Pastepunk

In a fit of insanity, no doubt induced by all of that curling that recently went on, I've been handed the reins of the Mp3 of the Week section here at Punknews.org. And what better way to do something than to not do it? I've always loved delegating, so instead of spending the time to hunt down songs and bands, I ask other people to do it for me!

The first in what I hope to be a weekly series of guests is the ever-beautiful staff of Pastepunk. Led by Jordan A. Baker, esq, they've picked an assortment of bands and songs that demand your attention, at least for sampling's sake.

Curious as to what they've picked for you, our viewing public?

No Idols / The Sw!ms

Brian: We recently posted a review of No Idols' great album, Low (Swing the Pyramid Hands), but I don't think it quite got the attention it deserves. No Idols bring furious hardcore with a methodical, manipulated wall of sound, an ever-so-slight metallic edge and plenty of ambition to a sometimes stale style. Released this past January on the Hex, check out some MP3s here:

No Idols - Belief No Idols - Science and Witchcraft Justin: We recently posted some information about The Sw!ms, a side project of Phillip Price from An Albatross. To be honest I pretty much ignored it until John from Mammoth Press recommended them to me. Like many other indie-rock bands floating around, the Beatles influences are heavy, generally being mixed with a healthy dose of garage rock revivalist recording and energy put into "Vermillion Archer". There's what appears to be some Hammond organ (or straight Synths) to be found alongside some sugary sweet vocals and straightforward guitar riffs. Not necessarily my usual listening fare, but on a sunny day sometimes you need something that fits the mood.

The Sw!ms - We Need Lava The Sw!ms - Depth Charge The Sw!ms - Vermillion Archer

Bookends

Bookends hail from Santa Cruz, where the wind blows strong off the ocean and the summer days make me want to evacuate the big city. Driving down Route 1 from San Francisco, you pass through Pacifica, then wind your way through mountainous cliffs overlooking the sea and you get this sense of there being more, just beyond your reach. It's heartening and can bring your whole body and mind a sense of relief that I truly haven't felt elsewhere. When listening to the Bookends, especially their new album A Hook For Every Fish In the Sea, it's the same feeling. This is folk, without the punk. Well, mostly. A mixture of guitars, violin and drums, the arrangements vary from sparse, airy cliffside poems to upbeat dance songs with a hint of Irish flavor and can wind back around to well thought out dirges. I'm very impressed by these guys, and would recommend their new CD from Fall Of The West Records.

Bookends - Whiskey and Wine Bookends - Songs About Hunger Bookends - Straight In Bookends - Give Up

Encrypt Manuscript

Brian: I just returned home from a mostly enjoyable show that had With Honor in the headlining slot and This Is Hell in the support, not to mention a thrown-on assortment of mosh metal bands. However, randomly stuck between WH and TIH's sets were a few songs from locals Encrypt Manuscript. While a crowd made up of hardcore and metalcore fans may not have been the best audience for the band, I was damn near blown away by their jazz / funk / indie rock hybrid with influences seemingly running the gamut from Joan of Arc (instrumentally) to the Blood Brothers (vocally) to the Nation of Ulysses (musically). With beat poetry preceding and/or connecting songs in the set and little crowd acknowledgement until the last song, they were running the pretension meter up pretty high, but I didn't mind; it was art trash at its finest, and I was loving every second of it.

These songs don't quite capture the raucous, experimentative nature of their live setting, but it's the closest you can get. The first is taken from a self-titled 7", and the latter 2 from an earlier EP entitled Dialogues. Both are available on Tone Library.

Encrypt Manuscript - Knife Fight at the Blind Tiger Encrypt Manuscript - Riot Cop Fox Trot Encrypt Manuscript - How Do You Syllabicate Your Name?

La Cosa Nostra / North Lincoln

Brian: Upstate NY's La Cosa Nostra is four really non-descript looking dudes making some really awesome music. Think somewhere between the Mars Volta and Sirens-era On the Might of Princes instrumentation, with vocal interplay reminiscent of the latter and Bear vs. Shark. I don't know, it's crazy shit, let's put it in that intensely professional way. The first two tracks are from their forthcoming, recently recorded and as yet untitled EP. The other two are simply demos, but sufficiently bring the (indie) rock as well. (If these links don't work feel free to visit their Myspace page from which they're taken.) Big ups to my stoner cousin for the tip-off.

