30-11-2011

You might be...

Oh God I had the chance to see Mikey Erg Monday evening. In Bonn. In Germany. In the BLA bar. And we ate burgers at Frittebud. It was awesome.

First band were The Arteries. I once read an interview with them and they seemed a cool band and apparently they are a cool band! The singer has lots of hair but also a great voice! The band played really tight and the songs sounded great!

Second up was The Slow Death, featuring Mikey Erg on drums. The singer was drink and couldn't help but explain that fact every once in a while. They played pretty good though. They are undoubtely from the Minneapolis area. Great show.

Mikey Erg then cam on stage with his guitar and I was overwhelmed. I was sooo happy to see this little nerdy dude who wears glasses that don't even stay in place. He started playing songs and it was amazing cause he played songs I love. Ergs! songs, the occasional cover and the occasional Mikey Erg song. The Ergs! songs were the coolest cause The Ergs!, for me, were one of the coolest bands ever. Consequently I enjoyed the show thoroughly, sang along a lot and got all emotional and stuff. He played Books About Miles Davis and at the end the guys from the other bands jumped in to do the grand finale and it was so cool. He played Saturday Night Crap-O-Rama as an encore I think and he left it at that.
The whole show was just him playing freaking powerchords, singing some lines and keeping hold of his glasses but it was one of the coolest damn things I've ever seen. Amazing songwriter. Amazing dude.
Seeing him again at Crossbonefest! Syke!

Fed Up

There was a hardcore show last Friday. I went to take a look. Couldn't stay till the end.

Expand Their Oceans are very young dudes playing metalcore. Not my thing, but all the more their thing, and they had some fans I guess. Cool.

Dead End Sin had both vocalists this time, which was cool. Hard.

Violent City is awesome. Only saw half the set cause I had to catch a train but people were going nuts. Awesome.

23-11-2011

drunk rock

It's time for another list. No wait, I'll make it a mixtape, because that's cooler, more interesting and gives you something to (not) listen to. It's similar to this one but not the same. Aight?

This one's about albums that inspire me to get really drunk, both in a positive and a negative way. Basically: either they make me want to party and get drunk or they make me want to drink myself to sleep. Either way they're fantastic records.
I'll try to sequence the mix according to a night out. Feel great, have fun, party, drink too much, doubt self, end up lonely, hate stuff, pass out. Something like that.

