Sixto - Sixto

Formed out of the ashes of the brilliant Dis- (see my post on them here) in 1997, singer/guitarist Chris Fuller formed Sixto with former Travis members Matt Scholl and Craig Hutler along with Chris Manfrin who spent time in Seam. The band released one full-length album in 2001 that was Self-Titled on the Milwaukee based Star Star Stereo label before eventually disbanding not long afterward.

Although their existence was brief, their one album is worth tracking down or picking up if you run across it. There are definitely some compelling influences that work with each other successfully in a way I wouldn’t have originally thought until hearing it, combining the styling of early 80’s post-punk/no wave with the more bombast approach of arena rock. Not necessarily the most enticing thing on paper maybe, but Sixto pulls it off quite nicely. Fuller’s near emotionless vocals are a perfect fit for the type of post-punk sound that dominates the record. One of the interesting aspects of it though is that while Fuller’s voice lends itself to the cold and monotonous style that comes with the genres territory, it’s ultimately the dual guitar work that gives it an unexpected liveliness and almost mathy quality. The disc is definitely worth listening to for anyone that were fans of any of the members’ previous bands, if anything it’s an interesting take on a couple different styles of music.

Sixto – The Asphalt Audience [MP3]
Sixto – The Naughty Mime [MP3]

For anyone looking to pick up Sixto’s self-titled album there are still multiple used copies available on Amazon for a pretty good price. Definitely grab a copy if you like the tunes posted above.

Placer...

Since I’ve highlighted both Slughog and Barbaro in the past on the blog, I figured it makes sense to go ahead to give a full post to the next step for Andrew Schneider and his band Placer. While time together was brief, the band did release one full-length through Dopamine Records titled Summer and after a couple lineup changes the band eventually disappeared.

Formed not long after calling Barbaro quits, Schneider rounded up fellow musicians Kate McGlaughlin and Pat Gleason to form Placer, whom partly appear on Summer. However, the lineup was quickly shifted to that of Tom Korkidis (Alienist Outfit, On Fire), Michael Ushinski (Barbaro, Stricken for Catherine), and Jeff Turlik (Stompbox, Milligram). To me Placer always sounded like a continuation of Barbaro in a lot of ways, except maybe a bit more drawn out and with a few more odd rhythmic changes that reminded me a bit of Shiner especially when combined with the bands unabashed love for low end. Their album Summer I thought was pretty good, albeit maybe a bit repetitive and slow churning for it’s own good. However, for those that enjoyed Barbaro I don’t think there is much to dislike about it.

The band was around for a little while after the release of Summer, making the move to New York sometime during that period. While in the process the lineup for the band was completely overhauled and scaled back to a trio. Ethan Dussault (Garrison) and J.R. Conners (Cave-In) filled in on bass and drums respectively, but as mentioned before they drifted into obscurity after that. Both Schneider and Dussault do recording work these days for the most part it seems like.

Placer – The Drag [MP3]
Placer – Fly [MP3]

The bands album Summer is still available through Dopamine Records for as little as five bucks, so I recommend anyone that digs what they here to definitely go over there and pick it up. Enjoy!

Cold Water Flat...

So as of this week I can officially consider myself part of the working force again, which I am extremely excited about. I’ve been off for longer than I’d like to admit, so it feels good to finally be back and doing something I enjoy. I don’t think the blog will suffer any from it as I do most of my updating very late at night or very early in the morning; however you want to look at it. I’ve lined up about 10 or so updates for the next couple weeks, so everything should continue as normal. With that said, on with the tunes…


I am going to venture a guess and say that there are at least a few others out there like me that were turned on to Cold Water Flat through their connection to Buffalo Tom. Cold Water Flat’s guitarist and vocalist Paul Janovitz is the brother of Buffalo Tom lead man Bill Janovitz, which forms that interesting little connection. Unsurprisingly there are some similarities between the two bands in terms of sound, along with Paul and Bill sounding somewhat alike vocally as well. For the most part if you were a fan of one of the two bands then you in all likelihood did or would like the other one.

Cold Water Flat was formed around 1990 and released two pretty solid albums. Their first album titled Listen was released in 1993 through the Sonic Bubblegum label. The album gathered them a bit of attention amidst the whole alternative major label sign-o-thon of the 90’s and they were inevitably signed to MCA. Their second album, which was Self-Titled, was released in 1995 and despite making the rounds on some college radio they didn’t get the sort of push and/or support they needed and the album didn’t sell. That sounds like a broken record for so many bands at that time, but for people like me it makes searching bargain bins that much more exciting these days. But anyway, Cold Water Flat disbanded not long after the album. Paul Janovitz spent some time in the band Dragstrip Courage. These days you can find him by checking out his photography website or head on over to MySpace to listen to some of his solo work.

Listen:
Cold Water Flat – Listerine [MP3]
Cold Water Flat – Dig [MP3]

Cold Water Flat:
Cold Water Flat – Magnetic North Pole [MP3]
Cold Water Flat – It’s Over [MP3]

Both the albums are still available used through Amazon, although for whatever reason they don’t come up together when you search the band. So, to purchase Listen head over here and to purchase the bands self-titled disc head over here. As always, enjoy!

