My immune system and corporate restaurants…

I’ve been working a metric shit ton lately so I know that I’ve been neglecting this thing (which I’m sure only my sister has noticed. Hi Sis!!!) but I do have some stuff that I’m cooking up for the next few days. I’ll be doing a lengthy update on a few bands who are sadly no longer with us and an update featuring some new stuff that’s coming out soon that fucking rules.

I also think that I picked up Strep Throat which brings me up to being sick three times in the past month. I’m doing good with that. Hopefully I get my health insurance information in the mail soon and I can go and get this shit kicked out of me.

Oh yea, on a semi-related note fuck working in corporate restaurants. They are the modern slavedrivers of our times. Once I get off my lazy ass, I’ll start writing 86′ed, the book that I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but haven’t had the spark to do until now.

Check back tomorrow or tuesday for some goods.

Why play for us if your heart’s not in it?

Today there are a ton of rumors circulating that Gorilla Biscuits are doing a five week reunion tour.

I love Gorilla Biscuits, but one thing stuck in my craw about a rumor that they’re getting paid twenty thousand dollars to do two shows in Los Angeles.

I’m not sure how to take that one.

Last year, I saw Lifetime do a reunion show where all the proceeds went to charities that they selected. Kid Dynamite did the reunion shows for the Syrentha Savio Endowment (who are doing great things. Support the shit out of them!) and this past weekend, Indecision did a reunion at the Superbowl of Hardcore to benefit a friend who has cancer. All of these reunions are top notch if you ask me. Hell, we’re getting a new Lifetime album out of deal, so I cannot fuck with that at all.

On the flipside, you have a metric shit ton of bands that are getting back together and playing and recording again and I’m not sure what to think of some of them. I’d like to think that their intentions are good, but I’m also cautious because in the past few years, this whole “scene” has gotten huge and a few bands seem to have hopped the train in order to capitalize off their names. I won’t name any names here, but a few bands might as well just say that they’re in it for the money. Hell, the Sex Pistols (who I’ve never liked) came right out and said that they were in it for the money and I can respect that because their intentions were clear.

I don’t know, I guess that since I’m older now I can see the business side of things and realizing that everyone is trying to get by but when your convictions were to always stay DIY (yea, fuck you Boy Sets Fire) and you’re on huge tours sponsored by tons of products, then it just seems like all of your preaching means nothing to me.

Once again, I’m sentimental. I need to cut this shit out.

It’s a beautiful, beautiful day…

Right now, I’m sitting in my room, nursing a swollen eye from getting kicked in the face last night by a random stagediver and thinking that I’m turning 30 years old in four days and I still fucking love punk rock.

For those who know me, I’m a huge Avail fan. I have been for the past 10 years and probably will be for the rest of my life. I go to see them whenever I can, even if it means long drives, public transportation, whatever. Seeing them reminds me of why I got into all this in the first place and going to see them now really exemplifies why there are such few bands that do it out of love for music anymore.

Sure you have a ton of great bands right now, but a lot of bands are looking for the quick buck and a spot on the big summer fests. That really goes against any type of sincerity when they’re on a fest that has more corporate sponsors than bands playing. To me, that isn’t punk rock at all. I miss the DIY days. When bands needed something more than a myspace profile to get big. They had to prove they were something different, not just record a demo with pro-tools in their bsaement, upload it and then get big quick. Sure, they’re doing something, but what exactly are they doing?

I guess I’m feeling nostalgic for the days where you had to find out about bands by going to shows, reading zines, the thank you notes in other bands albums and sign up for mailing lists. The days w where Tony Brummel was putting out good shit and not showing what a dick he was to Steve Jobs and trying to inflate his already enormous ego some more. There wasn’t MTV there bastardizing and calling punk rock their own and selling it back to kids at 10 times the price. You felt like you were a part of something special, not going to the mall and buying your band shirts at Hot Topic.

