TRUTH & PURPOSE

The Movielife – Forty Hour Train Back To Penn

Edison James — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:20:39 +0000

The Movielife is a band that I’ve loved since I was sixteen. I first heard of the Movielife when I stole a poster advertising their album This Time Next Year from a local hardcore fest that they were playing at. Unfortunately I don’t remember watching them but I would eventually buy This Time Next Year and I played it constantly. It remained on heavy rotation until the release of Forty Hour Train Back To Penn. This album is the epitome of The Movielife’s career for me. They have quite a few releases under their belt (LPs, EPs, Splits, Demos, Etc) but this is by far my favorite release.

Every time I listen to this album I feel like I’m seventeen again, leaving school on a warm sunny day, and cruising around in my green Chevy Baretta with my friends while blasting Face or Kneecaps and singing along to every word. So many fun times are associated with this album.

Vinnie Caruana, the singer, went on to form I Am The Avalanche after the breakup of the Movielife. Recently he has been playing acoustic shows and singing old Movielife songs as well as IATA songs. I get to see him perform tonight and I am pretty stoked.

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NRWS – New Distances

Edison James — Thu, 14 May 2009 05:16:21 +0000

This, I fear, is as close as we’ll ever get to a new BOTCH record. Holy shit I don’t even know what to say about this album other than I have butterflies listening to it right now. Fucking AMAZING!

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My Heart To Joy – Seasons In Verse

Edison James — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:05:45 +0000

I’ll be the first to admit that I honestly DO judge a book by it’s cover. For the longest time I opted out of listening to this band because I didn’t like the way their name bounced off my tongue when I would say it (and frankly I had no idea what the fuck it meant and it seemed too pretentious to try to find out…) At this time they had the word twisting name My Heart To Joy At The Same Tone. Seriously… what the fuck does that mean? It sounds like somebody had a really awesome haiku written and then decided to take out all the juicy details.

I digress.

I’ve listened to this album twelve times since a friend of mine put it up for download on his blog. It has hit a nerve that hasn’t been hit in a long time. I’ve said it time and time again, but honesty in music is my thing. This band has the honesty necessary to hold my attention, then yet completely grasps it again with their noodling guitars and ridiculously well written songs. This is one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

Small Brown Bike, Hot Water Music, Polar Bear Club (here and there) + indie rock? Fuck it. Don’t read my stupid words, just listen to this album. It’s so good.

Myspace
Preview

Defeater – Travels

Edison James — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:41:17 +0000

This metal/hardcore band’s honesty and anger has been inching it’s way into my playlist more and more over the past week or so since I found them. I absolutely cannot stop listening to this fantastic album. While it’s not quite an album that will go down in my book as a “classic”, Travels will go down as quite an amazing first try. Frantic desperation and honest lyrics make me a believer in this band. I couldn’t agree more when on their Myspace page they write “honest music” under the sounds like heading. I think this honesty thing is becoming a trend. I’ve really missed honest music. This album is awesome.

Myspace
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The Six Parts Seven – Everywhere & Right Here

dogslayeggs — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:23:22 +0000

As long as I’m on the subject of bands from The Buckeye State, specifically those from Kent, I might as well mention The Six Parts Seven. These post-rock instrumentalists from Seattle’s Suicide Squeeze Records offer clean atmospheric compositions similar to groups such as American Football and Low. That isn’t to say they aren’t genuine. While most bands seem to be trying to follow the example of post-rock titans such as Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky, The Six Parts Seven take a different approach, relying more on their jazz and minimalist influences and constant experimentation. Their 2004 album Everywhere & Right Here is a perfect example of their unique craft.

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The Party of Helicopters – Please Believe It

dogslayeggs — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:30:40 +0000

Believe it or not, Kent, Ohio was once home to a flourishing music scene. It makes sense if you think about it: small liberal college town, surrounded only by smaller townships, at least an hour away from the nearest major US city. What else is there to do but start a band and/or host shows in your basement? I doubt The Party of Helicopters were any exception. Unfortunately, their party didn’t last and the group separated before they ever received the recognition they deserved. But not before dropping this priceless gem! To this day, Please Believe It remains ones of my favorite indie rock records. I’m sure that won’t change anytime soon as it’s still pretty incomparable. Solid instrumentation, whirling vocals, and just damn good song writing make it a truly distinctive release but, don’t just take my word for it…

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P.S. If anybody knows where I can find the other POH records online (Abracadaver, Mt. Forever, Space and How Sweet It Is) please let me know. I fucking love this band!

