Revivalist – Bother
A short ep of old school hardcore mixed with modern energy and passion. Fron what I remember, the first wave of spirit-filled hardcore started off strong but became tired sounding fast. If the original bands of that movement had been able to keep the level of energy that Revivalist does on this ep, the whole scene would have kept my interest longer. I hear occasional touched of various modern cores on this ep, but for the most part this is fast, loud, and “screamed-like-they-mean-it” (but not screamo). You can download for free at HM Magazine or purchase a hard copy at the link below.
Sef Idle – Start Again
Don’t let the Thumper Punk label fool you – its not always about punk. This EP is a foray into singer-songwriter territory. Well, it is by a punk rocker, so I guess it’s close to punk – somewhat. But pretty much all you have here is Sef and his guitar (usually acoustic). Harsher punk vocals over acoustic music might sound like a bad idea to some, but here it works. Not for everyone, but if the combination sounds interesting to you, give it a shot. A short ep of six acoustic songs that will still fit into your punk rock collection no problem.
Moral Monsters – Postmodern Failurism
Moral Monsters plays old school punk rock that is musically satisfying. The problem with this short ep is the lyrics. As you can tell by the name, this ep deals with post modernism and other problems in the church. Or at least, they try to. Unfortunately, the band’s complete misunderstanding of the topics they cover really distracts from the points they are trying to make. Post modernism has its problems, but Moral Monsters really doesn’t touch on them. Instead, it’s like they took an extreme right wing misunderstanding of everything from philosophy to the American Church to progressivism and addressed those misunderstandings as reality. Straw men are easy to tear down, after all. This is really just par for the course with so many churches – not taking the time to understand those they oppose and then tearing down a caricature rather than truly addressing anything meaningfully. The thing is, I could easily give you a dozen real problems with any topic they address. So its not like I am opposing their religious beliefs – I just wish they took the time to understand what they are attacking before they attack.
Living Fire – Dead To Sin
This album marks the second turn of street punk/Oi! rockers Living Fire. They had it on their first album, and they still have it here. Energy, speed, and sweat in abundance. For the uninitiated or the non-punk fans, all Thumper Punk releases might sound the same. But for those of us that love the spectrum of punk in all its simplicity and diversification, this is one corner that is rarely covered with this much passion any more. I don’t think Living Fire ever slows down for the entire album. Just one track of furious street punk after another. Thirteen studio tracks and three live bonus tracks at the end that won’t disappoint fans of this corner of the punk world.
Christ’s Sake – We All Fall Down
This one fell through the cracks, and I am not sure why. I definitely enjoyed this one a bit more than the other Thumper Punk releases (which are all generally good quality to begin with). Christ’s Sake has a faster punk style with higher pitch vocals than usual – the label described them as Orange County punk. My ears hear them mixing a bit of melodic rock and alternative into the mix with some vocal styles that you usually don’t run into with punk music. Nice to hear something a bit different in the punk world – I guess you could best describe it as a bit of a pop leaning sound without treading into “pop punk” territory. The band even slows down for the occasional ballad – if that word can exist in the punk world. Being a big fan of skate punk, my favorite track would be the short “Let’s Skate” naturally – a song that finds the band showing off their skate punk chops nicely.
Champion Leader – 4st
Champion Leader is back with another batch of 80’s inspired new-wavy gothic alterna-rock goodness. Few people out there can dial in that modern 80s sound like J. Bozeman and company. The only problem here is that this ep is just too short. Maybe Bozeman has to spend time with other projects, like the new Luxury album. Maybe they felt like the four songs here were enough. Maybe they really wanted to call the ep 4st and had to stop. But that minor gripe aside, even if you aren’t a fan of the 80s, the modern production and solid songwriting should be enough to pull you in as well. So far, my favorite song of the batch is the groovin’ thump of “Fun!” Or maybe the goth rock goodness of opening track “The Souls of the Nude.” You can check this out on BandCamp for pay-what-you like.
