In case you already don’t know, Rise Against is made up of two ex- members of
88 Fingers Louie, Dan and Joe. Rise Against has only been round a short
while and they have already signed to Fat Wreck Chords which is very
impressive.

I’m from around Chicago and have been a fan of the scene for years. I grew
up on all Chicago bands, especially 88 Fingers Louie. When I heard of this
new band, I was overjoyed because I’ve been waiting for a year or two for a
band out of Chicago to be actually good. Rise Against is one of the most
promising hardcore bands to form in a while and I’m not talking about Chicago
only, I’m talking about the whole country.

“The Unraveling” is Rise Against debut album and it rocks hard from start to
finish. Lets just say that this is so good that there isn’t one track on
here you should skip over. The best tracks are clearly on the first half of
the c.d. Stand outs worth mentioning are “Six Ways Till Sunday”, “401 Kill”,
“Alive And Well”, and “My Life, Your Heart”.

Sure, allot of this sounds like 88 Fingers Louie, but is that even bad? No
way. I’ve been waiting for a band like this to come along in a long, long
time and they’re finally here-this is the band thats actually given me hope
for the current lackluster Chicago scene. Definitely a contender for debut
of the year.

The politically charged band Anti Flag is back with their third full length
album. “Underground Network” is the band’s first full length on Fat Wreck
Chords. Obviously Fat Mike liked these guys enough to land them on the label.

When you take a listen to “Underground Network” for the first time, the thing
you’ll notice the most is the production. Its miles up there compared to “A
New Kind Of Army”. “A New Kind Of Army” in everyone’s mind was a good album,
but it always sounded like it cost them $5 to record it. The album had that
“muddy” sound to it that turned allot of people off. Fortunately this time
around, Anti Flag finally has an album that matches their sound live.

Anti Flag really hasn’t changed that much, but with this album it seems that
they’re sticking with their hardcore roots more than anything. My favorite
track on here is the title track which has great lead guitar spots and
excellent chanting vocals which are two things that Anti Flag have always
been known for.

Don’t expect me to get into politics for this review because thats not what
this is about. It doesn’t matter what I think-its what you think thats
important. Anti Flag is one of the few bands today where you won’t hear them
singing about girls, its all about unity and anti-government messages and I
imagine thats always how its going to be.

I though the song “Seattle Was A Riot” (from the Fat 5 comp) was one of the
best Anti Flag songs to date, but unfortunately there really isn’t one song
on here that matches that one. Listening to this over and over I just found
myself thinking that “A New Kind Of Army” or “Die For The Government” for
that matter are better than this new one. Don’t get me wrong, this is a
decent album and I’m sure Anti Flag fans and others will definitely dig this,
I just enjoyed their previous work more.

No Motiv is about to release their second full length on Vagrant Records.
Their first c.d. “And The Sadness Prevails” was an excellent punk melodic
album that found itself in my c.d. player for many spins. Vagrant says that
these guys are the hardest working band on the planet, and I believe them!
If anyone has ever seen a list of tour dates, well, you know what I mean.

The song “Celebrate” is the first track. If you’ve heard Vagrant’s latest
comp this song was on it. “Diagram For Healing” also contains the track “Get
A Life”, which was also on the compilation. Just like “From Here To
Infirmary” by Alkaline Trio, both tracks have been re-recorded for this
album. Unfortunately, I preferred both versions from the compilation over
these two versions. Especially on “Celebrate”, I thought that the singing
“gusto” is sung better on the comp version. As well, this album contains the
song, ‘Only You” from the “Darn Punk Motion Picture Soundtrack”. I’m not
saying these songs on this album are horrible, I listen to them all the time
when I play the album, I just like them better on the “Another Year On The
Streets” comp better.

The rest of the album is excellent. “Broken and Burned” is a good track that
features strong vocals. This song always helps me to think back on my past
relationships. “Give Me Strength” is another great track that features a
super catchy guitar hook that I’ve had in my head for some time now. The
band, far from spiritual or “Christian Rock”, comes across as to almost
talking to the “higher powers” in the song. Once again, the vocals are very
strong, powerful, and straight to the point.

I thought this album was a pretty good improvement over “And The Sadness
Prevails”. I can only imagine that after this is released the guys of No
Motiv will be touring like crazy in support of this new album, so go see them
and see why these guys are getting all the attention lately.

I predict this is going to be one of the cd’s of the year. From open to close From Here To Infirmary sucks you into the world of Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano (ex-Slapstick) bring back the familiar mid-tempo, hard hitting, Chicago punk rock that ALK3 is known for. With the addition of the legendary Mike Felumlee (The Smoking Popes), the Trio’s line-up is rock solid. This time around the songs are arranged into an intricate, tight wound sound. The fast paced “Stupid Kid” will most likey be the first song to take off on this album, and probably evelvate the Trio to Blink 182-esque fame. I don’t expect ALK3 to change any of their ethics, and if they remain true to themselves I don’t think their approaching success is unwarranted. Pick up this ultra slick recording (mixed by Jerry Finn)while you can still keep your punk rock image.

