Cementing The Seams

Firstly, let me apologize in regards to the lack of updates around here lately.  To be honest, I've been listening to old music a lot lately and haven't heard anything new that has really caught my attention.  I intend to change this pretty much immediately.  So check back, and if you want, recommend something.

That said, I did get some mail worth listening to recently.  The Gifted Children's first release of 2010 is "Please Freeze Me", a full-length cd that strives to capture the mood of winter, and though it's pretty much spring now, I can still get into this.  Their description is pretty right on: "Please Freeze Me" definitely has a wintery feel, and sounds pretty much like you might expect.  Lots of minor chords, piano, slow meter, melancholy, and general solemness that one would associate with 4 hours of daylight and 300 inches of snow (I'm from Alaska).  But it's not all sad, it seems they couldn't resist including some signature pop jams, including (but not limited too) probably one of my favorite TGC songs "Unlimited February".   Check it out.

For fans of: The New Pornographers, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Capstan Shafts, Guided By Voices

The Gifted Children on Myspace

Big Kids are a punk band from Oakland who plan to embark on a west coast tour this summer with fellow Bay Area punk rockers Dead To Me and emo mathletes 1994!.  It shouldn't surprise you that these dudes are awesome, what with all the top tier punk/hardcore music coming out of the Bay Area as of late.  If you are familiar with what I'm talking about then you shouldn't need any convincing.  If you're not, then trust me, you reaaaallllyyy should be.

Big Kids on Myspace

Fine Lines were a DC post-hardcore band that weren't around for very long.  Their only releases were this demo and split cassette with Maryland emo revivalists Boost, who are pretty damn good as well.  They don't really typify what you'd expect a DC band found on this blog to sound like, but they do claim to sound like "if Rites of Spring wore mittens while playing their songs" which seems pretty fair.  Though technically I suppose they are on par with Rites of Spring from a musicianship standpoint.  They do showcase some seriously awesome angular guitar noise with an ear for that melodious middle-ground that a lot of bands fall just short of.  It's a real shame that this band didn't go places because everything the recorded is way good.  So check them out.  You can also follow a link on their myspace page to download their split cassette with Boost.  I recommend it (and Boost too).

For fans of:  Drive Like Jehu, Ampere, Challenger

Fine Lines on Myspace

Get it.

Hey everybody.  In the mood for some screamo? Me neither!  Actually though, this band is pretty good.  Reminds of early Cease Upon The Capitol, which is why I like it.  Anyway, these dudes are from Malaysia, so of course "Tin Kosong" was released by Utarid Tapes (cause, you know, they are from Malaysia too), who pump out some really good shit.  It also has some really awesome packaging.  I totally want one, but like most things, nobody carries it in the states.


For fans of:  Cease Upon The Capitol, La Quiete, Funeral Diner

Dramacoma on Myspace

Get it.

Office Of Future Plans performing a new song at Rock'n'Roll Hotel in DC 10/30/09

The Run-down: Office Of Future Plans is the new band featuring J Robbins (ya know) and Darren Zentek (of Kerosene 454 and Channels). They've been playing sporadic shows, recently opening for the Mission of Burma reunion. Needless to say I'm way excited about this band. From what I've heard so far it sounds pretty much like Channels, but I imagine it will turn out to be something all its own.

Why this video is awesome: The song is fucking great, it's easy to hear, and Robbins is wearing an ape suit (I probably watched this video 4 times before realizing that). Also Gordon Withers on cello.

**BONUS CONTENT: Robbins and Withers performed a bunch of acoustic songs from most of J's bands last week at Story/Stereo in DC, a performance arts center co-curated by Chad Clark of Smart Went Crazy and The Beauty Pill. The whole thing is streaming here and will be formally released sometime this year by West Main Development.  Check it.

Earlier today I was reading some months-old missive about the band The Shins breaking up and thought two things.  1) I actually like The Shins, but wasn't at all upset about their breaking up.  I suppose I just have no desire to hear a new Shins album. 2) Maybe now Scared Of Chaka will get back together.  This of course will never happen, but it lead me to a third thought: HOLY CRAP I haven't thought about or listened to Scared Of Chaka in way too long.  The reason I was reminded of Scared Of Chaka is that they are sort of tangentially connected to The Shins, in that they share the same guitarist/bassist.  He was also in band with The Shins' singer (called Flake Music) who released a split 7" with SoC.  Other than that they are in no way similar, so this whole Shins introduction is pretty useless and going nowhere.

