picking up where I left with Spraynard – this is their first full length album. and it’s extraordinary. full fucking throttle all the way, and heartfelt like few others. «keep holding on to everyone that makes us happy» – Spraynard make me happy.
archive for the ‘emo’ category
Spraynard – Cut and Paste
Thursday, October 6th, 2011Spraynard – Split with Break the Habit
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011yes. I *am* still alive. barely. but alive. and here’s more Spraynard. they still fucking rule so hard, so I’m still posting them. sing along forever. I love Spraynard.
Spraynard – Split with Captain, We’re Sinking
Monday, September 12th, 2011that’s punk is very infrequent with its updates these days, but when there actually is an update, you can expect pristine quality. and I’m picking up right where I left you – with Spraynard. they are *that* awesome. these three songs are from a split they did with the band Captain, We’re Sinking. it blasts off with the vocals spitting «it’s a nice day for a walk in the past», which is extremely fitting, given that you will already have the first track if you downloaded the demo. the other two tracks are new though. and just as good! feel the energy, and let the warmth flood your body and take you to a better place.
Spraynard – Demo
Friday, September 2nd, 2011I’m taking time off my busy schedule to share one of my favourite bands at the moment. I am talking about Spraynard. they play some truly amazing stuff. there’s some Ergs-ish punk rock, some American Steel-ish orgcore, but most of all it’s Snowing-ish emo. in fact, Spraynard are from Pennsylvania as well, so I’m thinking it’s not completely coincidental just how much like Snowing Spraynard actually sound. but similarities aside, Spraynard are Spraynard. and despite that they obviously owe The Lawrence Arms some of their riffs back (who doesn’t), they manage to stand out. there’s a million bands with gruff vocals, catchy power chords and so on. you all know what I’m talking about, right? the whole gritty but pretty sound. and what makes Spraynard stand out is due to their biggest strength – the feeling you get when you listen to them. this is per se not anything unique. this is actually the same exact reason Snowing stand out. but fuck it. Spraynard aren’t inventing nor re-inventing the wheel. they are playing some stellar punk rock, full of angst. buy it here: http://www.spraynard.net/
Quiritatio – Yana
Monday, July 25th, 2011earlier this month I was lucky enough to be at Quiritatio’s reunion. it was a glorious affair! a simply put fantastic gig. at which I was also able to obtain one of the represses of the Yana 7″. if you don’t know about this, it’s an old release, from 2006, long since sold out, and later repressed. so to coincide with their reunion, here’s an MP3 copy of Yana! if you know Quiritatio, you know this is amazing. if you don’t know Quiritatio, *get* to know them right here and now. the lyrics tell the story of Yana, and the music tells the story of Yana and Quiritatio both.
Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) – Home After Three Months Away
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011it was only yesterday you got your last e! e! fix, but you are dying for some more, right? well, here’s today. here’s more. here’s more melancholic twinkling; here’s more depressingly yelped lyrics; here’s more e! e! and it’s a little different from their previous output. it’s still meticulous word choices delivered by closed lips, as pointed out in the first track. it’s still brooding and depressing in every which way. but it’s more poignant. there are fewer instrumental parts. there are no four-six minute sadness exhibitions. but it still has that brooding quality. it still sounds like crying in slow motion; it still sounds like e! e! nostalgic and melancholic music as well as lyrics that read like intricate short stories with dense symbolism. the lyrics seemingly have no real message or plot or motive. instead, they document memorable occasions or feelings. «the end of this trip birthed us with uncertainty of what to do next» perfectly summarizes the effect the lyrics have. each song is a trip, and each song leaves you with uncertainty. but know this for certain – you need to download this as soon as possible.
Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) – SXSW Promo
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011it’s been a busy summer. and I’m supposed to be refreshing a deep and secret corner of my mind – the one that deals with matrices and trigonometry. but instead I’m updating that’s punk for once. it needs this update. come August, I’ll hopefully have way more time to post here, so I can shorten that damned queue. anyway… this is a new Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) song. new as in new to this blog and maybe to you, but not as in newly released. if you know e! e! you’ve already pressed the download button and don’t give a shit about my opinion about this track. if you haven’t heard e! e! before, you should probably consider hitting that download button straight away, because this is golden. e! e! are at heart an unashamed Mineral worship band. but a body needs more than a heart to function, so there’s plenty of other organs dedicated to make e! e! an interesting band in their own right. albeit an interesting band highly comparable to Mineral. is that such a bad thing? shamelessly ripping off Mineral is a good thing in my book. because that means brooding compositions with lots of feedback, pretty and imaginative guitar twinkling, off-key emotive vocals, creative drumming and bass lines that are increasingly rewarding to devote attention to, and melancholic and cleverly brooding and delivered lyrics. there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be like Mineral if you are a good band, and e! e! are a *really* good band. this song will wash over you again and again.
Dominic – Dominic
Sunday, June 26th, 2011Norwegian screamo champions Dominic are back! and they’re marching forth in their easily recognisable style. anthem-y compositions carried by melodic guitars, and frantic cymbals-reliant drumming with a loud snare, with shouted and screamed vocals that somehow manages to come off as both passionate and catchy (as opposed to just contrived and annoying). Dominic have it all figured out. this is a two song 7″, and so there isn’t a whole lot more to write for a Dominic superfan like me. they do what they’re supposed to do – blow me the fuck away with epic instrumental parts that kamikaze into shouting and desperation clothed by a heavy fucking mess. don’t get me wrong though, it’s not *that* heavy or messy. in fact, I’ve seen a lot of reviewers reacting negatively to Dominic being too “soft” to be this or that [fairly average but for some reason insanely popular on the Internet] band. well, I doubt Dominic tries being either of those bands. nor do I think Dominic are trying to be tough guy hardcore and have crush chugga-chugga breakdowns. this is purposefully melodic and pretty music. Dominic play bleak and misanthropic, but gorgeous music. check this out as soon as you can! buy it from http://apocaplexy.blogspot.com/2011/05/preorder-dominic-st-7-lentic-waters-st.html if you can.
My Own Pine Box – Discography
Friday, May 27th, 2011this is a band I should I have posted *ages* ago. (back when I posted Agna Moraine’s Autobiography.) My Own Pine Box are a quite unique band. despite not being popular at all back in the day, they play a sort of mellow and pretty emo that everyone loves nowadays. it’s generally quite upbeat with intricate guitar work and vocal harmonies. essentially this is a very common style of emo that has been played to death, and there are hundreds of bands doing it. however, few of them do it with such poising grace as My Own Pine Box. unlike, let’s say, Cap’n Jazz, they are a poignant, and have a uniform motion. but they still have a floating quality, and are generally very chest-tap-friendly. most songs are around two minutes long. they go very well together, but have definite unique qualities. if I had to compare them to any other bands I might pick Agna Moraine’s Autiobiography. they sound quite like a much more mellow continuation of that stuff. in any event My Own Pine Box has a fairly unique take on the emo genre, one that I find difficult to pinpoint. just check it out for yourself.
Beau Navire – Life Moves
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011Beau Navire’s curse is that they’ll always be compared to their members ex-bands. and that’s quite simply because Beau Navire often sounds like the beautiful dwelling of iwrotehaikusaboutcannibalisminyouryearbook crescendoing into Loma Prieta. if that description is appealing to you, you’ll love Beau Navire. if it sounds like shit, you’ll hate Beau Navire. obviously and thankfully there’s more to Beau Navire than that, but that’s definitely an okay way to describe the fundamental sound here. but like haikus, Beau Navire has a distinct atmosphere that separates them from everyone else. and even though the core sound is so easily described, each individual track has its own unique identity. Beau Navire do something completely different but equally amazing on each and every song. so despite that the core sound is in all fairness simple enough, let me assure you that the song structures are not. each song feels like a magical journey of emotion and passion, each journey different than the previous. I can’t pick out “the best songs”, because this whole album is a journey in itself. everything belongs together. everything needs to be precisely like this. everything is perfect.