MAY REVIEWS- SOME LIVE, SOME RECORDED, ALL REAL.

There hasn’t been a heck of a lot of time on my end to really sort through a ton of new music this last month because I’ve been really, really busy with other music-associated things (well, and some non-music associated things).  But I think that allows some room for other music reviews of the live variety and not so much the recorded kind.

Most notably I hosted a pair of Hex Records 25th anniversary shows here in Portland on May 3rd-4th.  The lineup was of bands past and present I have done stuff for, as well as a few friends new and old.  Both shows were a fantastic grouping of old friends from near and far under one roof for a couple nights of wild music.  I was beyond surprised to see a few people traveled quite some distance to be there and for that I am truly thankful.

                               Special letterpress posters made for the shows by your truly

On the first night Seattle’s Yellfire opened up with their exceptionally tight and plodding hardcore crunch.  These kids have a full length recorded that’s just waiting to be released and when it does, let me tell ya, it’s gonna crush.

The guys from Wipes flew in from Pennsylvania for a weekend in the Northwest paying several shows, this being the first after crashing at my house for an extra day and me showing them all the tourist-y sights Portland had to offer.  It was my first time seeing them with Ben on guitar and they played a bunch of new stuff as well as a few from the “Making Friends” LP released a year back.  Even on borrowed gear they sounded great.

                                                                Wipes

I knew I had to get the lifers in The Helm to come down from Tacoma/parts unknown to play a rare show because they’ve been a part of this label forever.  Even Bob, their original vocalist and one of my oldest friends for the last 25 years came down but I did not expect him to join them on stage for a few songs too.  Still, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the loudest fucking bands on the planet.  You could hear them down the block.

                                                        Das Helm mit das Bob

Gaytheist wrapped things up because they are pride of Portland (OK, Vancouver too) and never play a bad set.  I was happy to join them on stage for a pair of covers, though I’m not saying what they were because it would ruin the surprise I have in store a couple months from now, but there were kazoos involved.  I will say, though, they played a bunch of new songs which they will be recording starting later this week for a new full length.  So there’s that.

On night two the locals in Coffin Apartment opened with their serpentine, labyrinth metal akin to the weirdness of Voivod.  These dudes will warp your mind.

Next were semi-local (ok, 2/3 local) rock powerhouse Kinghorn.  What a fantastic band.  I’ve known Aaron for going on 15 years now, starting back when I hit him up about doing a record for his old band Prize Country and Kinghorn maintains some of that same gigantic post-hardcore sound.  And seeing as Brandon is an old Rochester head, well, we have some NY love in us.  See the accompanying review of their massive new LP below.

                                                                Kinghorn

Brain Cave also decided to make a Northwest weekend of things by flying out from Cleveland and were similar bedfellows to Kinghorn, though maybe a bit more punk?  Maybe more raw?  Either way those dudes are sweet and I’m so happy I was able to release a split for them last year.  Their new full length is a ripper too. They kind of did the reverse routing of Wipes so as to vary up their paths and not complicate things too much.

Finally, the old buds in Great Falls closed out the celebration with a caustic set culled primarily from their excellent “Objects Without Pain” record.  I have such a long history with these guys and their bands past and present and having them be a part of this was really a highlight.

                                               Great Falls make their amps catch smoke

As an addendum to the weekend, I ventured up to Bellingham the next day because 1) I’d never been there and 2) Wipes were wrapping up their weekend of shows there with Yellfire again at the legendary Shakedown.  Despite it being cold and rainy I took in some sights around town and it’s a great little place.  The show itself was a good time as The Shakedown has one of the best sound systems of any venue I’ve ever been at and makes every band playing sound absolutely massive.  So both Wipes and Yellfire sounded ridiculously good in that spot.  If you’re a band coming through the area you really ought to try and play there, if anything just to sound better than you ever did anywhere else.

And as a nightcap of sorts, while I wasn’t able to see Brain Cave at their Sunday show up in Vancouver, WA at the fabulous Ronald Records, a couple of them did stick around an extra day and we all went to see Metz and Gouge Away rip it up at the Wonder Ballroom back in Portland.  This isn’t my first time seeing Metz there (I think I’ve seen them 4 times since living in the Northwest), so I knew what to expect.  However, if you have not caught Gouge Away since they returned at the beginning of this year you need to change that.  Their new album is incredible and they’re on fire live.  During Metz a couple of them did a song together from the new Metz record and it was a very cool collaboration.

