Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Off With Their Heads - From the Bottom

Off With Their Heads - From the Bottom
No Idea Records

It's finally here! After waiting for what seems like an eternity, I finally have a copy of Off With Their Heads' debut full length on No Idea! 2007 saw a whole host of splits and collections and all kinds of stuff that wasn't a full length, but now it's finally here, and it was worth the wait.

Starting off with "I Am You," it's obvious that the optimism Ryan showed in his lyrics on their split with The Measure (SA) is gone. Lyrics about hating life, not getting anything right, and sleeping alone. Ah, this is the Ryan that we know and love. I like that he extends his misery out onto the listener. "There's a little bit of me in everyone." And while we may not all be miserable to the point that he is, this record does a good job of not just wallowing in frustration and self-hatred. He's actually introspective!

As the record goes on, Ryan starts to analyze why he's as miserable as he is. He looks at what he did, what others have done to him, and why he's where he is now. This is evident on the penultimate track, "Ten Years Trouble," in which he looks at how he's been extremely selfish and hurt others, but also at the loss of people close to him and how the last ten years have pretty much been a disaster and how he's "always in pain, always in tears."

The music is pretty much what we've come to expect from Off With Their Heads, especially since this is the same lineup from 2006's Hospitals. There are your typical fast songs with catchy choruses, but they do a good job slowing it down at times. "Go On Git Now" is the first example of this, and shows that they aren't all fast beats and the Midwestern punk sound.

However, where that song hits, I feel like "Keep Falling Down" misses, in that it's a bit more subdued, and seems to drag on too long. It's repetitive, and never seems to break out of the rut that it digs itself into. As much as I love these guys, repeating a chorus for three minutes doesn't work for me. It's interesting that the only other real clunker for me follows it right up. "Terrorist Attack" starts strongly with a scathing indictment of the television and news media, but it never develops. Actually, it just repeats the same few lines for 1:20 and then ends. To be honest, I have no idea why they'd even include that song, as it just seems underdone and like it needs work.

Luckily, the rest of the album is great. "Selfcheckout" is fantastic, and shows that Ryan is trying to trust others and to overcome his personal demons and problems that he's detailed throughout the album. "Fuck This I'm Out" is another solid song, although I really question the bridge riff, as it's almost exactly the same as the lead in "Call The Cops," from one of last year's splits. The rerecording of "For The Four" is crisp, and I really love that song and how it mixes despair with optimism and hope for change. The album ends with the aforementioned "Ten Years Trouble" and apologetic "From the Bottom" which shows one of their best build ups, and an almost Against Me! feel in the cadence of the drums and vocal rhythms. It's a nice change for them, and works well as an album closer.

This is definitely one of my top albums of the year, and I really don't see it falling out of the top five. Despite all the delays and problems with getting this record, it was worth it to finally have a proper full length from these guys. Excellent!

Chuck Ragan & Austin Lucas - Bristle Ridge

Chuck Ragan & Austin Lucas - Bristle Ridge
Ten-Four Records

It's no secret to anyone that I pretty much love anything Chuck Ragan touches. Hot Water Music is one of the most important bands ever for me, and Chuck's solo stuff has been knockin me out, no matter what it is. When I started hearing about Bristle Ridge, I was a little nervous. All his talk about country, bluegrass and gospel had me skeptical. Could he pull it off? Would I even like it? What the hell will it sound like?

Thankfully, this record leaked a while ago, despite the fact that I'm still anxiously awaiting vinyl pre-orders. Upon listening to it, the first thing that struck me was how different it was from his previous releases. As far as the LPs go, Los Feliz was pretty stripped down and raw, while Feast or Famine was a bit more folksy, but still moderately accessible. This new record, a collaboration with Austin Lucas, is a big change. From the open verse of "Bloody Shells," it's obvious that this is a bluegrass record. My initial thoughts were "Holy crap, this could be the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?!"

As the record goes on, songs flip back and forth between Chuck's familiar gruffness, and Austin Lucas' folksier twang. Some of the songs are independent ventures, while others show a collaboration between the two. Some of the highlights are the vocal melodies of "Cold Night," which while being a folk song, showcases really traditional pop rock vocal parts, particularly in the chorus. The slow, halftime of "Simple Life" with Austin Lucas' wailing of "Oh lord where are the hours? Oh lord" has a familiar feel to it, as it's steeped in traditional folk and bluegrass tradition. The same can be said for the down home rootsy guitar of "Distant Land to Roam," a nice collaboration between Chuck and Austin, with nice vocal interplay between the two.

I think for me that's part of what makes this record great. I've never been a big follower of bluegrass, despite enjoying it. It's just never a scene I've delved into and really digested. For me, this record serves as a comfortable introduction. This record feels like something that you've heard for years. For me, part of that is Chuck's voice, but the rest is the homage that these two pay to traditional bluegrass and folk. It's simple, and pure, and really doesn't break any new ground for the genre, but typifies it well.

When I feel like listening to Chuck's voice, I'm not sure this is the first record I'd throw on, but given the right time and mood, this record is definitely a fun listen. This could be the soundtrack to many lazy afternoons sittin on a front porch somewhere, sippin lemonade.

