Pick one band you like and write about them

[patgerity.]

Preferably one you don't think people have heard of

Madden got me into this band called RVIVR and they are AWESOME, they're from Olympia and have a really cool sound. Dueling male / female vocals are some really catchy lyrics and tunes.... good upbeat fast pop punk coming from a buncha punx.... extremely catchy... the dudes voice reminds me of the guy from Marathon at times and the girls voice is great, kinda raspy but sounds great. Check em out

Think: American Steel, (good) Against Me, Lemuria (but faster)

Dirty Water
www.mediafire.com/?565qp7ssd0et1fd

www.myspace.com/rvivr ( their comment box has some annoying rap thing you have to turn off that someone posted )

[Lohmann]

FOR DA PUNKS:

The Ex from the Netherlands are one of the finest post-punk bands ever. Because of the nature of their lyrics, they are lumped in with the anarcho-punk genre, but the monotone, driving force of the band is clearly cut from the same cloth as the likes of The Fall and Joy Division.
Like The Fall, they've never really stopped making music, and are still pretty active today. Their finest albums came out in the 1980s, and it's some really dark shit that I'm sure politically, a lot of people on this board could get behind ("Save the seal/hunt the hunters").

Here's a video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKCPxZs3Zck&feature=related

Not-so Punk:

The Monks remain one of the greatest bands of all time, and I say that while acknowledging they only released ONE album. It's a group of 5 GIs who decided to remain in Germany after their time in the service was up. They started out as an above average garage rock band (not unlike The Sonics or Seeds, whose stripped down garage rock is still as proto- as proto-punk gets when you look at where bands like The Stooges took influence from). They hooked up with a manager who sought to treat the band as an artistic project, saying they should "dress/act/be like Monks at all times." They shaved their heads, stripped down their already minimal songs to their core, and released in 1966 Black Monk Time, one of the greatest records ever.

Their entire story is told in the wonderful DVD Transatlantic Feedback: The Story of The Monks. Here's one of many videos online:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5iI0__9S1c

[peterfuckinaugust]

This band is creative, heavy and raw as hell. I saw them on accident when I was living in the midwest 8 years ago and I still play this cd on a regular basis. They used to be member of Godheadsilo. Two bassists and a drummer. One of the bass players uses an eight string and a guitar amp and a bass amp. Sounds wild. There's no guitars on this recording. It's hard as hell and these dudes are pretty pissed.


Enemymine
www.mediafire.com/?nzi5mdmtdho

[njfathead]

Oct 14, 2010 9:16:15 GMT -5 patgerity. said:

Preferably one you don't think people have heard of

Madden got me into this band called RVIVR and they are AWESOME, they're from Olympia and have a really cool sound. Dueling male / female vocals are some really catchy lyrics and tunes.... good upbeat fast pop punk coming from a buncha punx.... extremely catchy... the dudes voice reminds me of the guy from Marathon at times and the girls voice is great, kinda raspy but sounds great. Check em out

Think: American Steel, (good) Against Me, Lemuria (but faster)

Dirty Water
www.mediafire.com/?565qp7ssd0et1fd

www.myspace.com/rvivr ( their comment box has some annoying rap thing you have to turn off that someone posted )

Definitely my favorite ex latterman band. The girls vocals are sooooo catchy. Shorebirds (Matt Canino's other band) are cool as well.

[patgerity.]

I didn't know that they were ex latterman, thats pretty cool... i'll have to check out Shorebirds

[bloody vengeance]

Siekiera:

one of the few bands that can do a stylistic 180 and still be good in both eras. their hardcore demo from 84 is some of the harshest and most brutal hc i've heard, certainly my favorite eastern europe punk recoridng. mid tempo, raw as hell but completely bleak and downtrodden sounding. the band's eponymous track:



after this they went in a darkwave direction, sounding somewhere between ministry's twitch and the first killing joke record. they don't really fall into any of the overblown cheesy traps like a lot of their contemporaries fell into, and produced a great 7" and LP that manage to be as dark and cold as their hardcore era, but come at it from a completely different direction. a track from the 7":

[passedout]

ZEGOTA
Zegota was a hardcore band from Greensboro, North Carolina. Their sound can only be described as taking Rage Against the Machine, Chokehold and Kill Your Idols and mixing it in a blender together. I first saw them in 1997 at a show at the University of Maryland. They totally blew me away and to this day they are one of the most inspiring live bands I've ever seen.