Toenut...

Kinda sorta formed back in 1991 was the highly underrated and quite interesting Atlanta, GA based band Toenut. I say “kinda sorta” because there wasn’t really a solidified lineup until the band was eventually signed to Mute Records in 1995. Up until that point the band had been playing with a number of drummers and a core lineup that was essentially singer Katie Walters, guitarist Skipper Hartley, guitarist Richie Edelson, and bassist Chris Collins. However, before making the jump to Mute the band enlisted the services of full-time drummer Colin English.

The band would put out a couple full-lengths for the label, their debut in ’95 titled Information and ‘97’s Two in the Piñata. Sadly though the band was struck with tragedy in early April of 1997 when Chris Collins was killed in an automobile accident. The result of the tragedy was basically a name change for the band to tyro and the exiting of members Edelson and English.

Toenut were an amazingly talented group of musicians that may have been overlooked due them being sort of swept up in the alterna explosion of the 90’s. However, they were fairly different from many of those sorts of bands in a lot of ways. The bands quirky and often challenging choice of song structures probably didn’t solidify them consistent airplay, we’ll just say that. Along with the bands tendency to use various odd samples throughout their albums and the soft vocals provided by Katie Walters, it made Toenut a genuinely fun band to listen to. They were definitely among the more interesting groups to touch the mainstream during that time, if anything.

Information:
Toenut – Information 32nd Theme Song [MP3]
Toenut – Mouthful of Pennies [MP3]

Two in the Piñata:
Toenut – Feeder [MP3]
Toenut – Debug Me [MP3]

Walters and Hartley these days can be found still making music under the name of tyro, while other former members have since moved on to various other endeavors. For those interested albums can still be purchased on Amazon. Regardless, if the tunes above are of interest please do pick one or both albums up. Both are worth it in my opinion.

Fluf...

Fluf could be considered one of the most highly overlooked bands during 90’s, especially in a time when catchy melodic punk was probably at a high for mainstream consumption. However the mainstream never saw it fit to really take a long hard listen to Fluf throughout the decade, and all that time Otis “O” Barthoulameu fronted the trio with his unique vocals and catchy guitar playing while putting out album after album of completely solid and no frills rock. Honestly I had a hard time going through Fluf’s catalog trying to decide which songs I wanted to post from their main albums. There were just so many good tunes as lead man O crammed each song with as many hooks and melodies as he possibly could that practically each one makes its case for inclusion. And because of that it just blows my mind that they weren’t any bigger. Fluf did spend a small amount of time on a major label for their album Waikiki, however were dropped after it didn’t sell well.

One thing that I always loved about Fluf was that their sound was so very large for just a trio. They got the most out of it, that’s for sure. For me it’s something I like to throw on to lift my mood a bit, as Fluf’s carefree tunes were more than enough to do just that. And while it has nothing to do with the music really, the kitsch/classic looking album designs were a draw in too for some reason. Anyway definitely check out the music below.

Mangravy:
Fluf – Hecho del Diable [MP3]

Home Improvements:
Fluf – Sticky Bun [MP3]
Fluf – Page 3 Plus 1 [MP3]

Waikiki:
Fluf – Skip Beat [MP3]
Fluf – Pipe Bomb [MP3]

Road Rage:
Fluf – If I Could Feel Good [MP3]

Most of Fluf’s releases are now out of print but practically all of them can be had over at Amazon for pretty cheap, so if the tunes above are of interest definitely head on over and drop a couple bucks for the discs. Also, head on over to the bands MySpace, they are still plugging a long these days as well. Good stuff. Enjoy!

Wool...

Sorry for the extended absence on here. I had a couple Thanksgiving dinners to attend from Thursday and through the weekend. Anyway, I hope everyone out there had a good Thanksgiving. I should be back in action on here for the most part. Now on with the music…

I can’t remember or not, but I think a long time ago in the comments section (before all of them were lost) for one of the older posts on the blog someone brought up the band Wool. I’d kind of forgotten about it until I recently listened to their only full-length Box Set from 1994 and remembered how catchy/solid that album was, despite its fairly polished and radio friendly feel.

Wool formed in the earlier part of the 90’s after brothers Peter and Franz Stahl both left the DC hardcore group Scream. The original lineup included the Stahl brothers along with bassist Al Bloch and former Government Issue and future Burning Airlines drummer Peter Moffett. This lineup recorded the, even better in my opinion, Budspawn EP in 1992 for External Records. The albums drug references might have been what led to the band being sometimes tagged as “stoner-rock” band during their earlier days. But other than that the music was straight up hooks and catchy rock, which was apparently enough for them get a major label deal with London Records to record Box Set. Before that though, they switched drummers with Peter Moffett out and Chris Bratton (Chain of Strength, Inside Out, Justice League, etc.) in. As I mentioned, their sound on Box Set was even further geared towards the mainstream, but it certainly didn’t bog down the bands ability to still belt out and unleash some fairly rocking songs and at times the group still show flashes of their punk past. In a perfect world this album would have been huge in the mid nineties but that just wasn’t in the cards I guess for Wool and Box Set was pretty much outshined by the slew of mainstream “alternative” fodder at the time. Anyway, for those of you looking for an easy on the ears mid-nineties jolt, then look no further than Wool. They were sadly overlooked during their brief time together.

