Variants is a pop-punk/emo band from New Orleans who played at The Dial's final show in Temecula, CA on April 30th and after their set I had a short conversation with the vocalist Lance. Check it out.
IAN: Alright this is Ian, I'm here with Lance from Variants...I just watched you guys here at The Dial; this is the last show we're ever gonna do here. You guys are from New Orleans?
LANCE: Yes sir
I: That's a long way from home
L: Yes, it is
I: Do you normally play places like this?
L: We usually try to stay local but we booked this last thing a few months ago and we really wanted to branch out, see new places and everything
I: I see you've got this album called "Commonwealth;" is the first thing you've released on this level?
L: No, we have a full-length out called "The Concept of Color." We released that about 2 years ago, about that, but this is the first thing in our new direction.
I: Sure. Now, I don't know if this will come as an insult or as a compliment; you guys sound to me, especially your voice: {early] Fall Out Boy.
L: I have heard that a lot.
I: How do you feel about that?
L: I love Fall Out Boy. "Take This To Your Grave" is probably one of my top 5 albums ever.
I: Now I'm just gonna be blunt: you are a great singer, but communicating, I can see you have a bit of a stutter
L: Yes I do
I: Do you know if that's a genetic thing or a nervous thing or...
L: I have had a stutter since I was 2 [years old], but singing is on the left side of the brain and speaking is on the right, so that something to do with it, I guess
I: Well either way you're a great singer
L: Thank you so much man
I: So where are you guys going from here?
L: Tomorrow we are playing the Chain Reaction actually
I: How long have you been on the road so far?
L: This is day 8 of about 30 days
I: God Damn
L: Yeah it should be pretty fun
I: So do you guys have anything coming to follow this album?
L: Yes, we are going into the studio around late June-ish, around there. Hopefully we'll have something new out by the turn of the new year.
I: Hey, there you go. Well again, you had a great set tonight, I really enjoyed your shit and I wish you well on the tour
L: Hell yeah, thanks dude
I: The last thing I always ask people when I'm talking to them: What's your favorite breakfast food?
L: Breakfast food? Oh dude, oh fuck...honestly man I'd say french toast. I'm a huge french toast guy.
I: There you go. That's a perfect answer. Well thank you again, Lance
L: Absolutely
I: I hope everything goes well on the rest of your trip
https://variantsmusic.bandcamp.com/
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Monday, June 13, 2016
ALBUM REVIEW: Thrice - "To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere"
I didn't even know Thrice had even been on hiatus. I kinda stopped paying attention after "The Alchemy Index" EPs, honestly, but I always held them as a band in fairly high regard. I love their early stuff and "The Artist in the Ambulance" was on nearly constant repeat for awhile in my high school girlfriend's room. I found their transformation from emo-punk to hard alt-rock to be somewhat disappointing and boring, but I could see what they were going for. It was still quality output, if a bit slow and pretentious for my tastes.
Apparently they took a break after their 2012 album "Majors/Minors," which I never listened to so I can't comment on how far removed that last effort is from this new one. I can say, however, that this new album "To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere" is a million miles away even from the toned-down Thrice I had already written off a decade ago.
First of all, vocalist Dustin Kensrue doesn't sound like old self whatsoever. He still sounds strained and gruff but it just somehow doesn't sound like the same singer to me. I noticed it right away and it's weird. I can't illustrate this aspect of the album more clearly, or make a bigger insult regarding his vocals, than what my roommate asked me as I was making my breakfast whilst blasting the album through our living room TV:
"Are you listening to fucking Daughtry?"
Dusty, I'm sure that hurts, and you deserve the pain.
Much like bands younger than them, such as A Day To Remember and Bring Me The Horizon, Thrice's new material is almost completely stripped of their roots in punk/hardcore/emo/etc. and seems to be entirely catered to the festival market in its insipid accessibility. Its like if Kings Of Leon made an attempt at a post-hardcore-esque album. The song "Stay With Me," in particular, sounds like it was pre-planned for an uplifting reality-show montage, it's so cheesy. I expect this kind of shit out of the All-American Rejects or All Time Low, not you, Thrice.
