Silkworm - Firewater

Drinking music. There's two distinct types of drinking music if you ask me, I mean there's the "fuck yeah, I'm drunk and I don't give a fuck so I'ma sing/shout some songs and not give a fuck" type (Catch 22, Queen, mclusky, Big Black, Oasi-I mean wonderwall etc.) and then there's the "I'm only drinking so that I can forget about my problems because I am so sad, so very very sad" sort of stuff (Matt Elliott, everything else is small time). Silkworm are a band that fit snugly in the middle. They're loud and shouty enough to provide that "fuck yeah" kick but they're gloomy and down enough for that "fuck no" attitude.

Needless to say, I love Silkworm for this very reason.

Firewater is probably my favorite albums of theirs because it's just the right mix between the fuck yeah and the fuck no. I mean, it starts off with the good ol' "GOD DAMN THE CIRCUMSTANCE THAT BROUGHT ME AND GOD DAMN YOU, MY FRIEND" shouty number "Nerves". But straight after you've got "Drunk" which is a pretty gloomy number about, well, drinking. The rest of the album follows suite with only one track sticking out like a sore thumb.

That track is called "Miracle Mile". It's a little acoustic number which lacks the fuzz and agression of the rest of the album but makes up for it in pure sincerity.

Oh.

And that kickass, fuzzy as fuck, louder than you can handle guitar solo that kicks in near the end. FUCK YEAH SILKWORM YOU ARE THE BEST BAND EVER.

Dig the likes of Archers of Loaf, Sebadoh and Polvo? Then this should already be in your collection.

Give it a listen

I woke up this morning after a heavy night of drinking with no real memory of what I did last night. I sure hope I didn't buy any more of those 90s american alternative rock albums. Every fucking time.

P.S. Eliot - Introverted Romance In Our Troubled Minds (2009)

Oh shit I love this album. It's like a mixture of everything I love in one beautiful, obscure record.

So get this. P.S. Eliot are this (near enough) all girl punk rock group that specialise in lovely fuzzy guitar melodies and even lovelier female vocals. Sounds like nothing special, right?

You're wrong.

Because they're so much more than just a punk rock band. They fuck that 3 power chords, 1-snare-3-4 drums and root note bassline routine and trade it in for sharp, catchy guitar lines that are reminiscent of twee pop bands like The Pastels and Shop Assistants, and a whole bunch of americana attitude (is dat sum harmonica?).

Don't get me wrong, they still write about those always-relevant-to-your-life-and-your-life-only songs that touch upon love and loss and all that crap. But it all feels so genuine. And I don't know about you but I'm a sucker for female vocals. Especially if the band is going to be singing somewhat bitter love songs.

So, to sum up. Female vocals, americana drenched punk pop, catchy as fuck, listen to it.

Give it a listen

Introverted Purchase In These Troubled Times?

HeyguesswhatI'mbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

Sorry about the dead blog thing to all those people who give a damn (sooooo, no one?). Fuck knows I've got a shitload of albums to share, so let's just get to the nitty gritty.

For those who are remotely interested I have fixed the link in the last three posts I made (which had corrupted rars due to my internet being a dick, I presume). So you can actually download those albums now and listen to more than, say, two tracks. Yeah?

I'm not sure if I'm going to do regular updates or nuthin (read as: I know I'm not going to do regular updates) but be sure to check on this blog every once in a while because I'ma try my hardest to keep it alive. I've already got, like, shitloads of albums uploaded and ready to share so you've got a lot to look forward to. There's gonna be some math rock and some slowcore and some twee pop and some all girl punk groups and some 90s american alternative rock and so much more.

It's gonna be rad as fuck. Oh. And I'm starting right now.

Pulled Apart By Horses - Pulled Apart By Horses (2010)

So a while back I went to see Grammatics live with a bro. Whilst they were certainly the stars of the show to us they were actually there supporting Rolo Tomassi along with some other band from Leeds that no one had heard of. However, withing seconds of them playing I was in love with their energetic, upbeat post-hardcore tunes. I bought their EP and a tshirt and left that night a happy man.

So two years (I think, probably less actually) later they finally have a full length out. And it is gooooooooooooood.

I know I usually post angsty, depressing emotional bullshit on this blog but fuck that, lay your troubles by the door and listen to this. This has to be one of the most invigorating albums I've ever heard, it just makes me want to get up and dance like an idiot. Catchy hooks and riifs along with some shout a long choruses, fuck it's Future Of The Left all over again.

HIGH FIVE! SWAN DIVE! NOSE DIVE!

If you get the chance to see these guys live you'd better go see them live. I know I'm going to sometime soon (if only to buy a new tshirt, the one I bought last time is too baggy, really)

Give it a listen

AWESOME, RADICAL, AWESOME, TOTALLY WORTH BUYING (Jesus, that was lame)

And I'm coining the term "shoutcore". Deal with it.

Note: I realise this review is shit and doesn't let the reader know if this album is up their street or not...but fuck you, I'll re-write it the same time I re-write those other reviews.

