SUNDAY SMILES!
Sunday, 28 September 2014
Friday, 26 September 2014
I'm not a patriotic person. Despite the fact that I was born here, have lived here my entire life, and haven't even been outside the country since I was eight, I don't care much for Canada. I don't dislike it, of course; I've just never concerned myself with national identity. But there's a strange satisfaction I get listening to a band from here. It might be because, for so many years, our contribution to screamo has been lacking (though it's picked up considerably), but it's enjoyable for me when I stumble across a Canadian band who play(ed) so well in a genre I love. Enter Coalspur. No matter where you're from, if you don't know Coalspur who Coalspur was, only God can help you. But I'll try. They broke up earlier this year, but left us an album called Others. So even if you already know what Coalspur was all about, follow the links and enjoy if you haven't heard it yet. These fellows hailed from Edmonton, Alberta, and I imagine they took their name from the nearly abandoned mining town of that province, which is home to only a dozen or so residents these days. That name origin should give you a sense of what they're all about. They have a tragic despairing sound, lots of scaling, and raw building vocals reminiscent of some of the mid-90's greats. They play at a good clip, slowing only occasionally which gives those sections even more of an impact. The songs are very personal too, and reach out to the listener on an emotional level. A couple of the tracks off Others touch me deeply. A few nights ago, I must have listened to Frater Passus (which is Latin for "suffering brother") ten times in a row. One thing I find really interesting about this last release is how much they can cram into their short songs. Seriously, the longest is only two and a half minutes, but each one has so much going on. In summary, if by some off chance you haven't heard Coalspur yet, do yourself a favour, even if it is after the fact.
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More Germans! Alkali Lake played a soaring brand of post-hardcore, much of which reminds me of a slightly gentler Eleventh He Reaches London. I actually thought these guys were Australian until I looked into it. Sadly, like Coalspur, they broke up earlier this year, but not without leaving us a great parting gift with the release of Fourteen Fingers on Three Hands. They use more singing than most of what I post on here (especially on their last ouput), but it always breaks into some really driving shouting/screaming. The instrumental sections/soft vocal moments flesh out the songs nicely, adding somber moments to a sound that is otherwise very intense. There's not much else to say, but don't mistake that for a lack of interest on my part. I really like what these guys were doing. Hopefully, we'll get some more from the members as they move on to other projects. Give a listen.
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Maths does it again. Well, I should explain. Their most recent release, called My Porthole Sees No Ocean, which came out last month, is actually a lot of older demo material, along with some gorgeous instrumental tracks. The highlight for me, however, is the cover and I don't mean the art. When Maths put out MMVII in 2008, the highlight for me was their interpretation of my all-time favourite Jerome's Dream song, A Well Documented Case of Severe Autism. I mean, the rest of that album had me hooked as well, but that tribute was awesome, man. And now, with Porthole, they've got yet another brilliant cover, one which excites me to no end: Change by Deftones. Deftones hold a VERY special place in my heart. That song specifically is what got me into the 'Tones back when I was only 12 or so. If I had never delved into numetal, I doubt I would have ever aquired a taste for hardcore and its subgenres and therefore might be a very different person today. Ergo, Change by Deftones indirectly got me into screamo. Now Maths has taken that song, and spun it on its head (in a good way). It's like everything has come full circle. The numetal song that sparked my personal musical taste developments is played in the style that journey led me to. It sounds sappy, I know, but who cares? Anyway, Maths plays Change in their personal style: angular, chaotic and unpredictable. If you like their other material, neither the cover or the rest of the songs disappoint. It's the Maths I've come to expect, and that's never a bad thing.
Okay, this is a weird one. I'm going to come right out and suggest you don't bother with any of this band's releases prior to Takunakuy. I feel bad saying it, but their older material is just too sloppy for my tastes. That being said, it's interesting to give them a quick listen if only to see the maturation process which led to Takunakuy. They're still lo-fi, but a lot more capable in execution. In terms of style, Space Camp is a bit difficult to place for me. There's a lot of scattered influences, but the big one for me is their use of piano. Keys in general have seemingly fallen out of vogue in recent years, which bums me out. Alison Ranger's Formula Imperative is my top conceptual album of all time. I spent many rainy Autumn night with Desert City Soundtrack. But those bands are long gone sadly. What I'm trying to say is, there used to be a decent smattering of bands which used keys to a point that it was integral to their unique sound, whereas now we're lucky to get one song from a band which makes use of piano. Space Camp is different. Though not as dependent on it overall as the few bands I just mentioned, they make liberal use of piano in a fun discordant way. There's a drum machine, there's sampling, there's off-key singing, there's shrieking. These guys are all over the place, and I'm into it. I'm really looking forward to see how they develop, as with a band like this, it's hard to predict what direction they'll go in. Overall, this is a engaging, interesting output by a band that is just on the cusp of finding their feet. Start following them now and watch how they progress.
