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SONS
OF CYRUS- 'Monkey Business' CD PRESS
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE
(SONS OF CYRUS- Monkey Business CD, Dead Beat)
Sonic Rendezvous Band, Bored!, Powder
Monkeys, God. Get the idea? Don’t have an idea? Think everything
that the Hellacopters ever copped.
Rock and Roll chased with a 26-ounce bottle of Jack. C’mon, get
your moneymaker out and shake that sucker around. Now, dangle that trouser
snake in the public’s face. Get it now? Fuck, you really are thick.
Pure, unadulterated rock and roll seen through the eyes of Swedes but
done better than most of that ilk.
Old Uncle Sam tells you whom to love and who to hate, probably leaning
more on the latter. This is often referred to as Hatriotism. Uncle Sam
would hate Sons of Cyrus, as there is no conformity to speak of. Just
two big hairy testicles dangling in the winds of conformity ready to explode
when poked or prodded. Uncle Sam does not like you to think for yourself.
Wave a big middle finger to Uncle Sam (or two fingers if you are in U.K).
Get your creepers out and fucking dance.
If you buy this CD, you are supporting everything Uncle Sam does not stand
for.
BMO'S WORLD (SONS OF CYRUS- Monkey Business CD,
Dead Beat)
As the subtitle says, this is a collection of previously
released singles, along with some previously unreleased stuff. By and
large, it's really good stuff. For me, there's just a bit too much of
it, but if you're looking for the complete picture, then "Monkee
Business" will probably be just right. Two of the more interesting
cuts for me are the covers: The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting
Man", and the Mitch Ryder arrangement of "Devil With The Blue
Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly". Both of these are true to the spirits
of the original without being bland copies. Throughout the entire collection,
Sons of Cyrus display a real knack for bringing a punk attack to old-time
rock'n'roll type material - even their originals sound like they could
have been written by the Stones or Little Richard. They attack every song
with an almost unmatched ferocity, and you can just about hear the sweat
dripping off them as they tear through one rave-up after another. High
energy, to say the least.
SLEAZEGRINDER (SONS OF CYRUS- Monkey Business CD, Dead Beat)
Another labour of love mission accomplished by the
Dead Beat label to bring us this salubriously sinicious set o' singles
and rarities from Swedish rockers, rollers and no doubt subterranean strollers
Sons of Cyrus. If, like me, this is your first encounter with them, then
take it from me (words rather than the record, mind) that a first encounter
couldn't be better if it was with a Thai whore in Honolulu. Perhaps. Maybe
the hyperbole's ran away with me into that dirty great dustbowl of dreams
but anyway it's fucking good, right? Right On. Yup, marvel that they get
down in a daft get up a la fellow nut job Scandinavians Turbonegro on
the cover. But marvel moreso that you slip it into your CD player and
every time after that you'll be pressing the open and close button, hands
fumbling for the volume control to keep this baby playing like a stumbling
spotty first timer desperately trying to unclasp bras and seeing stars
in seconds.
Opener 'Tired Of This Time' galvanises whole garrisons of rock fuel such
that in a game of virtual search and destroy it would out-Stooge that
classic track with a suckerpunch in an instant. Pointed toed guitars wail
like a weird mating ritual betwixt a mastodon and walrus, if like that
was a cool porno idea. Howling like David Jo being mercilessly flogged
for his Buster Poindexter persona and rejoicing as his sin is lifted and
he becomes a rocka again...This band click effortlessly into THAT Rock'n'
Holy Rollin' Babylon groove the way only a few cherished souls can and
do. Kind of like a Rock'n'Roll mormonism I guess, but not as seedy and
fucked up. Keith Moon-struck Jerry Nolan drumming, the gritty arid soil
soul of Radio Birdman...indeed I can imagine Birdman Deniz Tek pulling
a few stunt moves in his jet fighters, rolling and looping that loop to
'Monkey Business' cat-calling strut. Oh man, don't ya just love it when
stuff's recorded right in the red and everything is just all a-fizz like
summer cola? Righteously real, piledivingly primitive, with guitars just
so clunky yet sounding awesome in that funky-ass way that Keef can now
only dream about, with more nods to Sylvain than Thunders by way of Fast
Eddie been raced into the devil dirt. Self-titled 'Sons of Cyrus', incomprehensible
gibberish voodoo vocals and all is a mind-melting gangbang of classic
60's pop, in a way no-one did, or anyone thought could do except for those
New York Dolls. Frantic and fervent, anybody else would make a complete
wreck of it, that anybody could capture it all down on tape is enough
to get wrecked about! Every pause, breakdown, aberrant fret buzz and cymbal
crash seemingly a work of art. But such reverence might be redundant for
something that rocks this sweet. Practically everything on this is essential,
which is a rarity in itself sho' 'nuff. But some of it is more than that.