1. Be My Doppelganger - No Composure (Backpack Beers)
Fun punx, beer punx, encouraging you to do stupid shit and enjoy life. Works for me. No Composure is like a sixpack in CD format.
2. The Leftovers - Eager To Please (Party 'Til We Die)
Although the subject material isn't always partylicious, the whole album screams "dance and drink yourself in a good stupor!" Okay, I will.
3. The Unlovables - Crush, Boyfriend, Heartbreak (Today's The Day (I Finally Kissed You))
This album explains life, but also every year, month and day makes a lot more sense after listening to this album. Get a beer, feel good and in love, get another, feel over the moon, get another few and choke on your tears.4. Dear Landlord - Dream Homes (High Fives)
Dream Homes is made for low lifes who drink budget drinks on Wednesday afternoons. Oh wait, it's made for me. I'll open another one.
5. The Dopamines - Expect The Worst (Cincinnati Harmony)
Are you unsuccesful? Are you a loser? Don't worry, there's always beer! That's one message that this Dopamines record oozes out. It'll make you much more of a loser but at least you'll care less.
5. Banner Pilot - Heart Beats Pacific (Intervention)
Everything this band does is gold. You know what else is gold(-ish)? Beer. I love drinking along to Banner Pilot. I should get to buying some whiskey for such records, but it's pretty expensive and I'm scared I'll get way too fucked up. Hmmmm. Hold on, I'm going to the store.
6. The Priceduifkes - Can't Lose (Start Drinking)
The drummer is a teetotaller so it's pretty obvious he doesn't write the lyrics. The PDS guide you to a life of self-loathing and failure. But there's a message of hope and inspiration as well. Just kidding, go drown your sorrows and watch Star Wars.
7. Team Stray - Popular Mechanics (Forget You)
I'd put this on every mix. Popular Mechanics is the best album for anything. When you're drunk, it's a lot funnier and a lot sadder, so it's a whole lot better.
8. The Ataris - End Is Forever (Bad Case Of Broken Heart)
This album could be a drinking game. Everytime Kris sings "heart" or "love" you drink. Everyone'll be smashed by track 8.
9. The Ergs! - Dorkrockcorkrod (Running, Jumping, Standing Still)
This makes me happy and sad at the same time. Kinda like beer does. Get it?
10. The Tattle Tales - Hearts In Tune (Her New Company)
The perfect summer evening record, but also the perfect autumn and spring record. Not good for winter. Why does this make me want to drink? Both the pop/party sensibility and the scary relevance to my life.
11. Osker - Treatment 5 (Numbskull)
You'll understand this album better when you're drunk. I doubt Devon feels that way, but I do and as soon as I hear those basslines i wanna get a beer and sob how much I suck at bass and how much everyone else sucks at life.
12. A Radio With Guts - Acoustic Series (Ten Shot Farewell)
I could've put Beat Heart Sweet Stereo Here, which has the same effect, but this acoustic session by Brandon Tussey is just so intense. He's the Bukowski of punk rock. AKA the drunk misanthropist/mysogynist of punk rock. I like the dude.
13. Killing The Dream - Fractures (Everything But Everything)
Makes me wanna kill myself, this album. Instead I just get drunk, way less implicative.
14. American Nightmare - Background Music (There's A Hole In The Shadow Of The Pru)
Coming from Boston, there's probably some straight edge dudes in this band. I'm sorry if so, but I like/need to get my head unclear for this album. Fuck.
15. Jawbreaker - Dear You (Basilica)
No comment. Has an unexplainable effect. Get drunk.

Download the mix here: http://www.mediafire.com/?6ff37me18f724d2

20-11-2011

Hardcore's back in town

Ever heard about this style of music they call hardcore punk? Well, it appears that it is, as they say, alive!
I went to do some research on the subject yesterday and from empirical evidence it is deducted that hardcore indeed lives.

The first phase of the research was by means of a band called Dead End Sin, whose rehearsal room was also the venue. Insane. Super cool venue. Dead End Sin pulled off a decent show but I'm not into it, it has too many breakdown for my tender body. However, they're dedicated to what they do and that's what counts. +1 for hardcore.

The next evidence was the fury of The Ignored. I've heard their stuff on compact disc (that's a CD, noobs) and I think they're great but their live show absolutely slays (as opposed to The Setup (see later), whose show kills). There're like 4 people who do vocals in this band. Great harmonies ensue. Great songs, lots of powerage, energy and primarily a sense of enthusiasm! They did a True Believers and What Happened? cover. They played a lot of great songs of their own. Whoo, fun times! +1

For earlier data we can conclude that Homer is top-notch melodic punk rock/hardcore material. They're loud, they're catchy, they're rocking and they're simple really good. They played some new songs off the upcoming album and it's probably gonna be a smash hit. +1

Countdown would still have to convince me, as I am a Countdown-virgin. Never heard 'em before. But HOLY FUCK THEY ARE LOUD. Damn, girl. Really good band, get into it. I know I will! +1

Groundbreaking proof came with the release show for A Strength Wihin's Still Searching EP. It was pretty much the funnest show I have done in a while. Hardcore dancing, regular dancing, circle pit dancing, sing-along dancing. Atmosphere was just delightful, show was hard as nails and the new songs are sooooo good. Funny thing is that the EP has been out since June I guess, but that's cool. The dudes played their hearts out as always and they take pride in what they do and what they're part of. They're goddamn honest and they shred like hell. Guns Up cover and Still Searching as encore song, again, they had already played pretty much everything they put out. Great show, great atmosphere, great band. +1
EVERYTHING WE SEE AND HEAR ISN'T THE ABOLUTE TRUTH. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

