Song of the Week: Fired Up

I recently came across "Fired Up" and was reminded of the KEXP Song of the Day feed and how this song was my introduction to this podcast nine months ago, making Titus Andronicus my introduction to the newest wave in modern punk. In keeping with the theme of their Shakespearian namesake, last year's The Most Lamentable Tragedy is a 90-minute and 29-song rock opera that melds the brashness of The Clash with the heart of Pulp to convey an image of the modern anarchist burning all the bridges of his past, making sure the baptismal font gets evaporated along the way.

"Fired Up" by Titus Andronicus

I call it an emerging scene,
Kelvin

Song of the Week: Visions

This week I started checking out some of Spotify's public playlists and was pleasantly surprised by the expertly curated mixes in "Deep Dark Indie", "Epic Wall of Sound" and "Young Punks". From the latter I discovered the following song by The Beverleys off of their 2015 debut Brutal, which I have been replaying in my head since I first heard it.

"Visions" by The Beverleys

Saw my friends and my enemies,

Kelvin

Podcast of the Week: Ryan Adams and Bob Mould

A recording that's making its rounds on music news sites, Bob Mould was invited by Ryan Adams to his PAX-AM Studio and talks about paving the way for punk in America, among other things. The former is better known as the vocalist for the alternative bands Hüsker Dü and Sugar and his latest solo album, Patch the Sky, was released last Friday. The latter, another seminal rock musician and ex-husband of Mandy Moore, may have appeared on your social media feed in the last couple of months for his work in recording a cover album of Taylor Swift's 1989.

The pair have an extremely enlightening conversation that brings up Mould's history of playing alongside other underground acts and the way musicians and technology have an ebb and flow influence on the direction of the music industry. I definitely have my work cut out for me in checking out all the obscure 80's hardcore bands mentioned in this interview, alongside Mould's and Adams' respective discographies.

Notes I jotted while listening to this podcast

Listen to "Hear Ryan Adams and Bob Mould Play Music And Talk About Everything Under The Sun"

Visit All Songs Considered

Nipper,

Kelvin

Song of the Week: Tibetan Pop Stars

I was so enamored by last week's discovery of Basement that I wanted to hear more of artists like them and discovered Hop Along. With a very eclectic and idiosyncratic approach to freak folk, the band's 2012's Get Disowned delivers an unparalleled listening experience that melds the pronounced hard-and-soft dynamics of the Pixes ("Gigantic"), the layered sonicality of Dinosaur Jr. ("Feel the Pain") and the accentuated vocal intonations of Fall Out Boy ("The (After) Life of the Party").

"Tibetan Pop Stars" by Hop Along

My love is average / I obey an average law,
Kelvin

Song of the Week: Lost Weekend

While listening to PAWS radio I rediscovered this dance punk single from the very eclectic and very erratic 2013 record Blowout by the So So Glos. With a style reminiscent of Generation X, it serves as a perfect addition to a long head-nodding weekend playlist.

"Lost Weekend" by The So So Glos

When the work week's through,
Kelvin

Song of the Week: Lone Star

In honor of the 500,000+ individuals taking part in the March for Life (amidst the most intense blizzard in a while), the theme of the following song revolves around the consequences many would rather ignore from the ugly reality of abortion. With spare instrumentation and straight-forward, no-nonsense lyrics, The Front Bottoms depict a fictional account of a young couple coping with the aftermath of their decision in this track from their 2013 folk punk album, Talon of the Hawk.

"Lone Star" by The Front Bottoms

Not just preparing for nightmares,
Kelvin

Song of the Week: Learned to Surf

I have been struggling for some time with finding approaches to update this blog with brief, meaningful and regular posts. I have experimented with different article formats (7 Quick Takes and shorter band bios are examples of this) but all that has resulted are numerous drafts for awesome themed posts that take too much of my time to write.

So for the sake of keeping this project alive, I am looking to post weekly at minimum not ten things or seven things but one thing... just one song or story with accompanying text that takes less time to read than listening to a typical track. I want this blog to serve as an avenue of musical encounter where you stumble upon an interesting tidbit that intrigues you enough to search out more on your own (which is the typical mode of discovery for me).

And without further ado, here's "Learned to Surf" by Superchunk (also featured in a previous post) from their 2010 album Majesty Shredding (an indie punk record well worth listening through in its entirety).

"Learned to Surf" by Superchunk

I found words that weren't worth dirt,
Kelvin

Covers Set #3: Punk Goes...

When I started this blog, I didn't expect that so many posts would be about covers. But given that the first featured song was itself a cover, I guess it was only a matter of time...

In any case, this entry is about the Punk Goes... series. In 2000, Fearless Records started this series of compilation albums wherein present-day punk (or punk-derivative) rock bands cover artists of a certain featured genre (like metal, 90's, etc.). Now almost 11 years old, Fearless has racked up an exceptional discography through Punk Goes....

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#1 - Punk Goes Metal (2000)

In my opinion, Punk Goes Metal is the most "punk" album of the set. Composed by the lesser-known names of punk rock (like Bigwig, Guttermouth and Ten Foot Pole), the CD delivers a heavy sound. True, there's one or two pop-punk renditions ("I Remember You"), but the majority of the album is punk metal showing their metal side ("Bark at the Moon"). And it also shows that metal sometimes has a punk side, too; Swindle does this for Skid Row.

"Youth Gone Wild (Skid Row Cover)" by Swindle

Listen to the original here.

Good Clean Fun, rated T for teen

Last Friday, I went with a group of friends to my first club in Gainesville. I won't go into detail about the experience (because it has nothing to do with music), but I would like to mention an interesting little tidbit. Before entering the club, they checked my ID and saw I was under 21 (not that I was hiding the fact, or anything). Because of that, they Sharpied a big "X" on the back of both my hands. At that moment, I thought to myself, "This is so straight edge!"