Forgetters / Masshysteri (Failed attempt of 2010 list.)

Over the next while Lil' J and I are going to be throwing up our top 10 of 2010... He'll probably throw up at me callin' him Lil' J...
I figure this is as good as any other way to revive this carcass of a blog.

Today's post I've got my first two for you because one of them is already here and uploaded.


If you haven't downloaded or read my extremely crappy writeup of Masshysteri yet... Get on it.
I just received my copy of the LP which came out in April this week and realized that I had put up the wrong cover for the album on my upload. So the picture above is the correct one if any of your are anal about your album artwork. Released in April 2010 this album will keep you groovin' and movin' so get on it.


What happens when you take Blake Schwarzenbach of Jawbreaker & Jets to Brazil fame fresh from his poppy unrelated project called "Thorns of Life" and team him up with Kevin Mahon, the first drummer of Against Me! Toss in the excellent bassist Caroline Paquita, whom I have never heard of prior to this, and mix it all up?
You get exactly what I want to hear. This would be the project you would expect to take place right inbetween Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil. I admittedly am not the biggest fan of Jets to Brazil.. Even with my insane love for Jawbreaker. I just cannot fully get into it. THIS on the other hand had me from square one. Only four songs recorded for now but not a single one that disappoints.
Blake Schwarzenbach sings in his newer fashion the almost poppy but still gruff voice he showed he had when he started Jets to Brazil. Yet throw in random squeals to finish off lines, yells, and other vocal arrangements to mix things up.
Some of the songs even have a polished Against Me! feeling to them. Unlike how Against Me! ended up ACTUALLY polishing their newer stuff up this is what I wish could have happened. (Refer to: "Not Funny." Which in a live recording Blake states is about an Afghani(?) woman who is in love with a soldier against the protests of her traditional father.)

Forgetters was a bit of a surprise hit for this year for me. Not a lot of news circulating it hit me. I found out about it while I was on the hunt for a Jawbreaker poster and I do not understand how there is not a bigger hype about this. Those of you who are American or Canadians with passports close to any border city go see them on their West coast tour later in January. Then brag about it to me and hurt my feelings.

To quickly wrap this one up: The best way I would describe this is take the slower songs from 24 hour revenge therapy and ESPECIALLY Dear you. Wrap them up with pop music sentimentality. And the care of Jets to Brazil. Dash of Against Me! attitude. And well. Whatever the bassist did in the past I'm sure that's in there too--but it just melts right on in with all of this perfectly. Rabble. Rabble. Rabble. Download it.

Listen Here
Download Here

Red Forty

Okay there is lazy.. Then there is me when I am not in school / not working too much. I can't even be bothered to log onto my blog once a week to post music. I'd rather just sit at eat bagels and read comicbooks.
But I guess today should be a blog update day since it's been awhile and we dropped the ball on doing best of 2010. I'm going to start forcing myself to update at least once a week again. I've still got a mass of things uploaded to give to you.

Today I rediscovered Red Forty. Ben Nichol's project before going onto Lucero fame.. His much less known former band which is fairly much a Jawbreaker worship band. So automatic like for me clearly. Nasally whiny vocals about girls not noticing or wanting him, songs about wanting to be a cool guy, and more nasally whiny vocals. All backed by a great poppunk band. These songs are shakers with an energetic fun feel to them--until you listen to the vocals. It's like hearing a broken hearted highschool student get punched in the face by a girl in front of the class--Everyone is laughing but him.

Honestly I love listening to this and playing "pick the Jawbreaker album that influenced this one!"

In the end.. I sound like I'm just ripping on this band. Maybe I'm just bitter that I didn't see Lucero a couple of weeks ago because I was broke and had to work?
But really. I love this album. There is not a single track that I find weak and it does not feel like the boring same-old-same-old track to track.

I'm bummed I missed Lucero when he was here last, but what can you do?

Download Here

Make it a Dead One

Make it a Dead One was a screamo band from Trondheim Norway. I think this band is amazing and I thank Eirik, their guitarist, for sending me all of their recordings to share on this blog. Musically I would say that if you like city of caterpillar its a safe bet you will enjoy this band. That being said it's not so much that they closely sound like CoC as it is that I am grasping to find a better band to compare them too. In the file there is also their first demo that they recorded under the name Pray! it works! which they later changed to Make it a dead one when no one got the irony in print. Eirik also sent me a few vidoes, one of them is from them opening for Funeral Diner (ugh... jealous). Anyways I can't stress enough how good this band is, everyone should download this. Nice dudes, great band.
JT

Download

Mentally Challenged

I have not forgotten about your musical needs and today I bring you a sludgy, noisy slow burner of a hardcore/metal album. It's got three heads with teeth all gnashing, and biting at their bits--And they're ready to drag you into their Hell.

The first song "Disappeared" is a constant build-up bringing you closer and closer to your certain doom at the foot of this beast. Slow drumming, distorted yelled vocals, static, noisy bass and a seething fast riff that cuts at your ability to not gravitate closer and closer to your doom. Looping you in and in and in until finally the pace relents for a short while introducing some noise guitar dropped at random intervals confusing and disorienting you--your head continues to bob and you are on edge expecting any moment for it to explode pulling you deeper into this sludge abyss until finally it's only the ringing left in your ears as you have finally sunk.