The Setup is a force I had actually pretty much forgotten about but I still love this band a lot. But you know, when The Setup plays, The Setup kills. I was dissappointed in myself that I had forgotten a lot of lyrics to songs I used to spin regularly. The show was ace though, played classics like Out Of Sync and Winter, played Hostile Eyes which has one of the best riffs they've ever written and ended it all with motherfucking Death Of A Nation. The mosh was off the hook, got hit in the teeth at one point and as my teeth are pretty fragile I stood back for a while. Couldn't help getting back in and dancing again, cause I was really in the mood. Sometimes I have to let the hardcore kid in me out and dance like there's no tomorrowwwww. +1
Also it's been ages since I've seen The Setup perform, so it was just awesome.

In sum, best show in ages, I had so much fun. Buy Still Searching. Support local bands.
The place was packed so that's another factor as to why hardcore would be alive. Thrilled to see so many peepz show up at a show with only Belgian bands.


Q.E.D.

Dance!

Q: What does a ska band say when they release a new album?
A: pickituppickituppickitup!
BADUMTSH

As you might have guessed by the silly joke, I went to a ska show on Friday. It was time to get down so I did. Well, kind of, I have no idea how I have to get down. I'll have to check up on that.
The show was a Rock Café show. Now, the Rock Café isn't the biggest place (actually it's pretty small) and if the bands alone count about 5 to 7 members each, it gets pretty full. It was probably the biggest audience I had ever deen in the Rock Café. Insane but super cool and super fun.

First band was Poor Excuse For A Human, a skapunk band from Ghent who play skapunk songs. Pretty good, some cool covers of Goldfinger, NoFX and Mad Caddies, and some good tunes. Vocals, however, were monotonous as fuck and the party-vibe was kinda missing. Not a bad show, but I wasn't really impressed. Sorry guys.

Then Airplane was there, from Brussels, and they represent party. More on the ska-ska side but really really good. Song in English, Spanish, French, … All kind of stuff. They played the Tetris tune. They were incredibly fun. They looked happy. They got a party going. They covered motherfucking Ace Of Spades as a ska song. Best thing I've heard in my life. I'm not the ska freak but these guys were killing it. Best band of the night.

Next up was The Coconut Butts from Germany. Saw the first half of their set and it was pretty good. Really rude boy-ish and pretty typical actually. Fun band, but I had my belly full of ska at the moment (dutchism!) so I went to have a beer downstairs.

Last band was Overweight. Fun fun fun. Got me dancing almost I think!

So yeah, I got my ska shot for the year. Thanks!

17-11-2011

Guys with guitars

Okay so I was like "hell I'm gonna go to this show in Anwerp, I have nothing else to do and I've heard a PJ Bond song once and I'm gonna drink beers and it'll be fun". Next thin I knew all of that was correct.

On Monday I went to De Kleine Hedonist which is like a literary hipster kind of bar in Antwerp. I was early so I started drinking (expensive) beers and I read Jerk Store fanzine #9, which was really good. After a while this guy from Switzerland grabbed his guitar and a mic and got on "stage" - note: not really a stage. He dismissed the mic because it wasn't necessary.
This dude's name is Greg Laraigne, you might know him from his band Hateful Monday. I didn't know him at all, but I'm really digging his songs. He has a punk rock background so a lot of his songwriting is influenced by punk rock, aside from influences such as Ryan Adams and other singer-songwriters. Some instant hits, some sad songs, some harmonica, a lot of passion and love for the stuff he's doing. He's a supernice guy, a great artist but humble and down-to-earth. Also pretty funny and he's good at English but there's a definite French accent which is funny sometimes. He has an album coming out on Shield Recordings, it's called Story Tellers, True Believers and it's AWESOME (I know because he sold/gave me a burnt copy of the record, but the lps aren't ready yet. I also know because I am good at listening to music, I really am.) So buy that stuff, man!

I asked a friend to come over to have some beers and he did so I was not alone anymore. He also thought it was good (he saw like half the set). So yay!