Budspawn:
Wool – Slightly Under [MP3]
Wool – Eff [MP3]

Box Set:
Wool – Eden [MP3]
Wool – Coalinga [MP3]

After the band split in the mid nineties after being dropped by London Franz Stahl spent time as the Foo Fighters guitarist. Peter Stahl played in the Earthlings? and Goatsnake while also doing work with Josh Homme. As for the discs, they are both available for fairly cheap these days on Amazon.

Bottomless Pit - Hammer of the Gods

After the sad and tragic demise of the great Silkworm, members Tim Midgett and Andy Cohen reconvened to form Bottomless Pit with former Seam drummer Chris Manfrin and .22 bassist Brian Orchard. Over the course of almost two years, the band has been playing shows and writing and recording their debut album Hammer of the Gods, which was recently self-released by the band a little over a month ago on double 12-inch vinyl. The vinyl package also comes with a CD of the music as well, for those lacking a turntable. For many, this album has been greeted with much anticipation and for those that are holding out for a legitimate CD release of the album, recent startup label Comedy Minus One will be taking care of that come November 6th.

Being a fan of Silkworm, and Seam for that matter, I am one of the many that were really looking forward to hearing the album, even though many of the tracks included on it have been available for preview in some form or another for a good while now. Regardless, having them all in one place and hearing them through a proper source (ie: my stereo instead of some cruddy MySpace stream) is magnificent. The wait was by far and away worth it as the songs sound better than I could have ever imagined as they do here on Hammer of the Gods. For those that haven’t heard the band at all to this point, they are a bit less straightforward rock than Silkworm. The songs seem to almost drift along while laying down melodies and hooks that almost make the hair on my arms stand up. Dabbling a bit in the moody/airy qualities of eighties post-punk and combining it with the mid-nineties background that the members of the band played a big part in has created a sure fire winner in Hammer of the Gods. Song’s like “Leave the Light On” and “Human Out of Me” are two in particular that showcase the quality of songwriting that went into making this album. At this point there is no question Hammer of the Gods will somehow find its way into my year end list. It’s simply a great record.

Bottomless Pit – The Cardinal Movements [MP3]

I can’t recommend picking up this album enough. For those looking to order the album, both the vinyl+CD and CD versions can be had over at Comedy Minus One. Keep in mind that the single CD release of the album won’t be available until Nov. 6th; however it’s currently up for preorder at the link that I just provided. So don’t hesitate to pick this up, in whatever format.

Pave the Rocket - Take In

I remember being suggested to that I should listen to a band called Pave the Rocket a few years ago. Even at that time I think they had already broken up, but I wouldn’t have known that then. However, I took up the suggestion and shortly after I managed to track down their album Taken In. If I recall correctly the reason I was initially told to listen to the band was because they supposedly had a similarity to Hum, which was good enough to send me searching. After getting a chance to listen to it I immediately began to notice that the comparison was kind of off base. I didn’t necessarily see it. However, the album was pretty good and the influences that shone through were still something that I could definitely get into.

Although Pave the Rocket wasn’t of the caliber as some of their post-hardcore/math rock contemporaries they still managed to release a pretty good album in Taken In that I believe deserves a bit more love than I imagine it gets now. Often when reading descriptions for the band I would see the label “emo” being tossed around which doesn’t really fit the band, although I am sure it stems from their one appearance on the Emo Diaries compilations. The track “Zone” is actually quite different when put side by side with anything that appeared on Taken In. The rest of their material always reminds me of a mixture between Jawbox and Shiner with that hint of Midwestern rock influence. Not entirely surprising considering the band was from St. Louis, Missouri. Taken In isn’t a masterpiece by any means, but does warrant some attention for those that dig a nice traditional post-hardcore sound.

Taken In:
Pave the Rocket – Tyro [MP3]
Pave the Rocket – Facesmash [MP3]

Emo Diaries: Volume 1:
Pave the Rocket - Zone [MP3]

While I’ve never ran across it anywhere, apparently there was another album after Taken In that the band self-released before they eventually broke up. If it’s actually out there I would be thrilled to obtain it, so if anyone knows of any information leading to its availability then by all means leave a comment or contact me via e-mail. For now though, I will enjoy Taken In as I hope some of you will as well. For those interested the album is still available over at Amazon, both used and new. Enjoy!

Outhouse - Welcome

I think my e-mail is down, or at least isn’t receiving e-mails. So if anyone has e-mailed me in the past 24-48 hours, then I probably haven’t gotten it. I’ll let everyone know whenever that problem is resolved. For now though, don’t resend anything as it won’t do any good.

I was doing some CD shopping the other day and while rummaging through the selection I ran across the album Welcome by Outhouse. I immediately remembered the single they had of the same name that was all over the radio here around 1997 when the album came out. I don’t know if it got that much airplay in other parts of the country, but it did here for a short while due to the band being from KC. I always really liked that song and I figured for as cheap as it was it would be worth having for that song alone, so I picked it up.

