A lifetime ago, in the early days of the new millennium and the peak of the Internet age, a fledgling internet website started to pump out unfiltered and unregulated, anti-pop cultural musical musings that changed the world.
2 Walls Webzine was born out of the need to fill a gigantic void in online music reviews – a void created by big media's dominance and thoughtless promotion of shitty music.
It started slow. A handful of talented writers, some of whom were also musicians, many working for soulless corporations by day – furiously typed into the night their thoughts about bands and artists that no one else was talking about. Word spread. More writers joined the 2 Walls Webzine revolution. Bands and musicians started sending their CDs to us, looking for validation and maybe a nice word or two. Many were really bad. But a few were pretty fucking good.
Six years, 23 different writers, $816 dollars in ad review made, and 1,300 reviews later – 2 Walls Webzine closed its doors.
I can't confirm for sure that we helped launched a few huge artists during our short time, but it's certainly an interesting coincidence that some of these bands are still going strong and part of the current pop culture lexicon. We'll give ourselves credit, even if no one else does.
Here are a few of the artists we covered and snippets of those reviews. Some you'll recognize, especially those still around. (You're welcome.) Others – maybe not so much. (Not our fault. We did our best.)
Here's an Apple Music playlist, featuring a track from each of these artists, to let you experience them. Enjoy.
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise
Review by: Glenn Pfeifer
Review date: 10/26/00
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise may be one of the last hopes for straight-up, funky R&B...you know the kind of good music that you can't find on the radio anymore. Some of the tunes on this disc (which I think is either RBBS' second or third major label release) may be a bit simple and non-lyrical for some – but it's refreshing to hear great melodies that are rooted in inspirational soul tunes, rather than the predictable pop that has taken over the world. Check this album out if, like me, you're tired of formula-driven, TRL-inspired garbage and techno-laden overdubs. R&B shall survive!
Pete Yorn
Review by: Stephane Fitch
Review date: 1/15/04
This is the follow up to Yorn's breakthrough Musicforthemorningafter. And how do you follow up a hit debut album, once the delerium of fame and fortune and wild screaming female fans fades? How about more of the same! See – Yorn's interesting musical style, a kind of repeating-melody thing that borrows heavily from 1980's drone rockers like the Jesus and Mary Chain, hasn't caught on with other young acts, so it still sounds really fresh.
Jeff Buckley
Review by: Mike Webb
Review date: 11/2/00
There's something about Grace that really seems to touch people. The regret of a soured relationship in "Last Goodbye" is as easy to relate to as the longing for an ex-lover expressed in "Lover, You Should've Come Over." It's so easy to relate to because the singing is so skillful and transcendent – you feel as Jeff feels. Buckley had the voice of an angel, and there probably has never been and will never be a male singer as talented. Grace is one of those rare debut masterpieces. It's sickeningly sad to think about what would have come and what he was capable of doing. Jeff Buckley's death is one of the great tragedies of rock'n'roll. Luckily, we'll always be graced by the short time he was with us on planet Earth.
Shawn Smith
Review by: Craig Curtice
Review date: 5/1/04
The best album released this year wasn’t sold in record stores, but it didn’t go unnoticed by the producers of the Sopranos who used “Leaving California” and “Wrapped In My Memory” to perfection during the pivotal episode “Long Term Parking.” Shawn Smith is simply the most overlooked musical talent of the millennium who has perfected a new blend of rock and adult contemporary AM gold.
Carbonfour
Review by: Michael Walls
Review date: 9/15/03
This is guitar-driven power-pop with sensational keyboards, sometimes funky, sometimes smooth – all led by the powerful vocals of keyboardist Nels Stromborg. Reminiscent of Tears for Fears, where the music is thick and powerful, the vocals swirling and layered, and the melodies dark and addictive. This isn’t simple pop ditties with sharp hooks. These songs require some time, some appreciative listening.
