Not sure why I never covered Slingshot Dakota’s Demo #3 which came out last summer and is still available for download on IYMI. It rules much like everything else Slingshot has done. And they cover Fugazi’s “Waiting Room”…badass. So, ready for a new album!
Chuck Daley of Beartrap PR and Tiny Engines…two fine entities that I can vouch for and you should definitely check out!? Chuck once referred to me as his partner when introducing me. I did not like that.
* Friends Of Friends – Deep Search
Probably my favorite of 2009. Kind of sounds like something from the gruff / melodic No Idea stable of bands, but with lots of other subtle influences thrown in the mix as well. At times its choruses remind me of Avail’s sky-high punk anthems and other times there’s almost a 90s Chapel Hill / Archers of Loaf indie rock vibe. There are terrific lyrics and hooks galore, but it still shreds pretty hard and falls just left of being “catchy,” although it’s not a stretch to call these ten tracks unforgettable. Definitely check this one out.
* The G – Hold My Gold
Dirty, fuzzed-out indie rock with ragged punk heart, a knack for melody and a penchant for noisy experimentation.
* Juvenescent Beat! – One Day We’re Gonna Fall Through This Roof
Every year there are a bunch of bands who try to bring back that “true” mid-90s emo sound. This is definitely the best of all of them. This record is passionate, raging and jubilant all at the same time. A great record for anyone who remembers what the “E” word really means.
* P.O.S – Never Better
Hands down the best hip hop record I’ve heard in the past five years. Not that I listen to a lot of hip hop, but this just comes across as so fresh and unique. P.O.S. has a great, earnest delivery and Never Better is overflowing with intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics and really captivating beats. I dunno … maybe I like it because he comes from a punk background and throws out Fugazi references.
* Double Dagger – More
One vocalist, one drummer and one bassist? C’mon …. how arty and pretentious are you? Not very, actually. More is a really fun, upbeat, rhythm-heavy record that will blast a groove about a mile deep through your living room.
* Tigers Jaw – Spirit Desire 7″
I helped release this, so I’ll admit that I’m slightly biased. Still, Tigers Jaw is just one of those bands that seem to write music that appeals to fans of all types of musical genres. The title track is their darkest, most mature offering yet, but maybe their catchiest as well.
* Broadway Calls – Good Views, Bad News
I wasn’t sure if I liked this more than the band’s Self-Titled debut, but in the end I thought that Good Views, Bad News was the stronger overall record. This is pop punk done right – with a little bit of anger and edge and a truckload of unforgettable hooks. Seriously, I dare you to find one single part of this album that isn’t ridiculously catchy.
* What Price, Wonderland? – It Is True, It Is Shakey
The second best emo record of the year … although I’m a little hesitant to even call it that. Emo is certainly the base level here, but it tends to veer all over the place in a sloppy, herky-jerky and reckless way that totally works.
* Teenage Cool Kids – Foreign Lands
Seems like I’m diggin’ a lot of music this year that one could classify as a “throwback” to yesteryear. Summery, fuzzy, punk-tinged indie rock drenched in nostalgia, good vibes and plenty of sweet “whoo hoos.”
* Shook Ones – The Unquotable A.M.H
Okay, so this sounds exactly like Kid Dynamite, but who cares? Kid Dynamite was awesome.
Find Me A Drink Home was by far my most played album of 2008. Poetically frustrated lyrics set to power pop…fans of Lemonheads and Smoking Popes should fall in love just as I did many times over. Definitely honored to have worked with the band for Beartrap. Watch out for these guys. Bigger and brighter things are on the horizon!
If I told you that a particular band in the 90’s opened for the likes of Jawbreaker, Gang of Four, Counting Crows and Jawbox, while also sharing the stage with Green Day, Ben Folds Five, Nada Surf and The Butthole Surfers, you would have to think that this band would have been pretty successful in that era, right? Sadly, that is not necessarily the tale of the San Francisco Bay area band, Engine 88.
Playing their first show in April of 1992, Engine 88 (who were initially called Engine, but later changed their name to Engine 88 to avoid a legal battle with a Florida band of the same name) quickly built their brand of rapid, quirky rock while also building a solid fan base in their local community. The band’s growth could not have been timed any better, as record labels big and small were flocking to the Bay Area after bands like Rancid and Green Day started selling records by the thousands. In the fall of 1994, in the presence of A&R reps for Caroline Records, the band played a show at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. After getting everyone in the crowd to simultaneously eat Pop Rocks candy as they played their set, they signed a two record deal with the label.
Engine 88 released their debut album Clean Your Room in 1995. Personally, this is my favorite Engine 88 record that I still adore to this day. Clean Your Room brilliantly mixes elements of punk rock with pop and even alternative rock to create a chunky driving sound, drawing comparisons to Fugazi, Superchunk and Pavement. Throw in singer Tom Barnes’ pleasantly peculiar voice and this album is truly unforgettable. Anchored by songs such as stand outs “Mangos”, “The Bottle” and “GTO”, the band churns out great song after great song. To support Clean Your Room the band toured the Midwest and even made it over to the East Coast for a run.