Algernon Cadwallader / Big Attack / Young Hearts / Let Me Run / Title Fight - 7.27.08

Party Mansion
7:30PM

After a day of dudes being dudes, Mike, Kev and I showed up at Party Mansion in time to run to the little Asian convenience store and get some Hanks Root Beer and love life. We got back to the show and Title Fight started up. I reviewed their newest 7" earlier this year, and it's still standing up as one of my favorite EPs of the year so far. They didn't disappoint live either. After opening with a Sunny Day Real Estate intro, they went straight into "Memorial Field" from the 7". I was glad to see that they were energetic and really into their music. The bassist was bouncing all over the little basement, and the guitarists were spot on and into it as well. All three songs from Kingston were played, as well as a few songs from their split with Erection Kids and one new song. After putting out such a great record, it's good to see that these dudes can bring it live too.

Let Me Run played second, and while they were tight, something about them didn't entirely click for me. They were a very slick punk rock sound, verrrry similar to Fallen From the Sky. It's not that I didn't like them, but I feel like that whole sound is kind of a waste. You have a singer with a decent, husky voice, but your music is so precise and clean sounding that it loses a lot of it's impact.

After a quick break, Young Hearts were next to play, and I was excited to see them, since I've been listening to their Myspace songs a bit lately. They played a handful of songs that I recognized, and played really well. They have that Red Leader/Nww Brunswick sound, and it makes sense that they're on that label, and tour with a lot of the bands that they do. They have a sort-of scratchy pop punk sound, with a bit of indie influence, with rhythms that shift pretty quickly. They trade off vocals well, and lead lines mix up nicely. On top of that, you can tell they have fun playing live, and put a lot of energy into their performance. I would definitely go check them out again, although at times I think their songs are a bit too long.

Bit Attack played next. I watched two or three songs before going to get an Arizona tallcan and a bag of Skittles. I'm pretty sure their singer switched on a fake accent as soon as their set started, and their guitarist played the first three songs leaning against the wall looking bored. Really? They also claimed to be from "New Palestine" when their Myspace most clearly says Philadelphia.

At a shockingly normal hour, Algernon Cadwallader started up with their set of Kinsella inspired indie rock. As usual, they put on an enteraining, energetic set with a nice list of songs from their new LP, which they had with them. While I don't love this band as much as other people seem to, I do always love seeing them live. They were only a three piece for this show, but they all seemed to have a blast, as they always do. For anyone unfamiliar with this band, due to Peter's voice, they get a ton of Cap'n Jazz comparisons, which I think is still pretty accurate beyond that. But they also have a great deal of complex guitar lines, very similar to those of American Football, or even Minus the Bear. Tank, their new drummer, fit right in seemlessly, and sounded good. I didn't get a chance to pick up their LP (spending too much on records lately!), but I will soon, and I'll get it reviewed up here on the blog. It seems to be getting a lot of love from friends and the whole damn internet, so I'll get it up here soon. Below are a few pics from the show that I've found on the internet. Fun times.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Shorebirds - s/t

Shorebirds - s/t
Self Released

So far, all of the records I've posted for download have been older records that are pretty hard to track down. This meets one of those criteria. Even though this was only released last year, it seems to have flown under the radar, and a lot of people haven't paid much attention.

For those that don't know, Shorebirds consisted of ex-members of Jawbreaker and Latterman, two pretty revered bands in the punk community. Now, Jawbreaker is one of my top two bands of all time, so I was pretty interested when I heard that Chris was pairing up with the singer from Latterman, who I hated. Regardless, this is a great 7". It's more straightforward than Latterman ever was, and I find it a bit more palatable. As a whole, the lyrics are less positive and "politcal," and deal with the personal struggles of moving and moving on.

Half of the reason I upped this was because they called it quits this week, which bummed me out. I believe they have an LP recorded, and I hope that it still comes out. Until then, tide yourself over with this four song 7".

DOWNLOAD

Deep Sleep - Manic Euphoria

Deep Sleep - Manic Euphoria
Grave Mistake Records

When I was first getting into punk rock, the first hardcore song ever played for me on a mixtape was "Filler" by Minor Threat. When I was in sixth grade I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, and it was different from most of the punk that I had been exposed to at the time. But I knew that I liked it. And as the years have gone by, I still find myself drawn to hardcore bands that are more like Minor Threat - straddling that line between punk rock and hardcore, as opposed to a lot of my friends who came up on heavier New York hardcore, or bands that straddled the metal/hardcore line.

Deep Sleep is one of the bands that I've always been a bit more intrigued in. There's a fine line between punk and hardcore that is blurred through these four songs, and it's a band that I'm excited to hear more from. "Curbside Breakdown" brings these guys raging out of the gates, and serves as a solid introduction. It makes sense that they're labelmates with Cloak/Dagger as the Black Flag inspired guitar lines weave through the songs, not totally overdriven, but fuzzed out, particularly in "I'm On Top." So, in less than two minutes, they've killed the first two songs with screamy, half sung vocals that fit the fuzzed out hardcore punk.

