to everyone who happens to read this blog/check it to see if i've actually written anything new, i apologize. i know months have passed since my last update, but the only thing left to say is that when the writing bug isn't biting, there's nothing i can do to summon it.
well, the glorious pest is back, and i have the pocks to prove it. hopefully this massive post makes up for my absence. i've also been listening to boatloads of tunes, both new and resurrected. i have decided that whatever website it was that hosted my songs deserves to burn as it rots. i will be revamping thee garbage heap. i will try to repost previously available music. single tracks are a thing of the past. as originally intended upon at my blog's inception, i will begin posting zip files of entire albums. they will be fully downloadable albums produced by bands that utterly slay. keep in mind that these bands spend countless hours of creative energy writing, performing, and recording songs, and these humans deserve compensation for the gifts they've bestowed on our ears.
IF YOU HAVE THE
and before i truly begin, i’d like to pose a request for those few readers: if you enjoy anything i write, or enjoy any of the music i post, or want to be made aware of other bands, or even if you just plain hate me and my tastes…leave a comment! they’re fun to read, and if i know someone actually gives two shits, i have an incentive to keep writing. it would be much appreciated and enjoyed on my part.
this post is entitled "mad men" because the release that has recently strummed the most striking chord in me is a demo by the canadian one-man band mad men. this one man happens to be the drummer of fucked up and guitar player from career suicide. this one man also happens to be a musical stalwart. it is beyond my comprehension how a single person can so flawlessly execute such driving pieces of idiosyncratic early-80s revivalist hardcore. by himself. the demo features five feverishly angular dozers in which the wheels, gear-shifters, and front-end shovel through yr face with all the agility of a beer-drenched horse-plow. trust me. that's a compliment. it's sometimes funny, too, as in the first track. "toooooooo hot." you'll see. you'll laugh. maybe you won't. my "favorite" track: square glasses.
mad men - "square glasses" demo
all hail
the endless blockade - "primitive"
this is an older one, or at least one i've had and liked for a good while; but i busted it out today with satisfying results. schifosi were an australian crust band, and if you know me at all, crust--if done well--is one of my true musical loves. schifosi did crust some fucking justice. (schifosi is also the italian feminine-plural adjective/noun meaning "disgusting" or "loathsome," which i thought i'd mention for two reasons: what a great name for a band, and etymology helps with pronunciation. therefore, it should sound like "skifozi" and not "shifossi.") people always compare crust bands or d-beat hardcore bands to tragedy for some reason. they do not sound like tragedy. schifosi are not tragedy. every crust band is not tragedy. get over it. i mean, don't get me wrong, i hold an especial soft-spot for tragedy. i go on week-long kicks where i only listen to tragedy. if my apartment were in flames, my tragedy records would be on the short list of possessions to save, along with my his hero is gone records. but, schifosi do not sound like tragedy, especially with kate's haunting vocals doing much damage all over the mess. so, anyhow, schifosi released a couple records: a split 7" with slackjaw, the "ill winds from outopia" LP, and a handful of other e.p.'s (self-titled, "half-lit world," and the below-posted "absentium existence"). down-tuned as shit. it sounds like their guitar strings are about to unwind right off the fucking necks. they're certainly a tight band. they have a dirty, raw sound, but that's not to say composition and execution are sloppy. it's just that they were good at sounding like the ruthless downfall of a parasytic empire brought about by the hands of pissed, noble tunnel-dwellers. or something equally as heavy and epic. high-quality crust punk. a+, mates. i can't even decide on a "favorite" track.
schifosi - "absentium existence"
here's another one from the vaults. i picked up sayyadina's "mourning the unknown" more than half a year ago on a whim, and never actually gave it due attention. today i've already listened to the entire LP three times, and it was one of those albums i wish could be broadcast at a glass-shattering volume over the whole block instead of being confined by four walls. single-word description? punishing. from a distance, sayyadina sound like they're comprised of drums, guitar, bass, and chainsaw. i could swear the vocalist is wielding one instead of a guitar, especially on the first track. old-school grindcore with the occasional d-beat breakdown which helps lend the band a bit of a punk aura, in my opinion. i'm not big on grind, but i would still recommend this album to anyone who can handle bullet-train blast-beats and skull-grating chord progressions. i sense a bit of nasum and napalm death, but there's nothing wrong with that. plus, they do their own thing. i only mention fellow grind bands to narrow the field and provide stylistic flags. in short, "mourning the unknown" is an inventive dose of deathgrind, and a damn good one. leave it to the swedes. my "favorite" track: stolen identity.
sayyadina - "mourning the unknown"
burial is a perennial favorite of mine for the simple reason that their album "never give up...never give in" is perfect. i said it. perfect. alright, maybe not perfect, but if i wanted someone to hear stellar guitar work layered over stellar drumming all stuffed into stellar songs that don't drag, wrapped up nicely with reminiscently japanese hardcore vocals ("uuuuuuuwyaaa" and other humorous sounds of disgust), i'd throw this down his/her throat. i can't decide if i'd call them a punk band or an hardcore band, but in the end, does it fucking matter? burial is just four Deutschers tossing out slices of tasty jams that feature morsels of all my favorite styles. i hear early-80s thrashy hardcore, smatterings of d-beat hardcore, heavy protometal down-tuning, and even some retro-era noodling in the twin leads and solos. but this is all somehow delivered in a dark, straight-up punk fashion. oh, and did i mention this LP is perfect? i talk a lot and sound too much like a snob. just listen to it and tell me what you think. my "favorite" track: among the fools.
burial - "never give up...never give in"
another oldie, and especially old if you've previously heard skeletonwitch's sophomore full-length "beyond the permafrost." the two reasons i'm posting this four-song e.p., entitled "worship the witch," is because i maintain that the last track is one of the best metal pieces i've ever heard, and because the first three tracks--although featured on "beyond the permafrost"--sound far better as basement-style recordings (which i undoubtedly prefer to over-mastered metal bullshit). it was self-released, then re-released on prosthetic, and i’m assuming the re-release is a remastered session. i believe i have posted the self-released version. crushing blackened thrash-metal attack from
skeletonwitch - "worship the witch"
lastly, i have a shining 7” slab of danish punk i stumbled across a few weeks ago. i haven’t the slightest idea what the lyrics are, but that doesn’t seem to stop me from singing along to the title track as if i’m the master-brewer at the carlsberg plant. the vocalist has this certain crooner quality that sets cola freaks apart from other stripped-down punk bands that have been popping up across the globe. the bass lines buoy the songs and make me imagine bouncing on-screen sing-along balls hopping with each haunting, prolonged syllable that oozes from the singer’s mouth. cola freaks have three 7”s out to date, this one being my go-to release. really good catchy music that makes even me want to dance. my “favorite” track: ingenting set.
whew. this should be enough to hold you over for a hot minute, hun. hopefully two. y'all come back real soon now, y'hear?
