Zack requested some Scraps and Heart Attacks and I followed through. You're welcome, you sexy beast.
Anyway, I'm sure most people reading this blog are at least aware of this band's existence but for those of you not in the know, Travis from This is Hell and Kellen from I am the Avalanche were in this band prior to their current bands. In my opinion Scraps happened to be way better than TIH (and those who know me know I really do LOVE This is Hell) and they are about a trillion and one times better than IATA (and those who know me know I HATE I am the Avalanche. The Movielife was a far superior band. Although I am the Avalanche has entertained me when I have seen them, their recordings do not give me a boner. But I digress.)
Scraps were around for only a few years but I had the pleasure of seeing them live a few times, once happened t0 be immediately after they changed their name from the Heist. (Tangent: The Movielife played that show with them at The Chance and I really want to say Brand New did as well, but I might be confusing shows. If it wasn't Brand New then it was definitely One Line Drawing.) They played a somewhat controlled but still chaotic style of hardcore not unlike their fellow Dead by 23 Records brethren Frostbite, although the SAHA recordings were a lot less cohesive and focused more on guitars feeding back and coarse vocals that pummeled through with a sense of urgency. I have always loved their lyrics (so much so that the sidepiece I plan on getting will have their lyrics going along with it) and can always appreciate it when a band wears their influences on their sleeves lyrically, in their case making references to Jawbreaker and Inside Out lyrics. Also, any band that says "kids like you are fucking spent/do us a favor, get fucking bent" is pretty much the best band ever in my opinion.
Anyway, I am tired and anything else I have to say about the band is probably going to be stupid/unfunny/uninteresting, so I leave you with this: their Self-Titled release which contains their 7", demo and a live set. Enjoy!
DL HERE!!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
For The Crown - Demo 2001
First off, a big THANK YOU to Insane Sasquatch on Last.FM for helping me find a download of this. I have been (unsuccessfully) searching the interwebs for this demo forfuckingever since I lost it and I am now at peace knowing I have these songs once again.
For The Crown were a west coast band and come to think of it, I don't think they actually ever made it out this way to my neck of the woods on the east coast. If they did then I am an idiot for not going to see them but I am pretty sure they didn't. Regardless, I never regretfully never saw them. I remember learning of them through the InStrife message board in 2001 when the guitarist's (I think?) brother used to post on there and mentioned this band. I do recall the dude who posted on the board was named Nate. I instantly fell in love with the music. Musically, it reminded me a little of Reach The Sky at the time without being a carbon copy of them. I very much enjoy the full length they put out a few years after this but I always felt the vocals were much better on this demo. "Counting Footsteps" was one of my favorite songs for a very long time and I am happy I can listen to this over and over again.
Check it out and hopefully someone will enjoy this demo half as much as I do.
DL HERE!!
For The Crown were a west coast band and come to think of it, I don't think they actually ever made it out this way to my neck of the woods on the east coast. If they did then I am an idiot for not going to see them but I am pretty sure they didn't. Regardless, I never regretfully never saw them. I remember learning of them through the InStrife message board in 2001 when the guitarist's (I think?) brother used to post on there and mentioned this band. I do recall the dude who posted on the board was named Nate. I instantly fell in love with the music. Musically, it reminded me a little of Reach The Sky at the time without being a carbon copy of them. I very much enjoy the full length they put out a few years after this but I always felt the vocals were much better on this demo. "Counting Footsteps" was one of my favorite songs for a very long time and I am happy I can listen to this over and over again.
Check it out and hopefully someone will enjoy this demo half as much as I do.
DL HERE!!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
So I know it is quite early, but here is my top 10 for 2009 so far...
Like I said, I am aware this is kind of premature but I kind of felt like jotting down my top ten releases of the year so far and seeing if and how much it really changes by December 31st.
1. Touche Amore - ...To the Beat of a Dead Horse
2. Iron Age - The Sleeping Eye
3. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T Full Length
4. Pulling Teeth - Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions
5. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
6. Incendiary - Crusade
7. Government Warning - Paranoid Mess
8. P.O.S. - Never Better
9. Shadows Fall - Retribution
10. Municipal Waste - Massive Aggressive/Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic TIE
This is a list excluding and EPs or demos.