"Nothing Left" is even faster, and is the shortest song of the record. The "now it's too late" ending is a nice change from the straight ahead pace of the rest of the song. Crossing the two minute mark is "Textbook Timebomb" which has my favorite guitar work of the record, with really melodic elements, and a catchy chorus. The bridge gives an airy feel to the guitar work, and shows that they can really deviate from the straightforward style they demonstrate throughout the record, and do it well. This is definitely a standout track, and you should go listen to it on their Myspace right now, then buy this record, and pretty much everything else Grave Mistake has put out. Yup, it's that good.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Dead Mechanical - A Great Lie

Dead Mechanical - A Great Lie
Sex Cells Records

Due to conflicting schedules and bad luck, I've missed Dead Mechanical twice in Philadelphia this year. It's unfortunate, because I really enjoyed last year's Medium Noise. There was a gruff catchiness that was the exact style of pop punk that I eat up. There were some nice guitar riffs and exciting sing-a-longs that I found myself humming over and over.

This year's A Great Lie 7" is no different. The opening title track calls to mind early Jawbreaker, with scratchy vocals and the catchy refrain of "Nothing tells like a great lie, nothing ends like a good time, no body leaves like you will tonight" There's a very East Bay updated for 2008 style that is right up my alley. They're only a three piece, but the bass has a solid full sound, and there are multiple guitar parts that are never super complicated, but complement each other well and give this a nice bit of melody. "Sidewalks" is a faster song with slightly less gruff vocals, and as a whole, it's a much more straightforward approach to a pop punk song. Along with that, it's much shorter, and breezes by before you get bored by the simplistic structure. The 7" ends with the shortest song, "Bitter Drinks," has a little bit of a darker sound to it, with nice drumming that accentuates the Jawbreaker/Crimpshrine-ish vocals nicely, especially when it sort of drops out during the verses.

I've heard that they're working on an LP, which would be excellent, as both their EP and 7" have been strongly catchy, scratchy affairs that work to fill that hole in my heart left by Jawbreaker and East Bay bands that I grew up listening to. Dead Mechanical does a nice job making sure that they don't fall into a rut and put their own original spin on a genre that can sound dated if not done correctly.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Hot Water Music / Thursday / Paint it Black - 7.12.08

Terminal 5, NYC
7:30 PM

After a quick Chinatown Bus ride, and a long day of traversing Manhattan, we found our way to Terminal 5, an oversized, rather stupid venue on the west side of the island. We got there about 15 minutes after the doors opened, and the 3,000 capacity venue was nearly empty. The main floor had about 200 kids on it. I think the reasons for this were two-fold. First of all, it was still a little bit early. But, more importantly, there were four awesome shows all going on within blocks of each other. A few blocks south of this show, The F-Yeah Fest was playing, with the Circle Jerks and D4. Then, a bit beyond that, the Alkaline Trio were playing. And, to take away some of the hardcore kids, Cold World and Trash Talk were playing out in Brooklyn. Terrible tour routing.

Shortly after getting there, Heather, Adam and I decided to head up to the balcony and snag a spot giving us a bird's eye view of the stage. Normally, I try to avoid the balcony. As a matter of fact, this was the first show I've ever watched from a balcony/bar. However, my head was killing me from piss poor stage divers the night before, so I didn't mind the relaxed rail leaning that I would go for this night.

Right at 7:30, Paint it Black made their way to the stage with far less pomp and circumstance than they normally do in Philadelphia. Seeing them in this venue was strange. As Dan Yemin said, "This barrier makes me want to kill myself." I'd never seen them in a venue even close to this large, and it was only my second time seeing them with a barrier and bouncers (the first being with the Souls at the Troc a few years back). I feel like this definitely took a lot of the energy out of their performance, as hardcore isn't meant to be played or seen in an environment like that. They still played hard, and Yemin did his best to bridge the moat between them and the crowd, but it just had a very odd vibe. This could probably be attributed to only a handful of kids really being into their music, as the sing-a-longs were a lot smaller than I expected. The setlist was similar to the night before, but with enough differences to keep it interesting. They opened with "Past Tense, Future Perfect" and played a similarly solid mix of songs from all three albums, and again ended with "Memorial Day" and "Atticus Finch," and New York did do a solid job with the sing-a-long for the latter.

I'm not really even sure what to say about Thursday. It's been years since I've seen this band, and not much has changed with them. They played a handful of songs I knew from Full Collapse, like "Paris in Flames" and "Understanding in a Car Crash," as well as a handful I vaguely recognized from War All the Time such as "For the Workforce Drowning" and "Division Street." They sounded tight, and were energetic, but nothing really did it for me. It was all teh same stuff that I saw years ago, with nothing new or interesting. I guess I respect them for staying the same and not really changing to fit the trends that they really could have cashed in on. They did play one new song from their forthcoming split with Envy, and I was bored out of my mind. It was all instrumental, with lots of obnoxious sounding keyboard parts. Pass. They played about 13 or 14 songs and kids ate it up. We were surprised to see so many people that excited and interested, but hey, what do I know.

