Captain, We're Sinking

I haven't heard something this good in a while. I am truly impressed with this little tidbit of music. They have that gritty old punk rock sound with a pop punk twist. I like it. They are in the vein of Nightlights meets Hot Water Music's baby brother from up north. I mean just check out their lyrics...

Gunner Merring Will Have His Revenge

If you knew what I was thinking you’d all abandon me.
You’d throw me in the sea with broken knees.
Sarah sits at home because she’s sweating out her fears.
She’s choking on her tears. But no one hears her screaming
someone please save me. I need some form of recovery.
Sarah never told me I was only getting in the way,
just that I shouldn’t stay. Then I watched her fade away.
Now I’m throwing up on the floor thinking maybe I drink too much.
Maybe I don’t drink enough. I’ll get it right tomorrow but tonight I give up.
Someone please save me. I need some form of recovery.
When it’s over lay your head down and cry alone.
The cuts fade, but the scars never go.
I want to know why Sarah’s father beats her every night and day.
He sits by her wall and listen to her pray. She screams please,
dear god will you make that bastard pay? Then she’s buried in his fists,
and the last thing she ever hears him say is it’s over now.


First off they use my favorite word, Bastard, that is the best word and they have gritty vocals with nice sing alongs....mmmmmmhhh good stuff, check' em out



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Stuff i think you should check out!!

Here is a link to chuck ragan from the daytrotter sessions...i know that i have been in active for awhile but i am still alive...i will post more stuff..you should check out daytrotter they have a lot of good bands to download and listen too... hit it up!


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The Get Up Kids

So years ago i got kicked out of a get up kids show. It sucked...this is me getting back at them...here is there new ep...i like it, i have read a lot of things this is where they left off after something to write home about, i also heard this is where guilt show left off, i feel it is more where death cab for cutie left off if they were to stop playing for 10 years and then came back after having ventured out and played a bunch of solo projects and eventually decided to return to the studio to play as the get up kids...get it? yeah, i think that james dewees does a fine job of setting the mood with his syth playing. I like it i really do i hope it is forshadowing for what is to come. check it out....

http://www.mediafire.com/?wkrmdzuhdjg

here is a daytrotter sessions that is pretty good

http://www.4shared.com/file/186652619/a351cb6d/The_Get_Up_Kids_Daytrotter_Ses.html

Matt Evans from Just Die

This post comes from a friend that has graced my ears with his personal music. Matt Evans put down some tracks that he had laying around. He is the guitarist for the DIY punk/hardcore band Just Die! which i recommend listening to their stuff...I will consider them to be local I mean I am in North Carolina at the time of this writing (not Richmond but close enough)...I have much respect for these boys and to Matt keep writing good music...Oooh side note i think the music sounds like earlier (only because i have not heard later) Rocky Votolato, good solid stuff if that is just demo stuff i cant wait to hear more.......


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myspace for Just Die!

Lucero 1372 overton park

So this is their major label debut. I saw them over the summer and they played some songs off this album. Support them i like the album. Get it and love it!!!




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Chuck Ragan

Gold Country

Chuck Ragan has kept this train a runnin. Since Hot Water Music went on their hiatus Chuck has not stopped with the momentum that fueled them. Get this album. If you like Rumbleseat, and you like the fury of early Hot Water Music then you need this album...get it here

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Isis

Wavering Radiant

It has been too long since i have posted anything so i am going to put one that i feel deserves recognition that i have not seen in a lot of places. This is the newest Isis album that has come out. It is Wavering Radiant. I like this album. I think that Aaron Turner and his camp have done a good job with this. I like some of the changes that the album makes in their sound. Isis seems to be a genre defining band and not just a band that follows someone Else's definition of what they are suppose to be. they change with each album and that is the beauty of them. i feel that wikipedia does them justice in their write up of them. i hope you enjoy this album and if you want anything from their back catalog let me know.