I KNOW Another Breath - The God Complex would be on top of the list but since it hasn't been released yet (and I don't know when the fuck it will be) I have excluded that from this list as well. Sadly, Polar Bear Club probably will not make it this year but they were close as is Trapped Under Ice and The Black Dahlia Murder. I still haven't listened to the new Brother Ali, Converge, Strike Anywhere, Rise and Fall, Lewd Acts, Raekwon or Ghostface releases yet so I don't know if they will make it into the top ten.
1. Touche Amore - ...To the Beat of a Dead Horse
2. Iron Age - The Sleeping Eye
3. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T Full Length
4. Pulling Teeth - Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions
5. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
6. Incendiary - Crusade
7. Government Warning - Paranoid Mess
8. P.O.S. - Never Better
9. Shadows Fall - Retribution
10. Municipal Waste - Massive Aggressive/Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic TIE
This is a list excluding and EPs or demos.
I KNOW Another Breath - The God Complex would be on top of the list but since it hasn't been released yet (and I don't know when the fuck it will be) I have excluded that from this list as well. Sadly, Polar Bear Club probably will not make it this year but they were close as is Trapped Under Ice and The Black Dahlia Murder. I still haven't listened to the new Brother Ali, Converge, Strike Anywhere, Rise and Fall, Lewd Acts, Raekwon or Ghostface releases yet so I don't know if they will make it into the top ten.
Have Heart - Live at CBGB
Live set from 2005 I believe. The closed with an Inside Out cover. Always delicious.
I am going to miss this band...a lot.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Horror Show - The Holiday EP
Final release from one of the only good things to come from Philadelphia. I kid, I kid. But really, they are one of the few awesome things to come from that place. Fuck the Phillies.PS - I JUST ripped this 7" into mp3 format and I didn't tag it properly and I also didn't bother to clean it up very much, so if you don't like all the crackles and all that jazz in there, I apologize.
DOWNLOAD HERE!!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Nightmares For A Week - A Flood Tomorrow
Nightmares For A Week is a three-piece punk/folk-rock band from Kingston, New York and right now they are currently among my three favorite locals (along with Document and Dead Channels). This band consisting of ex-members of Jerk Magnet/Ana Divine strays far from that mid-to-late 90's pop-punk sound and focuses more on a twangy guitar-driven country approach to punk rock. With the Jawbreaker influence blatantly obvious (what, you couldn't tell from the name of the band?), they also draw influences from the likes of older Against Me!, Lucero and Hot Water Music while still focusing in and delivering on a sound I would like to think as their own. This five-song EP showcases some of their best songs while at the same time leaving the listener anxious to hear what this band has in store next. If you dig what you hear, take a trip to their Myspace page and pick up a copy of the cd.DOWNLOAD HERE!!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Texas Blind
There were a few dudes from my area who had a band...or still have a band. They always used to remind me of At The Drive-In...or maybe they still remind me of ATDI. They haven't played a show in forever and PROBABLY SHOULD GET ON THAT SOON.
Anyway, I present you all of this bands recorded material. Texas Blind is RIYL At The Drive-In, Fugazi and The Mars Volta; and even if you do not like those bands you should probably download this anyway.
DOWNLOAD HERE!!
Anyway, I present you all of this bands recorded material. Texas Blind is RIYL At The Drive-In, Fugazi and The Mars Volta; and even if you do not like those bands you should probably download this anyway.
DOWNLOAD HERE!!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Burning Fight
I got home on Tuesday after driving out to Chicago for Burning Fight on the prior Thursday with Brizz, Andrew and Justin. This was a trip I had been looking forward to since before the tickets even went on sale and for months this feeling of anticipation was building deep inside of me. I really had no idea how things were going to be but I knew no matter what happened during the weekend of Burning Fight, it would be worth it. I couldn't have been more right.
I have been trying to transcribe my experience into a cohesive blog entry since the day I returned but I've been unable to do so, but I am going to try to anyway. If this is a mess I apologize to anyone taking the time to read this entry.
From the start of the 10:00 pre-show on Friday night I knew something was special about this event. It wasn't just a book release. It wasn't just a show where a few older bands got back together. It wasn't just a show where a few of the best and biggest hardcore bands of the present were getting together to play a show. It was truly something more than all of that...and I am having a hard time finding the right words to accurately describe it. At the risk of sounding cheesy, the word "magical" comes to mind.
