Greg MacPherson Band / Small Brown Bike

Adam: The Greg MacPherson Band's new record Night Flares has spent more time in my stereo than anything else this past week, and for good reason. There's something wonderfully honest about this Winnipeg-based singer/songwriter, and this 11 song collection of dark, working class rock'n'roll is a perfect extension of the style established with 2002's Good Times Coming Back Again and 2004's Maintenance EP. Look for the record in stores on April 5th in Canada and later on the 19th in the US. Here's a few tracks to tide you over until then:
Greg MacPherson Band - Cutting Room Greg MacPherson Band - Hotel Motel Scott: Can you believe it's been over a year since Small Brown Bike broke up? I found myself listening to a lot of this sadly defunct band over the weekend, and I pray they don't fall into the same obscurity their musical forefathers tumbled into. Here's a selection of MP3s from their history:
Small Brown Bike - Safe In Sound (Off 2003's The River Bed)
Small Brown Bike - Trains All Talk (off 2003's Nail Yourself To The Ground EP)
Small Brown Bike - Hideaway (Off 2001's Dead Reckoning)
Small Brown Bike - Mouth Of Madness (Off 1999's Collection)
Small Brown Bike - In Tune (Off 1999's Our Own Wars)
If you dig what you hear, head on over to NoIdeaRecords.com, where you can buy any of these releases on CD or vinyl.

Imperial

Brian: Like screaming? Breakdowns? Double bass? No? Oh, you'll probably hate Imperial then. The band mixes it up well with its gutsplitting guitars and varied forms of throat-wrenching vocals. Check out the track below, which comes from the band's recently released EP, This Grave Is My Poem. You can visit Pluto Records's site for more information.
Imperial - Washed Upon A Nameless Shore

The Stella Link

Hey! Do you miss No Knife? Do you miss Hum? Do you miss good music? If you answered "yes" to any of the previous three questions, the Stella Link is for you. These songs are taken from the band's 2004 debut full-length, Mystic Jaguar… ATTACK!!!! on Ascetic Records:
The Stella Link - Winner Takes All The Stella Link - Ice Machine The Stella Link - Behold! The Hornless Unicorn The Stella Link - Fog Machine The Stella Link - Starting Line

the Yuppie Pricks / Genghis Tron / Paint It Black

Brian: Finally, a band that recognizes the greatness of Reagan's legacy, the importance of screwing the lower tax bracket, and the fine art of snorting a perfect line of fine Columbian cocaine off only the most high-class broad's backside. The Yuppie Pricks are here with BMWs and Wall Street smarts in tow, bringing their Dead Kennedys sound to a country club near you. These tracks comes from the band's recently released effort, Broker's Banquet. You can visit their site or Alternative Tentacles's for more info.
Yuppie Pricks - Coke Party Yuppie Pricks - Hummer In My Hummer Aubin: Some things just don't go together: mayonnaise and peanut butter, ammonia and bleach and - as some might argue - electro-pop and grindcore. Despite that, Genghis Tron somehow manages to pull it off on their upcoming Crucial Blast EP Cloak of Love. The Poughkeepsie, NY-based trio, effortlessly combines Depeche Mode-style synth pop with nearly seamless segueways into vicious grind. It's exhilarating original and surprisingly catchy.
Genghis Tron - Arms Scott: There's no doubt about it -- Paint It Black's Paradise, while still not even out yet, is already the quintessential hardcore album of 2005. I don't know a zine editor in the world who hasn't stopped spinning this since the advance copies went out. When this finally hits stores on March 8 (via the lovely people at Jade Tree), watch out. Here's two cuts from the disc:
Paint It Black - Exit Wounds Paint It Black - Panic

Th' Losin Streaks / Lard

Adam: I tend to scan through the reviews section of AMP to see what Mitch Cardwell is writing about, as he and I seem to dig similar sounds. One of my favorite recent recommendations of his is Sacramento's Th' Losin Streaks, a garage punk band that features members of the Troublemakers and the Zodiac Killers. Since I'm already giving him credit for the find, I'll lift one of Mitch's comments directly:

Tim Foster's mid-fi garage know-how coupled with Matt K's unhinged black-and-blue drumming???? C'mon! That's a recipe for success if there ever was one. They haven't reinvented the wheel here, but it's rolling pretty fucking good."

