ARTICLE JUMP
Making new music discoveries is always a huge thrill and one of the main reasons for my writing for Scene Point Blank. Hearing some new band or finally hearing a band for the first time that strikes a chord with one's musical sensibilities always makes listening to records worthwhile. 2009 had its share of revelations, and these are just a sampling of the one's that struck me.
1. Black Moth Super Rainbow
Syrupy melodies draped in a humming reverb that somehow adds to the tuneful masterpiece that is the latest album, Eating Us, from this outfit, which has been a relative constant in my regular rotation ever since I first heard the opening notes of "Born on a Day the Sun Didn't Rise." The incredibly infectious "Gold Splatter" may have sealed just how good the record was, but it also cemented the group in my mind and forced me to search out their entire catalog. If the radio were filled with pop gems like these, it would be scary.
2. Fall Of Efrafa
Not one, not two, but three full-lengths that conceptually deal with the book Watership Down and its themes comprise the bulk of the output from this band. Discovering Fall of Efrafa sometime just after 2009 began made their final full-length not just anxiously awaited but also bitterly received once the group's dissolution was made official. Surely, this band will be one of those that people realize just how good they were long after they are gone. But at least we have three albums, a split, and a remix EP left behind as their recorded legacy. Post rock/ metal/what have you that brings to mind equal parts Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Neurosis.
3. A Death Cinematic
Seriously out of left field release that continually leaves me floored every time that I listen to it, and while it may have just been something that I needed to hear at the time, A Parable on the Aporia of Vengeance and the Beauty of Impenetrable Sadness consistently feels new, fresh, and a completely challenging listen. Easily, A Death Cinematic has become one of those artists that I will continually keep an eye out for new material to hear.
4. GREYMACHINE
GREYMACHINE provides a sonic thrashing that contains all of the brutal qualities of the heaviest and most caustic work that the members have shown the ability to create previously; the pummeling nature of the album is astounding. I stand by this statement; for sheer brutality, this band delivers.
5. The Marked Men
The infectious sounds of their vocal melodies and harmonies are something to hear with all the swagger and fun of early rock and roll acts; the top notch songwriting is another huge plus as the raw punk rock sounds simply sound good because the songs are great instead of some kitsch-y gimmick. Their latest album, Ghosts, is simply fifteen great pop punk (think the Descendents not whatever is passing for it these days) songs that just rule.
(Bob)