                                                      the most excellent Gouge Away

And that’s that for the shows.  But coming up quick (like later this week quick) I will be in Minneapolis for the annual Caterwaul Fest and I’ll be slinging records all weekend. If you’re there come say hi and disagree with me on my musical opinions.  Or buy a record.  Or make sure to see Facet since they’ll be there again.  Or maybe a bunch of the 3 dozen other bands playing throughout the long weekend.  It will certainly be worth your while.  It’s a great time.  Personally, I’m very excited to see Murf, Dug (again), Neckbolt, Part Chimp (first time), Oxbow (first time, somehow), Couch Slut (seriously, first time, geez), the always wonderful J. Robbins, The Austerity Program, Another Heaven, and finally getting to check out Porcelain.  Hoping to see some friends from near and far once again and riding the city’s fine meth-scented public transit system.

But now let’s get to some actual recorded music reviews….

To start, I was kind of late to the party on Full Of Hell, but I have thoroughly enjoyed their last three full lengths and have grown to admire their prolific output, kitchen-sink approach to combining extreme subgenres, and various side collaborations (though I’ll say most of those have not done it for me personally, respect nonetheless).  On their newest full length, “Coagulated Bliss”, I’ll come right out and say it- as much as I have been a fan of the art of Brian Montouri over the years this has got to be one of the most unappealing pieces of cover art I’ve seen in recent memory.  Hoo boy, it’s…. not good. It looks like an 80’s Trapper Keeper met a B-horror trash film.  But thankfully Full Of Hell remain consistent in their quality to deliver.  At this point it’s almost expected they throw some curveballs and you get that with a couple more straightforward, mid-paced songs, as well as a couple nods towards industrial-tinged noise metal.  Yet the bulk of this is short songs, thick with grindcore blasts, noise rock feedback, guttural vocals, and furious riffing.

And now for something completely different: Having fronted Chicago’s Melkbelly for quite some time Miranda Winters has set out with a full length under the name Mandy.  I was so taken with Melkbelly when I initially discovered them and had described them basically as The Breeders with hyperactive drumming.  On “Lawn Girl”, Winters takes us through nine tracks that have her unmistakeable voice and catchy/fuzzy songwriting, so there’s definitely a familiarity not unlike Melkbelly.  But I’m unsure of who she has accompanying her so that wild drumming is out of the picture and instead…. well, it definitely sounds a lot like The Breeders.  Not like that could ever be a bad thing.  The record is back-and-forth between  big fuzzy rockers (the first two tracks “Forsythia” and “High School Boyfriend” are magical earworms of weird pop perfection), and several tracks of lo-fi recorded-in-the-closet style acoustic tracks.  All in all it’s a great listen from a very unique and exceptionally awesome songwriter.

In a turn towards the familiar, perpetually griping and flustered with every iota of existence Grizzlor have never minced words about what’s grinding their gears and this new EP , “I Hate the Internet” pretty much sums things up.  But just to even it out there’s also a song here called “I Complain Too Much”.  Over the years Grizzlor have moved more towards faster songs rather than their initial sludgy sound, but they continue to lay it on thick with chunky riffs, crazed vocals, and a misanthropic streak a mile wide.  And always some weird sci-fi sounds just to round things out.  The third and final song (and title track) does slow down with a crushing weight though so for the sludge fans you get that and a whole bunch of dial-up sampling.  Just to drive the point home you can purchase this thing on a burned CD.

And in more familiarity, let me paint a visual picture for you:  you’re in the Northwest and you’re hiking through the woods.  You have a beard, naturally. You’re drinking either the strongest coffee known to man, or you just slammed a tap into the side of a hill and beer came out.  You then come to the end of the forest to an open meadow and witness a mountain being born.  That is the sound of the new Kinghorn album, “Empty Handed”.  It’s massive majestic riff rock/post-hardcore, whatever.  All you really need to know is it is both melodic and incredibly heavy.  The vocals go from gruff singing to a mighty roar through songs that err a bit on the longer side, but hardly go on for too long.  If you’ve never been this is what all people in the Northwest do, so Kinghorn is like the song of the people out here.  Just accept it.