Wikipedia


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Angel Eyes

I like this band i got into them a couple years ago. Angel Eyes is a band from the Chicagoland area consisting of Bob, Brendan, Nader, Ryan and Todd. They formed in 2003, and have played some shows and recorded some records. Brendan has a project under the name Ravenholm is Dead, Todd has a project under the name There is Nothing Buried That will Not Be Raised, and Ryan and Todd run a music review blog called I'm the Most Important Fucking Person in the World.
Check out the music and the blogs.

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Austin Lucas

Two post in a day! I'm trying to get better at this. This is good music here! check it out Austin Lucas is on tour with Tim Barry and josh small both from Richmond! here is his latest cd you will not be disappointed.


Somebody loves you


the common cold

Avail

I read a blog awhile ago and this is sort of in response to it. The article was about Tim Barry, and how this author was not digging his new solo stuff. In this blog, he mentioned things like, how Tim needs to stop acting so depressed and cheer up. He also mentions that all of Tim's songs are about his dog and his poor bad life. I understand that this is an opinion but i feel that there are some things that are misunderstood about Mr. Barry. Tim is a humble honest man, he has lived in Richmond for years and he has seen her change. I feel that he writes from his heart about the city of Richmond. In fact the first 20 seconds of Trash Inspirations on Riviana Junction are from a church bell that is heard around where Tim lives in Oregon Hill. He has seen the rise of the capitalist society taking over the city. VCU has taken over everything in downtown Richmond. If you don't know these things then i feel that you would not be able to true appreciate and comprehend both Avail and Tim Barry's solo stuff. The majority of their/his songs are about Richmond and the impact that they have had on them/him. Tim also rides the rails this also plays an intricate part in his music. Upon listening to either Tim's solo stuff or Avail you will hear references to Scotts Addition, The James, Scuffletown, Lombardy St., Oregon Hill, VCU, he makes reference to the town being painted black and gold (this happens to be VCU's school colors), Laurel St., Manchester, the Southside, and the Nickel Bridge. These are all things that you will find in around ol'Dixieland. Huh, there is another one. ok so i guess this is a response from this guys post and i am done ranting about it. I guess the simple fact is that you can hate all you want and that is your opinion fair enough. But as for me i will keep supporting him and his music that he creates. I believe in the scene where Tim is from, he is representing Richmond and that is my local scene. My hats off to him and any band that comes out of here. I have posted some of Avails first albums so check them out. I have also put a link to Tim's solo stuff.

click here for the link to this other blog

Avail

tim barry's solo stuff

The Waking Eyes

Check these guys out! They are call The Waking Eyes. Think the Weakerthans, think The Flaming lips, think good music. I dig it! and you should too. They are from Winnipeg. Maybe we could get them to come down richmond va's way (wink wink) I would really like to see them. Download their first single. Also, check out their covers on YouTube. And buy their album Holding On To Whatever It Is. Support your local scene.


The Weakerthans

The Flaming Lips

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Leucine

This post is from an email i received from Jonny Leucine asking me to post his band on here. See i can respect that, someone who is working for their band promoting for them. To Jonny and the rest of his band i have much respect for you and the scene you support. Keep making good music. Plus check out their cover art. Check them out!

Myspace

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Ben Nichols

Two posts in one weekend. I have found some music that i feel is worth sharing finally. Here is the link to Ben Nichols & Cory Branan live in Empire Theater. An interesting fact about the cover of this album is the picture is acutally in an alley way that is in front of another venue called alley katz. Alley Katz is another venue in the Richmond, VA area that caters to our music scene. But on with the music. the first download is the Ben Nichols & Cory Branan live in richmond and the second download is the Ep that he has released based on the book by Cormac McCarthy, called Blood Meridian. For a really good review of the album visit here.

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The Casket Lottery

This band saved my life...no really i love this band to death. I mean read these lyrics,

Turn the radio off. It's just commercials made by stars.
Turn down the auto-tune and reveal those wounds
and scars. It's all middle fingers and sex, and who's
ego can hold the most. We just hop in a broken van and
we head out to the coast.