Throughout the 22 bands that played (I only watched 20 of them...only! I needed a break sometime) I cannot think of a second where I didn't have a stupid smile on my face. The energy of the crowd (younger, older and in between) mixed with the pure unbridled passion that the bands poured out of themselves on the stage was a mind-blowing experience. I still think about how I first got into punk and hardcore and how it all hit me like a sack of bricks to the face and I've always had this insatiable desire to possess that feeling again. I always get such a natural high when I go to a great show that it makes me feel like everything is right in the world at that present moment, but it never quite felt the same way as the initial one-two punch the music packed on me almost 12 years ago. After all of this time I FINALLY was lucky enough to relive that feeling; not only relive it but feel something possibly even more powerful and meaningful as the past feeling. It wasn't simply the idea of Disembodied playing a show or seeing Trial put on one of the greatest sets I have EVER seen but it was the fact that these bands, old and new, were playing to a bunch of kids (and I use that term loosely) with the passion that seemed to drive them from the start and the passion that attracted the 1100 people in attendance to turn an ear to the sound to begin with. I had fucking goosebumps the entire time Unbroken played. I choked up when Reach The Sky ended their set. I cannot remember a time when i was so sore from dancing and singing-along to bands and still physically paying the price for it.
I met a few people in Chicago and everyone was awesome. It is a terrible thought if going to a show and immediately getting the feeling that some of the people in attendance got into the music for the wrong reasons and eventually use it as a stepping stone to something later in life, but the people at Burning Fight radiated nothing but positive energy and the desire of wanting to be nowhere else in the world except for right in that very spot, seeing those very bands, having those very conversations. I hate to judge the sincerity of another person but I know it is something we all do and while I try to work on it, I feel like last weekend I didn't have to with a single person because there was that one unifying theme amongst us all. The music spoke to us in a way only the people there those two nights will ever know. I am not trying to take anything away from a person who wasn't able to attend the shows, but the feeling I felt is something that I KNOW FOR A FACT nobody else could ever feel if you weren't in that room. I could honestly die knowing that I felt complete. It was some sort of zen like moment for me and I can bet my bottom dollar that everyone there had that same feeling of happiness.
Last week made me rekindle my romance with hardcore. There are times where I seem to get a little burnt out and go through my phases where I strictly listen to hip-hop and indie rock (which seem to become more and more frequent as I age) and I will never stop having an open mind about any genre of music since I would like to think I have a pretty open taste in music, but it was punk rock and hardcore that spoke to me like no other genre has, is, and will ever speak to me. The book release was a celebration to me in the fact that I didn't have to try to do anything but the entire atmosphere just dug deep into my heart and found where the passion and drive for the music was hiding and released it all along with everyone else in that room.
There is so much I want to write and I honestly have absolutely no idea if anything I had just typed out makes sense to anyone at all but I need to finally get it out. It's been a week and my mind and heart haven't come home with me, they are still in Chicago. I haven't been able to and almost don't want to stop thinking about that experience. I am trying not to dwell in the past by any means but I cannot help but think to the weekend and how I was happier than I thought was ever possible. If I did learn anything from last week it was that the past may have been incredible but we have a future and present and we need to take the momentum of the past and turn it into something positive for right here and right now...I know it may not seem like I learned that from typing up all this worshiping the events of a week ago, but I feel like that last week possessed the energy I need to make things right for the present and the future. I aim to feel that same euphoric feeling again. Maybe it won't come from music (although my life revolves around music so it would be hard not to) or maybe it will not even come at all, but at least I now feel that there is much more than going through the motions making it to the next day when I know what it feels like to be perfect for even a split second and I can take that and use it for my future. I have a feeling this is going to come across as some soul-searching rant at this point but I can honestly say if it wasn't for hardcore, my life would have probably ended a long time ago and this show could not have come at a more perfect time in my life than now.
Burning Fight made up for the best two days of my life and I wouldn't change a single thing about how anything unfolded. It gave me a breath of fresh air and I intend to keep breathing it all in.
I assume by now this is truly a jumbled, incoherent mess so I'll just leave this off with a quote which couldn't ring any more true to me than it does right now:
"I can still see the reasons that I opened my eyes to this scene in the first place. I can still count my beliefs growing stronger - stronger everyday" -Bane
I have been trying to transcribe my experience into a cohesive blog entry since the day I returned but I've been unable to do so, but I am going to try to anyway. If this is a mess I apologize to anyone taking the time to read this entry.
