This is my top 10 albums of the decade (or the last 10 years cause I know some people get confused with all the decades, centuries and millenniums). Why do we need to shorten everything in life now? Saying ten years doesn’t save anytime either, maybe a millisecond.

If we add up all these milliseconds we saved using all these short forms in our vernacular can we trade them in at the end of life for a prize? Say paper clip, a small toy racing car, a hair clip or a longer life. Anyways, a decade is 10 years. So, the list spans the first decade of the new millennium, so the years 2000 to 2010. After this I guess it’ll be the best albums of the first century of the new millennium that will include the list of the first decade but scattered throughout the century that is 100 years. A century is 100 years.

Now, we all know how the Internet works. Someone nobody knows or cares about posts a list or an opinion and it sits there waiting for Internet snipers to find it just to call it wrong and rip it apart. There’s one thing you have to understand with this list. It’s my list. Many of the albums on this list probably aren’t considered critically acclaimed. These are albums that affected my life and turned me into the asshole I am today. There’s a lot I want to mention but 10 years isn’t enough. Also, 1999 was a good year for albums. Maybe I’ll do a list strictly of 1999’s best albums. So hopefully, this is an enjoyable list.

10. Brand New- Your Favourite Weapon. October 9, 2001. Razor and Tie Records

Your Favourite Weapon threw me into a different stratosphere of music. At the time of me buying it I was listening to Green Day, Blink 182 and things like that. For me this album entered emotion into my search for new bands. The utter raw screaming and crunch guitars definitely were like nothing else I had heard at the time. Brand New opened me up to a grunge sound that I hadn’t experienced before this album.

9. Rufio- Perhaps I Suppose…June 12, 2001. Militia Records

I’ve always liked Rufio and this album is definitely their best. Everything is perfect. Also, the guitar work was a stray away from the usual chugging you hear in your usual pop-punk. It added the catchy metal inspired riff into the equation.

8. A Day To Remember- For Those Who Have Heart. January 27, 2007. Victory Records

A Day To Remember is definitely a newer band out there. Just getting their feet in the music industry but their first full-length “For Those Who Have Heart” definitely owns the faces of any hardcore, metal or pop-punk kids out there. With it’s heavy belting breakdowns and melodic poppy choruses it shows such an exciting mix of two different genres. It’s always good when bands are original. ADTR are definitely a hard rough example of creativity and originality to change two genres forever.

7. Between The Buried And Me- Colors. September 18, 2007. Victory Records

One of the first and few metal bands I still like. Colors is just amazing there’s nothing to really say. It’s one of the longest albums I listen to but it’s worth the hour and four minutes of amazing musicianship. I saw them live and they played the whole album and that was it for me a fan for life.

6. Lifetime- Lifetime. February 6, 2007. Fueled By Ramen/ Decaydance

One of the most interesting and amazing comeback albums of all time. Lifetime fell off the radar in the 90s after a couple full-length releases and interesting enough Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz signed them and they released their self-titled album. It was nothing like I had heard at this point. I was well into punk but this album took all the hardcore punk elements and turned them inside out into this collection of weirdly catchy and addictive songs.

5. Daggermouth- Turf Wars.  March 13, 2007. State Of Mind Records

Canada’s own. Daggermouth have been having some problems lately and their future is bleak. But thanks for releasing this album before the troubles. “Turf Wars” added the hardcore amendment to Canadian music that has been missing for a while.  I know about Comeback Kid and all that but Daggermouth definitely gave it the boost it needed. How much could Comeback Kid do on their own when they were strictly touring Canada for so long? Daggermouth brought it to the States and killed shows up and down the west coast.

4. Motion City Soundtrack- I Am The Movie. June 24, 2003. Epitaph Records

What can I say? Motion City Soundtrack is basically The Get Up Kids. But if you want to duplicate something as well as MCS have then by all means as long as it’s good. Motion City Soundtrack was one of my favourite bands with this release. It had fast, slow, fucked up songs and that’s what I liked at the time of its release.

3. Fall Out Boy- Take This To Your Grave. May 6, 2003. Fueled By Ramen

“Take This To Your Grave” did something with pop-punk that a lot of other bands couldn’t do before it. It made the heavier pop music radio friendly. I have no problems with the music I like being on the radio. The more plays they get the more money they get the more material they release and the more they tour. What’s wrong with that? There’s no such thing as selling out. Isn’t making it in the music business why you’re in a serious band in the first place? I love this album. Always have and always will.

