Review from Urotsukidoji's Pad

UROTSUKIDOJI'S PAD


MOCKINGBIRD LANE :
2003 DEMO


Straight outta OKC (that's Oklahoma City) comes the Death-Rock / Horror-Punk band known as Mockingbird Lane. The band, fronted by Christophe, has been around in one form or another since the early to mid 90's, but never got serious until 2002. The band has had more line up changes than the Misfits, with reportedly almost no two shows ever having the same members on stage. At the moment, the group is: main man Christophe - vocals, guitar, bass, & synths; Blizzard (a bona fide Satanist) - drums, bass, programming, & backing vocals; Doruinn Flur - guitar, synths, & backing vocals; BJ - backing vocals, guitar, bass, & drums. This of course will probably change any second. These guys seem to be the real deal, gothic and horror influences abound. At one point the band was even using a supposedly haunted funeral chapel in the town of Noble as a practice space! Sometimes even having to practice around the dead body that was on display earlier in the evening! To date, the band only has two releases to their credit, a CD single, and this five-track demo. What we have here is the song "Taken Under" (both plugged and unplugged versions), a cover of the Misfit's classic "She", and two more originals ("I... Vampire" and "Wolfshead"). The best of the bunch is Taken Under, which is why I guess we're treated to two versions. I'm not sure which I like best, "rockin' out" is always a plus, but the acoustic take on the song is pretty cool. In any regards, this is the most Goth-esque of the bunch. Once we reach the familiar sounds of She, it seems like the Misfits influence sinks its teeth into the band for the remainder of the disc. The production here is pretty lo-fi (read crappy), with odd sounding guitar and bass tones that one usually finds associated with outer fringe Stoner-Rock bands. But somehow, it helps, sort of adding an aura of street-level authenticity to the whole affair. What's the bottom line you ask? Well, it's very enjoyable stuff, especially if like me, you have a taste for horror-tinged Punk and all things dark. The real only problem is that this is not much more than a tease, come on Christophe, give us a full-length to sink our fangs into. For more info, you can check out the band's official page.RATING = 7 Death-Rock / Horror-Punk (Released 2003)