WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON?

So I've been pretty busy lately. Not that I don't have 4 records on pre-order or anything right now. I've also been out of town a lot lately. I picked a great time to do that huh?
Well, if it's any consolation at at least I wasn't around because I traveled a distance to see this band:

They were great, by the way.
I also had a brief run-in with this guy:



It's not actually Jeff Bridges or The Dude, just a guy who looks like him.

As soon as I got home Mistletoe piled in the van and hit the road for the weekend with Oak and Bone and played some marvelous shows. Before we left though, I saw that the Hex coffee mugs had shown up and were ALL printed wrong. I'm working on fixing that now. The Helm, "Home" CDs also showed up. They rock.
I picked up the Lemuria covers in Buffalo that night and spent all weekend (between shows) folding them. I'll post some pics later on.
So I'm home for a couple days to take care of as much business as I can before heading off to Seattle for a week. The Prize Country, "With Love" CDs ought to be here by the end of the week, but of course, I won't be in town to see them. S all CD pre-orders will go out as soon as I get back on the 6th.
So that's just an update for you all to show what's happening with things momentarily.
Plenty of tour dates also coming up as well....

LOOK WHAT SHOWED UP TODAY...

And that's not even all the boxes. Oh why, oh why did I go gatefold? Just in case you're wondering, these are just the LP jackets for The Helm 12" and Prize Country 12". The actual records have yet to arrive, though the test presses have been approved. So the wait shouldn't be too much longer!
But I thought it was impressive enough to post.
Keep in mind the pre-order deals are only good until this Friday, so get to it and order so you can save a few dollars!
Hex Records store

PRE-ORDER MADNESS!!!!

It's finally here. After all the work and wait I feel like I can put up a pre-order for 4 awesome new records I have coming out this Fall!
You gotcher' Lemuria, "Ozzy" 7"
Then we got the End Of a Year, "More Songs About Transportation and Intercourse" 7"
'Round left there's The Helm, "Home" CD and LP
Take a turn and you're at Prize Country, "With Love" CD and LP
Each of the records comes with a download card (the Lemuria single will have an extra song on the card!)
Additionally, we made coffee mugs too. They're 15 oz. and look kinda like this:

And on top of that, there's this cool compilation CD we're making, all DIY style that's a zine about the history of the label with a good 20 songs of material from the label, a bit of a description about each song, and then a handful of unreleased B-sides at the end that will be given away with larger orders! So take that!

So, in all, please order some of these records! There's some cool package deals I'm doing for the first couple weeks that will save you a bit of cash in the long run and worth checking into!

Go here and order away:
Hex Records Store

MORE REVIEWS BEFORE YA SNOOZE.

There's such a cool variety of good records in this batch here. Between some things I picked up and stuff I found in the mailbox it was a pleasant surprise to get cool stuff across the spectrum. So read on all ye faithful and seize these audio jams...

ANCIENT SKY, s/t
While I can appreciate the approach, and even get into the music a little, this is overall not really doing it for me. Imagine a really slow version of Murder City Devils, or The Animals doing “House Of the Rising Sun” on repeat real slow and creepy-like for an entire record. I mean, if you want to chill, smoke weed, and watch “Blue Velvet” all day this might make for a decent soundtrack. But personally it gets a bit dull for me after awhile. (Perpetual Motion Machine, www.theperpetualmotionmachine.com)

CATALYST, THE, “Swallow Your Teeth”
Having no idea that this was even coming out I was stoked to have the new full length from Richmond’s The Catalyst awaiting me in my mailbox. To describe The Catalyst is like tossing old KARP (or I guess just old Melvins) into a blender (note the wretched grimy riffs on “Sterling Is a Hole”) with the spacey melodies and intense delivery of Majority Rule (“40212” definitely steals a riff from “American Feature”), and set the whole thing to non-stop raging party. While these guys beat the shit out of their instruments and make everything sound as if it’s consistently about to fall apart they still write awesome songs with catchy riffs, scathing lyrics, and piledriving heaviness. A filthy bass tone and higher-range screamed vocals permeate the entire thing while an occasional second drummer comes in to further beat the hell out of your speakers (though I could only clearly hear it on one track). The recording does leave something to be desired, sounding only slightly better than their last outing, the totally bitchin’ “Mariana’s Trench”. I feel like this band ought to have a noisemonger like Chris Owens behind the boards to let out the raging band that is only getting a small dose of the sonic justice they deserve. On the live front, if they’re going to do the two drummer thing, best to separate the kits because facing them together only completely cancels out the bass drum and some of the ‘oomph’ is lost. As far as how this sucker looks, it’s essentially the exact same layout as the last record, except with some witches on the cover instead of fish. Whatever the gripes, get this and have you face rocked the fuck off. (Perpetual Motion Machine, www.theperpetualmotionmachine.com)