Now onto the second song "Surveillance" the namesake of the 7".. As if the first was not menacing enough.. The beast of this record has pulled you into it's abyss and pulled you out to begin a grueling task of working in an assembly line. Monotonous movement filled with background buzzings and workings that are not to be focused on. Swirling around is the dust of the environment, the megaphones shouting out discouragement and reminders of your place. Individualism is no longer acceptable. You have three heads of your own all at different wavelengths and all in disagreement yet unison is found at the hands performing the monotonous task at hand. It's everyone for his fuckin' self but you're chained neck to neck with the other sorry fucks who fell through this exact same noise trap. Your heads raise and fall heavy and leaden because the pressure down here is so high, and so compressed that all heads are ready to burst. Time has slowed down to an unbearable point. You're drowning in your own filth and are too lethargic, too consumed to fight it. You drown in your own breath and black out not knowing what you do with your hands while in your new found state of nothingness.
Welcome to your breaking point. You have just listened to what it's like to have something snap.

Listen to the album and learn for yourself. The myspace has some additional tracks not found on the 7". Highly recommend giving it a click. It enters the more hardcore realm--Quick shredded riffs in the background, pissed amplified vocals in the foreground. This is Black Flag on a rage trip. These are the anthems of tearing your hair out and gouging your thumbs into your eyes when the stress just gets to be too much.

Layman's terms: Sludgy hardcore/metal band. Some noise influences. Fast song. Slow song. Both to be played painfully loud.

End note: I did not take creative writing for a reason.. But hey, I can get bored of writing in my normal fashion, too!

Listen Here
Download Here

This pile of trash and poorly placed adjectives was brought to you by: RD.

Bandera

Another Canadian Emo/Post-Hardcore band that hits the spot right here! Rockin' three piece out of Toronto. This scene is not making a big ruckus but the more bands I find in it the more impressed I continue to get with it. (For example: Ancestors.) Bandera has overtaken all of the others for me though and fit in with a lot of the Italian Emo groups that I listen to on a regular basis.

I think one of the things I enjoy most about this band is I cannot really play the "it sounds like..." game I always do. If I did I would just be reaching for the tiniest of influences and comparisons from all over the place. Actually I take that back. The thing I enjoy most are the excellent song titles. "Boogie Knights: Rock the Shocktopus.", "Don't Stop, or my Mom will shoot." and etcetera.

Anyway that's unimportant. I've been excited about this band for awhile. A few months back when I was visiting Toronto I started hearing about them from Darryl, who's in the band, and I remember thinking how it sounded awesome. He used to be in Tonnn (who I also hadn't heard at that point but did shortly after), and Eric from Red Hot Daggers was in the band as well. I knew I could expect great things from them. Awhile later he sent me some live recordings that sounded just as amazing as I was hoping for. Every once and awhile I'd throw them on and be pleasantly surprised and reminded that my hunch was correct--This band was gonna rule. Then I heard these mastered recordings and I think my appreciation of the band just doubled.

This are really groovin emo jams. It`s impossible to sit or stand still listening to it. The guitar pulls you around with addictive hooks, as you become completely absorbed and hooked on a section of the song, it switches to another which is just as addictive. Though it's got a really grooving feeling and it makes me want to jive about it still has some aggression to it. The vocals are shouted around the guitar and lend the songs a sense of urgency.

You can also grab the live recordings from their myspace. You should do that. They sound good but when you put them up against the crisp and beautiful master recordings you'll find yourself throwing away that "if it's punk it shouldn't be mastered" aesthetic and go right for the mastered version!

In summary. These kids rule, this band rules.

Listen & Grab Live Demo Here
Download Here


This ass kissery was brought to you by:
RD

Archives - Decline

Sometime last year I stumbled upon (or someone showed me, I cant remember) this great band from Scotland. This release came out in 2009 after which they broke up, which really is a shame. I have trouble describing their sound, they are a screamo band much like funeral diner, but much less gloomy (musically, not lyrically) and very pretty. I often find that after listening to them I will have some part of some song stuck in my head for hours, very catchy stuff. If you like screamo and have not heard of these guys I encourage you to download this.

Download

Azure / Cerulean split

I want to start off this post by saying, Hi! I'm new! I also am looking forward to contributing to this awesome blog my friend created. I know that this was just updated yesterday but that is my band, so it clearly doesn't count for anything other then shameless self promotion. To hopefully make up for it I want to share this gem I found a while back.

From what I can tell through the information I found on the internet these two bands were a big part of the german 90's emo scene (something I did not know even existed.) The awesome thing about these two bands is that they really are nothing alike other then the fact like they are both emo. Kind of like the Sinaloa Ampere split. Azure seem to take their influence (or developed a similar convergent style) from the early 90's ottawa emo scene (One Eyed God Prophecy, Union of Uranus, etc.) Their two songs are laden with d-beats, crushingly slow beautiful parts and a very dirty heavy feel. Cerulean on the other hand will be best for fans of mineral. They only have one track on the split but it is amazingly beautiful.

