DEMO REVIEW: Snotrocket

   Snotrocket is a band from Connecticut that was listed in some capacity in the recent KYEO Speaks #8 zine. Recently I've been making lists of all the music listed in zines I read and then just chipping away at it in between other stuff using a convoluted algorithm to determine which list I will use. When I described the entire process to my brother the other day he looked at me with sadness in his eyes because yet another level of my inner lunacy had been revealed.
   Anyway, from the name of the band I had assumed Snotrocket would be a Guttermouth/Vandals-type joke-punk band, but the band actually plays mid-paced melodic punk that reminds me strongly of Jawbreaker or a less strained Hot Water Music. It's a decent listen, very well recorded especially for a demo, but doesn't do a whole lot to differentiate itself from a lot of other bands coming out during this so-called "emo revival." The last 3 songs were a bit stronger than the first 3 but its not like the openers sucked or anything.
   "I Don't Know Why" was probably my favorite in terms of the melody, and lyrically "Tell Me When You're Gone" is definitely the best if just for the wrenching disconnect they convey. Its presented as though the singer were telling someone he didn't want to actually see that they can stay at his apartment because they have nowhere else to go for the night; the fact that he is helping them out, however, doesn't mean that he actually wants to be around them. "Just do whatever. I don't really care" /  "You can sleep on the couch or in the bed. I don't know when I'll be back home. I didn't want you to come but you said you had nowhere else to go." The title of the song says the rest.
   There are female vocals occasionally, including the closing song "On Our Own," which seems to be expressing both a tenacious self-reliance as well as a sense of singular, resigned lonliness.
   For fans of earnest punk that straddles the line of (non-wacky) pop punk on one end and 90s emo on the other, Snotrocket is a solid band I'd suggest checking out. It's just unfortunate about the name...

http://snotrocket.bandcamp.com/

ALBUM REVIEW: Fractalline - "Polymath Theory"

   Fractalline is a Los Angeles metal band who is playing tonight with my friends in the band Madrost up at the World Class Doll Hut in Anaheim. Although I don't plan on going to the show, I thought I'd check out their stuff to familiarize myself with some new SoCal metalz.
   I had expected some kind of lazy crossover thrash because that just seems to be the go-to approach for metal bands from this area lately, but Fractalline have a more modern sound, bridging thrash with death metal and lower-pitched djent/deathcore parts. The song "Digital Eden" in particular had an After The Burial-esque bouncy rhythm but at no point does it devolve into pointless chugadun breakdowns.
   My main complaint would be that the drums, especially the cymbals, sounded like they were maybe digitized or programmed or otherwise played on an electronic set; it just didn't feel organic the way drums for any genre should sound. The artwork is a bit cheesy as well but this is an underground metal release after all. Those minor gripes aside, all the performances were proficient throughout the album and there were some really cool bass parts in songs like "Flawless Design" and the (ironically titled) "Singularity" suite. The vocals were adept, if nothing especially fresh, and overall it was a pretty tight album.
   Recommended for fans of Fallujah, After The Burial, etc.

http://fractalline.bandcamp.com/album/polymath-theory

Playlist for July 2014

This is a list of all the albums, EPs, demos, etc that I listened to in their entirety in the month of July 2014. Afterwards are some lists of the stuff I read, movies I watched, and bands I saw live. My notes for all follow.

MUSIC
7/1/14
Mad Sin - "Break The Rules"
Olivias - S/T demo
Slingshot Dakota - "Dark Hearts"
Cannibal Corpse - "Gallery of Suicide"
Pale - "Fact, Fiction, Opinion" EP

7/2/14
Cut Teeth - "Televandalism"
Seizure - "All Hail The Fucking System" EP
Todos Caeran - "Town Of Cats"
Bouncing Souls - "Hopeless Romantic"
Valiant - "Bury Your Past" digital single
Touche Amore - "Is Survived By"
Sunset Pilgrims/Villages - split EP
Entombed - "Clandestine"

7/3/14
fIREHOSE - "Flyin' the Flannel"
Jethro Tull - "Stormwatch"
Hillary Chillton - "Bourbon Breath" EP
Between The Buried And Me - "The Great Misdirect"
Hoover - "Lurid Transversal of Route 7"
Lein - "Duel" demo

