BLACK SHIPS - OMENS; FIGHT AMPUTATION/EXOSUS SPLIT; COALESCE- GIVE THEM ROPE

So it's almost the end of finals week here at Bard College. I pulled an all-nighter last night to write a paper, and I have a few hours of studying for philosophy to look forward to later tonight. Anyway, I thought I'd share what I've been listening to this last week, except for Fucked Up, who are getting enough coverage that you can find just about everything elsewhere. Band pounds, though, no doubt.

BLACK SHIPS - OMENS

This band blew my mind the first time I went to their Myspace and listened to their tunes, around the time their first EP, Low, came out. The thing showed huge promise, so I kept tabs on them and waited for Omens. Daniel and I downloaded the thing around the same time, and I think we can both agree that this beast delivers the goods. Eight tracks of the loudest, heaviest, and most pissed-off hardcore I've ever heard. They don't speed it up or slow it down a whole lot because they don't fucking have to. "The End" is one of my favorite songs of 2008, and no track on Omens is a slouch. This record as a whole may be my favorite release of '08, and if not, it's a close second to Chemistry of Common Life. Throw this on, turn the volume up as high as it'll go (then see if you can find more speakers), grab a beer, and hate the world. This thing is important, seriously picking up Skitsystem's torch and running with it.

d/l
buy it, for fuck's sake


FIGHT AMPUTATION/EXOSUS - SPLIT

I may or may not look like a giant prick for using a Mediafire URL on a measly split, but suffice to say that this captures two of my favorite heavy bands at the top of their games. Fight Amp deliver a slower, heavier follow-up to Ugly Kids Doing Ugly Things without quite displaying the AmRep worship they do nowadays. Nobody ever seems as stoked on Exosus (r.i.p.) as I am, but their two tracks here, their last recordings as a band, absolutely slay. The grind influences of their last 7", Feed the Furnace, are gone entirely here, replaced by a downtuned take on the Swedish sound. This suits them fine, making this a great testament to a great band.

d/l
buy


COALESCE - GIVE THEM ROPE

HAY GUYZ
I HEARD TEH GUY FROM REGGIE AND DA FULL EFFECT AND NEW FOUND GLORY OR SOME SHIT WAS IN THIS BAND ONCE SO I DOWNLOADED THIS AND IT WASNT CATCHY AT ALL AND JUST HAD A GUY YELLING AND STUFF. WTF.

d/l
buy

NOBODY POSTS ON HERE ANYMORE.

This is kind of stupid, but I'm just pointing out that there hasn't been a post on here in a while because shit gets complicated and life must be lived. I realized that I'd uploaded something a while ago that I never posted on here, so I guess this'll be it until I get a new computer or something.

XBXRX - CLEAR CD

I was crazy about this band for a while. Looking back, they're a pretty average noise-rock band that occasionally does something amazing. I have no idea why Polyvinyl signed these guys, but I had a pretty interesting conversation with their guitarist at one point about the whole thing. This was produced by Ian MacKaye and is a really small file, so have at it.

d/l
buy

AT THE DRIVE-IN - EL GRAN ORGO; UNDEROATH - CRIES OF THE PAST; DAZZLING KILLMEN - DIG OUT THE SWITCH

AT THE DRIVE-IN - EL GRAN ORGO

A lot of people either don't know about or choose to ignore this EP when looking back on ATDI's career for a few reasons: the band hadn't entirely found their voice yet, for one (this being more melodic than anything they did before or after), and this is their only release sans Jim Ward, the driving force behind the band that wasn't Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Anyway, more than a few glimpses at how amazing this band was going to become are offered here, so check it out!

d/l
buy

UNDEROATH - CRIES OF THE PAST

Underoath?! UNDEROATH?! Yup. Years before they were tearing up the charts and pressing Hot Topic exclusives, they were playing some pretty legit metal. But were they the same band? Yes and no; two (of six) members from this release remain in the band, neither of which are Dallas Taylor. So yeah, if you want to try liking this band or just want to have license to be a dick to people who love (new) Underoath, here ya go.

d/l
buy other things...

