I Should’ve Started a Chemical Fire…I Should’ve Burned This Place to the Ground….

I Should’ve Started a Chemical Fire…I Should’ve Burned This Place to the Ground….

No intro necessary and in no particular logical order, my most go to 2018 releases.  Spotify playlist to follow.  Enjoy and Happy 2019.  xo PJH

 

Hot Snakes – Jericho Sirens (Sub Pop) – Catching this San Diego, CA post-hardcore phenomena live earlier this year in San Francisco was a life changing experience for me, especially watching Jon Reis’ guitar work first hand and especially since I never caught Drive Jehu live, ever…at least I caught 50% of the band this time around.   It was nice to see and hear that the foursome doesn’t miss a beat after a 12 year hiatus. Song’s like “I Need A Doctor” “Why Don’t It Sink In” proves this garage punk onslaught is all that, where its at and then some.

 

 

Buffalo Tom – Quiet and Peace (Schoolkids Records) – My Bean Town heroes return with a solidly mature release this year. When once they sang about feeling old and out of place in such classics as “Taillights Fade” and “I’m Allowed”, now they are older and reflecting on such topics as mortality and lost time in their latest effort.  The opening track, “All Be Gone” quickly proves the trio still have some gusto left under their hood.  For the “Colbourn disciples,” the bassist offers his best song yet with “Roman Cars.”  “Freckles” starts out simmering before kettle whistling to a wall of sound finale while “Slow Down” beautifully reeks of Brit-Pop lyrical positivity.

 

 

Turnstile – Time & Space (Roadrunner Records) – Despite the critics, purists, and haters (largely due to major label sellout charges), this latest release from the Baltimore fivesome is 25 minutes of pure hardcore bliss plus.  It’s the same formula heard on 2016’s Non-Stop Feeling and then some.  I hear straight up hardcore, I hear Jane’s Addiction/Perry Farrell vocals,   I hear pianos, I hear rhythmic claps, I hear metal guitar solo flirtations among all the awesome grooving breakdowns.   I hear a band among a few, brave others (Title Fight, Drug Church)  that has the balls to take the easily overplayed genre to new extremes other than the flogged horse Hate Breed/Earth Crisis route.  I finally caught them live at this year’s ‘Tid The Season event in Buffalo, NY and they blew my world up.  Fuck  listing standout songs, listen to the entire record…its that good.

 

 

Eminem – Kamikaze (Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records/Shady Records) – I don’t really care for modern age rap/hip hop, always stuck in the past with my Beastie Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, BDP and Public Enemy records, to name a few.  Except for a song here and there, I wasn’t even a big Eminem fan back in the day.   But when the 8 Mile rapper surprised the universe and dropped his 10th studio album this past summer, I was mesmerized from the very first sample of the opening track, “The Ringer.”  An “epic fail” one critic said?  Please, anything but in a world of second rate hip hop garbage offered by the bad joke, Machine Gun Kelly (sit down kid, you are no match) and many others.  From the jaw-dropping, bombastic, shit talking precision of Eminem insane tongue-twisting rhymes magically captured by the Jedi-Knight producing skills of Dr. Dre, to the Licensed To Ill shout out album cover, Eminem is back, pissed and setting shit straight.

Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers (Island Records) – Ex-Gaslight Anthem front man returns with his sophomore solo effort, picking up where 2016’s Painkillers ends.  With his latest release, we find Fallon continually getting his Bruce on, toying with the RnR sounds that once crackled out of the jukeboxes or classic car radios of  50/60s  yesterday and finding the balance between familiarity and refreshing.  Ironically, Sleepwalkers is a perfect record to catch summer rays to on a Jersey shoreline, especially Asbury Park.     Some standout tracks include “Forget Me Not”, “Little Nightmares” and “Etta James.”

 

 

Green Dragon -S/T- Straight out of my adopted hometown, Maplewood, NJ’s Green Dragon plays heavy, fuzzed out, groove music with Black Sabbath, MotorheadHendrix and even early  SST Records era St. Vitus influences heavily sprinkled throughout.  Some call it “psych-rock” which to me is acceptable but I refuse to define it as Doom/Stoner Metal because both terms are fucking stupid and I don’t even know what it means and no, I wont look up how they are defined.  The foursome’s 6 song release is an absolute treat from start to finish, teasing my inner moshing inclinations throughout and has given me that extra umph at the gym or on a run when needed.  My go to tracks are “Poison Finger” and “Eternal Pyre” and Full Moon” but the entire album is  solid.

