A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, “We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your
Service”
This is a right time, right place sort of record for 2016
for so many reasons. It came out
right after a lot of people felt disheartened by the state of the nation, and
Tribe rolls in with songs that are both fiery and positive to bring people back
up. It comes upon the untimely
death of founding member Phife’s untimely passing and it offers him a beautiful
eulogy. It brings me back to my
personal peak interest in hip-hop all those years ago when nothing else in the
world sounded quite like this and sparked my imagination, while pushing the
genre forward at the same time.
Put simply, Tribe came roaring back in a wonderful way and at just the
right time too.
The rest in no particular order:
UXO, s/t
Two of the most influential people in ‘noise rock’ circles
get together to make a record. It
sounds exactly what you would think Today Is the Day and Unsane together would
sound like. UXO record + my ears=
musical wet dream.
NULL, “Sleepwalking Days”
Brooding. That’s
the best way to describe this group from Birmingham, Alabama. Sturdy repetition like Lungfish;
simplistic, yet darkly heavy tones akin to True Widow; haunting vocals like…
whoever. Null have a sound I adore
that may move slowly, but it’s the heaviest mellow record- or mellowest heavy
record- I checked out all year.
WRONG, s/t
This was easily my most anticipated record to come out this
year It’s close though.
The band that does an early 90’s Helmet impression better than Helmet
comes out swinging after a lone EP that introduced their sound. Pieces of “Strap It On”, “Meantime” and
“Aftertaste” all show up here in equal measure, and I have no issue with that. Apparently, neither does the band as
they are well aware that someone had to take Helmet’s mantle since they don’t
seem to be up to the task anymore.
PSYCHIC TEENS, “Nerve”
OK, last ‘highly anticipated’ record, I swear. I’d been a big fan of vocalist/bassist
Meaghan O’Neill Pennie from her utterly ferocious scream in Punch. There was so much fury in that voice. So when I heard her 7” debut with this
band it was cool to hear her try some variations in range and style, not to
mention the more direct punk feel of this new group. The 7” kind of hinted at what was to come. This record goes all out though- songs
with a more rock-y/post-hardcore feel, some more fast and aggressive, plenty of
interesting leads and riffs, and atop it all O’Neill Pennies vocals that have
quite a dramatic range more than ever, going between Bikini Kill-style bratty
shouts to the familiar throat-shredding scream, to somewhat spoken and delicate
crooning. It’s an excellent debut.
Look, I love Swiz, or basically anything Jason Farrell has
lent his guitar playing to and I happen to think Joe Gorelick (Garden Variety,
Retisonic) is one of the best drummers of the last 20 years. So get all these cats together and they
spit out a 7” after their phenomenal debut in 2013 (finally). It may be only two new songs and a
Lungfish cover, but I’ll take what I can get because these dudes don’t have the
opportunity to do stuff all that much.
Loose and off-the-cuff hardcore punk with an excellent sense of melody
and rock swagger, done the way they helped establish as the ‘Dischord style’.
First off, fuck you.
I don’t care if people think this band is too pop sounding or
whatever. The unbelievable amount
of energy they display live comes through on record. The first two songs on here sound like they could be on a
Bad Brains record and overall, Turnstile come off with more of a punk vibe now
than the moshy hardcore they had been known for. They do a Give cover and it sounds better than the original
(sorry Give). I can’t wait to see
what comes next.
Best Live Sets:
DRIVE LIKE JEHU, Philly/DC 8.9/8.10
Of course this is going to be the best show(s) I saw all
year. I’ve only been waiting 20
years to see them. All these guys
can play their asses off so it’s no wonder that both nights I saw Jehu on this
run they sounded perfect. John
Reiss pulls it all together with his ridiculous guitar sounds, his wild stage
banter, and dangling his amplifier off his guitar neck like a shish kabob while
he freaks out for “Luau”. Nothing
comes close.
What a weird fuckin’ band. There is no earthly reason why I would normally enjoy a band
that sounds like outer-space funk, but here we are and it’s been a weird
year. I like to think this sounds
more like Melt Banana if they played a lot slower, so maybe that’s what I’m
feeling. Either way, their set at
Big Day In this year was unreal.
It was just a big, massive, lurching sound of buzzes, blips,
unbelievable drumming/rhythm, and vocalist Kassie Carlson staring down the
crowd as she creeped around and spaced out.
Myself, about 30 other old people, and approximately 6
children of said old people gather in the afternoon in NYC’s current favorite
heavy music venue to see DC hardcore veterans do their (semi) new thing and
still go off harder than bands half their age. The children mosh harder than the adults. Jason Farrell slips on a rug, Shawn
Brown waxes comedic with the audience and his bandmates, and Joe Gorelick beats
the living hell out of his drums.
They do not one, but four, Swiz songs as a bonus. Life is complete, I drive five hours
back home.
Taking a chance driving anywhere in the Northeast is dicey
at the end of February, so my plans of seeing one of the few UXO live dates was
met with hesitation until about 4 days before the actual show when it was a
balmy 60 degrees. Weather gods
smiled upon me, they knew I should probably make the 4 hour drive to see the
team up of Spencer and Austin as they sonically pummeled a tiny venue. And boy did they. Both men know how to make guitars sound
like a war and control a mic like it owes them money, so needless to say, UXO
met all my expectations and then some.
Also, Philly rules, so any chance to go there is golden.
PILE @ The Haunt, Ithaca 4.30.16
Ithaca is a scant 50 minutes (on a good day) from where I
live and is a great little town to hang around in. They have also been bringing their A game lately and
bringing in a lot of awesome bands that usually skip over this general
region. So since the only other
time I’ve seen Pile it was on a recommendation before hearing any of their
music. So now that I am very
familiar with all their stuff seeing them play it out was pretty
excellent. They manage to weave
odd melodies and dynamics in such a way that attempts to unravel their songs is
an exercise in futility, yet it all comes across as catchy and exciting.
MULTICULT, BLOOD SUN CIRCLE, PSYCHIC TEENS, SOUND DISCARD,
GUN CANDY @ WCC 5.13.16
So yeah, I booked this one. But look at this dang lineup. Every band was stellar and a bunch of people showed up to
see it all so that makes me happy.
Blood Sun played pretty much just new stuff that absolutely slays. Gun Candy made their Syracuse debut
with a ferocious punk sound that no one could see coming. Sound Discard played their first show
and sounded wonderful. Psychic
Teens were, of course, loud, weird, brooding, and eclectic. Multicult manages to present one of the
best tones amongst all it’s members and still be louder than whatever else is
out there.
I’ve seen 108 a lot over the years. They never fail to be anything short of
incredible. They have one of the
most engaging and intense live presences of any hardcore band around. And on this day they played two
sets. One was just “Songs Of
Separation” and “Holy Name”. The
other was “Threefold Misery” and everything after. Both sets were equally as cathartic and exhausting. Not bad for a bunch of guys in their
40’s. Their music is still
untouchable.
OTHER STUFF:
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It may seem a bit trite, but I think the art and
packaging of a record are a big deal.
And I’d like to give a big nod to a couple of bands in my own backyard
for coming up with some of the most clever packaging of the year.
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