Pierced Arrows, the Portland-based trio comprised of legendary members Fred and Toody Cole of the seminal punk band Dead Moon and drummer Kelly Halliburton are releasing their sophomore album Descending Shadows today on VICE Records.
To kick off the release, VICE Records is hosting an exclusive stream of the full album today. Along with this news, longtime fan and supporter Eddie Vedder provided a personal note, exclusively at Spinner.com, touching on the Cole’s major influence and honest impressions they’ve made on rock and roll throughout a career spanning multiple decades.
Sherwood, purveyors of feel good California rock, will be hitting the road launching a U.S. headlining tour in support of its most recent effort QU. The tour kicks off February 17 in Los Angeles at the famed Roxy Theater.
A Beach Boys-inspired power pop band hailing from San Luis Obispo, California, Sherwood came together in 2002 while the band members were still students at the local university. Now signed to Myspace Records, they’ve released their debut Summer EP followed by two full length releases (Sing, But Keep Going in 2005 and 2007’s A Different Light). Read the full story
Written By: Thirst’n Howl III
Date: 1/20/10
Venue: Detroit Bar
Location: Costa Mesa, CA
Check out the photos HERE!
The Black Lips are B-A-N-A-N-E-R-S!!! Anyone who has recently left a show of theirs will definitely agree. They will probably also be covered in sweat, spit, and beer. The band has often been cited for the lunacy of their shows; Beer being spit on the crowd, spit being tossed around from mouth to mouth (via band members kissing or aiming their spit from a few feet away to each others gaping maws.), fisticuffs, and even exposed genitalia. Now this is not a guarantee that you will see all of this at one of their shows, but usually a good combo of the aforementioned.
At this point, dear reader, I am sure that you are all set to make it to the next show…but wait, they play music too. And it is some of the sweetest tunes an ear can hear. One of the grumpier members of the crowd, hiding from the violent mist of less than hygienic bodily fluids, later described the sound as infinitely catchy. “I don’t really want to like it but its so damn toe-tappy” stated Beanbag (name has been changed for legal purposes).
It’s all true, the Black Lips are the Barnum & Baileys of a raunchy, raucous, rock ‘n’ rollin good time!
A band trying to still legitimize itself after “Cutman” (rightfully) made them a metalcore legend a few years back, HORSE the Band continues on its path to self awareness. The problem with HORSE is that they are still somewhere in between taking themselves too seriously or not taking themselves seriously at all. “Desperate Living,” their debut full length on Vagrant Records, suffers from that same identity crisis but is still a solid album nonetheless.
Those cheesy “Nintendocore” synths are still throbbing and keeping HORSE from becoming too generic, but at times, the rest of the band steals the show. The breakdown in the title track is sure to get kids reaching for their bandanas and floor punching for days (do kids still do that?). I hate using the word “mature” to describe a bands sound evolving, but that’s exactly what’s going on here. Also, using a clip from one of my favorite television shows “Xavier: Renegade Angel,” is going to score some bonus points for them too.
Basically, it boils down to this: do you like metalcore? Do you like ‘80s synths? If you answered yes to either of these questions, this is worth a listen. Synth lines in “The Failure of All Things,” “Science Police” and “Rape Escape” make an otherwise slowly moving album feel fresh and fun all the way up until the end. Also check out Jamie Stewart from Xiu Xiu singing on “Shapeshift.” Those are the highlights of a downright decent album, though honestly without the synth it may have just been another semi-interesting album by a decent band. For the metalcore genre, a boring subset of hardcore, it’s good to see a talented band put out a good album, instead of the tired “screamed-verses-sung choruses-breakdowns-breakdowns-tight jeans-eyeliner-choreographed stage moves-Victory Records cash cow of the week.” Recommended, because honestly, who wants to sit through an album that sounds boring and repetitive? HORSE is always worth a listen, and this album is no different.
“The Pipe” from the bands ‘Bamboo You’ record will throw you back a couple of decades to the early punk sound of The Clash. Fortunately they are not a carbon-copy and do enough new instrumentation/recording-wise that you will be able to tell the song came out recently.
