Jonah Matranga and his art are essentially unclassifiable. His music lies somewhere in between Elliott Smith, U2 and Cheap Trick, but it doesn’t really fit into any genre.
Over the last 15 years, he’s fronted hard rock bands (Far, Gratitude) and made classic indie records (onelinedrawing, New End Original). He’s made records with budgets ranging from $300 to $300,000. Jonah has influenced artists from Deftones to Blink-182, but he sounds nothing like either of them. He’s toured with artists from The Weakerthans to Sepultura, and has respect from people all over the music world. He’s recently turned up on hip-hop records from Fort Minor and Lupe Fiasco.
Jonah has played as many house shows as he has huge festivals, and he brings the same thing regardless of where he’s playing — accomplished, ambitious songwriting, an abundance of wit and honesty, and an interest in making something new every time. There is no one quite like Jonah.
After six years of silence, American Steel are back with their debut LP on Fat Wreck Chords. “Destroy Their Future” is a little bit different from the previous full lengths the band released on Lookout! Records.
The new songs are slower and more focused on social life and politics, a little bit as older Against Me!, with a lot of guitar riffs that sound like marching rhythms. The opening track “Sons Of Avarice” is a good example of punk rock fused with a more pop edge in the chorus. “Love And Logic” is a classic punk rock anthem, with the band singing along on the chorus, while “Smile On Me” is a soft, almost acoustic tune in the beginning, where American Steel shows how they can become serious on feelings.
“Destroy The Future” is a soon to be classic record in the Fat Wreck Chords catalog, and even tough I admit that on the first listen it might sound odd if you already knew American Steel, it keeps growing on me with each listen.
Tracklist 1 Sons Of Avarice (MP3) 2 Dead And Gone (MP3) 3 Mean Streak 4 Love And Logic 5 Smile On Me 6 Razorblades 7 Old Croy Road 8 To The Sea 9 Or, Don’t You Remember? 10 Speak, Oh Heart 11 Hurtlin’ 12 More Like A Dream
The Flatliners are the youngest band signed to Fat Wreck Chords, and their new album “The Great Awake” is the band’s debut on this label.
These four Canadian kids play a very energic mix of punk rock and ska punk, with a less ska and more punk attitude anyway: a little bit as a mix between Propagandhi and Less Than Jake. Their energy is surely to be appreciated, even tough some songs sound too similar to others, and you can’t really tell a difference. Some tunes are very exciting, as “July! August! Reno!” and “Eulogy”, with some very fast beats and rhythms that remind me of Californian melodic hardcore punk bands of the early 90’s. But as the CD keeps on going on, I had the impression this band has got weak ideas, and this is possibly due to the fact that these kids are really young.
If you appreaciated young and pure punk rock, “The Great Awake” will make your day for sure.
Favorites
Digg
Del.icio.us
Furl
Magnolia
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo MyWeb
