Sunday 30 May 2021
Danse Macabre
Thursday 27 May 2021
GEL
2. CULMINATION
3. GLUE (SSD cover)
Call It In The Air
Call It In The Air were an emo/indie band from Michigan that were active some time in the late 90's to early 2000's. Deriving their name from a Jimmy Eat World song, their debut LP came out in 1998, and is a criminally underrated gem. Just A Morning Thought is an incredible album, and one that fans of bands like Texas Is The Reason and Christie Front Drive have been longing to hear. The band exudes an incredible variety of sounds throughout its tracklist, all with an honest and impassion delivery. They pull influence across the board of the emo/indie underground of the time, from the distorted pop punk of "Against The Wall" or "Atarri" to the clean midwest arpeggios of "Useless" or "Lava". Vocals can drift from airy and lightly sung to full-blown screams of desperate hope. Album highlight "Turn On Softly" elevates heavenly, and is one of many great examples of the band incorporating unique instrumentation (in this case, a glockenspiel). Admittedly this is a relatively new discovery for me, but I have played this album a few times in the past few days and had to share it, as I think a lot of people would love this if given the chance to even hear it. Enjoy.
Pictures Can Tell
Pictures Can Tell were an emo/indie rock band from Salt Lake City, Utah that were around from approximately 1998 to 2001. In that time they released two albums, and that is the most info I can find about this band. Sonically, they're loosely comparable to bands like Mineral with the clean, arpeggiated guitars distinct to midwest emo building into soaring crescendos of melodic octave chords. Their songs typically range from 5-7 to minutes, with plenty of variety in between to accompany the rise and fall of their sound. Vocally, they're akin to early Jimmy Eat World. Both albums are definitely recommended, though Everyday might be their crowning achievement. Enjoy.
Saturday 22 May 2021
Forgetters
Friday 21 May 2021
Fire Team Charlie
Thursday 20 May 2021
Calm
Calm were a three-piece emo/post-hardcore band from San Jose, California that were around from 1994 to 1996. Members of the band were previously in landmark bands Mohinder and Indian Summer, while later going on to be in Jenny Piccolo, Duster, and Her Space Holiday. Sonically, they really stand on their own from those aforementioned projects. Calm go big, with crushing, distorted and heavy chords that sound absolutely massive, with plenty of feedback and long periods of instrumental-only breaks. When the vocals do come in, they're a lot more subdued, with an often double-tracked drawl. Not to make any direct comparisons, but fans of bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Built To Spill would probably dig this a lot. The always-fantastic Numero Group made their three releases widely available in 2020, with much better quality than the vinyl rips found here. You can check that out at their Bandcamp or any streaming service below. Enjoy.
Sunday 16 May 2021
Greyhouse
Greyhouse were a four-piece emo/hardcore band from New Jersey that were around from 1991 to 1997. Sonically, their early work was reminiscent of the more melodic sounds that had begun to emerge from DC and Maryland with bands such as Embrace and The Hated, while maintaining a unique sound of their own. In a lot of ways, Greyhouse's earliest material is incredibly reminiscent of what would become midwest emo, and pre-dates Cap'n Jazz, Braid, and all that good stuff. As the band evolved, they grew into a more complex, post-hardcore sound, bringing in dark bass riffs, grinding octave chords, and dual shouted vocals. This band is incredibly underrated, which could be attributed to their material virtually unavailable for many years after they ended. In 2016, a discography LP was finally released Dives To The Deep End, which included all the material on their EP's, splits, and compilation appearances along with a few other recorded songs. Prior to that, Blogged And Quartered had put out one of their many incredible unofficial discography posts, which includes even more material than the officially released one. Since the link to the Blogged And Quartered one is down, I included it here as well. Enjoy.
3. Scissors Paper Stone
Thursday 6 May 2021
moshimoshi
moshimoshi are a four-piece emo/indie/punk band from Helsinki, Finland that have been around since at least 2020. They released their debut EP this year on All That Plazz Records, and these 5 tracks are absolutely stellar. They play with frantic fretwork of midwest-twinkly emo with an insane, upbeat screamy energy. Fans of bands like Merchant Ships, Algernon Cadwallader, Two Knights, and Coping will definitely love this, as anyone remotely interested in the screamy emo-sphere (if such a thing exists) would. This debut is truly one hell of a good time, enjoy.