'Going Down', 'Didn't Know', 'The Warriors' will be hailed in years to
come like The Dolls, Stooges, MC5 are now, and these other bands'll be
as forgotten as the Sons seem destined to be right about now. Hark ye!
If you like Rawk'n'Roll in any way you'll get this. You might even have
it a'ready, in which case we salute you. Let's all salute these chaps.
Or buy it for your cousin or niece, fucking someone! Dig these groovies
and all that flames inside them. Hats raised, glasses tipped!
NOW WAVE (SONS OF CYRUS- Monkey
Business CD, Dead Beat)
You can always count on Jim from Underground Medicine
to hit the nail on the head, and his description of the Sons of Cyrus
singles/rarities collection Monkey Business is perfect:
Hard Rockin Swedish RnR. Sure, Glucifer/Hellacopters and that lot had
some cool songs. Unfortunately, they also put out some of the most boring
shit ever! You'll find none of that here. 20 high-energy tracks.
Right on. Monkey Business is a CD I've been enjoying tremendously for
a couple of weeks now. Sure, the Sons of Cyrus may be a little too "rock"
for some of your tastes. But while there certainly are elements of the
"Euro rock" sound in the Sons' music, this Swedish foursome
also draws heavily from the garage rock and R & B of the 1960s, as
well as the poppier side of '70s punk n' roll. The songs on this collection
were primitively recorded and energetically played. As a result, the feel
of Monkey Business is raw, trashy, and loose - the very antithesis of
the polished wanking associated with bands like the Hellacopters.
As is the case with most singles/rarities collections, there are a fair
amount of unessential cuts on Monkey Business. But at least half of this
disc is pure gold, and I'd definitely put the Sons of Cyrus in the same
class as fellow Swedes like the Heartattacks, Manikins, and Locomotions
(two of the Sons are actually in the Locomotions!). The ferocious kickoff
track "Tired of This Time" storms out of the gate like a knife-fight
between the Dead Boys and MC5, and it's not even the most rocking song
in the collection! That honor goes to the aptly-titled "Sonic Riot",
undoubtedly the hottest blast of Detroit rock I've heard in years. It's
just fucking great - and it's from their first demo! For pure booty-shaking
adrenaline, it's hard to beat the rousing theme song, "Sons of Cyrus"
(reminds me of Jet, only ten times better). And the Sons can do more than
just the balls-out rock thing. "Monkey Business", the best song
on the disc, alternates between a soulful verse in an Animals/Yardbirds
vein and a super-catchy chorus recalling the Real Kids and Flamin' Groovies.
"Didn't Know" rocks and rolls a la the Rolling Stones/New York
Dolls. A rousing cover of "Nobody But Me" is damn near as good
as the original.
Had it been shaved down to a 12-song "best-of", Monkey Business
would have been 2005 Top Ten material. But I'm glad it doesn't leave anything
out. Singles collections are for fans, and you definitely need this disc
if you're into the Sons of Cyrus. And if you've yet to be introduced to
the Sons, this is a good place to start. In the one-sheet text, Tom from
Dead Beat Records writes, "I don't think there are many bands out
there that understand the true spirit and feel of rock n' roll, but the
Sons of Cyrus are certainly one of them." I could not agree more.
Any old band can play rock n' roll music, but only the great ones truly
are rock n' roll. The r n' r spirit burns deep inside of the Sons of Cyrus.
Listening to their music, I'm reminded of a lyric from my all-time favorite
band:
"I got the devil in my blood/
Tellin' me what to do/
And I'm all ears"
Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about.
RAZORCAKE (SONS OF CYRUS- Monkey Business
CD, Dead Beat)
Another Swedish band I've been waiting to hear and with no disappointment.
