Zero Boys- Vicious Circle (1982)

You've probably heard a story like the Zero Boys' before. A small group of misguided young men see the light when they discover the Dead Kennedys' album Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables. They then decide to form a band and do everything they can to look like The Clash. Vicious Circle is a perfect example of both the creativity and the copycatitivity (I couldn't think of a better word there so I made one up) of the early 80s hardcore scene. One look at the album cover and one might get the impression that the Zero Boys were just another fly-by-night hardcore band. The gruesome face appears to only be there because it's gruesome. The cliché word "vicious" doesn't help either. Lyrically, the songs deal with pretty much exactly what you'd think. Song titles like "Civilizations Dying" and "Livin' in the 80s" show their disdain for the world in which they were living, a disdain shared by many punks of the time. "New Generation" shows their hope for the youth and there are even a few straight-edge numbers like "Hightime" and "Drug Free Youth." But yet they don't sound angry. The singer has somewhat of a snarl but it's not convincing. That's not to say it's bad, however. It sounds as if he enjoys being in a band too much to sing with much ferocity, and the music matches this. The relatively clean thumping bass matched with the treble-heavy guitars makes this album more fun than angry. They're much more like their inspirators the Dead Kennedys than Minor Threat, for example. I don't know if I'd go as far to say that this is a lost masterpiece of the hardcore era, but it definitely deserves its cult status.

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New Politics- New Politics (2010)

New Politics made it big on the radio with their single Yeah Yeah Yeah which you may have heard in EA's Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. I actually got into them after hearing them on the Radio. New Politics are a band from Copenhagen, Denmark consisting of members David Boyd, Soren Hansen and Louis Vecchio. The band's sound is basically alternative rock with blends of pop and punk scattered through the CD. It's nice for a debut album with my tops tracks being Dignity, Yeah Yeah Yeah and Nuclear War. They have a lot of energy and it's shown throughout the album. Watch their music videos for Yeah Yeah Yeah and Dignity on youtube to decide if you want to check this band out. I did and I liked what I heard.

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Yeah Yeah Yeah (Youtube)

Dignity (Youtube)

The Band in Heaven (demos)

There are a ton of shoegazing bands. You could pin it to a number of reasons: Most anything with a bit of fuzz and feedback is considered shoegazing, in many cases you can forgo memorable melodies for unique timbres, My Bloody Valentine is heralded by many indie music circles, etc it doesn't really matter, all that I can say is that when roaming for underground bands, it's almost definite that there is a number of promoted bands labelled as shoegaze.

And with that come clones and, again, it has it's reasons. When a genre is occasionally forced a definition from something as simple as "pop and punk melodies with a heavy use of effects and feedback", there's bound to be some out there that oversimplify a sound.

So when I received this recommendation, maybe I was a bit scared. I like to think I can see past the simplicities of what some consider to be the genre, but maybe I was a bit frightened I'd hear something from a band masking bad music with a genre label.... I'd say I was wrong.

The Band in Heaven, a shoegazing band from South Florida, seem to consider themselves as coming off the steps of The Velvet Underground and 13th Floor Elevators, not My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. They make punkish music that happens to be thick and fuzzy, not the other way around.

And it is, very, thick and fuzzy. They trash and chug through their songs, leaving little in the way of clarity. The riffs are mostly simple, a perfect compliment to their sound, as catchy as it is uninviting. Take The Jesus and Mary Chain's sound and drown it, and you're getting somewhat close to what is going on here.

It should be great to see what comes out of this act, if the demos are any indication.

Bandcamp (buy it there as well as a couple free downloads and every song streaming)

A download of the available free songs in v0 (FLAC and other bitrates available on the site)

Reatards - Grown Up, Fucked Up (1999)

Music to shit your pants to. The Reatards are no frills, unfiltered, budgetless garage punk and Grown Up, Fucked Up is the group's most biting, intense album.

