is it cool to like or dislike folk punk? I forgot again. regardless of this though, Adam Bennett plays Dylan-esque folk punk/rock. it’s back to basics with Adam. a man and his guitar. and what a voice the man has! I must say… this bloke sure has pipes. reminds me of Black 47. as for his handling of the guitar, it is highly efficient. he knows how to strum and pick, and he knows how to write catchy chord progressions… with lyrics about why war sucks. it’s always struck me as awkward to talk about the catchyness of the song when the words are that serious. but this is music after all. ajd if Adam Bennett truly wants to «change the world through song», then his songs need to be really great. and though I do not know whether these songs will change the world by themselves, they certainly enhanced my world when I listened to them.
archive for the ‘folk punk’ category
Adam Bennett – These Machines
Thursday, March 10th, 2011Mega Games – Let in These Hands to Hold
Thursday, June 10th, 2010if you remember The Mega Games Two, you remember them fondly. I put up their début here ages ago. now – they are back! but the two have become the three, so gone is the name. instead of going “The Mega Games Three” or “The Mega Games Two Plus One”, they’ve settled on Mega Games. possibly to prevent future name crises? either way, they are back. now with drums! the reborn Mega Games’ début is ten minutes long, and consists of four truly great folk punk tracks. not as furious as some of the other folk punk up on this blog, but just as passionate. carefully composed messes of crashing cymbals, uplifting melodica, galloping guitar and soaring vocals. check out this awesome Southampton three-piece! you won’t be disappointed.
Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains – …Is Dead
Friday, May 21st, 2010eighteen songs that take forty-two minutes to listen through – this is probably the most valuable of all Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains collection, and it’s also the last post I’ll do on them. for those missing Chaos Infiltration Squad and Love Songs for the Apocalypse – this record is those records combined. with deliciously supreme recording quality (especially compared to the earlier posts), this is probably the ultimate record by this band. if you’re a casual fan or an emerging folk punk fan, this is the record to get. if you’re a omg zuper fan – you’ll obviously want to get all the records by them that I’ve blogged… but prepare to be paying this one the most attention though. partially due to the recording quality, partially due to it containing eighteen tracks and consequently being the biggest song collection. as for the style of music – it’s basically the same formula as on the other records. it’s energetic and catchy folk punk that somehow manages to be both nonchalant yet passionate; snarky and nihilist; ugly though brilliant. you’ll want this. get get get it! (I’ve been playing a fair deal of Skate 3 lately… – it’s a disappointment, if you were wondering.)
Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains – Live at Bandit H.Q.
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010as the album title evidence, this is a live take of Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains. it’s a split with Captain Chaos (Chris of Plan-It-X), but the songs appearing in this post are merely Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains’ side of the matter. that side consists of five songs that are c.a. sixteen and a half minutes long in total. all of the songs apart from one appears on one or more of the older posts, so this post is for you guys who can’t get enough of Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains. again, apologies for those of you who do not really care for this style of music. anyway, this live take has really good recording quality and is well worth checking out. the great thing about anything Pat the Bunny is involved with is how energetic the live shows are, with Pat and the audience screaming their lungs out as if a competition was going on. this is just really, really great, so check it out.
Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains – Sunday Easter Hangover
Monday, May 10th, 2010another shortie. three songs, fifteen minutes. one of which appeared on the previous post (“New Mexico”). you know the drill by now. it’s Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains. it’s folk punk. acoustic guitar, trumpet, harmonica and shouting about the revolution etc. I don’t want to belittle this shit, because it truly is awe-inspiring – but there’s only so much detail I can put into the description of the music itself. it’s folk punk. catchy and memorable protest songs. this release even has fairly good recording quality, so there will be no annoying compromising of these beautiful songs! which is pretty great, because you cannot possibly listen to these songs without getting inspired and agog. so put these nihilist punk songs on, and dream of the future with Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains. «you wish the world was clean but I’m in love with the way it’s dirty.»
Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains – Caught in the Act of Not Being Awesome
Friday, May 7th, 2010ok this is where the Johnny Hobo and The Freight Trains discography gets mildly confusing to me. I have no release year on this record, and there are highly conflicting rumours going around on forums. I must admit I’m a bit lost at the order and release dates by now (already), and even the legitimacy of the release. for all I know this is a fan-made collection of unreleased songs. but it sounds like it’s merely a live concert, but at the end of the songs there’s a studio take of parts of the song? it’s a bit weird. three of the songs are on Anarchy Means I Hate You, but this concert has no drum machine, no nothing. it’s just a man and his guitar… and what sounds like a stand up bass, but it’s sort of hard to tell, because it’s rather awkward-sounding in the mix. sometimes it sounds like it’s a drum? wtf? yeah. but thankfully the guitar and vocals both get across perfectly. so if you are interested in hearing Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains cursing the world live, then you should definitely get this release. the nihilist folk invasion continues, and will continue to continue over quite a few more posts. if you’re one of them who don’t like folk punk: sorry! if you like folk punk: you’re welcome!
Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains – All Power to the Wingnuts!
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010moving on with the Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains discography, here’s All Power to the Wingnuts! and with it comes fast and catchy chord progressions on an acoustic guitar, with passionate screamed vocals – all culminating in an anthem sound, perfected by the bittersweet sense of beauty found in the trumpet. containing three songs that are just over seven minutes, it’s a short affair. but(!) the quality of those three songs that are just over seven minutes, will undoubtedly leave you craving more. so stay tuned for the next update!
Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains – Anarchy Means I Hate You
Monday, May 3rd, 2010ever since I uploaded Wingnut Dishwashers Union, I’ve been getting a lot of requests to upload Johnny Hobo and the Freight Train’s discography. and while this has always been my intention, I just never got started. so here you go folks. here I am… getting started. I hope I have everything in the correct order, but I’m not 100% sure, and I can’t ask Pat because he’s in rehab (we’re rooting for you, bud), so don’t get mad if I fuck up the order. at least my heart is in the right place. at least I’m uploading *everything* by Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains for you! and I’m starting with this record, entitled Anarchy Means I Hate You. for those of you who haven’t ever heard of Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains, they are one of the ultimate newer American folk bands. negative, nihilist and anarchist train hopping acoustic folk punk. keep in mind that this is a demo (I think), so the production value is somewhat lacking in places (the drums), but the ideas and the manner in which they are performed more than saves this record. these songs are genuinely worth listening to, for their spiteful and clever lyrics, the energetic performances and the simply catchy guitar hooks! get this, and start looking forward to the next post.
New Year’s Revolution – Demo!!
Monday, January 18th, 2010this is a folk punk group from Conneticut that just recently signed to BirthQuake Records, for whom they are working on a split 7″ with Wood Spider and a split cassette with Sidewalk Dave. their line-up on this demo consists of an acoustic guitar, a ‘cello and vocals. the ‘cello adds an unusual amount of warmth and depth to the usual folk punk formula of angry though catchy acoustic guitar and passionate shouting. this band is cosy and warm like Greenland is Melting, yet upset and eager like Grapefruit or The Mega Games Two. so download this twenty minute folk explosion and give it the listen it thoroughly deserves.
Wingnut Dishwashers Union – Never Trust A Man Who Plays Guitar!
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009Wingnut Dishwashers Union are a band that constantly changes members. it’s a union. it plays songs composed by “Pat the Bunny”. on this album it’s mostly just himself playing clearly upset folk punk on his guitar whilst shouting about life and all its peculiarities. there are a slight case of the drums and some horns and other instruments making the occasional guest appearance, though not shifting really focus from sound delivery that is the acoustic guitar, nor the eager anarchist shouting. the cleverly engineered line “a punk rock song won’t ever change the world, but I can tell you of a couple that changed me” pretty much sums this up. let this change you! download at once!