Both of these bands have more releases, unfortunately I can't find them for the life of me, so this will have to make do for now. Enjoy!

-JT

Download

Todos Caeran

A pal of mine will be joining this blog and maybe that will help keep it going a little more regular. He's a purveyor of good Emo. Hey, grammatical nazi's is that an appropriate use of "purveyor" ? That's killing me. He also is a member of an amazing emo band "Todos Caeran."

Todos Caeran is a part of a series of etchings done by the painter Francisco Goya called "Los Caprichos." (Someone please start a band by that name if no one already has and tour with Todos.) If you're not familiar with Goya's works I highly recommend it; they're critical, powerful and even perverse at times. If you knew the guys in this band you would almost think it an unnatural name for them--But I think they chose their name out of respect. If you knew any of their old bands they raped everything good about music, much like the anal rape happening in the image of Todos Caeran.

Kidding aside many people in our hometown have followed these guys through multiple bands--They have stuck together and flowed between styles trying to find their comfort niche and the second they found it they exploded out of the blocks. They exploded out in a fury of emo that is in the vein of Funeral Diner--The buildups and soft sections are there but once they get geared up there's no stopping them. It's edgier, and more intense than what you'd expect of a band that gets compared to Funeral Diner so much--That or I just don't listen to enough Funeral Diner to know what I'm talking about. That's a high possibility.

These may be some of the nicest guys you will ever meet but their music is not playing the same nice games you will get from them. The longer they play together the tighter they get and the music they're writing now is definitely worth a listen. Do not miss your chance to buy the tape from Bart Records, neither. The artwork is extremely badass with four separate covers making up one awesome image. So buy four! Quick plug for Bart Records here, too. Grab anything off this label I think he's yet to release a single bad thing.

Myspace
Bart Records
Download

Union Young America

Here's a Canadian treat from the 90's. Union Young America hail from Guelph, Ontario and were around in the mid 90's. They play emo with a charged energetic sound and those vocals that sit somewhere between a throaty yell and whiny singing that I love so. That also depends on the song, though. "Dem's Be Fightin Words" is a slow burner with an aggressive sound. The vocals are throatier and do not have that whining quality on the other tracks. Or "What You Know" the final track has a sung chorus and almost crustier vocals with a shrill scream. This "Kill The Man In Everything" 7" is all of the current available material of the band. From the sounds of it these guys had a distinct sound but a good variety to their songs. It makes me wish there was more out there.
Two of the members went on to a group called "Thunder & Lightning" which I unfortunately do not appreciate in the same way. That being said there are other associated projects that I've yet to listen to.

All three tracks are available on the Myspace if you'd rather listen to them before downloading.

Myspace
Download

Current

Just a short post today. I'll let the record do it's talking.
Here is a definite overlooked band that somehow fell off the Dischord bandwagon. Cannot see any place they belong other than that though. This album is extremely rockin' with powerful emotional vocals. It sits somewhere directly inbetween Fugazi and Rites of Spring. With incessant ramblings, sung portions, and mostly shouted political and poetic lyrics. They were short lived existing between '92 & '94. That is what this download contains the near-complete discography for that period of time.

If you're like me and listen to nearly everything on Dischord records and would never turn away anything of the sort get downloading this now

Myspace
Download

1.6 Band

Here is a delightfully weird band called 1.6 Band. This download includes two albums one titled "pimpin' ain't easy" and one titled "The Checkered Past Of All Kings Present." These two albums hold two very different feels and almost seem like different bands but there is a decade between them so they are basically different bands.

1.6 Band formed back in 1991 and split up in 1993 but reformed in the 2000's (2006, I believe.) The one thing that stays the same between this reunion and the original band is the extremely weird composition of the band. They have odd and often nonsensical lyrics.
If you are a fan of A Day In Black In White (link goes to gonnagetsued's post on the band) you will likely enjoy the first album "Pimpin' Ain't Easy." Simple rhythms with shouts and a lot of repetition make up most of these songs. This album would make Steve Albini proud I'm sure.

The later album "The Checkered Past Of All Kings Present" enters even stranger territory with high pitched playful guitar lines, and pitchier shouted vocals. (Is "pitchier" even a word? I didn't want to call them whiny. Did I just call them whiny? I think I did.) Something about this album feels more Freedom summer to me matched with Fugazi styled rants. This album I could see fitting in well on the Dischord catalog extremely well.
Some of the guitar portions make me want to watch detective tv shows with long chase scenes shot in slow motion. If that does not make you want to listen to this, what will?

Myspace
Download

The Exploding Boy

Gloomy rainy day? Absolutely. Does this call for more goth? Absolutely.

This group is not one I can really make any comparison to another group to give you an idea of what they sound like. Some tracks are reminiscent of Joy Division, others are more electronic and power poppy like Flock of Seagulls or New Order. I think it's a safe bet to say that if you like New Order this will not be too far out of touch for you. And I figure I managed to jock it last post let's do it again--If you liked A Place To Bury Strangers you're almost guaranteed to like The Exploding Boy. The final "if you like..... you'll like..." point I'll make is if you like the Bloc Party this should be one hundred percent down your alley. Bloc Party are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine but would be the "new new wave" to me, while "Afterglow" feels straight out of that era rather than an album that came out just last year.