2. New Found Glory- New Found Glory. September 26, 2000. Drive-Thru Records

New Found Glory is definitely my favourite band of all time. Why it’s not number 1? Because I couldn’t put “Nothing Gold Can Stay” cause that was released in 1999. This album is what sent NFG into the pop-punk hall of fame with every song catchier than the next.  They quickly became one of my favourite bands after this release with every album getting bigger and bigger.

1. Saves The Day- Stay What You Are. July 10, 2001. Vagrant Records

“Stay What You Are” is a peak into Chris Conely’s dark thoughts on life. He put into this album what most angst filled teenagers are thinking. It was the perfect album for me during high school and college because it put everything I wanted to do into song without having to hurt anyone. It’s just bottom line a great album and is rightfully so at number 1.

Two events:

6pm tomorrow (Wednesday 2 Dec), Jamez, a friend from Singapore will lead an open discussion at Jura Books (440 Parramatta Rd on some of the political and social movements in Singapore. Jamez is active in animal protection with ACRES and is active in the political DIY hardcore punk scene in Singapore (including the Blackhole212 space I posted a link about in the last post) so will be able to touch most on these topics but are by no means the only topics that will be discussed. Come along and find out what our neighbours are up to!

&

Sunday 6 December, 1pm
Hackett House 004

Hackett House
6- 8 Old Town Centre Plaza, Bankstown.

$5, All Ages.

Nunchukka Superfly
Skinpin
Yes I’m Leaving
Rabbit

When the name ‘Adam Turla’ showed up on our caller ID last month, I got pretty fuckin nervous.  Turned out to be alright and they stole the show later that evening at the 9:30 Club.

This was finally posted on punknews.org

So you were playing shows throughout Europe over the summer, how were those tours and did you have a particular place you preferred playing in Europe?

We mostly just like going over there because it’s really wild to jump from one sort of cultural style to another. I think the fun of touring Europe is being somewhere new everyday or every couple days. You go to Italy which is such a culture of food and a certain attitude and a look to the land. Then you go to Germany and it’s completely different in every way and there’s something exciting about getting to jump between these various cultures that we love. We had a great time and then we toured Greece about a month and a half ago which is gorgeous. We played in front of Mount Olympus and we played in Athens in view of the Acropolis. It’s just crazy to find yourself in this sort of foundation of Western civilization while you’re playing a rock show.

That’s got to be pretty breathtaking . . .

Yeah it’s just crazy. I think when we started our band there was no thought we’d ever find ourselves in Greece because of the band. You hope that you’ll get to travel to see the world… you’re sort of thinking of travel as sort of a generic thing, and then you realize how many opportunities you have to see crazy stuff. I mean this summer we played Italy and we were taking a ferry to the island of Sardinia and on the way we stopped at Pisa and saw the leaning Tower of Pisa. You know, it’s like “What?! Alright!”

How is the tour with Gaslight Anthem going? Is this your first tour together?

Yeah, this is their first bug headlining tour. They were going to come out with us a year ago when they were starting to get some buzz, so they wanted to be the second band, but we had already confirmed a band. So we went with another option and we were like, “Oh we’ll just go with them next time,” and then when the next time rolled around they were asking us.

Oh man, that’s wild.

Yeah, so it’s been a good tour. The shows have been really big. And you know it’s always incredible to play a big room that sounds great. We’ve been able to play places we wouldn’t normally have been able to do on another tour.

Cool. So, how do American audiences compare to the ones you had in Europe?

It’s funny, in some ways it’s more complicated and in some ways it’s even similar than I would’ve expected. For one, American audiences sing along more. They speak English better (laughs). It’s so simple, but even if they are rowdy, or super into the show, or really respectful in Europe, you don’t get the amount of singing along. I love that about American shows – they’re always a little crazier. But even when you go to Europe, their attentiveness is incredible. We’ve played shows that were a 20 song set, and they want us to come on for an encore, and we’ll do that – we’ll do two songs. And then they want us to come on for another one, and we’ll do two songs. And then they’ll just keep clapping and they won’t stop clapping to the point where we’re standing there saying, “Do we know any more songs?” Then we’ll be like, “Alright this is the last song we know how to play.” And that’s kind of hilarious. Obviously they do an excellent job of stroking our egos… its fun. It’s interesting to compare because when we’re in Europe we’ll be the only band – there’ll be like one band opening for us instead of like a whole tour package.

