Old Gray

Old Gray are a three-piece emo/screamo/post-hardcore band from New Hampshire that formed in April 2011. The lovely gents that comprise this wonderful group are Cam (vocals, guitar, bass), Raph (vocals, guitar, bass), and Charlie (vocals, drums), in addition to numerous other collaborators. Since their formation, they've been quite prolific and progressive. They started out as a noodle-y, Snowing-esque band with mild screamo tendencies and lots of gang-vocal sing-alongs, as heard on their demo. However that's the only thing they've done with that sound. On subsequent albums, they've expanded their sound by making the screamo/emo (not the "twinkly" kind or whatever you want to call it) aspect more prominent, especially in the vocals, dynamics, and, guitar parts. They also incorporate elements of post-rock and spoken word, making them all the more diverse. Their lyrics are also I don't know, they are just a REALLY good band, and easily one of my favourites currently around (I suppose I say that for a lot of bands, but it's particularly applicable in regards to Old Gray). So yeah, I highly suggest you check everything out if you haven't already, and do what you can to support them. You're welcome.

FFO: Merchant Ships, William Bonney, Age Sixteen, mewithoutYou, Daïtro, Pianos Become The Teeth, La Dispute, L'Antietam

Demo (2011)

1. Wayward Kids

2. Vulcan Death Grip

3. Ryan Mitchell Made Me Do It

4. Headaches (feat. Joe McAndrew)

Do I Dare Disturb The Universe (2011)

1. Her Tongue Was Tattooed On The Back Of Her Teeth

2. Dying Leaves

3. City Orchards

4. Instrumental

Old Gray/The Hundred Acre Woods: An Acoustic Split Among Sad Friends (2011)

1. Old Gray - Dying Leaves (Acoustic)

2. The Hundred Acre Woods - Pennsylvania

Old Gray/Girl Scouts (2011)

1. Old Gray - At The End Of The Day

2. Old Gray - Our Hearts Remain The Same

3. Girl Scouts - Buh Buh Bubbaram

4. Girl Scouts - Free Slurpee Day

Everything I Let Go & The Things I Refuse To (2012)

1. 359 Pine

2. Resonance

3. Winter '11

4. Six Years

"I Think I Might Love You" Is An Awfully Long Sentence (2012)
1. "I Think I Might Love You" Is An Awfully Long Sentence

4-way V-Day split (2013)

1. The Hundred Acre Woods - Base Of My Heart

2. Julia Brown - Nobody

3. Modern Baseball - Phone Tag

4. Old Gray - With Hands Like These

Note: This split was done for Valentine's Day with all proceeds going towards V-Day, an initiative meant to end violence against women. For that reason I'm not going to upload it on here, though you can listen to it and purchase it from the link provided. Or if morality's not your thing, you can just use Offliberty or something.

An Autobiography (2013)

1. Wolves

2. Conventry

3. The Artist

4. Show Me How To Self Destruct

5. The Graduate

6. Emily's First Communion

7. I Still Think About Who I Was Last Summer

8. My Life With You, My Life Without You

Fest 12 Split (2013)

1. Dikembe - I Watch A Lot Of Jackie Chan Movies (Acoustic)

2. The Hotel Year - Settle The Scar

3. Modern Baseball - Voting Early

4. Old Gray - The Foxes Begin To Starve

5. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - The Hour of Pearl

6. Pentimento - It Happens To The Best Of Us

Catharsis (2011 demo) (2013)

1. Catharsis (2011 demo)

Old Gray/Tiny Moving Parts (2014)

1. Old Gray - Clip Your Own Wings

2. Old Gray - An Epitaph

3. Tiny Moving Parts - Swimming Lessons

4. Tiny Moving Parts - Fair Trade

Dex (2015)

1. Float

2. Slow

Slow Burn (2016)

1. Pulpit

2. Communion

3. Blunt Trauma

4. Everything Is In Your Hands

5. Razor Blade

6. I

7. Like Blood From A Stone

8. II

9. Given Up To You

10. A Letter For Zach

11. On Earth, As It Is In Heaven

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Nostrils

Band submission. Nostrils (Ноздри in Russian) are a great punk/indie band from Ukraine. They put out one album before breaking up in 2011. With the new, leftover songs, one member (Nikita O.) decided to put them to use and recorded them for their second album. And I must say I'm quite glad he did. This is awesome! They cite their influences as being Hüsker Dü, The Wipers, Rites Of Spring, and Dinosaur Jr., so you know that they're worth your time. Really energetic, passionate, noisy, cathartic, but melodic, music. Check out both their albums on their Bandcamp, this is some really good stuff. 

