Alot of buzz about Loma Prieta recently. They got signed to Deathwish, who are putting out their upcoming fully "I.V.", and are currently finishing up a tour of the states. Some of those new songs are floating around the internet and stuff. Pretty sure CMHWAK radio got like an exclusive track or something.
Since Loma has been so hot in the collective unconcious as of late I was checking up on them, gettin the haps, when I realized how much I have been slacking on my Loma game. First of all, found the Punch split which is pretty really dope. Secondly, realized that Life/Less wasn't even on here, so I felt obligated to correct that error. Also, Punch has an LP out which we haven't posted yet, so that is going down too. And another EP. I'm not as into Punch as Carlo is so I would have figured he would cover all the Punch stuff. Homeboy was slippin, but its okay because Daddys home now. Needless to say all this music is good, bro. Buy it after you try it, bro.
I'm kind of really bummed because Loma is playing Portland right now, and I'm just baking on my couch watching NOVA and eating my third and fourth can of Chef Boyardee of the day. I don't know if they are going to be in Seattle tomorrow but it doesn't even matter because I have school all night. Growing up sucks.
Here's an e-mail I thought I might never get. Fortunately, when I opened my e-mail today this was sitting in my inbox:
da story: after my previous band Plaguewielder split, i still had a bunch of riffs leftover and wanted to keep making evil shit. Fortunately (for me) Dawn Treaders lineup at the time split up and Jeremy wasnt doing anything so the two of us got together and came up with the idea of a recording an album as a 2 piece, we got Tony from plaguewielder in on it and our friend sine jensen on the violin and recorded the 5 songs that are attached in this email. After playing the 5 song cd to a few of our friends we were able to find a drummer in Ben Jones from Heaviness of the Load and the 4 of us recorded the self titled 7" (mediafire link). Bens brother Brent joined the band on 3rd guitar and we began recording an 11 song full length 12" to be released on dysphoria and midnight sea records, unfortunately we split while in the studio and the album is still waiting to be finished. we've been talking lately about getting back together and jamming but so far nothing...
thank you so much for your interest, it was really difficult to put so much energy into a band and have it be so short lived (1-2 years), we were never able to tour very much with our 7" (only a few weekends) so our shit never really got the attention i wish it had. Ive just recently gotten into the music blog scene and chug life is incredible, keep doin what you do!!! thank you guys again,
-Justin
Diablero was a badass hardcore band from Baltimore. Their 7" is one of my favorite records; plenty of crusty, pissed off, in your face riffs and intense vocals. Great stuff, definitely worth the download.
Let's be honest: corporate sponsorship and punk don't mix. The two have about as volatile a relationship as potassium and water.
It's not surprising when bands like All Time Low and their neo-pop-punk Myspace generation kin sell out; they probably never hid their full intentions to sell out from their first practice together. For the sake of argument, let's just dismiss these aforementioned bands for what they are: thinly veiled pop artists disguised as "punk" or "emo" musicians.
In the alternate universe most readers of this blog probably live in, punk is an all-encompassing word that can mean a million different things and sound like a million different sounds. DIY releases, small-print labels run by kids out of their garages, low-fi tape duplications, anti-corporate lyrics, basement shows: these are just a few of the things that probably come to mind.
A few things that probably don't come to mind are the Toyota subsidiary Scion, corporations sponsoring metal concerts, and Magrudergrind, the legendary D.C. based grindcore band, putting out records on Scion's A/V record label.
Yes, you read correctly. Grindcore giants Magrudergrind's, (who have toured all over the world and released countless records over their long tenure as a well respected, anti-fascist, highly opinionated, DIY band over the years), new Grind Crusher 10" has been released for free by Scion A/V, who have hosted metal concerts and festivals featuring the likes of Trash Talk and Mastodon (not personal favorites of mine, I'd like to mention).
It certainly seems a far cry from the group who released an album called Don't Support Humanitary Aid Led By the Church. And the Scion logo isn't exactly hidden away in a corner on the insert or something; it's featured prominently at the bottom center of the record's front cover.
However, before we delve any further into why this might legitimately make any Magrudergrind fan jealous, let's take one step back.
There's really only one problem with any hardcore elitist who's attempting to talk shit on one of D.C.'s most well known bands for selling out: this record fucking shreds. And with song titles like "Incapacity Reigns" and "Conditioned Minds" it doesn't exactly sound like lead vocalist Avi has suddenly had a change of heart about his no-bullshit, anti-fascist, anti-scene politics, anti-capitalist values.
The album clocks in at somewhere around eleven minutes, and every single one of them seems to carry the band forward from their previous release, 2009's self titled LP. From the newly acquired production value to the hip-hop interludes that seem to have become a staple of the band's sound as they move forward, even from the guitar solo (?!?!) on the album's closing track, the five minute plus long "Cognition".
