All This Sunshine is Just Going to End

It's time for another piece of that candy of nostalgia, wrapped in a shoddy DIY wrapper and tainted with just enough poison and broken glass to give you a slightly "off" feeling for a while.  This backhanded, backward glance is dangled before us by Rights Reserved once again, a band resolute to drag you behind the house and shove your face in a steaming, shameful pile of memories best left alone.  As promised, I'm offering the band's split with Assfactor 4 as a starting point.  Rights Reserved are in what I consider their prime on these two tracks, holding back none of their prodigious angst in neither the music nor lyric department.  The only other song of theirs that matches these would be the one on the 400DayHeadache comp. While their LP is full of heartfelt and emotionally charged material, none quite compare to the power of these three songs.  On the other side, Assfactor 4 make one of their earliest vinyl appearance before going on to dominate the modern hardcore "scene" of the nineties.  The two tracks offered mark a transitional point between the members' time in Tonka and Unherd, and the solidification of the A-4 sound on their later 7" and LPs.  Essential for fans, plus the mood meshes well with the RR tracks.

I also mentioned that I would post Rights Reserved's other EPs, and while I am a lazy-ass, jaded, distracted son of a gun, I'm no liar.  Many bands have enjoyable early material that shows them working out their ideas; RR's early 7"s are fine examples of that.  The band mixes and alternates between indie rock, punk, and melodic hardcore, like, well, small town youths trying to find themselves and having fun doing it.  With no small measure of talent, I might add.

Rights Reserved 7"s

Everyone's Already Said Everything

Besides sludge, melodic punk, and the newest releases and reissues I've grabbed, vacations always send my musical choices in one final direction-- an often inebriated amble through the gleaming boardwalks of nostalgia.  As my musical coming of age was in the nineties, it's not surprising that I should reunite with some Rights Reserved records this summer, a band with whom I made an instant connection so many years ago (first exposure was the Assfactor 4 split).  The problem of genre is only a problem if one obsesses over it.  If you're one of those, I'd say for a brief moment RR may have been called hardcore, in the same way Kerosene 454 was.  Which is to say that in retrospect... they were not really that.  The band, in their closing statement of the liner notes, chooses the self-deprecating "crappy rock" tag, which if you take time to read the lyrics, they seem like the types that would say that.  I will gladly settle on indie rock/punk with a definite DC/Maryland feel.  What brought instant camaraderie between me and RR's rock was the honest, confrontational, and ultimately cathartic way they handled the often overlooked, but extremely frightening dilemma of young adulthood.  We come barreling out into the real world like a second birth, knowing everything and sneering at the masses who of course have it all wrong, ready to conquer the world, only to be repeatedly tripped up by the baggage of our past, and clothes-lined by our arrogance and ignorance.  The boys in Rights Reserved, jaded before their time, knew this I think.  Maybe they even understood how crucial those pitfalls would be in making us who we are.  I can't say for sure, as the LP posted below was their last testament as a band.  It's a bitter pill to swallow, but this band's tough love will get it down your gullet one way or another.

Rights Reserved LP (Assorted Porkchops Records, 1996)

A Rights Reserved EPs post should make it here before too long.

Punk Rock Died at 8th and Gilman

Dark, dark days lie behind me, but the light is coming back up ahead.  This time it will bring a slew of splits, and things will once again be noisy around here.  We start with a band mean enough to steal your Christmas, but it's more likely they'll just lace your candy canes with something extra special.  Grinch was some grungy, stonery, post-hardcore rock whose line-up consisted of members of Christ on Parade, Machinehead, Crimpshrine, etc., and whose touring crew at various times consisted of Aesop (Ludicra, Fuckboyz, Agalloch), Tim Crow (Zygote, Smartpils, etc.) and Spider (Amebix).  It's tough to nail their sound, and to keep the mystery mysterious, they don't sound like any of the bands above.  They produced two full lengths prior to this split LP, "Eden" and "The Blacking Factory."

