McG's CD mini-reviews

Been digging some French rock-and-roll lately.

Just got Operation S' self-titled album on Broken Rekids. Pretty good keyboard-influenced synthrock with male and female vocals and aggressive rocking out.

Kind of reminds me of early Blondie, The Clash (circa "London Calling) and maybe even a little Cars (first album only.) The lyrics are in French, but I don't pay attention to singing much anyway. Solid drumming, good songs. May have to give this one some more spins.

Also been digging the Prototypes after hearing their live session on WFMU on the Cherry Blossom Clinic. My pal boof in France tracked down their CD "Tout Le Monde Cherche Quelque Chose A Faire" for me.

While it's not as rockin' as their live stuff (in fact, it's kind of disco-y), it's still pretty good and is way better than any of the U.S. new wave-influenced bands being touted by pitchfork, insound and the indie "community" at large (if such a thing exists). Reminiscent of Elastica in spots.

Josh from Wantage USA just sent me the new Fireballs of Freedom CD, "Greasy Retrospective," which collects singles, a newly recorded session and some tracks from their full-lengths. I've never been able to get into this band, but I think this CD may change that.

Their cover of Hendrix' "Ain't No Tellin'" is spot-on and songs such as "Give it a Rest" and "Scream Therapy" are intense spurts of punk-infused mayhem. Seems like seeing the Fireballs live would be certainly close the deal, but since I rarely go out to see live music anymore, I guess I'll have to stick with this CD.

I've got a ton of CDs that I want to write about and hope to churn out some reviews soon. Been busy at work writing a bunch of movie reviews as of late.

I know, wah wah wah.