Gaytheist / Rabbits - Gay*Bits (preview)

Label: Good To Die
Year: 2015

You all know I'm not prone to wanton hyperbole, and certainly I'm never reckless in my proclamations of "greatest ever" and the like. This is well established. This is the trust in which this entire ramshackle blog thing is contingent, right?
So, that being said, based on the three song preview that Good To Die Records has provided for the new Gaytheist / Rabbits split lp (cleverly titled 'Gay*Bits [I don't get it?]), I'm ready to declare this as potential Album Of The Year. Three songs in and I'm comfortable in this statement.
You hearing me?
You hearing this?!
Go here and hear it!

DL

Warhammer 48k - Uber Om

Label: Emergency Umbrella
Year: 2004

Last time we visited with Warhammer 48k was back in 2009 and their 'Ethereal Oracle' album. A great album mind you. The band showed a trans-Atlantic kinship with big, noisy, lurching, rabid bands like Hey Colossus, Part Chimp, Todd, and Vandal X (Belgian, but I'm going to count it on account of the pomme frites). This time around (which is...stay with me...actually further back in time) listening to Warhammer 48k I hear different influences. This time I look west from their Missouri home and see Thrones, Karp, and Dead Low Tide, with their murky thunder soaked melody. Not that this is a "feel good" pop record, far from it, it's still very twisted and sinister. It rides high on bad vibes much like the SST catalog did circa 1984-1986, but it has the chops to keep their heads above water. Despite all the waves of seemingly formless noise washing over the post-sludge rock ocean bottom, they never lose direction or succumb to  self-indulgent wankery.
Of note; "Haunted Abortion" is one of the better song titles you will hear today.
After this band, they moved to Chicago and formed Cave, which had an offshoot called Lazer Crystal, and one called Bitchin' Bajas in case you want to continue digging.
I'm already hungry for lunch at 8:39EST....am I pregnant?

DL

Rival Schools / Onelinedrawing - Rival Schools United By Onelinedrawing

Label: Some
Year: 2001

Back to Walter. I always come back to Walter eventually.
Rival Schools was a tough sell initially for the simple fact that they weren't Quicksand, even though I (we) wanted them to be. In retrospect I (we) should have known to trust Walter and let him lead us into a new era, he won't steer me (us) wrong. Would he?
I mean, for Christ's sake, he had fucking Sammy Siegler from ever NYHC band ever on drums! He had Cache from Iceburn on bass! He had Ian Love from Burn on guitar! I (we) should have just sat back and let this one go nuts.
But that wouldn't be in the grand tradition of music fans (snobs) having a difficult time in allowing our heroes and heroines to evolve past what we feel is within acceptable parameters. And in this case, I (we) wanted more Quicksand. Something loud and heavy and with those stuttering stop/start rhythms that Walter had helped popularize. I (we) are dicks.
Turns out Rival Schools were a slow burning success (musically anyway) that rewards repeated listens to allow the songs to worm into your memory and lodge themselves there for days at a time. Walter always had a knack for sneaking melody into hardcore and post hardcore, so it shouldn't be a stretch to hear those melodies front and center.
But by now you've heard Rival Schools I'm sure, so you know all this.
Here's the ep they did with Jonah Matranga's (ex-Far, New End Original) Onelinedrawing solo project. And it's not crystal clear, but both bands (granted one band is a solo endeavor) are playing on all the songs together, so it's not "pure" Rival Schools or Onelinedrawing. But that's cool I think . Not that I'm a good barometer of what's cool or not...I like Rod Stewart after all.

