NOTE: CDR / PROMOS / MP3s FROM LABELS WILL NOT BE REVIEWED. SEND THE REAL DEAL WITH ARTWORK OR WE BIN IT. DEMOS FROM INDEPENDENT BANDS ARE ACCEPTED
have just been revealed to a walkman and put in the first cassette they could find (which fortunately was Gorilla Biscuits). I’m not one to complain about this, but if an outfit wants to reignite this blast from past, it should in all honesty be done by the pioneers themselves. Sorry Alfatec, a solid swing but unfortunately a miss too.
AITCHES - Stay In Bed (Independent) CD
ALKALINE TRIO - Damnesia (Epitaph) CD
Melbourne quartet Aitches has delivered a great debut with “Stay In Bed” delivering 15 tunes across 33 minutes of mid-90s style melodic punk in the vein of Bodyjar, latter Seraphs Coal and Pulley. Songs like “Begin Again” and album opener “Trouble” bring a smile to my face, reminding me of the great bands that got me into punk music in the first place. Other highlights for me are “Da Bears” and “Chinese Whispers”. I’m a fan of Brad’s (who, according to the accompanying bio, was a member of Game Over, for those who take an interest in that stuff) unashamedly Aussie vocals, which aren’t dissimilar to Thinktank’s Darren Thompson. Also, I should mention the great artwork. Who isn’t a fan of the ol’ car-shaped beds?! Only small complaint is it would have been great for lyrics to be included, but it’s a small gripe for such a great debut. Fans of melodic punk will dig this, hit the guys up at aitches.bandcamp.com and see for yourself.
The much loved punk trio from Chicago offer up “Damnesia”, an acoustic performance of their greatest hits, which is basically Alkaline Trio’s ‘Nirvana MTV Unplugged’ moment without the cameras or the audience. The cynic in me struggles to understand what would drive a punk band to release an acoustic album of their hits. Perhaps Alkaline Trio wants its songs heard in a different light? Having said that, I really hoped Matt Skiba would have learned from his pedestrian performance on the split with Kevin Seconds. The guy is a great punk rock frontman but he doesn’t have the chops to do it in an acoustic setting when vocals are in the spotlight. Opening with “Calling All Skeletons”, the guys sound like a second-rate Mariachi El Bronx and “Nose Over Tail” was simply bland. It wasn’t until “This Could Be Love” where some promise emerged. A3 slows things down, gets all sombre then adds piano to the mix and all of a sudden “Damnesia” seemed like an inspired idea! Instead of an acoustic album, a song has been recreated and is better for it. Unfortunately, that song was the exception rather than the rule. Dan Adriano’s songs fare better than Skiba’s, simply because he has a great voice. “Every Thug Loves A Lady” (a song I didn’t like in its original incarnation) is actually improved in an acoustic setting. Closing track “Radio” was alright, but given what the band had to work with, it was never going to be terrible; having said that, I like HWM’s version better than this acoustic version. I’ve given “Damnesia” many spins and the biggest problem I can find is the track selection. Including tunes like “Calling All Skeletons”, “We’ve Had Enough”, “Mercy Me” and “Private Eye” didn’t help Alkaline Trio’s cause. You didn’t see Nirvana trying to turn “Negative Creep”, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Breed” into acoustic tunes. A square peg will never fit in a round hole. On the other side of the coin, where was “Aurora”, “Maybe I’ll Catch Fire”, “Bleeder” or “I Lied My Face Off” in this lot? Smarter song selection and a willingness to really experiment with them could have made this one a winner.
RATING: 76
REVIEW BY: NO SHOW
ALCATRAZ - Smile Now Cry Later (Arrest) CD Here you have straight up, bouncy, tough guy hard core taking heavy cues from heavy weights like Terror and Agnostic Front. San Fran’s Alcatraz dish up 20 tracks of dance floor mosh anthems. I ain’t really too sold on this though to be honest. I lost track of how many times I heard vocalist Justin yell ‘fuck off’ and ‘get fucked’ and found it to be pretty piss weak lyrically throughout. Tired, cliche’d beef cake songs about your usual over worked hard core themes. No doubt at all these guys can play well and the experience of various members in bands such as Set Your Goals and First Blood is testament to this. Having said that, I fricken hate Set Your Goals and can’t say that First Blood ever really got me too excited but I did give em the occasional spin back in the day. Yeah, yawn yawn, pretty mediocre gear here. Might be enough to satisfy you driving home from work on one of those days where everyone has pissed you right off but generally speaking I reckon this is boring, meat head crap that will probably find top position in the record collection of the try hard tools who show their heads and well rehearsed moves at shows and spin kick (if they can get their chumpy unfit pins to move) your fresh pint of pale out your hand or windmill some poor chick in the face when the first break down hits. With a track list featuring ‘Get Fucked’, ‘Fuck Off And Die’, ‘Shit Happens’, ’Coward With A ‘C’ and ‘Own The Show’ you should have a good idea what to expect. Fuck off and get fucked.