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Prizzy Prizzy Please- Prizzy Prizzy Please (2007)

I've tried writing this review several times but for some reason I've had a lot of trouble writing it so I'm going to keep this short. What I can say is that Prizzy Prizzy Please formed out of the same Indiana punk scene as Good Luck, the first band I posted. They take a far less serious approach lyrically than Good Luck but an even more intense approach musically. Whereas Good Luck sing about relationships and growing older, PPP sing about evil space monkeys attacking a captain named Bob. Good Luck like to cover Prince. PPP like to cover AC/DC. In fact, PPP are the only modern punk band I know of that openly embraces glam rock sounds, and they do it without a single guitarist in the band. Instead they opt for a heavily distorted keyboard. They also feature a saxophone in many of their songs, giving their glammed up punk a unique jazzy feel.

This review might be short but that's a fault of mine and not the music's. Prizzy Prizzy Please are one of my favorite bands going today. To sum them up, they're a fun, energetic band whose music sometimes makes you dance, sometimes makes you sing, but always makes you smile.

"Flea Bomb"

Try it.

Buy it.

Last.fm | MySpace

Musical Family Tree- You can stream their newest album, Chroma Cannon, here.

Let me know if this doesn't download right. I had some trouble uploading it.

Good Luck- Into Lake Griffy (2008)

Good Luck is a three piece band from Bloomington, Indiana who plays an incredibly noodly brand of pop-punk. The band is somewhat of an indie supergroup as all three members have earned modest followings in acts such as Abe Froman, One Reason, and Bodyhammer, among others. This experience has given them songwriting and chops superior to many of their college band counterparts.

There is an immediate charm to the music, starting with the X-like mixture of male and female vocals. The nasally voice of singer/guitarist Matt Tobey and the more powerful voice of singer/bassist Ginger Alford split the vocal duties about evenly, both lead and back-up. The songs themselves are outstanding. They’re anthemic without being grandiose. They’re fast without being angry. They’re poppy without being weak. Many of them seem to have been written with a live performance in mind. The way the vocals and music hit together during the choruses of “How to Live Here” and “Hey Matt” is just begging for DIY kids to pump their fists with each beat. But you don’t have to see them live to believe Matt Tobey when he sings, “Oh the feeling/It’s burning up to the ceiling/When the band plays everyone’s favorite song.” Little of the energy is lost on these recordings.

The most prominent figure on this album is the guitar of Matt Tobey. It is the first and last sound you hear and it doesn’t let up anywhere in between. From the unique melodic tapping of “Man on Fire” to the noodly “West Side Ride” (yes it is necessary to use that word multiple times in describing this band) to the outro solo of “1001 Open Hands” the guitar is on the forefront of the instrumental side of the music. But that’s not to say the other members don’t contribute. Ginger Alford has a knack for knowing exactly when to shift her attention from rhythm to melody and drummer Mike Harpring’s jazzy style always matches the intensity of the music.

Into Lake Griffy is an accessible album that anybody who appreciates punk can enjoy on first listen, but the songs are just nuanced enough to stay fresh. I’ve been listening to this pretty solidly for almost a year straight and I’m not even close to being bored. Do yourself a favor and give Good Luck a listen.

Try it.
Buy it.
Last.fm|MySpace

Boris - Akuma no Uta (2003)

