COOL TO BE YOU

Police and Thieves – Armor y Guerra

Courtesy of: TYPING FOR MILES

Posted on: August 9th, 2008

The latest four-song release from Police and Thieves, Armor y Guerra, has upped the ante on the previous P&T releases. For starters, the recording quality is much better and that leads to audible melodic hardcore with a dash of rock ‘n’ roll. They’ve progressed in every way, elaborating on hardcore, post-hardcore, and rock ‘n’ roll themes. The power of twofold guitars allows that elaboration – the guitars make this band. For the rock ‘n’ roll feel- they’ve graced the record with pick slides and a handful of solos exploring the entire neck. Quick-paced riffs and aggressive palm muted strumming lead the build ups to slam-dance-able hardcore breakdowns complete with heavy drums at times.

Vocals aren’t super deep or angry, but more like emotional shouting that almost paves the way for singing, but not quite. There are also a ton of gang vocals on this release, keeping it safely in the hardcore vein and unlike anything on their previous release – it’s a pleasant addition, just judge from the notes I took while listening: “gang vox – track 2 – hell yes”.

Overall it’s faster and heavier – done with better recording quality yielding louder, more audible and therefore more believable emotion.

Police and Thieves tends to be more melodic than a lot of recent popular harDCore bands, which might explain the scarcity of kids at some Police and Thieves shows, assuming DC kids are much too hard for this melodic goodness. Or maybe kids are working together to protest the demise of the heavier sounding early 2000s Worn Thin, Carlos’ previous band. Of course, many hardcore break-ups lead to amazing post-hardcore or variations-on-hardcore sounds. Well, Carlos’ second band sticks in the realm of hardcore, but P&Tadds a little more melody and rock ‘n’ roll. Other DC greats Dag Nasty is probably the best reference point – obviously P&T studied at the same local school of harDCore.

It’s streaming on their myspace, so check it out.

Landmines

Courtesy of: TYPING FOR MILES

Posted on: July 27th, 2008

Hey listen,

another awesome band from Richmond = Landmines.

Sounds like Crime in Stereo + more “whoa-ohs”.

Too tired to say any more.

Just check it out.

Full album stream here.

Hostage Calm – Lens

Courtesy of: TYPING FOR MILES

Posted on: July 22nd, 2008

The calming acoustic first track is your only chance to relax on this half hour of Connecticut- based melodic hardcore. The whole record has a fast, punky edge to it, but there are plenty of gang vocals and breakdowns to keep the ‘core edge apparent throughout. A lot of the melody in this album comes from vocalist Chris Martin’s actual singing ability, which might turn a lot of windbreaker and baseball hat-wearing meatheads off. But those of us who can tolerate a nice voice will love this style of hardcore.

Important and intelligent messages -involving much social and political commentary- are left for you to decipher in these intimidating, poetic lyrics. For example, “Gaslighting” is obviously a commentary on the Iraq War (You can rebuild Baghdad/ And make her our clone/ And let their children think they’re free/ Just like we tell our own) – that’s an “oof”. Of course you’d have to pull out the liner notes for the majority of these somewhat inaudible lyrics, sometimes hidden by drums and quick guitars.

This album is reminiscent of earlier Crime in Stereo and Ambitions – taking familiar sounds to create something all its own. Keep in mind it is very catchy and a smooth listen, making for possible TRL material in the future – so don’t be surprised when teeny boppers smothered in eyeliner are raving about Hostage Calm someday.

The Effort – Inconoclasm

Courtesy of: TYPING FOR MILES

Posted on: July 22nd, 2008

So, I just discovered The Effort’s music last week. I two-stepped my Pabst Blue Ribbon-filled heart out during their set (ironic since they are a straight-edge band? Oh well), freaked out because they didn’t have their Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road”-inspired T-shirt in my size (look for it soon on their webstore), and bought their first full-length at a house show. I’ve become mildly obsessed with this record since that night – this band may currently be filling the Modern Life is War void in my heart. Iconoclasm has not left the car C.D. player until tonight. Although all I’ve heard from their previous EP is “All This Time” –the song featured on their myspace page – myspace.com/xeffortx – I can guarantee any fan that it’s just as good as what landed on their full-length, which I will now praise for about two paragraphs.

The lyrical content is, in my opinion, the most impressive aspect of this record. The liner notes include four footnotes, each about 200 words, describing the lyrics and inspiration for those lyrics in further detail. How many times do you wonder what a lyricist meant by a certain line? Tony of The Effort isn’t leaving anything up to interpretation, and I feel almost awkwardly close to this man after reading precise descriptions of the meanings behind his songs. Lyrics throughout the record angrily touch on divorce, self-motivation, the reasons behind the choice to be drug free, voting, and the separation between church and state – all relatable on one level or another. The intelligent lyrics are like poetry – they often rhyme and are given a catchy rhythm over the melodic beat – beckoning you to sing along while you bob your head and throw up your hands to indicate the lyrics you appreciate most. The second track, “The Price of Medication” (the first actual song – track one is a series of audio clips from television and radio broadcasts) might be the best. The tempo doesn’t change much, but as the chords ring and then hit quickly and hard, you can feel the drums pushing the angry sick-of-this-point-in-my-life lyrics that many a twenty-something can empathetically sing or scream (I’ve loathed those who don’t know what it’s like/ to be the loser in a constant fight/ because we’re stuck in a backwards game/ where no one gives a fuck if you don’t want to play).

The sound ranges from fast-paced to mid-tempo, always allowing the lyrics to come through clear and audible, with the added power of gang vocals at times. The guitars tend to be quickly palm muted with melodic riffs intertwined. The drums are all over the place and carry you through the songs while assisting your head bobbing to the rhythmic lyrics. I definitely find myself bobbing my head thorough the entire record and imitating two-stepping arm and shoulder motions while sitting at my desk.