Sunday, 25 August 2024

*** PODCAST #160 Tyler Young (Gossip) ***


    Happy Birthday Tyler!!! It makes a lotta sense to post this podcast on their special day. I've known Tyler since the GOSSIP inception back when they asked to do a split with the band I do vocals for (Apostles Of Eris / split linked here). Tyler has been a good friend for years now and it was a pleasure hanging with them the past two ZBR Fests as well as for this convo. A few things discussed: classic butt-rock, Backstreet Boys & New Kids On The Block, playing in Losing & Clavel, when bong tokes scared me, early Gossip material and the Apostles Of Eris split, harnessing the power of Seth from Funeral Diner, the first Gossip show, finding new members, Blue and the best instagram post, the future, etc. Bands played in this podcast: Crash Of Rhinos, Discordance Axis, Kidcrash, Layer:0, Left Hand Cuts The Right, and Wild Guess. Listen to podcast #160 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.

GOSSIP





Histories
CRASH OF RHINOS "Closure" (Tyler)
LEFT HAND CUT THE RIGHT "You Break My Heart, I Break In" (Dave)

2 Solo Projects Always Turn Into Bands
DISCORDANCE AXIS "Jigsaw" (Tyler)
LAYER:0 "Molotovs" (Dave)

Delving Into Gossip
~ no music

4 Kidcrash and the Future
KIDCRASH "Parrots Just Don't Understand" (Tyler)
WILD GUESS "Thing" (Dave)

~Dave

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Friday, 23 August 2024

*** DRIVE YOUR PLOW + TERRIFYING GIRLS' + MOURN RECIF + DESPERATE END live show review ***

DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD / 

TERRIFYING GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL /

MOUR RECIF /

DESPERATE END


@Red Gate in Vancouver on July 18th, 2024

Live Show Review

Oh damn I got to play at Red Gate with some bands I've been jamming/watching for years. Another killer show tomorrow in Victoria for the Skramz Slam (poster at the bottom)!

DESPERATE END
This opener was on the experimental hardcore end of the spectrum, as the vocalist wore a mask and the band swaggered around during their set. Seems like they've got a single song on bandcamp but I reckon more is coming!
(2024) DESPERATE END
^\/`~~~~---------------00oOo00---------------~~~~'\/^


DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD
I've been a big fan of this band since their demo came out, and holy shit did they blow away my expectations. Absolutely gnarly emo-violence from Vancouver. Come see them tomorrow (Aug 24/2024) when they play with my band in Victoria!!! They've got a new LP coming out soon on No Funeral and Middle Man!
(2024) DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD

For fans ofSenza and Valeska Suratt

extra videos: #2 / #3
^\/`~~~~---------------00oOo00---------------~~~~'\/^


MOURN RECIF
It was nice of them to sandwich the band I do vocals/guitar in between two such amazing bands, and I think we did alright. After the gym show the stage seemed a bit cramped and my vox were way too loud, but the reception was great and both "Twelves" and "Pink Lemonade" sounded pretty decent! Come see us play Aug. 24th in Victoria!!!
(2024) MOURN RECIF "Twelves"

For fans ofFuneral Diner and A Paramount A Love Supreme

extra video: "Pink Lemonade"
^\/`~~~~---------------00oOo00---------------~~~~'\/^


TERRIFYING GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL
My good friends in TGHS closed out the show with their sassy, hilarious, danceable sound. I'm pretty sure they've got more stuff in the works as they played at least one new song. I hope to get them over to Vancouver Island soon!
(2024) TERRIFYING GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL

For fans ofThe Blood Brothers and Mass Movement Of The Moth

extra video: #2
^\/`~~~~---------------00oOo00---------------~~~~'\/^
 

~

Next Show!!!
August 24th, 2024 in Victoria, BC

Thursday, 22 August 2024

*** SUTRAS exclusive song premiere ***

SUTRAS
"A Daily Reprieve"
exclusive song premiere
For fans of
Lagrimas, Caravels, Roman Lions and Kowloon Walled City

Full release is Aug 30th

     Today's premiere is from Washington D.C.'s SUTRAS. I was sent their debut two-song EP and I gravitated hard. The second track "A Daily Reprieve" really spoke to me, with luscious, sprawling guitar work over sludgy, yelly, post-hardcore/screamo. The band describes themselves as strange blend of melodic crust punk such as Lagrimas, slow heavy shoegaze like Jesu, post hardcore like Majority Rule and a kinship with a band like 108, which all checks out. The recording were done at Developing Nations in Baltimore and mastered by James Plotkin. The two-piece (who uses additional members live) had this to say about "A Daily Reprieve":

Once upon a time - when I was about 13 years old I got kicked out of middle school for smoking pot and unknowingly selling somebody dirt that I thought was drugs. I got in a lot of trouble and from 13-23, I got arrested at least once a year and stayed on probation or some form of supervision. When I went to the new school I was sent to I decided that in order to get my life together I would be Straight Edge - being from Virginia outside D.C. of course that seemed like a cool thing to do. Well that lasted maybe about two weeks as I couldn't make any friends, I was awkward, hated myself and my surroundings - I found the one thing I knew and for years... upon years, drugs became the focal point of my life. Of course during those years I heard sXe bands in all sorts of genres and truthfully I thought it was cool - but since I was so not that - I could never truly identify. I'll spare the bad details - but after being clean from drugs and alcohol for 14 years now and finding a form of spirituality - I wanted to write a straight edge song. I wanted to write a straight edge song that spoke about how fucking hard it is to to be straight when you want nothing more than to escape reality. That's why my first line in the song is "I'm so fucking clean it hurts".