Punch



Punch (sometimes written as PUNCH) are a hardcore band from San Francisco, California that formed in 2007. The name practically sums up all there is needed to know. Pissed off, pulverising, and fucking passionate, both in what they say and how they play, without being preachy, corny, or taking themselves too seriously. Just amazing hardcore with elements of thrash and powerviolence. The vocals are high-pitched assaults (they are female-fronted) with lyrics touching upon topics such as feminism, veganism, straight edge, as well as personal subjects, among others. This band is blisteringly convulsive, and it's awesome. They are easily one of my favourite hardcore bands around now, and I'm sure quite a few people share in that sentiment. They've put out a demo, 2 EP's, 2 LP's, and a split (with Loma Prieta, who they share members with). They've appeared on a few compilations, but those songs are all also present on one of their records. Enjoy.

Demo 2007 (2007)
1. Semantically Challenged
2. No Such Thing As A Stupid Question
3. Break A Leg
4. Thank You, Come Again
5. Ol' Factory

Eyeless E.P. (2008)

1. Thank You, Come Again

2. Nothing Left

3. Waste Land

4. Convenience Store

5. Semantically Challenged

6. No Such Thing As A Stupid Question

7. Words

Punch (2009)

1. Don't Start

2. Fuming

3. Get Back

4. Ol' Factory

5. Right Of Way

6. If Not Me

7. Been Here Before

8. We're Not In This Together

9. The Bad Times

10. Make The Good Times That Much Better

11. If You Can't Now, You Never Could

12. Break A Leg

13. Rewrite

14. Mending Is Better Than Ending

15. Not So Posi After All

16. Feminists, Don't Have A Cow

Push Pull (2010)

1. Stay Afloat

2. Second Chance

3. No Remorse

4. Give It A Name

5. White Noise

6. Fixation

7. Realist

8. Sour Grapes

9. Two Feet On The Ground

10. Microcausm

11. Let Me Forget

12. Don't Need You

13. Positively God Free

Punch/Loma Prieta (2010)

1. Punch - Worn Path (Loma Prieta cover)

2. Loma Prieta - Don't Start (Punch cover)

Nothing Lasts E.P. (2011)

1. Do It Yourself

2. Done

3. Time Apart

4. Planning Is Easy

5. Four Letters

6. The Chase

7. How Nothing Lasts

They Don't Have To Believe (2014)

1. Worth More Than Your Opinion

2. Making Room

3. Not Sorry

4. Waiting Game

5. Displacement

6. Unconditional

7. They Don't Have To Believe...

8. Personal Space

9. Denial

10. Shame

11. Promises Kept

12. Missing Piece

13. What's In A Name

14. Anxiety

15. Self Help

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My Heart To Joy

My Heart To Joy (formerly My Heart To Joy At The Same Tone, a line from Edgar Allan Poe's "Alone", which they used for their first two EP's) is a four-piece post-hardcore/emo band from Kensington, Connecticut that formed in 2006 and disbanded in 2011.

Beginning as a two-piece screamo band akin to Orchid, they soon added a third member to round off their line-up on their first release, Heavenly Bodies in 2007. The chaos that I assume was their sound when they began (I don't think any real recordings exist of it, only the band telling of it is what's documented) was a bit more defined on their first record, with vocals that for some reason remind me of Envy and the band hinting at melodic moments, especially "Can You Feel It, Captain Compost?!", which is most like their later material. The entire album is decent, though not quite what they would come to do later.

Virgin Sails was released in 2008, and shows a significant progression from Heavenly Bodies. The first two songs sound like Drive Like Jehu-meets-melodic hardcore or something like that, real good. The third, "All Of Life Is Coming Home" is where they really hit their essence. Jangly, melodic guitar, tight rhythm playing, and desperate vocals. It's like they've added Christie Front Drive to the mix, and now have fully established My Heart To Joy. This song would be re-recorded for their full-length which appeared the year after.

Seasons In Verse was released in 2009, and is their first and sole full-length album. It's also their best. The sound they began to touch upon on their last album is fully realized, and it is quite amazing. This is definitely one of my personal favourite records ever. I wouldn't even bother trying to describe it since it has to be experienced first-hand.

2011's Reasons To Be was the band's final release. It's three songs go in a fairly different direction than their previous effort, but then again all of their albums did to some extent. On this particular one the band is playing cleaner than ever, abandoning any strained vocals in favour of completely sung, melodic ones. The music itself is also toned down and doesn't sound like things could break at any second. They border on a pop-punk band here. It's still quite good, of course.

