7even Inches
“acrobat_down”
Acrobat Down Beaver Falls Excepted (Crank!) This immediately pulled me in. Acrobat Down play infectious indie rock with great pop hooks and sense. Two great songs, catchier each time through. (AC) • Andromeda Procession 7” (Toybox) Dark, metally hardcore with sinister guitar parts and lower range screamed vocals. Good, interesting songs. Nice recording and packaging, too. (AC) • Ativin (Modern Gang Reader (Secretly Canadian) With only drums and 2 guitars, Ativin create some pretty seductive and introspective instrumentals in which unexpected turns and riffs keep this interesting. Not once on this will you be hoping for bass or vocals. (CB) • Avail/(Young) Pioneers The Fall of Richmond 7”/CDEP (Lookout) These two bands are easily my favorite Lookout bands right now, and they are both from the same city, Richmond, VA. Avail is always dependable for a good punk rock anthem or two, and they deliver here again. You can’t help but to sing along. (Young) Pioneers exist in the same galaxy sonically as Avail, but they’re more political. It took me awhile to get used to how the vocals are recorded, buried in fuzz, but they rock as well. I recommend getting the CD version of this (I apologize for the open blasphemy in the 7” section). Avail does a rad Billy Joel cover and there’s a couple more (Young) Pioneers songs that didn’t make it to the 7” (JR) • Calm Arlington Sunset (Astronavigation) This Christmas present from Astronavigation is slow, heavy, and so low that I’m afraid to turn it up to high for fear of blowing out my speakers. A friendlier Melvins, maybe? (CB) • Cursive Icebreaker (Saddle Creek) Vocals strain and break over twisting emotive strains. The music unfolds patiently, some rock here, a little fluid off-kilter melody there. Wonderfully unconventional and great yet again. $3.50 postpaid. (AC) • Hot Water Music Alachua (Allied) Two amazing new songs packaged behind a nice dye-cut cover. Further proof that HWM is one of the best powerful, punchy emo-rock bands around. Honest, gritty, melodic, catchy, great on both counts. (AC) • Kiss It Goodbye Target Practice 7” (Revelation) Contains the metal tunes “Target Pratice” and “Preacher.” More dirgy, muffled vocals by the band that killed Deadguy (not). (BS) • Knucklehead B-Anthem (Far Out) Cries of “oi, oi, oi” in a song make me break out into hysterical laughter, so “B-Anthem” didn’t start things out on a good note for me. Other than that this strikes me as decent catchy punk rock. Four songs. (RE) • Lost Goat Golem/October (Alternative Tentacles) Evil, psychedelic death metal opera. If you need a bit of a Halloween injection, Lost Goat is perfect. Seriously creepy. (DLB) • NOFX All of Me 7” (Fat Wreck Chords) Very good songs by NOFX. “The Desperation’s Gone” is on the new record, “All of Me” is an unreleased tune, awesome dood. (BS) • Seki Four Acres (Out of Tune) (Cursory Purse) Four Acres navigates through spooky atonal guitar meanderings and blasts of white noise before finding dramatic closure in an unexpected chorus. The monotone vocals on the b-side make for a darker, claustrophobic ride. (CB) • The Shakers Reserve Chump (Brown & Serve) The cover art parodies the bland anti-packaging of the V.M.Live series. Humorous. Musically it’s good, catchy punk played with balanced grit and melody. Four songs, good stuff. (RE) • Side By Side You’re Only Young Once [Reissue] (Revelation) This is the classic 7” (and then some… ) that captured the spirit of ‘88. If you haven’t heard the original 7,” this will be like taking a step back into a room filled with kids yelling “Gooooo!” while doing fingerpaints. The 7-song Revelation EP is remastered on this CD, and some other comp songs, as well as some live songs, are contained on this disc. The LP doesn’t have the extra stuff, which is cool to have if you like this band. I highly recommend this CD to any hardcore kids, new and old (It beats the hell out of your scratchy 7”). (BS) • The Spills Gonna go Blind (Stiff Pole) A blazing fast five songs are crammed onto this great punk rock 7:” record. Seriously great punk songs, good for some healthy slamming include “Low Tolerance” and “Road Trip.” I highly recommend the Spills for anyone in need of a punk fix. (DLB) • Submachine/Pink Lincolns This is Just Add Water Split (Just Add Water) There is simply no way anything with the Pink Lincolns on it can miss. Their song, “Fuck Madonna” should be the underground punk rock classic of 1998. Submachine bites back equally as powerful with two great punk songs as well. (DLB) • The Trouble Crime and Punishment (GMM) Four great punk rock songs with extra emphasis on what punk rock is supposed to sound like! Great guitars, biting vocals and it’s not stingy on the sneers. “This One’s For You” ought to get the blood pumping. (DLB) • The Van Pelt The Van Pelt (Art Monk Construction) It may take a listen or two to pull you in, but the Van Pelt can be absolutely captivating. The Van Pelt write simple, yet complete ideas using spoken/sung vocals over building and crashing compositions that very rarely ROCK. The two actual songs on this seven inch (a double-dutch/patty-cake chant opens the b- side) are polar opposites and among my favorites from them. “The Speeding Train” is trademark quiet Van Pelt while “Evil High” actually manages to rock. Look for their two full lengths on Gern Blandsten. (JR) • Vida/Life Benefit 7” for Project Vida (Lengua Armada) Nine fast, screamy hardcore bands get together on a benefit record for Project Vida, an organization dedicated to educating people about HIV/AIDS. There’s information to read about the organization and personal experiences, plus free condoms and music by Charles Bronson, Palatka, Locust, Dangermouse, Short Hate Temper, Eucharist, MK Ultra, In/Humanity, and Q-Factor. Find this and support. (AC)
David Lee Beowülf • Andrew Chadwick • Brian Shelley • Chad Bidwell • Jason Rockhill • Ryan Eckhart
Allied, P.O. Box 460683, San Francisco, CA 94146-0683 • Alternative Tentacles, P.O. Box 419092, San Francisco, CA 94141 • Art Monk Construction, P.O. Box 6332, Falls Church, VA 22040 • Astronavigation, PO Box 1333, Cupertino, CA 95015 • Brown & Serve, 292 Sunshine Dr., Coconut Creek, FL 33066 • Crank! A Record Company, 1223 Wilshire Blvd. #173, Santa Monica, CA • Cursory Purse,1872 McAllister, San Francisco, CA 94115 • Far Out Records, P.O. Box 14361, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33302 • Fat Wreck Chords, P.O. Box 460144, San Francisco, CA 94146 • GMM Records, P.O. Box 15234, Atlanta, GA 30333. • Just Add Water, P.O. Box 16102, Spartanburg, SC 29316. • Lookout Records, P.O. Box 11374, Berkeley, CA 94712 • Revelation Records, P.O. Box 5232, Huntington Beach, CA 92615; http://www.RevHQ.com • Revelation Records, P.O. Box 5232, Huntington Beach, CA 92615; http://www.RevHQ.com • Saddle Creek Records, 7640 Falfax Ave., Lincoln, NE 68505 • Secretly Canadian 1703 N. Maple St., Bloomington, IN 47404 • Stiff Pole Records, P.O. Box 20721, St. Petersburg, FL 33742 • Toybox, P.O. Box 14401, Chicago, IL 60614