La Cosa Nostra - Saddle Your Alpaca La Cosa Nostra - Adjective La Cosa Nostra - Citizenparatrooper La Cosa Nostra - White Owl Master Justin: I just got back from a great show at The Gilman, Latterman and a few others. One of those few others was North Lincoln, a band from Grand Rapids, MI. The Bay Area folks who weren't there tonight missed them, and by the sounds of it made a pretty huge mistake. They've released a disc on No Idea and sound kind of like fellow michiganders Small Brown Bike mixed with some Hot Water Music for good measure. The have the shout along qualities that make a live band entertaining, while mixing it up with some subtle harmonies and rhythm changes in the studio to keep you interested. I recommend checking them out (obviously) if you're fans of either band, or if you're just in the mood for a No Idea band who isn't from Florida. (Similar Myspace disclaimer about the links)

North Lincoln - Satellite North Lincoln - A Message Lost North Lincoln - Back to School

Test Icicles / One Reason

Brian: The U.K.'s Test Icicles bring a spastic dancefloor vibe to the table on their new album, For Screening Purposes Only, released on Halloween. But it's more in a Bullet Train to Vegas sense with the screeching, jagged instruments and nods to both the Blood Brothers and Q and Not U. Test are certainly stripped of the At the Drive-In influence however, less "rock"-dependent and usually opting for trebly, stomping guitar riff tradeoffs, diving bass lines and propulsive rhythms. Special thanks to Marlon for tipping me off. Here's a few tracks from the record, taken from their Myspace page:

Test Icicles - Boa vs. Python
Test Icicles - Circle Square Triangle Justin: I didn't even know there was a Cleveland in Mississippi before this band. One Reason play a mix of punk and post hardcore that's brutally honest, and they're not afraid to bare everything in their songs, crafting stories and messages through honest lyrics, without tripping over metaphors on the way there. Their LP All Rivers Run South, All Roads Lead Home has some misses on it, but tracks like The Black and the Red and Song We Sing have that special something. Their newest release, a split with Defiance, Ohio shows that they're growing and expanding their sound to include more driving rhythms and solid melodies. Here's the two tracks from the split, and the two I mentioned before, from their webpage:

One Reason - Dirge for 95 and 10 One Reason - Sorry, Irma Thomas One Reason - The Black and the Red One Reason - Song We Sing

xLooking Forwardx / Statues

Brian: Many of you have probably been dodging this band based solely on the name. This is not a wise choice, as xLooking Forwardx (pronounced simply as "Looking Forward") is actually a great, almost completely metal-free hardcore punk band more in line with Sick of It All than anything. On top of that, they aren't at all preachy, really just plain ol' posicore. These two tracks are taken from their forthcoming full-length on Facedown, The Path We Tread, due to hit stores November 8th.

xLooking Forwardx - The Path We Tread
xLooking Forwardx - All Aces Adam: I made some comment when reviewing Statues' last record that for all the Ted Leo and Jam comparisons they'd earned, they still sounded like an act too young in their career to jump to such conclusions. Despite it's 2005 Pelado release date Aux was a recording from earlier in 2004, so I've been eager to hear some more current material. "The Shipping News" appears on a new 7" titled Are Go! released by Basementfire, and the band's songwriting has been coming along quite nicely. The second song here is from a session with former Frenetics frontman Malcolm Bauld.

Statues - The Shipping News Statues with Malcolm Bauld - Ready For Anything (stream this one from MySpace)

The Deadly Snakes / Coffin Lids

Long time, no MP3 eh? Let's get back on the trolley.

Adam: How good is Porcella? The Deadly Snakes completely reinvented themselves here, and while there are less outright garage freakouts the amount of layered, atmospheric compositions makes up for it. You'd suspect they were listing to Rain Dogs quite a bit when recording it. The fact that the band sequestered themselves in an cabin somewhere in northern Ontario to record is just fascinating to me. It seems isolation-based efforts always result in some intense stuff. Porcella's in stores in Canada via Paper Bag and in the US on In The Red.

