Wednesday, 22 January 2025

*** PODCAST #174 Best of 2024 (Dave Cullen) ***


    It's that time. That time that the Daves discuss 2024. The good (music), the bad (hairlines), and the totally irrelevant (Norman's guitar education). Some things we rambled on about: the Sponge Bob octave, touring Japan with Oaktails, Norman gets the guitar bug, losing hair, breakdown of the year, pirate screamo, mathcore space battles, the cusp of not enough, post-hardcore boy from 2003, train station vs. Driveyourplowoverthebonesofthedead, Telos tears, Gxllium! being held hostage by a guitar, art ineligibility, etc. Bands played in this podcast: Our Future Is An Absolute Shadow, Shoganai, Sinema, and Smush. Listen to podcast #174 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.

CROWNING
Bandcamp


1 Norman's Top 10 EPs + Splits
SHOGANAI "Carving" (Norman)

Cullen's First 10
SINEMA "Don't Just Stand There" (Cullen)

Norman's Top 10 LPs
SMUSH "Goodnight Moon" (Norman)

4 Cullen's Second 10
OUR FUTURE IS AN ABSOLUTE SHADOW "Mimitwo" (Cullen)

5 Additional Shoutouts
~no music


~Dave

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ADDITIONAL LINKS

Saturday, 18 January 2025

CAMELIA

BandCAMELIA
For fans ofØjne, Dagerman, Radura, Alas, La Quiete, Raein, Keratin, Suis La Luneterstod, Via Fondo, Crossed, and Shizune.
GenresPunk / Post-Rock / Post-Hardcore / Emo / Twinkly Emo / Screamo / Skramz
Related artists?.
CountryLombardy ITALY
Years Active2024-present
Label(s): Self Released / Self Versed Records


      CAMELIA's 'insieme.' was sent to me a few months prior to it's release in January of 2025 and I was instantly hooked. They had a single jam available back in 2023 titled "favole" which gives a decent tease as what's to come, especially instrumentally, but I def dig the recent screamier vocals and would recommend visiting this track after the LP.

     On the aforementioned 'insieme.' album, these five Italians jump between twinkly emo and heavier screamo and everything in-between. The introductory track incredibly titled "Intro" does a great job of lulling the listener into a gorgeous, uphill jam that doesn't fall into that frequent pitfall of being boring and useless. "Fine" goes for jugular immediately but slows itself right before the kill and injects some twinkly screamo without the cheese and pretentiousness. The screaming immediately caught my attention as being thick but high enough in register to fit the Italian style, and really holds its own amidst a flurry of eloquent and impressive instrumentals. "Cancrena" really hits like some of Raein's heavier/older material but with a breakdown or two and I'm all fucking for it. Despite sharing a name "Pensieri I" and "Pensieri II" are quite different, with the former being short and split into a slow/singy first half and pretty wild/screamy second half, while the latter is more of an epic build that rivals Alas, Via Fondo, and Suis La Lune. The miniscule intro to "Specchio" is specchtacular, and everything afterward is nothing short of fantastic, with multiple screamers and a post-hardcore lacquer over that sexy Italian screamo. "Radici" boasts more singing and gang vocals which culminate at 2:33 when the instrumentals kick back in...probably a sing-along live jam. Closer "Casa" clocks in at the band's longest (4:18) and most mature of all the songs, as the flow and restraint shown really helps showcase the harder hitting moments after the 2:30 mark when shit gets wild. Wooooo what a ride.

     Someone needs to press this to vinyl, it's an album of the year contender for sure.
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DISCOGRAPHY

2023 - favole single (stream/buy here)

2025 - insieme. cassetteLP (stream/buy here)

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(2025) CAMELIA - "Cancrena" (from 'insieme.')

(2025) CAMELIA - "Specchio" (from 'insieme.')

(2025) CAMELIA - "Pensieri I" (from 'insieme.')

(2023) CAMELIA - "favole" (from 'favole')

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Thursday, 9 January 2025

*** PODCAST #173 Johnny Whitney (The Blood Brothers) ***




    This is a life moment. A time when my musical past comes full circle and smashes head-on into my current existence. It's a fuckin' trip, man. I caught up with Johnny Whitney of THE BLOOD BROTHERS arguably one of the most influential vocalists of my lifetime a week and a half after his reunion tour. Still reeling from the outreach from fans all over the U.S and an additional family vacation drive, he took some time out of his schedule to sit down with me for an hour and half. Lotsa gushing. Fuckin' lots. A few things we touched on: 80-minute sets, crying for days, false chord engagement, peaking in your 40s, vocal mantras, feeling vs. thinking about music, tactical inaccuracies coming off as charming flourishes, tour band shoutouts, Blood Brothers' connection to ZBR, inducing vomiting and birthing at shows, touring with Orchid, a short history of Vade, gettin' pissed about Pink Tarantulas, fun vs. not fun music videos, songs The Blood Brothers couldn't recreate live, everyone wants to be The Locust, best Nintendo game, the most dad gifts, etc. Bands played in this podcast: Botch, Gxllium!, The Locust, The Murder City Devils, and Transistor Transistor. Listen to podcast #173 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.


THE BLOOD BROTHERS
Bandcamp


1 Vocals as a Baseball Mitt
BOTCH "God vs. Science" (Johnny)
TRANSISTOR TRANSISTOR "Sweet William" (Dave)

7th Grade Vade (a band of children)
THE MURDER CITY DEVILS "Boom Swagger Boom" (Johnny)

The Future
THE LOCUST "Moth Eaten Deer Head" (Johnny) [official music video]
GXLLIUM! "Axel Peart" (Dave)


~Dave

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