December 2011
26 posts
5 tags
Hume
“Inverse Fireworks b/w One Drug”
7” Sockets Records
Atmospheric Math Rock
I saw Washington D.C.’s Hume play to about ten people tonight, and they played their asses off. Their live show was mostly newer material based around a two drummer lineup and some Battles style guitar effects. Im excited to hear recorded versions of the stuff they played tonight, but for now I...
November 2011
37 posts
11 tags
Holiness Church Of The Valley
“Demo”
Self Released
Screamo/Hardcore
Holiness Church Of The Valley are good friends of mine, and I helped record this live demo in their Birmingham practice space. My own involvement aside, this band fucking rules. I saw their first show tonight and they destroyed it. I think everyone was kind of shocked how raw and wild they were. It’s hard for me to give this an unbiased...
6 tags
R. Stevie Moore
“Advanced”
CD/LP 2000 Records
Father of D.I.Y. Pop
Where do you even start with R. Stevie Moore? Son of Roy Orbison/Elvis Presley bassist Bob Moore, R. Stevie has been self recording and releasing albums since 1976’s Phonography. Touted as the grandfather of DIY pop, he’s released over 400 R. Stevie Moore projects on his home label The R. Stevie Moore Cassette Club. Yes,...
Little League
“Tour Demo 2011”
CD-R Self Released
Pop-Punk, Emo
Tallahassee’s Little League play pop punk… they play the fuck out of it. They combine everything thats great about all the classics from Braid to Jawbreaker and they do it well. This band features some of the best musicians I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. The Francisco Brothers (Ronnie on drums and Arnold on...
7 tags
Caddywhompus
“Remainder”
LP/CD Community Records
Indie Noise Pop Rock (now that I’ve started putting genres I realize why I didn’t in the first place)
Caddywhompus is a New Orleans based Indie Rock outfit who jumped on a show at my house sometime in 2010. I’d never heard of them before that show, but when I saw the guitarist of this two piece setting up what appeared to be a...
5 tags
Grids
“White Walls”
LP Inkblot Records
Noise Punk
Combining the most powerful Nirvana parts with a Jesus Lizard type ethos, Charlotte’s Grids is pumping out some serious noise rock. “White Walls” is the bands first LP for Inkblot (who has also recently put out some rad stuff for 1994!). This record clocks in at just 18 minutes, but I feel like thats a perfect length....
4 tags
Bows And Arrows
“Let’s Take On The Night”
7” Self Released
Atmospheric Indie Doo Wop
Bows and Arrows are gear nerds, so it makes sense that this record sounds great. When you plug a Fender Jaguar into a Super Reverb it’s just going to sound good. Every time I’ve seen them live I’ve been drooling over almost every piece they have on stage. In addition to being vintage...
Iji
“In Celebration”
CD-R/Digital Self Released
Indie Pop
As part of my Iji retrospective, here’s 2008’s In Celebration. This album marks the band’s maturation into the arrangement and production monster it is today. Slightly more straightforward than 2010’s “Cool Dream”, “In Celebration” finds our hero (Zach) dipping his toes into the...
6 tags
Generifus
“I Don’t Have to Worry”
Cassette/CD K Records
Somber Indie Folk
Generifus is Spencer Sult… or the other way around. Anywho, Spencer is a soft spoken Pacific North-Westerner. He’s also a great guitar player and songwriter. “I Don’t Have to Worry” trots through a cloudy soundscape with some clean electric guitars, funky rhythms, interesting...
3 tags
Legion
“Saviour”
7” Wake Up And Live
Hardcore
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Legion is THE best band in hardcore. They’ve been the go to Birmingham local on hardcore shows for years now, and I feel like I’ve seen them put half a genre to shame. It’s painful to watch some Bridge 9 band (even the decent ones) play after Legion. You can’t...
5 tags
Yardwork
“Yardwork”
I honestly don’t know if physical copies of this exist
FFO: American Football/Polyphonic Spree/Broken Social Scene
Yardwork is the definition of a “local band.” If you ask anyone cool in Charlotte North Carolina what’s up they’ll tell you without question that Yardwork is the shit. Ask someone outside NC about that new Yardwork record and...
3 tags
The Spits
“Volume 5”
Lp In The Red
Classic Punk
Seattle’s The Spits have been pounding the pavement for over ten years now, and they’ve managed to remain true to the fuzzy, raw sound they’re known for. “Volume 5” is just as fast and pummeling as ever. The production is a little bit more varied than on previous albums, but the fuzz is all there. Somewhere between...
