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team-reasonable · 1 year

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So, anyway. I didn't technically close up shop here until June. I had already listened to so many records by then. It would be a shame not to drop (at least) one more year end list. The funny thing is that I have listened to more records this year than I have in recent years. All told, I ended up listening to around 125 new releases this year. I kept pretty detailed notes about most of them. I could have easily turned that into reviews or content. I would have stopped listening to new records had I done that though. Turning my enjoyment of music into a thing was a mistake. Anyway. Here is the list. It's 40 records. A good amount of these are jazz. Just be aware. If you're looking for dope punk rock records, this probably won't be the list for you.

In alphabetical(ish) order:

Alice Sandahl - "Bright & Blue"

Alison Shearer - "View From Above"

Alvvays - "Blue Rev"

Angel Olsen - "Big Time"

Anthony Coleman & Brian Chase - "Arcades"

Barrie - "Barbara"

The Beths - "Expert In A Dying Field"

The Bogie Band & Joe Russo - "The Prophets In The City"

Camilla George - "Ibio-Ibio"

Chicago Soul Jazz Collective - "On The Way To Be Free"

Dave Gisler Trio - "See You Out There"

David Hillyard & The Rocksteady 7 - "Plague Doctor"

Georgia Harmer - "Stay In Touch

High Alpine Hut Network - "727 / 16 EP"

Jeanines - "Don’t Wait For A Sign"

Jobber - "Hell In A Cell EP"

Julieta Eugenio - "Jump"

Kate Bollinger - "Look At It In The Light"

Kit Downes, Petter Eldh, James Maddren - "Vermillion"

Kristine Leschper - "The Opening, Or Closing Of A Door"

Lisa Ullén, Elsa Bergman, & Anna Lund - "Space"

Little Low - "Reasons To Grow"

Lupe Fiasco - "Drill Music In Zion"

Marta Sanchez - "SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum)"

Mary Halvorson - "Amaryllis" / "Belladonna"

Melissa Aldana - "12 Stars"

Nectar - "No Shadow"

The New York Second - "Music At Night"

ORD - "Hemligheter På Vägen"

Otoboke Beaver - "Super Champon"

Perennial - "In The Midnight Hours"

Potsa Lotsa XL & Youjin Sung - "Gaya"

Quelle Chris - "Deathfame"

R.A.P. Ferreira - "5 To The Eye With Stars"

Renata Zeiguer - "Picnic In The Dark"

Tender Slit - "Tender Slit"

Tomberlin - "I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This..."

Walking Cliché Sextet - "Micro-Nap"

Westbound Train - "Dedication"

Widowspeak - "The Jacket"

I've included that Spotify playlist. It has stuff from most of these records, and some other stuff. Maybe I'll throw something up in 2023? Who knows. It's what it's

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team-reasonable · 2 years

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REVIEW: Perennial - "In The Midnight Hour"

Perennial is an interesting band to me. I don't have any particular nostalgia for all the bands they get compared to. I never listened to that post-hardcore dance punk stuff. It was a scene that missed me. I know bits and pieces. This band was fresh to my ears. I'm happy about that because I don't have to fuck around with scene baggage or name drops.

In The Midnight Hour has been on heavy rotation since mid-January. It's a record I have to be careful with though. I'm not getting anything done until it's done playing. In The Midnight Hour isn't there to sit and listen to passively. It's not a record to throw on in the background. It's meant to make you move. Perennial hit me in a way that most punk hasn't in years. These songs would kill in a live setting, but you might wreck you living room too. It's angular post-hardcore. It's sound collage. It's jazz. It's pop. It's art.

To that point, Perennial is a band that has their art and image on point. The album cover borrows from classic jazz. The experimental nature of the music is right out of post-bop and avant-garde jazz. It's all there in the mixing of sound and texture. The band isn't afraid to let things go for a measure to long. They're all in on throwing some oddball shit into the mix. The band throws a million things at the wall to see what sticks, and most things do. It's engaging as hell. Even the record cover reminds me of those classic Blue Note Records covers. I'm a little out of my element trying to talk jazz. I can't do it with any confidence, so let's move on.