The end of the album has some slight reminders of the style most Thrice fans are akin to, particularly the song "Whistleblower," but its a case of being too little too late, too far into the mess. If my roommate thinks you sound like Daughtry, he's not gonna get far enough into the album to hear the 2 songs that kinda sound like old Thrice. It's a statement to my music-OCD that I made it that far myself.
The last song is a mixed bag; it displays the more-mainstream affectation that Kensrue has put on his voice to its worst dimension, sounding somewhere in-between the singers of The Flaming Lips and Deer Tick but without either of their irony. It is, however, the most tranquil and subtle song on the album; for some reason it reminded me of a more-electrified version of "Farewell and Goodnight" by The Smashing Pumpkins. That's far and away the best thing I can say about this album, and that's really not even a standout Pumpkins song.
I'm sure this album will get its fair share of coverage because of the aforementioned hiatus, but in my ears this 'comeback' album doesn't even sound like the band I used to love at all. Instead it's something that I normally would have avoided if not for the name of the band.
Unfortunately, strongly not recommended.
Apparently they took a break after their 2012 album "Majors/Minors," which I never listened to so I can't comment on how far removed that last effort is from this new one. I can say, however, that this new album "To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere" is a million miles away even from the toned-down Thrice I had already written off a decade ago.
First of all, vocalist Dustin Kensrue doesn't sound like old self whatsoever. He still sounds strained and gruff but it just somehow doesn't sound like the same singer to me. I noticed it right away and it's weird. I can't illustrate this aspect of the album more clearly, or make a bigger insult regarding his vocals, than what my roommate asked me as I was making my breakfast whilst blasting the album through our living room TV:
"Are you listening to fucking Daughtry?"
Dusty, I'm sure that hurts, and you deserve the pain.
Much like bands younger than them, such as A Day To Remember and Bring Me The Horizon, Thrice's new material is almost completely stripped of their roots in punk/hardcore/emo/etc. and seems to be entirely catered to the festival market in its insipid accessibility. Its like if Kings Of Leon made an attempt at a post-hardcore-esque album. The song "Stay With Me," in particular, sounds like it was pre-planned for an uplifting reality-show montage, it's so cheesy. I expect this kind of shit out of the All-American Rejects or All Time Low, not you, Thrice.
The end of the album has some slight reminders of the style most Thrice fans are akin to, particularly the song "Whistleblower," but its a case of being too little too late, too far into the mess. If my roommate thinks you sound like Daughtry, he's not gonna get far enough into the album to hear the 2 songs that kinda sound like old Thrice. It's a statement to my music-OCD that I made it that far myself.
The last song is a mixed bag; it displays the more-mainstream affectation that Kensrue has put on his voice to its worst dimension, sounding somewhere in-between the singers of The Flaming Lips and Deer Tick but without either of their irony. It is, however, the most tranquil and subtle song on the album; for some reason it reminded me of a more-electrified version of "Farewell and Goodnight" by The Smashing Pumpkins. That's far and away the best thing I can say about this album, and that's really not even a standout Pumpkins song.
I'm sure this album will get its fair share of coverage because of the aforementioned hiatus, but in my ears this 'comeback' album doesn't even sound like the band I used to love at all. Instead it's something that I normally would have avoided if not for the name of the band.
Unfortunately, strongly not recommended.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Playlist for May 2016
This is a list of all the albums, EPs, demos, singles, etc that I listened to in their entirety during the month of May 2016, as well lists of things I watched, saw live, and read during the same time period; notes regarding all follow. Enjoy.