Discography:
* Movement in the Music - LP (Crimethinc., 1999; Reflections Records (repress), 2000) and CD (CrimethInc., 1999)
* Namasté - CD (CrimethInc., 2001)
* Reclaim! - LP (Stonehenge (Europe), Amor y Lucha (USA), 2004) and CD (CrimethInc., 2004)
* Zegota - two song 7" (CrimethInc., 2005)

My favorite release of theirs is "Movement in the Music" and you can download it here: www.mediafire.com/?y4wo4vzdfyo

[kozinn]

love RVIVR. the song Plenty of Time is so fucking good. definitely better than Shorebirds and Bridge & Tunnel.

[jay]

I'll pick two of the hardcore bands that I listen to the most these days:

Ire - I feel like when people talk about "dark" hardcore or whatever, they're referring to bands like Cursed who have a kind of wall of sound, downtuned thing going on. All well and good, but Ire is, in my opinion, one of the darkest hardcore bands I've ever heard. They played strange, evil-sounding metallic-hardcore. I think they're interesting because even though they are definitely a product of the 1990's in terms of their sound, they also seem to reference black metal occasionally, both vocally and in some of the guitar riffs. Maybe purists won't hear it or will call me a poser, but whatever. To me, it sounds nightmarish and, to rely on a cliche, absolutely HEAVY. Also, they were French-Canadian. Also they had two LP's on Crimethinc. which I think is fucking cool. Highlights from the second LP include the reverse-gated cymbal intro to the first song and the ensuing monotonous, dirging bridge, and the slide guitar bridge on the last song... who uses slide guitar? Also, none of their songs seem to be less than 4 minutes long.

What Seed, What Root?
icoulddietomorrow.blogspot.com/2008/07/ire-what-see-what-root.html

I Discern an Overtone of Tragedy....
theknowledgeofsound.blogspot.com/2010/08/ire-i-discern-overtone-of-tragedy-in.html

Trainwreck - Black Kites did three days with Trainwreck and Comadre in the spring of 2008 and had an absolute blast. First of all, these are some cool Germans. More importantly, the band is incredible. It's strange, but I don't think I "got" it when I played the shows with them. They gave me their split LP with Comadre and I basically dumped it in my LP bin and forgot about it. Fast forward to winter 2009; I'm sitting around my attic room depressed and flipping through my LP's looking for something to listen to. I pull out the split and put the Trainwreck side on and HOLY SHIT. Now I get it, now I'm on board. I think that it is mostly due to the guitar tone and to what Mark, their guitarist, does over the rest of the music. The guitars, and I mean this pretty literally, wail and cry over the everything else. It kind of dips and soars over the rhythm section which is way down low in the dirt and gravel. It's almost like another vocalist is in the mix. Anyway, I think it's pretty beautiful stuff.


weareangryandhateeverything.blogspot.com/2009/07/trainwreck-of-concrete-canyons-and.html
Of Concrete Canyons and Inner Wastelands

[honkytonkwomen]

SWALLOWING SHIT



Fast, crushing hardcore from Winnipeg, Manitoba, circa 1994-1997. Members would go on to play in Head Hits Concrete, Putrescence, Malefaction, Propagandhi and some others. Some of my favorite hardcore lyrics ever, band was NOT fucking around.

Download their complete discography (two 7"s and some comp tracks) here: www.mediafire.com/?cezdgjj0pny6zwz

[mikedamone]

Oct 14, 2010 16:37:05 GMT -5 honkytonkwomen said:

SWALLOWING SHIT



Fast, crushing hardcore from Winnipeg, Manitoba, circa 1994-1997. Members would go on to play in Head Hits Concrete, Putrescence, Malefaction, Propagandhi and some others. Some of my favorite hardcore lyrics ever, band was NOT fucking around.

Download their complete discography (two 7"s and some comp tracks) here: www.mediafire.com/?cezdgjj0pny6zwz

I was gonna write about I-Spy, which I suppose would get a fairly similar write up. I-Spy played fast, short and intense hardcore songs with catchy melodic singing laced in. I-Spy, for me had some of the greatest and most inspiring lyrics of anything else I was listening to at the time, and I still feel that way now. The singer, Todd, would go on to play in Swallowing Shit and then Propagandhi.

this is their discog: www.mediafire.com/?mzwmidimjti

[trevor]

Heres a review of Nomos I did for a zine thats coming out. You can download the record for free here: icoulddietomorrow.blogspot.com/2010/09/nomos-notes-from-acheron-one-sided-12.html
The band sent it in so its all hood.