Yeah they want more out of one band. So, Gaslight’s style is pretty different from Murder by Death. Are you all fans of Gaslight Anthem?

We weren’t as familiar beforehand. We had just heard a little bit. But yeah, we have come to be, certainly. I guess it’s different. There are certain songs that make more sense to their audience. They have a really upbeat, nostalgic sound. We have a much darker thing… some upbeat songs, but more downers and slower instrumentals. We have been testing out the material and seeing what people respond to. Trying stuff that’s really different from what they do, trying stuff that’s more similar. We’ve been experimenting over the course of two months what we should do, and how people will respond to each style.

Yeah, I was going to ask about that. This tour has a pretty varied line-up featuring Gaslight Anthem, Murder by Death, The Measure (SA), and the Loved Ones. So, what advantages can you find in such a diverse tour and are there any disadvantages?

This tour has changed a lot. There have been different openers. The Measure has only played one show so far… and before that it was Broadway Calls which is a punk band from Portland. Before that it was Frank Turner from England… and we have the Loved Ones who are like smarter, older dudes playing rock ‘n’ roll punk… they’d all get the audience into a excited frenzy, and then we’d play and maybe depress them a little bit.

Yeah (laughs)

We’ll do our drinking song thing, but we’ve had a great response. And then Gaslight will come up and obviously it’s their tour… It’s kind of nice with the diverse tour because then we can meet bands that we never would’ve met. We never would’ve played with any of these bands if we were headlining a tour because it’s just a tour of a different circle. It’s definitely more of a punk tour than we usually play. It’s been cool to kind of branch out.

Yeah I was going to ask a question about that. You guys are praised for having a unique style that incorporates a cello and an electronic keyboard. What type of fans are you able to draw with that style? Do you feel you can kind of steer people in a different direction from what they’re typically used to?

That’s kind of the idea. That’s what we’ve done since we started playing as a national touring band. We would just take tours, just take whatever the best option was, and sometimes we’d just take the only option. So we’ve just played for a huge variety of fans. We’ve played with metal bands, we’ve played with indie bands, we’ve played with artsy bands, goth, emo, punk, stoner, rockabilly, we’ve done it all. It’s been our angle – you go up there and you play for these people and you try to win them over no matter what their genre is.

It’s been an advantage for our career, since we’re sort of a unique band, we do go up there and people are surprised, people who have never heard of us. They’re surprised by the sound, and you can see them and they’re either like, “Eh, whatever” or they’re like, “Wow, this is unique, I like this”. We’ve actually won a lot of our fans by playing in front of other acts. It’s really helped us. But then again, you don’t have an identity in the same way. Like, if you’re a young punk band and you’re going out with an older punk band you know that fans are going to respond really well to you. It’s an identity that they’ve already committed themselves to.

Yeah, totally. You kind of touched on another question I was going to ask just for fun. People are quick to judge a band by their name rather than reading a review or listening to myspace tracks for a few seconds. I’ve seen a lot of hilarious assumptions made about Murder by Death’s style. Just for fun, are you more annoyed or amused at these assumptions?

These days we’ve been playing for over nine years together. We’re not really worried about that anymore because we have a pretty good thing going and I guess at this point it’s so easy to go online and in 30 seconds you’d know that we’re not a death metal band or something.

(Laughs) Right.

It’s pretty clear with the fact that we have a cello and the way that we sing . . .so it’s kind of one of those things where I’m not like annoyed or amused. I’m just kind of like, “Yep.” It’s just part of the deal . . .

So getting back to the tour, although it seems to be rarely updated, I enjoy the food blog on your website, especially Sarah’s most recent haiku about a feta wrap. What was the inspiration behind turning your tour blog into a food blog?

It’s just that when you tour as much as we do, you eat every meal at a restaurant. And so, the idea is that Sarah and I especially are both really into food. It was before we were in a band; we both come from families that love to cook for fun, you know? So when you are eating out at every meal, it becomes an important part of your day in that it’s an opportunity to sort of escape from the idea of being on the road – to go out and have a good meal. It can totally change your mood . . . I started going out and I’m like “Man, that meal was awesome!” We just went to some random restaurants that were some of the closest ones to the club and they turn out to be really good. I finally decided I needed to start writing them down. Then I realized, I could just write a review about each of these meals… and people liked it. People responded to it and thought it was fun. A lot of people these days are really into going out and trying new restaurants. It’s been a fun thing to write about, and it gives you something to do on the road.

