Farmhouse Sessions by Those Dirty Eyes

1. Delta Queen

2. My Baby

3. Old Alabama

4. Black Lung

5. Tree Swinger

Grab a beer and ruffle your beard, delta blues boys Those Dirty Eyes just released Farmhouse Sessions, which was in fact, recorded in a farmhouse. Listening to these five songs makes me think of the title sequence to some B-rate tv show about detectives in the swamplands. A two piece band, guitars are filled with slides, bends, and heavy distortion. Drums are heavy and hard-hitting, and vocals (Both members) are cathartic; not yelling but strained, raspy singing. Exactly the kind of vocals delta blues music should have.
There is a lo-fi aspect to the music, and that's okay because it fits the band perfectly. I don't think they would sound the same if they went and recorded in some high-quality studio. It's a quick release, and
just something to pop in and listen to, so check it out.

Favorite track: Black Lung
Bandcamp

unsolved by StandStill

unsolved|standstill

1. Catching Up

2. Newburgh Loves You

3. Cristae

4. Belle

5. Cosmonaut

6. Vices

7. Garden Level Apartment

8. Six Figures Getting Sick

9. Reprise

This is a release that i've had in my drafts since I made this website, and I keep hating whatever I write so I never get it published. 

But I must try. 

Standstill's 2012 release, Unsolved, is a nine track emo-pop/rock release that never ceases to catch my ear. Slow, catchy tunes keep throughout the track, and the sound is something like Quarrels and Cutters. Production value is high, and as far as songwriting ability goes, Standstill doesn't have much of a problem in that area of expertise. Each song seems well planned out and well written. Vocals include main vocalist and second vocals, all essentially clean, pop-esque singing. Mixing is well done, and this is a release you can just put on and walk away, and still fully enjoy. Guitars play what is almost rock guitar, and the only thing that really makes this an emo release is the vocals and overall feeling. This is a release however, that you'd hear on the radio or something of the such. 

Anyway this is a new (and first) segment of my reviews that I'm going to start doing called: 

ADRIAN TRIES TO REVIEW THE DRUMS BUT DOESN'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CRASH AND A RIDE

okay so drums r good good job on those drum boi

So yeah that's it. Check this release out, it's really good and something you should have in your music collection

Favorite track: Cosmonaut

bandcamp

Bone Bats---Entry-Level

Bone Bats////Entry-Level

this is my pet Jimmy, he's cute.

SMASH HITS:

1) Quarantine the Pabst

2) Cash Bone

3) Ghost Channel

4) Fake Science Monthly

5) Never-ending Sass Equation

6) Weed Jeans (Jazz Cords)

7) bonebats.bandcamp.com/

8) Baby, You Can Extend My Metaphor

9) Jesus Could've Gotten Into Any Frat He Wanted To.

10) Selfie Destruct 

#spookymonth anthem right here, skele-ladies and skele-men.

Entry-level was recorded in some west philly basement that was probably lit up by black-wax candles and and bone-torches. Recorded with only the best microphones available from the grave. Melodies are loose and enjoyable, just like the joints in between your bones. Faint traces of influences include bands like, Dinosaur Jr., Smashing Pumpkins, Joyce Manor, and Bats. Bats are probably the pre-bonement version of Bone Bats where they finally realized they can have some fun in their little bat caskets.   

This is you and two of your pals while you guys jam out to Entry-Level. You're all dancing. You're all dead. You've all decomposed down to the bone, but you're all dancing. (Them hips, though.)

WOAH DUDE, watch out for those sp00ky grooves, bud. This album brings us a great deal of ideas and textures from the grave that'll help make your bones rattle. Bone-Jams like Ghost Channel or Weed Jean (jazz cords) will spook ya. Ghosts everywhere. They'll possess you, and rock out to this jam, so if you notice any involuntary movement then you know why. These guys have serious songwriting creativity throughout the entire album, it effortlessly flows in-n-out of different styles to make the songs eccentric and interesting. I wonder how many bones they had to read to come up with these ideas. I super excited for whatever else they decide to conjure up in their spare time. Until then, rest in peace.