RATING: 50
REVIEW BY: MACCA
ALFATEC - S/T (Independent) CD There’s not really a lot of information to be found out about Alfatec, they are Italian again and play late 80s early 90s American Hardcore crossed over with Skate Punk. As for staying true to this scene of early pioneers, this quartet has definitely found that exact rawness from back then and respectably so. Politically driven and quite disillusioned about this, there’s no doubting that there is a lot of passion fuelling the members of Alfatec. However, unlike a band paying tribute to this era and awakening the world to the yesteryear of this music, with this four-piece it more-so feels like they
RATING: 59
RATING: 54
REVIEW BY: WILLY-O
REVIEW BY: NO SHOW
ALLS FALLOW - Bit Punk (Independent) CD It’s hard to know exactly what to make of Alls Fallow. As I sit here listening to the Sydney three-piece’s demo Bit Punk, the only thing that really stands out to me is how featureless their music generally is. While the group definitely appear to be proficient in the crafting of tight and melodic skatepunk, lead vocalist Simon unfortunately never quite manages to make his presence felt. This wouldn’t be that catastrophic of a problem, except for the fact that Alls Fallow never really seem confident enough to take any chances instrumentally either; everything feels a bit softly softly and by the numbers. While it is clear that the group have the chops and the potential to create something interesting and unique, they do not appear to have had enough time to fully develop their own sound and musical identity yet. Only time will tell whether this situation will turn around in the future and force me to eat my words.
RATING: 50
REVIEW BY: WOODY
AMPERE - Like Shadows (No Idea) CD Being unfamiliar with Ampere, I must admit my initial reaction to the opening track wasn’t a great one. Ampere hail from Amherst, Massachusetts and play a pretty popular style of chaotic noise. Not unlike Converge, Dillinger Escape Plan, The Jonbenet, Unsane and others similar, these guys play an intense
blend of chaotic hardcore punk with ever so subtle melodies and an intense amount of emotion. For me it’s a brutal style that requires your full attention when listening or else you risk becoming lost in what it is the band is doing and where the music is, and then it can quite easily become a barrage of chaotic riffing, cymbals and seemingly out of time drumming. From a little research, it appears that ‘Like Shadows’ is the bands’ debut full length, after several 7” releases. Having formed in 2002, this release has o no doubt been a long time coming. With 15 tracks in total and the duration of the release coming in at just over 13 minutes, it’s easy to figure out song structure. This is a good thing though, of these tracks were any longer, I doubt I would make it half way through the release. As it stands, ‘Like Shadows’ is a decent release; straight to the point, intense and chaotic screamo, or whatever this style is referred to these days. It sounds great and production is near perfect, capturing every element of this band as it should, enabling the listener to appreciate some amazing musicianship needed within this style of music… impressive.
RATING: 77
REVIEW BY: JOHN MEANtime
ANCHORED - Time Will Tell (Independent) CD ‘Time Will Tell’ is this Perth bands’ debut release. Anchored formed back in 2009 and this release is telling of a band with conviction and intent. Sounding similar to bands such as The Ghost Inside, Hundredth, August Burns Red and at times Confession or Comeback Kid, this band has had something special bottled and maturing these past couple of years. Featuring 5 huge tracks, ‘Time Will Tell’ opens with the track ‘Wolves’; an epic track itching just over 6 minutes, but encompassing all that the amazing band has to offer. Musically Anchored is intense and with subtle heavy ambience, melodies and contagious riffs. This track is brutal and pummelling in parts, all with the elements previously described, and all blend so perfectly. Vocally, front man Jesse has an amazing voice; course and harsh, intimidating but not overpowering. Its lends a perfect amount of emotion and raw edge without overshadowing or drowning out all that is within the bands’ sound and style. Already from this opening track, it is evident there is more depth to this band than previous comparisons. Track 2 ‘Through The Glass’ begins with intensity, subtle melodies, huge breakdowns and introduces the depth and layer of brooding and darker rhythms from underneath. The result is something special… songs written and structured intricately and perfectly. This track also makes use of a great sample in its beginning. More great samples can be found throughout the EP. Without going into too much detail and resisting the urge to really rave about this EP, there is no doubting this band will be huge locally very, very soon. Anchored have drawn from great influences and utilised vital elements to produce a huge hardcore sound. Not scared to use melodies, alternating vocals, immense breakdowns and pummelling rhythms; all of which I am certain you have heard a thousand times before; Anchored combine all with precision and conviction, producing a far more impressive and intimidating result. Would love to see these guys deliver these tracks live and definitely looking forward to whatever comes next from this band.
RATING: 98
REVIEW BY: JOHN MEANtime
ANTI-FLAG - The General Strike (SideOneDummy) CD When the Bright Lights of America was first released back in 2008, it seemed that Anti-Flag were a spent force in the punk scene. Tainted by a sense of selfabsorbed grandeur and major label money, many duly wrote the group off as just another band destined to slowly tarnish the good name they had spent so long building up in the underground. When The People Or The Gun dropped