4 tags
Iji Presents: Zachary David Jammin'
“Get Free All The Time/Welcome To My Snack Bar”
Cassette Wizards of the Ghost
Throwback AM Lite Synth Dance Rock
In anticipation of the new Iji album I’m going to start posting things from the Zach Burba back catalog regularly until the release of “Yerself”. “Get Free All The Time/Welcome to My Snack Bar” is Burba’s most recent Iji related...
5 tags
Swearin'
“What A Dump”
Demo
Female Fronted Indie Rock
Swearin’ is the latest project from Birmingham to Brooklyn transplant Allison Crutchfield of P.S. Eliot, Bad Banana, and The Ackleys (if you wana see some serious high school rockery I recommend clicking that Ackleys link.) This is Alison’s first project that doesn’t feature twin sister Katie, but don’t worry,...
7 tags
Madeline, Karl Blau, Your Heart Breaks
“Tour EP”
CD-R/7” Orange Twin Records
Athens Folk Pop
This post is a tripple whammy. The “Tour EP” was recorded for a tour(duh) a few years ago and originally put on a CD-R. Due to it’s popularity it was then re-released on a more official run of 200 CD’s and finally as a 7” in 2010. Madeline is Athens Georgia’s first lady of indie pop. A...
5 tags
Sourpatch
“Mira Mija”
7” Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records
90’s Indie Pop (like K Records stuff)
Sourpatch is yet another band I saw at the Athens Pop Fest. Unlike the others I’ve posted I had already heard Sourpatch. They’ve toured with longtime friends P.S. Eliot (who actually took my band Spells on our first tour) so I’d already checked them out before the festival and I bought this 7” from...
Obits
“Moody, Standard, and Poor”
LP Sub Pop
Spooky Rock n’ Roll
“But Jonathan, Sub Pop isn’t DIY. Thats a huge label!?” Don’t worry, Rick Froberg has pretty much been upping the punx since before I was born. His latest project, Obits, finds him toning down the noise he brought in Drive Like Jehu and the high octane rock of Hot Snakes into a slightly more...
Clues
“Clues”
LP Constellation Records
Canadian Indie Pop
Clues’ Alden Penner is perhaps best known as one third of turn of the century indie popsters The Unicorns. Penner has had several other projects over the years including scoring and starring in a musical documentary (he may have invented a genre there) on dumpster diving called Surfing the Waste (holy shit it only has like...
Dickkicker
“3 Songs”
Digital Release
Hardcore/Punk/Stoner Rock
I’ll keep this blurb short since this is such a short release. These three songs were meant to go on splits that never panned out, so they’ve been combined into one digital release.
I first saw Dickkicker at The Fest 9. All weekend my Tallahassee friends made a point of saying, “Oh man, you gotta see...
Hop Along
Wretches
10” Salinas Records
Indie Rock, Pop, Folk
If I’m not mistaken Hop Along started as the solo acoustic project of Dominic Angelella, originally going by the name Hop Along Queen Anselis. Over time the name got smaller and the band got bigger. Even with the addition of a full band Angelella’s vocals remain the focal point (not to take away from the band, the...
WatchThe Green Seed- Crack Kills
I’m going to break the pace slightly here and post a video. This is the video for “Crack Kills” by Birmingham’s own The Green Seed. Green Seed is KILLING it right now. Opening for the likes of Wu Tang’s GZA and up and comers G-Side, 2011 has been a huge year for these guys. I’ve got a ton of respect for The Green Seed. They’ve...
Jack Oblivian
“So Low/American Slang”
Double 10” (yes, really) Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum
Experimental Garage Rock
In 2011 garage rock is back. Garage label Infinity Cat is doing deals with major labels, Levi’s denim jackets are cool, its like 2001 all over again. Jack Oblivion missed rock revival of the early 2000’s, but hopefully he’s catching a break this time around....
Three Man Cannon
“Nelson”
Cassette Working Man Records
College Rock
You may notice the cover art to the right (or above if you’re looking at this on your “dashboard”) isn’t a square. Well, thats no mistake, Three Man Cannon’s “Nelson” was released exclusively on cassette, and is thus a rectangle. Three Man Cannon is a Scranton, PA band featuring at least two...
Werewolves
“Someday We’ll Live in the Forest”
CD-R Self Released
Athens Pop
It’s been a long standing tradition that Athens has had some of the best in quirky pop and rock (The B52’s, R.E.M., Olivia Tremor Control, Nana Grizol, Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel). As it happens, they still do. Werewolves is at the helm of a new wave of what I would call Athens greats. The yet...
