Archive for hardcore

DS-13 – Thrash And Burn (For fans of Cut The Shit, Bones Brigade, LxExAxRxNx)

D.S.-13 Thrash And Burn

When you think of fast thrashy skate punk, I’m going to guess Sweden isn’t probably the first place that comes to mind, but after listening to DS-13 (short for Demon System 13) that might change.  These Umeå, Sweden punks certainly do their home country justice with their release of Thrash and Burn.

Thrash and Burn is a quick listen with 10 songs finishing in a mere 7 minutes, but with their scathing, adrenaline junkie fueled punk rock, anything more would probably result in an overdose.

With their English tongue in cheek lyrics, DS-13 provides a ripping commentary on everything from racists (“Shoot the racists!”) to all the tough guy hardcore bands signed to Victory Records (“Pathetic wankers/Think they’re hard/Macho insecurity/Got no place here”).

If you dig fast aggressive hardcore that’s all go no slow, you can’t go wrong with Thrash and Burn.  Fans of Bones Brigade and Cut The Shit will find refuge here.

MP3:
DS-13 – Straights And Drunks

More punk rock for your thrashin’ heart:
Cut The Shit – Marked For Life
Bones Brigade – Endless Bummer
LxExAxRxN – First Lesson

Buy:
Out Of Print.

Mother’s Day Mix

punkcupcakes

Friends, I know it’s been a little bit of a while (I’ve been gone for work… boo) but today we celebrate Mother’s Day… that day where we honor the one who has put up with way too much of our bullshit growing up, and still didn’t kill us.  Here’s a little punk rock mix for all you punk rock moms.

MP3:
Youth Brigade – Punk Rock Mom
The Vapids – Make Mommy Proud
The Misfits – Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?
Bouncing Souls – I Like Your Mom
Dangers – Stay At Home Mom
Screeching Weasel – Mother
Ceremony – Mothers and Fathers
More Mixes:

Scenester 101: How To Be A Modern Day Street Punk
Scenester 101: How To Be A 3rd Wave Ska Dork
Scenester 101: How To Be A Skinhead
Scenester 101: How To Be Hardcore

Buy:

Interpunk

Converge – When Forever Comes Crashing (For fans of Dillinger Escape Plan, Ghost Limb, Every Time I Die)


Metal-core for the most part has a bad reputation with both metalheads and hardcore fans.  In fact, back in college it was the one thing my metal friend and I could actually agree on regarding music, citing the fact that it’s usually not metal or hardcore enough and blending the shittiest parts of both to create one giant ball of mediocrity and disappointment.  Converge is different, and they proved that with their 3rd release of When Forever Comes Crashing.

While my favorite and the one I have the most connection with is their highly acclaimed Jane Doe, When Forever Comes Crashing shows us the progression of the band and what led to the eventual mastery of Jane Doe.  Incredibly relentless, Converge delivers 11 technical jams (12 if you get the reissued version) ranging from the breakneck speeds of “Conduit” to the slow, mellow, yet unsettling sounds of “Ten Cents.”

Life most of Converge’s music, WFCC is one of those albums that you really have to be in the mood to listen to in order to enjoy it.  However if you’re looking for aggressive yet skilled music, you can’t go wrong with When Forever Comes Crashing.

MP3:
Converge – Conduit

More:
Converge – Jane Doe
United Nations – Self Titled

Buy:
Converge

Paint It Black – Invisible (For fans of Kid Dynamite, Lifetime, The Hope Conspiracy)


I honestly can’t believe it’s been nearly four years since Paint It Black has put out any new music, and anyone who has been reading this little ole’ blog for a while knows how bad I’ve been jonesing for some new tunes from Philly’s finest (although in their defense… Dan’s been busy being a new father and playing with old bands while the other members have been touring with their own respective bands). So how exactly does the brand spanking new Invisible EP fare?  Well, let me just say I’ve been listening to it an average of 3-4 times a day.

With 6 songs in 10 minutes, Paint It Black brings us a new level of melodic hardcore with Invisible.  Lyrically Dan delivers his witty yet pissed lyrics that we’ve come to expect from Paint It Black, but the Dr. charts new lyrical waters with songs such as “Little Fists.” A rebellion anthem written for his daughter with lines like “And when things look bleak/I’ll kiss the tears from your cheek/And watch you clench your little fists in your sleep.” it’s nothing short of touching and stunning at the same time.

While Dan usually gets the spotlight when people talk about Paint It Black, we can’t forget about the other members, who have contributed to creating some of the best PIB songs yet on Invisible (I’m looking at you “Props For Ventriloquism”).  The songs remain incredibly melodic without losing any of their aggression, and many are very reminiscent of their killer album Paradise.

