The Will - The Will EP
I’d never heard of the Will before yesterday. This SoCal trio popped onto my radar when I was hooked up with a copy of their eponymous debut EP, with the promise that it was very Hot Water Music-influenced. In fact, these boys even do a cover of HWM’s “Never Ender.” Well, I’m intrigued. I love me some Hot Water Music, and if they do too, I can at least give it a listen, eh?
Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster
Some of you may or may not know this, but life over here at GDTS World Headquarters is not all punx. Sometimes, we listen to other genres. The Pet Shop Boys, for instance, have visited these hallowed halls. Well, their CD has. Anyway, electronic pop music will always have a place here, and it is with that in mind that Lady Gaga is here today.
It’s only been like a year, I’m not that behind.
The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
So, the Gaslight Anthem. Through some pretty relentless touring- not to mention some killer songs- they became darlings of the underground punk community. At least, the portion of said community that spent hours and hours hitting refresh to drop witty comments on Punknews.org. Personally, over the course of a year, (2008) I saw them go from opening for the Loved Ones, headlining a 90 person room, headlining a 600 person room, and finally opening on a national tour for Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, and Thrice. During that year, they managed to release the much-lauded The ’59 Sound and expand their audience significantly. Backlash, sell outs (except they’re still on an indie, kids), etc. They kept at it, touring hard, building a fanbase, playing with Bruce Springsteen in the UK. Crazy.
Now, in 2010, they’re dropping their follow-up to The ’59 Sound, the greatly-anticipated American Slang.
Against Me! - White Crosses
OK, shameful admission time, and this could get me fired from (beard)punx: before this album, I was never an Against Me! fan. I tried a few times, after hearing enough praises of Reinventing Axl Rose and The Eternal Cowboy, but listening to those albums- particularly the former- it never clicked. I heard a couple of songs off of New Wave, notably “Stop!” and “White People for Peace” and enjoyed the latter, but still, not enough to really get into them.
Then I was offered a leak of White Crosses.
Off With Their Heads - In Desolation
I love Off With Their Heads. Their gloomy, gruff, sorta-pop-punk jams are the kind of thing I eat up. And their exposure has sure grown of late; their last album, 2008′s From the Bottom (No Idea Records), was phenomenal, for starters, second only to The ’59 Sound on my short list of best albums of ’08, and got exposure through a fairly awesome placement/pricing at Hot Topic stores around the country. And then, earlier this year, they signed to Epitaph Records, helping to erase the memories of all the shit bands that label had signed over the course of the ’00s (what’s up, Escape the Fate?).
So here they are with a new album, once again going up against the Gaslight Anthem for my heart and mind.
Thought About Growing Up
Mixtapes are a band from Cincinnati who have already been spoken of here. They joined up with the venerable Death to False Hope Records, and released the absurdly addictive album/EP Maps that is already destined for a spot on my top 10 of 2010 (likely in the top 5. Seriously, I can’t stop listening). Now, these pop-punkers are back with a 4-song EP, again for download from DTFH. So how’s it fare?
OK, so this is a bit different for the site, but with the nice weather approaching/already here, and trips to beaches and things imminent, I figured it would be a good time to talk about great albums for the summer. What are some of your favorites for laid back afternoons in the sun?
A short list of mine:
That’s what I can think of off the top of my head. What about you?
The Menzingers - Chamberlain Waits
The Menzingers, hailing from beautiful Scranton, PA, won a lot of hearts and minds with their impressive 2007 debut, A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology, after which they signed with Red Scare Industries, issued the Hold On, Dodge 7″, and now are cominatcha in 2010 with their sophomore album, Chamberlain Waits.
RVIVR - LP
RVIVR is ex-Latterman, along with bands like Shorebirds, Bridge & Tunnel, Iron Chic, and I believe a few others. The splintering of Latterman as resulted in a number of great bands, perhaps rivaling Slapstick for the strongest “family tree” following their dissolution. I find RVIVR to be closest in sound to their parent band, which is pretty great, because Latterman was awesome. All of their songs sounded like the aural equivalent of high fiving your best friend.
One cool thing to note about this album: it’s free. You can go hit their label’s site- Rumbletowne Rec0rds- and stream or download yourself a copy of the album, no charge. I love when labels do that, and I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy of this record. So you have no excuse for not checking it out.
The Atom Age - Kill Surf City
I’ve only heard of the Atom Age before from their split 7″ with the Queers, released by Asian Man Records. This was apparently their first recording, and this full-length being the second. Helluva a way to start things out! But I happened to win a copy of their album, Kill Surf City, from the wonderful Rocket Fuel podcast, which you should go check out at some point. Asian Man describes the Atom Age’s contribution to the aforementioned split as “Rocket From the Crypt influenced punk rock.” Color me intrigued!