Long, Long Overdue

Not quite a few years unlike that one song by the Get Up Kids, coincidentally if you don't know who that is kids go get one of their records and then beat your head against a wall, the familiar sound you hear is every 'emo'tional band that has come after the Get-Up Kids. Anyways, what I am talking about being overdue with is a little review I promised my friend Thys a while back. He is a local, like me from the very interesting corner of American called Utah. We started to get together as friends when we worked together at a local restaurant in Ogden and then I began to, for lack of a better word, mentor him into playing music. He recorded me a set of songs on a little handheld tape recorder and I reviewed them for him. They obviously were not yet great works of music, but that is the beauty of modifiers in a sentence, they were not yet.

Over the years he began to jam with many locals, our mutual friends included and he continued to allow me to listen to every new recording. He grew, as a songwriter and as a person into what he is now basically around his music and the music he loves. Now with a band, Wedroplikebombs, he is bringing some of the promise in his early recordings to life.

Along with his current band mates, Mason, drums, and Bredon on bass, Thys has created an eclectic mix of post hardcore, emo, and indie dreamscapes. On their latest and close to only recordings, a demo released earlier this year, we find the band lengthening their strides. The songs are almost created out of themes and do not really stick to the chorus verse chorus routine of most local songwriting. It seems that the group do not want to be pigeon holed early in the game, "What it everyone hated who I was?" has an atmospheric tone that resides somewhere between the sad quirk of Motion City Soundtrack and the drone of This Will Destroy You. However this song is a perfect example of what Bombs do best, at the two minute mark they drop the bouncy drum and bass line to allow Thys to come in and build the song to a monstrous wail, leaving a broken heart in the wake with screams of "Go to Hell."

Live, these songs are a whole other animal. They are taken to another level altogether and are best experienced on their own person to person. Check them out on myspace or on facebook, they play shows all the time across the Wasatch front and are a treat to see live. This is a band that, if they avoid the local curse, will go far.

Dead Air Radio 9/29

1 - Requiem For Erst-Hugo by Text -
2 - Vices by Brand New - Daisy
3 - Red Bull Of Juarez by Frodus - And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea
4 - Waiting Room by Fugazi - 13 Songs
5 - Knights by Minus The Bear - Planet Of Ice
6 - Geneva by Russian Circles - Geneva
7 - Horse Girl by These Arms Are Snakes - Easter
8 - World War I by Anchor Down - Steel To Dust EP
9 - Like A Record Player by The Lawrence Arms - Oh! Calcutta!
10 - This Basement Gives Me A Fucking Headache by Latterman -
11 - Warbrain by Alkaline Trio - Unreleased
12 - Chelsea Smile by Bring Me The Horizon - Suicide Season
13 - Given Flight by Demon's Wings by Shai Hulud
14 - Keep It On Wax by Alexisonfire - Crisis
15 - What Would It Be Like If Everyone I Knew Hated Who I Was? by Wedoplikebombs - Demos
16 - Cannonball Man by Buddy Wakefield
17 - Devil Dressed In Blue by Right Away, Great Captain! - The Eventually Home
18 - The Impression That I Get by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
19 - We've Got Pockets Like Nobody's Business by Chase Long Beach
20 - Ghost Town by The Specials
21 - Super Rad by The Aquabats
22 - Try This At Home by Frank Turner - Poetry Of The Deed
23 - Born and Raised by Fake Problems - How Far Our Bodies Go
24 - Baby, I'm An Anarchist by Against Me! - Reinventing Axl Rose
25 - Belt by Say Anything - ...Is A Real Boy
26 -

Dead Air Radio 9/21 - Vinyl Night

1 - King Rat by Modest Mouse - B Side of Dashboard Single
2 - Blessed Burden by Deafeater - Travels
3 - Under A Killing Moon by Thrice - The Artist In The Ambulence
4 - Deth Kult Social Club by From Autumn To Ashes - Holding A Wolf by The Ears
5 - Writing On The Walls by Underoath - Define The Great Line
6 - Coagulate / Cadence / The Beat by Snapcase - End Transmission
7 - Protest Song '68 by Refused - The Shape Of Punk To Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts
8 - Dead Wombs by Death From Above 1979 - Head Ups!
9 - Brothers by Brand New - B Side Of Jesus Single
10 - You're Not Afraid Of The Dark, Are You? by Look Mexico - Gasp, Asp EP
11 - Blue Jeans And White T-Shirt by The Gaslight Anthem - Senor And The Queen EP
12 - Not Now by Blink 182 - Not Now Single
13 - Me Vs. Madonna Vs. Elvis by Brand New - Deja Entendu
14 - The Marvelious Slut by Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthic
15 - We Drink So You Don't Have To by The Blackout Pact - Hello Sailor
16 - Keep It On Wax by Alexisonfire - Crisis
17 - Gasoline by Brand New - Daisy
18 - Property by Say Anything - Say Anything
19 - The Eraser by Thom Yorke - The Eraser
20 - Sinner's Serenade by Cursive - B Side of "Art Is Hard" Single
21 - An Absurd And Unrealistic Dream Of Peace by Thursday - Split With Envy
22 - Hail Destroyer by Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer
23 - The Ballad Of Me And My Friends by Frank Turner - Campfire Punk Rock

Dead Air Radio 8/24/09

1 - Stressing The Fuck Out by O Pioneers! - Neon Creeps
2 - Burnout by Green Day - Dookie
3 - Diamond Rings by Fake Problems - It's Great To Be Alive
4 - Baby I'm An Anarchist by Against Me! - Reinventing Axl Rose
5 - In Studio With The Blu Storks
6 - Josie by Blink 182 - Dude Ranch
7 - At The Bottom by Brand New - Daisy
8 - Change Your Face Or Change Your Name by Colour Revolt - Colour Revolt EP
9 - A Disgust For Details by Coalesce - Functioning On Impatience
10 - I, I, I Love Snow by Buddy Wakefield and Mogwai - Unreleased Mix
11 - I'm Still Learning by The Felix Culpa - Commitment

Dead Air Radio Playlist For August 18th, 2009

1 - Fear Before Doesn't Listen To People Who Don't Like Them by Fear Before - Fear Before
2 - Through Being Cool by Saves The Day - Through Being Cool
3 - We Will Erase All Life On Earth But Us by Say Anything - Unreleased
4 - Diamond Rings by Fake Problems - It's Great To Be Alive
5 - Rice And Bread by Against Me! - As The Eternal Cowboy
6 - A Brief But Triumphant Intermission by Against Me! - As The Eternal Cowboy
7 - Two Cups Of Tea by Star Fucking Hipsters - Until We're Dead
8 - Energy Dome by Snapcase - Boysetfire vs. Snapcase
9 - Termites Hollow by Grade - Headfirst Straight To Hell
10 - To Our Friends In The Great White North by Botch - We Are The Romans
11 - Purexed by P.O.S. - Never Better
12 - Living Saints by Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg
13 - Nervous Breakdown by Black Flag -
14 - History's Stranglers by The Bronx - The Bronx (II)
15 - Congradulations, John, On Joining Every Time I Die by Bomb The Music Industry -
To Leave Or Die On Long Island
16 - The State Of Massachusetts by Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest Of Times
17 - Darkness Rising by The Matches - A Band In Hope
18 - Holding On For A Hero by Emery - Punk Goes 80s
19 - Spanish Tongues by Chase Pagan - Chase Pagan EP
20 - Naked And Red by Colour Revolt - Plunder, Beg, And Curse
21 - The Saddest Day by Converge - Petitioning The Empty Sky
22 - Angel by Massive Attack - Mezzanine
23 - My (Fucking) Deer Hunter by Fear Before - The Always Open Mouth
24 - The Drugs Or Me (Styrofoam Remix) by Jimmy Eat World - Stay On My Side Tonight EP
25 - Wagon Wheel by Against Me! - Unreleased
26 - Death By Fire by Therefore I Am - The Sounds Of Human Lives

Anchor Down, Bastards Of Young, and In The Red - Live in SLC

I have a lot of co-workers and friends that have never been to a good live show. They may have seen a pop star or a country act or maybe a small local show, but they have never been in a crowd as it falls back and forth in anticipation of the oncoming band's set or seen a mosh pit erupt because of some simple chords. What makes me ever sadder than this is the idea that many of these friends of mine have never been to the right of passage for any true concert goer, the house show. Many of these house shows are poorly run affairs, where you don't know that the band is the ones sitting next to you on the porch till they go on stage; however one that I recently went to was a bar above the rest, not only in the way that it was put on but also the bands that played.