I could have sworn Moon Pussy had two other full lengths before this new one just dropped, but I’m wrong on that.  However, they did throw out a split or two prior to this so maybe that’s where I’m confused.  Either way, this is the new LP and it’s called  “Death Is Coming” and has about the most simple cover art you could imagine.  These Denver cats are likely some of the cheeriest people you will ever meet, despite the morbid title of this record and they have always been completely their own thing.  Their skronky stop-go noise rock is always recorded in a weird way and some of the bizarre sound is on account that I’m pretty sure they have, to some degree, built their own guitars.  So between odd distortion, strained vocals, unusual arrangements and a somewhat lo-fi recording they’re not always the most accommodating listening experience.  But if you ever see them live they really kill it and sound quite brash and intense.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve been aware of anything Brad Elrod has played on and you may be wondering, ‘just who is this guy?’ To me, though, his drumming on two of my favorite Today Is the Day records remains incomparable and completely singular.  Nothing sounds like it.  It’s so alien and progressive, yet pummeling and abrasive.  So here we are some 30 years later and he’s in this band Nerve Debt, and they have debuted their first recording, “Pleural Hymns”.  Musically, it’s just as sonically dense and grating as anything else he’s been on but the drumming, for the most part, is dialed back a bit.  This makes room for massive guitars and heavy rhythms to take front and center (though you’ll hear a lot of off-time fills on “Binding”).  Nerve Debt write longer songs mostly and they fall somewhere between Neurosis’ epic heaviness (complete with some between-song samples), Ires’ similar take bent more metallic, and the slower moments you might hear from older KEN Mode.  For a debut demo/EP it’s a solid effort.

HEX RECORDS SINGLE SERIES FOR MAY- CANYONS COVER CLUTCH!

 

I didn’t originally have any Clutch songs on my list for bands to cover. But then I got talking to my man Bobby Johnson about the project and he offered for his band to tackle something.  I threw a few out there, knowing his band Canyons had already done an entire EP of Clutch covers, thinking they would rather try out something else.  But nope.  They went with my recommendation of “Rock N’ Roll Outlaw”, which is quite possibly one of the the most badass Clutch songs out there.  

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Clutch has some major impact on the sound of Hex Records by any means.  But they’re a band that take me to a particular time in my life.  When I first heard Clutch they had that heavy angle I enjoyed, but there were also those outrageous vocals from Neil Fallon.  Not only does he have that gravely, commanding voice, but his lyrics are ridiculous- deep-pocket pop culture references, too-smart-to-be-goofy cobbled together nonsense- or are they genius?  Whatever the case, my friends and I loved it.  Their first two full lengths were in constant rotation when we would all pile into our friends car each morning on the way to school and we would sing along to it all.

In a way, I am always seeking out bands not doing the typical thing, who mess with convention.  Clutch have certainly been a band like that, always doing things their way, on their terms.

And I suppose that’s where Bobby and Canyons fit in. Since coming across Bobby’s label The Ghost Is Clear it was immediately evident that this is also a dude that does things his own way, on his own terms, and is always pushing forward.  It’s always cool to talk shop with other label people about how they do things, their approach, and so on, and Bobby and I chat a lot about that stuff.  So respect.

It’s all about people doing their own thing, doing it their own way, and being weird as hell about it.  Perhaps that makes us all rock and roll outlaws.

LISTEN HERE.

A MIXED BAG OF REVIEWS FOR YA.

 

I know I’m extremely partial to Wipes, so rather than some biased puff-up about how great they are I’ll just give you the facts.  They haven’t been around long really but they’ve been prolific- a full length and split (both released by yours truly), as well as a 7”, several comp appearances, and now this new tape EP “Vacuum” showing off what they’ve been up to lately.  One of the things I love about them is that they can take a very simple riff and then just beat it to death through tons of distortion and feedback to the point where you’re just as honked off as they are.  All four of these new tracks move rather slow, as in focusing on the sludgy side of the band but opener “More To This” has one of their well-worn bizarrely melodic leads while the other three focus more on blunt force.  They released this one locally so follow that link to the Lehigh Valley and get crushed.