They also contributed two live tracks from their final show to Topshelf's Fuck Off All Nerds: A Benefit Compilation in Memory of Mitch Dubey. More information on that can be found here. You can hear and download it for free, but you really should donate something, or buy the record. For obvious reasons I'm not going to make it available on here.

As far as I know, they only put out four albums. They may also have had some exclusive tour tapes, according to their Last.fm, and if anyone anything about those I'd love to know. Members play in The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, End Of A Year/Self Defense Family, and Perfect Lines, according to a member of TWIABPAIANLATD (holy shit, I've never actually written that out before) on their Last.fm. Enjoy:

Heavenly Bodies (2007)

1. Ethics

2. That Un-Godly Arch-Villian Voltaire Is Dead

3. I Think You Woke The Dead

4. Sirens

5. Can You Feel It, Captain Compost?!

6. True Levellers

Virgin Sails (2008)

1. The Gours Change So We Don't Have To

2. Virgin Sails

3. All Of Life Is Coming Home

Seasons In Verse (2009)

1. Time Spent Breathing

2. Empty Homes

3. Seasons In Verse

4. All Of Life Is Coming Home

5. Worn Out Weather

6. Giving My Hands Away

7. Serpent Bearer

8. Old Capitals

9. Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory (Guided By Voices cover)

10. Thistly Corner Of The Forest

11. Watch Me Live

Reasons To Be (2011)

1. Farewell To A Raincloud

2. Steady Habits

3. Taken With A Presence

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The Hated

The Hated were a four-piece punk/emo band from Annapolis, Maryland who were active from 1985 to 1990. They are often regarded as an early "emo" band, and are often associated with contemporaries from the Washington, DC scene around that time such as Rites of Spring and Gray Matter, as well as bands from Annapolis such as Moss Icon. They certainly share certain aspects with those bands, such as merging of energetic, fast-paced punk with melodic sensibilities. The Hüsker Dü influence is also incredibly apparent. 

During their five years as a band, they managed to explore many variations of their sound, most notably incorporating and adopting folk into their music. They were a great band, there's no other way to say it. Perhaps not as transcendent or influental as some of the ones previously mentioned, though still excellent in their own right. There isn't much information on them floating around the internet, so I don't know much about them. As far as I know, the only things missing in their discography are their cover of "I Am A Rock" (Simon and Garfunkel) which appeared on multiple releases and A Crabtowne Comp., a compilation tape of Annapolis-area bands, according to the always-reliable Wikipedia. There's some stuff here that doesn't appear on some of their discography lists (such as on Wiki and Last.fm), though judging by the sound I'm pretty sure it's them. I apologize for not having much information on some of these, they were found on various blogs and sources with just as much information. Apparently Troubleman United has had a discography LP in the works forever, but nothing's ever come out of it. Enjoy what's here now:

NOTE: Links removed by request

The Best Pice (sic) of Shit (1985)

1. Hey Mister

2. I Don't Like You

3. Somewhere

4. Intro/Your Mind

5. Words Come Back

6. No Meaning

7. Hate Me

8. The Good Old Days

9. Touch It

No More We Cry (1985)

1. Hey Mister

2. Waiting

3. Rubber Bullets

4. Words Come Back

Like The Days (1987)

 1. Underground

2. Not Mine

3. Damned Heart

4. Psalm

V/A - Panx Vinyl Zine 03 (1989)

1. Lost Fights - We Shall Overcome

2. Toxic Avengers - Mop Boy

3. Toxic Avengers - God For Sale

4. Moss Icon - Mirror

5. The Hated - Ballad

Everysong (1989)

1. Anonymous Descriptions Of The Uncontrollable Urges

2. These Are The Days

3. Pride And Confusion

4. Return

5. Knocking On Your Door

6. Promises

7. Someone

Unreleased Demo (1990)

1. T.S. Eliot

2. Flux

3. Flux Too

4. Miggy's Delight

5. Rain

6. Lighthouse

7. Fishtank

8. Echoes Of Whistle Tree Park

Note: Any information anyone might have on this would be greatly appreciated

Paper Roses Demo (1990)

1. Needing Ground

2. Shelterless And Dry

3. Stalemate

4. First Fall Is Fall

5. For The Meanwhile

6. Doris And Frank

7. Dancing Song

Note: Three Shades Of Dirty were a side project of The Hated with many of the same members. This is all they ever did.

