous elements of their sonic pallette. The result was perhaps the most satisfying body of songs the band have recorded. TesseracT lynchpin and guitarist Acle Kahney pointed to the greater involvement of friend and live sound engineer Aidan O’Brien as being a key influence on TesseracT’s sonic evolution, but the return of vocalist Daniel Tompkins also played a part. Whatever the driving forces behind TesseracT’s forward march, Polaris turned out to be an album of coherence, power and great beauty, as evidenced on the likes of tracks “Tourniquet”, “Hexes” and album closer “Seven Names.”

Iwrestledabearonce-Hail-Mary17. Iwrestledabearonce – Hail Mary
Rife with thundering blast beats, intricate guitar work and the heart-stopping roar of vocalist Courtney LaPlante, Hail Mary did to the Nth degree what Iwrestledabearonce do best, namely confound expectations and defy genres with a gnarly mix of death metal, hardcore, electro and jazz tropes, all bound up with a healthy dose of black humour. Jarring changes in pace, lead guitar lines that sounded like a thousand nails scraping down a blackboard and lounge-like passages of melodic music that were so blissed-out they made you want to sleep kept the synapses firing throughout every listen to this hybrid mongrel of a record that was as thrilling and jaw-dropping as it was discombobulating. A unique and genuine highlight of the year.

Stoneghost - New Age Of Old Ways cover18. Stoneghost – New Age Of Old Ways
Grab yourself a fucking huge melting pot. Add two parts groove metal to one part metallic grunge. Throw in a pinch of sludge and a soupçons of sunset strip guitar riffery. Mix well then leave to boil in the raging fires of Hades. Result? The towering debut album from London’s fast-rising metal stars Stoneghost. A collection of songs that sounded very different to what most of their contemporaries were doing stood Stoneghost in good stead when New Age Of Old Ways dropped in April. “Faceless Ghost”, “Devil’s Motion” and “Raynardine” were all prime examples of why this band have a very bright future ahead of them. With a lot of hard work and a little luck it’s not too hard to imagine Stoneghost developing in to one of the UK’s heavy music finest.

Sylosis Dormant Heart19. Sylosis – Dormant Heart
That Sylosis’ Dormant Heart stuck long in the heart and mind in spite of it’s January release date speaks volumes about the quality of the music the band recorded for their fifth full length. Slowing things down just a little when compared to previous releases, the album managed to find an electrifying sweet spot somewhere in the middle of the metalcore, melodic death and thrash metal that Sylosis have explored through their output to date. Technically thrilling but always accessible, the likes of “Where The Wolves Come To Die”, “Victims And Pawns”, “Leech” and “Harm” delivered a career-high collection that moved the band beyond their metallic hardcore beginnings and in to a hugely promising, more progressive place.

Kowloon Walled City - Grievances cover20. Kowloon Walled City – Grievances
A post-metal howl exploring the disassociation brought upon humanity by industrialised monotony, Kowloon Walled City’s Grievances could be, in many ways, the raging, mechanical little brother of Steven Wilson’s next-gen-technology minded Hand.Cannot.Erase. Brash, noisy and yet littered with hints of melody, Grievances is somehow full of wiry, blustery wrath, and yet manages to maintain an economic, melancholy minimalism. “No love, no memory, just admit it,” intones mainman Scott Evans on the album’s high point, “The Grift”, and yet Grievances inspires the former and lingers in the latter. “Our band is a living breathing thing. It’s not a franchise. So yeah, let’s get going and see where we end up,” said Evans in recent interview. We can’t wait to see where that is.

Brainwashed While She Sleeps21. While She Sleeps – Brainwashed
It wasn’t all that long ago that it looked very much like the game might have been up for Sheffield metalcore outfit While She Sleeps. Following a debut album that was lapped up by fans and critics alike in This Is The Six, throat problems, cancelled gigs and vocalist Loz Taylor ultimately going in to hospital for vital throat surgery meant the band were laid dangerously low right at the moment that they should have been riding high. Fortunately for all concerned, Taylor made a full recovery and While She Sleeps returned, rough, ready and firing on all cylinders with new album, Brainwashed. From THAT riff in the title track on down, the album was a triumphant return that put any lingering doubts and fears to rest.

Ghost Meliora cover22. Ghost – Meliora
Maintaining the air of mystery and intrigue surrounding the band (Who are these ‘nameless ghouls’? Have they really been through three lead-singers, or is it all just a carefully crafted ruse?), Ghost returned in 2015 with the unsettling majesty of their third studio album, Meliora. An intoxicating mix of dark melancholy, ethereal spirit and stately metal, the LP was a masterful collection that cemented the band’s reputation for delivering brilliant music as well as upholding their striking image. Ghost will hopefully be bringing tracks such as “Cirice”, “From The Pinnacle To The Pit” and “He Is” to dramatic life when they return to the UK in March of 2016 for a very special one-off show at London’s Palladium Theatre.

Parkway Drive Ire23. Parkway Drive – Ire
“Now snap your neck to this!” implored Parkway Drive frontman Winston McCall towards the end of Ire album track “Bottom Feeder.” Fans of contemporary metal needed no further reason to do just that on the back of the best album of Parkway Drive’s career. The Antipodean outfit’s fifth full-length moved the band beyond their metalcore roots and placed them firmly in the modern heavy metal firmament, delivering bludgeoning riffs, scintillating guitar lines, thrilling rhythmic shifts and more mosh power than most could handle. On the cusp of destroying their southern hemisphere leash, global domination surely awaits.