But let’s cut to the big guns here: It’s already been a big year for some of my favorite noisy bands, what with both Pissed Jeans and Gouge Away releasing awesome new records.  Now we got Metz entering the fray with their fifth formal outing, “Up On Gravity Hill”.  What do you do when you’re as prolific as these guys and you’re this deep into your time as a band?  Is it any surprise they’re trying out some new things here?  On one end it’s the same Metz you know and love.  On the other, they take those melodies (both in the vocals and guitars) that they regularly display under sheets of guitar scree and distortion and bring them up front.  They also go in on songs that stretch out a bit more, which they will do with a lot of their fan favorites in the live setting, playing with some longer form tracks.  But this is the overall cleanest-sounding Metz record to date.  They’re still writing mostly the same kinds of songs, they just recorded them a bit differently to be honest.  “99”, “Glass Eye”, and “Entwined” are rippers but I bet every one of these tracks will sound massive live, which I fully intend to experience when they out my way next month.

Following up on that, as in bands I’m seeing next month, Couch Slut are the kind of band where if you were to encounter them on the subway you’d be torn between feeling compelled to call a crisis line to do a wellness check on them and slowly backing off to the next train car because these people are fucked up and you don’t have time for that mess in your life right now. One their fourth full length, “You Could Do It Tonight”, I’m considering calling 911, but also compelled to watch the carnage like slowing down when passing a car wreck on the highway.  Though I think members here lived in bumfuck, PA the band is basically NYC and I make that distinction because they feel like true heirs to the throne of Unsane’s NYC scum-rock crown; the kind of filthy, mean, and fucked up harshness that came from existing in the city in the 80’s.  Couch Slut kind of bring that harsh unease to the present tense with stories of self-injury, bad jobs, and lots of drugs.  “The Weaverville Home For Boys” is some total nightmare story that I really hope is true, or gets made into a John Carpenter movie.  Crazy visuals, as always, ties this whole thing together.

On to the category of ‘follow-up’s to things I picked up on not too long ago and they already have something new out’ bands and there’s a few:

Edging dropped their hilariously titled “Concrete Cumming” EP just recently (I mean, along with the band name there’s definitely some humor there) and it’s awesome when a band can be a total force between great music, addressing some serious ideas while being engaging, and still have a bit of fun to back it all up.  Their live shows look like they’re completely off the hook and musically?  Well, let’s say this leaped out at me when I caught wind of them a few months back because I’m all for saxophones in punk.  And this is some wild-ass saxophone punk.  Sure, they toss in a more chill, slower vibe here and there like middle track “Dawn”.  But by and large the songs are short, the music is fast, the vocals are howled, saxophone is wailing, and you’re flipping out or dead if you’re not.  Compared to their last release I’d say they doubled down on some more harmonized vocal parts to make things a little catchier, but they still manage to teeter on the edge of chaos and ass-shaking punk rock.

If I can be as concise as possible, Vulture Feather was my biggest ‘holy shit, where did this come from’ band of last year.  Granted, I came across them just shy of the new year but it still counts.  Their debut LP, “Liminal Fields”, they released last spring should be on your immediate list of things to check out because it’s damn near perfect.  For those who love the sound of Lungfish this is your replacement fix. Think lots of clean guitar, trance-like repetition, fantastic melodies, and wailing vocals.  So now that I’m in the loop I was quick to snap up this new 10”- “Merge Now In Friendship”- they released that is three new songs (though it feels like four) and it takes a bit of different turn in terms of overall feel.  “Liminal Fields” was full of shimmering, beautiful songs.  The first two tracks here have more of a dark feel (despite the opening track being titled “Friendship”), and the B-side sort of continues a bit of that darkness before it breaks into it’s second half (hence the EP feeling like a total of four songs) where it turns into that familiar full and shimmering sound of their LP.  It’s not exactly what I hoped for from the band, but it’s a nice placeholder until they deliver another full length.

Finally, there’s not much that’s more immediately gratifying than hardcore played super fast and angry.  It’s that quick shot of adrenaline that’s just so satisfying.  It’s even better when the people playing it are actually really good at their instruments and Planet On a Chain prove that once again on their newest album “Culture Of Death”.  Their resume of past bands reads like a fastcore directory of royalty so you know you’re in good hands with this.  The riffs are sharp, the sound is huge, the drum fills are constant and mind-boggling, and writing about records like this is super easy because there’s no deep nuance to be described.  It’s fucking fast, it’s hardcore, and it will make you want to drive your car off a cliff at full speed.  ‘Nuff said.

