Band You Should Have Known

Wood And Wires was a short-lived, yet tremendous post-rock band from Madison, Wisconsin. The band released only one six-song album that is now sadly out of print. This is some high-end instrumental post-rock in the vein of genre greats like Explosions In The Sky and Mono. Fans of this genre should definitely seek this out. But, if you can’t find it, you can just download it below. Thanks to the band!

Download Individual Songs:

1. Telescopium (mp3)

2. Canes Venatici (mp3)

3. Archernar (mp3)

4. Gienah Cygni (mp3)

5. Vega (mp3)

6. Alya (mp3)

Download Entire Album:

Wood And Wires – Self-Titled (rar/zip file)

www.myspace.com/woodandwires

Band You Should Have Known

According to co-founder Jon Snodgrass, “Drag The River for now and perhaps forever is over.” That is certainly sad news for all us Drag The River fans. Drag The River was an amazing alternative-country band from Denver, CO. They’ve just recently been getting some much deserved fanfare due to their back catalog being reissued through Suburban Home. I reviewed their 2006 album, It’s Crazy here. The album clocked in at #8 on my Top 40 of 2006. Fans of Lucero, Drive-By Truckers and Uncle Tupelo need this band. Seriously.

Listen:

Leavin In The Morning (mp3) from It’s Crazy

Me And Joe Went Down To California (mp3) from It’s Crazy

Embrace The Sound (mp3) from Closed

Medicine (mp3) from Closed

Crocodile (mp3) from Chicken Demos

She Used To Smile (mp3) from Chicken Demos

Bug Country (mp3) from Hobo’s Demos

Disbelieve (mp3) from Hobo’s Demos

http://www.myspace.com/dragtheriver

Band You Should Have Known

Ricky Fitts were an emotional indie/hardcore band from Wichita, Kansas. The band existed from 2002-2006. The band put out two seven-inches and a full-length record before their untimely break up in 2006. The band’s amazing 2005 record, Wizard Lisp, should not be missed. It is top-notch stuff in this genre…powerful and incredibly moving. You can get the CD or LP ridiculously cheap right now from Init Records or Exotic Fever.

Listen:

Ricky Fitts – No House, No Kids (mp3)

www.myspace.com/rickyfitts

Band You Should Have Known

Clann Zu’ was an amazing Austrailian collective that I recently rediscovered. Not sure why I haven’t given this band more listens through the years because I’ve always liked their work. Yet, it was not until I gave their albums some recent listens that I came to the conclusion that Clann Zu’ were incredible and grossly underrated. The band released two albums, 2002’s Rua’ and 2004’s Black Coats And Bandages. The albums have their slight differences. Black Coats And Bandages is more of a subdued affair while Rua’ has some downright raging moments. The band’s sound is certainly hard to pigeonhole. At times Clann Zu’ echoes the post-rock majesty of bands like Sigur Ros, Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. However, they add their own diverse elements of spoken word, folk, and electronics to create something refreshingly unique. The band also had a definite Celtic influence due to lead vocalist Declan de Barra’s Irish/English heritige. Clann Zu’ unfortunately disbanded last year. I suggest you seek out everything these guys have done. It will be well worth your time.

Listen:

Words For Snow from Rua’ (mp3)

5000 More from Rua’ (mp3)

There Will Be No Morning Copy from Black Coats And Bandages (mp3)

From Bethlehem to Jenin from Black Coats And Bandages (mp3)

Band You Should Have Known

Frodus were an amazing spazzy/hardcore band from the Washington, D.C. area. The band released a staggering amount of material but are probably best known for the last two full-length albums. 1998’s Conglomerate International saw the band absolutely perfecting their signature spazzy sound. Their full-blown hardcore cover of Devo’s “Explosions” on the album is stunning. All of this led up to the band’s incredible masterpiece. 2001 saw the release of Frodus’ swan song And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea. It was an jaw-dropping record that not even the most diehard Frodus fans could have ever expected. Leaving much of their signature sound behind, the band had matured into a post-hardcore behemoth. And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea saw the band successfully experimenting with expanding and stretching their sound in numerous ways. While the album was certainly more accessible in many respects, it was just as powerful as Frodus’ earlier material and much more accomplished. And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea was my favorite record in 2001 and one that left me incredibly sad that I had to bid farewell to the band. Band members have gone on to form Decahedron, Frantic Mantis and The Out Circuit.