The show, just this last Thursday, was for a group of punk and hardcore bands from the bay area of California and Portland. Run out of the basement of a small house in Taylorsville, dubbed the T-Ville House, the show was fully run like any professional show except only donations were accepted but that does not mean that the small crowd of twenty or thirty of us were given bad sound or a dangerous setting. Instead it was quite the opposite, the venue was clean, exits and bathrooms were clearly marked and the sound for a basement punk show was surprisingly clear and beautiful.

The show kicked into high gear when California's In the Red hit the stage at around the seven o' clock mark. The band, functioning very well as a trio, played some very good mid tempo thrash mixed with some early 90s grunge, think a good thrash punk band fronted by Eddie Vedder. It was really pleasing to hear a band that can play a type of music that doesn't necessarily fit in with the rest of the bands on the bill but still is enjoyable and weird. Their drummer, Matt, was a pleasure to watch as he not only pounded his kit with a hearty zest for his beats but also sang along to most of the words. Their singer stated that the band's slogan for the tour was "Almost Metal" and I think this statement sums up their set and their mentality as a band, they don't sound like punks but they sure act them, in a totally good way.

Next on the bill were Bay Area punks Bastards of Young, whom I assume lifted their name from the Replacements song of the same name, pretty awesome guys. Seriously. The band, vocalist and guitar player Nick Ripley, Patrick Hill on guitar and vocals, Sean Hills on bass, and Wyman Harrell on drums, play a wonderful blend of punk that is reminiscent of the Bouncing Souls and Polar Bear Club. Their set, which included a cover of the classic Clash tune "Career Opportunities" with the aid of the bass player of In the Red on drums, played like Chuck Regan of Hot Water Music fronting a very punky Polar Bear Club. Aside from the problems with tuning and some low vocal levels, the band played an extremely energetic set that any touring band would be proud of.

Before their set I got I chance to sit down with Lucas Andrews from Anchor Down and talk a little about their tour and what they do as band. First of all I really have to say I am impressed by the band just for the way that they handle themselves. They screen print all their t-shirt, they booked the entire tour for themselves, they do most of their stuff so DIY that you really cannot help but be impressed by the way that Anchor Down handles themselves and their image to the public.

Their set, which headlined the night, was comprised almost entirely of songs from their EP Steel to Dust which came out earlier this year on Solidarity Records. The band played with a new bass player named Matt, who brought an energy to the set with his incessant moving and palpable energy. The band looked professional on stage, looked like veterans though a little road weary were still ready to play some of their music for willing ears. Running through some of the best songs on the album like "El Radio" and my personal favorite "Bromancing The Stones", the band came off sounding a little like early Alkaline Trio or late period Lawrence Arms, but still sounded like their own band due to the crooning of vocalist Alex Hudjohn and the amazing drum work of Chad Noakes. As the band got near the end of the set their invited people who knew the words to come help them sing the songs due to their weakened voices from a recent sickness that had swept through the band. On the final song, and probably the finest by the band, "World War I" many in the crowd were happy to oblige the band by singing the final refrain of the song "These words are our bullets, these chords are swords, we're marching in time, we're waging a war." As the song ended I couldn't help hope that this band continues to wage a war on the blacktop and succeed as a band.

A trip to the local record store

After lunch today with my sister Rachel we headed to our local record store and I got some pretty good stuff. I don't really try to buy to many new records nowadays because the shelves are usually clogged with the new release by the hot Fueled by Ramen band, or by the new leader in death metal that will get a creative hair up their butt on their second record and lose their entire fan base, except for the few diehards that really do know that the band sucks but cannot bring themselves to agree to it. Like myself and Taking Back Sunday. Anyways. I got some good stuff for under ten buck from scanning the used rows.

First was an LP from Ferret records metalcore act Scarlet. The album, This was always meant to fall apart, is pretty much artistic slash and grind metalcore with some soft spoken lyrics, like Underoath without the Christian part. I have this thing about always wanting to grab stuff from certain labels when it is cheap just because of the label, not the band. It is pretty chance oriented endeavor but I would have never heard of Moneen if I didn't like Vagrant Records.

The next one I found was You Come Before You by Poison the Well. They have a new album coming out via, you guessed it, Ferret Records later this year called Tropical Rot, but this was their effort back from the 'OOs, and it is a pretty ferocious records that is not too much like their last effort Versions. Nonetheless it is a pretty great album. One a side not one of my earliest memories of liking hardcore is watching the video for "Botchla" on the xDoanex video collection. It was just such a fresh and accessible song for me at that time. It didn't start out with screaming or heavy riffs, just the singer saying "But, I adore her" over and over again and then leading into the screaming and a bridge that is more rock oriented than hardcore. It is crazy to think back and see that this was one of the reason I love music now.

Lastly I got the album Sorry Vampire by John Ralston. He is a signee to Vagrant and creates beautiful and haunting folk music, if you need an example look up "Gone, Gone, Gone" off of his previous effort Needle Bed, it is probably one of the greatest kiss off songs. Anyways I have loved this man's music since I saw his perform with Limbeck a couple of years ago. He had this wonderful air around him, a comedy almost, and it was really nice to have him agree to come and perform a couple of songs at KWCR the next day along with Limbeck. Someday I might get around to posting those up here. Also if you look at a picture of him and Bert McCracken from The Used sidebyside they could be brothers, just saying.

Anyways there you go, get out and maybe buy some of these or just any record really at your local records store, except the new Eminem he has enough money as it is.

Birdmonster Interview

So interview was a really cool one. The video for one has me in the background some of the time due to the mirror behind the band. You get to see my mug, not sure if that is a good thing? The interview was done this past January in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival. Birdmonster played on the same day and stage as Winonna Judd, Johnny Reznick, and Damien Rice at the ASCAP tent. They were pretty stoked. As we were getting ready to find a spot it was decided that we should do it in a restaurant that was just used as a banquet area for the bands. They sat down as the people working at the restaurant buzzed around and got things ready for the next banquet. They were not happy. The band however were very nice and ready to talk. The camera work and editing were done by Mike, once again.

Thrice Interview

I have been a Thrice fan since I was knee high to a duck. The Artist in the Ambulence came out when I was just getting into music in high school and I picked up a copy of this album along with Thursday's War All The Time on the same day. It was a day that changed my life. No joke intended.

A few years later I got a chance to meet Thrice and that a wonderful experience, but then a right after the second half of The Alchemy Index came out I got a chance to meet and interview Dustin Kensrue,vocalist, and Teppei Teranishi, guitarist.

The best part of this interview was that their tour manager at the time was Damon Atkinson. Now that name probably does not resonate with many of you but maybe his former band will. He was drummer for Hey Mercedes and Braid. Yeah, look them up and listen to the emo goodness.

When Mike and I got to the venue we called the number provided by the label and we got Damon on the phone and he said that someone would be out to get us in a minute. A few minutes later, a mid-sized well built man walked out the side door past all the fans with his head lowered. He walked up to us and stated that he was Dustin and that he was very happy to have us interview him today. Yeah, I know.

When I came into Damon's little make shift desk at the venue he was busy on the phone. He was obviously not happy with whoever he was talking to but as soon as he got off of the phone, he smiled and turned and shook our hands and led us to the tour bus. After that it is all pretty much on tape. Interview by Matt, editing and camera work by Mike McIntosh.

Jessica Lea Mayfield Interview

Honestly this was probably the strangest interview I have done. It was in the middle of summer and I had to work that night at my paying job. So I rode down on the Frontrunner (a train connecting Salt Lake City to Ogden, where I live) and caught up with Shay Bonnie, my assistant Music Director at the time, and we drove to the venue, which doesn't start their shows till past 9 PM, and did the interview at 4PM. Yeah it was was pretty interesting. Jessica Lea Mayfield was incredibly nice, although a little camera shy, I think this was one of the first interviews she had done on camera. It was a really good time. The video was filmed and edited by Shay Bonnie and posted by Mike McIntosh.

Matthew Santos Interview

Really this interview just started as an in studio. We were contacted by Matthew Santos' people to do a brief in studio on air at KWCR and I agreed. I didn't know much about Matthew's music at the time, but then Lupe Fiasco's The Cool came out and the single "Superstar" featuring Matthew Santos hit the airwaves. "Superstar" was one of my favorite singles that came out that year, and honestly still good today. This gave me the idea to approach his music with a greater degree of interest. What I found is a singer that approaches his music much like a good folk singer and writes honest, sometimes dark songs about life and lost love. It kind of reminds me a Damien Rice if he grew up on soul. The interview was amazing and the audio you hear in the background is the actual audio from the studio board. The filming and editing were done by Mike McIntosh.

