At it’s base, Yeezus is a devolution of humanity in the form of an ego that has infected and taken root inside a man’s head. Despite the critical acclaim it will inevitably get for it’s bold approach to rap from the man himself, Kanye West, there is no doubting that this is overly sexist, and combines disgusting lyrics with autotuned voices and a plethora of samples. For me, the only question left after a playthrough is, where is Kanye West? But dig deeper and there is an enjoyable record behind it, aslong as you completely ignore the bile inducingly vile and crude lyrics and the insanely massive ego behind it.
Songs like ‘I am A God’ (Which happens to have God himself listed as a contributor) are almost too cringy to believe, with some fantastical lyrics such as “I just talked to Jesus, He said, "What up Yeezus?" I said, "Shit I'm chilling, trying to stack these millions". I know he the most high. But I am a close high”. It’s sad because other songs like ‘New Slaves’ do stand on the precipice of making a valid point about the world and how it’s leaders have absolute control. But it’s too few and far between that Kanye’s obvious genius is wasted on lyrics written to get him radio play and , and also to draw in his target audience, that seems to be brainless fans who just want to dance and tonguefuck the arsehole of their misguided God.
In all honesty, it’s the God Complex that ‘Yeezus’ has developed since between his earlier work and now that has become a disease to his music as much as it has to his mental health. Personally, his work has been slowly deteriorating since Late Registration, which was also the start of his ego, but in 2005 it was viewed as more of an exaggeration of character, as is common in rap. And also the songs were actually fun to listen to. With a slight resurgence in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, it seems that he has finally got the point every popular artist must reach; Becoming what you are because it makes you money.
It seems nonsensical that a man of this stature and influence has come out with a record that features almost every convention of hip hop that it’s recent exports are trying to erase. The overtly sexual overtones mixed with a general misogynist attitude, coupled with the overuse of the word ‘Nigger’, and wrapped up in a package of ego packed by Hip Hop’s poster boy.
Of course, there’s no chance that this record will run into the same problems as outfits like Odd Future, due merely to status, West on this record is easily as purposely controversial as his genre-mates.
The problem with Yeezus is that if you take it’s lyricist and vocalist away, you’re left with a well invented base of electronic basslines, a ton of well worked samples that spread across a wide range of source, and a generally catchy record that only gets catchier with every listen. And of course, there’s no doubting Kanye’s vocal ability, he truly is one of the best rappers of recent times and on that basis deserves to be where he is. But has he truly lost his mind now? Blood On The Leaves is one of the only highlights of the records, with the Strange Fruit Hanging sample, it shows a truly rare glimpse at a vulnerable West. While Bound 2 shows his ego at it’s highest, possibly aiming ‘All them other niggas lame, and you know it now’ at Kim, while also creating a really good song. so he’s definitely still able to write non cringy/misogynist/shit songs.
Another dynamic that should be possibly explored is the one that embraces Kanye’s nature, part of you eventually begins to think that he hasn’t written this for you to like, and you end up contradicting yourself, as much as West does on the record. The jarring beats, stunted arrangement and at times industrial approach all point to a record that you’re not meant to dance to, despite the ‘instruments’ and beats. As much as I hate this record, it’s hard for me to fault Kanye’s genius, and an ego like his could pull something like this together.
To sum it up in one paragraph, this record is catchy because Kanye West knows what will get him into the charts, the bits that work well are the bits that have been ripped off and imitated hundreds of times throughout the past few years, autotuned vocals, sung choruses followed by rapped verses. But, despite it’s inevitable chart place, this is not a casual record. It’s hard to listen to. It’s maybe not even designed for you to like. This is Kanye West telling you to shit in your hands and clap, because he can write about anything and sell. And then you realise; This record is a personifcation of himself. You don’t have to like him but he sells records. You eventually find yourself confused as to whether this is a masterpiece or a piece of shit.
With a reputation that’s sometimes as controversial as it is revered, Deafheaven have slowly become one of the mainstays of the ‘modern’ Black Metal sound, invoking criticism from both Black Metal ‘die-hards’, and other figures from various scenes where the roots of Deafheaven’s music have taken hold of through their 2010 demo, and then later occupying more of the soil with 2011’s phenomenal ‘Roads To Judah’. Deafheaven are not a genre, they are a band that look as much to the grandiose as the dark, as much to the tragic heaviness as they do to the beautiful ambience.
Sunbather is Black Metal because it’s an easy classification for a band who have progressed far beyond that convention with this record. Deafheaven have the talent to be whatever they want to be, and that is well and truly evident with Sunbather, from the absolutely majestic, heavy while being totally ‘easy listening’ at the same time, title track, with the soaring, melodic yet downtuned and ugly guitars, mixed with a heavy bass and the as always phenomenal drumming. The only thing truly Black metal about this record are the vocals, which harken back towards the older style of Emperor et al.
The music creates a masterpiece that is as much art as it is audible media, painting beautiful images through the deafening guitars, the subdued but visible bass and the drums that are never ‘too’ complex, but never simple enough to not be astounding. There’s the constant battle between light and dark, ambience and heavy, a spectrum of human emotions created through music, disconsolate, melancholic, possessive, soaring, and most of all beautiful. It is in this arena that Deafheaven truly make their mark, epitomize their work ethic and starlight their progression as a band.
The lyrics for certain songs seem to personify the bourgeois lifestyle that many of us feel detached from, and more pronounced across the rest of the songs is the idea of Love, in different capacities. The lyrics to Sunbather (song) especially seem to signify longing, mixed with a slight obsession and a wholly destructive depressive mindset. Whereas the Lyrics to Dream House feature the same kind of idea, but as the title suggests, more of a dream than a reality. And that’s without mentioning the other 5 songs, one of which is spoken word featuring a passage from ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ which continues a general theme of Love, and at times the contrast between life, I.e, The materialistic/rich Bourgeois and the outsiders, the ‘other class’, not poor but not part of this community. It’s crushing, and the vocal delivery brings these lyrics to life with bite and bile that can’t be achieved through anything less than screaming and a complete ‘heart on show’ performance from George, there’s pure honesty dripping from every word.
The colour of the record, the art, the names of the songs. This is a dreamy, ambient beast, and in many ways, it’s easy to enough to digest, that at times the thought of sunbathing to it (Is Sunbathing black metal?) or literally just enjoying it and being uplifted at the same time is more than possible. It’s only when we delve past the aesthetic natures, into the intentions, the lyrics, and parts of the music that we see a different core. This is a record about life, and all it’s up’s and down, and everything it makes us feel. And it’s phenomenal, and insanely special. It takes hold of you, and guides you through it, it gives you the path to take through, whether you choose the non attentive listener or the intrigued fan, it’s enjoyable.
At the end of the day, Deafheaven’s fan base would have been into this whatever it sounded like, and their critics would still have the same things to say. So it’s nice that Deafheaven didn’t take either of these things on board and instead created their own record, with what THEY wanted in it. It’s still Deafheaven, but it’s more of huge leap for them, rather than a stepping stone between albums. A Massive achievement considering how soon they’ve created this after ‘Roads To Judah’. Pick this up, and listen forever.
Recently I had the chance to catch up with one of the UK's best melodic hardcore bands, Up River. It's a pretty cool interview, honest and detailed. Check it out!
HI, SO WHO ARE YOU, AND WHO ARE UP RIVER, FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T HEARD OF YOU?
