CD REVIEWS
By Michael Swanger scenescribe@mchsi.com
Anvil
“This is Thirteen”
VH1 Classic Records
Canadian rockers Anvil inspired bands like Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Guns N’ Roses and were the subject of a recent documentary, “Anvil! The Story of Anvil.” In the midst of a “comeback” that finds them once again grinding out old school metal, Anvil has released “This is Thirteen,” perhaps its last-ditch effort to make the charts once and for all. Unfortunately, while the band’s previous commercial failures might have made for good storytelling drama in front of film cameras, one listen to “This is Thirteen” reminds me why they never made it to the top in the first place. After listening to 14 semi-retarded, caveman songs like “Bombs Away” and “Room #9,” I can see why parallels between Spinal Tap and Anvil exist. At some point, I was left hoping for a cover of “Lick My Love Pump” or “Big Bottom.” To quote David St. Hubbins, “It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.”CV
Dustin Smith
“Burgess”
Independent release
According to the dictionary, a “burgess” is a member of the lower legislative house in Maryland or Virginia before the American Revolution. I don’t know how that definition might apply to Des Moines-based Dustin Smith’s new folk-western-swing-soul EP, “Burgess,” since little is said about the singer-songwriter-guitarist-banjoist on his Web site and this CD was mailed to me without any press materials. One plausible connection is that the music of “Burgess” is steeped in Americana (which is rooted in the South) and that it is timeless. On this excellent, original six-song EP, Smith (complete with falsetto vocals) delves into the personal (“Grudge”), the inner child (“Radio Flyer”), the nostalgic (“When We Were Boys”) and the gospel — literally (“Burgess”) with a sense of delicacy, texture, tone and space aided by several talented local musicians including Nick Leo’s sweeping pedal steel guitar lines. Maybe that’s all we need to know.
(For tour dates visit www.myspace.com/dustinsmithmusic.) CV