7/4/14
Remainder - "Set Aside Your Fears"
Meth And Goats - "Leisure Time"
Calvin Jalandoni - S/T
Fifteen - "The Choice Of A New Generation"
Sublime - S/T

7/5/14
Cold World - "Dedicated To Babies Who Came Feet First"
Anodes - S/T

7/6/14
Logan Greene - "Never Coming Home" EP
Wu Tang Clan - "Forever" Disc 2
Underoath - "They're Only Chasing Safety"
Guts/Anchorless - split EP
Underminded - "Hail Unamerican!"
Adult Books - S/T EP
Calmosa - "Virtues" EP
Los Olvidados - "Listen To This! Original Recordings 1981-1983"
Hank. - "Pinched"
Ocean Man - "Something Worth Living For" EP
Explosions In The Sky - "Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Will Live Forever"
Green Day - "Insomniac"
Isaac - "Chased By The Devil" digital single
The Hound - "The Recovery" EP
Matsuri - "Endship"
Proto Nova - "Modern Renaissance Man" EP
999 - "Separates"
Daniel Johnston - "Retired Boxer"
Birote The Musical - "Shag Me Tender"

7/7/14
Outrage - S/T
For Want Of - "Smoke" EP
Just Nick/Paper Ceilings - split EP
Cerce/Stresscase - split EP
Ratatat - S/T
Restaurnaut - "Contributions 2011" digital single
Matsuri/Moldar - split 12"
Fissure - S/T EP
Human Behavior - "Golgotha"
Mahria/Watcher - split 7"
Dredg - "El Cielo"
AEGES - "The Bridge"
Adobe Homes - "Ristra"

7/8/14
Parliament - "Up For The Down Stroke"
Silver Snakes - "Year Of The Snake"
Jethro Tull - "Songs From The Wood"
Steeples - "Close, at Hand" EP
DivaCup - Demo 2014
Smashing Pumpkins - "Adore"

7/9/14
Mammoths/Living & Wrestling - Split
Big Bad Buffalo - "American"
Daukis - "Fascist Statement"
Ty Segall Band - "Slaughterhouse"
Indian Taker - "Tule Fog" EP
From First To Last - "Heroine"
Omnis - Demo CD
Mother Speed/Take It Back - split tape

7/10/14
Andrew Johnathan - "Between You And Me And Ghosts"

7/11/14
Ramones - "Adios Amigos!"
Dystopia - "Humans=Garbage" 7"
Crisis Arm - "Fetch" EP

7/12/14
Ramones - "Mondo Bizarro"

7/13/14
The Wrath - "Overcoming Failure" EP
Signal Man - S/T EP
In Loving Memory - "Negation Of Life"
Sledding With Tigers - "A Necessary Bummer"
Golden Bats - "IV"
Watercolor Paintings - "When You Move"
V/A - "Fest 12" 6-way split
Griever - "Inferior" EP
Pswingset - "All Our False Starts"
Age Of Collapse - "Burden Of Beast"
Wolfnote - Demo 2013
Inspired & The Sleep - "Pool Guard" digital single
Tel Fyr - "Sermon 15" digital single
Tel Fyr - S/T
Capsize - "I've Been Tearing Myself Apart" EP
Begrime Exemious - "Wasteland of Damnation" EP
Jehova's Fitness - "The Village Of My Mind"
Cope - S/T EP
Skrewdriver - "All Skrewed Up"
Volcano Science Project - "Time Saver" digital single
Punch - "Nothing Lasts" EP
Radiohead - "The Bends"

7/14/14
Larry - "DiPi"
Napalm Death - "From Enslavement To Obliteration"
Devo - "New Traditionalists"
AFTEREPTILES - S/T EP
John Cota - "III" EP
Moss Icon - "Lyburnum Wit's End Liberation Fly"
Greys - "Drift" EP
The Casualties - "Resistance"

7/15/14
Fugazi - "End Hits"
Olibata - "Fall Mind" mix
Arcing - "Doubt" EP
Maimed For Life - S/T EP
Eager Sea - "Everything is Temporary" EP
City Of Caterpillar - S/T

