Saturday, October 31, 2009

Native & Raein



Today I decided to upload two albums form bands that we have already done posts on. Its Halloween and I'm about to get my wine on, so I'm going to make this really short.
First, Native has released a new record, and we have it available for download. It is out on Sergent House Records and is called "Wrestling Moves", you should buy it if you enjoy it. Second, seeing as Raein is coming to the states in about a month I thought it would be cool to post a Raein cd that I have but didn't put up when we did our Raein post. It has a remix of "From 3 to 1 in 2 and 4" and an untitled song. Both of these songs are pretty electronic but they still rule. If you get the chance, go see Raein when they come to some select cities, or even better, go see them in Chicago with Native!


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Raein

From 3 to 1 in 2 and 4

Native

Wrestling Moves

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Green is Mean

I don't really have any kind of formal information about this band at all.

What I do now is that they were a screamo/emotive post-hardcore band from the Frederick, MD area around the turn of the century. A friend of mine's old brother was friends with the group and gave him their music, and he in turn gave it to me.

The music is reminiscent of bands like Funeral Diner, in that it varies between loud, heavy parts with unrestrained, screamed vocals provided by multiple vocalists, that still retain a distinct melody followed by more mellow interludes featuring clean guitar tones; there are also parts which feature the shouted vocals over clean guitar parts. However, the band has a very original sound, with prominent, fuzzy bass lines and melodic guitar lines that often dissolve in almost punctuated riffs while the rhythm carries the songs along without making them sound spastic at all. The songs are technical without being too complex or show-offy.

I really like these guys, and I wish I knew a little more about them. I do know that some of the members now play in some bands from Baltimore which I somehow stumbled upon, but I can't remember their names and can't remember how I found them.

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Green Is Meaner Than All Your Bullies

Saturday, October 24, 2009

La Quiete




La Quiete is an incredible screamo band from Italy. They share a drummer with Raein and are currently touring in Australia. I can't think of anything to write about this band that will do them any justice, but if you have never heard of LAQ you really need to get on that. It has taken me a very long time to collect these albums, and i still do not have all of their material. A good portion of their stuff is splits/compilations, but they do have some full lengths and eps. I do not have the following:
1. Verso La Fine. Benefit Compilation Against Morini Breeding.
2. Memento Mori
Here is a video of the song "Metempsicosi Del Fine Ultimo:Nevrastenica Oscillazione Fra Poli Estremi" being played in Cooksville, Tennessee.




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Split with The Apoplexy Twist Orchestra


Split with K.C. Milian


La Fine Non e La Fine


Split with Acrimonie


Self Titled


Split with The Pine


Lack of Originality Tape


Split with Catena Collapse


Split with Louise Cyphre


Self Titled CDM


Tenpeun


Song from Emo Armageddon


The Microwave Says to the Pace Maker


Split with Phoenix Bodies


This Is Your Life Compilation


Wayfarer's All Compilation



Cover of The Cure's "Siamese Twins"

Friday, October 23, 2009

The Cancer Kids


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Perhaps the reason this record has seemed to fly under the radar in the hardcore world for so long is due to The Cancer Kid's extremely brief tenure as a band. They (as the now well-known story that has been passed around in reviews and on message boards goes) played only two shows as a band before suddenly retreating to their garage and penning 50 songs, before releasing 19 onto their debut and final LP, The Possible Dream.

Still, it seems that more people should have taken notice to these guys. Members have been associated with acts like Failures and Bucket Full of Teeth. Will Killingsworth engineered their album, in addition to releasing a one sided, one song 7" from the Possible Dream sessions on his Clean Plate label. Mark McCoy, of Charles Bronson/Das Oath/Holy Molar/Ancestors/Failures (etc, etc, etc) fame put out The Possible Dream on his Youth Attack label.

And yet, their LP, The Possible Dream, which was pressed to only 700 copies, JUST sold out through Youth Attack's mailorder. For some reason these guys remained overlooked for years. However, their name seems to be getting thrown around more and more. If you haven't given these guys a chance yet, I strongly recommend you do.

