There is a startling disparity between the Rx Bandits' 1997 debut Those Damn Bandits and ââ¬Â¦And the Battle Begun if you listen to them back to back, yet the progression makes perfect sense if you listen to their discography in order. In just a hair under a decade the band has reinvented themselves numerous times over five albums; a feat that few bands accomplish while managing to keep an identifiable sound that transcends the stylistic changes from album to album. It is amazing that a simple ska-punk band could evolve into the progressive beast they are now, showcasing different facets of their tremendous talent with each release. The Rx Bandits' last release, 2003's masterpiece The Resignation, felt largely organic, blending punk with a flavor of ska and acid jazz that matched the nearly flawless hooks and sweeping choruses belted out by vocalist Matt Embree. To put it simply, however absurd and terrible the idea may be, ââ¬Â¦And the Battle Begun sounds like At the Drive-In playing with Sublime; a combination that sounds like it would be an absolute disaster. Yet the Rx Bandits do more than pull it off - they nail it perfectly, striking a balance between the technical … Read more
Fuck yeah. I live for records like this. The tunes are fast, snotty as hell, impassioned, and stick in your … Read more
After the now-legendary, myth-making years in the basement with a guy named Tobin and the other Mitch Mitchell working shamelessly … Read more
I think this is the type of hardcore that the kids with camo shorts and black running shoes are calling … Read more
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This French band may have one of the longer band names in recent memory. Let us gloss over this even though through the ever accurate Wikipedia it may refer to a Julian Schnabel record. This band focuses on a slight version of the general post rock template. While most bands tend to forgo vocals and play the line by making the soft parts crescendo in loud near metallic waves.The band open with a simple vocal line a light glockenspiel leading into lightly distorted guitars. The guitars take the lead allowing for some simple cymbal work. All of these things play on the idea of being quiet rather than depending on a overly loud crescendo to make the song move forward. This is a rather smart move that tends to repeat … Read more
Intronaut is a four piece from California made up of members of Uphill Battle, Impaled, Exhumed, and Anubis Rising, although they sound nothing like I remember these other bands. Intronaut sounds more like a technical metal band with jazz-like flourishes. Void is their first full-length after the wittily monikered EP, Null. "A Monolithic Vulgarity" leads off Void like a jazz … Read more
"Yes, yes, yes. Guess who's on third? Lupe still like Lupin the Third." Little did we know that our introduction to Lupe Fiasco on Kanye West's "Touch the Sky" was merely a taste of what this Chicago native had to offer. While not a complete unknown, Lupe's previous appearances had mostly fallen under the radar. After numerous Internet leaks and … Read more
Spending much of the time since 2002's ENDtroducing with his producing hat on, DJ Shadow has finally returned to our stereos with The Outsider. A return that sees him take a massive shift in style. Crass rapping styles, questionable lyrical content, and some gunshots filtering through the background adds just too much of a touch of Tim Westwood that is … Read more
Pound for Pound hail from Springfield, Illinois, not to be confused with the hometown of The Simpsons, as the true location of that fictional town has never been pinpointed. However, if Pound for Pound were to hail from that specific Springfield, I think the band would be best represented by the likes of Nelson, Kearney, Dolph, and Jimbo. Okay, I'm … Read more
In its recent history, Converge is responsible for two of the most unique and cathartic albums in the history of extreme music, Jane Doe and You Fail Me. Of course, you can't deny Converge's long, rich heritage going back to the early '90s. Unlike very few bands in their genre, Converge have not only survived, but thrived and strengthened. Jane … Read more
After rock and roll's pop ascension in the postwar era, the recording industry adopted the practice of "front-loading" albums, situating the strongest songs at the beginning. This serves several purposes: it sells the album to skeptical listeners (such as radio programmers, distributors and consumers), and it enables bands who don't have enough material to compete in the LP realm to … Read more
Do you remember being just a small child, rifling your dirty paws through the cereal box trying to fish out the prize at the bottom of the box? No? Okay let's flash forward about ten years; what about when you were sitting at the dinner table thinking how you were going to get those same dirty paws down your boy/girlfriend's … Read more
Mediocrity is not a hard thing to come by in the metalcore genre. In fact, since every metalcore band has decided to rip off Prayer for Cleansing and Heaven Shall Burn, metalcore has become a little too stagnant in this As All That Killswitch Remains Dying "scene." She Killed Poetry would easily fall off the radar for me, for this … Read more
December 14, 1999: Poison the Well's Opposite of December was re-released and marked the end of metallic hardcore as everyone before it. Before "Nerdy" made all the mixtapes there was a quite of few metallic edged hardcore bands like Cleveland's apocalyptic Integrity, San Diego's depressive Unbroken, and Vegan Militants Earth Crisis whom all played palmed muted e-chord chugga chugga until … Read more
We're in the middle of a pop punk renaissance. New recruits are signing up left and right and firing off catchy odes to the evergreen vagaries of romance, teenage or any age. But this is a post-Lifetime era, so for the most part today's young turks eschew the Ramonesianism of a Screeching Weasel or a Queers in favor of the … Read more
The year is 1797. You are a sailor. Bound for distant colonies, you awake one morning to find that a storm has driven your ship out to sea. As you rub the sleep from your eyes, stumbling out onto deck, you call out to your crew mates, but your voice is swallowed by the howl of the wind. There is … Read more
Every so often you end up with a friend's bands demo in your hands and most of the time, let's be fair, you are just at the shows and buying the demos and merch to help support your friends. Most of the time you have to admit that there is a hint of jealousy at the fact that it's them, … Read more
With Versoma's debut offering, Life During Wartime, it would be extremely easy to make assumptions about the sound based off the previous bands of its members (having done time in Anodyne and Lickgoldensky, amongst others). But that would be a huge disservice to this short and sweet EP. This record is chock full of noise laden guitars that establish an … Read more
The Falcon is here, so ready your crusty, unpolished, dull silverware and let a knife sink through the skin of the first layer of Unicornography, "The Angry Cry of the Angry Pie." I warn you though, don't be surprised when you hear the pie's shrill scream before his patented rough-yet-melodious crooning, for Brendan Kelly has ensured that this pie will … Read more
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