Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Touché Amoré - Just Exist

Touché Amoré are a five piece screamo band from Los Angelese, California, USA. Their new album Is Survived By is their second full length released by Deathwish Records. They play a brand of post-hardcore that walks the line between hardcore and screamo.


 The songs are usually short and very angry, drilling down to the very basics of an idea. Just Exist is longer than most but it doesn't feel like. 



The trailer that Deathwish posted has a very post-rock feel to it. I hope Is Survived By is more like Just Exist than the trailer below.



Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Secret Weapons - 2013 - All Of My Best Friends Are Dogs

Sweet Weapons are a four piece band from Albuquerque, New Mexico. All Of My Best Friends Are Dogs is their debut LP courtesy of Escapist Records. They draw comparisons to Jimmy Eat World and Texas Is The Reason and have featured Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré on a previous song. Sweet Weapons plays a brand of punk rock that borrows equally from alt rock, pop punk and then adds some emo in on top for flavouring. Highlights include Not Golden, Blue Crush, Hoop Dreams and Month To Month. If you like you're emo with equal parts indie rock and punk pop there will be something for you on All Of My Best Friends Are Dogs


All Of My Best Friends Are Dogs works both plugged into headphones and blasting from speakers, Secret Weapons has a particularly rich, thick sound and they work to maintain a fuzzed out bliss. Highlights includede Low End Lonny, Month To Month,   These songs sound like the epitome of summer, catchy punk rock to be blasted from a car while driving to or from some kind of water or party. If you need some catchy emo influenced punk for a summer adventure, All My Best Friends Are Dogs will serve well.






Monday, July 29, 2013

Bootblacks - 2013 - Narrowed

Bootblacks are a four piece post-punk band from Brooklyn, New York, USA. Narrowed is their new EP. They play a dark brand of post-punk. These are songs designed and perfect for extending the night as long as it can go and railing against the inevitability of the sun. The singer has a darkly booming voice and the band conjures melodramatic backgrounds and make use of the dark space in between. Highlights include Voices, Perfect Fiction and Birds. If you need some dark, brooding music that will propel your evening to melancholy, hedonistic heights Narrowed will serve well.





Sunday, July 28, 2013

Black Gust - 2013 - Psychedelic Maelstrom

Black Gust are a five piece punk band from Zagreb Croatia. Psychedelic Maelstrom is their debut EP. They learned all the right lessons from bands like Adolescents, Gang Green and Black Flag and reinterpret those lessons in the garage. The singer has an excellent snotty vocals which only serve to accent the rough and ready style. Highlights include Trapped In Static, Tired Out and Thrashin'. If you like your punk loose and more concentrated on speed and energy than beatdowns Psychedelic Maelstrom is for you.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Healing Powers - Wade - 2013 - Split

Healing Powers is a three piece emo band from Durham UK. This Split is their sophomore release. Wade is an emo band from Newcastle upon Tyne. This Split is their debut release. Healing Powers leads off with a pair of meloncholy, melodic songs that are in turn slow burning and straight forward. Wade's songs have more distortion surrounding them, heading in a direction epitomized by bands like Two Line Filler. Highly recommended.



Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Nobody, Ever - 2013 - This Wall Is Dedicated To Liam And His Mates

Nobody, Ever is a four piece emo band from Leicester, England. This Wall Is Dedicated To Liam And His Mates is their sophomore release and their second of 2013. It picks up where Everyone Stood By The Side Of The Road left off. These songs are moodier and deliberate while the singer has a gruff voice that does desperate melody quite well.



 Highlights include every single song. Nobody, Ever starts with a somewhat slacker indie rock and constructs fuzzy, melodic emo gems on rock solid foundations. Every bit as attention grabbing and enjoyable as their debut, This Wall Is Dedicated To Liam And His Mates will scratch that emo itch quite well.


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Atalanta - 2013 - Tainted

Atalanta is a three piece scream band from Chicago, Illinois, USA. Tainted is their debut EP. They feature members and ex members of Half Milk (Chicago), Josh Raymond (Chicago), Walter and Perry (Seattle), and At Yalta (St. Louis). They play a dark, oppressive brand of screamo with the desperate, screamed vocals buried in the mix underneath crushing guitars. The guitars are sludgy which serves to create an even more depressive atmosphere. If you like your screamo buried in layers of gloomy, chaotic guitars Tainted will serve quite well.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Juna - 2013 - Heteroglossia

Juna is a four piece band from Athens, Georgia. Heteroglossia is their debut EP. They play a dark brand of indie rock that takes lessons from both screamo and post-rock. These songs are capable of both stretching out and creating dark, brooding moments but also building to noisy crescendo before pummelling you in the head as everything crashes back down. Highlights include A Passage, and Notes On A Penance. If you like your indie rock with some reaching elements then Heteroglossia will serve nicely.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Dead Peasants - 2013 - I

Dead Peasants are a black metal band from Baltimore, Maryland. I is their debut EP. They play a depressive, raw black metal taking influences from the grindcore and noise schools of songwriting. They can easily transition between thumping, ferocious black metal and then slow it down for some desperate screams and dark space. If you like your black metal raw, chaotic and noisy I should scratch that itch.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals - 2013 - Walk Through Exits Only

Philip H. Anselmo & The Illlegals are a four piece heavy metal band from the USA. Walk Through Exits Only is their debut LP. Members have played in Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual and Warbeast. If you like your metal extreme, uncompromising and thrashy with lots of guitar squeals and Phil's trademark vocals this is the album for you. Highlights include Music Media Is My Whore, Usurper Bastards Rant and Bedroom Destroyer. If you've been itching for some chaotic, pummeling metal fronted by Phil Anselmo, Walk Through Exits Only is what you've been waiting for.