The trio of Bill Latas (vocals, guitar), Brad Gaddy (bass), and Shawn Poores (drums) formed in 1994 and after a bunch of touring and soliciting their demo around the area they were eventually signed to Mercury Records. The label put out their debut Welcome in 1997 which led to a couple of large tours. However, I think this is the only release the band was able to put out due to Mercury dropping the band and at the same time restricting the band from recording until they officially received word that they were dropped. Odd, but unfortunately that’s the way things happened and is another prime example of majors fucking another band.

Their music was that of the common hard rock/alternative variety that was winning over airwaves at the time. Nothing completely mind blowing, but they were a very solid band that crafted some pretty good tunes. Apparently after being dropped from their label they continued to play out here in KC and even recorded some new material for a second album but as far as I know it wasn’t ever released. If anyone out there does know, please drop me a line whenever the e-mail gets fixed or just leave a comment. It would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, the band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2001 and since then Brad Gaddy and Shawn Poores have gone on to play in the band The Zeros.

Outhouse – Welcome [MP3]
Outhouse – Undressed [MP3]
Outhouse – Bleed [MP3]

The album Welcome is available on Amazon for practically nothing. For anyone that likes the tunes above, it’s definitely worth the penny plus shipping.

Hardvark - Memory Barge

In the mail a couple days ago I received the album Memory Barge from a band called Hardvark. I’d been eagerly anticipating this record ever since a reader had suggested it to me and at the same time learning that the band was originally from Champagne, Illinois, which is also considered home to past favorites like Hum. So, to say that I was excited upon learning this is probably an understatement. My geeky fan boy love for that band always gets the best of me.

Thankfully, that nerdy obsession didn’t steer me wrong with this purchase. Not that it could really being all of a dollar that I laid down for it. Regardless, the album is a steal for that price. Sadly, Memory Barge stands as the bands only album. It was originally released on Cargo Records, but was later re-released when the band signed to Geffen. However when the hammer dropped from the major labels on grunge/alternative in general, it spelled the end for Hardvark and for many other bands as well.

After having the chance to listen to this album a few times now, it comes off as pretty impressive. Naturally it sounds a lot like indie rock during that time, but its most redeeming quality lies in Randy Towner’s guitar work. The sound he achieves is pretty unnatural and often times sounds a little warped, which gives it a bit more flavor. Obviously this didn’t help Hardvark in the long run or achieve the sort of success that Geffen was looking for, but when listening to it, how could have anyone expected it too? It definitely wasn’t accessible enough and regardless of whether it contained well written music, with those circumstances the album was pretty much destined to fade away. Music like this has its audience though and thankfully in this day and age with blogs, file sharing, and whatnot…people will find it and appreciate it the way it deserves to be and keep it from being banished to the bottom of cut out bins for eternity.

Hardvark – Fawn [MP3]
Hardvark – Logan [MP3]
Hardvark – Ropes Tricks Blues [MP3]

An interesting thing I realized about Hardvark while trying to dig up as much information on them as possible, which is pretty much none, is that Bob Rising played drums for the band. For those that don’t know Rising, he also played drums with The Poster Children and Lustre King. He also played drums for Seam on my favorite album they ever released and one of my favorite albums of all time, The Problem with Me.

For those interested, Memory Barge can be had for a penny and shipping on Amazon. That’s a pretty good deal right?

EDIT: Big thanks to Billy for sending me links to a few more items by Hardvark. You can head on over to Parasol Records to find a couple 7 inches and a compilation that the band appeared on. Enjoy!

Stompbox - Stress...

My original intent was to just put the song “No Woods” by Stompbox on this months mix, but after listening to that song for the first time in at least a year I felt their album Stress deserved bit more than just a selection on some mix. I remember rocking this album quite a bit back in the day after it was recommended to me since I listened to Helmet so freaking much at the time. It’s no secret however, that Stress shares a lot of similarities to Helmet and many of its other post-hardcore contemporaries at that time that all found a bit more success. Unfortunately this album was their only full-length as the band pretty much vanished shortly after the album was released. Members would later appear in a few different bands, most notably Milligram and Placer. For those that enjoy anything in the same area as Helmet, Prong, Quicksand, etc. then I can’t imagine not owning this album. Even though it’s relegated to cut out bins and rarely talked about, this album was definitely one that could hold its own against any of the aforementioned bands best material. It’s a full offering of chunky guitars that hit like a fucking 18 wheeler and some great melodies mixed in as well.

Stompbox – No Woods [MP3]
Stompbox – Now, What It’s Worth [MP3]
Stompbox – Esoteric Song [MP3]

As you can probably imagine, this being the only release and it being a major label cast off, it can be found for pretty much nothing around the net (Amazon). I would suggest shelling out the one or two dollars for this disc.

Tomorrow is Halloween and I will probably be throwing up the monthly mix for October up on here sometime during the day, so be sure to check back for that. Enjoy!

Smart Went Crazy...

