Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Memorial - The Creative Process / Berlin

Memorial - The Creative Process / Berlin
Flight Plan Records

For those of you still mourning the breakup of Quicksand, or, more recently, Renee Heartfelt, can fill that empty void in your music collection with this new LP from Memorial. From the crushing opening riffs of "Who Are We To Say?" it's obvious that this is heavy post-hardcore with a melodic side. It's not unlike the aforementioned bands, particular with the familiar crooning of Pete Applebee.

Aside from the headbanging of the opening track, these eight songs vacillate between heavy riffage and softer, slower songs with a lot more swirling atmosphere. "Sideways" is a nice midtempo rocker with lots of dynamic changes, lead by Pete's voice, which I love. The song builds and fades well, giving it an epic feel that flows through the whole album. Every song paints a vivid picture and is well crafted to give it a feeling.

The opening vocals and guitar on "Spades" are catchy and get stuck in your head as soon as you listen to it, before speeding up and building. This faster track leads right into "The Creative Process," which is the first slower song of the album, with layered guitar tracks, and huge dynamics. Definitely a crushing song.

The Berlin half of the record continues with an even more epic sound, lead off by the shortest track on the record ("Berlin"), and the possibly the heaviest riffage ("1933"). It's nice to see that the B-side of the this doesn't slow down or get weaker; instead, it seems to get better as it goes on. There are more acoustic guitars and quiet/loud transitions, which showcase pounding drums, creative guitar work, and Applebee's great voice.

It's taken forever for this to come out, and I'm still waiting for my screened pre-order, but this is definitely a strong debut for these guys, sure to get a ton of spins from Quicksand devotees and people hankerin' for another Renee Heartfelt record.

Paint it Black / Ceremony / Blacklisted - 8.18.08

Party Mansion
8PM

When Ceremony got denied from Canada, they needed to find a few days worth of shows to fill time before the quickly approaching This is Hardcore Fest. Andy Nelson and the residents of Party Mansion stepped up, and the show got set up for Monday night, with about two days notice. The supporting bands weren't announced; the lineup merely said "Ceremony and friends." Now, it doesn't take much to realize that Ceremony has recently toured with both Paint it Black and Blacklisted, both of whom are at home right now. I had a feeling that at least one of these bands were going to be playing, but was stoked when Mike got a call as we were heading over saying that both were. All three of these bands in a tiny ass basement would prove to be an outrageous time.

We got there and saw a lot of friends, ate some food, and hung out until about 8 when Blacklisted was about to start. The basement at Party Mansion was extra sweaty and smelly, as this was by far the most crowded I'd seen this house. I came in right as they were about to start, so I was toward the back of the room and had a hard time seeing until I could weasel my way up a bit, but they sounded great, and played mostly songs from Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the only song they played from earlier material was "Long Way Home." They sounded huge, and kids were really into them. George got a lot of help with the sing-a-longs from the crowd, and kids were going off. They announced that they'll be working on a new LP, and I'm pretty sure he said the title was When People Grow, People Go and he made sure to give shout outs to all of the other bands playing, and some other locals for their new releases this year. It had been a little while since I'd seen them, so it was good to see them turn in such a powerful set.


















After a walk to the corner Chinese spot to get a tall can of Arizona half-and-half, I made it back in time to sneak right up front for Ceremony. I hadn't seen them since This is Hardcore last summer, but both that set and their set at the Church a few months prior were both killer. They got some of the biggest responses I've ever seen, and for as fast and thrashy as they are, they always sound tight. They got a lot of kids into it last night, but I guess it's obvious they aren't really the "hype band" they were a year ago. Either way, they sounded good, and as energetic as I expected. I don't know the new album super well, but was glad to hear most of the songs I really enjoy from Violence, Violence. These songs also seemed to get the best crowd reaction, although kids were into a lot of the new songs as well. As expected, a fun set from a band that I love live.






























Well, it had been about a month since I'd seen Paint it Black, so it was about time again. I came in a bit late, since I was busy discussing the intricacies of pizza and pizza making strategies with Robby Redcheeks, but came down to see Paint it Black turn in another tight set, as usual. They played a nice mix of songs, including "the three good ones." Andy was a bit more "chatty" than usual, but he made sense talking about the segregation in the hardcore scene, and how some people thought it was weird that these three bands would be playing a show in a West Philly basement. I dunno about weird; I thought it was a nice venue, and good to see a show where there are three bands who are all so different and working to push the boundaries of hardcore. Either way, the crowd had thinned out a bit by this point, but kids were into it, and it was a typical sweaty sing-a-long Paint it Black set - much better than seeing them in the monstrous setting like Terminal 5.



















Regardless of whether or not people thought this was a weird show, I thought it was one of the best shows I've been to in a long time. I got to meet some nice new people and see some friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I got to see three great hardcore bands play killer sets in an intimate setting, all supporting great records that they have released this year. If you haven't yet, go pick up Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God, New Lexicon, and Still Nothing Moves You. If you're going to This is Hardcore this weekend, you'll see all of these great bands, as well as a plethora of others.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
SideOneDummy Records

You know that feeling of being super excited for something, only to be disappointed? That's how I felt when I watched the Seinfeld finale. I was a huge fan of the show, and when it ended, I thought that the finale was a cop out and I hated it. However, after watching it now-countless times, and seeing how it fits in with the rest of the series, I've grown to love it. Even close to ten years later, I can still watch it and find something new that I love about it.

