Holy crap. Quote Unquote's onto something here. They're doing an album a day until Labor Day. This is the first. A self-titled from a Long Island Hardcore band called Barnaby Jones. I've heard about them a little bit here and there, though this is the first I've listened to them. What can I say here? It's a solid hardcore album, which people just don't make anymore. It's also the first hardcore record released on Jeff Rosenstock's donation label, Quote Unquote Records. The songs are very aggressive and very melodic at the same time a la Dan Yemin. The vocalist does not sing (except on "The Death Seat") , but it works, as the rest of the band keep some melody in the mix. Each song is as good as the last, and there are no weak spots here.
That may be my only (slight) complaint. There's really not much breathing room here. The album comes out swinging and doesn't really stop. At the same time, I like that. In fact, you can really ignore my complaints here.
Who wants this album, you ask? If you like Lifetime/Kid Dynamite/Paint It Black, or Gorilla Biscuits, or This Is Hell, you want this album.
Go download this album on Quoteunquoterecords.com and throw them some money. I can't stress the donation thing enough, you don't have to pay for their music, but if you want these bands to keep doing this and have Jeff release it, they need your donations. This record is certainly worth money. I wouldn't lie to you.
It gets a 5 out of 5 for being the best hardcore album ever.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Nightmares For A Week Interview
Everyone's a virgin at some point, but it's always nice when two people lose that status together. In this case, I lost my interview virginity at the helm of Nightmares For A Week's very first interview. For those that don't know, Nightmares For A Week is an absolutely amazing Punk band from Kingston, NY. I've been kinda bummed on most local punk lately, so these guys were a godsend. Don't get me wrong, there ARE some good local Punk bands, but NFAW are doing something rather refreshing. They recently released their debut EP "A Flood Tomorrow" physically on Music For End Times (run by Zach and Paul of Dead Unicorn, another fine Kingston band) and digitally on Broken English Records. I've been trying to coordinate this interview for probably a month now, so I finally got to meet up with them at Zena Rockstock at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock (easily one of my favorite venues, in all honesty). I showed up kinda late, because of my lack of a driver's license and Tim Heidcamp having a job. When Tim, Craig Brandt and I arrived, the Ricochet (Jacob Daniel's band) was at least half way through their set, and they were pretty good. I found Bill and Steve from NFAW outside after the Ricochet's set and told them who I was and they remembered and agreed to do an interview. Sean-Paul came out after a few seconds, and we then walked behind the Colony where we started the interview.
Real quick. Name, age, influences:
Sean-Paul: Sean-Paul, 28, my influences would be Descendents. The Descendents would be the main influence, also bands like Gorilla Biscuits.
Bill: My name is Bill, I’m 25 years old. I play guitar and sing, and my influences would be anything from Dinosaur Jr. to Minor Threat, there’s lots of bands out there.
Sean-Paul: Say Echo and the Bunnymen!
Bill: Yeah, Echo and the Bunnymen
[laughter all around]
Steve: I’m Steve, I’m 21, and my influences would be Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age.
How long have you been playing music?:
Sean-Paul: I started playing when I was 16, so 12 years ago.
BIll: I started playing guitar when I was in high schoo, so 14 or 15 years.
Steve: I’ve been playing since age 16.
This is really just for Bill and Sean-Paul, Were you in any bands before Anadivine?
Sean-Paul: Yes.
Bill: I was in all his bands.
Sean-Paul: I was in a band called Jerk Magnet with Bill, which turned into Anadivine. Then I was asked to fill in for all the local bands.
Bill: Before Jerk Magnet was L.T.S. then Jerk Magnet, then came Anadivine. After Anadivine was a band called The Median
(Author's Note: If I screwed any of this up, please tell me and I will fix it)
How about you, Steve?
Steve: Yes, I was in a band called Astronauts for, like, 4 years. Played bass in Barbecue Bash. Ghosts Among The Dead.
Bill: He’s been in more bands than we have!
Who’s writing most of the music for Nightmares?
Sean-Paul: bill writes the music.
Bill: Then they bring it to life.
So Bill writes the lyrics and you guys all flesh it out?
Steve: Bill bill brings the bone, then we add the flesh.
[laughter, a rather common thing with these guys]
This is kind of a stupid question, but for some reason I feel the need to ask. The name: Fireman, right?
Sean-Paul: Yes.
If this isn’t too hard....gear?
Sean-Paul: I play primarily Fender Precision Basses, through a Sans-Amp RBI and a Music Man 100 head, and playing through an Ampeg 410. I also use a limiter pedal, so I have the bass, then the limiter, the Sans-Amp, the head and the cab.
