Mumford & Sons - Babel

Sigh No More is to grass as Babel is to wheat. green to gold is the distinction i immediately noticed upon listening to this album, as it's much brighter and more uplifting than its predecessor. while Babel still has its humble as well as aggressive moments, it doesn't contain any of the sorrow, frustration and desperation that came through on such tracks as "White Blank Page", "I Gave You All", and "Dustbowl Dance"; with "Broken Crown" being an obvious exception. i believe this (record) to be a reflection of where they are as a band that's received the attention they deserve, and are/have been touring the world doing what they love most with what they most likely consider to be unprecedented success. wouldn't that make you cheery, too? 

i'm glad that they've expanded on their strengths as song-writers/performers, i.e. effective dynamic changes, swelling choruses, and an easily-replicated-live feel. it doesn't disappoint me in the least, as many of these songs were probably written immediately after, during, or even before those released on SNM. these are four extremely talented musicians who have plenty of versatility and tricks up their sleeve, but this record is not where that experimentation or progression belongs. (in fact, i think SNM already displayed more creativity in rhythm and time signatures than Babel, which is more straight forward, but also "bigger".) truthfully, they probably already have enough material to put out another album or two with an entirely different sound/style. that being said, i don't think we'll have to wait another 3 years for a new release.

for me, the record really picks up steam and becomes truly beautiful and powerful from the stretch between "Lovers' Eyes" (favorite), continuing through "Hopeless Wanderer", "Broken Crown", and "Below My Feet". "Babel" is a great song which accurately sets the precedent. "For Those Below" has a wonderful chromatic progression (and a lot of those "subtleties" other reviewers have hinted at), and "The Boxer" is much more of a classic/traditional folk song than we've heard thus far from either album. both add a nice balance to Babel, and give it enough diversity to silence - or at least reduce to a grumble - those who criticize it for being repetitious.

because this record moves in waves - 3,  by my count -  a lot of people are going to feel safe in judging the effort as a whole after only three or four tracks. this is understandable, with the bar being set pretty damn high as far as expectations go after their masterful debut release. but Babel, as you mentioned, is very agreeable and instantaneously enjoyable; the latter of which i feel is the absolute intention. just kick back and listen to what's there as opposed to what you think may not be, and you'll be pleasantly surprised after all. 8/10.

Vacant State - Fill the Void

elusive, straight-forward hardcore from Vancouver that makes you wanna grab your board and shred the nearest mini ramp. west coast style (perfectly captured by the SST derivative cover art) with plenty of boston's earlier talents' flavor. vocals are barking-like shouts, reminiscent of NEGATIVE APPROACH. so basically, it's either a wonderful culmination of country-wide ushc, or i need to pay much closer attention to the scene across our northern border.

excellent overall balance; from wailing guitar leads, chugging bass riffs, rhythm/tempo variation, traditional (genre-appropriate) song structure, and even lyrical content. considering this is their debut full-length, and despite the fact that they play a very generic brand of punk, it's quite impressive stuff. 11 track onslaught of thrash parts, circle pit ragers, dance parts and stage dive opportunities abound. no cheesy Bridge 9 gang vocals, which i am generally fond of, but if they existed here it would probably take away from their flow. good call.

lyrics span from dissatisfaction with fake friendships, frustration with stagnancy and redundancy/boredom, defiance towards conformity, and - to paraphrase both this act as well as CEREMONY - just feeling "sick". again: generic, but done really well. maybe "classic" is maybe a bit more fitting. i would, however, like to think that they are paving a new path with songs like "Rhetoric". i interpret it as a kind of critique towards left-wing politics and their pretentious subscribers, but not one that's in total opposition to being "socially conscience", for lack of a better term. basically, i see it as a statement that any representative of an oppressed group - insofar as they are asserting themselves as a representative/expert/what-have-you - are thus exposing themselves as members of the authoritative class through that very act. but hey, that's probably me reading in way too far.

all theorizing aside, this LP is fantastic. you should buy it, as it is hella cheap, or at least download it and talk them up in your town/city to earn them some more exposure and a larger attendance if and when they come through.

songs that get my proverbial motor running: Rhetoric, Fill the Void, Alone, No.

available through: Deranged Records, Go It Alone, and probably any number of other distros. last.fm is in the title. enjoy!

WORLD TOUR WITH DRAKE, PLZ.

