Your reviews of EXPLODER

Errr, still hasn't come yet.

What the hell?

MP3.com is slow as fuck, about these things.

Yesterday and I've been busy as fuck. Only heard about half of it, but it has a lot more "funk" feel then I remember, which is a good thing.

I'll listen to it all and write a review up tommorow.

Got it today! Thanks, Nick. I will listen tonight and review tomorrow!

I'm gonna let this sucka sink in before I write up a review. However, I will say this: 'Belloq' used to be my favorite track, now it's 'Unspoken' with 'Cure Light Wounds' and 'Belloq' fairly close behind.

'Unspoken' is just great, great stuff.

Still waiting for mine, This is giving new meaning to the term snail-mail.

I have listened to Exploder twice now. I really like its feel. Really great licks, great sense of humor, a lot to listen to. Hammerhead is da funk da whole funk and nothing but da funk. Hungus throbs. Moon Pants and Handpicked I want to see performed live. I heart Unspoken, probably my favorite track (Hammerhead too). The title track makes me want to drink lots of alcohol and dance. T.R. is pretty. Belloq is cool. The Briefing is hysterical. The whole thing is awesome. I'm proud to know youse guys.

As you know, got mine yesterday. Thanks again for sending it! I play a track on my radio show last night but have yet to go through the entire album. But once I do, I'll review away. Like what I have heard already however...

Nick, I forgot to take my copy with me when you dropped me off the other day. Can you keep it handy for the next time I see you?

I'm a track by track kinda guy, so here it goes.

1. My favorite song on the album and my favorite track period right now (well, except for Across the Stars). I'm digging the guiter on this sucker big time.

2. Cool little track, fun. Love the mood it sets.

3. Not my favorite track, but I dig what you do with the vocals on it.

4. Got nothing but love, got the most "funk" of any track. Love it.

5. Cool track, love the vocals.

6. Dig it, again solid, solid vocals.
Great lyrics

7. Not my favorite. But fits the CD nicely.

8. Got a different feel, but I love the lyrics.

9. Great, fun, fun. And I LOVE the hidden track. Funny as hell.

10. Second favorite on the album. It feels so damn cool. Dig the drums on it big time, and the guiter rocks.

11. Not my style. But decent.

12. HELL YES! Greatest title ever.

13. What can I say? Solid yet agian.

14. Best lyrics ever.

15. Third favorite. I love any band with a song about Belloq.

16. Great close. Solid track.

Great job. The best thing about the CD is how good it flows and just the fun kick-ass way almost all the tracks feel. Can't wait for LN2. It's gotten the most play out of any CD I have gotten the last month or two.

It just now left to give room to AOTC.

I also got all my friends into it, as I was taking them to go see a flick in the big town, and the whole 4 hours up and down I played it.

Great fucking CD.

Lots o' traffic lately = lots of listening to the Nightsticks (and the new Paul Westerberg). Like Nick did above, I'm going to quickly run down my top 5:

1. Unspoken - do not think this is going to be unseated. A gem. I don't know if you guys posted it on the boards, but this, for me, is the complete surprise of the album.

2. Cure Light Wounds - I guess I dig the softer side of L.N. Great song AND really great title.

3. Handpicked - I like the skit, but the first two minutes of this song are just catchy as all hell.

4. Belloq - moved a couple of pegs down (used to be my top), but the sing-along chorus cannot be denied.

5. T.R. (Tummy Rape) - Lounge + Beach Boys = nicely done. Very catchy. I'm trying to pinpoint exactly which B Boys song I'm thinking of. I'll get back to ya.

The start of Exploder has a Dinosaur Jr. feel – just want to see if anyone else picked up on that. Really enjoying the cd, fellas.

So I finally got around to actually jotting down my thoughts... here goes.

Disclaimer: I love you guys and none of this is meant to be insulting! Don't think any of it is... just keep that in mind, k?

The cd jacket is cool. I like how all the lyrics are included. Cool pic, too. The typos and spelling errors and whatnot were corrected a while back, right?

Hammerhead- Funky. Good lyrics/vocals.

Ballad from the Pits of Sickness- The only word that comes to mind is 'cute'. This would almost work in a Pokemon episode.