Another note: Fixed the link. So now you can actually listen to this album. lololol

Home - XIV (2000)

I've decided that regular updates are lame because I can honestly say I don't discover stuff worth posting that regularly. Instead I'm just going to post when I find an album I want to share. So just check up on this blog every few weeks or so and you'll find some new albums no doubt. Also, I'm getting really fed up of starting all of my posts with these sorts of things.

So recently I have been slowly working my way through every album Dave Fridmann has produced. So far it's been mostly underwhelming with only the Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips and Delgados releases (most of which I was already familiar with) sticking out as awesome. Okay, I lied, they aren't the only releases...

I had never heard of Home before a few weeks ago but after grabbing this album and loving it I've started to make my way through their other sixteen albums (including one which came out this year which you should totally look out for). But what is it about them that's so great? Well, let me just say this...

Mercury Rev + Guided By Voices = Home

FUCK YES, YOU HEARD ME. Even though this was their first album to actually be, y'know, produced and all (by Dave Fridmann no less, how they did that I'd like to know) they still retain some of the lo-fi sound that they had on their earlier albums. That combined with their often simple, 60s inspired pop songs gives them a definite Guided By Voices twang. But then there's some big bodacious Mercury Rev (a la Deserter's Songs) orchestration going on in there as well as those trippy lyrics and hooks that Mercury Rev love so much.

So, let me get this straight. Big sounding, yet lo-fi, psychedelic 60's pop that was recorded by some 90's american alternative rock band?

SIGN ME UP. RIGHT NOW.
(also the track "Aguirre (Exterior)" totally sounds like it belongs on Clouds Taste Metallic by The Flaming Lips, fuck yeah)


Give it a listen

The only albums I buy are Dave Fridmann aproved albums

Note: Fixed the link. So now you can actually listen to this album. lololol

Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks (1979)

Starting now I am going to try and update this thing somewhat regularly again. So enjoy it whilst it lasts!

Todays album is an often overlooked new wave classic. Now when you bring up the term new wave people have to bring up artists like Elvis Costello and Talking Heads, and for good reason (no doubt) but very few people will be familiar with the name Graham Parker.

And that's bullshit.

Graham Parker was like Elvis Costello in terms of sound, appearence and attitude but certainly not consistancy. Y'see, Elvis Costello is great...as long as we're talking about anything he released before 1983. Graham Parker is different, sure he peaked '88 but he continues to release pretty good (see: not bad by any means 6/10) albums to this day.

Now I know you're eager to listen to this glorious man already, but with a back catalogue that stretched back around 30 years it's hard to know where to start. So here, start with his most mainstream, critically acclaimed and well known album. Why? Because it has the song Passion Is No Ordinary Word which is the jam of a fucking life time.

Dig it.

Give it a try

I don't mind giving my pocket change to a genius musician who continues to make great music to this day despite the fact that commercial success and money will always elude him


Note: Fixed the link. So now you can actually listen to this album. lololol

Grammatics - Grammatics (2009)

Yes, I didn't update for over a month. No I don't really care.

So, Grammatics are a band I got into ages ago (see: before they were cool) back in the long forgotten year that was known as 2008. I was lucky enough to stumble across an article in some trendy, indie magazine (see: not NME) that namedropped this band called "Grammatics" and seemed to imply that they were somewhat decent. So I gave them a quick search on spotify and was surprised to see that such an obscure hip-as-fuck band would have a few songs on something like spotify. BUT I DIGRESS!

Long story short, I listened to their singles (and b-sides) and fell in love with their amazingly fresh, clean, and downright amazing sound. How a band made up of 4 people could create such a sound blew my mind, it seemed impossible. The only thing that was more impossible was trying to describe their sound to friends, ugh, let's see how I did shall we?

"they're like arcade fire if arcade fire only had 4 of its members"
"if alphabeat were more english...and not as poppy"
"mogwai-esque guitars from time to time, choir boy singing, killer drums...but it's all good. I SWEAR"

I don't think I ever really gave them credit, to be honest. Let's see if I can do a better job now.

So, each track they do is different and as a result it's hard to describe their overall sound since I guess there isn't one. Still, their lead singer has this angelic voice...but he plays guitar as well, and he used to be in a hard rock band (and it shows). But they've got this deeper, lusher, orchestrated sound. They always sound a bit eerie and weird. In fact, this album is interspersed with lots of random sound clips of people talking and such (sort of Smiths-esque).

Again, I'm not doing them credit. But it's hard to, since they're such an important band to me. Everything about them reminds me of a very important but odd time in my life, and I vividly remember listening to them every monday morning (another long story) and I certainly remember the day their debut album finally came out and I went out to get it (except I didn't, I got it the day after but shut it). It's an album that I sort of tossed away, I didn't listen to it too much. It was filled with different cuts of the songs I had listened to so much, and all of the new tracks weren't too great. Having listened to it again recently I can tell you that it's an amazing album with nothing but strong tracks. Especially "Broken Wing" which has always been my favorite track of theirs.

Give it a listen. You know you want to.

(also, I had a lot of brackets in this post, sorry about that)

(OH, and hopefully I'll start updating this blog thing again)

Give it a try

I bought it, so why don't you?