Lately I have been struggling with something of a writer's block. But what better way to deal with that than writing about it, huh? I started this year off with the intention of writing a bit more, as I realized I didn’t review as much as I had wanted to. Two months, and a couple of reviews later, I find myself now stuck on my latest review. I keep listening to the album and have (more or less) formed an opinion. You’d think I am almost there, right? Well, you would be wrong. Whenever I open up my laptop to write down my thoughts, my mind instantly becomes as blank as the page on my screen.
I always tell myself writing is something that comes easy to me, so this really contradicts how I think of myself. It also triggers a lot of feelings I do not like. Feelings of frustration and anger start to arise when I keep staring at that blinking cursor for too long. I try to consider this a journey, a learning experience, but considering my lack of patience (with myself) I am not really enjoying this part of my journey too much. Not at all… To make matters worse, the deadline of this column is coming up. As always, much sooner than I anticipated.
I decided upon a potentially clever trick: I am giving you a glimpse into my writing process and sharing a bit of what this writer's block is doing with me. Hopefully this would trigger me into writing again. And lo and behold, the first lines of texts appeared on my screen. Let’s keep them coming!
Today I am not going to come up with a clever subject to talk to you about a bunch of new releases. Or perhaps I am? I am not one hundred percent sure yet. What I want to do now is talk you through a couple of labels I like. About how I found them and about a couple of releases they did. So yeah, I’ll probably talk about a couple of new releases, but I might also discuss a couple of older releases that never got the attention they deserve! Are you ready? Let’s go!
Shield Recordings
Let’s start close to home with Dutch label Shield Recordings. Their distro has long been my preferred supplier for the more catchy side of punk and org-core kind of stuff. A large part of what this label released is in my possession. The Real Danger, one of my favorite punk bands, calls this label their home. Other excellent older releases are The Road Home (with clear The Gaslight Anthem influences) or This Routine Is Hell (who always reminded me a bit of that debut full length by American Nightmare), Sweet Empire and Antilectual are big names (whom I both place in the same corner as older Rise Against if you don’t know them). Last year they made me really happy with that Harsh Realms record that still gets a lot of airplay around here.
More recently the label released a new album by Spells called Past Our Prime. This band has been reviewed two times on this site already and still this is my first introduction to them. And it is a nice introduction. It brings the kind of punk I expect from Shield Recordings. It doesn't take itself too seriously, yet is too good to be a band that only exists because they like to party. Something about this record tells me this is a record made out of love for the genre. It is also a fun record to listen to if you want to track all the bands influences. There is a lot to be found from all corners of rock, punk and hardcore. I will not tell you this is groundbreaking stuff, however, it is one of those albums you will get back to on a regular basis.
Another recent release is Masquerade by R.C. Sullivan. Like Spells this is a new band to me, even though the band has been around for years already. Of course one can't keep track of everything that is released, but considering this band is Dutch, like me, I feel the band name should at least ring a bell. It didn't. In my defense, as far as I can tell this is only their third EP in all those years. Based on the name I expected a punk singer songwriter, but could not match that with the artwork, so I decided to see if I was right. Boy, was I wrong! R.C. Sullivan plays punk leaning hardcore. Not unlike bands like Good Riddance or older Rise Against. So expect very melodic yet energetic music. Each time I listen to this EP I find myself listening to it multiple times in a row. In other words, it leaves you hungry for more!
Through Love Records
Through Love Records is the label that had me dive deeper into the wonderful world of emo and screamo through bands like Via Fondo, Trachimbrod, Ojne, We Never Learned To Live and many others. Those releases drew me into the world of more emotive music. Those releases pushed me to delve deeper and discover many other gems. First closely related to the bands on the labels roster (Suis La Lune comes to mind as I type this), later on to searches with a broader scope (for some reason JanPalach and Piri Reis are the names I think of). The label has a broader scope than only emo and screamo though. Think of a band like Mumrunner, Whimsical or Meltway whose dreamy shoegaze transports you to different states of mind or the slow and heavy instrumental post metal of Neander.
Crossed is a band we have talked about before. This band has a habit of releasing music that should contain a warning of some kind. It sounds almost weaponized at times. They can write music that is so intense it can be considered dangerous. It reminds me of my youth in a way. I listened to much friendlier music at the time, but it still made my parents exclaim: "how can you listen to this, this isn't music!". Well, Crossed manages to give me that vibe again on their latest EP Vida Quieta. This EP at times takes a different approach to intensity. Some of the grooves remind me of the first two Norma Jean albums, but with shorter and more intense songs. The third track is a bit of an outlier as it is as dark as the other tracks, but in some kind of electronic experiment. It does fit the mood of this EP though. I can only conclude this band keeps going strong!
Another familiar name should be Regarde. Their album The Blue And You left a strong impression and has enjoyed many replays around here. I was more than thrilled to discover they were about to release new material. In fact, I may have let out a small "SQUEE!!!". The fact that this is "only" and EP could not diminish my excitement. The first time I pushed play, full of anticipation, I was surprised by the intro track, which is only synths and vocals. I was waiting for that sweet emo sound I love this band for. It didn't arrive in the opening track. However, my patience was rewarded once the second tracks started. From there on it was a bliss to listen to. A bliss that lasted five tracks. These tracks felt like coming home, like a warm bath. It is prime emo with a beautifully crafted warm production. The cover art is slightly less appealing than the absolutely stunning cover art of The Blue And You, but the music is fantastic again.
Syrup Moose
A label I just discovered is Syrup Moose. This label is anti-fascist, which is a big pro as far as I am concerned. With the focus on the message, the music appears to be all over the place although there is a slight lean towards black metal. Considering the amount of iffy bands in that genre that is kind of a blessing. Next to that you can find bands from all kinds of genres, ranging from grungy rock (SMTH WSSN) to emo-punk (American Goner) to a weird mix of trap and black metal (Espi Kvlt) and a lot in between. Not all music is at the same high level, but the label is home to couple of real gems.
One of the releases that caught me by surprise is Underneath’s record From The Gut Of Gaia. Underneath plays that kind of mathcore with death metal influences. Not unlike those last two records from The Red Chord. Underneath does have a slightly different approach to the genre though, a wee bit slower than The Red Chord for example. I am almost sorry for Underneath to mention The Red Chord so often. They made me realize I miss that band so much. This record really scratches that itch. What I really appreciate is the short song lengths. There is so much happening in these songs that limiting them time-wise keeps them manageable. That is quite the accomplishment in this genre we're I have heard more than one band loose themselves in difficult music and loosing focus on listen-ability.
What's next?
That is all I want to share with you today. I think I liked putting a couple of labels in the spotlight. Might return to this idea again next time. We'll see! See you soon!