Mark Edgar Stuart - Trinity My Dear24. Mark Edgar Stuart – Trinity My Dear
Circling a sweet spot occupied by the likes of American greats such as John Prine, Randy Newman and Vic Chesnutt, Mark Edgar Stuart’s second solo album, Trinity My Dear, was a delightful showcase for the man’s skilled song-writing and musicianship. Exploring life, love and disappointment in exquisitely observed detail, spritely shuffles and heart-rending melodies the album was both sad and deeply, darkly humorous. A personal and intimate collection (“A lot of it deals with some stuff me and my wife were going through at the time,” said Stuart), like the best writing, it also had a timeless, universal quality that made it completely accessible.

Rock Formation EP cover25. Neanderthal – Rock Formation
Screw the rock mainstream, we’ll keep the extraordinary talents of guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Mick Murphy for ourselves, thank you very much. The mainstay of My Ruin, The Birds Of Satan and this year’s who’s-who of punk, rock and metal, Teenage Time Killers, Murphy somehow found the time to write, record and release this mind-melting new collection of instrumentals under his Neanderthal moniker. Free of rules, regulations or large record labels, Rock Formation showed Murphy in full, joyful flight, delivering the kind of jaw-dropping, ideas-led guitar music that you simply don’t come across very often in rock music today. In interview with Skin Back Alley earlier this year, Murphy himself summed it up thus: “[The EP] …has an adventurous spirit like the music I made in my youth. It’s the most musically dynamic and it has the best sound quality of any Neanderthal album so far. It’s a strong batch of unique songs and I’m really stoked about it.” We couldn’t agree more.

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Of course honourable mentions need to go to those albums that sit just outside of our top 25 for the year, but that provided us with many hours of unbridled musical joy nevertheless.

They include: Von Hertzen Brothers with New Day Rising; Holly Herndon and her extraordinary electronic soundscape Platform; Mieke with her self-titled debut EP; Michael Monroe’s glam-punk highlight Blackout States; Jason Isbell and his new solo album Something More Than Free; Joni Fuller and her corking new EP Letters from the West Coast; Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation’s psych-tinged album Horse Dance; Gazpacho and their potentially world-ending album Molok; Riverside’s sublime collection of new songs Love, Fear and the Time Machine; The Decoy and their gravity defying EP Parasites; The one and only supergroup that really mattered this year, Teenage Time Killers and their debut album Greatest Hits Vol.1; UK stalwarts Thunder and their classic return to form Wonder Days; AWOLNATION and their industrial-tinged alt-rock sophomore LP Run; Aussie metalcore outfit Feed Her To The Sharks and their banger of an album Fortitude; Laura Marling and her new album Short Movie; Yorkshire’s very own Fear Lies and their debut album Elements, along with their fellow Yorkshiremen Of Allies and their EP Fragments; Derby hard rockers Eva Plays Dead delighted with their EP Sounds Of The Written Word; B. Dolan’s brilliant Kill The Wolf LP stuck on the stereo for quite some time, as did Suze DeMarchi’s new solo album Home; Brandon Flowers’ The Desired Effect was an engaging follow-up to previous solo album Flamingo; there was much to recommend Butcher Babies’ new album Take It Like A Man; Gary Clarke Jr’s The Story Of Sonny Boy Slim was something to behold; Halestorm came back very strongly with career best Into The Wild Life; Finally, singer and songwriter Julia Holter had us all beguiled with her new release Have You In My Wilderness. If you pushed us to choose our favourite re-release of the year, it would certainly be The Replacements’ The Complete Studio Albums: 1981-1990, so there.

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Skin Back Alley’s Top Albums of 2014

SBA Top Albums Of 2014-001

Anyone who says that 2014 hasn’t been a great year for music simply isn’t looking – or listening – hard enough. In fact, with each and every year that passes, the late broadcaster John Peel’s answer to the perennial question “What has been the best year for music?” seems more and more appropriate. When asked, he would reportedly answer simply and in that instantly recognisable voice each and every year, “Last year. And the year before that.”

As the debate about digital music distribution continues, and artists and labels argue about the best way to ensure that their music reaches our ears and still makes money, the most forward thinking bands, singers and songwriters are finding their audiences by ever more direct ways and means, and fans old and new are connecting with that music in new and myriad different ways. Putting the commercial aspects of the industry to one side for a moment however, the last 12 months have seen rich pickings for those prepared to seek them out.

So, without further ado, here are the Skin Back Alley picks of the vintage that was 2014. Feast your eyes and ears, and let us know what you think.

