Fucked Up

Fucked Up.  They're Canadian.  Early on the name really intrigued me, but as I looked into this group, there were some other things that would end up proving themselves to be even more interesting.  Here's their current lineup:

Pink Eyes - vocals

10,000 Marbles - lead guitar

Concentration Camp - rhythm guitar

Mustard Gas - bass

Guinea Beat - drums

Young Governor - third guitar (on occasion)

Word on the street is that Fucked Up is "experimental hardcore".  I believe the experimental part, without a doubt.  Although they aren't exactly the heaviest band out there.  And they are very melodic too, with lots of layers in them guitars.  Pink Eyes, being the big, sweaty, burly, bearded man that he is, delivers gruff-sounding vocals, which happen to be surprisingly tuneful at times.  He also sometimes does that Silence of the Lambs thing where you put your junk between your legs.  Naked of course.  And in front of the crowd at shows.

Fucked Up formed in early 2001 and since then have only released two albums.  What!?  No way, thats hardly nothing.  Well, in addition to their two LPs, they have released two compilation albums, ten twelve-inches (four of which are part of a quadrilogy), 32 seven-inches (many of which are splits), seven tapes (including a self released demo and three mix tapes), one song in a various artist compilation, a three song CD-R, a DVD, and an 8-track (I counted fast, and didn't double check, so I may be a bit off with some numbers, but you get the idea).  And they still have three splits and a musical in the works.

These works were put out by at least a dozen or so labels.  But don't count on finding all of it.  Basically all of their releases were vinyl exclusive.  Just look at this chunk of text from the wiki:

"The band's use of imagery and symbolism took a decided turn after the release of Epics in Minutes, as it was followed by two limited 12"s, the Looking for Gold 12", and the live Let Likes be Cured by Likes 12". The Looking for Gold 12" contained no liner notes or credits, no song titles, and a hidden track. It was self-released by the band in 2004 in two limited runs of 300 & 400 copies. The title track was 16 minutes long, used 18 guitar tracks, had a three minute drum solo and contained 5 minutes of whistling."

So, yeah.  Experimental.  Lots of very rare releases.

But from knowing all of this, try not to get too overwhelmed.  Just start with their first compilation (Epics in Minutes).  Or at least with the first twelve tracks from that.  "Baiting the Public" and "Police" were some highlights for me when I first listened to it.  You can listen to the latter song on their myspace.  Fucked Up won't necessarily become your favorite band, it's just something worth experiencing.

Myspace

Wikipedia

Show Blog

Tour Blog


If this music turns out to be something you really like, I would highly suggest warming up to their first album.  Its not bad, but once you get used to that then move on to The Chemistry of the Common Life.  It's pretty epic at times.

Koalacaust

Koalacaust is a folk punk band from San Francisco.  They have an accordion.  This is the kind of music that you listen to a few times, and remember the lyrics, then drive around while playing it and yelling the words until your voice box turns to mush.  They have a great self titled LP, for free on their myspace.  Listened to it lots.

MYSPACE
"Heath Ledger" and "Skyscrapers"


PS: They also have a new EP out on vinyl.  Get it here.

Kali

I love this.  Canadian pv.
"Fierce Power Violence with a strong anti-Christian stance. Considering the fact that the youngest member of Kali is only 16 this is more than awesome."
-Interpunk

They are broken up now.  Check out their split with Ultimate Blowup (their half is on their myspace, if you can't find it).  Their self-titled demo is also rad (released as a 7").

myspace
get that 7"

Gauntlet Hair

Yeah, so more of this please.  It is like lo fi, indie-ish stuff, but whatever.  Took me a few listens, but now I'm hooked.  These guys will probably get kind of big in a little while.  They have a demo with three tracks, and a 7" with two of those tracks from the demo.  And another 7" soon?  Highly recommend "I Was Thinking".  All recordings to this point are streaming on myspace.


myspace

This is irrelevant...in a grilled cheese sort of way.

Grilled Cheese Social is a blog about grilled cheese (who would have thought).  Grilled cheese in a sort of unconventional, yet awesomely appetizing way.  Kind of gourmet-esque recipes that don't seem all to difficult to work with.  Grilled cheese concoctions with macaroni, asparagus, cranberries, fried eggs, apples, arugula, bacon, artichokes, almonds, and tomatoes.  And lots of different cheeses and spices and stuff.  I would make some of these, but I'm too lazy.

I Have Dreams

A band that lasted from 1998 to 1999.  Excellent screamo-based music, with bits of emo and hardcore thrown in.  They only put out one short five song release called Three Days 'Til Christmas.  I admire their song structures.

myspace

Ceremony

FIRST OFF, open this and blast it while you read the following. It sets some atmosphere.