These guys serve up a powerful brand of hardcore, which some have labeled a nod to "West Coast Bandana Thrash", a tag I have to say, sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. If you like bands like Negative Approach, The Pist, or Infest, or if you like these guy's other projects (Bucket Full of Teeth, Failures), these guys are worth giving a shot. Their sound is defined by riffs pumped out at grind speeds (their 19 song album clocks in at just over 15 minutes), satirical and intelligent lyrics, and some of the most pummeling breakdowns ever pressed to vinyl.

Here's a video from their show at the Florence VFW Hall.



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Bostom Cream 7"

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The Cancer Kids/Melee Split

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The Possible Dream

Sunday, October 18, 2009

мища



мища is 2 parts Vikings! and 1 part Drug Money. I play drums in this band, and we have been around for about a year. At first it was just James and I, but then Alex joined the band after like 3 shows or something. We did a New England tour this summer and got to play with some really great bands like Pathos, C'est La Guerre, The Sharpest, and We Were Skeletons. Our name was supposed to mean "bear", but when it was written to was written incorrectly. So when you write our name it dosn't mean anything, but if you say it (its pronounced Mischa) it does mean "bear". Before we went on hiatus we played our last show at David Krasner's house with Pianos Become the Teeth, Age Sixteen, Wren Lloyd, and Pansori. We also got the chance to play with Matsuri and Moldar(RIP) on their summer tour. That shit was bomb. We are trying to play a show or two when I go home in December, and we are getting ready to book another tour for this summer. We were going to go to Europe but its starting to look like we won't have enough money. If you have a house or can get shows, wherever, and you wouldn't mind us stopping by you should talk to us on our myspace. Before I left we recorded two songs for a 7" split with Bears!, which is going to be put out on Bear Records next year. You can buy all of our stuff from Unity Through Harmony, and you can get our mini disc from Noise Park Activities, who we still owe like twenty five dollars.
Heres a video from a while back in Hampton's Garage.



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A Collection of Internet Songs



Basement Demos



Lady Sang the Blues



Not For Ears
( our songs from our splits with Broken Chords Can Sing A Little and Ze Ultra Boys)


Live From Krasner's Basement

Age Sixteen


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I've been pleasantly surprised to see this band's name popping up on more and more blogs. This is a band that I've had the pleasure of watching evolve from their first demo to the present day. I was even lucky enough to book these guy's second show, and it was amazing at that early stage how many kids already knew the words to these guys songs. Their output so far has been a three song debut demo disc, an LP which was put out on both CD and cassette (the cassette release was put out by Chug Life writer Robbie's own Tall Cedar Tapes), and two tour sampler CD-Rs.

Below I've posted their most recent tour sampler, a three song demo, which, for some reason is all just one long song, so don't think that the download's fucked up or anything. I've also posted their earlier 2009 Tour Sampler which we never got around to posting, featuring the version of "Fabric" (originally on the Spring 2008 Demo), that would end up on Open Up Finders..., as well as two unmastered versions of the LP tracks "As Personal as a Greeting Card" and "The Lion and the Gazelle".

The new material contained on Summer '09 Demos is Age Sixteen's darkest, most chaotic material to date. The band has drawn comparisons to European outfits like La Quiete and Suis La Lune, but American bands like Loma Prieta have always been a big influence on their sound as well, and on this release that aspect begins to shine through a bit more. These songs are all slated to pop up in their mastered, polished forms in the future, most likely when the band takes care of their line-up issues at the drummer position.

"In Lieu Of" was a demo version of "Two Seconds", which would eventually appear on their debut LP Open Up Finders, Please. The song was originally supposed to be featured on a compilation by Zomperkamp records which, for whatever reason, never came out.

They are currently in search of a new drummer, seeing as Tommy is headed out to California for college. So hopefully these guys find the right fit and get back to playing shows soon, because, as some of you may already the privilege of knowing, these guys put on a stellar live show.

