cletta1201's Full Review: Transplants by Transplants
When epinions “king of rock” Matta75 invited me to his annual “Show Me Yours & I’ll Show You Mine” write-off, I couldn’t pass it up. When I found out that pearl-drum-man was going to be my partner – I was … what’s the word I’m looking for? Oh yes, mortified. While I consider myself very musically open-minded, I know that his tastes are polar opposites from my own – but I’m a big girl and I’ll suck it up and be open about this new musical experience.
So when I got my package, I eagerly ripped into it to find an album by Transplants, which upon consulting allmusic.com, I found out is a California-based trio: Tim Armstrong, Travis Barker and Rob Ashton. One of the names, Travis Barker - I immediately recognized as being a member of faux-punk band Blink-182 whose approachable style of pop-punk I can handle. Little did I know that what I had waiting in store was anything but Blink-182.
Things I Said When I Listened To Transplants The First Time
Oh no. This is loud. Why is he screaming? What the $#%& is he saying? Damn, this *#&$ is loud. Am I getting a headache? Damn, this &#@( sucks bad. Dude, this is incredibly f&23king loud.
So, judging from those aforementioned reactions – you could see that “Transplants” isn’t really my cup of tea, but it is my epinionly duty to listen to it in its entirety and to perhaps find some good in it [I said perhaps]. The lead track from the album is the angry and very loud ”Romper Stomper”. In all seriousness, the vocals screech so hard – I can only pick out a few words but at least through the tone of the music, I would say that the song is very aggressive.
”Tall Cans In The Air” is basically the Transplant version of Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’” where Aston extols the virtues of having “fat pockets” and “the most honeys” [honey’s being women] and “cocaine sacks”. Despite the fact that I think that lyrically this song borders on trifling – because it’s softer, gentler and kinder musically, it’s one of the most approachable for me.
Where things get ugly is with ”D.J. D.J.” which musically sounds just like “Tall Cans In The Air”. In addition to sounding like it was recorded in a shower – “D.J.D.J” doesn’t seem to be about anything. ”Diamonds And Guns” sounds like you hear the music in a Pringles commercial – but it’s not bad as background music.
”Sad But True” leans towards repetitive and I can respect it until Aston starts to rap – which he happens to be really bad at. It should be said that Transplants is really a mixed-bag of sounds. It has a punk attitude, hip-hop undertones and a ska edge to it. Put all of those together, mix it up and play – and you get an album that is really just all over the board. ”Weigh On My Mind” is probably my favorite track on the album, maybe because it has a chorus that I can understand and it’s one of those “I’m having a bad day – f*#*k off type songs” which require a bit of noise and bitterness.
”California Babylon” has an almost R&B riff to it – but it’s so poorly-produced that you don’t even want to stop and listen to it for more than 2 seconds. ”D.R.E.A.M.” is absolutely hysterical and for that – I love it. Playing on the Wu-Tang Clan classic C.R.E.A.M [cash rules everything around me]. The Transplants crew mix it up for “drugs rule everything around me (fiend) get the powder – drink another beer ya’ll”. I guess it says a lot about who I am that I’m even amused by that – but oh well. The beat sounds like a Dr. Dre reject, but it definitely has a west coast appeal.
The album comes to a close with ”Down In Oakland” which I suppose is a tribute to one of their hangouts. It’s not the worst of what can be found on the album, but it’s certainly not all that good either. Armstrong’s vocals leave a bit to be desired – he sounds like Robbie Williams mixed with Rob Zombie - his voice sounds creepy and it has a British twang to it. Not for me, no indeed.
- Final Thoughts -
Damn, that was some loud album. I guess I could understand why mister pearl-drum-man would choose this album for me – knowing how I feel about Hip-Hop and trying to appease me some, but umm – I hated it [I’m smiling].
Sometimes, when musicians try to mix up too many genres – the album ends up like an ugly patchwork quilt and I think that’s the case here. Musically, it’s so all over the board that I have a hard time following it. Add that to Aston’s lack of rapping skills and Armstrong’s creepy voice and you have an album that probably will never see the light of day around my parts.
I’m also very big on production, and there’s a note in the case that says this album was recorded in Tim’s [Armstrong] basement and honestly – I can tell. I’d have a hard time pegging someone for whom I think this album would fit just because it is so chaotic, but I suppose die hard metal/punk/ska fans would find it to be alright. Now, I'm going to go listen to Jewel to calm my nerves :)
Please check out the other participants in this write-off:
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.