Justin: Chinese Telephones are a raw pop-punk band but without the need for obnoxious hooks and ridiculous vocals. Comparisons have been made to bands like Face to Face and midwestern poppy punk in general. I'll buy that for a dollar, since they seem to shed the pretension so ever-present in the last few years, deciding to play what sounds like some really honest music. "Back To You Again" is a rough mix from their upcoming full-length and is just complex enough to keep you from being bored while still giving you the chance to sing along. It's got a nice call and answer part half way through alongside some pretty fun wailing by the frontman. Add in a nice little chorus in the way of "I hope I find my way back to you again" that repeats for a bit and it's just a nice time. Nothing groundbreaking here but it's enjoyable which can never really be a bad thing, right? The track is available for download and there's a few more songs streaming at their MySpace page.
Chinese Telephones - "Back To You Again" Update: Added a higher quality download file.
Aubin: Reunions are all the rage these days -- pardon the pun -- we've got everyone from the Police to the Bad Brains coming back and despite the fact that some of these reunions may be calculated attempts to charge $250.00 to nostalgic fans, some bands are getting back together for all the right reasons. Take Washington D.C.'s Dismemberment Plan for example. What could be a more worthy reason to reunite than the health and welfare of a child? In honor of that reunion, here are three songs to clue you in on why so many people agree that the Dismemberment Plan is one of the best bands from Washington D.C. that isn't Fugazi.
Dismemberment Plan - "Superpowers" Dismemberment Plan - "Academy Award (remixed by Cex)"
Dismemberment Plan - "What Do You Want Me To Say?"