Customer Reviews

Sonic Jihad

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is no ordinary rock band but is surely something you don't bring over to Grandma's house. It's interesting to hear it move in and out of metal to trip-hop. Like on "Breed" it starts the CD off sounding to be a Massive Attack replication, but when the chorus kicks in it immediately turns to heavy yet melodic rock. I like how a lot of the songs start off sounding harmless and almost sweet-like but eventually break through to angry female angst, as heard most evidently on "Somebody Hates You." That song almost makes me want to laugh, but in a good way. And boy does she ever steam some ear-smoke on "Vulcan." In my opinion she uses the "F" word one too many times there, but oddly enough I like it.

Most would shy from knowing a record to contain two remakes, thinking it unoriginal, but S.R.C. make them sound so completely different that at first you might not even notice it. The heavy guitar riffs on the Cure's "Lovesong" give it a hard-rock, NIN-esqued edge, sounding nothing like the subtle original. And their take on Smith's "How Soon Is Now?" is quite different with its light orchestration and trumpet horn sneaking a peak here and there. It's not quite as good as the original but, like the rest of Sonic Jihad, is strangely addicting. And to choose a favorite as I always do, it would have to be "Casualty" with its dragging beat lines and lazy singing. I was really surprised at liking this. If you, like me, enjoy Garbage, Massive Attack, AND Nine Inch Nails, than I think you should check this out.

I bought this cd for to have the cover of The Smiths' "How Soon is Now," but was blown away by the intensity of the album. The female vocals are not only refreshing to hear in a male-dominated industry, but are amazingly in-key as compared to another female lead group, Evanesence, whose singer seems to have immense trouble staying in the right key.

The jewel of this album though is the cover of The Cure's "Lovesong." Out of all the covers I've heard of any song, this far surpasses it. It is intense, bring industrial influences, along with hard rock, jazz and even some world influences. It is an amazing cover. Hard as I try, I can't stop listening to it.

While, in my opinion, the best two songs on the album are covers, this doesn't mean the rest aren't worth listening to. The band shows a great talent for composing music and bringing many different styles together seamlessly. This band also has accomplished something else that I feel they really need to be congratulated for, their songs don't all sound the same, which happens with many bands. Each song as a new, distinct sound and flavor which leaves me only wanting more.

While this type of music isn't for everyone, if you are a fan of female-led rock, industrial, trip hop, and even jazz and blues, you may just fall in love with this band. I am excited for Snake River Conspiracy's next album.

I'm not one for adjectives, but Sonic Jihad deserves a lot of them. Positive ones. Breed starts out with some inventive percussions coupled with well timed winds and leads into some electronic guitars that I've heard before but SRC knows what to do with them. Casaulty is the first track on the album that SRC gets a little close to the pop sound, but they're forgivin. You and Your Friend is a little poppish for my pallet but thats okay because it has some good 50's-like guitars. Lovesong re-establishes the industrial sound with orginized guitar loops and strong drums. Act your Age is one of the more melodic songs on Sonic Jihad, with what sound like some kind of electronic harpsichord in the background loops. More than Love is a fun song that reminded me of some of the old Sesame Street bug cartoons. Strangled sounds somwhat like the theme from Licence To Kill only darker. I wonder if Gladys Knight knows about this. Oh Well starts out with gritty guitars and keeps up the pace with strong bass and sultry vocals. Somebody Hates You is reminiscent of Kmfdm's Xtort with SRC's owns spin on things for example the 60's-ish sitcom samples. If you were waiting for an aggressive emotional tribute to Science Officer Spock then here you are. Vulcan has three video incarnations as far as I know. SRC ends the album with an awsome remake of The Smiths' How Soon is Now. Morrisey should be proud. Slater and Torres did a fine job on this one. I eagerly await their next release.

What does Snake River Conspiracy's 'holy-war-of-sound' resemble? Hmm, let's see:

Late pre-Splinter Sneaker Pimps; Fragile era Nine Inch Nails; Orgy without the anti-rhymes and Korn influence; Garbage; Republica; Curve; Whale; and *maybe* The Beatles and Massive Attack. Add to this an additional heavy dose of very edgy industrial experimental sound, and an occasional mockery of American idealism. Thus, the title of their debut album is quite fitting.

They've covered 3 fine songs so far: The Beatles' "She Said, She Said" (on the "Vulcan" Single); a lushly dark semi-gothic industrial take on The Cure's "Lovesong"; and The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now".

The excellent female voice is that of Tobey Torres. Sometimes it's almost a shame the music is so obscuring. I said *almost*. It's funny how another review took a pot shot at "Casualty's" lack of industrial sound. This is one my favorites on the album. It's reminiscent of Kelli Dayton Ali's later b-sides and remixes with the Sneaker Pimps. SRC's whole album has great film-like scope, but that track is by far the most cinematic.