And Sarah’s doing an anti-food blog. For all the worst meals of the tour she writes a haiku.

Yeah, that’s the one I read. I think that’s a pretty creative idea.

Yeah, we’re doing that for fun, just to make ourselves feel a little better about the awful meals we had.

So tell us a little about the book soundtrack for Finch. How did you get involved with that?

The author, Jeff Vandermeer, reached out to us. He said “I’m a big fan. I’ve got this new book coming out in November. I listened to your records pretty much the whole time I was writing it, so I would love if it makes any sense at all, for you to write a soundtrack. I would include it with the special edition copies of the book.” We read that e-mail and our publicist got back to us and said “This guy is for real. He’s got a lot of fans and he’s got a whole lot of science fiction awards…” So we wrote back saying “It’s such a weird idea, that we like it, we really like it. So send us a copy of the book, and if we like it we’ll move forward.” So we all read the book and we thought it was really cool. So we went into the studio – we rarely have time to do stuff like this, but it happened to work out. We went into the studio in August and we took five days and we wrote music to go with the scenes of the book. We wrote like it was going with a movie almost, and we scored those scenes. It’s all instrumental, and we got to experiment and try something we had never done before – to write to a book, and also to do an all instrumental release. It was really fun. It just worked. We just wrote and wrote and recorded. It’s just something totally new for us.

It seems like something totally new in general. I had never heard of something like this before.

Right, neither had we. That’s what we thought was cool.

Your lyrics tend to be honest and heavy. Who are some of your favorite lyricists, what do you admire in lyrics, and how do you incorporate that into Murder by Death?

I like unique lyrics. My favorite thing to do is to write about stuff in a different way. I try to stray from love songs because it’s such a traditional material and there are so many people that have an entire career of like relationship songs. I jut didn’t want to get sucked into that world of sort of repeating yourself. I mean some people do it so well. That’s just not where we saw ourselves when we were writing material. We were trying to get it to more of a fictional approach, which is a weird idea and we totally just write about weird subjects. Who Will Survive… is about a devil getting shot in a bar fight, and it’s a whole album based around the idea of revenge and it’s sort of a fun story that you can kind of immerse yourself in. We always would try to make the music fit the lyrics. So we kind of look at the lyrics and we’re like, “How do we communicate this musically?” and that’s kind of just the aim of the band is to kind of unite the words with the music in a way that’s much more thought about than a lot of acts do. I think we really wanted to make sure that it’s not just words over music. They exist together and really function off of each other. That’s been a major step in writing. We’re going to go home and do a lot of writing a recording in about a week. I’ve got all the songs and melodies done, but what we really need to do is set it to music.

So do you think the upcoming album will have a theme to it as well?

I didn’t want to do a concept record the way we have done in the past because I didn’t want to repeat my self and I knew the guys would probably enjoy something different from a writing perspective. This album has some themes, but it’s not about one thing. I wanted to have more isolated tracks. That’s creatively what sounded more fun.

I wanted to ask about the evolution of your sound overall. When you look back on the four full lengths and the latest project with Finch, what are your thoughts on Murder by Death’s musical progression over the last nine years from Like the Exorcist, but More Breakdancing to Red of Tooth and Claw?

The main thing about the band to us is to try and keep it interesting. We wanted each album to feel different and also fit under the banner of Murder By Death. We wanted to sort of create a world of Murder by Death, but yet make each album have its own thing. Our first album we were just trying to figure out what sort of band we wanted to be. Our second album was like an accidental concept record that told a story. Our third album, we were trying to make it like a book of short stories where each song just had a certain feel. On our fourth album the idea was to do a linear story but a very consistent rock record. We wanted it to be more of a rock record than our past records. And so the Finch record is totally different. It’s funny because at times we try to make homages to kind of older styles or songs. I think in some ways the Finch record, which is the latest thing we’ve done, starts out like a full release. I think at moments on it, fans of our first release will identify with it most, more so than our more modern fans. That’s something I saw – that musical tendencies that we had on our older records were coming up as we were working on that, which is pretty fun. We were kind of able to bring back some old style. The whole thing with us has been kind of moving forward while occasionally making nods to the past.

