Twin Cities Hardcore – Record Reviews

Sorry Excuse
Listen With Prejudice 7″
[Third x Party Records, 2010]

If you thought the RazorXFade demo was short, you haven’t heard anything yet. St. Louis’ very own Straight Edge Hardcore thrashers Sorry Excuse dropped a new 7” on Third Party and it is eight jams that clock in at a blistering five minutes. Yup, five whole minutes. And it rules. I don’t really like to be a cheerleader for bands or be all sunshine in reviews, but I really like this. It doesn’t waste my time, it just lets me hear songs that are pro-circle pit, stage diving, and allow you a perfect excuse (haha) to smash the dude with the swoop haircut standing next to you. You’ve got the four songs from their demo here re-recorded along with four new songs (albeit one of them is a whole nine seconds long). I suppose you don’t have to be Straight Edge to enjoy this album, but it couldn’t hurt.

-Dan Coughlin

RazorXFade
Demo
[Not Normal Tapes, 2010]

I think hardcore rules. I think cassette tapes are awesome, too. I think the second part has to do with the fact that I still drive a 1992 VW Jetta and it rocks a cassette player that rules. Anyway, RazorXFade dropped these tunes for free via their myspace or some message board or whatever, but I picked up the tape anyway because it was like two dollars or something and like I already said, my car plays cassettes. Anyway, you probably care more about the music on this tape than my explanation of why I have a cassette. So, here is what you need to know about this great demo: Chicago, Straight Edge, Hardcore. 6 songs, 7 minutes. It’s fast and pissed hardcore that spends more than five seconds on lyrics…maybe. I felt like it was nice to see a band talking about things that are deeper than who you are trying to hook up with at the time. Invisible kicks it off nice and hard, and basically it just doesn’t really let up until the whole demo is done. Which is exactly how I hoped it would be. If you are familiar with Third Party acts such as Poison X Planet or Coke Bust, you should be pretty stoked on this.

-Dan Coughlin

Lowtalker
People Worry About Everything 10″
[Fuck City Records, 2010]

Lowtalker is comprised of Stuart Ross and Branden Morgan from Misery Signals, and Casey Hjelmberg and Matt Keil from Comeback Kid. Formed on tour in 2008, the group put out their first release in May of this year. Plus, they got their name from the Puffy Shirt episode of Seinfeld, which is awesome.

If you go into this expecting a metal or hardcore record, you’ll be very disappointed. Clocking in at less than 20 minutes, this EP is full of Hot Water Music-gruff vocals, catchy riffs and sing a longs. These guys all have plenty of experience being in bands and writing music, and this shows that they can deviate from writing just another Comeback Kid/Misery Signals song. I’ve always thought Branden is a great drummer, and he adds plenty of fills and grooves in every song to keep the rhythm section interesting.

Stuart and Matt work very well as vocalists off of each other, whether it’s the call and response vocals in the second track, “That’s How it Starts” or screaming together on “Turncoat.” In addition, they write all the lyrics together as well. Even the gang vocals and epic sing a longs don’t seem out of place here.

This is a solid first release from a group of veterans, but I wouldn’t have been very upset if they cut out a couple tracks and released this as a 7″. Either way, I’ll be sure to catch them next time they’re around the area.

-Nate Dimit

Lord Green
Last Demo Cassette
[DIY, 2009]

Illinois-based rifflords Lord Green have returned with another demo of fuzzed-out jams in the form of their second self-released demo cassette, successfully alternating between longform sessions of amplifier worship and fast-paced, pissed off hardcore.  The cover art on this tape, featuring a marijuana/pentagram combo and a defaced photo of Abe Lincoln gives a great idea as to what lies within.

Most of the tracks here are faster cuts, covering subject matter ranging from hating the media, solar worship (always a winner), and our ever increasing addiction to consumption. The real shining moments on this tape however, lie in the long, slow instrumental tracks (Flying, Dropping Out), which really remind me of records like Dopesmoker.

-Tony Brunner

Condominium
Gag 7″
[Deer Healer, 2010]

I was always taught that that one of the most important concepts in music was that of tension and release. The newest 7” from locals Condominium is a great example of this, taking the listener on a journey through three new tracks of the band’s brand of dissonant, noisy brand of punk.

The record starts off with the plodding, noisy title track, which slowly builds on a main riff with spaghetti western sounding guitar lines, as well as a few snippets of Twin Peaks style altered vocals, before turning into a driving wall of noise that transitions well into the much faster paced “Redemption Song”. It closes with the instrumental “The Entire Human Body”, which almost seems to unravel the tension of the previous songs, while at the same time creating more uneasiness and dread.

This is another great edition to the Condominium discography, and I can’t wait for the next installment.

-Tony Brunner

Praise
Growing. Changing. Healing. EP
[REACT! Records, 2010]

I’m going to have to go ahead and say that this is by far my favorite release this year (yes, even over Mindset’s EP).  I honestly can’t justify putting something else on.  Passionate band with a positive message.  If you haven’t heard these guys, shame on you.  If you have and you didn’t enjoy it, you obviously forgot what “awesome” means.  I would recommend my favorite track but that just isn’t possible with this EP.  It’s so solid front to back.  Just go buy it, it’s only $5.