DAZZLING KILLMEN - DIG OUT THE SWITCH

Some good ol' mathy noise rock from a good ol' mathy noise rock band. Pretty abrasive stuff on the whole, held together by some very competent musicians and some pretty great songwriting. I might rip off more Skin Graft releases in the future depending on how I feel, but this one may or may not be in print.

d/l
buy Skin Graft's shit

AN ALBATROSS - 1) SEX 2)BIRD 3)CAKE

This 1999 cassette-only demo from one of my favorite bands is a very interesting listen, to say the least. This features early versions of a few songs that made it onto their first LP, Eat Lightning, Shit Thunder, along with songs that are much heavier and more grindcore-based. Contains deep growls and a little tape hiss.

d/l
buy other things

DAUGHTERS - S/T 7"

A lot of people I've talked to who are into Canada Songs didn't even know this record existed. Four really short songs that pick up where As the Sun Sets left off, except this is better than anything ATSS did except the first album.

d/l
buy "Canada Songs"
buy "Hell Songs"


FIGHT AMPUTATION - UGLY KIDS DOING UGLY THINGS

The first non-split release by New Jersey's Fight Amputation (now better-known as "Fight Amp"), released in 2004. Four great tracks of raging downtuned hardcore with a heavy dose of His Hero is Gone. "American Youth" is the absolute classic here, but this whole release is well worth the download.

d/l
buy "Hungry for Nothing"

EYES UPON SEPARATION - I HOPE SHE'S HAVING NIGHTMARES; DIVIDER - AT TWILIGHT; OKTOBER SKYLINE - THAT'S HOW TRIPODS WORK

EYES UPON SEPARATION - I HOPE SHE'S HAVING NIGHTMARES

Believe it or not, JT Woodruff (Hawthorne Heights) used to play in this band. (So did some dudes from Zao, I hear.) Ten tracks of emotive technical metal, if you can fathom that. Plenty of breakdowns, but done with style and a hell of a lot better than the Devil Wears Prada or something.

d/l
buy


DIVIDER - AT TWILIGHT

I think this band recently broke up after only releasing this "mini-LP." I got the chance to see them live and they absolutely floored me. This release did the same, which is even more impressive considering this was their first. Six great tracks that fall somewhere between Ed Gein and Converge without ripping off either.

d/l
buy


OKTOBER SKYLINE - THAT'S HOW TRIPODS WORK

The only full-length from these five Pennsylvanians occasionally reminds me of Neutral Milk Hotel's best moments, with a pervasive Pavement sound throughout the whole disc that makes me want to get out my copy of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. Nah, just kidding: eleven sick tracks of experimental grind done in a way that's both self-indulgent and tasteful (imagine that!). The fact that I still dig this album hard four years after its release is a testament to its quality, that's for sure.

d/l
buy
Oktober Skyline covers Danzig's "Mother"!

FIFTEEN - BUZZ; FROM ASHES RISE - "DISCOGRAPHY"; EMILYANNE - DEMOS

FIFTEEN - BUZZ

As I was posting this, Jack asked, "You don't like Mineral, but you like Fifteen?" The answer was "yes" -- I can't stand Mineral. I realize it's an apples-and-oranges comparison, but my hatred of Mineral had come up earlier. Moving on, Fifteen was a seminal Bay Area punk band formed after the breakup of Crimpshrine and fronted by Jeff Ott, one of the weirdest people in punk rock. I attended one of his performaces at a record store in 2005. He wheeled in a TV/VCR, dropped a basket of condoms (encouraging the showgoers to take as many as they wanted), turned on the TV, and started up a VHS of himself talking about some sort of rape/murder conspiracy. As the tape played, he sat next to me, rocking back and forth -- he reeked of body odor and weed, so it wasn't the most pleasant experience. That was the whole show; he didn't play any music, as the flyer had suggested he would. But it's exactly this sort of eccentricity that helped make Fifteen one of the best bands of the 90s, and it's exactly why they're better than Mineral.

dl
buy

FROM ASHES RISE - "DISCOGRAPHY"

Fast, brutal, crusty hardcore from Portland. Featuring current members of Tragedy and the infinitely boring Smoke or Fire. Quotes around "discography" because it doesn't include the Jade Tree-released Nightmares, but it's better stuff anyway.

dl

EMILYANNE - DEMO

One of my favorite bands from my hometown of Phoenix. They played passionate, Dischord-style emo with some serious musical sensibility (especially considering they were still in high school at the time). As far as I know, this was recorded sometime in mid- to late 2006. I'm pretty sure these four songs are the only ones from the session, but I could be wrong. All three members currently play in No Movement (formerly I Wish I) with a new vocalist.