I first encountered Scared Of Chaka on a sampler cd sent to the record store I worked at. I don't actually remember how I got it, it may have came in the mail, or I could have dug it out of a box (I should edit this out, but I'm not going to  Sorry you had to read it. And this.).  Anyway, the cd was some sort of not-for-profit promotion released by Sub City Records (a division of Hopeless Records) that had something to do with blindness prevention (it's only now occuring to me that this could be metaphor) and featured bands like Fifteen, Dillinger Four and Kid Dynamite.  In contrast to the absolute garbage that this label puts out today, this compilation was exactly what 14 year old me was into and Scared of Chaka stood out on a roster of pretty fucking amazing bands.  So I immediately ordered their most recent LP ("Tired Of You"), and played it constantly.  Now it's one of my all time favorite punk albums.

For fans of:  Dillinger Four, Deadly Snakes, Hot Snakes...  Regular Snakes

Scared of Chaka on myspace

Get it.

This is a follow up post to that one about Smart Went Crazy, so it'll be short.  I listened to this record a couple times recently and, as it turns out, it's a little better all the way through than I remember it being.  Like I said before Beauty Pill takes Smart Went Crazy's "art rock" tag to heart and builds on their foundation of excellence.  It does get kinda weird in some places but overall, "The Unsustainable Lifestyle", Beauty Pill's only full-length, is an excellent, laid-back listen for any fan of the DC sound or indie-rock in any respect really.  A few filler tracks don't detract from an album full of excellent sleepers.  It's a grower though, so give it time.

For Fans of:  Smart Went Crazy, The Most Secret Method, The Arcade Fire (lol)

The Beauty Pill on Myspace

Get it.

Yeah, so if you've been following along you've heard this all already, but its finally done and compiled for downloading.

Im not sure I'm exactly 100% pleased with the way this came out or how it reflects the year or whatever, but I'm satisfied with it at least.  Of course there are like a million songs I left out and a bunch I wanted to add after the fact, but I wanted to keep it short and concise.  So here you have the 13 songs I liked the most in 2009.  Kinda.

1. Tigers Jaw - "Spirit Desire"
2. The Gifted Children - "No Saviors, Please"
3. The Life & Times - "Fall of the Angry Clowns"
4. Shelflife - "Infinite Landscapes of Pillows and Blankets"
5. Kidcrash - "Grim Collections"
6. Loma Prieta - "Exit Here"
7. Canadian Rifle - "Swallow The Landfill"
8. Ex Wife - "Butcher"
9. Paint It Black - "Bliss"
10. Dolcim - "Alvis Has Left The Building"
11. Alpinist - "Schalterhygiene"
12. C'est La Guerre - "The Beginning"
13. Graf Orlock - "Voice of America's Sons"

Get it.

Stream all the songs on CTS's Tumblr

Please Note:  I tried to tag these correctly and in the most efficient manner.  If there are any glaring problems, shoot me an email or leave a comment. Or something. 

Chambers comprises former members of Italian screamo outfit Violent Breakfast.  I never really got into VB, but Chambers have marked a change in sound that made me take notice.  They have moved in a more post-rock/hardcore direction and have released one LP that sounds really fantastic.  Of course I've only heard 2 of its 5 songs, but I'm pretty blown away already.  If I can find it distro'd in the States somewhere I'll definitely pick it up.  Unfortunately, paying both the european markup and overseas shipping makes things really cost-ineffective for buying tons of records I want.  Anyway, check out Chambers, because they are really good.  If anyone has a tip on where I can get this in the US it would make my day.

For fans of:  Violent Breakfast, City of Caterpillar, A Day In Black & White

Chambers on Myspace

Today I got the only piece of musical mail I'm expecting to recieve this month, and it's probably the only one I'll need.  In the package was a copy of Ex Wife's demo CD and a copy of their first album "Everything Was Beautiful".  I had high expectations for Ex Wife's newest release and they have pretty much cemented their place as my new favorite band.  Blending emo, pop-punk and hardcore is something it seems like a lot of people are attempting to do nowaday's, but nobody nails it quite as well as these New Jersey dudes.  There is a subdued catchiness to their simple but highly infectious means of songwriting.  I haven't wanted to jump around and sing songs at the top of my lungs in a long time, but it's precisely what I want to do when I listen to "Everything Was Beautiful".  The record flows from song to song really well, although I could anticipate somebody arguing that it's because all the songs sound sort of the same (because they sort of do), but when they rule this hard, it's not really a complaint.  Evidently, Ex Wife has added a bassist and wrote some new songs. So expect more awesomeness in the future.  Thrilling.

Anyway, I implore you to buy this, it's only 5 bucks plus a couple to ship.  Send them an email at:
exwifenj [AT] gmail [DOT] com
and they will hook you up proper.

For fans of:  Algernon Cadwallader, Monument, Drive Like Jehu

Ex Wife on Myspace

Get it.