Seattle based Kirby Krackle are a self-proclaimed “Comic Book/Nerd Rock Band”. What does this mean, exactly?

No, their albums aren’t made up of KA-POW! sound effects. Neither are they a band that covers songs from video games. What it means is that their lyrics are heavily inspired by the things that interests nerds and geeks around the world; video games and comic books.

Their sophomore release, E for Everyone, picks up right where their first album left off. Bringing up-beat pop tracks and nerd culture fueled themes to those with enough geek cred to understand what they are laying down.

The album kicks of right with “Vault 101″, a song about Fallout 3’s protagonist and is followed immediately by the only song about Wolverine that I’ve ever enjoyed, “On and On”. It doesn’t spout dumb lines about Wolverine being an awesome bad-ass; it is actually a heartfelt look at who the character is and what he’s been through.

Do you know who Uatu is? Then the Funk-fueled track “Can I Watch You?” will tickle your fancy in a way you might not have thought possible.

Kirby Krackle manages to write songs about Mega Man (“Take It From Me”) and the Green Lantern (“Ring Capacity”) from a place of sincerity that most geek bands completely lack. They cap the album off with a very heartfelt tale of the sense of community we all feel when going to comic book and gaming conventions in “Going Home”.

But that high level of sincerity does not keep them from rocking out in their tracks. Unlike their self-titled first release, E for Everyone features a much larger, full band sound. The production quality is a big step up and the band’s enthusiasm for what they are doing on the album is palpable.

This album is an easy recommendation for the geek in your life. You can stream both of Kirby Krackle’s albums on their official website, and purchase them in a variety of places.

This review was originally posted by Jonah Gregory on the now defunct Geek News site, InsulinFunk.net

If you’re a long time listener of our podcast, Barrel Roll!, you might recall a very special episode last June where we chatted with Mustin of The OneUps about his two new projects in the works, and even played a radio edit from each. One of those albums, CHRONOTORIOUS, has long since been released and reviewed. The other is finally dropping on May 4th.

For those unfamiliar, The OneUps are a videogame cover band that interprets classic tunes into a variety of styles, including Fusion, Funk, and Jazz. Their newest project, the Super Mario Kart Album, has been a long time coming. In our interview, Mustin shared that both the game itself and the original soundtrack by composer Soyo Oka, holds a special place with him. The Super Mario Kart Album is a labor of love you wont want to miss.

The album starts things with a soothing acoustic guitar rendition of the game’s title screen. It’s a great introduction to the album. Besides its individual merits, it gives a very coherent flow to the album as the energy builds up in the next track, “Mario Circuit”.

If you listened to the interview, you’ve already heard a radio edit of “Mario Circuit”. The full version found on the album is over 2 minutes longer, giving the arrangement more room to breathe. It’s a very funky track. There are lots of slick sections where the drums drop out at the end of the bar, causing a very cool and unique accent to the flow of the song. One of my favorite parts, is the four-part solo where the bass, a very expressive synthesizer, acoustic guitar, and electric guitar take turns going nuts.

Next up is “Donut Plains”. The track is as fast paced as it is mellow and relaxing. You can’t help but feel good when listening to it. “Ghost Valley” is where things take an unexpected shift in both mood and instrumentation. In contrast with the rest of the album, you’ll hear synthesizers take things over. Even the drums are electronic. It’s a very creative take on the source with a lot of interesting sections, specifically in the leads.

Not letting “Ghost Valley” be the only black sheep, “Bowser’s Castle” keeps the album transforming with a heavy rock cover. While it starts out about as you’d expect a rock cover of the theme to sound, things start to get really interesting a little over a minute in. The song’s pace changes a few times, with one of the beats even seeming to nod to Mario 3‘s airship.

By “Choco Island”, things finally come back around to more of the sound you expect from the band. This is also where we finally get to hear some sweet, sweet saxophone. It’s another fast paced, feel-good track that’s easy to love.

