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Crystal Antlers

Crystal Antlers
Touch & Go (2008)

1. This is soundtrack music. I couldn't hear it at all until I took a drive through the hills, windows down at night, blaring this EP to stay awake until I got home. I put it on because all I could hear in it was THE KIND OF SHIT TO WHICH YOU CANNOT FALL SLEEP. Which I more or less … Read more

Virgins

Miscarriage
Kiss of Death (2008)

Orlando's Virgins play hook orientated, chorus heavy punk with scratchy throat vocals. The three-piece formed from the ashes of New Mexican Disaster Squad and their sound is a logical development. While the band has clear roots in early hardcore, they maintain an approach that's easier on the palate with a stronger focus on catchiness instead of sheer ferocity. "Another's Gun" … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Dirt Mall

Got the Goat by the Horns
Daykamp (2008)

Raw, grimy in your face rock from these Bostonians. The guitar is mixed high, which is a good thing for these tunes. Most of these songs are under the four minute mark. Except for "The Demons & the Damned" which clocks in at a whopping nine plus minutes. I can definitely relate to "Medicate (Today)." But song number seven is … Read more

200 Words Or Less

The Oswald Effect

Love & Sabotage
Independent (2008)

This looked promising when it first showed up in the mail. But as some wise person once said, looks can be deceiving. This Seattle four-piece certainly have their chops together, but the styles presented here are such a mish mash that it's hard to swallow. Musically they are rocking enough, but vocally I just couldn't get into them. The singer … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Coffins / XXX Maniak

The Cracks of Doom
Creeping Vine (2008)

To offend me takes special talent, talent that knows no boundaries to how far the one can push idea of indecency. People who believe there is nothing sacred, no subject matter too taboo that they cannot molest it. These people play in the XXX Maniak. The cover art alone on this made me ashamed to have the CD in my … Read more

Above this Fire

Last Ones
Forest City (2008)

It's been over three years since Above this Fire released their debut full-length, In Perspective. Since that recording the band has grown immensely as songwriters, something that is evident when you listen to the two albums back to back. The band's growth and evolution since their initial recordings is something that helps put in perspective - pardon the pun - … Read more

Maps of Norway

Die Off Songbird
Guilt Ridden Pop (2008)

It's refreshing to hear bands showing their influences without becoming a fiftieth-wave hybrid, a la The ePoxies. Maps of Norway obviously love 1980's new-wave. However, they don't set out to make a copy of that, they fuse the sound into their own artistic development, and Guilt Ridden Pop's release Die Off Songbird is the end result. The record starts off … Read more

Joey Cape

Bridge
Suburban Home (2008)

Where does the aging punk-rocker go when his band's presence in the scene has all but evaporated, releasing new material only when the mortgage has to be paid or a new mouth to feed has entered the family unit, touring mostly when the opportunity is to travel overseas? He goes to the studio, unplugs the guitar, slows down the tempo, … Read more

Ramming Speed

Brainwreck
Teenage Disco Bloodbath (2008)

Boston-based Ramming Speed burst onto the scene with their debut 7" in 2007. The EP followed suit of the crossover/thrash revival that had recently begun to sweep our nation. But don't write these fellows of as a knockoff, Ramming Speed is the real deal and the thirteen songs found on Brainwreck are evidence of just that. "Speed Trials" kickstarts the … Read more

Mouthpiece

Can't Kill What's Inside: The Complete Discography
Revelation (2009)

There are many names - bands, labels, zines, promoters, etc. - that instantly come to mind when one brings up the 90's hardcore scene. Groups like Lifetime, Earth Crisis, Unbroken, Integrity, Quicksand, 108, Strife, etc. and record labels like New Age, Revelation, Edison, Victory, and Equal Vision all spring to mind. Now, nearly twenty years after the fact, we have … Read more

Ruiner

I Heard These Dudes are Assholes
Bridge Nine (2008)

I really want to know why this CD even exists in the first place? Ruiner's last album Prepare to Be Letdown is barely in its toddler stage and the 1917 Records EP What Could Possibly Go Right is just entering preschool. Is there really a need for re-releasing material that isn't even half a decade old? Are their super fans … Read more

This Will Destroy You / Lymbyc Systym

Field Studies
Magic Bullet (2009)

Split recordings are almost always unique projects in some aspect or manner; I particularly enjoy them when there is an artist involved that I'm not too familiar with. Field Studies is one of those occasions. The two parties represented - This Will Destroy You and Lymbyc Systym - came up with the idea for this recording while on tour together, … Read more

The (International) Noise Conspiracy

The Cross of My Calling
American/Vagrant (2008)

It must be rough to be Dennis Lyxzén. Ten years ago, he was a part of the loftily-titled but nonetheless astounding album The Shape of Punk to Come with his band Refused. The bar was set very high, and once The (International) Noise Conspiracy was unveiled, we all realized that the bar would not be met. The (International) Noise Conspiracy … Read more

Monikers

Wake Up
Kiss of Death (2008)

2008 was a year I kept hearing Monikers' name without knowing a thing about them. They turned up on split releases, message boards, and year end lists before I really familiarized myself with them. It turns out they live up to the endorsements received, not to mention the bonus points received for having an ex-Discount member. "80 Proof" kicks off … Read more

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