Label: self-released (available at the bands Myspace and at shows) Released: January 31, 2009 In recent years, there have been a number of bands who have returned to punk’s old loose hooks and gritty melodies. Against Me is at the top of that pile with bands like Gaslight Anthem quickly climbing up behind them. Many voices are screaming to be… Read more »
Label: Hopeless Records Released: March 10, 2009 Label: Doghouse Records Released: April 7, 2009 Thirty years ago, a subgenre of rock that had been building for a few years was just about ready to explode. AOR took the best elements of 70s rock, dummied it down, made it safe and sold millions of records whose broad appeal was based on… Read more »
Label: Copper Lung Records Released: March 24, 2009 I have long believed that artists only are only half of the creative force behind art. The other half of the creation is the interpretation. Often, the greatest art allows for significant breadth of interpretation even as it guides the very same. Most often though, the artist errs on the side of… Read more »
Label: self-released (CD Baby) Released: April 28, 2009 In the waning days of the first wave of punk, several bands took the groundwork it had laid and mixed it up with a frantic sense of dancability. For lack of a better desciption, we called it post-punk. Three decades later, it seems like everyone wants to “rediscover” Joy Division, the Fall,… Read more »
Label: Fixing a Hole Records Released: February 2009 Ken Decter, infamous leader of Florida fun punks F, once said of his band, “We don’t have a message. If we had a message, we’d put out a newspaper. We’re just a stupid band.” That statement could be applied to any number of punk bands from the goofball antics of Adrenalin OD… Read more »
Label: Orange Dress Records Released: March 17, 2009 On the surface, Kate Mann finds herself channeling a bit of Joni Mitchell and a bit of Janis Joplin, her music swinging gently across the short space between folk and blues. While it is that bit of Joni that shows up in a clever musical phrase here and there, it also manifests… Read more »
Label: self-released (distributed by Fontana North/Universal) Released: April 28, 2009 Terms like lo-fi and DIY have become quite commonplace these days. Unfortunately, these terms are often applied to music that could also be described as contrived or just rotten. The Weather Station is certainly the epitome of both of those common terms, but not of the descriptions which often destroy… Read more »
Label: Jump Start Records Released: February 16, 2009 Hardcore has struggled on and off for years with the concept of melody. When bands in late 70s and early 80s first decided to abandon traditional songwriting and simply go for broke at near light speed, a lot was lost despite the opening of a new avenue. Over time, bands began to… Read more »
Label: Lujo Records Released: April 14, 2009 It’s not unusual to hear a new record and think, “Here’s a band to keep an eye on. This is really good, but the next one could be amazing.” What is unusual is for that potential to actually pan out. Considering the frequency of this scenario, there is surely a lot of ground… Read more »
Here’s the first video from Anarbor’s forthcoming Free Your Mind EP which comes out tomorrow. You can pre-order it at iTunes or Smartpunk.