(((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain))))): AIM OF CONRAD

Wednesday, 11 June 2014

AIM OF CONRAD

Band: AIM OF CONRAD

Genres: Punk / Rock / Noise Rock / Sass Rock / Post-Punk / Hardcore / Grunge / Post-Hardcore / Screamo
Related artists: Saetia and Hot Cross. (if this is the same Matt Smyth, which I think it is)
Country: Philadelphia, USA
Years Active: 1999-2004
Song: "Widowmaker"
Album: "Whiskey Slowboat"
Year: 2003
Label(s): Iodine Records / Watson And The Shark
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #2.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#6 right here or get the new July Mix#7 here.
For fans of: Hot Snakes, Rye Coalition, Transistor Transistor, The Blood Brothers, Light The Fuse And Run, Cyrus Gold, Panthers, We Were Skeletons, Die Princess Die, (older) Danko Jones, Every Time I Die, Life In Vacuum, Nirvana, These Arms Are Snakes, Queens Of The Stone Age, Black Sabbath, The Sword and No Knife aka PROPER Screamo.

I first heard AIM OF CONRAD because they were on a split 7" with Transistor Transistor, who are one of my favourite bands of all time. AIM OF CONRAD were able to match the intensity and raw rock'n'roll that Transistor Transistor spew forth, but with a little less scream and a lot more sass. Believe me, I rarely use "sass" to describe music, but these guys definitely shook their collective screaming asses, aka sass. I've seen most descriptions describe the band as cock rock, which seems overtly sexist but does hint at the band's rather obvious lyrics and their sexual nature.

If I'm going to name drop some more, which obviously I am, Transistor Transistor and Life In Vacuum with less vocal melodies and the occasional No Knife guitar riffs would be good indicators of their sound - and that's when they are not sounding a heck of a lot like Rye Coalition, which is almost always. The first track I heard was the very rock'n'roll influenced "Keith Richards" which has an almost throwback post-rock meets surf vibe and also mixes in punk, screamo and dirty rock'n'roll. The band also incorporates a fair amount of heys, yeahs and babys into their overly confident vocal patterns that sass shit up and give me the mental of image of 4 dudes simultaneously shakin' their hips like Elvis. The band's 2 early songs are kinda shitty, like pop-punk meets dirty rock'n'roll and it wasn't until 2002 that the band really hit their creative stride.

"Widowmaker" is the band's strongest track in my opinion. It starts with a sneering vocal hook that leads into an absolute bomb-blast of an intro, "Do you wanna go down in flames? Die in a fucking aircrash, baby!" Fuck yes. Bands like Life In Vacuum, The Blood Brothers and Refused come to mind, but AIM OF CONRAD seriously serves up some screamy hardcore aces in this song, which I guarantee will snag a few new fans, especially those who dig Rye Coalition.

The occasional backup vocals are just that, very occasional, but when they end up using them, for example at 1:50 in "Exotic Entrance", they work really well and get me barking along in to time. This song is also a good example of the band's awesome/sassy vocal delivery "I built this house of cards myself I burn it all down by yourself take another drink." He's got the same thing going on in "Keith Richards" when he croons, "You show me yours and I'll show you mine. When it comes time to sing pretty baby's gonna sing a sad song." They have a video for the song linked here.

"Lions and Lambs" has a much more controlled and deliberate approach, starting slow and building beautifully not unlike 'Oceanic'-era Isis. At the 1:23-mark I sometimes think I'm listening to Helmet but they bust out some spacey/atmospheric guitars and then break out of that like a neo-Nirvana/Stone Temple Pilots who's been listening to a heavy dose of Hot Snakes.

The sudden break at 2:40 in "Belly" is stunning and reminds me of some of Forensics and Serotonin's slowjam stuff as well as Daitro and Gospel as it rolls through and literally picks up everyone's attention as it passes, like some giant snowball (go watch Willow, jeez). Listen to this part and try to tell me you aren't licking your chops waiting for a giant wave of awesomeness that obviously follows, but the buildup itself is the note-worthy venture here, as it is used swimmingly, good chap.

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DISCOGRAPHY

Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in mp3 form.

2000 - The Intoxicating Sounds Of Malcontent single
2000 - Proverbs Of The Illest split 7" (does anyone have this? I don't)

2002 - +/- 7"
2002 - NRS Demos digital
2002 - Transistor Transistor split 7"

2003 - Whiskey Slowboat cdEP

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(2003) AIM OF CONRAD - "Widowmaker" (from 'Whiskey Slowboat')