Hi Charlie, I'm Harry and I sing in Up River. Up River are a 4 piece hardcore/punk band from the UK.
YOU SIGNED FOR ANCHORS AWEIGH LAST YEAR, A LABEL THAT HAS ALMOST BECOME THE BENCHMARK IN EUROPE FOR DARK, MELODIC HARDCORE, HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT, AND HOW HAS IT AFFECTED YOU AS A BAND?
It honestly all started by accident. Me and our old singer were in our local pub and we bumped into a friend called Ben who played in a band called Dead Swans, and we just started talking about hardcore and music, I then emailed him our stuff and he checked it out and was into it, I asked him to come along to our next local show and he told me Anchors Aweigh Records was interested in working with us, at the time that's all we knew, a couple of days later, he told me to email Anchors Aweigh Records about sorting something out and sure enough we did. It's definitely raised our profile as a band, We had been playing a lot of shows up and down the UK, we didn't think our music would of spread oversea's but thats the power of the internet and social networking sites. It's a big deal for me because I used to follow Anchors Aweigh Records as a fan of the label and the music it was producing, It was definitely a "Holy shit" moment.
YOU'RE PRETTY POPULAR IN EUROPE, AND YOU WENT OUT THERE PRETTY QUICKLY AFTER SIGNING TO ANCHORS AWEIGH WITH A GREAT RECEPTION. WAS EUROPE SOMETHING THAT CAME ABOUT THROUGH THE LABEL, OR SOMETHING THAT WAS ALREADY IN THE WORKS? AND HOW WAS THE TOUR?
We felt like we needed that helping hand to get us across to Europe. Europe is a very big place and loads of scenes dotted around, we didn't know which places to play in. I think Anchors Aweigh did help us a lot because it was releasing our 7" into the European hardcore ''market" and their stature in Europe seemed to be talked about a lot because of the bands that was apart of that label. We had briefly spoken about Europe as a band but only as a supporting band for another band. We figured if we kept at it we'd get the opportunity too. Though being signed to a European label helped so much than we thought it would. The tour itself was insane, I guess because it was our first proper time being in a Van and travelling to all these awesome countries. Not knowing where our next meal or bed for the night was coming from, it was so exciting to play to new crowds and explore the countries we visited. The shows we're so much fun and the people out there we're very welcoming to such a small band like us. Definitely kept some holiday snaps on that one.
WITH THE NEW FULL LENGTH EXPECTED LATER THIS YEAR, WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT INTERMS OF STYLISTIC CHANGES AND GENERAL 'FEEL' TO THE RECORD? HOW FAR THROUGH THE WRITING PROCESS ARE YOU?
Musically the style is very Up River, I know as a band we've found our sound, It's a lot like the "Hardships" 2 track EP we released in September, it's going to continue into that vein, some songs are heavier and faster and then some songs are at a slower pace. There are definitely some hints of "Rough Ground" in there, we never wanna forget where we came from and we felt it's important to bring those elements to the table. The theme of the record varies, lyrically a lot of it is about the here and now, what we're going through as people and as a band. I guess if you had to put a name on it, it would be "Youth". I've tried to steer away from the whole "Sexes" route, because I believe the stuff we're writing can appeal to a broader audience than just kids going through a bad break up with one another. I think it's important to address what every 18-25 year old is going through, my experience has told me that the people around me are struggling with what they wanna do in life, and how Adult life is knocking on the door. It's a very mature record. I hate that word but, it is. We're very nearly ready to go in and record the record I think we need to write two or three more songs and we're good to go!
SO INTERMS OF 2013, WHAT DO YOU HAVE PLANNED OTHER THAN WRITING A FULL LENGTH? ARE YOU LOOKING AT SUMMER FESTIVALS/TOURING, OR IS EVERYTHING UP IN THE AIR UNTIL YOU'RE FINISHED WRITING?
We are planning on going to Europe in July/August for 13 days or so. We are looking at festivals but from the looks of things no one likes us (haha). I don't think people think we're that well known, but it's all "Hardcore politics" And it's all bullshit. We won't enter a competition to play a certain festival to play because we don't believe in that, we don't want to force people to vote for something they don't believe in. If they like us word will spread. It's an alright competition but it's just not for us.
AS A BAND, YOU'RE PRETTY INFLUENCED BY, AMONGST OTHERS, MODERN LIFE IS WAR, HOW ARE YOU VIEWING THEIR REUNION? BANDS LIKE VERSE ETC HAVE REINVENTED THEMSELVES, BUT OTHERS HAVE JUST PLAYED A COUPLE OF SHOWS AND DISAPPEARED AGAIN, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE FROM MLIW?
Modern Life is War are one of those bands that, are just ridiculously relevant to everything thats going on right now. I remember seeing them 6-7 years ago in a small room in Belgium and everything they sung about/talked about between songs was like "Why hasn't any band openly spoken about this" It made it more real and made me aware of what was going on around me as a person and it essentially shaped me. I think it's great that they have come back, the same with Verse and American Nightmare, For that sort of hardcore genre it was much needed because those bands made such a huge impact on a sub genre that is hardcore, and even the people involved with it. I think with Verse it was a bit of an anti-climax, I went and saw them at the Groezrock festival with my old singer and it was honestly one of the best shows I've been too, the stage, the atmosphere, the passion was out of this world. They are another band that are so relevant to I guess a more political side but still very aware of whats around them. I didn't feel like they made a huge impact in the UK. Not many kids caught onto it, only those sort of people with that history would come out of the woodwork for that band. I think it would be the same with Modern Life is War and American Nightmare, I'm so excited to see what they can bring out for their next record. I just hope its a record that defines there Legacy as one the most important bands ever in that sort of hardcore.
THE HARDCORE SCENE AS A WHOLE SEEMS TO FLUCTUATE A LOT IN THE UK WITH WHAT'S POPULAR, AND A LOT OF UK BANDS ARE STARTING TO SHY AWAY FROM THE UK AS A TOURING ROUTE IN FAVOUR OF EUROPE. IS EUROPE REALLY THAT MUCH BETTER FOR A TOURING BAND?
I think a lot bands from the UK have thought "Well if these guys are going to Europe then my band can" But those bands I'm talking about aren't really the bands I'd associate myself with, beat down bands. That shits old, let go. Its tough to say because, UKHC is really big at the moment, but then others would argue it sucks, I'd say it's on the rise definitely, a lot more people are into hardcore and are going to shows, I have quite a lot of friends on both sides who would argue it both. I think Europe is a place to be because it's bigger, kids live for shows out there, and it's a way of getting your band a bigger rep. I would back it because the best tours I've done in Up River are European shows.
YOU'VE BEEN TO A TON OF PLACES AS A BAND, BUT WHICH VENUES/CITIES REALLY STOOD OUT FOR YOU? AND WHICH CITIES DO YOU DREAM OF PLAYING IN?
In Europe I love Berlin, Germany. Holy shit that city is awesome and the people there are so kind and caring. We had a lot of fun playing there, Wein, Austria we had a really awesome show there too, kids went nuts to us and made us feel welcome. JuHa West, Stuttgart was great, we played there with Dead Swans and Horror Show and it was just a great show, every band killed it and all the bands are great guys individually. I'd love to play Fluff Festival in Czech Republic and Ieper Fest and Groezrock. Growing up in Belgium and going to those festivals was amazing but to play those festivals would be a dream for me. I'd like to play in Spain. We haven't got a chance to go out there yet. Obviously I'd love to tour places like America, Australia and South East Asia but I guess there's a time and place for those.
