Customer Reviews

El Bitche

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

UNREAL! NOT TO BE BELIEVED! IMPOSSIBLE! However, it's true; this cd is such utter CRAP that it defies explanation.

Their "Pushmonkey" cd is, without a doubt, INCREDIBLE. After very little thought, in fact, that is the ONE cd I would choose if I had to pick just one to listen to for the rest of my life. So incredibly moody, and melodic, and powerful, and rocking, and mellow; hits all the bases. "El Crappy", however, CANNOT possibly even be the same band, and yet, after looking into it, it is! Incredible.

These songs SUCK, period. "Nu-Metal Rap-Rock" NOISE!!! What the Hell is wrong with these guys? Didn't they realize that they had an INCREDIBLY unique and AWESOME sound going? Didn't they realize that the listening audience was BOUND to "catch up" to them? Too impatient? Wanted to "cash-in" on the "new wave" of crap rock, guys? Shame on you!!!

Listen, people: DON'T even THINK about buying this crap; even the people who reviewed this recently and said they liked it had to admit that "it had to grow on them", and "at first they had to agree with the bad reviews", etc; what does that tell you? Doesn't sound like an overwhelming endorsement, does it, when even its SUPPORTERS have to make "disclaimers" about it. I should NOT even THINK about listening to their new cd; I should ban them forever for putting out such COMMERCIAL HORSECRAP like this; idiots!!!

This must be the most INCREDIBLE turn for the worse in the history of music; these guys should be FLOGGED for intentionally turning away from the synergystic-genius they found and created just so they could try and "make a buck"; traitors to art and integrity! Don't support this crap; don't buy it; DON'T!!!!!!!

I hate it when life's little mysteries prove themselves to be too good to be true, and sadly this album is a shining example of that disappointment. Pushmonkey's self titled album was amazing, it was solid, cohesive, innovative, compelling, inspiring... it was a diamond in the rough, somehow this Austin band put out one of the greatest albums of the 90's and no one seemed to notice. They should have been superstars for just half of that album. Then came this follow up, it just wasn't as raw, it left you wondering what happened, and if that first album was just a fluke. It was uninspired, cliché and played out. Sure it has it's moments with "Myself" and "Mine To Waste" but that was about it ("Diamond" had been a crowd favorite since their early days but it felt like they just kind of threw it on the album), and neither one of those songs measured up to anything off their self-titled album. Now going from "Maize" to "Pushmonkey" was an epic leap, but "El Bitche" (even the title comes off immature and not to be taken seriously) was a disappointing down step to a band that had nothing but potential.

This deserves a negative rating. I haven't seen this band live in about 3 years because it is obvious they are more concerned with being "rock stars" than writing and performing the music that made 'Maize', the EP, and half of 'Pushmonkey' great. If you loved their self-titled album go buy 'Maize' which is thankfully getting re-released. The thing that upsets me the most about this band is that they used to play a bunch of awesome songs live that never made it on 'Pushmonkey'. I figured that maybe they were holding those tunes back for this release but it seems that they've decided to join the ranks of every nu-metal act out there instead. Oh well, at least we get a live recording of "Rednose" on the re-release of 'Maize'.

Please don't buy El Bitche. You'd only be encouraging them to make more garbage like this.

I tried really hard to give this album a chance. I own Pushmonkey's self-titled album and have seen them play live, so I didn't even second guess myself when purchasing this album. I have a hard time believing that this is even the same group. It seems that they tried to shift their direction a bit (a lot!), and in the process, managed to drop all of the elements that made the first album so great. "Woman Named Dope" is really the only catchy song on the entire album (in heavy contrast to the first CD). I'm definitely going to listen to their next effort before I consider buying it. Being from their hometown doesn't mean that I have to like this CD. Do yourself two favors - 1.Buy their self-titled album and 2.Steer clear of this one.

