Customer Reviews

See You in Magic

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

 

 

John Reis is the energizer bunny of rock. He has had no less than three bands(Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes and The Sultans)that rock your socks off, at a time, all the while running a label(Swami) and guest DJing in San Diego. Retirering the Hot Snakes and the Sultans, and surprisingly RFTC, Mr. Reis focuses his power on The Night Marchers, his killer new quartet that mixes the previously mentioned bands, all the while adding something completely fresh to the fun. And thats what this record feels to me, a super fun listen. This also has some of the more calmer moments that Mr. Reis has ever penned, though no less rockin. In the end, if you have enjoyed any of John Reis' previous musical releases, the Night Marchers are right up your alley.

A welcome return from the most prolific rocker around! With no less than 3 classic albums to his name (Drive like Jehu's "Yank Crime" and RFTCs "Scream, Dracula, Scream" and "Hot Charity") and a whole host of great albums (pretty much the rest of his work with RFTC, Hot Snakes, Sultans, Back off Cupids and Jehu), John Reis has crafted another fine album of hard rock, indie punk and no small amount of pop, that is up there with his finest moments to date. Here's hoping the Night Marchers hang around long enough to put out another few albums as fine as this.

I was at a show in Akron a few weeks ago and the sound guy kept playing this album over the PA. I thought it was good. I thoguht it was old. It sounded like some early eighties thing that had been forgotten. I had no idea who it was, so I asked.

I had seen Rocket From the Crypt once, but I was never huge into them. The Night Marchers on the other hand... I've had this CD in the car for the entire week. Its gritty, catchy... and bizarre in the way that the music itself is hard to describe. It really is.

The songs on this album really vary, and yet at the same time they're tied together by a distintive sound, and Reis' vocals. The standout track for me is "Dead Sleep (zzzz)" which starts out with a hardcore surf sound that reminded me of Agent Orange's grittier stuff. "Deadbeat You" is another good song; pretty straight forward.

I only wish the vocals were better defined. They occasionally sound low or muddled in the mix. Even so, this is the best new album I've heard this year.

If you like your indie rock hard driving, relentless, and very high energy, then this is the album for you. One of John Reis's (aka Speedo) seemingly endless project, this is among my favorites. There isn't a great deal of diversity here, just one hard rockin' guitar driven song after another. Listening to this album I think of Tina Turner's spoken intro to Ike and Tina's version of "Proud Mary," where she says that they don't ever do anything "nice and easy."

The only complaint I have with the album -- though this technically shouldn't qualify as a complaint -- is that there isn't as much diversity on the songs as I would like. Like Ike and Tina, all the songs are "nice and hard." Drums and hard driving guitars and muscular vocals runs through virtually every song. The hooks differentiate the songs, but nonetheless nearly every song ends up dominated by churning guitars. Even a lover of guitar-driven rock like myself would have liked a tad more variation. The one real departure from the formula is the last cut on the album, which is also perhaps the disc's weakest cut. Anyway, this is a minor complaint. There may not be much diversity, but there definitely are a string of really, really great rock numbers in the finest indie mold.

great album, very RFTC, & sultan sounding it, never dissapointed by what these guys do. I really like trach # 2 dead sleep, & track # 5 branded i would give it a five star but its not shipwrecked, it does'nt have that constintancy but the sounds are great none the less.

As a huge fan of Rocket From the Crypt, I was pretty inconsolable that our planet no longer had such a band for the past several months (years? has it been years?). This record picks up EXACTLY where they left off and all is right with the world. This record is a blessing from the rock gods. Pick it up. Not a weak number on the whole thing, it's wall to wall ruckus.