Infernal Overdrive
Last Rays of the Dying Sun
Small Stone

Discovering that Boston hero* Marc Schleicher has surfaced as the front man for New Jersey rock n’ road warriors Infernal Overdrive is one hell of an early Christmas present, my friends. Hell, I’m not sure I’d be here today if it wasn’t for Schleicher’s brawlin’ brand of East Coast riff n’ roll, so to hear him once again stranglin’ the six-string like a twenty dollar hooker is something special; a sure sign that the wheel of the American rawk machine is back in the grip of one of its most prolific drivers. Last Rays of the Dying Sun, the band’s full-length debut, is, quite simply, arena rock for dive bars, like KISS or Cheap Trick on a chain link tour through Southern wilds, and the way they saturate it with razor-backed hooks, sky high solos, nasty drum fills, and blacktop lingo (“I-95,” “Electric Street Cred,” “Rip It Out,” “Motor”) will lead a man to submit himself to a life of drinkin’, cheatin’, lyin’, and dyin’. Or, if you prefer, a life of glory. You know, I don’t think this one actually comes out until 2012, but either way, Small Stone has finished this year off — or started the next — on a definite high note.

*I’m not from Boston, but I have spent many years there vicariously through people much cooler than me, and I would be utterly shocked to find out that anyone who played in Cracktorch, Antler, and Quintain Americana isn’t a hero in that town.

Listen to “Rip It Out” from Last Rays of the Dying Sun!

Dragontears
Turn On Tune In Fuck Off!!
Bad Afro

If this, Dragontears’ third album, is indeed their final one (as it has been reported to be), they’re going out in a phosphorescent blaze of acid rock glory. Part Danish drug-speak, part freak machine electricity, Dragontears has allowed Lorenzo Woodrose — with help from his friends from On Trial — to open his third eye real wide and stretch the psychedelic sounds of Baby Woodrose into a strange, dreamy trip through a field of toadstools. Like its predecessors, Turn On Tune In Fuck Off!! is just six songs long and kicks things off in fuzzy fashion with “Two Tongue Talk,” and “No Salvation,” then follows with the mega-mellow “My Friend,” the most Baby-sounding song on deck. The second half of the album is decidedly more far-out than the first half, with “Time of No Time” leading us deep into the cosmos and dropping us into the void that is “William,” the album’s obligatory opus, a big spoonful of thick cough syrup that drones on in a red haze for over 13 minutes before melting into “Mennesketvilling,” which wraps us in the same foreign-tongued intonations. A good album to end the short-lived Dragontears era, but you know, as long as Baby Woodrose is still around, we’re not really going to miss them all that much. They sure were a fun-fried diversion, though.

Listen to “My Friend” from Turn On Tune In Fuck Off!!

Red Giant
Dysfunctional Majesty
Small Stone

Red Giant have always been somewhat of an enigma. They disappear for years at a time and just when you think you’ve forgotten all about ‘em, they show up at your door one day, ten stories tall, clutching a sledgehammer in one hand and a cluster of planets in the other hand, a shit-eating grin like a chasm on their face. Then all of a sudden it’s like they never went anywhere at all, and the reason they’ve only put out two albums in the last eleven years (1999′s Ultra-Magnetic Glowing Sound and 2004′s Devil Child Blues) is because they’re thick-chested overlords of the cosmic mean machine with some heavy duty responsibilities, like riding high atop choppers of flame into the heart of interstellar battle, forging lunar wars in the name of universal dominion. Only when they’ve defeated their space foes and captured the black skies above us do they settle down to tell tales of their conquests via macho, bubbling, dope n’ roll songs. Their latest episode, Dysfunctional Majesty, is another batch of bad-ass biker metal blues cut from blood-soaked denim and bathroom walls, which means it sounds like AC/DC, Alabama Thunderpussy, Beggar’s Ball, Dixie Witch, and any one of Wino’s bands all at once, in case you’re having trouble remembering. However, dig the Clutch-like groove on “These Satisfactions are Permanent” and the Sleep-like doom of “Silver Shirley” for some new twists on their gruesome, galactic sound. Hop on board this one, friends, because it’s one hell of an awesome ride and who knows when they’ll be back around for another spin.

Listen to “Chopper” from Dysfunctional Majesty!

Buy Dysfunctional Majesty from Small Stone!