Covering all the Music You Didn't Know About Since '96

Young Livers evokes post-hardcore gritty dank guitars that drop bombs similar to seminal outfit Drive Like Jehu. “Of Misery and Toil” burns no bridges as they embark upon a steady diet of breakdowns, odd song structures, and tinkering with what we’ve all come to expect from post-indie rock outfits. Mid-range rhythms with some blasts of devastation that are few and far between remind me of a Far that doesn’t deploy a melodic singer (think Hot Water Music) and nods firmly in the direction of punk rock. Each song evokes an immediate attention span quadrant that scans the horizon looking for something better but comes up empty. I swear they are a few decades removed from the DC hardcore scene.

Yet another notch in the holy belt of engineer and musician Kurt Ballou (Converge), “The God Complex” was recorded in his den of awesome, God City Studios in Massachusetts and boasts annihilating aggressive hardcore that strays from conventions. Another Breath was formed in 2003 by a bunch of friends that grew up in “The City with a Future”, also known as Fulton, New York – yeah I know, that’s a misnomer, no one has heard of it…but maybe in the future? Anyway, this eleven-song masterpiece churns out perfected lyrical writing by singer Ted Winkworth (doesn’t his last name sound like some Golden Ticket winner from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”)? Okay I digress. The guitars are aggressive blending harmony with dissonance. Each song seems to build off the last and by the end of the LP, you feel like you just experience a 12-round slug fest with the best boxer in the sport. Isn’t it awesome that at this point in the realm of hardcore, there are still bands reinventing the genre?

Check them out on MySpace.

Plus peep some footage of their record release show:

Atlanta may not be best known as a haven for post-hardcore outfits, but perhaps with the self-titled EP by Lakehurst is Burning from one of my personal favorite indie labels, Reason Y Records, that could all change in a blink of an eye. Angular guitars combine with splendid melodies that brine together the best offerings of DC post-hardcore/indie rock ala Fugazi and the smart emocore (you know, what REAL emo is/was?) that so many rock musicians these days seem to have sadly forsaken for the ridiculousness of screamo and bland noise rock. The Paper Champions unfortunately fell apart after six great years in 2008, but Lakehurst is Burning, which features three out of four members of that super group, formed in its wake shortly thereafter. If you don’t know – and few that consider themselves “in the know” wouldn’t, The Paper Champions were gifted with plenty of success ranging from a prized inclusion on Deep Elm Records’ widely acclaimed “Emo Diaries” compilation series and also their “Ask Emma” was featured on MTV’s coveted Road Rules soundtrack – their ’04 debut full-length “Weekend of Compromise” being one of the early success of the aforementioned Atlanta imprint Reason Y, but it was their 4-song EP, “End. Transmission” that was their most critically acclaimed album. Sadly that band is no more, but if this self-titled debut EP shows us anything, it’s that the creative juices and intelligent songwriting that went into each passionate cut that The Paper Champions penned hasn’t been lost and indeed seems to have been fostered into something new being just as propulsive and essential. How’d they get this interesting moniker you ask? Well the band name is a reference to an air force base in Lakehurst, New Jersey where brother Jason (vocals/guitar) and Brad Neubert (drums)’s great-grandfater manned the tethers for the doomed Hindenburg zeppelin that tragically burst into flames killing 36 people. Despite the bleak band moniker, the album is a refreshing and captivating adventure of post-hardcore indie rock with gritty song structures of intriguingly paced time signatures and mature yet dark lyrics. Fascinating album that seemingly offers something new and exciting with each listen.

Buy Entire Album on MP3 on Amazon | Listen to “Captain, This is Crazy” [Free MP3 Download]

Watch a Live Video from their CD Release Party:

Okay so I admit this review is well over due. But just because I’ve been slacking off, doesn’t deride any of the importance of how truly epic and essential Converge’s seventh record release is. Jacob Bannon (singer) and Kurt Ballou (guitarist) are two of the most influential people in metal/hardcore/heavy music today, with Kurt Ballou having established himself as one of music’s most revered producers/engineers with his God City Studio a well-sought after destination. Ballou’s resume in the production, recording, and engineering realm is as impressive as his own musical one with a long resume that includes The Hope Conspiracy, pg. 99, Cave In, Modern Life is War, Blacklisted, Champion, Scars of Tomorrow, Orchid, and Paint it Black among many others. Indeed the group as a whole is a visceral auteur of heavy music, paving the way for many other experimental and chaotic bands to land into a scene that is welcoming, always moving, and rarely if ever stagnant. On “Axe to Fall”, Converge yet again expands their horizons with wavering and sober moments like “Cruel Bloom” featuring bluesy gravelly vocals sung by Steve Von Till (Neurosis) amid moist piano and ambient acoustic guitars. “Wretched Bloom” also features a guest vocalist in Genghis Tron’s Mookie Singerman who smoothly pours out a velvet of clean vocals that oddly complement the typical raging storm of Bannon’s ferocity. The album pours out buckets of emotion into a room that was once soaked with blood but is now drying, peeling off red-flecked paint chips like a million past childhoods wrought with self-destructive actions, something a song like the punk-fueled “Cutter” seems to cry out on. Converge are champions of everything heavy and prove their worthiness of the crown by dipping their quill into an inkwell of heavy rock, visceral chaotic metal, churning hardcore, and melodic heavy alternative art. “Axe to Fall” will fell an entire forest before it’s through rockin’ you out.