Caroline upped the ante on their 1997 follow-up, enlisting star producer Tim O’Heir to work with the band on the record. The result was Snowman, a record that took a bit of a more melodic turn for Engine 88 from Clean Your Room. This is an excellent record that would please fans of Clean Your Room, but would also allow the band to seek a wider audience. It thankfully wasn’t an overt move or a departure for the band, but rather that small step forward in the right direction. Songs like “Ballerina” and “Manclub” stand out on the record with their poppy, energetic sound. Snowman received great praise from the critics, but it failed to catapult the band to the airwaves of alternative radio that they had hoped for. Engine 88 supported the new record by opening for Counting Crows along the Great Lakes and the Midwest, playing bigger venues the band had seen before.
It was during this tour where the band realized that the dreams they had for Engine 88 would never come to fruition. Now without a label after fulfilling their deal with Caroline, the band felt that they would never be able to achieve the success that they were after and deciding to throw in the towel in late 1997.
Before their demise, Engine 88 had recorded some songs that they were very proud of and decided to release them posthumously. Flies and Death n’Stuff was released in 1998 on Wingnut Records. While very good, some of the songs on Flies sound like the band is trying to channel Sunny Day Real Estate, rather than playing their aggressive and witty brand of punk/indie rock.
Every time I listen to Clean Your Room and Snowman, I ask myself to this day what could have been if Engine 88 had decided to keep charging forward on the road and in the studio. While they may have never achieved the type of commercial success they were seeking, they may have attained more of a cult status like some of the bands they opened for did.
Today’s Sound Off is an interview with Shuteye Unison guitarist/vocalist Daniel Mckenzie (git/vox) conducted by Parks And Records‘ Mimi Fee. The band is currently recording the follow-up to their amazing debut.
Who? Rapid Cities
Where are they from? New Brunswick, New Jersey
What do they sound like? New Brunswick just keeps ‘em coming and Rapid Cities are the next in line. Emotional hardcore is a genre that has become largely forgotten for whatever reason. Luckily we still have bands like Rapid Cities keeping it real. The band’s sound has a definite DC punk/hardcore influence of bands like Dag Nasty and Fugazi. Just as those bands did before them, Rapid Cities meld their melody with a powerful aggression. This is really well played stuff that is as intense as it is intelligent. Rapid Cities’ debut full-length, Machinery Saints, is due out soon.
In My Mind
Bridge And Tunnel return with their much anticipated debut LP. The band delivered an awesome four song demo that turned into a 7-inch release courtesy of No Idea Records in 2007. The band features former members of Latterman, Each Other’s Mothers and Slingshot Dakota among many others. Bridge And Tunnel’s debut offering, East/West, marks a noticeable shift for the band and is the kind of album that rewards patience from the listener.
Much of the changes can probably be traced back to the band’s choice in recording. Granted the songs eschew any sort of accessibility or pop directness in the first place. The post-hardcore dynamics that the band flashed on their demo are certainly turned up to ten here. But the choice to opt for a more closed in sound with large doses of reverb kind of pushes the band’s sound inward. Not to mention that East/West was recorded by Kevin Ratterman (Elliott) after hours in an active funeral home and you have a recipe for a record that truly builds itself up from within.
What has not changed for Bridge And Tunnel is the smart lyrical nature and the inventive instrumentation of the band. This is the sound of punk rock being played by a group who knows how to play their instruments and not just recycle their influences. This is the sound of youth turning into adulthood. This is the sound of optimism being choked by apathy yet refusing to go down gracefully. Bridge And Tunnel could have taken a much easier route on their debut but the band chose to take the road less traveled. I may not always love East/West but I respect the hell out of it. On “White-Collar Crime Scene” the band asks, So where the fuck is our pride tonight? Are we just blank slates born at the end of an arms race? No doubt, Bridge And Tunnel are still here and they are still pissed. And for that we should be grateful.
Genre: Indie/Punk/Hardcore
RIYL: Fugazi, Cursive, Small Brown Bike
Label: No Idea
Call To The Comptroller’s Office
02%20Call%20To%20The%20Controller%27s%20Office.mp3
Night Owls
James at Get Over Yourself had a great idea of making a list of our top records of ten years ago…way back in 1998. Eric at Can You See The Sunset and I of course fell right in line. Probably cause we’re a bunch of music dorks who will end up liking a lot of the same records anyway. Yay for grown men entertaining themselves with nonsense and irrelevant list making! Thanks Twitter! On that note, here are SAL’s favorite albums of 1998.