NOMOS "Notes from the Acheron" 12" EP (Deranged)

NOMOS is my favorite local band and one of the best newer bands around; not only are their three releases to date awesome but their shows are some of the best around. But, before I get to their shows I want to discuss their latest musical offering, "Notes from the Acheron", which is available right now through Canada's Deranged Records. This album starts off with a very slow, muddled and eerie stringing of the guitar, with heavy breathing layered over it, setting a dark theme that prolongs throughout the record. It's cold, congested and menacing—toying with your psyche. The drums suddenly kick into the first song, appropriately titled "A Witness", with the guitar following closely behind as vocalist, Garrett, barks the first lines of this record ("I can't deny my pride / Outworn mind in a time outworn"), spinning you completely off course. Garrett's vocals and lyrical content on "Notes from the Acheron" are miles ahead of the previous, demanding your full attention and evoking great danger through anguish. The song moves along quickly, repeating the main riff a few times until it comes to the break, which should get you stomping across the floor in a fit of rage. This song flows nicely into the next, thanks to the doom-laden feedback of the guitars. The second song, "Changeling", is a completely and totally different rager, it has all the right amenities for a great modern hardcore song; a very fast, persistent main riff throughout the whole song, ready to just collapse any second and a very big mosh-worthy build up at the end. Again, this song, like its predecessor, flows nicely into the next song, "O'Fortuna". This song is very mid-paced and doesn't really go anywhere, but its a good transition song into the would be B-side opener "Medicant". Of course, NOMOS went for a one-sided approach here, allowing you to mosh around your room without ever needing to lift the needle. That's all I'm going to say about the music—buy it and listen for yourselves. The artwork for this record is mind-blowing and features a beautifully rendered etching on the B-side. It was done by the same person who did the demo 7" artwork, Vinny Smith. Have fun discovering the hidden cover song, as well! Now, for a second, I want to talk about seeing NOMOS in a live setting because there's a strong correlation between the music on record and what you are given live, considering their sound is an accurate representation of the NYC scene—it's an intertwined, complete package. I've seen them too many times to remember every little nuance. I will say that the first time I saw them was with PUNCH at Death By Audio in Brooklyn. I caught the last half of their set and it was good but very sloppy. They covered "In My Headache" by POISON IDEA, which second guitarist Denis had only learned an hour before the show, if I remember correctly. Fast-forward nearly a year, I'm seeing NOMOS at the same spot. However; this time, they aren't sloppy, but tighter than almost any other band. This might be a result of everyone in the band having a tuner now. And they aren't playing the POISON IDEA cover, oh no, they're surprising everyone in that venue with covers of MADBALL "Smell the Bacon/What's With You" immediately followed by "Discriminate Me" by AGNOSTIC FRONT. NOMOS has truly evolved as a band, finding their sound and simultaneously turning into one of the best live bands around. Their shows are always tight, fun, intense and unfortunately beer-soaked. I recommend seeing them at their home stadium, 538 Johnson, if you want the real, authentic experience of a NOMOS show. Buy this record if you like early NYHC (AGNOSTIC FRONT, ANTIDOTE), CITIZENS ARREST and slightly crusty-influenced hardcore. This will not disappoint. (http://www.derangedrecords.com/)

[matts]

The Mountain Goats is John Darnielle. For 10 years or so he would record into a boombox solo with an acoustic guitar or with occasional contributors like bassist Peter Hughes and the Bright Mountain Choir. His writing is literate and catchy, his voice infectious, the breadth of his subject matter wide, and his wit razor sharp. Easily my favorite musician, in 2002 he released All Hail West Texas, the intended culmination of his lo-fi work and since then has begun recording in a studio and playing more frequently with a semi-consistent band.

Due to the nature of his career- for the first 10-12 years he was playing he recorded on the aforementioned boombox and so his output was not only vast but many songs were written, recorded or played that day, then forgotten (or worse yet, forgotten without ever having been recorded)- John encourages extensive sharing of bootleg live sets (some of his best material comes from songs that were written one afternoon, performed that night, then never played again and are thankfully available to us only because some gracious fan decided to record the show and then again share it with the rest of us). Due to the lo-fi nature of much of his work these live recordings, which sometimes can be of not the best quality, do not seem out of place with his modus operandi, and once you get deep into the canon many of us find ourselves listening to as much or more live material as/than legitimate records (I know I do).