After a surprisingly short break, Hot Water Music came out and started on with "Remedy" straight into "Free Radio Gainesville" and then "Rooftops." At this point, I was pretty excited because I really like No Division and heard that this set was pretty full of "early material." Well, after a while it became obvious that this wasn't the case. They did do a good job of mixing up material, and it was a solid mix of songs from all of the albums, but not nearly as much from the early albums as I'd hoped. After looking back at the January setlist, I realized that there were a lot of similar songs played. Like I said then, I was happy with that list, but I would have loved to hear some more songs from Forever and Counting or Fuel For the Hate Game. The handful that they did play were songs that I've heard before. I also talked to some people about the Philadelphia set list, and I was bummed to learn that they got to hear "Alachua" and "God Deciding," two of my favorite Hot Water Music songs, and we got neither of them.

Throughout their entire set, much like their New Jersey reunion, it was obvious that they were having a blast. Despite being horribly drunk (shocking!), they sounded pretty tight (with a few missteps), and smiled throughout the entire thing. I know Chuck is busy with solo stuff, and the other three guys are busy with new bands (The Draft, Chris' solo stuff, Jason with Senses Fail), but they legitimately seem to have more fun with the Hot Water reunions than they do as the Draft. And there's no reason they can't do solo stuff and Hot Water Music a bit more regularly!

All in all, below is a list of what I can remember, although there may be some I missed.
Remedy (opener)
Free Radio Gainesville
Rooftops
Manual
Turnstile

Its Hard to Know
At the End of a Gun
Moonpies for Misfits
A Flight and a Crash
Paper Thin
Trusty Chords
I Was on a Mountain
Wayfarer
Giver

+about 4 more that I can't remember

I'm glad that I made it up to New York for this. Despite the totally sterile environment in Terminal 5, it was great (but weird) to see Paint it Black out of Philadelphia, and to see Hot Water Music again. I can never really say how much this band meant to me and how glad I am to see them live again. Seeing Thursday was interesting and semi-nostalgic, and had it been a hell of a lot shorter, I may have even enjoyed it. Instead, it ended up being a bit too long and drawn out. I've heard this weekend of shows were the last Hot Water shows of 2008, at least in the States, so hopefully you made it out to see them!

All pictures courtesy of Heather and her fancy-pants new iPhone.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Dillinger Four / Paint it Black - 7.11.08

Starlight Ballroom
7PM

I had big plans for this evening. Months before the show was announced, I ordered tickets for the Hot Water Music tour at the Troc. When this show was announced, I was facing a big problem. D4?? Hot Water Music?? How can they play two different shows and how can I see both? I decided to go to the D4 show, then run down the street to Hot Water as soon as they were done. To safeguard against missing too much of HWM, I also ordered tickets for the Hot Water show in New York City the next night. It'd be a busy schedule, but I thought it would work.

I thought wrong. Hot Water and D4 were both scheduled to play at the same time at their respective venues. So, knowing that I would see HWM the next day, I decided to stay for all of Dillinger Four. And I'm glad I did.

Heather and I got there pretty late so we wouldn't see too many of the terrible openings bands, but no such luck. Team Robespierre were just starting and were nothing I was interested in. I left to get something to eat and drink and ended up missing Monotonix, the only opener I was really interested in. Fuck. Either way, I heard they were great and put on a hell of a live show. I'll have to check these crazy Israelis out the next time they hit Philly. Matt and Kim were next, and I'm not sure what all the hipsters are losing their minds for, because all it did was inspire me and my friends to head on outside and wait a bit.

"MORE STAGE DIVES!" When Paint it Black started, the place went nuts. From the beginning of "Gravity Wins," bodies were flying everywhere. Their energy level was through the roof, which was good, and made up for the terrible sound. Josh's amp started the show by buzzing and sounding like it was about to blow any second, and eventually Andy's amp started to go (during "White Kids Dying of Hunger," a pretty bass driven song). Either way, they played a lot of their usual set, and ended with "Memorial Day," "Atticus Finch" and "Shell Game Redux," all of which had monstrous sing-a-longs and stage dives. I've seen this band at least six or seven times this year, and they have yet to disappoint (although I would have loved to hear "Goliath"!).
























































D! 4! Dillinger Four is easily one of the top punk bands playing right now, if not the best. However, as Paddy noted as they started, they've done Philadelphia wrong. Their history in Philly has been sketchy at best, with the last show here being cut short due to Paddy being sick as hell and spending the entire set vomiting into a trash can. So, they promised to make up for it by playing a great set this time, and they certainly did. From the opening of "Let Them Eat Thomas Paine" to then ending of "Putting the F Back in Art," they were fun, the tightest I've seen them, and kids were loving it. They traded vocals across the stage and all of their voices sounded good, kids were stage diving everywhere, and of course, the on-stage banter was priceless. Highlights from the banter included Paddy talking about how YouTube reminds everyone how fat they've gotten, why God probably doesn't exist, but maybe he does since he killed Jesse Helms last week, Dan Yemin and Krishna, how D4 is selling out ("we're too fat to ride bikes and none of us even own record players any more"), and a discussion on "fuck bike fags" (or three things Paddy loves). The whole set was entertaining, as expected, even though he didn't get naked (which people asked for).