I’ve heard a few people compare your voice to Johnny Cash. Did he play into your major influences at all or Murder by Death’s influences in general and what other artists have had a profound impact on Murder by Death?

Yeah I’ve been getting that one a lot. Probably thousands of times. It’s one of those ones where I feel people naturally when they hear something that want to find a frame of reference. They say “What is this like, what does this remind me of? Ok, this.” And that’s great. I think I like Johnny Cash just as much as anybody, but I don’t really listen to him a lot or anything. I certainly didn’t mean to sound like him or something (laughs). It’s a very big compliment to be compared to someone that is one of the major recording artists of the last century. For me though, the singer that I always wanted to be about to sing like, that I really like, is Eric Burdon of The Animals. His style, where he sings like a very low part and then he kind of yells. It’s sort of ballsy shout-singing. That really attracted me as a style, and that’s been something that I’ve been enjoying. I love the idea of a very dynamic song vocally. It’s just so much more fun to sing that way than to do a flat, straight forward song. I love dynamics with singing.

Today’s post is going to be about something that I have become increasingly annoyed by over the years: Tim Armstrong’s inability to speak English.

I know what you’re probably saying – Tim who? Well, Timmy boy just happens to be the lead singer, and half-guitarist for the kinda-punk-kinda-ska-wannabe-reggae band called Rancid. He also has a couple of notable, side projects, like the awful Transplants, and his solo album which was equally laudable.

Rancid was a fixture of the punk rock explosion of the early 90s, Rancid was a big part of my musical upbringing, and for this they hold a special place in my mind. They had some pretty big hits with their songs “Time Bomb” and “Ruby Soho”, along with a smattering of other minor successes from subsequent singles and albums. At the time, I didn’t know any better when it came to vocals, and Rancid didn’t seem any better or worse than any other bands. Lars, the Danish lead guitarist with many a regrettable tattoo adorning his face, is a fairly decent vocalist, even though he seems unable to sing anything at a volume lower than that of a jet engine. But, I suppose yelling works for some people. In his case, it does. Tim though…. Tim is pretty terrible.

A class act.

Tim Armstrong’s vocals sound a lot like he is either half asleep, or suffering from an acute paralysis which hinders his ability to enunciate. I think I read somewhere he was a junkie or somthing along those lines fairly young, which wouldn’t do wonders for a developing adolescent, but again, I am not sure, nor can I be bothered to look it up. I’ll spare you more trite remarks about how he sounds, and let this comic do the talking for me. I highly suggest you click that link, because it is brilliant. And if you don’t get the joke, read on, and you will.

The point is, his vocals range from mumbling to a combination of fake-British and fake-Jamaican accents, and it’s just really annoying. So with that, I would like to present for your approval, my top 5 songs where I don’t understand him.

5. Corazon de Oro (from the album Life Won’t Wait)

This is a good place to start. Classic Tim Armstrong format – verses where you catch MAYBE one or two words, followed by a chorus you can understand well enough. This is a textbook example of why Tim Armstrong shouldn’t be allowed near a microphone.

Listening to this song while I’m writing, it pains me to say that even after repeated plays, I still have no idea what this song is about. What I can confirm is there is a half-assed guitar solo, and he yells “Heart of Gold!” a lot. Maybe he’s giving props to Neil Young. I doubt it though.

4. Start Now (from the album Indestructible)

This is the other type of song which is ruined by Tim taking the lead on vocals. He can get through the choruses just fine, but the verses are pretty bad. I would estimate that there is a 50/50 split between understanding and confusion regarding the remainder of the song. Also, it features a weird theme that comes up fairly often in the latest Rancid albums: war and protest imagery. It seems to have started with their Rancid 2000 album, with songs about Rwanda and Somalia, and then on this album there are songs referring to state oppression of protesters, and generally leftist imagery. I don’t quite understand where this comes from, since most of Rancid’s catalogue seems to be devoid of any sort of proper poltical or social commentary, but far be it from me to limit them to a narrow definition. All the same, I feel like they’re just trying to cash in on the “awareness” trend that hit a lot of bands in the early 2000s. Song below:

3. Nihilism (from the album Let’s Go)
This song, I still like quite a bit. It was one of their first proper singles, or at least one of the first songs I had ever heard from them. Interestingly, in one part of the song, Tim sings about being “so full of scotch he cannot stand up”, which seems to explain a lot. This could be an example of a song which doesn’t necessarily use his speech impediment well, but it manages to get around it.

