Sophie's Floorboard: April 2021

Friday, 23 April 2021

Coliseum

On a quick note before the post, it has been exactly 9 years today that this blog got started. I will not stop expressing my bewilderment that this thing is still going, and coming up on the 1000 post landmark very soon. As I've said before, I never thought it'd carry on this long, but am glad it has, and wanted to mark this occasion with a band that has been sorely lacking from here for the past 9 years.

Coliseum were a three-piece hardcore band from Louisville, Kentucky that began in 2003 and broke up in 2015. They remained very prolific in that time, with five full-lengths and a slew of other releases. Sonically, they were incredibly progressive and thus hard to pin down. Their origins are rooted in hardcore and punk, delivering heavy riffs and aggressive vocals on early releases like their self-titled debut and the essential EP Goddamage. They carried on with the riff-heavy sound like a hardcore-oriented Torche, while beginning to branch out into more melodic off-shoots of punk. There's a notable post-hardcore sound in their later years, with influence clearly stemming from bands like Jawbox and Quicksand. The vocals became capable of sing-alongs, while the riffs/instrumentals brought in more space and groove. There's a lot to dive into here, but I'd suggest starting with the five studio albums, with Coliseum if you're looking for a slightly more traditional punk take, or Anxiety's Kiss if you're looking a unique, indie hardcore sound. Then just work your way back or forward depending on where you started. Enjoy.

4 Songs (2004)

1. Detached

2. This Mind Locked Inside This Body

3. In Time

4. Pretty Situation

Lords/Coliseum (2004)

1. Lords - Talking Whip

2. Lords - Impeach Pit

3. Lords - The Beautiful People

4. Coliseum - No Salvation

5. Coliseum - Born To Hang

6. Coliseum - I Don't Care About You

Coliseum (2004)

1. Detached

2. Children Of Our Own Creation

3. Hostage Of Privilege

4. Burn Out Bright

5. F.F.P.

6. In Time

7. This Mind Locked Inside This Body

8. Mire

9. Claim Control

10. Give Up And Drive

11. Pretty Situation

12. Simple Answer Is...

Not Of This World (2005)

1. Coliseum - Am I Demon (Danzig cover)

2. Coliseum - American Machine

3. Coliseum - Ride On Death Riders

4. Doomriders - Hell Roaring

5. Doomriders - Possession (Danzig cover)

Goddamage (2005)

1. Year Of The Pig

2. Theme

3. Miracle Cure

4. Dehumanize

5. Turn To Dust

6. Reborn To Hang

7. Head Down & Burn

8. Set It Straight

Coliseum/Young Widows (2006)

1. Coliseum - Skyline Fucker

2. Coliseum - White Religion

3. Young Widows - Future Plans

4. Young Widows - Baritone #3

High On Fire/Coliseum/Baroness (2007)

1. High On Fire - Rumors Of War

2. Coliseum - Fate Of Men

3. Baroness - O'Appalchia

No Salvation (2007)

1. No Benefit

2. Defeater

3. The Fate Of Men

4. Seven Cities

5. Profetas

6. Shake It Off

7. Skyline Fucker

8. Funeral Line

9. White Religion

10. Interceptor

11. Fall Of The Pigs

12. Believer

13. The Burden

True Quiet / Last Wave (2009)

1. True Quiet

2. Last Wave

House With A Curse (2010)

1. Introduction

2. Blind In One Eye

3. Everything To Everyone

4. Crime And The City

5. Cloaked In Red

6. Perimeter Man

7. Skeleton Smile

8. Isela Vega

9. Lost In Groningen

10. Statuary

11. Man Was Never Meant To Fly

12. Punk/Money

Live At The Atlantic: Volume Four (2011)

1. Coliseum - Skeleton Smile

2. Coliseum - Cloaked In Red

3. Coliseum - Perimeter Man

4. Coliseum - Lost In Groningen

5. Coliseum - Punk/Money

6. Coliseum - Year Of The Pig

7. Coliseum - Defeater

8. Burning Love - Momento Mori

9. Burning Love - Gain

10. Burning Love - Curse Breaker

11. Burning Love - Miserable Sound

12. Burning Love - Mess

13. Burning Love - Alien Vs Creditor

14. Burning Love - Money Shots

Superchunk/Coliseum (2011)

1. Superchunk - Horror Business (Misfits cover)

2. Coliseum - Bullet (Misfits cover)

Parasites (2011)

1. One Last Night

2. Waiting (Too Late)

3. The Fiery Eye

4. Ghost Of God

5. The Big Baby

6. Gone With The Pope

7. Blood Of The Beasts

8. Give Up And Drive

Sister Faith (2013)
1. Disappear From Sight

2. Last/Lost

3. Doing Time

4. Love Under Will

5. Under The Blood Moon

6. Used Blood

7. Late Night Trains

8. Everything In Glass

9. Black Magic Punks

10. Save Everything

11. Bad Will

12. Sister Faith

13. Fuzzbang

Sister Chance (2013)

1. They Call Her One Eye

2. Not Listening

3. Final Solution

Faith And Curses: Live (2014)

1. One Last Night

2. Black Magic Punks

3. Lost In Groningen

4. Cloaked In Red

5. Blind In One Eye

6. Love Under Will

7. Late Night Trains

8. Fuzzbang

Black Magic Punks (2014)

