Screamo Mega-Post!! (by request)

Ask and ye shall receive. King Lew asked for some good screamo stuff to check out, so here goes...



"Mohinder was a four-piece rock band from Cupertino, California. Despite their brief existence, they were considered an important feature of the California hardcore scene, and helped to define the musical genre now known as screamo. Mohinder songs tended to be short in duration, and are often characterized as being extremely intense and chaotic. Formed in 1993, they released only three 7 inch EPs before breaking up in 1994, all of which have posthumously been compiled onto one CD. Members went on to such bands as Jenny Piccolo, Indian Summer, The Anasazi, Calm, Duster, A-Set, and Makara." (wikipedia)

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"Swing Kids were a hardcore/emo band from San Diego California during the mid 1990s. They were closely involved with and influenced by the forerunners of the San Diego hardcore punk scene of the 1990s.
Their music was characterized by Justin Pearson's spoken/screamed vocals and their melodic/chaotic rhythms and song structures. Swing Kids were influenced by fellow San Diego bands Antioch Arrow and Drive Like Jehu. On a broader scale, their music and lyrics were influenced by post-punk.
Swing Kids carried the San Diego "art hardcore" movement past the initial wave of Gravity Records bands and through to the late 1990s, releasing a 7" EP and split 10" EP along the way. Despite their importance in a relatively small scene, Swing Kids' impact both during their tenure and after their 1997 breakup was global, thanks to many independent Zines and a US/European tour. The sound they pioneered inspired bands such as The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower, Refused, Orchid, Jerome's Dream and many others." (wikipedia. I'm lazy)
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Early emo band featuring Tonie Joy who later went on to be in Born Against and Universal Order of Armageddon. Crucial hardcore record if you don't have it already.

"The band's identifying characteristics, and those that distinguished them from their contemporaries, included noticeable and abrupt transitions from loud to quiet, Joy's distinct arpeggiated guitar (often undistorted and picked), and Vance's esoteric, sometimes meandering lyrical content. Earlier recordings of the band are reminiscent of early Joy Division, particularly in guitar style, while later songs embodied a less blunt approach, noted by some detractors as making Moss Icon "like Grateful Dead for punks." The band championed, among other issues, the plight of indigenous peoples of the Americas, and opposed the U.S. government's involvement in Nicaragua and Guatemala." (wikipedia)

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"Saetia (pronounced say-sha) was a New York City-based screamo band. Their name originates from a misspelling of the Miles Davis track "Saeta", from his album Sketches of Spain, which, in turn, was named after the saeta, a religious tradition of flamenco music. (This is similar to fellow screamo band Joshua Fit For Battle, whose name was a corruption of the traditional American spiritual song "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"; other members of Saetia later formed Off Minor, which is the title of a Thelonious Monk composition.)" (wikipedia)

I used to see Saetia play at ABC No Rio when I was 17 or 18 years old a lot. Back then, I was really punk and only listened to bands with green mohawks and bondage pants, so I didn't really watch them too much. Boy, was I a turd.
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Men's Recovery Project- "The Very Best Of..."

Yeah, pretty lazy, I know, just a wikipedia quote and a youtube video, but fuck it. This is a good collection of Men's Recovery Project stuff, and honestly, all you really need. While a great band, there's only so much you can take in one sitting.

"MRP were known for their often extremely short and sometimes theatrical/performance art style sets. Sam McPheeters occasionally dressed as Patrick Henry while playing. The rest of the members sometimes wore masks, ladies lingerie, or children's clothing.(see video below)

The roster for Men's Recovery Project included members from such groups as Wrangler Brutes, The Locust, Melvins, Thrones, Rah Bras, Le Tigre, and Six Finger Satellite."




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Passive Aggressor- Demo

Haven't posted in a while, so sorry. Yeah, like anyone gives a fuck. No one downloads anything except for a few of the metal records, and certainly no one ever comments. Fuck you. Regardless, this is a recent demo from Brooklyn locals Passive Aggressor. Everyone compares them to the Jesus Lizard, but I don't really think they sound like the Jesus Lizard. In fact, whenever someone compares a band to the Jesus Lizard, I know for a fact that they're definitely not going to sound like the Jesus Lizard. Passive A sounds like they LOVE the Jesus Lizard, but nobody sounds like the Jesus Lizard. Except maybe for The Jazzus Lizard. What you do get is 4 songs of well played post-hardcore with those angry/bored at the same time somehow female vocals that the kids are all into these days. Definitely worth checking out.

