The Solidarity Pact was a punk band somewhat akin to Latterman and Contra in their sound. Strong melodic punk. Part of that was probably because they shared members with those bands.
Thanks to Mike Andirani for the edit here, as my facts were a bit off on the lineup:
The original line up was:
Jon Berg -vocals
Jeff Cunningham -guitar/vocals
Pat Schramm - drums
Ryan aka Baby Rye Rye- bass (Ryan plays in Kith & Kin)
Which then changed to:
Jon Berg-vocals
Jeff Cunningham-guitar/vocals
Pat Schramm- drums
Matt Canino-bass
Brian Crozier- guitar (Brian previously played in High School Football Heroes but has also played Bottle Rocket, Latterman, and most recently Little Lungs)
then the last incarnation of the band was:
Jon Berg-vocals
Jeff Cunningham-guitar/vocals
Pat Schramm- drums
Brian Crozier- guitar
Phil Douglas-bass
Jon Berg is probably better known as Jon Contra. Pat Schramm was in Latterman and started Slingshot Dakota with Jeff, and both are now in Bridge & Tunnel. Phil Douglas and Matt Canino were in Latterman as well.
The band released the album "Concrete Don't Give a Fuck" on Burn it Down Rebuild Records in 2004. The label is no longer active. The song titles also show that the band had a really bizarre obsession with Robin Williams movies. Surprisingly there is no song called "The Birdcage."
Here's the album as well as a quick video from youtube as well.
THE SOLIDARITY PACT - Concrete Don't Give a Fuck
http://www.mediafire.com/?p5co40p77gw4pju
The band's myspace can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/thesolidaritypact
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was a short-lived, but incredibly powerful and dynamic hardcore band. They existed from late 2002 to 2004.
They were originally called Aeschylus (Hearts Manifesto) but eventually shortened it to simply Aeschylus. I remember seeing them at whatever name "The Angle" was going by at the time, as well as a show at The Ethical Humanist Society while they had that name. I'm not sure what the significance of the original name was. The band was made up of Dancin' Dave Castillo on vocals and is currently a member of Primitive Weapons, Ryan Hebert on Guitar, Cory on Guitar, John on Bass and Lawrence on drums. Lawrence is a graphic designer now, I'm not sure what happened to the other guys.
They were super talented and they always sounded tight. The music was spazzy yet structured. I can't really provide a reference point for what they sounded like. You need to hear it.
There was supposedly a full-length in the works which never materialized. I think they had a few new songs on their myspace which seems to be inactive at this point.
The band was supposed to play a reunion show alongside Satellite Lost and Dearly Departed in 2005 but unfortunately couldn't do it. They did reunite in 2007 opening at one of the On The Might of Princes reunion shows.
This is their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/aeschylusrules
Download their 6 Song Demo:
AESCHYLUS - 6 Song Demo
http://www.mediafire.com/?98qo8y8bz65xtq5
They were originally called Aeschylus (Hearts Manifesto) but eventually shortened it to simply Aeschylus. I remember seeing them at whatever name "The Angle" was going by at the time, as well as a show at The Ethical Humanist Society while they had that name. I'm not sure what the significance of the original name was. The band was made up of Dancin' Dave Castillo on vocals and is currently a member of Primitive Weapons, Ryan Hebert on Guitar, Cory on Guitar, John on Bass and Lawrence on drums. Lawrence is a graphic designer now, I'm not sure what happened to the other guys.
They were super talented and they always sounded tight. The music was spazzy yet structured. I can't really provide a reference point for what they sounded like. You need to hear it.
There was supposedly a full-length in the works which never materialized. I think they had a few new songs on their myspace which seems to be inactive at this point.
The band was supposed to play a reunion show alongside Satellite Lost and Dearly Departed in 2005 but unfortunately couldn't do it. They did reunite in 2007 opening at one of the On The Might of Princes reunion shows.
This is their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/aeschylusrules
Download their 6 Song Demo:
AESCHYLUS - 6 Song Demo
http://www.mediafire.com/?98qo8y8bz65xtq5
Science Diet
This is a band that in all honesty, I never had an opportunity to see live. They were active mainly while I was in high school and I was well into the alternative-grunge thing. I didn't seek out Science Diet until I started getting into indie stuff, specifically Antarctica one of singer Chris Donohue's bands after this.
Science Diet existed from 1991 to 1995 (or 1996). They played an abrasive style that had hints of Jawbreaker and Rites of Spring, but unlike their contemporaries like Garden Variety, they were certain traits that could be traced back to The Cure and Joy Division. It made for a really interesting mix.
They released a demo in 1993, followed by the 7" "Afterlife on Motherbox Records in 1995. Later that year they released the full-length "Thru The Igloo" on Behemoth Sound Records which was recorded by Geoff Turner of Grey Matter. The album features a pretty cool take on The Cure song "A Forest."
