Another list of sweet ass records you should buy!
Like any self respecting aging hipster I call them “records” because while I’m too young to actually have used a ‘Record Player’ as my main mode of music playing while in high school [Tapes, yeah, member those – they used to mean something when you put a bunch of Sunny Day, Cadillac Blindside and Morcheeba/Portishead songs on one then gave it to your best girl or boy – whatevs’] I did catch mid wave of tape trading days and dove in head first to that dinosaur of music delivery called ‘CeeDeez.’ there used to be a joke that went with that but damn if 10 years of soda and pizza hasn’t wiped my memory clean as a jewel case. Its Halloween again, always a sad time of year because I realize I can’t eat a whole freaking pillowcase full of candy without getting some sort of blood clot or worse I’ll finally get diabetes.
enough blah blah blogging right? I see from our views of how many people actually read this stuff its pretty small. This myspace thing, once so vibrant and useful has really just become a way for uber shitty emo/screamo bands to get all the skankiest stripper/underage girl in a really obnoxious photo to post on their pages, or heck if their lucky one of them will go to their show with some other band with a poorly chosen name like Death In Autumn, Black Line Mouth Garden or something really stupid, I’m not that clever to think of one I guess. [Actually BLMG is a pretty cool name if you are into shrub eating trolls from Norway]
Couple of good records came out recently that I’ve had the pleasure of actually having to buy instead of wait for the F***ing retard publicity people to send me good music and stop sending me really bad music [hence the abhorrence towards anything with black mascara]
This is the best few for the past few weeks.
Converge – No Heroes: Just read the amazing interview/feature in the Dec. issue of Decibel, it explains it all. Then go out and buy the record, they are PUNK ROCK.
The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America: Yeah, that’s right, combine Elvis Costello, Cheap Trick and Thin Lizzy and you’ve got a juicy piece of American rock that makes the strokes look exactly like their namesake in motion
Trail Of Dead – So Divided: These Austinites [neh, austonians?] are back with their pissed off fist in the air Sgt. Pepper epic songs. It’s way better than their last record, of which I can’t even recall the name. Pick it up and check out “Wasted State of Mind”
I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness – Fear is on Our Side: another band of Austinites that make Interpol look like Coldplay. This is some moody stuff. Great for rain.
Planes Mistaken For Stars – Mercy: okay. I know I’m a huge PMFS fanboy nerd. My home town is Denver and at one time during a serious Jack Daniels Drinking party I used a vegetable bullion cube I thought was frozen coca-cola in an ice tray in my jack and coke when hanging with the bearded Denverites one summer eve a year ago, nevertheless, this band, with all its lineup changes (Guitarist Matt was replaced by Chuck, chuck was replaced by Neil from Red Cloud and its their third bassist) and subsequently horrible press representation and little coverage is one of the years Best! AGAIN. Up in Them Guts was their career high but Mercy ranks up there as well, being a consistent smash your face rock record (Produced by the skillful Matt Bayles no less). We’ll have them featured on the site soon.
Constants – The Murder Of Tom Fitzgerril: This is so freaking massive and amazing I can’t stop listening to it. Mostly instrumental, these dudes have been on the road for two years in a vegetable fueled school bus. I think I already ranted about this but their album is really remarkable.
Music Exists in the places we expect. At the mall, in the car next to you at the stop sign with the dudes in backwards baseball caps that have replaced Limp Bizkit with Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold or even in the grocery store. The key is, look deeper, buy music from the record store where the clerks don’t wear uniforms and no one talks about MARKETS or BRANDING or ‘STREET CRED.” Case in point, look for music and don’t let someone serve it to you like a McSandwich. (That means don’t listen to me either)
A Coat of Red Paint In Hell 