DL

V/A - Shiny Grey Monotone Radio - Show 15

Label: n/a
Year: 2015

Welcome back to the greatest on-going mixtape jamboree currently in existence on this blog!
Show numero 15, blasting straight out of the gate with an underappreciated power pop gem from Pines of Nowhere and giving you some "catchy" jams prior to a visit to the Austin noise rock neighborhood, and then the damn thing just goes nutso all over the place. It gets ugly, and then it gets uglier, until...we all die. This one goes deep (that's what she's never said...sad face) and eschews more big name bands for straight gnarliness and heft. Doesn't disappoint (unless you're asking "her"...she'll tell you it does).
It flows better than the above description will lead you to believe, trust me. I put a lot of effort into sequencing these things. I do it all for you...for US...for our baby!
I'm suggesting you pair this volume with a brisk jog to start, some interval training (push-ups, burpees, jumping jacks, squats, dips [find a park bench!], then mountain climbers...sets of 8-15 [depending on fitness level {SGM not responsible for any injuries acquired during workout...that's legally binding, for real}] repeated 4 times each), then, by the time you get to Skewbald you should be jogging back home (1.5 miles each way should do), and your cool down stretches might get weird as soundtracked by Brain Handle...but...feel the burn(?).
Please post photos of results to the Shiny Grey Monotone FB page.

The bands:
Pines Of Nowhere
Gods and Queens
Thirty Ought Six
Ed Hall
Johnboy
Switchhitter
The Huguenots
Scrid
Inappropriate Tough Guy Behavior
Bert
Ipecac
Bushpig
Skewbald
Pissed Jeans
Grids
Twin Stumps
Brain Handle

DL

Hip To Death - Punk Will Never Die, But You Will

Label: self released
Year: 2011

Here's an Atlanta band that's been kicking around the proverbial "scene" for a few years now, but they don't seem to get the same attention that some of their peers have received. And maybe that's because they defy easy categorization, or because they don't seem especially eager to put out records with any sort of regularity, or...I don't know.
It's a two piece, husband and wife duo, who have culled together influences from all around the post hardcore, post punk, and post rock universe to lay down a wash of tuneful noisy bliss.
Some of these songs could have come from Sonic Youth's earliest records. Some of them could have been featured on the 1981  'Hell Comes To Your House' compilation. And some of them would be perfect for a set at next year's Austin Psych Fest. See what I'm saying? They can come at it with a frenetic pulsing energy, or they can lay back and let the sounds just crackle about, creating their own patterns and rhythms.
I slept on this band for a long time...like a lot of folks it would seem, but no more. This is a killer record worms its way around your ears and with a darkness and sophistication that doesn't come around that often. Don't be like me, pay attention to this one.

DL

V/A - Manifest(o)

Label: Infernal Racket
Year: 1999
Infernal Racket was a relatively short lived label out of Pennsylvania who put out a handful of really great noisy, sludgy, stoner-y records in the late 90s. This compilation has them teaming up with their friends at Hydra Head, Escape Artist, and others to give a survey of what they were into at a particular moment in time.

Rabies Caste - previously released on 'For The Vomiting Truck Drivers', but...oh, so satisfyingly burly.
Isis - previously released on the 'Mosquito Control' ep, but again...I mean, it's when Isis were really going for it...so good.
Superhighway Carfire - previously released on 'Shell Of A Man', you may have missed that record though, which would be a shame if you like having two shoes clapped against your ears like I do.
Wally - previously released on the 'Freud' album. Really good, burly shit, with lots of changes packed into a compact song, yet avoids sounding like a disjointed mess.
Time In Malta - previously released on the 'Construct and Demolish' ep, one of the best bands of this era to play the noise-core/metalcore style as they mixed in some older D.C. influences.
Cave In - previously released on 'Until Your Heart Stops', still holds up as a barnburner of Slayer-core.
Meatjack - previously unreleased (that I know), throbbing wall of hate-noise from a band criminally underrated. Super nasty.
Dropnickel - previously released on the 'Digging It Up' compilation, which, there's pretty much no way you've heard before unless one of your cousins is on it. I think you'll dig their big, swinging grungy rock though.
Stillwater - previously unreleased (that I know), but I think this is the Stillwater who put out a record on 1124, but...not totally sure. Sounds like a band that would have been on a bill with Mind Over Matter and JJ Paradise Players Club circa 1997.
Cavity - previously released on the 'Goin An Arbor' 7". Still makes the hairs on your arm stand up with their impeccable Sabbath/Flag assault.
Scrid - previously unreleased (that I know) but a real overdriven doozy of clawing, scratching, stroked-out blasting.
Bobbykork - posthumously released on their discography. One of those quintessential "finds"...a "who the fuck?" band that will rip your face clean off your...ummm...face.
Calm - previously unreleased (that I know of), teeters on the oft-maligned "alt metal" line, but messy and loud enough to safely fall into an acceptable home here.
Burn It Down - previously released on the 'Eat Sleep Mate Defend" ep. Easily my favorite ex-Hardball band...mean and heavy.
Turmoil - previously released on the 'The Process Of' album. Easily my favorite ex-Conviction band...also mean and also heavy.

