Review: Gonzales - "Checkmate"
Contrary to the undiscerning robots of Last.fm, Gonzales is not “a Canadian multi-talented musician known for his MC and electro albums (i.e. "The Entertainist" and "Presidential Suite") and his comical live shows, is able to play the piano, guitar, bass, drums and various brass instruments and [who] in the 1990s, was the leader of the alternative rock band Son before embarking on his solo career.” This Gonzales is a mildly Bronx-y punk-n-roll quartet from Italy. Checkmate is a fluid, ten-song, 30-minute blast of really fast rock and roll, southernized slightly (where the faint Bronx comparisons come in) but whipping by with almost a skatepunk propensity. Either Markey Moon or Mark Simon Hell (whoever is doing the majority of the guitar solos on this album) is ridiculously good and saves this album from the threat of mediocrity. Even though the Italian accents and awkwardly pronounced vocals tend to get in the way, the semi-distorted tone and production/mixing help