Boris is a brutal delicacy, that rare concoction that does all things for all people. If everyone knew it and consumed it in extremis, though, it would stop being a delicacy, right? Oh well, everyone else's loss. _Akuma No Uta_ is a drop-dead masterpiece, from the punishing drone of the opener to the gong-inititiated reprise of the intro on the last song, the title track (translated as "The Evil Song.") They can do it all and just about better than all the competition:
--Sludge? I don't hear anyone who can blend a blaring punk melody with sludge in such a truly sickly-sweet manner as Boris does on their upbeat tracks;
--Drone? To say the least, but that doesn't stop them from rocking like mad when they choose to push their own boundaries.
--Psychedelic? Believe me, when you turn _Akuma No Uta_ up as loud as you need to, there are few more mind-and-body-altering experience than this one (really your body churns!!!);
--Punk? Yeah . . . we can call this band punk as fuck. To those who like their music in boxes and think that punk as fuck means the latest Exploited retread, well, Boris is too punk for you. For the rest of us, Boris may be the band who can cash in on the late, great Refused's promise of _The Shape of Punk to Come_. Like the Refused, Boris takes any style and makes it their own in their awe-inspiring music machine (minus the jazziness of the Nordic screamers, but plus the sludge, drone, psychedelia, etc. . . .). Also like the Refused, Boris are forward-looking, taking the listener on a gleeful death ride that leaves you absolutely free. It doesn't get more punk than that, kids.
When you take into account that Boris are Japanese and rock harder and better than pretty much any of us in the Anglo world, it's clear to see where our eyes should be turning to discover where the future of rock lay. I realize that I've talked them up more than I've reviewed the songs, but words can hardly describe. I'll just say that it compares 100% favorably with their newest opus _Pink_, just more succinct. Oh, did I mention they play their instruments to within an inch of their literal existences? (I don't think I've heard an amp abused as much as on _Akuma No Uta_). Wata is one wicked, original, and visceral guitarist. I could go on and on, but I'm just gonna let you buy this album; wait for it to come in the mail; put it on your stereo's highest setting (jack up the bass!!!); and feel your perception, and hence your life, change.

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The '59 Sound- The Gaslight Anthem (2008)

The Gaslight Anthem are a rock and roll band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Now I saw some talk about them last night on The Vesti so I decided I would post this album for you guys and gals. The '59 Sound in my opinion is The Gaslight Anthem's best album. These guys are heavily influenced by the man they base their music on, Bruce Springsteen. After playing with Springsteen on tour at Glastonbury Festival. Album sales increased 200%.

eMusic named The '59 Sound the best album of 2008. Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones does guest vocals on the song The Patient Ferris Wheel. So if you like Bruce Springsteen or old time rock and roll. Give The Gaslight Anthem a try. My experience with them happened when I went to see Rise Against at a local venue. I was blown away by their music. I loved it. I bought the album at the show and I'd say it's very well in my top 10 of all time.

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Slim Cessna's Auto Club - Cipher (2008)

Cipher immediately lives up to its name thanks to its cryptic liner notes, written in, of course, cipher. While this is all well and good, it does kind of defeat the information-conveying purpose of liner notes. Once the track listing has been deciphered, it becomes obvious that there is a motif running through the album: four of the 15 songs are titled “An Introduction to the Power of Braces” with the respective subtitles “Arms”, “Legs”, “Teeth”, and “Faith”. The general theme of these songs is that oft-painful braces are used to straighten and strengthen physical bodies, so why not use them for spiritual bodies? It’s a good point, especially in these days of soft, easy faith.

It’s not all fundamentalist fervor here; SCAC tackles Woody Guthrie with “This Land is Your Land Redux”. Like the original, “Redux” is a protest song, but with a violent twist Guthrie’s work never had. Slim Cessna also seems to be a graduate of the Sufjan Stevens School of Strange Song Titles: Cipher includes numbers such as, “All About the Bullfrog in 3 Verses” and “That Fierce Cow is Common Sense in a Country Dress”. Luckily, the lyrics are as interesting as the song titles, and a nice break from Slim Cessna’s street preaching. The strongest song of the record is “Children of the Lord”, a hard driving gospel song that could make a believer out of just about anyone. Hell, even if you’re not a believer, you just might find yourself tapping your foot and singing along to its catchy chorus.



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Download(Part 2)
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Wiki
Myspace

Sorry about the rapidshit links.

Electric Six- Fire (2003)

Electric Six are an alternative rock band from Detroit, MI. Their musical style varies on who you talk to. Some call them a Rock n Roll Band. Some call them a Comedy Band. Some of them classify them as Dance Rock. And no album gave off that vibe more than their debut album Fire.

Fire is Electric Six's critical acclaimed best album. Critics have given it rave reviews including Rolling Stone which called the album "The summer's most brilliantly demented party record."So if you like to party or dance or just want to try a band with a different flair. Give this album a listen. It includes my favorite song of all time Synthesizer.

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Wikipedia