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This is fucking amazing...

from yahoo news...

Filipino inmates in `Thriller' video stage tribute
AP, Jun 27, 2009 7:40 am PDT

The Filipino inmates who shot to global fame with a YouTube video of their "Thriller" dance swayed and stomped again Saturday in a behind-bars tribute to their idol, Michael Jackson.

After being told of Jackson's death Thursday in Los Angeles, the 1,500 inmates at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center hit the exercise yard, practicing for nine hours Friday night — and into the wee hours of Saturday morning — for the show. They took breaks only to eat or when it rained, said professional choreographer Gwendolyn Lador, hired by the prison to teach the inmates the dance. (read more)

KARP- "Suplex"

Up for your consideration is the late, great KARP's second LP, "Suplex". Released on K records in 1995, this is my favorite KARP LP. For those not in the know; Karp existed from 1990 till 1998. Members went on to form Big Business (the best reference point I can think of if you haven't heard the magic that is KARP: Jared Warren's vocals are unmistakable, but KARP is way more of a punk band), The Whip, and Tight Bros from Way Back When. KARP is a little known acronym; Kill All Redneck Pricks.

I'm pet sitting in Boerum Hill, and they have cable, but I'm really sick of watching Law and Order. This episode is about a bounty hunter, though, and that's cool. Also, I saw this insanely racist commercial for Kool Aid last night. I was really stoned, so maybe I imagined this, but it was a black father and son sitting in the woods fishing. All of a sudden, you see the Kool Aid Man and a bottle of Grape Soda with legs running on a log in the lake, until the grape soda falls off the log. All the while, the father and son look on intently. I swear I am not making this up.

Myspace
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Please Inform The Captain This Is a Hijack- both albums

PITCTIAH was the project Mike Kirsch was involved with in 2000-2003. Musically, no where near as poppy as the stuff he did with Pinhead Gunpowder, and not as abrasive as Torches To Rome or Bread & Circuits. There's also this whole weird electronic thing going on, more as intros to songs and as in between song samples, but Kirsch does them all himself, and as far as electronica goes, it's all pretty cool. Mike Kirsch is one of the most interesting guitarists working in the hardcore/punk dialect, and this is some of his best stuff.

I feel bad that I don't have more to say about this. I think as many people read this blog for the angry ranting as they do for music. I'm not too pissed off this week, what can I say?
Myspace (fan site)
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I Hate Myself- "Ten Songs" & Everything Else

Back when I was young and really punk, I used to go to emo shows sometimes with my punk friends and drink beer in the parking lot and make fun of all the emo kids, because they weren't different just like us. It was pretty stupid. After a long and depressing period where I worked the graveyard shift at Kinko's on Long Island (I was living in midtown Manhattan at the time. It makes no sense, I know), I started dating an emo girl. Even before that though, I loved this record. It is hotly debated whether this band was serious or a joke, but regardless: they had the whole loud/soft/screamy/singy thing down to a science, and out of all the other bands of their ilk, they were the only one to sing about drinking 40's and huffing gas. "10 songs" (they didn't actually title their records; the other ones are called "3 songs", "4 songs", etc.) is their quintessential album. The second download is everything else they ever recorded (besides this one Spoke cover off some comp that isn't all that great anyway), which is just as amazing, but 10 songs is the cr00sh jam. I would ultimately describe this as emo for people who don't like emo.

Myspace
(This is a fan myspace page. I think it's fucking hilarious that whoever made it took the address www.myspace.com/noidearecords and No Idea records had to go with just /noidea. I'm just sayin'...)