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servers_leave_with_us1. SERVERS – Leave With Us
Eschewing the philosophy of heavy for heavy’s sake, Barnsley based kings of cult SERVERS unveiled their remarkable debut album right back at the beginning of the year. Leave With Us arrived in February, indisputably well-crafted and undeniably fully formed, delivering densely layered arrangements that exist in an abrasive rock space, but that never sacrifice melody along the way. Debut single “Universes and Supernovas (The Ride)” set out the band’s stall in its up tempo blast of squally punk attitude, bolted on to a melodic hook that is, well, supernova in size.
Later in the year “Claustrophobia” proved that SERVERS were also capable of off-kilter alternative beauty in the vein of, say, Soundgarden’s cross-over smash “Black Hole Sun.” Collaborator Mark Latham served up an astonishing video to accompany it, too. But it was Leave With Us’ central epic “Dangerous Devotion” that lingered longest in the heart and mind, building in stature through its early verse and chorus until, in one fell swoop, it knocked us off our feet with its string laden coda, melting our faces along the way.
As if that wasn’t enough, the album was meaty of lyric, too. “[Leave With Us] took a dark lyrical context from conversations in the band and an interest in the subservient nature of people, and how cults or individuals can hold such a power over certain people, to the point of killing others or themselves for a cause. It’s both fascinating and terrifying,” said SERVERS in recent interview with Skin Back Alley. Well quite. Add in their post-millennial image of dark, hooded figures lurking in the murky shadows, and SERVERS proved that they were the real deal, here to stay. As Skin Back Alley was wont to say in our album review: “Both future vision AND past nightmare, Leave With Us is a stunning debut album, and in this time of crisis creation, SERVERS are surely the UK’s finest new rock and metal hope.”
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King 810 Memoirs Cover2. King 810 – Memoirs Of A Murderer
If one thing was certain during 2014, it was that everyone in the rock and metal community had an opinion about King 810’s debut, Memoirs Of A Murderer, most of them seemingly negative. It only took a few moments of searching the net to unearth vast swathes of rubbish written about the crew from Flint, Michigan, who made a heavy, groove-laden, monumental metal racket, spitting lyrics that concerned gun crime, death, the downtrodden and dispossessed, hard lives and even harder hearts.
But accusations of bravado and the glamorising of murder and guns were, to these ears, hugely wide of the mark. Memoirs… certainly does not exist to shout “Look at me! Aren’t I clever and cool with a gun in my pocket!” As Skin Back Alley noted in its piece on the LP, the album “…does not boast or beautify. No, this album is run through with dread, fear, regret, the hardening of hearts and the sure knowledge that to be prepared and carry a gun is to become something less than human at the same time as being the only way to survive.”
Frontman and chief songwriter David Gunn revealed himself to be a master poet and lyricist in his missives which were presented as if they were the recorded memoirs of the album’s title, and an expert in delivering them in shocking, vivid, venomous and brilliantly realised vignettes. If defined as something creative that gets under your skin and makes you reconsider your world view, then Memoirs Of A Murderer proved itself to be nothing short of art.
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Birds Of Satan3. The Birds Of Satan – The Birds Of Satan
By the time November of this year rolled around, the world of rock was all about one band. You couldn’t open a magazine, navigate to a website or switch on HBO without hearing mention of Sonic Highways, the new album (and documentary series) from Foo Fighters. But whilst Skin Back Alley remained ever so slightly underwhelmed by Grohl & Co’s eighth LP, it was his stick wielding colleague, drummer Taylor Hawkins, who delivered the real rock gold back in April.
Teaming up with guitarist Mick Murphy (of My Ruin, Neanderthal and Chevy Metal fame) and bassist Wiley Hodgden (also a Chevy Metal alumnus), The Birds Of Satan delivered a boundary-hopping, rule-breaking, category-defying rock n’ roll masterpiece.
The chemistry evident on the band’s eponymous debut was undeniable, the three men (with a little help from their friends) hopping, skipping and jumping through select styles with a vintage sound that was full of unabashed joy. Murphy’s guitar wrangling was particularly impressive, providing several of the LPs high points in the tones, textures, rhythms and solos that propel the album along.
Consistently talked about in the press as a Hawkins side-project, the album felt far more substantial than that. As Skin Back Alley noted at the time of release: “…Contrary to popular belief, the Devil doesn’t have all the best tunes. Take a stroll over to his aviary, however, and you might just find them there.”
The band remained fairly low-key for the rest of the year, with just fleeting live performances and a couple of TV spots on US talk show Last Call With Carson Daly. A new, non-album track “Be The Bird” slipped out with literally no warning in September, and all has been quiet on the Western front since. Nevertheless, even if this gem of a record proves to be a one-off, you make damn sure you acquaint yourself with it, and sooner rather than later.
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Matt Woods - Brushy Full Size4. Matt Woods – With Love From Brushy Mountain
In a post-modern world, notions of the ‘real’ and the ‘authentic’ fall by the wayside. Thank goodness then for Matt Woods and his album With Love From Brushy Mountain, released in the Spring. Woods’ second LP delivered a rich slab of ‘real’ Americana straight from the heart of Knoxville, Tennessee, mesmerising us in the process.
“I write what is ready to come out and try to be as honest as I can about it,” says Woods of his songs. “A lot of my songs are very much based in classic Country music while others are grounded in straight forward and greasy rock’n’roll.” Yes indeed, and they always seem to arrive with wonderful results.
“If there’s a finer example of a musician bleeding on to record, we’ve yet to hear it,” we noted in our review, and whilst there is nothing brazen or flashy about Woods’ songwriting or musicianship, there is an astonishing amount of the highest quality. You may have guessed that at Skin Back Alley we very much fell in love with With Love From Brushy Mountain.
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Then Thickens - Death Cap at Anglezarke5. Then Thickens – Deathcap At Anglezarke
On the other side of the Pennines, alternative rock magic was hard at work in the Chorley borough of Anglezarke. A sparsely populated area of Lancashire dominated by open country and a reservoir, the parish proved to be fertile ground for the imagination of Then Thickens. Their resulting debut album as a six-piece was a masterful and atmospheric slice of hazy indie-rock.
Mixing the melodic grunge stylings of the likes of Weezer with a peculiarly British sensibility, Death Cap… delivers an existential Thoreau-esque treatise on growing up in the more rural confines of contemporary England. A heady brew that takes in fuzzed-up guitar, ethereal synth, pounding drums and spectral vocals, Then Thickens’ brand of melodic, mellifluous and yet rough-hewn rock and roll stayed long in the memory.
Chief architect Jon-Lee Martin said in interview with Skin Back Alley: “The songs were kind of put together at random for the record… There wasn’t really much lineage to the choices of the songs.” And yet, serendipitously or otherwise, that overarching sense of returning to the self remained. The group have been back in the studio recently, hard at work on the follow up. We can’t wait to hear the results.
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Miss Shevaughn - LITW6. Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray – Lean Into The Wind
A fine collection of beautifully crafted Cosmic American Music, husband and wife duo Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray’s album Lean Into The Wind seems to inhabit the very essence of the term coined by Americana pioneer Gram Parsons.
Both emotionally and politically charged, the music on display runs the gamut from Byrdsian psychedelic jangle, through Appalachian folk textures, past a raucous garage clatter and on to greasier, rockier ground.
“Don’t you cast your eyes down,” implores Miss Shevaughn in album closer “Brush The Dust Off (Lean Into The Wind)”, “Don’t you heed what they say…. Darlin’ you need somewhere to fly. Lean into the wind, we gotta’ keep movin’.”
“It might be natural to wonder who she is singing to following a diagnosis of cervical cancer in January 2013. Is it us, or herself?” we wondered in our review. In the end it didn’t really matter, for here are artists who know what it means to follow your dreams regardless of what may be around the corner.
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Marmozets Cover7. Marmozets – The Weird & Wonderful Marmozets
The sheer breadth and depth of talent bursting out of Yorkshire and rampaging across the globe this year was phenomenal. In at the heavier end of the vibrant spectrum were Marmozets. Weird & Wonderful? You can count on it. The band’s debut album, released via Roadrunner later in the year, was rightly seized upon by the major music press as a remarkable slab of molten maths metal, rife with huge, crackling stop-start riffs and the agile stylings of frontwoman Becca McIntyre, who proved perfectly capable of shifting between splenetic rage one moment and soaring melody the next.
If anyone had anything contrary to say about the LP it was that it seemed ever so slightly more tame than Marmozets’ legendary live shows that they had been laying on for years prior to being scooped up by a major. But to these ears that mattered not one jot, as it simply refined their sound and showed that the northern upstarts were capable of painting a broad and complex canvas that fired the imagination as much as the heart and hips.
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Cloud Atlas Beyond The Vale Cover8. Cloud Atlas – Beyond The Vale
Far from being a long extinct dinosaur from a forgotten age, progressive rock proved that in 2014 it is alive, well and still exploring music’s fantastic and expansive outer reaches in fine style. Proof of the fact came in the debut album from Cloud Atlas, the York based band that rose like the proverbial Phoenix from the ashes of previous outfit Stolen Earth.
Questing to realise her singular vision with her own band, head honcho Heidi Widdop set her controls for the heart of the sun, delivering an epic set of songs that tackled subjects metaphorical and philosophical, set against a backdrop of sublime instrumentation from guitarist Martin Ledger, Dave Randall on keys, Stuart Carver on bass and Neil Scott on percussion.
At the forefront of all this was Widdop herself, her astonishing vocals holding the whole thing together like a female version of Soundagarden’s Chris Cornell: all guttural and gritty power combined with exquisite and expert control. Elegantly simple in sound but achingly complex in scope, Beyond The Vale was a real highlight of the latter part of the year.
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Machine Head Bloodstone and Diamonds9. Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds
Alarm bells began to ring earlier this year when Bay Area veterans Machine Head announced that they were cancelling tour dates in order to spend more time in the studio refining their new album. Mainman Robb Flynn talked in terms of knowing that the band had something special and wanting to ensure that it got the attention it deserved. Nevertheless, journos and public alike were wont to wonder.
As it transpired, doubters needn’t have worried. On its release, Bloodstone & Diamonds proved to be something of a mainstream metal instant classic, bringing together everything that Machine Head have done so well for over two decades.
Punishing riffs and gargantuan grooves abounded across the album’s running time, alongside more experimental touches and textures, combining to deliver an immensely satisfying whole that deserved every plaudit it received.
“This is the finest mainstream metal album of 2014 by a huge margin” wrote seasoned metal scribe Dom Lawson in his Guardian review. Agreed, Dominic. Agreed.
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Acrania-Totalitarian-Dystopia10. Acrania – Totalitarian Dystopia
“If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever” wrote George Orwell in his literary classic, Nineteen Eighty-Four. And now, thanks to the UK’s extreme metal crew Acrania, you know what that future sounds like.
Not for the faint of heart, Totalitarian Dystopia does exactly what it says on the tin, tackling head-on the theme of a totalitarian state endlessly and needlessly crushing the individuality and freedom out of every human soul with unimpeded impunity.
As loud as an erupting volcano, as heavy as a planet and as dense as a black hole, anyone who listened was likely left a gibbering wreck, but the ride proved as thrilling as it did bruising. For those with a taste for the far reaching extremes of heavy music, there was no finer example released this year.
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~ 0 ~

