Featured Album this Week (5/10/11): “Rock&Roll Submarine” by Urge Overkill
This week’s album is by a band that has been out of the game for nearly fifteen years. They performed one of my favorite songs on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, and are back to explore the absurdities of rock n’ roll.
Urge Overkill is an alt-rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois that is best known for their rendition of the Neil Diamond song “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon.” They opened for bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam back in the early 1990′s, but were unable to achieve any notable chart success beyond the Neil Diamond cover.
After signing to Geffen and releasing “Exit the Dragon” in 1995, the band fell on hard times, split up, and stopped making music — until now.
“Rock&Roll Submarine” is the band’s first new material in over sixteen years, and is definitely a fun listen. The vocals on the first couple of songs remind me of Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots, but way less whiney and irritating. The guitar riffs are chunky as hell, too. Later in the album, his voice takes on a quality much like Superchunk’s lead singer.
Then, once you get to “Nightliner”, I hear that 90′s grunge influence again. I like the change, but at times it can sound like he is unsure of himself, or trying a bit too hard to fit into a certain genre. Or maybe that’s just how he rolls, what do I know?! Either way, I was very pleased with the album.
For the next 72 hours, you can pay what you want for the album ($2 minimum, $7 suggested price) over at the kick-ass music site YAWMA. 10% of the proceeds will be donated to MusicCares, an excellent organization that provides musicians with critical assistance during times of financial, medical, and personal emergencies.
You must be a member of YAWMA to purchase, but all you have to do is connect with Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail and you’re golden. Great music for a great cause. Do it.