Circa Survive Interview

This an interview that I did a little over a year ago with Circa Survive singer Anthony Green and also their guitarist. My friend Mike McIntosh did the camera work and edited it for me into the current vision that you have. The tour that Circa Survive was on at the time included Thrice, who I also interviewed that day, and Pelican. So you can tell it was a very hardcore group of people that went to the show. This was Mike's first real concert... I quote "It's so loud, much louder than the Kenny Chesney concert I went to last year." Yeah, I know. I still love him.

P.O.S. Interview

This is an interview I did last year with Rhymesayers Entertainment rapper P.O.S. in Salt Lake City before his July show with Underoath and Ill Patriot. That was a really interesting night because of the crowd that was at the venue. The promotor hadn't had enough tickets presold to put the show into the big room at the venue and it was moved into the smaller room. Lots of kids ended up showing up and they just kept letting them in. Except for the four people there for P.O.S., and you could tell who they were when he was playing by the raised hands, the crowd was there for Underoath.
The interview took place before the show in the July heat behind the venue. We had a good amount of time with Stef. The interview was done by myself and the camera work and editing by my good friend Shay Bonnie.

Greyer By Shades

Greyer By Shades

Matthew Winters

Gallows' lead singer Frank Carter is somewhat of an enthusiast in the field of screwing with the media. When interviewed about Gallows' internationally acclaimed new album Grey Britain, he stated to New Musical Express that the band is just "a hobby I get paid for". With the release of Grey Britain, Gallows starts out on a three-record track with Warner Brothers International reportedly worth around 1 million pounds. That's a pretty good hobby.

The album is classic punk rock with a thrash swagger. Recalling former tour mates Cancer Bats and the anger of Bring Me the Horizon, the band switches into high gear on first single "The Vulture (Act II)" and second single "London Is the Reason." The album is full of the trademark high-pitched guitar of Laurent Barnard dueling with Stephen Carters' guitar. It is most noticeable on "Leeches," a burning ode to everyone you hate on a day to day basis, grilling with lines like "If your hands could talk / they'd choke themselves to death before they were caught," and on to the bridge of "I Dread the Night" with its slow burn to urgency. "Black Eyes" is an old-school gang-chorus punk song; it feels out the true ideas of the album: disgust for the politics of Britain.

Uncharacteristically, though, the band chose to do something that they have never done: slow things down and let Frank Carter sing, not scream. It gives the album the emotionality it needed to be persuasive. Instead of shouting the message out to the audience and leaving them almost questioning what they are hearing, like so much of Gallows' 2006 debut Orchestra of Wolves, the singing and toned-down attitude of the band makes reception to the message easier. Gallows are mad at the world and they are not afraid to show it.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 6/9/09

The Perfect Record

The Perfect Record

Matthew Winters

Anyone under the gun at this end of the semester can relate to pressure and the overwhelming feelings that it produces. School is almost out, stress on relationships, work, work, work, constantly feeling like the pressure is going to consume you. Manchester Orchestra front man Andy Hull can relate. On 2006's mini masterpiece I'm Like a Virgin, Losing a Child, Hull created micro breakdowns, sketches of the brutality of relationships and family gone wrong. "Where Have You Been?" being the perfect example: a six-plus minute slow-raging epic about the moment of truth in a relationship.

Three years and a bunch of tours under their belts Manchester have created the masterpiece of their very young career. Mean Everything to Nothing is the sonic equivalent of a person descending into depression and bi polar disease. The songs blend together but clash at the seams, creating a dissonance and powerful front for Andy Hull dramatic statements. "I can't speak … I sing" he yelps on the near perfect "Pride" backed by monstrous guitar and bombastic drums. "I've Got Friends" is the quintessential song for anyone that has ever thought about ending it and realizes that they are needed by their friends, and by using the repeated phrase "I've got friends in all the right places / I know what they want / And I know that they want me to stay" it is almost like Hull is trying to convince himself and his audience that it is true. "I Can Feel a Hot One" is reused from last year's stopgap EP Let My Pride Be What's Left Behind, but it works so well in this album, it is a quiet moment of reflection in an album of confusion and noise. "The Only One" is the moment that a person realizes that they are going insane but knows no one else sees it.

Mean Everything to Nothing is nothing short of a masterpiece. As an album it shows the talent that these men have. I would say that this is the first perfect album of the year and it is one that people will look at 10 years down the line and revere it like Nevermind by Nirvana, Steady Diet of Nothing by Fugazi, or The Pixies' Doolittle. This is music that defines a generation, not because it tries to be amazing, but because it crushingly is amazing.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 4/17/09

Not The Masters Of Their Craft

Not The Masters Of Their Craft

Matthew Winters

There are some bands that you hear about because friends like them. There are others you hear about because the critics like them. Then there are bands you hear about because your favorite band loves them. Death From Above 1979 was one band that was a band's band. Their blend of electronic beats and distortion, amazing bass lines, and vocals that screamed post hardcore made them a heavy favorite in the early '00s.

Unfortunately, like many bands that are this good, they broke up. The duo, yes duo, of Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastian Grainger split in 2006 but it was not the end for these two sonically. Grainger released a solo album late last year under the new moniker Sebastian Grainger & the Mountains on Saddle Creek Records, it was largely a folk affair but tracks like "(Are There) Ways To Come Home?" ran the gambit between the folk leanings of his new band and the Death From Above 1979 style he was famous for.

Jesse F. Keeler however went a different route. He took the dance floor nature of DFA1979, extracted it out and ran with it. Keeler and fellow knob turner Al-P released their first LP "The Looks" in '06 under the new moniker MSTRKRFT, pronounced "masterkraft." It was a masterpiece of dance floor love and the group was immediately commissioned to do remixes for big names like Justice and Bloc Party.

Flash forward two years to '09 and the duo release Fist of God. While the record is good, it still does not really stand out for anyone who is not a fan of the genre. The jams are there however: "Heartbreaker (Featuring John Legend)" is a ready made comedown song for anyone that has been on the dance floor too long, "Bounce (Featuring N.O.R.E. & Isis)" is the next grime hit that Dizzee Rascal never wrote, and "Click Click (Featuring E-40)" is the next action movie fight song. However without a vocalist, tracks like "1,000 Cigarettes" fall flat and are a bit too repetitive for their own nature.

While MSTRKRFT is great for the dance floor and as background music to action sequences and commercials, it is a tough pill to swallow if you are not a fan of electronic music, and it is even more disappointing considering Keeler's pedigree. All we can hope for is that Death From Above 1979 has a reunion tour in the plans.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 4/10/09

Refused Are Dead

Refused Are Dead

Matthew Winters

"They told me that classics never go out of style, but they do, they do. Somehow, baby, I never thought that we'd do too."

These are the first words uttered on Refused's 1998 cathartic magnum opus The Shape of Punk to Come, the next sentence screamed by front throat Dennis Lyxzen is the album's dictum "I've a bone to pick with capitalism and a few to break." The album influenced a whole generation of hardcore kids who wanted change but couldn't quite get there, much like Refused themselves, and now with recent repressing on vinyl by Burning Heart Records it is poised to influence a whole new generation.

The album, a conglomeration of punk, hardcore, spoken word, jazz, electronic and metal music, is about change, but understanding that not much will change with the effort that you put into it. Centerpiece song "New Noise" rises slowly and burns out fast but brings to light the idea that "We need new noise, new art for regular people" while the chorus states that the band "lack the motion to move to the new beat." "Refused Party Programme" screams "This is the beat of a new generation" over a buzz saw guitar line and a wonderful drum line in direct response to "New Noise." Starting out with a start-stop dynamic "The Deadly Rhythm" drops into a free jazz solo about a minute into the song. Perhaps the most shocking and beautiful song on the album is "Tannhauser/ Derive", an eight-minute string and drum track that pulses and burns out slowly, the complete opposite of "New Noise", its purpose is awe and show that new ways can be found just by walking somewhere new.