A BONE BAT FACEBOOK

GET THIS COLLECTION OF HIT TRACKS HERE

Half of a Good Plan by GIN WAR

//Half of a Good Plan||GIN WAR\\

1. In A Box

2. Honest

3. Wink

4. Disconnected

5. BONER TRACK

and i won't sleep a wink 

till you're in my lungs 

and on my breath 

i won't feel alive 

till you're in my life 

i'll be dying

Out through American Scream Records,  New Jersey alternative rock band GIN WAR's four song release, Half of A Good Plan showcases what these guys can do. Radio ready with catchy choruses and instrumentation, GIN WAR plays four solid tracks that you'll have stuck in your head for a while.
Reminds me of a lighter Darker Things by Choir Vandals. 
This band is a lot of fun in my opinion, instrumentation (Four Piece) (Guitar/guitar/drums/bass/vocals/vocals) is well done and relaxing, simple, but good; each person playing off one another and forming a really solid sound. As far as vocals go, Brandon and Mike's vocals are silky smooth, blanketing the top of each song.
There is certainly a pop aspect to this release, the catchy-ness and just the way the singing and guitars sound. Some super catchy riffs guys.  Time wise, this is a shorter release, and when you download it, you get a BONUS TRACK!)!)!?!@!@!@#!!!! wow coool bonus track

BONUS TRAKC!!!

BONURS!

BONERS!

BONE!

BONUS TRAK!

Bonus track guys. It's a catchy cool acoustic song so if you like what you hear, download the release and get the BONUS(!!!!!) track while you can. 

Favorite Song: Honest

Bandcamp

Modern Explorations by Modern Explorations

//Modern Explorations||Modern Explorations\\

1. Automata

2. Golf Courses and Jungles

3. Desert Action

4. Gently Rounded, Gently Curved

Corpus Christi, Texas band Modern Explorations plays a progressive/experimental type of rock. Reminds me a lot of Buttons and Mindy, but less mathy and more funky/metal (As far as instrumentation goes). Guitars twinkle around like twinkle guitars are supposed to do, and for once I'll have to say bass is not the most boring instrument to listen to on this release. Bass is really high in the mix, driving the rhythm home throughout the songs. Vocals are high and silky, lyrics are catchy and pop-like. Run times are all around 4 minutes long.

The way these guys play, you'd think they were playing math rock, I really dig the sound of the instrumentation. I've just got to say, Texas has one hell of a music scene. So many amazing bands are from there, hardcore bands and other types alike. I've still yet to hear a bad one out of there. I don't know what's in the water but I want it. The four song release is on Distro from Close Quarters Coalition , so check that label out. Check it out, it's a good release, and I'd like to hear more from them.

Favorite Song: Automata

Bandcamp

Conditional by Conditional

//Conditional||Conditional\\
1. Stability
2. Resistance is Futile
3. Comfort Zone
4. Fire Houses on Fire
5. Reprise

POOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPP PUNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKK

So "Progressive Punk Rock" (Good Pop Punk) band Conditional from Saint Louis just put out this five song self titled release. Songs are quick, to the point, and fast. Vocals are reminiscent of old fashioned pop punk (not this high pitched stuff that everyone makes fun of), bridging over with Title Fight vocals. Guitars/bass is simple pop punk stuff for the majority of the release, with some cool little riff parts thrown around to spice things up. Drums are fast and well played.

"This life is mine so this won't be the end of this game. One rejection doesn't mean that I should quit, but for now, I will take time off to acquire the best version of myself. It's only fair to whomever I'm with, but from time to time, I go back to the basics".

SONG BY S0NG BREAKD0WN!1!

1. Quick, cool twinkly guitar parts

2. Easycore Breakdown!?!?!?!??!?!

3. Cool drumming/bass/Probably crowd calls would happen during this

4. Cool Lyrics/Cool Guitar/Best Song In general/Super Pop Punk

5. Quicker Song/Ambient/I have no idea what I'm doing

Overall, this is some good stuff, so check it out. Missouri music represent. 