Wide-eyed and wondering how we ever got here.
Now I'm praying for a revolution on the air.

Am I wasting all my time? Or am I proving them all wrong? Am
I wasting all my energy on these old songs? These people aren't
even real. They need choreigraphers just to breathe. These people
aren't even real, they were raised by wolves, they think of us as sheep.

Wide-eyed, it's about time I got the hell out of here.
But still I'm praying for a revolution on the air.

Don't you care? There are people choking out here...it's got to stop.
We all need fresh air. We all need fresh air. Don't you care? There
are people being force fed bullshit out here. Out here we all need
fresh air. We all need fresh air.

I think that this speaks right to the heart of the problem that i have found in today's music. DIY baby DIY! A few years ago when i was making podcast, i had an idea (that i still may do) to create a family tree for different bands. One of the family trees would have been from a favorite hardcore band in the 90's (and i'm sorry to say this to all my straightedge friends but) Coalesce. Now, out of this band has come many notable bands, Reggie and the full effect, and The Esoteric, with many other notable related bands from the Kansas city scene. I truly love that scene in the mid to late nineties. Recently, while i moved across the country (only to return a few short months later) i had to stop in Lawrence, Kansas just to pay my respects to the musical gods that have come out of that general area.
The Casket Lottery is of the same bloodline as all the above mentioned bands and features members/former members of Coalesce. I personally enjoy Stacy's bass playing. On the song dead dear on the Moving Mountains album, Coalsece vocalist Sean Ingram makes a guest appearence. Check it out and support their great music by buying their albums from Sean's blue collar distro.

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the exploder

I have not heard much about these guys in a long long time. I remember drawing the skull on all of my books for years. I was obsessed with them. They are from Richmond Va. When they were looking for a drummer in 1999 my good friend Zach Nelson ( i will post a link for him and his music in the near future) tried out to be their drummer. Having settled with another drummer they went out and toured and then came back and called it quits. These albums have gotten me through a lot of hard times. They are well worth the listen. As, for their sound I would call them real melodic hardcore, or maybe even emotive hardcore. Call it what you will, it is very good sound and that is hard to find nowadays in a band. As for their shows they put on a magnificent show. I remember seeing them at a house show in Richmond as well as at a venue that was called Twisters. They were a very energetic band that keep you going. There was never a dull moment, then again most house shows are like that. Ok well check them out...

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Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves

Chris has done it again. I love it there is not one bad song on this album. I really have not found a bad album/ track that has come out of any of the boys that are related to Hot Water Music. I have a feeling that this link will be asked to be taken down before long so get it while it is hot. Have fun kids it is a solid album.

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(Don't Forget To) breathe

First off Happy Thanksgiving! to those of you that live in the United Snakes. This compilation is one that I enjoy thoroughly. It is composed of music that i like from a time in my life that i did not know so much about music. It was a time when i was still learning all the realms of genres and what makes up these genre's sounds. This post is also in response to some talk that i have had with some people about today's state of music. Yes, that statement was vague, and yes, i feel that you should dive into some of these bands that are on this comp. to find out their true roots as well as the definitions of the music that they make. One could say that i am a snob, and that i take the fun out of music but that is not true, i love music and this is my way of keeping it straight in my own head. Do your research! Don't hate something that you don't understand, research and support your claims and support your local scene!
Most of these bands are second generation emotive bands, also on this comp. you will find a harder side to the genre. Check it out...

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Warship

I mean look at the cover art!!! I wrote this post a while ago and i am just getting around to posting it so here it goes..ohh and look at the cover art! i mean, i'm just saying...