I tried to remember all of the songs they played, but I'm sure I missed some, and hell, with the amount of D4 I've been listening to lately, I'm probably adding some that they didn't, but they definitely played a great mix of songs from all three proper LPs. Some of the list included: "Who Didn't Kill Bambi?", "Get Your Study Hall Outta My Recess," "Maximum Piss n' Vinegar," "Noble Stabbings," "A Floater Left With Pleasure...," "Folk Song," "OKFMDOA," "Superpowers Enable Me to Blend In With Machinery," "Doublewhiskeycokenoice," "Mosh For Jesus," and I'm sure others I'm forgetting off the top of my head.

I left before the Circle Jerks, and I'm ok with that decision. From what I hear, a lot of other people did to, but supposedly they played close to 30 songs. Part of me would like to see them, solely for the story, but at the same time, no punk band can follow D4, especially 20+ years after their prime. Before the show, my friend Phil said that part of D4's allure was how rare it was to see them, but I'll definitely be going to see them in October at the Troc, as well as at Fest. Best punk band playing right now.




































All photos by Aaron Weber. Don't steal them without asking him.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Reign Supreme / Neverender - 7.10.08

Deep Sleep
8PM

After a long day filled with record shopping, babe-watching in Rittenhouse, and pizza eating, Mike and I made our way to Deep Sleep pretty damn early, but we figured we'd just hang out for a bit. We entertained ourselves people watching in Old City, and generally acted like assholes, but had fun until some people finally started to show up. Neverender was the first band to play, and I was pretty curious to see them. Despite sharing their name with a Hot Water Music record, they didn't sound anything like Hot Water. They had a melodic hardcore sound, and had some pretty cool parts. Their singer seemed like the weak link in the band, but he said he wasn't feeling well and was a bit off. I picked up a demo, so we'll see how that sounds. They only played five songs, but they were tight (even with a fill-in bassist) and had enough tempo and rhythm changes to keep things interesting. Their singer talked a lot between songs, and kinda had the typical "this is for my friends" and "this is about holding things close to your heart" thing going on, so I'm not sure how I'll feel about the lyrics, but as live bands go, this band was a nice start.

Reign Supreme plays a style of hardcore that's never really been my thing. Super heavy, metallic mosh styled hardcore has never been my thing. Personally I'd rather my hardcore come from a punk background than a metal one, but that's just where I come from growin up. Either way, this was my second time seeing Reign Supreme, and the first since some major lineup changes. They played a short set, but were tight and heavy as hell the whole time. They sounded really good, are energetic to watch, and Jay is a great frontman. Kids were really excited, and I was amazed to see some mosh in the tiny Deep Sleep basement, as well as a dive off the stairs which went about as well as it could consider the low ceilings. I'm not familiar with any songs, but I do know that they played a few off of their forthcoming LP, and what I can assume are a good bit from American Violence. Reign Supreme definitely seems primed for a stretch out on the road, and will probably be pullin in new fans and plenty of mosh each night if they play sets like this one.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

ANS / Seasick - Billy in a Bearsuit Split

ANS /Seasick - Billy in a Bearsuit split 7"
Braindrain Records

This is actually the first record that someone has actually sent me and asked me to review! Whoa! Even though I've been trying to keep review to 2008, I'll duck back to 07 to do this one.

ANS kicks off the first side of this split, and I'll be honest, I wasn't blown away initially. There was a very Motorhead heavy rock and roll vibe, which can be cool, but the vocals were beyond muddy, and the first track kinda breezed by without really making much of an impact on me. The second song, "Paging Dr. Shiba" was a little more my speed, and the rock and roll party feel continued through for about a minute and a half with running guitar leads and more clarity to the vocals, although they still had a gruff feel to them. I've seen these guys refered to as "party dudes" and I can see it with this track. At this point, ANS is half and half for me. Seeing a 3 minute closer didn't do much to make me confident, but this half time stomp showed me that they don't always have to go forward full throttle. The singer even aims for a bit more melody. The song speeds up a bit, and doesn't feel bloated at three minutes. I'm not sure that I would give the ANS side of this split too many more spins, but it did exceed my expectations based on the first song.

Seasick is a band that I've been hearing a lot about for the last year, but never really checked out. "Intro(spection)" starts with typical galloping drums and feedback, but kicks in a lot heavier than I really expected. The bass is fuzzy as hell, and little guitar leads fly around in both ears. After a minute, it moves on to the second track which continues the fast, fairly technical hardcore. It's a bit more subdued with a muted verse and a palm muted breakdown, but there's another blazing fast ending, which has some cool guitar sounds and effects. The lyrics are an examination of the scene and how some people use it to push their own agenda. Ending with "your language reflects your recklessness, words qualify as a form of violence so don't expect others to be as patient" seems a bit wordy, but is worked in well. Nice stuff. The last track is another one under a minute that flies by before you realize. The ending is fast as hell and contains a quick gang vocal line of "Never trust the fucking cops" I believe, and ends with "Politics and power don't mix."