From the start of the 10:00 pre-show on Friday night I knew something was special about this event. It wasn't just a book release. It wasn't just a show where a few older bands got back together. It wasn't just a show where a few of the best and biggest hardcore bands of the present were getting together to play a show. It was truly something more than all of that...and I am having a hard time finding the right words to accurately describe it. At the risk of sounding cheesy, the word "magical" comes to mind.
Throughout the 22 bands that played (I only watched 20 of them...only! I needed a break sometime) I cannot think of a second where I didn't have a stupid smile on my face. The energy of the crowd (younger, older and in between) mixed with the pure unbridled passion that the bands poured out of themselves on the stage was a mind-blowing experience. I still think about how I first got into punk and hardcore and how it all hit me like a sack of bricks to the face and I've always had this insatiable desire to possess that feeling again. I always get such a natural high when I go to a great show that it makes me feel like everything is right in the world at that present moment, but it never quite felt the same way as the initial one-two punch the music packed on me almost 12 years ago. After all of this time I FINALLY was lucky enough to relive that feeling; not only relive it but feel something possibly even more powerful and meaningful as the past feeling. It wasn't simply the idea of Disembodied playing a show or seeing Trial put on one of the greatest sets I have EVER seen but it was the fact that these bands, old and new, were playing to a bunch of kids (and I use that term loosely) with the passion that seemed to drive them from the start and the passion that attracted the 1100 people in attendance to turn an ear to the sound to begin with. I had fucking goosebumps the entire time Unbroken played. I choked up when Reach The Sky ended their set. I cannot remember a time when i was so sore from dancing and singing-along to bands and still physically paying the price for it.
I met a few people in Chicago and everyone was awesome. It is a terrible thought if going to a show and immediately getting the feeling that some of the people in attendance got into the music for the wrong reasons and eventually use it as a stepping stone to something later in life, but the people at Burning Fight radiated nothing but positive energy and the desire of wanting to be nowhere else in the world except for right in that very spot, seeing those very bands, having those very conversations. I hate to judge the sincerity of another person but I know it is something we all do and while I try to work on it, I feel like last weekend I didn't have to with a single person because there was that one unifying theme amongst us all. The music spoke to us in a way only the people there those two nights will ever know. I am not trying to take anything away from a person who wasn't able to attend the shows, but the feeling I felt is something that I KNOW FOR A FACT nobody else could ever feel if you weren't in that room. I could honestly die knowing that I felt complete. It was some sort of zen like moment for me and I can bet my bottom dollar that everyone there had that same feeling of happiness.
Last week made me rekindle my romance with hardcore. There are times where I seem to get a little burnt out and go through my phases where I strictly listen to hip-hop and indie rock (which seem to become more and more frequent as I age) and I will never stop having an open mind about any genre of music since I would like to think I have a pretty open taste in music, but it was punk rock and hardcore that spoke to me like no other genre has, is, and will ever speak to me. The book release was a celebration to me in the fact that I didn't have to try to do anything but the entire atmosphere just dug deep into my heart and found where the passion and drive for the music was hiding and released it all along with everyone else in that room.
There is so much I want to write and I honestly have absolutely no idea if anything I had just typed out makes sense to anyone at all but I need to finally get it out. It's been a week and my mind and heart haven't come home with me, they are still in Chicago. I haven't been able to and almost don't want to stop thinking about that experience. I am trying not to dwell in the past by any means but I cannot help but think to the weekend and how I was happier than I thought was ever possible. If I did learn anything from last week it was that the past may have been incredible but we have a future and present and we need to take the momentum of the past and turn it into something positive for right here and right now...I know it may not seem like I learned that from typing up all this worshiping the events of a week ago, but I feel like that last week possessed the energy I need to make things right for the present and the future. I aim to feel that same euphoric feeling again. Maybe it won't come from music (although my life revolves around music so it would be hard not to) or maybe it will not even come at all, but at least I now feel that there is much more than going through the motions making it to the next day when I know what it feels like to be perfect for even a split second and I can take that and use it for my future. I have a feeling this is going to come across as some soul-searching rant at this point but I can honestly say if it wasn't for hardcore, my life would have probably ended a long time ago and this show could not have come at a more perfect time in my life than now.