Favorite track: Fire Houses On Fire

Bandcamp

Facebook

Growing Pains by Storyteller

//Growing Pains||Storyteller\\

1. Never Was

2. Never Will Be

3. Scars

4. Dead Sleep

5. Heavy Hearts (ft. Osacar Bamaca)

6. Fool's Gold (ft. Mackenzie Colvin)

7. Stand Up, Stand Tall

8. Passive Progression

On Distro from Driftwood Records CDs, Storyteller's 8 song release, Growing Pains, has a lot to be said about. The songs are quick, melodic, and filled with emotion. Combining spoken word vocals with Skramzy-esq/emo vocals, the lyrics take hold of the listener, combining with the emotional and well thought out music to swell and create some actually all around great music. Production is high quality, and instrumentation is mixed perfectly. While the songs meld together, almost seeming to form an entirely new song, there isn't a dull moment. The first song lulls you into a false sense of tranquility, yet immediately casts you into the raw emotion of the rest of the release. The songs rise and fall like a wave, cresting to peaks at certain sections and landing at lows at others. The songs keep moving, driving forward with emotion and head bobbing instrumentation. I'm not usually into bands like this, with the spoken word parts and the melodic hardcore vocals and such, but Storyteller does something amazing with it, making me come back to this release and start it over after every time I finish listening to it. This is a band everyone should check out. 

Favorite Song: "Passive Progression"

Get it here

Storyteller's facebook

Changing Ways by Present Plans

Changing Ways {Present Plans}

1. Intro

2. Potato House

3. East 32

4. March is Madness, April is a Joke

5. Changing Ways

"Lol this ep sucks donkey dick"

Mountain Grove Missouri band Present Plans(R.I.P) released this five song ep way after they broke up so I mean if you're a big fan of this release sucks because you'll never hear anything else from them. I called dibs on reviewing these guys and I'm kinda glad because Kasey's review would have been, and I quote, "lol this ep sucks donkey dick".
Kasey also told me if I didn't put meme's into this review he'd fuck my mom so.

"I'll fuck u mom"

This is the kind of music you listen to at the end of a breakup with a girl that decided she didn't like you and you just can't handle it so you cry about it for a couple of years. It's like Emo music but more simple music wise. I like to listen to drums for pop punk music. That's about it. I don't understand why most pop punk band vocalists can't carry a tune, or just decide to sing in another key so much, but I guess they do that in Emo music a lot too. (At least emo music has fun music to listen to)

Andrew, Gavin, Justin, Austin
(catch gavin in the 417 hxc pits)

Present Plans goes the route of Firestarter and has an intro that leads right into the second song which is pretty much the first song which pretty much makes tracks one and two one song but anyway Potato house is a fun little song. My favorite track on this entire ep and probably my favorite song by Present Plans ever would be "East 32". I love the chorus guys, it's really catchy. If you have to listen to any one song to see if you like the rest of the release, check out "East 32". It's good. Good song. Good stuff. Grate.
Fourth track "March Is Madness, April's a Joke" has a bridge/breakdown that leans towards easycore music. And this is how I feel about easycore music: Confused. Maybe this song isn't exactly easycore at all but when I hear the bridge it's all I can think about. But it's a really cool bridge and I'll think about it and probably listen to it in the future.
What I can say that's cool about this band, is that they have some super catchy choruses like seriously, the kind of stuff that people knew at their live shows before they even released Changing Ways. Influences of this band are obviously bands like Blink 182 and New Found Glory and stuff. Not sure 100% because I don't listen to a lot of pop punk music (Unless you include the new The Wonder Years and Modern Baseball and such)
Okay so when it gets down to it, if you don't like the genre, this is not a release for you to look at to try to get into the music. If you do like the genre, check out "East 32" and see if you like it, and if you do, check out the rest of the songs. C-
Pop Punk music (sometimes) sucks

go packers


Bandcamp

R.I.P. PRESENT PLANS

Cyber Smokes by B K Club

Grade: 4.2

1. A vs A

2. 3 for 5

3. Farting in Church

4. Burning Roses

Listen Here!

I deliberated on whether or not to give this a grade for awhile, but I ultimately decided that it was necessary lest good music loose its value. For if we consider everything to be great, then what is greatness? 