dl

ON THE VERGE OF... - DISCOGRAPHY; LESS TALK - DEMO '06; DEADDEADDEATH - THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE TRIO OF DIO

ON THE VERGE OF... - DISCOGRAPHY

Sick of stale hardcore? Look no further. These dudes were doing it right in (mostly) high school. A lot of people seem to have beef with how simple the music is, but this remains one of my favorite bands ever. Features Patrick from End of a Year on vocals. Sorry for the mixed file format, but I had some difficulty tracking this shit down and am overjoyed that I managed to.

d/l








LESS TALK - DEMO 2006

I was bummed that this band broke up after about six months. I saw them twice and they ruled, and this demo is a testament to the potential they had. Five tracks of politically-/socially-conscious hardcore from ex-members of Endicott and Once and For All. Yeah!

d/l






DEADDEADDEATH- THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE TRIO OF DIO

I posted the first two things here and figured I should just get all my hometown-repping out of the way. These guys changed their style really frequently, but at this point they were a fairly technical skramz/grind band who brought it pretty hard.

d/l

7 YEAR RABBIT CYCLE - ACHE HORNES; BLACK DICE - COLD HANDS; ENDICOTT - THE CASCADE

7 YEAR RABBIT CYCLE- ACHE HORNES

I heard "Pirate" off this album like two years ago and I was hooked. Thrashy post-rock/experimental stuff from ex-members of Deerhoof. Better than Deerhoof.

d/l
buy?

BLACK DICE- COLD HANDS

This was the release that bridged the gap between the noisy thrash these dudes pumped out in their first three years and the epic soundscapes they've created ever since. Half noise, half hardcore. Out of print.

d/l





ENDICOTT- THE CASCADE

Endicott gets a bad rap because the full-length they released on Equal Vision was really mediocre post-hardcore. A few listens to these five tracks should set the record straight. There was also a two-song demo that I'll try to post when I find it.

d/l
buy "The Words In Ink Don't Lie" (PROCEED WITH CAUTION)

CROSSED OUT- DISCOGRAPHY THE ONE UP DOWNSTAIRS- EP

CROSSED OUT- DISCOGRAPHY

If you're getting into the "new" dark, fast and angry hardcore bands (Ceremony, Trash Talk) maybe you should pay homage to these dudes. Get stoked.

dl
buy?

THE ONE UP DOWNSTAIRS- EP

American Football is really good. So is Owen. Maybe not so much Make Believe. This is pretty good though too. Only thing they recorded but went onto bigger and better things.

dl

support their other stuff

ASSFACTOR 4 - SPORTS

ASSFACTOR 4 - SPORTS

Blisteringly fast, emotional, in-your-face punk with a nice touch of screamo. And sweet song titles like "Free Tibet and Pussy". Might post their other LP and miscellaneous comp tracks later.

dl
buy

CHARLIE BROWN GETS A VALENTINE - DISMISSED; DAUNTLESS ELITE - SECURITY?; MALADY - SELF TITLED

CHARLIE BROWN GETS A VALENTINE - DISMISSED

I've been hooked on this record for a solid three years now. Seriously well done pop-punk. Verging on sugary at times, but in the best way possible.

d/l
buy

DAUNTLESS ELITE - SECURITY?

Gritty, melodic pop-punk from England. Insert tired Leatherface comparison here.

d/l
buy

MALADY - SELF-TITLED

Somewhere between City of Caterpillar, Pg.99, and Pygmy Lush, which makes sense, considering Malady had members of all three. Dark, heavy, and epic.

d/l
buy

GOSPEL - THE MOON IS A DEAD WORLD & TEENAGE COOL KIDS - DEMO TAPE

I guess Mike and I are starting a music blog. No need for a lengthy introduction. If you like the records we post, do everyone a favor and try to support the people who took the time to make them.

GOSPEL - THE MOON IS A DEAD WORLD

Technical screamo/post-hardcore with a keyboard. Pretty sure this was their only release, or at least their only full-length. Bummer.

d/l
buy

TEENAGE COOL KIDS - DEMO TAPE

All the pop sensibility of The Exploding Hearts with the intensity of Marked Men. I've had a serious boner for this band since picking up their LP, Queer Salutations, earlier this year. Really catchy stuff.

d/l
buy