Bill: I play a Fender Telecaster through a 65 Fender Reverb reissue 410 combo. I primarily use a Tube Screamer I built from a kit, and I have a few other pedals.
Steve: I play DW drums and Zildjian A Cymbals.
How has the reception for “A Flood Tomorrow” been so far?
Sean-Paul: As far as the physical copy go. It’s been great. The shows vary, but we’ve sold a lot of CDs.
Steve: Word!
You recently signed to Broken English Records. How’ve they been in comparison to Music For End Times?
Bill: I don’t know if we can compare the two. [laughs] I mean, they’ve both been pretty good. They’re both a great deal of help. End Times is run by Zach and Paul from Dead Unicorn. Paul has helped with T-Shirts, and Zach has written our press release and really helped us with promotion. As far as Broken English goes, John helped produce our record for us, well, half of it. That right there is great. Normally, labels don’t help record the bands.
Favorite band to play with?
Steve: Definitely the Ricochet, Frankie and His Fingers, Caterwaul.
Bill: We played a couple times with our good friends in a rockabilly band called Dead Luck Devilles.
Sean-Paul: Los Doggies!
Bill: Los Doggies are the shit!
All in a staggered fashion: The Viking!
Bill: We’ve only played with them once, but they’re a metal band from Schenectady, and we just don’t get put onto those bills.
Sean-Paul: But they’re our bros.
I collect vinyl, any plans?
Sean-Paul: I wish.
Bill: We’re not sure about the full length. We might press vinyl and then include a code for a download.
How about ideas for variants? Different colors and such?
Bill: We’d love to do that. Sean-Paul’s always talking about Dear You [the Jawbreaker album] on blue.
I have that, actually.
Sean-Paul: I just don’t want to pay 60 bucks for it.
[laughs]
How about other involvements, jobs, other projects?
Steve: I have this band, and I helped the Ricochet on their album.
Bill: This is it!
Sean-Paul: Well, I own and operate a studio, Leaning Tree, but things have really been slowing down there because this has taken over.
How about future plans for the band?
Bill: Play as many shows as we can. Keep on truckin’.
How about the full length?
Bill: We have a ton of new material. We just need to get a label.
Broken English won’t be doing it?
Bill: I think it was just kind of a one-off thing.
Anything else?
Bill: Thank you. Thanks for writing out the questions.
Thanks so much to Nightmares For A Week for doing the interview. You guys rule.
Real quick. Name, age, influences:
Sean-Paul: Sean-Paul, 28, my influences would be Descendents. The Descendents would be the main influence, also bands like Gorilla Biscuits.
Bill: My name is Bill, I’m 25 years old. I play guitar and sing, and my influences would be anything from Dinosaur Jr. to Minor Threat, there’s lots of bands out there.
Sean-Paul: Say Echo and the Bunnymen!
Bill: Yeah, Echo and the Bunnymen
[laughter all around]
Steve: I’m Steve, I’m 21, and my influences would be Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age.
How long have you been playing music?:
Sean-Paul: I started playing when I was 16, so 12 years ago.
BIll: I started playing guitar when I was in high schoo, so 14 or 15 years.
Steve: I’ve been playing since age 16.
This is really just for Bill and Sean-Paul, Were you in any bands before Anadivine?
Sean-Paul: Yes.
Bill: I was in all his bands.
Sean-Paul: I was in a band called Jerk Magnet with Bill, which turned into Anadivine. Then I was asked to fill in for all the local bands.
Bill: Before Jerk Magnet was L.T.S. then Jerk Magnet, then came Anadivine. After Anadivine was a band called The Median
(Author's Note: If I screwed any of this up, please tell me and I will fix it)
How about you, Steve?
Steve: Yes, I was in a band called Astronauts for, like, 4 years. Played bass in Barbecue Bash. Ghosts Among The Dead.
Bill: He’s been in more bands than we have!
Who’s writing most of the music for Nightmares?
Sean-Paul: bill writes the music.
Bill: Then they bring it to life.
So Bill writes the lyrics and you guys all flesh it out?
Steve: Bill bill brings the bone, then we add the flesh.
[laughter, a rather common thing with these guys]
This is kind of a stupid question, but for some reason I feel the need to ask. The name: Fireman, right?
Sean-Paul: Yes.
If this isn’t too hard....gear?
Sean-Paul: I play primarily Fender Precision Basses, through a Sans-Amp RBI and a Music Man 100 head, and playing through an Ampeg 410. I also use a limiter pedal, so I have the bass, then the limiter, the Sans-Amp, the head and the cab.
Bill: I play a Fender Telecaster through a 65 Fender Reverb reissue 410 combo. I primarily use a Tube Screamer I built from a kit, and I have a few other pedals.
