“carlisle”
“7even_inches”
Automatics I Wish (American Pop Project) Three sumptuous, endearing pop songs from this Asian group. Sweet melodies and sweeter female vocals. Great stuff. (MA) • Braid/The Get Up Kids Postmarked Stamps #4 (Tree) Part four of a series of limited split seven inches dedicated to long distance love sees these two emo greats each contributing one of their most amazing songs ever. Braid swings, swoons, rocks with wondrous melodies/harmonies all around and great structures and transitions. The Get Up Kids rock the melodic emo as always, this time a little sadder but still just as catchy. Essential. (AC) • Carlisle Mexican Wave (Hazel) Mournfully pretty, powerful emo melodies over a tense hardcore foundation with screeched vocals (lyrics are included). Harsh yet beautiful, rocking yet pulling your heart along. An amazing feat to behold live, this record is the next best thing (so far). Highly recommended. (AC) • Enemy Soil/Agoraphobic Nosebleed Split (Bovine) Enemy Soil brings three songs of fast grind mayhem with vocals varying from growled to yelled to screamed. Agoraphobic Nosebleed make things even faster with ten unrelenting, evil grind bursts that will kill you. That has got to be a drum machine. This record is all about harsh, manic speed. (AC) • The Feds Classified (Dr. Strange) Solid, catchy pop-punk with a (ex?) Bollweevil at the helm. (RE) • The Get Up Kids/Coalesce Split (Second Nature) Two contrasting bands cover one song each from the other. Coalesce pulls “Second Place” through sick, twisted hardcore with harsh vocals. The Get Up Kids manage to make Coalesce’s “Harvest of Maturity” all emo-poppy, but a dark undertone remains. Interesting. (AC) • Haelah Unsung Answers (Tree) Different. Reminds me of slower emo with a little British pop influence from years ago. Two really good songs. (PB5CI6) • Hankshaw Maple (Schematics) Two sweet, poppy emo songs with outstanding melodies and trademark high-register, developed male vocals. They keep getting better and better. Great packaging as usual from Schematics. (AC) • Mid Carson July/The Jazz June Flowers Make Everything Better (Da Capo Al Fine) Mid Carson July’s “Lilac Morning” is a fine song of poppy, melodic emo. I like this a lot better than their first seven inch. The Jazz June’s “Bleach In Your Eyes” is more of the same, but more powerful and with thicker textures. Great songs from both. (AC) • Noothgrush/Deadbodieseverywhere Split (Bovine) Noothgrush play one long, slow ponderous sludge song. Deadbodieseverywhere pick things up a bit with grindy dual vocal hardcore that ranges in speed. I like their name better than their music. Disappointing on both sides. (AC) • Shotwell Coho/Discount Split (What Else?) The Shotwell Coho side strikes me as bland, gritty pop-punk and annoys me. Discount’s “Bloody Mediocrity” was recorded in May ‘96 and sounds a bit dated after hearing Half Fiction, but is a good song that could have been a B-side for something off Ataxia’s Alright Tonight. J Church-ish with female vocals. Part of the limited (500 each) Figuritas split 45 single series later to be collected on LP. $3.50 ppd. (AC) • The Shyness Clinic The Pleasures Of Beginning (Paper, Scissors, Rock?) One of my favorites lately. Two long, melodic emo songs that progress patiently. Quiet and understated at times, slower than most, they are a moody bunch. Heartwarming melodies, great lyrics/vocals, and simply wonderful songs. I didn’t realize it until I heard this, but this was just the record I needed. Highly recommended. $3 postpaid. (AC) • This Bike is a Pipe Bomb This Bike is a Pipe Bomb (Ghostmeat) Four songs from a quirky trio with an even quirkier sound. I guess this is what it would sound like if Neil Young joined the Ramones. (PB) • Thug/Greenmachine Split (Bovine) Thug have three songs that switch from spastic grind blasts to slow sludge parts, but remain noisy, ugly and screamy. Greenmachine reside mostly in the slow, ugly sludge territory for two songs, getting mid-paced here and there but never very fast. Great screamed vocals. Demon spawn. (AC) • Tomsk-7/Boris Split (Bovine) Tomsk-7 deliver five songs of harsh, noisy grind at varying speeds, but mostly manic. Great music and amazing male/female screamed vocals with a few growls. Boris delivers one long song of disturbing, ugly, powerful sludgecore from Japan. There’s a hypnotic groove to this song and good noisy textures. It ends with a locked groove that played for a good five minutes before I realized something wasn’t right. An outstanding, nicely contrasting record. (AC)
- Who Wrote Them
- Martin Albelo • Phil Bailey • Andrew Chadwick • Ryan Eckhart
- Where to Get Them
American Pop Project, P.O. Box 2271, San Rafael, CA 94912 • Bovine, P.O. Box 2134, Madison, WI 53701 • Da Capo Al Fine, RR4 Box 197, Williamsport, PA 17701-9561 • Dr. Strange Records, P.O. Box 7000-117, Alta Loma, CA 91701 • Ghostmeat Records, P.O. Box 54693, Atlanta, GA 30308 • Hankshaw, P.O. Box 3818, Brandon, FL 33509 • Hazel Records, P.O. Box 195460, Winter Springs, FL 32719 • Paper, Scissors, Rock?, 133 Peterborough St. #17, Boston, MA 02215 • Second Nature, P.O. Box 11543, Kansas City, MO 64138 • Tree, P.O. Box 578582, Chicago, IL 60657 • What Else? Records, P.O. Box 3411, Dayton, OH 45401 ◼