Burning Fight made up for the best two days of my life and I wouldn't change a single thing about how anything unfolded. It gave me a breath of fresh air and I intend to keep breathing it all in.
I assume by now this is truly a jumbled, incoherent mess so I'll just leave this off with a quote which couldn't ring any more true to me than it does right now:
"I can still see the reasons that I opened my eyes to this scene in the first place. I can still count my beliefs growing stronger - stronger everyday" -Bane
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
WATCHMEN
I was stoked as hell that I could finally see Watchmen after waiting such a long ass time for it to come out. March 6th was not coming quick enough.
All I can really say is...wow. The movie was well worth the wait. It was rather lengthy at 2 hours and 45 minutes and they still didn't get to put everything from the comic in but I thought it was great how it turned out. The ending was a bit different which I knew going into it so that didn't bother me at all. I was really worried about how the use of slow-motion was going to play a role in this movie but it was executed tastefully and the shots that were in slow-mo seemed to call for it. Dr. Manhattan looked great and I don't think they could have cast a better person to play Rorschach. I did wish that they focused The sex scene was kind of...weird but Malin Akerman was naked, so who am I to complain? The action scenes were great and the costumes were spot on, especially Rorschach's mask, I loved it.
Very choppy "review." No care. Go see the movie!!
All I can really say is...wow. The movie was well worth the wait. It was rather lengthy at 2 hours and 45 minutes and they still didn't get to put everything from the comic in but I thought it was great how it turned out. The ending was a bit different which I knew going into it so that didn't bother me at all. I was really worried about how the use of slow-motion was going to play a role in this movie but it was executed tastefully and the shots that were in slow-mo seemed to call for it. Dr. Manhattan looked great and I don't think they could have cast a better person to play Rorschach. I did wish that they focused The sex scene was kind of...weird but Malin Akerman was naked, so who am I to complain? The action scenes were great and the costumes were spot on, especially Rorschach's mask, I loved it.
Very choppy "review." No care. Go see the movie!!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Can I Say - The Last Goodbye
Awesome EP from an upstate New York band that went way under the radar. The broke up a while ago. Singer went on to form Dead Hearts. Fin.DOWNLOAD HERE!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Divided By Hate - Sediments Of Shame
I was bored last night and decided to rip a few of my 7"s to my computer. This was one of them. This is for all the older dudes out there who might actually check this blog out.
DOWNLOAD HERE!!
DOWNLOAD HERE!!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Baldwin - Demo, Our Cross To Bear Demo
As I had mentioned in an earlier entry and have done a few times since, I will upload some material from some of my old bands for the 0 of you that probably care. anyway, this is a new band of mine called Baldwin. I am and have always been kind of bad with describing the music my bands have made so I will just say this: we have been compared to Farside quite a bit. I don't really think we sound like them (although if we did that would be amazing) but it is still an awesome compliment from people.
DOWNLOAD BALDWIN DEMO HERE!!
This other demo I am linking to is from my band Our Cross To Bear. This is my melodic hardcore band. For anyone who actually downloaded the Bust Out! demo I had uploaded, you might recognize some of the songs. OCTB is basically Bust Out! with a different singer and better songs. I would love to think that we don't sound like every other hardcore band that is beating the genre to death out there but who knows, I'm sure we do.
DOWNLOAD OCTB DEMO HERE!!
DOWNLOAD BALDWIN DEMO HERE!!
This other demo I am linking to is from my band Our Cross To Bear. This is my melodic hardcore band. For anyone who actually downloaded the Bust Out! demo I had uploaded, you might recognize some of the songs. OCTB is basically Bust Out! with a different singer and better songs. I would love to think that we don't sound like every other hardcore band that is beating the genre to death out there but who knows, I'm sure we do.
DOWNLOAD OCTB DEMO HERE!!
Common Market - Tobacco Road
Music with substance, who knew it still existed? This is some chilled out hip-hop brought to you by the producer from Blue Scholars (Sabzi) and a dude who kinda reminds me of Talib Kweli (RA Scion). This made it into my Top 10 List of last year. Check it out.
Favorite Track: Gol'Dust
Rating: 8 Out Of 10
Happy New Year by the way!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