7/17/14
Men Of Bissau - "To Heal In Paradiso"
System Of A Down - S/T

7/18/14
Indigesti - "Osservati Dall'Inganno"
Sleep - "The Clarity"
Snapcase - "Lookinglasself"
Husker Du - "Zen Arcade"

7/19/14
Ghostlimb - "Infastructure"
Melting Corpse - "Ramirez" demo
Melting Corpse - Live 2010 Demo

7/20/14
24-7 Spyz - "Gumbo Millennium"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
Husker Du - "Metal Circus" EP
Spoonboy/Colour Me Wednesday - split LP
Dr. Dre - "2001"
Remainder - "The Frozen World Thawed"
Bogsey & The Argonauts/The Last Centurion/Little Bear - "Not Today You Mayan Bastards" 3-way split
KRS-One - "Return Of The Boom Bap"
U2 - "The Joshua Tree"
The Home Team - "Black Sheep" EP
Warren G - "Regulate...The G Funk Era"

7/22/14
Sam Kinison - "Have You Seen Me Lately?"
The Suburbanists - "Can I Go To Hell Already?" EP
Albert King - "Born Under A Bad Sign"

7/23/14
U2 - "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb"
Nathan Soul/Kirby Jayes - "Punks Are People Too" split EP
Ice-T - "VI: Return Of The Real"
Gogol Bordello - "Multi Kontra Culti Vs Irony"

7/24/14
Red Curtain - Demo
Glass And Ashes - "Aesthetic Arrest"
I'm Glad It's You - "June" EP
Off With Their Heads - "All Things Move Towards Their End"
V/A - "This Is Lemon Grove"
Stressors - Summer Tape 2013
Planes Mistaken For Stars - "Fuck With Fire"
Fallujah - "The Flesh Prevails"

7/25/14
V/A - "Jock Rock 2000"
Mothership Psychosis - "Waxing and Waning"
Fifth Hour Hero - "Not Revenge...Just A Vicious Crush"
At The Drive-In - "Vaya" EP
Sparta - "Wiretap Scars"

7/26/14
Petra - "Jekyll and Hyde"
Crevasse - S/T 2-song demo
Bridge And Tunnel - "Homecoming"/"Mixed/Media/Messages" digital single
Animosity - "Empires"
V/A - "Punk Rock Strike"
Hope - "Feeling Like A Buck Fifty"
Blink 182 - "Cheshire Cat"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" Disc 1
The Church - "El Momento Descuidado"

7/27/14
Nirvana - "Bleach"
Still Remains - "Of Love And Lunacy"

7/29/14
Foo Fighters - "One By One"
Nirvana - "Bleach"
Uniform Choice - "Screaming For Change"
Ministry - "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste"

7/30/14
Fake Tides - Demos
Nirvana - "Bleach"
The Queers - "Love Songs For The Retarded"
Tom Grrrl - "I Miss Jamal" digital single
Onion Flavored Rings - "Funny" 7"
Heathers - "I Know" cassette
Pretty Boy Thorson & The Falling Angels - "Ain't It Funny"
Girlpool - S/T EP

7/31/14
Ground Up - 2008 demo
Poison Idea - "Pick Your King" EP
Youth Of Today - "Can't Close My Eyes" EP