Once The Draft had come out with their album In a Million Pieces, I remember reading an interview with Jason Black stating that there was going to be to be three types of critics of their new band. He stated the first was going to be the people who enjoyed his earlier claim to fame band Hot Water Music (he was in the Unitas as well) but did not like the direction that the former members of HWM had gone with The Draft. The second group of critics would be later followers of HWM that liked The Draft but still held them up to the same standard that HWM set. But, the third and the one that he wanted most was the critics that had not really heard of HWM and they discovered The Draft not through its ties with HWM.
If I understand his thoughts right then he wanted to be given a clean slate and his new band to be looked at as something different than the their old band. He wanted The Draft to be viewed with out the HWM blinders on. I feel that Warship is the same.
I have read several reviews of this album that still have the From Autumn to Ashes lens on. Now, granted some of them have come from Itunes and who knows what type of non-knowledgeable-non-good-music lover is going to write about their favorite band that decided to stop playing, and your still wanting to hear those same three chords that where worn out when they first started using them to write their radio chart hit songs. The sad thing is I have read some reviews from magazines that have done the same thing. I mean I understand that their readers don’t get music at all. But, you would hope at least the people who write the articles have some knowledge of what good music is. Ok, so on with my slant of the review. This article gave the cd 4 out of 5 stars so I thought that maybe I should check it out. Some of the reviews have said that Warship is a doom/sludge album. They have compared it to Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality (That’s a good start for an album to be called doom). So with all the convincing of the review that this album is doom it really had better be. I have yet to hear it so I am writing this cold.
I am pretty sure that no one will read this far down so I will get to the good stuff now that I have bored out all the leechers and now I am talking to the ones that really care about music and the things that make music happen. So, congratulations! for making it this far…here it goes.
I feel that Warship should not be compared to FATA, that is a separated entity altogether. They should be viewed as a different band altogether, and my reasoning for this is that they are another band. So stop with all the comparisons between the two bands and also the comparisons of Marks other project Biology (bet you didn’t know I do my homework too!) Suck it up! FATA is dead and move on with your life! And stop thinking that Emo is goth. When did those two genres become a synonym for each other?

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Lucero

This post is a follow up of the previous one. It will be short. Lucero is good! Ben Nichols is great!, check him out on the Revival tour. Support his solo career, buy his records. Go see him/them. Enjoy!
This is Lucero's That much further west and Tennessee albums.

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The Revival Tour

My friends i have not written in here for a while and i do apologize. I will try to make up for that with some good music that i have been enjoying for a while now. As you may know i am a big fan of Hot Water Music and anything that any member of HWM is affiliated with, well since their hiatus they, the members, have come out with some extraordinary music. One would think that with the split they would not be as good with their separate engagements, but i feel that the exact oposite has happened. It started with the Draft and then just blew up from there. Var from No Idea records decided to release Chuck's first 7 inches, through an exclusive pressing club, and from there we have had wonderful music from the whole gang. Chuck has been busy with his music and this is just one installment of it. I feel that you should check out anything that he has out but i particularly like this album with Austin Lucas and his other band mates. The song Hold My Bed on this album was demoed on Chuck's 7-inches, and i personally like that version better. It is recorded at the dive bar in the bathroom on i'm guessing a four track recorder. It was a rough forcast for where Chuck Ragan was going and i personally enjoy the direction that Chuck has gone with his music. He has the same passion that has driven him throughout the years. He is a humble man as well. He may not know but he talked to me before the Revival Tour show and he offered to shake my hand and he carried on a conversation with me. Of course like a fool i was on the wrong side of the building to go into the show. (and i realized this later, only because the line was wrapped around on the otherside of the venue, to be honest i had not been to that particular venue in a good two or three years and the last time i was there the entrance was on the side i was waiting at, alright back to the post).
As for The Revival Tour i highly recommend you going to see it. Hands down it is one of the best shows i have seen in a good couple of years. I think i like the format of the show the most. At most shows you have the opening band first and then the subsiding bands following. That was not the case here. First everyone that was going to preform that night was up there and they played a couple of songs all together. Then they separated and Austin played some songs alone while calling the help of different players throughout his set. Richmond's own Tim Barry played next and did the same, then Ben from Lucero, and then Chuck. Chuck actually played some old songs from his Rumbleseat days. It was good to see him play Rye Wiskey. Alright well i have rambled on enough about this so i will get to the link. Please buy this album and support good artist.

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