After seeing the super-cool "Vulcan" video and listening to the single, I assumed this SRC release would be good. Not only did it exceed my expectations, but it's in immaculate HDCD. This is one hell of a Sonic Jihad. Cleanse the universe, baby. . .oh yeah.

P.S. I dislike Kittie and Iron Maiden, and I'm not a big Kid Rock fan.

You would never guess the brains behind this band is one of the founders of Third Eye Blind! This is heavy, yet melodic...angry, yet clearly they have a sense of humor.....Never would have known of the band, except they had a video for Vulcan on the late, great MTV-X. I liked the tune, but never got around to getting the cd till a few weeks ago. Best rock cd I have heard in years! Of cource, the cd is a few years old itself!
What can I say about Tobey Torres? Even if she wasn't sexy, you would want to know her, because of the emotion she puts into the lyrics. The anger seems to be like that one would find in a much less attractive women(Wonder if she was an ugly duckling growing up?)This band has so much going for it, every song is actually good(2 are covers of cource), how often do you say that about a non-greatest hits cd? It's a shame MTV or most Alt-rock stations did not put them, listen to the samples if you haven't already here, and you will find after you buy the cd, it is better than I have described!

when i heard the cover "how soon is now?" they didn't really catch my attention... but then the vulcan video certainly did! i got the cd recently and i just can't stop listening to it! there's not one song i have to skip, although some i can't help but repeat over and over...

my personal favorites are "you and your friend", "somebody hates you" and the undescribable cover for "lovesong"

src have become one of my favorites and i'll be waiting patiently for something new from them!

I bought this album a couple of years back...and I'd either lost it or lent it out. I'd resolved to not worry about it and see if it'd come back...but I couldn't hold out.

The music is hard and electronic all at once, and nicely varied from song to song. The female singer can have a husky-sweet voice one moment and have a lovely scream the next.

"Breed" is angry, but cleverly so..."Somebody Hates You" is (in my opinion) reminiscent of Mr. Bungle, just a bit.

Even their covers ("Lovesong", from the Cure, and "How Soon is Now", from the Smiths) are well-done and very very tight.

"You and Your Friend" made me laugh out loud the first time I heard it; it's well-written and executed.

All in all, the album is tight, very sharp, and should be appreciated. Love it.

I really wanted to like this album, and at some points I do, but there's a certain feeling that the product was just slightly more fabricated than created. The industrial angst of Vulcan, the pop appeal of slower Garbage-like tunes, the songs themselves are pretty decent. But taking into account the seemingly unwarranted just-for-the-shock-of-it use of the f word, the covers (Lovesong is an interesting take on the Cure, but How Soon Is Now doesn't stray far from the original and is certainly not better - indeed the band itself admits it wasn't the best choice), the use of Vulcan to start the media circus, something just doesn't sit right.

Certainly SRC got some undeserved criticism from those expecting more of Vulcan - their slower songs are some of the better ones, showcasing Tobey's voice better. But SRC does make us wonder why there are no good female-fronted industrial (or at least somewhat industrial) bands (no, Lords of Acid does not count).

Check out SRC, but don't forget to let go of your expectations. Some will enjoy it, some will not. Several good tunes, but short of groundbreaking.

Imagine, for a minute, that the Eurhythmics contract rabies. Frothing at the mouth, Dave and Annie wander into Karaoke night at a biker bar, storm the stage, crank the sound system to 11, and begin a sonic assault on the senses of everybody within a 50 mile radius. That, in a cracked nutshell, is Snake River Conspiracy.

As meticulous as this record is (Every beat, blip, and bang seems to have been evaluated and placed precisely for maximum effect. Theyre so thick that you could chip your ear on em.) its also fun. The band manages to coney the sense that yeah, theyre ... off at everything and everybody, but they love singing about just how ... they are. How many Goth CDs can you say that about?

or rather burried treasure. i had to listen to some crap before getting to these guys. while being astonished by the diversity and creativity of this album i found out that members of two of my favorite bands channelled through this particular outfit, that being Orgy and Drain STH. there is quite a wide range of influences on this record and the actual songs range from progressive rock to coldwave industrial goth metal. -wait is that right? damn these guys are "cool"!

recently i stumbled upon an alternate version of the song 'breed' entitled 'breed (loadblower remix)' and it takes the cake for these guys best production. if you try to find it you won't be disappointed. it's "good enough to make you blush"... (you'll have to buy the album to get the reference) dammit now you have to buy it...