Then this dude PJ Bond came on with his guitar and he plays songs. You probably don't know him from the band Outsmarting Simon, but he played in that band. Now he left home and plays around the world. I think it's crazy but awesome. He plays songs he writes and thankfully the songs he writes rule. I like sad songs. I also like happy songs, though. He played all kinds of songs, sometimes powerful, sometimes fragile. He's less punk rock influenced, compared to Greg.  PJ Bond also has records on Shield Recordings and records rule and Shield rules as well.

Random facts:
- There were like 6 people watching the shows.
- Hmmmm, beer.
- My brother came to have a beer after the show, which was cool. Den Dimi also arrived suddenly, another awesome thing.
- I wish I didn't need to catch a train.
- Both PJ and Greg have beards, plaid shirts and tattoos. I think it's cool but it's also pretty obvious. Funny.

So after this night of fun fun fun I decided to head to Hasselt for their second tour show in Belgium at de Carpe Diem. Cool bar. Arrived pretty early again, drank beers, hung out.
Greg did his thing and I was able to sing along to some songs (noteably Nothing To Write Home About, Geneva's Burning and Let The Lucky Guys Play). He did a Ryan Adams cover and a Brian Adams joke-combo. He's awesome, just trust me on this.
PJ also did his thing and yet again played his heart and everybody else's heart out. Best dude. Best dude.

Random facts:
- Lots of beers. Some shots, thanks to Greg/PJ, thanks dudes! Fun bar!
- Lots of hanging out. Heard quite a lot of cool stories about touring and learned a lot of stuff and got a lot of stuff I need to check out.
- Thanks for Dennis for the place to sleep.
- Did an interview with Greg & PJ for the next 'zine. It's not really good cause I'm not a good interviewer and I only knew them since Monday, but they had some cool things to say about the boring subjects I asked them about.

08-11-2011

Fountains Of Wayne

So, instead of spending a fair amount of weeks looking forward to a Fountains Of Wayne show, I just noticed yesterday morning that they were playing Belgium yesterday evening. Holy fuck. A friend of mine actually read about it and posted on the facebook shiznit and that's how I discovered and got totally siked the next 12 or so hours.
This September Zac from the Wellingtons recommended them to me so I checked them out properly (of course I had heard and loved Mexican Wine and Stacy's Mom) and they're an amazing pop band (one of the best). Their song writing sensibility is just untouchable.
And now I was bound to see them live on stage. Siked as fuck.

The show started with David Mead, who is a singer-songwriter with a hat. Seriously? Yeah, seriously. But, all stereotypes aside, and although he didn't do anything original, he played some great tunes on the verge between serious shit and less serious shit. Highlight was probably Guy On Guy, a perfect example of that. Electric guitar was a pro because it gave the songs more power and a certain drive that lots of singer-songwriters have lacking. Likeable dude, his next album is called Dudes. You can check it out if if you're into it.

Then Fountains Of Wayne came up. I'm used to smaller punk rock shows so I always find it funny to see bands with roadies and intro music and so on. So they came on stage and BAM - Little Red Light. The show got going immediately. All the hits came along, and they of course have nur hits. Super tight performance and amazing sound as well. No hold-ups except for a broken amp which got replaced fast and the kept playing with guitarist on bass and bassist on keyboards. The show must go on. Audience participation which was cool (3 people got on stage with percussionist things). And the songs, they were amazing. Acoustic, electric, slow, fast, it was all well-balanced, didn't bore in the least and just really fitting. Radiation Vibe got split into with 2 or 3 covers right in the middle of the song. The upbeat stuff generally got more reaction obviously but the slower or softer stuff is equally as good. I was happy during the whole set.
The guys are really down-to-earth and although the guitarist looks like he should be in Mötley Crüe they don't act like rock stars. They're just Fountains Of Wayne, a really good power pop band. And as every good band does, they as well had an encore planned. Of course it included Stacy's Mom, their biggest hit and probably rightfully because it might just be their best song. But as everyone was expecting Stacy's Mom, the dude just held on to his acoustic guitar... and started jamming and acoustic (full-band, of course) version of it. It was far above awesome. And it's really cool they do that because you're not gonna hear that anywhere else. Last song was Sink To The Bottom and that was a major ending. Audience singing the chorus and stuff. Makes you feel alive.

