Pianos Become the Teeth

This band seems to finally be getting some of the recognition it deserves. After the departure of their synth player and original bassist, Pianos Become The Teeth, who hail from the greater Annapolis/Baltimore metropolitan area, have re-vamped their sound and recorded their first full length LP, Old Pride amid a hail of critical acclaim from the independent music world.

Pianos' firts EP, Saltwater, was a solid first release from a band finding their voice, despite the fact the band felt they had been cheated on the mixing and mastering aspect of the record, and when one listens to it, it seems true; the volume is not quite "competitive", and overall the record sounds a bit tinny and muddy. But songs like "Gift of the Giver" and "Houses We Die In" proved that the group was a force to be reckoned with.

By 2008, after getting some touring under their belt and writing new material the group released a split 7" with Ezra Joyce from New Jersey. Ezra Joyce's side is good; their solid, no frills brand of screamo works for them, and fans of Saetia should find their side of the split a welcome addition to their collection. But, in my opinion, Pianos' side dwarves it. I remember that one review I read of the record broke it down at "Epic screamo vs. even more epic screamo". And that's about right. The first song, "Creatures of Habit", clocks in at just under nine minutes long. It begins with a quiet, slow guitar riff that wouldn't sound out of place in the middle of a Mogwai album before slapping you in the face.

Part of the reason that Mike and Chad get away with so much outright post-rock riffs is the fact that their drummer David is an animal behind the kit; just when you think you put on a post-rock album by accident, vocalist Kyle Durfey's distinguishable yelp soars above the rock solid rhythm section and reminds you that you are definitely listening to Pianos Become the Teeth. The second and final song on the split is a re-recording of "Houses We Die In", and it sounds like an entirely new song. My one complaint about the recording is the sound clip...I can't help but skip over it every single time I listen to the song. It just seems a little corny to me. But otherwise, this is a monster of a song, lyrically, musically, aesthetically. And unfortunately, since they began performing the Old Pride material live, one I have not seem them play in quite some time.

Old Pride differs from the first two releases for one obvious reason, which would be the absence of the synthesizer. But, aside from that, Old Pride differs because it is a more cohesive, mature musical statement. The percussion pummels you as the guitars schizophrenically shift and mold from pretty, delay-laden passages to crushing riffs with wild abandon that take directions completely different from what you were expecting to hear next. The album climaxes at "Cripples Can't Shiver," but the final two tracks draw the album out with a sense of conclusion, finally ending with the excellent instrumental, "Young Fire".

Guitarist Mike York also briefly played in and helped form Baltimore screamo outfit Age Sixteen. Check them out here.

Chad writes a really awesome blog called Stoking the Roots. Check it out!

Order Old Pride

Myspace

* * *



Saltwater



Pianos Become The Teeth/Ezra Joyce Split (2008)



Old Pride (2009)

Kidcrash - Snacks

I just got the leak of this record a while ago, so here you go!

Personally, I find this record to be a bit of a let down after the one-two punch of the '06 Demo and 2007's Jokes, which, despite it's lack of dynamics, is certainly one of the better screamo albums of the decade. Overall, their vocal approach has changed from the last record, and some reviews are calling this more of a mixture of the New Ruins/Jokes sound, a statement I would not agree with, seeing as this doesn't really sound like a "pop-punk" record (like New Ruins basically was) in any sense of the term.

Don't get me wrong; Snacks is a pretty solid sophomore LP, but I feel it lacks an overall growth in direction that the band should have taken off with after the release of Jokes. Again, my main complaint is a lack of dynamics. As good as their drummer Buster may be, he needs to learn when to hold back a little bit. Same goes with the guitars on a lesser level. I do have a feeling that this will continue to grow on me, but never quite reach Jokes status in my mind. Give it a download and decide for yourself.

Order the vinyl from Denovali.

Previous Kidcrash posts

* * *



LINK REMOVED BY REQUEST UNTIL OFFICIAL RELEASE OF RECORD

Vaccine

Here's another hardcore super group featuring Will Killingsworth. This band features members of Relics, Ampere, Orchid, Think I Care, Failures, Glue, Bucket Full of Teeth...okay, basically every band Will Killingsworth has ever been in plus a few others.

Vaccine plays very fast, very powerful, very short powerviolence with a straightedge message. And by very short, I mean extremely fucking short. Like, their five song demo clocks in at a little over two minutes.

This demo was originally released on a cassette limited to 100 copies which has been long since sold out.

