Being a hardcore fan of NOFX, it’s quite hard for me to talk of the new NOFX live album, but I’ll do my best. “They’ve Actually Gotten Worse Live” is the second NOFX live album after their previous “I Heard They Suck Live”, which came out 12 or so years ago. The new disc was recorded in three nights at Slim’s in San Francisco in January 2007, and even tough the band keeps on saying they’re drunk, sloppy, etc, the recording is amazing and the quality is superb.
Even tough the tracklist disappointed me (I am addicted to the older songs) and I do not understand how the electric version of “Scavenger Type” or the dedicated to fan “New Happy Birthday Song?” can be enjoyed by new fans, I must say the show is amazing. Not for just the songs, actually. I like the jokes that Mike, Hefe and Melvin tell during the songs, as when Melvin speaks about birthdays or Mike speaks about being backstage at a Bouncing Souls’ show. The greatest songs - to me - are “The Longest Line” (with a “Basket Case” ripoff in the last chorus, or, wait, was it vice-versa?), “Green Corn”, “Stickin’ In My Eye” (sung by Melvin) and “Lori Meyers”, with Smelly’s wife singing the female vocals. The classic 8 songs in 6 minutes is still here, with anthems as “I’m Telling Tim”, “Murder The Government”, “Can’t Get the Stink Out” and the always funny “I Wanna Be an Alcoholic” still here to turn on the fans.
At the end of the last song you can hear the band staring playing “The Decline” but ending after a couple of minutes, and it’s a pity NOFX did not put it here (maybe keeping it for the vinyl lovers?).
All in all, this live disc is a music for NOFX fans, and I am pretty sure no one need to read my review to know this shit rules.
Tracklist 1:Intro/Glass War 2:You’re Wrong (DOWNLOAD FREE MP3!) 3:Franco Un-American (DOWNLOAD FREE MP3!) 4:Scavenger Type 5:What’s the Matter With Parents Today? 6:The Longest Line 7:New Happy Birthday Song? 8:Eat the Meek 9:Murder the Government 10:Monosyllabic Girl 11:I’m Telling Tim 12:Instant Crassic 13:Can’t Get the Stink Out 14:See Her Pee 15:I Wanna Be an Alcoholic 16:Fuck the Kids 17:Juice Head 18:What Now My Love 19:Lori Meyers (DOWNLOAD FREE MP3!) 20:We March To the Beat of Indifferent Drum 21:I, Melvin 22:Green Corn 23:Whoops I OD’d 24:Stickin In My Eye
Formed in 2001 at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Bedouin Soundclash was able to come out of the unknown thanks to a a seductive combination of lead singer Jay Malinowski’s soulful wail and hypnotic rhythmic guitar grooves, Eon Sinclair’s deep dubbing bass, and Pat Pengelly’s driving rhythms, Bedouin Soundclash creates its own innovative fusion of Reggae, Rock, Punk and Soul.
After releasing “Sounding A Mosaic” the band releases the new album “Street Gospels”, and this time I was smashed. If the previous disc sounded a little bit too “reggae” for me, I must say the new record is killer. Fusing element of pop with harmonic vocals, reggae rhythms with rock guitars, the new songs are totally amazing, as the single “Walls Fall Down” or other tracks as “12:59 Lullaby” (as heard of the Tv series Grey’s Anatomy) and “St. Andrews”.
If you like good, catchy, sunny and happy rock music with reagge hints, I highly suggest this great piece of art.
Tracklist 1. Until We Burn In The Sun 2. Walls Fall Down 3. St. Andrews 4. Trinco Dog 5. Hush 6. Bells Of 59 7. Higher Ground 8. 12:59 Lullaby 9. Nico On The Night Train 10. Gunships 11. Jealousy And The Get Free 12. Midnight Rocker 13. Hearts In The Night
Copeland, after signing to a major label, release a brand new album on The Militia Group made of rarities, old songs, remixes, alternative takes of their songs and filled with even more bonus tracks.
“Dressed Up & In Line” is a sixteen track record where you can hear some of the best songs Copeland ever played: from the Soundgarden’s cover of “Black Hole Sun” to the Police’s cover of “Every Breath You Take”, you will hear how Copeland can play soft piano driven songs and emotionally active tunes. Such songs as “Sleep (Remix)” and “Thanks To This (Dj Cakeface Remix)” show two new faces of songs previously released on the band’s album, while the acoustic versions of “Careful Now”, “No One Really Wins” and “Brightest” are absolutely amazing, possibly even better than the original versions.
Copeland is a great band, and I highly recommend every music lover to check this album out.