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Also, to those that play fantasy football, I hope your team did a bit better than mine. The “Jons Jiants”, as I’ve so cleverly named them, have suffered from the absence of Shaun Alexander. Regardless, if my team doesn’t end up in the cellar, then I’ll consider it a good year. I just don’t think Kevin Jones is going to fill the role of Alexander for a good portion of the season. Anyway, back to the music…

I’ve been listening to Con Art by Smart Went Crazy a lot the past week. The more I listen to it I begin to wonder why they weren’t absolutely embraced by critics. Maybe they were and I never noticed or whatever, but I’ve never seen it. It’s confusing to me because of the obvious connections between bands like Jawbox and Shudder to Think (same label, same style, etc.) who both got plenty of praise and still do. Nothing wrong with that though, being two of my favorite bands.

Regardless, they were an amazingly good band that, whether it’s a good or bad way to look at it, kind of bridged the sound of both the aforementioned DC bands. With the inclusion of a cello player (Hilary Soldati) and the incredibly sharp dark humored lyrics of Chad Clark, it was surely enough to set themselves apart from their label mates. However, their brand of eccentric post-punk was maybe not enough to get them out from under their shadow. Despite that, for those that do listen you’ll find a slightly hidden gem in Con Art, which was their second album right before they split after a tour in 1998.

Smart Went Crazy – A Brief Conversation Ending in Divorce [MP3]
Smart Went Crazy – Con Art [MP3]
Smart Went Crazy – Tight Frame Loose Frame [MP3]

After the split, members went on to form the bands Faraquet and The Beauty Pill. Thankfully you can still purchase both of Smart Went Crazy’s albums over at Insound. Definitely pick up Con Art if anything.

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Brainbloodvolume...

One of the albums I purchased this week was Brainbloodvolume from Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. Beforehand my only familiarity with the band was their contribution to the So I Married an Axe Murderer Soundtrack and their album God Fodder. However thanks to Carl Kruger over Motel De Moka, I was recommended this album awhile back and thankfully finally stumbled across it. Without a doubt it’s easily the best thing they ever released and actually is the last proper studio album the band has put out. Despite that being way back in 1994, the band is apparently still functioning sans a couple original members and actually has a new single floating around titled “Hibernation” from what I understand. You can hear a small clip of that on their website.

Although definitely not perfect or necessarily groundbreaking, Brainbloodvolume is an interesting mash up of styles. Originally noted for their thrashing pop sound, it is expanded upon here by quite a bit with touches from techno and 80’s new wave. With all the inclusion of samples and loops, it almost feels at times that is an offshoot of the dance community. However, it stands on it’s own as a fairly solid piece of overlooked alternative rock with some fairly hard hitting and catchy guitar hooks.

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – Talk Me Down [MP3]
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – Stuck [MP3]
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – I Want it Over [MP3]

Brainbloodvolume sold very poorly when it was released being buried underneath the numerous British rock bands that were rising at the time. Although I doubt there was a very large market out there at the time for the music that was presented on this album, I don’t think it deserved to sell as poorly as it did. As I said, when compared to everything else I’ve heard by the band, it’s easily their strongest and most accomplished released. I would suggest picking this up if you see it around in used stores like I did, or just search around eBay or Amazon for a cheap used copy.

The Dambuilders - Encendedor

The album Encendedor was the fourth full-length and major label debut for The Dambuilders, which was released in 1994. The bands lineup consisted of members David Derby (vocals/bass), Eric Masunaga (guitars), Joan Wassar (violin), and Kevin March (drums). They were a fairly under the radar act for the duration of the 90’s, all the way up until their last album Against the Stars in 1997. However, it’s their album Encendedor that really stands as one of my favorite albums from the entire alternative rock boom of the 90’s. When MTV actually showed cool videos late at night and you stayed up to watch them whether you were sleep depraved or not. I remember seeing the video for “Shrine”, and while it isn’t the most amazing thing in the world, I dug the idea of a violinist in a band and the song was pretty damn catchy too. At that time I hadn’t really heard or even knew of any band containing one. Needless to say, the band serves as a sense of nostalgia for me.

I had intended on doing a sort of discography post for the band, and maybe in the future I will. However, I really just wanted to focus mostly on this album, as it really is the one I listen to the most. That, and some of the bands earlier albums/material had songs that were featured on Encendedor anyway. So, it all works out in the end, right? Regardless, their following albums of Ruby Red and Against the Stars are both pretty solid too for those that are interested.

Despite Encendedor probably being my favorite Dambuilders album, it really is the one I see where the band is pulling everything together and establishing their sound. Its production allows for plenty of melody to shine through and even though some might look at the violin as sort of gimmicky instrument for a rock band, just listen to this album and it will surely change your mind. Although they were unconventional as a band and with their songwriting at times, it’s those aspects of the band that really drew me in the first place.

Dambuilders – Shrine [MP3]
Dambuilders – Colin’s Heroes [MP3]
Dambuilders – Delaware [MP3]

You can find almost everything they’ve released over the years used over at Amazon for practically nothing. So, if you dig the tunes above then by all means drop the cash for whatever shipping is these days and pick this or any of their albums up. Enjoy!