Chris Donohue provided vocals and guitar and Jerry Carbone on Drums. They had a rotating lineup of other people involved as Craig Guerin played Bass on the Demo and 7", but Steve O'Brien from Crown of Thorns played on Thru The Igloo. Mike Kennedy of the Warped Weeble Wobbles took over afterwards. They also added Eric Svirida who would go on to The Last Crime on Guitar for live shows, and he also played bass on the song Coo Gan from a Behemoth compilation. Steven Depalo (Of Farckus Affair and later of Last Crime) also played guitar at live shows.
I eventually became friends with Chris Donohue and my thanks to him for providing me not only with this post's downloads, but with the comprehensive review of their changing lineup.
This download is for the "Thru The Igloo" CD and the song "Coo Gan" from the Behemoth Records Comp.
SCIENCE DIET - "Thru The Igloo" and "Coo Gan"
http://www.mediafire.com/?n1x5fs0cns4ms3x
You can find an unreleased rehearsal recording as well as "Phase Two" from the 7" on their Myspace here, hopefully I can get copies of this up here eventually:
http://www.myspace.com/sciencedietlongisland
You can purchase a copy of the 7" from Motherbox here: http://www.merchdirect.com/MotherboxRecords/Science_Diet?artist=1135
Science Diet existed from 1991 to 1995 (or 1996). They played an abrasive style that had hints of Jawbreaker and Rites of Spring, but unlike their contemporaries like Garden Variety, they were certain traits that could be traced back to The Cure and Joy Division. It made for a really interesting mix.
They released a demo in 1993, followed by the 7" "Afterlife on Motherbox Records in 1995. Later that year they released the full-length "Thru The Igloo" on Behemoth Sound Records which was recorded by Geoff Turner of Grey Matter. The album features a pretty cool take on The Cure song "A Forest."
Chris Donohue provided vocals and guitar and Jerry Carbone on Drums. They had a rotating lineup of other people involved as Craig Guerin played Bass on the Demo and 7", but Steve O'Brien from Crown of Thorns played on Thru The Igloo. Mike Kennedy of the Warped Weeble Wobbles took over afterwards. They also added Eric Svirida who would go on to The Last Crime on Guitar for live shows, and he also played bass on the song Coo Gan from a Behemoth compilation. Steven Depalo (Of Farckus Affair and later of Last Crime) also played guitar at live shows.
I eventually became friends with Chris Donohue and my thanks to him for providing me not only with this post's downloads, but with the comprehensive review of their changing lineup.
This download is for the "Thru The Igloo" CD and the song "Coo Gan" from the Behemoth Records Comp.
SCIENCE DIET - "Thru The Igloo" and "Coo Gan"
http://www.mediafire.com/?n1x5fs0cns4ms3x
You can find an unreleased rehearsal recording as well as "Phase Two" from the 7" on their Myspace here, hopefully I can get copies of this up here eventually:
http://www.myspace.com/sciencedietlongisland
You can purchase a copy of the 7" from Motherbox here: http://www.merchdirect.com/MotherboxRecords/Science_Diet?artist=1135
Monday, October 18, 2010
Tin River Junction
Similar to the last post, I have virtually no information about Tin River Junction. They were a band from Smithtown that existed in the early 90's and played clanging, melodic songs that I could best describe as sharing a similarity to Sebadoh. I have even less music available by them, despite the fact that they had a fair amount of releases... many on TAPE. Half of the people reading are trying to recollect what a tape actually is, the other half are feeling really old.
After Tin River Junction, two of the members for the project devL.
This is just a taste of what Tin River Junction were doing. This is from a 7" on Behemoth records and it is just the A-Side
TIN RIVER JUNCTION - Drunk in San Fran
http://www.mediafire.com/?6eoacjye154s2ch
Here is Tin River Junction's Discography which I pulled from the very much dead website of Behemoth Records. Provided any of this stuff comes my way, I'll certainly post it up.
"Peyote"cassette (self-released)
"Racer 6" cassette (self-released)
"Build" b/w "Loon" seven inch single on FIFTH DIMENSION RECORDS (#001)
"Drunk in San Fran" B/W "Lackluster" seven inch single on BEHEMOTH SOUND RECORDINGS (BS011)
"Zephyr" cassette (self-released)
"Did U Know I'm Blind" Innovations in Music Volume 1 double seven inch Compilation on BEHEMOTH SOUND RECORDINGS (BS012) - First 100 on white vinyl
"Sleep, not start" Comp Shmomp two CD Compilation on RED ROOM RECORDS (ROOC 2)
There was also an unfinished CD that was supposed to be released on Behemoth records as well.
After Tin River Junction, two of the members for the project devL.
