Venomous Concept - Poisoned Apple

Our Art Is Brutal War

#33) Venomous Concept - Poisoned Apple (2008)

 1. Drop Dead
 2. Toxic Kiss
 3. Life
 4. Water Cooler
 5. P.R.I.
 6. Artist Friendly
 7. A Case of the Mondays
 8. Every Mother's Son
 9. Workers Unite
 10. Half Full?
 11. Check Out
 12. White Devil
 13. Hero
 14. Three
 15. Screwball
 16. Chaos!
 17. Think?

Venomous Concept is a band i've been meaning to check out for a long time. they're a hardcore "supergroup" featuring Kevin Sharp (Brutal Truth) on vocals, Danny Lilker (Brutal Truth) on bass, Shane Embury (Napalm Death) on guitar and Danny Herrera (Napalm Death) on drums. Buzz Osbourne (Melvins) played guitar on the first record. i'm not sure why he's not on this one.

the band was started in '04 when old friends Sharp and Embury were reunited over pizza and beers and decided to form a band together based on their mutual love of Black Flag, Poison Idea and other 80s punk/hardcore. they recruited Buzz and Danny and recorded their first full length Retroactive Abortion. Poisoned Apple is their 2nd full length and it fuckin shreds. it's raw as hell with just the right amount of metal influence. from the first track to the last this was a full on assault. i really dug this album. not so sure about the cover art though. i can't decide if it's funny or just awful. either way, i'll definitely be checking out their first album. 

02/03/12: Alias - Resurgam (2008)

02/03/12: Alias - Resurgam (2008)

1. New To A Few
2. I Heart Drum Machines
3. Well Water Black (feat. Yoni Wolf of Why?)
4. Oakland Morning
5. M.G. Jack
6. Prelude To A Death Watch
7. Death Watch
8. Place Of No More Choices
9. Resurgam
10. Autumnal Ego
11. Weathering
12. Justamachine
13. Oakland In The Rearview

     Alias is an abstract hip hop artist and producer. He is one of the founding members of one of my personal favorite record labels, Anticon. I have only heard his production work. Never really heard him rap though. This album is called Resurgam which is the motto of his hometown Portland Maine and means "I Shall Rise Again". Alias or Brendon Whitney moved to LA to work on getting Anticon started. He moved back to Portland almost 10 years later and released this album in response.
     His style is varied and takes from many influences like old school hip hop, indie rock, and abstract electronica. This album encompasses all the different things he has to offer like drum machines, live instrumentation like guitar parts, samples, and synthesizers. Resurgam opens with a couple beat heavy old school hiphop tracks but jumps all over stylistically after that. The varied styles in every song showcase the different things he can do like the ambient guitar track "Oakland Morning", the chiptune themed title track "Resurgam" and the peaceful lo fi production of tracks like "Well Water Black" which features Yoni Wolf of Why? singing and rapping, creating the best track on the album.
     Despite the varying styles, the album feels unified in mood. The songs can sound drastically different but the always feel like a continuation on the theme. It feels a bit dark at times but more in a peaceful way. It just has a feel of being at peace with or accepting of something. Darker moments are bookended by a sound of peacefulness even when the drum machines are going the hardest. Good album, and will probably check out more of his stuff. (034)

02/02/12: The Depreciation Guild - In Her Gentle Jaws (2007)

02/02/12: The Depreciation Guild - In Her Gentle Jaws (2007)

1. In Her Gentle Jaws
2. Sky Ghosts
3. Darklooming
4. Butterfly Kisses
5. Digital Solace
6. A Room, A Canvas
7. Parasol Parachute
8. Water Window
9. Nautilus
10. Heavy Eyes

     The Depreciation Guild is one of my favorite chiptune bands. This duo make shoegaze music with a chiptune synth touch. It really does end up being a good combination. I have definitely listened to this album before, but I probably haven't listened to it since around the time it came out. I decided to give myself a bit of a refresher with this album before i go into their full length follow-up within the next week or 2.
     This was The Depreciation Guild's first full-length release after their free Nautilus EP on 8bitpeoples.com.  "In Her Gentle Jaws" is a solid debut and one of my favorite uses of chiptunes. When I was first getting into chiptunes, these guys caught my attention due to their entertaining video game electronics and use of heavily distorted guitars. One of my favorite tracks on the album was the better recorded version of Nautilus. It was a very well done update that stays faithful to the original. There were some really good new tracks on this effort that were very faithful to the sound they were beginning to hone on the first EP. There are a couple more upbeat songs like Darklooming where they showcase their knack for creating addictive melodies and beats made of NES sounds, while somehow maintaining a gloomy shoegaze aesthetic. Most of the tracks feel very much like shoegaze with heavily distorded guitars over echo-y, subdued vocals.
     I enjoyed revisiting this record but am curious what I will think of the follow-up. I only gave it a glance but didn't really get too deep into it. (033)

02/01/12: I Fight Dragons - KABOOM! (2011)

02/01/12: I Fight Dragons - KABOOM! (2011)

