Cementing The Seams

Since day one I've been intending to post this album, because it's one of my all time favorites.  Smart Went Crazy are from D.C. and share obvious connections with other Dischord bands like Jawbox, The Most Secret Method, and the like.  Members of SWC went on to play in bands like Faraquet and The Beauty Pill.  I hear them referred to a lot as "art-rock", a distinction I can't really peg to any other bands, maybe people think Smart Went Crazy are too self-aware.  I think they get the tag because of a certain level of weirdness, both lyrical and instrumental, that the band exudes, but I suppose it works (although more-so with The Beauty Pill, who seem to have taken "art-rock" to heart and upped the weirdness quotient exponentially).  Anyway, this album is killer all over and is absolutely essential for fans of the ilk of post-hardcore you'd find on this blog.  I'm not going to think about it at length, but I'm going to jump the gun and say that "Con Art" probably has the best b-side of any record I own.  It is, however, sort of a grower, so stick with it.  Try not to get discouraged by the artsyness of it all.

For fans of: Jawbox, The Most Secret Method, Shudder To Think

Smart Went Crazy on Last.fm

Get it.

That isn't a typo, the name of this album is "The Delicious The Delicious" (self-titled² ?) and it's totally out of place here.  So why am I posting it?  I don't really know.  I suppose because it's awesome, and because I don't really understand why this band isn't gigantic.  The Delicious are an indie-pop group from Bloomington, Indiana who have a totally unboring sound and a singer with a ridiculous moustache.  I'm not really in to kitschy indie-pop, but this is just so unrelenting.  The Delicious are either 100% sincere in their swashy rubbernecking (this means nothing but it seems only nonsense can accurately describe them) or absolutely faking it.  It can't be anywhere in between.  Either way though, they make intoxicating and catchy pop music that employs a lot of really interesting elements.  I'm still trying to figure out why Vampire Weekend exploded and these guys didn't.  Anyway, this record actually starts a little slow but once it picks up it doesn't let down.  In 2008 they released an equally solid EP called "Postcard To My Sewing Circle", did a Daytrotter session and toured, rereleasing this album in 2009.  I don't know if they plan to release anything in the future, but they have a pretty awesome unreleased track on their myspace.

For fans of:  The Unicorns, Vampire Weekend, Dismemberment Plan

The Delicious on Myspace

Get it.

First:


Check this out.

Second:

These should come up daily, but you can also ignore it.  When it's over (probably about 2 weeks from now) it will all get RAR'd up and posted right here.

Enjoy

I said I'd post this so here it is.  Another entry in the "1998 was the best year ever" campaign.  Anyway, I've been really into this band lately (and actually the reason I started spinning that Sense Field record is because Compound Red's first LP reminded me to) and this release is a pretty essential part of my music collection.  It sounds more polished than the rest of their releases.  If you listened to that 7" I posted a while back you'll definitely see what I mean.  The guitars are a little less crunchy and the vocals come through a lot better.  Whether or not that is a good thing remains to be said.  Still, "Always A Pleasure" has some of the best fucking emo/math-rock riffery ever (see "Return", "Cancel The Sound").  All in all Compound Red's is the cherry on top of an excellent discography and an underexposed career.  If you're a fan of emo, you must hear this.

For fans of: Vitreous Humor, Castor, The Promise Ring

Compound Red on Myspace

Get it.

Polina are a screamo/hardcore band from Newfoundland, Canada, who count Kidcrash and Loma Prieta among their influences.  They have a self titled EP available on CD-r and soon on cassette via premier tape label Utarid Tapes.  The songs up on their myspace are a little rough around the edges, and sortof metally at points, but these dudes have definite potential.  I'll probably be ordering the EP when 'no-record February' is over.  Did I mention I'm not going to buy any music this month?  Check these guys out.  Also, Polina features a member (perhaps actually) named Falco.