Alkaline Trio “Goddamnit” (Asian Man)
The Appleseed Cast “The End Of The Ring Wars” (Deep Elm)
Archers Of Loaf “White Trash Heroes” (Alias)
At The Drive-In “In/Casino/Out” (Fearless)
Avail “Over The James” (Lookout)
Braid “Frame And Canvas” (Polyvinyl)
The Broadways “Broken Star” (Asian Man)
Cursive “The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song” (Saddle Creek)
Dillinger Four “Midwestern Songs Of The Americas” (Hopeless)
Elliott “US Songs” (Revelation)
Fugazi “End Hits” (Dischord)
Hellbender “Con Limon” (Reservoir)
Jets To Brazil “Orange Rhyming Dictionary” (Jade Tree)
Kid Dynamite “Self-Titled” (Jade Tree)
Knapsack “This Conversation Is Ending Starting Right Now” (Alias)
Less Than Jake “Hello Rockview” (Capital)
Mineral “EndSerenading.” (Crank)
Mock Orange “Nines & Sixes” (Lobster)
Neutral Milk Hotel “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” (Merge)
Samiam “You Are Freaking Me Out” (Ignition)
Sunny Day Real Estate “How It Feels To Be Something On” (Sub Pop)
It has been almost three years since Toronto’s art/folk/punk rocker’s The Constantines compelled Indie audiences to collectively pump there hands in celebration of a new album. With all of this wait fan’s must be wondering, “Was it worth it”? The answer is … kind of.
The Constantines forth lp Kensington Heights makes its trip to the US by way of the Arts and Crafts record label. Most Indie fans know this label through Canadian all-star pop group Broken Social Scene and since The Constantines’ old label Three Gut shut down, Arts and Crafts has picked up the logistics.
Kensington Heights makes its first strike with the furious but restrained “Hard Feelings”. Long time listeners will probably be a little disappointed here as this is the weakest intro to a Constantines album to date. Fear not loyal fans, the album has much stronger moments. Particularly toward the middle of the album listeners are treated with the slow and sweet song “Time Can Be Overcome”. The song rocks from side, pushed by band leader Bryan Webb’s soulful vocals. Immediately afterward, The Constantines crash down with the 7/4 downbeat driven “Brother Run Them Down”. Staying consistent in its power rock theme, the song invokes a feeling of triumph in simplicity. Fans of The Constantines older material might enjoy “Million Star Hotel”. The song has a large open chorus with the guitars and organs sharing melodic duties with bass and crash cymbals hammering downbeats into the bands collective space. The Constantines return to more blues influence, a la Shine A Light, in “Million Star Hotel”. The song feels tired and frustrated, on purpose, with disconnected rhythms and straining vocals. It is perhaps one of the more memorable rock moments of the album. The album concludes with noisy gospel “Do What You Can Do”. The song moves the audience with its simple praises reinforced with heavily distorted guitars.
For fans of The Constantines this album may be a disappointment. The band has traded the rough choruses spelling out “o-v-e-r-d-o-s-e” to a focus on a single male lead. The new folk direction isn’t as powerful or as moving as the soul-punk (yes I said it) of its predecessors. Fans should pick this one up however. It is good enough to be a Constantines album. Newer fans might want to start with the self titled however.
Genre: Punk/Indie/Folk
RIYL: Colour Revolt, Fugazi, Bruce Springstee, Neil Young
Label: Arts and Crafts
Shower Of Stones
For people who have followed Face To Face over the years, it sure is wonderful to hear the familiar vocals of Trever Keith once again. As the blitzkrieg of opening track “Cross Your Heart And Hope To Die” blasts from the stereo it feels like a warm embrace from a long lost friend. Melancholics Anonymous is Keith’s unfortunately titled solo debut. Thankfully, the album sheds the singer/songwriter tag, instead going for a full band approach the majority of the time.
It becomes apparent half-way through Melancholics Anonymous that the album owes a great deal to Face To Face’s most controversial release. The ill-received 1999 album, Ignorance Is Bliss, was the band’s attempt to move out of from under the melodic pop/punk constraints. The album was seen as a failure at the time by many fans. So much so that the band let the fans pick the songs for the next record which was sarcastically titled, Reactionary. Through the subsequent years though, Ignorance Is Bliss has won quite a few Face To Face fans over, including myself. And fans of that album and Face To Face in general should find a lot to love in finally hearing Keith again on Melancholics Anonymous.
If you study Face To Face’s excellent covers album, 2001’s Standards & Practices, you can really see where the band’s influences were birthed. On that album, the band covered artists as diverse as Jawbreaker and Fugazi to The Smiths and The Psychedelic Furs. On Melancholics Anonymous those influences become even more apparent. The hints of British pop are coated all over Keith’s solo debut. Perhaps the most telling cover of Standards & Practices is Sugar’s “Helpless.” Bob Mould who had previously fronted melodic punk band Hüsker Dü moved into more accessible waters with Sugar’s finely coated pop rock. Keith emulates that movement here as he settles into a successful groove of pop bombast mixed with brit-pop tenderness. It results in an album chock full of alt-rock nuggets.
Despite Face To Face’s recent reunion shows, Melancholics Anonymous prove that Trever Keith will be just fine when he finally decides to leave Face To Face completely in his past. Granted, if you never liked Face To Face then you might want to move on before you start. But, if you ever had a soft spot for the band then you should at least give Keith’s Melancholics Anonymous a try. It might just surprise you.
Genre: Indie/Alternative/Rock
RIYL: Face To Face, Bob Mould, Samiam
Label: Self-Released
Cross Your Heart And Hope To Die
1crossyourheartandhopetodie.mp3
Half Asleep