Here's a couple of tracks from the band's 2004 Slovenly Recordings release Sounds Of Violence:
Th' Losin Streaks - If You Think Th' Losin Streaks - Leaving Here Scott: While record shopping today, I found a copy of Lard's Pure Chewing Satisfaction on CD for only six bucks. Only owning it on vinyl, I had to get the compact version, and while playing it tonight, I remembered just how awesome this stuff is. Jello Biafra's vocals are just insane, and the industrial-punk beats created by Ministry are brutal. Check out these songs from the disc:
Lard - War Pimp Renaissance Lard - I Wanna Be A Drug Sniffing Dog Lard - Sidewinder
(Note: Alternative Tentacles seems to re-generate their MP3 links every so often to prevent outside linking. If these aren't working for you, click here to download.)

Hey Mercedes

January 21st, 2005 will forever be known as Black Friday by myself, and others who were affected by the breakup of Hey Mercedes as hard as I was. While it took me some time to warm up to the group due to my post-Braid depression, I've spent the past few years criss-crossing the Midwest to see the band's fantastic live show over and over, each time enjoying them more and more. If you haven't yet listened to Hey Mercedes, here's a selection of audio from throughout their catalog:

Hey Mercedes EP (Polyvinyl, 2000)
Bells Everynight Fire Works (Vagrant, 2001)
Que Shiraz Eleven To Your Seven Every Turn Our Weekend Starts On Wednesday A-List Actress [clip] The Weekend EP (Vagrant, 2002)
Save A Life Everybody's Working For The Weak Loses Control (Vagrant, 2003)
Quality Revenge At Last Knowing When To Stop It's Been A Blast The Switch

Now, this is just the tip of the iceberg on Hey Mercedes. Tracks like "Que Shiraz" (posted above courtesy of Cloak And Dagger Media), "Stay Six" and "Roulette Systems" are unarguably the best in the band's catalog; but you'll just have to buy the records for those.

Strikeforce Diablo / Ammi / The Secret

Scott: Strikeforce Diablo have been dormant far too long from the post-hardcore landscape. First making their mark in 1997 on scream-filled split 7-inches with Twelve Hour Turn and I Hate Myself, the band took a rather long hiatus, retooled their lineup a few times, and finally delivered their debut full-length, The Albatross And The Architect, in 2004 on No Idea Records; it only took them the better part of a decade to do it. If you take Dead Reckoning-era Small Brown Bike and mix it with To Bury Within The Sound-era Engine Down, you'll have a pretty good idea of what this record sounds like. "Sharp Tongue, No Teeth" is the first track off Albatross; "Akimbo" is also on Albatross, and originally appeared on their split with Twelve Hour Turn.
Strikeforce Diablo - Sharp Tongue, No Teeth Strikeforce Diablo - Akimbo
You can also currently stream two more songs off the record, "All Things Cloven" and "The Stretch," at the band's purevolume page.

Brian: Chicago's Ammi delivers some pretty considerable versatility of the [genre] variety on their latest EP, Laodicea. They touch on everything from Mineral to Appleseed Cast to a more aggressive …Trail Of Dead, and it works well for the band's uniquely budding sound. Both these tracks come from Laodicea, out now on Common Cloud Records:
Ammi - Blue Screen Brain
Ammi - Faux Aubin: Italian quintet, The Secret, who recently released their Goodfellow debut, Luce, have a remarkable ability to intersperse moments of polyrhythmic, chaotic hardcore with elegant post-rock like that of Mogwai or even Isis. I must admit that it's not an entirely flawless record, as it does degenerate into Botch-style guitar squealing on occaison. Still, those minor misteps aside, the bulk of the record represents a truly inspired entry.
The Secret - Memento Mori