2. Let the Dominoes Fall (whole album)

For the second-to-top spot, I’d like to put forward Rancid’s latest effort, “Let the Dominoes Fall”. This album is…. well, it’s like something your parents would say – it’s not bad, it’s just disappointing. The songs which don’t feature Tim so much tend to be much better than those which have him leading. That being said, there are also a few songs which feature parts sung by bassist Matt Freeman. These are…. interesting. Interesting in the same way watching hot dogs being made is interesting – something different, good to know about, but certainly I could have done without it. On top of everything, Commander Armstrong has clearly declared war on the English language. Each song is an affront to the tongue itself, showing a man who has no regard for the monarchy, or communicating ideas and thoughts clearly.

Also, he still does the terrible faux-Jamaican accent here and there. That makes me want to throat punch him. The lead single is below, and… it’s there. It even has a blue-haired Lars. He’s either getting old quickly, or just bought stocks in Manic Panic (do they still make that?).

1. Into Action (feat. Skye Sweetnam)

Now, I should be honest, this song isn’t all that hard to understand, but this tops the list anyways because of the completely unnecessary and off-the-wall inclusion of Canadian pop-princess Skye Sweetnam. I know I was not the only one who let out an enormous “huh?” when I found she was covering the back end of this track, especially since her claim to fame was as an awful Avril-clone singing “Billy S.” I won’t choose to embed drivel like that into my little cyber-plot, but you can find that here.

A match made in heaven.

The pairing of the two shown above was destined for failure. This song was pretty bad, an awkward first single which straddled the line between good taste and a wank from Oakland trying to write reggae songs. The inclusion of the canuck songstress only made these first wobbly steps of his solo career even more unstable. I don’t think the album was a flop, since the Rancid brand still carries a fair amount of credit within the punk rock faithful, and kids still seem to pay money to hear bands like Leftover Crack and that awful Star Fucking Hipsters spinoff, so I’m assuming he was able to sell a few copies of this pablum.

To round out this post, here’s the video, and thank you again for reading.

This is my top 10 albums of the decade or the last 10 years cause I know some people get confused with all the decades, centuries and millenniums. Why do we need to shorten everything in life now? Saying ten years doesn’t save anytime either, maybe a millisecond. If we add up all these milliseconds we saved using all these short forms in our vernacular can we trade them in at the end of life for a prize? Say paper clip, a small toy racing car, a hair clip or a longer life. Anyways, a decade is 10 years. So, the list spans the first decade of the new millennium so the years 2000 to 2010. After this I guess it’ll be the best albums of the first century of the new millennium that will include the list of the first decade but scattered throughout the century that is 50 years. A century is 50 years.

            Now, we all know how the Internet works. Someone no body knows or cares about posts a list or an opinion and it sits there waiting for Internet snipers to find it just to call it wrong and rip it apart. There’s one thing you have to understand with this list. It’s my list. Many of the albums on this list probably aren’t considered critically acclaimed. These are albums that affected my life and turned me into the asshole I am today. There’s a lot I want to mention but 10 years isn’t enough. Also, 1999 was a good year for albums. Maybe I’ll do a list strictly to the best albums of 1999. So hopefully, this is an enjoyable list.

10. Brand New- Your Favourite Weapon. October 9, 2001. Razor and Tie Records

            Your Favourite Weapon threw me into a different stratosphere of music. At the time of me buying it I was listening to Green Day, Blink 182 and things like that. For me this album entered emotion into my search for new bands. The utter raw screaming and crunch guitars definitely were like nothing else I had heard at the time. Brand New opened me up to a grunge sound that I hadn’t experienced before this album.

9. Rufio- Perhaps I Suppose…June 12, 2001. Militia Records

            I’ve always liked Rufio and this album is definitely their best. Everything is perfect. Also, the guitar work was a stray away from the usual chugging you hear in your usual pop-punk. It added the catchy metal inspired riff into the equation.