Perennial are a breath of fresh air in a world where the musical landscape is a bit bleak. The streaming era has killed a lot of the spontaneity in music. Things are being made to fit the algorithm. Genre blending has become common, but it's always done in the most basic way. We need more bands that aren't content to paint by number. We need to celebrate bands who push into new and interesting territory.

Does this mean I want more literary art punks borrowing from Ornette Coleman? Yes. Absolutely.

Perennial Bandcamp

(Team Reasonable)

#perennial #in the midnight hour #post-hardcore #punk rock #punk #avant-garde #review #album review #reviews #new music

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team-reasonable · 2 years

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From The Inbox: Overo / Punch On! / Zochor / Coma Regalia - "Another Year In Hell" (Split)

From the inbox:

"'Another Year in Hell' is a commentary on the crushing realities of the pandemic as well as a testament to the global, fragile, and deeply personal ties that keep a scene alive. Opening with Overo’s searing feedback and anthemic vocals, the record next threatens to break speakers with Punch On!’s chaotic heaviness. On Side B, Zochor teases bouncy Revolution Summer energy before Coma Regalia closes out with desperate, explosive emoviolence. The result is a cathartic journey that leaves one both nostalgic for the past (after all, nothing says “DIY screamo” quite like a 4-way 12” released by 8 labels) and surprisingly hopeful for the future."

My relationship with hardcore is varied at best. I mention this because hardcore split records are always hard for me to analyze critically. It mostly comes down to either liking it or not. This record is a solid slab of "I like it." I like hardcore that still has melodic elements. I like a sound that isn't just variations of the chugging guitars and RAHRAHRAH vocals. If a band leans into that style, then I like it to be a little weird. All those bases are covered. All four bands are engaging as fuck.

Overo / Punch On! / Zochor / Coma Regalia

#overo #punch on!#zochor #coma regalia #another year in hell #punk #hardcore #emo #screamo #new music

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team-reasonable · 2 years

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As another year closes, so does a year end list get posted into the void that is online music discourse. This list is not a fair depiction of what I really listened to this year. Being weird and isolated in the frozen wasteland of Minnesota had me listening to a lot of old jazz records. I have no recommendations based on that. This isn't that kind of a blog. No one wants to hear my opinions on jazz fusion (I mostly don't like it) or smooth jazz (actually pretty cool if you can get over the Weather Channel of it all).

In an attempt to feel less street team, I am focused on actually posting stuff in 2022. I got stuck in a cycle of posting about the same three things. To that point, I'll post a thing about that new Overo / Zochor / Punch On! / Coma Regalia split next week. That would have probably made the list had it come out earlier. Beyond that, I hope to at least get something out on a regular basis. Just not sure what "regular" means in that regard.

Blah blah blah. The list. Let's fucking go. Top whatever of whatever. In alphabetical order:

Beach Bunny - "Blame Game" Bnny - "Everything" Bruce Lee Band - "Division In The Heartland" Catbite - "Nice One" The Copyrights - "Alone In A Dome" Dan Vapid and The Cheats - "Escape Velocity" Danz CM - "The Absurdity of Human Existence" Drug Church - "Tawny" Faye Webster - "I Know I'm Funny haha" Floatie - "Voyage Out" Girl K - "Girl K Is For The People" Hospital Bracelet - "South Loop Summer" Japanese Breakfast - "Jubilee" King Woman - "Celestial Blues" La Luz - "La Luz" Laura Stevenson - "Laura Stevenson" Marissa Nadler - "The Path Of The Clouds" Mia Joy - "Spirit Tamer" The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "When God Was Great" Moontype - "Bodies Of Water" Neighborhood Brats - "Confines Of Life" Parting - "Unmake Me" Pet Symmetry - "Future Suits" PONY - "TV Baby" Real Sickies - "Love Is For Lovers" Regional Justice Center - "Crime and Punishment" Scowl - "How Flowers Grow" Steady Holiday - "Take The Corners Gently" Tashaki Miyaki - "Castaway" Tigers Jaw - "I Won't Care How You Remember Me" VIAL - "Loudmouth"