Last Call for Superdrag...

Yes, yes. I’ve been gone for, to the Internet world, probably what seems like forever. However, last week was sort of a busy one for me. It’s hard to believe to those that actually know me. Anyway, last week was spent getting my brother his driver’s license, another Royals game (we won this time), and participation in my towns Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society. I was up all night Friday into Saturday morning either walking around a track or doing some other activity.

I am back however, and hopefully I will stick around through most of this week. I don’t see why not. One thing this weekend was responsible for was my rediscovered love for Superdrag. Yeah, the band that made that catchy hit back in ’96 called “Sucked Out” and then for most people was never to be heard from again. Well, Superdrag continued to release albums all the way up until 2002 before the band would eventually call it a day sometime in 2003. Each one being a solid release of power pop/rock with a touch of 60’s fuzz and strong melody thrown into the mix. It’s no doubt that Superdrag was channeling the sounds of past 60’s garage rock acts and with a bit of a modernized radio friendly touch. It worked nicely as singer/songwriter John Davis had a brilliant ability to write some very catchy and memorable hooks that positioned Superdrag as to being a consistently solid band.

After releasing the Fabulous 8 Track Sounds of Superdrag EP on Darla Records in 1995, the band found interest from Elektra Records, which snatched them up for the release of their debut album Regretfully Yours in 1996. The album spawned the aforementioned pop hit “Sucked Out”, which found itself in regular rotation on MTV due to earning the notorious “Buzz Bin” status. However, like most bands that would find success during the mid nineties alternative boom, they would quickly become forgotten when it came time for a follow up to Regretfully Yours. In 1998 the band released their second album for Elektra titled Head Trip in Every Key, however despite the album receiving positive reviews it wasn’t what the label had in mind and the band found themselves with little push from the label to support the album. The band would demand to be dropped for work on their third album In the Valley of Dying Stars. It would find it’s release in 2000 through Arena Rock Recordings, which would later release their fourth album in 2002 titled Last Call for Vitriol which then the band found themselves on indefinite hiatus afterwards.

Regretfully Yours:
Superdrag - Destination Ursa Major [MP3]
Superdrag - Garmonbozia [MP3]

Head Trip in Every Key:
Superdrag - Do the Vampire [MP3]
Superdrag - Wrong vs. Right Doesn't Matter [MP3]

In the Valley Dying Stars:
Superdrag - Bright Pavilions [MP3]
Superdrag - Some Kind of Tragedy [MP3]

Last Call for Vitriol:
Superdrag - Feeling Like I Do [MP3]
Superdrag - Remain Yer Strange [MP3]

It’s hard to narrow down which release is my personal favorite, however I am partial to Last Call for Vitriol. It was a bit more of a rock n’ roll affair, however each release is very good. They were one of the most quietly consistent bands to come out of the 90’s alt. era. After the split in 2003, singer John Davis came back in 2005 with a solo album, cleaning up his act after years of hard drinking.

Practically every Superdrag release can still be purchased over at Insound, so I highly recommend people check those out.

ON and ON...

After noticing a fairly positive response to the track I posted by ON from the "driving music" post, I figured it would be a good idea to just go ahead and write a bit more about the project. Essentially ON is nothing more than Ken Andrews' solo project, which he started working on after the break up of his previous band Failure. In 2000 the debut Shifting Skin was released through Sony, which displayed Andrews pursuing a more electronic influenced style of music. The songs are still deeply rooted though with Andrews' writing style and touch that was seen in Failure, as the melodies still run rampant throughout both of ON's releases. The album Shifting Skin was all multi-instrumentalist Ken Andrews where as on the second album Make Believe, which would see an independent self release in 2003, featured extra musicians to work on the project. It turns out that those musicians would actually be the future members of Andrews' other project Year of the Rabbit. With that, Make Believe sees almost the complete absence of the high electronic element that Shifting Skin contained. Instead, the album almost serves as a complete predecessor to what would be the sound featured on Year of the Rabbit's eventual debut release. However, I still find some songs to be a bit more interesting and overall better than the material that would be written by Year of the Rabbit, as I was highly disappointed by the sterile and overall boring direction on that album.

ON - Soluble Words [MP3] (Shifting Skin)
ON - Building [MP3] (Shifting Skin)
ON - The Only Thing I Know [MP3] (Make Believe)
ON - Revolution [MP3] (Make Believe)

Since the release of Make Believe, Ken Andrews has gone on to do mostly producing and mixing work for a slew of different bands and projects. He also managed to get married in the mean time and is now in the process of writing and recording yet another solo effort, which whether it will be under the moniker ON or not, is exciting news. He is also tackling a new project dubbed The Los Angeles Digital Noise Academy, which Ken himself describes as a "Postal Service on steroids". You can take a listen to that over at their MySpace located here. You can also check out Ken Andrews' own MySpace here.

You can still purchase both ON albums online or through Itunes.

Purchase ON - Shifting Skin through Amazon.
Purchase ON - Make Believe through CDBaby (Currently out of stock, sorry folks! Keep checking though!).