Anyway, B K Club's Cyber Smokes is really strange, good in some regards, ludicrous in others. They adopt a bluesy, approach to teen angst music (very much like some of Okkervil River's older albums). They are fairly good at this. The guitars and rattles are precise and provide a good, minimalist tempo. The instrumentals remind me of Bon Iver which is very cool. Probably the coolest thing about this record is the use of harmonicas (very Bob Dylan) and horns (very Neutral Milk Hotel). 

Track one (A vs A) is probably the strongest offering on this record. It is repetitive and a bit hypnotic. It is somber and serious, admonishing something closely resembling peace (though this theme is later undermined by track 4). It is kind of hook-heavy though.

Track two (3 for 5) is alright. It feels much like a transition between songs. Drew Lane murmurs almost incomprehensible shit while horns and guitars play over him. It really doesn't go anywhere though because the next track is equally absurd. 

Track three (Farting in Church) begins with idiotic scatting for the first minute or so. This would be forgivable if the record was longer than 4 tracks, but it isn't. Only half of the album is actually music, which brings on this aghast sense of incredulity. After the scatting, Drew Lane tells dumb, cutesy jokes for the remainder of the track, which is sort of endearing and not entirely taboo, but the jokes don't really go anywhere. I saw a close resemblance to Radiohead's Fitter Happier, where the vocalist mutters various phrases while music plays over. The entire body of the album is wasted by tracks 2 and 3, which aren't really music in my opinion.

Track four (Burning Roses) gets serious again with dark, antithetical lyrics about murdering someone in a particularly vile, cold-blooded way. This reminds me of Okkervil River's Westfall and For Real. I think that the bluesy, folksy sound is a great medium to explore violence and darkness which are most prominently featured in genres like Metal, Grunge, and Rap. 

Ultimately, Cyber Smokes fails. I don't think that this is a testament to their lack of artistic talent. Rather, I think it's a testament to their laziness. This EP is the inkling of a good idea. It could have been developed far better. Rather than coming up with a few good songs and throwing them out into cyberspace, they should have spent more time honing their songs and adding more. As far as I'm concerned, tracks 2 and 3 should be thrown out altogether or perhaps synthesized into shorter offerings that serve as relevant transitions between songs. I only hope that this inkling of a good idea will eventually become something far better.

IOWACORE COMPILATION VOLUME TRIPLE I

Iowacore Volume 3

91 tracks that I refuse to list

ARE YOU READY TO GET U MOSH(e) ON?
If you weren't before, after, and only after you listen to all five hours of breakdowns and other things that don't 100% match up, you'll want to hate mosh you're grandmother. I'm guessing these must all be bands from Iowa? If so, what the hell Iowa are you guys holding out on us bring some mosh over to Missouri. So me being not the BIGGEST fan of Metalcore, but still kinda able to get into it, kinda enjoyed this giant thingy. But then again I'm a little confused because not all of these bands are "core" bands. You'll find bands like Goods (emo/emo throwback) and then there is an acoustic song like four songs in. So this isn't all metalcore, but the first few million hours is. It's not bad though, all of these songs are really good, and there are quite a few gems in here.  All of these are good bands and it's cool to see a compilation of this size. Props to the Black Hand Promotions and the Iowacore guys and gals. It's cool because if you're like me you can't just sit and listen to this entire thing straight, I mean come on it's hella long. But you can always come back and just chose a part and go. You find so many different things that it's crazy cool. Pop Punk, Metalcore, Acoustic, Hardcore, Emo, Djent, everything. Iowa has a nice looking scene. Download this. It only takes a LONG time but it's worth it.

favorite track: f-dat I can't choose.

get it here 

(Shout out to Kegan of Corkscrew/goods for sending me this shit)
(all these bands may not be from iowa idk I'm stupid)

Closure-Single by Hometown Heroes

Closure|Hometown Heroes

Single

Hometown Heroes is a pop punk progressive band from Illinois. My band's have played with these guys the two times they've come through Springfield, and they are one of the best Poop Punk Band$ out thar. They just released this cool new single called "Closure." It sounds like they're taking a step away from the melodic pop punk coolio stuff that is seen in Stories and are going towards a more Fall Out Boy-esq kinda vibe, but from Infinity on High and stuff. Anyway, check them out, because they're like amazing and stuff. 

favorite track on this release: Closure

Bandcamp

#BloodBrothers by Käptain Krünçh Cîdz

Grade: 6.0

1. Nightmare

2. Bloodshot Eyes and an Existential Crisis

3. It'z Krunch Time

4. Fall's End

5. Blood Brothers

Listen Here!

