Sophie's Floorboard: November 2018

Wednesday, 28 November 2018

We Came Out Like Tigers

We Came Out Like Tigers were a four-piece screamo band from Liverpool, UK that began in 2008 and broke up in 2014. Though they only put out a small amount of work, they're best remembered as one of the most distinct and unique voices to come out of "screamo" in the past decade or so. They laid their foundation in the influence of bands like Funeral Diner, while adding layers of sound through a plethora of other influences. Most notably, they utilize the tremolo-picking and blast beats of black metal. They also show hints of post-rock influence in the song structures and some of the quieter moments. Additionally, a violin is featured fairly prominently on most of their tracks, which surprisingly fits perfectly, and adds an orchestral element to their already gargantuan sound. Their discography is small but virtually perfect, with their sole LP Agelessness And Lack being a standout. Enjoy.

We Came Out Like Tigers (2011)

1. You, You're Just Bone Structure

2. A Lesson In Solitude

3. Breathe In, Though You Barely Believe In It

4. Hannah

True Love, Always (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

Agelessness And Lack (2012)

1. An Introduction

2. Sous Les Pavés

3. Remember Why You Are

4. These Terrors Are Dismantled By Friendship's Light

5. Inimical

6. Endure

7. Immutable

8. Take Pleasure In The Processes

9. If You Were Frightened, It's Because It Was Frightening

10. I Sing Of Sorrow & Joy

Ever-Crushed At Pecket's Well (2014)

1. Tribulation

2. To Ruin A Fine Tenor Voice

3. Concrete Blocks Of Empathy

4. Careworm

5. Entr'acte

6. We Have Not Reached Conclusion

Bandcamp

Friday, 23 November 2018

Carson Wells

Carson Wells are a three-piece post-hardcore band from Aberdeen, Scotland that began in 2009. Sonically, they're fairly remnisicent of classics like Unwound and Q And Not U, particularly in their idiosyncratic rhythms and dynamic song structures. They also incorporate some aspects of screamier bands like Sinaloa and Raein, through the impassioned vocal deliveries and washy chords. They've grown quite a bit in the near-decade they've been together, which their two latest albums Tread A Northern Path and this year's No Relic being particular standouts. Enjoy.

Carson Wells (2010)

1. Picasso on Contradiction

2. I've Got A Friend Who Likes Pirates

3. Feed 'Em To The Pigs 'Arold

4. Cohaagen

Wonderkid (2012)

1. Soul And Sword

2. Slim Charles

3. A Great Weight

4. Ten

5. Killing Me Won't Bring Back Your Goddamn Honey

6. Three Months in Canada

7. Don't Forget The Super 8

8. 2007

9. Home

Human Hands/Carson Wells (2014)

1. Human Hands - Exterior

2. Carson Wells - Cloud In The Shape Of A Shark

3. Carson Wells - Namib

Tread A Northern Path (2015)

1. Palmistry

2. Silent Breed

3. Northern Path, Southern Lens

4. Mosaic Of Sleepers

5. Final Throne

6. A Life Lapse In Passing

7. Mid Distance

8. Sobotka

9. Will I'm Nae

10. June

Live at Stuck on a Name, Notthingham 28/11/14 (2016)

1. Sobotka (live from SOAN, Nottingham)

2. Northern Path, Southern Lens (live from SOAN, Nottingham)

3. Mosaic of Sleepers (live from SOAN, Nottingham)

4. Palmistry (live from SOAN, Nottingham)

5. Will.I'm.Nae (live from SOAN, Nottingham)

6. June (live from SOAN, Nottingham)

No Relic (2018)

1. Art In Inconsequence

2. Native State

3. Pilot Light

4. Righteous Mess

5. Prez

6. Early Decay

Bandcamp

Facebook

Wednesday, 21 November 2018

Soulside

Soulside were a four-piece punk/post-hardcore band from Washington, DC that began in 1985 and disbanded in 1989. They were originally known as Lunch Meat before changing their name in 1986. They are one of the many classic punk bands to emerge from DC in the late 80's, and were of course affiliated with the legendary Dischord Records. Sonically, they took the energy of hardcore and fused it with melodic vocals and instrumentation, similar to what their contemporaries such as Dag Nasty, Embrace, Gray Matter, and Ignition were doing. They released three LP's and a 7", as well as an early split under their original name. Less Deep Inside Keeps was their debut album, while the Trigger LP, Bass 103 7", and Hot Bodi-Gram LP were all released on a single compilation in 1990, Soon Come Happy. Enjoy.

