Hometowns - The Rural Alberta Advantage

Hey, blogosphere! I missed you! Likewise, I am sure. I spent the last week or so in a variety of places, most notably rural Ohio. Needless to say, not so fun. Some Guy and I have finally overcome the kind of apathy that is just potent enough to stop a guy from posting anything on his little corner of the internet for a whole week! We're here to make that right as rain.

To do this, I am bringing you a little slice of the Canadian woods with the Rural Alberta Advantage, or, RAA as they sometime call themselves. Some of you know I like indie rock, and some of you know I like folk punk. What RAA does, much to my delight, is find a happy medium between the two. The bands (for all intents and purposes) debut album, Hometowns is a sonic pizza. The doughy crust is baked from the persistent, yet never overpowering drum beats. The sweet, tomatoey sauce is the mashed up pulp of guitar hooks cleverly woven under delicious and melty lyrical cheese.

Silly analogies aside, I really enjoyed Hometowns. For me, the biggest success on the album was "Don't Haunt This Place", a track featuring expertly done male/female vocal harmonies (this may or may not be a recurring theme, recently. Deal with it.), a classical string section, and some of the craziest drumming you'll hear this side of "Stomp!"

Though I feel like a shit for having to identify it, the low point of Hometowns has got to be "Sleep All Day". Though only featuring drums, a tambourine and a synthesized piano, Sleep All Day is clearly the least... involved track on the album. This is actually saying a lot. It's by no means an awful track, worthy of skipping every time through. I just think it could have used... something. Anything! I'm certainly no expert, as always.

Basically, RAA takes great things from indie rock and folk punk, and sticks them into a pizza, I guess. So if you like your pizza cooked this way, or any way close to this, go for it! I doubt you'll be disappointed. If you are, I am truly sorry, it was never my intention! This album download link comes very, very, VERY highly recommended from me.

We got asked to take down the link by the bands record company, Saddle Records. They were neat enough to provide us with some free tracks to share, though, so here are "Don't Haunt This Place" and "Frank, AB". Being completely honest, this record is worth the 9 or so dollars it'll cost you on iTunes or whatever, or even a hard copy from the record company, itself, found here. Thanks for understanding, loyal listeners!



P.S., I think I'll be starting a twitter thingy for the blog, since the people who follow me get pissed when I self promote new posts. Traffic is traffic, though!

Awesome Band You Should Probably Listen To: I Would Set Myself on Fire For You

I’m sure you’re all well aware that I’ve been quite lazy with this blog again. I’m sure this makes all of you clench your fists with rage. I’m sure that the only reason you come to this blog is because you love me. Or just to mooch our download links, one of the two. Probably the latter or a combination of both, but that’s not very important. What is important is that I, the magnificent Some Guy, have something for you.

To make up for how our last Awesome Band You Should Probably Listen To’s download link was asked to be taken down (Although that slick Alan worked out a spiffy deal with the publicity people, so that seems to have worked out quite well actually), I’ve got another one for you today. I don’t think there is a chance of such things happening again. Oh no, I’m quite sure that this band isn’t together anymore and therefore does not have a PR group that will make us remove download links. That would be like a zombie hiring a lawyer. Wow, that was a brilliant analogy; I deserve a pat on the back for that one.

Now that I’ve got my two paragraphs of stupid out of the way, we can actually begin to discuss why I’m making this blog post in the first place. I Would Set Myself On Fire For You is a screamo band from Atlanta, Georgia. Yes, they are a screamo band with a silly name, but that doesn't mean they aren’t amazing. I wouldn’t be telling you how amazing they are if they weren’t amazing now would I? What separates this from complete shit like the similarly named I Set My Friends on Fire or Alesana? Well, first of all it sounds absolutely nothing like them. They are completely different in just about every way, except for the genre name.

There is all kinds of great things about this band. Elements of post rock are very noticeable at times. Screamo, mixed with post rock? Yes, it’s right here. In that download link below. The music ranges from chaotic and wild to calm and atmospheric. Adding further depth to the band, they have 3 vocalists. Several times these vocalists sing together. One of these vocalists is a pretty girl who plays the viola. Violas are quite awesome, much like violins and cellos. Adding one to a band makes it insta-awesome, but there are some exceptions to this. Everything about this band is perfect. The lyrics are great as well. I don’t know what else you could ask for in a band. Even their name, although silly, is awesome.