 

The Messthetics -S/T (Dischord Records)-Take 50% of DC post hardcore legends Fugazi and throw in some mysterious dude on guitar and this trio plays some serious  surfy punky, garagy, progy, jazzy, gazy instrumental rock and boy it is some good shit.  The band released their first full length album on the famously historic DC hardcore punk label staple, Dischord Records. Nine songs of pure, balls to the walls  jamming.  I personally enjoy such tracks as “Quantum Path” and “Serpent Tongue” but there are no losing cuts on this album.

 

Allied Chemical – This Isn’t Working Out Maplewood NJ’s indie rock wizards, Allied Chemical, wasted no time following up on their solid 2017 release, Sword Soup, with this 11 song indie pop treat.  This a trio that truly likes to have fun and refuses to take themselves too seriously and it’s great to hear other members taking on vocals, especially  bassist, Jonathan “Cubic Zirconium, IV” Bloom.   Track favs include “Leavin”, “Fence” and the very interestingly intriguing “Be Right Here.”

 

 

Beach Rats – Wasted Time (Bridge Nine Records) – what happens when a Washington, DC hardcore legend move to Asbury Park, NJ?  Well in the case of guitarist Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion), he rounds up a superstar lineup of members in Lifetime and The Bouncing Souls and starts a band.   This  5 song EP offers a fun, straight ahead, no frills, melodically uplifting hardcore.    My personal favorite track, “Stay the Night” sounds like it fell off the back of the Lifetime truck.  Other standouts include opener “Lonely For The Night” and the 7 Seconds sounding title ode, “Skin, Brains, And Dubs.”  A wandering Soul in Buffalo, NY  recently informed me that a full album is in the works….awesome.

 

 

Forevers –Between the Banners, Beneath The Floors (Dadstache Records)) Rochester, NY’s Indie rock pop superstars,  Forevers quickly return with this new release even while still enjoying the residual high off their 2017 ep release, Cotton Thrones.  A smorgasbord of influences can be found  From The Replacements to Guided By Voices the Hold Steady to even, may I dare say it, Third Eye Blind).  Tracks like “Wait It Out” ‘Plastic Room” and “Why Do You Do The Things You Do” are my favorites.  I have also included the video to their first released single “ Mattress” because it is so gosh darn cute!

 

 

 

 

Vault – S/T – Members of Avail and Snapcase and Windham converge to Staunton, Virginia to produce 6 songs/22 minutes of heavy, fuzzed out psych-rock to relish, savor and enjoy.  Right out of the starting gate with “Hatchet”, this five piece means business, with consistent pummeling rhythm, engrossing hooks and  kaleidoscopic vocals that don’t let up for a breather until 4 songs in with the acoustic-tinged and melodious “Memorial Machine” before picking up tsunami strength once again with “Blindfold”.   I am not alone in expecting big things from this project in the future.   (Bandcamp:https://vault3.bandcamp.com/releases)

 

 

Dot Dash –  Proto Retro (The Beautiful Music) – DC punk scene veterans reduced headcount by one since their last recording (2016’s Searchlights) but still remain as full and tight as ever with their melodic and punky, jangly pop offerings. The trio continue to pump out the jams with these 12 songs.  Many killer tunes to be found here and I personally enjoy “Tamed a Wild Beast”  with it’s very early New Order feel.  Other feel good hits include “Unfair Weather” and ‘World’s Last Payphone.”

 

 

Sick of It All – Wake the Sleeping Dragon! (Fat Wreck Chords) – I was re-introduced to SOIA lead singer Lou Koller at a recent local Dag Nasty show.   The last I met him was 30 years ago, stumbling on him gargling his throat with salt water in the Syracuse, NY Lost Horizon’s men’s room.  I was quickly reminded in 2018 how funny he is as he explained in a precise, stand up comedian kind of way, how he sang about every topic ever twenty times over and new lyrical topics was a present challenge for the new, forthcoming album.  Well the band earns a gold star for their achievements as the NYHC heroes return with a solid release looking to kick you repeatedly in the crotch from start to finish.  Judging by the funny song titles (“Beef Between Vegans”, “Self-Important Shithead” and  “That Crazy White Boy Shit” – the last song being an ode to the legendary Bad Brains), the Alleyway Crew still have a bone to pick, but not taking  themselves to seriously doing so.