Getting Shit For Growing Up Different (1986)

1. Mission Impossible - Helpless

2. Mission Impossible - Now I'm Alone

3. Mission Impossible - Into Your Shell

4. Lunch Meat - Looking Around

5. Lunch Meat - No Need

6. Lunch Meat - Under The Glare

Less Deep Inside Keeps (1987)

1. Pearl To Stone

2. One Step Higher

3. Walking

4. Don't Let Me Down

5. You've Heard It Before

6. Over And Out

7. I Find The Other Side

8. In Days To Come

9. Dreams

10. X-Lion Tamer

11. Fresh Air

Soon Come Happy (1990)

1. Baby

2. Trigger

3. Name In Mind

4. Problems Faced When Traveling

5. War

6. K.T.T.K.

7. Pocket Hurts

8. Forgiveness

9. Bass

10. 103

11. Otherside

12. God City

13. What

14. Punch The Geek

15. Clifton Wall

16. New Slow Fucky

17. Pembroke

18. Hate Music

19. New Fast Fucky

20. Kill

21. Bad Show

22. A Love Supreme

A Brief Moment In The Sun (2022)

1. Times Like These

2. Day 2

3. Every Clover

4. Reconstruction

5. Winner

6. Walker

7. Tambourine

8. 70's Heroes

9. Resolved

10. Rediscovery

11. Survival

12. It's All About Love

Bandcamp

Dischord Records

Friday, 16 November 2018

Microwave

Alright, here we go, finally getting around to the highly-requested Microwave. These guys are a four-piece indie/alternative/emo band from Atlanta, Georgia that got started in 2012. Thus far they've released two full-lengths and a handful of EP's. Sonically, they're reminiscent of bands like Manchester Orchestra, Taking Back Sunday, Motion City Soundtrack, Have Mercy, Balance & Composure, and Sainthood Reps, or something like that. Full disclosure I have not listened to them much, but give have to give them kudos for the variety in their songs. Even with casual listening of a few, they don't seem to fall into any formulaic traps, and every track offers something fresh. So yeah, they've been requested to death and I finally managed to pull together their entire discography, so please do enjoy.

Nowhere Feels Like Home (2013)

1. Never Again

2. Kansas

3. Filthy

4. Bright

5. The Devil And I

6. I-70

Swine Driver (2013)

1. Swine Driver

When The Fever Breaks (2013)

1. Labor Day

2. Grass Stains

3. The Fever

Stovall (2014)

1. Stovall

2. Grass Stains

3. Labor Day

4. Something Right

5. Mansion In The Sky

6. Trash Stains

7. Work It Out

8. Tar

9. The Last

10. The Fever

Head North/Microwave (2015)

1. Head North - The Bells

2. Head North - Redwood

3. Head North - Willow Tree

4. Microwave - Thinking of you,

5. Microwave - but not often,

6. Microwave - Something Right (Daytrotter Session)

Much Love (2016)

1. Roaches

2. Lighterless

3. Dull

4. Neighbors

5. Busy

6. Drown

7. Vomit

8. Whimper

9. Homebody

10. Wrong

keeping up (2018)

1. Georgia On My Mind

2. keeping up

Death Is A Warm Blanket (2019)

1. Leather Daddy

2. Float To The Top

3. DIAWB

4. The Brakeman Has Resigned

5. Hate TKO

6. Pull

7. Love's Will Tear Us Apart

8. Mirrors

9. Carry

10. Part Of It

Bandcamp

Facebook

Twitter

Sunday, 11 November 2018

Pool Kids

Pool Kids are a four-piece emo/indie/math rock band from Tallahassee, Florida that began in 2017. Recently they signed to Skeletal Lightning (which are easily one of the best labels kicking around now), which was my introduction to their mastercraft. Their debut album, Music To Practice Safe Sex To came out in July, and if nothing else, it's safe to say it has won album title of the year. Thankfully the music delivers on that high standard in every way imaginable. It's a refreshing take on math rock-influenced indie/emo, featuring some insanely talented musicians and incredible songwriting. They know when to let loose on the fretboard frenzies and time signatures while staying distinctly melodic, and pull back to semi-standard chords and rhythm patterns when needed, which provides a nice blend of technical mastery and unique variation in songs. Each track is incredibly memorable and with its own emotional weight to it, even amongst obvious highlights like "Borderline" and "$5 Subtweet". They combine the technical capabilities of bands like toe. and Covet and mix them with the sound and energy of bands like Camp Cope and A Great Big Pile Of Leaves, or something like that. That's not a great descriptor of them, but it's the first one I came up with and this shit is hard to pin down to one sentence. To cut this short, this record is awesome, and if I were to go out on a limb I'd say this is the best album I've heard in the "emosphere" (that's a thing now) since what people call low self-esteem.... It'll be really exciting to see where this band goes, and happy that Skeletal Lightning picked them up. If it hasn't been made obvious yet, this is highly, highly recommended. Enjoy.