These are good chill-out jams with a few dance tracks mixed throughout if you're in that mood.

Myspace
Download

Sunshine Blind

Time for another Goth edition. Sunshine Blind started in the 90's and put out three albums. I have not heard the third but out of "Liquid" and "Love the Sky to Death" Liquid is certainly my favorite so far.

If you enjoyed my earlier post A Place To Bury Strangers you will likely also dig Sunshine Blind. Mix their loud overwhelming sound with female vocals and that is a little of what Sunshine Blind sounds like. There are some slow tracks with atmospheric industrial-goth styled buildups which are not really my style. Most of the goth I listen to has jangly guitar bits and really powerful hooks so this is a little out of the ordinary for me. It has a real industrial touch to most of the songs but still has enough of a Siouxsie & The Banshees influence for me to really dig it.

"This Longing" in particular is a really good track that does not really have that industrial sound through most of it. The bass sounds less tinny/robotic and the guitar especially gives some life to the track. This album also contains an awesome cover of "I Ran" by the Flock of Seagulls.

In the end if I were to describe this track to someone quickly it would just be Depeche Mode mixed with Siouxsie & the Banshees. How can you not dig that?

Myspace
Download

Abilene

Mediafire was acting up for a bit but it appears we are back in business. Today I will throw up "Abilene" and in particular their album "Twin Guns, Twin Arrows."

I love the mood of this album. Abilene is a band that escapes classification but easiest would be post-rock. There are vocals but overall what Abilene offers is extremely minimalistic; leaving large brooding silences and emptiness between different sections of their songs. The buildups are not overly intense and it is a quiet impactful album. I find that horned instruments have this tendency to overpower all of the other instruments, but Abilene does a great job of laying a strong undertone with the other instruments.
The vocals are minimal and range from raspy whispers, to quiet well-sung sections, to Shellac-styled shouts and yells.

I personally like the louder, more moody tracks: "Fellini," "Phase Four," & and would be a lot more fond of the whole album being in this style. The vocals reach towards a more emo audience and sound much more intense and frantic. The guitar is played in long drawn out notes but the added volume gives it a less minimalistic feeling compared to the first four tracks on the album. It's a good album as a whole these just were the most down my alley.

The more I write about this the more my lack of musical training is showing though. I am just going to state that this album is extremely stylized with some cool aspects to it. Fans of Colossal should check this out. Or fans of jazz or post-rock bands. I don't know. I felt like putting something kind of different up today. So enjoy.

Myspace (Could not find one.)
Download

Former Members of Alfonsin & Bread And Circuits

On some old downloading binge I remember going after the band Breads & Circuits due to the involvement of Mike Kirsch & Jose Palafox of Swing Kids fame... And Please Inform the Captain This Is A Highjack! fame... And Baader Brains fame... And well. Just a shitload of really, really good bands. The band also includes Mag of Yaphet Kotto. But the true find I got out of this hunt was "Former Members Of Alfonsin" when I finally played their half of the split I was immediately blown away. So I am doing another double post.


First up is the split that brought me to discover this band in the first place! I did not zip the Former Members of Alfonsin section because the tracks are also on the full length I included. The songs are "Kinetic," "Devil's Vocabulary Test," "Hurricane" & "Magic Marker." Luckily they're even in that order on the full length.

Bread & Circuits sounds a lot like Please Inform or Baader Brains. You can definitely see where they were headed when you listen to it. It is not as sample heavy and holds onto some of the more aggressive tendencies of Swing Kids and Torches To Rome compared to the more tech-y style they adopted for the later bands. The vocals are distinctly Mike Kirsch's. That grating nasally yell of his sounds great surrounded by the heavy walls of guitar that this album has. The impact of "Shameful Library" is one that sticks.


I don't really know what it was about this band that got me immediately interested but within two songs I knew I loved it. I think it's that the guitar is boppy and sometimes approaches pop before stripping down into a flurry of quick hardcore riffs. It's fun like Books Lie or Dag Nasty except it's pissed off, political & straightedge.

Listen Here (Former Members of Alfonsin)
Listen Here (Bread & Circuits)
Download Here

Kill The Man Who Questions

Here is a band who's name I don't hear tossed around a lot but with members who have bands you more than likely have heard of; Limp Wrist and R.A.M.B.O.
Pretty different sounding bands and this third band is again quite different from them as well. It has Limp Wrist's snotty attitude and R.A.M.B.O.'s fun hardcore aesthetic at points. You have a male vocalist with a harsh raspy sound to his voice sometimes coming off like a Boston hardcore veteran--Though they're from Philly. You have a female vocalist with a bratty yell with just enough bite to make her compliment rather than contrast. They alternate lines back and forth through most of the songs but not in classic line for line style but usually closer to verse for verse.
Overall this is a crusty hardcore album that is driving at issues that bug them and is driven with the punk attitude. To try and slap them into a genre or put a tag on them would be both unfair and difficult. It's cool to make your own genres right? Simple, even repetitive guitar riffs with the vocal patterns rounding most of it out, but just spastic enough to stay interesting.

The band broke up in 2002. I have little else to say here since they're clearly fuckin' DEAD. Just get to the listening part, man.