MUSIC
5/1/16
Ordinary People - "Nothing New"
V/A - "Metal For The Masses Vol. 666" Century Media Records sampler CD
Gorilla Biscuits - "Start Today"
Parade Of The Lifeless - "The Anatomy of a People's Bondage"
Tyrannosaurus Zebra - 9-song demo CD
Coerced - May 2016 demo
5/2/16
Fear Before The March Of Flames - "Art Damage"
Tourist ft. Josef Salva & Niia - "Holding On" digital single
Burn - "Last Great Sea" EP
Rae Sremmurd - "By Chance" single
Power Trip/Integrity - split EP
EZLV/Romy - "Home" EP
Toxic Holocaust - "Conjure & Command"
Zoccola - "Mean Girls Club"
SUNK - S/T EP
Los Lobos - "Gates of Gold"
Neon Trees - "Animal" b/w "Call My Name" single
Krisiun - "Bloodshed"
Strike Anywhere - "Exit English"
Elbow - "Asleep in the Back"
5/3/16
Traps PS - "Real Corner Shock"
Dan Deacon - "Spiderman of the Rings"
Los Monjo - "La Vida Que Todos Envidian"
Indian Summer - "Science 1994" compilation
BTS - "The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever"
Bon Jovi - "Slippery When Wet"
Bad Religion - S/T EP
Crisis Arm - "Caterwaul"
Wire - "Pink Flag"
Insomnium - "In The Halls Of Waiting"
Desperate Living - "Vital Exhaustion" EP
Gallows - "Orchestra of Wolves"
5/4/16
Violent Femmes - S/T
Rudimentary Peni - "Cacophony"
Katatonia - "Discouraged Ones"
Walls Of Jericho - "No One Can Save You From Yourself"
Cranium - "Speed Metal Sentence"
Born Against - S/T EP
Sleater-Kinney - "No Cities To Love"
The 257ers - "Schrottmusik" EP
At The Drive-In - "Relationship of Command"
Katatonia - "Discouraged Ones"
5/5/16
"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Off The Deep End"
Pain Of Salvation - "Be"
Kids. - "Growing Up" EP
Variants - "LampPost" digital single
Flatbush Zombies - "3001: A Laced Odyssey"
The Wildhearts - "Earth Vs. The Wildhearts"
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes - "Blossom"
Frank Turner - "Ten For Ten" compilation
Pierce The Veil - "A Flair For The Dramatic"
The Replacements - "Pleased To Meet Me"
5/6/16
KISS - "Love Gun"
51D - S/T cassette
Joris Voorn & Joran Van Pol - "Sonic Highway" 12"
Jordan Suckley - "Aztec Curse" digital single
Mercury Rev - "All Is Dream"
Feuerschwanz - "Metvernichter"
Jean-Baptiste Stuck - "Les Festes Bollonoise"
The Go-Betweens - "16 Lovers Lane"
Moderat Likvidation - S/T EP
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Let's Face It"
The Fartz - "Because This World Fuckin' Stinks" EP
Articles Of Faith - "What We Want Is Free" EP
Thin Lizzy - "Greatest Hits" Disc 1
5/7/16
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
Soledad Velez - "Dance & Run"
Black Flag - "My War"
Merit - "The Truth About The Twenties" EP
311 - S/T
5/8/16
The Vibrators - "Pure Mania"
Big Grams - S/T EP
Swells/Marcy - split EP
Invaders - 3-song demo CD
Born Without A Face - "Worship" EP
Feelgood/Scott Henry - "Fever: Time To Get Ill Vol. 4" DJ mix
LCD Soundsystem - "This Is Happening"
Incubus - "Make Yourself"
5/9/16
The Prodigy - "Invaders Must Die"
Axwell V Ingrosso - "This Time" digital single
Bloom - S/T cassette
Broiler ft. Tish Hyman - "Fly By Night" digital single
Tragedy - "Vengeance"
Atreyu - "Long Live"
Broken Teeth - "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" 7"
Issues - "Diamond Dreams" EP
UZ ft. 12th Planet - "Trap Shit" EP
Government Issue - "Legless Bull" EP
Beyond Creation - "The Aura"
Twisted Sister - "Stay Hungry"
Rubblebucket - "Survival Sounds"
5/10/16