This is just a taste of what Tin River Junction were doing. This is from a 7" on Behemoth records and it is just the A-Side
TIN RIVER JUNCTION - Drunk in San Fran
http://www.mediafire.com/?6eoacjye154s2ch
Here is Tin River Junction's Discography which I pulled from the very much dead website of Behemoth Records. Provided any of this stuff comes my way, I'll certainly post it up.
"Peyote"cassette (self-released)
"Racer 6" cassette (self-released)
"Build" b/w "Loon" seven inch single on FIFTH DIMENSION RECORDS (#001)
"Drunk in San Fran" B/W "Lackluster" seven inch single on BEHEMOTH SOUND RECORDINGS (BS011)
"Zephyr" cassette (self-released)
"Did U Know I'm Blind" Innovations in Music Volume 1 double seven inch Compilation on BEHEMOTH SOUND RECORDINGS (BS012) - First 100 on white vinyl
"Sleep, not start" Comp Shmomp two CD Compilation on RED ROOM RECORDS (ROOC 2)
There was also an unfinished CD that was supposed to be released on Behemoth records as well.
The Last Crime
If I had to document my top 5 Long Island band releases, this one would come in at #2 behind the previously discussed Automanipulation. While The Last Crime may not have been as widely recognized as other LI bands, they definitely have created a cult following that still has the band talked about quite reverentially despite their protracted lifespan and fairly minimal recorded output.
The Last Crime were made up of Kevin Egan on guitar and vocals (formerly of 1.6 Band and Beyond and later of $24,000), Steven DePalo also on guitar and vocals (who was in The Farckus Affair, as well as Science Diet), Rich Muller on drums and Eric Svirida on bass who also served time in Farckus Affair and briefly in Science Diet). I don’t know when Svirida left the band, but Mike Delorenzo of The Fifty-Two X and Dynasty filled in on bass as well as Chris Donohue of Science Diet and later of Antarctica and Ova Looven for many of their later shows (Credit to Chris Donohue for pointing out the correction). They are a band that I don’t have a terrible amount of information on, despite my love of their music. They formed at some point in 1994 and I’m pretty sure they dissolved in 1997.
The first time I heard about them was in 1996. I was trying to book a show with this guy Mark who was in the band Pacifier and he had the matinees at Dr. Shay’s on lockdown at the time. I told him that my band at the time, Six of One was a “noise-rock band”, as there was no defining term like “indie” is now. We had to make up these terms like “noise-rock” or “melodic dischord” without saying that we really liked Fugazi, but aren’t a hardcore band. It was an odd time since there were hardcore bands and punk bands… but not many bands were playing what we would now term indie stuff. Anyway, Mark said he loved noise and that we should play with The Last Crime as there was no band noisier.
The Last Crime were made up of Kevin Egan on guitar and vocals (formerly of 1.6 Band and Beyond and later of $24,000), Steven DePalo also on guitar and vocals (who was in The Farckus Affair, as well as Science Diet), Rich Muller on drums and Eric Svirida on bass who also served time in Farckus Affair and briefly in Science Diet). I don’t know when Svirida left the band, but Mike Delorenzo of The Fifty-Two X and Dynasty filled in on bass as well as Chris Donohue of Science Diet and later of Antarctica and Ova Looven for many of their later shows (Credit to Chris Donohue for pointing out the correction). They are a band that I don’t have a terrible amount of information on, despite my love of their music. They formed at some point in 1994 and I’m pretty sure they dissolved in 1997.
The first time I heard about them was in 1996. I was trying to book a show with this guy Mark who was in the band Pacifier and he had the matinees at Dr. Shay’s on lockdown at the time. I told him that my band at the time, Six of One was a “noise-rock band”, as there was no defining term like “indie” is now. We had to make up these terms like “noise-rock” or “melodic dischord” without saying that we really liked Fugazi, but aren’t a hardcore band. It was an odd time since there were hardcore bands and punk bands… but not many bands were playing what we would now term indie stuff. Anyway, Mark said he loved noise and that we should play with The Last Crime as there was no band noisier.
While we never had the opportunity to share a bill with them, the guy was right. They were a bit of an anomaly in the scene. They played with a lot of the hardcore bands, but their music was decidedly not close to that vein. They had a sound akin to early Unwound, Drive Like Jehu, Shellac and June of ’44. There were screaming vocals and heaps of dissonant driving guitars. I always felt that their song title “An Explosion in New Mexico” summed up what I felt the band sounded like – an explosion after an explosion.
I got to see the band a bunch of times at Deja 1,Dr. Shay’s and I do remember them playing an oddball show at The Rock Lobster in Glen Head where I remember the guys in Dynasty came up, appropriated their instruments and played a few songs.
As I mentioned, Egan went on to $24,000 and eventually reunited the 1.6 Band. Steven DePalo joined Chris Donohue in Dawn in Bathos and later Ova Looven and mostly does sound engineering now. Eric Svirda played guitar in Dawn in Bathos and I believe he moved to Seattle and wound up playing with some jazz bands. Rich Muller plays guitar and sings in Vice Massacre with Jerry Carbone who was in Science Diet/Dawn in Bathos/Farckus Affair (Credit to Jerry for the information.)
