Coke Bust- Lines In The Sand

As far as I know, the only people talking about this band are me and my housemate Robbie… plus quite a few people on the internet and Vice magazine, although that attracts its fair share of idiots posting comments underneath, the kind of idiots who think using the word ‘douche’ over and over again makes an opinion more valid. The thing is, Coke Bust, a band from Washington DC are far too good to not be talked about by more people, not just hipsters and my mate. Upon the first play of this record, I thought, this is good, but not great. I liked the other two 7″s I have, the Demo and ‘Fuck Bar Culture’ and so had anticipated this for a while. I wasn’t disappointed as such, but I was hoping for a bit more. Second time I gave it a proper listen and it just clicked, so much so that I was so impressed I put it back on again. Fuck me it’s so good.

Best of 2008

 

I know this is pretty late, and i’ve been pretty slack with updating the blog in general recently, due to the fact that I’ve been concentrating on the zine quite a lot in recent weeks and months. But not wishing to leave out those of you who like to read stuff for free rather than buy bits of paper with writing on, i’ll try and pick it back up now.

And so, without any further ado and in the spirit of mindless conformity, here are my top albums of 2008. Enjoy!

Rolo Tomassi- Hysterics

Now, I realise that I have well and truly missed the boat with this. No doubt most people reading this will already have heard about 100 other verdicts on this album and have probably also listened to it a fair amount too, so I won’t bother writing a comprehensive review or anything. I have written about, talked about and listened to this band far too much as it is anyway, seeing them 5 times in about four months, but I’ll just let you all know what I think of the album, as if it’s important to anyone.

United Nations- United Nations

This was originally featured at www.thefourohfive.com.

 

I might be tempted to call this band a super group, and in a way they are. But, also, it’s almost a superhero group, in that due to contractual issues, only two of the bands members are known, only one can be mentioned in press materials. The rest have kept their identity secret, with promo shots featuring those involved in the project wearing Ronald Reagan (ooh political!) masks. Rumours and speculation are rife as to who the members are, and many suggest those involved in the project, include Chree from The Number 12 Looks Like You, Cooper of Made Out of Babies, Jonah Bayer of The Lovekill, Ben Koller of Converge and Josh Mihlkek, guitar tech to both Thursday & Killswitch Engage. Alongside those are the two members we do know are in the band for sure, Glassjaw’s Daryl Palumbo and Geoff Rickley of Thursday. This alone is a unification of two of the biggest names in their respective brackets, although even their contributions to the album are shrouded in some confusion, despite their founding member status.

Seminfinalists- 2

This originally appeared at www.thefourohfive.com. The link is available at the bottom of the page.

Quite why this band is as ignored as they are, is puzzling. For the music they make, which is beautifully melancholy at times, but also equally euphoric, Semifinalists deserve to be rated so much better, yet remain somewhat hidden, but bright, gems.

Kasms- Taxidermy

I’ve already reviewed a couple of the tracks on this 7″ single, as they were previously available on the bands limited edition mini-CD release. I’ll do my best not to just regurgitate that review here.

Deny Everything- Speaking Treason EP

‘An exclusive club to make exclusive kids feel better about themselves’

Germanys Deny Everything don’t do macho bullshit, and they don’t do hardcore snobbery either.

Maths + Throats- Split EP

This review was posted at www.thefourohfive.com. See the bottom of the page for the link to the actual article.

Holy Roar continues to build it’s reputation for unearthing and releasing stuff by really quite good bands, with this release, a 10 song split EP featuring Norwich based three piece Maths, and Midlands based five piece Throats, with both bands providing enough hints to get UK hardcore fans excited, oh, and the artwork is rather nice too.

Shai Hulud- Misanthropy Pure

This was posted at www.thefourohfive.com, but not very many people seemed interested by it, nevermind. A shorter version of this might be featured at www.thrashhits.com but I’m not sure about that yet. If it is, ill add the link. 

Shai Hulud aren’t too found of the human race, and that is clearly evident in this, their third full length release. Prolific in the amount of members they manage to get through, this is the first LP featuring new vocalist, Matt Mazzali. Matt Fox and Matt Fletcher are ever-present and with them at the fore, Shai Hulud are always unmistakably pissed off and angry, and it’s truly sincere.

Goldblade- Mutiny

This was written for www.thrashhits.com. It hasn’t appeared there yet, but it when it does I will add the link. The version for Thrash Hits is about 150 words shorter too.

 

Formed in Manchester in 1995, Goldblade are now on their fifth album, and again its fairly standard ’77 influenced British punk, although as usual it incorporates elements of ska and rockabilly. Taking the album for purely on surface value, it isn’t a bad album by any means, and the band has cultivated a reputation for putting on a stellar live show. The musicianship is fast, proficient, and all the elements for a typical punk album are present, at times, ‘Mutiny’ is fairly enjoyable.