Summer is ending, but that doesn’t mean that the fun times have to stop. This band SWMRS was brought to my attention recently and they are quite the fun band. SWMRS is a surf punk band formed in Oakland, California in 2004 by Cole Becker and Joey Armstrong (His dad is Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day), Their influences range from the Beach Boys to the Ramones. These guys have named own brand of Rock and Roll, known as “Beach Pop”. Recently they released a 2 song single. The main single is a tribute to Miley Cyrus. It’s a really fun song to rock out to. Give it a listen below.
Henry Rollins is one of the most influential punk rock singers ever. His work with Black Flag is legendary and his own band Rollins Band is tremendous especially the album Weight. I was thinking I know Henry has guested on a bunch of songs over the years so why not share that with you all.
I love that music can take you different places and make you feel something more than you are used to. There truly is something remarkable in the way a band can help heal a wound, soothe your soul, or just be able to let out your aggression. This past week has been very melancholy for myself and while I was sitting and wallowing I came across this band Night Verses. When I heard the first song on their album Lift Your Existence, “Introducing: The Rot Under The Sun,” instantly there was a connection to their music and lyrics and I knew this band was a keeper. Musically this bands influences range from post hardcore, prog rock. and shoegaze, Imagine Tool, mixed with Deftones, and a bit of Isis and a dash of At the Drive In and you get Night Verses. You can tell by listening, that these guys take what they do seriously as their passion bleeds through each song. Their debut album is 15 tracks of greatness. Recently the band entered the studio with Ross Robinson to work on their follow up album.
I was going through some CD’s the other day and came across a CD of covers I burned. On it there was Disturbed’s version of Metallica’s “Fade To Black.” This got me thinking that I should do a cover comparison of the different covers of “Fade To Black.” So here you have three versions. Disturbed’s, Sonata Arctica’s, and Apocalyptica. Who do you think did it best?
One of my favorite things to do as of late is go back and look at all the set lists from the shows I’ve been to. There are certain bands I’ve seen so many times, that it’s really fun to look back on those shows and remember all that they played. So after looking at all the lists, I thought to myself what if I could write the set list for some of my favorite bands. I gave myself a few rules.
Rule 1: maximum 25 songs
Rule 2: What line up of the band would it be
Rule 3: Where would you want to see the show
Let’s start things off with METALLICA:
Line up would be: James, Kirk, Lars, Cliff
Venue: Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles
Set List:
The Ecstasy Of Gold
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Blackened
Battery
Master Of Puppets
Creeping Death
And Justice For All
One
Fade To Black
Nothing Else Matters
Turn The Page
Bleeding Me
No Leaf Clover
All Nightmare Long
Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)
Orion
Sad But True
The Unforgiven
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Damage Inc
Harvester Of Sorrow
Dyers Eve
Whiplash
Hit The Lights
Seek And Destroy
In todays modern music climate it’s really hard for a new band to leave a lasting impression that not only connects with its fan but with the masses. FIDLAR is one of the exceptions.The origins of the band’s name is an acronym for ‘Fuck It Dog, Life’s A Risk.’ Their blend of garage punk and love of The Pixies really shines through in their music. Now a couple albums into their career, their latest album simply named “Too” is out today. Their live shows are full of extreme amounts of energy and reckless abandon. FIDLAR has also released a slew of videos that really show their personality and humor. The video for “Cocaine” features Nick Offerman walking around drinking and taking a leak wherever he can. Their newest video for the song 40 oz on Repeat” is an homage to some of the funniest videos from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Both of these videos were directed by the very talented Ryan Baxley. These guys might be young, but they understand their influences and where they came from. Check out FIDLAR and you’ll see what I mean.
I’ve throughly enjoyed doing this feature on Thursdays. It’s really fun to find interesting covers and share them with you all, even if some of you have heard them before. Today I bring you a cover comparison between Stone Sour and HIM, covering Chris Issak’s “Wicked Game.” Which one do you prefer?
The mid 90’s were a very special time in music. So many ground breaking and influential albums came out and shaped the lives of my people. On August 15, 1995, Garbage released their debut album. After spending time doing remixes and working on other peoples records, Butch Vig, Steve Marker and Duke Erickson decided they wanted to take the different instrumentation they had been doing and form a full fledged band. According to the way the story goes, Steve Marker was watching 120 Minutes on MTV, when he saw the music video of Angelfish’s “Suffocate Me.” He then showed the video to Duke and Butch and had their manager track Shirley Manson down. Shirley Manson met up with Erikson, Marker and Vig for the first time in London. Due to Shirley’s other band on tour, Garbage was put on hold till after they finished their cycle. The three guys then attended Angelfish’s show in Chicago and Shirley was invite to audition for the group. The audition did not go well, but after talking with the guys while there and they found they had a similar taste in music. Shirley then called Garbage’s manager and asked to audition again.
The album itself is a blend of many different genres from punk, rock, techno, hip hop all with an incorporated pop tinge. There are so many great tracks like, “Vow,” “Stupid Girl,” “Only Happy When It Rains” and “Supervixen.” Radio and MTV really picked up on the bands singles. To support the albums release, Garbage was the main support for The Smashing Pumpkins while on their tour for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
20 years into their career and Garbage still have a knack for creating great music. Their singles really still hold up well, as well as some of the deep cuts. The albums as a whole are a little iffy, but there is a real sense of pride within the bands as to what they have created. One thing I noticed while Listening back to all their albums, is that on Version 2.0, they really seemed to find their sound and hone it gracefully.
There is no doubt that all the members of the band are extremely talented, each bringing in something different to the table to create a great body of work. The one thing that always stood out to me about Garbage was Shirley Manson. She has a way about here that is part punk rock, alternative, and hypnotic. Her voice stands out amongst a lot of here peers in the entire genre.
Garbage is going on the road to celebrate their 20 year anniversary by playing their self titled debut in it’s entirety, as well as re releasing it with a slew of extras.
Since I just saw Incubus, I’ve been on a huge kick of listening to all their albums and it got me thinking I should do an album rank of their releases. So here you go in order of not their best to best.
AUDIOECLECTICA 