Heiruspecs

A few days after Christmas, I drove up to Minnesota to see some friends, one of whom was Punknews.org's most simultaneously hated/loved reviewer, Jesse. As we drove around Minneapolis in his mom's mini-van (totally cred-worthy), he threw in A Tiger Dancing, the new album by his hometown's hip-hop collective, Heiruspecs. Basically, this stuff is the jam. Brilliant lyrics coupled with all-live instrumentation makes one of the best albums of 2004 that I sadly ignored until now. Here's a handful of tracks off the release; learn more at Heiruspecs.com:
Heiruspecs - 5ves Heiruspecs - Dollar Heiruspecs - A Tiger Dancing Heiruspecs - Fist Heiruspecs - Heartsprings Heiruspecs - Lie To Me

Hanalei / A Wilhelm Scream

Brian: I don't think you truly realize how smooth and flowing of a voice Brian Moss had in The Ghost until you've heard him in Hanalei. The project, for those still not aware, finds Moss singing gently over a potent mix of electronic blips and bleeps and a wave of acoustic guitars. This track opens his somewhat recently-released Thick debut, We Are All Natural Disasters. For more information, visit his site or Thick's. You can also check out his pureVOLUME site for another track.
Hanalei - Action Drum Scott: It's nice to see A Wilhelm Scream's Mute Print [review] pop up on some year-end lists around the ol' interweb; mainly, because it made me remember how awesome this album was and that I'd been neglecting it for too long. This track is an outtake from the Mute Print sessions, posted for free download out of the good of Nitro Records' heart:
A Wilhelm Scream - Fuck You, I Own Hollywood

D.O.A.

Every self respecting punk rock band needs a few songs about pirates and Vancouver veterans D.O.A. certainly don't disappoint on their latest (and 12th) full length Live Free Or Die. Joe Shithead Keithley and company are just wrapping up their US tour in support of it, with a show today in Victorville, CA and another tomorrow night in Phoenix, AZ. If you're digging this there's a few more tunes on the label's website:
D.O.A. - Brigands And Pirates

Enemy You / The Swayback / Hot Snakes

Aubin: Enemy You play solid, upbeat and melodic punk rock music. Really, there isn't much more to them than that, and it's refreshing how straightforward and stripped down the music is while still being distinctive enough to be memorable. I can appreciate the various "-cores" as much as anyone, but, like the reviewer of their recent Stories Never Told - I have a soft spot for this kind of catchy and energetic music. Here are two tracks for you to check out from the aforementioned release on Red Scare:
Enemy You - The Only One Enemy You - Status Quo Brian: Slightly fuzzy and strangely melancholic, The Swayback may look like fashionista indulgers in any promo photo I seem to come across of them, but they happen to make some dark, restrained-yet-catchy rock 'n' roll that's hard to pin down. Check out the opening track from their self-titled album:
The Swayback - Distinguished Guests At The Downtrodden Ball Adam: What? Leave me alone I'm studying. Big exam tomorrow. MP3 of the Week? Shit I hadn't even thought about it. Umm (papers rustle) here, a tune from the latest Hot Snakes record, Audit In Progress. It's rocking the textbooks as we speak:
Hot Snakes - Hi-Lites
Now seriously, leave me alone until tomorrow.

Jello Biafra and the Melvins / Miracle of 86

Adam: Alternative Tentacles released the Jello Biafra / Melvins collaboration Never Breathe What You Can't See earlier this fall. It's urgent and heavy punk rock marrying Biafra's trademark warble with The Melvins' metallic crunch. Considering the people involved we really haven't talked about it enough here. Head to the AT site for more info and check out the following tunes:
Jello Biafra and the Melvins - Plethysmograph Jello Biafra and the Melvins - Yuppie Cadillac Brian: True, I probably couldn't have gotten much farther from the former in featuring Miracle of 86 here, but their latest EP Last Gasp is some really upbeat and enjoyable acoustic-based songs. Most bands playing this style resort to melodramatic pandering, so incorporating the uplifting qualities not only provides a refreshing alternative but just a generally happier experience too. You can check out more information at Immigrant Sun's site.
Miracle of 86 - We Keep You Honest