Honourable mentions need to go to those albums that have been sitting just outside of our Top 10, but have nevertheless made a significant impression over the past 12 months and spent a great deal of time on the Skin Back Alley stereo:

Distorted Harmony and their brilliant LP Chain Reaction have kept us in contemporary prog rapture for a large part of the year; Amaranthe delivered the best album of their career in Massive Addictive, which did exactly what it said on the tin; Sanctorum’s new full length Old Ghosts/New Wars served up a thrashtastic slice of metal that got its full roadtest on tour with My Ruin in August; Million Empire’s new EP The Lion Tamer proved to be a brilliant slice of alt-rock from Brum; Christina Rubino crafted a life-affirming work of singer-songwriter genius in her (A)Live From The Scrapheap LP which will be the subject of a future article here at SBA; Gandalf’s Fist created Jim Henson’s Labyrinth in prog-rock form with their woodland fantasy A Forest Of Fey; Matty Rockville harked back to prime-era 90’s REM with his gem of a record Chestnut Ave; Sister Sin’s fifth studio album Black Lotus had us pumping fists and playing air guitar like we were in Skid Row; Black Veil Brides’ self titled new release had us praising their songcraft and Bob Rock’s production to all who would listen; Nikki Lane’s All Or Nothin’, John Kilzer’s Hide Away and M.Lockwood Porter’s 27 had us drinking at the well of Americana that somehow never seems to dry up; and finally Panic Room’s new album Incarnate had us soaring on the wings of Anne Marie Helder’s wonderful voice and new guitarist Adam O’Sullivan’s extraordinary solos.

Album Reviews | Live Reviews | News | SBA Lists | The Playlist | Under The Skin | Without A Song

25 Best Albums of 2010

It’s funny how your perception of the music released during any given period of time can change from moment to moment. 2009 seemed like a bumper year for music. There were many new bands to discover and other that simply hadn’t been listened to before. At the end of the year there were spoils aplenty to choose from.