This list would probably look different had I listened to everything I was keeping track of. There's still one shit-million records I need to work through. It's what it's, I guess. Anyway. Go pre-order that new Perennial record. That band fucking goes.

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team-reasonable · 3 years

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From The Inbox (09/17/21) // Black Adidas – “Strawberry Kisses”

FROM THE INBOX:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Black Adidas’ “Strawberry Kisses” Is Latest Single Before Planned New Album Next Year Rocket Scientist by Day, Lifelong Punk-Rocker Courtney Ranshaw’s Latest Marks His Love Affair with Music

LOS ANGELES, August xx, 2021 – Black Adidas, the nom de punk for Courtney Ranshaw, haven’t just been hibernating during the lockdown, releasing a pair of singles, including the latest, “Strawberry Kisses,” an unabashed valentine to the music he loves and continues to pursue, available on all streaming services Sept. 17. Produced by former Mighty Lemon Drops guitarist Dave Newton [the Little Ones, the Blood Arm and Aberdeen], “Strawberry Kisses” (like “My Favourite Song” before it) showcases Ranshaw’s patented raw, soulful, low-register vocals, which evoke the likes of shouters like Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten, Black Flag’s Henry Rollins, the Descendents’ Milo and Iggy Pop.

The singles offer a preview of the follow-up to Black Adidas’ self-titled 2018 debut, which produced such anthems as “Free Shit,” “Old Fashioned Rock and Roll” and “Play What We Know.”

A true believer in punk’s DIY ethos, Courtney studied physics at Humboldt State University graduating to become an aerospace engineer, the same job he’s held for the past 20 years. That’s right, Black Adidas’ Ranshaw is a rocket scientist who also happens to be a punk rocker, with a degree in physics and a proficiency in math and science which goes well beyond Dee Dee Ramone’s “1-2-3-4” battle cry.

Ranshaw does everything himself, from overseeing the design of the artwork for the album covers to getting them streamed. By personally making radio calls, he’s managed to secure airplay on weekend specialty shows at such influential stations as KROQ/Los Angeles (Kat Corbit’s Locals Only), KXSF/San Francisco (Carolyn Keddy), KEXP (Brian Foss’ Sonic Reducer) and SiriusXM’s Underground Garage (where it was showcased by Dollyrots lead singer Kelly Ogden).

"I’ve been in bands for most of my life, and it’s just something I have to do,” says Ranshaw. “I can’t imagine ever not playing and making music."

I think music has been one of the most important things during the pandemic era. Even as live music is starting to happen again, it’s important to remember why it matters. There are records you love, and there are bands that define you. I got into punk rock about 20-ish years ago. That’s why I like the music Black Adidas puts out. I can see the same love and affection for music that I have.

Also, I don’t usually copy/paste entire press releases. It tends to make the post look a bit unwieldy. But this one was really interesting. Because, goddamn, it’s nice to see someone putting so much effort into music when they also put a lot of effort into academics. Fucking rocket science. Who knew?

Black Adidas Bandcamp

#Black Adidas #Strawberry Kisses #punk #new music #from the inbox #alternative rock #alt rock #punk rock #Spotify

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team-reasonable · 3 years

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REVIEW: Girl K - “Girl K Is For The People”

Ok. This one might be a bit of a ramble.