CERTAIN PARTS OF THE UK SCENE SEEM TO BE INFESTED WITH/ADOPTING (WHICHEVER WAY YOU VIEW IT) THIS 'LAD CULTURE', WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CULTURE? DOES IT HAVE A PLACE IN HARDCORE, OR DOES IT NOT MATTER?
I kinda know what you mean with this Lad culture, I think it's funny to an extent because yeah you're on tour and your with your friends and having fun, I guess every other band has members that like to get fucked up, it's just British culture. Though most of it is just fucking stupid. I don't really like seeing bands put up photo's of showing how much weed they got in Amsterdam on tour and how much they got drunk and if Jaegermeister sent them a "care package" for tour. Or if they're advertising a band shirt with weed on it and this 4:20 bullshit, fuck me. For me it doesn't have a place in hardcore, If I see a band and they put up a photo that says "Chilz in the van time" I might rip my eyes out. I mostly ignore it all because I don't associate myself with them, but when we play a show it's kinda hard to talk to them because thats all their interested in is to just get wasted so much that they can't play. It's astounds me because they risk all their hard work and their fans view of the band. Really, it doesn't matter, everyones gonna keep doing it at the end of the day, but for me I guess you could say I'm not into it. I know the people I wanna hang out with.
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SAY WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE?
Anything I'd like to say? Uhm, thanks for being patient with our first full length record, it means so much to me and this band that people enjoy our music and want more from us. I guess check out the new "Rough Hands" release coming out on Holy Roar/Day by Day. Check out Anchors Aweigh Records, and more importantly check out our past releases. Come to a show!
AND FINALLY, HYPOTHETICALLY, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE FOLLOWING FOREVER; ONE MEAL TO EAT EVERYDAY ON TOUR, TWO BANDS TO TOUR WITH AND TWO COUNTRIES TO TOUR IN, WHAT/WHO/WHERE DO YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
Oh man, I never thought I'd get asked this! One meal to eat every day on tour? I guess a roast dinner? It's got everything you need....but that's if the riders would allow us to have that, if you're talking realistically then, falafel wraps are decent! Two bands? Modern Life Is War and The Hope Conspiracy uhm America and Germany. I'm presuming I'd be living in the UK so Up River could do the one off shows in the UK under a different name just incase you caught up with us and gave us a big No-No for it.
THANKS HUN, IT'S BEEN GOOD.
I had a lot of answering these questions. 1 love y'all.
You can check out Up River here, and the phenomenal Anchors Aweigh Records here.
It's hard to imagine a world where Wesley Eisold wasn't doing something that was both creative and innovative. On the latest Cold Cave EP, he takes it up another notch, this is pure self indulgence written in the key of 80s industrial electronica.
Oceans With No End should have been expanded into a full length, the thing with Cold Cave at the moment is that there so much progression you find it hard to predict when a full length would ever come. Life Magazine was once the benchmark of Eisold's electronic talent, a storming, hysterical track that transcended almost all other written material,but 2009 is a long time ago, we had the release A Little Death to Laugh a couple of months ago and there we had another notch in the bedpost of progression, and another step towards his inevitable masterpiece.
With the newest single we see a perfectionist working within a genre that he almost made his own. Melancholic and full of despair, whereas Eisold's strongest attributes used to be his lyrics/poetry, Cold Cave takes this on as an embodiment of that, poetic, depressing and wholly romantic lyrics all merge into something unique, something enthralling. While older Cold Cave songs focused on lyrics as much as music, 'Oceans With No End' follows on the progression from lyricist/part time writer, into a clinical, interesting and unique songwriter that fuses together a menage of different sounds to create an impression of melancholy and depression, a personification of dread and devilishly fitting lyrics.
'People are Poison' treads the same musical pathway as 'a Little Death to Laugh' did, with it's 80s-esque new Romantic feel, keeping the same backbeat throughout whilst constantly staying interesting. It's repetitive lyrics, focused around the title of the song, make for a feel of Misanthropy, mixed with strobe lights and a biting attitude. Title Track 'Oceans With No End' is an entirely different beast, with an almost naive and innocent backing beat, coupled with Eisold's trademark darker lyrics, and an almost Morrissey/Joy Division vocal delivery. It's hard to pick a standout song from2 tracks that are as unique and strong as each other.
Cold Cave is always described by people as 'Dance music for people who just want to follow Eisold', but this is shown, on this release more than others, as a naive and misunderstood tag, this is not the Eisold we got with American Nightmare, nor the Eisold we got with with Some Girls, XO Skeletons and Ye Olde Maids. Cold Cave needs to be viewed as an entirely different medium that tells another story of Eisold's life. If anything, after 16 separate release, Cold Cave needs to be taken just as seriously, now more than ever if the music keeps taking a massive leap between releases.
Check out Cold Cave on facebook, and pick up the 7" from Deathwish!
'Separate Ways Together' proves that the UK Melodic Hardcore scene is far from exhausted and is in many ways still a formidable competitor to a US scene that has suffered countless setbacks in the last year or two with bands breaking up such as All Teeth and The Carrier and longer term losses like Life Long Tragedy and Killing The Dream.
Isolated had a pretty successful 2012, spending 2 weeks travelling Europe, Crash Doubt festival and a few shows on the final More Than Life tour, but 2013 looks to be even bigger, with various Euro tours/festivals lined up and some more new material.
From the distant, pulsating opening of 'Glitter & Blues', slowly builds into an opening track that almost instantly that pulls you in to the immersive quality, the first track on the EP features everything a Melodic Hardcore band would want to write, but done better than some of the stuff around at the moment. The curtain call of 'Autumn's Orphans', is by far the longest track on the EP, and is packed with atmosphere, pushing at the seams throughout before former Pacer vocalist Mike Foster comes in with a sung passage, that sets up the closing verse of the Separate Ways Together.
Unashamedly influenced by bands such as Modern Life Is War, Separate Ways Together is an EP that has passion in abundance, songs like Summer's Bastards have lyrics that read more like poetry and could stand up as their own entity or a written submission under the guise of Isolated. At time's it tracks the hopeless, youthful pursuit of defeating Distance, and at others it's a biting attack at the world we now live in and the 'outsider' feeling of animosity towards society. It explores themes that were used on their 2011 self titled EP, but goes deeper, and progresses them.
Following member changes, it's unsurprising to see a slight change-up in style, but it's still definitely 'Isolated', there's still the anger, the passion and the talent on show. The vocals sound angrier, the drums retain the creative qualities that made parts of their first EP so special, Bass compliments the guitars while it blisters through the EP, and the songwriting flair that was so obvious on old songs like 'Chains' is definitely still here, you don't even need to look further than the opening track to see that.
What Isolated achieve with this release will be completely upto them, it has all the workings of another masterpiece, but they're still a relatively small band in the UK, something which could easily be changed with actual UK tours aswell as their Euro ones. With the decline of bands like Dead Swans and More Than Life, there's now room for more amazing bands wih new releases to push through, as Landscapes, Departures et al have proven over the last year. But make no mistake, Isolated deserve to become one of those bands, this EP rules.