DL

Bl'ast! - For Those Who've Graced The Fire

Label: Rise
Year: 2015

Wait, what?!
NEW Bl'ast! and Nick Oliveri is in the band? And they have both Chuck Dukowski and Dave Grohl playing on this 7"?
What's the down side?

DL

Unwound - A Single History: 1991-1997

Year: 1999

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Here's a band I find myself coming back to over and over again. The music never gets old because they never bought into what was in fashion at the time, they were constantly taking elements of punk, indie rock, noise, space rock, and even free jazz and molding them into new and exciting combinations. What is presented here is a chronological survey of their singles, compilation tracks, and some demo material. 

But you knew that huh? I mean, you're here, at this blog, so I would assume you are familiar or at least aware of this band. Seems they are far more popular now than they were when they existed. I caught them in Atlanta a couple of times around the New Plastic Ideas and The Future Of What eras and there wasn't a full house either times. And these weren't big houses. So I don't know, maybe you haven't ever listened to Unwound, maybe I'm being presumptuous. Well alright then, let me try and describe this band...I've honestly never really thought about it, so I'm winging it here folks. My best shot would be; take the push and pull of the early 90s Dischord sound (Fugazi, Circus Lupus, Nation Of Ulysses), mix in some of the frantic emo skuzz of the Vermiform punk style (Born Against, Moss Icon, The Great Unraveling), a dose of the spare syncopation characteristic of the late 80's math rock crew (Bitch Magnet, Slint, Bastro), and dunk the whole mess into the murky pop of the mid period SubPop label (Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Seaweed). It's pretty much a combination of the best music produced in the past two decades distilled down by one of the best bands of the past two decades. 

If you don't have this, please get it. You need it. It is important to your growth as a human.

*originally posted 10-08-08, reposted 08-07-15. Sidebar: if you haven't already invested in the Numero Group's Unwound box sets, I highly encourage you to, it's well worth your hard earned money. Seriously. Find it here.

DL

Pleasure Forever - Alter

Label: Sub Pop
Year: 2003

We've covered the VSS before, and I think we covered Angel Hair as well, but we never did get to Pleasure Forever (or Slaves for that matter).
Well, that's dumb, especially when concerning such smart music.
You see, Pleasure Forever might have risen from the smoldering ashes of one of the best hardcore bands of a previous generation, but they quickly dispatched of that frantic noise and began embracing an altogether more sinister tone. A tone that takes from the murder ballad Nick Cave-isms of Black Heart Procession, and injects some driving Girls Against Boys post hardcore by way of the Doors seedy underbelly-of-the-city-at-dawn bad vibes. A complex mix, but never inaccessible. If you put your ear real close you'll hear why Gold Standard Laboratories issued the vinyl version. The elements of gothic and death rock and classic dark punk (the Damned) are all bubbling just below the surface, and add a suitably unsettling "feel".
This is a record I revisit often, it has a timeless quality that holds your attention with each subsequent listen.

DL

Slug - Swingers

Year: 1992

Label: Magnatone

This is a collection of singles and ep material from Slug, a triple bass wielding art/noise beast from Los Angeles. They take their cues from Swans, Einsturzende Neubauten, Head Of David, Birthday Party...stuff that doesn't usually get played at the cookout. Also, if it helps, they have split 7"s with Cherubs and Unsane, so they keep good company. 

It's heavy, dense, messy, throbbing, and hateful (that's what she said), which is pretty much why you're here right?

*originally posted 08-20-08 (one of my very first posts......awwwwww), reposted 08-05-15

DL