I went to a show at The Hideout on October 5, 2019. The line up was Girl K, Slow Pulp, and Deeper. This turned out to be a memorable show for me, but I’d only see that in hindsight. It turned out to be the last show I saw pre-pandemic. It was also the last show I’d see in Chicago before heading to the godless north that is Minnesota. I’ve been wanting to talk about Girl K for a minute, and I’m happy to finally have the chance. I don’t think it would be a stretch to say they are one of my favorite bands going in Chicago.

My introduction to Girl K was in 2019 when the Reader did a quick write-up sometime before the release of For Now. Originally a solo project for Kathy Patino, Girl K was already a full band by this time. I was first able to catch them at Empty Bottle in June 2019. It was a Divino Niño record release show. And, for as great as Divino Niño and Bnny are, it was Girl K who really reignited my interest in the music coming out of Chicago. I was solidly old and suburban by that point, so I wasn’t keeping tabs on much of what was “local” at the time. Aurora was a million miles away from Chicago when it comes to music.

Anyway, no one is here for storytime. Let’s get down to brass tacks. Girl K stood out to me because of how unabashedly pop they were. Chicago music has always bent towards experimental sounds. There is a lot of fuzzed out psychedelia influence in that city. There is a lot of post-punk. Girl K wasn’t making that kind of music, but they never seemed out of place in that context. Girl K Is For The People only cements that.

The first thing about the new EP that jumps out to me is the influence of New Wave. You could put “Hah” or “Departures” on any 80s themed playlist, and no one would flinch. The way Patino’s voice plays off the keyboard on the former is a thing of beauty. The other is how many great hooks they can fit in a song. This was true in 2019 when the chorus from “Speed Racer” embedded itself in my head, and it’s still true in 2021. Like, that “give me love, give me proof, show me trust, speak truth” line in the titular song is gonna fucking stick forever. And that guitar on “Real Mad” is such a killer.

Girl K Is For The People feels like a game changer for this band. Sunflower Court and For Now are both great, and I’ll love them forever. But this new record sounds like a band on the cusp of something big. There are a handful of bands from Chicago that will always sound like home to me. Girl K is one of them.

Girl K Take This To Heart Records Bandcamp Buy it

#Girl K #Girl K Is For The People #Take This To Heart Records #indie pop #indie rock #reviews #review #new music #Spotify

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team-reasonable · 3 years

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REVIEW: Parting - "Unmake Me"

I'm trying to find a way to start this that doesn't include listing off bands and records from the "emo revival" (ugh). So, to yada-yada the intro, Parting is Keith Latinen from Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), Ben Hendricks from Annabel, Gooey Fame from Dowsing, and John Guynn from Hawn & Son. The record is released by Count Your Lucky Stars. Ok, are we good?

Let's get super up our own asses for a minute. Where did we land on the emo revival? Like, what is the "in summation…" statement? I know what it means to me, but what is the consensus? It's been over a decade. There has to be something. I don't bring this up because I'm a miserable bastard trapped in nostalgia. It's a fair description, but it's not the whole reason. Parting is an interesting bookend kind of a band. The members of this band helped codify the "revival" sound. They have released all-time genre classics. It only seems fair that they would put out a record to kind of tie everything together.

Unmake Me is the kind of music I made this blog to talk about about. It's reductive to say the record is genre "greatest hits" type gimmick. It's not not that, but there is more to it. There are small touches throughout that give the record legs. Everything just works. From the electronics pulsing in "He's Obviously Beekeeping Age" to the gang vocals closing off the record on "Living Proof." Unmake Me speaks for itself better than most records can. It would be easy to float by on bona fides. It would be easy to shit out a record that's just a sum of it's parts. This isn't that. This is a band who knows what they're doing, and they're doing it well.

It's almost impossible to talk about Parting without addressing the Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) elephant in the room. The songs were written by Keith Latinen, it was put out on his label, and it has a similar vibe in a lot of places. The songs have more of a pop edge that his previous catalog did. The songs on Unmake Me also have a very frank delivery. It feels very adult. I don't know if 20-something me would connect to a song like "Ratt Michards" or "He's Obviously Beekeeping Age" the way 36 year old me does. Those songs are both an examination of fleeting moments. One is the realization that you’re pissing your time away. The other is the desire to have something last just a bit longer. These are songs that speak to an angst, but not necessarily the kind this genre is known for.

