this second The Sky Looks Pissed has many similarities to the first one. to take two very specific examples: it starts off with ambiance. it ends with a lengthy track which mostly consists of ambient noise and other Daniel Johnston-ish things. but that’s just his thang, I guess. the album also generally feels the same. but it sounds prettier and bigger. much more positive. it’s still quite melancholic, and has a bit of those mid-west emo lyrics where you look back and wish you were five again… but the energy I get from this recording is definitely all positive. the album is more alive; louder, but also more dynamic. it sounds like The Sky Looks Pissed has more confidence and that he simply dares more on this recording. the lyrics are brilliant narrations that makes you want to sing a long the first time you hear them, which is frustrating because you obviously don’t really know the words the first time you hear them. thus you have to play through the album again and again and again and again. get it.
The Sky Looks Pissed – Montana
The Sky Looks Pissed is folk rock as it is meant to be. there’s no one who cares whether he actually hits that chord 100% perfectly, or whether he hits that high C – or if he even actually tries to hit it. as long as the music and the lyrics are honest and played/sung with passion, we’re all happy here. oh and of course there’s gotta be a harmonica. and Ethan aka The Sky Looks Pissed manages all of these things fine. he even does it without sounding the same on every track. while this might not be the most revolutionizing folk act of the twenty-first century, it is definitely awesome to listen to. a guy with a guitar singing his heart out. heard it before? probably. want to hear it again? definitely. these are the kind of songs you will want to be singing over and over again. sitting on the grass outside, or by the stereo inside if it’s raining, drinking cocoa, just singing along. magic music for magic people. get it.
Don’t Fuck With Columbus – Demos
it’s a new day people. and what better way to start it than with a three song demo from a Polish screamo band? none. and this is not just a screamo band, but a great screamo band in the vein of Neil Perry and Orchid. amazing flying guitar harmonies, ultra-dynamic drumming and great screams. screamo like it should be. this band incorporate all of the charecteristics found in those kind of grindy screamo bands like Orchid and Kaospilot. and sure it gets a bit stereotypical, and it isn’t the most unique band this blog has to offer. that does *not* in any way mean that it isn’t worth downloading and listening to. because it is. because the songs are *great*. regardless of how fresh they might be. this band pays tribute to the greats, and they do so in an awesome way. and it’s only demos by some Polish teenagers. so remember this name.
Emo Summer – The Emo Opera
making an emo opera that lasts over half an hour is a great idea, yeah? especially when it thrashes so fucking hard as this one. this is thirty minutes plus of great riffing, dynamic drumming and so on. it’s just an overall display of diversity within a soundscape. it’s Free Emo. I wouldn’t compare it to Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz any more than with that reference, but hell… this is great. imagine sticking it to a scene kid’s face. like, turn off that My Chemical Romance “opera” and put this on. they would immediately start to cry. but not because they are attention whores or whatever the reason for them crying usually is – but because this is so fucking hardcore, it will make them shit themselves. and consequently cry because they are embarrassed. I mean they shit themselves in front of you. who wouldn’t be embarrassed? but I sense that I’m straying a wee bit away from my original point, which was – get this. there is no reason in the whole world why you wouldn’t want to listen to this. actually, if you’re not going to download this – send me a mail with a legitimate reason, and I might let you off the hook. but unless you have some medical condition that prevents you from listening to pure awesomeness, don’t expect to be excused from being spat on by this monster album. GET IT.
click here to download
Emo Summer – DVD Soundtrack
from the utmost jazzy opening to the inspiring track titles, this is emo at its finest. I think. while you most of the time probably won’t have a clue what the hell you’re listening to, when you do – all is well. placing themselves somewhere between The Shaggs and Antioch Arrow, Emo Summer are a pretty original band. the stabbing guitars, off-beat drumming and background-laughter all contribute in making this a relaxed and improvised jam that at should be appreciated. if not as a musically technical triumph, then for its heart and originality.
Emo Summer – Manutz Ganole Sessions
the driving beat and cool riff that opens this little two-tracker is nothing but amazing. so captivating and intense, yet distanced and reserved. simply amazing. and at the end, the track explodes into… well pretty much just fast drumming. but it’s pretty cool anyway. the second track follows the same formula, but it explodes earlier on. the keyword here I believe is cool riffs, great drumming and more insanity from the most satirical serious band, or most serious satire emo band ever. which one is it? I don’t know.