1. Black Magic Punks (Album Version)

2. Heavy Magic Punks: Aniki Mix (Atsuo)

3. Black Magic Punks (Cold Cave)

4. Glass I: Everything in Dub (J. Robbins)

5. Blkmgc Punks (Justin Foley)

6. White Magic Punks: Sorcerer Mix (Justin K. Broadrick)

7. Cat Magic Punks: Black Ice Mix (R Pattern)

8. (Above) The Blood Of The Moon: Underneath Mix (R Pattern)

9. Black Magic Hunks (xo Madisyn)

10. Black Magic Punks (Demo)

Anxiety's Kiss (2015)

1. We Are The Water

2. Course Correction

3. Wrong / Goodbye

4. Drums & Amplifiers

5. Dark Light Of Seduction

6. Sharp Fangs, Pale Flesh

7. Comedown

8. Sunlight In A Snowstorm

9. Driver At Dusk

10. Escape Yr Skull

Thursday, 22 April 2021

Ember

Ember were a four-piece emo/hardcore band from the Czech Republic that were around sometime in the mid-90s. As you can tell, I can't find much definite info on this band, and the multitude of bands with the name "Ember" do not make it any easier. They did share members with Lvmen, a highly influential post-hardcore band also from the Czech Republic. Ember put out two releases in their time, including the fantastic Seven Samurai, which is an absolute must-listen for any fans of the drawn-out, rise and fall, chaos and melody blend of bands like Portraits Of Past and Indian Summer. Enjoy.

One Cell Will Become Two (1995)

1. Inside

2. Insecure

3. Regret

Seven Samurai (1997)

1. ?

2. Dreamflower

3. Maybe...Sometimes...Maybe

4. I Am Not

5. Winterlove

6. Nomen Illi Mors

Orwell

Orwell were a five-piece post-hardcore/emo band from Chicago, Illinois that were briefly around from 1995 to 1996. For many years, they were really known as being another project Bob Nanna (Braid, Hey Mercedes) was involved in, as their official releases were limited to sporadic compilation tracks and a handful of unreleased bootleg recordings circulating the internet. Finally, in 2021 an official discography was released, including all recorded material, as well as some live tracks and demos. The result was Orwell 1995, which is titled as such since everything on here was recorded that year. Sonically, fans of Nanna's other work will dig this, though it does have a more raw, aggressive sound in comparison to the usually melodic works of Braid. This compilation was thankfully made possible and released by American Handstand Records and Expert Work Records, who you can check out here. Enjoy.

Orwell 1995 (2021)

1. 4242

2. Angular Momentum

3. Ph9 Green

4. Bandsaw Architecture

5. Icemaker

6. Chicago Skier

7. 9:30

8. Model Trains

9. 4242 (Live at The Fireside Bowl August 3, 1995)

10. Angular Momentum (Live at The Fireside Bowl July 12th, 1995)

11. Ph9 Green>>>Bandsaw Architecture (Live at The Fireside Bowl July 12th, 1995)

12. Icemaker (2nd practice tape)

13. Chicago Skier (2nd practice tape)

14. Model Trains (2nd practice tape)

15. Ph9 Green (original instrumental version)

Bandcamp

Expert Work Records

Wednesday, 21 April 2021

Camp Trash

Camp Trash are a four-piece indie/emo band from Bradenton, Florida that released their debut EP in January of 2021. I'm admittedly a little late to the game here, but these four tracks are absolutely perfect to soundtrack the coming summer months. They're a blend of pop punk and midwest emo (from The Get Up Kids to Oso Oso) and slacker indie rock a la Built To Spill. These songs are incredibly memorable, with fantastic lyricism, infectious energy and a sense of invincible nostalgia. They've got a bit of a wacky history you can read more about here. Highly recommended. Enjoy.

Downtiming (2021)

1. Bobby

2. Sleepyhead

3. Potomino

4. Weird Carolina

Edema Ruh (2022)

1. Camp Trash - Blazing Trash

2. Weatherday - Nostalgia Drive Avatar

3. Oolong - Bicycle Day

4. Michael Cera Palin - Crypto

The Long Way, The Slow Way (2022)

1. Mind Yr Own

2. Pursuit

3. Weird Florida

4. Another Harsh Toyotathon

5. Enough Explaining

6. Poured Out

7. Lake Erie Boys

8. Let It Ride

9. Soft

10. Church Bells

11. Riley

12. Feel Something

Count Your Lucky Stars

Spotify

Apple Music

Friday, 2 April 2021

Arm's Length

Arm's Length are a three-piece emo/alternative band from Quinte West, Ontario (Belleville/Trenton area for other Ontarians) that have been around since at least 2019 (as early as I can tell, at least). The band's latest release, Everything Nice came out earlier this year, and I have been meaning to share this for the past month, just getting around to get back to the blog until now. Sorry about that, but glad to come back to share this incredible release from a band not too far from me.

I've actually been having some trouble coming up with an accurate description for this band, since they don't fit in an exact niche to be compared to. Not to mention, this band sounds like they've been around for years, so this still being the early jumping off point in their tenure is absolutely astounding. Fans of bands like Balance And Composure, Daisyhead, and The Hotelier will certainly dig this, but there's also a lot of homage to the 2000's brand of popular emo/pop punk acts which I harbor no ill-will towards, but am too inexperienced with to make specific band comparisons.

What I do know is Everything Nice is an incredible effort of unique songwriting and dynamic musicianship, and a release I would highly recommend to fans of the more noteworthy acts posted on this blog. Even though I can't exactly put my finger on it, I know this is right up that alley, and a stark reminder that in 2021 emo is far from dead. Enjoy.