Nitro Records has made a bunch of excellent signings of late, and The Turbo ACs is one of them. This is actually the bands third major release, and the band’s Nitro debut.
The first thing you’ll notice is the cover. Ladies may look away with disgust, while the guys will no doubt be drooling. While I know for a fact that this zine has a high percentage of female readers, I will cut to commercial comments and not personal. I think the reasoning for this cover is an attention getter. Sure enough, its a smart marketing technique (if this was even their intention, I have no idea myself). To make the point, look right here…..I myself am devoting a whole paragraph to the cover!
Anyways, back to the music. Just like any book, you can’t judge something by its cover. After hearing this a few times, I immediately connected with the album. This band is all about good times and fun. All songs are super catchy and nicely put together. The album is produced by Roger Miret (front man for Agnostic Front). Because of his production, dirty guitars and rich bass round out the album. The tempo is always kept high and energized.
The singer for the Turbo ACs (Kevin) sounds at times like Joe Escalante from the Vandals. He doesn’t just kind sound like him, he really, really sounds like him. It is utterly scary and amazing, both at the same time, how much he sounds like him. Whenever I’m listing to “Fuel For Life”, I always have to block out of my head that I’m listening to Turbo ACs, and not the Vandals.
I really enjoyed the new album by these guys, and from the looks of it it so far, so do allot of the critics. The musical foundation is one of excitement and high pctave fun. Looking for fun band, thats more up tempo then of the sappy bands out there today? Look no further than The Tubro ACs.

Foundation is side project of Robbie Huddleston’s Ann Beretta. He was never satisfied with the way that Ann Beretta’s all acoustic album turned out. He has built a foundation of a theory of building songwriting from a base and then layering piano, electric guitar, strings, and percussion to create a perfect composition a new direction from Ann Beretta.
Let it be known though, this album for the most part is acoustic based. Fans of Ann Beretta/punk may be thrown back from this recording, because it is vastly different from anything that has been done before.
The first song is a remake of the Ann Beretta song “Better Days”. This new acoustic based version is allot more to my liking then the original was. This album as a whole sounds so much like Ann Beretta, only (of course) acoustically sounding wise.
Other songs like “The Skies Won’t fall” has a good baseline of piano thrown in which is just a pleasure to listen to. Another song, “Forget Today, Forget Tomorrow” (possibly the best song on here) sounds super sharp with a keyboard tracks in the background. This song is very touching.
The song is “Eye For Eye” is another re make of another Ann Beretta song, which once again is better in my opinion than the original. There is also a good cover of an old Tom Waits song “Old Shoes” . I’ve read many things of how Robbie was very influenced by him, and Tom Waits is one of the reasons that Robbie started his music career.
I think that this album is just a test saying that a band has no limits when it comes to music. If anything I think that in time this album’s messages and themes will influence other people in bands to do the same: explore their musical limits (which is unlimited).

Boston has always been a giant mecca of hardcore, and Reach The Sky is no different. This is Reach The Sky’s second release on Victory Records. While their last effort, “So Far From Home” was all about straightedge hardcore, there are some new elements this time around to take notice to. While this is still technically in my mind a well crafted hardcore album, there is some parts that are way more emotional than heard from these guys before.  
Most songs are short and to the point, which may be a mixed blessing to some. The first song, “Let Us Be Damned” is one of the best songs on here. This track is an excellent opener and sucks you right in. Ian (singer) is one of the best front men in hardcore today. The lyrics, though dark, are easy to sing along to.
This disc is all about production. The main man himself, Brian McTerman (whos seems to be producing every hardcore album today) is the real highlight of this album, even though hes not a member of the band. As expected, all songs sounds great; all songs are mixed perfectly an have that hint of a live sound. Obviously, its my best guess that this was done on purpose to make all songs easily transferable to the stage.
This new release may not be the best release of this year, but it does contain some elements which hardcore fans will come to appreciate. Be it great all around production, sinister lyrics, or just that sense of begin there live, Reach The Sky will give fans of the genre something to cheer about.-K

Earth Crisis’ new release “Last Of The Sane” isn’t your normal album. This new c.d. features seven cover songs (the first seven tracks), a new song, plus some re-makes of songs from their “Gomorrah’s Seasons Ends” EP. After ditching Victory for major metal label Roadrunner, Earth Crisis has come back and signed again with Victory.
As in AFI’s brilliant 200 release, “The Art Of Drowning”, this c.d. starts out with a short instrumental track that sets the tone. The cover songs follow. Some notable remakes include Led Zeppelin’s “The Wanton Song”, Black Sabbath’s “Children Of The Grave” (one of my all time favorite Sabbath tunes), The Rolling Stone’s “Paint It Black”, The Dead Kennedy’s “Holiday In Cambodia”, and The Misfit’s “Earth A.D.”. Most of these songs are decent, yet for the most part, the covers aren’t direct copies of the originals, they have Earth Crisis all over them with the sXe-grind-metal influenced sound.
The next three songs are songs that have appeared on various compilations. The songs are from some time ago, meaning that the music is more slower, and often a times, very dark in nature.
I’d really only recommend this to long time fans of Earth Crisis, but at the same time sXe hardcore fans who have never heard any Earth Crisis have been given something interesting to check out.
-K

On “Stand Your Ground”, Madcap brings the most energy I’ve ever heard captured on a recording in quite a while. The band’s enthusiam and beliefs come charging through leaving listeners nowhere to hide. Madcap has been creating circle pits and sing-a-long for a few years now, and they are only getting better. Check out their web site www.madcappunx.com for more information on the band.

Joe Escalante puts together another grade a soundtrack as the backdrop to the full-length film, “That Darn Punk”. Some people may remember when Ku Fu Records first popped up and surprised everybody. Their second release was actually the soundtrack to another movie called “Glory Daze” (Ben Affleck). Back then it was pretty tough to find either the movie or the soundtrack, but you can get this awesome soundtrack with no problem. Songs by Nerf Herder, Lagwagon, AFI, The Vandals, Rancid and more are comfortably placed next to sound clips from the movie. I thought the sound clips would interrupt the overall flow of the soundtrack, but it contributes to its greatness. This is a great accompaniment to the movie, so why not just find a way to get them both.