this band might be ten years too late, or it might have come at the perfect time to bring both nostalgia and a breath of fresh air at the same time to screamo. with a sound situated somewhere between Saetia and I Hate Myself and other screamo dinosaurs, it’s somewhat strange to have your first release in 2010. but it might just be the perfect time for this band to emerge. soft guitars twinkle and sparkle into raw and dissonant almost metal riffs. the vocals and lyrics are do not to escape their ’90s/early ’00s screamo influences. instead they hug them tight. and just like Saetia, Lizards Have Personalities operate on the very verge of bringing the lulz – yet somehow manage to just avoid it. if only barely. this in itself is quite the amazing feat though. dealing with these kind of lyrics and vocals you have to make sure to not go over the top, but how do you do that when it’s already so ludicrously over the top? I don’t know. but I’m glad that Lizards Have Personalities can scream «while staring at the ceiling, I was overwhelmed by the feeling – I am certain that I am alone» with a straight face, without me rofling. I am very much pleased that the deeply personal and semi-poetic lyrics maintain a notion of believability. because this is indeed awesome music. comparable to the beforehand mentioned dinosaurs and perhaps slightly to I Would Set Myself on Fire for You. it’s dynamic and ambitious screamo. get it!
archive for February, 2010
Cut Short – Cut Short
Monday, February 8th, 2010everyone should be more than familiar with this band by now. this is their self titled seven inch, available from http://bythehammerofthor.bigcartel.com/product/cut-short-7 – and you might just want to pick it up, because this shreds pretty hard. it’s hard, fast and heavy hardcore. it borrows a great deal from the metallic hardcore legends of the ’80s and ’90s and then forge it into some sort of magical fairy dust which they sprinkle onto their modern hardcore sound. at least that’s what they said on Behind the Scenes: Cut Short on VH1 last night. anyway, this is mostly self-loathing and critical lyrics shouted in a rather angry manner over caustic guitars and heavy drumming. it’s pissed off hardcore. download this and get the rest of the Cut Short records if you haven’t already. this is one sick band with indisputable technical abilities who also happen to be highly gifted lyricists… and quite pissed off.
Damages – Love’s Labor
Monday, February 8th, 2010Damages are a hardcore band from Michigan, not an emo band from Vancouver, just to clear that up right away. the lyrics, emotion and aggressiveness might as well come from an emo band though. «it’s hard to think when your heart is on the floor», and it’s hard to think when you put this record on. six songs clocking in in less than ten minutes, all of which with thrash riffs, fast drumming and emotive shouting throughout each track. I can fully understand why this band is touring with Cut Short, an equally pissed off band. this is one of the most believable hardcore records I have ever spun, and I am actually listening to it on repeat as I am writing this. one time is simply not enough. this is sort of like your lungs are giving out… for nine minutes and twenty seconds… and then when they finally cave, you want to experience it all over again.
mapadelmundo – demo
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010Kazakhstan is a country that most of us western folk don’t really know much about, save from what we were taught from Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan – and something tells me that it’s slightly inaccurate. so what better way to broaden your all too narrow horizons then, but downloading this marvellous Kazakh screamo band? none. if you are from Kazakhstan or thereabouts and consequently probably not half as ignorant to it as we to the west might be, or if you are from the west and the promise of a broadened horizon simply isn’t enough for you to check these guys out – then rest assured all of you. the music is actually awesome. what a coincidence, heh. this is a filthy mess of noise. raw and untamed screamo. loud drumming and hard guitars with insane howling on top. the sound ranges from tight death punk to twinkly guitar-driven interludes to wild sprinting screamo almost akin to mamma, jeg blör… in terms of crudeness. so if you are a tender soul, I advise you to tread carefully. you stand at risk of having your brains blown out and your heart ripped apart. this stuff leaves an everlasting mark. get it! it even has a Mineral reference in there!
Castevet – Summer Fences
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010if you managed to catch the Castevet upload some posts down from this, you are already familiar with this band and so you have already clicked on the download link without even bothering to consult my write up as to what they sound like. and that’s a good move, because if you liked the original post, you’ll like this as well. all three songs from the demo are on this album – and so are five other magnificent tracks. but for those of you not yet acquainted with Castevet, the reason you should bother with this album is the freshness and intensity it offers. in the previous post I compared them to American Football and The Appleseed Cast’s skill but with Cap’n Jazz and Small Brown Bike’s raw energy, and some little hints of each of the soft, intricate and mesmerising ’90s emo bands. this band essentially sounds like it’s aiming at representing a perfect blend of everything that was good about emo in ’90s. that is a highly ambitious task, though one which they fortunately largely succeed in. lyrically, this band is sparse though clever, singing about inadequacy, apathy and the feeling of everything being in vain. the well beyond dreamy melodies fit these often melancholic lyrics perfectly. downhearted lyrics followed by downbeat build-ups, interludes or conclusions is an ingenious formula. and whenever Castevet seizes the opportunity to break out of this pattern, in favour of blistering melodies and optimistic lyrics about breaking out of the pattern ones life is about to become, all of which characterized by a sugar rush influenced approach to harmonies – it’s even more brilliant. they even sound quite the bit like Age Sixteen at these particular moments – and it’s amazing. this album is amazing. download it! and buy it from http://www.cylsrecords.com – where it to my knowledge is priced at $10, which is well worth it. even the cover of this album is great (it has a deer on it!), so there are as far as I’m concerned no excuses. you need to own this.
Teens – Teens
Monday, February 1st, 2010from the very first chord it gets apparent that this band’s name is very well fitting. though it’s acoustic guitars, you’ll have to be robbed of any form of imagination if you aren’t able to picture this with distorted electric guitars and fast drumming – and voilà, you have your archetypical teenage high-school punk rock band. it’s something sort of optimistic and carefree about the chords. it puts you in a good mood. however, this band is so much more than that. there is something dark and ultimately incredibly sad to these tunes recorded in the cold New Jersey winter. the screamed vocals, minor chords and intense feeling of melancholy makes for a serious atmosphere. this has to be experienced. so if you are into Henry Bemis Is A Superhero – get this. if you haven’t heard HBIAS, then get this – then get HBIAS. this whole acoustic screamo thing seems to be blowing up here on that’s punk… and I don’t mind, because this is really amazing stuff. emotional and gripping lo-fi acoustic guitar driven screamo. download it!