I know that things can’t always stay the same, but it’s nice to have those memories . Hopefully the tides will turn soon and this explosion of counterculture will die out and we can have it back. No more A & R reps, no more commercials on Headbanger’s Ball (which hasn’t made my headbang once, mind you) no more tight pants and teased hair. You could go to a show, see some great bands and communicate with people that you felt a small connection with. No posturing, no false sincerity, just straight up good times.

May will rule completely…

Not because I’ll be breaking my new status in the 30 and over club, but because there are three releases that I’ve been waiting to come out…

Baltimore’s Misery Index rocks like no other. From what I’ve heard of their new album, I can almost guaran-damn-tee that I can’t be disappointed with them at all.

Philadelphia’s Starkweather are the complete antithiesis of everything that’s wrong with modern metalcore. Yes, they sing. No, they don’t sound like a lame At t The Gates with breakdowns clone. They’re seering, heavy and intelligent. If only more bands took the time to be as good as they were, maybe I’d appreciate new stuff more. e E

Yes, their fans suck but I can look past that because I’ve liked Tool since I was a freshman in high school. This album leaked onto the web last night and it’s already on my iPod, but I’ll be buying itit the day it comes out since I’ve been waiting for this album for the past five years.

If you try emailing me for the next few days and don’t get a timmely response, it’s because I’ll be out of town and then working a shit ton this weekend. I’ll get back to you, I promise.

Dirt Rock City…

Hope and Suicide have been rocking it out for the past few years now without a buzz surrounding them, which absolutely baffles me. Some may remember Scott Angelacos previous outfit, the almighty Bloodlet but we’re dealing with a new beast now.

After seeing them a few times (and trying to book them a few times where all the shows fell through. I hate venues in Pennsylvania) and owning all of their recorded output, I can honestly say that they’re one of the hardest working bands around and they’re all around nice dudes.

They carry the tag heavy. That’s the one word that I’d use to describe them. A rhythm section this tight is hard to find. A guitarist who knows when to open up with some HUGE riffs and the patented disturbing vocals that only Scott can pull off.

I read recently that the new album is on it’s way and I couldn’t be happier. The strength of their last demo was enormous and left me wanting more.

Hope and Suicide on Myspace.

Hope and Suicide – Sal The Snitch from their split with Emmanuel 7.
Hope and Suicide – The Unholy Bastards from their split with Emmanuel 7.
Hope and Suicide – Fistful of Mary from their 2005 Demo.
Hope and Suicide – Wealth of Decadence from their 2005 Demo.

Also, last night I found out that on May 30th, 2006, one of my favorite television shows is returning for it’s third season.

I cannot wait to see what the outcome from the end of last season is. I’m sure Tommy Gavin will be even more fucked up than he was before.

Okay, maybe I don’t hate Jersey all that much…

I’ve never been huge on Jersey, but damn if they don’t put out some of the finest bands.

First up is a little band called The Fire Still Burns. Comprised of current and ex-members of tons of greats like Lifetime, Ex Number Five, Nora and Bigwig. They hit hard, yet still have a great melodic edge to them. They’ve been blowing up the past few months and are starting to get out there since they solidified their line up recently. They’re doing quite a few shows with the legendary 108 soon (which I’m going to miss because my new job doesn’t like giving me time off.)

The real draw here is the intricate guitar work backing up vocalist Alf Bartone’s (yes, that’s his name. How sweet is that?) sincere delivery and heartfelt lyrics. The demo and the Keeping Hope Alive EP are in constant play in my place and I’m really hoping that they make the name for themselves that they are capable of.

The Fire Still Burns on Myspace.

And now some MP3 goodness…

The Fire Still Burns – Good As New from the Keeping Hope Alive EP.

The Fire Still Burns – My Assault On The World Begins Now from their Demo.

