Merkin

Yo. I have been neglecting chug recently, but that tends to happen when life gets in the way. I just got back from the little мища / Bath Salts tour, which was really dope by the way. If anyone who was there reads this, then thanks for making it a really fun weekend and a worth while escape from reality. I'm going to try to pay more attention to chug, especially now that there are a shit ton of new releases out and I met a good bit of new bands recently, so the drought it seemingly over for the time being. Cheers all around.

Anyways, this is a post about Merkin. The band consists of three young ladies who reside in Idaho. The only reason I was made aware of this charming group was via keeping a casual eye on a girl who I had a tour crush on last summer when we were up in those parts. Regardless of my quasi creep factor (which I assure you is not the case, I am not creeping on her whatsoever) I was made aware of the band via posts and reposts by the girl mentioned above and mutual friends. Today at work looked it up while being bored out of my mind and got the url and stuff so when I came home, after eating bread I later found out was molding, I could check out their bandcamp.

This shit is really cool. Its funny, relaxed garage punk. The songs are somewhat silly, but the structure and composition shows talent and skill. Obviously this is not a "serious" project, but it does not negate how enjoyable it is. I appreciate light hearted music, especially when it makes me grin, which these songs did. There are songs about dragons and cats and stuff, which is dope. Basically this band is the definition of female garage rock. Somewhat abrasive, but mostly just fast and simple, these songs are really fun to listen to. I like how the songs are lo-fi, but not obnoxiously so. The vocals are really well done also.  My favorite song on the demo is "Enya's Revenge".

The demo was recorded at the Black With Sap basement, which is fucking awesome because I love those dudes. Some of the nicest people you will ever meet by the way. If you ever go up there get in touch with those dudes, and get Merkin to play your show. Check out their bandcamp and snag the album from them directly. Pay them money, even though you don't have to. Word.

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Demo

Sandra D

Yo, my ol' lady plays drums in  Sandra D, a garage rock band from LA. They are going on a road trip/ tour and are trying to get some shows. I think some of it is kinda shoegazy, but they disagree. They just recorded some demo songs that are on their bandcamp. They also made this facebook group with their tour dates. If you can help them get a show or something contact them. Word.

Chug is gonna be real slow for a hot minute. mnwa tour still has like a month left, and Carl is still trying to be a working dad guy. When I go back to my apartment I'll have all the time on my hands, but until then don't expect much, if anything.

Interskramz Compilation Vol.2

Okay so there is this label called Interskramz. It started on the internet as a joke I think. I don't know. I know the kids who run it through various hilarious facebook groups and shit. Anyways, they put out stuff, but their big thing are these compilations they do. They did one before I guess because now they are doing number two. There are a fuckload of awesome bands on the Second Volume. The bands on the release are:

Thoughts Never Said

SLOTHS

Dead Weight

Code Orange Kids

Junior Healy

State Faults

Angkor Wat

Birds In Row

Iselia

Raein

Box Social

Place Called Home

Secret Smoker

Clyde Webb

Fading Away Like The Rest Of Them

Paris In The Making

Calculator

Chineesedream.

Pathos

Quantis

Sjanse

Coma Regalia

Yumi

мища

Old Gray

Kidcrash

Memento Mori

Veils

Contact the label through Facebook to get some information on the releases. I know its going to be on CD and Vinyl, but CD first (June?). Get a copy, it should be dope. When they release all the mp3's I will post it, but you can go to that bandcamp link and listen to most of the tracks. I think some groups still might jump on, so get excited. Should be a good time, I'm excited. Word up pups.

Clyde Webb

Clyde Webb is a dude from Moscow, Idaho. Homeboy has been in alot of musical projects and runs Captain Crook Records. His main thing is his folk-punk solo project under his name. I met him on the internet and was intrigued by his photos. Then I heard his music and got pretty stoked. He makes some real ass songs about real life shit. He just put out a new record which is his best release yet. I'm still listening to it, but after hearing a few tracks I was down as shit. I mean, anyone who has a song about feeling like shit when you think about your ex-girlfriend sucking someone else's dick is okay in my book. Check out all his albums below, add him on facebook (unless you are in the cult), and check out his label. Some real cool shit on there too. I talked to Clyde and he was asking me for blogs to send his music to, so if you have a blog or anything and want to post his music up he would be hella down. Support Clyde when/how you can. Word.