Funeral Parade - Self-Titled

FUNERAL PARADE (Portland, OR) play spot-on early-80's UK style dark punk rock. tight, straight-forward and driving rhythm section, catchy lead riffs, and an overall sound that captures the essence of an entire era. this is a cassette release, and it's the perfect medium. i'm actually finding myself speechless over how good this is.

focusing on the horrors of our social reality rather than expounding literary praise (and with the Blinko-esque artwork, might i add), this band plays what, to me, is deathrock. like, with the clouds rolling over the moon - which is currently visible from my window - i just want to turn off the light in my room right now and get well-dressed and dance.

i really wish i would have written "For You". i just heard this demo for the first time about ten days ago, and i can already assure you that this track - hell, the whole tape, really - is timeless. a modern-day classic. how rare is that? the rumor mill has it that they've already disbanded. i really hope that for the sake of all us cold-hearted kids out there this isn't true, because if so, then the universe is missing out on something truly special. don't pass on this. it's genuine and it is very, very beautiful.

last.fm link in the post's title.

*Vinyl Update for December '11

1. Sixx - Sister Devil
 - listen -
so the other night, a friend and i decided to go to the Reckless shop on Broadway, as neither of us had been to that particular location in a hot minute. dodging in from the cold rain, i immediately began scanning the Goth/Industrial section (duh) and came up with zilch. after flipping through half of the punk LPs and mostly finding re-issues of generic records, i became discouraged and convinced that i'd be walking out empty-handed. my friend, however, had snagged a copy of THOU's new 12" EP Baton Rouge, You Have Much to Answer For. i did spot a limited copy of The Cure's Pornography, but it was not all that well packaged (and $30).

 needless to say, i was feeling rather salty. that is, until i flipped through a random spot in the metal section. i saw this image of a red-eyed nun with a pentagram carved into her palm and thought, "okay, okay...". then i read the description: "2009 release of the obscure 1991 'Sister Devil' demo from SIXX (comprised of the same people responsible for the legendary VON). Originally released on cassette, in an edition of 100 copies, 'Sister Devil' shows a different, yet sinister, side of VON. SIXX has elements of VON (a dark aura & obsessive, chanting lyrics), yet musically this has more in common with SISTERS OF MERCY, CHRISTIAN DEATH, SAMHAIN, FOR AGAINST, early CURE, etc. Satanic deathrock. On NUCLEAR WAR NOW! Productions" and my jaw hit the fucking floor.

while i knew NWN! had been dropping gems like DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT and the aforementioned THOU release, i certainly did not anticipate them taking interest in a side-project of this caliber. how wrong i was. my copy is black vinyl w/ a fold-out poster of the cover art (which, as you can see, is wicked), but NWN! even has a 2xLP on clear red w/ poster, sticker, patch, and supplemental zine...for $15. wtf. want.

the record moves exactly as one would expect the tape too, with that yummy, ever-present hissing and extremely tinny cymbal pings. the guitar tone is well suited for this style of release as well, as it is a twangy clean channel with most of the notes being tediously picked out and plucked harshly. mostly mid-tempo, dreary, dancey, dissonant (some songs more than others), and with a ritualistic chant introducing each track - i think it's safe to say that my $10 was well fucking spent. incidentally, this is the first record i listened to in the company of my new dog, Zero. so, you know, things were kind of perfect for about half an hour.

2. Oak - II
- listen -
beautifully simple gatefold layout on this 2-track monster-of-an-album. even more props to the folks at a389 for fucking killing it right now. best label in heavy underground, imo. limited to 666 copies on dense as fuck 210g vinyl, OAK plays a satanic, doom-laden drone metal. i readily compared their feel and aesthetic to COUGH, but without wailing/note-bending vocals and psychedelic riffs. way more brooding and, well, metal sounding than that. early 90's death-metal styled "oar"s and "raaah"s. abysmal. also, came with a download code and shiny silver-on-black sticker. neat.

3. Wolf Eyes - River Slaughter
- listen -
to use one of those annoying descriptions about where the "music 'takes you'", not unlike the entirety of my last post, River Slaughter is kind of like watching the opening scene in Jaws. there's an eerily calm body of water under a black sky, and it hums and it moves and you feel at peace with it. sooo, you cast off your attire in a carefree fashion and become one with the scenery. your boyfriend's busy eating sand or something, anyway. so you're just kind of floating there, but then the tone turns ominous and you can't help but shake the feeling that something's not right. then a fucking SHARK GRABS YOUR LEG AND TOSSES YOU ABOUT LIKE THE WORTHLESS MORSEL YOU ARE AND SHREDS YOU APART IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. then your boyfriend is like "huh?" and the shark peaces out and if someone else were to have arrived minutes later they wouldn't have known the difference. did i mention it's an OOP diy gatefold? oh. well, it is. gnar-ly.