Steve: I play DW drums and Zildjian A Cymbals.
How has the reception for “A Flood Tomorrow” been so far?
Sean-Paul: As far as the physical copy go. It’s been great. The shows vary, but we’ve sold a lot of CDs.
Steve: Word!
You recently signed to Broken English Records. How’ve they been in comparison to Music For End Times?
Bill: I don’t know if we can compare the two. [laughs] I mean, they’ve both been pretty good. They’re both a great deal of help. End Times is run by Zach and Paul from Dead Unicorn. Paul has helped with T-Shirts, and Zach has written our press release and really helped us with promotion. As far as Broken English goes, John helped produce our record for us, well, half of it. That right there is great. Normally, labels don’t help record the bands.
Favorite band to play with?
Steve: Definitely the Ricochet, Frankie and His Fingers, Caterwaul.
Bill: We played a couple times with our good friends in a rockabilly band called Dead Luck Devilles.
Sean-Paul: Los Doggies!
Bill: Los Doggies are the shit!
All in a staggered fashion: The Viking!
Bill: We’ve only played with them once, but they’re a metal band from Schenectady, and we just don’t get put onto those bills.
Sean-Paul: But they’re our bros.
I collect vinyl, any plans?
Sean-Paul: I wish.
Bill: We’re not sure about the full length. We might press vinyl and then include a code for a download.
How about ideas for variants? Different colors and such?
Bill: We’d love to do that. Sean-Paul’s always talking about Dear You [the Jawbreaker album] on blue.
I have that, actually.
Sean-Paul: I just don’t want to pay 60 bucks for it.
[laughs]
How about other involvements, jobs, other projects?
Steve: I have this band, and I helped the Ricochet on their album.
Bill: This is it!
Sean-Paul: Well, I own and operate a studio, Leaning Tree, but things have really been slowing down there because this has taken over.
How about future plans for the band?
Bill: Play as many shows as we can. Keep on truckin’.
How about the full length?
Bill: We have a ton of new material. We just need to get a label.
Broken English won’t be doing it?
Bill: I think it was just kind of a one-off thing.
Anything else?
Bill: Thank you. Thanks for writing out the questions.
Thanks so much to Nightmares For A Week for doing the interview. You guys rule.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Snowing-Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit
Well, first off I would like to bring to your attention a wonderful video/music site called Ifyoumakeit.com. Ifyoumakeit.com is run by Halo Fauna/State Lottery/Kudrow/The Golden Age of Radio/Thousandaires drummer Dave Garwacke (who's last name is strangly similar to mine). The site features videos of live shows from a large host of punk/indie bands (so many, that I can't even give you a few names, just go to the site), as well as their acoustic series "The Pink Couch Sessions." Halo Fauna's Eric Ayotte and Dom Armao also created a rather hilarious series of short films called 31 Movies In 31 Days. In addition to their videos, the site also hosts free/donation downloads from many bands, most of which have been documented on film as well.
This is where this EP comes in. Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit has been on the site for a while, but I've had yet to listen to it. I downloaded it out of curiosity as I very often do, and I was pretty impressed. Mind you, Snowing isn't doing anything new or groundbreaking here. The band reminds me a lot of Braid. It sounds like there's two singers, and the instrumentation is incredibly technical. Actually, this band is the closest thing to Braid since...well...Braid.
To make this review short and sweet, this 5 song EP is quite a good one. The guitars are pretty mind-blowing, much like Braid. The songs are very, very catchy. I'll want to learn all these songs tomorrow, it's much too late to do so now. They saved the best, heaviest hitting song for last with "Methuselah Rookie Card." It's a solid cut, and we can only hope for more from this band. I'm going to do some research on these guys for sure.
I'll give this one a 3.5 out of 5, because there's plenty of room for further development here, but I recommend you download (AND DONATE!).
This is where this EP comes in. Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit has been on the site for a while, but I've had yet to listen to it. I downloaded it out of curiosity as I very often do, and I was pretty impressed. Mind you, Snowing isn't doing anything new or groundbreaking here. The band reminds me a lot of Braid. It sounds like there's two singers, and the instrumentation is incredibly technical. Actually, this band is the closest thing to Braid since...well...Braid.
To make this review short and sweet, this 5 song EP is quite a good one. The guitars are pretty mind-blowing, much like Braid. The songs are very, very catchy. I'll want to learn all these songs tomorrow, it's much too late to do so now. They saved the best, heaviest hitting song for last with "Methuselah Rookie Card." It's a solid cut, and we can only hope for more from this band. I'm going to do some research on these guys for sure.
I'll give this one a 3.5 out of 5, because there's plenty of room for further development here, but I recommend you download (AND DONATE!).
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