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Demo

Dork

Sucks At Life

Get Bent Get Bent

Joyce Manor

Joyce Manor is a pretty sweet punk band from the bay. Lots of releases, including a brand new one. They seem pretty busy, so check em out when you get a chance and try to see them live. Looks like a good time. I think I found all of their stuff and posted it below. Buy what you can find. I'm too tired to write anything else.





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Demo



Ew Gross



Self Titled



Constant Headache



Joyce Manor / Big Kids



Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired



Joyce Manor / Summer Vacation

Lord Snow

Alright so first off, any band that uses a Game of Thrones reference in any fashion is cool with me. Second, Lord Snow's new release "Sovngarde" is another dope ass reference to Skyrim. So yeah, just those two lil diddies right there should make them one of the most popular bands in the blog world. Not to mention they have members of The New Yorker, Lautrec and Suffix. Yeah dude.

So yeah, "Sovngarde" is fucking blistering. Female vox, shred city guitar work and pretty spazzy drums. I dig it real real hard. I like how their song structure isnt hella complicated but they play alot of cool riffs and fills and stuff. Its just real interesting and busy as fuck. The quality of the recordings is really cool too, I like the feedback and the vocals. "Sovngarde" is a lil more screamo than the EP, which was still skrumz and all but it had some choice punk parks in there too. The Ep, by the way, is also the dopeness. This band is pretty intense doggies, jump on board. I wish my computer wasn't fucked so I could enjoy these songs more.

Below is "Sovngarde" and the EP, both of which should be downloaded. I don't know who is releasing any of this stuff, or on what format, but I would imagine you can buy it somewhere somehow. Figure it out and do it. Chicago bands are killing it right meow, cool. I donno if they are touring this summer, but they were down at SXSW, or NSXSW or whatever. They were in Austin when everyone else but me was down there. I hope they tour, I want to see them play. Don't screamo girls rule? Word.


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Ep



Sovngarde

Kid Dynamite

If you don't like Kid Dynamite you might want to check to make sure you still have a pulse. Featuring members of flagship punk acts like None More Black, Lifetime, Paint It Black, and the Loved Ones, Kid Dynamite broke open new ground in the hardcore scene with the the release of their debut LP in 1998, the year after Lifetime's final LP, Jersey's Best Dancers, was released. Guitarist Dan Yemin's trademark buzz saw power chord mentality and Jason Shevchuk's trademark vocal style have influenced an unfathomable amount of bands.

2000's Shorter, Faster, Louder was a more streamlined and polished approach to the band's song and featured classic tracks like "Cheap Shot Youth Anthem". Shevchuk's departure to return to school was followed by the subsequent break up of the band and a release of a compilation of b-sides entitled, of course, Cheap Shot Youth Anthem. The band has played two reunion shows and, thank goodness, Yemin is still very active between Lifetime reunions and touring and writing for Paint It Black.





Kid Dynamite (1998)



Shorter, Faster, Louder (2000)



Cheap Shots Youth Anthems (2003)

Towers

So last week I was talking to my friend Paul about bands and shows and whatever when he showed me the blog he ran. My band was going to play the last show at his house in California but his landlord told him he couldn't do it or something, but it was cool because we got to play with Glasses and Comadre that day. Anyways, while I was looking on his blog I saw that Towers and Dogs of Ire played at his place on their tour this summer promoting their split. Naturally, I asked Paul if he had any of their tracks and he told me that it was fucking impossible to find their discography. He was right, kind of. It took me a little while to find out that most of their releases are not really circulating the web, but you can go onto Towers' bandcamp and download a good portion of their earlier work (any split on there only has the Towers' tracks, but its better than nothing). I already had an album called "Collections", which seems to be an earlier discography or something, but I didn't see it listed on the band's discography section of their site. I did my best in locating a large portion of their material, but alas, I couldn't find all of it. I could not find their splits with They & The Children, Dogs of Ire or U.S Funk Team, although I have the later on vinyl and will upload that when my record player gets sent to me.
Towers is a an experimental hardcore band from Philly. Their sound is comparable to Dawn Treader and Capsule I suppose; it utilizes hardcore and punk elements but throws in "weird" shit here and there. I once read that Hell Songs by Daughters was a mescaline trip put to music, but I think that that label is more applicable to Towers. I'm pretty bummed that I haven't got the chance to see Towers live yet, but hopefully that will change soon, this band seems pretty active. I strongly suggest that you download this shit because they are one of the better bands coming out of New England/The Mid Atlantic right now. Below is as much of their music as I could find and a video. BTW, they also have a song on both the 75:24 and Emo Apocalypse compilations, which can all be acquired elsewhere on here. BUY THEIR SHIT.