Hungus- Cool. Weird lyrics. I like this one, but it's hard to find anything to say about it.

Moon Pants- Cool, kinda funky. Try not to think too hard on the lyrics!

Baked Screams- Very weird, in a very good way. Found myself picturing Hades for some reason.

Sterilized Times- Starts out kind of strange. A couple of minutes in it picks up. About 3 minutes into the song there's this transition that sounds like it was mixed from tunes borrowed from Nintendo and Billy Joel. wink
Some of Nick's better lyrics.

Bedlam & Breakfast- Reminiscent of countless Saturday mornings spent playing video games? Plus something else I can't quite put my finger on...

Unspoken- Another one that is hard to comment on, except to say that it is excellent.

Handpicked- Fun. Gotta ask though- what's with the end?!?

The Briefing- FUN!

In Plain Sight- I like the darker tone of this one.

Exploder- I first heard this without the vocals and liked it so much I even called Nick to suggest just doing it as an instrumental. That went over... not well at all, but weeks later I am still alive to hear the finished product. It still rocks!

Cure Light Wounds- Not my fave. Other than that I found nothing to say. Neither love it nor hate it.

Tipsy Skins- Weird, in a hard-to-comment-on sort of way.

Tummy Rape- Wait- I thought Steve was single? (sorrycouldnotresist!) Heh. This song should probably frighten me, but instead it makes me laugh. Cute- but definitely not Pokemon appropriate!

Belloq- Ahh. The song I love to hate. Or hate to love? I'm not a big fan of the movie-related songs, and I never particularly liked Belloq until yesterday afternoon when I was drifting in and out of consciousness and it came on- and something just clicked. However I will be keeping it off of my fave list just because too many other people love it.

Sidewinder- My favourite since the first time I heard it! (One More Time ties it... but that's by those Package wankers, so why am I mentioning it here?!?) Anyways. This one's nice, very mellow. Good vocals. Good everything.

I was with you until TUMMY RAPE, woman.

You are now dead to me.

Okay. To get things back on track, here's my really honest review of Exploder:

HAMMERHEAD - This one just never sat that well for me. Way too many solos (two guitar solos and a piano solo all one right after the other. What is this...Dream Theater?) and no real "hook" to pull me in. There's some interesting melodies here and there, but it just needs focusing.

BALLAD FROM THE PITS OF SICKNESS - Interesting, but not one I'd listen to a lot. The first couple of times you hear it, you chuckle and are intrigued. Beyond that....

HUNGUS - Decent hook. Good groove. Not really Rob Zombie-ish to me. Sounds completely like The Nightsticks.

MOON PANTS - NOW we're talking. Great energy. Good hook. Lots of solos here, too, but they work a lot better and keep the energy going. Fun song.

BAKED SCREAMS - Interesting beginning that trails off into a distorted part that doesn't really do much. Seemed like a tossaway track.

STERILIZED TIMES - Only liked the funk/Makarewicz parts of this one. The lounge-y organ bits are a turnoff. Not a fave.

BEDLAM & BREAKFAST - SUPERB. Yes, it's Bungle/Naked City, but who better to emulate? A fave always.

UNSPOKEN - Good melodies here. Just a good straightforward song.

HANDPICKED - Not a fave.

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT - Another great one, and my absolutely favorite on the CD. This has the quirky, yet hooky sound I want to hear more of in Nightsticks material.

EXPLODER - Given the nature of the song, and the lineup of who performed on it, I have no idea why this isn't a Package song, but it rocks nonetheless. A good rocker.

CURE LIGHT WOUNDS - Not a fan. There's two tremolo guitar songs on this disc, and only one of them grabs you in any way.

TIPSY SKINS - THIS and MOON PANTS are the type of funk jams I want hear more of. Concise, tight, and the best pure funk song on the disc.

TUMMY RAPE - Cute, but not really a fave. Reminds a lot of the music in the film "But I'm a Cheerleader" which used very similar instrumentation (OVERused, actually).

BELLOQ - Count me in among the non-lovers of this song. I don't know....joke songs are fun to play and listen to a bit, but ANY humor in a song wears thin after awhile. There's a solid melody and hook here, but the arrangement KILLS IT. The drum solo bit seems extraneous, and there should've been more. Just like a tossaway to me....