Download "10 Songs"
Down everything else

Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine "Rampton" LP

I have nothing good to say about anything today. I know, I'm usually kind of pissy, but right now it seems as though forces are conspiring ruin my life. It's not enough that I haven't gotten laid in over a year, I barely make (well, made) enough to pay my rent, and I have to listen to people fucking through the uber-thin walls of my shitty house, but now my livelihood is being decimated. In case you don't know, I'm a dog walker. I hate work, immensely. Dog walking is the only job I've ever had for more than about 2 months that I (usually) enjoy. And with the fucking economy, client after client are losing their jobs, and when you don't have a job, you don't really need (and aren't able to afford) a dog walker. So, I went out today and walked one fucking dog. For $12. Tomorrow is a busy day. I think I have 3. I was supposed to be getting dogs from a fellow dog walker who is retiring, but that now seems all fucked up because the people are babies. I tried to make a new craigslist account so I could top post my ad more, and even craigslist was anally raping me. I needed to verify a different phone number, so I called up my mom and asked if I could have the verification code sent to her phone. She said OK, but somehow, in 2009, my mother still does not know how to receive and read a text message. 25 minutes later, I was almost in tears, but I at least had a new craigslist account. I'm sure no ones going to reply to these ads, either.

The anger and frustration I'm currently feeling can be summed up pretty well with this album. It's not an intense rage, more of a downcast, beaten down by life kind of vibe. TOLRTD is (was?) a "supergroup" of sorts, made up of both members of the band Sunn O)) on bass and guitar, Lee Dorian of Cathedral/Napalm Death on vocals, and Justin Greaves (Iron Monkey, Electric Wizard, Crippled Black Phoenix) on drums, and named after an Earth song. It's 3 songs (one clocking in at 29:26, one at 17:53, and a Killdozer cover that clocks in at a quick seven minutes) of some of the slowest doom ever, from people who helped pioneer the genre. This is their only release.

Fuck, I am so disgusted and apathetic right now that I'm not even going to spell check this shit. Fuck you. Unless you need a dog walker who will take great care of your buddy while you're at work, in which case, lets talk!

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Acid King "Busse Woods" LP

Here's a classic you may have missed from San Francisco's sorely underrated Acid King. Named after Ricky "The Acid King" Kasso, a teenager growing up in Long Island during the late 70's/early 80's who dropped a few times too many and decided Satan wanted him to kill this kid who stole a bunch of angel dust from him, Acid King have been plodding along since 1993 with little recognition. Incredibly slow, with thick, psych driven riffs, this would be great for a stoned Sunday morn. Also, singer Lori S. is Dale Crover's ex-wife, if you need some kind of "cred" to bother checking this out.

I myself dabbled in acid a few times. The last time was in the early oughts, during my brief tenure living in the shithole known as Pinole, CA. My girlfriend at the time had fucked one of my roommates and decided to move to Chicago. I was pretty bummed about it, and went down to Berkley to look for some of the scumfucks I'd been associating with, the only people in that god-forsaken state at the time who would hang out with my sorry ass. I eventually found this guy named Ferret who I had known (Sort of) from New York. He was really sketchy, but always pretty nice to me. I told him my tale of woe, and he told me to wait where I was. He walked over to this girl and started talking to her and pointing at me. "Oh no", I thought. "He's going to spend his hard-spanged change on getting me the worst prostitute money can buy. This is not what I need right now." He walked back over and told me to open my mouth. I kind of knew where this was going, and knew that THAT wasn't what I needed, either, but said fuck it. It was pretty shitty acid.

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Nebula "Atomic Ritual"

Ahh, the beginning of June. The smell of non-board-of-health approved halal kebab cooking on Brooklyn street corners mingling with the stench of my sweaty armpits. Summer will soon be here. Fuck. I hate summer. As I was walking my first dog of the day, I looked in a storefront and my reflection gawked awkwardly back at me. It was only like 80 degrees and I was already dripping with sweat. I thought about summer romance, and how a summer romance would be quite a delight. Then I thought about how it was past the time of year where I'm in the right frame for finding romance of any sort. Where would I take a summer first date? I certainly don't want to have to apologize for dripping perspiration into m'ladys tequila sunrise. And I certainly can't afford to go to one of those classy joints with air conditioning. How I envy those with under-active sweat glands. I often think about how lucky dogs are to pant instead of sweat. Yeah, I guess it would look pretty ridiculous if we were all walking around with our tongues stuck out all the time, gasping for air, but it would be a lot less disgusting.