Between The Wars just fell on my lap today and I’ve already ordered their new EP, Less We Believe based on hearing two songs. In their ranks, they have an ex-member of Thursday and Ensign’s vocalist, so you can’t go wrong at all. Fast paced, energetic and with the right mix of pissed off vocals, you would think that this band had been together for a decade.

Hopefully they’ll do some touring around my area and we’ll see how well they pull this off live. If the recordings are any indication, I’m sure it’ll be like a fucking sledgehammer to the temporal lobe.

Between The Wars – We’ll All Burn from the Less We Believe EP.

On a sidenote, if you’re having any issues with the site such as downloading the MP3’s, email me so I can get those taken care of. Thanks.

West Virgina’s Finest

I remember getting Century Media’s Identity III comp at a record store in Baltimore years ago because it had an Eyehategod song on it that I didn’t have. I didn’t really pay much mind to the other bands that were on it for a while, but flipping through this band was about the only one that stood out to me.

After I heard a demo version of Greeting (From The Innerself), I immediately sought out this album as soon as I could. Since then it’s been a mainstay in my listening rotation. When I saw ads for this album (which were few and far between, go figure,) they were always touted as “heavy, melodic, like nothing you’ve ever heard.” That description is fairly accurate. At that point, I was listening to a bit of everything, most notably the Earache catalog and bands that were somewhat like Helmet. This band ranks amongst all them.

From reading their myspace page, it doesn’t seem like they’re quite dead. There’s a second full length on the way and hopefully they’ll do some more interesting stuff like these two songs that I’m posting here.

Chum – Kindling Kind
Chum – Greetings (From The Inner Self

You can purchase this album through Amazon for a fucking steal. You’ll be paying more for shipping than the actual disc. How can you pass that shit up?

From what it looks like, Chris and Mac from Chum also are keeping themselves busy with a band called Hyatari who are signed to Earache. They’re more of a drone band that have a lot of ambiance and I’m definitely digging it.

+++Edited by Eddie+++

I was wrong about who was in Hyatari. Thanks for the clarification, John.

Best invention of our time…

Yes, I said it.

Everyone who thinks that an iPod is nothing more than a status symbol can help themselves to a heaping helping of my dick.

I purchased this due to a gentle push from my friend, Brian. He basically said “buy it, pussy. You know want one.”

Since then, I’ve become more than enamored with my little chunk of technological goodness.

A few months ago, I lost most of my CD collection, but not before getting a ton of them backed up to an external hard drive to preserve what I had. I’m thankful for that because I had a ton of great music.

This has really helped a ton as of late where I don’t have to carry around a ton of cd’s with me while I’m riding my bike or taking the bus somewhere.

Thank you, Steve Jobs and the staff at Apple for making such great products. Since I wrote this, you can contact me for sending a brand new G5 laptop my way. Hehe.

MP3 Of The Week…

Breach was always criminally underrated in the states. They never really had the distribution that they should have and unfortunately, the internet was the only way to either purchase (or illegally download) their albums. I know that Relapse gave them a shot with their album, Venom but other than that, no other labels really did anything for them, which is a sad state of affairs.

Their final album, Kollapse never got any sort of release here at all. I’ve been trying to find it for a while now without paying out my firstborn and a player to be named later, but to no avail at all. Amazon has had it, but at inflated import prices.

Breach was never easy to define. They were heavy, with nods to the old AmRep scene, but they grew into their own entity. By the time Kollapse was released they were on the cusp of a break up due to conflicting schedules and distance between them. I read on creative eclipse about the break up and that a few of the members are still doing something, which is awesome to hear but I want more Breach since I don’t like changes. Hahaha.

Anyway, here’s a track from Kollapse. It’s instrumental, but it creates an unbridled atmosphere and emotion.

Breach – Big Strong Boss

Right click and save, peoples. Enjoy.

Okay, figured out….

I figured out why my images weren’t showing up. Something about being in the public html folder of my server. I’m retarded but feel like I accomplished something today.