The Pyongyang Metro Tower of White Tigers

Hey, Kids!
Do you like music?
Do you enjoy gritty-voiced cut-to-the-chase pop-punk?
You down with Off With Their Heads and Banner Pilot?
Did you know Nate used to play in a band called The Pyongyang Metro?
Now you do.

This album was originally released somewhere around 2006 or 2007 on 100 CDs. It is now available as a free download on bandcamp.com, and we all know how much I enjoy free downloads.

As previously mentioned, this band featured the ever-talented, multiple-band-inhabiting, bass-yeilding-powerhorse known as Nate Gangelhoff. The Pyongyang Metro play very melodic, yet very sloppy Punk Rock. The guitars are gritty, and the vocals are delivered in such a fun, care free way that you can't help but be happy while listening. The rhythms are very bouncy, as well. This band honestly reminds me a bit of what would happen if you mixed the gritty guitars of Cloak/dagger, which the catchy songwriting of Off With Their Heads, and threw in slightly cleaner vocals than expected from said fusion.

This is such a fun record, although I wish there was more to it; of the 13 tracks on the album, 6 of them are less than a minute long. It's certainly a great album, and a guaranteed pick-me-up, though. I highly recommend it.

Wait...I have another comparison to make....
Red and Blue, totally. More so than the other weird comparison.

It can be got here:
thepyongyangmetro.bandcamp.com

The Measure [SA] "Songs About People...And Fruit N' Shit"

Well, I'll start this article with a little honesty; When I was younger, say....14 or 15, I listened to pretty much nothing but Hardcore, Grindcore, Powerviolence, and the like. The more incoherent the music the better. I'm closing in on 19 years now, damn near 20 years old, and I can only stand a select handful of those bands. These days I listen to so much Pop-Punk that my foot is caught tapping at any given moment, I have blue hair, and I give a shit about stuff. Now that I've poked fun at the walking cliche that is myself these days, I should probably get to the point. I'm a bit behind the stampede on this one (try 2ish years) but I might as well review it. It's quite good, but I'm sure you want more than that.

The Measure [SA] is a Pop Punk band from New Jersey signed to Don Giovanni Records, and what a good band they are. This is one of those bands that I heard about but never got into, and I'm surprised I never did. These songs written very well, with a lot more structural complexity than your average Punk band these days. The "Two Lead Singers" thing always manages to catch me with any band. Guitarist Lauren Measure and new (to this record) drummer Mikey Erg (of....do I even need to say it) mesh together perfectly as vocalists. I'd like to assume both take lyrical authority in The Measure, and the lyrics are very good. The best song on the record is a tie between "Drunk By Noon" and "Hello Bastards," both of which deliver the recommended dose of catch (shoot me please).

I give this album/ep/record/thing a 3.5 out of 5

Themeasuresa.com

For Serious This Time When You're In It

This will be short sweet and to the point. This EP rules, go download it. Their sound makes me think of Braid and Latterman in a blender. It's a delicious mixture. Download it here:
http://www.ifyoumakeit.com/album/for-serious-this-time/when-you-re-in-it/

Thanks, all.

Top Ten Releases of 2009!

I might as well do something this stupid, right? It's the end of 2009, and I'm going to shoot right out of the gates and say that this year was the year of the 7". Punk Rock has always been known for having a very close relationship with limited edition, colored vinyl, but this year had a slew of EP's, as well as some plain old full lengths. Here's MY top ten releases of 2009.

10. Paint It Black-"Surrender" (Fat Wreck Chords).
This year, Paint It Black went into the studio with Kurt Ballou of Converge and cranked out 9 tracks to be released on two 7" records on two separate labels. The first of which was "Amnesia," the follow-up being "Surrender." Now, don't get me wrong; this is a GOOD record. It's four songs were short enough to fit on a 45, but ferocious to fit nicely into Paint It Black's celebrated catalog. As good of a record as this was, I feel it was lacking a lot of the melody of the band's previous efforts and was trying too hard to be a "raw" hardcore record. "Amnesia" was better by far.

That should be a pretty good transition to our number 9...

9. Paint It Black-"Amnesia" (Bridge Nine).
This was a good record. I felt it captured everything that you could expect from Paint It Black: Slight Aggression, lots of political/social commentary, and a ton of sing-along-worthy melody. I feel that "Bliss" may be the band's best song yet.

8. Snowing-"Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit"
Technical 90s-style Emo at it's best. These guys know what the hell their doing and the influence of Braid, Cap'n Jazz and the like is ever apparent. I think this band has a lot ahead of them, and I'm excited to hear more from them. It's available as a free download on Ifyoumakeit.com, and there should be a link to the vinyl as well.

7. Comadre-A Wolf Ticket.
Do I need to say anything here? Comadre delivers loud, fast, chaotic hardcore that reminds me of a lot of earlier Screamo like Saetia, Hot Cross, and Funeral Diner. Certainly a must-listen album.