As bizarre as it may seem that out of all bands, of out any scene, Magrudergrind has put out a record via Scion A/V, they haven't suddenly started writing cheese metal music all the sudden.
And as a huge corporation, Toyota might not have the best of reputations, but we're not exactly supporting them if we take them up on their offer to download this album for free, are we? Or by supporting the band in any way shape or form.
I guess the best way for anyone to form an opinion, in this case, would probably be by letting the music speak for itself.
I think I've posted everything the band has released besides a two song sampler put out previous to the release of Religious Baffle. If I've missed anything, please post the release in the comments!
Recieve a FREE copy of the 10" when you pre-order it with another record or a T-shirt here.
Happy Thanksgiving! Insert obligatory comment on Native American genocide and capitalism here.
Ok, now that we've gotten that out of the way, here's Deathrats.
Hailing from Washington D.C., Deathrats plays fast, crusty hardcore and has garnered comparisons to bands like Dropdead, I Object, and Deaththreat. They feature a female vocalist and I feel their sound is also akin to bands like Punch and members of Deaththreat's more well know project, His Hero is Gone as well. Lyrics focus on subjects like self-image, feminism, materialism, isolation, and family structure.
With bands from the D.C./Baltimore metro area like Lotus Fucker, Cringe, The Guilt, No Minion, and others popping up in the past few years, D.C. has once again proven that it still holds relevance in the massive hardcore/emo scene it helped foster in the mid '80's.
Perhaps the reason this record has seemed to fly under the radar in the hardcore world for so long is due to The Cancer Kid's extremely brief tenure as a band. They (as the now well-known story that has been passed around in reviews and on message boards goes) played only two shows as a band before suddenly retreating to their garage and penning 50 songs, before releasing 19 onto their debut and final LP, The Possible Dream.
Still, it seems that more people should have taken notice to these guys. Members have been associated with acts like Failures and Bucket Full of Teeth. Will Killingsworth engineered their album, in addition to releasing a one sided, one song 7" from the Possible Dream sessions on his Clean Plate label. Mark McCoy, of Charles Bronson/Das Oath/Holy Molar/Ancestors/Failures (etc, etc, etc) fame put out The Possible Dream on his Youth Attack label.
And yet, their LP, The Possible Dream, which was pressed to only 700 copies, JUST sold out through Youth Attack's mailorder. For some reason these guys remained overlooked for years. However, their name seems to be getting thrown around more and more. If you haven't given these guys a chance yet, I strongly recommend you do.
These guys serve up a powerful brand of hardcore, which some have labeled a nod to "West Coast Bandana Thrash", a tag I have to say, sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. If you like bands like Negative Approach, The Pist, or Infest, or if you like these guy's other projects (Bucket Full of Teeth, Failures), these guys are worth giving a shot. Their sound is defined by riffs pumped out at grind speeds (their 19 song album clocks in at just over 15 minutes), satirical and intelligent lyrics, and some of the most pummeling breakdowns ever pressed to vinyl.
Here's a video from their show at the Florence VFW Hall.
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.
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.
Featuring current and former members of bands like Charles Bronson, Ampere, Orchid, Das Oath, the Cancer Kids (and more), Failures has been tagged in almost every write up as a (go ahead and cringe) hardcore "supergroup". To be fair, with such résumés under their respective belts, the members of the bands should expect this sort of reaction.
Failures' debut LP boils, seethes, broods, and explodes, but it never slows down. The record kicks off with a few quick strums before Mark McCoy screams, "FAILURES!" Intense stuff. 14 songs in 14 minutes and 17 seconds, and then it's over. Anchored by a rhythm section seemingly hellbent on breaking their instruments, Will Killingsworth's guitar fills it's familiar frantic niche while exploring new rhythms and putting thrash at the forefont. His treble-driven dissonant attack propels Mark McCoy's (former Charles Bronson frontman) desperate howl as he sarcastically rakes just about everything you might take for granted over the coals. If they were going for "pissed", these guys succeeded.
Basically, if you're a fan of any of the bands these guys have been associated with, this LP is essential. If you haven't heard of any of these bands before, you might as well start here and work your way backwards, because you must have been living under a rock for the past 15 or so years.
We are committed to bringing punk rock to everyone! however, you must (read: should) delete these files after 24 hours - they are the property of the artists who wrote the songs and are not really ours to give out! Please, if you like the album, support the artists! Don't just pirate, it's selfish!
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AUTHORITY FIGURES: Most if not all of the music posted on this blog is either out of print, DIY, or released by an independent label with no ties to major distributors or the RIAA. Just sayin'.
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