If you have any albums that I don't, like always, give them to me in a comment or something and I will put them up. Word.

PS. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TOWERS BUT STREET SMART CYCLIST IS HAVING A REUNION SHOW IN BETHLEHEM, PA ON DECEMBER 26TH.


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Full Circle


Self Titled LP


Self Titled 7"


Collection


Demo/Split With The Exelar


Towers / D'amore Tracks from both bands, thanks THIOB


Songs from Split with Take Down Your Art

Iron Hand

Here's another awesome crusty hardcore band that was recommended to me, this time by Chris of the awesome blog Elementary Revolt.

Iron Hand hails from Connecticut, and serves the long proud tradition of nasty hardcore bands we've come to expect from the Northeast U.S. over the years. Like Chris says, this is for fans of bands like Perth Express, Zann, and Ghostlimb. Go ahead and throw in some Furnace, Dropdead, and straight up metal influence and you flesh out a pretty good idea of the band's sound. Nothing awe-inspiring here, but definitely a solid crust demo for all to enjoy.



Website

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Demo Cassette (2008)

Lapse

I recently recieved this demo in an e-mail. I get a good bit of albums sent through to my e-mail address, but with my crazy schedule and recent lack of updates on my part (you can thank Robbie for keeping up with the blog so well) I barely get a chance to hear a lot of the bands that send stuff my way. Lapse caught my eye because they're from the D.C./Baltimore metro area. I'm not sure if these guys have been in other bands or anything (their myspace page is pretty cryptic), but I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing them play live.

Their debut demo cassette (coming out soon on Heaven's Gate records) comes off as a solid powerviolence effort. Raw vocals, grimy bass and raging guitars are all a factor here. Songs are, as to be expected, short, except for the album's closer "625," which clocks in at just over 3 minutes and adds some sludgy, doomy texture to the band's sound.

Check it out!

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Demo Cassette (2010)

Jake Lazovick/Busman's Holiday/Paul Baribeau @ Frisby House 9/14/10

Paul Baribeau


Busman's Holiday


Jake Lazovick


Last night I got the chance to head out to Baltimore to finally see Paul Baribeau live. He has played Baltimore (and Frisby House) a lot but I had never gotten a chance to see him before. I also don't get the chance to head out to too many shows anymore because of my crazy work schedule, so it was awesome to be able to get too go to as intimate a venue as Frisby House.

Jake Lazovick opened the show. Jake is an awesome kid. He stills goes to high school at Wooton on the outskirts of D.C. and he plays acoustic folk punk. He's been in bands like Braceface Mini Punx, Foozle, and Bookworm. He writes heartwarming, goofy, and good natured songs about things like high fives, the horrors of small talk, and hanging out with your friends. It's always fun to see him play.

Next was Busman's Holiday, who I had never heard before. It was definitely a pleasant surprise. Lewis and Addison Rogers (who are actually brothers, apparently) make up a two piece with guitar, and a quirky drum set featuring a suitcase for a bass drum. They play beautiful, sentimental acoustic pop gems with amazing harmonies. They put on an amazing show and were funny, interesting, and witty too boot. True entertainers.

