Perennial "Early Sounds For Night Owls" Review

This is the second review request I have received. Again a humbling experience to have people dig whats going on over here.

Anyways,

Perennial are a post-hardcore, self described "art punk" band featuring members of early Topshelf Records bands Lion Cub and Aeroplane, 1929. I get a little hesitant when people use the term "art punk" because it's usually never what I want it to be. I love art. I love punk. The two go hand in hand a lot of the time, but... sometimes... not.

Perennial is not one of those art punk bands. In fact I get a really nice combination of Sinaloa and Daniel Striped Tiger. The fullness of Sinaloa's songs and the raw energy of Daniel Striped Tiger, especially Condition days and earlier, but with something new. While producing top notch post hardcore jams, the band adds the new element of keys and effects which really add something nice. What's refreshing is that the keys take an active role in the song and aren't just there to add filler parts.

We are introduced to the keys as soon as possible as the ep kicks in with the rocking groove of "La Fugue Pour Beton brut." Nothing like coming out of the gates swinging. Energetic, some cool time changes, and the keys and effects at the end add that arty-ness to the mix which is followed by the straight forward and soild "Massachusetts Scenic Byways."

The albums interlude type track, "Circle/Pivot/Circle" is really nice. I like when bands release an ep of a handful of songs where you get a good well rounded taste for what they are about and where they could go in the future with a full album. I;m really stoked on the fact that Perennial can do these interlude tracks that offer more than the normal interlude/noise/ambient track. Sometimes it gets annoying when a band does this interlude thing. I feel like it's an easy way to go when you want another tracks but the ideas just aren't flowing anymore. This is not the case. The track is deliberate and it sets the scene for the intro to the closer/title track, "Early Sounds For Night Owls." A short subtle quiet vocal part that leads into a great payoff when the tracks starts moving.

All around this is a great first effort. Very excited to see what the future holds for this band.

Grab the limited cassette off their bandcamp and listen to the ep over there.

You can see the band on 4/2 in Willimantic, CT and on 4/8 in Amherst, MA!

Hinds Live at the Bowery Ballroom, NYC 3/9/16

I remember when I first heard Hinds. I think it was "San Diego" and I knew there was something special there. I love listening to a band and not really knowing much about them, but getting a really strong image of them just based on a few introductory tracks. With Hinds the image was so clear. Just through their tunes you can pick up the raw energy the band produces. It's authentic, it's real, it's special.

Hinds played a record release show in NYC prior to this date and all the reviews I read and pictures I saw made me kick myself for not jumping on the bus and heading the 5 hour trip down to be a part of it all. I guess record release "show" is the wrong title... maybe record release "party" is better suiting as that is what it was from what I saw. Fan karaoke, special guest musicians, complete madness!

Well when I saw Hinds were hitting the states on the second half of their Leave Me Alone World Tour I jumped on tickets.

There are two types of bands. There are bands that make records, good records, and sound really great on them but are a bit of a disappointment in their live performance, and there are bands who are the opposite. Some bands make good records but are fantastic live performers. Well, and then there is Hinds. So I guess there are three types of bands.

Hinds manage to record heartfelt songs that encompass raw emotion, and authenticity, but also manage to put on an incredible performance. Like I mentioned before, it really is more of a party at a Hinds show. It's overly clear that these ladies are having the time of their lives on that stage. It bursts through in wild rock outs, laughter, gut wrenching vocals, and at times, a coordinated guitar line with sequence dance moves.

Throughout the performance Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote who share guitar and vocal duties interact and speak to the audience. They do it in a way though that doesn't interrupt the forward momentum of the performance. Everything that this band does is wonderful and their attitudes are contagious. They are humble, excited, engaging, entertaining, and always involving.

After running through a set of favorites like "Bamboo," "Garden," and San Diego" the ladies returned to the stage to perform one of my favorite tracks, the instrumental "Solar Gap," and closed with the energetic and wild "Davey Crockett" which the crowd reacted to by storming the stage to dance, sings, and lose themselves in the world of Hinds. Fun, loose, real, positive, heartfelt, all things rad.

Viva Hinds!

I think the rest of the tour is sold out so if you missed out then you really missed out!


High points: Hinds "Shark" t-shirt. Bumping Ana with a door and then later apologizing and having a quick convo. I posted this on twitter and got a tweet from Ana. <3




*Photos taken by me.

Plebeian Grandstand "False Highs, True Lows" Review

I can not be more stoked. I saw Plebeian Grandstand a few years ago when they toured the states with Reproacher. They happened to be touring the states at the same time as Hexis, and I was able to see both bands at once. Needless to say it was one of the most intense shows I have ever seen. But the reason I am so stoked is not only is this album amazing, but Throatruiner Records, the label putting this record out, contacted me directly asking if I would be interested in writing a review, and accompanied the request with a full download of the record. Throatruiner, thanks so much! It's pretty cool getting requests from labels you dig for bands you respect. Anyways, here it is:

The follow up to Lowgazers had to be nothing short of incredible. The bands 2014 full length release was one of the best records of the year, in my opinion, and took the wave of blackened hardcore releases to a new tier. The French four-piece has taken the genre and completely overhauled it. It's not as simple as flipping it on itself, but they have taken it and created a new limb. Dark, exhausting, and claustrophobic.

False Highs, True Lows, which will be released by Throatruiner Records on April 29, is yet another extension on the hybrid they are creating. Really, the category of blackened hardcore doesn't do the band or the record justice. It's too often thrown around to any form of aggressive music baring a black metal attitude. What Plebeian Grandstand is creating here is a not just an intense monumental record, but an entire experience.

The record is exhausting. It's like a freight train pummeling down the tracks towards your damsel in distress body tied up and waiting in full blown horror. Or a car crash from the inside as you flip over and over and every piece of metal and debris is flying in all directions along with your body.  From the opening haunting repetition of "Mal Du Siecle" setting the mood for the record, followed by the chaos of "Low Empire" with those signature piercing guitar riffs by Simon Chaubard, and then to the first taste of the record we got "Tributes And Oblivions," which boasts inhuman drumming and haunting vocals that both lay deep underneath the walls of sound and present themselves as an entirely new instrument, the record is itself a different environment in a different atmosphere.

The record slows down about half way through with "Mineral Tears" which lasts a whopping 58 seconds. The track is merely a noise filler, but instead of acting as a pause or breather break, it only really displays itself as anxious. It's creepy, sudden, and long enough to really evoke the feeling of claustrophobia that the rest of the album encompasses.

Quick time changes, arpeggios, constant, unrelenting drumming, and guttural screams and howls haunt the record from the first instant until the first breath you can hope is waiting for your dried lungs at the end of this record. Plebeian Grandstand have truly created a violent, shifting, whirlwind of a record. One that will undoubtedly be on the tops of everyone's "best of" list this year.

Listen to "Tributes And Oblivions" below.

Pre-order the record through Throatruiner or through Deathwish in the states.