Moby - "Long Ambients 1: Calm & Sleep"
5/11/16
Econochrist/Detonators - split EP
Culture Abuse - "Peach"
Burn - S/T EP
The Coltranes - "Never Sleep Again" EP
The Coltranes - "The Man With The Hat" EP
Horse Lords - "Interventions"
Xiu Xiu - "A Promise"
Nomads - S/T EP
The Blasters - S/T
Jimmy Eat World - "Bleed American"
V/A - "Generations: A Hardcore Compilation"
5/12/16
The Melvins - "The Crybaby"
The Flatliners - "Resuscitation of the Year" b/w "Fangs" 7"
Toys That Kill - "Fambly 42"
Foolish Johns - "Kid's Stuff"
Santoros - "Ancestors"
Bob Dylan - "Melancholy Mood" EP
Flying Lotus - "The Black Fist" DJ mix
The Cure - "Staring at the Sea: The Singles 1979-1985"
Primal Fear - "Rulebreaker"
Neurosis - "The Word As Law"
5/13/16
From Autumn To Ashes - "Abandon Your Friends"
The Jonbonet - "Ugly/Heartless"
3Oh!3 - "Night Sports"
5/14/16
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Let's Face It"
5/15/16
City Deluxe - "Go To The City" digital single
Lasting Impression - "Ending Upon Tragedy" EP
From Ashes Rise/Victims - split
Sledding With Tigers - "Come On And Slam" EP
Meat Grinder - "Misanthropy"
5/16/16
Confide - "Shout The Truth"
The Mad - "Eyeball" b/w "I Hate Music" 7"
Rival Sons - "All That I Want" digital single
Deftones - "White Pony" (white-cover edition)
Ryan Adams - "1989" Taylor Swift cover album
Talk Is Poison - S/T
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - "Blow in the Wind"
Mudvayne - "L.D.50"
5/17/16
Anthrax - "State Of Euphoria"
Motherboy - "Filthy Human" EP
Crisis Arm - "Rend"
The Roots - "Phrenology"
Fuck-Ups - "FU82" EP
Agent Fresco - "Destrier" deluxe edition
Zoax - "Is Everybody Listening?" EP
Angelic Upstarts - "Teenage Warning"
Crystal Castles - "Frail" digital single
The Prodigy - "The Lost Beats" EP
Fetty Wap ft. Remy Boys - "679" digital single
Rammstein - "Klavier"
The English Dogs - "To The End of the Earth"
5/18/16
Forest Whitaker - "Blobfish"
Hannah West ft. Kristine W - "Just" digital single
World's Fair - "Bastards of the Party"
Ben Nicky ft. Chloe - "Anywhere" digital single
Beside Myself - "Lights Out" digital single
Led Zeppelin - "Physical Graffiti"
GloryHammer - "1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards"
Henri Sauguet - "Les Fornins"
Gwar - "Beyond Hell"
Burning The Masses - "Volatile Existence" EP
Elbert West - "Livin' the Life"
5/19/16
Frigora - S/T EP
The Mad - "The Hell" EP
Yeasayer - "Amen & Goodbye"
5/20/16
C.D. Truth - "Season 1" CD
HaSkaLa - "US Uber Alles" digital single
EVeryman - "Let Us Shine"
Waxahatchee - "Ivy Tripp"
High Contrast - "Remind Me" digital single
Jodie Abacus - "For Real Life and Not Pretend" EP
General Surgery - "Necrology" EP
Broadside - "Old Bones"
Down To Nothing - "All My Sons" EP
We Came As Romans - S/T
Arch Enemy - "Doomsday Machine"
Kikeiji - "Plastic Scandal" EP
88 Fingers Louie - "Back on the Streets"
5/21/16
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
Samhain - "Initium" EP
5/22/16
Seven Generations - "To See The End"
5/23/16
Ambersmoke - "The Great Nothing"
Turbonegro - "Apocalypse Dudes"
5/24/16
Whilk & Misky - "Clap Your Hands (Solomon remix)" single
Cold Cave - "Nothing Is True But You" digital single
Wolf Parade - "4" EP
Code Orange - "I Am King"
Deicide - S/T
Deicide - "Legion"
The Verve Pipe - "Villains"
5/25/16
Discharge - "End Of Days"
Bustie - "The Shade Is Real" demos
The Verve Pipe - "Villains"
5/26/16
Off With Their Heads - "Home"