SIDEWINDER - Very solid all-around.

Overall, there's lots of good bits on this disc, but the majority of songs didn't compel me to hit rewind. I've told Nick this already, but I just miss the tighter arrangements and focus on hooks that I hear with a lot of Package material. I know the Nightsticks are a more experimental project, but if that's the case...I want MORE experimenting.

This is why I like the NEW LN material more than the old by leaps and bounds. It picks an extreme and sticks with it. This record is caught between being experimental and being solidly structured, and it falls somewhere in between never really pleasing either side.

Lots of potential, tho, and I expect that to be fulfilled with LN2.

Sorry, Steve. Could. Not. Resist... But did you keep reading past that part?

And Micah, I do owe you a review. I thought of that when I was doing this one. I'll pop a couple of caffeine pills and have it ready soon.

One more thing, Steve. I thought I was already dead to you. Dying once is enough for me, thanks anyways.

And check your profile!

What the fighten' Christ!

Okay, I’ve been listening to this for sometime, but what with my exams and all I have not had a chance to post up any thoughts. However, now on my one day off, I will.

I dig the CD. You guys all did a really decent job with it and I even played a couple of tracks on my radio show. Standouts… Hammerhead, Moon Pants, Bedlam & Breakfast, Unspoken, most of Cure Light Wounds, Belloq, and Sidewinder.

Hammerhead – Strong lyrics accompanied with some nice (if not over the top at times) music. Loving the guitar and the intro.

Moon Pants – Who doesn’t love funk? This seems like a much needed segue to add just that little extra special to the album. Plus the lyrics are among my favorites.

Bedlam & Breakfast – This is sort of the type of music that Nick introduced me to when we met a few years back and although its by no means my favorite genre (the electronic/Bungle type) its good to see it here.

Unspoken – I love this track and its hard to say what about it I really like. It is fantastic in many different ways, plus it seems like a large 180 to the CD, which I totally dig.

Cure Light Wounds – I think this was the first LN song that Nick sent me a link to so I’ve always liked it. The lyrics have a great personal touch to them and the music, in general, is very well laid out. The reason I say most of it is that I just never got used to the high impact musical segues, but I’ll forgive it – this time!

Tipsy Skins – If you like Moon Pants, this is impossible to ignore. Excellent track.

Belloq – What can I say that hasn’t been said? Fun song, fun sound, and fun drums.

Sidewinder – This is the type of almost ambiguous, yearning song that I love to hear at the tail end of a CD. It leaves me in a free state that usually makes me listen to this one a couple times in a row. This will most likely stay in my top 5 LN for quite some time.

Thanks, Jim. I'm glad you are digging the funk.

I'll try and find some LN MP3s tomorrow...I listened to a couple songs a while back and dug them...If I wasn't broke I'd buy it, but for now I'll get the MP3s and let you know what I think...

This took me a long time. Sorry.

1. Hammerhead - I like the melodies a lot, and the quarter note guitar riff is fun and makes the song jump along. The alternating solos are a nice touch and the song has lots of changes. A good solid first track.

2. Baked Screams - I don't get it. But the machine gun rhythms are wicked.

3. The Ballad From... - Silly happy music.

4. Belloq - This is so funny. I'm glad you guys do stuff like this.

5. Bedlam and Breakfast - Reminds me of the 7th Guest.

6. In Plain Sight - The intro riffs are killer. Reminds me of Megadeth, and the tone is fantastic. The descending harmonics are really cool too. Then the chorus is very Doors-like. This one seems a little bit scattered. It's hard to get around the changes. The riff sounds like something big is coming, but the vocal is really smooth. Sort of a let down. But also sneaky and unexpected, just like the spy the song is about.

7. Moon Pants - GREAT vocal performance. A fun song.

8. Sterilized Times - Good lyrics, and the changes move the song very well. I like the stops and turns. They add a lot of dymanic. The break beat at the end is too cool. Sound effects and organs and major melodies. You guys are funny.