I can’t believe more people aren’t gushing and obsessing about Prize Country. “With Love” is a fantastic journey across the myriad of DC hardcore via their hometown of Portland, Oregon with firm nods towards the late great Quicksand. We should all band together and make this band a huge success so that guitarist Jacob Depolitte doesn’t have to drive a cab for a living anymore (unless of course he wants to do it as a side hobby). With artwork done by renowned Philly poster artist, Mike Wohlberg, “With Love” is the total package. Riff heavy guitar-centric post-hardcore that boasts bass-heavy glides and sleekly dirty production and engineering efforts that was polished perfectly by recording engineer and producer Stephen Hawkes. Songs like “Gamble” and “It Was a Night Just Like Tonight” will make you forget your deep seeded resentment towards the demise of groups like Quicksand and Snapcase. This is one of the most essential albums this year, taking Fugazi to task with their intrepid backdrop of caustic guitar chords and surging melodic vocal yells.

Monotonous melodic metallic hardcore fear not, Germany’s Zero Mentality is on the case. “Black Rock” turns in a rousing and churning militant version of the over-hyped genre with smashing harmonies and crushing dynamics. Drumming is steady while the vocals sound like a blunt Blitzkrieg of tortured emotions and liberating lyrics. Steady guitars fuel the energy while the bass undercuts the rhythm with stabbing efficiency. This album has so many surprises in store for anyone willing to give it a good honest listen. Perfect soundtrack to a sweaty workout too by the way!

Boston’s hardcore outfit Lions Lions is a melodic strong band that doesn’t believe in just playing shows to play shows. Instead, the group dominates the stage, often expressing every single solitary emotion that they’ve felt since the last tour with dripping sweat authority. Smart harmonies dominate each song, vocally taking the band into the realm of visionary as well as visceral. Produced by Alan Day and Dan O’Connor of Four Year Strong, “From What We Believe” is the perfect album for big-time fans of Thursday and Therefore I Am – of course the band features ex-members of that group so that’s pretty understandable. Rangy guitars ruminate over vowels of melody while the drumming punctuates the sweet and salty posterior of a well-worked out body amid a grunge-filled universe. Niiice.

Despite the new singer Jason Woods, It Dies Today still sounds as tight as ever, as if this group who formed originally in 2001. Their hybrid brand of metalcore, screamo, and hardcore remains solid despite the over-arching clichés that blot the genre. After all, how many bands that brush their hair back the wrong way would still have the balls to cover Duran Duran’s classic “Come Undone” and actually make it sound pretty damn good. Mike Hatalak not only plays in the band but recorded and engineered “Lividity” and churned out a damn fine sound. While It Dies Today may not be a band that writes memorable or awe-inspiring classics, they do write energetic classic metallic-edged tunes. And hell that’s worth something these days.

Earlier this year Trustkill Records inked Italian metallic hardcore outfit Awaken Demons to a deal and launched upon a PR campaign online to promote the launch of their full-length “The Mirror”. With guest vocal slots filled by the likes of Karl Buechner (Path of Resistance, Earth Crisis, Freya) and The Acacia Strain’s Vincent Bennet, “The Mirror” was sure to garner some attention regardless. The album is riff-heavy with firm nods towards the late ‘90s era of metal-edged hardcore. Blasting through the confining walls that the hardcore label can sometimes bring, the group sludges guitar slams with energetic and passionate screams and yells alongside an amalgam of thrashy drumming and gut-wrenching bass slaps. The band is set to embark on a tour with labelmates It Dies Today as well as Century Media’s own Arsonists Get All the Girls. You can stream the album online at Trustkill’s site.

Produced by Casey Bates, he of Portugal The Man, A Skylit Drive and Chiodos fame (wow doesn’t he feel ashamed, but I guess everyone needs a paycheck, right?), “Sleepwalking” is the debut of this Texas hardcore outfit. Memphis May Fire fires off a double combo of melodic vocals, pinch harmonic guitars with screamo and aggro-rock velocity. Their singer left in the middle of their recording with the band “forced” to do a publicity stunt, err, an open audition on MySpace. The result wasn’t a bad choice as Matt Mullins can certainly punctuate a tune with fierce precision but you have to wonder how much is auto-tuned and how much isn’t in this day and age of mall-punk melodies and clone-core. While this band is a cliché and their sound a dime-a-dozen now-a-days, it still has its merits, just not worthy enough to really mention outside of a yawning cast-off comment. Okay I am just kidding, the only merits it boasts is that they are being paid to make music while we are not. Want to run down the list of clichés? Here’s your bulleted list:

1.)    “Funny” song titles that have nothing to do with the lyrics – “You’re Lucky It’s Not 1692” and “North Atlantic vs. North Carolina”

2.)    Obligatory mention of God/Jesus – Liner notes thank God while lyrics say idioms like “We are the chosen, and we claim your life tonight. Breathe in the light that surrounds us. Can you feel it?”

3.)    Screamo/post-emo vocals and pinched harmonics with plenty of generic “breakdowns” – Album weeps of this tired cliché

4.)    Packaged sound – You could listen to this blindfolded and not hear a single iota of Texan hardcore influence, in fact this is as packaged and mall generic as it gets.

Yawn.

Remember when Trust Kill released good music?