Disappearing act

In case you didn't notice my lack of posts, I don't really use this blog anymore. If you're wondering why, well, its rather simple. I have been almost completely turned off from 'hardcore' music and it has escalated to a point of little to no return.
I'm pulling myself out of any music scene and keeping to myself these days so please don't ask me to review your album because I'll give you maybe a sentence fragment of spite and a middle finger if you're even deserving of it. Not to mention how sick of regurgitated punk/hardcore I am... anyways, go read some Tales From the Crypt or whatever it is you kids are doing these days and leave me alone so I can spend years developing an alcohol problem while secluding myself to a home theatre wherein I will memorize every detail from North By Northwest, Psycho, Strangers On a Train, and Vertigo so long as I am not sober.
PS. I don't drink.
-Evan Hitchcock

Perdition - s/t EP

Fans of raw, noisy hardcore punk everywhere will rejoice when they hear Perdition's self-titled EP. People who don't like stagnant music, however, will not.
Now, I'm sort of at an in-between point for this 7". Perdition, for what they do, are great. Raw, noisy, violent.. and just listen to that voice. At the same time, however, the crusty-noisy d-beat style has been done to death and it's not really 1980 anymore.
These guys have a fresh touch to it vocally, I have to say, but when it just sounds like a crust-metal band covering Discharge, you gotta admit that the style is just getting a tad bit old... especially when every band in the genre sounds like a crust-metal band covering Discharge (hey, they might as well be, right?).
Don't get me wrong, this album is a fun listen if you're in the mood for something violent and fast, and I'd recommend them much more than I'd recommend the majority of d-beat / crust-core, but if you wanna listen to something that sounds like Discharge.... why not just listen to Discharge?
I saw these guys back in February with Night Birds, Government Warning, and Ex-Humans, and their fanbase was the most violent of the night. I always hear bad things about these guys as people, too, but I guess ya can't know until you talk to them yourself, right?
Anyways, I did enjoy this record. Don't give me all these comments like "fukk u, ur not punxrawkanarky" because believe me, a few years ago I was punxrawkanarky and I would've loved this to death, and I can see how fans of the genre and band do love this to death, but the d-beat thing has gotten pretty old.
Regardless, I like this 7", and if you're looking for crust or d-beat, get this, because I can definitely say that it's the best record these guys have put out, and they're the best d-beat band you've got going for you these days if you're a "RAW ATTAX PUNX". Or whatever you guys call it.
I'd give it a 3/5 if I was on a scale. But I'm not.

These guys don't have much of an online presence so I'll give ya what I can find.
PERDITION-S/T Demo E.P. on YouTube
Toxic State Records

Timeshares - Bearable

Pop-punk band Timeshares from New York just recently put out their new full-length album 'Bearable' on If You Make It Records. Though I haven't heard from this band before this album, I'm really glad I picked up on this release.
The album starts strong with a catchy opening track, already setting the mood for a good half-hour of emotionally charged pop-punk . Musically, they sound like a cross between Jawbreaker and Iron Chic while the vocals sound like if the Get-Up Kids had deeper, scratchier voices and formed a choir with blink-182 in their earlier days. The guitar is jangly and has that sort of lingering sense, where it sounds like it's still alive but slowly dying and trying to write out its last will or something. These guys clearly aren't stupid, either. There's some very creative and constructive breaks and changes in their music, which blends beautifully with their poetic lyrics of broken hearts and obvious emotive discontent. A truly inspiring album in an age full of cookie-cutter, less-than-average Four Year Strong / Wonder Years wanna-be bands (as if those 2 bands aren't awful enough on their own).
I really do enjoy this album. Check it out.
Timeshares bandcamp page
Timeshares - Bearable - If You Make It Records

Battles - Gloss Drop

Sick of the same mediocre music? Want something new and exciting? Good, so was I. Then my friend showed me this album and it's fucking great.
Battles features ex-members of Don Caballero, Storm & Stress, Lynx, and Helmet.
'Gloss Drop' is a wonderful experiment of poppy sounds and strange noises. The effect on the guitar makes a strangely blissful stinging sound, like being stabbed in the ears with a sharpened candy cane. There's not much ordinary structure in the music which is really cool, it's not just straightforward music. It's all over the place, and that's one of the coolest things to hear from bands these days. Though this album is mostly instrumental, there's some guest vocals provided in a few of the songs which is just enough vocal and instrumental balance to make this album extremely fun.
I'm glad to hear something like this in an age of bands afraid to do something new, especially considering this band is pretty well-known. Check it out if you're looking for something fresh, new, and crazy fun.
Official Facebook page
Battles webpage

Fucked Up - David Comes to Life

Track 4 - The Other Shoe 

"We're dying on the inside."

