Such a long time with no update here...so I'll cover the first three months of the new year here.
1. Trophy Scars "Alphabet. Alphabets."
This album is probably one of the greatest things I've heard in...a very, very long time. No comparisons fit, no analogies do it justice. This is one of the more original albums I've heard...ever. Awesome vocals, great use of a wide variety of instruments. Much to say, not sure how to say it though...you should definitely get this album.
2. Modest Mouse "Good News For People Who Love Bad News"
Can't say I ever gave this band a chance before, but thanks to two friends of mine, i picked this album up. The songs 'Bukowski' and 'This Devil's Workday' are beyond good, and 'Float On' is enjoyable as well, those tracks stand out to me, but there's not really a bad song here. After all, who can say something negative about a band that utilizes a banjo AND trumpets on the same song??
3. Poison the Well "Versions"
I really like this cd. I don't care if no one else does, I think it's spectacular. The song 'Nagania' recalls 'Horns And Tails' from their album "Tear From The Red", except this song has balls. BIG balls. Love the new sound, still love Jeff Moreira's voice (I hear he has a solo album in the works...should be interesting to say the least). I can't wait to see this band on Warped Tour this summer.
4. See You Next Tuesday "Parasite"
You know, usually bands like this are a fun listen like one time, and then you can toss the album in your case as a fairly decent addition to what has become, in my case anyway, a collection unto itself. See You Next Tuesday, on the other hand, are SO goddamn brutal I can't stop listening to their new cd. There are roughly ten breakdowns in almost every song (the majority of which are under 3 minutes, most under 2, by the way). And while that's cheesy and lacks artistic maturity...it's fun to play at high volume levels.
5. Minus The Bear "Highly Refined Pirates"
As I find more alternative, post and indie albums to get myself into, I can't stop coming back to the band that got me interested in the indie and post genres in the first place, Seattle's Minus the Bear. This cd was my summer soundtrack when I first heard it two years ago, and I still bump it out at parties and whatnot with close friends...there's not a bad track on here, and everything flows together beautifully. Can't wait for their new record this year.
6. Pixies "Surfer Rosa"
I still to this day want to say I never would've become a big Pixies fan if it hadn't been for Fight Club (which is my favorite movie, by the way). I still pull this out all the time and listen to the entire record start to finish (particularly 'Where Is My Mind'). Great band, which in my opinion influenced a LOT of those whiny and squawky post-hardcore punk bands. Check this out if you don't already have it (which in all honesty, there's NO excuse for)
7. Sunny Day Real Estate "How It Feels To Be Something On"
I don't even remember how exactly I got into this band, I just know that now they're one of my favorite bands. I think some of the members in this band went on to be in Foo Fighters or something, i don't know the history here, they're not a hardcore band. All interesting facts and whatnot aside, this is a great album from a great band and it's worth looking for and checking out.
8. Genghis Tron "Dead Mountain Mouth"
This is just...well...freaking weird. It's electronica and dance music...but it's math metal and some grindcore as well...together. Like at the same time. I don't know how they make it work, they just do. And they do a pretty good job at it as well, considering for all intents and purposes something as happy as dance music and something as nihilistic as grindcore tends to be should never be put together. Way to test the creative waters, gents. And they're from Philadelphia, PA, I believe. So that's another reason to like them.
9. Lye By Mistake "Arrangements for Fulminating Vective"
Another weird one. This one has that Dillinger Escape Plan meets Ephel Duath jazz quality...and that fast paced, what I incorrectly refer to as "flamenco-esque" guitar riffing ability that we find sometimes in The Number Twelve Looks Like You. The finished product turns out something like this: the first half is relatively unimpressive stuff that everyone who's heard "Calculating Infinity" will recognize, and then out of nowhere the second half of the cd brings in this "Jazzy Psyopus" quality that had my jaw dropping. Check them out for yourself.
10. Architect "All Is Not Lost"
Idealistic bands really catch my attention. That's probably why Most Precious Blood is my favorite band. And if Architect is anything, it's idealistic. Their band bio reads like a hardcore call to arms, denouncing false movements in the hardcore scene and uplifting the young and telling them, in so many words, to get off their asses and police their scene. You'd think Architect were another Terror chest thumping group of angry tough guys...you'd be wrong, really wrong. Try a very, very, VERY pissed off and ultra focused version of Found Dead Hanging...which makes sense, considering members of Found Dead Hanging are on here...this album is comparable to a mathcore version of Misery Signal's "Of Malice And the Magnum Heart", and I like it just as much...check this out for christ's sake.
Deafeningsound
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