Listen Here No Myspace
Download Here

New Brutalism

These two records are monstrous! "1999-2001" is a compilation of two of New Brutalism's records and an additional song on top of that. If you're a fan of the late 80's and early 90's noise-rock genre or any bands of the like of Shellac (or half of what Steve Albini touches) this will become an essential to your collection.
To describe this record in one word is a pretty large feat but I think I would stick with "tempermental." It has that gritty noise rock feel but will drop into slow plucking portions with tonnes of reverb. The instruments have a tinny metallic sound almost always with loads of reverb and I imagine the entire place would vibrate when these guys play. Want to add cool points to their pot? Well, the reason for that sound is they build all of their own instruments and equipment from aluminum. I do not think it can get much more cool than that.

"New Brutalism" is an architectural style utilizing concrete and repetitive geometric shape patterns. In many ways this describes their music style in quite an interesting way. Not to mention the fact that they are the architects of their own instruments.
Rather than rambling further I'm just going to post the extremely interesting write-up that was on their last.fm. These art snobs know they're doing what they do just how it should be done. With an amount of pretentious attitude that almost hurts but you can't chalk it up against them when you find yourself digging it just that way.

New brutalism, ethic or aesthetic?

Neither, new brutalism is 3 men, not special men, or famous men, just men. Men with names that don’t matter. New Brutalism is almost 7 years of money wasted or lost, vans broken and bent, blood, sweat, and never tears. New Brutalism is hell made from aluminum; guitars, drums, amps, any chance to apply that gem of a material that is not quite strong enough to be steel, but light enough to be useful, sliced like butter on a Bridgeport mill. New brutalism is 64 songs and counting, named by their number, sterile in origin and cold in execution. New brutalism is pure pretension dressed in black, as colour is for those who have a heart. New brutalism is by no means original, and new brutalism is comfortable with that. New brutalism builds upon a foundation previously laid, based on the minimal and honest, the raw and precise; new brutalism is architecture without architects, the banal and the wasted, the abandoned hulks in the rotting urban cores. What’s important to new brutalism is not the grass you cannot walk on, but the concrete you can, this concrete that has become an extension of our feet, the aluminum instrument an extension of our arms, the machines we hate but we use daily to our advantage. New brutalism is what we make, and what you make of it, but regardless of interpretation, new brutalism exists, and new brutalism works. When new brutalism is hot, let it be hot as the tongue of flame, when it is cold, let it be cold as ice; new brutalism hurts.

God damn art fucks why must you be so good at what you do!

Listen Here
Download Here

Masshysteri

Sometimes not being able to understand a band drives me nuts. That's how I feel about the Swedish band Masshysteri. The music is just so poppy and enjoyable that you know you want to be singing along but short of making up your own words you really have no hope. And from what I have heard that still would not do it justice seeing as the lyrics are really well written.

Musically this album feels like it could fit in well with a lot of goth or new wave (or post-punk) or whatever hell you want to call them bands like Joy Division or the Cure. It has that moody rainy-day styled guitar and bass lines. But peppy drumming and vocals that keep it alive. Their use of female vocals to shout the males really works well.

It honestly took me a couple of listens to really get into this album. I do not know what it was initially I just could not really get into a lot of the songs. Before I knew it though I suddenly found myself gravitating to picking them on the list every once and awhile then more and more. So if you do not get into it right off the bat I definitely recommend giving it another shot. See what happens.

Thanks to Joey for the heads-up on this band!

Listen Here
Download Here

Song of Zarathustra

That's right.. Another "Song of.." band.

Song of Zarathustra basically sounds like something that'd be on the three-one-g catalogue (but are on ebulition.) Vocally it sounds like any Justin Pearson band--Primarily Swing Kids. Throw in choppy mathy calculated guitar riffs that sounds like an aggressive Drive Like Jehu..Or...Again...Any Justin Pearson band....Primarily...Swing Kids.... Cough, cough.
Now--What separates it from that JP sound I keep toting? An organ and a drumbeat machine. So you now have a pissed off, less Jazz-influenced, less artsy-fartsy Antioch Arrow? I approve!!

I love this album and have been listening to it extreme amounts in the past two weeks. The album can get to feel a bit repetitive at times but the use of the organ can save that at a few points. It is not overdone and adds a haunting foreboding feeling to the tracks. I feel if they used it much more it would have added the same tone to a lot of the songs but the organ is drowned out in guitar and bass a lot which really saves these songs from getting too boring. Though "Mess of Zero" & "The Birth of Tragedy" both sound very similar BECAUSE of the organ so it's a bit of a curse, too.

Though the band formed in 1997 "The Birth Of A Tragedy" is their debut album and was not released until 2000 and occurs after the bands initial breakup and reunion. That's about as far as my knowledge of the band goes and that's mostly from reading about it so I had something to write about. I picked up a 7" randomly on an Ebay binge and was pleasantly surprised and grabbed this LP shortly after.

Oh, and one of the members went on to create the Hold Steady--This is much more my cup of tea, though.

p.s. I know I'm usually bad for how long I take to make posts but this time it's excused. Due to my move I haven't had internet for almost two weeks! Gimme a break.