And now to a few things that are very new to me, and that I have enjoyed very much:

First off, I’m fully aware that I’m an incredibly predictable person.  It serves as both a positive and a negative.  On one end predictability can equal boring. On the other hand, it also makes me reliable and I know I have very good taste about certain things.  So trust me when I say that the new album from DC’s Tosser, “Sheer Humanity”, is fucking great.  I’m a total sucker for big, heavy 90’s guitar rock and Tosser must have taken a time machine and followed me around high school taking notes and then crafting songs based on sounds farting around in my brain all day.  They take cues on tone and drawling vocals from the likes of Hum, but also energetic rock that harkens to riff-sniffers like Smile, Shift, Dino Jr, even some time-change fuckery and feedback worship you’d hear in a Helmet dirge.  I think they have been a band for awhile now and have some other stuff under their belt so the real question is ‘where have I been this whole time?’

Continuing (the joke will pay off in a moment) on bands from DC, I need to preface that we all have some of those people who no matter what band they’re doing you’re going to check it out because you trust in them as musicians to give you something of value.  Continuals (ba-dum-dum-pssh) are one of those bands. I know they’re not going to really ‘get out there’ per se, but they have enough bona fides in their resumes to have Dischord release their debut album (after a few singles).  So Ryan Nelson (of The Most Secret Method, at one time of Beauty Pill) and Darren Zentek (of Kerosene 454, Oswego, Channels, Report Suspicious Activity, etc) are the two names here I know.  Some of those bands I listed are favorites of mine of the DC realm.  Continuals doesn’t really sound like them, though I’ll say there are similarities between this and some of the stuff Nelson was a part of when he was in Beauty Pill and musically it reminds me quite a bit of Zenteks project Oswego.  It’s mostly relatively mellow, but there’s always cool drum stuff happening, especially with interesting arrangements and patterns.  Is it what you might expect from something released on Dischord these days, that being middle-aged fellers who used to sweat it out in basements playing very loudly who now hash it out on the weekends playing interesting music at a respectable volume?  Yes.  Is it still good?  Oh yes.

Lastly, there’s been quite a bit of fanfare around the locals in Amusement.  And while they’re a new band they’re hardly ‘new’ as members have resumes the length of a telephone pole.  The excitement is palpable as I caught their first show last summer but didn’t actually see much because I was crammed into a basement the size of a shoebox with like 200 other people. If this group isn’t already booked to play Fest those Floridians need to put down the Pabst and get crackin’ on ensuring this is every attendees favorite new band.  So even though they will surely appeal to that crowd with their nods to stuff like Samiam and Leatherface there’s a bit of Northwest dirge in their sound too with some chunky guitars and great tones reminiscent of Seaweed.  They put it all out there for ya with not one, but two different debut 7”s.

HEX RECORDS 25th ANNIVERSARY SINGLE SERIES- APRIL- WIPES COVERING KARP!

 

I first met Ray from Wipes when he was in the band Tile.  Tile was basically the predecessor for Wipes and share a very similar sound.  I had heard their music a few months before and was hooked on it’s massive sludgy punk ugliness.  We got to know one another and we would chat regularly, and I made it known how much I’d love to work together.  My intent was that I’d always do a record or something for Tile, but it didn’t come to pass.  Instead, Ray started Wipes to carry the torch and we finally had a chance to work together on a record. 

Now let me talk a bit about KARP.  I love KARP.  I love that they embodied humor, that touch of something that’s in the water of the Northwest, and most of all that friggin’ bass tone.  Holy shit that tone.  I randomly came across the self-titled LP when it came out, and likely while I was traveling around the Northwest, and I bought it just because it looked cool and they had a cool name. These days, as superficial as it may seem in the whole spectrum of reasons to put a record out for a band, getting a sound like KARP did really makes an impression upon me.

I can’t say for sure if KARP is an influence upon Wipes, like consciously.  But I think Wipes are able to take those sort of super ugly sounds, and tons of feedback, and turn it into a super catchy riff and to me that’s golden.  So I tasked them with covering KARP with the sole restriction that it be something from the self-titled LP and they came back with the repetitive, dirgey monster of “Forget the Minions”.  That being said, I’ll take a page from Ray’s past body of work and reappropriate it in my own way as a greeting to Wipes:  You’ve Got a Friend in the Northwest.