Previous Age Sixteen posts HERE.

You can buy Age Sixteen releases/merch for super cheap HERE.

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"In Lieu Of" (2008)

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2009 Tour Sampler

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Summer '09 Demos

Monday, October 12, 2009

The One Up Downstairs




While in Cambridge, MA this summer I happened upon this Ep in Newburry Comics. Polyvinyl must have just re-released all of their old stuff onto vinyl, which seems to be a common trend amongst record companies these days. Anywho, The One Up Downstairs was an emo band from the Chicago area from '96 to '97, whos line up consisted of Allen and David Johnson on bass and guitar, Steve Lamos on drums, and Mike Kinsella doing vocals. Aparently the band recorded these songs back in '97, but broke up before the record could be pressed. Polyvinyl didnt get around to releasing these songs until '06, and even then it was just a digidownload. Kinsella and Lamos went on to form American Football, while the Johnson brothers(I'm assuming they are brothers) went on to play in Very Secretary and Favorite Saints. Kinsella was once in Cap'n Jazz and Owls, and currently plays in Joan of Arc and makes music as Owen. Lamos plays in The Geese and DMS.


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The One Up Downstairs EP

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Suis La Lune/Osceola Split 7"


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Osceola

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Suis La Lune


I'm a little late on posting this shit but whatever!

This is a highly anticapted split that has been in the works since Suis La Lune came over to the U.S. for their summer tour with Osceola. This just finally came out last month and it lives up the hype.

The Osceola side of this record features two of their most abrasive songs to date, and some of their strongest material by far since losing their second guitarist. Lyrically, vocalist Mikey Young focuses on themes of isolation and lost love, and the lyric sheet carries brief explanations of his lyrics, something I always like to see on a punk release.

Osceola hails from the Baltimore/D.C. area and features current/ex members of groups like Army of Kashyyyk and Tunes for Bears to Dance To. They've got a '06-'08 discography coming out soon on Utarid Tapes, so look out for it!

Suis La Lune's sole song on this release is "Friends", and it is a continuation in the progression of their sound. This one sounds like it would have fit right in on the Heir 10", but it definitely has an atmosphere all it's own. Definitely one of their strongest songs.

I just recently got my clear copy of this record (out of 50!) in the mail and it looks and sounds great. Both labels definitely have some black copies left, although I'm sure that by now all clear copies are gone!

Buy the 7" from Protagonist (US)

Fasaden (Europe)

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Suis La Lune/Osecola Split

Suis La Lune/Osceola Split 7" (2009)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

My Winter Nerve


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There are certain bands whose records you only pull out on special occasions. You take them from their hallowed place on the shelf, blow the tiny bit of dust off the cover, slip the record on and close your eyes. Bands that, when you hear them, conjure up memories, images, people, places, and different times in our lives that seem to have been totally forgotten until we hear that familiar riff or drum beat.

I know that for me, and I can assure you, many other people from my hometown of Hagerstown, Maryland, My Winter Nerve is, and will forever be, that band.

When I was around twelve years old, I remember hearing from a friend that the local Grange Hall and a few local Ruritans held musical shows on Friday (and sometimes Saturday) night, featuring local punk bands as well as some touring acts that were booked by local kids. Well, fucking awesome, I thought. I had spent the last year and a half or so grinding my teeth on what I thought were sure to be classic punk records: New Found Glory's first few LP's, Less Than Jake's entire discography...you know, the "classics". Somewhere along the line I had found out about older groups too, and hungrily engulfed myself in their records, reading liner notes and whatever media I could find on them; bands like the Ramones and, more importantly, The Clash. I was interested and mystified by this thing called "punk". So when I found out about the local punk shows, I was excited.

Over the next few months, I made sure I made my way out to every single show. I began to meet new people there, and get to see touring bands (albeit fairly shitty ones) roll through my tiny little burgh in Western Maryland.