I know it’s premature but I feel pretty confident when I say it: Paint It Black’s Invisible will definitely be on my top 10 of 2013.  Here’s just hoping they don’t take another 4 years before the next release…
FUN FACT: Yours truly is on the album, sort of.  During their secret house show, Dan recorded us in the crowd yell “GO” on his cell phone and put us on “Props For Ventriloquism.”  Philadelphia is incredibly terrible at yelling go at the same time, by the way.

MP3:
Paint It Black – Props For Ventriloquism

We’re Afraid Of Conflict But Always At War:
Paint It Black – Amnesia
Paint it Black – CVA
Kid Dynamite, And The Art Of Moshing Everywhere
Lifetime – Hello Bastards
Bad Side – Demo Review

Buy:
Paint It Black

Paint It Black, Joyce Manor, Loma Prieta, Congenital Death, Bad Side Live In Philly (3/31/13)

It’s the fucking Paint It Black record release show!  I’ve been stoked on this show ever since they announced it, and the fact that Philly local hardcore dudes Bad Side and female fronted hardcore band Congenital Death were on the bill were a huuuuge plus.  I headed to the sold out First Unitarian Church, and while hurting a bit (sprained my ankle, didn’t help my cause at World Inferno) I planned on completely losing my shit regardless.

Bad Side:

It didn’t take long for me to completely lose my shit, as Bad Side were the first ones up.  I’ve been listening to their demo ever since they released it back in October, and like Dan Yemin said during PIB’s set: “If you showed up late, you fucked up.”

It was my first time seeing them, and they completely tore shit up with their fast as fuck hardcore.  A few of us easily got a pit going, and stage dives were plentiful.  You need to check them out, period.

Congenital Death:

Another Philly local band, these gal and guys often play with Bad Side, so the same set of us who went off during Bad Side continued the antics up through their set.  Congenital Death play brutal powerviolence hardcore, and are often compared to Punch or Death Rats.  They’ve really seemed to find their sound since the last time I caught them at The Barbary, and I definitely need to check their recorded stuff out.

I wound up missing the majority of Loma Prieta’s set, but I was able to catch most of Joyce Manor.

Joyce Manor:

I know that Joyce Manor is all the rage these days, but admittedly I never got a chance to check them out. They definitely had a lot of energy, and fans were constantly stage diving through out the set.  They played that style of pop-punk that is really big (at least here in Philly) similar to Spraynard or Iron Chic, but personally I’m not really a fan of that noodling guitar punk.  They did put on an energetic set though that even I was able to appreciate.

Paint It Black:

Paint It Black playing two Philly shows in the span of a few months?  Be still my heart.  Throughout the interwebs (or the information super highway as I like to call it), Paint It Black have essentially streamed their entire new Invisible EP through various blogs, and I’ve been seriously listening to it nonstop any time I’m near a computer.  So needless to say, I was fucking stoked to hear these new songs live.

Paint It Black took the stage, and immediately busted out into “Greeting Fellow Insomniacs”, the opening track off of Invisible. The band continued their onslaught of aggressive yet melodic hardcore playing songs from their entire discography, keeping the pauses brief.  We in the crowd were constantly barraging Dan with a bunch of pile-ons,  constant dives, and had a pit going through out their entire set (would you expect anything less from their hometown)?

The band thanked us for coming out to the show even though it’s Easter Sunday, and gave us some background on the new EP.

Incredibly tight setlist, they played everything off of Invisible and a lot of my (and crowd) favorites.

Setlist:
Greetings Fellow Insomniacs
Past Tense, Future Perfect
CVA
Exit Wounds
Props For Ventriloquists
Atticus Fitch
Four Deadly Venoms
D.F.W
Salem
Invisible
Election Day
Head First
Pink Slip
Cannibal
Womb Envy
Memorial Day
Little Fists
The Ledge
Surrender
We Will Not

Mp3:
Bad Side – Demo
Paint It Black – Four Simple Steps to Total Life Satisfaction

You Don’t Know This Song, But I Caught You Trying To Sing Along:
Bad Side – Demo Review
Paint it Black – CVA
The Steal – Bright Grey
Lighten Up – Absolutely Not

Buy:
Paint It Black
Bad Side

Bad Side – Looking For A Bad Time (For fans of Bones Brigade, DS 13, Cut The Shit)


From the ashes of a bunch of Philly bands comes Bad Side, the hardcore project containing members of Lighten Up, Cobra Lung, and GA$H.  I’m going to keep this one quick in the spirit of the music, but I’ve been listening to their demo nonstop for months now.

Bad Side’s 5 minute demo captures what hardcore is all about: raw, fast as fuck aggressive music that is sure to entice plenty of stage dives.  While I hate the overuse of different “-cores” (it’s all just fucking punk rock man), these guys definitely remind a lot of some of the more traditional fastcore bands like DS 13 or LxExAxRxN.  If you dig your hardcore without the chunky breakdowns and floor punching… definitely give these guys a listen, if their demo is this good, I can’t wait to see when they release something.