CONSTANTS, “The Foundation, The Machine, The Ascension”
This is a whole concept record split into three sections (based on the title) and a total of 12 songs. It’s overtly complex and involved with slow-moving epic songs in the vein of all your favorite metalgaze-type bands, though I’d say with a bit more emphasis on a prog rock feel as well as dabbling with a variety of instruments outside just the traditional guitar, bass, and drums set-up. There’s not too much information to be found here either except one really long record that, personally, I just don’t have the patience or attention span for. It’s not to say it’s not well executed, or well-written. I’m just not feeling it. (The Mylene Sheath, www.mylenesheath.com)

GOLDEN CITY, s/t
This is the new project from Eric Richter, who has graced the indie scene with outstanding, and often overlooked, indie bands such as Christie Front Drive and The 101 over the last 15 years or so. Golden City is the newest project, picking up right where The 101 left off. I’d say this strongly follows what was happening with The 101, though a little more developed... and yet a bit more mellow it seems. Where The 101 seemed to almost be going for a kind of mod rock vibe (I’m thinking Chisel or The Jam), mixed with Richter’s trademark slightly (though strangely soothing) nasally vocals and airy guitar work Golden City tones it down ever so slightly. It feels like their a bit more reined in, or perhaps just treading lightly as a new band? This is a good record and if you’ve been a fan of Richter’s stuff in the past it won’t disappoint. But I was hoping for it to be a little more hopping. Very nice cover art by the well-known Daniel Danger makes this pretty much worth the price of admission. (Magic Bullet, www.magicbulletrecords.com)

PRAYERS FOR ATHEISTS, s/t
I’m not exactly sure how I can describe this without putting off some people because the people who tend to read this blog are probably music elitists. I know this because I’m a music snob myself. So should it come as a surprise that I’m totally blown away by a rap-rock record? Yeah, I said it. Prayers For Atheists is the punk band fronted by slam poet extrordinaire and Rhymesayers Collective (Sage Francis) shadow walker Jared Paul. Here, Jared’s exceptional vocal delivery concerning public protests, resulting arrests, eventual victories, patriarchy, bike riding, and eco-awareness collide with music that runs from vitriolic one-minute Bad Brains-styled punk dirges (“Tom Delay”) to meaty head-bobbing rockers (“Bike Song”). The obvious comparison is to Rage Against the Machine and it’s safe to say that Prayers For Atheists legitimately holds up both lyrically and musically with that group, as opposed to simply being a cheap imitation made for frat initiation parties. Personally, I can chime in from a historical perspective as I witnessed the marriage of rap and rock in it’s most successful experiments, from Run DMC (“King Of Rock”), to Public Enemy/ Slayer (“She Watch Channel Zero”), Public Enemy/ Anthrax, and up to Rage Against the Machine. Prayers For Atheists gets it. They understand how to make these sorts of connections and they don’t even need a DJ to do it. They approach the style from the basement show perspective and drive a message home that may tread familiar social justice topics, but in such a way that is both clever and poetic at once. These are definitely uplifting victory anthems delivered by a group with a lot of passion. I suggest checking it out for yourself. (Strange Famous Records, www.strangefamousrecords.com)

PUNCH, s/t LP
Apparently this band played a show to five kids in a basement here a year ago. I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t there. Fast forward to Dudefest Indianapolis this year and I see that they’re playing. Since my friends were so excited about them I figured I ought to check them out. Before they even play I see a familiar face in the crowd and realize our old bands had played some shows together on the West Coast, and that he’s also one of the guitarists in Punch. Seeing as I was a huge fan of his old band (the highly underrated Bullets*In) I imagined Punch had to be good. And yes, they were awesome, but in a totally different way than my friends old band had been. Seeing them a few days later in Syracuse (to a much bigger audience than last year) sealed the deal of this band’s radness. I regret sleeping on them last year and this self-titled LP should wake up any sleepers out there as well. While some might be quick to pigeonhole this band into powerviolence and Infest worship there’s more than that going on. Yes, those are obvious reference points, what with blast beats in many songs, most songs staying below the two minute mark, and plenty of slow and sludgy breaks. Mixed within it all are lots of traditional hardcore breakdowns and mid-paced anthems, all made that much more angry by the absolutely throat-shredding screams by vocalist Meaghan (no last names given) that tackle subjects from the perspective of an all vegan straight edge band, though in a usually not-so-obvious way (except on the closing track “Feminists, Don’t Have a Cow” which, big surprise, calls attention to getting feminists to see the correlation between feminism and the dairy industry), as well as the occasional sing-along part (the ironically named “Not So Posi After All”). While this band sounds serious as a heartattack, and vicious as heartburn after a late night binge at HK Chinese Take Out, there appears to still be a good dose of lighthearted fun as well. Some of that may be the simple, yet effective, record cover and bubblegum pink vinyl. Maybe I’m just stoked to see a good hardcore band with respectable ethics not bore me. This is good stuff indeed. (Discos Huelga, www.discoshuelga.com)