Lost Goat continue the trip, but with more noise and effects to thicken the ethery haze left by Grinch.  LG can't be accused of following formulas from track to track, as each one has its singular way about it, while still showing off the band's gift for rocked-out, yet off-kilter riffs, leathery vocals, and that well-documented creepiness hinted at by the cover  "art."  Lost Goat might be an acquired taste for some of you, but if you awaken in the night with strange dreams and cravings, the band has three full lengths, a 7" on Alternative Tentacles, and a split 7," which I may have to post soon.

Grinch/Lost Goat Split LP (Probe and Misanthropic Records, 1998)

Recent Re-Up- Saturation 12"

I Should've Been Kissing You

It has been entirely too long since the last emotive French band was posted.  This attempt at making things right is brought to you by Kiss The Bottle, a short-lived project comprised of members of Finger Print, Amanda Woodward, Daymare...the list goes on.  Amanda Woodward is the most recognizable reference point, but with only one guitar, KTB's sound is a bit more raw and bare, but the vocals are the identical outraged shouting AW fans have come to appreciate.  Beyond that, expect less of the quiet picking and more of the buoyant mid-paced, emotive rock-core these musicians mastered previously.  The rips of the 9" are my own (320) and the demo CD-R was provided by the band and Stonehenge Records.

Kiss The Bottle 9" and CD-R

Recent Re-ups Requests:

Hard To Swallow- "Protected By the Ejaculation of Serpents" LP (re-ripped!)
Enewetak "Deadbird" 7"
Axiom/Church of Nihil/Autonomia Split LP
Whipped- "Agitator" LP
The Shivering partial discography

I've once again got some time on my hands, and no money with which to skip town.  Keep up the re-up requests, and let me know if you're looking for anything else.

A Burning Black Teardrop

Unpersons is perhaps best known for their collaboration with Baroness; but don't let that prejudice you. I first came to know this ensemble from Savannah from their Life is Abuse outing, and their noise rock meets hardcore is just the shit. I believe the 7" posted here is their first vinyl contribution, but don't let that fool you either. The four tracks on this beast are every bit as accomplished as their future releases, if not more so if you ask this warped blogger. The intersection of drugs and southern life never sounded so... satisfying. Members apparently also play in Pig Heart Transplant, Kylesa, and Black Tusk among other bands.

Unpersons 7" (I) (Fish Fur Records, 2000)

Quinientos Años

I've been putting this off for too long. This is a repost of the "In the Spirit of Total Resistance" 2X7"-- one of my all time favorite comps. Seven bands assembled to attack Man's inhumanity and celebrate the 500 years of resistance enacted by indigenous peoples of the west, from Canada to Puerto Rico. The brutality is amply provided by Crudos, Huasipungo, Man is the Bastard and One by One, while Jonestown, Pollution Circus, and Dogfight inject a balancing dosage of eclecticism. In true repost fashion, the tracks have been re-ripped at 320, and photos of the entire layout and 60 page book have been made available.

The Comp

The Book

Crashin' Down the Halls & Bouncin' Off the Walls

Words are so two-dimensional, that to describe the majesty of Icon Gallery's debut LP would surely be an exercise in falling flat. Each of these nine tracks seems to have its own life, its own deep subtext, and so much energy the air itself seems electrified when needle hits groove. Driving each are the red-hot, punk rock pistons of the rhythm section, but the guitar leads take cues from Iron Maiden and Sonic Youth, and all this is spearheaded by a woman with the voice of the Avenging Angel. Icon Gallery is everything you've ever loved about rock, minus all the cheeze you've been forced to tolerate. Even the most calloused crusty has an inner place for music like this, so put aside your pretenses, and take the plunge...