So, below is a link to a folder which contains All Hail West Texas in its entirety plus some choice cuts that I selected from throughout the span of John's career (both from legitimate releases and live performances). Even (read: especially) if you're already a fan it would behoove you to download this as well since there's some fairly obscure stuff on there that any tMG head would be down with and you may not have heard before.

If you want to experience All Hail West Texas in its inteded form here is the tracklist in case the files come up in alphabetical order or something when you download them:

1. "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton"
2. "Fall of the Star High School Running Back"
3. "Color in Your Cheeks"
4. "Jenny"
5. "Fault Lines"
6. "Balance"
7. "Pink and Blue"
8. "Riches and Wonders"
9. "The Mess Inside"
10. "Jeff Davis County Blues"
11. "Distant Stations"
12. "Blues in Dallas"
13. "Source Decay"
14. "Absolute Lithops Effect"


I picked the additional songs in this folder out of over 3 gigs of Mountain Goats material I have, so obviously I think every song in there is awesome, but if I had to recommend a few for first time listeners to try out I'd say the following:

-Going To Georgia (this is a Mountain Goats staple, huge fan favorite and John plays it at most gigs. I wouldn't call it his "hit" but among fans that's essentially what it is)
-The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton
-The Doll Song
-Fall of the Star High School Running Back
-Rockin Rockin Pet Store
-Cubs in Five
-Standard Bitter Love Song #1
-The Day the Aliens Came
-Golden Boy
-Song For Roger Maris




The Mountain Goats- All Hail West Texas + More
www.mediafire.com/?dzs2u8v6fpoc2vr



Here is a Mountain Goats review I wrote of their newest effort last year:

trumbullisland.com/reviews/the-mountain-goats-the-life-of-the-world-to-come


Feedback on The Mountain Goats is encouraged in this thread.

Generally I'd say for fans of most singer/songwriter type stuff but that tends to evoke a kind of folk-y idea with people and I definitely wouldn't call this folk, a lot of it is very energetic and loud even though it's just one guy with a guitar. I'd honestly say it's for fans of music in general, those who appreciate erudition and wit being employed passionately towards the cause of fairly serious and emotional situations and storylines. It's music for humans.

[planetmoonshoes]

Band: RAYOS X
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Website: www.myspace.com/rawponxla
Record download: www.mediafire.com/?maj2nyqo5hi

LA raw ponx! Politically charged street punk blended with Umea, Swedish melody. Rayos X play blown/fuzzed out distorted punk, not because they downloaded the latest and greatest MGHC hardcore record off ICDT, but out of necessity; these kids are from south central LA. Remember when the average age at a show was less than 24? Rayos X are one of many young new bands that comprise an extremely active, though self-contained, punk scene out here in LA.

[Chicago, Illinois]

all hail west texas is a 10/10 record. i've been trying to find it on vinyl for quite some time, do you know if it's out of print or what?

[matts]

I think 4AD repressed it recently, I remember seeing something on the forums, I'd like a copy to hang up in a frame myself.

[Joey]

Oct 14, 2010 13:10:53 GMT -5 jay said:

I'll pick two of the hardcore bands that I listen to the most these days:

Ire - I feel like when people talk about "dark" hardcore or whatever, they're referring to bands like Cursed who have a kind of wall of sound, downtuned thing going on. All well and good, but Ire is, in my opinion, one of the darkest hardcore bands I've ever heard. They played strange, evil-sounding metallic-hardcore. I think they're interesting because even though they are definitely a product of the 1990's in terms of their sound, they also seem to reference black metal occasionally, both vocally and in some of the guitar riffs. Maybe purists won't hear it or will call me a poser, but whatever. To me, it sounds nightmarish and, to rely on a cliche, absolutely HEAVY. Also, they were French-Canadian. Also they had two LP's on Crimethinc. which I think is fucking cool. Highlights from the second LP include the reverse-gated cymbal intro to the first song and the ensuing monotonous, dirging bridge, and the slide guitar bridge on the last song... who uses slide guitar? Also, none of their songs seem to be less than 4 minutes long.

What Seed, What Root?
icoulddietomorrow.blogspot.com/2008/07/ire-what-see-what-root.html

I Discern an Overtone of Tragedy....
theknowledgeofsound.blogspot.com/2010/08/ire-i-discern-overtone-of-tragedy-in.html

almost reminds me of starkweather at times

[sircox]

RVIVR played my old house in New Brunswick. They fucking ruled and were some of the nicest people ever.