As far as splits go, this one is really no different - one band I really like and would listen to again, and another that I'm not overly thrilled with. Seasick seems like an awesome band that I would like to catch live, but ANS, while good at what they do, aren't particularly my thing. Check out their other records through Braindrain (as well as Lighten Up and Braindead releases!), who are good people, and offer free digital downloads with any record purchases. Swish!

Stay Sharp - Four Songs

Stay Sharp - Four Songs
Monkeywrench

I've talked a little bit about Stay Sharp and had nothing but good things to say about their live show. They were energetic and sound great live. The songs are engaging enough to keep a live set interesting, and they're short and to the point. So, how do these songs translate to a recording? Pretty damn well.

The first song on the EP is arguably the weakest. It's not that it's bad, but it's a very straight ahead punk/hardcore song, with little setting it apart from a lot of other bands doing this genre. But at a minute long, it serves as competent intro to the EP, and to the band for many. It's not a bad song, but from there on in the EP, they step it up.

The second song, "Hatfield of Dreams" has a bit of a poppier feel, which I guess a lot of people will say is the Kid Dynamite sound, although I think they do enough through heavier vocals and variation in parts to keep it from falling into a stale rut. The singer's voice is good, and he hits the melodic parts as well as the faster/heavier parts. The gang vocals are a nice touch when used sparingly, as they are in the second song. Flowing nicely along is "Sign It", which has my favorite part of the record. The sparse drum and bass first verse shows that they can switch it up a bit more. This is the longest song at just over two minutes, and it ends with another cool gang vocal part. The final song, "Charge the Mound," seems to be the "anthem" type song with a big sing along ending, and I've seen them close a set or two with it. It's definitely got the catchiest chorus of the bunch, with a nice little guitar break. Good stuff.

My only complaint with this debut EP is the singer has a tendency to rely on vocal patterns closely following the guitar lines. This is unfortunate because he has a good voice that he could do a lot more with. It seems like he struggles to come up with vocal hooks that stand on their own. That said, this is still a really impressive EP and this band has been on point every time I've seen them live. I know they're already planning their next release and playing some killer shows, so I expect big things out of them in the second half of 08.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Dustheads - Little Pieces

Dustheads - Little Pieces
Don Giovanni Records

One of my favorite hardcore punk bands of late has definitely been Dustheads. I've been lucky enough to catch them live the last two times they've played Philadelphia, and I was beyond impressed. Whether it was in the small living room of Disgraceland, or the big stage of the Church, they killed it. Their live shows are an excercise in energy and anger, and they often find the band on the verge of breaking up just after. Or just throwing mic stands.

After a long, noisy intro, followed by very rock and roll riffage, they start off blaring with "Bike" screaming "Two face, you fucking fake" and proceed to steamroll over everything they can. Dustheads play a great mix of rock and roll and heavy hardcore punk rock. Their singer is snotty as hell, and even moreso since they re-recorded Little Pieces after releasing it on tape last year. This version seems more vicious than last year's version. Also, combined with the intro noise, the ending of side one is frantic and chaotic, and adds to the dark spin that Dustheads are putting on punk and hardcore. The second side starts with a rager discussing that being driven "fucking" insane, and while listening to this, you really do feel how pissed their singer is, and the music compliments it perfectly. The second side of the record seems a bit slower, with "weirder" guitar parts, and it's a bit more musically sound, as far as changes and structures go, but it's still wild and angry and desperate. When he ends the record screaming "The stench of failure hanging on my breath, can't wish for anything but fucking death, I hate this life, I hate this goddamned place, I want to leave this world without a fucking trace," it doesn't feel forced or contrived like a lot of punk hardcore bands. This dude literally seems like he wants to spit in the face of people he sees walking down the street. And if it keeps Dustheads putting out records like last years Tall Tales series and Little Pieces, I'm ok with that.

It should also be mentioned that the album art for this is great. The cover and inner sleeve both look wild, yet have a subdued color palatte. The liner notes, however, leave a little to be desired. The inner opening looks thrown together and cheap in comparison with how great the rest of the layout looks.

Crumbler - Dirty Weeks

Crumbler - Dirty Weeks
Bottled Up Records

It's been so long since Klint sent me the mp3s of this that I kind of forgot it was a record from 2008. The "release show" a few weeks ago with Lemuria reminded me that I guess I should review this record. I guarantee that this record is much shorter than it would take me to even write a review of this ten song 7", so I'll give a quick description, then review the ten tracks, which last about 7 minutes. Basically, this is blazing fast, dirty hardcore punk. Larry's vocals are heavy, but snotty, and are complimented by Klint's filthy sounding bass. The guitars gallop through muted riffs and slightly off sounding solos that add to an almost grunge feel at times. The lyrics are warped, twisted, and hilarious, and I mean that in the best way, I mean it as a compliment (name that Cusack movie!).