Ear marked as something to listen to in one sitting, Convul's visceral, atmospheric brand of dark 'Rock', is perhaps best enjoyed in a single sitting, but with this EP weighing at a heavy 33+ minutes, it demands your undivided attention to really get the best out of.
سأكون رؤيتكم is a dark, depressing piece of art, it's abundantly heavy but not unneccesarily and it's still very arresting and competant as a wholely creative piece of art, mixing constant stylistic changes with a doomy outlook, while never incorporating heaviness as a means to fill a void left by a lack of ideas.
It has a real 'Spiritual' feel to it throughout, from the first glimpse of the soft purples, and warm blues used in the cover art, through to the Arabic title, right down to the majestic, insanely euphoric passages that play out during this 30+ minute voyage of discovery as to just how good a band can be, Monolith IV for example has some of the most harrowing moments of the EP, but also some of the most calming, alluding to the general idea of this band, you're meant to feel this music, feel the fear, feel the sadness, feel the euphoria, feel like you're flying through the air above the earth during some passages. This is why you need to listen to it all at once, you need to lock yourself away and give this your full attention to really reep the rewards.
The lyrics are doomy, and predictable in the best way. These are lyrics that fit to this music, and as the music is done well, so are the lyrics. It creates one big EP, where everything is mixed together and merged, with no single entity overpowering another. The lyrics are amazing, and predictable is meant in the nicest possible way with the themes that this genre evokes, but they're done better than most.
The guitars linger like a ghost in the dark, a terror you can't see but feel. The bass pounds at your eardrums, and makes the guitars all that more powerful. The vocals rip at you, or sooth you, it's a shizophrenic delivery, made more unpredictable with the clean sections towards the end of the EP. The drums are insane at times, the use of symbols is paramount to the continuation of the atmosphere exerted by the rest of the band, and the chaotic shitstorm that follows the calm is orchestrated by the full band, each playing their part.
In my humble opinion, سأكون رؤيتكم is almost a masterpiece. And it's something that needs to be listened to, over and over, in one sitting.
Review; OLD WOUNDS - FROM WHERE WE CAME IS WHERE WE'LL REST
New Jersey post-hardcore trio Old Wounds bring their blackened, intense brand of Hardcore to the forefront of the world scene with this release, From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest, out now on Glory Kid (who are no strangers to innovative, creative bands, a la Convul and Colony, and it's no surprise they picked up Old Wounds). Accompanying this LP release is a full US tour with Full Of Hell and Homewrecker, which consists of a massive 37 dates, 2013 is the year of the Wound.
This is a band who merge and intertwine with various genres to make an exciting, unique brand of hardcore, you have the thrashy, fast punk as fuck bits, mixed with an unrivalled intensity that never falters or even slows down for a second. The pacey, frenzied delivery of each track leaves you with 12 tracks of beautifully heavy post-hardcore. Angsty, discordant, but also mature and packed with audible progression from last Summer's II, and not just in terms of production value either.
Moments of respite are few and far between and you'll find yourself on the closing title track before you have had chance to digest it, it's a blind attack on your senses, hitting you hard throughout while you don't really know what is happening to you. For a three-piece band this is loud, with only one guitar, the bass is given more of a driven role, sounding and feeling like a headache, but a good one, the kind you get just because you can't stop listening to it at full blast. The guitar takes on a more or less equal role, crazed and unpredictable, with erratic tendencies. The drums add even more bass, while complimenting the guitar in the same way the bass does, and everything comes together perfectly.
Vocally amazing; fast, screamed passages, wrap around wicked slow growled poetry - and there's no end to the variation in the delivery, there's no set vocal style on show, and it really adds something to the sound as a whole, less generic than most. The discernible lyrics are dark and angry, not quite generic but they harken back to similar genre lyrical styles.
Of course, in the modern scene, people sit and argue all day on forums about puerile things like guyliner, and the appearance of a band, but at the end of day, everyone knows three thing; 1) guyliner is still cool as fuck. 2) If personal appearance affects what a band sounds like, then you can't be that into the band anyway, and 3) Old Wounds slay, and that's all that should ever really matter to you.
Not quite perfect (But what is?), but it's not very far off. One of 2013's standout LPs in the short 2 months, head and shoulders above some of their competition.
Please check out both Old Wounds and Glory Kid by clicking on their names! The record is currently streaming at Brooklyn Vegan, but if you're reading this in a week or two it'll be on the Glory Kid bandcamp!
I spoke to Jack from GIANTS about their plans for 2013, skateboarding and a few other things. Check them out on Facebook after you've read the interview!
Hey, who I am talking to you and what do you do in the band?
Hey my names Jack, I play guitar and sing.
You're pretty well known as a sort of 'Skate band', although the music has maybe progressed from straight up Skate Punk and has taken on new sounds, it's still got a really good, upbeat vibe, regardless of lyrical content. Is it important for you to put non-musical influences into Giants?
It’s cool that we’re percieved that way, I’d much rather have it that way than something else. I guess we’re percieved that way as we all met through skateboarding and we all still have love for the ethics and creativity aspects behind skateboarding and these things come into play massively for us when it comes to running a band.
You've really progressed on 'These are the days', was the writing process any different? Or was it just a case of new influences and strong songwriting through experience? It's seems that every band has a different approach to writing records so it'd be cool to heard yours.
These Are The Days was half made up of the songs we had written over the course of the year of touring we had since the release of our debut EP, this was cool as we really got to know how these songs reacted with a live audience first and it gave us the space to improve them as much as we could before we went into the studio. The other half was written mostly by me and Ben (drums) after the departure of our old guitarist Mikey. George was just joining the band at that point, so he had a bit of input to the last song but other than that it was mostly me and Ben. This was daunting at first, but me and him had done it before back when we started the band (we started as a four piece, but wrote music for a five as we always intended to have another guitarist). I just wanted to write better songs, we’d spent a long time touring that EP and we came to understand what parts work better for us live. Someone said it sounds like a punk/hardcore soundtrack to a THPS game, that was rad.
You've played all over Europe and toured the UK extensively, hopefully skating it all, so what's your favourite spot you've skated while on tour? And are there any places you wanna play again just so you can skate the city?
We tend to plan out where we’re going to skate on tours before we leave for them, the UK is actually great at the moment, there are so many awesome little plazas opening up all over the country so we have a few favourites including Mansfield plaza, Stoke plaza and the new Northampton plaza. I was so upset when we visited Europe as it rained every day bar like two of the days, but we got to skate an awesome skatepark in Oostende in Belgium on the last day which was good.
There's a lot of stuff regarding homophobia bouncing around at the moment, and it's sad that it's still included in our scene, but it's also sad it takes away from other equally as important issues such as racism, sexism, and so on. As a group sharing a scene with people so narrow minded, how does it make you feel?
Disgusted to be put plainly. I strongly believe that if you believe something, then that is absolutely fine but do force anything upon others. I could not actually believe what I was reading when I went to the guys Twitter account, I’m kind of oblivious to religoun to be honest, I have no interest in it so I don’t really care about it so I honestly forgot that that type of person still existed, I hope their bands career goes swiftly down the toilet.
What are your plans for 2013? Are you going to continue doing mainly Weekenders or are we gonna see some full tours? Or are you maybe going to finally write a full length? It's a long year haha.