Icon Gallery LP

gallery.icon[at]gmail.com

dearskull[at]gmail.com

Kevin and band were kind enough to allow us to download the album, but I strongly recommend contacting them or Dear Skull Records at the above addresses and buying a copy. The LP looks and sounds too amazing to pass up. In fact, I may remove the link after a while to encourage such a transaction. Their equally amazing demo and 7" are available through the above addresses as well.

A Dark Night of Shameless Abuse

Complications was a pariah mongrel of death rock and punk unleashed by members of Born Dead Icons, The Black Hand, etc. For me, this seemingly rare 7" evokes a heart-pumping pursuit of mysterious ends through a twilit dreamscape, all the while skirting along the edge of a nightmare but never quite lapsing into it. It's no doubt an exhilarating experience which can be enjoyed in a more fruitful and layered form on their LP, and which I hope you'll pick up from a distributor of your choice. Once the LP becomes harder to find, I'll just have to post that too.

Complications 7" (Feral Ward Records)

Song of the Week: "Images" (Complications)

I'm bringing back an old institution after a couple of weeks without any inspiration. This time my drooping antennae were compelled northward by the signal of an LP aged three years in the pipeline. Most descriptions of Montreal's Complications will start with the members' prior involvement in Born Dead Icons. An irresistible attention-grabber, no doubt, but inadequate for descriptive purposes. You might also see the Killing Joke reference, and here we start to unravel the secret. Whether you settle on post-punk, post-hardcore, dark punk, etc, Complications will likely mesmerize many listeners at first with the complex layering of their dark guitaristry, such as the amazing second riff in today's selection, "Images." Such shadowy music deserves a fitting vocalist, and here I think the band succeeds again. At the risk of completely missing the mark, I offer this: the creeky basement despair of Rozz, the rasp of Piciotto, the gravely hum of Stubbs. Despite the persistent gloom, there's odd warmth to the band's sound that isn't common among its tribe; this is due in part to the drums which in calmer instants lull and rock, but in fits of violence pulse and pump-- the former like a warm oatmeal stout by the fire on a moonless night; the latter a frantic chase through a tunnel whose end is a mere pin-point aperture. I thought I could kick the habit I had formed from listening to Zygote and Bad Influence, but it seems with bands like Complications and Cross Stitched Eyes around, there may be no end to it. "Images" from the self-titled LP by Complications (Feral Ward Records)

Song of the Week: "Mlha" (Uz Jsme Doma)

Being on the mighty Nikt Nic Nie Wie label, I bought "Rybi Tuk" a couple of years ago thinking it would be some awesome crazy Polish punk. Uz Jsme Doma is neither Polish nor punk, but they were something incredible. What that something is, I still can't put into words. Passion and musical daring, it certainly exudes, and if genius was a musical genre, then there it would definitely fall. Tradition and innovation collide here in a voluptuous feeding frenzy to satisfy anyone's true Transylvanian hunger.

"Mlha" by Uz Jsme Doma

Between Cracking Up And Getting Yourself Together

I think I'll keep the crusty stuff I have in the pipeline for next week. In lieu, let's hear a band I recently rediscovered to most gleeful result. Plus, it was the first sunny morning of my vacation today, after days of June gloom. Yes, 8 Bark is much more appropriate, with their volcanic rhythm section and characteristic male/female harmonies. Punk in spirit and speed, but smart and daring enough to hang with the "undie" rock circuit, the band quietly refuses classification, much to my further enjoyment. For years, I only knew them through comp tracks. Getting ahold of a 7" and this amazing "Scam" LP has allowed me to see the error in my delay. "Scam" is themed around work, the meaningful kind, and ways to make the more meaningless drudgery of life less so. A couple of spins should do it, and you'll be hooked too I think.

"Scam" LP by 8 Bark

Song of the Week: "First Step" (Jawbreaker)

Some summer vacations are about adventure and getting into trouble; this one is all about R'nR-- drinking it all in and convincing time to go a little bit slower. "First Step" is yet another (the 3rd) Jawbreaker Song of the Week, but it seemed so perfect and mentions two things I associate with leisure time: bikes and coffee (one I would like to do more of, the other less). Beer is not mentioned, but there's plenty of SOTW slots for those kind of songs.