Speaking of which, WIPES are going to embark on their first trip to the Northwest very soon.  How’s that for timing and kismet?  Here’s the dates:

Friday, May 3rd- Portland @ Fixin To (Hex Records 25th anniversary show)

Saturday, May 4th- Seattle, WA @ The Kraken

Sunday, May 5th- Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown

Now go listen to the cover:  https://hexrecords.bandcamp.com/track/wipes-forget-the-minions

CAN'T BELIEVE ALL THIS NEW STUFF I'M WRITING ABOUT OVER HERE

There’s almost too much this month.  I’m admittedly overwhelmed.  I might even have to push a couple great things to next month, but I’ll try to get it all in here.  Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked.  So let's converse about some new stuff.

I’m starting things off with a very biased review because this is a band that is very near and dear to me, both in their recorded output and as people.  I’ve had the distinct pleasure and privilege to release the last couple of USA Nails records and now they are off to bigger and better things with their brand new LP “Feel Worse” and I wish them all the success in the world.  That all being said, if you’ve liked any of their other records you will be completely satisfied with this one.  Like their other records it’s got a big opener, a bunch of fast and catchy/quirky/noisy rippers, a couple offbeat more experimental tracks (that are also still somehow really catchy), and a couple slower ones as well.  They manage to meld the best of post-punk, noise rock, chaotic punk, and wild guitar effects and everything they do is immediately memorable and fun.  Naturally, I’m a bit partial to the material I had a hand in releasing, but this one is just excellent and I’m super proud/stoked for these English gents.

And that brings us to Cell Press, a clan of Canucks who I’ve had the pleasure of releasing material for in members other bands.  Honestly, what a group of sweethearts making some of the most abrasive math-y/gnarled music around.  If you need an introduction you get dudes from Great Sabatini and Bleak bringing those same sort of twisted and chunky riffs supported by some of the wildest drumming you’ll hear north of Niagara Falls.  And I’ll go on permanent record that Mark McGee is by far one of the nicest people you’ll ever encounter.  Maybe it’s all that Tim Horton’s up there keeping the Canadians happy.  Or perhaps they’re mainlining all that coffee and maple syrup getting them juiced up to create insane heavy music like this.  Mesh early Mastodon, best-era Melvins, and fellow countrymen KEN Mode and you’re getting an idea of what Cell Press is up to on this second release from them.  But you know they all listen to Kittens too because no self-respecting Canadian skips on that.

But now to rewind just a bit. Last fall I had the chance to finally see Deaf Club and the expected level of spastic chaos was most certainly to my satisfaction.  In short, they fuckin’ killed it.  And it led me to thinking about bands firmly rooted in punk/hardcore but doing something next-level, pushing the sound into dangerous and exciting territory.  And I think by teaming up with both HIRS Collective and Fuck Money for a split you get three of the most forward-thinking/sounding hardcore bands around.  I better not have to tell you about HIRS and how much they rule.  You need to know this.  Deaf Club and HIRS collaborate on their side of the split for one original that is all chaos, blast beats, noisy guitars making alien sounds, and wild riffs.  They also duo on a cover of “Tourettes” that is most definitely apt for both groups.  The B-side is newer Austin-based Fuck Money who have a similar approach to both Deaf Club and HIRS, but incorporating more electronic element, or at least grating industrial sounds that are melded into their nihilistic punk.  This is all tied together with some most excellent art from the one and only Paul Rentler who makes some of wackiest collages of freak art around these days.  It’s crazy to think Sub Pop co-releasing this as well, but big up’s to all these bands for doing something rad.

Shifting gears, and moving towards some more publicly anticipated releases, Gouge Away make an awesome return after several years away.  I thought for sure they were either donezo, or became extremely part-time.  But here they are with “Deep Sage”, an incredible release showing the group expand their sound even more, taking new chances, and having them pay off in a big way.  Plus, I can claim them as locals since half the band lives in Portland now.  I was genuinely elated when they did a one-off show here in January to test out some of these new songs live (the album was apparently written in spurts between 2018-2019 before they took a big hiatus with playing in other bands, moving, some pandemic thing, etc) and it just makes me incredibly happy to have a wonderful new record from them.  To me they’re still the same band regardless if they’re doing long fuzzed-out blissful tracks like “Dallas”, or fully embracing Fugazi guitar antics like on the title track and “Idealized”.  But if you dig the stuff you heard on “Burnt Sugar” that’s still here too on tracks like “No Release” and the super catchy “Spaced Out”.  This will probably end up being one of my favorite records this year.