Luna - "Lunapark"
Paul McCartney & Wings Vs. Timo Maas & James Teej - "1985" 12"
Parliament - "Chocolate City"
Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"
Ground Up - 4-song 2008 demo
5/27/16
Chron Gen - "Chronic Generation"
Neurosis - "Given to the Rising"
Armored Saint - "March of the Saint"
Ice Cube - "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted"
5/29/16
Smut - "Schnell Laut Schwer" EP
Mr. Bungle - S/T
Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge - "Blackout"/"Resurrection"/"Life is a Rebirth" 7"
Plattenbau - "Body of Desire" EP
The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Miss Machine"
Arneson - 2-song promo CD
Dead Poetic - "Vices"
Atomkinder - S/T EP
5/30/16
Nora - S/T
Inocentes - "Adeus Carne"
Youth Korps - S/T EP
Thrice - "To Be Everywhere is to be Nowhere"
Strike Anywhere - "Live Naked, Die Naked" EP
5/31/16
Secret Hate - "Vegetables Dancing"
The Rejectors - "Thoughts of War" EP
Strapping Young Lad - "The New Black"
Stille Volk - "Nueit de Sabbat"
Snapcase - "Progression Through Unlearning"
MUSIC NOTES
- That Century Media CD has a bunch of dope songs on it I'm glad I re-found it; on a related note, that "Generations" mix has a Fucked Up song at the end that I love so much I've been re-listening to almost every day...Fucked Up is just an amazing band
- Favorite "new finds" of the month: Coerced, Flatbush Zombies, The Wildhearts, Big Grams, Forest Whitaker, World's Fair, Luna, Chron Gen, Plattenbau, Inocentes
- "Somehow, I never leave this Dead House"
- New releases by Coerced, Walls Of Jericho, Big Grams, Atreyu, Moby, Culture Abuse, Bob Dylan, Waxahatchee, Code Orange, and Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge are all on point
- "I get this funny feeling that you don't love me anymore..."
- I've been recommended Flatbush Zombies for several years now and I regret sleeping on them, they rule
- "Can't Hardly Wait"
- If a band released an album like "Love Gun" today they'd be ostracized for the sheer level of misogyny...or they'd be Steel Panther
- "What We Want Is Free"
- Thin Lizzy's song "Sarah" is like the greatest thing ever
- Some of the lyrics on Culture Abuse's new album really hit home for me, very good stuff
- "Let's Face It" is one of the most listened-to CDs in my entire gigantic collection despite it being so drastically more upbeat than most of my other favorites...maybe that's why I turn to it so often, come to think of it
- Meat Grinder was so underrated even in the-then much-smaller Temecula scene they were from in the late 90s but goddamn those dudes could wail
- If anybody wants that Confide CD you can have it but be warned, I'm gonna judge you
- I know that Chino Moreno regrets "Back To School" but goddamn that song is badass
- Who would have guessed that Ryan Adams covering a very recent Taylor Swift album in full would be such a good listen
- It's a real shame about the dissolution of Crisis Arm because their final album "Rend" has only gotten better with time
- "We may not be The Young Ones very long"
- I can't believe I had never even heard of Luna, Chron Gen, or Inocentes before now ...Inocentes especially is fucking awesome, like if The Adicts spoke Spanish
- The new Thrice album is so disappointing that I wrote a fairly lengthy review of how bad I thought it was...look for that soon
MOVIES
5/1/16: "Amelie"
"Pleasantville"
5/3/16: "For A Good Time, Call..."