4. Young and In the Way - V. Eternal Depression
- listen -
mentioned these guys a while ago. they released this all sneaky-like and with very limited copies. pressing info here courtesy of Antithetic Records. a little more blackened style this time around, but a similar set-up to Amen where the b-side is just one long, epic track. totally atmospheric and beautifully minimal in design. kvlt, u no.

LOOKIT!

Guilty Connector - Beats, Noise, and Life.

imagine you come to find yourself dazed, in the middle of what appears to be an ever-expanding field of corn. you're lying on your back and with each subtle movement, the sun flickers directly into your eyes. you spot a black bird, and then another, and another, and another, until the sky slowly (yet frantically) becomes a sea. their wings wave to the beat of an alarm that sounds violently inside your stomach, but to your ears is faint and possibly delusional. a thought; the birds are either pulling a capsule over your perceived world behind them, or your body is not registering its own decision to stand.

the stalks that surround you begin to rust, and a piercing sound rings incessantly. just then, what you can only imagine to be a railroad spike is driven straight through the center of your skull. almost immediately after the shattering impact, you experience a euphoric moment of serenity as it seems the same black sea that covered the sky begins to run like tar over your brain. the clarity isn't fleeting, but is still complicated by the painful sound of ill-fitting gears struggling to rotate.

is industry coming or going? what part do i now play in this event? can i move (with intention)? do i care to change a thing? the sea is everywhere, and you are no longer able to discern whether you are the lonesome vessel or the rapidly flowing force sent to swallow it whole. you come to realize that your/the world's cyclical gestures and any semblance of pattern has been broken, and everything - including your own sense of self - is ripped to shreds and dispersed in every imaginable direction. you explode, but only to find your (true) self set in permanent motion and everything is experienced in singular moments. whether or not they are remembered is theoretically questionable, but you don't think to wonder. you're moving.

...that's what the opening track, "New York Shibaki Terror Conversation" is like. have fun with the other thirty minutes.

last.fm, Planet Mu Records, myspace in the title.

MOTIONLESS.

Gasp - Drome Triler of Puzzle Zoo People

to the handful of you who actually maintain interest in this blog: i do apologize for the wait and commend you for your patience. hopefully i'll be back to doing this on  the regular now that my life is (a little) less crazy. onto the monotonous ramblings!

gasp (pretty sure they preferred lowercase spelling, as i do, but sometimes it's capitalized for the sake of consistency and organizing...) was a noisy, atmospheric project which, without being formulaic, played spazzy powerviolence and/or heavy sludge. though only active for a brief period in the late 90's, the band appears to have had a lasting impact on other artists that are trying to push the limits of what punk rock can and should consist of. listening to this release in particular calls to mind the efforts made by bands like REFUSED, who seamlessly tied together an album that contained an array of styles, sound clips and samples, varying dynamics, etc. in a definitive and cohesive manner. in short, it shatters people's perceptions and expectations, and one can only hope it does so for the better.

in terms of the way it sounds, i'd put it much more on par with something like if GRIEF were to perform a live album underwater while tripping and forcing all the majestic sea creatures who come in contact with the sound waves/acid to get hella existential...which is just kind of what i envision rather than what it objectively sounds like. maybe i'd describe it as "bubbly" in this sense. if it helps, i'd also say the vocals remind me a lot of the later CHARLES BRONSON releases, and that the record was put out by Slap-a-Ham. no? alright. you should probably just listen to it for yourselves. it's really cool and miserable and stuff. i highly recommend listening to it alone on the subway or on rainy, introspective nights. you'll probably discover (if you haven't already) that a lot of things are "wrong" with you, but that's why we're "here" in the first place, isn't it? ANSWER ME.

instead of over-hyping it or going into useless details i'll let it speak for itself, as it has done so quietly for the last decade or so.

personal favorites include: Silk Orbita, Sky Flowers Through Horse Eggs, Auroren, and Trippy Dead Zone.

last.fm in the post's link, myspace here.

Full of Hell - Roots of Earth are Consuming My Home

UHHH 9.6/10 SERIOUSLY OLD NEWS I KNO GUYS BUT OMG I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO IT ON REPEAT FOR ALMOST A MONTH NOW AND IT'S BASICALLY THE BEST SO GO BUY IT DOWNLOAD IT GET SOME MERCH SEE THEM ON TOUR I DON'T CARE JUST FUCKING APPRECIATE THIS SHIT BECAUSE IT COMES ONCE IN A BLUE MOON GOD LORD WILL SOMEONE LET ME JOIN THIS BAND IS IT TOO SOON FOR A COVER BAND I DON'T KNOW SO MANY QUESTIONS IS THAT A CATERPILLAR NOPE JUST A CIGARETTE I LEFT IN MY WINDOW SILL WHOOPS.

eff this crowd, srsly. i'd be murdering everyone >>>