On initial reflection, great music in 2010 has seemed a little harder to come by. The year certainly hadn’t felt like the series of epiphanies experienced in 2009. Nevertheless, a trawl through the memory banks demonstrates that there is still plenty that is worthy of note.

So although a little later than your favourite music magazines, sites and blogs, here are Skin Back Alley’s favourites in all their glory. No voting system. No points scoring. Just a list of our most listened to albums of 2010.

1. Flamingo, Brandon Flowers
2. Heaven Is Whenever, The Hold Steady
3. Treats, Sleigh Bells
4. American Slang, The Gaslight Anthem
5. Have One On Me, Joanna Newsom
6. Acolyte, Delphic
7. The Final Frontier, Iron Maiden
8. Archandroid, Janelle Monae
9. The Drums, The Drums
10. Lights, Ellie Goulding
11. The Boxer, Kele
12. Li(f)e, Sage Francis
13. Loud, Rihanna
14. Infinite Arms, Band Of Horses
15. Sea Of Cowards, The Dead Weather
16. Plastic Beach, Gorillaz
17. Surfing The Void, Klaxons
18. Hidden, These New Puritans
19. Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
20. The Optimist, New Young Pony Club
21. Are The Roaring Night, The Besnard Lakes
22. Odd Blood, Yeasayer
23. High Violet, The National
24. Quarantine The Past, Pavement
25. Come Around Sundown, Kings Of Leon

Those who know the prejudices of this site well will be asking “What? In a year when Bruce Springsteen released an album it doesn’t feature in your favourites?” Well, no. It doesn’t. The Promise may have been the mother load for fans, but it didn’t completely capture the imagination this year. But there is much to admire therein.

Honourable mentions must also go to Relayted by Gayngs and This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem that find themselves just outside of the top 25. Others have been enjoyed but haven’t lodged themselves in the consciousness in quite the same way.

Disagree with us? Want to mention your own favourite or list of loved albums? Let us know what you’re thinking by commenting or getting in touch via e-mail. 2011 is shaping up nicely. See you here this time next year.

Buy the Skin Back Alley top 25 of 2010 at the SBA Music Store.

25 Best Albums of 2009

2009 brought many great albums and was something of a bumper year for music, despite what you may have heard in the press about falling sales and the death of the music industry.

Of course, the remastered re-issues of The Beatles back catalogue overshadowed most album releases, but this list is dedicated to those new albums that were released during the course of the year.

At Skin Back Alley we have no team of staffers that we have to poll, no tiresome voting system or electoral college, just a list of those albums that we listened to and loved the most. Enjoy. Comment. Debate.

  1. Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective | Buy it
  2. Blue Roses, Blue Roses | Buy it
  3. The Resistance, Muse | Buy it
  4. Working on a Dream, Bruce Springsteen | Buy it
  5. Summertime EP, The Drums | Buy it
  6. Oh My God Charlie Darwin, The Low Anthem | Buy it
  7. Nothing Gold Can Stay, The Duke and The King | Buy it
  8. The First Days of Spring, Noah and The Whale | Buy it
  9. Tarot Sport, Fuck Buttons | Buy it
  10. Embryonic, The Flaming Lips | Buy it
  11. Primary Colours, The Horrors | Buy it
  12. A Positive Rage, The Hold Steady | Buy it
  13. Slow Attack, Brett Anderson | Buy it
  14. Two Suns, Bat For Lashes | Buy it
  15. 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day | Buy it
  16. A Brief History of Love, The Big Pink | Buy it
  17. Album, Girls | Buy it
  18. Sigh No More, Mumford & Sons | Buy it
  19. Manners, Passion Pit | Buy it
  20. In This Light and On This Evening, Editors | Buy it
  21. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart | Buy it
  22. Fever Ray, Fever Ray | Buy it
  23. Alpinisms, School of Seven Bells | Buy it
  24. Keep It Hid, Dan Auerbach | Buy it
  25. Still Night Still Light, Au Revoir Simone | Buy it


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The King of the Monsters adopts an heir to the Throne!

One of the Showa era’s finest films, Son of Godzilla was originally released in Japan under the title Monster Island’s Decisive Battle: Godzilla’s Son (怪獣島の決戦 ゴジラの息子 Kaijū-shima no Kessen Gojira no Musuko).

SOG is, unapologetically, my favorite Godzilla film. Sure, the 1967 G-suit catches a lot of flack for its – unconventional – appearance, but I love the new life it gives to Godzilla. The entire film is a joy from start to finish, and the script & cast are the best Toho’s showa films offered us. Packed with classic monster action, fantastic characters, vibrant colors, a terrific score and phenomenal tokusatsu FX work, Son of Godzilla is a true classic with infinite “rewatchability”. – Jon D. B.

