Woah, looks like I forgot to update for a while. Just been kind of busy and sleeping on the blog.Aside from The Misfits (obviously) this band right here is probably my favorite New Jersey band. Heartfelt hardcore punk, sincere lyrics, awesome vocals, catchy melodies, songs about skateboarding and a Bad Brains cover. What more could you ask for?
Singer went on to front Robot Whales, Spanish Bombs and probably 19872817978972987 other awesome bands I'm sure, but I have always liked A New Enemy the most out of his projects.
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Haven't posted in a while. Not really sure why to be honest, but to make up for it I offer one of the best albums ever.
Favorite Track: Colossus
When I had first of this band a couple years ago and listened to the only demo track they had posted on their myspace, I could not wait for this album to get released. However to my dismay, this album took FOREVER to come out.Features members of Pg. 99, City of Caterpillar, Malady, and Darkest Hour. So obviously they're from Virginia, but they don't really take on a sound you might expect. Definitely falling into the shoegaze category, they use powerful riffs mixed with droney mixtures of delay and effects and feature catchy vocals.
I couldn't be happier I was finally able to get my hands on this record.
Favorite Track: In A Factory
Rating: 9 Out Of 10
I figured I would make a Souls post seeing as how I am seeing them tonight (for maybe the 20th time) with GREYFUCKINGAREA and Sick Of It All & I am ridiculously excited. Best Bouncing Souls record. The end.
Favorite Track: That Song or True Believers
Rating: 1,000 Out Of 10
Speaking of Long Island, I caught this reunion recently and can't stop listening to this.Favorite Track: Moscow On The Hudson
Rating: 8 Out Of 10
So I know that this guy is going to hate this post because he doesn't much care for this band, but I love them and this album is great.Favorite Track: Rubrics
Rating: 9 Out Of 10
I had a dream last night.
I had recently found myself going through my cd collection and looking for albums that I haven't listened to in quite some time. Means of Production by Lariat was one of the albums that I dusted off the shelf and put in the cd player only to remember why I purchased this album in the first place. Putting it in brought me right back to Hellfest 2001 which was the first time I had seen and heard them and I remember being completely blown away by their set. I remember there being a pretty large sing-a-long to the song "Cubicle" (which is on their split with At War With Shadows) and just being pulled in by everyone screaming "This is not forever, we are not immortal/If you knew you were dying tomorrow how would you have lived today?" Unfortunately that was the only time I had caught these dudes live. Excellent hardcore and crust influenced metalcore with a big political agenda to boot. Think Unbroken meets His Hero Is Gone meets Deadguy...kind of. Just give this a listen if you have not heard them, this release will NOT disappoint. I know I say that about a lot of things, but I MEAN IT!
Favorite Track: Monsanto
Rating: 8 Out Of 10
I recently gave this band a second chance. Being that they did share members with a band that is HUGELY important to me, I figured it was worth it.
Is there really enough that I can say about this album other than it's probably my favorite album by one of my favorite bands and probably one of my favorite albums ever? However, listening to them this morning at work led me to make this post. Although, I really would be surprised that anyone hadn't heard of this band...
Over the past week or so, I have been listening to Immortal Technique more than any other artist, and I have been listening to this album more than any other album. Tech has recently put out an album called The 3rd World which is pretty incredible in itself and has sparked me to rock this album after some time. After not listening to it for a few months and rediscovering it, I completely forgot how much I truly love this album. Immortal Technique delivers the left-wing based lyrics that he is typically known for that still ring true and hold as much water today as they did five years ago when this album was released. Politically relevant and often very witty, IT never trades in a true thought or belief for a weak rhyme. Actively speaking out against both major and independent record labels alike, Technique has proven that he has and is accomplishing what he wants to on his own terms, and I can definitely respect that a lot. Any cat that is truly making music for themselves gets my seal of approval.
Favorite Track: Internally Bleeding
Rating: 8.75 Out Of 10
Continuing with my obsession for ex-Antischism bands, I present Initial State.
Favorite Track: Feast
Rating: 8 Out Of 10
Favorite Track: Cut It Up or Are You There Margaret? It's Me, God.
Rating: 10 Out Of 10
I had originally planned to do this post before I left for vacation, but didn't get a chance. If your flavor of the monthly is crusty metal, wet your appetite because it's coming your way.
