- This September New York punk rockers Polar Bear Club will follow up their first proper full-length "Sometimes Things Just Disappear" with an LP called "Chasing Hamburg"
- "The Summer of George EP" is a preview of their new LP containing 2 tracks that will appear on "Chasing Hamburg" and one track exclusive to the EP
- If it's any indication of how good the LP will be, "The Summer of George" has me completely sold.
- Polar Bear Club's last LP was pretty good but it certainly had it's strong points and weak points. Some songs are particular good while others fall sort of flat. This is not the case with this EP. Each of these songs is pretty much gold and they showcase what Polar Bear Club does right, which, as I have learned, is rock seriously fucking hard.
- This shit rules.
For Fans of: Small Brown Bike, The Loved Ones, Latterman
Polar Bear Club on Myspace
Get it.
Buy "The Summer of George" and pre-order "Chasing Hamburg" at Bridge 9
Ran across this today and figured it would be worth posting. Michigan power-pop trio Cheap Girls posted some new songs on their Myspace page as well as a blog-update revealing information about their upcoming sophomore release "My Roaring 20's". It's a follow up to their debut LP "Find Me A Drink Home" which was one of my top 5 releases of 2008.
Recently punk rock label Paper + Plastick remastered and re-released "Find Me..." on colored vinyl which can be ordered all over the place, I would suggest it.
For Fans of: Smoking Popes, The Long Winters
Cheap Girls on Myspace (again)
Currently Loma Prieta are my favorite band, pretty much. You might recall I briefly covered 2008's amazing "Last City" a while back. Loma Prieta are a talented mix of dudes from the Bay Area of California who play an exciting and emotional brand of hardcore. It seems necessary to say that "Last City" might just be one of my favorite albums, certainly one of the best records of last year and, in my opinion, a stand-alone release in the field screamo. So, when I first heard "Dark Mountain" I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. At first I didn't think it had quite the compositional fortitude or the raw hook of "Last City". But the more I listened to it, the more it grew on me. "Dark Mountain" showcases a matured Loma, as just about every release of their's has. I realized after listening to this record (a lot) that one of the things that makes me love this band so much is that with every record there is a marked movement toward something greater and more their own. Loma Prieta has evolved from being just a good screamo band (On "Our LP is Your EP") to something truly monumental. To me anyway. "Dark Mountain" may not be as good "Last City", but it might be better. I can't decide and I fucking love that. Either way, better or worse, it's genius.
Bonus content: Recently a Japanese label released a CD containing Loma Prieta's entire discography (although Dark Mountain wasn't included). It contains every song they ever released formally, including their half of the upcoming split 7" with L'Antietam (Let me pre-order this already Slave Union), along with some unreleased tracks which (I think) were supposed to end up on a split with Mexico's Arse Moreira. It also includes their original 3 song demo, "Our Lp Is Your EP" and "Last City"
For fans of: Raein, Cease Upon The Capitol, Funeral Diner
Loma Prieta on Myspace
Dark Mountain
Discography 05-09
Buy This Stuff, Seriously
Sometimes when I listen to albums they evoke very specific memories that may or may not make any sort of sense on the surface. For instance, this record reminds me of jelly donuts. When it came out in 2004 I was working in a family-owned record store that sold primarily Eminem and "Now That's What I Call Music" CDs (and absolutely no Swatches). As what I recall as sort of a ritual I would get home from class, head to the grocery store, buy a jelly donut and a Coke and immediately play this record at least twice when I showed up to work. I wish I could remember what else I would have been listening to after this album was over. If I were in a phase at the time and were listening to similar bands I probably would have a Bluetip, Burning Airlines or Shiner CD queued up. However, thinking about it, it was probably some white-boy hip-hop jams. Anyway, Get Saved is an album that I find really interesting. I can't say it's one of my all time favorites or anything but for some reason it's always been sortof special to me. It isn't particularly great but it has a nuance and individuality that made me appreciate it at the time. Actually, I like it more now than I ever did before. It should be noted that J Robbins produced and appeared on this album (if you actually need a bit of useful information).
Oh what the hell? these dudes are putting a record out this year!
For fans of: Bluetip, Burning Airlines, Shiner (I'm lazy)
Pilot To Gunner on Myspace (new song is good)
Get it.