9. Hungus - Great keyboard intro. AWESOME riff. Really heavy and driving. A great tune.

10. Sidewinder - A gorgeus song. Really haunting and sad, even though I have no idea what it's about.

11. Cure Light Wounds - This one is great too. I like the lyrics. The riff change after the second chorus is awkward.

12. Unspoken - A beautiful song. I love the whole thing.

13. Tummy Rape - Funny is a really sick sort of way.

14. Exploder - This track slays. Micah's guitar work is spot-on. The lyrics are great, the vocal performance is awesome, and the song just moves. Fantastic. My favorite track on the record.

15. Tipsy Skins - A fun song about Steve. A great addition to the album. Again, Micah's input is welcome.

16. Handpicked - A planet of girls.

17. The Briefing - Slowly digested over a thousand years...
I hope you do end up including one of these on every record. Hilarious.

Better late than never? Anyway, here it is...

"Exploder" is the first and only music that I have ever heard of Nick's band - The Lucky Nightsticks. You might hear more variety here than in the band Package, but Package goes down a little easier sometimes (but to merge the sounds of the 2 groups would be a good experiment). Comparing those 2 bands is sort of like comparing Van Halen with Steely Dan.

Lucky Nightsticks are, smartly, not out to change the world. But like Package, they offer music in the vein of the alternative-to-the-alternative music that Generation X had in the late '80s and throughout the '90s (such as choosing the Dickies, Ween, Bungle, BH Surfers, Naked City rather than Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Nine Inch Nails). Fun stuff here kids. Licks for kicks. My favorite tracks here begin with a star*

Regarding my GIYL (good-if-you-like...) type of comparisons. The naivetie is more on my part as a reviewer for comparing every track with another band than it is Lucky Nightsticks recycling pre-existing music. Although perhaps a silly way to write a review, in my experience - reading such comparisons has always been a good reference for finding new music. Most, but not all of the 16 tracks are represented here...

01) Hammerhead: Disco-funk with vocals similar to that of more straight-edged Ween.

02) The Ballad of the Pit of Sickness: Zappa/Mothers-esque carnival house instrumental.

*03) Hungus: Sounds like an outtake from BH Surfer's 'Independent Worm Saloon'.

*04) Moon Pants: Reminds me of some 'Mother's Milk' era Red Hot Chili Peppers. Funky hooky goove.

*05) Baked Screams: Somewhere between Mr. Bungle's 1st album and 'Disco Volante'.

06) Sterilized Times: Cross-pollenization of FNM 'King For A Day' and Bungle 'Disco Volante'.

07) Bedlam and Breakfast: Similar to Secret Chiefs 3's 'First Grand Constitution & Bylaws' album.

09) part a) Early BH Surfer doo-wop / part b)Mostly a non-musical conversation between 2 men - an American sends a Brit on an undercover psychedelic suicide mission to Nepal.

*10) In Plain Sight - Comfortably less challenging than most of the other tracks. Reminiscent of straight-on Meat Puppets.

*11) Exploder - Megadeth meets Monster Magnet. Nick steps a little more out of Mike Patton's shadow and into his own on this track.

12) Sticks & Stones: '80s synth pop with periodic convulsions.

13) Tipsy Skins – the nude and sticky step-sister of Moon Pants.

*14) T.R. - Very similar to innocent exterior/wicked interior Ween stuff.

*15) Belloq - Humorous lyrics, but truly one of the best songs here. The sound is very organic and has a similar air to that of early Grateful Dead or early/dark Rolling Stones.

==By my 4th listen to this album, I realize that both Package and Lucky Nightsticks would complement b-movie/independent soundtracks wonderfully. Hopefully Nick and gang will film some home movies and put themselves on the soundtrack(s).

The other people who spoke on the album already expressed some of the things that I felt, but I will elaborate briefly.

I really appreciate experimenting and genre-hopping. Over time, I have come to believe that some bands are suited to always cover the entire map - Fishbone, Beck, Patton projects, Zorn projects, Ween, Frank Zappa...I wouldn't have these artists any other way. But there are other artists that are just good at what they do.
Radiohead- still making good stuff, but they had a better thing going with "The Bends". And why didn;t anyone tell Billy Corgan how right on he was with "Gish" before the bad vocal stylings and pretencious alternaboyishness? Perry Farrell is always trying something new when in fact, he will never top Jane's.