5/4/16: "The Brass Teapot"
5/8/16: FINISHED "Lolita"
5/12/16: "The Voices"
5/16/16: FINISHED "The Aviator"
5/21/16: FINISHED "Tapeheads"
5/28/16: FINISHED "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"
"Don't Be A Menace To South Central"
5/30/16: FINISHED "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
"Eyes Wide Shut"
LIVE
5/29/16: Glacial Blue @ 3rd Street Bar
LIVE NOTES
- Holy shit the bassist for Glacial Blue was like the best bassist I've ever seen
MUSIC
5/1/16
Ordinary People - "Nothing New"
V/A - "Metal For The Masses Vol. 666" Century Media Records sampler CD
Gorilla Biscuits - "Start Today"
Parade Of The Lifeless - "The Anatomy of a People's Bondage"
Tyrannosaurus Zebra - 9-song demo CD
Coerced - May 2016 demo
5/2/16
Fear Before The March Of Flames - "Art Damage"
Tourist ft. Josef Salva & Niia - "Holding On" digital single
Burn - "Last Great Sea" EP
Rae Sremmurd - "By Chance" single
Power Trip/Integrity - split EP
EZLV/Romy - "Home" EP
Toxic Holocaust - "Conjure & Command"
Zoccola - "Mean Girls Club"
SUNK - S/T EP
Los Lobos - "Gates of Gold"
Neon Trees - "Animal" b/w "Call My Name" single
Krisiun - "Bloodshed"
Strike Anywhere - "Exit English"
Elbow - "Asleep in the Back"
5/3/16
Traps PS - "Real Corner Shock"
Dan Deacon - "Spiderman of the Rings"
Los Monjo - "La Vida Que Todos Envidian"
Indian Summer - "Science 1994" compilation
BTS - "The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever"
Bon Jovi - "Slippery When Wet"
Bad Religion - S/T EP
Crisis Arm - "Caterwaul"
Wire - "Pink Flag"
Insomnium - "In The Halls Of Waiting"
Desperate Living - "Vital Exhaustion" EP
Gallows - "Orchestra of Wolves"
5/4/16
Violent Femmes - S/T
Rudimentary Peni - "Cacophony"
Katatonia - "Discouraged Ones"
Walls Of Jericho - "No One Can Save You From Yourself"
Cranium - "Speed Metal Sentence"
Born Against - S/T EP
Sleater-Kinney - "No Cities To Love"
The 257ers - "Schrottmusik" EP
At The Drive-In - "Relationship of Command"
Katatonia - "Discouraged Ones"
5/5/16
"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Off The Deep End"
Pain Of Salvation - "Be"
Kids. - "Growing Up" EP
Variants - "LampPost" digital single
Flatbush Zombies - "3001: A Laced Odyssey"
The Wildhearts - "Earth Vs. The Wildhearts"
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes - "Blossom"
Frank Turner - "Ten For Ten" compilation
Pierce The Veil - "A Flair For The Dramatic"
The Replacements - "Pleased To Meet Me"
5/6/16
KISS - "Love Gun"
51D - S/T cassette
Joris Voorn & Joran Van Pol - "Sonic Highway" 12"
Jordan Suckley - "Aztec Curse" digital single
Mercury Rev - "All Is Dream"
Feuerschwanz - "Metvernichter"
Jean-Baptiste Stuck - "Les Festes Bollonoise"
The Go-Betweens - "16 Lovers Lane"
Moderat Likvidation - S/T EP
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Let's Face It"
The Fartz - "Because This World Fuckin' Stinks" EP
Articles Of Faith - "What We Want Is Free" EP
Thin Lizzy - "Greatest Hits" Disc 1
5/7/16
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
Soledad Velez - "Dance & Run"
Black Flag - "My War"
Merit - "The Truth About The Twenties" EP
311 - S/T
5/8/16
The Vibrators - "Pure Mania"
Big Grams - S/T EP
Swells/Marcy - split EP
Invaders - 3-song demo CD
Born Without A Face - "Worship" EP
Feelgood/Scott Henry - "Fever: Time To Get Ill Vol. 4" DJ mix
LCD Soundsystem - "This Is Happening"
Incubus - "Make Yourself"
5/9/16
The Prodigy - "Invaders Must Die"
Axwell V Ingrosso - "This Time" digital single
Bloom - S/T cassette
Broiler ft. Tish Hyman - "Fly By Night" digital single
Tragedy - "Vengeance"
Atreyu - "Long Live"
Broken Teeth - "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" 7"
Issues - "Diamond Dreams" EP
UZ ft. 12th Planet - "Trap Shit" EP