The album was released on the short-lived OMEGA label. There are also two additional songs (Credit to Mike Andriani for sending these to me) that the band recorded with J. Robbins of Jawbox that were planned for a second EP that never materialized and thusly never released.
Here’s the myspace page of the band, I’m not sure who the proprietor is: www.myspace.com/thelastcrime
THE LAST CRIME – s/t EP + 2 Unreleased Songs
I got to see the band a bunch of times at Deja 1,Dr. Shay’s and I do remember them playing an oddball show at The Rock Lobster in Glen Head where I remember the guys in Dynasty came up, appropriated their instruments and played a few songs.
As I mentioned, Egan went on to $24,000 and eventually reunited the 1.6 Band. Steven DePalo joined Chris Donohue in Dawn in Bathos and later Ova Looven and mostly does sound engineering now. Eric Svirda played guitar in Dawn in Bathos and I believe he moved to Seattle and wound up playing with some jazz bands. Rich Muller plays guitar and sings in Vice Massacre with Jerry Carbone who was in Science Diet/Dawn in Bathos/Farckus Affair (Credit to Jerry for the information.)
The album was released on the short-lived OMEGA label. There are also two additional songs (Credit to Mike Andriani for sending these to me) that the band recorded with J. Robbins of Jawbox that were planned for a second EP that never materialized and thusly never released.
Here’s the myspace page of the band, I’m not sure who the proprietor is: www.myspace.com/thelastcrime
THE LAST CRIME – s/t EP + 2 Unreleased Songs
Friday, October 15, 2010
Blog Buddies
Mike Andriani, also known as Mike Rok Lok and Mike from Yes Sensei, Dude Japan and Stars are Insane has also set up a blog with entries on some really great LI bands as well. He's already posted some super rare stuff from On the Might of Princes, Knox Overstreet, Bookstore, Latterman and Scent of Human History. Andriani has already helped me out by funnelling me a few choice tracks for upcoming posts. While I may be liberally ripping off his posts in the future, be sure to check out his blog here: http://hereonthisisland.blogspot.com/ right now.
Friday, October 8, 2010
No Nucleus Comp - The Tone Library
Ok, this should do it for tonight. I'm going comp crazy.
This was a cool comp done as a giveaway at the time by The Tone Library. It's got 18 LI bands, and it was basically put together so bands could give it away whenever they played. Pretty cool. It came out in 2004, and I think Satellite Lost got our copies just in time for us to break up.
I'm pretty sure that most of these tunes are all on other releases from these bands, and nothing is exclusive to this comp. But it's a great sampler to hear some bands circa 2003-2004.
Here's the track listing:
1. Yes Sensei - Russian or Retarded
2. Rachel Jacobs - Productive Vampires
3. On the Might of Princes - You Whistle, I'll Shoot
4. Aeschylus - Nights of the Green Table
5. The Devil Spades - (Cruise on down that) country mile
6. Nakatomi Plaza - It's Really Not This Hopeless
7. Cipher - Protoculture
8. With Every Idle Hour - Moxie
9. Slingshot Dakota - Best Friend
10. Encrypt Manuscript - How do you syllabicate your name?
11. Jon K - Off yr. radar
12. Regarding I - Between Dreams
13. Fellow Project - Shoot the ladder, but I'll save your face
14. Alove for Enemies - Broken Pledge
15. Grid Iron - The Colors
16. Desirae! - Expectation Vs. Reality
17. The Backup Plan - I Broke Your Heart And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
18. Satellite Lost - Lost at Sea
I don't think that label is operating any longer, but you can check http://www.myspace.com/thetonelibrary for some info.
NO NUCLEUS - TONE LIBRARY COMPILATION
http://www.mediafire.com/?aont2zi6u7mn6jm
This was a cool comp done as a giveaway at the time by The Tone Library. It's got 18 LI bands, and it was basically put together so bands could give it away whenever they played. Pretty cool. It came out in 2004, and I think Satellite Lost got our copies just in time for us to break up.
I'm pretty sure that most of these tunes are all on other releases from these bands, and nothing is exclusive to this comp. But it's a great sampler to hear some bands circa 2003-2004.
Here's the track listing:
1. Yes Sensei - Russian or Retarded
2. Rachel Jacobs - Productive Vampires
3. On the Might of Princes - You Whistle, I'll Shoot
4. Aeschylus - Nights of the Green Table
5. The Devil Spades - (Cruise on down that) country mile
6. Nakatomi Plaza - It's Really Not This Hopeless
7. Cipher - Protoculture
8. With Every Idle Hour - Moxie
9. Slingshot Dakota - Best Friend
10. Encrypt Manuscript - How do you syllabicate your name?
11. Jon K - Off yr. radar
12. Regarding I - Between Dreams
13. Fellow Project - Shoot the ladder, but I'll save your face
14. Alove for Enemies - Broken Pledge
15. Grid Iron - The Colors
16. Desirae! - Expectation Vs. Reality
17. The Backup Plan - I Broke Your Heart And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
18. Satellite Lost - Lost at Sea
I don't think that label is operating any longer, but you can check http://www.myspace.com/thetonelibrary for some info.