I think that Lucky Nightsticks are currently searching for their identity. I enjoy what you're doing now, but you will continue to hone it down and cut the fat later. That is the way it works. In the meantime, I like some tracks better than others. A lot of the instrumentation is enjoyable at one degree or another.But I like Nick's vocals best when a) you're singing rather than screeching b) you sound more like Nick than Patton. I have heard glimpses in Nick's voice of something more than just the low baritone. Those glimpses of range are the key in my mind. Although Chris Cornell's most rocking stuff was with Soundgarden, I appreciated him a lot more on Temple of the Dog, Singles and his solo album. He really added some amazing dimensions with all that stuff.

It is sometimes hard for me to criticize Package, LN or any band, but I cannot play a damn instrument. In short, it is all good and fun stuff. Keep doing it and keep enjoying it and you'll find your zone.

Better really late than never.

In short, I liked it. Not quite as much as Levitator, and no songs were quite as great as "No One Special" (still my favorite LN song by far), but it's a fun, accessible CD with a few moments of greatness. Since the CD has been out for awhile, I'll stick with the songs I liked the most.

Hammerhead--Groovy. The guitar work is really solid, and the entire song has a funky feel. A solid opener.

Ballad From the Pit of Sickness--From reading this thread, I'm apparently alone on this one. Personally, this is my favorite song on the entire album. It's so bizarre, so weird...I fucking love it. It feels like music from a Miyazaki film...I can easily picture freakish looking giant stuffed animals parading around to this beat. And I love it for that.

Hungus--Great opening. The guitar work rocks here, with a great hook. I've listened to this one a lot...very catchy.

Moon Pants--Not too crazy about this one.

Baked Screams--Very low key, but it works. The shift from ambient rock to death metal is a little jarring, but oh well.

Sterilized Times--The electronic work here is great...I dig the keyboard songs a lot more than the straight ahead guitar songs personally, so this one works for me.

Bedlam and Breakfast--Same thing here. These little electronic instrumentals are great. Funky and twisted and memorable. This one is incredibly schitzophrenic, but that actually works in its favor. Good stuff.

Unspoken--My second favorite track. This doesn't sound like anything else on the album, but it sounds good. Very melodic and professional sounding. Particularly strong vocals here, with good lyrics to boot.

Handpicked--Good foot-tapping boogie shit, with clever lyrics. The dialogue at the end of the track is funny stuff.

In Plain Sight--Awesome opening riff...very strong. Overall, it's a good song. Not one of my favorites, but it's good.

Exploder--Probably my third favorite song. Excellent stuff. Good rocking beat. Very heavy and grinding, with a good hook.

Cure Light Wounds--More good synth work...I hope some of this carries over to Thronester. Relaxing song with good vocals.

Tipsy Skins--Not crazy about this one. Doesn't do much for me.

Tummy Rape--The keyboard work here is strong. Surprisingly soft melody, but it works. The lyrics are a hoot.

Belloq--Love it. Yeah, it's a joke song, but it's a catchy one.

Sidewinder--Very groovy and melodic. Lot of atmosphere here.

I still owe some thoughts on this one... gimmie some time... I want to get a DVD review off first.

Slater hates me.

Not at all. The drum work is incredibly solid throughout the entire disc, very well done. The only reason I didn't mention it more is because I almost NEVER notice the drumming unless A) it's really bad, or B) it's someone like Bonham or Peart wailing away on a five minute solo. For some reason, drumming is always fairly invisible to me unless the drummer is doing something wrong...don't know why, that's just the way I am. But your work here was good, so sorry for the snub.

I am just kidding around. Thanks for the comments. We always appreciate them. We try to have a lot of fun when we play and I think it comes through in the recordings, so its great when people actually enjoy it as well.

Anyway, as for the comment about you hating me, I was referring to your indifference to two songs that I play guitar on - Moon Pants and Tipsy Skins.

I don't much like you, Johnny, if that's any consolation.

And thanks to all who have taken the time to write some words about these songs. It's always a treat to read them, good or bad.

You son-of-a-bitch!