 

Drug Church – Cheer (Pure Noise Records)– My first hardcore scene ever was in Albany, NY, catching many shows there long ago and catching many NYHC bands driving up the NYS Thruway to play shows in the capital city every other weekend.  While “my” venues like 288 Lark, Hibernian Hall and South Dove Street and local bands like Wolfpack, No Outlet, Cranial Abuse and Substance are no longer around and many scenes subsequently followed, it is still very satisfying to witness an “Al”bany band making international waves  while defying the rules and pushing what’s acceptable in a predictably metal-saturated scene, similar to their comrades in Turnstile and Title Fight, with their perfect blend of hardcore and 90’s alternative nostalgia .  Too many good tracks on this latest release but “Weed Pin”, “Strong References” “Unlicensed Guidance Counselor” and “Avoidarama” quickly come to mind.

 

John Coltrane-1963: New Directions/Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!)– 2018 was a big year for the American saxophone jazz legend who passed away over 50 years ago, at only 40 years of age.  The former recording showcases the artist’s busy recording year in 1963 just before discovering free/acid jazz (yuck, my least favorite era of his – blame it on the Trane and his love for ‘caine?) while the latter’s copy of the Master  recordings “found” with Coltrane’s wife (the originals destroyed by the record company to free up storage space!!) and finally released. Both offerings are fantastic and a perfect soundtrack to the hustle n’ bustle of NYC. I admit I don’t listen to a much jazz as I use too (which my wife likes to remind me noticeably a lot) but such releases remind me a glorious age the American bebop/hard bop era truly is and why I should be listening more again.

 

Tuffy – Lighting Things On Fire (BF Collective) – Brooklyn power trio Tuffy setting the planet ablaze with 15 songs of witty, indie pop brilliance. Front-woman, Yasmin Dalisay will coquettishly enrapture you were Tanya Donelly-ish vocals.  The title track and “Into the Mouth of Everything” are just a few tunes that keeps my broken ears happy and my foot tapping.

 

 

Verbal Assault – The Trial Reissue (Atomic Action)– when originally released 31 years ago by this Providence, RI band, this album changed the face of hardcore in so many ways and has stood the test of time mostly, at least for me,  because it was such a vast improvement over the bands first release just a year prior on 1986’s Learn.  All the tracks were re-mastered but in my opinion, didn’t need to be as lead singer’s Christopher Jones’ 10 second vocal hang in the opening track (starting at the 1:42  mark: ) still gives me goosebumps, while the guitar work throughout is still both spearheading and avant garde for a hardcore release from so long ago, even without the piano in “Scared”.

 

 

 

Terror – Total Retaliation (Pure Noise Records) – Buffalo native Scott Vogel (Buried Alive, Despair, Slugfest, World Be Free) and team sizzle up 13 songs of brutal hardcore straight outta Los Angeles.  After 16 years the band still sounds urgent, aggressive and energized with breakdowns that gets you through a frustrating day or challenging workout.  “Get Off My Back” ‘Mental Demolition” and “One More Enemy” pack some serious kick to the nuts.

 

Sleep – The Sciences (Third Man Records) – After 15 years, this San Jose, CA Doom Metal trio return with this 6 song EP.   While I suffer a serious case of “jellobiafaraitis” when it comes to the vocals, the heavy, fuzzed out sludgy music makes up for the former’s shortcomings.  “Marijuanaut’s Theme” and “Sonic Titan” catch my fancy.

 

 

No Sleep – Bring the Light (Reaper Records) – Since we are on the topic of sleep, Hardcore vocalist legend, Dave Smalley ( Dag Nasty, DYS, Down By Law, ALL) leads this Washington DC/Harrisburg, PA melodic hardcore outfit. These 3 songs have a real late Dag Nasty Field Day or even Minority of One release feel.  Looking forward to more offerings by this band.

 

Finally, hats off to New Jersey’ indie rock darlings The Brixton Riot for doing a killer cover of Echo and the Bunnymen’s “Bring on the Dancing Horses” for Mint 400’s At The Movies compilation.  The band managed to keep true to the original while adding their own unique flare and I can’t think of anyone other than vocalist-guitarist Jerry Lardieri’s that can vocally knock this song out of the ball park.  And boy did he…..

Even the video has a cool, nostalgic 80’s vibe and is also gosh darn cute….Beautifully done boys. xo

 

 

EDITED TO ADD:  Of course something is always overlooked…..how did I ever forget Weezer’s insanely good cover of Toto’s 1982 hit, “Africa”?

