Built on a Weak Spot

I was a bit less productive this week than I had planned. More snow here in KCMO, a rather long week of work, and the Royals continue to sign shitty worthless players like Scott Podsednik and Jason Kendall. Enough of that though, you’re not here to listen to me whine.

Got this split cassette awhile back, featuring two bands from the east coast in Michael Jordan (Brooklyn, NY) and Rainbow Party (Allentown, PA). Not hearing either of these prior to this release, I was initially intrigued by some samples I’d heard of Michael Jordan and led me to pick this up I’d say on start up tape label Nervous Attack. Michael Jordan contributes three songs to their side of the tape, and all have a satisfying unhinged emo/hardcore sort of sound and feel to them that I find myself liking more and more upon each listen. They have another cassette out as well, which I am beginning to think I should hear.

I kind of don’t know what to make of Rainbow Party. They make for a bit of an odd pairing here with their minimalist indie/post-punk that doesn’t take itself too seriously it would appear. I mean they do have a CD called Butt Jamz after all. Rainbow Party has four songs on their side, three of which are from a radio session live set. I suppose this isn’t my cup of tea, but if you’re looking for something a bit fun then you could probably do a whole lot worse.

Michael Jordan – I Don’t Want to Write This Song (stream)
Rainbow Party – F.P.S. (stream)

This is still available it appears through Nervous Attack, so if you’re enjoying it then definitely throw down the five dollars for it.

Perfect Future have an unfortunate name when it comes to entering it on Google trying to find information about them. You either get a ton of results for Autolux or you just get a bunch of people blabbering on about their own “perfect future” when telling it to search for those words as entered. The latter is actually quite fitting when getting down to what Perfect Future are trying to convey on their debut that presents an all too realistic view of life after you grow up a bit and enter the real world. For all of those results I end up seeing when searching for this band, you really do hope that their plans do work out, however for many you just know it won’t and this album captures the sort of letdown and compromise that comes with that rather well I’d say.

The music itself is a mix of the older Midwestern styled mathy sort of emo that popped up in the 90’s, although the band currently resides in Maryland. One interesting thing I noticed on the press release was that they cited the late and great Boston act Kolya, which was sort of nice as you don’t see their name enough in my opinion. Better yet though is that it’s fitting for the sort of vibe that Perfect Future are dealing in here and that’s certainly a good thing. Perfect Future seems to be a bit less technical, however incorporate a few interesting and random acoustic sounds into their songs that give it a bit of different spin. It’s definitely enjoyable if you’re into this sort of thing.

Perfect Future – In Hopes [MP3]

The bands self-titled debut is a joint release between Count Your Lucky Stars and Strictly No Capital Letters in the UK. So depending on your locale, check out either of those to pick up the record if you like what you hear.

This is a fine little seven song 12” EP that I’ve been sitting on for awhile from the Polish group Setting the Woods on Fire, which also serves as the bands debut in fact. When it was passed along to me originally I think I was kind of prepared to hear some sort of high tempo retread screamo nonsense, but was met with something a whole lot better. Setting the Woods on Fire kind of tiptoe around the area of early to mid-nineties emo, but this carries a bit heavier post-grunge feel to it than what I think you’d typically hear with something like this. With that I mean the guitars sound plentiful without them really being so, while still creating these big loud ringing sheets of distortion from time to time giving the impression that they might have more than few amps or so around them. It’s the sort of slowed down meaty influenced rock that kind of dominated the previous decade, but without some of the cheesier aspects that occasionally came with it. Solid stuff throughout from this outfit, look forward to hearing more. In the meantime do check out a tune from the bands self-titled EP below out now on Promise! Promise!.

Setting the Woods on Fire – It Ends Today [MP3]

For those interested in picking the album up it appears to be available currently only through strictly no capital letters in the UK. I think they have or had plans to get this available in the US. It is available digitally through the usual suspects Emusic, Amazon, etc. if anyone prefers to go that route or seek as an alternative.

Coincidentally Castevet was recommended to me awhile back, before Summer Fences was even out and appeared in my mailbox a week or so ago. I think at the time they just had a small demo floating around titled I Know What a Lion Is, which for the most part sat well with me while at the same time reminding me of various past Midwestern emo acts that spanned the early to mid nineties. No need to name them, you all pretty much know. The bands debut is being handled by Count Your Lucky Stars which from the looks of it are doing their damnedest to breathe as much life into the genre as they can. I’d say at this point they’ve done a fairly nice job in their choosing of titles for release. However Castevet, when it’s all said and done, could very well be their wisest one.