The positives go on and on, and yet, there are no negatives besides they only have two albums out, and the fact that the female vocalist will probably not want to hook up with me IRL. Although the last one may not be true, I don’t think it’s classy to stalk girls from bands and ask them out. Anyways, here’s those download links I’m sure you all wanted.

In this download link you get:

(There doesn't seem to be cover art for this one for whatever reason)

I Would Set Myself On Fire For You - I Would Set Myself On Fire For You

I Would Set Myself On Fire For You - Believes in Patterns

And a sexy little TXT file promoting our blog, which I’m sure will be your favorite part.

No password as usual.

Download link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V6SG9BDV

Some Guy OUT

All The Damn Kids - Another Story to Tell

Today, I'm taking a swing at All The Damn Kids' new EP, Another Story to Tell. All The Damn Kids (Henceforth ATDK) are a 5 piece group from Sheffield, UK. Upbeat and electric, ATDK have found a mix of a lot of different elements, and it suits the songs they write. Dance, pop, indie, and traditional rock all have their place on this three track EP, blending to create a fun, involved album.

Throughout the album, ATDK provide a sort of power-pop that is not over done, as is so often the case. Due respect is given to the "traditional" instruments, as drums, bass and guitar aren't simply playing second fiddle (Hah, music pun) to overly-synthed keyboard riffs. This is what really won me over on this album; it's not so caught up in trying to be "modern" and "experimental" that they forget that people, above all, want to hear music that they enjoy listening to.

This is especially obvious on "Indie Is A Dirty Word", the second track on this three song EP. Everything meshes incredibly well, and once the individual parts blend together, all that's left is a fun listen which is only accentuated by the vocals, lead and secondary. Three of ADTK's five members are given vocal parts, according to their band page, providing a lot of fun three part harmonies.

While I know it's just three tracks, I see big things for ATDK. Another Story to Tell is proof that they are certainly capable of writing and playing great songs. Apart from a UK tour, All The Damn Kids are planning on producing and electronically distributing a new single, followed by a four song EP. I really cannot wait to see what these guys do, as they still have plenty to prove to listeners around the world, as well as record execs (can you believe they're unsigned?).

So, yea, I recommend this album, though I'd prefer to think of it as the pre-dinner cocktail that precedes the feast that All the Damn Kids is sure to be over the next few years.



To get your hands on a copy, send an email to allthedamnkids@hotmail.com though if you absolutely cannot wait, head over to their myspace page and give 'em a listen in the little music window thing. I've never been a really big myspace guy.

Jonesin' -- Hi, We're Jonesin'

Knowing where to start with Jonesin's album, Hi, We're Jonesin' is a little bit difficult. It's a lot of things: electronic, synthetic, groovy, trippy, deep, cute, but most of all, it's fun.

Jonesin' is Matt and Jenny Jones, who are (I assume) in some way related. (I don't know how, exactly, as I can't seem to find out for certain. My top guesses are Brother/Sister, or Married. Anyone who knows, correct me!)

The majority of Hi, We're Jonesin is a crazy blend of synthesizer melodies and dizzy drum beats. Both Matt and Jenny feature on vocals, creating a interesting contrast between a somewhat traditional male voice, and a hypercute, high pitch female part. There are songs, especially Ice Cream where the cuteness is so strong, it might actually cause facial injury due to smiling. Some people might actually slip in to happiness comas. Such is the energy on this record.

Jonesin' is a different musical venture for Matt Jones, a member of Master Slash Slave (Also referred to as Master/Slave, not sure which is proper.) The two bands, when listened to together is an experience, as described by Jones, "kind of like having a shot of good whiskey followed by a smooth beer."

In addition to being a smooth beer, Hi, We're Jonesin' is also a fun listen for a PLETHORA of reasons! The almost ethereal quality of songs like "Hey Aliens!" is incredibly captivating and intriguing, while tracks like "Bummer Summer" make you want to dance your way around the room, and end with the splits and jazz hands. Between extraterrestrials and dance numbers, Jonesin' manages to ask the big questions in "What If?", an almost conversational song which is all metaphysical and shit. I've been throwing the word "versatility" around so much lately I feel like I've got an 80 dollar suit and a budget meeting to get to, but that doesn't make it any less true; Hey, We're Jonesin' is versatile.

