Shave - Trans Universal Worldwide Headchange - CD0027 Long Beach, CA's five piece rock act Shave drives a rock machine with brash vocals, jangly guitars and pounding rhythms. You have a retro vibe ala more aggressive Bowie, jolted with an electric punkiness nodding towards Social D. Sardonic vocals add a further dimension, particularly in songs like "Rival Bowler" and "Eight Ladies Early 90's." Raucous and refreshing rock with some killer guitar solos, too.
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Not Since They "...popped a cap in Sancho's ass..."

Review of the $have CD "Trans Universal Worldwide"

A few years back some friends and I started a venture called LongBeachCulture.org. At the time it was apparent that Long Beach had a large number of talented artists ready to chase the "big time," but the chances of rising above the crowd and being noticed by a record company with more than a $5 budget is a challenge that many bands can't endure. In the early days of LongBeachCulture.org, my colleagues created a real-time radio stream that featured the many diverse and talented bands of Long Beach. One of those bands was $have -- a product of Long Beach, with a sound to match the diversity of the subject matter that seems to abound this town of such dynamic extremes, $have's CD "Trans Universal Worldwide," brings it all to the forefront. The bands hard driving rhythm, psychedelic-punk guitar stylings punctuated with a nice steady bass keeps the energy focused and gets their thoughts out there. Subjects range from politics, street culture and anxiety, to bowling and "x"mas. Lyrics penned by Cornblum and Cross paint backgrounds with just enough ambiguity to allow the listener to add some personal imagination -- especially if you know Long Beach -- a town where some of the wealthiest individuals on the west coast coexist with the middle class, the poor and the homeless. These are observations, not indictments. $have doesn't force an agenda, nor do they shy from their social responsibility. The impassioned vocals and the haunting melody of "Freeman Street," asks the question -- "why you want to hurt your brothers and sisters, we're living on the same street..."

Most of the album is upbeat and some of the lighter tunes actually front some surprising lyrics. The Buddy Holly-like bounce of "Mr. Politician" is fun while the words express that promises can only be fulfilled from within -- "I had to change but little could I see, the kingdom was always right there for me..." The rockin' "Icky Soda" starts off the CD and you're humming along until it hits you...this song is actually kinda gross, but it's fun anyway ... not as subtle as I'd like, but it's still all good (and quite commercial). Actually all of the tracks are good and the ones that I mentioned are the best -- not bad at all. A lot of talent has come out of Long Beach -- Sublime, Snoop Dogg and a couple of No Doubters. In the "new wave" '80s, Long Beach talent entrepreneurs Steve Zepeda and Peter LaBarba brought the Plimsouls to international prominence through Long Beach and in the '60s the Nitty-Gritty Dirt band of "Mr. Bo-Jangles" fame came right out of Jordan High School, so it is no surprise that a band like $have is right on track for bigger things!

$have's CD "Trans Universal Worldwide" is available through their website at: www.headchange.com

Lorenzo Gigliotti operates www.LongBeachOnLine.net and writes for www.TheRandomTimes.com
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