"First Step" (Jawbreaker)

** Be sure to pick up a copy of the re-press of "Unfun"!

Song of the Week: "A Six Inch Valley" (Planes Mistaken for Stars)

Another song about loss and the sauce, "A Six Inch Valley" is one of the more hard hitting tracks on the brilliant "Up In Them Guts" LP. Plenty of bands are "hard to describe," but PMFS was one of those rare breeds that created a distinct concoction that seemed to flow from them organically. They didn't try to sound like anyone else, ended up truly sounding like no other, and if anyone else tries to sound like them, they will be called out as posers, but quick. The Motorhead comparisons you may have heard only allude to the band's grit, but really the similarities end there. It's just grungy, emotive, brutally sincere rock that although standing alone, has its roots anchored in many varied and mysterious soils.

"And you know, I couldn't sell you a lie to save my life.
So it's up to ugly truths to scrape us by.
Or down to dirty tricks to keep us blind..."

"A Six Inch Valley" by Planes Mistaken for Stars

From The Depths Of An Ether Binge

As I await my new stylus in the mail, this break allows me a chance to get caught up with blog e-mails, and post some submissions I've been sitting on. I can't say I'll do this much in the future-- I have a hard enough time keeping up with the whimsy that normally dictates the posting on this site. But where to start in the back-log was easy. James from Into The Storm was kind enough to send me a copy of the band's debut CD. I didn't think bands still did this! An actual CD! ITS obviously works hard on their presentation with the slick artwork, and the many extras they sent with the CD, but it's the music itself that we're most interested in here. In this category, I was not let down either. I feel like it's redundant to describe ITS's sound, when one of the guys at Razorcake already said so much of what I was planning on saying, from his comment on the art, to the Shotmaker reference (that was fuckin' creepy when I read it!). I could rattle on about the Post-this genre/that genre that could maybe fit their M.O., but that would imply that the band is some kind of Isis clone (certainly far from true). I mean, when a band can so easily warrant comparisons from so many genres that have been given such trite labels (post-metal, emotive hardcore, post-punk, post-rock, stoner rock, math-metal, metalcore...), but isn't the least bit trite, what can a "reviewer" do? This conundrum can only be solved with a download, which the band is more than obliged to provide. It's a pleasure to hear these guys working out their fertile ideas, and I look forward to their next release, hopefully with recording quality that does them even more justice.

Click the punk rock pelican:

Song of the Week: "Cut" (Drunk)

Last time I posted Drunk, the download numbers were a little... modest, but the Song of the Week is all about... me, damn it! So I proceed with "Cut" for the week's selection, for the usual reason of its brilliance. The more rock-influenced nature of the band may put people off for the first listen, but great things are bound to happen with my favorite guitarist in the line-up (Roger from LBHTLI, So Much Hate, and I think Bannylist), and English lyrics that put many American/English bands to shame. The punk rebelliousness and abrasiveness is all there, it's just projected through the more wise lense of experience and therefore more subtle (or does experience make us wise, or just more confused? Lately I've been leaning toward the latter...).

"Cut" by Drunk (from the split LP with Goatboy)

Song Of The Week: "Forgetable Fire" (Harriet The Spy)

For years I've been listening to the Harriet The Spy singles collection thinking it was a discography. Discovering that the glorious "Unfuckwithable" LP was exclusive was quite the rejoiceable moment. No, this is not crusty hardcore; it's not even screamy nineties chaos. It's just spacey, rackety rock that's deceptively complex, wonderfully dark, ghoulishly sarcastic, and subtly tinged with hardcore sensibilities (very subtle). They did a split 7" with 3 Studies for a Crucifixion, and I believe are related to Party of Helicopters. HTS are not for everyone who comes here, but they are definitely for me.