Thursday, July 18, 2013

RIka - 2013- How to Draw a River, Step by Step

Rika is a seven piece indie rock band from Flinsbach, Niederösterreich, Austria. How To Draw A River, Step By Step is their debut LP released by Count Your Lucky Stars and Goddamn Records. They play an emo and post-rock influenced brand of indie rock. The violin, cello and flugelhorn all add excellent atmosphere. Comparisons could be made to the Appleseed Cast, a more reaching Football, Etc, and other sad meldings of indie rock with emo. Highlights include Port Dover, and October If you have a hankering for some quiet, introspective indie rock How To Draw A River, Step By Step has that in spades.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Sorder & Crowhurst - 2013 - Girl: A Collaboration

Crowhurst is a sound art collective from Los Angelese, California USA. Sorder is a grindcore band from the USA. Together they produced Girl: A Collaboration. This album is a dense, noisey attack directly at the part of the brain that attemps to sort things into patterns. If you don't like noise there's nothing here for you. This is not an album you put on for easy listening in the background, the harsh nature and uncompromising attitude forces your entire attention at all times. If you like chaotic, aggressive abrasive noise that never lets go Girl: A Collaboration has that in spades.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Government Flu - Poison Planet - 2013- Government Planet

Poison Planet is a five piece hardcore punk band from Chicago, Illinois, USA. Government Flu is a hardcore punk band Poland. Put them together and you have an EP called Government Planet. If you like your hardcore fast, pummelling, with no punches pulled this is the EP for you. If you're not down for some thrashy hardcore that is prepared to beat the crap out of you then move along. Government Planet won't win you over if you don't like hardcore but if you like it, this will serve quite well.







Monday, July 15, 2013

Ill Bill - 2013 - The Grimy Awards

Ill Bill is a rapper and producer from New York City, New York, USA. The Grimy Awards is his third solo studio LP. Features production from DJ Premier, DJ Muggs, Pete Rock, Large Professor, The Beatnuts, El-P, Ayatollah and MoSS and features guests spots from H.R. of Bad Brains, A-Trak, El-P, Jedi Mind Tricks, O.C., Cormega, Meyhem Lauren, Q-Unique as well as Shabazz the Disciple &  Lil Fame of M.O.P. Highlights include L'Amour East, 120% Darkside Justice, How To Survive The Apocalypse and Acid Reflux.




Sunday, July 14, 2013

Football, etc - Plaids - 2013 - Split

Football, etc are a three piece emo band from Houston, Texas, USA. The split with Plaids is their sixth release. Plaids is an post-hardcore emo band from Nottingham, UK. The split with Football, etc is their fifth release.



Football, etc play a brand of indie rock influenced brand of emo. The singer has a plaintive, melodic voice and the band plays a very sad, catchy style of indie rock capable of kicking up a storm.  Plaids is a hardcore punk band that does not cut any corners in their pursuit of some emo influenced hardcore. The singer has an excellent drill instructor shout while the band behind him melds hardcore, emo and post-hardcore into a catchy stew. If you like emo, hardcore or indie rock there is something here for you.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Love Interest - 2013 - Demo

Love Interest are a band from Olympia, Washington, USA. Demo is their debut EP. They play a moody brand of post-punk saturated with layers, wallowing in darkness. Narco is the standout, the energy keeps everything going in a haunted, driven manner, while Circle The Drain pairs down to some haunting synths, a simple beat and melancholy vocals. If you like artsy, synth heavy post-punk Love Interest will scratch that itch.


Friday, July 12, 2013

Old Wounds - 2013 - From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest

Old Wounds is a three piece hardcore punk band from New Jersey &  Philadelphia, USA. From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest is their debut LP. They play a sludge metal influenced brand of hardcore punk citing Turmoil, Disembodied, Indecision, and Buried Alive as influences. The focus is on the hardcore with the sludge being thrown in to stretch out and weigh down these songs. The pure hardcore attack is filtered through a sludgy metal haze. Highlights include Shallow Water, From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest and Disbelieve. If you like your hardcore fast paced without pulling any punches From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest should be right up your alley.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Acousma - 2013 - Acousma

Acousma is a hardcore punk band from Prince Edward Island, Canada. Acousma is their debut EP. They play a screamo influenced brand of hardcore. They have learned their lessons well and crafted a debut that comes screaming out of the gate and barely gives you a moment to catch your breath. Highlights include Evading The Pervasive, Fire Is Bright & Fire Is Clean and Ancient Transcripts.



