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.
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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.

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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.

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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"

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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.... "

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