Cere-fucking-mony is a hardcore punk band from the California Bay area.  Part hardcore, part powerviolence, and a bit of thrashiness to it.  So genre-wise, they draw from a lot of music, even things outside of the heavier spectrum (think music from the 80s, but not just hardcore).  So intense.  They started out with a demo, then thier first EP, Ruined.  But then re-recorded those songs, with some new ones on Violence Violence, their first full release:

I enjoy this album ("enjoy" read as: "punch and kick down walls with").  I remember just being initially blown away by the relentlessness of the thing.  Pure anger in such a raw.  Crazy.  When I first heard it, my nose started to bleed and I my heart raced for a minute until it stopped beating. I woke up in the hospital and the doctor just diagnosed my problem by simply stating it was all a result of having listened to Ceremony for the first time and then went on about how fucking awesome the band is.  


Also, the vocalist, Ross, really throws out some rad lyrics.  Real angsty shit.  Just fucking look at him:

Their second EP, Scared People marked a change in their sound.  They maintained that energy and fervid anger, but added a sort of darkness feel to it (most of these lyrics were written during a month long stint that Ross spent in jail). That new tone was elaborated on their second LP, Still Nothing Moves You.  Compared to their earlier music, as far as attitude goes, they are far less "mean" as Ross puts it.  But with the tone of Still Nothing Moves You, Ross admitted he feels he may have been trying a bit too much to convey this change in writing style.  He also stated that although the lyrics of their older songs may not reflect the current state of mind of the band today, they are still tunes that are iconic to the group, and nonetheless, very fun to play.

Their third full-length (Rohnert Park) marks an even more dramatic change in the band's sound.  Less thrashy and fast. More old-school hardcore punk oriented rhythms and riffing.  A lot more stripped down with their sound overall.  The lyrics are still influenced by some personal experiences, but they seem a bit more up-front and direct, and more or less aggravated than violent I would say.  And of course, its still angry as fuck, just in a different style.  Despite being so very unlike the way they started, this album is pretty solid.  It took me a while to warm up to it though.  I talked to the guitarist Anthony about the new LP. He said how he felt it wouldn't be right to try and push the same original sound onto a third album, so they changed to avoid spiraling into the inevitable redundancy that can occur in a band's third full length release.  So they made something new.

Ceremony doesn't have a Myspace.  No Twitter.  No Facebook.  They are way too cool for that shit.  Below is a link to their site, which has links to merch.  Also, some videos of live jams.

TL;DR: Get the album Violence Violence.

WEBPAGE

"Kersed"

"He (God) Has Favored Our Undertakings" and "Pressures On" (a Red C cover)

"It's Going to be a Cold Winter" and "Kersed"

"Throwing Bricks"

"Living Hell"

wikipedia

PS: This band is named after the Joy Divison/New Order song.  There's a pretty big reference to it at the end of their demo.  Anthony is really into 80s music.  He fucking loves Prince.

Dr. Manhattan

Look at those fucking hipsters (towards the bottom). This picture makes me almost as happy as their music does. Currently my favorite unsigned band, Dr. Manhattan has been slowly making waves in the Chicago music scene for several years now. Their eponymous debut is ambitiously edgy and angsty, but deep down inside still makes you want to dance. Jam Dreams, their latest effort, builds upon their self-titled, but pushes their sound to a more eclectic and upbeat state of controlled chaos that's just a lot of fun to listen to. Check out the songs "Mailman", "Texas", and "Biscuits and Groovy" for a taste of what these fucking hipsters have to offer. Oh and just to clarify: they named their band when Watchmen was still cool (before that piece of shit Zack Snyder film).

Myspace

Listen to Jam Dreams

Homemade "Mailman" music video

You should really come with me

We could wreck things with fire

We could lay down and cry

By the riot that we'll inspire

-Cowgirl

Hobbes

My friend Hobbes is writing on here now.  Just to let you know.  Yup.  Just look at who's writing at the very bottom of each post.


He is an actual writer (or an aspiring one, anyhow), so his posts should be somewhat better thought out than mine.  He's a musician, too (but so am I, to some extent*).  But he wanted me to mention that for some aesthetic ego stroking.


*open for interpretation

Twin Shadow

Some real, deep-space, lo-fi shit right here.  Yeah, lo-fi (or pop in general*) and I rarely get along well, so this is all a bit new to me.  This guy is super hipster, but his beats are so fresh.  Been jamming out to his LP everyday for almost a week now.  Its titled Forget.  It is streaming on his webpage.  Really laid back.  So very good, if you like this kind of stuff that is.  Very 80s sounding.  Below are two music videos.  Watch both, because each are quite different, tones of the two songs aside, even.  Also, there's a link to a review down there.  It explains his music better than I could.

"Castles in the Snow"

"Slow"

myspace

WEBSITE

album review

*self reassuring lies