You can order the one sided 7" from Killingsworth's label Clean Plate, or Red Room Records. Each site had only 35 copies of colored vinyl for sale, so I'm sure they're gone for now, but there should still be copies of black vinyl available! (I would reccomend Red Room, since Clean Plate can be a wee bit slow sometimes...)

Vaccine's website

And guys, sorry about not updating much lately. I'm really going to start posting more frequently!

* * *



Demo (2009)

Good Luck

Sometimes you hear music so heart warming that you start to get that warm, fuzzy feeling, and for the time that album is on, everything seems okay.

Good Luck, hailing from Bloomington, Indiana, makes music like that. You may recognize bassist/vocalist Ginger Alford from her Bruce Springsteen tribute and collaboration with the beloved Paul Baribeau (which you can download here). Here she mostly backs up lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Tobey, who's nasally yet pleasant voice (somewhat reminiscient of John Samson of the Weakerthans) takes charge on most of the songs here, although Ginger takes the forefront on a few songs, like "Stars Were Exploding", "Same Stories", and "Sleep With No Bad Dreams", all with great results.

2008's Into Lake Griffy, their sole output thus far, is a great debut. There are plenty of great sing-a-long melodies and uplifting, jingly guitars that noodle their way in and out of tracks. Every song on this album has great, insightful lyrics that are so damn Posi it makes you wanna jump on a bike and just cruise around listening to it. If I had to describe this group in two words I would say, "Cute and fun."

So download it! Summer's almost over, but there's still some time to cook out with your friends and have this playing in the background.


* * *



Into Lake Griffy (2008)

Cut the Shit

Cut the Shit was a band from Boston that played thrashcore rooted in the mid '80's sound with little to no frills. Basically, this is hardcore like it should be. Simple, yet insightful and engaging lyrics, and short, and intense songs that don't sound too much alike one another without getting too wanky. There are moments where these guys "rock out", but they know how to keep it brief - for example, check out the ends of "From Bad to Worse" or "Pushed Too Far", both on 2003's Harmed and Dangerous LP, which may be my favorite release by these guys.

Marked for Life contains material from a new LP, as well as their one sided Shut up and Play 7" and the Bored to Death EP. 27 tracks in about 16 1/2 minutes says it all.

The singer of this band now plays bass in Failures.

Check it out!


* * *



Bored to Death 7"



Harmed and Dangerous 2003



Marked For Life 10" (2004)

Pansori

Pansori is a band from Baltimore that features members of Army of Kashyyyk, ROTA, and The Summer We Went (as well as others I'm sure). They play an epic brand of screamo, complete with violins and post-rockesque compositions. Parts range from melodic guitar driven interludes to heavy breakdowns, and crescendos.

Their debut release consists of one 19+ minute long song. Fans of bands like City of Caterpillar, Pg. 99, June Paik, and some of their previous projects (Army of Kashyyyk, ROTA) will find this a welcome addition to their libraries.

I actually went to one of these guy's show when they played with Suis La Lune in College Park not too long ago, but missed their set. Bummer. I hear they rule live. Check it out.


Myspace


* * *



Demo '09

Loma Prieta Discography 05-09/Punch LP

Loma Prieta


Punch



Well, seeing as these two bands share a member I figured I would post these two albums together.

You probably already know who both these bands are, if you haven't been living under a rock for the past few years.

Loma Prieta plays intense, riffy screamo that heralds back to the glory days, incorporating elements of bands like Honeywell, Ampere, and You and I, into a modern-day, refined package.

Punch is a vegan straightedge thrash/fastcore band from the Bay Area featuring a female vocalist. Between their Eyeless EP, released last year (which you can download here), and this year's self titled LP, these guys (and gal) are putting out some of the most refreshing, in your face hardcore of the decade.

I recently got a chance to catch Punch when they came through Baltimore on their summer tour. Charm City Art Space, a fairly small venue, as anyone who has been to a show there can tell you, was packed pretty full. The entire basement was crammed with kids, who for the most part, seemed to have showed up to see Punch play. They played first, which confused me just a bit, seeing as they were the touring band and Death Rats and Pulling Teeth are both from the immediate D.C./Baltimore metro area, but whatever. They opened the set with the first song from their new LP, "Don't Start". The energy in the room immediately changed, and everyone was either nodding their heads to the point of whiplash or dancing. The set was short, fast, and feedback-laden, and after about 15 minutes of sonic assault, front woman Meghan announced they were done. She had hardly reached the drum set by the time the crowd start asking for one more, and she made her way back to the mic, protesting only mildly by saying, "But it's so hot..." It was. They launched into "Convenience Store," a comment on the vegan lifestyle and one of the highlights of the Eyeless EP.