   In 1967, a scientific experiment of weather manipulation is taking place on Solgell Island in the south pacific. The scientists on the island are becoming restless because of the intense heat, coupled with the fact that there are large praying mantises roaming the island. However, the hard-nosed Professor Kusumi refuses to give up, and presses his men on. As preparations continue, a cargo plane flying overhead drops an unlikely package-a journalist named Goro Maki, who insists the professor allow him to stay and cover the experiment. Finally, the professor allows him to stay, provided he cook and clean for the men. As they near the time for the experiment, Goro happens upon a native woman, but she abruptly disappears as he makes his presence known. Finally the moment of the experiment arrives, and the process is started. All of a sudden, strange radio waves interfere with their equipment, and the experiment is compromised. The explosion of the element in the atmosphere causes a radioactive storm, and intense heat settles on the island, wilting foliage and scarring the facility. After a few days, it is cool enough to venture outside, and once again, the professor pushes to get the project back in motion. On checkingone of the information units, Goro and another scientist discover that the praying mantises have become massive, and they are forced to hide until it passes. Three of the giant monsters converge on a giant rock pile, where they began to dig at the ground. Later on, the praying mantises, dubbed “Kamacuras” by Goro, succeed in unearthing their prize; a giant egg. They begin to smash it open, and a little baby dinosaur pops out. Goro determines it is a baby Godzilla, and then realizes that it was the source of the radio interference. Back at the site, one of the scientists goes crazy, firing off a shotgun and running towards the ocean. The group leader catches him just in time to see Godzilla rise from the ocean. Godzilla heads into the jungle, hearing the cries of the baby. Back at the scene, the Kamacuras are beginning to attack the infant, when all of a sudden Godzilla shows up and challenges them. After a brief skirmish, two are disposed of; set on fire by Godzilla’s atomic breath. The remaining Kamacuras flies away in retreat. Upon returning to the base, Goro stumbles into a cave, losing consciousness. He comes to to find that it is the home of the native girl, named Seiko, and she confronts him. They quickly become friends, and Goro takes her back to meet the team. Meanwhile, Godzilla tries to teach his adopted son lessons on how to roar and breath atomic breath, and puts up with his child-like antics along the way. When the Men all become sick, Seiko tells them of a cure, and she and Goro go to get it. Along the way, she tells him of “Kumonga”, a giant spider buried underneath the ground near there, and to be careful not to disturb him. The cure is administered to the men, and later on, Seiko ventures out into the jungle to find more medicine when she stumbles on a sleeping Kamacuras, who wakes up and attacks her. The baby Godzilla shows up, and he and Kamacuras fight. Goro arrives to rescue Seiko and they escape. During the battle, Kumonga is woken up and chases the two humans. After barely escaping, Kumonga follows them to her cave, and tries to attack them. The baby shows up again, and Kumonga’s attention turns toward him. The baby is no match for Kumonga, who entraps him in a thick web. Only when Godzilla shows up is the baby spared. The professor conclude the only way they can escape the island safely is to start the experiment, and they begin. The experiment is successful, and snow begins to fall on the island as the three-way monster battle continues. Kumonga proved to be a very worthy opponent for Godzilla, and only through the combined firepower of the two monsters do they finally beat him. Kumonga set ablaze, Godzilla sluggishly moves along the beach with his son in tow to find a spot suitable for hibernation. The team of scientists finally receives a rescue submarine, and they leave Godzilla and his son to hibernate on the island.

This to me is one of the more lighthearted and enjoyable Godzilla films of the 1960s. The atmosphere is very happy-go-lucky for the most part, and Masaru Sato’s lively score compliment the “south seas island” feel to the movie. There is plenty of monster action spread out through the movie, and we get several types of monsters. Of course, we Get Minilla (who is nameless in the film – his name would come at a later date), the son of Godzilla, along with Kamacuras; a giant radiated praying mantis, and Kumonga, a monster spider. Godzilla goes without saying. All of which were portrayed in a splendid and believable manner. The Kamacuras and Kumonga puppets were well done, and for what they were, they were handled well. However, the main character of the movie to this day brings a lot of criticism; as he looks absolutely nothing like Godzilla. He looks more like the Pillsbury Dough-boy crossed with a dinosaur. The adult Godzilla suit seems overly bulky, but that was to be expected, as the Godzilla suit had to be a little taller to compensate for the difference in size between Minilla and Godzilla himself. It wasn’t a very impressive Godzilla suit; the head was too big, and it really resembled Minilla more than anything. Whether that was intentional I’m not sure. It doesn’t make the film any less enjoyable. The child-like antics of Minilla and the watchful parent actions of Godzilla make for one of the most enjoyable and heartwarming Godzilla films of the sixties.

The human actors in the movie were very enjoyable. Akira Kubo, Tadao Takashima, Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara, and Yoshio Tsuchiya all doing absolutely superb jobs with their characters. I can’t go without mentioning Bibara Maeda as Seiko. She did an excellent job as well, and is yet another superb and important female character in the Godzilla series (not to mention she is beautiful as can be).

The special effects were impressive. The wilting plants as the heat damage set in, and the shots of the aftermath of the radioactive storm; the buildings with the paint melted off and rusting was a superb job, and really gave a realistic impression. Kumonga’s special effects work was well done also, save for the shots of Goro and Seiko being entwined in his webbing. The Kamacuras, Minilla, and Godzilla fighting with the webbing were truly interesting effects indeed.

Son of Godzilla is in my opinion a sorely underappreciated movie; because of it’s venture away from Godzilla’s traditional character, but that’s just one man’s opinion. I think it is a very well made film, with great acting, great special effects work, and a great score, and makes for one of the most enjoyable movies in the series. This one gets no less than four stars out of five from me!

– The Real McCoy

Produced in 1967, “Son of Godzilla” is the eighth Godzilla movie produced and as the title implies it is the first in the franchise to feature Godzilla’s offspring, who strangely enough would not be given a proper name until his third and last Showa era appearance, “All Monsters Attack,” during which we learn his name is Minya, or rather Minilla as he’s been renamed in recent years (personally I prefer Minya over Minilla, but that’s just me). The film takes place not in Japan, but rather on far away fictional Sollgel Island, where a team of scientists are conducting weather experiments to control earth’s climates, as a means by which to solve world hunger by making the most of environments normally too inhospitable to grow crops. Between the unbearable heat and the island’s population of giant, human sized praying mantises, AKA Kamacuras, the science team has nearly lost all patience with their determined leader, Professor. Kusumi. Matters become even more complicated when a newshound named Goro arrives on the island via plane, parachuting onto the beach and inviting himself onto the research team, who humorously allow him to join so long as he agrees to do “dirty work” like laundry and cooking. While foraging for food Goro even sights a mysterious island woman, though no one else on the team believes him until later in the film when they learn she’s Reiko, the daughter of Dr. Matsumia who came to the island years ago and perished, leaving his only child to grow up alone in the wilderness.