NOTES
- Most boring/not necessarily "bad" bands of the month: Pale, Isaac, Daniel Johnston, Steeples, DivaCup, The Suburbanists, Fake Tides
- Favorite "new finds" of the month: Todos Caeran, fIREHOSE, Hoover, Remainder, Hank., The Hound, For Want Of, Big Bad Buffalo, In Loving Memory, Age Of Collapse, Moss Icon, Glass And Ashes, I'm Glad It's You, Off With Their Heads, Nirvana, Pretty Boy Thorson & The Falling Angels
- "I don't know what other people think or what they think is love, but I know what it means to me: I fall in love so easily. I'm A Hopeless Romantic."
- Touche Amore isn't nearly as annoying as I had remembered
- How was this the first time that I ever listened to fIREHOSE? It's like exactly what I'm into...same thing with Albert King, like, HOW? Same thing with Planes Mistaken For Stars but like, in a different fashion.
- I will never understand why people were so fixated on Underoath when I was in high school...Like, they're cool, but shit people acted like they were the next coming of Christ...Pun? Intended?
- Big ups to my boy Jason Crook, The Hound is cool stuff
- Splits can never possibly be as good as individual releases. Splits are a waste of time, most of the time.
- "Songs From The Wood" is much better than "Stormwatch" but "Stormwatch" is still really good so that just goes to show how awesome "Songs From The Wood" really is
- I've had "Behold! The Nightmare" stuck in my head since the 8th
- I listened to "Adios Amigos" the day before Tommy Ramone died. I know a lot of people completely already understand and relate to my adoration and deep love for The Ramones, and a lot of other people will never understand how I could possibly have such a strong feeling towards something that I guess is kinda childish and stupid and shallow. But that second group of people, they are the ones in the wrong. The Ramones are the greatest band there ever was. Better than The Beatles. There, I said it. The Ramones, because of what they MEAN, are better than The Beatles. If you don't get it, whatever. You're hopeless and I don't wish you the best. "I'm glad to see you go." Gababa gabba. Rock n roll will never die.
- When is Griever gonna release more music? It's been awhile
- White-power apologists have tried to tell me throughout the years that Skrewdriver's first album was non-racist so I would probably like it since I like Oi music so much but Skrewdriver isnt even really that good whatsoever; Their racist venom from the later years probably made the early stuff seem cool to some kids who are, like I said, APOLOGISTS, but in rock n roll terms "All Skrewed Up" is not that interesting or substantial.
- "From Enslavement To Obliteration"
- Devo could suddenly become America's Official National Band and they would still be underrated
- My friend Miller has really good taste in music but it's also very peculiar. Screamo and techno. But like, not what you're thinking of.
- Why would I listen to an entire Casualties album? In 2014? Why?
- In a way I'm ashamed of saying it because they are such an obvious band in some ways but goddamn System Of A Down has some badass guitar parts
- Holy fucking shit Indigesti may very well be the best hardcore punk there ever was, I just wish I understood Italian
- Sleep has a new album/song out and like, I just don't even give a fuck. It's Sleep. Nothing new.
- "Zen Arcade" is not the best Husker Du album and you are insanely wrong if you try to tell me otherwise.
- Ghostlimb is on another level. Other hardcore bands should try to be even a little bit as cohesive as they are.
- "Shrooms Of Doom"
 - "Gumbo Millennium" is probably the best single dollar I ever spent. Talk about a life-changing 99 cents.
- "It's called Nutrition."
- "Y'all forgot about Dre"
- U2 is holy. Thats why they suck so much.
- "Have You Seen Me Lately?"
- That Ice-T album was actually pretty good, if maybe a bit unrealistic
- You will never be able to sell me on Gogol Bordello. That shit sucks. There's a reason Romani music is so overlooked. Because it sucks.
- Damn Fallujah's new album may be the best metal album released in 2014. It is truly enormous and heavy and THERE.
- I love you DevMo
- Learning that Petra is a Christian band made their entire album make so much more sense. But they still suck.
- Me and Troy moved and when we did that we listened to Blink 182
- It's impossible for me to convey how differently I see the album "Bleach" now that we are living where we are.
- "Even when silence is broken..."
- "I'M QUEER."
- Pretty Boy Thorson is something you should listen to if you have a drinking problem. It will make a lot of sense.
- My guitar playing was a lot more on-point when I played hardcore.




MOVIES
7/12/14: "The End Of The Century: The Story Of The Ramones"
7/26/14: "Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby"
7/27/14: "Dave Chappelle: Killing Them Softly"

ZINES
7/15/14: No, We Can't Just Get Along: Exploring Hip Hop, Gang Unity, and the LA Rebellion excerpt by Jeff Chang

LIVE MUSIC
7/27/14: Toasted Plastic/Beisbol/(The Gravitys) @ The Dial
7/28/14: Tough Stuff @ The Dial

LIVE NOTES
- I'm like, not even excited about music anymore. Music is lame.