1. Fanfare
2. Kaboom!
3. Save World Get Girl
4. cRaZie$
5. Gloria (Interlude)
6. My Way
7. With You (Feat. Kina Grannis)
8. Fight For You
9. The Geeks Will Inherit The Earth
10. Disaster Hearts
11. Don't You?
12. Working
13. Before I Wake
14. Suburban Doxology

     I Fight Dragons is another Chicago band. I had discovered them awhile back via their cover of "Why Bother?" on a Weezer tribute album. The reason that cover caught my attention was their use of 8-bit sounds within their very straight forward pop-rock sound. I am a sucker for nintendo sounds and chiptunes. It is VERY much normal pop-rock but just the addition of chiptune sounds made them at least worth a listen. This sounds like a band i would have been absolutely obsessed with when I was 16. There are some very catchy tunes on this album but I can't see myself giving it too many more listens. I'm just not as into rock of this level of poppiness anymore but I'm not gonna say its bad. It's just not for me at this point in my life but I definitely understand how they got signed to a major label. They make very catchy tunes and at the very least I could see myself throwing a track or 2 on a mix CD in the future. I think this is the best way I can put it: If these songs did not have NES sounds this album would have been a complete waste of my time, but that addition to their sound brought another level of interest to their songs. Ballad-y songs like "With You" would probably be completely worth ignoring in my ears if it wasn't for the NES sounds. Still, it was definitely worth a listen. (032)

Pink Razors

I've Never Been So Happy To Not Belong Anywhere

#32a) Pink Razors - Scene Suicide (2005)

 1. Fine Food
 2. Dear Jurisprudence
 3. Do You Wanna Go To Maymont? (Coupleskate)
 4. Blackout Detective
 5. Totally Nautical, Dude
 6. Pour It Straight Onto My Brain
 7. Dogs In Headlocks
 8. Burglarized!

i decided to start February off with something a little lighter and more straightforward. enter Pink Razors, some good old fashioned pop punk. not radio bullshit punk but unpretentious, fun, sing along punk.
Scene Suicide is their debut album. according to the label's website the band features member's of Stop It!!. this album also continues my streak of listening to albums that Scott Hull has mastered but nothing that Hull has played on.
like i said before, these guys play straight up old school pop punk. nothing fancy or post anything about it. at times it reminded me of Screeching Weasel bands like that. the 8 songs on this album fly by in 12 minutes and that's the way it should be. the lyrics are sarcastic and the riffs are simple but solid. definitely a rad album.

#32b) Pink Razors - Waiting to Wash Up (2006)

 1. Disapproval Rating
 2. Bigger Boat
 3. The New Justice (I Wanna Be)
 4. Sew It Seams
 5. Comfortably Dumb
 6. Sincerity Is So Pretentious
 7. Get Out of the Shower (You're Already Washed Up)
 8. Up a Lazy River
 9. Spring Fevers
 10. Summer Colds
 11. Dischord, Datchord
 12. Prince of the Land of Stench
 13. If We Can't Sit at the Table (Then Let's Knock the Fucking Legs Off)
 14. Pinch a Penny, Grab a Dollar
 15. Self-Pity Begot Self-Importance

so since Scene Suicide was so short i figured i'd listen to their full length as well. 15 tracks and 22 minutes later i still think this is a rad band. there's not a lot to say about this album that's different from what i had to say about the other one. other than the fact that their songwriting got a little tighter there's nothing drastically different between these 2 releases. and in this case that's a good thing.

Locrian - Drenched Lands

Where Myth And Causeway Collide

#31) Locrian - Drenched Lands (2009)

 1. Obsolete Elegy in Effluvia and Dross
 2. Ghost Repeater
 3. Barren Temple Obscured by Contaminated Fogs
 4. Epicedium
 5. Obsolete Elegy in Lost Concrete
 6. Greyfield Shrines

so as adam_biedermann explained in his last post ((End of the Month Theme: Local Bands) 01/31/12: volcano! - Paperwork (2008) ) at the end of every month we're gonna do a theme thing. the theme can be anything and both our albums have to fit within it. i got first pick and i decided to start with something easy, local bands.

Locrian is a Chicago band made up of Andre Foisy and Terence Hannum, both teachers at Columbia College. they've been around since 05' and have over 20 albums, splits and EPs out. unfortunately these releases are all usually limited editions and are spread over various small labels. many of the releases also differ according to what format it's released in. this is the cd version of Drenched Lands, which is limited to 1000 copies and includes Greyfield Shrines as a bonus track (Shrines was originally released as a standalone LP in an edition of 300). the LP version doesn't have Shrines but came with a bonus cdr that had a 20 minute track called Sullage on it. Drenched Lands was also released on cassette and 8-track. that ought to give you some idea of the nightmare involved in tracking down releases by these guys.  this album also has the distinction of being their first studio album. Greyfield Shrines was recorded live on WHPK Chicago in '07.
musically these guys are a mix of electronics, drone, black metal and straight up noise. all the tracks were really cool, and even though it's 30 minutes long and from a live recording session, Greyfield Shrines fit the album well and provided a strong ending. sorry if my description isn't that great but i don't know how to describe this album in a manner that would do their sound justice. i really like this style of experimental metal, i just wish these bands made it a little easier to track down their discographies.