To sum up, I like this band, and I love this album. It's an enjoyable 38 minutes (ten tracks). I'm not gonna give it a rating (I'm going to try and move away from that whole system for a while, see if it works out), but I will absolutely recommend it to those who enjoy some crazy music, or awesome music, or crazy awesome music.



Once again, I can't provide a download link, since Jonesin's people were awesome enough to send us this album for free, but here is a list of resources for those interested in the band!

"Rollerskates" Video
Master Slash Slave's website
Jonesin's MySpace (A lot of free tracks can be found here on the little myspace player thing)

P.S., Matt Jones mustache rules. Is that how you spell it? Or Moustache?

Why? - Eskimo Snow

Some Guy again with more music! And it’s an actual review of a new album rather than a recommendation. I’ve been kinda lazy lately but no more! I’m going to try to contribute more often here, although it’s quite likely that I’m just going to continue to be lazy and write something like once a week. Hopefully not. But knowing me it’s a serious possibility.

I’ll skip the stupid crap (And by skip I mean save it for later) and get straight to the review! Recently one of my bros from the internet informed me that the new Why? album, Eskimo Snow, was leaked. My face changed from one of passive disinterest to ZOMGZ NEW WHY OMGZ OMG LINK LINK LINK. There was also some drooling in anticipation on my keyboard when I waited for the download from Rapidshit to finish. In case you all don’t know Alopecia is one of my favorite albums ever. The unique blend of hip hop and indie rock is something that my ears would love many times over and over again.

Sadly this new album goes in a bit of a different direction. I guess I kinda wanted another album like Alopecia, but different. This is waay different. While Alopecia mixed hip hop and indie rock amazingly, this one has little to no hip hop elements at all. At least the lyrics are just as creative as ever. There’s no line that strikes me as being completely and totally amazing however (Such as Alopecia’s “In Berlin I saw two men fuck in the dark corner of a basketball court.”).

There are a few standout tracks here. For example, the 3rd song on the album, Against Me, is quite awesome. Towards the end it is very hip hoppy, and then we have my favorite song on the album, Into the Shadows of My Embrace. It has a cool song title and somehow manages to not sound all pretentious and douchey. It’s probably my favorite because it sounds quite Alopeciaish. And there I go again making up adjectives. I need to stop that, unless they are positive adjectives.

The music is still pretty good for what it is. I’ve never been a huge indie rock fan (Most of the genre doesn’t do much for me at all, actually), but this album is still enjoyable. I’m sure those who really like the genre will like it even more than me. I’m also sure that people who adored Alopecia will also be a bit disappointed by this abrupt change, but eh what the hell. It’s still not horrible. It also shows yet again that the band is capable of changing their style without totally screwing up unlike some. So I guess this is pretty good compared to what it could have been. It’s also worth note that this album was written roughly around the same time Alopecia was. I wonder what their next album will sound like?

I give Eskimo Snow a 7.8 out of 10 for being a creative diversion from what I’m used to and having a few amazing songs but not being another Alopecia.

Now I know what you’re thinking, where’s the download link? Well that’s the thing. I can’t find one on the internet. I’m not going to upload my own because this album isn’t out yet and I am paranoid about the FBI raiding my home finding the 81 GB of mostly illegally acquired music on my hard drive and then taking it away from me. I would cry so you are going to have to locate the download link elsewhere. However I will check back every so often to find a download link and when I do find one you know where to find it.

OK I found one, but I can’t guarantee it will exist for very long.

Download link: http://depositfiles.com/en/files/i8x4cvi66

No password

Some Guy OUT!

No Go Know - Time Has Nothing to Do With It

Great news, intrawebs! By some bizarre stroke of luck, or perhaps simple pity by the kind folks over at XO Publicty, we are now on their press release list! This means we get to sample albums by some amazing bands who you may be hearing for the first time! For a full list of their clients, head here.

To the matter at hand, then. No Go Know, a Portland, Oregon based rock trio consisting of Scott Taylor (lead guitar, vocals), Mark Mcintire (bass guitar, back up vocals), and Sam Smith (drums), have put out their third full length release, Time Has Nothing to Do With It. One of XO's bands, I was a little skeptical when I got the email, as I was told to "think Built to Spill, Fugazi, Pink Floyd"; that's quite a lot to live up to.

