Say Bok Gwai "s/t" CD
6/10 - [Monkey King]
Despite what the packaging might lead one to believe, this duo is technically an "American" band since they do in fact live in San Francisco, but the members are Chinese American, and the vocals are delivered almost entirely in Cantonese on this release. Stylistically these tracks are stripped down cuts of generally a minute or less with drums, guitar, and semi sarcastically growled or yelled vocals. It's definitely got a lighthearted sort of feel to a lot of it, not in an overtly comedic way, but definitely in a quirky, weird sort of way that seems to often attach itself to certain duos of this generally nature. It's not grind, it's not thrash, it's not straightforward hardcore/punk, and it's damn sure not metal… but elements and influences of all such genres are intertwined here, and there is some blatant humor. "$8 Sandwich", for example, just lists off the names of nu-metal bands followed by, "We rock! Say Bok Gwai! You suck!" (in fact, a shitload of the lyrics on this CD actually reference the band name). Meanwhile, "Don't Fear the White Demon" opens with the classic riff from "Don't Fear the Reaper" (Blue Oyster Cult). The instrumental "No Chop Suey" has more of a winding math metal sort of vibe going on, and such fragmented rhythms do present themselves elsewhere as well. "White Demon Bag of Tricks" and "Mail Order Wife" drop some metallic riffing that stands out a lot compared to the other songs, and "Senior Pride" is a seven-second grinder, so there's a good level of styles going on here. As for the sound, it's a little rough. The "duo factor" does present itself in that the mix is really thin, and the lack of bass guitar does actually become a problem in my opinion, because they don't layer anything, so it comes off sounding a little hollow. I wouldn't be surprised if they recorded this stuff live in a minimal number of takes. I can stand it, but it could be better. The tones are fine for this style, I just think the vocals need work (they can be loud/irritating) and the tracks need some sort of low-end oomph to thicken 'em up. The disc comes in a digipack and the layout is sort of odd. There are three Asian characters on the cover, I assume the band name, the back has some small band photos and minimal credits (no contact information), and the inside has the tracklist in both English and Chinese. That's it. I guess I'd have to say that this is a curious release that ends up being boring. It looks boring, and in addition the songwriting is really not very memorable. I personally don't enjoy the vocals, but I could easily get past that if the songs were easier to grasp or whatever. I'm not saying they ought to be catchy per se, but they need more of a tangible thread, something to grab you and pull you in. The aggressive dissonant chords in "Lazy" and "It's Easy" are a nice change of pace that I'd like to hear more of should the band decide to work with slightly more developed tracks, and there are some cool moments, so I'll let it slide by with a 6/10. I'd much rather hear 10 fully developed songs from these guys, because this sounds more like a random set of songs recorded at a rehearsal or something like that, there's no unifying cohesion to it.
Running time - 33:37, Tracks: 30 [Notable tracks: Lazy, White Demon Bag of Tricks, It's Easy, Mail Order Wife] Aversionline.com