Steve Fishman
Bubbling Up From Underground: The State Of The Art-Rock Pt 1
Reviewed by: R Brian Roser
Most of the things that are described as ‘bubbling up from underground’ are not pleasant. I am happy to say… for the most part… that is not the case here. Steve Fishman brings together several bands for this album. Maybe not one for the limelight himself, Fishman is nevertheless a longtime veteran of the music scene. His songwriting and bass playing are on display here in all their glory. The style of the album is late 70s punk. Sometimes there’s a hint of funk, sometimes it’s hard rock, but this is music that would make The Clash and the Sex Pistols proud.
Bubbling Up From Underground is a grab bag of offerings from several different guest artists: The Shades, Trashbeat, Trash Kulture, Chrome, all make appearances, along with a sprinkling of Japan Sound Ensemble weirdness. As such, the results are also mixed. I love the imagery of “Hey Atlas”, the defiant lyrics of “Bloody Lies” and the snark of “Hollywood Dream”. On the other side of the coin, The track “Frozen” is not great, ditto “Lady Feline”, ditto the instrumental “Concrete”. Dissonance is fine as a brief counterpoint, or a way to end a song, but if you base an entire track around it, the sound just gets annoying.
Taken as a whole, this is a great album. There are hiccups, but the gems more than make up for the dregs.
Rating: Bad-Ass