Music To Practice Safe Sex To (2018)

1. Overly Verbose Email Series pt. III

2. Borderline

3. Erso

4. $5 Subtweet

5. They Only Care About My Fills And Not My Feels

6. Five-Time 2nd Place Winner

7. I Know It's Only Fair

8. Patterns

9. Rick's Toy Box

Pool Kids (2022)

1. Conscious Uncoupling

2. That's Physics, Baby

3. Almost Always Better (Almost Always Worse)

4. Further

5. Talk Too Much

6. Comes In Waves

7. I Hope You're Right

8. Swallow

9. Couch

10. Waking Up

11. Arm's Length

12. Pathetic

Pool Kids // POOL (2023)

1. Pool Kids - No Stranger

2. Pool Kids - Talk Too Much (Alternate Version)

3. Pool Kids - Arm's Length (Alternate Version)

4. POOL - Cleansing

5. POOL - Inside A Wall

6. POOL - Death Sentence

Saturday, 10 November 2018

Boneflower

Boneflower are a three-piece post-hardcore/screamo/post-rock band from Madrid, Spain that began in 2015. Thus far they've released one EP and one LP, but have quickly become one of the most notable voices in the new music-with-screams scene. Sonically, they play with a post-rock foundation, utilizing dynamic rises and falls and melodic, reverb-laden instrumentation to create a massive, full sound. They cut through that with some sharp lead guitars, pounding drums, and vocals that range from screamed to sung to spoken word, and everything in between. Their debut album, Empty Rooms, Full Bodies explores a plethora of sounds and emotions, making for a very dynamic and versatile listen. The somber acoustic tracks "Sol" and "To pieces" stand in stark contrast to ragers like "Aching absence" or "Andromeda", while still maintaining a seamless record. Boneflower is highly recommended for fans of bands such as Moving Mountains, Old Gray, Trophy Scars, Pianos Become The Teeth, and Men As Trees, (or some hybrid of all the aforementioned). Enjoy.

I'll be the Bones, You'll be the Soul (2015)

1. Land and Sand

2. Unfading

3. Unexplainable

4. I'll be the Bones, You'll be the Soul

5. Neverending

Empty Rooms, Full Bodies (2017)

1. We're gonna die, we don't care.

2. Aching absence

3. King

4. City Lights

5. Sol

6. Andromeda

7. Love

8. Elocin (you're not alone)

9. To pieces

10. Nothing changes

11. Sunsets in the backyard

12. Purple dreams

MM + Seashells + Wanderers (2018)

1. MM

2. Seashells

3. Wanderers

Note: These are three separate singles that band has released in 2018. I included them all in one download for convenience's sake, but the files all contain individual artwork/album names

Armour (2020)

1. Saltpeter

2. Vestiges

3. Bromelia

4. Perennial

5. Polarity

6. Boötes

7. Starless

8. Phosphorous

9. Tangled

10. Whitney

Bandcamp

Facebook

Friday, 9 November 2018

Macseal

Macseal are a five-piece emo/indie/math rock band from Long Island, New York that began in 2014. They play a unique style of emo incorporates the "twinkly" math rock guitar sound with a heavy focus on vocal melodies and lyrics, in the same vein as bands like Oso Oso or Modern Baseball. Thrown in the harmonies of Tigers Jaw and a shade of pop punk influence, and voila, you've got Macseal. They've put out a string of EP's thus far, with the most recent one Map It Out being released today by 6131 Records. Each release thus far has been solid, with a natural evolution in sound. Definitely recommended for fans of the aforementioned bands, or anyone who enjoys the occasional visit to the emo mecca of "twinkletown". Enjoy.