What Was Behind (1992)

1. Untold Mess

2. Immunity

3. Waiting

4. Less Than Nothing

5. What Was Behind

6. Ofrtunate One

7. Never Is Always

8. Departure

9. Ballad

10. Every Song

11. No More We Cry

Note: This was recorded in 1986 as a demo titled No More We Cry (not the 7")

Awl Tape (1992)
1. Hey Mister
2. I Don't Like You
3. Somewhere
4. Intro
5. Your Mind
6. Words Come Back
7. No Meaning
8. The Good Old Days
9. Touch It
10. Don't Eat The Food
11. Breakfast
12. Underground
13. Never Is Always
14. Police On My Clash
15. Damned Heart
16. Psalm
17. Knocking On Your Door
18. Every Song
19. Return

Note: This contains The Best Pice (sic) of Shit (Tape) as well as a few other songs that appear in other places. There are also a few songs that are exclusive to this, as far as I know.

Desmond Outcast And The Transplanted Heroes (1997)
1. Two People Blue
2. Wherever You Go

Unknown
1. Not To Be Taken Away
2. Like The Days
3. Away
4. Vegetable Agency
5. Fly
6. Ballad Of Dexter Bunk
7. Plastic Boat

Note: I don't know where any of these came from, thus they're "Unknown". If anyone knows, I'd love to.

Acoustic EP
1. Untitled I
2. Untitled II
3. Untitled III
4. Untitled IV

Note: All acoustic songs, definitely them, or at least some of them. I don't know the song names, so if someone knows these too, it'd be appreciated.

If you like The Hated, you might also like: Moss Icon, Rites Of Spring

Mahria

Mahria (Marr-ee-uh) is a four-piece emotive hardcore/screamo band from Edmonton, Alberta (Canada). There's actually quite a few really good bands from there, which is funny since I didn't even realise that there was anything remotely resembling civilisation between Ontario and B.C., but apparently I'm wrong (and this is why I fail don't try to humour people). Anyway, they are easily one of my favourite screamo bands

around now, even possibly of all time.

Their Facebook's influence citations give you a pretty good idea of where they're coming from: Yaphet Kotto, Kidcrash, Loma Prieta, La Quiete, Celeste, Orchid, Beach House, Joy Division, Converge, and Hiretsukan. Mahria are female-fronted and can be quite diverse vocally: shrill screams, spoken pants, male backing vocals. As a band, they incorporate melodic, atmospheric, very beautiful guitar parts as well as gritty, jarring, dissonance. They know how to keep things interesting is what I'm trying to get at. They're a really tight band with some amazing jams. I highly, highly recommend anyone into the aforementioned bands (maybe with the exception of Beach House and Joy Division for obvious reasons, though they're still both amazing bands) check them out if you haven't done so already. At this point they've put out a split 10" with the amazing Todos Caerán and an EP. They'll also appear on an Orchid cover compilation being put out by Dog Knights Productions alongside a ton of amazing bands later this. They may have a few more splits (they just put one out with Vancouver-based band Watcher, at the end of 2012) and a full-length coming, all of which will be posted as soon as I can get them. Enjoy.

Mahria/Todos Caerán (2011)

1. Mahria - Scarlet Letter

2. Mahria - Blind

3. Mahria - Mask

4. Mahria - Self Sacrifice

5. Mahria - Smog Line

6. Todos Caerán - Diamond Age

7. Todos Caerán - Snow Crash

S/T Cassette (2011)

1. Lights

2. Justification Of An Old Man

3. Ghost Limb

4. Wagering Life

5. Sleep

6. Instrumental

7. Save Yourself

Mahria/Watcher (2012)

1. Mahria - Lady Problems
2. Mahria - Fault
3. Watcher - The Father, The Son, And The Hot Doggin' Ghost
4. Watcher - I May Be A Chump, But Champs Change
5. Watcher - No Limit Soldiers (Vs The West Texas Rednecks) 

Epilogue Of A Car Crash...A Tribute To Orchid (2013)
22. Mahria - Let's Commodify Sexuality

Note: Full comp here

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Ravachol

Ravachol are a four-piece screamo band from the UK. They got started in early 2011 I think, and unfortunately broke up earlier this year (2012). They're female-fronted, the guitar's fairly clean, you'll definitely like them if you're into La Quiete, Raein, Suis La Lune, etc., if you haven't heard them already. They put out two EP's and a split. There's also a remastered version of Great Moments In The Void on their Bandcamp if you want to check that out too (and if you really want to download that and enjoy being cheap [don't we all?] just leave a comment and I'll upload it too). Enjoy.