The situation takes a turn for the worse as an unexplained signal emanating from the island center causes their latest experiment to backfire on an epic scale, generating a radioactive storm that triggers a tremendous growth spurt in the already huge Kamacuras, boosting them to a staggering 50 meters in height, same as Godzilla! The Kamacuras soon after uncover a massive egg, which was the source of the strange signal, and after cracking it open, out pops a defenseless infant Godzilla. Fortunately for the youngster, his father soon arrives on the scene and shows the hungry predators who’s King of the Monsters. Goro, Reiko, and the science team then find themselves alone on an island populated by Godzilla, his newborn son, Kamacuras, and a fourth kaiju, the frightening giant spider, Kumonga! What all this entails is a fun and exciting tale about wilderness survival, adorable baby kaiju hijinks, and plenty of rumbles in the jungle between a sizable cast of memorable monsters.

Godzilla is the protagonist kaiju of the film, only not to the point at which the science team feel comfortable when he’s around of course. The MusukoGoji suit used for the film has a short snout and large eyes with heavy lids, which gives him the overall appearance of a grouchy father figure, ideal for his role as a new dad in this film. The suit was designed to give Godzilla a more paternal look and to more closely resemble Minya, but at the same time still look intimidating and powerful. Godzilla’s interactions with Minya provides a fair mix of comedy and heart warming family friendly moments that will appeal to children viewers as well as their parents. Godzilla comes across as inexperienced when it comes to child rearing and more accustomed to a solitary lifestyle, but there can be doubt he loves his son when he rushes to his defense against Kamacuras and Kumonga, and teaches him how to fend for himself as his own monster. Like many baby animals Minya is both playful and curious, making him a friend to the human characters as well as getting him into a good deal of trouble his dad usually has to bail him out of, which of course gives us some nice action scenes in turn. Minya also possesses a wide range of vocalizations that convey his mood at any given time, the sound “wagwa” apparently meaning something akin to “daddy.” Personally, I was a bigger fan of Minya when I was a kid, nowadays I find him less impressive compared to the Heisei era’s more convincing interpretations of the son of Godzilla, especially in the case of Godzilla Junior. However, Minya served his purpose well enough for the Showa era and fits in with the lightheartedness of this particular picture, so whether you come to adore the “little” guy or resent him for his cheesiness is up to you.

In sharp contrast to the Goji family scenes, the antagonist kaiju Kamacuras and Kumonga are quite menacing. Granted, giant radioactive insects and arachnids are far from being something new and different, but despite this they give off far more personality and presence than other movie monsters of similar origins. Kumonga especially displays a surprising degree of intelligence as the jumbo sized spider uses its webbing to both immobilize prey and cut off escape routes, even reaching into cave entrances in pursuit of our human heroes with its long, hairy, claw tipped legs. The marionettes used to portray Kamacuras and Kumonga are very detailed and move convincingly even during fight scenes, making for some wild kaiju combat and scary close-calls with the human cast. However, while we are led to believe the Kamacuras were abnormally large even before the radioactive storm grew them to city smashing size, we never learn as to whether or not Kumonga was always as big as he was depicted or whether the storm increased his girth as well, we only know from Reiko and her father’s research notes that Kumonga was a danger on the island long before the science team arrived.

The tropical island setting was beautiful and the sets used for the monster scenes were quite convincing, and the actors of the film did a pretty bang up job portraying their characters, even if only Goro, Reiko, and Dr. Kusumi were particularly memorable. The musical scores for the film switched back and forth between goofy and epic as the scenes alternated between the family friendly and sci-fi action moments, not my favorite musical themes of the Godzilla franchise but appropriate for the film itself. However, one big mystery never solved was where exactly Minya came from, seeing as that Godzilla is a male monster, has no mate, and unlike the 1998 Tristar creature Zilla, does not reproduce asexually. Due to these reasons, it is generally accepted that Minya was merely a fellow monster of the same species whom was lucky enough to be adopted by the Big G before the Kamacuras could make a meal out of him, Godzilla following the signal he was giving out all the way to Sollgel Island. Regardless, “Son of Godzilla” is an enjoyable Toho film that is sure to entertain old and young monster fans alike.
On a special note, Sollgel Island was the first Island to be referred to as a “Monster Island” by the human characters when the science team muses over how many kaiju have come to inhabit it. As a result, many fans believe Sollgel Island to be one and the same with the famous Monster Island that would remain Godzilla’s home throughout much of the 60’s and 70’s Goji films, though still separate from the Monsterland used to contain the kaiju cast in “Destroy All Monsters.

– KaijuDuke

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10 Ways on How to Find Resources in Designing and Developing Your Website

There are millions of websites out there, all competing for clicks, so how do you ensure that yours will receive the attention and traffic you need for your business growth? It starts with employing the right resources and tools when developing your site. From functionality and design to navigation and content, there’s a lot to consider.

Below are 10 ways that can help you create a website worthy of your brand.

1- Own Your Domain Name

While some website-building platforms offer free domain names, these names usually come with extensions that can make your website seem unprofessional. Besides giving your business a more legitimate and professional feel, purchasing an actual domain name will also help ensure that your website is easy to remember and let’s face it, yourcompanyname.com sounds a lot better than yourcompanyname.wordpress.com anyway.

2- Choose a Reliable Web Hosting Provider

Having a fully-functional website won’t get you far without the appropriate maintenance, this is where web hosting comes into play. Before choosing a web hosting provider, the web design pros at Web Design Booth recommend sitting down with your marketing team to better understand any special requirements that can affect your web hosting needs. Based on your particular needs and expected traffic, you should look for a dependable provider with scalable and customizable options that can keep your website running smoothly as your business grows.