Macseal EP (2015)

1. Cats

2. Going Away

3. Gentle Giant

4. Applications

5. Kathy Bates Motel

6. 5:45 a.m. (Not Fun)

etc. (2016)

1. 5:45 a.m. (acoustic)

2. Applications (acoustic)

3. Kathy Bates Motel (demo)

4. 5:45 a.m. (demo)

5. Attractive Today (Motion City Soundtrack cover)

Yeah, No, I Know (2017)

1. Twilight Funzone

2. Harry

3. Next To You

4. Sandbox

5. These Things Happen

Map It Out (2018)

1. Sure Thing, Shelly

2. Golden Hour

3. Old Halls

4. Sleeping In

Super Enthusiast (2019)

1. Lucky For Some

2. Without A Trace

3. Always Hazy

4. Mystery Inc.

5. Irving

6. Upside Down Again

7. Nothing's A Sure Thing, Baby

8. Graduating Steps

9. Problem Solved

10. Picture Perfect

11. Safe Spot

Thursday, 8 November 2018

Blind Girls - 3am TRACK PREMIERE

Gold Coast, Australia's finest screamo band Blind Girls are back and ready to blow minds with their upcoming LP Residue, due out November 13th. It's being released by Zegema Beach Records and the band themselves, with a physical release limited to 150 black 12"'s and 65 red cassettes. You can also catch them on their upcoming Japan tour, along with Sans Visage and Komusō (both also worth checking out). Pre-order info and tour dates can be found below. For now, I'm happy to share the second track from that album, titled "3am" today.

"3am" is a minute-long flurry of cathartic vocals, feedback squeals, and furious guitars. The band manages to pack so much into its short runtime, immediately hitting the listener with dissonant, almost mathcore-esque guitar work and powerful drumming. They briefly delve into this almost melodic, somewhat melancholic passage (you'll know it when you hear it) before jumping right back into the fray of dissonance and shrieks. The brief pause of feedback is a genius tension-builder, giving them a bit of space before rocketing into a unified, heavy riff for the latter half of the song. Blind Girls are absolutely at their top of their game here, hitting a lot of technical highs with the face of chaotic distress. The vocals, instrumentation, and even the production here are enough to indicate that this new LP is going to one of the craziest released this year. Fans of bands like Lord Snow and Loma Prieta should especially take note. You can hear two more released tracks below, with the full album stream coming out a day before its full release via Heavy Blog Is Heavy.

Open Mind / Saturated Brain - "The Ghost In My Eye"

Apathy And Exhaustion - "Exertion"

ORDER 12"

Canada/International

USA

Australia/International

ORDER CASSETTE

Canada/International

USA

Blind Girls

Bandcamp

Facebook

BigCartel

Zegema Beach Records

Website

Bandcamp

Facebook

Wednesday, 7 November 2018

Don Martin Three

Don Martin Three were a three-piece emo/hardcore band from St. Augustine, Florida that were active from 1993 to 1996. Their output was typically small for a band of their nature ( with only one LP, a split, and an EP), but they made some crushing music in their time. They're an incredibly underrated "emocore" (for lack of a better term) band, playing with a similar spoken-word and arpeggiated guitar mix that made legends of Moss Icon, Indian Summer and Policy Of 3. Songs would build and fall, with the lows being serenely melodic and the highs being octave chord-bashing screamfests. I cannot recommend them enough for fans of the aforementioned bands, since they deserve way more attention than they get. Plus, that split is three tracks of pure perfection so I'd suggest starting there, but it's absolutely all solid. Enjoy.

Don Martin Three 7" (1995)

1. Katahdn

2. Inefficient Engine

Summer Ninety Six (1995)

1. Don Martin 3 - Transistor

2. Moonraker - White Christmas

3. Hope Springs Eternal - Drone

Don Martin Three 12" (1996)

1. Untitled 1

2. Untitled 2

3. Untitled 3

4. Untitled 4

5. Untitled 5

Tuesday, 6 November 2018

itoldyouiwouldeatyou

itoldyouiwouldeatyou are a 7-piece indie/punk/emo band from London, England that began in 2014. Following a string of singles and EP's, the band are finally gearing up to release their debut album, Oh Dearism this month. They've built a solid following through their charismatic sound, which blends the bright, twinkly guitars of midwestern emo with the energetic sensibilities of pop punk fused with some heavy lyrical depth. Sonically, they can be compared to bands like Say Anything, Joyce Manor, Mom Jeans., Brave Bird, Free Throw, and Midwest Pen Pals, or something along those lines. The two singles already released from their LP, "Gold Rush" and "Get Terrified" are fan-fucking-tastic, and hopefully a good indication of what a good and unique album it will be. It might be a little premature to say, but this band is probably going to blow up (as they have been rapidly for a while now). They're a new, fresh, talented and positive voice for the "scene" (take that as you will), and I'm not nothing but excited to see how far they're going to go. Enjoy.