Tall order aside, I really got into Time Has Nothing to Do With It. It's a loooooong record; two discs, each with 9 tracks, totaling just under 90 minutes of playtime. While there is still a lot I don't know about No Go Know and this record, the 5 or so times I have listened to it straight through in the past two and a half days is testament to its ability to keep a listener entertained.

With only three musicians, No Go Know is able to create a complex and unique sound that's as versatile as it is enjoyable. There is something for everyone on the album. Similar to the weather in New England, wait five minutes and it will change. Borderline pop-track "Thicket of Thieves" leads straight into a guitar driven rock song, "Love is War". Just three songs later, "Our Bodies Will Float" gives listeners a melodic ballad, sung sincerely and wonderfully by Taylor.

This album really is an adventure, and while the constant sonic shifting may have some would be listeners off balance, anyone who enjoys a good jam should pick up this album. I think it's a testament to the skill of all three musicians that 90 minutes of music is collected and released like this, and nearly all of it is the quality you'd expect out of a big name band like Built to Spill. Of course, like every album, it's got it's weak points, but they don't detract so much from the overall of the album enough to tarnish it's enjoyability. Yea, I think that's a perfect word for this album; enjoyability.

With that in mind, and seeing as how XO Publicity has been cool enough to let us provide a single for you all (We can't give away any of their clients for free, as that would CERTAINLY be bad for business! Sorry, mates.), you'll get a "purchase" link straight from No Go Know's record label, The Union Records. The free single is on the page I will link you to, as well.

For scoring purposes, I give Time Has Nothing to Do With It by No Go Know a solid...

8.5


http://theunionrecords.net/index.php/Band-Gear.html (Purchase Time Has Nothing to Do With It, along with all of No Go Know's other work-- hard copy or electronic download-- here)

And, before, I lied. The single can be found HERE, assuming they don't change their front page before you click this link.

Titus Andronicus -- The Airing of Grievances

Oh lordy do I love this album.

Named after the Shakespeare Play, a thrilling tale about vengeance, inter-racial babies, pies made out of people, and the execution of a clown, Titus Andronicus have delivered us an amazing album that I struggle to classify. Is it indie rock? Maybe. Probably. But The Airing of Grievances
is first and foremost an exercise in ROCKING THE FUCK OUT.

So, what is The Airing of Grievances? It is guitar, and it is keyboard, and it is drum, and vocals, and sometimes there's a cello or a trumpet, and POWER. It's not metal, or even real traditional rock, but it hits you hard. This album would make Mother Teresa to thrash her arms all over the place and sing along. Vocalist Patrick Stickles does some amazing stuff throughout the album, most notably on the tracks Albert Camus and Upon Viewing Brueghel's "Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus". I really just cannot tell you with words what he adds to this album, which could have sold as purely an instrumental record. He's unhinged, he's raw, and he has shit that he wants you to hear. Lyrically, The Airing of Greivances has more than it's share of moments, but when it boils down to it, that's not what this album is about. Thankfully, Stickles' pipes more than makes up for it. There are tracks when you can't understand a word of the entire chorus, even while staring at the lyrics, and it's still alright, because you're singing along with him, words be damned!

Let's talk instrumentals. Really good. Really good, most of the time. They fall flat in a couple of places (hey, no one's perfect, especially on a debut album!), most obviously on Bright Eyes' reject song, No Future Part One. Strangely enough, the first thirty or so seconds on No Future Part Two is some of the best instrumentation on the entire record, and that is what I love about this album, more than the half-hearted literary asperations or general "smartness" of it all; it changes at every turn, and will keep you guessing. Still, I prefer to just crank it up, and flail the ol' extremities until I flail anymore.

Most of the flaws are tiny. One or two of the weaker songs can get repetitve after a few listens, especially the aforementioned No Future Part One. The production of the record seems half-hearted, even for a low budget band, which can be offputting to some**. There is the occasional monologue, taken from Titus Andronicus (the Shakespeare Tragedy) or Albert Camus' "The Stranger"**.

The Airing of Grievances ends strong, with Albert Camus, my favorite track, personally. Begining with Abraham Lincoln poisoning the milk of school children, and ending with a big "Fuck you!" to Death itself, it's certainly the most dynamic track on the album.

So, here it is. Final verdict time. I give, Titus Andronicus' debut album, The Airing of Greivances...

9.3/10

http://www.mediafire.com/?1kom13qwoqm
No password, friends. Enjoy.


**Personally, I like these things about the album, but I know not everyone feels the same way.