8. A Day To Remember- For Those Who Have Heart. January 27, 2007. Victory Records

            A Day To Remember is definitely a newer band out there. Just getting their feet in the music industry but their first full-length “For Those Who Have Heart” definitely owns the faces of any hardcore, metal or pop-punk kids out there. With it’s heavy belting breakdowns and melodic poppy choruses it shows such an exciting mix of two different genres. It’s always good when bands are original. ADTR are definitely a hard rough example of creativity and originality to change two genres forever.

7. Between The Buried And Me- Colors. September 18, 2007. Victory Records

            One of the first and few metal bands I still like. Colors is just amazing there’s nothing to really say. It’s one of the longest albums I listen to but it’s worth the hour and four minutes of amazing musicianship. I saw them live and they played the whole album and that was it for me a fan for life.

6. Lifetime- Lifetime. February 6, 2007. Fueled By Ramen/ Decaydance

            One of the most interesting and amazing comeback albums of all time. Lifetime fell off the radar in the 90s after a couple full-length releases and interesting enough Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz signed them and they released their self-titled album. It was nothing like I had heard at this point. I was well into punk but this album took all the hardcore punk elements and turned them inside out into this collection of weirdly catchy and addictive songs.

5. Daggermouth- Turf Wars.  March 13, 2007. State Of Mind Records

            Canada’s own. Daggermouth have been having some problems lately and their future is bleak. But thanks for releasing this album before the troubles. “Turf Wars” added the hardcore amendment to Canadian music that has been missing for a while.  I know about Comeback Kid and all that but Daggermouth definitely gave it the boost it needed. How much could Comeback Kid do on their own when they were strictly touring Canada for so long? Daggermouth brought it to the States and killed shows up and down the west coast.

4. Motion City Soundtrack- I Am The Movie. June 24, 2003. Epitaph Records

            What can I say? Motion City Soundtrack is basically The Get Up Kids. But if you want to duplicate something as well as MCS have then by all means as long as it’s good. Motion City Soundtrack was one of my favourite bands with this release. It had fast, slow, fucked up songs and that’s what I liked at the time of its release.

3.Fall Out Boy- Take This To Your Grave. May 6, 2003. Fueled By Ramen

            “Take This To Your Grave” did something with pop-punk that a lot of other bands couldn’t do before it. It made the heavier pop music radio friendly. I have no problems with the music I like being on the radio. The more plays they get the more money they get the more material they release and the more they tour. What’s wrong with that? There’s no such thing as selling out. Isn’t making it in the music business why you’re in a serious band in the first place? I love this album. Always have and always will.

2. New Found Glory- New Found Glory. September 26, 2000. Drive-Thru Records

            New Found Glory is definitely my favourite band of all time. Why it’s not number 1? Because I couldn’t put “Nothing Gold Can Stay” cause that was released in 1999. This album is what sent NFG into the pop-punk hall of fame with every song catchier than the next.  They quickly became one of my favourite bands after this release with every album getting bigger and bigger.

1. Saves The Day- Stay What You Are. July 10, 2001. Vagrant Records

            “Stay What You Are” is a peak into Chris Conely’s dark thoughts on life. He put into this album what most angst filled teenagers are thinking. It was the perfect album for me during high school and college because it put everything I wanted to do into song without having to hurt anyone. It’s just bottom line a great album and is rightfully so at number 1.

I think it was 1996, and I had a long distance crush on this girl who sent me her zine. She was really cute and had good taste in music and our single awkward phone conversation made my knees get wobbly. She sent me a very time-appropriate mixtape that I still remember every track of because it exposed me to so many awesome bands. She was the indie buyer at a revered record store in Chicago, and still a (platonic) friend of mine.

One of the bands on that tape was Ruby Falls. She put three of their best songs from the album Heroines, which I’ll now give to you.

Ruby Falls, uploaded to Mediafire

Punk Grandad is proud to announce the launch of its latest design…just in time for the christmas rush

Pretty Ancient

Pop over to punkgrandad.com and spend a tenner of your hard earned cash…

‘SAGA old punks on tour’ will be hitting the web very soon…

Få svenska skivor har så högt andrahandsvärde som det schackrutiga eposet Rasta Hunden (av och med Rasta Hunden) från 1980. Stöter du på en ägare av skivan i fråga är risken stor att han kommer att upplysa dig om att den inte är till salu. Till något pris. Och det är ju ganska anmärkningsvärt med tanke på att bandet i fråga är nästan helt okänt, och aldrig gjorde något mer efteråt.