The true worth of this album is that so many have copied it. Listeners can hear Refused in Thursday, Underoath and even Paramore, who are unabashed Refused lovers. Upon their demise Refused left us with one final press release, here is one prime example why they finished, "When every expression, no matter how radical it is, can be transformed into a commodity and be bought or sold like cheap soda, how is it then possible that you are going to be able to take 'art' seriously?" The Shape Of Punk To Come is serious art, and in the words of Dennis Lyxzen on Refused's sad end "Instead we need to look forward. We got everything to win and nothing but our boredom to lose."

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 3/27/09

Refused Are Dead

Refused Are Dead

Matthew Winters

"They told me that classics never go out of style, but they do, they do. Somehow, baby, I never thought that we'd do too."

These are the first words uttered on Refused's 1998 cathartic magnum opus The Shape of Punk to Come, the next sentence screamed by front throat Dennis Lyxzen is the album's dictum "I've a bone to pick with capitalism and a few to break." The album influenced a whole generation of hardcore kids who wanted change but couldn't quite get there, much like Refused themselves, and now with recent repressing on vinyl by Burning Heart Records it is poised to influence a whole new generation.

The album, a conglomeration of punk, hardcore, spoken word, jazz, electronic and metal music, is about change, but understanding that not much will change with the effort that you put into it. Centerpiece song "New Noise" rises slowly and burns out fast but brings to light the idea that "We need new noise, new art for regular people" while the chorus states that the band "lack the motion to move to the new beat." "Refused Party Programme" screams "This is the beat of a new generation" over a buzz saw guitar line and a wonderful drum line in direct response to "New Noise." Starting out with a start-stop dynamic "The Deadly Rhythm" drops into a free jazz solo about a minute into the song. Perhaps the most shocking and beautiful song on the album is "Tannhauser/ Derive", an eight-minute string and drum track that pulses and burns out slowly, the complete opposite of "New Noise", its purpose is awe and show that new ways can be found just by walking somewhere new.

The true worth of this album is that so many have copied it. Listeners can hear Refused in Thursday, Underoath and even Paramore, who are unabashed Refused lovers. Upon their demise Refused left us with one final press release, here is one prime example why they finished, "When every expression, no matter how radical it is, can be transformed into a commodity and be bought or sold like cheap soda, how is it then possible that you are going to be able to take 'art' seriously?" The Shape Of Punk To Come is serious art, and in the words of Dennis Lyxzen on Refused's sad end "Instead we need to look forward. We got everything to win and nothing but our boredom to lose."

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 3/27/09

Kasher's New Masterpiece

Kasher's New Masterpiece

Matthew Winters

Being called a functioning alcoholic would usually be an insult to the person receiving it, but when the person saying it is Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, in an interview a few years ago, about Tim Kasher of Cursive and The Good Life, you can kind of understand it. Both men, but Kasher especially, have made careers on writing songs that are about drunken nights, bad mistakes and the after effects of what those mistakes can make. Cursive have always been a band full of those kinds of songs, from 2003's The Ugly Organ, an album based on a play written by Kasher, to 2006's masterpiece Happy Hollow, Cursive stuck close to their lyrical and musical roots.

Mama, I'm Swollen, Cursive's 2009 release, doesn't really stray too much from the formula that Cursive created more than a decade ago while most members were just coming out of proto-Cursive band Slowdown Virginia. The self-defacing lyrics about sin and drunken nights are there backed by discordant guitars and pulsing drums, but gone is the electronic and horn elements that dominated Happy Hollow and also the cello that so sweetly accentuated "Ugly Organ's" dense story line. What "Mama, I'm Swollen" does have though is more connection to 2000's critic favorite Domestica and Kasher's side project The Good Life.

The album, from stirring opener "In The Now" with it's shouted repeat line "Don't wanna know what I know / Don't want to live in the now" over guitar lines borrowed from the record Fugazi never wrote to closer "What Have I Done?" that recalls "Inmates" from The Good Life's "Album Of The Year" both of which tell the story of man who cannot quite get something finished, is something to be praised for its bluntness and it's beauty. "From The Hips" and "We're Going To Hell" make "Mama" sound like "Domestica" Pt. Two, but plagiarizing from yourself to make another amazing record isn't always a bad idea.

"Mama, I'm Swollen" isn't Cursive's greatest record, and more likely than not it will be down played as a footnote to an already great catalogue of music from a wonderful indie band.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 3/20/09

Interesting Ordinary Pop

Interesting Ordinary Pop

Matthew Winters

There is always that girl at the party. She is instantly attractive to everyone in the room, but she keeps her distance from the pretty boys and the poppy girls, instead she favors the nerds and the smart kids. She always has the best stories in the room, like the time she met that famous man and all the "The Fear" she had when she met him. She is accessible and she has been hurt by men, but is funny about it and laughs.

If the party were the current pop music scene, British singer Lily Allen would be that girl. Pop is her game and she is at the top of it. With the help of some very good production, courtesy of Greg Kurstin of "The Bird And The Bee, "and a razor sharp wit; Lily's new album It's Not Me, It's You is a tour de force of pop.

No topic is taboo to her. "Everyone's At It" brings the idea that everyone is doing drugs to the front of the page, and with a sashaying electro beat to boot. "Not Fair" is the song for any girl that has thought that they had the perfect man until they get him into bed.

"Never Gonna Happen" is the perfect song for any person who has dealt with a member of the opposite sex who does not get the hint that you do not like them.
The most staggering thing about It's Not Me, It's You is how quick it can change gears. The anti-racist "F*** You" is placed right between the perfectly beautiful "Who'd Have Known" and "Never Gonna Happen". It can be a little jarring.
However it does not take away from the album as a whole. This album, like her previous effort Alright, Still and close kin The Streets' A Grand Don't Come For Free, has the air of bringing to light very ordinary things about life and turning them into pop masterpieces.

That is the true magic of Lily's music, and much like the girl at the party, they are both so interestingly ordinary.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 2/27/09

Press 'Play' On Instant Classic

Press 'Play' On Instant Classic

Matthew Winters

Moby, an international DJ and Eminem's favorite target of mockery released an album in 1999 called "Play." You may not know this album but I guarantee that you have heard at least a portion of it, as he licensed the entire album for commercial use. The music on that album fused together the worlds of house and electronic music with the folk and blues recordings of the early part of the last century. What came of it was an album that unabashedly combined characteristics of old with the punch of the new.

Dan Auerbach, better known as the singer and guitarist for the Black Keys, tore a page out of Moby's playbook for his first solo album "Keep It Hid." "Heartbroken, In Disrepair" and "Mean Monsoon" roll along like remixed blues classics, but the vocals growl like they were recorded a hundred years ago. "Disrepair" in particular is the perfect example of the melding of the old with new, a full-bodied guitar jiving over vocals that wouldn't sound out of order in the Deep South circa 1933. "I've got to live my sin till I die" are perfect examples of the blues cookbook, but played over the delayed guitar it sounds so modern a listener could almost confuse them with My Morning Jacket or Colour Revolt.

Where "Keep It Hid" really shows its strength is when it is mostly just Auerbach and an acoustic guitar. Opener "Trouble Weighs a Ton" shows Auerbach at his most emotionally distraught but at his most hopeful as he paints portraits of men and women in their darkest hours. With subtle strings and a very subdued guitar, Auerbach croons with fellow folkie Jessica Lea Mayfield on "When the Night Comes" that leaves the listener wondering if this is an old standard or a new one on the cusp.

"Keep It Hid" is the type of album that haunts the listener for long after it has finished. That is what a true classic does to a listener, it not only is enjoyable while listening but it leaves you humming for days after.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 2/13/09

Words As Weapons

Words As Weapons

Matthew Winters

P.O.S. is an anomaly. When looking at music we see lines and genres, but with the inception of the Internet and mass media producing devices, the lines of genres are in reality blurred. P.O.S. is a product of that blurring, the love that comes from having more than one love in music and the desire to combine them into one.
Stefon Alexander, better known to his fans as P.O.S., started playing music in punk bands in his home state, Minnesota, but didn't find hip-hop until later in his life. In fact, he stayed away for a very long time abstaining from a lot of what hip-hop culture stands for. When he did discover that hip-hop was a very viable kind of expression, it was a small period of time before he was signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment for his second album, "Audition."

"Audition" was a conglomerate effort that combined the best of his style: quick raps, big hooks on the beats, a love of the punk community, and a weirdly familiar kind of self-deprecating humor. The follow-up effort, "Never Better," takes everything on "Audition" and turns the mix up to 11.