In Need of Morphine...

There is something entirely special about music that can capture a perfect setting in which it can be played. Having this happen usually is icing on the cake for me after listening to a band and initially liking the music for what it is. If it can take you elsewhere or just make you think of a place applicable to the sound of it, that's a great accomplishment in my book.

Morphine was one of those bands, and over the course of their time together they released 5 albums of what I would describe to be definitive mood driven music. Unfortunately however, the bands run together was brought to a premature and tragic end when front man Mark Sandman collapsed and died on stage of a heart attack in July of 1999. Their final album titled The Night was posthumously released in early 2000 through Dreamworks Records.

The music played by the group was unique to say in the least. Not relying on guitars of any sort, Sandman however opted for a 2 string slide bass and partnered that up with a contributing saxophone from Dana Colley and drums from Billy Conway. The end result was a low end bluesy sound that really can't be compared to anything else. Surprisingly enough though, even with their odd brand of music they were able to build a fairly large fan base with the releases of their debut Good and follow up Cure for Pain (my personal favorite). If anything though, I believe people probably could feed off Sandman's self deprecating and detached lyrics. However, what draws me in the most, aside from the strangeness of it all, is the incredibly seedy vibe the music seems to carry. Something about it always makes me think of the lowest of dive bars and obscene amounts of dirty women. Not a nice thought I know, but it's kind of the same deal as when you watch Goodfella's and how it makes you want to be in the Mafia, at least until the end.

Morphine - Good [MP3] (Good)
Morphine - Thursday [MP3] (Cure for Pain)
Morphine - Whisper [MP3] (Yes)
Morphine - French Fries With Pepper [MP3] (Like Swimming)

Morphine's entire output and even a compilation spanning their earlier career highlights can be found here for purchase, or basically any other major online retailer.

The Beatings and Magneto...

I am playing catch up a bit today, for which I apologize for no post since the weekend. Also, instead of dwelling in the past like I usually do or have, I felt it was time to look at some 2006 releases that have caught my attention. I am still waiting for that absolutely mind blowing release however. There is always that ONE, and it seems to be eluding me thus far. Yet, it's only March so I can't quite be expecting it yet. However, these are a couple great albums to take a look at in the mean time.

Hailing from the New England area is The Beatings (website) who have recently released Holding on to Hand Grenades which serves as their follow up to 2002's Italiano. I'd never really listened to them before this release however, and I am kind of disappointed I haven't. They play a fairly straight forward brand of post-punk that is highly influenced from various acts like The Pixies and Mission of Burma. However, The Beatings are much more guitar driven and noisy than really either of those bands were, fueled by a heavy melodic edge with just as much feedback to compete with it. It's obvious the group is looking to make sure that alternative music is still alive and well, and to be perfectly honest, they are doing a damn fine job of it. The vocals fall somewhere close to those of Frank Black, however they tend to lapse into more of Interpol feel at times. Regardless, this is a great listen and a very fun/energetic one at that, adding just enough interesting elements to an already tried and true style of music to turn ones head and possibly get it nodding as well. You can purchase the record from their very own imprint, Midriff Records.

The Beatings - This City is Killing Me [MP3]
The Beatings - Feel Good Ending [MP3]


I give thanks for the heads up on this one to So Much Silence. I am always, and I mean ALWAYS, looking for bands that sound like this. Magneto is based out of Seattle and have just recently released their debut album titled Sounds Like Space, which is a more than fitting title since the album is, in essence, very much a space rock album. Despite all the space rock attributes, the record rocks just as hard and is equally catchy. Album opener "Isa" sets it off perfectly displaying almost everything this band is about with layered guitar effects, a wall of twisting feedback, and a penchant for good pop song-writing that will immediately draw the listener in. The female fronted vocals provided by Lian Light are a good fit as well, being a bit subdued and relaxed. For some reason they remind me of something I would of heard 10 or so years ago, if that makes sense. With that, I highly suggest giving this album a chance and picking it up from their CDbaby page and also visit them at their website here.

Magneto - Isa [MP3]
Magneto - Machine [MP3]

Attack of the Simplest Band Names...

The band Chore is relatively new to me, as I had never heard of them up until a few weeks ago. I kind of just stumbled upon them when looking through other albums by similar artists. I am pretty glad I did though, as this band is actually a nice find for a band I came across so late. Chore was formed sometime around 1995 in Dunnville, Ontario and was comprised of members Chris Bell (vocals/guitar), Mitch Bowden (guitar/vocals), Mike Bell (bass), and David Dunham (drums/vocals).

Chore, while together, put out three albums...two of which would appear on indie label Sonic Unyon Records. Their sound combines a bunch of different influences, mostly reading like a who's who of post-hardcore and alternative music. However, what sold me on this band was the comparisons to long time favorites Hum. That lofty tag left me no other choice but to seek out this bands records, to which I managed to track down both their second and third albums, Take My Mask and Breath and The Coastaline Fire respectively. The music within does manage to contain a lumbering subtle heaviness along with their ability to write entirely catchy songs, to which I can appreciate any day. Drawing from mostly obvious influences though, Chore remain to be a fairly conventional band throughout its records, however they pulled off the style quite well and it makes the band highly worth listening to if you're a fan of Shiner, Hum, and the likes. Unfortunately for Chore the band would eventually call it quits sometime in early 2004 due to really never gaining exposure anywhere in either the US or their home country of Canada.