The highlight of the album for me is the next track, “Something About Koopa Beach”. It takes obvious inspirations in its title and sound from Daft Punk’s “Something About Us”. As a huge Daft Punk fan, this track really resonates with me. It’s also the biggest departure from the mood of the original of all the tracks on the album. Considering you can already find a truer to the source version of the song on The OneUps: Volume 1, the extra creative liberties taken with “Koopa Beach” are more than welcome.

Coming off of the last slow jam is “Vanilla Lake”. This one bridges the gap between the surrounding tracks nicely as it very gradually starts to bring the album back up to speed. Following is “Battle Mode”, a pretty zany track altogether with some pretty crazy sounding synthesizers and lots of fun drum fills to keep things interesting.

Finally, the album closes out with “Rainbow Road”. The disco beat and uplifting melodies really make the album leave on a high note. When it finishes, you’ll want to start the whole album over again. I know I have more times than I can count already.

The Super Mario Kart Album is a very creative and satisfying take on some very under-appreciated music. If you already know the tunes, get ready to hear them brought to life in ways that do great justice to their origins. If you aren’t familiar with the soundtrack, this is a great introduction into Soyo Oka’s fantastic work.

The album drops on May 4th and will be available on TheOneUps.com, Band Camp, iTunes, and Amazon MP3.

This review is based on a digital copy of Super Mario Kart Album provided to us by The OneUps.

When I was first told of “The Protomen”, I was skeptical. The band’s first album was described to me as a rock opera based on the classic Mega Man series. Though I am a huge Mega Man fan, I just couldn’t see something like this actually being executed well. To my surprise, I loved it. In fact, I was so fond of it that I feared their next album wouldn’t be able to live up to it.

Fortunately, my fears were dashed to pieces. Not only did the album turn out great, it actually surpasses the quality of the first! The album is approximately twice as long as the previous one (which isn’t hard to do), sounds much more “refined”, and kicks the “epic level” up a notch or two.

Though the title says “Act II”, this album’s story is actually a prequel. The last album focused on the origins of Proto Man and Mega Man, taking place in an Orwellian-style city under the control of Dr. Albert Wily and “the watchful eyes” of his robots. The Father of Death takes a step back and gives us a glimpse of how the city got the way it is.

It starts with Dr. Thomas Light recounting the death of his father who worked himself to death in the mines to provide for his family. In an effort to prevent this situation from ever having to be repeated, Light is determined to build robots, with the help of Wily, to perform such dangerous jobs in the place of humans.

While Light wanders the streets, wondering whether he made the right decision, Emily Stanton (his “beloved”) walks into his apartment only to find Wily going through Light’s belongings. After she rejects him, he has her killed by one of the newly created robots. He then frames Dr. Light for the murder and takes control of the quickly developing city under the guise of making it a better place.

One of the great things about The Protomen’s storytelling is how they use different genres of music to perfectly fit the events unfolding. The first half of the album feels reminiscent of a “Spaghetti Western” film. As the old mining town steadily grows into Dr. Wily’s own personal metropolis, the music shifts from the western vibe it originally had to that of eighties synth rock.

Dividing the two halves is the instrumental “How the World Fell Under Darkness”; a song with a heavy string focus that seamlessly transitions itself into synthesizer pads. You can actually feel the time lapse of what must be decades from the way it plays out. Though this isolated moment is my favorite transition of all, the whole album moves brilliantly from track to track. This album would lose a lot of its appeal played out of order despite the individual songs’ strengths.

We may be moving to the digital age when it comes to distribution for music, but this album should really be purchased as a physical CD. Along with the fantastic cover art (partially featured above) is a booklet that contains not only the lyrics, but an expansion of the story. There are extra paragraphs of narration in both the vocal and instrumental tracks that help to flesh out the whole experience even further.