Government Issue - "Legless Bull" EP
Beyond Creation - "The Aura"
Twisted Sister - "Stay Hungry"
Rubblebucket - "Survival Sounds"
5/10/16
Moby - "Long Ambients 1: Calm & Sleep"
5/11/16
Econochrist/Detonators - split EP
Culture Abuse - "Peach"
Burn - S/T EP
The Coltranes - "Never Sleep Again" EP
The Coltranes - "The Man With The Hat" EP
Horse Lords - "Interventions"
Xiu Xiu - "A Promise"
Nomads - S/T EP
The Blasters - S/T
Jimmy Eat World - "Bleed American"
V/A - "Generations: A Hardcore Compilation"
5/12/16
The Melvins - "The Crybaby"
The Flatliners - "Resuscitation of the Year" b/w "Fangs" 7"
Toys That Kill - "Fambly 42"
Foolish Johns - "Kid's Stuff"
Santoros - "Ancestors"
Bob Dylan - "Melancholy Mood" EP
Flying Lotus - "The Black Fist" DJ mix
The Cure - "Staring at the Sea: The Singles 1979-1985"
Primal Fear - "Rulebreaker"
Neurosis - "The Word As Law"
5/13/16
From Autumn To Ashes - "Abandon Your Friends"
The Jonbonet - "Ugly/Heartless"
3Oh!3 - "Night Sports"
5/14/16
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Let's Face It"
5/15/16
City Deluxe - "Go To The City" digital single
Lasting Impression - "Ending Upon Tragedy" EP
From Ashes Rise/Victims - split
Sledding With Tigers - "Come On And Slam" EP
Meat Grinder - "Misanthropy"
5/16/16
Confide - "Shout The Truth"
The Mad - "Eyeball" b/w "I Hate Music" 7"
Rival Sons - "All That I Want" digital single
Deftones - "White Pony" (white-cover edition)
Ryan Adams - "1989" Taylor Swift cover album
Talk Is Poison - S/T
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - "Blow in the Wind"
Mudvayne - "L.D.50"
5/17/16
Anthrax - "State Of Euphoria"
Motherboy - "Filthy Human" EP
Crisis Arm - "Rend"
The Roots - "Phrenology"
Fuck-Ups - "FU82" EP
Agent Fresco - "Destrier" deluxe edition
Zoax - "Is Everybody Listening?" EP
Angelic Upstarts - "Teenage Warning"
Crystal Castles - "Frail" digital single
The Prodigy - "The Lost Beats" EP
Fetty Wap ft. Remy Boys - "679" digital single
Rammstein - "Klavier"
The English Dogs - "To The End of the Earth"
5/18/16
Forest Whitaker - "Blobfish"
Hannah West ft. Kristine W - "Just" digital single
World's Fair - "Bastards of the Party"
Ben Nicky ft. Chloe - "Anywhere" digital single
Beside Myself - "Lights Out" digital single
Led Zeppelin - "Physical Graffiti"
GloryHammer - "1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards"
Henri Sauguet - "Les Fornins"
Gwar - "Beyond Hell"
Burning The Masses - "Volatile Existence" EP
Elbert West - "Livin' the Life"
5/19/16
Frigora - S/T EP
The Mad - "The Hell" EP
Yeasayer - "Amen & Goodbye"
5/20/16
C.D. Truth - "Season 1" CD
HaSkaLa - "US Uber Alles" digital single
EVeryman - "Let Us Shine"
Waxahatchee - "Ivy Tripp"
High Contrast - "Remind Me" digital single
Jodie Abacus - "For Real Life and Not Pretend" EP
General Surgery - "Necrology" EP
Broadside - "Old Bones"
Down To Nothing - "All My Sons" EP
We Came As Romans - S/T
Arch Enemy - "Doomsday Machine"
Kikeiji - "Plastic Scandal" EP
88 Fingers Louie - "Back on the Streets"
5/21/16
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
Samhain - "Initium" EP
5/22/16
Seven Generations - "To See The End"
5/23/16
Ambersmoke - "The Great Nothing"
Turbonegro - "Apocalypse Dudes"
5/24/16
Whilk & Misky - "Clap Your Hands (Solomon remix)" single
Cold Cave - "Nothing Is True But You" digital single
Wolf Parade - "4" EP
Code Orange - "I Am King"
Deicide - S/T
Deicide - "Legion"
The Verve Pipe - "Villains"
5/25/16
Discharge - "End Of Days"
Bustie - "The Shade Is Real" demos
The Verve Pipe - "Villains"
5/26/16
Off With Their Heads - "Home"
Luna - "Lunapark"
Paul McCartney & Wings Vs. Timo Maas & James Teej - "1985" 12"
Parliament - "Chocolate City"
Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"
Ground Up - 4-song 2008 demo