Sunday, 21 September 2014
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Of course, I'll begin with a band which wins my "Most Depressing Name" award. I stumbled across these guys last summer on a recommendation from Kilgore Trout's bandcamp, and they reinvigorated my taste for music in a huge way. The Pessimist Hangs the Optimist (or TPHTO if you're lazy and/or into acronyms) is a two piece from Maryland who play some intense lo-fi sludgy screamo. It's always impressive when a group with so few members can create such a complete sound, but these guys pull it off very well. The songs alternate from slow thick drawls to somber melodies, while the vocals include some fairly tame shouting and throaty shrieking. There's also a little bit of what I would consider spoken word, primarily in the song William Wilson, a passage from the Poe story from which the song gets its name ("In me didst thou exist—and, in my death, see by this image, which is thine own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself"). I'm a huge fan of all the original lyrical content as well, which focuses on self-abhorrence, isolation, despair, misanthropy and the like. Seriously, this stuff is pretty damn bleak in theme. There's also some pervasive anti-religious undertones to a lot of what they say. To top it all off, these are some seriously nice dudes: I was in touch with them for a little bit to ask some questions regarding the release of Godless Heathen, and they were very accomodating and quite interested in how I'd even heard of them. That being said, I'm getting a tad worried that release will never come about, as it's been some time with no word or update from the band on either of their sites. I'm still holding out hope, though. Anyway, check these sad bastards out.
Crows-An-Wra are from the UK, a place I feel is often overlooked for its contribution to hardcore. They play a vein of progressive post-hardcore, with spacey elements reminiscent of recent favourite The Caution Children or even later Mass Movement of the Moth. The reason I feel they need to be mentioned is how much they've matured on this lastest album. When I first heard their self-titled, it was decent. Worth quite a few listens, but nothing phenomenal. That's why their latest, Kolapsia, is such a nice surprise. This shit is fucking tastey. Whether it's the simple yet captivating ethereal three chord progression on Perseus or the frantic scrambling on the last track, This Will Soon be Forgotten, there's something about these guys that now grips me that was absent from their first release. Another oddity on this album, for me at least, are the two tracks which funtion as a pair, Heavy Hands and Blossom. If you know me at all, you're aware I'm no fan of clean vocals. Mostly that has to do with the fact that I have the emotional maturity of a preteen, but for some reason I never got to a point where I could enjoy softer music. Those two songs, however, feature some beautiful singing by a female guest vocalist, alone on the first but joined by frantic screaming on the second. Maybe it's the eerie tune of the lead-up, but it works in a way that I've rarely encountered in this type of music. She's wonderful on her own, but her voice paradoxically compliments the manic power heard on Blossom in a way I never expected. A very pleasant discovery for someone as close-minded as myself. Bottom line: Crows-on-wra have grown impressively between releases, and they deserve your attention.
Website
Morla
What's a Morla, you ask? Well, I'm pretty sure the name comes from the giant turtle in The Neverending Story. My reasoning? Neverending Story was a German novel and these guys are German. And in telling you they're German, you should see where this is going: I love how the Germans play screamo. Each European country has a slightly different interpretation and lean when playing this style. Italy, France, Norway etc. all do it differently. They all do it well, but in their own way. In my opinion, though, no country has a more varied yet cohesive, original or zealous approach than Germany. Call it a remnant from Post-WWI expressionism or whatever. I don't know what it is, but Germany has time and time again blown me away. Cathartic, intense, driving, beautiful, the Krauts are experts with this shit. But I digress. The point is that Morla are German. Stylistically, they play similar to more straightforward countrymen like Kill Kim Novak or Eaves, but they have a sort of defeated vocal apprach that reminds me of Yage without the spoken parts. Nothing hugely new, but it's a tried and true formula that works as well as it ever did. Good build-ups, too. I hope you give them a chance, since I find it sad that less known German bands are being overlooked thanks to fellow Germans Trainwreck, a lauded powerhouse of the style who, if you didn't know, also have a new album. But listen to these underdogs first. You'll thank me.
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Friday, 19 September 2014
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