Parting have a debut that doesn't sound like a debut. It's a record made by people with years in the game. It's a must have for people who love this genre. Grab the 10" if you can.

Here's to hoping I never have to use the phrase "emo revival" ever again. Let's leave the wave designation to the ska kids.

Parting Count Your Lucky Stars strictly no capital letters Bandcamp

#Parting #Unmake Me #count your lucky stars #strictly no capital letters #emo #review #reviews

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team-reasonable · 3 years

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Ok. It's 7am on New Year's Eve as I'm writing this. I barely slept last night. I guess it's year end list time. 2020 was a whole goddamn thing. In the broader sense, the pandemic and politics of the year were a fucking disaster. On a personal level, I had to leave Illinois at the end of the summer. I got transferred at work. I'm now up in Minnesota. It's…ehhh. I can't wait for live music to be back. I want to see how the Minneapolis music scene compares to Chicago's. That will be a tough challenge. Chicago is the best.

Anyway. These are my favorite records of the year. In alphabetical order, because that just makes sense. Ok?

Anna Burch - "If You're Dreaming" The Chinkees - "K.A. Music" Dehd - "Flower Of Devotion" Frances Quinlan - "Likewise" Gia Margaret - "Mia Gargaret" Gladie - "Safe Sins" Joan Of Arc - "Tim Melina Theo Bobby" Melkbelly - "PITH" Nana Grizol - "South Somewhere Else" NNAMDÏ- "Brat" Ohmme - "Fantasize Your Ghost" Open Mike Eagle - "Anime, Trauma And Divorce" Overo / Asthenia - "Split" Ratboys - "Printer's Devil" Slow Pulp - "Moveys" Sugar High - "Love Addict" Surf Rock Is Dead - "Existential Playboy" Tenci - "My Heart Is An Open Field" Thank You, I'm Sorry - "I'm Glad We're Friends" V.V. Lightbody - "Make A Shrine Or Burn It"

It's worth noting that Gladie and NNAMDÏ both put out a bunch of great music this year. Consider everything they put out as being on this list.

Also, did anyone have a better year than Kris Esfandiari? Absolutely everything she put out this year was great. She released music as Sugar High, Miserable, Dalmatian, NGHTCRWLR, and KRIS this year. Everything sounded different, and everything is worth a listen. Excited to see what the new King Woman stuff will sound like.

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team-reasonable · 4 years

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Really looking forward to the new Slow Pulp record.

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team-reasonable · 4 years

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Girl K was one of the last bands I saw live.

Deeper, Slow Pulp, and Girl K at The Hideout. October, I think. I would have gone to more shows had I known COVID was going to be a thing. I also would have seen more local, Chicago bands had I known I’d be moving to fucking Minnesota..

I miss Illinois.

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team-reasonable · 4 years

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REVIEW: Overo / Asthenia - "Split"

I'll be goddamned. A new review? From me? Talking the new Overo / Asthenia split. Click the link, or don't. I'm not a cop.

2020 has been a disaster, and independent music is not immune. The live show ecosystem has fucking crashed. This split from Overo and Asthenia is a product of that. It was originally meant to be supported by a Japanese tour in November. That didn’t happen, and here we are.