Somewhere along the line of my introduction to the DIY punk world, amid floor shows in Grange Halls, merch tables, and begging my mom and dad for rides out to the show, I saw My Winter Nerve for the first time. I'm fairly sure my friend Wes first mentioned them to me, saying that they were absolutely amazing and that when they played, "You could hear a pin drop it gets so quiet". I heard them on a mix CD somewhere, and thought, "Wow, this is pretty great."

And on the recordings, they do sound absolutely incredible. But after seeing them, I was absolutely blown away. Live, My Winter Nerve was a whole other experience, one that you could suddenly hardly connect with the demos they had recorded; a whole new band, live, in the flesh, everyone's favorite local band. Hunched over their guitars in the soft light of the single bulb they had situated next to the bass drum, they swayed and strummed, building their songs to crescendo before going berserk, guitar straps snapping, hands blurring over strings, glasses flying off faces, sets ending with bodies crashing into drum sets. They had the ability to hold the attention of every single person in a room. It didn't matter if you dressed in leathers and studs, bondage pants and black nail polish, or tight pants and a sweater, our scene was united by our love for My Winter Nerve.

My Winter Nerve 1


Musically, they were a self-described mixture of their favorite bands: Mineral, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, and the Appleseed Cast. And really, that's exactly what they sounded like: a cross-breed of post-rock and the 90's midwest emo sound, slathered with plenty of reverb and delay. Their songs were instrumental for the most part, though a few featured vocals at critical points; a feature which vocalist/guitarist Clint would occasionally forgo at live shows, or else scream and wail defiantly a few feet back from the mic, as if he were scared of all of us watching them, and somehow it built the tension and energy level even more.

I remember at one show at a small church hall in West Virginia, lead guitarist Josh Ryan was playing when suddenly his guitar broke as he was hunched over, strumming and shaking his guitar as hard and fast as he possibly could. In a flash he was on the ground, surrounded in a circle by his pedals - and he began hammering away at them, flailing, with his fists, feet, knees, whatever would reach them. The rest of the band began thrashing wildly, speeding up their tempo, knocking over mic stands in the fervor, sweat pouring down their faces as they clenched their eyes shut tight amid the hail of white noise erupting from Ryan's amp. All I can remember thinking is, "My fucking God. This is the greatest fucking thing I've ever seen. I've never seen anything like this before in my life." From the looks of amazement on everyone else's faces, I thought they must have been feeling the exact same way.

For a life spent full of doubt in church on Sundays, bored everyday in school, waiting for the last bell, I had finally found something that I believed in. This music had changed my life, completely re-shaped the way I thought about everything around me. I wanted to play the guitar, I wanted to be in a band, I wanted to book shows one day, go on tour, release a record...

Eventually, everyone in the band went their separate ways before even leaving the tri-state area, getting married, or moving away, starting or joining new bands (that never lived up to My Winter Nerve), and somewhere along the line the band unfortunately became only a memory, as the scene I grew up into faded around me, after all the venues closed, and all the kids moved away, and all the young kids stopped coming to shows...

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When I began writing this post, I googled "My Winter Nerve" just to see what would come up. I saw the usual stuff...Myspace, Purevolume...last.fm. While looking through this stuff I found a blog entry about the band that Josh, one of the band's guitarists had written. Maybe some of the things he says in his blog entry sum up how much My Winter Nerve meant to everyone in Hagerstown and the surrounding area:


In 2002 (I believe that was the year) the four of us started playing music together. None of us had ever been in a band before and I hadn’t been playing guitar for very long. Yet we still managed to write music that made Hagerstown’s knees buckle. I often think about what it was like to show up to Clint’s parent’s house, load up our stuff, drive to the show, unload, meet people, sit at our merch table, goof off, setup, destroy ear drums, tear down, talk to fans, pack up and head home. It’s the best feeling in the world. Standing there playing, looking over a sea of kids, eyes closed, arms crossed, heads bobbing, and feeling totally connected to everyone in the room. To paraphrase, Iggy Pop said it best that when you’re in the grips of it (music) you don’t feel pleasure, you don’t feel pain, physically or emotionally. It’s very true. When I recall my mental state while playing, especially during a large, pivotal part of the song, is that of such ecstasy that my mind felt numb. I wasn’t thinking about anything at all, my mind was a blank slate, yet my body was racing with energy. The best way for me to express that ecstasy and energy was to just throw my guitar (and sometimes myself) around. Every moment mattered. Every song we listened to on the way to the show mattered. Every person we met who loved our band mattered. It used to bother me that we never went anywhere past the tri-state area. I knew then (and I still do) that we had the ability to do really well with our band and be successful, but when I look back on it now, I prefer it the way it was. I like that our band was something special just for our area. It was ours and we were theirs.


(Read the full blog post here)


The band's tragically limited discography consists of a self-recorded 5 song demo CD-R as well as professionally recorded full length LP. The LP is a testament to their power, and the places they truly could have gone as a band had they only stuck with it. The demo CD-R features three songs that are not on the LP, including maybe my favorite track, one they eventually stopped playing live, "A Song to Sink To," as well as early versions of LP tracks "Interlude for the Starving Optimist" and "An Absolute". The demo sounds like a band of high schoolers playing their hearts out in the absolute best way I've ever experienced, out of key vocals and all. Make sure you don't skip either release, download them both.

My Winter Nerve will always be my favorite band.

My Winter Nerve's Myspace Page

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Old Demo

Leave It To Science to Solve All Your Problems

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Grown Ups


Grown Ups


Nothing groundbreaking here, just good, superhappyfuntimesemojams. For fans of Braid, American Football, Street Smart Cyclist, Algernon Cadwallader, blah...blahh....blahhhh. I've been bumpin' this demo a lot lately. The highlights are "Surprise Party" and "Three Day Weekend".

This is just a quick little post for you, I'm still working on getting my My Winter Nerve files off of my old computer, which is a prehistoric piece of shit and hates me. Lots of good new music coming out lately! Go listen to the new Daitro, Suis La Lune/Oscoela and Failures records! I'll post more newer shit soon....

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Songs (2009)

Saturday, October 3, 2009

SWEET NEW BLOGSPOT: DRUG ABUSE

Hey everyone, my best friend James just started up a new music blog. It's already way better than this one! Check it the fuck out! He'll be uploading emo/screamo/hardcore/old bluesy shit!

Drug Abuse

Friday, October 2, 2009

Failures


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I just got this nice little piece of vinyl in the mail today. Failures, as you probably already know by now, is a hardcore group from the Northeast U.S. featuring members of Charles Bronson, Das Oath, Ancestors, Orchid, Ampere, Bucket Full of Teeth, Confines, Cut the Shit, The Cancer Kids....the list goes on for a long fucking time.

This 7" features four songs, two on each side, and runs at just over three minutes. It's the perfect compliment to last year's self titled 12", and continues in the same vein; Killingsworth's guitar gymnastics take center stage as he pumps out riffs at breakneck speed. I have to say, every time I listen to this band I am continually amazed by Killingsworth's treble-drenched tone...it's honestly like nothing I've heard before. The rhythm section is still alive and kicking after the addition of new drummer Ryan (Bloody Gears, Blank Stare, Social Circkle, Confines) following the departure of Matt Milga (The Cancer Kids, Stoned Ambassadors).

And, as always, McCoy's trademark snarl lords over the entire recording. The songs on this record take aim at relationships through the lens of McCoy's hyper-cynicism. Sample lyric from "Rearing":

Congrats on your new baby if it was deliberate!


These guys are continuing to push Hardcore music to new places, musically and lyrically, while still giving that subtle nod to the 80's.



Purchase the 7" from Painkiller Records here.

Download the Failures 12" here.


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Failures 7" (2009)