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.

----
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.


Bandcamp
Download

**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.

Listen Here
Download Here

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?)

Listen Here
Download Here

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:

Listen Here
Download Here

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