Shredding (well sort of) out of Savannah, GA, these metal maniacs bring a variety of styles to the table on a their debut release including crust, metal, thrash, hardcore, ambient post-rock, all topped off with a bit of piano.
With dueling female/male vocals roaring throughout the record, the riffy group takes the listener on a heavy journey that weaves in and out of punk. Featuring 2 drummers, they're quite an act to catch live.
Just listen, you'll dig it.
Favorite Track: What Becomes An End
Rating: 8 Out Of 10
Caught these guys last night in Brooklyn. AMAZING SHOW, complete with the singer bleeding from the head.
I'm going to keep this one extremely brief. If you haven't heard this 7" by now I would be pretty surprised, but it's definitely worth checking out. The best EP Lockin' Out Records has released in my opinion. Burn meets Rites Of Spring meets Bad Brains. Love it.
Favorite Track: Soul Power
Rating: 9 Out Of 10
This is the final release from California's The Miracle Mile. Four original tracks of honest, sincere hardcore that the band became known for and a cover of Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings" that is pretty spot on and surely tickles my fancy. I do however feel that the version of "Pushing Play Is Not Enough" that is featured on this release isn't as good as the version on the Coastal Flooding 7" compilation in my opinion, but I do appreciate how raw this version is and it captures the essence of the band pretty well. The four original songs on this EP are very solid and each one can definitely stand on its own, but they all seem to be lacking in comparison to any of the songs released on their earlier work on "Where The Heart Is." While this 7" definitely gets me excited and miss the band, it doesn't seem to give me the chills that their prior release has done for me. I love this album and it is definitely worth picking up if you can indeed find a copy, but if you happen to be like me then you'll find yourself reaching out to pull "Where The Heart Is" off of your shelf before grabbing this to listen to. And for those of you who aren't aware, members can be found making music in Dangers and Final Fight.Favorite Track: Pushing Play Is Not Enough
Rating: 7 Out Of 10
Screamo veterans Off Minor score another home run with their latest release Some Blood.Favorite Track: Everything Explicit
Rating: 10 Out Of 10
This is unfortunately the final release from one of my favorite straight edge bands from Philadelphia, PA. I was lucky enough to see One Up three times, the first two being completely awesome and a whole lot of fun while the third wasn't as great. You could tell the band was on their way out and it was a shame to see them go like that, but they were still great while they were around regardless. This final release leaves us with two songs, one original and one Texas Is The Reason cover. Honestly, for a long time I was a little bitter about this being their final release, but after putting this on for the first time in well over a year, I now truly appreciate the record for what it is. I wish they could have recorded enough material for a full length or something more than just a single, but I am pleased with their final recorded original song and the TITR cover is pretty on par. I don't know, maybe this band was nothing special to a lot of people, I know a lot of people wrote them off as just another generic straight edge band with Youth Of Today style vocals, but they did mean a lot to me at the time and I still find myself listening to them every so often wishing that they were still together. I also find that the vocals are a billion times more enjoyable than Youth Of Today, but if you know me then you know how much I really can't stand that band anyway. Once again I digress. Anyway, check this record out and buy it if you enjoy, buy a copy. It is still up for sale on RevHQ.
Favorite Track: If It's Here When We Get Back It's Ours (What can I say? I have a soft spot for Texas Is The Reason.)
Rating: 7 Out Of 10
Well, to quote Snoop Dogg, 'guess who's back in the muthafuck'n house, with a big ol' dick for your muthafuck'n mouth?' The Floridan sludgers have returned with a follow up to their In Return EP.I have heard of this band mentioned before but never really bothered to check them out. I heard they were playing with Career Suicide and are from Australia, but other than that I didn't and still really don't know too much about them. What I do know is that I was lucky enough to see them play twice this weekend in New York City and they were one of the most intense bands I've seen. EVER. I regret not checking this band out earlier and I regret that I was only able to purchase the Cheap Kicks LP and 7" when I am now aware that they have a handful of other releases. This is really good aggressive, infuckingsane hardcore punk rock. If Career Suicide and Government warning had a baby on speed then that might give you something half as intense as this band truly is. Check this release out and if you ever have the chance go see them, who knows how long it will be until the next time you have the opportunity.
Favorite Track: Distaste
Rating: 9 Out Of 10
Yesterday I found out that The Melvins and Big Business are embarking on a full US tour.