Featuring these great new songs: Alvin Band “Mantis Preying Ate Single”
Beach House “Norway”
CFCF “Monolith”
The Dead Trees “Rayna (demo)”
Fredrik “Locked in the Basement”
Furcast “Greyls Old”
Holly Miranda “Forest Green Oh Forest Green”
Letting Up Despite Our Faults “In Steps”
Mean Creek “(OrTheUnderground)”
Midnight Masses “Walk On Water”
Miracles of Modern Science “Bossa Supernova”
Summer Dregs “Bones”
Tape Deck Mountain “On My Honor”
Tape Deck Mountain “Scantron (remix)
Technoir MA “Roundabout”
The New Loud “Dont Dance”
Toro Y Moi “Blessa”
In my mind, there are probably only a handful of bands better than The Lawrence Arms. They write with urgency about booze, and getting drunk, and being wasted. They are Chicago’s leading export of drunken earnesty, capturing the failures of life and making every shortcoming a life-affirming moment. Lyrically, they come off sounding like a more pop-culture obsessed Jawbreaker. In 2006, they released “Oh! Calcutta!” and truly captured what it felt like to be alive. Since then, they have meddled in side-projects (Sundowner, the Falcon, etc…) and most likely spent a lot of time hitting the bottle. Read the full story
Everything these dudes touch turns to gold, in my opinion. There isn’t much A Wilhelm Scream does that shows variety, but who needs that when you have guitar solos that melt peoples faces off? Opener “Australias” shreds just like expected, featuring a finger tapping solo at breakneck speed. “Every Great Story Has A Shower Scene” is a rare bass-driven song, and the dual tracked vocals are punishing. If you have never had the pleasure, A Wilhelm Scream is a band from New Bedford, Massachusetts, and they SLAY. They play a sped up punk/thrash crossover, but they do it with more melody and talent than almost everyone. It sounds like vintage Strung Out mixed with Propaghandi. Read the full story
Sometimes a band is just a pleasant surprise. Castevet, despite being from my state and playing most of their shows a scant hour drive from my house, never even entered my radar. And now all that can be said is how I wish I had heard of them earlier, because there is no way they shouldn’t receive some sort of notoriety from beard punks everywhere now that “Summer Fences” has been unleashed on the world. Read the full story
CD:
1. Cayman Tongue
2. Retina Sees Rewind
3. The Redtrail
4. Air Escapes
DVD:
1. Luminance
2. Retina Sees Rewind
3. Moral Eclipse
4. Juggernaut
5. Dark Driving
6. The Red Trail
7. Cayman Tongue
8. Trepanning
9. Air Escapes
10. Summit Fever
11. Vicious Circles
12. Big Riff
13. Inflatable Dream
Cave In Live!
w/ Trap Them and Narrows
November 19th The Knitting Factory Brooklyn, NY
November 20 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA
November 21 Club Hell Providence, RI
November 22 The Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, MA
So, I’m a punk snob. It’s sad because I’m not that guy who’s like, “I only listen to obscure punk that nobody’s heard of.” Or the dude who’s all,”I only listen to the REAL punk by the ‘70s pioneers.” I’m not even the dude who says, “It’s only punk if it has a purpose – or no purpose at all.” Punk has become one of the most prestigious of all genres of music. It’s really quite silly, but it makes sense because it has no rules, yet it has strict rules. That’s what I love about punk music. I like punk that I should be ashamed to like, i.e. Blink 182 (PRE-“Take Off Your Pants and Jacket”). That’s right, I said it. I like that I can be super “moved” every time I listen to “In My Eyes” (Minor Threat). I like that I can listen to The Stooges and really understand why they titled a record “Raw Power” because that’s exactly what it is. But I digress. My point is, anyone who loves punk music SHOULD be a punk snob. If you hear punk you don’t like, it sucks, plain and simple. Punk is not to be tolerated; it is not “gray area” music. It is to be loved or hated. I absolutely HATE a ton of popular and “cool” punk bands for my own special reasons. But that’s what keeps punk alive: passion.
It seems all the recent punk bands I have come across either suck at actually playing musical instruments, or they’re trying too hard (but trying hard not to look like they’re trying so hard – you follow?). I got the Cloak and Dagger album, “Lost Art,” and I thought, “Oh great, here we go with another crappy punk attempt.” I couldn’t have been happier to hear the opening track. DUDE! It kills! Right? A band with rhythmic taste, an ear for hooks, and some good ol’ pissed off frontman action. I SO love a band that is easy to listen to, but I love a band more who makes me want to kill one of them so I can join. This album follows the (no) rules: It sounds like it was recorded straight off the mics and left to sound as it should, you know, raw! Eleven out of 13 tracks are under three minutes; who wants to hear a punk song drag on? It has pop hooks all over it, guitars and vocals alike. I’m talking international level HOOKS, kind of like The Hives (that’s right, the HIVES) to name a hooky band. I love that! I love songs that rock nuts and get stuck in my head! Cloak and Dagger can definitely play their instruments, but not like metal dudes or math-rockers, there’s a TON of SOUL in there. YES! I think this is one of my favorite records of 2009 and I hope it catches fire because there’s something there that makes up for me only being 30 and missing the first movement. I am officially going to enter this album into my permanent rotation. Nice work. Nice work.
