Cerebral Ballzy - Jaded And Faded

Written by GE 138.

---

Skate Rock? WTF?

Who the Hell still carries that flag proudly over their heads while getting intoxicated and pulling off no comply 180's in the empty pool?

Cerebral Ballzy, that's who!

Coming from straight out of the big, bad, New Yaawk Punk scene, Cerebral Ballzy have never been shy about wearing their influences on their sleeves, because every song they play you'd swear you've heard somewhere before. They've always let it be known that they were weaned on all the classic So Cal Punk music that they could get their stoned hands on, mixed with a good amount of N.Y.H.C. sound and sensibilities. The combination is perfect, and I love this band, although I'm confused as to why they aren't bigger and more well known that most of the drivel that's passing itself off as "Punk" these days, but oh well. Your loss.

This CD, called Jaded & Faded, is a lot less hectic than their first self-titled release, and indeed does seem to embrace a more chilled out, laid back vibe about it. Production's quite a bit different on this release as well. Big studio sound quality for a shitty little Punk Rock band. They went in a more JFA melodic kind of direction with this album, as opposed to a more brash, in your face Municipal Waste kind of sound. Don't get me wrong; songs like Speed Wobbles evoke the spirit of early Bad Brains just as well as anything, and vocalist Honor is still trying to sound like Stiv Bators when he sings, which isn't a bad thing per se, but still, it's kind of... weird? Odd? Disconcerting? to hear such a blatant rip off of Stiv's vocal style and sound. Meh. At least someone's doing it, which is better than nobody doing it. This album got a bit boring towards the end. Maybe I wasn't stoned enough? Maybe too stoned? I dunno. I lost interest and went back to watching Simpsons DVD's.

Although not as good as their first release, Jaded & Faded from Cerebral Ballzy finds the band stretching out a bit musically, maturing and growing and testing things out, like all good bands do, and I'm looking forward to see what kind of sound their next release is going to bring. Check this CD out. You might like it. :-)

---

---

Available wherever mass market music is sold as the cheap commodity that it is, places like Amazon, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Zody's, and Gemco, but I bet you can't buy this release at any skate shop anywhere in the country. ;-) "Like" Cerebral Ballzy on Facebook by clicking here and become their Friend and yada yada yada.

---