I am not totally sure this is a re-release or an American pressing of “This Is My Ship”, from the Uk band Dartz!, but according to my last.fm, these guys come from England and the first pressing had a different cover artwork. Yes I know, I’m quite lazy today.
“This Is My Ship” is a kind of cross between the danceable rhythms of Free Diamonds and the important indie rock of Settlefish, with a more dancy attitude and more melodic vocal lines.
Songs like “Network! Network! Network!” and “Once Twice, Again!” not only shows the love of Dartz! for excalamtion points, but also some serious skills for pop harmonies. Have you ever had the feeling of listening some music with your eyes closed and find yourself on a beach on a rainy day? That’s what I felt when the music of this album started to play. “Prego Triangolos” and “Laser Eyes” have got some killer guitar riffs that you’d die for, and the genre of the whole record is outstanding.
In pure indie rock fashion, I hardly found any kind of information on Rider Your Bike. Their website is not really updated and I could not even find a bio, a pic or something that showed me some more about these guys. Nice, because I like misteries. Anyway, the good news is that the new album by Ride Your Bike, released on Deep Elm Records, is a great collection of indie rock music fused with pop.
“Bad News From The Bar” is made of eleven songs where Ride Your Bike plays catchy melodies that will take your ears the first time you hear them: “We All Have Our Shoes”, “Sticks And Stones” and “This Car Is Hot As Hell” display some serious skills for writing cool harmonies, with simple elements. You will hear a lot of acoustic guitars, and the vocals is always what comes first, even louder than the other instruments. The evolution of the band grows really fast, with drum beats, bass lines and soft pop guitars that stress the melodies driven by the vocals.
It’s great because a lof of different people will surely enjoy this band and their music: from the indie rock nerds (like me) to the fans of mainstream pop punk are all destined to fall in love with the harmonies of these guys, not just becuase they’re good, but because they’re awesome.
After the death of the family of bass player Chris#2, Anti-Flag decided to release on their own label a limited edition EP to raise funds for victims of violent crime, as the title clearly explains.
The twelve track EP (hey this is a full lenght for the price of an EP!!) is made of two part. The first seven songs are previously unreleased, and new songs, while the rest is made of live, and slightly different versions of previously released songs.
The new tunes kick ass at some major level: “No Paradise” and “No Future” are some of the most catchy anthems the band has wrote since “The Terror State” era, while “Anthem For The New Millenium Generation” and “Corporate Rock Still Sucks” sounds like they were written during the “For Blood And Empire” period, with their strong bass lines and powerful guitar rhythms. Amond the new songs I have to point your attention to the two interludes, “Oh, Katrina” and “John Ashcroft Was A Nazi”, which are basically made of gang vocals, hand-clapping and strong messages.
The live recorded songs sound brillant, strong and awesome: “No Borders No Nations” is basically a new song, while it’s always nice to hear “Turncoat” and “One Trillion Dollars” played live with the crowd that knows every word by heart.
If you want to put your money into something worth, do not forget about this EP (which also has, according to me, the best cover artwork I saw in ages).
Cry Of The Afflicted is a new band to come out on Solid State Records, and their debut is an amazing record where the band is able to fuse the melodic elements of rock with the screams of post hardcore. As a cross between Thursday and Taking Back Sunday, all played with more melodies, the songs on “The Unveiling” are like heavy stones thrown in the sea, that make noise on the impact but thrown all together sound so good.
“The Unveiling” is like a shining star in a world where new bands are often disappointing, promising great memories but leaving your hearing experience intact; instead, this record is made of songs that leave space to your musical experience and make it grow.
The ten track album is made of songs like “Lift The Veil”, “A Scar Filled Sky” and “Heed The Sound”, where Cry Of The Afflicted make you hear their love for screaming, melodic vocals and fuse them with the harmonic and perfect produced heavy guitars.
I recommend this to everyone who wants to feel new emotions.
The sophomore release from As Cities Burn is entitled “Come Now Sleep” and signs a new direction in the history of the band. If on the previous “Son, I Loved You At The Darkes” the band played some energic screamed rock, on the new album As Cities Burn release softer, emotionally driven songs.
“Come Now Sleep” is the result of the composition that mixes spacey harmonies with darker rock elements and deep melodies, with the melodic part of rock and emo. It’s like a mix between UnderOath and Taking Back Sunday, but with less screaming parts and more slow, mellow and melodic rhythms.
Such songs as the opener “Contact” or “Empire” shows how As Cities Burn is becoming a more indie rock band rather than an emo one, with a special attention for creating harmonies inspired by bands like Braid and The Get Up Kids.
If you like good music, “Come Now Sleep” is the perfect combination of pure genius and developing new emotions.
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