Shot Baker has returned! The four piece are back with their original line up, and have just dropped a music video for their track, “Crack in the Code.” Their show at the Cobra Lounge (Chicago, IL) on May 20 will be their first show since 2009. You can pick up a pair of tickets here, […]
Shot Baker has returned!
The four piece are back with their original line up, and have just dropped a music video for their track, “Crack in the Code.” Their show at the Cobra Lounge (Chicago, IL) on May 20 will be their first show since 2009.
You can pick up a pair of tickets here, and watch their new video below.
Texan ska-punks Hans Gruber and The Die Hards have just released a new music video for their song, “Exhausted” which is off of their upcoming self titled EP, available May 25. In support of the release, the Austin based quartet will tour through the end of May, and two dates in early June. You can […]
Texan ska-punks Hans Gruber and The Die Hards have just released a new music video for their song, “Exhausted” which is off of their upcoming self titled EP, available May 25.
In support of the release, the Austin based quartet will tour through the end of May, and two dates in early June.
You can scope out the music video, and the tour dates below.
I got my daughter’s report card last week. It listed out all of these qualities, “Attention to Detail” “Drawing inside the lines”; and all down the line, the teacher checked “Meets Expectations.” The only category that got “Exceeds Expectations” was “Sits Quietly in Class.” A chip off the old block. It got me thinking. “Meets […]
I got my daughter’s report card last week. It listed out all of these qualities, “Attention to Detail” “Drawing inside the lines”; and all down the line, the teacher checked “Meets Expectations.” The only category that got “Exceeds Expectations” was “Sits Quietly in Class.” A chip off the old block. It got me thinking. “Meets Expectations” is good. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s normal. Now let’s consider this theory in the context of Sorority Noise’s third full length, You’re not as ___ as you think. After having “Forgettable” on heavy rotation, I have certain expectations. As far as sound I’d say SN is 3 parts Say Anything, 1 part each of Conor Oberst, The Promise Ring, and Brand New; throw the whole thing in a Chicago Meat Grinder and enjoy. So what were my expectations for You’re Not…? I was expecting the band to clean up the low-fi aesthetic for something a little more polished, the usual for a maturing band. I also figured SN would move away from the relationship/cigarette/stale beer-soaked angst into some more introspective subject matter. I got all of that, but I got more, a lot more.
Sorority Noise hails from Hartford Connecticut. After listening to their earlier work, I would have sworn they were from Chicago. It just feels like the recording process took place in a run-down apartment in the dead of winter with stale beer and cigarettes permeating the air. The opening track of You’re not, “No Halo”, does a hell of a job clearing the air. Gone are the Say Anything-esque drunken hooligan chants. The smashing guitars replaced by piercingly-clean notes accentuated by harmonics. When frontman Cameron Boucher hits the chorus, “So I didn’t show up to your funeral, I showed up to your house…” the guitars come crashing in reminiscent of that stagnant apartment in their not so distant past. The lyrics most definitely have matured as the band tackles existentialism, loss, religion, and depression. On the second track, “A Portrait Of” we get it all thrown into one. At this point in the record, the tempo shifts, the dynamics, the choruses bring reminders of Brand New and/or Taking back Sunday, the reason for this? Mike Sapone who worked the boards for both of those bands is at the controls on You’re not.
The life and death theme continues in “First Letter from St. Sean” where Boucher wrestles with the loss of a close friend. “A better Sun” rises next to drive away the darkness… or not. Did I mention introspection? “And it’s hard. So hard. And breathing, it just makes it worse. And it’s bad. So bad. That it hurts.” If you hadn’t noticed, Boucher is in some pain on this record and he lets it all bleed out. “Disappeared” touches again on the loss of his friend Sean, and the pain of looking in the mirror and contemplating your own existence. The drunken hooligan chants make a not-so-triumphant return, this time serving more like angry voices conflicting in his head “I let my hair down today and I took a shower for the first time in what felt like weeks.” The themes of loss and its effect on our lives and relationships continues through the record. The music, like raw emotions, gets stripped down to the bone. By the end we are left with more questions than answers. When you experience loss and the depression that follows; the only solace to find is in giving up on both the answers and the questions and just living.