Nightmare Boyzzz
“Say What You Mean b/w Backyard Coffins”
7” Black Owl Radio
Garage Surf Pop
This is the closest thing to a “local” band I’ve posted (every band is local somewhere. That classification has always seemed weird to me.) Alabama’s rising stars in the current garage rock revival scene of the southeast hail from Muscle Shoals, an obscure town with a...
Calculator
“These Roots Grow Deep”
LP Melotov Records
Screamo.
This record is not so much an album as it is a compilation of everything Calculator recorded between 2007 and 2009. That said, they could’ve fooled me. This collection feels a lot more well rounded and cohesive than a lot of official album releases I’ve heard. Since Calculator is a (good) screamo band it’s...
Mega Bog
“FREAKY DAWN”
Cassette Wizards of the Ghost
Female Fronted Indie Pop
Mega Bog is the second of many Pacific Northwest bands I intend to post. The pet project of Wizards of the Ghost mastermind and IJI drummer Erin Birgy, Mega Bog’s reverbed out psych pop has one of those sounds that seems to have come from the past… but it’s an alternate past that was a lot cooler...
Bars of Gold
“Of Gold”
CD/LP Friction Records
Indie Rock…but for punks..?
I’ll admit, I was basically a Bars of Gold superfan before i heard a note…but I can honestly say that even with my high hopes, this record didn’t disappoint. Bars of Gold features members of the early 2000’s genre defying Bear vs. Shark. Both Bear vs. Shark records are old stand by’s...
10 tags
Iji
“Cool Dream”
CD-R/Tape Wizards of the Ghost
Pile had one of my favorite full lengths of last year, but heres my hands down pick from 2010. Iji’s “Cool Dream” finds one of the most prolific and underrated musicians not only in D.I.Y. but in music as a whole, Zach Burba (Iji has about 6 full lengths and he’s also done stuff with Megabog, Sandy City, Grrr, Her...
Four Eyes
Four Eyes 7” Self Released
Power-Pop-Punk, Emo, Indie (I’m going to start adding a little genre list here)
Four Eyes was yet another Athens Pop Fest Discovery for me. They played an early set atthe 40 Watt. When you’re first out of about 8 bands, not a whole lot of people watch your set…but they should have. Being the hardcore pop fester that I am, I was determined to...
Pile
“Magic Isn’t Real”
CD/LP Self Released
I have to gush for a minute. This record is SO GOOD, quite possibly my favorite of the year. “Magic Isn’t Real” covers the 90’s guitar rock ground of bands like Built to Spill and Dinosaur Jr but it doesn’t feel like a throwback to me. Pile has taken those bands into account and come up with a catchy, riff...
Fight Amp
“Hungry For Nothing”
CD/LP Brutal Panda
After the One Happy Island post I felt like it was a good time to go the complete opposite direction. Fight Amp’s “Hungry For Nothing” does just that. where One Happy Island makes you want to whistle and tap a toe, New Jersey’s Fight Amp will make you punch your steering wheel and slam your foot all the way through the...
One Happy Island
“Secret Party That The Other Party Doesn’t Know About”
7” WeePop
This is the first 7” I’ve posted as well as the first of many bands I’ll post that I discovered at this years Athens Pop Fest. Before Pop Fest I had never heard of One Happy Island, but this festival was a tastemaker for me. OHI’s live show was three people, two guys and a girl, with...
GDP
“Useless Eaters”
LP/CD Run For Cover
GDP is truly one of a kind. He’s a white MC from Jersey, on a pop-punk label, who stands about 8 feet tall, he actually does all the shit he raps about, and he won’t tell you his real name. I first encountered GDP a few years ago. The guy hits the road hard. I saw him once at the legendary Cave9 and the next time he came through one...
Merchandise
“Strange Songs In The Dark”
LP Katorga Works/Drugged Conscience
Fitting that my first post would be about the record that I took the blog name from. Merchandise is a lo-fi/new-wave project out of Florida. It’s a duo and both members are in the noisy post punk outfit Neon Blud. This record was the first in a...
Mission Statement.
I’m some 23 year old asshole and I think I know a thing or two about music.
This is basically an outlet for me to post the things I’ve come across. I go to a lot of shows, and I play in a lot of bands (anything I’ve had a hand in I’ll flag.) The idea behind this blog was to have a place to post bands I’ve seen recently, specifically D.I.Y. bands. I’ll also...