"Let It Rattle" leads off literally asking, "Do you think a president could represent you?" and "What exactly do you do?" almost as a rib at the audience to get them into his frame of mind. What is that frame of mind? Angry, really angry, at a lot of things in society and the world. The first single, "Drumroll (We're All Thirsty)," answers back with fast-rapped verses and a pounding, punk drum roll into a gang vocal shout "We're So Thirsty." He really shows his love for the punk scene on "Savion Glover" which includes a shout-out to post hardcore pioneer Fugazi, and "Terrorish" an ode to the destructive nature of past political administrations with searing vocals from Kid Dynamite/None More Black vocalist Jason Shevchuk.

"Never Better" is, when it is all taken as a whole, the product of being on the road and seeing this country for what it is and trying to bring something that matters to the people and in the process hopefully making them question the environment that they live in.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 2/06/09

Three Cheers For Reunion Shows

Three Cheers For Reunion Shows

Matthew Winters

About three years ago, the Blackout Pact came through SLC with The Lawrence Arms. A little punk band that came from Denver armed with an explosive first album called "Hello Sailor;" they raged through much of the album and made an impression on the audience that was indelible after three years. My friend told me that it was one of the best shows that he had ever been to due to the band's intensity, comedy and well-crafted songs. He told me this because I wasn't there. I sacrificed seeing one of my favorite bands due to work, and I casually wiped it off my mind with "Oh, they'll be through again."

The Blackout Pact broke up less than six months later.

The adage holds true: it's not the things you do that haunts you, it's the things that you don't. So when I heard that they were reuniting and that they were playing one final show in Denver last weekend, I had to be there. There wouldn't be another chance.

So 10 hours, 500 miles and a metric ton of bad food, gasoline and Mountain Dew later, I found myself in the Old Curtis St. Tavern in Denver, awaiting The Blackout Pact's final show. I quickly found out that I wasn't the only person who travelled a long distance. There were people from Baltimore, Arizona, California, and so many more, showing proof of the short-lived band's influence on the world of punk and hardcore.

The dank little space at the tavern was packed and sufficiently drunk by the time the Blackout Pact took to the stage at 12:30 a.m. Vocalist Mike Herrera yelled out thanks to the crowd, exclaiming that this was the best show that they have ever played, they only had to break up to get it. Starting off with "Luxlo Flaming Deluxlo" the entire crowd shouted "Woo" and I swear we broke some glasses. Surging through almost all of "Hello Sailor," the crowd just ate it up, and the band just reveled through the entire show. The band shouted for beer and shots and they were amply rewarded.

Now to say that these songs are classics for any genre is a lie, they do not have the notoriety, but they were classics that night. The crowd shouted out the lyrics to "Do I Sound Like I'm On Old Time Radio?," "You Punch Me, I Punch You" and "If You Dress Up Like Halloween, Ghouls Will Try And Get Into Your Pants" so loud the venue had to amp up Herrera's vocals to even hear them. The band was just stunning. Playing "Welcome to the Refreshment Room" is hard, doing it drunk apparently makes it so much easier and then adding kissing multiple girls while you play makes it look effortless.

The beer-soaked stage was piling up higher and higher with more people and then something just went out. During their most well-known song, the very fittingly titled "We Drink So You Don't Have To," the power to some of the speakers went out, but the band just soldiered on, playing the song with most of the crowd on vocals. It was at this point that I found myself also on stage with the band. I looked across the crowd and shrugged my shoulders, thinking "This is what it is all about."

The closing song "Lapis Lazuli," sung by guitarist Cory Trendler, was perfect for a song that they had never before played live. Its closing refrain of "Never be the same, no, never be the same" was the perfect ending to a set, for those that were there, that was legendary.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 1/30/09

Two Tongues: Heavyweights Unite

Two Tongues: Heavyweights Unite

Matthew Winters

I need to get something off of my chest. You, my readers, have been reading and enjoying my column for over six months now and I still have not let out my biggest secret. Here it is: I'm an emo kid. But c'mon not one of those wear black all the time, crying about a girl emo kids. I love the music, it's honest. So now that the secret is out, let's talk about a new release by two of the genres' best.

In early 1997 a very young Chris Conley, under the guise of Saves the Day, released what would be one of the genre's best albums, "Can't Slow Down." Flash forward six albums to today and we are faced with a very different but still intense Saves The Day. Influencing bands was not what Conley intended to do but he did and the best of which is LA's Say Anything.

Led by singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Max Bemis, Say Anything roared out of the gate with their 2004 album, "…Is A Real Boy." The album was heralded as a pop masterpiece when it came out and is still highly favored over their follow up album "In Defense Of The Genre."

Both songwriters, Conley and Bemis, had an equal respect for each other and wanted to work together. It was a dream of theirs and an emo kid's fantasy, and it finally happened on this project they've aptly titled Two Tongues.

The self-titled album is full of highlights for the singers, who both sing on all the songs in a Taking Back Sunday style. Conley's sweet falsetto is countered and amplified by the gruff yelp of Bemis all while sounding like the best of both artists' previous work. "If I Could Make You Do Things" is a slow burner that has the singers trading lines about lost love, "Wowee Zowee" turns things up and sounds like it would get a great pit going live, and opener "Crawl" is immediately what you would expect: bombastic emo played by two of its most skilled musicians.

Whether this is a one-off project or if it is going end in multiple albums is beside the point - this album stands up as great album that both artists can be proud of.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 1/23/09

Band's Hybrid Sound Wows Live

Band's Hybrid Sound Wows Live

Matthew Winters

Some of the most interesting and instantly memorable music in the world is music that combines two or more types into one new genre. Think back to when you first heard Linkin Park, even though their musical creativity is basically set on repeat with the rap/scream dynamic, that same mix was something that harnessed so much about music that we love and brought fans together from two genres.

This same idea has been harnessed by a band in our own backyard. Shaky Trade combines a large amount of funk, classic rock, jazz and even just a little bit of big band era dynamics. Their new album, "Code Green," released late last year is the product of great musical minds coming together and performing music they love.

The music is so fascinating, it sways from more straight up rock approach with "Everybody Run" and "Shut Yo Mouth" to more jazz inspired tracks, "Paint The Roses" and "I'm The Man" to even a reggae track "180 Dub." The music is all over the place but it flows together very nicely from song to song.

The jam at the end of "Shut Yo Mouth" flows really well into "180 Dub," all while the band, singer/saxophone player Billy Bommer, back-up singer/brass player Chris Clemons, Greg Shaw on bass, Simon Crompton on guitar and drummer Michael Wong, jam out.

As much as "Code Green" is a great release that really stretches the boundaries of its chosen musical genres, where the band really shines is at a live performance. I had the pleasure to be invited to their record release party in November and I was amazed at the performance. Billy Bommer really opens up on stage and has a wonderful stage persona that comes across as excited but laid back. The band jammed through many of the tracks that are on "Code Green," but they also shined as a wonderful cover's band by playing soulful renditions of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" and the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus." All the while "Code Green" practically sold out to a packed audience.

Overall, Shaky Trade, I hope, will continue on and get to a place where they can show their national quality to a national audience.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 1/16/09

Dance Floor Master Returns

Dance Floor Master Returns

Matthew Winters

Not many people have heard of the BPA. The seemingly unknown group has sprung out of nowhere with an incredible debut, "I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat," and an even more incredible list of collaborators. Still it begs the question: Who are the BPA?

The liner notes are not any help. The notes, largely a fabricated story, meander through the legend of a pair of artists that performed in the '70s and then broke up without releasing a single piece of music. They were never superstars, or were they?
The duo behind these productions are named as Norman Cook and Simon Thornton. Huh? That first name sounds familiar. Isn't he the guy that wrote that song that had a woman singing over and over again "I have to praise you like I should"? Or that other one with Christopher Walken dancing all over in the video? Hey, wasn't that Fatboy Slim?

So that's why the songs, a fun, fast moving group of beat based singles, sound so good and instantly familiar to the listener - Norman Cook has been making instantly legendary dance music for the better part of a quarter of a century. These songs in particular range from dance floor filling fodder in "Toe Jam (With Byrne and Rascal)" and "He's Frank (With Iggy Pop)" to more introspective yet equally danceable fair in "Seattle (With Emmy The Great) and "So It Goes (With Olly Hite)."