Emo Summer – Skippy Sessions
if you thought Antioch Arrow was the only chaotic art explosion in emotown, think again. Emo Summer who existed in the late ’90s and early ’00s are far from sane. and they pretty much prove it with the track Iota. poetry sprayed in your face like warm whizz on a cold winter day, with loud guitars and messy drumming. it hardly gets better. download it!
Emo Summer – Land of Emotional Plastic Furniture
while this record starts out as the sweetest of sweetness, it quickly progresses into the most aggressive of aggressiveness, as well as the maddest of madness. screaming, thrashing, blastbeats, synth-rape in the style of The Locust and just plain chaos. Emo Summer are a satirical art explosion that will fuck you up. one of the best and most insane bands you will ever hear. if you haven’t heard this, you are missing out on something huge. you have to listen to this. the most emo emo band ever. get it!
Oh, Apollo! – Twin Peaks
this is an album that is interesting from the first second, just like Hope! The river Arkansas. but for completely different reasons though. the intricate opening riff does a real good job in sharpening the listeners ears. and then the song explodes in screamo goodiness… aaaaaaand it’s done. and we get antother song with detailed layers of screamo goodiness. and then we get six more songs with detailed layers of screamo goodiness. making this eight songs with detailed layers of screamo goodiness. from the twinkly upbeat guitar riffs to the marching band drums to the shouting – this is one of the catchiest as well as creepiest screamo albums ever made. and the diversity of the songs are amazing. they will go from these slow and beautiful calm parts to these mad hooks yo. screamo pop. catchy as fuck. get it.
Oh, Apollo! – Kingdoms
on this album, you’ll notice how much this band has matured. gone is the metal riffs, and hello screamo guitars that definitely are more complex as well as catchy than those on Hope! The river Arkansas. and the guitars aren’t all that’s changed. the drumming is not only more technical, but also more fitting. they both follow as well as change the music very powerfully. they take the foreground much more than on the previous album. but that’s not all – even the vocals are extremely different on this record. there are a lot of call and response shouting in addition to the screaming. and the screaming isn’t as high pitched and intense as on the previous record. they are much more controlled and reserved, but stronger and more diverse. overall this is a tight record with a lot of interesting hooks in it. especially the Whitney Houston cover, which really… you gotta hear it. download this! especially if you are obsessed with concept albums. this is about time travel.
Isaïe Buried Memorial – Demo
you like what? French emo? hmmm… guess that means I’ll have to put up yet another French band then! and it’s another winner, for sure. ofc it is. I wouldn’t put it on the blog if it didn’t rip! and this band certainly does rip. in a vastly different ways from most of the other French bands on this blog though. while this still has some twinkly stuff like the others, it is noticeably more aggressive and fast. they vary between emo violence and Orchid-ish hardcore/screamo, kind of like Palatka. and they do so by rapidly hitting the snare, thrashing the guitars, screaming and pretty much just tearing everything apart. while this demo doesn’t have the best production quality (it is after all a demo), the point certainly comes across. this is sooo gooooddd, and everyone needs to download it and give it a listen. you can buy the demo from their MySpace, and you should definitely consider doing so if you are a fand of outstandingly aggressive music. :)
Soup – Acoustic
for those of you who really liked the Soup album, here is a special treat for you – an acoustic version of My Justine! you will be sure to like this. if you on the other hand didn’t catch the Soup album when I uploaded it, download this anyway! give it a go! you might just like it. it’s a powerful track with dreamy lyrics and vocals. the flowing chord progression mesmerizes the listener, whilst the nice strings in the background makes sure that it is forced to place all its attention on the track. and the peculiar lyrics and wonderful vocals makes it want to be in the track. it’s just such a well done version of the song, it’s mind blowing. you need this. download it!
Kazan & After Taste Split
we all love French skram. so this is a split between no less than two(!) French skram bands. and from the crushing intro by After Taste to Kazan’s equally crushing outro, this is a real treat. and this is two rather different bands as well. After Taste are a highly atmospheric and progressive band with epic overtones. they create this tense and melancholic mood, yet they sound very big and pounding. lots of cymbals, heh. at times you feel like you are listening to a Bal-Sagoth of screamo or something. they even crash into full-blown metal parts. weeeee. I really like this band. they are incredibly diverse. one minute it’s acoustic, one minute it’s loud screamo with medieval undertones and then one minute it’s just crushing epic prog with heavy use of cymba. a pretty amazing band, to do the exact opposite of exaggerate. downbeat, upbeat, all-over-the-place-beat – whatever. this band masters it all. and it’s a privelige to be able to listen to this fantastic work. so you should DEFINITELY listen to it. a fucking perfect band. but this split does not consist of only two bands. there are two bands. two rather different bands as well. Kazan might sound similar at first. the first minute of their first track is pretty hands on French screamo. and though After Taste are an incredibly diverse band, you can always tell that it’s French screamo. and Kazan has that recognizable sound as well… for the first minute. then they go into a beautiful and soft folky part, that eventually progress into a metalcore-esque bit that could just as well had palm muting (it already has double bass pedals so), that climaxes into an epic screamo part, before it goes into the metalcore-esque part again, with some medieval undertones – like After Taste occasionaly has. it makes me want to play Warcraft II. simply amazing stuff. if only two bands in the world should have done a split, these two bands might very well be those two bands. whilst being different, they are both equally diverse and original. two such atmospheric bands are hard to come across. especially on the same record – making this a must have!