Yeah, summer kind of sucks, unless you're one of those douche bags with some shitty crust band's patch on your overpriced messenger bag who thinks that Bloomington, IN is a cool place, but hey, you still gotta listen to music in the summer. Today's offering is my favorite album by California's stoner-rock sweethearts, Nebula. Formed from the ashes of Fu Manchu (who didn't actually break up, but I figured I'd just keep that in there anyway), Nebula is a little more rocking and a little less about muscle cars and monster movies. "Atomic Ritual" is probably a much easier listen than a lot of the stuff I post. It's sort of psychedelic, sort of pop, and is the type of thing I would blast out of my top-down LeBaron while cruisin' for chicks. If I had a convertible, or went cruisin' for chicks. It's summer music for people who hate the summer. Best tracks: "So It Goes" (their tribute to Vonnegut), "Electric Synapse", and the titular track. (huh huh, he said tit.)

download part 1
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"Get In The Van" audiobook

So maybe Greg Ginn says that 90% of this book is bullshit. Maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe he's smoked so much weed he doesn't know what happened. The important thing is, as amazing as the book is, it is amazing tenfold when narrated by Rollins himself.

I've heard the stories about what an asshole he is. A lot of those stories involve people fucking with him because he is Henry Rollins and then acting like he's the one who's a prick for being a dick back. I met him once, after chasing him around the Pratt campus with Bent Outta Shape for an inane photo op, and he seemed quite cordial to me, shaking every one's hand and showing genuine interest in what we thought. Also, he said that he thought Keith Morris was the best singer in Black Flag. I used to agree, but after a while, you realize that Keith Morris was kind of a nerd, their songwriting/musicianship was so behind the curve, and that Hank's intense rage, whether real or contrived, was what it was all about.

Part 1
Part 2

Lifter Puller "Soft Rock"

I used to hang out with some pretty fucked up people. I guess sometimes I still do. But, they used to be far more fucked up people. Lots of drugs, really bad drugs, and deviant (sometimes just plain wrong) sexcapades. I was once in a band with this guy who told me about the time he tried to have sex with his dog (apparently, it didn't work out; the dog got mad and bit him. Ah, the toils of young love). He was really into GG Allin, and it was kind of disturbing, but back then I didn't really think much of it.

He lived in the basement of his alcoholic sister's house (who claimed to have slept with every one of the Dead Boys except Cheetah, cause "he was the ugly one"), where on one occasion, during a particularly heavy bout of drinking, he took me to this freezer in the basement and told me he wanted to "show me" something. After chipping away at the ice for ten minutes, a plastic garbage bag began to emerge. He ripped it open and I was horrified to see a dead dog grinning at me. "Is that the dog you uhhh... you know." I inquired. "No, this was another dog that died and my sister wanted to give it a 'proper burial', but couldn't afford it. So, she put it in the freezer until she had the money. That was 2 years ago." Uh huh... There really wasn't much to do on Long Island except be fucked up. He left town eventually, and the last time I saw him, he booked a show for my (then) band, and he had just gotten married. He asked if I wanted to see his new gun.

"Soft Rock" is a compilation of pretty much everything Lifter Puller released (with the exception of the "Fiestas & Fiascoes" LP). Over the course of the 40 tracks presented here, Craig Finn (now in the Hold Steady) tells a possibly fictional tale of the criss-crossing lives of numerous fucked up individuals. Whereas the Hold Steady goes for a raucous, anthemic bar-rock assault, this is a far more low-key outing, relying less on catchy choruses and recycled Springsteen riffs than atmospheric synths and solid post-punk indie rock (all recorded back in the 90's, before the whole modern post-punk indie rock revival). The lyrics are pure gold; I've always secretly really wanted to put "Nassau Coliseum" on a mix-tape for someone (IE. a couple of ex-girlfriends), but I just never had the guts.

This is not in chronological order; the best stuff on here is the first set of B-sides/rarities (tracks 1-6) and their second album, "Half Dead & Dynamite" (tracks 7-17). Their first album (self titled, tracks 28-40) is a far less inspired indie rock jaunt, obviously building up to something, but not quite there yet. "The Entertainment and Arts" EP (tracks 22-27) is also great, and contains a much cooler version of "Star Wars Hips" off the first LP.