SOUL CONTROL, “Cycles”
For me, this is a very anticipated release. When they first started out Soul Control was one of the bands bringing back an awesome mid-90’s, sort-of post-hardcore sound that I held very near and dear to my heart. It was a much needed shot in the arm to the youth crew scene- in which they have been somewhat unjustly been lumped into- that could use a dose of substance. Now that they have gone through considerable lineup changes and grown a little more Soul Control feels mostly like the same band they were when they started I guess. While the press release suggests that they have delved deeper into elements farther from hardcore and closer to the noise rock scene I’d have to disagree with this because I’m just not hearing it. What I am hearing is much more of the same songs that I enjoyed when they started, perhaps with a greater love for guitar effects that carry at least three of these songs into one another in the form of brief interludes. To get an idea of what to expect listen to any of the four seven inches they released early this year because all those songs have been re-recorded, along with a few new quick and fast ones, and an excellent outro jam. “Flux” still remains my favorite song, while opener, “Beyond Words” is about as good of a leadoff track as you can get to lay it all out on the table. A good point of reference, I feel, for what Soul Control is doing is to take the best elements of what Wreck-Age Records was doing in the mid-90’s with groups like Mind Over Matter and Stillsuit that pushed boundaries with the melodic and spacey elements of post-hardcore with the hard-hitting basic song structures of fast traditional hardcore. It was definitely it’s own thing and up until Soul Control I’d never heard anything like it. So, in short, I don’t feel as if they’re doing entirely anything new with this new full length and new lineup. But I still really like what I hear quite a bit. (Bridge 9, www.bridge9.com)

TEENAGE COOL KIDS, “Foreign Lands”
After friends had talked this band up all the way down to Gainesville Fest, and then I was thoroughly blown away by their style at a random backyard morning show after a long weekend in Florida, I was waiting with baited breath for this new full length. And I must say, it definitely does not disappoint. While it is so similar to their last amazing full length, “Queer Salutations” it’s almost eerie I’m hardly one to complain. Perhaps the only real difference here is a crisper recording and their technique of having half these songs flow into one another seamlessly. Otherwise it’s the same clean and jangly guitars, occasional dirty bass (most notable on one of my favorite songs here “Calm Me Down”), unfuckwithable melodies that instantly cram themselves deep into your mind to be hummed for the rest of your natural life, incredible breezy and lighthearted back-up’s, and the best indie pop songs you’ll ever hear. Maybe a Pavement for the end of the decade? Built To Spill’s younger cousins? The Beach Boys illegitimate progeny? These dudes are the secret pop band the punk kids can claim as their own... but for how much longer before the rest of the world gets their paws on them? Fuck a Get Up Kids reunion, they always sucked anyway. If you dig indie pop stuff with a punk ethos here’s your jam right here. (Protagonist Music, www.protagonistmusic.com)

TITLE FIGHT, “The Last Thing You Forget”
I played with this band in Pennsylvania a couple years ago and the kids went absolutely batshit crazy for them. My band, on the other hand, stuck out like a sore thumb. I think since that time they must have changed a bit because this certainly does sound like a different band here. This CD collects all their material to date- 4 new songs, their “Kingston” 7”, and their first seven inch. You can definitely see the progression that works favorably for the band. While the older stuff is pretty cheesy, the stuff in the middle pines some saves the Day territory (blech) and the newest material actually sounds pretty decent. In fact, it’s the newest material that sounds the most like a hardcore band messing with catchy punk melodies and so forth, perhaps in a manner more akin to Samiam or something. So yeah, the old stuff is pretty blah while the newer material is definitely more intriguing. (Run For Cover, www.runforcoverrecords.com)

I GOT ME A NEW DISTRIBUTOR!