MP3:
Bad Side – Demo

More Adult Contemporary Jams To Lose Your Shit To:
Cut The Shit – Marked For Life
Bones Brigade – Endless Bummer
LxExAxRxN – First Lesson
Aneurysm Rats

Buy:
Bad Side

Paint It Black Streams 2 New Songs

Usually I’m not one to post about band news as much as reviews, but I’m so stoked on this: hardcore veterans Paint It Black are streaming two new tracks from their upcoming 7 inch “Invisible” which is the band’s first new material in 4 years (fuck, it’s been that long?)

Bonus points: Dan Yemin mentioned that he thinks all of the other bands he’s involved in will also be active in 2013 (Lifetime, Kid Dynamite).  Stoked.

These songs completely shred, and I’ll see you Philly punks at their hometown record release show next Sunday.
Check out the songs here.

Preorder Invisible Here.

No Sleep, We’re Restless:
Paint It Black – Amnesia
Paint it Black – CVA
The Steal – Bright Grey
Lighten Up – Absolutely Not

Dag Nasty – Can I Say (For fans of Minor Threat, Lifetime, Texas Is The Reason)

Maybe it was the Texas Is The Reason show I recently went to, but I’ve been listening to a lot of Dag Nasty as of late.  Along with other DC pioneers Embrace (Ian Mackaye’s band in between Minor Threat and Fugazi), Dag Nasty help pave the way for melodic hardcore back in the 1980s.

Released back in 1986, Dag Nasty’s debut Can I Say contains 10 jams that influenced many melodic/post hardcore bands.  Take their song “Under Your Influence” for example, you can see where Texas Is The Reason pulled a lot of their, uh… influences from.

Singer Dave Smalley shouts with a sense of urgency, while Minor Threat guitarist Brian Baker brings his hardcore influences to the table mixing the aggression with catchy melodies.

Easily one of the most underrated bands of their time, Dag Nasty is definitely worth checking out.

Song:
Dag Nasty – Under Your Influence

There Are Words I Should Have Spoken, But I Kept My Fucking Mouth Shut Instead:
Texas Is The Reason – Self Titled EP
Lifetime – Hello Bastards
Black Flag – The First Four Years

Buy:
Dischord

DNF – Hurt (For fans of Trash Talk, Ceremony, Touche Amore)


Take a quick look through your record collection, how do you feel about ripping powerviolence hardcore?  If you dig it, then you’ll definitely love DNF’s (or Duke Nukem Forever) 7 inch release Hurt.

Featuring members of both Trash Talk and Touche Amore, DNF plays eye gouging hardcore similar to the likes of old Punch or Ceremony (in fact, the vocals sound a lot like they do on Violence Violence).  In typical powerviolence fashion, the band is constantly alternating between shredding riffs and slower sludgier parts, without ever really staying in either long enough to call it home.

The lyrics are dark and the music is gritty and abrasive, yet delivered with such precision anytime you think they are about to go over the edge, they reel you right back in to their controlled aggression.

Definitely a must for any fan of powerviolence, and I’d love to see them do a tour of the east coast sometime soon (maybe with Ceremony and Punch?  That would fucking rule).

MP3:
DNF – Waste

Mighty Morphin Power Violence:
Punch – Self Titled
Ceremony – Violence Violence
Coke Bust – Fuck Bar Culture
United Nations – Self Titled

Buy:
No Idea

Crisis Of Conformity – Fist Fight (for fans of Dead Kennedys, Adolescents, Circle Jerks)


If the name “Crisis Of Conformity” rings a bell, you may have seen them featured on Saturday Night Live (or maybe you’re just confusing them with Corrosion Of Conformity).  The brainchild of Fred Armisen (Trenchmouth, Blue Man Group), Crisis Of Conformity was created as sort of a nod and tribute to the punk bands he grew up listening to.

You could find the sketch online, I have to say… even though the band was created as a joke I find myself listening to the 2 song quite a bit actually.  Even though the skit features Dave Grohl, etc.  Fred plays all of the instruments on the actual release. SNL connections aside, Fist Fight is a solid quick listen that takes plenty of influences from 80s punk and hardcore.  The B-Side features “Kick It Down And Kick It Around”, very reminiscent of Black Flag.

This release often gets overlooked due to it’s novelty, but if you can get past that, it’s a solid 3 minute listen.

MP3:
Crisis Of Conformity – Fist Fight

More:
Minor Threat
Embrace (Ian’s Band After Minor Threat)

Teen Idles – Minor Disturbance

Buy:
Drag City