While each song has its personal value and shows a lot of difference to Fatboy Slim's sometimes quickly moving albums, it almost feels as if this album was designed as a set of singles instead of a single cohesive album. Sometimes though, this is the way that good pop music works: as a whole the album is a little disconnected and dysfunctional, but single by single the album can be considered stellar, and in this single consuming society that we live in, maybe this is the best album that we can look forward to.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 1/9/09

Dance Floor Master Returns

Dance Floor Master Returns

Matthew Winters

Not many people have heard of the BPA. The seemingly unknown group has sprung out of nowhere with an incredible debut, "I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat," and an even more incredible list of collaborators. Still it begs the question: Who are the BPA?

The liner notes are not any help. The notes, largely a fabricated story, meander through the legend of a pair of artists that performed in the '70s and then broke up without releasing a single piece of music. They were never superstars, or were they?
The duo behind these productions are named as Norman Cook and Simon Thornton. Huh? That first name sounds familiar. Isn't he the guy that wrote that song that had a woman singing over and over again "I have to praise you like I should"? Or that other one with Christopher Walken dancing all over in the video? Hey, wasn't that Fatboy Slim?

So that's why the songs, a fun, fast moving group of beat based singles, sound so good and instantly familiar to the listener - Norman Cook has been making instantly legendary dance music for the better part of a quarter of a century. These songs in particular range from dance floor filling fodder in "Toe Jam (With Byrne and Rascal)" and "He's Frank (With Iggy Pop)" to more introspective yet equally danceable fair in "Seattle (With Emmy The Great) and "So It Goes (With Olly Hite)."

While each song has its personal value and shows a lot of difference to Fatboy Slim's sometimes quickly moving albums, it almost feels as if this album was designed as a set of singles instead of a single cohesive album. Sometimes though, this is the way that good pop music works: as a whole the album is a little disconnected and dysfunctional, but single by single the album can be considered stellar, and in this single consuming society that we live in, maybe this is the best album that we can look forward to.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 1/9/09

Hey! You got rock in my Synth!

Hey! You got rock in my Synth!

Matthew Winters

Mixing electronic music with rock is hardly a new thing. Blondie and Devo were doing it back in the 1980s when it was still new. Refused and Botch broke it through with hardcore in the late '90s. For goodness sakes, Aerosmith worked with Run DMC on a redo of "Walk This Way" and even though they are a Hip Hop group they grew out of the turntablist culture of the late '70s and early '80s. Few though make the hybrid sting with the amount of panache that newcomers Innerpartysystem does.

On their self-titled album for Island records, the four-piece have released a vicious mix of electronic drums, synths straight out of the club and lyrics as personal and elaborate as any rock song. Singer Patrick Nissley clearly wants you, the listener, to feel the bass as much as he wants you to move your head to the sinful sketches of lust and lost souls in the night. His programming plays a large and very moving part on album-highlight "Last Night in Brooklyn" and the first single "Don't Stop."

The rest of the band is just as good. Drummer Jared Piccone's skill and crisp play rouse the record just as much as the synth or the programming. Kris Barman's guitar-playing is more subtle than the other instruments but it keeps the sound closest to the rock sound that will put these young men on the map.

Their record on this effort is a good one for a first one. It brings to mind the first Killers record (2004's Hot Fuss), which was a record that was wonderful at the highlights yet sometimes forgettable for the low points, but it did set the ground for further efforts that excelled that one. Hopefully Innerpartysystem uses this as a starting point to move towards a better and more thorough definition of their sound.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 11/21/08

Gaslight Honestly Rock

Gaslight Honestly Rock

Matthew Winters

The bass head for Benny Horowitz' drum kit is emblazoned with a portrait of Shaft and Charles Bronson. New Jersey punk stars The Gaslight Anthem would seem like an unlikely candidate to have a picture like that on one of their instruments. However one listen to the soulful, dangerous sounds that erupt from their instruments and you can understand why Shaft was a good choice.
The band; Horowitz, lead singer/guitarist Brian Fallon, bassist Alex Levine, and Alex Rosamilia on guitar: have taken the soul of the roads of NJ and distilled it into a mix that is one part melodic punk, a portion of soul, and the best parts of classic rock.

Live, the band is a machine. They do not need to explain themselves to a sold-out crowd, they let the music do that for them. Plowing through new material from their sophmore record, The '59 Sound, they sprinked the mix with older favorites, "Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?," "Boomboxes And Dictionaries," and others, but it was the new material that shone through best. "The Patient Farris Wheel" lost none of it's urgency without the guest vocals from Dicky Barrett and served as crowd mover. "The '59 Sound" was delivered honestly and with care to the original intent of the song. The centerpiece however was "Old White Lincoln" with it's references to lost girlfriends and the feel that it wouldn't be out of place in a film noir.

Their performance was of a headlining caliber. For a band that just a little over a year ago went on their first U. S. tour to get to a point where they are playing to over a thousand people a night is a little daunting. Nevertheless, the quality of the performance and, even more importantly, the honesty of the performers will garner them fans across the U. S. and abroad.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 11/14/08

Thursday And Envy Get Fired Up

Thursday And Envy Get Fired Up

Matthew Winters

It is almost inevitable that most people lose their intensity with the onset of age, but sometimes that anger and frustration can boil over. That is what happened to New Jersey-based Thursday and Japan's Envy on their new split-EP.

Both bands are known for their groundbreaking work in Screamo, a genre considered a fad for mallrats. Previous efforts from both bands have set the standard in the genre because of both bands' use of atmospheric music, instrumentals, electronics and an honest delivery that cannot be ignored.

Once again they set the standard with their new EP. The effort, which will released in early Nov. on Temporary Residence as a vinyl/CD package, is both cathartic, and a motivator towards positive action. Thursday has never been this fired up. Their songs, two full songs with lyrics, an instrumental and a remix, are some of their best material to date. "We hold our hearts like cigarettes," roars Geoff Rickly on the centerpiece song "An Absurd and Unrealistic Vision of Peace." He has not sounded this frustrated and angry in a very long time. While the two songs with lyrics on the Thursday side are some of their most inaccessible material to date, and their most urgent, when combined with the instrumentals. It is a good lead-in to Envy.
Envy produces some of their best, most accessible songs yet. Their signatures are still there, huge atmospheric dynamics, spoken words, and, like Thursday, a very honest delivery, but it seems to be more accessible for new listeners, who will be turned on to their music for the first time.

While both bands are veterans of a tired scene, they have transcended that and become something that is above it all, and all this while maintaining their anger and frustration, amplifying it to a degree that is something to behold. Their age as a band has not dwindled the fire they have inside them. Instead, it has been put into focus.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 10/31/08

'Senses Fail' And Find Life

'Senses Fail' and find life
Matthew Winters


Senses Fail has always been a band that has been constantly evolving. From their first recording, from 2002's "The Depths of Dreams" EP, to now, the recently released "Life Is Not A Waiting Room," the band has gone through a series of changes, each more drastic than the last.

When released, "The Depths of Dreams" was a venomous statement about being a teenager, and dealing with things beyond their control and/or understanding. 2004 saw the release of their proper debut the half-baked "Let It Enfold You," an album that straddled the line between emo-hardcore and gruesome horror rock, but it still elevated the band to a respected touring act.

Then, the greatest leap of their career came in 2006 with their sophomore album "Still Searching." The album was a pitch-perfect picture of a group who has traveled together and become solidified, with the addition of Heath Saraceno formerly of Midtown, all standing behind the emotion of lyrical powerhouse Buddy Nielson.
Now, in 2008, we are confronted once again by the world inside Buddy Nielson's head. The new record, titled "Life is Not a Waiting Room," leaves much of the sing-scream dynamics of their previous efforts and adds a large amount of gang vocals to the mix of songs. Old fans rejoice, the anger and screaming is still there on songs "Lungs like Gallows" and "Wolves at the Door," but they do not have the last word as the best aggressive songs on the album.

Haunting tracks like "Yellow Angels" with its sung gang vocal refrain of "Wake up you're sleeping / Wake up you're sleeping behind the wheel," and centerpiece of the album "Family Tradition" have the last word. The latter track is a basic emotional piece about losing your sanity because of hating a parent, with scathing lines like "I wish I could drain out his half of blood in me / But I'd still have his face," it is hard to ignore. Like the album as a whole, music this honest is hard to ignore.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 10/24/08

Being On The Road Influences Being 'Drunk like Bible Times'

Being on the road influences 'Drunk like Bible Times'
Matthew Winters

Coming from experience, when you are on the road for more than a few weeks, everything begins to have a steady beat to it, much like the engine of a car or the wheels of a train. It infiltrates everything. A band that can attest to this is the Arizona band "Dear & the Headlights." Having toured for an inordinate amount of time on their 2007's debut "Small Steps, Heavy Hooves" they have seriously racked up some miles on the road with "Straylight Run," "The Color Fred," "Jimmy Eat World," "Paramore," and "Mae." All that time on the road has influenced their work on sophomore album "Drunk Like Bible Times."