I.Witness – Live In Tomsk 02.05.09
if you liked Spray Paint the Sun, chances of you liking this are pretty high. the guitarists from SPtS are in this band as well. and you can tell. even though I.Witness’s sound is generally more upbeat, the lead guitars are noticeably dreamy, like in SPtS. but the chord progression is much faster, like in a hardcore band. but at the same time it is way twinkly and obviously screamo-tinged. the vocals are in between screamo and hardcore. so is the upbeat and dynamic drumming. everything is just a big blender of hardcore and hardcore-derived genres. including a huge crust factor. this is all the way through an interesting and highly worthy listen. aggressive and angry. despite being twinkly, I.Witness sounds nothing like midwest emo bands or the modern experimental screamo bands. this is a band that has much more in common with the neo crust sound albeit with some passages that are reminiscent of those experimental screamo bands. also be sure to check out the awesome Hüsker Dü cover!
Spray Paint The Sun – Still Alive In Tomsk 02.05.09
I generally have no idea about what these guys are singing about or anything else apart from the fact that they make good music – but that’s enough to earn them a spot on this blog. ultra-melodic and extremely creative. the highly original harmonies found on this album is something that deserves to be heard. while it’s not every day I listen to Russian rock, I will definitely listen to it more often after discovering this band. if not for the unique way the guitars interact, then for the shrieking vocals that will rival The Spirit of Versailles and Saetia any day. hell, this is even up there with Nacht und Nebel and Slave Whipping Blasphemy’s shrieking. pure awesomeness. the shrieking and guitar fighting is on top of an upbeat rhythm section that handles both tempo shifts and breakdowns more than properly. they are pretty much as adept at playing at 3000bpm as they are at playing at 3bpm. they mostly play in a mid-tempo but upbeat style, allowing the guitarists to steal the attention with their atmospheric and dreamy chord progressions. this is just an awesome album that needs to be heard. Russian screamo for the whole family.
LxExAxRxNx – ‘Till Death
if you haven’t guessed already by the misspelled album title – LxExAxRxNx are not an American band. it’s an Italian band playing American music. and they pull it off so magnificently! this album is really a split with Common Enemy. but appearing on this (my) version of it are only the LxExAxRxNx tracks. fourteen glorious tracks – including four covers. one of the bands they cover are 7 Seconds, and this makes perfect sense given how early era 7 Seconds they sound. it’s catchy and very fast, just like The Crew. so if you are into Negative Approach, Minor Threat, Degenarates, 7 Seconds and so on – definitely pick this up. it will make you a fan even before the first guitar solo. if you send an email to xtrustnoonex-AT-hotmail-DOT-it, you might even get this on a 7″. :)
LxExAxRxNx – First Lesson
being one of the most hard-hitting hardcore acts you’ll ever hear, LxExAxRxNx are a marvellous take on modern hardcore. despite being retro (how can hardcore not be?), this band has something fresh about them. the skate punk catchyness and energy combined with the thrashcore speed and intensity come together to a power violence a la Infest and Lack of Interest influenced call and response hardcore reminiscent of early AFI combined with early ’80s harDCore. does that even make sense to you? oh well, download it anyway. it’s awesome. don’t be fooled by the goofy name – they are great musicians. also notice the covers of Bestie Boys, Minor Threat, Gorilla Biscuits and Scholastic Deth. if you really dig, you can send an email to xtrustnoonex-AT-hotmail-DOT-it and request the 7″. it’s pretty cheap yo.