NO NUCLEUS - TONE LIBRARY COMPILATION
http://www.mediafire.com/?aont2zi6u7mn6jm
Traffic Violation Records 6 Band Split 7"
We need to get some more punk on the blog and no one was doing it better than the Striped Basstards in the 90's. They had releases on Motherbox records, but Wells Tipley formed his own label Traffic Violation Records which in turn churned out a bunch of great releases from bands like Splurge, Explosivo and Latterman. This 6-band split was release #3 I believe.
I'm pretty sure I nicked this rip from a blog called chairshot records at some point.
TRACK LISTING:
1. The Howards - No Place Left To Go
2. Splurge - 49 Cent Refill
3. Kempleton - I Like Pink
4. The Disenchanted - Just Another Love Song
5. Checkerboard Charlie - Fired Again
6. Striped Basstards - Inside My Head
Download it below, but you can still find physical copies of it in the Rok Lok Distro: http://www.roklokrecords.com/go.php.
TRAFFIC VIOLATION RECORDS 6 Band Split 7"
http://www.mediafire.com/?nc6cj8tdecj3nf3
I'm pretty sure I nicked this rip from a blog called chairshot records at some point.
TRACK LISTING:
1. The Howards - No Place Left To Go
2. Splurge - 49 Cent Refill
3. Kempleton - I Like Pink
4. The Disenchanted - Just Another Love Song
5. Checkerboard Charlie - Fired Again
6. Striped Basstards - Inside My Head
Download it below, but you can still find physical copies of it in the Rok Lok Distro: http://www.roklokrecords.com/go.php.
TRAFFIC VIOLATION RECORDS 6 Band Split 7"
http://www.mediafire.com/?nc6cj8tdecj3nf3
All Grown Up
From a totally different angle, this post brings a band that is still very-much active.
All Grown Up has been around in some incarnation since 2000. But for some reason their recorded output doesn't quite equate to the length that the band has been around. It's unfortunate that there isn't more to post, but gigantic 7 foot tall frontman Sean Corrigan has told me that the band "just likes to take their time."
Circle the Sun played our last show with AGU opening. I had only half-listened to some tracks on myspace and I was prepared for them to play some pretty average pop-punk. All Grown Up set up and then blew my face off with a set of awesome melodic hardcore very much in the vein of Long Islanders Silent Majority and Latterman but added in some spacey, rippin' guitar parts and vocal harmonies too. I was really surprised and impressed. Sean Corrigan's (no relation to Tommy) voice definitely has a similar vibe to stuff like Silent Majority and Grey Area, but there's a lot of other interesting elements so if you don't quite dig hardcore you can still get into the music.
I would up talking to Sean for awhile that night about all sorts of bands and wound up with a crick in my neck from having to look up that high. Next time I see that guy, I'm bringing a ladder.
The band also features Tommy Fasano on drums, Taylor Brown on Bass and Chris Gey on guitars. The band's got a great DIY philosophy too. They record their stuff and then post it on myspace or mediafire and if you dig it, you can download it. No CDs to buy, no profiteering. Using the internet to be punk. Go figure.
As I said they don't have too much recorded, but I've uploaded everything that I have. (Credit to Sean Corrigan for hooking it up). Included are the two demos "Kinda Sorta Not Really" from 2007 and the 2008 "Demotapes and Demographics" as well as a few new tracks that they are working on for their next release.
Find out more about these guys here: http://www.myspace.com/allgrownup
And then download the rock.
ALL GROWN UP: "Kinda Sorta Not Really", "Demotapes & Demographics" + More
http://www.mediafire.com/?jpabte4ralk9y3d
All Grown Up has been around in some incarnation since 2000. But for some reason their recorded output doesn't quite equate to the length that the band has been around. It's unfortunate that there isn't more to post, but gigantic 7 foot tall frontman Sean Corrigan has told me that the band "just likes to take their time."
Circle the Sun played our last show with AGU opening. I had only half-listened to some tracks on myspace and I was prepared for them to play some pretty average pop-punk. All Grown Up set up and then blew my face off with a set of awesome melodic hardcore very much in the vein of Long Islanders Silent Majority and Latterman but added in some spacey, rippin' guitar parts and vocal harmonies too. I was really surprised and impressed. Sean Corrigan's (no relation to Tommy) voice definitely has a similar vibe to stuff like Silent Majority and Grey Area, but there's a lot of other interesting elements so if you don't quite dig hardcore you can still get into the music.