This post-Antischism group was the precursor to Guyana Punchline and featured both Kevin and Lyz from Antischism.
Part crust, part d-beat, part screamo and part sludge. This now expired group out of Bodo Norway didn't make much of a splash state-side, but put out some fantastic records.
Dudes from bands you know and love. Personally my top 5 in d-beat style bands. I'm not giving this a full review or description because it will be 20 pages long about how this band is better than 99.999% of music out there, just check it out and buy the record.
Favorite Track: ALL OF THEM
Rating: 9.5 Out Of 10
So I actually only heard about Black Dove for the first time last night. My friend Chris saw them play upstate and said this would be right up my alley, and he was right. Dirty crusty style punk rock from former members of Still Crossed. No Future/No Fate is an in your face release comprised of an intro and nine tracks of intensity. The music is great, while somewhat the standard to this style of music, but it was the vocals that really draw me in. There are a few parts throughout the album where some of the chord progressions sound a little odd and catch me by surprise, but at the same time I appreciate that because it doesn't feel like I have heard this release a million times before. Definitely not completely original by any means but these dudes seem to put their own spin on it. The only complaint I have with this album is on the eighth track, the drummer seems to get a little happy with the double bass in places I feel do not deserve to be abused by it. The drumming is spot on throughout the rest of this record though. This release is definitely worth checking out. 01 HORDES OF LAMPADS
02 EMPIRE OF DUST
03 DIRGE OF THE HILLS
04 SAVAGE CHILDREN
05 BLACK DOVES
06 WHY DO BABIES CRY
07 NECROBUTCHER
08 DOOM DREAM
09 MJÖLNER
Favorite Track: Hordes Of Lampadas
Rating: 7 Out Of 10
If you know anything about screamo what-so-ever you probably know about this band. This is one of my favorite releases them. It's a collection of unreleased stuff, as well as recordings from harder to find splits/comps/what-not.
Election Day is a melodic hardcore band from all over Western New York. It is a little difficult to compare them to any band because no bands come to mind as a direct influence or rip off at any point, but I can see vague resemblances to Dag Nasty and maybe a hint of Champion from time to time. The vocals, lyrical content and the structure of all of their songs seem to set them apart from a lot of modern day hardcore bands of the same style and I can truly appreciate that. I remember the first time hearing them (maybe a year or so ago?) and it was like a breath of fresh air to hear a current hardcore band of this style playing it the way it SHOULD sound. I don't remember being floored by a demo like that in quite some time and I haven't had that feeling about a band's demo since. Go to the band's myspace page, stream all of their songs and if you really enjoy what you hear, go to the Secret Jams myspace page and purchase a copy of the demo 7". One of my best friends Chris put this record out and he put a lot of work into making the vinyl happen and I know him, the band and the buyer would all equally appreciate the purchase of one of the records. I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do.
Favorite Track: Sector 4
Rating: 10 Out Of 10
Favorite Track: Friends In The Music Business
Rating: 9 Out Of 10
Until recently I really didn't like this band because they have some of the worst recordings. However, if you're really willing to sit down and give the music a chance you'll be blown away by how good this entire record is. Then, once you start getting into it, you can get stoked about how many songs are on here because it is their entire discography + a few live tracks.
A Silver Mt. Zion is back with their latest release '13 Blues For Thirteen Moons'. Again stepping away from the almost transparent transition they made from Godspeed You! Black Emperor with their first release 'He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts Of Light Sometimes Grace The Corner Of Our Rooms'.
At this point and time with his extensive touring, work with The Weather-Favorite Track: Holy Smokes
Rating: 8.5 Out Of 10
If you're a rabid Latterman fan like I am. You were dying to hear anything from this band as you found out about this project. I mean Matt Cannino from Latterman and Chris Bauermeister from Jawbreaker in the same band?!!
Every time you mention Earth to anyone into that genre of music, they'll always go on about how, 'they aren't heavy anymore' and you know what, they're absolutely right. However, the point they're missing is that they're still awesome.
I used to not really be a fan of this band. After giving this album a really solid listen this morning it really changed my mind.
