Friday 31 October 2014

A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE

GenresPunk / Post-Hardcore / Post-Metal / Emo / Screamo / Meh
Related artists?.
CountryWashington, DC USA
Years Active2001-2005
Song: "What do you want me to do, sign your freakin' yearbook?"
Album: "Castle split"
Year: 2004
Label(s): Level Plane Records / Magna Carta / State of Mind Recordings / Paranoid Records / Delian League Records
This post's artist is from the October 2014 Mix. This is track #12.
You can download the October Mix#10 right here or get the new November Mix#11 here.
For fans of: Envy, Mesa Verde, City Of Caterpillar, Vi Som Alskade Varandra Sa Mycket, Angel Eyes, June Paik, Isis, Storm The BastilleRats Into RobotsLocktender and Animal Faces aka PROPER SCREAMO.

Let's get one thing straight, A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE makes me want to destroy everything. I'm a pretty passive, peaceful guy. If I ever saw this band I would have made a lot of enemies very quickly. Give "What do you want me to do, sign your freakin' yearbook?" a quick listen to see what I mean. The song is chaotic and violent. It's pounding and thunderous. Fer christ's sake listen to the part at 0:45-0:59...just...woah. Easily my favourite song by the band. "What do you want me to do, sign your freakin' yearbook?" is from the 'Castle split', which is also the home to "Part One". This ditty drops in weighing a hefty 7:19 and is a slow build to a semi-climax, followed by June Paik/мятеж-esque doomy, atmospheric ambiance before exploding at the 5:35-mark with the band's patented yelling/screaming thing and some downright amazing drumming (apparent in all the band's work).

This band truly towered over most, and this was during the height of the Level-Plane era of screamo. Towered, was initially a word I was going to use to describe the band but it works great for talking about most things regarding the band. The 'My Heroes Always Killed Cowboys' EP exemplifies this. Songs such as "Forward/Backward" uses dense, foggy layers of stripped down melodies to create a dreary and natural sounding backdrop before focusing on expanding it like a throbbing, breathing bubble. This generally builds until the band decides to drop the hammer and it gets silly - because it's so fucking good, which reminds me a lot of City Of Caterpillar, especially the reverberating bass at the beginning. "There are Objects and Objects" is probably the standout track from this record which is downright killer, although "Storming the Bastille' is another great tune that has a really cool, distorted chord progression that is isolated at first and starts a fantastic uphill climb much like the new Vi Som Alskade Varandra Sa Mycket record.

We have to talk about it. Yeah, you know. Let's not deny it. The band changed their sound following these releases to appease their own internal musical voice, and it was kinda lame. At least in comparison to such daring and expansive post-hardcore/screamo that was driving people nuts, the subsequent and final album 'Notes' was a huge disappoint to most fans. In and of itself not a bad album, but knowing their could have been another massive and epic record is frustrating.

Regardless of the band's change in style and opinions regarding the matter, as they are subjective, the output in the heavier realm was easily some of the best ever recorded, in this fella's opinion. If you'd never heard the band until this post, I think we can both agree that you owe me lunch.

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DISCOGRAPHY
Click )==>here<==( to download most of the band's discography in mp3/wma form.

2003 - Silentreminder split 7"cd single

2004 - My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys cd/12"EP
2004 - Castle split cdEP

2005 - Notes cd/12"LP
2005 - Golden Birds split 7"single
2005 - Navies split 10"EP
2005 - 80 Records and We're Not Broke (yet) comp (contributed "Ronald's Rights")

2006 - The Emo Apocalypse comp 12"LP (contributed "Untitled")

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(2004) A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE - "What do you want me to do, sign your yearbook?" (from 'Castle' split)

(2004) A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE - "Part One" (from 'Castle' split)

(2004) A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE - "Forward/Backward" (from 'My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys')

(2004) A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE - "There are Objects and Objects" (from 'My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys')

(2004) A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE - "Storming the Bastille" (from 'My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys')

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A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE out of print mp3 discography download (minus 'Notes' and their first split)

(download here)
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