Category: Punk

I remember the day this album came out (November 6th), I was sitting around lamenting the fact that my son will probably never experience or enjoy music stores the way I did as a child.  Even bigger stores like CD Plus, Music World, and Sam the Record Man appealed to me.  There was always something good kicking around the store.  I added many cds to my collection that I found in these types of stores on sale for 2 for 20 dollars or something like that.  I remember when Music World was shutting down, I actually found Pennywise’s About Time and The Fuse for a deal like that. At the time I was so excited, it had been over ten years since I had first heard About Time but I had never owned it.  One thing that also sticks out in my mind is that Tuesdays were new music day.  If something came out that I wanted I usually made sure I had it on release day. 

Now, I walk into an HMV (a very rare occurrence) and I usually leave and feel ashamed because I didn’t knock over the shelves or perform some other type of vandalism.  I can list a billion things that I feel are responsible for the downfall of music stores, but I will only name one, the internet and downloading music. 

Until the release date of this particular album, I never realized the  benefits of dowloading music.  That is the ability to circumvent new music Tuesday’s and release music anytime you want.  That I am thankful for.  Recently, Minneapolis’ resident hardcore punks Triple Crossed released a 5 track EP titled Raised on Ice, and it was done on a non-Tuesday, and it was done late at night. 

That isn’t even the best part, the music is.  With this album you get 5 hard hitting hardcore tracks that all come in at under 2 minutes in length.  I’m not much of fan of the hardcore genre, but I do like these guys.  I think it is because that everytime I listen to them I feel like there is a guy holding a camcorder and another bunch of kids riding around on skateboards nearby.  When I hear music like it, it makes me feel like there is still hope out there for music, and that although I have a billion reasons to blame for the fall of music stores, there a few good reasons to like the direction it is taking.

I have had this album kicking around since its release date and I have listened to it a few times, but tonight I finally took the time to pop the cd in and actually listen to it.  After listening, I figured while I was catching up on last week’s episode of The Walking Dead I would take the time to review the album. 

Last year, Polar Bear Club released Clash Battle Guilt Pride and it made many best of lists for 2011, including the top spot in my own.  I think I called the album the group’s “coming out party” a sort of “taking it to the next level” if you will.  So when I bought the album I thought I was mostly getting live acoustic versions of those songs.  I was wrong.  Included on the cd version are two cover songs, and the remaining 7 are songs which cover  their entire catalog. I am not saying that is a bad thing, I did like Chasing Hamburg, but not nearly as much as the record that followed.  So while these songs did not introduce me to anything new, what it did is let me experience and hear the songs in a different way.  Songs such as “Light of Local Eyes” or “Burned Out in a Jar” would not have made my favourites list from Chasing Hamburg but hearing them acoustically live gives me a new appreciation of them.  The live versions really showcase Jimmy Stadt’s vocals and bring new life to the songs.

My one issue with the collection is that it is only nine songs long, unless of course you received a digital download after buying the vinyl, in which case you got an additional 4 tracks including “Drifting Thing” and “Screams in Caves” which are two of my personal favourites from the band.  If it wasn’t for hearing the 4 additional I would have enjoyed Live at the Montage a lot less, but still it is a good live record that paints a new light on some older songs.

(c) 2011

[rating: 8.5/10]

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We Hate You is an album that clocked in late 2011 from Spanish punk rockers, The Pink Elephants. This new disc is the follow up to the 2009 release of 100% R&R Liquor. On the new album, this Barcelona band offers 13 tracks of punk / pop punk blend in a manner similar to a lot of early 90s punk (at least to my American ears) The accent brings a nice new spin to it that keeps it fresh.

The tracks are mid-tempo and clocking in around the late two to three minute mark. A bit lengthy for me, but by no means a stretch of the attention span. The sounds are familiar (hard to not have that anymore) but the band is plenty able to make those familiar sounds their own.

At the end of it all, what I get from this is the grand idea that if I ever visit Barcelona, and The Pink Elephants are playing, I know I’m going to try to catch that show.

–Jerry Actually

So a while back I asked Jerry if he had anything that he needed reviewed, he told me he would send me something over.  He sent me a link for a German pop punk band named One Mile Left. I didn’t have anything else I wanted to write about, plus Jerry buttered me up a bit by telling me they liked my Pennywise review.  So I took a listen without knowing anything about them, and not reading their bio. From the first few bars all I could think was Blink 182 circa Enema of the State. The guitar and vocal melodies were eerily reminiscent, and I could only picture the webcam scene from American Pie where Jim is trying to get it on with Nadia and the guys from Blink 182 are watching with a monkey.  Well the funny thing about that is that I later went back and read their bio that they sent and they mentioned being inspired by the pop-punk of The same time and actually mentioned American Pie as being an influence.

