Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Because


For those who don't like to read: Newer Snuffy Smiles pop-punk band. So glorious, so good.

I haven't written much in the past two weeks. Instead I've been looking for a job, and I've found no success (Go America!). But this isn't my personal bitching station (or it probably is and you're all fooled into reading it hahaha sucks to be you guys), so uh, yea.

The Because are from Kyoto, Japan (or at least currently reside there). They're definitely in line soundwise with other bands apart of the Snuffy Smiles label (ya know, one of the best labels of all time). While The Because definitely do share musically with basically every band on their label, it still manages to be quite different. Where every other band is located squarely in the city of melodies and octaves, The Because focus a lot more on making jangly music (I think the "technical" term is hammer-ons and pull-offs, but I don't play guitar at all, bass, yada yada yada). Not only does it make The Because different from others, it also makes them fucking awesome because they do it so well.

The Because - "Boxcar" live. originally by Jawbreaker (if for some reason you don't know this song)

I also think it's worth mentioning that they have a female bass player, and she is cute (kawaii!) as fuck. The Because toured the US in 2009 around when they released their full-length, Get Out Through the Back Door, but I didn't get to see them because I fucked up and didn't know them. Hopefully they do it again (I've heard rumors of Gleam Garden possibly doing a US tour though. Oh boy!)

Basically, download Get Out Through the Back Door. Incredible full-length.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Kolya


For those who don't like to read: Kolya was one of a kind. Will probably forever remain one of a kind.

Back to the US for one post (maybe more, I don't plan any of this stuff). I've loved Kolya for years now, and it is all because of just how different they were (then and now). Kolya really just was a band that were themselves throughout, no effects, just their instruments and voices.

The great thing about Kolya is how jangly and 90s their sound was. The guitar never went into a twinkly mode, but they never really relied on chords to flesh out the sound of their music (the bass also sounds fantastic, but the guy plays a fucking Rickenbacker). I don't know who wrote the music for this band, but they obviously had a clear sound in mind that only they could've thought of, and they nailed it to a T. The guitar relies much more on wallowing around, following the emotional response of the vocals that are being sung. Also, yet again, the bass playing is fucking phenomenal.

Kolya - "The Story Becomes the Vehicle"

The second, and much more highly impressive quality, aspect of Kolya's music was the vocals. Simply put, no one did that way, no one still does it this way, and christ can a band start copying Kolya? Both vocalists do a great job (especially on the final track of the LP, Horizons), but it all really falls on the shoulders of the guitar player. I don't know what it is, but the guy has an amazing tonal quality to his voice. This, along with the straight poetry reading of their lyrics (that La Dispute tries and invariably fucks up, because they're awful) make for one crazy combination, considering their lyrics are fucking incredible (when I'm back home I'll do a scan of the LP insert). Their ability to just to basically talk through songs in a poetic way is the most special thing about this band, except for the track La Machine est Morte, the vocals are fucking irritating on that track.

Kolya ended up releasing a demo, 2 7"s, and an LP during their time around. Their LP is a crowning moment of 90s emo music as a whole, a true statement to the best music being made (their LP came out in 2001 though, but who gives a fuck? Certainly not me.)

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Parkmates


For those who don't like to read: This is gonna be a short post anyway. Really great pop-punk.

I always like to have a little bit of info about a band before I post about them. For Parkmates, that is pretty much impossible. They have a myspace, but there is only one picture of a turtle on it. Geocities is down so I can't check that. Pretty much nothing. Are they still together? No fucking clue. Do they have anything else other than this? No fucking clue. The pictures on the cover of this cd are them in all dressed up uniforms (maybe military uniforms? No fucking clue.).