I am always a bit weary when I see bands attempting to mine the musical landscape of the Midwest during that time. It’s kind of a sentimental thing, but at the same time I’ve heard so many bands that suffer from incredible boredom because of it. Being mopey/nostalgic and playing in that Kinsella-esque twinkly guitar style doesn’t just always work right out of the box. Castevet have obviously studied long and hard before laying down the initial sounds that would become Summer Fences and have managed to blend in other areas of the genre as well. The gruff beard punk flavored vocals for example caught me off guard when I first listened to the band, but really work well while offsetting the cleaner sounding aspects of the band production wise adding a bit of authenticity that I think a lot bands of this style seem to lack. There really isn’t much else that needs to said, if you’re reading you know what this may sound like and know if you’ll like it or not. If it’s your thing, definitely check out the tune below. I highly suggest it.

Castevet – Plays One On TV [MP3]

For those interested in picking up Summer Fences, then just head on over to Count Your Lucky Stars. It’s also available digitally for anyone that cares to go that route. Enjoy!

It looks as if Rapid Cities is almost set to release their debut album Machinery Saints, as they have a record release show planned for the end of May from what I can tell. Even so, the album should be out sometime this spring through Look Again Media. With that being the case, it seems like as good of time as any to post a little bit about the band/record.

The band is based out of New Brunswick, New Jersey and has released a 3-song demo prior to their upcoming album thus far. Rapid Cities are another band making good in the post-hardcore/emo terrain and it’s definitely nice to hear more and more of this coming out these days. While the band seems to be more or less drawing from the early 90’s DC era, there are definitely hints here and there to west coast acts like DLJ, Tanner, etc mixing in a nice mathy sort of flavor to coincide with the records number of strong melodies within. As good as Machinery Saints is, I actually think the album gets better as it progresses with the band taking hold and showcasing much more musicianship than one would maybe expect from a band of their nature. It’s definitely impressive. Anyway, check out a track from the album below.

Rapid Cities – In My Mind [MP3]

Keep checking in at the bands MySpace or at Look Again Media for updates on the records release. Or if you’re in the area of New Brunswick, hit up the bands record release show on the 30th of May.

After reading a small blurb on this band/album over at Sound as Language my interest was somewhat peaked. Anything that considers itself firmly rooted in the strong run of mid-nineties emo will probably always get a listen or two around these parts, so hearing this album certainly became a priority. After getting a chance to sit down and do just that I will say that it certainly wasn’t being misleading in the least. Joie de Vivre has a passion and that passion is emo and what it used to be. More notably the slow meandering type that graced such rosters as Caulfield and Crank! during that period. Think Mineral, Boys Life, etc. This is pretty much where Joie de Vivre are operating on their recently released EP Summer Months and they are doing it pretty damn well if you ask me.

These days I am sure the term “emo” probably makes many people cringe or even worse sets them off into an uncontrollable rage. Trust me, I can certainly understand why. However, if there were more bands like Joie de Vivre to carry the torch from when the genre was more about passion and pure expression, then well…the same people that hated it then would certainly hate it…but those of us out there that couldn’t get enough of this type of music in the 90’s will gladly welcome Joie de Vivre with open arms. Give them a listen if you will.

Joie de Vivre – That’s the Hot Part [MP3]

For those interested in picking up Summer Months then it can be purchased through their MySpace or at Count Your Lucky Stars Records. Enjoy!

Aside from a very limited demo tape, this was the first release from KC’s Proudentall. Although released probably when most Midwestern emo acts were ending their runs, this 7-inch in particular fit right along with the sort of sound that Boys Life and Giants Chair pretty much perfected during the mid-nineties. Proudentall would later release an album in 2000 titled What’s Happening Here, which is worth checking out although by that point they had sort of moved away from the raw stuttering rhythms they presented here on this 7-inch. Anyway, here is the Snowed Skyline single for everyone’s listening pleasure (I hope).

Proudentall – Snowed Skyline [MP3]
Proudentall – Island [MP3]

Their album is still very much available through Amazon both used and new. So give it a go if you like the tunes above. Enjoy!

This is a short but nice 7-inch compilation put out by Caulfield Records in 1993. I think most of the tracks would later appear on other releases, although possibly re-recorded. Really the only reason I digitized this in the first place was to have a decent version of the Sideshow track that is contained on it because it’s pretty good and as far as I know it doesn’t make an appearance anywhere else, or at least on anything that I have by them.