5/27/16
Chron Gen - "Chronic Generation"
Neurosis - "Given to the Rising"
Armored Saint - "March of the Saint"
Ice Cube - "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted"
5/29/16
Smut - "Schnell Laut Schwer" EP
Mr. Bungle - S/T
Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge - "Blackout"/"Resurrection"/"Life is a Rebirth" 7"
Plattenbau - "Body of Desire" EP
The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Miss Machine"
Arneson - 2-song promo CD
Dead Poetic - "Vices"
Atomkinder - S/T EP
5/30/16
Nora - S/T
Inocentes - "Adeus Carne"
Youth Korps - S/T EP
Thrice - "To Be Everywhere is to be Nowhere"
Strike Anywhere - "Live Naked, Die Naked" EP
5/31/16
Secret Hate - "Vegetables Dancing"
The Rejectors - "Thoughts of War" EP
Strapping Young Lad - "The New Black"
Stille Volk - "Nueit de Sabbat"
Snapcase - "Progression Through Unlearning"
MUSIC NOTES
- That Century Media CD has a bunch of dope songs on it I'm glad I re-found it; on a related note, that "Generations" mix has a Fucked Up song at the end that I love so much I've been re-listening to almost every day...Fucked Up is just an amazing band
- Favorite "new finds" of the month: Coerced, Flatbush Zombies, The Wildhearts, Big Grams, Forest Whitaker, World's Fair, Luna, Chron Gen, Plattenbau, Inocentes
- "Somehow, I never leave this Dead House"
- New releases by Coerced, Walls Of Jericho, Big Grams, Atreyu, Moby, Culture Abuse, Bob Dylan, Waxahatchee, Code Orange, and Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge are all on point
- "I get this funny feeling that you don't love me anymore..."
- I've been recommended Flatbush Zombies for several years now and I regret sleeping on them, they rule
- "Can't Hardly Wait"
- If a band released an album like "Love Gun" today they'd be ostracized for the sheer level of misogyny...or they'd be Steel Panther
- "What We Want Is Free"
- Thin Lizzy's song "Sarah" is like the greatest thing ever
- Some of the lyrics on Culture Abuse's new album really hit home for me, very good stuff
- "Let's Face It" is one of the most listened-to CDs in my entire gigantic collection despite it being so drastically more upbeat than most of my other favorites...maybe that's why I turn to it so often, come to think of it
- Meat Grinder was so underrated even in the-then much-smaller Temecula scene they were from in the late 90s but goddamn those dudes could wail
- If anybody wants that Confide CD you can have it but be warned, I'm gonna judge you
- I know that Chino Moreno regrets "Back To School" but goddamn that song is badass
- Who would have guessed that Ryan Adams covering a very recent Taylor Swift album in full would be such a good listen
- It's a real shame about the dissolution of Crisis Arm because their final album "Rend" has only gotten better with time
- "We may not be The Young Ones very long"
- I can't believe I had never even heard of Luna, Chron Gen, or Inocentes before now ...Inocentes especially is fucking awesome, like if The Adicts spoke Spanish
- The new Thrice album is so disappointing that I wrote a fairly lengthy review of how bad I thought it was...look for that soon
MOVIES
5/1/16: "Amelie"
"Pleasantville"
5/3/16: "For A Good Time, Call..."
5/4/16: "The Brass Teapot"
5/8/16: FINISHED "Lolita"
5/12/16: "The Voices"
5/16/16: FINISHED "The Aviator"
5/21/16: FINISHED "Tapeheads"
5/28/16: FINISHED "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"
"Don't Be A Menace To South Central"
5/30/16: FINISHED "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
"Eyes Wide Shut"
LIVE
5/29/16: Glacial Blue @ 3rd Street Bar
LIVE NOTES
- Holy shit the bassist for Glacial Blue was like the best bassist I've ever seen
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