This album not only touts one of the best album title names ever, but also has some of the best spaced out folk anthems this side of Modest Mouse. Lead singer Ian Metzger effortlessly moves from quiet reflective moments about home and love to a booming baritone to moments of almost shouting in songs "If Not For My Glasses" and "I'm Not Crying, You're Not Crying, Are You?"

Backed by a band full of quirks including handclaps, wandering basslines, and drums that plow along like a train across the Great Plains, the music sounds full and developed - evidence that the songs are created by a few likeminded people that have spent a lot of time on the road together. In the end that is what makes this album work: the feeling of united musicianship caused by a lifetime on the road.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 10/10/08

Chicken Soup For The Folk-Punks Soul

Chicken soup for the Folk-Punks soul
Matt Winters


In this day and age it is rare to hear anyone to come out and say exactly what they mean. This is particularly rare in the arena of rock stars. Lost in bad metaphors, story lines that make sci-fi novel seem easy to read, and, with many, a super-sized sense of entitlement, many bands lose what made them love music in the first place.

Frank Turner has been there. He was the leader of now defunct rock/hardcore act Million Dead, who in their brief tenure in the scene gained acclaim from legendary British DJ John Peel and made some headway into the states. Then they broke up and it was back to the pub for Frank Turner.

He quickly fired back with a two albums, an EP and a split with Jonah Mantranga (Ex- Far, onelinedrawing, Gratitude, New End Original) all in the space of three years. His newest album, 2008's "Love, Ire and Song," is by far the best of his material.

Starting off with the rousing "I Knew Prufrock Before He Was Famous," an ode to being a second string celebrity and trying to start something anew from the friends you trust in the scene and ending with "The Ballad of Me And My Friends" a quick folk song about failing with grace, recorded live with a chorus shouting the final lines "We are definitely going to hell/But we will have the best stories to tell," and covering in between topics like failed love, failed life, alcohol and friends.

It sounds like depressing fare, but in reality it is all told by a forceful, yet honest storyteller all with the charm of small pub on a rainy night. "Love, Ire and Song" is exactly what modern music should be: quick, thoughtful and spoken from the heart of experience.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 10/3/08

The British Pixies?

The British Pixies?
Matt Winters

Some bands tell you a little bit about themselves before you even open the case using the cover of the album, the name of the band and the label that the band has chosen to release their music. Johnny Foreigner is one of those bands. I knew it would be something different just by the name of the band; it was going to be foreign.

The band is a three-piece from the bowels of England led by a dual scream/sing dynamic of boy/girl vocalists, similar to Los Campesinos or the late Pixies. The music can be described as a searing mix of post punk, pop and even the occasional singer/songwriter moment, all played quickly and with a lot of pep. Their U.S. debut "Waited Up 'Til It Was Light" is such a fun record, one that you move to in a sweaty basement, preferably full of booze.

Although it is fun, it still has a feeling of dark that only youth can feel. "Get off before the ship goes down/get off before the ship sinks," is the chorus of lead track "Lea Room" and it shows the James Dean "die young" ascetic to a T. The music bounces and drives over this almost apathetic emotional core, complete with a wavering keyboard line.

The best lyrical moment comes at the end of "Eyes Wide Terrified" with "Your life is a song/But not this one." Sharp stuff. The record is definitely something different, something foreign if you will, but it is a rewarding and invigorating listen.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 9/26/08

Underoath Create Their Masterpeice

Underoath create their masterpeice
Matt Winters

"You are the desperate, we are the savior."

This is the statement screamed in the middle of "Breathing in a New Mentality," the first song on Underoath's latest effort "Lost In The Sounds Of Separation."

The album is a hulking mass of radiant leads, screams that sound lost, dissonant, and cathartic all at once. There are no pop leads, there is no fat. These men are here to show you their souls in all their pain and anguish.

Gone from this album are the sing/scream dynamics that guided their previous efforts. Once in a while, drummer/singer Aaron Gillespie steps in and sings a few notes, but they are there to make the piece more haunting and lost. They are light-years ahead of their breakthrough effort, 2004's "They're Only Chasing Safety," which was hailed as a triumph.

Underoath are ahead of even their last stellar effort, 2006's Define The Great Line, and they know it. Lead singer Spencer Chamberlain growls "And so the plot thickens," on the track "Anyone Can Dig A Hole, But It Takes A Real Man To Live In It."

The music is darker than anything they have done in the past, but it bends gently to almost a sort of resolution. In the second half of the album we see a slowing down of the music, an effect that imbues the record with a sense of redemption.

The last track on the album, "Desolate Earth/The End Is Here," we are given something as beautiful and haunting as any band has produced, a mostly instrumental track that leads into Spencer Chamberlain singing "I found hope, I found God / I found the dreams of the believers," over static. This album is for the desperate and at the end, if you pay attention, you might become a believer.

Orginally Published in The WSU Signpost 9/19/08

Periodic Table Hip-Hop

Dan La Sac vs. Scroobius Pip CD review

Rarely does an album capture my attention so quickly and cleverly that I have to laugh in surprise. That was exactly my first reaction upon listening to "Development" by Dan La Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip, the second track from their debut "Angles."

This song allows a cockney voice, like an angry audience member, to interrupt MC Pip to tell the group the song is straight crap. Right then MC Pip goes for it and rhymes the periodic table. That's right, I said the periodic table. Now that is some hip hop for you.

The group, hailing from the UK, are relatively unknown here in the states, but with Sage Francis's label - Strange Famous Records - behind them and armed with incredible beats and lyrical acrobatics, they are sure to become a hit here in the states as well.

These tools are sharpened to a knife's edge on songs like "Fixed," a slam on UK hip hop with a sample from one of its biggest hits, and on the first single, "Look For The Woman," we see Pip rhyming about a relationship where he is unhappy but cannot leave because of the love that he feels for the other person.

Sharp stuff, but the sharpest is "Thou Shalt Always Kill," a track where Pip lays down the law for what the music world, hell, what the world as a whole should be and name checks about every single great band of the last 50 years, all of this over one of the greatest minimal beats in recent memory. This is just another piece of evidence that real hip hop is out there, breathing and creating.

Orginally Published in The WSU Signpost 9/12/08

Band Of Annuals Review - Let Me Live

Band of Annuals review
Local Salt Lake City band 'amazing'

Let's be honest, as a music director at a college radio station and a music reviewer for the Signpost, I go to a lot of shows. I sometimes go to two different shows a night. So as you can understand, I sometimes get a little burned out with watching a singer spout out his emotional longings or his/her frustrations about life, sometimes imbedded with a grunt, groan, or an all out scream.

So it is rare when I see a group so full of honesty and beauty in their music and lyrics that I immediately want to see them again, and when I do see a band like this I truly become a fan of them. I go see them again and again and again. With Band of Annuals, a Salt Lake City group that perform country imbued with folk wanderings, I don't have to go far to enjoy the experience again.

Recently I attended their show at Urban Lounge in SLC. The band is something to behold for a first time country music concert attendee; there are six people on stage, lead singer and guitarist Jay Hendersen stands front and center strumming along while using his booming voice to enunciate the words that he is singing. Near his side is Jeremi Hanson, the female voice of the band who sits behind an organ with just the slight notice of her red hair creeping up above the instrument. Behind her is bass player Trever Hadley, who always seems to be in good spirits throughout their set. On the other side of the stage is the most captivating instrument on the stage, a pedal steel guitar, which is played very skillfully by Brent Dreiling, Jamie Timm plays guitar next to him, with his long hair trailing down over his face. Behind all this, Charlie Lewis keeps time on the drums. They are one of the largest bands that I have seen but the sound they make is even bigger.

Live, the band is much like their 2007 record "Let Me Live," a slow-burner in the best sense of the word. They lead out with some of the most heartfelt songs, slower and more meaningful than those to come, but nonetheless inciting dancing in the crowd. The beautiful chorus in "Blood on My Shirt," about alcohol carrying them, fits in perfectly with the atmosphere of the club and the crowd, who are mostly drunk or at least headed that way. The slower numbers move into quicker paced songs "David's Country" and their final and, in my opinion, best song "Don't Let Me Die," which inspires more dancing but loses none of the honesty. Even though the set is so good it is almost like watching a big name touring act, the crowd is still reminded that these people are locals, whether it be in the way vocalist Jay asks someone to take his drink voucher to the bar for him or bassist Trever picking out friends and laughing with them. Band of Annuals are honestly the best band to come out of Utah in recent memory, not only for the music that they have created but for the honesty that they imbue into their live sets.