We’ll be on tour from March onwards, we can’t wait to get back on the road. We’re going to be touring Europe in April which we are stoked for too. We plan to write a full length this year yes, just we are going to handle it a bit differently this time. You’ll hear new music from us quicker this year.
There's the question earlier about your favourite places to skate, but what about your favourite venues to play? It seems impossible for bands to agree on an 'ultimate' city, or country, but I tend to hear Germany thrown around a lot, what about you guys?
Germany is literally so far from the UK in terms of the shows you play have a true passion and effort behind them (I’m not saying there aren’t exceptions like this in the UK, because sometimes there are), but it’s not just that. The people actually want to come to the shows, they appreciate the fact that a band has come so far to play for them, they want to support the bands and buy the records. It’s amazing and it should set an example to everywhere else. Atm our favourite place to play in the UK has to be Southampton. It’s a place where we have really built a strong fanbase and we always have a great time partying afterwards, it tends to feel more like a hometown show there now haha.
If you could play a perfect tour, with any 4 bands, regardless of dead members etc, in any 5 places, who/where would you choose? You've also got sponsors of your choice to provide you with a free skate set-up for the tour, what sponsors for which parts?
Haha! This is a great question. Erm for me I’d say Alexisonfire, Comeback Kid, Rise Against and Pour Habit. Not majorly bothered by sponsors aha but Chocolate would be rad.
And to finish, any bands everyone should be checking out right now?
UK bands: Landscapes, Our Time Down Here, Grader, The Departed, Fights and Fires & Departures
EU bands: From This Day On, The Tourist & Lasting Traces
American bands: Pour Habit!
Thanks a lot for doing this dudes, I hope Europe is good to you in April!
Converge's latest effort was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated records of 2012, and it delivered on every level. Mixing chaotic, guitar driven passages with more haunting, atmospheric passages, and being 'obviously' Converge, it strays further enough from past material to keep stuff fresh while still retaining everything that is great about Converge.
2) LANDSCAPES - LIFE GONE WRONG
Landscapes debut Full Length was the kind of record that took you by surprise, Reminiscence was an amazing EP but I don't think many people expected them to have progressed this much. Life Gone Wrong is a masterpiece by arguably the best melodic hardcore band in the UK right now.
3) WE CAME OUT LIKE TIGERS - AGELESSNESS & LACK
The highly anticipated first full length from one of the UKs hidden gems, after 2 EPs and a split, was everything we wanted and more, beautifully created violin passages, and fast, heavy driven passages, mixed with a rare sincerity and thought provoking lyrics. WCOLT stepped up for this release and delivered an almost perfect record.
4) OUR TIME DOWN HERE - MIDNIGHT MASS
I'd never really listened to OTDH before this record was released, but the obvious Alkaline Trio influence mixed with a slight Brand New sound really pulls you in, it's dark yet still upbeat, fast and fun. OTDH ave gone through serious sound chages over their last couple of EPs but I think with Midnight Mass they found their own sound.
5) MIDNIGHT SOULS - GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS
I described this as 'The background music of 2012' and I still stand by that. An amazing record that hopefully people haven't forgotten about with the other releases of early 2012. American Nightmare-esque with a beautiful unique take on the Melodic Hardcore genre as a whole, the best belgian release of 2012.
6) CODE ORANGE KIDS - LOVE IS LOVE // RETURN TO DUST
Bass driven and filthy, this record as always going to be in the Top 10s after some strong potential was shown in Cycles, for such a young band this really is phenomenal and I imagine their year has been as much of a success as this record. This is the record you wish you wrote when you were young.
7) LANA DEL RAY - BORN TO DIE
Maybe a wildcard in a chart featuring the kind of music it does, but I feel that Born To Die was one of the strongest 'popular' releases of the year, mixing a beautiful voice with something that isn't really being done in the mainstream anymore, it's so stylistic and 'cool', 'National Anthem' is one of my top 5 songs of the year.
8) BIRDS IN ROW - YOU, ME, AND THE VIOLENCE
Amazing release from easily the strongest French band right now, constantly chaotic and fast, with some amazing vocals drenched in emotion and passion. Easily the best release from a French artist this year, and one Deathwish's best releases.
9) BRUTALITY WILL PREVAIL - SCATTER THE ASHES
Although nowhere near as strong as Root Of All Evil, Scatter The Ashes is a step up from Sleep Paralysis, more thrashy, more hardcore and some of the best riffs of the year really make this a solid release. At times some of the drawn out vocals that seem to be popular at the moment get a bit too much, but that is a tiny grievance and this record is more than worth your attention.
10) NEIL YOUNG AND CRAZY HORSE - PSYCHEDELIC PILL
Neil Young's first new album in a good few years doesn't disappoint at all. Although maybe best viewed as more of a jam session, with 25 minute long songs, it's still undoubtedly Neil Young and it's still obvious he and Crazy Horse are some of the greatest song writers in the world.
(Written By Charlie Neale)
P.s we're back, but it might take us some time to get back to normal.
To write this down isn't really easy for Charlie nor for me. We don't wanna write down one of these clichée hiatus messages, but there are a lot of things that need to be said.
Here's my personal message to anyone out there:
Two years ago I started this blog as a private thing, just to inform my friends about news in the hardcore scene and shit. After meeting Tom of The Cold Harbour, I started this blog as a public webzine for everyone. I never expected AY to be that big one day. Since the beginning, I did this thing with all my heart and spent a lot of time to build it up. Charlie has always been the one who kept things going and helped me out when I didn't have that much time or if I was busy with doing the promotion/show stuff. Well, I really don't know where to start or where to end this but it's time to quit Another Youth. It's hard but there are things in my life which made me decide this way. My future is now way more important than this incredibly amazing hobby me and Charlie ran for the past two years.
But AY wasn't just a hobby for me. I got to know some of the best people in the world, built up amazing friendships and travelled a few place to meet people who I did shows for or just helped out. I want to thank the following people for making all this happen. I hope someday both of us will have enough time to get back to AY.
First of all, I want to thank my girl for always helping me out, understanding me and just being there for me. Next up, Charlie. You helped this small "blog" to get one of Europe's biggest Hardcore Webzines and you always jumped on a review or interview if I was unable to do it. Thank you, man! I want to thank Tom of The Cold Harbour for inspiring me and for being one of the best friends I ever had the pleasure to meet and hang out with. Also, my family helped me out a lot, thank you! Kevin of Dead Souls Clothes has also been a big part of all this. Thank you man! I also want to thank Christian and Hannes, Empty Handed & Blackheart INC, Isolated, Foxxes, Crooks, Shivery MMXII Productions and Heinzel, Sending Lights, my band Fade Away, Decades, Sven Hasselbach Photography, Marlon and the In Circles boys, André and Anchors Aweigh Records, Grieved, the sexy Snakes & Lions boys, Jonas and White Fields, Shaun and Landscapes, Lasting Traces, David and Together, Giants, Andy and Broken Night Records, Chorus of One Records, Minus Tree, Polar Bear Club, No Decline Booking, Rodney and the former Scotland Yard, Matin and the Oetinger Villa, Jon Betts, Mesmerized by Misery, Raul and CVLT, The Departed, Ghostwriter, Almost Failed, Siggi and The Escape Of Eliza, We Sink, All We Have, Bert and Midnight Souls, Scythes, my friend Julius for taking pictures for us, Gregor and Back To The Point, L'Amour Records, Alone, Tassilo and Million Thoughts, Jamie over at FITA Records, Open Sea Recs., all my friends for coming to the shows, buying a tee or helping me out and to anyone who ever supported us in any way.