(2024) SUTRAS "A Daily Reprieve" (from 'Awakening of the Spirit')

Tuesday, 20 August 2024

*** PODCAST #159 Animal Faces ***


    Perhaps the most important band for yours truly was ANIMAL FACES, as they played the first Toronto screamo show that I ever saw and they were fucking amazing. A decade after the release of their two genre-shattering EPs (and just a few months after ZBR released said EPs on a 12") I finally caught up to the Zach and Ryan and we reminisced. Oh how we reminisced. Some highlights include: top-tier in the Toronto scene, getting ruined in Hamilton, goddamn you Electric Circus, The Love And Terror Cult convergence, pinpointing the magic of Animal Faces, lamping origins, style-shifting & writing changes, a case of collapsed lung, reunion?, new bands, etc. Bands played in this podcast: Capsule, Man Is The Most Dangerous Animal, Ovlov, Polvo, Rockets Red Glare and Smush. Listen to podcast #159 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.

ANIMAL FACES




1 Sucking & Crowd-Induced Concussions
~no music

2 Borderline Danceable
CAPSULE "Symptom of Spectacle" (Ryan)
MAN IS THE MOST DANGEROUS ANIMAL "Cubing" (Dave)

Poppy, Melodic Times
ROCKETS RED GLARE "A Mutation" (Ryan)
OVLOV "Nü Pünk" (Zach)
SMUSH "sweetheart" (Dave)

4 The Band Wasn't Built Like That
POLVO "Fast Canoe" (Zach)


~Dave

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Saturday, 17 August 2024

REIA CIBELE

BandREIA CIBELE
For fans ofSince By Man, Mortar, Spoiled, Cape Light, Loftus, Binary, Hetta, and Craneo.
GenresPunk / Hardcore / Post-Hardcore / Emo / Screamo / Skramz / Emo-violence
Related artists?.
CountryLisbon PORTUGAL
Years Active2023-present
Label(s): Tomb Tree

     A while back I spoke with Portugal's Hetta (podcast linked here) and one member sent me a message just a few days later saying that he was recording a band that I would likely really like. He was right. I eventually got the REIA CIBELE masters and have been smitten ever since. Although we weren't able to time it with the release, my label Tomb Tree did just release tapes for this and a few stragglers remain in the Zegema Beach stores and on the TT Bandcamp.

     The first thing that hit me about this band is their intensity, as that shit is top notch. It's loud, abrasive, fast, and is essentially an audio throttling when the piercing screams are fused. The band exudes so much confidence that I can't help put sasscore in this text although the band definitely leans to the screamo/post-hardcore side of things much more. The EP opens with the absolute banger "Solaris" which gets shit start in extremely aggressive/cathartic fashion, smashing together parts of Orchid with SeeYouSpaceCowboy and a splash of Tropical Fuck Storm. I especially love the dancey outro that starts at 1:50 and keeps getting heavier. "Ego/Cristal" follows and is fucking amazing, starting off like something Since By Man would have written, the panic and vocals here are as palpable as they are destructive. Single and song with a music video "Lótus" serves as the EP's midsection is a noisy, abrasive, and snotty routing and is followed by my favourite jam on the album "Não é, nunca foi, nunca será!". This fourth track is fire in a bottle capped at a mere 1:26, the speed and ferocity is unmatched and that jazzy midsection is just icing on the cake, baby. Closer "31039 ORI" boasts a ton of dual screaming before changing into their dance clothes and proceeding to break down like a muthafucka.

     Hot fucking damn what a debut.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2024 - Reia Cibele cassette EP (stream/donate/download here) [buy tapes from Tomb Tree]

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(2024) REIA CIBELE - "Não é, nunca foi, nunca será!" (from 'Reia Cibele')


(2024) REIA CIBELE - "Lótus" (from 'Reia Cibele') official music video


(2024) REIA CIBELE - "Ego/Cristal" (from 'Reia Cibele')


(2024) REIA CIBELE - full set live at 'Disgraça, Lisbon - 02.09.23'

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Thursday, 1 August 2024

*** PODCAST #158 Smush ***



    My album of the year continues to be this, SMUSH's debut 12"LP 'if you were here i'd be home by now'. The heavy, gorgeous alternative/shoegaze from Vancouver, Canada has been played in my house for two months every fucking day. I've done a release show review complete with videos (linked here) with another July 26th show lined up, and my label Softseed Music is releasing the album on vinyl which should arrive late August/early September. Snag a copy below!!! I was able to have a great conversation with Atley (guitar) and Emily (bass/vocals) and here is the final product! Some things discussed: how to scream, finger burns, past bands (both mentioned & unmentioned), disappearing music, Itunes gift card anxiety, when banjos ruin lives, incorrect pronunciation of "smush", band beginnings, getting into shoegaze after hating it, Rick Rubin in your bathroom, suggesting cringe lyrics, feel-good music, etc. Bands played in this podcast...all "B" artists...super weird: Beck, Billy Strings, Bobby Charles, Bok Suna, Brian Green and Burial Etiquette. Listen to podcast #158 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.

SMUSH




1 I'm in my young self's fantasy
BRIAN GREEN "Impressions in F Major" (Atley)
BILLY STRINGS "No End of Love" (Emily)

2 Through-composed
BOK SUNA "comet 77" (Dave)

Funneling Towards Transition
BECK "Que' Onda Guero" (Atley)
BOBBY CHARLES "I Must Be in a Good Place Now" (Emily)
BURIAL ETIQUETTE "Burial Etiquette" (Dave)


~Dave

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