Sideshow – Consume [MP3]
Germbox – Seed [MP3]
Mercy Rule – Summer [MP3]
Molly McGuire – On a Frog’s Fog [MP3]

For anyone that wants to check out any other releases by the artists featured here or anything else on the fantastic Caulfield roster over the years, then there are still plenty of copies both used and new of releases available on Amazon. Also, a good portion of the labels catalog is online digitally through Emusic and the like. So pick something up if you’re enjoying what you hear. Be back tomorrow.

Another sad and unfortunate tragedy of the Grass to Wind-Up Records switchover in the late 90’s was the promising Milwaukee, WI based indie-rock/emo outfit Loomis. After burning through a couple bassists in the bands earlier stages the group settled on the lineup of Mike Chubbuck (vocals/guitar), Dave Kawczynski (guitar), Chris Rosenau (bass), and Eric Marshall (drums). Although being based in WI, the band played a very similar sound to that of the Chapel Hill bands of the same era (Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, etc), but maybe with a bit less of the quirky nature of most of those. Instead they opted for some of the big melody approach of the Midwestern indie/emo bands of the time as well. While the combination didn’t really do enough to make them stand out, their lone 1996 album You’re No Tiger Meow, Meow, Meow released on Grass Records contained plenty of fine songs that should have and still could interest those that consider themselves fans of this type of thing. Solid all the way around, even if it isn’t something completely new or that hasn’t been done before. The band also released a few singles throughout their run together. Some of the odds and ends of the bands discography were collected on the 1999 2 disc compilation How Much is Too Much released on Sun Sea Sky Productions. Anyway, for those interested here are a few tracks from their fine 1996 album You’re No Tiger Meow, Meow, Meow.

Loomis – Conquistador [MP3]
Loomis – Kung Fu Girl [MP3]
Loomis – Pillow [MP3]

Like I mentioned earlier, the band was ultimately left in the dust after Grass eventually morphed into Wind-Up. Loomis was in the process of recording new songs during the time of the switch; however the band split up not long after being dropped from the label. Since then the band has reunited once back in December of 2006 with fellow reunited Milwaukee greats Compound Red and Alligator Gun. Talks of newly recorded/re-recorded songs surfaced both before and after the show, but have since been quiet for a little over a year now. Regardless, for those interested in their one and only album and are digging the tunes above by all means head on over to Amazon and snatch up one of the many used copies available for cheap. Good stuff.

Just to get this out of the way, this is not the same band that is from New York and has released some records on Victory in the past. In fact, I sadly don’t know a whole lot about this Shutdown other than the basics. I do know that in their earlier stages they were a hardcore band from the UK however progressively ventured further towards a more melodic post-hardcore/emo sound. The band released the pictured album Icarus around 1996 on Golf Records. Shutdown might have already been defunct by that point; if they weren’t then they didn’t last much longer after this release. As far as I know they also had a self-titled 12’’ on Off the Disk records released in 1991 and one other album on Golf that I have absolutely no clue of its whereabouts, title, or year of release. If any of the readers out there know anything to help fill in the gaps for Shutdown, then by all means leave a comment or two. It would be very much appreciated. One other notable item is that the UK based label Boss Tuneage released a compilation of non album material a few years ago spanning the years 1990-1995, and that is still widely available.

As for Icarus, compared to the bands earlier material it still has a strong influence from late eighties/early nineties hardcore however by this point the band was more in line to comparables like Quicksand and earlier Shift. In fact the production and guitar tone on Icarus reminds me a lot of the latter. But anyway, this is definitely worth taking a look at.

Update: Reader Pete from the UK sent me a very informative e-mail about the band a day after this was posted, here is what he had to say…

“You’re right about Icarus… it came out very late 96 if memory serves but
the group disbanded mid-late 97. I’m still unsure on the reasons, wasn’t like a
major thing just a natural ending. Icarus was barely promoted to the extent you’d
hardly know it existed. Plastichead distribution who ran Golf were pretty slack to
say the least. They put more energy into the other Golf bands (mostly pop
punk/rubbish hardcore). The other Shutdown album you know nothing about was called
‘Emits a Real Bronx Cheer‘ & although it has no date on it I’m certain is was
released in early 95? I listened to all their output last year & decided this album
was their high point. Its a perfect blend of uptempo melodic h/c with the DC
influence & their ‘post h/c’ tendencies.”

Many thanks to Pete for helping out!

Shutdown – Kerbdrill [MP3]
Shutdown – Beacon [MP3]

Despite its import status, there are still copies of Icarus floating around on Amazon, Ebay, etc. I imagine for those that live in the UK that the album is pretty easy to find. Also, be sure to check out Boss Tuneage for the earlier mentioned retrospective of their non album material.