Thank you <3
Collin
These are Charlie's words:
Another Youth has been a big part of my life for around 18 months, and it was genuinely one of the best things I ever did. When we started slowing down it was due to other commitments and projects, in my instance, it was my record label. I think we all tried to keep making it work, and at times we were back to normal, with a revamp a couple of months ago and me focusing all of my energies on writing and interviews, but once again things slowed down.
Forgive the cliche, but it's hard to sum up everything in a couple of paragraphs, and I feel naive for trying, but Another Youth really did things for me that I wouldn't have been able to do without it. Among my highlights are all of the amazing feedback my writing has recieved, I started out writing for this as an inexperienced and under-confident writer looking for something to do, but thanks to kind words from people i've been constantly motivated to better my writing, so thanks to anyone who has helped in that respect.
I'd like to give a sincere thank you to Collin, he's worked his fingers to the absolute bone for nearly 2 years with Another Youth, putting on shows, writing, doing shirts, promoting, everything, Collin has always been the backbone behind Another Youth, and this is why a hiatus felt neccesary, I don't think Another Youth would be the same without Collin. Another Youth will be back one day, but right now I think our best interests are in Collin's future, and as Collin is the founder, starting a new zine was the most respectful thing to do.
Thanks to everyone who helped us grow, and gave us feedback, and made us want to do this.
Charlie
Check out Some Dogs, Charlie's new zine community.
From the ferocious tone of 'Tip Your Bartender', to the dulcet serenity of 'Ape Dos Mil', 2002's Worship And Tribute is arguably Glassjaw's best effort in their fragmented but influential career.
There's a certain ambience that follows the tracks throughout the album, sometimes taking the edge off the corrosive blade of some tracks, and sometimes being used as a ploy to create anticipation and excitement. Whether it's the guitars that add a sense of urgency and erraticness at times, while being completely able to rip the aggressive carpet from under your feet and replacing it with a blanket of jazz infused calmness, calculated and warm. Or the bass that stays in the background but still plays a part, sometimes obliviously or sometimes in the limelight, making the songs themselves take on a new life with it's slightly funk inspired tones. The drums give a natural, creative quality to the songs, with a ton of unexpected fills that add to the songs, constantly arguing with the tranquil ambience while complimenting it at the same time, all while having a rough affair with the hostile and belligerent rawness of the tracks. Adding all this together creates an almost perfect mix of styles, from post-hardcore to Jazz, to plain alternative yet experimental.
And that's without Palumbo's vocals. Palumbo glides effortlessly through this record, with some of the most beautifully created vocals of the genre. A prolific exaggerator, every word is drawn out and pulled through his usually disciplined voice that all too often goes off the beaten track into a mental institute of erratic screaming and scizophrenic shouting, brought back with a period of ambience calling for his soft, serene vocal tones. The vocals throughout exude energy, reaching blistering highs and devastating lows, all pieced together with a still unique vocal style, which leaves it hard to argue against Palumbo being one of alternative music's greatest voices. Lyrically it excells too, slightly smarter than EYEWTKAS, keeping Palumbo's wit and anger, while taking away most of the bitter resentment, leaving something that sounds upbeat, personal and well written.
When everything is added together, it creates what could be one of the best albums of our generation, with so many influences and styles used throughout, it's a completely unique record that is yet to replicated, and even further away from ever been bettered by a similar band. What Glassjaw created is a piece of music that grips, excells and inspires, taking you on a trip through their erratic minds with a mixture of insane songwriting and mezmerising vocals that ensnare and consume, leaving you constantly pressing repeat, leaving you unable to decide whether to sway or nod your head, or jump around, because you never really know what is coming around the corner, after 100s of listens it's still possible to pick up something new. Go and listen again, listen all night. Worship And Tribute is a true masterpiece.
Fluff Fest is just a week away now, a couple of us are going but we're not covering it (There might be a review after though). The festival has really become a staple in the European hardcore summer festival scene. There is no pre-sale, all tickets are on the door. For anyone who for some reason hasn't heard of it, here's this years line-up and event page, SEE YOU THERE!
THURSDAY LINE-UP -
ARGONAUT (CZE), BARREL (CZE), GOODBYE BLUES (CZE), JAN TOMÁŠ + JAN KAŠPAR (CZE), KLUTZ (CZE), LEFT IN RUINS (ITA).
FRIDAY JULY-20
CODE ORANGE KIDS/ COKE BUST/ DEATHRITE/ DEFEATER/ END OF A YEAR AKA SELF DEFENSE FAMILY/ FORMER THIEVES/ GRAF ORLOCK/ GRIEVED/ LOMA PRIETA/ MIKROVOMIT/ MY TURN/ NINE ELEVEN/ NO OMEGA/ RAVELIN 7/ REIGN SUPREME/ SICK FIX/ WEEKEND NACHOS/ WOJCZECH.
SATURDAY JULY-21
ALPINIST/ ANCHOR/ AUSSITOT MORT/ BETON/ BOKANOVSKY/ BOREDOM/ KUNG-FU GIRLZ/ LIGHT BEARER/ MSSND/ MASAKARI/ ██████/ NO TURNING BACK/ OSAWATOMIE/ PLANKS/ RALPH MACCHIO/ RUN WITH THE HUNTED/ SUIS LA LUNE/ TITAN/ TRUE NATURE/ VACCINE/ VENDETTA/ WOLF DOWN/ XADDAX
SUNDAY JULY-22
AYS/ BOILING POINT/ BRAT PACK/ CHILD MEADOW/ LANDVERRAAD/ LANDSCAPES/ MAN VS. HUMANITY/ MOBIUS/ PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH/ RITUAL/ SEN DENI/ SIN OF LILITH/ SLOTH/ SOUL CONTROL/ TANGLED LINES/ TRAPPED UNDER ICE/ TUPAK AMARU/ UNVEIL/ VERSE
Hailing from Frome, in the UK, Landscapes came to attention in 2010 with the release of their EP 'Reminiscence', an EP that was criminally underrated when it was first released, which was sad, because in terms of melodic hardcore, it was one of the best UK releases in the past few years.
Fast forward two years and 'Life Gone Wrong', Landscapes' debut album, is close to release. With this release, and a European tour this summer, Landscapes are finally in position to take their place at the top of the UK's Melodic Hardcore scene, and with this record, it is completely deserved.
Building on the foundations that 'Reminiscence' created, 'Life Gone Wrong' shows a darker, more mature side of Landscapes, angrier, while keeping the passion and emotion that they've shown before, leaving a record that really grabs at you, complimented by the perfect flow that leaves it hard to pull away from, and even harder not to put on repeat.
The main source of the anger and emotion comes from the vocals, there's a rare passion behind them that a lot of bands seem to miss, it's an honest, emotional delivery completed with lyrics that both channel and create the emotions, directing the main bulk of the anger at himself and the world, leaving behind a relatable record that leaves you taken aback by how genuine it really is.