Paul Baribeau closed the show. He just came out with his new record, Unbearbale, but his set list was a great mix of new songs as well as old staples from his repertoire including "Ten Things," "Christmas Lights," "I Miss That Band," "Strawberry," and even the odd jewel "Table Cloth," which features just voice and percussion provided by Baribeau's knuckle on the body of the guitar. He was everything you expected him to be, between going off on tangents about Bloomington and his life at his parent's house in Michigan, or making the drummer of Busman's Holiday do all his between-song banter for a couple of songs during the beginning of the set after claiming, "I'm not doing banter anymore." He even poked a little lighthearted fun at Andrew Jackson Jihad when there was an announcement about their show at The Bell Foundry on the 23rd.

The songs seem that make up Unbearable are a bit more mellow than those on Grand Ledge, which was mellow compared to the upbeat, raucous songs on his debut self titled. But Baribeau offering a less in-your-face approach doesn't mean he's lost any of his initial vest and vitality that drew you to him as a songwriter in the first place. In fact, it works to his advantage, especially in the live setting. His songs still barely surpass the two minute mark, but songs like "If I Knew" and "Blue Cool" work perfectly to showcase Baribeau continuing to grow as a lyricist of brilliant pop-folk songs while retaining his signature snappy, palm-mute laden guitar with new flourishes thrown in that do not disappoint at all.

"Black Strat" might be the best song on the album. Baribeau introduced the song live as "maybe being about Pink Floyd," before giggling and going off on a tangent about listening to Pink Floyd when he was 10 years old. Whatever it's about, it's mesmerizing, with a brilliant chorus:

It was holy
It felt so holy
I said holy shit

Anybody else uttering the same line might come off as contrite or vulgar, but Baribeau's endearing, unmistakable voice make it sound like a revelation. Which is part of what makes Paul Baribeau continue to be such a beloved and relevant songwriter. He sounds like he could be anyone in the room; he just happens to be the one holding a guitar.


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Jake Lazovick - Us and Only Us Split



Busman's Holiday - Old Friends (2010)



Paul Baribeau - Unbearable (2010)

Louise Cyphre

Louise Cyphre is the shit. They, along with bands like June Paik and Trainwreck, are Cry Me A River regulars hailing from Germany. Their sound is generally trashy punk with a blend of '90's hardcore/screamo, although they commonly have chilled out melodic breaks. I have no fucking idea how many releases they have, but below is their 35 song discography that runs just over 45 minutes. In case you really care they did splits with La Quiete, The Apoplexy Twist Orchestra, Shikari, and were on the Emo Apocalypse and Armageddon. Seeing as I have no idea how many releases this band has, I have no idea if the discography I have had for some time is complete. I do know that their song from the Emo Apocalypse is missing, so I put that below as well. Heres a video from their set at the 2006 Cry Me A River Fest.

HATE THE KIDS, LOVE THEIR MONEY/SCREAMO IS DEAD, LONG LIVE LOUISE CYPHRE.


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Discography
Emo Apocalypse song

Ampere

Ampere has been a mainstay in the Northeastern hardcore scene for the better part of the past decade. The bands features members of bands like Orchid, Bucket Full of Teeth, and Last Forty Seconds.

The early recordings lean more towards a grind-oriented, raw punk sound. As they've progressed their sound has matured into a more streamlined, ridiculously well-oiled screamo machine. Killingsworth's guitar gymnastics hardly ever dissapoint, and the rhythm section propels the whole thing forward at an alarming rate. If you haven't heard this band yet, you should probably just download everything.

Below is what I had uploaded, it should be everything. If you don't feel like downloading all the splits you'd probably be good with just downloading All Our Tomorrows End Today, The First Five Years, and the Sinaloa Split.

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Demo 7" (2002)



Ampere/Wolves Split (2003)



All Our Tomorrows End Today (2004)



Ampere/Welcome the Plague Year Split 5" (2005)



Live at Dead Air Split 11" Ampere/Wasteland/Daniel Striped Tiger/Death to Tyrants (2006)



Ampere/Sinaloa Split 12" (2006)



Ampere/Das Oath Split (2006)



Ampere/Ringers Split 6" (2007)



Ampere/Daitro Split 7" (2007)



Ampere/Funeral Diner Split 7" (2007)



Ampere/Off Minor Split (2008)



The First Five Years (2008)