Moving ahead, this ought to have been the lead because it’s the most well-known of the bunch, but when you’re six albums in as a band what can you do to change things up a bit and keep people interested without alienating them? Maybe that’s a question that was on the minds of the guys in Pissed Jeans and their newest album “Half Divorced”.  They’ve always been a really interesting band to me as they somehow stumbled onto exceptional popularity early in their career despite never really touring much at all.  They were picked up by Sub Pop early on, but continued to maintain a basement-level attitude about playing shows.  I can attest to this as I booked them at a community center where they just traveled up in a car with as much gear as they could pack in at some point while “King Of Jeans” was out in the world.  They have that rare opportunity to do short runs of shows in places and sell them all out (which was the case upon seeing them very recently) while just using all borrowed gear from the opening band.  And they still completely slay live.  The more I listen to “Half Divorced” it comes off as another worthwhile Pissed Jeans record, though I guess, if anything, they lean more into punk-hardcore pacing and approach to many of the songs here than on other records that I felt emphasized the noise rock angle more.  And maybe it’s all in the way this one was recorded as the production is a little cleaner.  But really, that’s about it.  They continue to do sobering lyrical humor better than most with deadpan observations about the mundane bullshit of adult life (i.e.- the record title and songs with names like “Helicopter Parent”).  This is the type of stuff to make you scream at the umpire when your kid gets a bad call on a strike at the youth league game and the other parents look at you like they’re considering calling child services.

Some sort of algorithm out there is doing its job to point me in the direction of bands I end up liking quite a bit.  Such is the case of Force Model, whom I really know nothing about aside from being located in Los Angeles.  I gave their debut full length "Found Camera" a listen on a lark and ended up loving it.  Force Model doesn’t really stick to one particular thing, but are certainly rooted in punk/hardcore, and also leaning pretty hard into 90’s underground alternative.  “Hangnail” is probably the track that perfectly showcases all their varied styles into a cohesive mix of catchy hooks, a heavy and driving chorus, hauntingly melodic bridges, and a loose punk tempo through much of the song.  The same can be said of the closing title track, which brings back a lot of energy after a couple more atmospheric tracks before it, with gigantic choruses/finale and an almost psych punk feel akin to more recent Fucked Up material (with sung vocals in place of gruff shouts).  Earlier in the record you get a couple fun, fast-paced punk stompers in “Temple/Bus Stop” and “Variety Jones” and I’m quite partial to those as well.

And while on the subject of notifications, but those I have somehow chosen, I keep getting messages from Daze about stuff they’re releasing and in all honesty, a lot of it doesn’t do it for me because I’m really not into beatdown hardcore.  Still, every once in awhile something from them catches my attention and in this case, when I saw the record cover for their newest release from Kidnapped I had to check it out because it looks like it could have been pulled from an Unsane B-roll. Yet “Disgust” doesn’t sound like what I thought it would but it still makes sense with the unpleasant cover art.  Think more furious powerviolence in the vein of skullcrushers like Infest, but with some heavier moments that recall when legends like Nasum wouldn’t blink at tossing in a breakdown to their warp speed grindcore.  Kidnapped follow a similar route, though not as concerned with technicality as they are with a ham-fisted approach to playing incredibly fast and with an attitude like a garbageman in a picket line.

I thought it would be nice to give a little highlight of hardcore-punk coming out of both where I grew up (Syracuse) and where I now live (Portland) in regards to new releases from bands from both towns.  First off, from my online view 3000 miles away Syracuse is dealing with a bit of a renaissance as of late with tons of wild shows, a slew of new-ish bands, and what appears to be a lot of new people coming out to see shows and I couldn’t be happier to know that’s happening in my storied little burg.  At the top of the heap are local metallic hardcore juggernauts Deal With God and their first real EP “The Bitter Die Hard”, six tracks that fall somewhere between the moshy hardcore that has been the calling card of my hometown for decades and the dark metallic assault of Integrity. While that may seem like nothing new in hardcore it’s the massive sound Deal With God gets on this EP, as well as their delivery that make it exceptional. And, ok, I’m a bit biased because I like to see people from back home get a win.  They keep most of the tracks short and sweet, mostly fast, and enough in-and-out breakdowns to keep you on your toes.  Honestly, you get everything you could want in a heavy hardcore song in the 73 seconds that comprise “Apparition”, so deal with that.