Listen Here
Download Here

Joie De Vivre

I am leaving my home here on the prairies soon to go live on the coast, but unlike the many from my home before me I find myself less enchanted. I like the sort of reverie that comes with being out in the rural areas here in the midwest. Flat land with more golds and yellows than the eye can see for most of it. It's put me in the mood for some softer music and looking for things that would suit the leaving feeling. Along with searching for good quotes and one found itself in a band I know next to nothing about and had only just listened to for the first time yesterday night.

The quote is "You can suck in all the sun you want, but you can't burn away your home." It just seems to fit my disenchantment with a place that everyone else is so excited to go to. The band is Joie De Vivre (A French saying meaning "Joy of Life") and the album is "To the North."

I know nothing about these guys right now except that they are playing with Owen soon, cite American Football as an influence, and most of all sound a helluva lot like a Sunny Day Real Estate worship band. Sometimes I find the vocalist has an eerie similarity to the vocalist from Sunny Day Real Estate seemingly enjoying to mix between lazily sung/spoken portions rising into the explosive yet beautiful higher ranges for emphasis here and there.
The lyrics are all extremely well written and it's a great album for just sitting and listening to.

Probably would have been a better post earlier in the week or the week before because this is the perfect rainy day anthem album. Not so much for a day of beautiful sunshine and heat.

Big thanks to Mark for hooking me up with this album.

Listen Here.
Download Here.

Transistor Transistor/Wolves Split

This split was probably one of my first emo records following discovering bands like Saetia and Hot Cross. I do not remember exactly what influenced me to pick it up. I'm willing to bet something to do with the cover. I just know this is back when I was working my first record store job and I worked at a store that had a pretty good punk section that I'd spend hours mulling over and entire paycheques on.

The Wolves side starts out with guitar that seems impossibly loud, leaving you to expect it to dominate and drown out everything else, only to find out that all of the levels seem to be at this maximum volume. Somewhat muffled, distorted vocals are shouted out tearing through the wall of guitar that's constantly being built make this band a complete unrelenting attack. The songs are extremely technical and well produced even played at max volume. Wolves has members of Orchid so if you want to ignore everything I say just check them out based on that alone.

The Transistor Transistor side is just a continuation (or beginning depending which side you start with, really) of the battle that Wolves kicked off. Trans/Trans also have an intense vocalist though they trade off yelling/speaking/noise making duties quite a bit. The guitar has an edgier tone to it often playing rhythmic lines that confuse you into a convulsory dance or just keeps your head bobbing a lot. Trans/Trans have a real techy feel to them with an almost Refused approach to punk. I can never get over how well written their songs are every hook bleeding into the next perfectly never giving you a chance to be bored by their songs. The same member from Orchid who was in Wolves is also in Trans/Trans. Perhaps that's where this standard of excellence comes from, hmm?

Not to be a dweeb but I'd consider this a very "artsy" hardcore/emo album which is not a descriptor I'd typically get to use for this kind of music. This is just one of the many reasons I have such a hard-on for Level-Plane records.

Listen Here [Wolves]
Listen Here [Transistor Transistor]
Download Here

Song of Kerman

This post is a continuation post of yesterday's post.

Gray Before My Eyes went on to become a band called "Song of Kerman." I really dug Gray Before My Eyes but Song of Kerman has a much more full sound. In Song of Kerman they have a full band, or at least if they had one in GBME, one that plays at full capacity. If you enjoyed GBME at all I highly recommend this record since it overshadowed theirs almost immediately once I found it.

Song of Kerman is an emo band that existed around '98 (at least that is when this record is dated around) from Orlando, Florida. This band is really interesting as it's heavy emo and has a really passionate angry feel through a lot of it, but the bass chugs along adding a lighter mood to the album. On top of that they do a lot of vocal experimentation sometimes it feels as though they added a slight distortion to the vocals, others it waivers into an awkward/eerie singing voice. The guitar cuts through nearly everything and the vocals almost always fade back to a raspy shout from which you can usually understand the lyrics quite well from--Kind of unusual for heavier music. A lot of the songs involve a lot of spoken portions coming out over plucky guitar and building into further spasms of shouting and guitar. The structure of these songs is extremely well put together and even after multiple listens the album still feels fresh and interesting.

Unfortunately finding this album except by mp3 would be extremely difficult considering it's extremely limited with under 500 copies floating around released posthumously. Further information about the band is equally as hard to find. I do not know if the members went on to other projects or if they were in anything else simultaneously.

I do not know what else to say about this album except that it has a great emo, hardcore and rock aesthetic so it should be added to your collection.

Also I did not rip the album--So I just want to apologize about tracks 2&3 and 8&9 being compounded. Nothing I can do about that, really.

Download Here

Gray Before My Eyes / Instil

The other day I picked up another stack of 7" records from Put Out the Jams distro (sadly seems it will be the last time I will be able to do that) and in that stack I came across one band called "Gray Before My Eyes" who existed around '96 in Orlando, Florida.