-Dan Coughlin

Ceremony
Rohnert Park LP
[Bridge 9, 2010]

Alright. Here it is: the much hyped third full length from California’s Ceremony. Now before giving this a listen, I’d heard many things like “It sounds like an old punk record”, “They sound totally different.” And my favorite: “Dude, it’s like Black Flag, maaaaan.”  I was admittedly skeptical (can you guess which phrase caused that?), and (at least to me) some recent cases of “failed innovation” really didn’t help, but I finally gave this thing a spin.

Overall, this record sounds both like a new direction for the band, and very very familiar.  The pissed off tracks are broken up by a series of interludes, which this time around are made up of mellow bits intermixed with morbid samples. The tracks themselves, while mostly being really good and definitely exhibiting some old-school influence, are still very clearly Ceremony tracks (this is not a bad thing). Production-wise, Rohnert Park sounds like it was recorded during the same session as the band’s previous “Still Nothing Moves You” LP, with the same noisy bass and sharp guitar sounds as previous efforts, and this really adds something to the mellower tracks, giving them a sinister edge. It also seems that things still haven’t been going very well for vocalist Ross Farrar, who starts the album off with an anger-fueled laundry list of annoyances which really sets the tone for the rest of the album’s lyrical content.

Rohnert Park has definitely grown on me since my first listen. It’s very clear that Ceremony is trying to expand their sound in a variety of ways, and most of these ways are working for them. The record left me anticipating what the band will try next, and how it will build on what they’ve already created. Is Rohnert Park a shining example of 80′s style hardcore? Far from it, but don’t let that stop you from giving it a spin.

-Tony Brunner

Burning Love
Songs for Burning Lovers LP
[Deranged Records, 2010]

Hey there friend!

Do you like:
-Cursed and/or The Swarm and/or Left for Dead?
-Loud Ass Rock and Roll?
-“Punk Music”
-The Burning Love demo that came out last year?

Then you probably already like this record.

Now, for those of you that didn’t relate to, or just didn’t read the list above, Burning Love is a band fronted by angry Toronto resident Chris Colohan (see list for fraction of his previous output), that plays heavy hardcore with a 70’s rock edge. I really like this record, which well…sounds like rock n’ roll Cursed. A few of the demo tracks are still here (Alien vs. Creditor, Money Shots, and the eponymous Burning Love…but no Lives of the Saints), as well as a bunch of ripping new material.

Basically, if you were as bummed as I was when Cursed hung it up, then you will probably find this to be an awesome next step. If you haven’t heard any of the bands I dropped earlier in this review, don’t let that stop you from checking this band out.

-Tony Brunner

Harm’s Way
No Gods, No Masters EP
[Closed Casket Activities, 2010]

There are a lot of great hardcore bands coming out of the Midwest right now, especially from Chicago (Duress, Iron Rain, Razor Fade). But there is one band that is making music so heavy and so unforgiving that it could make Gandhi kick your ass. This band is Harm’s Way.

After a demo, a couple 7” and a full length entitled Reality Approaches, Harm’s way have come out with an EP aptly titled “No Gods No Masters”. Those who thought the heaviness from Reality Approaches couldn’t be topped were wrong. These five songs show the darkest and most unforgiving music the band has put out. Some new elements have been thrown into this band’s songwriting to make it more interesting. The predictable, yet always great fast and heavy, in the vein of Integrity (as seen in the song Debase), have been given a dash of Slayer-esque riffage to create an even more evil sound. This topped off with the mind blowlingly heavy mosh parts that Harm’s Way is well known for put the music over the top.

My favorite song on the EP is “Fantasy” which has a more metal sound that blows me away. Despite the songs being about Satan and straight edge (my two favorite things) typically, the lyrics seem to be a bit lacking of substance. Despite this, it is still a great record you should definitely pick up.

-Brady Mason

Iron Rain
Silent Sins EP
[How Soon Is Now Records/Panic Records, 2010]

Debut 7 inch from Chicago’s Iron Rain. I’m glad to see this band getting some vinyl out as a precursor to a full length down the line.

First thing that comes to mind is some early Hope Con before they started churning out the rock riffs. In fact, the way the vocal patterns are done reminds of the aforementioned band. Some people have commented that this reminds of them of some late 90′s bands. I do not really hear any of that, except for the occasional chug riff in their break downs, which I think is the only weak part of the record. Otherwise the music is pretty solid.

The recording is pretty well done because it compliments the style of music that they are going for. Kind of raw but yet not so much to the point that you are missing out on everything that is going on.

The lyrics are pretty strong and deal with questioning authority in all forms no matter what that is. They are not so abstract that you have no idea what the vocalist is talking about and I think that is a lost art form in this day and age.

My favorite song is Illusion of Truth because it starts out with an All Out War style intro that goes straight into pure pissed off power. Plus, it contains the following lyrics at the end, “Reject their control,” which never gets old in my book.

Overall, a very good debut and I see good things to come for this band. I know they are willing to work for it and more bands should take note of this.

-Jim Grimes