I’ve talked about Overo before, and it’s absolutely no surprise that their songs are both fantastic. Their sound harkens…

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#Asthenia #Count Your Lucky Stars #emo #Forge #Hardcore #LilacSky #Middle-Man #Overo #Polar Summer #post-hardcore #Pundonor #Punk Rock #reviews #Scully #strictly no capital letters

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team-reasonable · 4 years

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It’s surprising, and a total bummer, that I never got to see Melkbelly live before I moved away from Chicago. I should have gone to more shows

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team-reasonable · 4 years

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REVIEW: Cape Chacon - "I Can't Muster It"

Hey, I wrote about the new Cape Chacon record. It's called "I Can't Muster It," and it's pretty dope. The record, not the write up,

Indie pop gets little attention and even less acclaim. I don’t understand why. It’s not challenging in any musical way, but it’s a treat to see how bands exist within the parameters. We live in a post-Twee As Fuck world. It’s been codified and troped to hell, but it still has a vibrancy that a lot of punk offshoots just don’t. There has been a kind of renaissance in recent years with bands like…

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#Cape Chacon #Indie Pop #reviews #self released #Twee

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team-reasonable · 4 years

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REVIEW: Oblomov - "Steady Drip of a Broken Spout"

REVIEW: Oblomov – “Steady Drip of a Broken Spout”

It’s hard to make an engaging emo record these days. I don’t want to get full “old man yells at cloud” about it, but I’m a little jaded when it comes to the genre. We have spent the better part of the last decade awash in shitty Kinsella rips and skramz nonsense. It’s hard to stand out, and it’s hard to write about. What does a band need to do to rise above the noise?

A lot of the more…

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#emo #Oblomov #post-hardcore #Punk Rock #Steady Drip of a Broken Spout

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team-reasonable · 4 years

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I want to write an article series about bands that I love that never really went anywhere. I feel like that is too niche of a topic though.

"Hey, here is an essay about an indie rock band from 1998 that only put out one record ever" is a rough sell.

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team-reasonable · 4 years

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From The Inbox, 4/21/20

Carmanah - “Best Interests”

#Carmanah #Best Interests #From The Inbox #indie pop #indie rock #pop #indie

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team-reasonable · 4 years

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REVIEW - AANTHEMS - “Blood Fortune”

The cliff notes version of AANTHEMS would be that they are a duo from Vancouver, BC. They play a style of punk rock that borrows from post-hardcore, pop punk, and a little noise. They are a drummer and bassist, and they both do vocals. They will probably appeal to people who are stoked on the Latterman family of bands. But that's dry a dry description, and also kind of boring. Let's over-complicate things. AANTHEMS first popped up on my radar about five years ago. Their 2015 EP, Old Dogs, was a release I was really stoked on. It was a great 11 minutes of punk rock. They followed it up with another EP the year after. 2020 brings their debut full length, and it's as solid as you would expect. Blood Fortune is an angry record. These are songs about inequity, and the shortcomings of modern culture. These are well worn topics for a punk rock record, but goddamn do we need it right now. The vocals work especially well for that. There is a hardcore delivery to them. There is a lot of shouting, and a lot of pissed off energy. The band refers to their vocals as howling and yelling. That is very apt, and goddamn does it work. Especially given the overall sound of the music itself.

Not a lot of punk bands would base their sound entirely on bass and drums. This bands has a sound that is very heavy on the low end, but not in an oppressive way. It works so fucking well. I'm not encouraging everyone to start playing your bass like it's a guitar, but AANTHEMS is proof that it can work. It is such a specific sound, and it really makes this record stand out. I think this record would suffer if it stuck to the traditional guitar/bass/drum set up. It would be just another melodic punk record in a world full of melodic punk records. Instead, we got a bass that propels the songs forward while the drum relentlessly drive the point home.

I've heard a lot of punk rock records over the years. It takes a lot to get me really invested in the genre these days. A lot of bands are content being a copy of a copy of a copy. AANTHEMS is not that kind of band. They bring an interesting sound to the table, and they fucking nail it. You wants a complex record of working class anthems, or just a great record to yell along with? This should be 100% your shit.

AANTHEMS Early Onset Records Bandcamp

#AANTHEMS #Blood Fortune #Early Onset Records #punk rock #punk #post-hardcore #hardcore #review #reviews

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