Deep Sleep
Three Things at Once
Grave Mistake (2009)
Deep Sleep sound like 1980's LA hardcore. A good example is the dual vocals of "Alone with You," but with twenty-one songs in twenty-five minutes, all the songs are pretty interchangeable. It's fast, sloppy, and underdeveloped. After my first listen, I learned that Three Things at Once is a compilation of the band's three EPs thus far, which makes sense regarding the lack of cohesiveness of the record and gradual increase in melody as the record progresses. Here I was, thinking it was just an ode to the early '80s nihilistic tendency to eschew form. The structure of the record is its biggest problem. It may be a compilation of three EPs, but it sounds as if it's a collection of singles, with clear starts and stops between each song, and it all sounds pretty much the same. It might as well be on shuffle, and when the thirty-five seconds of "Sick Sick Boredom" has run to its abrupt end, the needle keep spinning in confused silence. What Deep Sleep does right is anger and energy. If I'd heard this at nineteen I would have loved it, with Tony Pence's stooped over, running in circles, mic twirling vocal style and … Read more
The Sorely Trying Days
Survival Mode
Useless World (2009)
I knew next to nothing about this band before checking out this album but the fact that they are "recommended … Read more
Big China & Little Trouble
Black Blood of the Earth
Magic Bullet (2008)
Score one for the witty band name and reference to the cult movie of similar name, and score another for … Read more
Death Before Dishonor
Better Ways to Die
Bridge Nine (2009)
Boston natives Death Before Dishonor really broke through with their 2007 full-length Count Me In. Like it's predecessors, it featured … Read more
Detournement
Screaming Response
Chunksaah/Pirate Press (2009)
Detournement are an Eastcoast band with members from a host of familiar bands. Rather than focus on who they are, … Read more
Set Your Goals
This Will Be the Death of Us
Epitaph (2009)
Set Your Goals follows up their debut album, Mutiny!, with yet another fusion of pop punk and scarce hardcore elements. … Read more