3- Find the Right Website-Building Platform

The right website-building platform for you depends mostly on your skill level as well as the kind of features you want your website to have. When choosing a platform, you should keep the bigger picture in mind. You see, low-cost platforms are ideal for relatively small businesses that require simple websites with just a few features. This means that if you’re expecting your business to grow quickly, such platforms may not be able to accommodate your growing business needs and transferring all of your content to a new host later on can be a major pain. So before you choose, be sure to carefully consider your future web hosting and business needs.

4- Consider Hiring a Web Designer

If you’re planning -or at least hoping- for a quickly growing business, hiring a web designer may be the best route for you. Keep in mind that hiring a web designer to create a custom website for you will probably cost you a pretty penny and since you definitely wouldn’t want your money to go to waste, your website’s design has to be customized to your target customers’ preferences. So before you choose a designer, make sure that you deeply understand your target audience’s interests and needs because your audience’s likes and dislikes can define how they interact with your website and, consequently, how they perceive your brand.

5- Be Selective With Your Stock Images

Thanks to the hundreds of stock photography websites out there, you can easily enhance your website’s visual appeal without necessarily hiring a professional photographer. However, you need to keep in mind that just because a photo looks nice doesn’t mean that it’ll add value or context to your website. When choosing your stock images, select the ones that reflect the spirit and personality of your brand and add value to your site.

Stock images are considered intellectual property. So, before incorporating them into your website, always make sure to read the terms of use, receive the appropriate written permission for lawful use, and pay the necessary fees if applicable to avoid violating any copyright laws.

6- Think About Mobile Optimization

Statistics indicate that approximately 95% of mobile device users use their phones to search for services and products. This means that for your brand to effectively reach this growing sector of mobile users, your website has to have a responsive design that’s optimized for all devices otherwise, you risk losing your customers and your SEO rankings.

7- Understand How SEO Works

To develop a substantial online presence, bring in traffic, and gain more exposure, you need to utilize SEO properly. This starts with developing an SEO strategy that’s based on your understanding of your potential buyers’ personas. When you identify what your target audience is likely to search for, you can create solid content that speaks to their needs. By incorporating relevant keywords in your content, product descriptions, captions, and titles, your website will be more likely to pop up when people search for certain topics related to your brand.

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8- Consider Other Alternatives For Revenue Generation

Over the past few years, new ways of website revenue generation have emerged. You can make money off your website without bombarding your audience with irritating ads. Besides the basic banner and pop-up ads, you can consider other options like affiliate links and sponsored posts.

9- Link to Your Social Media Channels

Social media is the modern-day equivalent of word-of-mouth advertising. Setting up a good presence on the appropriate social media platforms where your customers can provide reviews and keep up with your brand’s latest updates can effectively boost your website’s traffic. So when developing your site, be sure to link it to your social media channels and don’t forget about the social media sharing buttons.

10- Never Stop Testing Your Website

Nothing can be more of a turn off than clicking on a link only to find that the page no longer exists. So, after designing your website to perfection, be sure to test it for broken links or improperly linked content on a regular basis, you’ll be surprised by the number of errors you can find.

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Between raising brand awareness, generating leads, bringing in traffic, and creating a unique user experience, the benefits of developing a successful website are numerous and invaluable. But as you can see, for your site to encourage further interaction with your brand and ultimately inspire brand loyalty, there are several elements to consider. We hope that our tips can help you ensure that your website has the tools required to meet your business needs, bring your marketing efforts to life, and take your brand to the next level.

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With a passion for Knowledge, Smashinghub has been created to explore things like Free Resources For Designers, Photographers, Web Developers and Inspiration.

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Date & Time: Thursday, April 9, 2020
6:00-8:30 p.m.*
Location: 7630 W. 159th Street
Orland Park, IL 60462
Presented By: Dr. Robert Marshall, Dr. Brittney Jasek, and Smiles of Orland Park

Change The Appearance Of Your Teeth

You could benefit from orthodontics if:
  • You have crowded or crooked teeth or gaps in your smile
  • You feel self-conscious about the alignment of your teeth
  • You have an overbite, underbite, or other bite issue
  • You need to rework orthodontic treatment done when you were younger
Participants in our special event can receive:
  • A free consultation and walk-through of treatment options
  • Up to $1,000 off their orthodontic treatment
  • A cost/insurance breakdown and an estimate of treatment length
  • A free Sonicare toothbrush for the first 10 patients

Improve Your Smile & Your Self-Confidence

By attending our special event on April 9, 2020, you have the opportunity to receive a free consultation and a $1,000 discount on full orthodontic treatment at Smiles of Orland Park. At this event, we will walk you through the treatment process. We can estimate the cost of your care, including an insurance breakdown, and give you an idea of how soon you could be looking at your new smile.

To qualify for your free consultation and up to a $1,000 discount, you must attend this event. As an added incentive, the first 10 patients will receive a free Sonicare toothbrush! Call 708-998-4176 now to make an appointment for your 30-minute slot. Don’t miss this opportunity to improve your smile!

Why Choose Smiles Of Orland Park

Dr. Marshall has been improving smiles for more than 30 years.
We offer traditional and ceramic braces along with Invisalign aligners.
We will work with you to create the smile of your dreams.
Call Today to Make an Appointment 708-998-4176 Request an Appointment
7630 W 159th St, Orland Park, IL 60462
  • Mon: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Tue: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Wed: 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
  • Thu: 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
  • Fri: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Sat: 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Sun: Closed


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Justice Matters®

To get help call 1-888-575-2954 OR Apply online

Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services provides free, high-quality legal help to low-income people in critical civil matters. For 110 years, we’ve helped individuals and families secure and protect their basic needs, maintaining freedom from hunger, homelessness, sickness, and abuse. Because, justice matters.

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