On my side of the country you get a far different hardcore vibe from the local Portlanders in Jade Dust who just dropped their third record, “Grey Skies”.  Jade Dust draw far more from late 80’s DC/Revolution Summer style hardcore and maybe a touch of East Bay melodic punk, and while it’s a far cry from the metallic rust belt hardcore I grew up with it’s a style I also adore and Jade Dust does their thing really well.  I’d say they draw deep, like real deep, because two of these tracks are covers- one from classic Dischord punks Ignition and the other from Chicago 80’s HC group Articles Of Faith.  I mean, who covers stuff like that these days?  Or this decade even?  That stuff is very lost to time.  But if you want an idea of what Jade Dust sound like those two reference points are quite apt I’d say.  While it’s a far more melodic affair they whip through 8 tracks in under 20 minutes, and like all their other records there’s some really cool art that adorns this one that makes you feel like you’re hiking out here in the Northwest.

Finally, I wanted to shout out my old friend Rob Pennington and his new-ish band Jupiter Hearts, who just released their second EP, “All That Pain You Left Behind”.  For one thing, I thought my dude was done with being in bands.  I also thought Jupiter Hearts was a one-off thing.  But here they are making more music and it’s further refined into a cohesive sound.  If you know me you know I love bands that can take from the DC/Dischord sound (any era really) and turn it into something cool.  Jupiter Hearts does just that by being a melodic hardcore band that definitely has it’s fair share of Faith/Ignition/Embrace influence.  The songs are primarily upbeat but have a sort of somber tone with “Two If By Sea” exemplifying that feeling the most as it moves slower than the other songs but is the standout track (to me anyway).

HEX 25th ANNIVERSARY SINGLE SERIES- MARCH- NAW COVERING BAD BRAINS!

 

In an attempt to get out of my own comfort zone of bands I already work with, or friends I’ve known for a long period of time, I thought of Atlanta’s NAW for this next cover.  I don’t really know any of them at all. 

The only thing I really knew about about them ahead of time was that I liked their name a lot.  Is it a Southern drawl of saying ‘no’, or is it a phonetic spelling of being chewed up and torn apart?  Could it be both?  Whatever it is it’s clever and I like that.  They have a great way of mixing metallic grungy heaviness with a punk leaning and vocals that alternate seamlessly from almost harrowed clean singing to one of the most evil screams you’re bound to hear.

So when I was drawing up a list of bands and songs I wanted to see covered I knew Bad Brains had to be on that list.  They basically invented hardcore.  And I thought to myself, ‘who, out of current bands that I know and appreciate, can do what they did?  Who has the technical skill to pull it off?  Who has a voice that can emulate HR’s manic howl and anthemic croon all at once?  How low can a punk get?’  And I thought ‘Naw has those qualities and I believe they take an amalgamation of subgenres and mash them into something exciting…. the same way Bad Brains can.’  Naw chose to cover “I Against I” and they stay true to the original’s quick-paced first half but then transform the second half of the song into a freaky mutant sludge befitting a band that has an original streak of their own going on with their own music.  I’d expect no less.  Thank you Naw for contributing “I Against I” to this series.  So yes to Naw.

LISTEN HERE

HEX RECORDS 25th ANNIVERSARY SHOWS!

 

We've done enough hint-dropping, date-reminding, and jibber-jabbing, so it's about time to drop the actual lineup for the Hex Records 25th anniversary shows! It will be held on Friday, May 3rd and Saturday May 4th. Both shows are happening at The Fixin To in Portland. You can get tickets in the link listed.

We're happy to have Gaytheist , Great Falls , The Helm , a couple pals from the East- Brain Cave and Wipes , as well as alumni from Kinghorn , and a some bands we just like- Coffin Apartment and Yellfire ! So maybe see ya in May?

TICKETS NIGHT 1

TICKETS NIGHT 2