That's not to say that the vocals outweigh the other instruments, as this record has been written in a way that really gives each instrument an equal amount of work in creating the beauty that comes with this record. The guitars constantly switch between this intricate melodic style, and a chugging, dark and heavy style, both of which work well together, especially when layered over each other. The bass, which opens 'No Love' thunders through, adding an extra layer of bleakness and dragging it deeper into the dark terrirtory the record has inhabited. The drums have been mixed so well and carry the record so well in the way that they constantly change the tempo, produce expert fills and really build the foundation of the record.
Opener, and first single, 'Cemetary' is a short but packed introduction to the record and what to expect, it's the first part of the journey that this record takes you on, constantly taking you into the next song before you've realized what's happening. The way that 'Forgiveness' (That features an unexpected, but very well placed and atmospheric, quote from 'The Wrestler') slowly fades into the tireless 'Epilogy' is almost perfection. The start of 'Paradox', the records closer, feels perfect, in the way that it almost tries to prepare you for the end, after a bleak, dark record, but then transcends into one of the most amazing closers i've ever heard, it creates asmosphere throughout while wrapping up the rest of the record, it's the end of a journey that never got any easier but had to come to an end, and it fits. Like every other song on this record it serves a purpose, and I really feel the need to pay homage to the talent displayed on this record.
Overall, this record is one of the best things to come out of the UK in recent times, with a scene that is slowly getting stronger with new bands, it could have been hard for Landscapes to push back to where they deserved after a 2 year absense of new material, but luckily with this record, they'll be allowed to keep growing and progressing. Building on 'Reminiscence' while changing vocal styles and direction helps this sound like 'Landscapes' something which some bands get wrong when progressing. This is definitely a record you should listen to atleast once, even if you have interest in the band.
(Written by Charlie N.)
Check out LANDSCAPES here! The new record is available for pre-order on City Of Gold Record's Big Cartel!
I (Charlie) had the pleasure of talking to someone i've followed for a long time, and even done projects on while I was at school a few years ago. GIVE UP mixes original designs with a beautiful hand-done quality that is often lost through completely digital work. I got the chance to talk about side projects, his move into digital design and a ton of other stuff. If you haven't heard of GIVE UP before then I urge you to check out his blog HERE, Enjoy!
Hey, how are you doing?
can't complain. sweating it out in texas, hanging with my dog, listening to records.
So you've always made a point of using traditional, hand-done art for projects, whether it's the screen printing process, the design process or even the photographs. What made you want to start exploring the digital side of design after so many years avoiding it?
well, in my personal work it's still all completely done by hand. shooting my own photos and manipulating them at the photocopier. i still use the same processes i always have because i think it gives it a certain visual quality as well as artistic worth. starting to work with stuff digitally was kind of borne of necessity from doing work for bands. the bands and the labels weren't always especially happy when they'd pay me for a tshirt design or something and then would get an envelope of photocopies in the mail with notes saying things like "scan this and make this layer grey, make this layer black" or "this is the front cover, this is the disc face", etc. that or i'd have to track down a patient friend with a scanner and photoshop and sit over their shoulder and say "okay now put this color on top of that color, okay now make it the size of a record cover, what's a template?".
You started Sisster Ssound as a side project to Give Up, for your music and computer-based design, did you find it something you needed to start up, as Give Up was always hand-done Art or do you like to class it as something completely new and personal to you as a person, not Give Up?
when i started doing the GIVE UP stuff it was pretty crude and the only goal was to put it up on the street as much as possible. over time my artistic aspirations within the format/context kind of evolved, but the street motivation always stayed the same. i was really reluctant to put any of it online for years because i thought it was kind of a copout. it was made for the street so it belonged on the street. but its the way of the world and i eventually gave in. over the years i started doing more and more stuff for bands. and even if the artistic process was the same or if the visual elements were similar, i didn't think it always really fit with GIVE UP. because it was for them, not me. and a tour poster or 7" cover aren't exactly graffiti, you know. so i started the SISSTER SSOUND site as a place to show the things i'd been working on that weren't limited to my own artistic restrictions with GIVE UP. and that didn't make sense to me to be included on a site/blog that was dedicated to my "street art" stuff. so while the two are still pretty clearly woven together i think they are both allowed to exist as their own independent entities.
At what age did you start actually doing Art as a hobby, as opposed to an educational necessity at school? And how did you first learn about/get into Street art?
i've always drawn and painted and scribbled for as long as i can remember. but i didn't particularly enjoy any of the stuff we were doing in middle or high school art classes until they taught screen printing. that was the thing that really stuck with me. when i was 14 or 15 and getting heavy into skateboarding and hardcore, graffiti was just one of the other natural elements. my friends that skated wrote graffiti, my friends that wrote graffiti went to hardcore shows. i just kind of fell into it. fast forward several years and i was burnt out on writing my name on shit. i realized i had done what i was going to do and wasn't ever going to be as good as i wanted to be. i was having more fun doing cut 'n paste fliers at the photocopier for punk shows and messing around with screen printing again and other art shit. i'd been putting up stickers still and was talking to one of my older writer friends and he told me about wheatpaste. it felt just like the transition i needed. to continue this compulsion to get up, but within an artistic context i could be more expressive with and felt a lot freer in. this was around 2000 or 2001.
When you started doing design work in a digital format, how easy did you find the transition? Was the effort used cutting/pasting/screen printing, replaced by the complexities of using a mouse and starting from scratch?
it was a nightmare. i've had to replace several computer screens that succumbed to my frustrations trying to figure out computer shit. and i'm still pretty limited. i don't think i could start something from scratch and do it completely digital today even if i wanted to. my digital process still starts pretty similar to my screen printing process. i'll create the bulk of the work cutting and pasting and manipulating the image at the photocopier. once i have something i'm happy with i'll sit down at a lightbox and block out the separate color layers by hand. once i have all of those scanned i'll stack them in photoshop the same way i'd do the individual color layers in a print. it makes making small changes pretty difficult, which can be a real pain in the ass if the band or whoever isn't 100% happy with the final product. but i've been learning a lot and feel pretty lucky to get to work on some of the projects i've gotten involved with.
You've expanded an insane amount over the past year or two, has this brought new opportunities for you, And what sort of things do you have planned for the rest of the year?
i credit that to trying to be more active online. like i said, whether i like it or not it is the way of the world. and i can't complain about it. and i've had the good fortune to work with some bands and people that not only do i like quite a lot but it seems other people are pretty fond of too. which really helps get the name out there. i'm getting ready right now for an art show next month here in austin. and then another show later this summer in austria. which i'm pretty excited about. as well as more roadtrips to spread street stuff across the country. just seeing what comes my way.
To follow on, what has Give Up done to your personal life? I imagine taking up an anonymous persona would have quite a great effect on you with people who aren't close friends, and have you ever wanted to 'Give Up' the persona?
its weird sometimes. but i think it's more important in my head than it is in the real world. most of my family, my girl's friends, they have no idea what i do. it's just not a thing i generally try to bring up in public. the only time its really a problem is when i'm trying to book a gallery or work with a new dealer and i don't want to meet them in person. so it's kind of inhibitive in that way. or loose lipped friends that'll be like "oh, the GIVE UP stuff, you know XXXXX does all that, right?" to mutual strangers. to an extent it's a legal thing because i've committed felonies for my "art". but mostly its just because i don't think who i am as a person is at all relevant to what it is i'm trying to produce.