As if this year couldn't get any more hectic Hex Records hit a bump in the highway early in the Summer when our distributor Lumberjack Mordam went tits up. It's not like I couldn't really see the writing on the wall... but well, I wasn't sure what I could do about it all.

Either way, with a bunch of records coming out this year I had to get a plan together. That's when the fine folks at MVD came calling. You may recognize these folks as they deal with a lot of DVD production distribution- they released live DVDs from Bad Brains, Jesus Lizard, and TAD just to name a few... which, right off the bat, shows that they have good taste. They've also gotten pretty into distributing records in the last few years... which is good for me! Along with re-issuing stuff from Flipper and GG Allin they took on the new Devo 12" amongst a variety of other stuff.

So I realize how fascinating the world of distribution must be to all of you reading this, but it's an important part of how my records get out there to people in a wide variety of places, and I want nothing more than for people to see and hear the bands I think are awesome. So, with the help of MVD, I'm hoping to everything back on track and even better for the rest of the year and years to come!

Check back later this week to get some news on official release dates and pre-orders for the next batch of records coming out this Summer/Fall- End Of a Year, Lemuria, The Helm, and Prize Country... and other cool stuff!

ACHILLES, "HOSPICE" VINYL STREAM, PRE-ORDER

I mentioned it a couple months back, but now it's finally upon us. Achilles, "Hospice" is going to be out in a few short weeks with all new artwork specifically for the vinyl version. The good dudes over at Farewell Party Records will be putting up a pre-order for the vinyl this week.
As an additional bonus, if you've never heard the record Vinyl Collective will be running a stream of it all week starting Tuesday, July 28th! So listen to it, and then order the vinyl! Here's the color breakdowns as well for you collector nerds out there:
Marble Tan – 114 VC exclusive (90 copies will be available through VC)
Black – 107
Grey – 143
Camo – 220
50 PROMO / ADVANCE copies (Black Vinyl, but promo copies, sent out to distros and reviewers prior to release (VC will have 15 copies)
We will also have a Test Press Contest (only 60 made, hand made covers by Joe OHIO PRIDE).

Finally, of course Hex Records will be getting a few of these to sell as well and I'll not only have them at shows once they're out (looking like about 3 weeks), but have some in my webstore too.

One last note, look for the band to be playing out within the upstate, NY region a little bit more than they have been (like, ya know, more than one show a year... but probably not more than 5, haha). Word is they've been writing some new songs and that could lead to a recording of some sort, but who am I to say?

IT'S SUNDAY, YOU'RE BORED, HOW ABOUT SOME REVIEWS?

ARMS EXPLODING, “Ruminari”
Cincinnati’s Arms Exploding aren’t going to win any awards for having a good name or remotely interesting artwork (seriously, you could do a lot better than just all black on the inside cover). But throwing this disc in the player one will discover some excellent progressive post-hardcore going on that is hard to ignore. While many of these songs extend past the four and five minute mark things manage to remain interesting. They are progressive in terms of the talented playing and unique arrangements in which their songs are created yet no worries about a Dream Theater-style rock opera emerging here. And though there is a strong post-hardcore lean to their sound I’d say this group takes things to the next level past where NYHC originators founded it. Think perhaps more along the lines of where Burning Airlines was sitting pretty- both rhythmic and heavy, as well as exceptionally talented musicians creating driving and complex music. Arms Exploding certainly does a good job of rocking ass and throwing in lots of curveballs at the same time. Well done I say. I like a plenty. (Phratry, www.phratryrecords.com)

BURNING FIGHT, by Brian Petterson
With a book 500 pages deep, and apparently got edited down from nearly 800 pages, “Burning Fight” is a pretty exhaustive look at 90’s hardcore as told in an oral history fashion on a variety of bands and topics. I think it’s an interesting way to approach things, though obviously leaves a lot out. The book is split into two main areas- various investigations into the big topics of the era (straightedge, spirituality, animal rights, political/social awareness), and interviews with influential bands from the 90’s. Naturally, the biggest gripes seem to have come from what bands should have been included and which should have been left out. The cries of, “Spitboy?! What about Brothers Keeper?!” can already be heard... OK, well, maybe not. But I do appreciate that the bands profiled cover a wide range of hardcore sounds- the fast and immediate sounds of Los Crudos, the obvious choice of Earth Crisis, the genre-fucking of Deadguy, the questionably hardcore Texas Is the Reason. I feel like each band’s section could have gone a bit more in-depth. The politics section certainly does highlight some important things from a wide variety of people and gives a generally good view of what was happening back then. From my own experience I was around the hardcore scene for most of this decade, but I feel like Upstate, NY was a somewhat different place than a lot of other cities insofar as hardcore goes. Our scene was really lucky to be so thriving, have a number of influential bands close by, and a solid venue to have shows at. So my perception is a bit different than others and we have our own oral history that could fill a book as well. So I feel like all readers of this book ought to read it with an open mind and understand that things may have had some similar threads no matter where the participants were going to shows, but each scene and town had it’s own personality to go with it. Additionally, it would have been nice to get a few more pictures of bands, zines, flyers, and so forth. I suggest getting it though. This is weeks of reading for a pretty cheap price. (Revelation, www.revhq.com)