Why did it take me this long to review this? Well, it's rather simple - this is more than just another punk rock album. This is more than a hardcore record written by a bunch of angry teenagers. This is something we haven't seen all too often, if at all, come from a 'hardcore' (too rigid a term to use for these guys, really) band.
'David Comes To Life' is a love story about a boy named David (duh) who falls in love with a girl, Veronica. A true tragic romance story for the ages, one for historians in years to come to remember. One that matters, makes sense, and shows a beautiful side of a band we have only caught a glimpse of on their latest efforts.
The songs are magnificent arrangements of punk aggression, strange yet catchy melody (similar to that of... well, Fucked Up), and a chaotic noisy 3-layers of guitar. This album isn't for kids with short-attention spans who are used to 1 minute blasts of fury (unless you're willing-and able-to try something new). I feel that, to get the full effect, you need to listen to the album in its entirety, which is over an hour in duration (again, willing and able).
I have to say, the lyrical content and well-executed musical arrangement really stands out from anything these guys have done before (as if everything they already do doesn't stand out from the rest). In fact, it stands aside from most music in general. The mashing of guitars battling over a steady bass rhythm and crashing drums as Damian growls out songs of love and despair makes for a record beyond much of our wildest musical imaginations.
If I was on a rating scale, this album would get a 20 out of 10, because its so good that I had to listen to the whole thing twice in a row to actually be able to review it. Like 2 consecutive times in a row, not on different days or anything. It's that diverse, talented, and fucking beautiful. Seriously. Soooo good.
Potential best album of 2011? It's up there.
Fucked Up - David Comes To Life - Matador Records

Live Night Birds set!

Shit Hawk Records' Crust Never Sleeps podcast with a live set by Night Birds

Night Birds - The Other Side of Darkness

Finally, my most anticipated release of 2011. It came to me in a dream... it said 'I'm gonna kill you tomorrow'. Horrified, I ran to my mailbox when I woke up only to find the sheer terror that was about to unfold!
A package from Alex Grave Mistake? Oh fuck. I opened it and there it was. The new Night Birds LP in all of its horrific glory. I popped it into my stereo and my face melted and I died. It did kill me.
Okay, now to get serious. This album has been on repeat all week for me since I first put it on. I am not only satisfied but blown away at this debut LP by those dirty Jersey boys. 13 (coincedence? I think not!) tracks of cryptic lyrics, shredtastic music, and just.. perfection. From the opening riff of 'Demon Haunted World', the Halloween theme to this Michael Myers, it's already well-known that the next 20+ minutes will keep you at the edge of your seat, your hairs standing up, and your ears screaming. The Bird boys bust these haunted tracks one by one with some of the greatest energy I've heard in recent times. Tracks that really stood out to me were 'Landfill Land', 'Hoffman Lens' (written about the great 1988 film, 'They Live!'), 'Failed Species' and the ripping title track, not to put the other songs to shame! There are redone versions of 'Cant Get Clean' and 'Paranoid Times' from their 2009 demo and a killer instrumental track that sounds a lot like Hunchback (gee, I wonder if these guys know them durrdurr).
Not to mention how fucking catchy this band is. God dammit, dude, so catchy. I've been so sick of run-of-the-mill, boring, average hardcore bands who have nothing to say but "I HATE YOU I'M PUNK", which is why I'm extremely glad this album was put out. These songs aren't "FUCK YOU GOVERNMENT MIDDLE FINGER PUNX" anthems. These are "Hey, you remember that one horror movie that came out in like 1980-something that was super-gory and stupid? Yeah, so do I. I'm a nerd." which is exactly how to describe most of my conversations with other people (I'm a nerd). Night Birds' brand of twangy surf guitar over high-speed aggression and fucking complex as hell bass-lines from Joe Keller is one of those styles that can inspire a whole genre-full of fuckhead teenagers who wish they were in Night Birds. Which is awesome, unless that actually happens. Then I'll just hate those fuckhead teenagers and be the grumpy, cantankerous guy who sits in his room and grumbles about how he was there for that band that started the whole thing. "Grrr... back in my day, there was only one band doing that.. and they were good".
All around, I have to honestly say this is my favorite release of 2011 (so far!). Evil, fast, catchy, snotty, in-your-fucking-face rock n roll perfection. Buy this album. Give them money. See them live.
Night Birds streaming
Night Birds Official Facebook Page
Grave Mistake Records - Night Birds - Other Side of Darkness LP