As the last few lines of "Don't Let Me Die" are yelled out not only by the band, but also the crowd, I was reminded that this will be one of the last shows in Utah before they head out on the road for the entirety of the fall. It saddens me to know that it will be a couple of months before I have the opportunity to see them again, but hopefully somewhere on the road they will show the country that Utah does have some of the best music in the nation.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 9/05/08

Gaslight Anthem Album Review - The '59 Sound

Gaslight Anthem CD review
Matthew Winters

The Gaslight Anthem is the little band from New Jersey that could. They rose out of a scene that spawned the bands Saves the Day, Thursday, Senses Fail, and a gaggle of other emo/screamo bands in the early part of this century. They climbed aboard the XOXO Records roster and released last year's slow burner "Sink or Swim."

The album was a combination of fast punk anthems about the old days and good friends and quiet acoustic numbers about the one that got away. Then with a rigorous touring regimen, the band was noticed by the punk stalwart label Sabot Productions (the company that released some of Against Me!'s first recordings) and released the four-song EP "The Senor & The Queen" less than a year later.

These songs were mostly fast punk numbers about leaving town with a party, but it hinted that something was headed in a different direction with the closer. "Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts" is a one-in-a-million song that is all at the same time sad, resentful, hopeful, and bright, and it has the kind of nostalgia that only people who have lived life can relate to.

That type of nostalgia is what drives their third effort in just more than a year, "The 59' Sound." On this record, the boys from New Jersey owe a deep debt to the aching beauty of classic soul singers and many of the earnest punk bands that have ever recorded, but most of all they owe a big part of their sound to the Boss, Bruce Springsteen. Singer Brian Fallon, drummer Benny Horowitz, guitarist Alex Rosamilia, and bassist Alex Levine drive down many of the roads that Springsteen drove down on classics like "Blinded by the Light," "Born to Run," and the perfect "Thunder Road."

They talk about lives that may or may not have happened in the songs "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" and album opener "Great Expectations" where Brian Fallon sings "I saw daylights / last night / in a dream / about my first wife" as if he lived through this all before. The album is mass of these statements that are wonderful for emotional appeal but the listener wonders if these are actual events.

In the end, though, it does not matter. Like any good artist, the illusion is sustained and the subject matter is considered true. So when Fallon sings in the title track, "I wonder which song they're gonna play when we go / I hope something quiet and minor and peaceful and slow" you can't help but sing along. You can't help but mean it, too.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 8/27/08

Alkaline Trio Review - Agony & Irony

Alkaline Trio is one of the most beloved underground bands of the last 10 years. Releasing such classic albums as 1998's "Goddamnit" on uber-punk label Asian Man records and then releasing, in 2001, the dark, yet funny "From Here To Infirmary" on venerated indie label Vagrant, the Trio established themselves as one of the top dogs in the melodic punk world. Soon, tours with bigger bands came. A run with the then on-the-cusp Rise Against as openers on their 2005 tour set them up for bigger opportunity. In the next few years, major label juggernauts My Chemical Romance would tap them for support on their tour, and soon the major labels were writing up contracts to sign the Trio. In May 2007 they inked a deal with Epic Records, a major label. This caused problems.

As with previous underground bands that have signed a major label deal, the Trio dealt with cries of selling out and, even worse, declarations from fans that their music had changed. I would like to say these cries and this anger from fans is unjustified but the Trio did some things in the past few months that lead my speculation down another road. For one, they were on an episode of the trendy MTV reality soap "The Hills," where one cast member referred to the band as, and I semi-quote, "Have you heard this band, they're like new, or something." Then the Alkaline Trio released their signature running shoe. These guys give you nothing to work with. The thing that we have left is their new record, "Agony & Irony," to judge them as either the fashionista band that they might be becoming or the masterminds of a higher plan.

The music pulls in as a mix of both sides of this duplicitous group. The production of this album is much slicker than previous records and most of this is due to the big name producer, Josh Abraham (Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Atreyu). He added slick and glitz to so many of rock's darkest figures, and more than his fair share of nu-metallers, but on this album it is an added figure to the already impressive collection of songs that are on "Agony & Irony." The songs here are an awesome collection for the most part. "Calling All Skeletons" is the pop song that My Chemical Romance couldn't write complete with handclaps, and it stands up to many repeat listens. "Help Me," "Lost And Rendered" and album closer "Into The Night" are all helped by the glitz of the production and are already on their own clever and bright songs.

The album is a bright affair, especially for an Alkaline Trio album. Don't let that fool you. The lyrics are still dark and funny as displayed by the albums best number "Love Love Kiss Kiss." Lines like "Love, Love, Kiss, Kiss, blah blah blah. / You're making me sick, I wish you'd just stop showing off" show the band's subdued hatred and disdain towards love - all while showing off their funny bones. The album is tight, clocking in under forty minutes, and it shows a band that is not "selling out." Instead they are buying into their own talent and using it to get them the worldwide audience that they deserve.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 7/29/08

Warped Tour Review - June 2008

Warped Tour entertains with a variety of music
Criticism doesn't stop people from attending
Matthew Winters
In the past few years, the Vans Warped Tour has come under fire for many reasons. Older, more veteran acts have been frustrated with the newer up-and-coming artists that come with a built-in rock star attitude. Other artists are angry about Warped "ruining" the small club social feel that many of the beginning punk acts honed their skills in. Even other acts have been accused of causing problems because their view of the world is different than some of the other bands and they are persecuted for it.
All of these criticisms are valid, and are something artists should be concerned about. The problem is these criticisms fall flat in front of the diverse nature of the music and the energy the kids bring to the show. This year I was treated to one of the most diverse group of musicians that I could have hoped for.
There was something for everyone this year, a vigorous plethora of music including Punk, Hip Hop, Pop, Emo and Metal. Metal was well represented this year with two of the giants of the genre, Norma Jean and Every Time I Die, playing enormous sets. Norma Jean's set was early in the day but that did not stop the band from destroying the crowd with songs from all three of their past albums including crowd favorite "A Small Spark Vs. A Great Forest." Every Time I Die's set was later in the day but their edge was not dulled by time. The reigning kings of irony-core graced the crowd with some of their greatest songs, including a crowd-destroying version of "Ebolorama."
In between these two amazing sets, the crowd and I were treated to a set by Gainesville, Florida's Against Me! Their set felt more slowed down and even. Throughout their set, the band played the energy of the crowd as well as they played their instruments. In their half-hour set they played some of their best songs from all of their albums. Starting off with a slowed version of "New Wave" and then playing older favorites "Sink. Florida. Sink.," "Don't Lose Touch," and "Reinventing Axl Rose," the band ended their set with a rousing version of "Thrash Unreal" that gave me chills.
All together I caught about 10 other sets throughout the day. Highlights included Charlotte Sometimes' pop songs on one of the smaller stages, Set Your Goals wonderful punk set that included crowd favorite "Mutiny!!!," and Story Of The Year's emo-rock show that the band were into themselves a little more than the crowd or the music. All the sets I saw were good with not a bad one among them, but in the end one set rose above the others and will go down as my favorite from this year's Warped Tour.Late in the evening, on one of the main stages, LA punk band The Bronx ripped apart the crowd. They were playing opposite Angels & Airwaves so the crowd was full of fans only and the band knew it. They furiously played through their best songs with a passion and violence that is rarely seen at any concert. The band's performance was a perfect, musically flawless listen, but vocalist Matt Caughthran's vocal performance was what set it all off. His voice soared above the music but did not overpower the band's performance. The Bronx ran like a juggernaut through crowd favorite's "Future" and "Heart Attack American." On their last song, "History's Stranglers," a shirtless Matt Caughthran joined the crowd and danced - all while he maintained his flawless vocal performance.
Even with the criticism the Warped Tour has endured, the tour still exposes more kids to music that they otherwise wouldn't hear and gets artists like the Bronx, Every Time I Die, and Against Me! more listeners through the honesty of their music and the intense power of their performances.
Originally Printed in The WSU Signpost 7/8/08