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Indie-hardcore Heroes’ Influential albums Revisited and Re-issued
Like Never Before
October 20, 2009 – Los Angeles, CA. – Epitaph Records announces plans to re-issue The Blood Brothers’ classic albums “Burn, Piano Island, Burn,” “Crimes,” “Young Machetes” and “March On Electric Children” on November 17. The CD and digital re-issues will include rare previously unavailable live tracks and videos, music videos and B-sides for the ultimate collectors’ edition.
From 1997 to 2007, The Blood Brothers’ “molotov mixture of suburb surrealism and sonic extremity” (Alternative Press, 2003) rocked and riveted critics and fans around the world. Formed in the suburbs of Seattle, the dueling singers Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie along with Cody Votolato (guitar), Morgan Henderson (bass) and Mark Gajadhar (drums) crafted a unique style of convulsive, ground breaking hardcore that was quickly embraced by critics and fans of punk, hardcore and indie rock.
Over their ten years in existence the quintet released five critically acclaimed studio albums (four of which Epitaph is re-issuing), including Burn, Piano Island, Burn, “the most prolific, beautiful, and vital statement of rock since the Stooges’ Raw Power” (PopMatters, 2003), Crimes, the sturdiest bridge between the hardcore underground and indie-rock elitists” (Alternative Press, 2004) and “one of the best of 2006” (PopMatters, 2006), Young Machetes.
Having moved on to other projects, Whitney and Votolato with indie-rockers Jaguar Love and Blilie, Gajadhar and Henderson with post-punk outfit Past Lives, The Blood Brothers called it quits at their creative peak, leaving behind a catalog the helped define a genre and continues to influence bands around the world.
Sadplant … A manufacturing plant that makes sad? An unhappy houseplant? Not sure, I can’t find the one-sheet that came with this new Sadplant disc, but damn! This band from Connecticut has got it going on something fierce. Formed in 2007 this release marks their fifth DIY effort and out of their own studio as well. Don’t wait too long to grab this one though, ‘cause there is a new new release slated for November. I have to admire this band for their sheer energy. They are nothing if not prolific. The music is catchy and punk rock with a unique style that you don’t often get these days. It is especially rare when you see a band cranking out this much material and it doesn’t end up sounding like musical Xerox. I’d like to say more, but frankly I think the new material is in my mailbox. No seriously, keep on with the rock-n-roll onslaught. Incidentally, the bonus track fucking sucks. 😉
The good folks at BYO Records were kind enough to send me their new retrospective CD and DVD release, “Let Them Know – The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records”. In several words, totally flippin’ rad. Back eons ago in the hard-scrabble Los Angeles Punk rock scene there was a handful of bands, no organization and nothing even close to the internet to get the word out about the minds music and attitude of the American youth. They desperately needed something.