Don’t get me wrong, these guys aren’t carbon copies of Blink or anything like that, in fact they don’t  have the same use of humor in their music, but when you listen to the music there is no doubt about the bands and time that the music was influenced by.

With all that said, I like them, maybe it is just nostalgia and longing for my younger years considering I turned 32 today but this is something I could listen to.  I have loved pop-punk since the first time I heard “Longview” and this brings me back to those earlier years. Check them out, for fans of those late 90’s pop-punk years they are definitely worth a listen.

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© 2012 Asian Man Records
[rating:8/10]

Please join me in saying welcome to Sundials. Relatively new to the Asian Man Records roster and totally new to !upstarter, this Richmond, VA based outfit makes nice with their 90s alt vibe.

“When I Couldn’t Breathe” is jammed to the gills with alt-pop-rock melody laden goodness. At the core, isn’t that all you really need to know? I suppose you want to hear things about their casual cool rockishness, or maybe some bits about how college generates a lifestyle that begets band such as Sundials. Maybe I will say something about that. … Really, I generally like to offer something in the way of directional guidance, but Sundials’ sound is hanging just beyond my periphery. it’s a good sound though, one that could just as easily rock you as rock you to sleep (track dependent of course). Some people have made reference to the Lemonheads, personally, I’m thinking Short Round. Do with that what you wish.

At the end of it, what you get is 13 tracks of quality music that, at least for me, takes a time machine ride back to the dreamy 90s alt rock of days gone by.

–Jerry Actually

It would be stupid for me to believe that I am going to tell you something you haven’t already read about this album, or figured on your own if you have listened to it (my first borrowed line from Nick Hornsby’s description of Handwritten).  The Gaslight Anthem’s latest work has been out for almost a month now, and I have spent a lot of time driving recently which usually equates to a lot of chance to enjoy some good music along the way.  While Handwritten wasn’t the only record to grace my cd player while driving, it was thoroughly played.  Some songs played more than others as my wife is my opposite number when it comes to listening to music.  I am an album listener and I listen from beginning to end, her on the other hand will play the same song over and over again.  She does that with a few songs from the album, most notably “45”, “Keepsake”, and “You Got Lucky.”  She also has her own dance for the latter song, and she has listened to it so many times that her copy of the cd skips on this song. 

Anyway, we were travelling through Manitoba and during one of our many listens to “Keepsake” she pointed out to me that the song reminded her of me.  We listened to it over and over again, and I could not figure it out (and she wouldn’t stop playing it until I guessed).  So finally I asked “is he singing about his  (a) dad?”  to which she replied “yeah, I figured that out like the first time I heard it.” 

So while she likes to hear her favourites over and over again, I like to break up the monotony of driving the Trans-Canada highway by playing music trivia, and more specifically, “Who was the original singer for this song?”  I have to point out the she got “Which deceased 90’s rock star was the original artist for this song?” (Kurt Cobain and Nirvana on “Sliver”) and “Who was the original singer to this” (Tom Petty on “You Got Lucky”)  both wrong.  But she now claims that when she does her dance to “You Got Lucky” that if I “didn’t want me to dance like this you shouldn’t have introduced me to the song.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I am glad I did, and I am glad that she enjoys the group (almost) as much as I do.  It is hard to describe, but when listening to a Gaslight Anthem song there is an energy that isn’t present in most music.  I remember being younger and listening to  Born in the U.S.A on my grandmother’s 8 track player, or the Black Crowes Shake Your Money Maker on my step-dad’s cassette in the car and just knowing that the music was something special.  I remember telling my wife when American Slang came out that one day our boy (not long after he was born) will look back and tell people about how his parents used to listen to The Gaslight Anthem on long trips, she agreed. 

Not long after this, I remember Lady Gaga being on an awards show and dressing up in meat (notice how I don’t really remember what show) and somebody at work stating how she is such a fashion icon.  I tried to gently explain that Lady Gaga needs that type of gimmick because her music isn’t very good, but guys like Brian Fallon and the like just exude cool through their music and don’t need that type of stuff.  I don’t think she understood me.  As it turns out, Nick Hornsby would write something eerily similar on the album write up as I said almost two years prior when he wrote ” even clothes made out of meat won’t do you much good if your music is 1980’s dance-pop.”  So while I may not have anything to say about Handwritten that hasn’t already been said I will take some solace in knowing that the group themselves are not trying to recreate the wheel when they record an album, but are just carrying on the tradition of rock ‘n’roll, in their own voice and doing  with as much conviction and authenticity as they can muster (my third Nick Hornsby reference).