You've had a few exibitions in your years as an artist, do you enjoy them? and how much work do they take from you and everyone involved?
i never had any hopes or intentions of ever getting into galleries. that i have had those opportunities now is really incredible to me and i'm really grateful for it. but it can end up being a lot of work. even just from a logistics standpoint. like if i have to get someone to install the shows for me because i don't want to meet the gallery director in person or something. but also just from the output itself. i hope that everything i create has it's own strength, but the things i make specifically for the street can be crooked or not a clean print because they aren't going to last forever. whereas the gallery specific work may end up on someone's wall for a very long time and i want the quality of the construction to reflect that.
In Retrospect #1; Give Up The Ghost - We're Down Til We're Underground : Review
In the first of my retrospective reviews, i'll be reviewing an album that means absolutely everything in the world to me. From the heartbreak, to the angst, to the alienation, to the torture of teenage life and everything that comes with it. We're down Til We're Underground deserves to be in the top 5 Hardcore albums that existed, alongside Background Music.
The emotion portrayed in this record can reduce you to tears, the guitar can poison your veins, the bass can inspire you to get out this rut, the drums can replace the beat of your heart, this music is so much more than hardcore, this music is you.
From Eisold's lyrics, that lyricists still try and fail to imitate, to the music that invokes and emanates so much passion, this record is everything you needed to survive your teenage life and embrace hardcore.
Orginally released in 2003 through Equal Vision, after the almost famous name change from American nightmare to Give Up The Ghost, this record inspired a generation of hardcore fans who were sick of the status quo, that were sick of the emotionless hardcore that was pouring through the seams, they needed something that followed through on Background Music's promise of passion, they needed a record like this.
Slightly softer than Background Music, but still as passionate and heartfelt, this record incorporated a slower feel, with slightly less aggressive vocals, that's not to say this record isn't angry, it's just as angry as it's predecessor, but it's a more controlled anger, less angsty and more calculated, the growing period between Background Music and this, the lyrics that combined more metaphors and a unique styling, but still so unmistakingly Eisold, the guitars that showed the agression that ruled Background Music and the earlier EPs, while taking a step back and showing that GUTG had grown in both talent and experience, offering an angry but 'professional' record, with songs like AEIOU becoming the love songs for a generation of misfits, and tracks like Bluem becoming a haven for heartbroken teens, full of angst and life.
Weighing in at a mere 31 minutes (With the longest track being completely instrumental), it managed to hook a generation, and it still manages to hook people, it stills manages to offer something different to the band who insist you punch each other in the face, that's not to say it offered belonging, or even love, because it was a highly personal record, but this record offered something more, it broke out of it's constricted scenes, you related with the music as opposed to the genre, you related to the lyrics, you related to the music, whether it was fast or slow, you felt like We're Down Til We're Underground was written for whatever situation you were going through, because the emotion portrayed through the music, and the lyrical themes made you forget that this record was written by the band, for the band, and made you think that there was no way this record wasn't written for you.
Ths changed my life, and in a way that a lot of music doesn't, it offers something fresh with every listen, it almost forces me to listen again, whether it's the first time, or the 2000th time, this record contunually manages to offer something different to the simularity and complacency of music currently orientated on a feeling of brotherhood and unity, this record does the opposite, offering an alternative to joining the hardcore cult, it tells you to be yourself, it tells you to be who you really are.
I'd like to take this last paragraph to tell you to this listen to this record if you haven't already, i'd like to take this paragraph to tell you that this, to me, is hardcore, and that this record is everything i've ever wanted in a record, and the thing I search for in every release I listen to. To me, atleast, this record is perfection, and the last thing that this band wrote, I couldn't compare it to their other releases, because American Nightmare were constantly changing but always the same band, and it wouldn't be fair to compare masterpieces.
Self Defense Family - Self Immolation Family; Review
The latest Self Defense Family single once again consists of 2 new songs, that are wholly different to past material. This time recorded in Iceland, it's the spiritual sibling to the Jamaica recording, and the second child of the band's concept, while the other planned future Island Recordings are just a glimmer in their parent's eyes.
The thing with Self Defense Family, is that although every record sounds different, it is still unquestionably the same band, with a plethora of members and writers, SDF do something that has been done by so few bands, and they do it so well. This record cements their status as a 'family', one unit thinking in unison, and proving that the slow, Jamaican orientated style of 'I'm Going Through Some Shit' wasn't a step in the wrong direction.
Kindlon's vocals and lyrical style continues to both progress and mature, leaving something that is lyrcially both satirical and emotional, something unique and profound. And something that is vocally mature and experienced, constantly straining and pulling the music.
No Self Defense Family/End Of A Year record has been the same, but the vocals continue to progress and manage to fit in with the constantly evolving instrumental work.
'Self Immolation Family' takes up this jam session feel towards the end, creating this brave section, that, if done wrong could easily bore, drag on and alienate at the same time, BUT, it doesn't do any of these things, and although long, you never feel like it should end right now, in many senses it's 2 songs put together, a melodic yet harsh (we're talking Billy Idol harsh, not Hatebreed harsh) song that perfectly infuses this amazing and emotional guitar work, mixed with a bass that could alone completely run this track throughtout, and drums that aren't just there to create rhythm, but to add to the song. It feels like a family, not in the same way that the Osmonds, or the Bee Gee's churned out hits, but in a sense that this is a musical outfit working as one, contributing equally. The second half is essentially a jam track, mixing atmosphere with melody, with backing vocals, it works though, genuinely. And it feels seperate enough to turn off after the first half, but not too seperate to put onto another track.
'World Virgins' was the reason I bought this single, if for nothing more than to hear it. It sticks to the style of the actual single, but takes it in a completely different direction. If you take away the vocals there's this atmospheric, early 90s kind of sound, something i'd imagine from a softer Soundgarden, or maybe even a mid peak Red Hot Chili Peppers sound, when they were doing all the cool stuff. It's got such a 'cool' sound, not a cool as in trendy way, but a cool as in, you just want to lay in the sun and listen to it. Like 'Self Immolation Family', the guitar work is perfect, it completely pushes, but at the same time compliments Kindlon's vocals. The vocals have this personal quality to them, the almost strained vocals from 'I'm going Through Some Shit' have gone completely, and made way for vocals that sound like a more composed version of the 'You Are Beneath Me' era.
I've written enough about just tracks that should surely make you pick up this record (Which is $1.50 from the Deathwish store on download). Self Defense Family are almost magical, in that they can constantly change style but still be one of the most unique and amazing bands in the world. They mix this brutally honest and satirical vocal/lyric style, with genuinely amazing guitar work, and a bass line that doesn't follow the guitar, something which bands seem too afraid to try now, leaving the bass behind everything else in an attempt to play up the vocals and guitars, the drums needs to be mentioned too, as I mentioned earlier, they complete the line-up.
This record is the best single of 2012 so far, it's emotional, it's honest, and it's built up with layers of passion that really show through. The backing vocals are as important as the lead vocals, neither guitar sounds like it's leading, they're constantly competing, and the bass is amazing, as are the drums. Pick this record up, please.
The new Burn Your Life Down record is streaming on Panic Record's Bandcamp.
The record, up for pre-order now on both Panic Records and Glory Kid's respective webstores, is a crushing, fast record with intense Schizophrenic vocals. Basically, you need to listen to this record if any of that small description appeals to you.
'Don't Try' comes out on the 19th June, check out the band on their Facebook page here.
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