Sneaker Pimps
Review by: Chris Orcutt
Review date: 7/13/00
The electronic stuff I like best is a combination of programming and live instruments, and this album by Sneaker Pimps is a good example. The guitar player is great; he especially knows when not to play, and he's just as effective with a distorted electric guitar as he is with an acoustic. They also hit some pretty smooth grooves here, like on "6 Underground," and "Tesko Suicide" has some great arrangements. It's good stuff pretty much all the way through, which I'm finding is rare lately. Check it out.
The Crystal Method
Review by: Chris Orcutt
Review date: 7/13/00
A friend of mine's definition of great rock & roll is: If you were 14 and had it cranked in your bedroom, would your parents hate it? If yes, it's great rock & roll. And though "Vegas" is definitely on the electronic side of the music spectrum, it kicks ass more than enough to fit that definition. It would definitely piss your parents off.
Queens of the Stone Age
Review by: Matthew Scrivner
Review date: 10/25/02
Somewhere between the melodic punk of Rocket From the Crypt and the grunge metal classics of Soundgarden stand the Queens of the Stone Age. These guys are rock monsters. No, better yet, they're rawk monsters. I mean in twenty years you're going to see them on Time/Life late-night infomercials for Rock Record Anthology, Monsters of the New Millennium, send check or money order for 30-day trial or call toll free! And the title is deserved since their heavy, intelligent, stoneresque sound has rarely been heard since the epic bands of the 1970's that appear on the infomercials now.
Aloud
Review by: Michael Walls
Review date: 3/1/05
Out of Boston comes four kids making rock n’ roll music. Hmm...why does that sentence sound familiar? Because it was probably written for The Pixies, The Del Fuegos, Dinosaur Jr. and countless other rock n’ roll outfits from Boston over the past 30 years. Maybe it’s that dirty water or the abundance of college kids and bars – but a lot of the best music from Boston tends to be that raw, back-to-basics, 3-chord guitar riffs, with catchy lyrics and lots of “yeah, yeahs.” Check out Aloud and turn it up loud.
Rubyhorse
Review by: Michael Walls
Review date: 9/1/04
Goodbye To All That is Rubyhorse’s second release. The first, Rise, released on Island Records, produced the single “Sparkle” which registered on the Billboard charts. But after the slight flurry of excitement died down, Island and the band parted ways, giving Rubyhorse – what they called – “freedom.”
Even without knowledge of Rubyhorse’s rollercoaster-ride-of-a-biography, a first listen of Goodbye To All That would hint at the turbulent past – as it reeks of dark introspection and somber disappointment. Aside from the “forget the past” interpretation of the album title, songs titles like “Fell on Bad Days”, “Sorrow”, and “Long Time Coming” don’t require a psychoanalyst to decipher. But through all the melancholy – this album radiates some of the most amazing imagery that these ears have heard in years.
TV On The Radio
Review by: Dustin Pangonis
Review date: 2/1/04
I find myself holding this five song EP in higher standing than most full-lengths I heard this year. Some of the thickest, crunchiest synth tones I've heard create a dense layer of sound, and Tunde Adebimpe's vocals rise right to the top of the murk, doubled up and harmonizing with themselves more often than not. I'm an enthusiastic music fan, and have lots of favorites, but TV On The Radio sports the most original sound I heard last year, and at their best moments – they are stunning.
Scapegoat Wax
Review by: Jason Thornberry
Review date: 7/9/01
Straight Outta Chico, California comes Marty James, and his album is on my short list for the best of 2001. While his little-bit-of-this/that style of blending the formats and adopting personas may have you mistaking him for Beck. But I think the very best stuff off of even Odelay can’t hold a melted candle to this album. James is a "singer-songwriter", but even makes the so-called "greats" look sad. This is, without a doubt, one of the best albums I’ve heard in eons. And goes on my list as one of the most fully realized, and catchy like the plague debuts ever put down. A-fucking-plus!
Piney Gir
Review by: Michael Walls
Review date: 11/1/04
If Suzanne Vega fronted a band produced by Iggy Pop, and they invited different guest musicians to play on each song – ranging from big band swing to country western twang to club punk electronica – you'd get Piney Gir. But this isn't some far out, overproduced, guest musician, collaborative brainchild of some East Village pop icon – it's some far out chick from London, with roots in Kansas, named Angela Penhaligon (a.k.a. Piney Gir) and her Casio keyboard. Check it out!
