Punk rock blog.
Hello, I'm Alternative Press music editor Scott Heisel and welcome to the eighth installment of Positive Jams, your guide to the best (and the rest) of the week's new music as selected by yours truly. Let's get to it!
IF YOU BUY ONE THING TODAY, PLEASE LET IT BE:
Little Brazil's Son
THE SCOOP: Besides having a name that sounds like a fancy brand of cigarette, Landon Hedges has been chipping away at the indie-rock bubble with Little Brazil since 2002, and with his band's third album, Son, he has finally realized his potential. A concept album about a splintering marriage, Son sounds like if Josh Caterer from Smoking Popes listened to a shit-ton of Cursive, the Promise Ring and Hey Mercedes and decided to crank the amps to about 13 or 14 without losing lyrical sincerity. Remember, just because you haven't already heard of them doesn't mean Little Brazil aren't good; I highly, highly recommend this record.
CRUCIAL JAMS: "What's The Problem," "Wasting Time," "Perfection," "Wedding Glass"
BUY IT NOW: Amazon
(physical), 
(digital)
GOT MORE CASH? SNAG THIS NEXT:
MxPx's On The Cover II
THE SCOOP: Cover albums are tricky--if you deviate too far from the source material, people can't relate to your selections; if you play them too closely to the original, people accuse you of being uncreative. MxPx straddle that line very carefully and deliver a wide variety of total mega-jams, including the Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl" (seriously one of the best songs in the history of the world) as well as "Linda Linda" by sorta-obscure '80s Japanese punk band the Blue Hearts (it's definitely worth tracking down the source material in this case). Kudos to Mike Herrera and the boys for once again making pop-punk fun again.
CRUCIAL JAMS: "Linda Linda," "Punk Rock Girl," "Somebody To Love," "Suburban Home"
BUY IT NOW: Amazon
(physical), (digital)
I'D LIKE TO BUY SOME TALENT, PAT:
Vanna's A New Hope
THE SCOOP: This sorta-metalcore band from the outskirts of Boston showed significant promise with 2007's Curses, an album filled with guitar atmospherics reminiscent of mid-period Thrice and decently solid songwriting. But that album's follow-up, A New Hope, just feels empty and rehashed, like the band members haven't figured out how to advance themselves as musicians at all. It really is a bummer, because I always felt like this band had a really good album in 'em. Maybe next time.
CRUCIAL JAMS: Strawberry, grape, boysenberry
BUY IT NOW: Amazon
(physical), (digital)
ALSO OUT TODAY: Beep Beep's Enchanted Islands, Fireworks' All I Have To Offer Is My Own Confusion, Damion Suomi's Damion Suomi, Mono's Hymn To The Immortal Wind, O+S' O+S, These Green Eyes' Relapse To Recovery, Mastodon's Crack The Skye, the Decemberists' The Hazards Of Love
What did you buy today? Leave a comment and tell us!
IF YOU BUY ONE THING TODAY, PLEASE LET IT BE:
Little Brazil's Son
THE SCOOP: Besides having a name that sounds like a fancy brand of cigarette, Landon Hedges has been chipping away at the indie-rock bubble with Little Brazil since 2002, and with his band's third album, Son, he has finally realized his potential. A concept album about a splintering marriage, Son sounds like if Josh Caterer from Smoking Popes listened to a shit-ton of Cursive, the Promise Ring and Hey Mercedes and decided to crank the amps to about 13 or 14 without losing lyrical sincerity. Remember, just because you haven't already heard of them doesn't mean Little Brazil aren't good; I highly, highly recommend this record.
CRUCIAL JAMS: "What's The Problem," "Wasting Time," "Perfection," "Wedding Glass"
BUY IT NOW: Amazon
(physical), (digital)GOT MORE CASH? SNAG THIS NEXT:
MxPx's On The Cover II
THE SCOOP: Cover albums are tricky--if you deviate too far from the source material, people can't relate to your selections; if you play them too closely to the original, people accuse you of being uncreative. MxPx straddle that line very carefully and deliver a wide variety of total mega-jams, including the Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl" (seriously one of the best songs in the history of the world) as well as "Linda Linda" by sorta-obscure '80s Japanese punk band the Blue Hearts (it's definitely worth tracking down the source material in this case). Kudos to Mike Herrera and the boys for once again making pop-punk fun again.
CRUCIAL JAMS: "Linda Linda," "Punk Rock Girl," "Somebody To Love," "Suburban Home"
BUY IT NOW: Amazon
(physical), (digital)I'D LIKE TO BUY SOME TALENT, PAT:
Vanna's A New Hope
THE SCOOP: This sorta-metalcore band from the outskirts of Boston showed significant promise with 2007's Curses, an album filled with guitar atmospherics reminiscent of mid-period Thrice and decently solid songwriting. But that album's follow-up, A New Hope, just feels empty and rehashed, like the band members haven't figured out how to advance themselves as musicians at all. It really is a bummer, because I always felt like this band had a really good album in 'em. Maybe next time.
CRUCIAL JAMS: Strawberry, grape, boysenberry
BUY IT NOW: Amazon
(physical), (digital)ALSO OUT TODAY: Beep Beep's Enchanted Islands, Fireworks' All I Have To Offer Is My Own Confusion, Damion Suomi's Damion Suomi, Mono's Hymn To The Immortal Wind, O+S' O+S, These Green Eyes' Relapse To Recovery, Mastodon's Crack The Skye, the Decemberists' The Hazards Of Love
What did you buy today? Leave a comment and tell us!
4 Comments:
Telling on Trixie's 'Ugly, Broke & Sober'
The Forecast's "Alive For the First Time" (I think it came out last week). I was hoping for a new full length... but this will hold me over. it's still great though.
thanks for the Little Brazil recommendation. so far I can't get enough!
that new mastodon record smokes.
I don't usually get albums the day they come out, but I had to make an exception for "Crack The Skye" by Mastodon. I've been a huge fan of Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher since back when they were in Today Is The Day, and I was awesomely stoked for this album. I haven't decided yet if it's better than "Blood Mountain" or not, but it's still really really good.
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