The Gaslight Anthem is similar to Seinfeld. Much like early episodes of the classic sitcom, their first record showed promise, but had some bumps along the way. Towards the middle, they blew up and received near-unanimous praise for their new breed of sitcom and teaser EP Senor and the Queen. And finally, at the end of the line, Seinfeld and the Gaslight Anthem ended with a record that eschewed expectation, but tied everything together well.

The most recent Gaslight record, The '59 Sound, was high at my biggest disappointments of the year list when I first listened to it. Now, a month later, I know it front to back, and feel like it may even be stronger than their debut full length. Much like Seinfeld did in it's finale, the Gaslight makes countless references and illusions to what brought them their newfound success on this record. Lyrical references to Maria, driving, the radio, and the beach give a familiar feeling and bring the first records to mind without completely rehashing them.

The record starts off with "Great Expectations," which wouldn't have been my choice for an opener, but the title track comes second, and is a great choice for a first single. It's catchy, memorable, and is hard to deny as a catchy, classic rock song. "Film Noir" is the first song to really break up the mid-tempo rock that causes some of the first songs to blend together, and has a slow, dark feel to it (ala film noir), and shows the record branching out. Oddly enough, I feel like the beginning of the record is the weakest, and it gains steam as it moves on.

Singer Brian Fallon has a nice knack for stroytelling, which he has stepped up on this record. He often draws comparisons to Springsteen, and while this is accurate, his voice occasionally brings to mind a more rock and roll, less soul Joe Cocker. As the record progresses, the styles of the record expand out, with "Casanova Baby" providing a very old time rock and roll feel, "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" slowing down with a logical bluesy feel, and "The Backseat" starting off almost like a Killers song, with rapid fire snare rolls.

As I've already said, the record ends much stronger than it begins, and the last two or three songs may be my favorite, with "Here's Looking At You, Kid" taking the stripped down acoustic feel they touched on with "Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts," and really nailing it. I think this album could really use a re-sequencing to break it up a bit and possibly add to the flow of it. This is one of my biggest complaints with this record. I also find the recording of this record frustrating. Brian's voice has a strange echo sound to it, which takes away from a lot of the impact of it. No recording has yet to do his voice justice, as live he sounds much stronger. I think the guitars also need to be beefed up in spots. There's a great, crunchy guitar sound used to in "The '59 Sound" for the pre-chorus that could be used to give a bit more energy and life to some of the faster songs, instead of the slightly bland guitar tone with very little bite.

As I've come to love the Seinfeld finale that originally bummed me out tremendously, this record has grown on me to the point that it will certainly be in my tops of the year, which was not what I thought upon the first few listens. I can see this band getting huge on this record IF people are willing to look past it's fairly different sound. It's definitely a much more rock and roll record, which is great, but I could see a lot of "punks" not getting it. This band has worked hard for everything they've gotten so far, and put out three quality records so far, so I hope they get the success they deserve.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Metroplex / Restorations - 7.29.08

The Khyber
8:30PM

Since Restorations consists of a bunch of dudes without cars, it became my job to work as the Restorations tour van for the night. So, I picked Mike up, and we loaded a ton of gear into my car and headed down to the Khyber to unload. After I parked my car and picked Heather up from the train station, I was stoked to see that Restorations added us to the guestlist and I didn't have to pay! Sweet, thanks guys!

At right around 8:30, they started up. I moved back a little bit farther from the stage this time, since the sound at the last show was a little off. Moving back allowed me to hear them more, and get a better feel for the sound, as compared to the first show. They sounded surprisingly tight, considering they haven't really been able to practice as much as they should due to Mike's messed up hands. Despite that, they were tight and pretty on point. There were a few missteps along the way, but nothing glaring. Jon sang more than I thought he did at the first show, but he seemed more comfortable playing guitar and singing this time around (up until the ending of the last song!). It was a nice second show for these guys, and people seemed to be into them. Hopefully they get some recordings done soon, although with Mike's hands, and Jena Berlin going to Europe for a few weeks, I'm not entirely sure when we'll see these.

During Generro, Heather and I ran to get food, so I can't really give a review of them. Metroplex played third, in a rare live show for them, but at least in the common setting of the Khyber. I came in partway into their set, and enjoyed it as usual. I've only seen them a few times, but they're always energetic and fun to watch. I kind of wish they would play more or take the band a bit more seriously, because there aren't too many bands doing that kind of sound around here. They're scratchy and fast at times, but slowed down and full of slick guitar work at others. I've heard them do a solid Jawbreaker cover once before, but not on this night. Instead, they opted for a Hot Snakes cover. They sound full for a three piece. Part of that is due to a thickly distorted bass sound, and the rest is due to their guitarists pretty unique style, which I like a lot. All in all, a good showing for this band who I wish I heard more from.

Person L played last, which is the new solo-ish project from Kenny of the Starting Line, and I can't say that I was overly interested, so I walked Heather to catch a train back, then got some pizza with Mike and Steve Vainberg. Good dudes, good times. As soon as Person L was done a very bloated set, I ran to grab my car, and helped to load out Restorations gear. They're playing the Khyber again with Weston in about a month, which should be fun. Come on out!