Botch – We Are The Romans/An Anthology of Dead Ends

dogslayeggs — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:17:26 +0000

I honestly don’t want to even attempt to justify the impact Botch has had on my life as a musician. Ever since I heard We Are the Romans in eleventh grade, pretty much every heavy release to follow has been judged on whether or not it compares to this band. For the most part, I’ve been disappointed. Their craft is just not replicable. From the complex rhythms to Brian Cook’s thundering low end to the convulsive riffage of guitarist Dave Knudson, they chopped a niche in my brain too deep to mend. No matter how hard I try, every time I pick up a guitar, I regress into the same spasmodic technique that caught my attention so many years ago. I guess it’s time to stop fighting it.

“Better hop on in, the pass will close if the clouds start rolling in. Can’t take the thought of being stuck again.”

Preview – An Anthology of Dead Ends

Preview – We Are The Romans

Title Fight – Kingston

Edison James — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:50:52 +0000

I have a feeling that the pop punk / hardcore genre is going to explode very soon, and at the forefront will be Kingston, Pennsylvania’s Title Fight. Along with band like The Wonder Years, This Time Next Year, Set Your Goals, and even Polar Bear Club, Title Fight sticks out to me as the best of the best of the new breed of pop punk. From the instantly memorable lead of the first track “Memorial Field”, this EP brings with it catchy songs with heart and purpose that you can very easily sing along to. Title Fight are another one of my favorite recent bands and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Be sure to check out the video of a BARN SHOW that made me super envious of their East Coast scene. It’s sad, all we give and receive around these parts are blank stares and pretentious judgments instead of having an amazing time at a show because nobody is worrying about anything else other than the music. I digress, though. Check them out both by CD and Video. Both are linked below.

-Edisonjames

Myspace
Preview
Title Fight Video

In Pieces (The Sequel)

Edison James — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:26:26 +0000

I first heard In Pieces when I received a copy of their split CD with the band Craig in the mail for review on my first music review website. It has since been swallowed by the depths of internet history, but I was proud of that website and what rewards it gave me. One reward was this little band from Connecticut called In Pieces. I started out with the split, which was a good indication of what greatness was to come. It was a raw portrait of a band early in it’s history and while I enjoyed Craig’s half of the CD, In Pieces was truly the memorable band that stuck out.

I can’t remember how many times I listened to that CD before I found an early release copy of Learning To Accept Silence in a record bin at a local hardcore matinee show. When I excitedly listened to the album in my car I knew I would love this album for years and years to come. I have since proven myself completely right (as always.) This album still sticks out to me as being the best In Pieces album. Completely honest and passionate, Learning To Accept Silence continually strikes a special nerve somewhere deep in my body. While their split was a good entry and Lions Write History (below) was a solid exit album, this is their pinnacle album.

Myspace
Learning To Accept Silence
How To Make A Human Heart (Split w/ Craig)

In Pieces, Bear Hands, etc.

dogslayeggs — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:52:52 +0000

If you’re anything like me, you probably spend most of your time in your in front of a screen, reminiscing over records from yesteryear, wondering where all the cowboys have gone. This video of In Pieces from their 2004 tour is a perfect example of what happens when a good band gets burnt out.

As you can plainly see, In Pieces were not a boring band to witness live. In fact, they pretty much thrash throughout the entire performance and I’m willing to bet, if this weren’t filmed with some kid’s mom’s Hi 8, almost every note would be executed. The problem is obviously the audience. Notice the morose looking mother fuckers frozen in place, hands in pockets, trying to look bored. I say that because I honestly think it would take a lot of effort not to have had a good time watching this. I know most kids were discovering Bright Eyes and Straylight Run around this time but, c’mon! Also, the drunken teletubbies dancing like village idiots? With the exception of a few dedicated fans it looks as if these two are more of an attraction than the group of dudes pouring their guts out for entertainment value. This is what has become of our beloved music and bands. People wonder why good things never last… BINGO!! This is America now!

Okay, enough glass-half-empty cynical bullshit…

In Pieces were a powerful sonic entity, consisting of some of the most talented, intelligent and, unique personalities that I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. They evolved a great deal over the years that they were together and some of their material has yet to be matched. They disbanded around 2006 to pursue other interests, helping form some truly awesome groups in their place. One of which being Brooklyn’s rising stars Bear Hands whose Golden EP hasn’t left my “man bag” since I purchased it over a year ago.

While it is a sad thing bands such as In Pieces continue to disappear in the wake of other less respectable main acts, such as the ones we see everyday on the FUSE network (I’ll refrain from name dropping), it’s also refreshing that we can look forward to these kind of follow up groups who occasionally end up being more enjoyable than their predecessors.

Mypsace.com/inpieces

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Myspace.com/bearhandsband

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