The Loma Prieta Discography is a Japanese import that was released for The Punch/Loma Prieta Japanese Tour earlier this year. It features the two tracks from the upcoming split with L'antietam (discussed briefly here, where you can glimpse the artwork for that release), their Last City LP, Matrimony 7" (featuring an unreleased track), Our LP is Your EP 12" (featuring an unreleased cover song), and their 2005 Demo CD-R. So, in short, everything but 2009's Dark Mountain LP.

Download Loma Prieta's back catalog here.

* * *



Loma Prieta Discography '05-'09 (2009)



Punch LP (2009)

We Were Skeletons

We Were Skeletons are our really good friends from Lancaster PA. Both of our bands have played a billion shows with these dudes. Not only are they really fucking good at playing their instruments, they are more than likely they coolest dudes you will ever meet. We first met these guys at a show in Washington D.C with 1994! and then later asked them to play a show we booked for L'antietam. Their first release entitled "Summers" is pretty darn punk, with a cover of Iron & Wine . They just recently released their sophomore effort(This one has a Fugazi cover), the "Ryan Oatman EP", which has a harder feel to it. More noodles in the guitar work, heavier buildups, and the tape version, which I was lucky enough to make for them, has a track from their upcoming full length. I was sworn to not leak it onto the internet, but let me just say that we here at Chug Life have the unmastered tracks for the full length, and it is without a doubt one of the best screamo albums I have ever heard. Their new songs, which the trio play at their shows along with the Ryan songs, are a mix of Capsule and Kidcrash, with some Off Minor thrown in.

We Were Skeletons have always been a band that we have been meaning to post, but we were told to wait until after Ryan Oatman dropped to put them up. This post would have been made sooner, but, we are pretty forgetful and stuff. Its good that we waited though, because I was informed by bassist Raffy Taffy that there is some site where you can download all the tracks from Ryan Oatman and Summers for free. Here's the good part though: Skeletons get "a piece of ad revenue for each download". So instead of putting up the separate links and the pictures, below is a video of them playing "This Destroy Us" from their upcomming full lenth at Charm City Art Space last year during their tour with 1994 and then the link to their download page.




* * *


Mad Free Songs

NEW KIDCRASH SONG/DENOVALI

Dominic "Nord" CD/LP


Fall of Efrafa - Inle CD/2xLP


Kidcrash - Snacks CD/LP



Denovali Records has had pre-orders for the new Kidcrash, Fall of Efrafa, and Dominic LP's posted for about a week or so. Today, The Kidcrash posted "Wound Eraser," from the forthcoming Snack LP on their myspace. Listen to it here. Check out Denovali to pre-order those LP's. The FoE and Kidcrash LP's also come with a t-shirt when you pre-order them. And as always, Denovali is offering the back catalogs of these band's for free download. Check it out!

Battle of Wolf 359

The first time I heard Battle of Wolf 359, I nearly shit myself. In the past decade or so, Europe has emerged as a hotbed of DIY punk activity, stretching from the Iberian peninsula to the former Soviet satellites, and have sheltered some of the most interesting and groundbreaking hardcore acts active today, but Britain has seemed to have little to add to the equation for whatever reason.

The United Kingdom's Battle of Wolf 359, along with acts like split-mates Kaddish and crust Gods Fall of Efrafa, have refreshed the British hardcore scene with their unique sounds, mixing elements of hardcore, emo-violence, and doom into their music.

BOW359's sound is characterized by grimy bass, fast-paced, epic guitar riffs, and breakneck drumming grounded by two vocalists, one male and one female.

React with Protest just released The Death Affect, which is BOW359's first full length LP. It does not disappoint. Moments of quiet melody peer through passages of absolute chaos, which the dual vocals add a great depth to. I am a huge fan of their previous body of work, especially the Kaddish split and "Tsunkatse", which appeared on the Emo Annihilation compilation, and The Death Affect seems to be the next logical step in their body of work; overall a very solid LP. My one piece of constructive criticism would be to add just a little variation; the songs flow together extremely well, but sometimes it seems the melodic passages should be expanded upon to add a little more depth to their sound. Regardless, this will surely be one of the strongest hardcore releases of 2009. Download it, and all their other material.

BUY SHIT


MYSPACE

* * *



Summer 2007 Tour CD-R



Battle of Wolf 359/Kaddish Split (2008)



Battle of Wolf 359/Singaia Split



Emo Annihilation Compilation (2008)



The Death Affect (2009)