Chore - Coprock [MP3] (Take My Mask and Breath)
Chore - Superville [MP3] (Take My Mask and Breath)
Chore - The Wall Burns [MP3] (The Coastaline Fire)
Chore - B Coma [MP3] (The Coastaline Fire)

Buy both Chore's The Coastaline Fire and Take My Mask and Breath here


After constantly listening to the album Spacesuit by a great band called Shift, I finally took the fall and decided to purchase Get In, which was their final release and first for a major label. The purchase could either prove to be a nice surprise, or watered down fodder. I am crossing my fingers. The real listen here though is the aforementioned Spacesuit, which I really love and by no means has it ever disappointed. The band was always consistently lumped with various hardcore acts, probably mostly due to their label at the time Equalvision. However, they were pretty far from typical hardcore and were actually a much more melodic and riff driven band more than anything else. The vocals from lead man Joshua Locke are a bit interesting with his high pitched delivery, at times nasally, however it goes well with Spacesuits overall pop influence and drifting melodies. Spacesuit is not an overly heavy record, however Shift had an amazing ear for a good melody and the ones found on the album are some of best of I've heard, which makes it all the more disappointing that this band was never really embraced by more people. It's not a surprise by the descriptions given that this band would eventually jump to the majors for its last album Get In. However, judging by the lack of releases thereafter, it appears that the stint would be short lived. Regardless, anyone looking for some seriously good melody driven post-hardcore, pick up Spacesuit by Shift.

Shift - Pinprick [MP3]
Shift - Spacesuit [MP3]
Shift - Pacecar [MP3]

Buy Shift - Spacesuit here

Who Doesn't Need Therapy?

Therapy? has managed to endure the test of time it seems like. Maybe not so much in the mainstream corporate world of rock, however the band continues to plod along releasing solid albums of straight up hard rock. Even better, I've hardly ever seen any other bands as enthusiastic about releasing their music after being around for just over 15 years. Amazing really. Anyway, Therapy? are a rock band from Ireland who have pretty much done it all in terms of tasting success and hitting lows. Consisting now of singer/guitarist/founding member Andy Cairns, bassist Michael McKeegan, and drummer Neil Cooper the band is still going strong with a fairly sizeable loyal following over seas despite lineup changes and troublesome label problems. In light of that though, I like to think Therapy? wouldn't be as great as they are if it weren't for those things and I know it definitely wouldn't of produced the album I am about to talk about.

What album am I talking about? It would be 1998's Semi-Detached. For as long as I've been a fan of Therapy? I've found it odd that this release would be my favorite out of their entire discography. Sure, I could of just as easily said Troublegum or Infernal Love, which is easily a close second. However, every song on Semi-Detached just seems to sit just right with me. Consistency is probably the key word I am looking for here.

Coming off the release of the heavily depressing Infernal Love, original drummer Fyfe Ewing left the band and new drummer at the time Graham Hopkins was brought in. Before the recording Martin McCarrick was also officially added as a second guitarist and cello player. After those additions and subtractions, the band recorded Semi-Detached for, then current label, A&M Records. Unfortunately during 1998, mainstream music was making a drastic change and pure rock driven bands like Therapy? or bands that rode the coat tails of the grunge uprising found themselves being thrown to the curb with a huge "unmarketable" sticker attached to their foreheads. So, to no surprise really, when A&M took a listen to Semi-Detached it was decided that the album wouldn't make it over here in the US and the release of it was limited to strictly over seas, which is a shame as the album should of had its chance. However, it's kind of nice to know it's sort of a hidden gem.

I personally find Semi-Detached to be interesting partly due to the fact that Cairns would later mention that the focus of the album was lacking during recording. The pressures of trying to make a rock record within the small creative box that was given to them by A&M obviously had an effect on Cairns' and the rest of the bands ability to focus and to ultimately make a decision on the direction of the record. When listening to it, it's kind of evident that the band definitely wasn't taking nearly as of a daring approach to the songwriting with it, but in turn decided to return to a more pop sensibility, much akin to that found on Troublegum. The best way to me to describe an album like Semi-Detached is basically saying it's the type of rock record you wish you could here on the radio. It's straight forward, poppy at times but not enough to water it down. It's a damn solid rock record and basically that's the reason it remains as my favorite Therapy? album. Nevertheless, the self admitted lack of focus is lost upon me, maybe it goes hand in hand with records accessibility? I don't know, and personally don't care because there are enough great melodies and hooks thrown in that any issue of focus is quickly forgotten.

If you're looking for a good solid album full of straight forward rock, then by all means go to Amazon and get a used copy, seeing as this album is long since out of print. Even as an import, it won't cost you much.

Therapy? - Heavens Gate [MP3]
Therapy? - Black Eye Purple Sky [MP3]
Therapy? - Safe [MP3]