Alkaline Trio are back with three new jammers. I believe two of these are going to be on their new full length Agony and Irony coming out in June. These songs are in the vein of Crimson, but in my opinion are A LOT better (I wasn't much of a fan of Crimson aside from a few songs like "Time to Waste" and "Mercy Me"). Matt lays vocals down vocals on "Help Me" and "Into the Night" and Dan lays down the vocals for "In Vein," which you might have actually heard if you happened to catch the latest episode of that crappy MTV show The Hills. I have always been partial to the songs that Matt has written and sang on a little bit more than Dan's, but the song that Dan lays the vocals down is probably the catchiest Alkaline Trio song to date and I haven't been able to stop singing along to this since I first started to listen to this. This is definitely a solid three song release from Alkaline Trio & I cannot wait until the full length drops.
Favorite Track: In Vein
Rating: 8 Out Of 10
Running with my obvious National Acrobat obsession, I figured it would be relevant to post the most recent spawn of the once great titan. Young Widows is a continuation of Breather Resist, but pushes the envelope a bit further and brings a bit more home to the south. Combining the heavy/mathy sound they are known for with the addition of long droney, repetitive verses and more effects driven, almost doomy choruses with a bit of a bluesy/country feel.
Making things more interesting is guitarist Evan Patterson approach to playing on 'Settle Down City'. He takes a bit more of a minimalist approach, leaving drums and bass to drive most of the rhythm of the songs. Patterson only adds in melodic and dissonant accents to reinforce the riff and brings a bit originality to the table with use of a slide.
You might expect a lot of screaming on a project like this, but Evan also steps to the plate to fill in on vocals on the Widows debut Jade Tree release. Running with the bluesy feel of the record, Patterson sings in a laid back almost talking style to contrast the heavy, riffy parts which meander in and out of each track.
Upon first 'glance over' listen, I was completely unimpressed with record, but on my second 'closer' listen I was really impressed with the originality of this album. So, as a recommendation, give this record a solid 2 listens before passing judgement.
Favorite Track: Mirrorfucker
Rating: 7 Out Of 10
Truth be told, if I even have to give a review about this album, or any Screeching Weasel album for that matter, you deserve to drown. Me being an asshole aside, this is personally without a doubt my favorite release that these pop-punk rock veterans have released. I have a lot of emotional attachment to this album. I feel like I'm in ninth grade all over again every time I listen to it and this is definitely an album that has stood the test of time with me. While I never really openly considered it one of my favorite albums, it wasn't until recently I realized that it is. Poor review? Probably, go buy it anyway.Favorite Track: Speed Of Mutation
Rating: 8.7 Out Of 10
Although The National Acrobat hold historical status within the music scene of their hometown Louisville, KY, they are largely unappreciated by hardcore kids who have been unknowningly ripping off their style for years. I can't really even begin to describe how good this record is and give it the proper credit it deserves, because it really was so far ahead of its time. I can say this though, can the band that spawned Coliseum, Young Widows, Black Cross and Breather Resist be bad?Favorite Track: Eyes The Size Of Organs
Rating: 9 Out Of 10
End Of A Year is back again with their familiar yet spot on style of DC Dischord style punk rock, this time with three new songs and one cover. While their sound has not changed dramatically, their song writing has definitely improved & these tracks are by far my favorite tracks that they have recorded. The only complaint I have about this recording is that I wish this had been a full length instead of just a 7" but if this is a taste of things to come from this band, you surely will not be disappointed.
Favorite Track: Let's Grow Old And Fat Together
Rating: 8.5 Out Of 10
For my first post on this blog I wanted to do something just a little different to start off with. I made a little mix of a few of my favorite local bands, some past & some present. This is the first installment of the local mixes I will be making. I hope whoever downloads this gives all the artists a fair & honest listen. If you enjoy the artist, go and support them.
The tracklisting is as follows:
1-Gunslinger - Go Big or Go Home
2-Robots and Empire - Stampede
Antlers is a group out of RVA with a DC sound. Think Faraquet, Don Caballero, and By The End Of Tonight with a laid back southern sound. Their tighten woven, mathy, intricate sound doesn't loose punk credibility with driving rhythms mixed with fun sing-a-longs to keep things interesting. This largely instrument record pushes what can be defined as 'punk' with sparse group singing and a great blend of diverse instruments. Their self titled debut release on Rorschach Records is a great record that will keep even a distracted listener attentive.
Favorite Track: Dogwood
Rating: 8 Out Of 10
check it.