I would up talking to Sean for awhile that night about all sorts of bands and wound up with a crick in my neck from having to look up that high. Next time I see that guy, I'm bringing a ladder.
The band also features Tommy Fasano on drums, Taylor Brown on Bass and Chris Gey on guitars. The band's got a great DIY philosophy too. They record their stuff and then post it on myspace or mediafire and if you dig it, you can download it. No CDs to buy, no profiteering. Using the internet to be punk. Go figure.
As I said they don't have too much recorded, but I've uploaded everything that I have. (Credit to Sean Corrigan for hooking it up). Included are the two demos "Kinda Sorta Not Really" from 2007 and the 2008 "Demotapes and Demographics" as well as a few new tracks that they are working on for their next release.
Find out more about these guys here: http://www.myspace.com/allgrownup
And then download the rock.
ALL GROWN UP: "Kinda Sorta Not Really", "Demotapes & Demographics" + More
http://www.mediafire.com/?jpabte4ralk9y3d
Sons of Abraham
A straight-edge, all-jewish hardcore band. Only in New York, my friends.
This post is not about some lame-ass Australian band that jacked the original Sons of Abraham's name. This is about the LI band obviously. This band has garnered a bit of a posthumous following and the band's CD can probably can be found with some ease online. But I really like this disc, and this blog is about being complete so I'm putting it up. Sons of Abraham featured Justin Beck of Glassjaw and Todd Weinstock also a member of Glassjaw at the time and later of Men, Women and Children and Cubic Zirconia. While it's pretty well-known now that Beck wrote a good deal of Glassjaw's riffs while he was still the drummer and later bassist, this was his first band where he was featured as guitarist. There's a lot of sites out there that provide misinformation that Sons broke up so that Todd and Justin could join Glassjaw, but both bands were going on concurrently and Glassjaw did precede the Sons foundation.
In addition to Beck and Todd, the band also featured Neil Rubenstein (of Irony of Lightfoot and later This Year's Model) on vocals, Stephan Linde on drums and Mitch Skalska. I think Ariel Telford of Glassjaw may have played bass as well at some point. I'm sure that Linde went on to play in Sound of Speed and Classic Case.
I saw the band play a few times. I remember thinking they were just brutally heavy the first time I saw them at a Dr. Shay's Matinee. I was standing in the back with someone else while Neil was making jokes from the stage about our, and consequently his, long hair. He was remarking that he was looking to be a stand-up comedian since "Jews make the best comedians." It was such a dichotomy to the music. Totally bizarre.
Hearing the disc now, it's still heavy but not quite as face-ripping as I originally thought back in 1997. It might be because there's plenty of bands that have aped this style, but the lyrical content is still a pretty weighty call-to-arms manifesto if you are believer, or a lapsed-jew. The one-two knockout punch of "Termites in His Smile" (originally Song #2 on a split they did with Indecision) and "Dos Equis" provide a strong message of where the band was coming from. "Dos Equis", playing on both the brand of beer and the 3 symbolic straight edge xXx's, picked apart those who didn't hold fast to the beliefs. "Termites in His Smile, a clever pull from Dr. Seuss's "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" showcased Rubenstein howling "Who took the Christ out of Christmas" to substantiate the hallmark-ification of the holiday.
As an athiest and drinker, I never could give a shit. But I respect what they were doing and the music is awesome. This is definitely for fans of Steps-era Snapcase and Indecision.
They released a demo, the aforementioned split with Indecision and finally the full length "Termites in His Smile" on Exit records in 1997. I do not have the demo, but I did have one track from a comp that they were on called "Definitely Not The Majors - A Bush League Records Compilation" which I am including below.
Here's the myspace page as well, which has no info and is probably a fan posting: http://www.myspace.com/thesonsofabraham
SONS OF ABRAHAM - "Termites in His Smile" + "What Brings May Flowers" Demo
http://www.mediafire.com/?8i2cbdzlheino69
This post is not about some lame-ass Australian band that jacked the original Sons of Abraham's name. This is about the LI band obviously. This band has garnered a bit of a posthumous following and the band's CD can probably can be found with some ease online. But I really like this disc, and this blog is about being complete so I'm putting it up. Sons of Abraham featured Justin Beck of Glassjaw and Todd Weinstock also a member of Glassjaw at the time and later of Men, Women and Children and Cubic Zirconia. While it's pretty well-known now that Beck wrote a good deal of Glassjaw's riffs while he was still the drummer and later bassist, this was his first band where he was featured as guitarist. There's a lot of sites out there that provide misinformation that Sons broke up so that Todd and Justin could join Glassjaw, but both bands were going on concurrently and Glassjaw did precede the Sons foundation.