6. Nightmares For a Week-"A Flood Tomorrow" (Music For End Times/Broken English).
Sense I first stumbled across this band on Myspace, I've been hooked. They're absolutely amazing. They mixed together so many different sounds and put them all into a wonderful Punk Rock record. I can't wait for a full length.

5. Big D and The Kids Table-Fluent In Stroll (Side One Dummy)
Ok, I'll admit, I hated this album at first. I thought it was horrible, and completely abandoned their old sound. After a while, I accepted this album as a great evolution for the band. It's still got a lot of Big D's classic Ska sound, just with less Punk influence. This isn't a terrible album after all.

4. Andrew Jackson Jihad-Can't Maintain (Asian Man)
Andrew Jackson Jihad is a wonderful band. Their brand of funny, catchy Folk Punk has had me hooked for a while. Can't Maintain is pretty much what you'd expect from AJJ with the addition of electric instruments. A very lovable record.

3. Banner Pilot-Collapser (Fat Wreck Chords)
Banner Pilot are becoming one of my favorite bands. They're undeniably catchy, and add enough grit that they can appeal to just about everyone. Think Kid Dynamite meets None More Black meets Jawbreaker meets Hot Water Music and you get the wonderful Punk outfit known as Banner Pilot.

2. Polar Bear Club-Chasing Hamburg (Bridge Nine)
Oooooh, Polar Bear Club.

1. Kudrow-"Lando" (Quote Unquote/Ernest Jenning/If You Make It)
This EP only came out a couple weeks ago, but we've been waiting for it for what feels like a year now. Kudrow is really taking a lot of 90's pop/indie/alternative influence and putting it into some solid Punk/Pop Punk tunes. Kudrow is going to be another band worth watching in 2010, as they are better than all the other bands the individual members participate in.

Ok, that's it. Happy New Year.

Kudrow "Lando" EP Review

In 2009, a trend has emerged of bands that have an extreme amount of reputation to live up to. We've seen it with smaller bands such as Hard Girls which features members of Shinobu and Pteradon and all three members are also in Jesse Michaels' newest group Classics of Love. On a larger scale, we've also seen Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones join forces as Them Crooked Vultures. What I'm getting at here is that this stuff entices me. Another band with a tremendous amount of high expectations is Brooklyn's Kudrow (y'know, Smelly Cat?) Kudrow is a 90's Alternative Rock inspired outfit comprised of Jeff Rosenstock (Bomb The Music Industry), Mike Campbell (Latterman, The Brass, and Laura Stevenson and The Cans), and Dave Garwacke (Halo Fauna, Thousandaires, Laura Stevenson, Golden Age of Radio, The State Lottery, and pretty much every band ever). While I've yet to purchase the vinyl, I plan on such. Quote Unquote Records and Ifyoumakeit.com have both put "Lando" up for a suggested donation, while Ernest Jenning Records will handle the vinyl release. This is quite a good record, I have proof.
Right as the EP's opener, "Commutilation," comes through the speakers, so does a thick layer of fuzz, and a welcome one at that. In fact, their sound is something that has been missing for a long, long time. Rosenstock and Campbell bring a thick, distorted wall of sound, backed wonderfully by Garwacke's rhythmic expertise. Think The Replacements but with bigger guitar and bass sounds....actually a HUGE bass sound. There's times where Jeff doesn't even need to play his guitar because Campbell takes so much space on his own with an absolutely voluminous bass sound.
In addition to the grit, Kudrow also brings the POP. These are some catchy tunes, reminiscent to The Replacements, Dinosaur Jr., and Superchunk. The catchiest of them all has to be "Favreau," which starts with fuzzy bassline in the verse and explodes into a huge chorus with one of the best guitar licks I've ever heard Jeff Rosenstock play. "Blink-182 Reunion" starts with a really cool riff that grabs me every time. I also love how most of the songs on "Lando" follow what I like to call the "Pixies Formula," where the verses are quiet and the choruses explode.
The 4 song EP seems really short until the record's closer "Brooklyn Pool," which clocks in at just under 6 minutes and mixes the beautiful with the brash, and the silent with the extravagant.
Now, I'll admit I was expecting a lot from this band, considering the fact I love all their other groups, and I feel they delivered. This is a great little EP. That's the thing, it's too short and I want more. One can only imagine what a full-length from the group would be like.
If you have a record player, I recommend you get this 7". If you would rather download it, I suggest you donate.
"Lando" gets a 4.5 out of 5.

Download "Lando" from these sites:
Ifyoumakeit.com
Quoteunquoterecords.com

Buy the 7" here:
Ernestjenning.com

Visit Kudrow's Myspace here:
Myspace.com/yokudrow

A Quick Update

I haven't been doing too much lately, so here's a really quick update.

Barnaby Jones S/T

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.