I must make it abundantly clear that you don’t even have to know what Mega Man is to love this album. The music is completely original (not remixes of songs from the series) and the story is the band’s own unique take on an origin story that’s never really been told in the first place. You can find the album on protomen.com for ten bucks.

Skip going to see the next crappy movie that comes out in theaters and buy this album with the money instead. Then bask in the glory of your wise decision.

"A Chrono Trigger Arrange Album by The Bad Dudes"

It still amazes me to this day that Yasunori Mitsuda’s very first video game score would turn out to be one of the most beloved game soundtracks of all time. After such a memorable first effort, Mitsuda has continued to create great music over the years, taking the spot as my personal favorite composer.

To say that the source material The Bad Dudes chose to arrange is “good” is an understatement. That being said, there is certainly a lot of pressure to live up to when making a Chrono Trigger album, especially considering how many Chrono Trigger remixes already exist.

The Bad Dudes is an interesting project. It is made up of many musicians from different musical backgrounds, working on tracks independently (with the exception of the occasional collaboration) for a single album. This results in a broad range of styles that never feels stale.

What I love about this album is how original and organic it feels. These remixes are far from “generic”. There are a lot of soloing sections in the arrangements that have that great “jamming” feel to them; sometimes jazzy and always awesome.

“Longing of the Wind” is a great example of taking the right amount of musical liberties with the source material. Yes, there have already been several piano renditions of the “Wind Scene” track, but never have I heard it played like this! The arranger really took the original tune and made it his own, causing it to stand out even among other piano arrangements of the very same song.

There are some really fantastic sounding synthesizers on this album. “B.A.M.F.” has a lead throughout that has an incredible presence and variation without ever being overbearing. It’s a very dynamic collaboration that jumps back and forth through a few different styles, yet the song always manages to maintain its coherency.

Another notable point is that the album covers some under-appreciated themes. “Secret of the Forest” has always been one of my personal favorites on the Chrono Trigger soundtrack, so naturally when I saw “Forest Steppin’” on the tracklist I got excited. This arrangement did not disappoint. In fact, the last quarter of the song took one of my favorite aspects of the original and mixed it up in a way that made me fall in love with song all over again.

While I love the album as a whole, there were a couple tracks I had more trouble getting into. “Dethfrog”, for example, added grunting vocals to a metal cover of “Frog’s Theme”. I actually really enjoy the metal genre, but have always found that kind of vocal performance off-putting. And though the guitar was well performed and the tones sounded great, the arrangement felt more repetitive and less inspired than the rest of the album. I would have really liked to hear some original tangent sections in addition to the familiar tune. Even still, it was by no means a “bad” track. It simply didn’t feel as well executed as the arrangements that surrounded it.

Overall, I would say that if you are a fan of the music in Chrono Trigger, this album is a must have. Though it is a soundtrack with a lot of remix coverage, these are among the best arrangements out there. And if you aren’t a fan of the music in Chrono Trigger, you either have not heard the soundtrack or are in a very small minority.

There will only be one-thousand copies of the album printed. After that, there will be a digital release on Amazon and iTunes, but a third of the tracks will be cut. The album releases on August 18th and preorders are still available on BadDudesMusic.com. If you want to hear it before committing to buying it, you can stream samples on the official site. You can also hear a radio edit of “B.A.M.F.” as well as an in-depth interview with Mustin about the album on episode 23 of our official podcast, Barrel Roll.

"This blue bomba' brings head trauma"

Let me preface this review by saying one thing: I am not normally a fan of adding lyrics to videogame remixes. That was before Random came along.

Half teacher, half musician, Random already had a much more serious rap album under his belt before deciding to share his love of Mega Man using his music. This is one of the things that I feel helps set him apart from the other artists labeled as “nerdcore”.

The first Mega Ran album is what introduced me to Random. I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but I gave it a listen and ended up really enjoying it. Later, Mega Ran 9 was released. Though “Robot City” on the first album was not surpassed as my favorite Random song, I ended up liking the album as a whole better than its predecessor.