In addition to Beck and Todd, the band also featured Neil Rubenstein (of Irony of Lightfoot and later This Year's Model) on vocals, Stephan Linde on drums and Mitch Skalska. I think Ariel Telford of Glassjaw may have played bass as well at some point. I'm sure that Linde went on to play in Sound of Speed and Classic Case.
I saw the band play a few times. I remember thinking they were just brutally heavy the first time I saw them at a Dr. Shay's Matinee. I was standing in the back with someone else while Neil was making jokes from the stage about our, and consequently his, long hair. He was remarking that he was looking to be a stand-up comedian since "Jews make the best comedians." It was such a dichotomy to the music. Totally bizarre.
Hearing the disc now, it's still heavy but not quite as face-ripping as I originally thought back in 1997. It might be because there's plenty of bands that have aped this style, but the lyrical content is still a pretty weighty call-to-arms manifesto if you are believer, or a lapsed-jew. The one-two knockout punch of "Termites in His Smile" (originally Song #2 on a split they did with Indecision) and "Dos Equis" provide a strong message of where the band was coming from. "Dos Equis", playing on both the brand of beer and the 3 symbolic straight edge xXx's, picked apart those who didn't hold fast to the beliefs. "Termites in His Smile, a clever pull from Dr. Seuss's "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" showcased Rubenstein howling "Who took the Christ out of Christmas" to substantiate the hallmark-ification of the holiday.
As an athiest and drinker, I never could give a shit. But I respect what they were doing and the music is awesome. This is definitely for fans of Steps-era Snapcase and Indecision.
They released a demo, the aforementioned split with Indecision and finally the full length "Termites in His Smile" on Exit records in 1997. I do not have the demo, but I did have one track from a comp that they were on called "Definitely Not The Majors - A Bush League Records Compilation" which I am including below.
Here's the myspace page as well, which has no info and is probably a fan posting: http://www.myspace.com/thesonsofabraham
SONS OF ABRAHAM - "Termites in His Smile" + "What Brings May Flowers" Demo
http://www.mediafire.com/?8i2cbdzlheino69
The Future Engine
Continuing along with the last post's theme, this was also a pretty short lived band. I don't know much about them. I saw them play one time at The Courthouse East in Massapequa in 2003. I really dug what they were doing. It's spacey and shoe-gazey. There's even a cover of My Bloody Valentine's "Come in Alone" on the demo.
For some reason I thought Jon Cox was in the band, but I was recently corrected that it was actually Greg Kubacki on guitar who had previously been in Earth.ling Massive and replaced Jon. I remember asking Greg if Future Engine wanted to play a show and he had told me that the band was on an indefinite hiatus since he had thrown out his back. You know you are beginning to get old when your back interferes with your rocking. I would know. Months later, I was at a Cave-In show at the Downtown and someone handed me this CD but I'm pretty sure the band had ceased to be at that time.
I can't remember much more and their myspace doesn't provide much more info either: http://www.myspace.com/10982058
In any case, if you like My Bloody Valentine and Radiohead, this is a swell 5-song trip.
The Future Engine - Self-Titled Demo
http://www.mediafire.com/?gil9gox9gfq38vp
For some reason I thought Jon Cox was in the band, but I was recently corrected that it was actually Greg Kubacki on guitar who had previously been in Earth.ling Massive and replaced Jon. I remember asking Greg if Future Engine wanted to play a show and he had told me that the band was on an indefinite hiatus since he had thrown out his back. You know you are beginning to get old when your back interferes with your rocking. I would know. Months later, I was at a Cave-In show at the Downtown and someone handed me this CD but I'm pretty sure the band had ceased to be at that time.
I can't remember much more and their myspace doesn't provide much more info either: http://www.myspace.com/10982058
In any case, if you like My Bloody Valentine and Radiohead, this is a swell 5-song trip.
The Future Engine - Self-Titled Demo
http://www.mediafire.com/?gil9gox9gfq38vp
The Fall Drive
So, I have a soft spot for obscurity. Hell, that's probably why this blog exists. The more unknown the band, the more I want to have it cataloged, because someone... somewhere... may recall that band and wants to hear them again.
That may be the case with The Fall Drive. The seemed to exist for an extremely short period during 2000. They were based out of West Hempstead and made up of Scott Rondinelli on Guitar, Dave Sperber on drums and I have no idea who played bass. Dave was in the NY screamo band Closure while he attended NYU and last I heard, he was playing with some band in L.A. Scott went onto to do various projects such as Missing Movement and Displaced Persons. They played two shows with The Cotton Weary (one was at Ground Zero with WCF and The Salingers, and one at a beach in Smithtown with This Years Model, Taking Back Sunday and Breaking Pangaea.) They must have played at least one other show, but they disappeared pretty quickly.
It's kind of a shame as well, as they had some potential. The vocals are a little off here and there, but with a lot of 90's era emo, it kind of went with the style. If you are into Sunny Day, Mineral, Boy's Life and pretty much everything that Crank! Records was doing... you'll dig it.