Disclaimer: I am friends with the guys that made this album. In fact, they write for this blog. That bias exists but I want to make sure you all realize that I am attempting to be very objective as I review this.

This album drips of adolescence, and that's both a strength and a weakness. Its bio on Bandcamp is very short and admits of the band's inexperience. It says that it is the group's first release That's really quite evident. The general lack of direction is annoying at times because it is difficult to get inside the artists' heads, but its also intriguing- mysterious almost.

The songs are placed in a very logical order, but there is no continuity to the piece. The songs all flow well musically, but when it comes to the lyrical content of the songs, the listener is left confused. I'd almost say that it needs to be longer- that it needs a few filler songs that will better fuse the album together and give it some direction. Truly, there are a lot of shitty songs on a lot of great albums which both propel the lyrical narrative and give skin to the bones of the thematic skeleton established by the album's high points. With that being said, understand that this criticism is not that serious. It's very hard to give a 5 track album the strength of a full-length album. I wonder why Käptain Krünçh Cîdz didn't label this as an EP; that's really what it is.

There is a specific sound to each of the songs. I'd like to make note of the influences that I noticed throughout.

1. Nightmare- Queens of the Stone Age, The Clash, Soundgarden
2. Bloodshot Eyes and an Existential Crisis- Animal Collective
3. It'z Krunch Time- Modest Mouse
4. Fall's End- Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Rise Against, Joy Division
5. Blood Brothers- Animal Collective (Avey Tare)

Other influences that showed throughout: Metallica, Black Sabbath

The first track starts slowly and disjointedly, and then builds to erratic mayhem. When the vocals come in, things calm down a bit. Adrian Sprague's voice has a lot of character and he's capable of achieving many different ranges and styles. In this song the vocals remain calm and almost sadly apathetic. Think of the calloused melody of a grizzled punk vocalist's voice. It's a very strong start. 

Then comes the second track, whose lengthy, pathological title perfectly labels the erratic rhythm of the song. It meanders a bit too long- as do all of the songs on the album. They aren't particularly long, but it seems to take them a while to get where they're going. However, whenever the vocals do come in, there's no build up to them. They began and then they stay the same for the entirety of the song. This is particularly true on the second track, but it's also true on the other tracks. Kasey's vocals on this track are very, very emotional. He squeals... Almost wheezes out the incomprehensible lyrics to the song. That seems like a negative description, but in this song I think it works very well. As stated previously, he reminds me a lot of Avey Tare in this track and the last track. 

Track three is really where the album starts to fall apart. The first two songs are very solid and I like them a lot. They establish a very distinct style for the group. Track three is essentially an interlude. It's very short, it has no vocals, and it leads to track four fairly well. The problem with this song is that an EP does not need an interlude. An EP should not fuck around. It should get straight to the point and have less-than-perfect transitions. If an EP flowed from one song to the next flawlessly, the entire album would sound like one long, fucking song. Often times tracks with interludes sound like this on full-length albums, but the albums are long enough to support the illusion. I just see no need for such a short, pointless track on this album. 

Track four really doesn't need an interlude. It's quite solid on it's own. If Käptain Krünçh Cîdz had a large collection of songs, I really think that this would be the quintessential one. It meanders a lot and really keeps you guessing. The vocals come on suddenly and don't abate until the end of the song. Adrian rasps and moans like the bastard child of Billie Joe Armstrong and Ian Curtis. It's really good. Most music critics believe that Joy division spawns the punk movement. The vocals in this track help prove this and meld the two styles in a very artful manner. 

The final track attempts to slow things down a bit as the album comes to a close. It doesn't really do this well. It almost seems as if there was a lot that the listener missed out on. This album really feels like an LP. It has long instrumental portions and a senseless interlude. It's almost as if someone truncated a full-length album and released the first six songs. 