The record starts off with the 18 second opener "Hooker Paradise," in which Larry promises to get a woman of the night off the street and into his home, so they can share her gift forever. "Manic Times" follows immediately, and stretches to a bloated 49 seconds, a little bit more mid tempo with more guitar solos and riffs. "Summer Classic" is a hardcore rager, with a feedback laden bridge and mattress has the most "traditional" sounding intro, before blasting through one line in about five seconds. What seems to be the most straightforward song is done before you know it. "Stalk With an Agenda" rounds out side one at over a minute (!) with a twisted refrain of "It's just me / I'm not crazy / What was I thinkin" line repeated multiple times over screeching and squealing guitars.

The second side of the record is just as short, and starts with my favorite track ofthe record, "Beaver Shots." Any song that ends with "Get shit on, get pissed on, get cummed on, get fucked" is ok in my book. "Headaches" can be found at their Myspace and is another one of the longest tracks, and probably the most straightforward of all of the songs, with almost standard intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-outro format. Weird for them, but a strong song. The next song clocks in at a blazing four seconds and only consists of one line: "The more I drink, the drunker I get." Fair enough. "Seniors '76" starts out fast as hell, before cutting into a 50 second half time dirge led by drums and distorted bass, bringing back that grunge feel. The closer to the record, "Cheap Lingerie" is over two minutes, with the return of the half time (or slower) drums with a dirge feel, and a guitar lead that feels like it shouldn't fit, but just does. This ending goes on for about a minute and a half, which feels epic by comparison to everything else on the record.

All in all, one of the best hardcore punk 7"s I've listened to in a while, and I hope that this band stays with it a little bit more, even sporadically, although I doubt that'll happen given their track record.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Halfway through 2008...

So here we are, just over the halfway point of 2008. I've seen a lot of great shows, listened to a lot of great records, and already blogged about a ton of crap that no one is reading. In this post, I'll take a look at the top 5 full lengths, live shows, and EPs/7" of the year. Leave some comments with your lists, if you're reading this!

Full lengths
1. Paint it Black - New Lexicon - One of the most innovative hardcore punk records in the last few years from a band that keeps pushing the envelope.
2. Lemuria - Get Better - Female fronted indie pop that I wanted to hate, but just can't.
3. Blacklisted - Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God - Another Philly hardcore band raising the bar for everyone else.
4. Able Baker Fox - Voices - As close as I'll ever get to another Small Brown Bike record. Gruff indie rock that needs to start touring.
5. Hot Water Music - Till The Wheels Fall Off - Sure, I guess it's tacky to put a b-sides collection on this list, but whatever, it's Hot Water Music. One of the most important bands ever for me.

Live shows
1. Paint it Black - Sailor Jerry's - Kids will be talkin about this one for a long time...
2. Hot Water Music / The Lawrence Arms - NJ - First time seeing Hot Water in years, and the boys in the Lawrence Arms always put a smile on my face. Plus, fun trip with great dudes and a total babe.
3. Lemuria / Crumbler / Fallen From the Sky - Deep Sleep - Three bands that don't sound at all alike, but all rip.
4. None More Black - Deep Sleep - Kinda like a show in a sauna, from a band finally getting the respect their last album deserved.
5. Paint it Black / Marked Men / Dustheads / Amateur Party - Church - This was a well rounded record release show for Paint it Black, with a ton of great bands. The only downside to the entire weekend was World Inferno.

EPs/7"s
1. Crumbler - Dirty Weeks - Short, fast, hilarious. Expect a review this week.
2. Title Fight - Kingston - The best Lifetime/Saves the Day/Fairweather inspired pop punk I've heard in years.
3. The Gaslight Anthem - Senor and the Queen - Better than either of their LPs, four songs with a wide range of styles, but all uniquely punk rock and roll.
4. The Steinways - Unoriginal Recipe - Six new ones from these pop punk kings that serves as a teaser for their new full length.

Things I'm Anticipating
Dillinger Four - Live shows, as well as The Civil War
Hot Water Music - two shows this weekend!
The Revival Tour
The Gaslight Anthem - '59 Sound
Off With Their Heads - From the Bottom
Dead to Me - New LP
FEST!

What's on your halfway list?

Addendum to PIB at Sailor Jerry's

It's been awhile, but a full set, high quality video has surfaced.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/mm7hbn
or
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6J8ZPIMB

WHO: Paint it Black
WHERE: Sailor Jerry, Philadelphia, PA
WHEN: 4.10.08
FILE TYPE/SIZE: DivX/251 mb
DURATION: 24 minutes
SETLIST:

1. Past Tense, Future Perfect
2. Pink Slip
3. Womb Envy
4. CVA
5. Void
6. Nicaragua
7. So Much for Honour Among Thieves
8. Exit Wound
9. Atheists in Foxholes
10. Goliath
11. The Ledge
12. We Will Not
13. Cannibal
14. Shell Game Redux
15. Memorial Day
16. Atticus Finch



Enjoy!