Easily the biggest dissapointment of the year musically. Who would have guessed as their first release is one of my all-time favorites. Gone is the addictive guitar hooks, the incredible vocal harmonizing, the in-your-face onslaught of the unique Pushmonkey sound. What happened here? The songs on this CD wouldnt get any band signed and its a complete embarassment. If I could I wouldnt even give this one star - its that bad. Dont be fooled by the 5 star reviews (all from Texas coincidentally! - borrow before you buy youll be glad you did. Again it really pains me to say this as I had really enjoyed the last CDbut this one is awful.

Pushmonkey's first CD was AWESOME; honestly one of the best ones out there, period. ... This new CD, however, is just such a disappointment that I can hardly believe it, unfortunately. I believe the band was listening to too much of "today's rock" before writing these songs, and the music has definitely regressed. Please note that most of the "5 star" reviews here on Amazon were written by people from Texas; perhaps it is no mere coincidence that the band is from TX as well? DEFINITELY listen to the songs before buying this CD; if you are hoping for a music experience similar to that of their first CD (or are hoping they may have even gotten BETTER, somehow) you will almost certainly be disappointed with this effort. I hope these guys can turn their backs to the current trends and get back to their incredibly original and melodic rock music.

From start to finish, Pushmonkey's self-titled album is my favorite group album of all time. It was well-produced, hard-driving rock music! (...)Their first indie release, Maize, was also great Austin brand hard-driving rock music, proprtionally as raw as the first was meticulously crafted. When I heard that this album was a return to their old sound, I was eager to hear it.

I didn't get what I expected. The Alice in Chains-reminiscent harmonies I came to know were fewer. The Metallica-reminiscent guitars had been scaled back. I can only describe some of the lyrics as much more trite than they once were. They even gave the much maligned "rap-metal" a try. It didn't work. The "old sound" involved long songs. I don't think any song on this album was any longer than four minutes, whereas each every song on Maize (discounting interludes) was longer than four, almost five minutes. I've also heard that this album is like their live show, but on CD. I guess the live show is lost without a stage presence.

Best on the album are the songs Number One, Masterbraker, Diamond (which was a reject from the previous album), and the secret track, which is funny and also manages to be cute.

We're Creed, no wait we're Linkin Park, no..

In either case definite a sub-par version.

This is the play by play my way:

Personal Highlights are definatly Chemical Skin, Pissant, Woman Named Dope, Carbomb, Masterbreaker, and Core. For one, all of these songs rock out and don't lack on energy. Chemical Skin has a fast rap rock groove that gets the album started. Pissant has a muddy bass line that drives this down toned song of aggression. Woman Named Dope is standard Pushmonkey Rock and Melody. Carbomb takes no prisoners. It was my early favorite and still is. Masterbreaker reminds me of old skool Pushmonkey. It has a fun groove and has an essence of Dallas' Pimpadelic. Core is quite different. Its a very classic sounding tune where the guitars almost act as violins and the trumpet brings a movie scene vibe.

Songs that are less stellar in my opinion are Mine to Waste, Myself, Thing, Number One, and Diamond. Mine to Waste is a pop song and if you like that thats cool. Myself is another pop song and just doesn't do anything for me. Thing has a punk start and a decent 2nd half. Something in the vein of Limp Bizkit. Number One just doesn't click with this guy. Diamond was better with the Mike Clink production. Its got a live essence to it now.

UPDATE: The album has gotten old and degrading. The only song I like now is CORE. Please buy the self-titled and the upcoming MAIZE release ... This can be skipped.

I am an older fan. No recording can capture this bands' stage presence and the earlier albums rock! That aside: The first time I listened to El Biche I reacted like some of my fellow reviewers. It is definitley not like earlier ventures. Seems like the result of experimentation; its not too polished and bland though. A little ballad heavy. Although some lyrics or short riffs walk the line of cheesy or typical rock rap hybrid stuff ("thing" "master breaker"), they still work in Tony's melodic trumpet ("tag"), vulenerable lyrics ("mine to waste") and some good old fashion blunt aggression to balance it ("chemical skin" & "carbomb"). They have kept their identity. They do seem to be going in a few different directions but I think El Biche is definitley worth it. I'm proud of this central Tx band. Looking foward to the next one: Year of the Monkey.