Much like the first album, most of the tracks on Mega Ran 9 tell an over-arching story. I guess you could say it’s a “rap opera”. Much like the title suggests, Mega Ran 9 follows the basic plot of Mega Man 9.

The story starts out with a brief recap of the events of the first album followed by Mega Ran discovering that Dr. Light has been framed by Wily. From there, Mega Ran sets out to stop the Robot Masters, attempts to bail out Dr. Light, and gets smitten with Splash Woman.

All the tracks on the album use music from the Mega Man 9 soundtrack. Most of them are sampled with added layers and tempo/pitch changes, but some are made from the ground up. However, both styles have their share of sweet, hip hop beats. The album’s sound is kept fresh from track to track and even features other artists joining in on certain songs.

One of the interesting things about this album is that it uses some of the lesser listened to songs from the soundtrack in clever ways rather than just sticking exclusively to popular stage themes. “My Love” is a great example of this, using the game’s shop theme to make a love song.

I get a serious PaRappa the Rapper vibe from “The Bailout”. The entire song consists of a rap-infused conversation between Mega Ran and a newscaster named Brad Bradford. “Megalude 9″ is a sweet little instrumental track featuring some industrial drum sounds, slowed down chip tunes, and sexy wah guitar licks. This is just a taste of what you can expect.

You can find the album for sale on CDBaby in two versions. The physical cd, which is only available in limited quantities, runs just under $12 and the mp3 price is $9.99. If you’re a Mega Man fan like me or just want to hear some cool videogame inspired rap, be sure to check it out!

“The World’s First Comic Book Rock Band”

Kirby Krackle is a collaborative project between indie rocker Kyle Stevens (former frontman and songwriter of Seattle based Laymans Terms) and Jim Demonakos (owner of The Comics Stop and head organizer of The Emerald City ComiCon). As you might imagine, comic books and video games have heavily inspired all the songs in this self-titled debut album from the pop-culture fueled pair.

The album starts off strong with the upbeat “Back to the Beginning”; a song about all the dangers facing you in a game of Mario Kart. Bringing out the difficulties of peeling out at the beginning of a race, the dangers of banana peels, and the joy of destroying the race leader with a blue shell.

While the entire album manages to stay on the upbeat side, the tone varies depending on the subject matter. In some cases, it even takes a dark turn. In “Up, Up, Down, Down”, the subject of the song learns too late that sometimes that dream girl can turn out to be a psycho stalker, even if she seems to be the ultimate match for your geeky ways. Still, the song is presented in a such a way as to stay light-hearted and funny.

For anyone who has played the Halo series, especially online or at LAN parties, the song “Teabagged” will strike close to home. The lyrics “…cause I’m killed by little kids / I get so frustrated cause I can never win, / so when I finally kill one I want them to never forget…” show that Kirby Krackle understands the twitch-fest FPS experience that is online Halo matches. Sure it’s fun, but getting killed all the time by twelve year old’s can get really tiresome.

The album also manages to have some more melancholy moments. “One of the Guys” tells the sad tale of the Fantastic Four’s ever loving blue-eyed Thing. Anyone familiar with the series will understand where this song is coming from. The big guy that everyone counts on to take care of business, but who doesn’t really fit in anywhere. The Thing is always struggling to find his place in the world, and the song brings this out very well.

The same is true of the hidden track (untitled), which is about Tony Stark after the recent Civil War events in the Marvel Universe. He is a man that only tried to do what he thought was right, but tore the world apart in the process.

Overall, I really enjoy this album. It reminds me a lot of Jonathan Coulton, one of my favorite singer/songwriters. I recommend the album for video game and comic enthusiasts looking for music about the subjects they love. You can preview the album on the band’s official website, KirbyKrackleMusic.com, and it can be purchased through CD Baby and iTunes. Physical CD’s can be purchased directly from the band’s online store.