None More Black - 7.4.08

Deep Sleep
7:30 PM

A few weeks ago, None More Black announced that they'd be doin a reunion show at Deep Sleep, and I got pretty excited. Their last full length was by far their best output, and they were always fun live. They were pretty underrated towards the end, and their lives shows had dwindling attendance, but I knew this show would be pretty crowded, especially considering Deep Sleep is about the size of an average living room. I wasn't at all prepared for how many people would show up. When Heather and I were walking around the city on Friday, we thought we'd swing by a few hours early and look for people we knew. When we got to the block, the line was a few hundred deep. Luckily, Bill (known to this blog of FEST fame) let us in early, and we got to relax with some friends in the air conditioning. After about an hour and a half of waiting, they jammed as many people as they could into the tiny storefront, and we grabbed a bit of space up on a bench, giving us a bird's eye view of the crowded room.

At just after 7:30, Jason launched into "We Dance on the Ruins of This Stupid Stage," and before long, the whole band kicked in and the room went nuts. Kids were excited and loving it, and the front of the room was a crowd singing along and inching ever closer, while a handful of people climbed the outside of the staircase and dove off. Unfortunately for the large crowd outside, within a few songs the windows were steamed up and could barely be seen through. The sweat was bordering on unbearable, and the photography of Jaime Avon on the walls curled and crumpled under the humidity. The band played for close to an hour and twenty minutes, and hit all of the best songs from all three releases. I was a little disappointed to hear some of the slower songs (namely "The Majestic"), but they also killed it with all my favorite songs from the Loud About Loathing EP.

Throughout the set there were a lot of breaks, as Jason seemed to struggle with his voice a bit, but I'm hoping that they continue playing, and that he rebuilds to a stronger level. Their energy was there, and watching Jared drum is always one of my favorites. His ending to "Drop the Pop" is always so strong, putting about as much headbanging as you can into a poppy punk band. They didn't have their limited vinyl release of This is Satire, and I'm really starting to wonder if that record will ever come out, but they did have limited shirts with CPM's face on LL Cool J's body, with "Don't Call it a Comeback" on the back. Not as good as AAJ's Toshi shirt, but up there. On a bummer note, we didn't make it to the show on Saturday at the Barbary, but that's ok since they were so much fun at Deep Sleep. I'm hoping that this reunion turns into more than just this weekend and that this band really gets some of the attention that This is Satire should have gotten them.

Below is a YouTube video of the first seven minutes of their set and a set list I saw on another board:



Dance
Peace
Reen

Under
Dinners
Opinions
Zing

Legwork
Ten Ton
Peanut Butter
London

Everyday
Genuine
State Lines

Wallpaper
Vacancy
Majestic
Single

D is Doorman

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Smoking Popes / Restorations / Thinking Machines - 7.2.08

Johnny Brendas
9:30 PM

Heather and I got there pretty early, and we ate dinner while hanging out with some friends beforehand. This show took a while to get started, so I was already kind of antsy by the time Thinking Machines started. They were a three piece indie rock band, with some angular rhythms and start/stops. They were cool, but I'm not sure they were really my thing. They had some pretty solid parts where they were rocking out a bit more, and these bits were more engaging than the slower or more technical stuff. I might go check em out live if they were playing, but it's nothing that I'd listen to on a regular basis.

Restorations were up next, and I wasn't too sure what to expect. It's 3/4 of Jena Berlin, with Mike Drelling playing bass. Everyone that I talked to was giving me different sounds to expect, but the closest I can come up with is this: take the more indie rock/softer parts of the first Jena Berlin full length, then switch out the vocals between Jon and Dave. Overall, I really liked it, and was pretty damn impressed. Mike was in a bike accident the day before, so he was playing with a pretty beat up hand, and there were a few other sound issues (Jon's amp was wayyy too loud), but they turned in a good first show. They have a few other shows lined up in the near future, so I would definitely recomend trying to catch them. They're shooting to have a 7" out after the summer, so I'm excited to see how it turns out.

The last time I saw the Smoking Popes, I was really blown away. I'd never paid much attention to them before, but after that show, I made a point of checking them out. This was another really good set. These guys are tight (even with a new drummer - Neil from the Lawrence Arms!), and are pretty much always spot on. Even though I'm not super familiar with their material, they played most of the songs I really wanted to hear. Their regular set was at least 15 songs, and they played a four song encore as well. I was glad to hear "Writing a Letter," "Star Struck One" and "Pretty Pathetic" (in the encore).

It should also be noted that there were a few moments of great crowd interaction. First of all, there was a glorious group of old fans who were wearing Smoking Popes shirts, and dancing in hilarious ways. Words can't really describe the way the leader (a drunk musclehead in a cut off t-shirt who would occasionally just jump straight in the air) was dancing, and his even drunker, possibly mentally handicapped friend was even better. Another great moment occured when a random fan ran up on stage, danced, hugged the bassist, and ran off. Not a huge deal, albeit stupid. Well, when he ran up again, hugged the bassist more and messed up his gear, he stumbled away, fell off the stage and spilled a beer all over the place. Luckily he did fall, because if he didn't, he almost took an overhead axe swing from a bass. Pretty wild.

The Smoking Popes played for over an hour, which was pretty damn awesome, but considering I'd been there for about six hours by that point, and I'm only semi-familiar with their records, it got to be a bit long. They sounded really full, and watching them play with Neil is great. He's a solid-ass drummer that really added to their sound. To be honest, the set could have been a bit shorter to keep my attention, but it was another impressive set from them.