Barn Burner
Bangers II: Scum of the Earth
Metal Blade

Montreal’s booze-filled, flannel warriors return with their highly anticipated sequel (highly anticipated by me, anyway), Bangers II: Scum of the Earth, and it’s every bit the stoner metal riff-fest its predecessor was. What’s more is, Barn Burner seem to have upped the aggressive ante this time around without sacrificing their sense of party-hard humor, meaning you still get songs with titles like “Dark Side of the Barn,” “Keg Stand and Deliver,” and “Skid Marks the Spot,” but they’re thrown at you heavier and faster than ever before (no doubt due to better production this time around). I ate Bangers up like a plate of of rock n’ roll stew, traces of its slick licks dribbling down my bearded chin, thanks to its deliciously fraternizing nature; an album for bros by bros. Bangers II does not fail in drawing the denim-head scum together again, but the frothy, cursed, thunder-chuck that is now their glorious glue is more raging battle than raging kegger, is more broad sword than clenched fist, and will surely separate allies from enemies. And that’s the beauty of the Barn Burner way — whether killer or thriller, you’re always left bloody and smiling with your friends at the end.

Listen to “Keg Stand and Deliver” from Bangers II: Scum of the Earth!

Danko Jones
Below the Belt
Aquarius Records

It’s gonna be awfully hard to avoid peppering this review with all the pugilistic puns that are bouncing around in my bearded brain like blind bats, what with the album title and the fact that Danko Jones comes screaming out of the corner in this particular fight with – if you can believe it – more attitude than ever before, spittin’ and snarlin’ about what has become his rock n’ roll raison d’être: broads, break-ups, bad thoughts, and bullish bravado. So I’ll just go with it because it’s as if there’s a whole new law that needs layin’ down, man, and the only person that’s got balls big enough to do it is ol’ Mr. Jones himself (with the help of misters Calabrese and Cornelius, naturally). He’s the world heavyweight champion, see, and while there’s been plenty of times he’s floated like a butterfly, he’s at his best when he stings like a bee. And brother, the hive is buzzing like a blown amp and somebody needs to pay.

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That’s right, ‘kaw.’ As in the sound a bird makes. Or, to be more exact, the sound a killer raven makes before it tears you to pieces with its black beak and sharp claws. Now, if you’re thinking, “Gee, with a name like that, the movie couldn’t possibly be any good,” you’d be pretty much right. So let’s toss aside the obvious Hitchcockian angle here and focus on what really matters: the terrible fate of the humble country folk who must battle an epidemic of mad ravens with a hunger for flesh. How will they survive? I mean…will they survive?

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