Och obskuriteten har förstås en social dimension. Likt sättet på vilket män med svulstiga mustascher alltid hälsar på andra män med svulstiga mustascher kan förhållandet mellan två människor för alltid förändras vid ett i förbifarten frammumlat “Jag har så många frågor, jag behöver mera droger, jag letar pengar desperat, letar pengar desperat.” För risken är ganska stor att de båda en gång i sina tonår legat nånstans och ölstinna vrölat hela texten till Mina polare.

Därför tror jag inte heller att det var en slump den där gången när jag satt på den jättehäftiga webbreklambyrån och avnjöt Metallgurans sista suck, att kollegan som smög upp bakom ryggen på mig och undrade vad det var för ett förjävla bra band jag lyssnade på senare samma sommar gifte sig med flickan som var den ursprungliga källan till min gamla Rasta Hunden-kassett.

Blandbandet – erkänn att ni aldrig trodde att det skulle bli färdigt – avslutas med skapunk från Sundsvall, framförd av fyra sundsvallska snorungar.

Här är hela bandet:
Sida A:

I was lazing around as per usual on a Sunday afternoon when, like a lightbulb going off in my mind, it occurred to me that I haven’t searched out some new bands since what seems like the time of the primordial ooze. So, fingers a-stretched and knuckles a-cracked I set to work, trawling around Myspace and a thousand other sites to find the cream of the crop, the pick of the bunch, the … you get the picture.

Without any further adieu, Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages I present my findings for your perusal…

Every Atlas

Imagine if, instead of protons and neutrons, CERN’s much-publicised Large Hadron Collider was smashing together Manchester Orchestra and Bright Eyes. Awe-inspiring moody folk with a strange uplifting edge. Every cloud and all that. Currently unsigned, Every Atlas are giving (Yes, GIVING) their album away. Head over to their Myspace to get a piece of the action.

Canterbury

Direct, hook-laden Punk n roll. Canterbury are perfect for those more riotous evenings. Fresh off tour with Billy Talent, they’re garnering a bit of press here in the UK, I noticed them in one of the magazines I write for, Rock Sound (The last bastion of good taste in the UK music press in my view) where their sublime debut Thank you stormed its way to a 9/10 review. See what all the fuss is over at Myspace.

Karnivool

Horrendous name aside, Karnivool are more than worthy of your attention. Like the second coming of Oceansize, Karnivool meld Beefy, Tool-aping riffs and melodies with exceedingly tasteful electronics. They’re a spellbinding proposition and well worth the listening investment. Swing on over to Myspace for some proggy metal fun.

So there you have it, three new bands for your listening enjoyment. Right, I’m off to go give my ears another sonic soaking – Sigur Ros‘ () album is calling me…

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!

¿Ya probaste siendo punk pero te da vergüenza salir a la calle vestido como un croto y con un peinado de circo?

¿Ya probaste siendo hip hopero pero los pantalones anchos te quedan mal y sos malísimo haciendo grafitis?

¿Probaste siendo emo pero te da cosita cortarte y te cansaste de que te confundan con un pedazo de puto chupa vergas obsesivo catador de porongas traga leche?

¿Ya probaste siendo indie, y te gustó, pero no encontraste a ningún otro?

¿Ya probaste siendo metalero pero el heavy metal te rompe los oídos y no te gusta tener el pelo largo como una mujer?

¿Ya probaste siendo gótico pero ni en pedo usás ropa toda negra y de cuero en un día con 40 grados de calor?

¿Probaste siendo hippie pero te cansaste de que te griten “¡bañate roñoso!”?

¿Los floggers te discriminan por no ser homosexual?

¿Los reggaeros por no ser un drogadicto de mierda?

¿Los rolingas por no tener flequillo?

¿Te gusta la música clásica pero no hay ninguna tribu urbana que se llame “los clasiqueros”?

UNITE A LOS PEDÓFILOS, LA ÚNICA TRIBU URBANA QUE NO DISCRIMINA A NADIE POR LA MÚSICA QUE ESCUCHA O POR LA ROPA QUE SE PONE.

NADA DE GÓTICOS, PUNKS, METALEROS O EMOS: PEDÓFILOS, ¡¡LA ÚNICA Y MEJOR TRIBU URBANA!!