United Sons of Toil

When the Revolution Comes, Everything Will Be Beautiful was e-mailed to me a few months back. I had no precursor to this band, simply an e-mail stating that they had been following the blog, and that they had some tunes they felt could belong amongst the amalgamation of my listening desires that I choose to share with others. This included a small description that it is a progressive album dealing with a group of oppressed, a violent struggle to over-throw the oppressors and finally the oppressed becoming the oppressors beginning the cycle all over again.
Now. They may as well have just warned me they were going to musically try and flirt with me beforehand. I'm obsessed with almost anything dystopian in nature so we were off to a good start before I even gave it a listen

So. Here I am months later. Finally thinking "Maybe I should throw something else up on the blog." I remembered this e-mail I received months before promising a Dystopian journey from some men hailing from the edge of the Rustbelt in the States. An area of old factory towns and worn out abandoned ghost towns--That's how I picture the area, I have no idea if I'm right. I've never been south of the border out East. I almost do not want to ruin that image for myself, neither. Especially when I'm given an album with dystopian topics I can't help but imagine these guys as a part of this world of workers and strife in a land accustomed to rich living and comforts. Obviously I am romanticizing it quite a bit but it was an excellent precursor to go into this album with and I can say these sons of toil have not disappointed. Regardless of the actuality of who they are, the music produced the right effect that I wanted.

The music is an empowered driven form of noise-rock. More focused than a lot of the noise rock I would listen to. It is progressive, as if not just the lyrics have a story to tell, but the music too. It is not distorted to the point of just being a wall of sound--but also not clean and angular with a cheery or poppy sound. It sits somewhere inbetween a guttural yet rhythmic machine cutting the feet out from the norm. The boring, the usual just won't cut it for these juggernauts they just snowball right through the record growing until they're too big to be stopped. They are creating a group of people who had the power to overthrow a government and entered a cycle of right and wrong and did it all with music. Got no choice but to tip my hat to them and this album.

Their other albums are available for listen and purchase on Bandcamp and I highly recommend giving them a listen as well.

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I'm going to start linking bandcamp rather than Myspace. I am much more in support of it AND it most often offers options to purchase releases from the bands. If the band has a bandcamp I am gladly going to put up the link and recommend the purchase of their albums. Remember many of these can be purchased as digital downloads for extremely cheap, often even donation. So if you enjoyed it and got it for free from me please at least consider donating the cash to the bands to help continue funding this lovely community of music that we have going. The less money they have the more likely they are to sell their instruments for food. Then where are we at?

A-hem. Also United Sons of Toil's record looks like a beaute itself. I just ordered myself a copy and I can't afford food (Sadly an honest fact)--So you should do the same! Think of it this way my Canadian pals. We get a deal right now. Our dollar is stronger.


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**Last note, promise: I am going to update on Tuesday evenings from now on. And I would dig if anyone else has a music collection they are ripping / have digitally that they'd like to share wants to start posting similar stuff too. Even different stuff. Variety is cool. It'd be nice to have someone else posting to keep this more active than my lazy ass is able to on my lonesome.**

Ethel Meserve

Some midwest emo for all you still tuned in... Though these guys are from the East, technically.
I enjoy how progressive this album feels, it seems to accelerate the songs starting calm and well tempered and becoming more aggressive and passionate as the album goes on. It's a bit of a slow burner but it feels like it is a powder keg just waiting to go off and you never quite hit that point.
I have the tendency of just listening to "Ina" the powerful instruments with a quiet remniscient story told of a torn family is a pretty gutsy track.
In a genre full of songs aimed at aggression and self-doubt this album seems to float more along the lines of redemption and thoughtfulness. Granted I have not listened to a lot of the songs and their lyrics with exception to the one so I could be way off the map on that thought.

I honestly like the post-humus release "Spelling the Names" more. I find it more ballsy and direct. The songs have a harder edge. A lot more down my alley. When I decided to upload them I zipped the Milton Abandonment though, perhaps I will include "Spelling the Names" in a future post.

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VCR

Back from the grave by request! And surprised to see that things are still being downloaded at a fairly active rate even with me not being present. It's like this thing has gone total zombie status. Awesome!

So it was asked I put some kind of dancey/punk up. I do not have loads of that and had a few ideas of what to put up so I may put up a couple of things of the sort over the next while but I was just waiting and waiting for an excuse to post this. It does not follow the usual stream of things I post so it just always seemed so oddly placed to throw up. That is the VCR EP.

So.. Some years ago now I was a young highschool student working at CD Plus. I sampled music in store and picked up as many shifts as I could just to sample as much of the store as I could. I worked at a CDPlus teeming with some of the weirdest orders and a massive selection for the Punk/Alternative section. This CD just kind of floated into view. Simple name "VCR", simple cover, and song titles like "Rad" and "Bratcore." I gave it a shot and found myself grooving--A copy sold after one play too. So I ordered myself a copy and it's sat mostly buried in my collection mostly forgotten. But it still has the ability to make me groove and so I appreciate it whenever I dig it up.

Basically VCR is an electro group.. Synth, bass, and drums accompanied by shouty vocals. Somewhat !!!-like but totally oriented towards being played in basements and halls. I have a feeling this band would have been a fuckin party--The members are all extremely nerdy looking but they bring the beats that make you want to dance and not give a fuck.
Unfortunately I for some reason just picture them playing punk shows getting gawked at by weird crusty kids while they have their own little dedicated group of fans jamming away to them.

I have little to discuss about the band itself so I will just post the link now.
#WINNING VCR DANCE PARTIES WITH TIGER'S BLOOD (I didn't make a Japan reference so I HAD to go with the other media mogul, aite?)

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Pressvre

Lately I've been really, really into pounding rock'n'roll hardcore. The quicker the songs are driven, the more I feel like throwing up the horns, and the more I feel a bangover growing the happier I am. Pressvre probably hits the spot the BEST out of all the acts I know that are like this. Feel free to throw anything like this my way if you want to challenge Pressvre.

This album hits nearly everything I want.. Slow, heavy buildups with insane ripping tear downs. Caustic vocals and an unrelenting pace through almost the entire album. It rings in at 11 minutes and it seems like you get through that in almost no time at all.

If you rock Doomriders, Disfear, Lewd Acts, Hour of the Wolf or anything of the sort .. This is definitely an album to get you bouncing off the walls. Problem with eleven minutes of music is I don't have too much fancy to say about it. Too busy headbanging and grooving through the short amount of blasting hardcore they provide to think, anyways. So you should just do the same:

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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.

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