CHOOSE DEATH #2
Here we got a local zine that, in it’s second issue, devotes a good deal of space to exploring the scene in the Dominican Republic. Yes, there’s a punk scene there. How about that? Of course, there’s a lot of local love as well as interviews with Night Owls and Rochester’s Like Wolves are thorough and a good read. An exhaustive report on a local house that has been doing lots of shows in the last year is in these pages as well. Finally, a good deal of smart-ass humor from the author (some guy) rounds this thing out. You can’t go wrong for a buck and a shot of Larry Bird smoking a stogie on the cover. (www.barbarossarecords.com)

COALESCE, “OX”
Seriously... wow. Ten years, multiple breakup’s, off-and-on reunion tours with mixed results, and dozens of kids later the grown-ass men in Coalesce have given it another go and holy picnic basket full of shit sandwiches this is a whopper of a record. I have thoroughly been beaten into submission by all the raw aggression and ridiculous creativity they had in their heyday. “Ox” takes all the hyperactivity and mind-fucking complexity of “Give Them Rope” or “Functioning..” and gives it a heavy dose of rhythmic groove found on “012”. Basically, it’s everything pure and wholesome about Coalesce all rolled into one amazing album. This band has always been able to throw me for a loop with how wild and complex their music could be, yet keep my attention because no matter how many times they were fucking with the timing, or throwing in one crazy riff after another, I’d still be in rapt attention. This is no exception. The bass is thick and muddy, almost overpowering in how huge it sounds, while the guitars are at once precise and calculated, and at the same time totally spiraling out of control and unraveling as if Jes is playing with a power drill instead of a pick. New to the Coalesce gamut are reverb-heavy slide guitar and sung vocals (“Wild Ox Moan”), monk-like chants (“Dead Is Dead”), and acoustic interludes (“Where Satire Sours”), all of which seem completely out of place, but actually work exceptionally well. Another facet that remains the same is vocalist Sean Ingram’s distinct throat-shredding scream. His voice is dead on for the music, and when he adds clean vocals here and there they work really well. His penchant for terrible song titles and extremely wordy lyrics also remains (seriously, the solo vocal section in opener, “The Plot Against My Love” is so close to rapcore it’s almost embarrassing... just cut a couple lines and it would be all good). Some people love his lyrics, and some hate them. I’ve really never been a fan, but not due to subject matter... I just can’t get into how they’re written. So when I hear his voice, which I like, I can just pretend he’s screaming about being stuck in traffic or something. And then it all makes sense. Minor gripes aside, this is easily the best thing I’ve heard so far this year. I know the year is only half over, but Coalesce have seriously gone above and beyond for making a hell of a great return to form by creating a dense collection of raging songs sure to destroy any current perception of what you’d call ‘heavy music’. (Relapse, www.relapse.com)

GIFTS FROM ENOLA, “From Fathoms”
This thing come packaged in what looks like a greeting card made by a fancy art student. It’s certainly an interesting way to present it, just bizarre! Packaging aside, Gifts From Enola... whom I’m guessing are not referring to the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima give their take on the whole post-rock, minimal vocals, shoegaze thing with a long record full of long songs that fade into one another. Thankfully, they deviate from the Isis-Neurosis glut (man, am I ever sick of that trend), even though there are a few heavier moments. I’m getting more of a Mogwai/Mono feel from this band, as they get a lot more into melody. And while I’m not too terribly interested in those bands either I’ll give Gifts From Enola credit for mixing a lot of different sounds into their music- acoustic parts, electronics, heavier bits, and most anything else short of the kitchen sink- to make for a pretty cohesive whole. It definitely sounds like they are enjoying themselves by utilizing many different elements and having fun a long the way. “Weightless Thought” may be the most upbeat song on the record with it’s erratic sliding riff, but overall this makes for engaging background music. It’s not really anything I’ll be listening to repeatedly, but I can appreciate it for it’s creativity. (The Mylene Sheath, www.mylenesheath.com)