Once again, the album is short and it is clearly difficult to develop the theme of a short album. With that being said, there is evidence of a lot of boredom, teen angst, and introspection in the lyrics of the piece. this strengthens my opinion that the whole album needs to be developed more fully. 

Stray observations: 

• Punk musicians are pissy, and generally they relish in telling us all about it. The angst present in this piece seems rather unarticulated. The listener is left to wonder what the musicians are pissed about. 
• I heard very subtle (but deep-seated) 80's hard rock sounds. I may be judging this incorrectly, but I kind of feel like most people in a rock bands have been influenced by bands like Metallica and Black Sabbath. That's not exactly my cup of tea though, so it's hard for me to say with much confidence. 
• I know that it makes me pretentious, but I think that the hash-tag in the title is gimmicky.  
• They did name your own price on Bandcamp! That's badass!

Introvert Party--January 2014 demos

Introvert Party-January 2014 Demos

Trackz:

Born Mad

Double Dose of Hurt

Beans And Rice

"The kind of party I'd kind of think about kind of enjoying" 

Yeahhhh, here's a Springfield band that's around. They're pretty neat, their vibe reminds me of Reverend Horton Heat. Every thing here just grooves in that rockabilly/blues-rock kind of way. I've hung out with guys that do a lot of weed and this is what I imagine they would sound like if they were to start playing instruments. Vocals are fun, staccato (short for you non-music nerds), and off-key{(I think?) I like the sound of them anyways}. Guitar riffs are pretty heavily Hendrix-influenced in Beans and Rice, which is pretty neat. I don't know if there's bass or not; if there is, it's not coming through the mix at all. I heard these guys play with Those Dirty Eyes a bunch, and if that's the case, then these guys are probably a party to watch live.

Favorite Track: Born Mad

bAndcAmp  

Sleep/Talk by Lord Okkotonushi

Sleep/Talk | Okkotonushi

1. Forchids

2. Shimmer

3. Utterances

4. Spindles

5. Harahan

6. Circles

7. Sleep

8. Talk

9. Diemtea

10. Breathe On

Okkoto is a local 417 Math Rock/ "Psychedelic Shoegaze Hardcore" band that's been around for longer than most people around here have been in the Springfield Scene. They're a different kind of band that I've ever seen, but one that I really like. They actually played before one of my bands before and I was blown out of the water. Sleep/Talk has been around for a while, but they just recently released it hard-copies so people are taking another look at it. 

This is a long release, almost 3 times longer than most of the releases I review, but the length of the listen is definitely worth it. 

Anyway, Some of the Math riffs, as seen in "Shimmer" and throughout make my head spin. This band only has one guitar player, and he is just amazing at what he does. Bass as well. People don't give bassist's much of a rep but I mean have you tried being the bassist of a mathcore band because that shit's probably hard. Drums are heavy hitting when they need to be, and otherwise their slight accents highly compliment the track, and help get across what they are trying to do. The entire release is supposed to be like a journey through the mind, and trust me, some of the things they do may put you in some kind of a trance. Do not listen to while driving. Vocals are fun. The screams are mid-ranged to high, frankly chaotic, and the cleans are raspy and melodic. This band is really good at contrasts, and with songs that are clocking in at 10 minutes, they do some awesome contrasting things. I'm not usually a big fan of longer tracks, they tend to drone on and leave me bored, but this release is different. The tracks do drone on, but that's exactly the point. All of the songs do kind of meld together, (also probably the point) so if I ever see something that really strikes me as amazing, I have trouble finding which song it was in. This isn't the kind of release you can listen to in segments, or just skip to one song. To get the full experience, you'll need to listen to the entire thing through. Great release, get it.