Writ on Water – The Greyest Day
We all know the stories of bands that disappeared after an album or two back in the 80s or 90s – stories that usually include rumors of unreleased albums. Every once and a while, one of those bands will come back and make new music. Even more rare are those that can dig up the old recordings and release them. Then there is the unique case of Writ on Water, who have had the rare opportunity to not only come back decades years later and release new music, but go back and record a follow-up album that never quite happened. Most fans of Writ on Water were aware of the plans to record The Greyest Day back in the 90s, and most of us were happy to have the demos of that album (which were released several years ago). However, this new album of fully recorded songs more than proves why Writ on Water needed to record them. While the demos were good, these new recordings go far beyond in quality and depth. You get 12 re-recorded songs and two never released songs (leaving one demo unique to the older CD). The music goes through several different moods, from the pounding and swirling “Points on a Line” to the almost techno/dubbishly moody “Wicker” to the gothic alt rock of “Withdrawn” to the darkly ambient “Degeneration.” However, this is still Writ on Water, and fans of Sylph and A Wingless King will feel right at home with this album. If there were musical justice in the world, a decent label would pick this up and put it out on vinyl. I know everyone is jumping on the vinyl bandwagon, but this is music that truly fits that format. For now, enjoy it digitally from most digital services.
Nate Allen & The Pac-Away Dots – Take Out The Trash
So the story goes that Nate Allen (of Destroy Nate Allen fame) was in a bit of a rough spot: “Nate Allen found himself fresh off a long tour, unemployed, in his early 30’s, married and living in his parent’s spare bedroom. Everyone’s dream . . .” If you are like me and the mixture of sarcasm and angst of that statement grabs your attention, then you might also want to give Take Out The Trash a listen. Just imagine someone in that situation also wrestling with some difficult issues in life, like being blind to some forms of racism. But say that person already has a knack for writing fun folk punk songs with their wife in a popular duo. So now said person has to find a way to record these songs. What do they do? Add a full band and rock out. So that said person… well, Nate Allen, you know who I am talking about… goes to Kickstarter to fund the rest of the process and BOOM! we have ourselves a great album. So… the real question is: does this just sound like Destroy Nate Allen with guitars added? Not really. Yes, there is Nate and his vocals and songwriting in common, but the basic idea is different. I’m not sure how to pin it down to describe it, but this sounds like a full band and half of a folk punk duo smashed together into something familiar to the duo but also something entirely its own. Which is a good thing in my book. Not to mention a few surprises thrown in, like the banjo and kazoo-infused folk rollick of “Hunger Pain.” There are so many great phrases on this album I hardly know where to start, but I loved this one from “West Side Blues”: “Context clues and social views, gun fightin’ on the evening news, preachin’ at me until I finally see the light.” I had planned to support this album anyways, but one listen to it and I immediately went over to the Kickstarter page to grab the vinyl. I would recommend you do the same. No, really – you should. If they hit the next stretch goal there will be a video game. That’s how cool they are.
The Sweet Sorrows – Can’ticles, Love Songs For The Not So Perfect
Sammy Horner and his lovely bride Kylie are back with their signature sound of Outlaw Country/Celtic/Americana/Folk/Rock. This album lives up to the title in every way, shape, and form. Coming in like a modern underground Johnny and June the opening track “Ain’t Got Nothin’ On Me” is a brilliant duet that most folks in love can relate to. “You Got Mine” pulls in some cool sitar work and has a Summer Of Love Psychedelic Pop feel to it… with Celt overtones, hard to describe, such a great song!. “There Is No Word For This (Noah’s Song)” is simply epic! Sammy always knows how to work in a maze of emotions in his lyrics on all his releases, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and a few things in between maybe. So light a candle and cuddle up with your partner and enjoy, it’s for you! If you liked their last release It All Belongs I guarantee you’ll dig this one! Give this group and Sammy’s solo stuff your full support! You can’t go wrong!
Peter Furler Band – Sun and Shield
I will be totally honest when I say I had no idea who Peter Furler was, never heard or checked out his former band the Newsboys, never wanted to, just didn’t seem like my thing, same with DC Talk and Audio A, I’ve always, for the most part, been and stayed underground. I wanted to check this out because of Furler’s association with Steve Taylor’s new project and the songs I’ve heard from that are amazing! This album, start to finish it rocks! The first half of the album is filled with high energy Alt/Pop Rock hooks, sing along choruses, thoughtful spiritual lyrics, I really like the production, it’s not over produced by any means and that’s a good thing. Really like the structure of “So High”, “the tune “Shame” might be my favorite on the album. “Yeshua” brings down the lights a little in the middle of this 10 song 34 minute set, a well done praise and worship song and continues a reflective mood throughout the rest of the second half of the LP closing out with another hymn called “We Won’t Forget”. Still not sure if his other releases are my thing, but the guy can write a good song and that’s what it’s all about, why give the Creator anything less than your best! I highly recommend Sun and Shield! And I can’t wait for that Perfect Foil album!