Supreme Beings Of Leisure
Review by: Glenn Pfeifer
Review date: 11/14/00
Imagine the surreal, trip-hop fantasy land that a band like Portishead can drag you into. Now imagine getting jolted right where you groove by a beat that lives in extremes as slick as Diggable Planets and as soft as Natalie Imbruglia. This is Supreme Beings of Leisure self-titled CD.
Once this spacious, captivating music grabs hold of you, you will keep this disc on your carousel for a while, my friends. Their line up (and a good portion of their sound) seems to owe a debt of gratitude to Everything But The Girl, however a deeper perception of the 11 tunes on this CD show Supreme Beings of Leisure to possess a sexier tone and an urban edginess flowing under these dance/pop numbers.
Macy Gray
Review by: Mike Webb
Review date: 7/13/00
Face it, it's all about that voice. If it cooed from another room, you'd have to go seek it out. And if you tried to drink 100 whiskeys and smoke 100 Marlboro's, you still wouldn't be able to get that scratchy, soulful thing she's got (and you'd have one hell of a hangover!). And if you put it over some cool, modern R&B grooves, you'd get an album that's worth listening to.
Dinosaur Jr.
Review by: Stephane Fitch
Review date: 10/1/00
This really isn't exactly a full-on review of Dinosaur Jr.'s 1993 album, Where You Been? It's really just about one song on the album – Start Chopin'. And god damn, it rocks! It's basically a big, loud, noisy guitar song with a good, mid-tempo, slapping-my-knee beat. Dinosaur Jr.'s guitarist-singer-songwriter-producer, J Mascis ain't no Brian Wilson, but he can squeak out a good note now and again. I don't know what he's singing about, but there's this nice little high note at the end of every verse and it's... uh... moving in a football-fan-gone-misty kinda way. Oh! One more thing: unreal fucking guitar solo. The only thing I can compare it to is that towering solo from My Sharona by The Knack. It starts out very noisy, with lots of dissonant sounds, like somebody threw Neil Young down the stairs with his guitar still strapped on. It's almost painful. Then, all of a sudden it kicks into this really neat, melodic, sweet-but-nonetheless-woop-ass section, a la early Billy Corrigan when he and Smashing Pumpkins weren't so stuck on themselves.
The Dandy Warhols
Review by: Brandon Copple
Review date: 3/21/02
The Dandy Warhols' lead singer calls himself Courtney Taylor-Taylor. Maybe that's his real name. Or maybe he's just a dick. Anyway, the guy writes great rock melodies and fills them with wise-ass lyrics and hipster 20-something cynicism that's as pretentious and entertaining as his redundant last name. Like any good writer, he's got a sharp sense of humor, and the music is all slouching Pacific-Northwest slacker-rock, just sloppy enough to be cool.
B.R.M.C.
Review by: Jason Thornberry
Review date: 6/6/01
This San Francisco trio creates a dark, and morose at times soundscape that hangs precariously on overcast, joyless but melodic guitar lines. This debut has a rather dingy and gray sound quality, though all of the performances are distinct. If the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club album had been released in a day-glo sleeve with the band members dressed as clowns immersed in a smiling birthday cake fight I'd still be calling this a dark album.
The Thieves
Review by: Michael Walls
Review date: 12/16/05
Mick and Keith would be proud. Page and Plant would be jealous. Malcolm and Angus will probably want to tour with them. Out of Oxford, England come The Thieves, who re-create rock n’ roll that sounds like it was born in the basement, raised in a pub, and kicked out on the street to fend for itself. With a guitar set to “extra crunchy”, a juiced-up bass and a human drum machine, this music will tear the cover off your inner ear and make you throw out any of your CDs that even smell like art.
Here's an Apple Music playlist, featuring a track from each of these artists, to let you experience them. Enjoy.
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