What I do know though, is that Parkmates play some fantastic pop-punk. They list their influences as Jawbreaker, Crimpshine, Dillinger Four and Descendants; these influences really shine throughout the music. Basically if I had to peg them to anything musically, it would Snuffy Smiles and bandwise, I Excuse. I ended up buying this cd on a total crap shoot. I was buying quite a large order from Go Forward Keep Record distro (these dudes rule and speak english. If you wanna make a distro order, this place is one of the places to go) and as usual, they were out of quite a few things I wanted. I ended up selecting this cd randomly because I saw there influences and thought "Hell, why not?" Ended up not being too bad of a move. If you're into Snuffy Smiles, or in general, really great fucking pop-punk, take a swing at this album; you'll probably end up liking it. Also, the keyboards on the 4th track are awesome as shit.

And they're unknown. IMPRESS YOUR INTERNET FRIENDS WITH THIS GEM.


edit: Well, apparently you can go to their geocities page through the myspace link on their website. The last update by them shows that they played some shows in April, and are most likely kicking it around.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

sgt.


For those who don't like to read: Post-rock from Japan that isn't Toe AND doesn't try and be Toe.

I have so many problems with most post-rock bands. Most of these problems stem from the fact that post-rock is usually boring beyond belief. I can enjoy a good build up to a song, but sitting their ringing out the same 2 or 3 notes with your stupid fucking delay pedal for minutes on end is just dumb. Why do people like Explosions in the Sky again?

I don't know many post-rock bands from Japan. Because after you know of Toe, really, who the fuck do you need to know about? Toe really just does everything right when it comes to being exceptional musicians writing exceptional music; this isn't a Toe post though, that'll be at the end of this month when their new EP comes out.

The thing I like about Sgt. is that they can incorporate violins and pianos so well into the music, and they don't do it to add some light, "airy" texture to the music, they in fact like to rock out hard. I feel like the secret to Sgt.'s success is the fact that their rhythm section is jaw-dropping good. There really isn't a better way to show off Sgt.'s rhythm section than the 2nd track on Stylus Fantasticus, 囚人達のジレンマゲーム. This track is basically just a 6 minute romp fest of the rhythm section stomping your fucking face in. Actually have to take a second here and just acknowledge how great this track is. Spending 3 minutes with the bass and drums playing over the same line, only to have the guitar jump into the line out of nowhere is pulled off with straight fucking perfection.

sgt. - "囚人達のジレンマゲーム"

The second really important piece of Sgt.'s sound is their violin player (total babe, by the way). Writing about this, I'm trying to find a way to say "hey, the violin player isn't a gimmicky thing," but in a way that isn't as blunt/stupid as that. BUT, HEY, THE VIOLIN PLAYER ISN'T A GIMMICKY THING. She's actually pretty fucking great at violin, and I'm not sure if she runs her violin through any effect pedals or shit like that, but it definitely sounds possible. The best song to demonstrate Mikiko's ability is 銀河を壊して発電所を創れ (I use a lot of examples from Stylus Fantasticus more than Birthday because: I've listened to it a lot more, and, holy shit this album is incredible). All 16 minutes of this song are really brought up to the next level by her ability to weave in and through sections of songs with her violin, and her ability to initiate the transitions into other sections. Every band can have a great rhythm section to hold down the fort, but bands need people to expand upon that and make music worth much more.

銀河を壊して発電所を創れ (Destroy the Galaxy, Create the Power Plant (I really like the title of this song)) is a fucking monolith of a song though. It's sort of a hard/weird thing to describe, but something you totally understand listening to it though.

sgt. - "銀河を壊して発電所を創れ" It's in two parts, which is dumb. But there is nothing I can currently do about that.

Sgt. released another album last year, "Birthday." It's also a pretty awesome album. I've listened to it a few times, and it's definitely got some great tracks on it (especially Zweiter Weltkrieg). I don't want to detract from the album, but it's sort of hard to want to listen to Sgt., and not put Stylus Fantasitcus more. Definitely still a recommended album, but Stylus Fantasticus is their magnum opus for now. I'd be uploading videos of these last two songs, but Windows Movie Maker is just like "LOL NAH, THE FILES ARE CORRUPTED EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE CURRENTLY USING THEM."