IRON AGE, “The Sleeping Eye”
It was sort of strange when I saw this band a couple years ago after hearing their first full length and enjoying their direct line of thought straight to the mind of Harley Flannagan via total Cro-Mags worship. After this I heard nothing about the group, until out of nowhere friends of mine who were into more powerviolence and stoner metal styled hardcore were raving about the new record Iron Age just delivered. Was this the same band? Did my friends have a sudden change in musical taste? Finally hearing the record for myself I can see a few noticeable things that are worthy of accolades- this record sounds huge. Apparently a good deal of money went into recording this, so it sounds pretty awesome. Secondly, they still sound like the Cro-Mags... mixed with the first three Metallica records. Maybe this is the draw for people across the board to love this record, I don’t really know. But yeah, if I was a metalhead in 1989 (I wasn’t really) I’d be in such a rush to find a patch of this band to sew onto my denim jacket I’d probably forget to avoid the route the jock kids took home from school and I’d probably receive the taunting of a lifetime. Of course, that’s all a hypothetical situation. And this still sounds like it was recorded in ‘87, shooting bolts of lightning up your ass. (Tee Pee Records, www.teepeerecords.com)

“MAKE YOUR PLACE”, by Raleigh Briggs
Another in the assortment of Do It Yourself books from the folks at Microcosm. I should totally feel like they are getting redundant with lots of books that essentially cover the same stuff in a slightly different way each time, yet each one seems to have it’s own personality and gives me something new to be interested in. And the fact that I just flew through this book with such interest leads me to think a couple things- I’m getting old and really domestic, and that my mother would probably love this book. So what does that say about me? Essentially, this is a book that (all handwritten and illustrated) goes through ways to make your own first aid materials/ medicines/ ointments, cleaning products, and gardening skills. There are numerous recipes for making everything from toothpaste to laundry detergent, all without the use of nasty chemicals and so on, so forth. I personally feel that’s a great idea and as someone who is a level 5 vegan I tend to think that I neglect these things more often than I ought to. So having a guide on how to make some of this stuff yourself naturally is a great resource. Plus, I’m an avid gardener, so having some additional info on that is cool as well. The medicinal info sounds like the sort of mumbo-jumbo Grandpa Simpson would spout off, expect that these really are old timey-type cures for things like headaches, fevers, burns, and other minor ailments involving herbs, tinctures, and ointments. Neat stuff from a corner of the all-natural side of things often overlooked. (Microcosm, www.microcosmpublishing.com)

OUTRAGE, “Broken”
I feel like I’m stepping into the Lost Horizon, circa 1995 as an unidentifiable band is raging on stage and I’m still fresh-eyed and into everything that I see and hear at every show. Granted, the band is playing the same kind of chunky riffs that every other band is playing, but so what. I’m 17 and anything related to hardcore fucking rules no matter what. That’s what listening to the new Outrage record is like. Somehow these young dudes have channeled mid-90’s hardcore as if they were having a seance, drawing power from the ghost of Eric Allen and having John Pettibone officiating the proceedings. Or like some Luke/ Obi Wan Kenobi post-death guiding spirit sort of thing. Yes, many of these songs are about depression and being bummed on life, in the way that most people under the age of 25 are, and this definitely is not adding any new spokes to the proverbial wheel. Still they get the idea of how to do hardcore in a way that I grew up with and do it well. It’s most certainly a large step up from their EP and I’m pretty stoked on it. (Panic Records, www.panicrecords.net)

STRONGEST PROOF, THE, “Robot Eats a Steak” CDEP
Seriously, can the bands on this label come up with worse names for themselves or their records? “Robot Eats a Steak”? Are you kidding me? I’m going to up the ante and call my band’s next record, “Voltron Prepares Some Waffles”. It will be a concept record. All kidding aside, it’s very fortunate that this band has come up with some good songs or else the chiding would continue until the label information at the end of the review. Like other bands on the Phratry label, this group explores more of the post-hardcore/ indie territory with strong songwriting, progressive structures, and still manages to rock face with a sufficient deal of heaviness, executed in a rather clever manner. Some of these songs tend to get a little long, but they still work without getting bogged down in filler. Seven songs in 23 minutes, so it works out to holding my attention for just the right amount of time. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to download some coffee into my mainframe or some shit. (Phratry Records, www.phratryrecords.com)