"Forgetable Fire"

You can get a CD copy of "Unfuckwithable" here. The above is a homemade vinyl rip.

I've got a little vacation time, so I'm gonna be posting like crazy. First some requests-- tonight... One by One EPs, then some Out Cold!

Soon... I'll be posting tons of links of stuff people have sent for review, etc.

Eventually... I want to do some mega posts on bands like 3 Studies for a Crucifixion, Bonescratch, Ivich, etc.

Intermittently... I want to post a ton of other stuff. Now would be a good time for requests (of course, no guarantees that I have it, but it doesn't hurt to ask)!

SOTW: "Middelalder" (La Casa Fantom)

I've been listening to a lot of La Casa Fantom lately. Almost daily. After you wear out a record, revisits are inevitable, but I've been playing their self-titled LP like it's brand new. It just doesn't get old for me, and fewer bands can nail such schizoid tempo and genre shifts so seamlessly, especially considering there are only two instruments. Grindcore one second; spacey rock the next. This one's pretty much an instrumental, so the member's chops are all there is to rely on. Guitars? Who needs 'em!?

"Middelalder" by La Casa Fantom

Guts On Fire

I'm too friggin' busy to make any rips right now, so I'm taking a chance that this incredible Icon Gallery 7" is sold out. If it's not, don't be a cheap-ass-- order one if you like what you hear. "Retribution" made it to the Song Of The Week a few months back (which is when I ripped this), and I'm easily sticking with that decision. How to describe IG's rock leads us to quite an impasse. The band's myspace profile cites Post Regiment, Heart, Iron Maiden, and Prince. Some of these names make sense in vague ways, but we're far from a complete picture. What we do have is some kind of awesome post punk-rock-hardcore with a fair amount of complexity, melody, grit, and hooks; the kind of rock that needs to be heard and not analyzed.

This EP presents their 3 demo tracks and one extra. Some members were previously in Aphasia.

Icon Gallery "Demo" 7" (Link has been removed. Go buy a copy)

Song Of The Week: "Discipline" (The Rosie Jones Band/Leatherface)

Yeah, I know, tribute comps suck. Most of the songs, as decent as they might be, just make you want to throw on the originals. Rubber Factory's "Leatherface Tribute" isn't very exceptional in this respect. Of the forty or so renditions hereon, about eight warrant repeat listens. The one I celebrate today always kills me though: a western version of "Discipline" (western as in country and western)!?! On paper, it sounds hokey and ridiculous, but in the capable hands of The Rosie Jones Band, we are given one beautiful piece of work. The band's rootsy approach luckily predates the trash the industry passes off as "country" these days, and the skillful use of acoustic string instruments and the nice vocals delicately harness the urgency and somberness that make Leatherface an eternal favorite. A good cover should bring something new to the table while still keeping the integrity of the song's mood and power intact. This one does it, and while doing so, completely rips apart my genre prejudices. A lot of you are gonna hate this, so proceed only if you're feeling a little adventurous.


"Discipline" (Leatherface) performed by The Rosie Jones Band

Song Of The Week: "Love Manifesto" (The Mr. T Experience)

Valentine's Day: cheap, manufactured, on-demand romance. Everybody knows it's lame, and no I'm not just bitter because I couldn't find a date or something. As a statement of rebellion, I post this SOTW the day after (okay, I was just the worst combination of busy and lazy) and I've chosen a comical love song. I was thinking about posting some crust song about biological warfare and such, but this song got stuck in my head as it often does. Now I pass this plague of a chorus onto you like that car blasting "Material Girl" that passes you by and ruins your mind for the rest of the day. The only thing Mr. T Experience was more self-conscious about beside their sappy-ness was their humor. Maybe their catchy-ness too which was like a chocolate dipped crack-rock wrapped in a flu virus.

"We'll make a date just to smash the state, just you and me..."

"Love Manifesto"