The singer puts his voices through the paces with agonizing shrieks and a very gruff voice. Recorded live off the floor in their jam space and then sent for mixing and mastering to Will Killingsworth of  Orchid, Laceration, Bucket Full of Teeth, Clean Plate record label and Dead Air Studios. If you like your hardcore chaotic and raw Acousma will do nicely.



Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Crows-An-Wra - 2013 - Crows-An-Wra

Crows-An-Wra are a four piece punk band from the UK. Crows-An-Wra is their debut courtesy of Barely Legal, Boslevan, Flood, Listen To Aylin, Alcove and Middleman Records.They play a desperate brand of screamo that isn't afraid of dismantling the songs at a moments notice. The singer has an excellent voice capable of an impassioned higher pitched shout as well as an excellent gravel voiced desperate guttural scream. Crows-An-Wra is a debut that makes me want to hear more.

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Monday, July 08, 2013

Neighborhood Archers - 2013

Neighborhood Archers is a four piece punk band from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They have released two EP's so far this year, Foundation Shake Up Event and Geronimo Jones. They play a brand of post-punk that brings in elements of hardcore, indie rock and emo. This live recording emphasizes the hardcore and post-punk elements while the two EP's are more on the indie rock and emo side of the spectrum. Neighborhood Archers features members of 40 Thieves, Good Things and Punch Out. If you like indie rock, emo, or catchy songs Neighborhood Archers is as band to watch.





Sunday, July 07, 2013

Zebra Katz

Zebra Katz is a rapper. Soundcloud







Saturday, July 06, 2013

bad noids - 2013 - Everything From Soup To Dessert

Bad Noids are a four piece hardcore punk band from Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Everything From Soup To Dessert is their debut LP. They play a chaotic brand of hardcore that excels at inverting everything it can inside a hardcore song in pursuit of noisy glory.



 Like a dirter, crustier Wiccans, a brand of post hardcore that doesn't care about genres or songwriting styles and just hurtles itself through these songs, some of which sound like they could collapse into a smouldering ruin at any moment. Bad Noids excel at finding a solid groove and then fucking up the song, transforming them into limber beasts that rapidly change and use every single tool in their toolbox. If you like your hardcore experimental and chaotic Everything From Soup To Dessert is right up your alley.


Friday, July 05, 2013

Neighborhood Brats - 2013 - Birth Right

Neighborhood Brats are a punk band from San Francisco, California, USA. Birth Right is their fourth release, courtesy of Deranged Records. They play a speedy, fuzzy, garage based brand of punk that is the perfect soundtrack to a night in the desert that takes some strange turns. Reminds me of a fuzzier, more garage focused version of The Demonics or a less funny, more driven version of the Lunachicks. Excellent garage punk rock.



These songs are energetic, to the point and breeze on by if you're not paying attention. Female vocals, backing gang vocals and speedy guitars make for catchy punk rock that yearns for a beach. They rock out a cover of Break Down the Walls by Youth of Today. If you need some catchy punk rock as the soundtrack for your beach party Neighborhood Brats' Birth Right will do quite nicely.

Thursday, July 04, 2013

Dads - 2013 - My Crass Patch

Dads are a two piece punk band from New Jersey, USA. They have a new EP coming out on No Sleep Records called Pretty Good. The AV Club is streaming a song from it, My Crass Patch. It's definitely heavier than I was expecting.




Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Blank Pages - 2013 - Blank Pages

Blank Pages is a punk band from Berlin, Germany. Blank Pages is their debut LP courtesy of Hardware Records. They play a catchy brand of punk that puts a focus on energetic melody, citing Wipers as an influence. Their brand of punk borrows equally from glam rock, post-punk and 80's style hardcore songwriting. Blank Pages features ex members of Idle Hands. These songs have their own personality and the band does all it can to mine the area they have staked out

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Cheap Drugs - 2013 - Cheap Drugs

Cheap Drugs are a five piece hardcore punk band from Gent, Belgium. Cheap Drugs is their debut 7" courtesy of Hardware Records. They play a catchy, speedy brand of hardcore that can smash your face in but also veer towards something approaching a melody. Not In My Face comes roaring out of the gate, the title track has an epic stomp to it and even a catchy chorus while the rest of the album focuses on mosh pit creating chaotic hardcore. If you like your hardcore punk noisy and passionate then this is for you.

Monday, July 01, 2013

Criaturas - 2013 - Espiratu De Libertad

Criaturas is a hardcore punk band from Austin, Texas, USA. Espiratu De Libertad is their fourth release. They play a speedy brand of hardcore punk with a female lead singer. Her voice adds just a hint of melody  or it can be another angry brutal instrument in a chaotic sea of hardcore punk. This is how hardcore punk should be done, really fast, really pissed off and not scared of taking a few risks in expressing their rage.