Favorite track: Shimmer

Bandcamp

Mobile Freedom Home by Roof Doctor

Mobile Freedom Home | Roof Doctor

1. Mobile

2. Bulldog

3. When I Was Really Losing It

4. Way Too Long

5. Every Three Months

6. Dad

7. Freedom

8. She Can't Jump

9. Bottle it Up

10. Home

Mobile Freedom Home by Roof Doctor is a release i've been waiting for for quite a while, so expect a more in-depth rant than my usual “I don't know what I'm doing” reviews. I reviewed Roof Doctor's first two releases a while ago, and fell in love with them. RD's first release was a fully acoustic jam that I listen to to this day. Their second release showed capability as a full band, and was a lighter, art pop folk jazz mixture that sounding amazing. Mobile Freedom Home shows an ambient rock folk pop. Production is just as on the last two releases: very well done and radio worthy. The overall tone of this release is still the same sad that I love, but with a feeling of accomplishment, or of happiness, but then again maybe I'm just searching.

They toned down the use of horns and brass instruments that was seen in I Am Going To Die, which isn't exactly that bad of a thing. Drums are a fun little thing to listen to. As a person who's drumming skills extend to me playing blast beats in a rock/powerviolence band, I can't exactly get too in depth with a drum review, but I really love a lot of the accents that are used, such as in “Bulldog”. Bass is actually heard in this release, and it's melodic grooves help carry the song along. As most bass does, it's just there, and even though it can be heard, it of course doesn't stick out amazingly. Guitar is in the fashion of a mixture between emo/twinkle/indie that just makes me nod my head in happiness.

Cool thing: we get to see another version of “When I Was Really Losing It”, a track from Roof Doctor's first release, June. This was something that I really enjoyed hearing, and something I bet everyone else enjoyed hearing.

The finisher track on the release, “Home”, is a ballad of a sad track. Banjo is definitely heard in this song, along with all of the other stuff seen in the release. I feel like it's the perfect finisher to Mobile Freedom Home. I feel that the entire release really flows well and that the songwriting abilities of this band is something amazing. Mobile Freedom Home Is more than what I was expecting, and I was so happy to see that it was finally released. Check it out, it's free to download.

Favorite track: Home

Bandcamp

Fri[ends] by Histories

Fri[ends] | Histories

1. Not Really, But Okay

2. Think Of Me When You Shave Your Legs

3. Turtle Dove

Local band Histories' new release, Fri[ends] is a solid release from start to finish. Matching the same great production of the band's first release, Histories comes back with a 3 song progressive rock release that reminds me just how awesome our scene is. This band probably should be signed soon, all of these songs are the kind of songs you get from bigger labels. Anyway, these guys know how to play their instruments, and I'm a huge fan of the drumming off this release. Histories' vocalist hits these crazy tenor notes that make me happy just listening to it. Anyway there is some cool secondary 'scream' vocals that they throw into "Turtle Dove", a song that really brings the entire release to a close. Histories does a really good job at song writing and telling stories with their stories. Amazing band, check it out. 

Favorite track: Turtle Dove

Bandcamp

Violet Mess by Free Drunk

Free Drunk-- "Violet Mess"

Free Drunk is a half-surf, half-grunge rock band from Azusa, California (I'm guessing southern cali). The first half of this release is über-surf-y the rest of it sounds like Nirvana (they even have a cover of School up on their bandcamp.). Not a bad release. A lot of cool and relaxed vocal harmonies on here, especially on No Sleep, which seems to have the same general guitar part as Mess, the last song on the album. I'm waiting for these guys new song "Cum Tastes Like Toothpaste" to come out too, heard it's going to be great.

Favorite Track: No Sleep or Skate Kids

bandcamp

Edit by The Kursk

       

Edit | The Kursk

1. Cleave

2. Ice Cream Shop

3. Crushin' Cousins

4. Radio

5. If You

Blues rockish band hailing from the 417,  The Kursk's release is chock filled with mid 20th century instrumentation and vocals/lyrics. Production value of this release is really well done on a whole, and even though I don't listen to a lot of this kind of music, I found myself really enjoying the sound of The Kursk. You get a lot of blues-esq riffs throughout the songs, and the bass lines are wonderful to listen to. The vocals are great, the singer really knows how to sing, and everyone seems skilled at the instruments they play.  The song writing is good, and I can differentiate each song easily by instrumentation, making it not feel like there is just one huge song. Lyric wise, the songs seem a little young, the kind of stuff you'd find on the radio (pre-swearing radio). The entire release has a blithely feel to it, and it's a great listen, check it out. Really well done. 

Favorite Track: If You

Soundcloud