In my kind of scene, it's stagedives that make you feel alive. Who the fuck needs stagedives?

Also a friend of mine didn't go and he told he was just gonna "listen to the cd later on". Yeah, buddy, you're still missing out. Live show was seriously 20 times better.

07-11-2011

Bands 'n' stuff

So Friday night is a usual show night.
The start of a weekend and the end of the working week. For me it's pretty much the reverse but nevermind.

No Way Out play pop punk. 5 really young dudes from Hamme I think (making them the 2nd Hamme-band I saw last week) with great ideas. The live show wasn't all that jazz, though. Not really tight, but considering they're still a young band with not that much stage experience 'n' stuff I'll let that slip. Songs were pretty neat, great whoa-ohs. The vocalist has a pretty palatine sound I guess. Catchy tunes, sometimes a bit flattekes but definitely listenable.

A Hero Build followed and they, well, they rule. Took a minute to get used to the vocals because I expected something else but it was aight 'n' stuff. So they have an EP out that ya'll should check and they played all of it live plus a cover of No Trigger (I think it was Bust Tropical but I could be wrong though). One guitar player did the Propagandhi thingy with his guitar. Lots of energy, they were surely into it and I'm really impressed actually.
(Also, cute bass player.)

Last band was Drunktank from the Netherlands. They won't play for a while after November because of things 'n' stuff, but I caught them in Mechelen. Never seen or heard them before, but they were great. Skatepunk, as I expected, with supertechnical riffs. Sometimes I was thinking they tried too much because it seemed too "constructed", but overall I was into it and they put on a hell of a show. A variety of vocals makes it all the more interesting and a good sense of fun makes it, well, fun.
'n' stuff.

03-11-2011

My Very Own Short Music Collection

Hey, I made a mix of short songs like the guys at Fat Wreck Chords did in 1999.
There's no tracklist nor any artwork because I'm too lazy and it's a total of 59 songs so yeah.

Here's a screenprint of what's in it, though:
So that's a selection of punkrock, hardcore and some odd one. Check it at:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mj4n06vwcsd9wvc

Dilbeek Party (Foul)

I went to Dilbeek on Monday night. Halloween night. Nothing special. Some cool bands played and some less cool bands played.

The Homeless played first. Not really tight but I'm digging their style and passion. You can hear the influences (More Than Life being an obvious one) but they're definietely trying to put their spin on it. Their debut EP sounds good so I'm expecting good things to come out of these guys. Passionate hardcore as I like it.

Rebuild next. Good show, as always. They sure know how to put on good shows. Stellar band. Great people with a lot of heart and soul in the music, the performance and for the whole hardcore/punkrock scene. Their EP is finally bound to be out in the next few weeks/months after a huge delay but I'm stoked as fuck. Funny thing is that most of the songs on the 7" are already outdated, so to speak. Their live show has moved on, obviously.
If they record another record now it'll probably be out by 2014, so get stoked!

Off The Charts played at homebase but weren't en forme. It wasn't all how it supposed to have sounded and the interludes they made up weren't really rehearsed through so that became a little soup (dutchism!). But I love these guys so much so I still rocked out to their songs. They're now definitely getting away from teh demo sound and they're becoming an individual band. People will say "oh yeah Off The Charts, they sound like... well they sound like Off The Charts".

Then Kim from OTC changed position to bass and flipped genre as to play with Breathing While Buried, a heavy metalcore band. I spend a great deal of my teenage years listening to metalcore and occasionally I put on some songs, so I wasn't completely turned off. They're straight forward and I like that in a band. They had the crabmoves going on which is obviously totally ridiculous but I reckon you got to do something, right? As far as metalcore goes, I dug it, but I wouldn't spend my euroz on it.

I was supposed to go partying in de Zomaar afterwards but I had to work the next day so I changed my mind last minute and took a train home. Kinda regret it but it's a tough world right.