18 Fevers – Nothing Helps
Genre: Punk, Post-Punk, Grunge
18 Fevers convincingly recreate one of pop-punk greatest sounds on Nothing Helps.
By the time that The Distillers had finished promoting their third and final album, Coral Fang, they’d carved a path deep into the heart of modern rock and, consequently, were about to leave a gigantic hole. Here was a tremendous sound, and now there was to be no new songs utilizing it.
It wasn’t like nobody wanted it. The Distillers had left a place on top of the mountain. The only problem was that someone had to write and sing songs like Brody Dalle, play like the Distillers, and have someone produce the album like Gil Norton had.
It’s a tall order, but South Korean group 18 Fevers are up to the task and ready to fill the void. Nothing Helps recalls Drain the blood, Dalle’s biggest single. However, the excitement and ferment of the performance are undeniable. The vocals are an incredible, longing howl. This is, without a doubt, a sound that many have been waiting to hear once more for a long time.
Steven Heighton – The Devil’s Share
Genre: Blues, Americana, Alternative Rock
Steven Heighton sings about evil spirits as if he’s uncovered their dirtiest secrets on The Devil’s Share.
Rock used to be about pretending to be friends with the devil, or at the very least, a willing accomplice. Early rock tunes all included a dash of wild daredevil posturing. Naturally, this functioned as a great calling card for audiences that had been told to obey the rules made up by the other side.
It wasn’t for a long time that singers like Screaming Jay Hawkins, Captain Beefheart, or Tom Waits sang just like they knew the devil, and didn’t think much of him. Waits, in particular, writes about the gruesomeness in which the horned-one gets involved, as if writing about a drunken uncle.
Steven Heighton seems to have nurtured a similar relationship. The Devil’s Share is a short story sung over a mambo beat about everyone in the world paying their tribute to the devil of technology. Steven Heighton is to Tom Waits, what Jim Carrol was to Patti Smith. This is a well-written story that explores just what a pop tune can do.
