Forum Album Club #3 - Mandala, by Rx Bandits

[sweatboard]

 
I like some of the riffs; I wish I could pin down what kind of tone he was going for.  It seems like someone set him lose in guitar center and he's decided to try every different amp, effect peddle, guitar combination in the store......ON ONE SONG!!!

:D

[sweatboard]

I guess what I'm trying to say is it sounds like the music comes first in this band.  It sounds to me like the lead singer and other band members love to play this kind of jammy stuff that transitions all over the place and then the song and lyrics come after that.  If that makes sense.   

[ManNamedTruth]

I guess what I'm trying to say is it sounds like the music comes first in this band.  It sounds to me like the lead singer and other band members love to play this kind of jammy stuff that transitions all over the place and then the song and lyrics come after that.  If that makes sense.   

This is their jammiest sounding album. I think the lyrics sound meaningful, some of their other stuff has more political content.

[ManNamedTruth]

Thanks for all the input everyone! With 20 members in this thing, I hope more people start to participate.

[sweatboard]

I guess what I'm trying to say is it sounds like the music comes first in this band.  It sounds to me like the lead singer and other band members love to play this kind of jammy stuff that transitions all over the place and then the song and lyrics come after that.  If that makes sense.   

This is their jammiest sounding album. I think the lyrics sound meaningful, some of their other stuff has more political content.

I think I'm just more of a singer/songwritter kind of guy.  For instance I would rather sit down and listen to Kurt Cobain play a song on the shittiest two string acoustic guitar ever made than see RUSH demolish Tom Sawyer.

Lyric wise, I think he has some really uplifting messages but the way he puts words together just doesn't do it for me.  In my opionion the lyrics kind of mimic what I hear in the music.  There are a bunch of notes and a bunch of big words, or just a bunch of words, but in the end it doesn't really hit me.       

[sweatboard]

Thanks for all the input everyone! With 20 members in this thing, I hope more people start to participate.

WORD UP!!!

Who has the next pick????

[Crispy]

Sorry I missed this one guys, too busy getting ready to head down to Austin tomorrow. Hopefully I can post my thoughts on this record later -- it's a good one!

[mahg33ta]

Thanks for all the input everyone! With 20 members in this thing, I hope more people start to participate.

agreed!  and I'm guilty as charged, as one of the 20 signed up.   I have listened to the album twice, could not make last night.  will chime in later with comments and hope to be more active.   

[he.who.forgets]

me too..I've given the album a listen but not in the appropriate setting.  Need to listen a couple more times to let it sink in...

[MarkW]

Difficult to participate with the time difference, but I really enjoy catching up on the comments next morning!

[Ruckus]

Really enjoyed the musicianship on this album.  Your writeup at the start describing their evolution was interesting True.  Unfortunately the singer was really what kept me from enjoying this album as much as I could have.  He kind of reminded me of Bad Religion and it didn't play off of the rest of the music well.  I do dig the Rush meets Trail of Dead meets Sublime feel of it for sure.

[ManNamedTruth]

Really enjoyed the musicianship on this album.  Your writeup at the start describing their evolution was interesting True.  Unfortunately the singer was really what kept me from enjoying this album as much as I could have.  He kind of reminded me of Bad Religion and it didn't play off of the rest of the music well.  I do dig the Rush meets Trail of Dead meets Sublime feel of it for sure.

I think the reason I like them is because they bridge together the music I used to listen to with things I like about music now. I relate to the musical journey they've been on. I really don't hear the vocals the same way as some of you do. I just don't hear Greg Graffin at all in his voice, that's a lazy comparison. Maybe when you hear the more punkish sounding parts, your brain just goes to punk that's familiar to you. I don't mean to come off sounding harsh, just a friendly musical debate  ;). I think Jeff Buckley (if he grew up listening to punk) with a hint of Sting is a pretty accurate comparison.

[ManNamedTruth]

Thanks for all the input everyone! With 20 members in this thing, I hope more people start to participate.

agreed!  and I'm guilty as charged, as one of the 20 signed up.   I have listened to the album twice, could not make last night.  will chime in later with comments and hope to be more active.

No worries! We should all make an effort to drop in sometime throughout the week. I definitely won't be able to make every listening party either.

[ManNamedTruth]

Here's a video from their previous album, ...And The Battle Begun.

RX Bandits And The Battle Begun Video

[mjk73]

I'll have some thoughts either tonight or tomorrow. Work and a lack of life are kicking my ass so I haven't had a chance to do anything...but curse.

[he.who.forgets]

After several listens, I still cant quite place this album.  I certainly agree with everyone's comments that there is some excellent musicianship on this record.  I can say confidently that I like the second half of the album better than the first.  Probably from "White Lies" on.  Overall, I'll rate the album a solid 6. That could improve with more listens though.

[Ruckus]

Really enjoyed the musicianship on this album.  Your writeup at the start describing their evolution was interesting True.  Unfortunately the singer was really what kept me from enjoying this album as much as I could have.  He kind of reminded me of Bad Religion and it didn't play off of the rest of the music well.  I do dig the Rush meets Trail of Dead meets Sublime feel of it for sure.

I think the reason I like them is because they bridge together the music I used to listen to with things I like about music now. I relate to the musical journey they've been on. I really don't hear the vocals the same way as some of you do. I just don't hear Greg Graffin at all in his voice, that's a lazy comparison. Maybe when you hear the more punkish sounding parts, your brain just goes to punk that's familiar to you. I don't mean to come off sounding harsh, just a friendly musical debate  ;). I think Jeff Buckley (if he grew up listening to punk) with a hint of Sting is a pretty accurate comparison.

Perhaps you are right in considering it a lazy comparison.  However, I don't think I was necessarily referring to the tone/sound of his voice but more the way it came across in the most straightforward punk sections. 

[capt. scotty]

This band played at the free "festival" Penn State has at the end of every spring semester. They were there in maybe 2005, they sounded much more I think like an indie punk band, I dont remember this much variation in style (although, I admittedly wasnt playing the closest attention then....ahh).

Im really going to have to give this album a couple more listens before even thinking about what my favorite song would be or give it a rating. Im not sure if the first couple songs were just more jarring or I got used to their sound as the album continued. After being 4 songs in, I figured 3 and 4 wouldve both been in my top 3 favorites since I liked them a lot more than the first 2, but as the album continued I started liking it more and more. I had no problem with the vocals, and couldnt even start to talk about the lyrics after 1 listen. Based on bands that Im familiar with, they definitely have their own sound. With how complex and "ADD" there music is, going all over the place, they remind me of a lot of Frank Zappa's more obscure music, and to a lesser degree, Umphrey's McGee, namely with the guitars. Over the last half of the album, they also started to remind me of the punk side of Sublime/singer reminding me of Brad Nowell.

Liked this a lot more than I expected after the first couple songs, definitely deserves repeatedly listens so I have a better feel for it. As for people early on saying they didnt know when they would want to listen to it, IMO this seems like a great album to weightlift, jog, bike ride, hit the heavy bag to.