Gray Before My Eyes play slow post-hardcore / emo type tunes. Though much of the music is slower it certainly does not lack intensity. The vocalist shouting much of the lyrics out with a sense of urgency but sometimes his voice will waiver into an actual singing voice that seems almost unexpected and never really fitting, though it does sound good. The 7" comes with a long message written by the vocalist, Mike Roberts, calling out to punks and kids involved in the scene everywhere to speak out against misogyny. Both tracks, Raze & Hatelust, are about child abuse and violence/rape against women.


Since their only material I could find consisted of this split besides the 2 song 7" I figured I would add that to this post as well.
Instil have members that later on went on to form the group You&I that some of you may know about. Also read a rumor that some members played in "Neil Perry" at some point or another.
Instil begins their half with a drumroll and then picks up into a more melodic form of emo almost immediately with one main vocalist and what sounds like the occasional background addition from one or two others.
These two bands really compliment one another on the split. Gray Before My Eyes giving a lot darker melancholy feeling to their half while Instil comes in with a more rhythmic/melodic edge some of it definitely holding a lot of that feel of metalcore that was gaining popularity in this time. I do not like putting a tag on it like that since a lot of people will immediately disregard it which is certainly not deserved. The Instil half is definitely not my favorite half of the two--But it is very interesting, they experiment with many different vocal styles and musical styles.
**This is not the Instil from the Netherlands, this group is from NY.**
Also bonus points if anyone can tell me why the second vocalist on track 03 (If Tomorrow Comes) sounds so damned familiar.

No myspace I could track down for either band.
Download Here

Kim Phuc

You've seen her naked and running from napalm, a face covered with soot and sorrow. Smoke terror and soldiers around so what are you prepared to give back? They're calling on you to die for art and for all kinds of other self destruction. This is basically the essence of this band and I do not know what to say. Possessed by some crazy spirit or an artist who has spent too much time immersed in shock art going for a bit of his own with an edgy band name and coarse lyrics?
It does not matter because no matter what these guys are doing it right. Playing quick Stooges-era/esque punkrock--only with lyrics that are both fun and interesting (or scary and disturbing depending how seriously you want to take it.)

I came across them thanks to a friend sending me these files awhile back and immediately after I had to pick up the 7". Unfortunately, because of this I do not know much about the band itself, though, except what I can get from their myspace which is only that they are from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that they are still active--And that you want to go catch them live and buy their records and merchandise.

Listen Here
Download Here

Gospel

There's something great about a band that admits they are not even sure what their own lyrics are. They can find them on scraps of paper and write them down but somehow they still perform these songs without a hitch (or at least I would assume. I've never seen them.) Drugs.. I guess. But then again only drugs could produce music of the sort that "Gospel" are creating.

Gospel are an emo band that makes use of a synth and a lot of guitar effects. It is not often noticeable they are using any electronic devices though, it blends extremely well adding an almost organic feel to some of their songs. The album is really aptly named "The Moon is a Dead World" with much of the music having a really foreboding and empty feeling building into explosions of emotion. Most of the lyrics seem kind of improved and cryptic you can read some of them on their myspace page.

I'm a fan of mostly everything on level-plane but this was a random grab I got from a friend's distro way back and it's definitely in my top five favorites of level-plane bands.

Listen Here
Download Here

Black Eyes

I would consider this group to be one of Dischord's most interesting signs. Dischord has a few bands that just do not seem to fit in with most of the other bands coming out of DC at the time but Black Eyes would have to be the biggest misfit in the group, that I know of. Though they were active later than much of the Dischord catalog existing from 2001 to 2004.

Dual vocalists, two full drum kits, and a multitude of other experimental instruments. They really effectively pull Jazz influence with Punk. Relaxed bass riffs with very jazzy drums matched with shouty vocals being sung and a guitar scratching and using feedback rather than creating rhythm for most of the songs.
Overall the project is extremely vocal driven with both vocalists providing the rhythm structure for a lot of the songs along with the occasional use of synth and other instruments.

I chose their "self-titled" debut album rather than the following full-length "Cough" since it still borders more of the punk attitude rather than the jazz, but if you're into more of the experimental horn-section stuff definitely check out their album "Cough"

Personal favorite track: "Deformative"

Listen Here
Download Here

The Falcon

Chicago strikes again!
Well. This is a little after-the-fact. This band has been around for a few years now. The Falcon is comprised of two members of Lawrence Arms (Brendan Kelly & Neil Hennessy), a member of The Alkaline Trio (Dan Andriano)and Todd Mohney formerly of Rise Against.
This album has the attitude and grittyness of a rock and roll album. It's all about sex, drugs & rock and roll and being too drunk to actually know what it's about. It feels like "The Lawrence Arms.. the lost tapes" since the songs are all obviously the love-children of Brendan Kelly's brain and style. Chalked full of dirty rock riffs and woah-oh styled sing-alongs this record has such an intense energy that will get you grooving and fist pumping in no time.