I had to split this into 3 parts because Mediafire doesn't let you upload anything bigger than 100MB. Download them all and 7zip or whatever should reconstitute it all as one, like adding water to a batch of sea monkeys, and ending up with one big vat of dead sea monkeys.

Download Part 1

Download Part 2

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Noothgrush "Erode The Person"

I can't do it. I have nothing angry to rant about right now. This record is angry enough that I just don't even feel it's necessary. On paper, this sounds awful (misanthropic nerds playing plodding, distorted songs about Star Wars), but in actuality...hell, fuck it, even on paper, its awesome. Just trust me and download this if you like smoking weed and hate most people.

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Hellbender "Footprint of the American Chicken"

After listening to nothing but metal for the past 8 or 9 months, I think I may have finally reconciled my intense hatred of pop-punk with my secret love of really, really good pop-punk. And I'm OK with that.

Also, I went to see Wolves In The Throne Room at Europa last night, and it just pissed me off. I mean, they were good, but I have to say...OK, I am super anal about this stuff, but the drummer was just not up to snuff. I'm not trying to talk shit, all I'm saying is, somebody must LOVE pro-tools. Also, what is it with Black Metal bands and mixing the snare so low that you can't fucking hear it. I mean, like, at all. At one point, the (I think) confused sound person turned the snare mic up to a barely audible level, and the singer yelled at him to turn it down.

Yeah, OK, so I agree, Darkthrones' "Transylvanian Hunger" is an awesome record, and you can't really hear the snare too well on that, but (and you can impale me on an inverted jesus dildo for this if you must), it's not even their best record. Put on one of their later records, after they put a little bit more into the recording process, and lo and behold, the magic of the snare drum appears! It adds life to the song, a sense of forward motion. Even on that Burzum record, where he tried to use the worst mics possible to achieve some ridiculous outsider aesthetic, you can hear the fucking snare. What is it with all these bands who have decent recordings but try to emulate this one horrible quality that comes out when you record something on a hand held tape recorder shoved up your own ass?

Anyway, after they played, my friend Jen from Chicago tried to trick me into going to Lost and Found bar up on Greenpoint Ave. by telling me to meet her at Tommy's Tavern (a slightly less irritating shithole) after I refused to go to L&F, and then texting me after I was already there and telling me to go to L&F. Seriously? No way in hell will I be caught dead in that shit hole. Do I LOOK like I'm into shitty bands who spend all month trying to rip off Dillinger 4 and paying $5 for a glass of watered down Stella? Don't I look more like a guy who could go home, spend $3 at the beer window, get drunk in the backyard and then spend the rest of the night downloading music and jerking off? More importantly, what the fuck does any of this have to do with this pretty awesome pop-punk record by a band from North Carolina who has probably never even sacrificed a virgin?

Uhhh... well, I had to wait for the bus home for a while, and that sucked, and I bet Al Burian hates waiting for the bus, too. And there's a couple of lyrics that mention the bus. Also, once he smoked all of my friend Kevin's weed, and even though Kevin wasn't there, he should have been. So uhhh... stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

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(Young) Pioneers- "Free the (Young) Pioneers Now!"

I hate folk punk with every ounce of my being. I think it is the absolute worst sub-genre ever to emerge from the cancerous bowels of the punk movement. It is certainly the most embarrassing. I find it hard to align myself with anything that would somehow align itself with Defiance, Ohio (some of them are nice enough folks, but I absolutely cannot stand their music). And apparently, there is a band playing in my living room this weekend that I am strongly confident is a folk punk band. I'll be drinking on the back porch for that one.

It truly amazes me that a band as great as the (Young) Pioneers could be indirectly responsible for possibly the worst genre of music to ever exist (with the exception of nu-metal, and yes, I'm counting ska). There seems to be a lack of (Young) Pioneers stuff on the internet (at least, I could find practically nothing after 10 minutes of searching), so I decided to put this up. You probably have it, anyway. If not, get this. It is really awesome, totally catchy folky punk (not folk punk) without all the hokey trappings of it's modern hellspawn.

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