Macconnell - You Can't Take Us Anywhere

EDIT: Brian, the drummer of Macconnell, unfortunately passed away in an automobile accident on September 4, 2010. It is a shame to see a life like his cut so short and we now will never know the potential of him and what his band could accomplish. Brian was a great dude and is and will be missed. RIP Brian.

This is a post for my homies:

Macconnell - You Can't Take Us Anywhere.

For fans of Hot Water Music, Foo Fighters, Leatherface, The Draft.

Macconnell is my current favorite local band - I am thoroughly impressed with their songs so far and cannot wait to hear even newer jams. I am not saying this because they are my friends, I am saying this because it is true.

DOWNLOAD HERE!!

Also, hit up their FACEBOOK PAGE to hear and extra song not on the demo and check out a video of them I took from a show in March HERE.

Still my favorite band

Burning Bridges - Demo

I am not totally sure as to why, but I thought an update with this would be a good idea. Burning Bridges was a very frigging awesome hardcore band from Albany, New York. They had members of Tripface, Lariat and Blood Has Been Shed and members went on to form End of a Year. They had a few releases after the demo, The Best Revenge and Politics of Dead Friendships. There are three songs on this demo, all of which were rerecorded and released on The Best Revenge and one of which was released AGAIN on the Politics of Dead Friendships release. They were a very fun band to see live, and while I was bummed when they called it quits, I am at least happy that End of a Year came out of it.

DL HERE!!

I DIDN'T ASK TO BE THROWN INTO THIS WOOORLD BUT IT WASN'T UP TO ME

So my boy Alex recently made a little poll on Facebook asking who people liked more: Outburst or Breakdown? I thought this was a pretty wild comparison and got me to think pretty hard about this. If this question was asked 5 years ago I would tell you Breakdown without a doubt, but now I find myself listening to Outburst a hell of a lot more. I never really thought of Outburst to have the same sort of lasting value as Breakdown but I actually find it to be the complete opposite now. Nothing against Breakdown at all, I still love that band. JUS' SAYIN'.

I also have always thought this band to be criminally underrated. I know they are a somewhat popular legendary New York Hardcore band but at the same time I feel a lot of people tend to overlook this band when talking about the incredible music that NYC has pumped out over the past 30 years. It is a shame to me that Bold comes to mind before Outburst when NYHC is mentioned. And for those of you who don't know me, I am pretty open about my hatred for Bold. They suck. Outburst didn't.

Deuces.

DOWNLOAD HERE!!

Scraps and Heart Attacks - S/T

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!!

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!!

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.

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.

DOWNLOAD HERE!!

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!!

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!!