The Deadly Snakes - Gore Veil

This one is too fun. I reviewed a Coffin Lids record a while back but they fell off my radar soon thereafter. They're a three piece from Boston, heavy on the distortion in a Zombies / Sonics way. Round Midnight just came out on Bomp, and I'm sure the 5.6.7.8's are thrilled.

Coffin Lids - I'm Going To Have My Way (With The 5,6,7,8's)

No Roses

Brian: While, as previously stated, I'm not quite the biggest fan of making a band an MP3 of the Week I plan on reviewing later anyway -- for reasons besides making it a hype extravaganza -- we admittedly haven't done an MP3 of the Week altogether in quite a while. And frankly, the new EP from Philadelphia's No Roses is damn good enough to make it an exception on its own. To put it in a nutshell, they're picking up where Give Up the Ghost left off, and that's a very, very good thing. These two tracks are taken from Hell or High Water, out in early November from the good folks at State of Mind Recordings (responsible for This Is Hell's fantastic self-titled EP released earlier this year).

No Roses - "Hell or High Water"
No Roses - "On and Off the Road"

On The Might Of Princes

In continuance with last week's "here's a greatly underrated early 2000s now-defunct post-hardcore band" feature, we present you with Long Island, NY's On The Might Of Princes. While many may already be aware of 2003's excellent Sirens, their sole effort for Revelation, the prior year's Where You Are And Where You Want To Be is nearly as solid, featuring a somewhat more traditionally-based screamo sound that wouldn't have been out of place on No Idea's roster in the late 90's despite seamlessly mixing in moments of folk, and at one point, dub. These would eventually become near-classic anthems on the local circuit, if only for two years as unfortunately, the band broke up in May 2004. If you like what you hear, it's definitely recommended you check out the album, though it may be out of print as Traffic Violation Records, the label responsible for the release, went under shortly after it was put out. Regardless, here's my favorite track off the album, as well as two others hosted courtesy of a fan tribute site put up earlier this year (if the latter two don't work, you can visit the Myspace page, which is where they're taken from):

On The Might Of Princes - "The Water Vs. The Anchor" On The Might Of Princes - "And The Hat Stays On" On The Might Of Princes - "13 Cheers For Beer And Bullshit"

This Day Forward

Brian: Philadelphia, PA's This Day Forward's swan song, 2003's In Response, was one of the most overlooked albums in a year known for a swelling of great releases. The disc was dismissed by longtime fans because it continued the band's departure of their metalcore roots, and it was passed on by by everyone else because there were so many more high-profile, better releases at the time (on the label itself, even). Still, the record is an excellent depiction of modern post-hardcore, drawing heavily from Thursday's Full Collapse and Glassjaw's Worship & Tribute, but with an identity that was surely the band's own.

This Day Forward - "White Picket Defense System" This Day Forward - "In The Past…On The Ground"

Frantic Mantis / Ted Leo/Pharmacists NEW SONG

Brian: Frantic Mantis are a three-piece containing members of Division Of Laura Lee and Decahedron/Frodus creating what both their bio and Lujo Records are calling "datapunk." What this means, apparently, is inspired, noisy punk rock in the vein of Decahedron themselves, or perhaps most any of the notable names from the late 80's / early 90's Dischord roster, with a touch of Game Boy blips and bleeps. The band releases their debut Data Is Not Information September 6th via Lujo. Here's a few songs from the record:

Frantic Mantis - "Mantis Rising" Frantic Mantis - "Creation Sickness" Frantic Mantis - "OOCD"
Frantic Mantis - "My Eyes Are Too Large".

Scott: WHO THE FUCK CARES? THERE'S A NEW TED LEO SONG!@1111111

Ted Leo/Pharmacists - New Untitled Song (live)

Thanks to Pastepunk tor tipping me off to this, and thanks to Primary Vivid for recording this and allowing the world to hear its majesty.