My conclusion… some records don’t meet or exceed expectations, so I crossed those choices out, wrote “defies expectations” and put a check next to it.
4/5 Stars
London based skate punks BarCreeps have just announced the release of their new EP, “Battle Axe” on May 26th, 2017 available through Disconnect Disconnect Records. The four piece are promising “skate punk, and melodic punk with big pop hooks,” with the EP being their first release since their birth in early 2016.
London based skate punks BarCreeps have just announced the release of their new EP, “Battle Axe” on May 26th, 2017 available through Disconnect Disconnect Records.
The four piece are promising “skate punk, and melodic punk with big pop hooks,” with the EP being their first release since their birth in early 2016.
As if a lineup featuring Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Reagan Youth and the Voodoo Glow Skulls wasn’t enough of a reason to attend, the It’s Not Dead festival has added punk rock’s favorite cover band, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes. The festival date is August 26th, at the Glen Helen Festival Grounds in sunny San […]
As if a lineup featuring Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Reagan Youth and the Voodoo Glow Skulls wasn’t enough of a reason to attend, the It’s Not Dead festival has added punk rock’s favorite cover band, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes.
The festival date is August 26th, at the Glen Helen Festival Grounds in sunny San Bernardino, California. This years lineup is packed full of classic punk rock bands, an art festival, and a punk rock swap meet. Yet another reason I wish I lived in California.
Any punker west of the Mississippi has no excuse to miss this bad ass experience, with an extremely reasonable 42 dollar ticket price. Get your tickets here.
Any favorites on this years lineup? Anybody bringing some vintage swag they want to swap around?
Chicago grunge-punk act Moonstruck are currently streaming their debut album “Supermoon.” You can listen to it below. If you’re a fan of Dinosaur Jr., The Melvins, and early Nirvana then I suggest you give this a digital spin!
Chicago grunge-punk act Moonstruck are currently streaming their debut album “Supermoon.” You can listen to it below.
If you’re a fan of Dinosaur Jr., The Melvins, and early Nirvana then I suggest you give this a digital spin!
Progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me have announced that they will be celebrating the ten year anniversary of their album Colors with a US tour featuring support from The Contortionist, Polyphia, and Toothgrinder. You can check out all the dates and locations below. Between the Buried and Me last released Coma Ecliptic on July 7, 2015 via Metal Blade Records.
Progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me have announced that they will be celebrating the ten year anniversary of their album Colors with a US tour featuring support from The Contortionist, Polyphia, and Toothgrinder.
You can check out all the dates and locations below.
Between the Buried and Me last released Coma Ecliptic on July 7, 2015 via Metal Blade Records. [Read more…]
Rancid has released a video for another new song called “Telegraph Avenue.” Like the video for “Ghost Of A Chance” we shared a few weeks ago, the new video features the band getting together to play the song in a garage. You can check it out below. “Telegraph Avenue” comes from the band’s upcoming album Trouble Maker, which […]
Rancid has released a video for another new song called “Telegraph Avenue.” Like the video for “Ghost Of A Chance” we shared a few weeks ago, the new video features the band getting together to play the song in a garage.
You can check it out below.
“Telegraph Avenue” comes from the band’s upcoming album Trouble Maker, which is set to be released on June 9th via Hellcat/Epitaph Records. It will serve as a follow up to 2014’s Honor Is All We Know. [Read more…]
Italian hardcore act Bright End are streaming their new album Distance in its entirety. You can give it a listen below. Distance was released on May 6th via Indelirium Records.
Italian hardcore act Bright End are streaming their new album Distance in its entirety.
You can give it a listen below.
Distance was released on May 6th via Indelirium Records. [Read more…]
Pennsylvania hardcore punks L.M.I. are streaming a new song “Coffin Niche,” which comes from the bands upcoming album, Far Beyond Nothing, that is set to be released on June 16th. You can give the song a listen below. L.M.I. last released the EP L.M.I. III in October 2015.
Pennsylvania hardcore punks L.M.I. are streaming a new song “Coffin Niche,” which comes from the bands upcoming album, Far Beyond Nothing, that is set to be released on June 16th.
You can give the song a listen below.
L.M.I. last released the EP L.M.I. III in October 2015. [Read more…]