Great Moments In The Void (2011)

1. Just Another Month

2. Great Moments In The Void

3. Know / Learn

4. Meinhof

5. Sale Sell Sold

True Love, Always [Ravachol/We Came Out Like Tigers] (2011) 

1. Ravachol - Three

2. Ravachol - Equilibrium

3. We Came Out Like Tigers - The Sailor Does Not Pray For Wind, He Learns To Sail

4. We Came Out Like Tigers - Do Not Say Reduced To Tears

The Revolution Of Every Day Life (2012)

1. Futile Theoretic

2. Prerequisite Silence

3. Sono Un Robot

4. A Brief Allegory On Wasted Time

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Hang Your Head

Band Submission. Hang Your Head are an awesome band from California who play a style of melodic hardcore that stays true to its punk roots. Check them out, I'm really glad they sent me this.

Trying To Hold On (2012)

1. February 29th

2. Breaking Glass

3. Led Astray

4. Opium Love

5. Wasting Time

6. Lost Soul

7. Never Change

8. Antidote

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Street Smart Cyclist

Street Smart Cyclist (commonly abbreviated to SSC) are a five-piece emo band from Lehigh Valley/Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They were active from 2006-2008 and did a few reunion shows at the end of 2010. Members went on to form Snowing, another essential emo-revival (or whatever you want to call it) band. I think some of them might have been played in another awesome band called Boyfriends. They've all played in a bunch of other bands as well, though I'm unsure of which ones specifically.

Unfortunately, they put out very little in their time. The plus side to that is it's all kick-ass, taking influence from all the greats: Cap'n Jazz, Boy's Life, Braid, you know the like. They put out a demo/EP 7", an acoustic EP, and a final EP-thing consisting of two songs they recorded before breaking up. Here you go:

Demo 2006! (2006)

1. Hoods Up!

2. Pastor Of Muppets

3. The Three Lane Cut

There's three versions of the artwork, as you can see.

Lint Traps (Acoustic EP) (2007)

1. Cigarettes In Love

2. The Human Map Says We're Fucked

3. We Lack Science

Final Mixes (2008)

1. We Lack Science

2. Kiss Kitty On The Lips

Discography

Since their discography is so small, here's a link to all of it. It's just every album, individual artwork and track listing and all, in one convenient download, so it's no different than the ones above. Just in case you were going to download all three, it'll make your life easier. Or something. Yeah. You're welcome.

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Adventures

Adventures are a five-piece emo/indie/punk band from Pittsburgh, Pennyslvania. They formed early this year, and have just recently become real active (they just put a 7" out and are touring and such). Their line-up consists of three members from Code Orange Kids as well as Lilith (formerly Wifebeater, a really cool acoustic folk-y project. The link is to their bandcamp, check them out too if you havent't already). They've all done various other projects together before, but none that I can specifically note. You know what, here's a line-up rundown:

Reba Meyers - Guitar, Vocals (also in COK and Lilith, same instruments)
Jami Morgan - Drums (also in COK, though he sings as well)
Joe Goldman - Bass, Vocals (just bass in COK, both in Lilith)
Kimi Hanauer - Keyboard (vocals in Lilith as of this year, I think. She also the artwork for all three bands)
Dom - Guitar (don't know his last name or any other bands, so he gets to be just Dom - Guitar)

I'm not trying to put more emphasis on the people in the band than the band itself, it's just that that seems to be a point of interest with them. Whatever, anyways, they certainly don't sound anything like any of the other bands mentioned, with the exception of the beginning of "Like Seed" which I think is missing an "Ugh!", and at during few moments when Reba's voice is at its most guttural. But still, very different sounds. They're more comparable to bands such as Texas Is The Reason or Knapsack, your classic 90's emo bands. A couple more contemporary bands too, such as My Heart To Joy, or Tigers Jaw, perhaps.  They put out a 4-song 7" on No Sleep Records, check it out. It's probably one of my favourite EP's of the year.

Adventures (2012)

1. I Feel So Sure

2. Walking

3. Like Seed

4. Reach Out To You

Clear My Head With You (2013)

1. I Can't Stay

2. Promise

3. Clear My Head With You

4. The Light Brings Without

Adventures/Run Forever (2014)

1. Adventures - Call Me At Night

2. Adventures - Thin

3. Run Forever - Headlights

4. Run Forever - Lost The Feeling

Adventures/Pity Sex (2014)

1. Adventures - Flowing Through

2. Adventures - Behind This Wall (Turning Point cover)

3. Pity Sex - Acid Reflux

4. Pity Sex - Gigantic (Pixies cover)

Supersonic Home (2015)

1. Dream Blue Haze

2. Heavenly

3. Your Sweetness

4. My Marble Hole

5. Pure

6. Absolution, Worth Requited

7. Walk You To Bed

8. Tension

9. Long Hair

10. Supersonic Home

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