Fun, driving rock'n'roll that makes you think they're in Detroit rather
than Stockholm. Mixes covers of the Stones, Little Richard, and The Isley
Brothers with solid originals. Wait, maybe they're a new incarnation of
The Sonics? That's fair. One of those discs you grab when you are getting
on the freeway and say, "Look, I don't want to think about it. I
just want to
get there and have a good time doing it." This is all their singles
and comp tracks, everything the band has recorded besides their two full-lengths.
Speedway Randy
PEACE DOG MAN (SONS OF CYRUS-
Monkey Business CD, Dead Beat)
My ignorant self had never heard of the mighty SONS OF CYRUS prior to
pushing play on this collection of "singles and rarities," but
halfway through opening track "Tired of This Time", I knew we
had a winner. How could this relatively unknown band from Sweden, that
has a cheap-ass drawing of a Mexican sombrero on the front, deserve a
disc collecting their B sides, you ask? I don't know either. But damn,
I had a blast listening to it. Read on, doggies.
For those yet to be enlightened, the SONS are a serious rock revival,
blending the great garage punk sound of the 60's along with influences
from current lo-fi, high-energy heroes like the HELLACOPTERS. Their upbeat,
fun originals blend perfectly with the selection of rock standards that
pepper the track listing. Oldies like "Nobody But Me," "Devil
With A Blue Dress On" and "Good Golly Miss Molly" are unable
to escape the wrath of these angry swedes. They also get kudos from me
for not butchering my favorite ROLLING STONES tune "Street Fighting
Man." In fact, I dare say they do it justice! As you can imagine,
production quality varies from track to track, but this band conjures
up such an infectious, rockin' vibe, minor quibbles like that will go
unnoticed.
If you're not into up-tempo, dirt kickin', sloppy-in-all-the-right-ways
rock, then "Monkey Business" will make you miserable. But if
beer drinking, girl grabbin' music is more your thing, then these twenty
tracks of foot tappin' will have you locked in from start to finish.
JERSEY BEAT (SONS OF CYRUS-
Monkey Business CD, Dead Beat)
- Rock and Rollercoaster – Big Brothel Records, distributed by Dead
Beat Records (www.dead-beat-records.com) – The word “Sweden”
conjures up some very mellow associations, like Nobel Prizes, blondes,
midnight sun, global neutrality, welfare state socialism, plentiful fish
and ABBA. Whether in response to this mellowness or despite it, Sweden
has also started developing a reputation for home growing some kick-ass
rock and roll, courtesy of the likes of the Hives and Hellacopters. Well,
folks, add the Sons of Cyrus to your list and put them way high up there
on your list because these guys are for real, proven beyond question on
these newly released disks. The Monkey Business CD is a 20 song collection
of various singles, live takes, and other independently produced items
going back to 2001. Rock and Rollercoaster is a newer item, consisting
of ten songs plus a video clip produced by Chris Kiesbye, known for working
with the Hellacopters, Nomads and others. Normally, given the choice between
two comparably priced items, you might normally go with the disk with
double the songs, and it may not be a bad choice, but it’s not the
only one. Both disks are red-hot, high energy defiant rock, slightly heavier
on the garage sound than the punk, with echoes of the Hellacopters, Real
Kids, Pagans, and Flamin’ Groovies. The longer compilation features
four well-done covers (Isley Brothers, Stones, Nomads and Mitch Ryder),
although you can tell that lead singer Loverboy had to learn English instead
of growing up with it – he pronounces the word “baby”
much too distinctly. The songs are catchy and well put together and there’s
not a weak one in the batch. But playing the disks side by side, including
the two tracks which appear on both albums (including the only song I’m
aware of about the capture and rage of a jungle ape), there are differences.
Guitarist Loco Lopez takes a lot of solos on the compilation CD, featuring
a lot of piercing double stops and others runs and while they are good,
they do run to clichéd sounds sometimes and have little that’s
very original to offer. By the time they went into the studio for the
Rollercoaster CD, his solos had developed a tighter and more economical
approach which is actually more effective. The longer CD has a dirtier,
DIY sound in the production, while the Rollercoaster CD’s approach
is just as nasty, but with production values that give it a slightly more
commercial sheen and without sacrificing any of the no-nonsense approach.
Rollercoaster also features Swedish singer Alicja Trout on one number,
giving an extra dose of variety, but again, without softening what the
Sons are up to. You can’t go wrong with either disk and of course,
the easy way to solve the dilemma is to do the right thing and buy them
both. You won’t be sorry. - Eric Savage
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