For fans of:  Loma Prieta, Joshua Fit For Battle


Polina on Myspace

Buy the EP

Sense Field were formed in 1991 after the split of 80's hardcore punk (y'know, the zine-making kind) band Reason To Believe.  "Killed For Less" is their second album and was released by Revelation Records (who released a zillion amazing hardcore records and were wont to trade discography items for Star Wars merchandise).  They were one of those bands bands that pretty much cemented the 90's post-hardcore sound along with Jawbox, Sunny Day Real Estate and others.  Also like those groups, later on in their career they brushed shoulders with major labels and found a small amount of commercial success.  Probably their most well-recieved record, "Building", came out just after "Killed For Less", so you might check that out as well.  But I have a special place for this record.  I think I bought the LP for $4.

For fans of: Jawbox, Sunny Day Real Estate, Texas Is The Reason, Castor

Sense Field on Myspace

Get it.

Perhaps you have noticed a thing or two changing around CTS.  Perhaps this is your first time reading it. Whatever.  Either way one of the things you would have noticed would be the links directly above the newest post for emails, Tumblr, Twitter (i know) and Dead Format.  Yes, I stole the look AND some of the icons directly from my girlfriend's (very popular) blog .:The Batcave Below:.. 

The most recent change is on the right.  Over there is the feed from my Tumblr page.  Tumblr is pretty cool and great for posting random shit, but it's a little too messy to make a complete move.  So there will be supplemental stuff going on over there all the time (posting random pictures/links/reblogging/general cool shit), and you can check it all out in the little box on the right.  OR.  You can just head on over to Cementing The Seams on Tumblr.

Rad!

So, as you may know, Cease Upon The Capitol are one of my all time favorite bands, and are almost certainly the one I'm the most obsessed with.  I ran across this archive of songs a while back but hadn't really listened to it because it seemed like just a compilation of songs on other records. This is basically true, but after I finally gave it a thorough listen I noticed a few things.  First I'll post the tracklist, then go on rambling about some shit you're sure not to care about.


 Protocol For The Left
 Body By Design
 King Of The World
 Turn Offs Include 
 Scaleback The Dosage
 Lullabies And Bad Dreams
 More Red Lines
 Bombs Away

So, to begin with, the first four songs listed were all released on their 7" in the Ape Must Not Kill Ape/From A Strangers Hand single series.  However, the versions here are mastered differently.  In the 7" versions, the bass is turned up really high and its all twangy and overpowering.  The mastering here tones that down and makes the songs much better.  "Scaleback The Dosage" and "Lullabies & Bad Dreams" both appear on the split 3" CD with Silbato, but this version of "Scaleback" is significantly longer with a different beginning and end.  "Lullabies" is pretty consistent with the Split version (it also appears on the first LP).  "More Red Lines" is an alternate version of "The End Of History" from the 7" of the same name which is different from both that version and the one on their demo CD.  "Bombs Away" appears to be unreleased elsewhere.  It's possible that this is a rip of their European Tour CD-R, which (from my futile research) is limited to 39 copies.  But I just don't know (if this is the case, the songs are now horribly out of order.)

For fans of:  Dolcim, Loma Prieta, The Third Memory


CUTC on Myspace

Get it.

Cowards are  3 dudes, allegedly all named Kyle, from Minneapolis who play punk/post-hardcore in a manner which does not suck.  Evidently the Kyles are breaking up, which sucks because this is the first I've heard of them.  Anyway, you can stream their new EP "Solitude" here.  It will soon be available for download-by-donation, and I don't know how long it will be up, so listen now.

Also, I'm not all that familiar with the website Bandcamp, but it seems like every band should use it instead of Myspace.  That being said:

Cowards on Myspace

Stream "Solitude"

The more I think about it, the more it becomes apparent that 1998 was the best year for music ever.  I haven't listened to this album in probably 5 years (this was one of the old cds from my collection I was referring to), and right now it's blowing my mind all over again.  I don't use the term "chill" very often but I like it here.  Karate are probably one of the better indie-rock bands I can think of, and "The Bed Is In The Ocean" is likely their best album, but it's been a long time since I've listened to this band.  Perhaps my opinion may have changed.  Nevertheless, it's probably their most important.  There are so many bands that ape the sound of this record it's overwhelming.  Maybe it's a coincidence, but I doubt it.  This record is incredible, so if you're in the mood to relax or, well, "chill", put this on.  Every time.

For fans of:  Minus The Bear, Constantines, Pedro The Lion

Karate on Myspace

Get it.