The quickest way to describe how these guys sound is summed up on their myspace: "Whooooo... Oooooh... Yeah....... Uhhh.... Whoaaa.... "

Listen
Download

Unsane

Recently when I was visiting some friends in Toronto I went record shopping with one of them and he mentioned he was on the hunt for Unsane records. He seemed amazed I hadn't listened to them and strongly urged me to. When I got home they were one of the first bands off of my list I decided to check out and I was extremely pleased to find out that his suggestion was right. They really were something right down my alley that I'd love. Since then I've been playing the "Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Live" album at least once everyday at work just to get me through the day. It has this form of dark energy that just keeps me going.
Built on rolling bass lines with short choppy guitar that sometimes builds into epic guitar solos with powerful staticy vocals this group really rips.
I do not like playing genre tag games but I would put these guys into grungey hardcore. They play a mix of hardcore, rock, garage & grunge. Depending what you want to look into. No matter what they make you want to rock out and have the force to make you do it.
I still have not listened to the entire discography but from what I have touched base on so far 1995's "Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Live" is both the most energetic and entertaining of the albums. It's got an extremely dirty feel alternating between some slow sludgey slow tracks right while also having some quick ripping skateboard tracks that will just make you wanna thrash.

Highlights of the album: Scrape, Alleged & No Loss. Though the entire thing chugs along and fits together amazingly well.

Get into it!

Listen
Download

Clorox Girls

With the summer heat I just want skateboarding and slurpees. Normally when I board I want pretty aggressive music but sometimes I like to just groove and listen to something that is just extremely catchy.

For the past couple of days that has been Clorox Girls' "This Dimension." This three piece from Portland, OR play late 70's power pop punk. Extremely catchy hooks and plenty of "oh's", "ahs" and even "whoo-ee-oo's" to sing along to. Songs of love, drugs, and running from the cops. It seems like a terribly confusing mash-up but you get so caught up in the trip you realize it all just fits. Poppy guitar solos and a generally quick pace for all of the songs just makes it the catchiest ride you could ask for.

Or if you just want some quick punk that shreds and rocks they have the highly addictive hidden track "Animal Eyes" and the opening track "This Dimension" which through short choppy riffs is a youthful track of being bored, getting drunk and running from the police. Get into it!

Listen here.
Download 'This Dimension' here.

Rational Animals

Already I have managed to neglect this blog for a bit. I have been thinking about making a post but with time off from work came lethargy.

I'm back and with a hard hitting album to make up for the lack of posts. The entire album plus a track off of a mix CD is only 12 minutes long. Twelve minutes of Black Flag & Greg Ginn worship.

Rational Animals hail from Rochester, New York and really know how to rip. These guys have the attitude and sound of punk from the 80's. It's fast, it's hard, and it's still got a groove to it.

Since "Perception Becomes Reality" is a rather short 7" I threw in another track from the "The World Itself Is A Bad Dream" mixtape which they are featured on. (Check out this link to grab a download of the mixtape from I could die tomorrow. I believe if you do some digging you can find the newer 7" from Rational Animals on the blog as well.

If you dug this 7" or the track "Games & Fun" (which is off the new 7") I highly urge you to seek out their newer 7"-It feels like they wore their shoes in even more and rounded out their sound even better.

Listen Here
Download Here

A Place To Bury Strangers

A Place to Bury Strangers are a three piece who play a genre blending wall of sound taking aspects of some of the best bands from multiple genres and moulding them into their own sound. Genre tags I've seen used to describe them range all over the place and it makes a lot of sense; psychadelic rock, new wave, goth, industrial, shoegaze. The list goes on.
They do touch base on all of these though. They sound like some crazy love child of a drugged out three-way between Depeche Mode, New Order & Nine Inch Nails. But one of the members of the three-way were obviously dabbling about with some others for this child to turn out the way it did.

My personal favorite tracks on the album are "In Your Heart," "Smile When You Smile," & "I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Love." I think the track titles alone give away that this band does write songs on unrequited love and well.. Love in general. For as cheesy as it can be it fits the cold mood that their music leaves from the wall of sound they build. Even they poppy portions of their songs feel cold and lonely. Since discovery I have been every bit addicted to this album so it is time to share the goods.

Check them out here.
Download them here.

Moutheater

I had a lot of trouble deciding what to throw up as my first post and once I decided that I wanted it to be Moutheater what to put up was also very difficult.


Their 7" "No Ballets" is unrelenting, angry, and frantic. It was released on Andrew Aircraft's (guitarist/vocalist) own label "Swim Harder Cassettes." Out of everything I have heard from this band this is still one of the most intense albums. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy everything that has come out after this album but I only wish everything coming out continued in this same vein. If I recommend anything from these guys it's this first--it only has three songs and lasts under ten minutes but has the most re-listen value in my opinion.


I am not entirely sure which came first "No Ballets" or "Lot Lizard" but Lot Lizard was recorded in Steve Albini's studio and shows more of a sludgy stoner rock side to the band than the hardcore side that "No Ballets" showed. The LP that follows (Ornaments) is somewhere in the middle ground of the two but I definitely prefer these two albums separately and on their own. Lot Lizard definitely sounds like something that came out of Albini's recording studio. It's got that nicely rounded produced sound it's really clean but this is not something you're going to flick your radio on and hear. If you are a fan of any kind of rock & roll influenced hardcore this is definitely an album for you. The thing I think that catches me is the lyrics are still pretty powerful and seem quite personal or self depreciating. I'm going to shut up now and you are going to go listen to these albums now.

Listen to the band here.
Download both releases here.