Listen: Frodus – The Earth Isn’t Humming (mp3)

Band You Should Have Known

No Knife rank as one of my favorite bands of all time. The fact that this band never got more popular still baffles me to this very day. No Knife released countless seven inches, a few EPs and four full length records. The band played a wonderful combination of emo/indie rock with definite post-punk qualities. If you can imagine Jimmy Eat World and Sunny Day Real Estate getting crossed with Wire and Gang Of Four then you might be able to see how expansive No Knife’s sound really was. While most bands that specialize in more angular sounds lose much of the catchiness of pop music, No Knife never did. No matter how intricate a No Knife song was capable of getting, they always had the ability to rope you back in with an amazing hook. It’s hard to recommend one record so i’ll suggest three…1997’s Hit Man Dreams, 1999’s Fire In The City Of Automatons and their final album, 2002’s Riot For Romance.

Listen: No Knife downloads

Band You Should Have Known

Six Going On Seven were an emo/indie rock band from Boston. During their eight year existence from 1994-2001, the band released three albums and several seven inches. On their incredible debut album, Self-Made Mess, their sound was obviously influenced by the likes of Fugazi. One of their seven inches was a split done with Hot Water Music which they certainly could be compared to as well. The band progressed from that sound to a more radio-friendly vibe that echoed the great Buffalo Tom on their last two albums, Heartbreak’s Got Backbeat and American’t (Or Won’t). I’d recommend starting with the band’s earlier material and working forward from there.

Listen:

Six Going On Seven – Method Actor (mp3)

Six Going On Seven – New/Improved (mp3)

Band You Should Have Known

Zoinks! was an excellent pop-punk band out of Reno, NV. The band released most of their material via Dr. Strange Records which put out a hefty amount of incredible pop-punk in the mid-nineties. Zoinks! was probably most comparable in sound to early Green Day. This was the case with a lot of the bands at the time but Zoinks! just flat out wrote better songs than their contemporaries. I’d recommend starting with 1996’s Stranger Anxiety which is an outstanding collection of every song from the band’s 7-inch singles and most of the band’s songs that have appeared on compilations.

Listen:

Zoinks! – Not As If (mp3)

Zoinks! – Suzie Bright (mp3)

Zoinks! – Chest Pain (mp3)

Zoinks! – Wooden Nickel (mp3)

Band You Should Have Known

Juno was a mind-blowing indie-rock band out of Seattle, WA. The band started their career with seven-inch releases on Sub Pop and Jade Tree. Unfortunately, the band met their demise after only two full length albums which were released via Desoto Records. The band’s sound is one that is hard to pigeonhole. The band simply had a wonderful variety in sound and was able to switch styles at will. Juno was equally adept at going from a great emotional rock song to a gorgeous instrumental. In my mind, the band was miles ahead of most indie-rock bands at the time. Juno’s 1999 full length debut This Is The Way It Goes And Goes And Goes is a guitar rock masterpiece and would be my recommendation to start with. However, 2001’s A Future Lived In Past Tense was a fine effort as well. If you ever liked stuff in the vein of Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Radiohead or And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead then check Juno out.

Listen: Juno – When I Was In…(mp3)

Band You Should Have Known

Slowreader was a short-lived duo from Texas that formed from the ashes of the ska-punk band The Impossibles. They issued only one album in their existence. Their self-titled 2002 album released by Fueled By Ramen was one that was remarkably overlooked. Perhaps being issued by a mainly pop-punk record label led to that outcome. In any event, the duo was obviously heavily influenced by the likes of Elliott Smith. If you are a fan of his work, then Slowreader’s self-titled album is definitely one you should seek out.

Listen: Slowreader – Every Part Of Nothing (mp3)

Band You Should Have Known

Waxwing were a criminally underrated emo band from Seattle that released three amazing albums from 1999 to 2002. Waxwing rivaled some of the genre’s finest bands but never quite gained the notoriety that they should have. One of the guys went on to become a member of the popular spazz/punk band The Blood Brothers, while lead singer Rocky Votolato has gone on to have a succesful solo career.

Listen:

Waxwing – Colour (mp3)

Waxwing – All Of My Prophets (mp3)

Waxwing – Deadly Wisdom (mp3)

Waxwing – Laboratory (mp3)

- On a sidenote, I have a review of the new (and quite good i might add) Rocky Votolato solo album “Makers” coming soon.