Posted November 5th, 2012 by Cole Faulkner in Punk | 2 comments
Here’s a good one from Songs For Snakes (sadly no relation to Awesome Snakes), a San Francisco band with a good ear for craggy melodic punk rock/post-punk – you know, the type we love No Idea Records and all their affiliated labels for. Their official self released debut, Charcoal Heather, is sure to get them noticed, especially at their name what you want asking price. Gotta love this new digital music paradigm, band’s see vast exposure, and people like us get more music than we’ll ever need.
That Riot Agents live for the energy of punk rock and the speed of thrash metal could be no more apparent than with their latest album Who Cares!. The album features nine tracks of gruff melodic speed drawing upon everything from The Ramones, Iron Maiden and The Misfits, to Judas Priest, Kiss, Ozzy, and The Adicts. Plenty of loud times to be had. They’re quite opinionated and extreme, so don’t say I didn’t warn you! Oh, and their first effort, Too Hard To Fall, ain’t too shabby either.
Posted December 12th, 2011 by Cole Faulkner in Punk | One comment
Dead United is one of those underground European horror gems that if it wasn’t for music discovery tools like Jamendo, you could go your whole life without ever crossing paths. Thankfully their two masterfully melodic horror punk offerings, Chainsaw Chronicles and 3D Audio Horror can now haunt you regardless of your final resting place. As a rather vocal fan of the horror genres I can say with confidence that anyone with a love for quirky melodic punk should embrace this spook-tacular ghoul fest and succumb to the ensuing fever. For fans of Blood Sucking Zombies From Outer Space, The Other, and Nim Vind.
As a big Walking Dead fan, I endorse the name Zombie Fight as a band name. Zombie Dead plays a classic NYC hardcore punk sound heavy on aggression, relentless drumming, featuring a few melodic guitar bridges that help modernize the effort. Check out their debut EP Broke For Tomorrow for a better idea.
Here’s an incredibly solid little six song split by two bands I doubt you’ve heard much from but need to know about. The Skye We Scrape’s three contributions feature a focused mix of gruff punk and solo heavy guitar with a hooky sense for melody and technical know how (think Small Brown Bike), with Hawkbit coming across a little looser, with songs that should find an audience with fans of Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves. Certainly worth your ear.
Greg Preston & The Great Machine feel like the trio could explode at any time. Their spastic brad of garage punk is a huge rock n’ roll party just waiting for someone to knock in a few walls. The vocals are very reminiscent of Liam Lynch, and the instrumentation for the four song EP, Hate To Love The City, are full of pure passionate energy.
Greg Preston & The Great Machine – Hate To Love The CIty
Posted July 3rd, 2011 by Cole Faulkner in Punk | One comment
Defiance rarely feels as good as on The Rebel Spell’s It’s A Beautiful Future. I love when bands speak to the world’s steady decline without being phased by it. Like a band hammering away at a house party while the walls burn around them, Vancouver’s the Rebel Spell embrace the inferno of political corruption and wash their hands clean of guilt as they speak to a planet caught in a downward spiral. As someone who loves The Carry-Ons, these guys are a natural choice.
I’m shocked that after their first full length, Dude Trips, Bangers weren’t signed to a label like Red Scare Records. instead they continue to offer their music free of charge over on their Bandcamp profile. Their latest full length, Small Pleasures, is every bit as poppy yet and grizzled as its predecessor, but with more polish – in a good way. Get downloading!
Punk Rock Heart Transplant is a collection of overlooked punk rock bands – many of which I have been praising in reviews for the past while. Bands like Samuel Caldwell’s Revenge, Sic Waiting, Chaser, and DC Fallout, accompanied by a whole slew of new band’s I’m now in the process of looking into – Wrecking Dead, The Bastard Suns, and Battle Born to name a few. This is a great compilation featuring many worthwhile underground melodic punk acts that you should know about.
Here’s an interesting split between two bands. The Glocca Morra hails from Florida, and The Greek Favourites comes from Pennsylvania, but they both feature a ragged sound like that of The Menzingers, The Holy Mess, and Captain, We’re Sinking. Six songs total, three by each band, and just as many good times.
Glocca Morra/The Greek Favourites – Songs in the Key of Ayyyyyy
Download the Album From Bandcamp
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