 

 

Until we meet again…..xo

 

RIP MCA Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys

RIP MCA Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys

David Lee Roth w/ a young Beastie Boys

(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)


RIP (1964-2012): Tibeten Rapper, Father and Beastie Boys Adam MCA Yauch. Rest in peace son. Here’s more Beastie discography with lyric and discography references than you could possibly drink.

“I think every person has the ability to effect change…Every one of us affects constantly through our actions…through our every word, the way that we interact with other people we’re constantly affecting the world.”

Beastie Boys foolin on Japanese TV is not really suitable for work but this shit is funny as all get out.

Some Beastie Boys Magic:
DoeDoLLa Interviews Adam MCA Yauch MP3 (2008)
Fight For Your Right (Beastie Boys Cover) MP3 by ColdPlay, Hollywood Bowl May 4th 2012
Slow Ride MP3 by Beastie Boys from Licensed to ill

Summer is here with the promise of beer

Summer is here with the promise of beer

Movie Beach Scene Music Mix Summer 2011
This summer playlist is somewhat of a time warp but not the kind you would think because more than half this music I consider perfect for summer because of it’s tone or theme. The lyrics or title might mention the sun or burn the sort of imagery that you’d want in the perfect beach movie soundtrack.

It’s Summertime MP3 by The Flaming Lips from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots This song always creeps into almost every playlist but still qualifies since it’s movie like.
Booty City MP3 by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears from Scandalous The crew makes a wrong turn or right turn into some bar called Booty City and let the bump begin.
Divagando MP3 by Sexteto Electronico Moderno is a group from Montevideo Uruguay (1967) – Killer organ jams with a mix bossanova and Latin jazz to pop. This is very breezy music even with the dark shades on.
Red Hot MP3 by Billy Emerson (1957) Great swinging tune from a Sun Records compilation he sings. “My girl is red hot, my girl is red hot.”
Everything Looks Better In the Sun MP3 by Obits from Moody, Standard, and Poor (2011)
Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win MP3 by Beastie Boys from their new one Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011) – featuring Santigold. This is a total island jam complete with horns and Lee Scratch Perry analog delay. Summertime Bossa Nova MP3 by Seth Kauffman from the record Research (2007). Lots of different sounds on this record. This track is exactly what it says.
Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer MP3 by country singer Billy Currington
Behind The Sun MP3 by Red Hot Chili Peppers from The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987). The sun is coming up from the end of evening as the gang recounts the rest of the evening.
Hot Fun In The Summertime MP3 by Sly & The Family Stone (1969)

Past Summer Mixes:
Quick Summer Mix for cruisin down the beach [2010]
2010 Summer Rock Mix II – Can you say jail-bait?
Hot Summer Rock Mix[2009]
Summer Surf and turf driving Mix
End of Summer Playlist 2008

Gil Scott-Heron televised the revolution

Gil Scott-Heron televised the revolution

DJ Danny, A.K.A. Akalepse holding Gil Scott-Heron's Winter in America


It was 1987. Public Enemy had just popped into the scene. We were clueless pre-adults about to be released into the world. We knew who Malcolm X was from English class which only really came together after hearing their words and his radical words pumped out through the speakers of the political defense system that the revolution would in fact not be televised. Or would it? We knew the Beastie Boys brought us some awesome party music but there was no way they invented this music. The nerative was too pure with all sorts thoughts and stories making history real-time. The master at telling them was Gil Scot-Heron who preached about a black and proud nation. PE took the bass and drum parts isolated and amplified their message to give rap music edge. We were white kids and we went deep. Explored hip-hop tape and records shops in Plainfield NJ in the middle of the day for more. Where we just used to buy beer and pot. This time the contra-band was Hip Hop. More radical than punk rock and hardcore. Gil Scot-Heron let us know this has been going on for awhile and PE were just some of the messengers. Thanks Beasties for making it alright and RIP Gil — G*d Bless.

H2Ogate Blues MP3 by Gil Scott-Heron from Winter in America (1974)
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised MP3 from Pieces of the Man (1971)
Caught, Can We Get a Witness? MP3 by Public Enemy from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back (1988)
Public Enemy No. 1 MP3 by PE from Yo Bum Rush The Show (1987)
Shake Your Rump MP3 by Beastie Boys from Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Posse In Effect MP3 from Licensed to iLL (1986)

Dis is related:
Kool DJ Red Alert
DJ Akalepse