Navio Forge – As We Quietly Burn a Hole
I don’t know if anyone here are familiar with Fuel, Torches to Rome, Bread and Circuits and so on… but Navio Forge are in there. they were an emo band from California who only got this one release in ‘93 on Shadow Catcher. and what more is there to say other than it’s awesome? because it really is. this is definitely west coast emo influenced by east coast emo, like the Gravity and 31G bands. it’s noticably (a lot) heavier and more aggressive than the more artsy and twinkly stuff that was going on in the midwest. this is dynamic and heavy riffing, breakdowns, shouting, bass lines beating like a heart ready to explode and powerful utilizing of snares, hi-hat rolls and crash cymbals. there are no “remember when” lyrics a la midwest bands. instead there’s the cryptic yet somehow personal west coast stuff about being crippled, unable to see, being the flagship of moments of failed actions… you get it. there are some rather clever word-trickery in here that you should try to pay attention to. if not for the great poetry, then for the sheer passion, despair and anger – because this is traditional emo… so it’s angry. and you need to hear this, because I can’t properly explain how awesome it is anyway.
The Kidcrash – Jokes
with their 2006 demo, The Kidcrash stepped into the screamo world. with Jokes they take their screamo to new levels – a new world. the sound is noticeably more epic and progressive. there are much more breakdowns and a general display of understanding of how to employ dynamics to create a highly inventive and interesting sound that never seizes to amaze. and that is why you will simply have to download this! because it really is *that* good. such a diverse record… man.
The Kidcrash – Demo
it is with this demo The Kidcrash takes the step into screamo land. the guitars get even more twinkly as well as more dynamic. the vocals are like on the Goldie Hawn EP, only now they shout and scream most of the time. the drumming is much more dominant and technical… you know, modern screamo. this is a really good example of just that. this the sort of record you would put on if anyone asked «what does modern screamo sound like?» – *or* if you wanted to listen to a damn fine screamo album with awesome music! so get this.
The Kidcrash – I Haven’t Had A Date in 4 Years Goldie Hawn Goldie Hawn Goldie Hawn…
another post, another unique The Kidcrash release – YAY! this time around they still have some of those Drive-Thru riffs and overall catchyness. but they are louder, more dynamic and perhaps a bit up-close. this is evident especially in the vocals, which are vastly different from the vocals on New Ruins. on this EP they sound more like Matt Pryor or something. they demand more attention. and they shall receive! download this, and check it out.
The Kidcrash – New Ruins
you know that band that appears on a few splits on this page? that band who plays dynamic and build-up based screamo on one hand, then suddenly upbeat and energetic screamo instead? well this time around The Kidcrash does neither of these things. have we established a pattern yet? yes we have. namely, this band always sounds different. from release to release, if not from track to track. and New Ruins proves to not stray from this formula. at all. it is nothing but a fresh breath of air to your collection, no matter what “your collection” might entail. this is an album full of Drive-Thru-esque pop rock influences and an overall feeling of happiness. instantly catchy and full of positive energy, New Ruins is destined to be a classic. placing itself somewhere in between mainstream alternative bands like Taking Back Sunday, The Get Up Kids and Saves the Day, and European screamo bands like Aussitôt Mort, Daïtro, Raein and Belle Epoque (odd mix, yeah?) – New Ruins is something new and entirely original that needs to be heard. so download this album, and give it a go… or perhaps fifty or so listens. also, I know I usually say SUPPORT THESE ARTISTS… and I *do* want you to support all of the artists on this site by buying their stuff and so on… but do *not* buy this album. whatever you do, don’t buy it. because if you do – you are not supporting The Kidcrash, only another indie label trying to be a major label. you would actually support the band much more if you don’t purchase it. so there. download it instead.
Angora Static – LP
from the very first second, this album is guaranteed to impress you. it’s pretty much twenty six minutes of glorious melodies that reigns your stereo with all the power and dignity a monarch needs to have. this album will force you to drop anything you might be doing at the moment, and just pay attention. just listen. the wonderful ambient feedback and noises, the dueling guitars, the marching drums, the pulling bass, the passionate vocals… it’s all coming together so perfectly! this band is a symbiosis of hundreds of intricate, beautiful elements that fit together so nicely. the detailed and rich dynamics in their melodies are alone enough to make you unwilling to do anything ever but listen to this band.
Angora Static – EP
a fantastic screamo band in the vein of Saetia. that should be enough to make you want to download this, aye? this band has awesome skram, harmonic guitar battles, upbeat and at times jazzy drumming, and soft yet tough bass lines. the melancholic mood and sheer intensity this bands radiates is astonishing. it makes the mind wander into oblivion. the twinkly guitars are close to perfection! an overall majestic effort by Angora Static, whose beautiful and passionate music will definitely win you over. the insane amount of energy present in this recording will make you think to Beyond the Fences. Saetia + Beyond the Fences = win. get this.