The Fall Drive - Demo
http://www.mediafire.com/?g7ddddlt5t24q7i
That may be the case with The Fall Drive. The seemed to exist for an extremely short period during 2000. They were based out of West Hempstead and made up of Scott Rondinelli on Guitar, Dave Sperber on drums and I have no idea who played bass. Dave was in the NY screamo band Closure while he attended NYU and last I heard, he was playing with some band in L.A. Scott went onto to do various projects such as Missing Movement and Displaced Persons. They played two shows with The Cotton Weary (one was at Ground Zero with WCF and The Salingers, and one at a beach in Smithtown with This Years Model, Taking Back Sunday and Breaking Pangaea.) They must have played at least one other show, but they disappeared pretty quickly.
It's kind of a shame as well, as they had some potential. The vocals are a little off here and there, but with a lot of 90's era emo, it kind of went with the style. If you are into Sunny Day, Mineral, Boy's Life and pretty much everything that Crank! Records was doing... you'll dig it.
The Fall Drive - Demo
http://www.mediafire.com/?g7ddddlt5t24q7i
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Wreck-Age and Exit Present: MINDSET OVERHAUL
Mindset Overhaul was a comp that was put out by the Wreck-Age/Exit label. I'm still not sure what made certain bands part of the Wreck-Age family or part of the Exit family. Maybe Artie Phillie can provide some edification.
I remember that this comp was put together to celebrate 8 years since Wreck-Age's debut and this CD was given away at a show at Coney Island High. I sort of remember it being in 2000, but I honestly can't remember the year or who played it. The title was borrowed from a Mind Over Matter song.
This disc is chock full of LI bands and served as a great primer for Wreck-Age and Exit bands during that time and is a cool time capsule now.
Here's the lineup:
1. Hallowed Be Thy Name - Indecision
2. Too Much - Mind Over Matter
3. Popular Opinion - Silent Majority
4. Something More - Bad Trip
5. Last Days Of The Titanic, The - Judas Factor
6. Versus Excalibur - Milhouse
7. Meat Packer - Yuppicide
8. Step To You - Madball
9. L.S.S. - Neglect
10. Greatest Of Speakers, The - Sons Of Abraham
11. 1 In 6 - Die 116
12. Gyroscope - S.F.A.
13. Lucky 13 - Yuppicide
14. Open Mind - Stillsuit
15. Dormancy Pill, The - Motive
16. 3LT - Gin Mill
17. Overlayer - Tripface
18. Dehumanization - Bad Trip
19. Recognize - Silent Majority
20. True Love - Yuppicide
21. Playstation - Irony Of Lightfoot
22. Automanipulation - Mind Over Matter
23. Fifty-Two Minutes - Lamagna
24. Last Laugh - Die 116
25. Most Precious Blood - Indecision
26. Mother Jokes - Milhouse
27. Rockabilly - F.T.E.
28. All For Nothing - Yuppicide
29. Inspiration - Bad Trip
30. New York, New York - Mind Over Matter
Download MINDSET OVERHAUL:
http://www.mediafire.com/?wehat3wy34aic2b
I remember that this comp was put together to celebrate 8 years since Wreck-Age's debut and this CD was given away at a show at Coney Island High. I sort of remember it being in 2000, but I honestly can't remember the year or who played it. The title was borrowed from a Mind Over Matter song.
This disc is chock full of LI bands and served as a great primer for Wreck-Age and Exit bands during that time and is a cool time capsule now.
Here's the lineup:
1. Hallowed Be Thy Name - Indecision
2. Too Much - Mind Over Matter
3. Popular Opinion - Silent Majority
4. Something More - Bad Trip
5. Last Days Of The Titanic, The - Judas Factor
6. Versus Excalibur - Milhouse
7. Meat Packer - Yuppicide
8. Step To You - Madball
9. L.S.S. - Neglect
10. Greatest Of Speakers, The - Sons Of Abraham
11. 1 In 6 - Die 116
12. Gyroscope - S.F.A.
13. Lucky 13 - Yuppicide
14. Open Mind - Stillsuit
15. Dormancy Pill, The - Motive
16. 3LT - Gin Mill
17. Overlayer - Tripface
18. Dehumanization - Bad Trip
19. Recognize - Silent Majority
20. True Love - Yuppicide
21. Playstation - Irony Of Lightfoot
22. Automanipulation - Mind Over Matter
23. Fifty-Two Minutes - Lamagna
24. Last Laugh - Die 116
25. Most Precious Blood - Indecision
26. Mother Jokes - Milhouse
27. Rockabilly - F.T.E.
28. All For Nothing - Yuppicide
29. Inspiration - Bad Trip
30. New York, New York - Mind Over Matter
Download MINDSET OVERHAUL:
http://www.mediafire.com/?wehat3wy34aic2b
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