There is something inherently funny about Mute videos

Mute are a really good skate-punk band, from Quebec in Canada, that combine speed, melody and some tricky guitar-work (that borders on metal at times) so you can see why I would like them. If you like A Wilhelm Scream or Strung Out I advise you to skip my rambling and check out some of their stuff further down the page!

For some reason I had never actually watched any of their videos... This is particularly rare as Youtube is usually the first port of call upon hearing of a new band. A good video can make or break a band as it lengthens the attention span while drilling the song into your subconscious. In this case however I took a recommendation of their awesomeness and just went with it without doing any more research. I wasn't disappointed. It was only later that I checked to see if they had any videos...

Bates Motel

This is actually one of their newest offerings, from their 2011 album Thunderblast. I was expecting some young dudes, possibly with some slightly emo hair (as is oddly common in Canadian skate-punk bands). Instead my eyes were hit with two receding hairlines and a beardo! Then...

• 00:06 - The drummer sings has emo hair and sings! Though not sure if he's passionate or in desperate need of a toilet break?
• 00:13 - Srsly, has the drummer opened his eyes yet?! And his face during the snare hits, SO INVESTED IN THE FEELINGS OF THE SONG
• 00:19 - We've seen some WIDE EYES, more passionate singing with closed eyes and then the drummer finally opens his eyes, yay he can see!
• 00:28 - Oh, now the bassist is making a habit of O.O eyes
• 01:10 - *genuinely to into the song/mesmerised by technical elements to make bad jokes*
• 01:13 - Okay, I love the palm muting and the singing but WHAT is the bassist doing? Swaying all over the gaf.
• 01:35 - Mmm the chorus is so good, has it all going on.
• 02:00 - These guys go pretty hard for old guys. Really hope they're not actually 24..
• 02:15 - Love the breakneck speed and technical parts and then it runs into a "jump" part <3
• 02:50 - Oh shiiii here comes the solo!

Other notes

• I love the drummers flippy hair flips
• Who is the dude in the Led Zepplin merch. He even gets the mic during the gang chant. C'mon man, just, no.
• Dat metal ending

Well, I couldn't just leave it there now could I? Next video!

To Be With You

• Aw sweet, a 'tells a story' video, this should be good!
• Oooof it's a cover, not sure if I can stomach this..a shame because I love skateboard/performance videos. Moving on I think!

 Nevermore

• Hmm it's from the latest album but they seem to be experimenting with some filmmaker techniques and filters, SO PROFESSIONAL!
• 00:50 - Still not really sure what's going on here...
• I always find it kind of off putting when the music and vocals are fast but the video is slow moving by comparison
• Is the old guy genuinely confused or acting or what? I like to think he is the dad of a band member contemplating on how he wanted his son to be an accountant.
• So it seems it was all recorded on phones as part of a contest. Is that why it has no fucking connection to the actual song or am I missing something?
• Aw man, the breakdown part deserves a better visual representation than an old man dressing himself.
• 02.50 - An actual guitar! Being played by someone sitting on a comfortable sofa? Ok...
• 03:40 - Oh wait there's the band!
• Next video!

 Fading Out

• Waah the singer has different hair and he's still pulling faces!
• Now I know I should just do the research but I'm guessing this is an older video? There's lots more hair for one thing..
• I think this is probably a better single. It's still got technical parts but they're just the extra ribbons and glitter.

So yeah, sometimes videos are a great way of showing you band in a good light and helping your career. Other times they mean some guy make a post about them on his blog. Although I guess there's no such thing as bad press! Check out Mute and tell them we want to know what's up with their videos.

ICP have giftz for your lady ninja!

It's that time of the year again y'all! You want to get that special jugalatte in your life something special that shows she is your family but also you still want to get into her pants. And what better way to say this than with actual Insane Clown Posse pants?!

Would become a priest in a small rainforest village of eunuchs if I was with a girl wearing these.

And the response to these monstrosities? A heated debate on the merits of the 'hatchet girl' logo. Apparently the ninjas are cool with their legit hip hop idols having underwear as merch, but they draw the line with their face-paint-covered-fingers at changing the scaaary hatchet man to a sissy hatchet girl.

I've posted an article on Stuff You Will Hate

Stuff You Will Hate is pretty much the blog that made me come to terms with opening liking the most fggty pop punk and generic pop music. It also consistently keeps me entertained and makes me want to post more of my own stuff here. So in a BIG DEAL development for yours truly I've submitted this 'article'.

The new Ke$ha songs are (unsurprisingly) bangin' choons

Whenever I tell people I genuinely like Ke$ha, they think I'm being a wind up merchant. I'm not. I'm really not. As the 'pop music I like' section on this blog has stated over and over again, I love annoying girls rapping in a sing song voice about partying, and the Ke$hmeister is the be$t in the bu$iness.

It's not even a looks thing, the 'David Bowie in a blonde wig' look never really did it for me. So seeing photos of miss Kesha Sebert in her graduation photo do not horrify me as much as they might.

Do not particularly want without all the glitter either

Moving on, the first single of new album WARRIOR, is the song Die Young, a catchy ditty that furthers the themes expressed on Animal. This theme, as you might have guessed is partying, having fun and living in the moment. In other words #YOLO. And this is the (marketing) genius that is Ke$ha (or at least the team behind her). She 'gets' it. Young ppl liek fun.

A lot has been made, by the top heads that are Youtube commenters, of the imagery in the video (inverted cross, triangles etc). Apparently there is some srs business behind this stuff, I just think she is tapping in to the Madonna/Lady Gaga style of presentation. While the four chord intro is similar to a plethora of songs (the first to mind is Va Va Voom by Nicki Minaj) the tempo drop of the drum chorus is pretty sweet as a buildup into the dance part, right?

Even better (if that's possible!?) is 'C'mon', which has been posted as an audio track online. While the chorus isn't as banging as I'd like, the vaguely faux-reggae verse and DAT SING SONG RAP!

I've only listened to it about 3 times so far so I'm hoping the chorus grows on me. Pumped for the album! Srs.

There is a The Room game and it's sweet

This may be old news but over at Newgrounds you can play The Room Tribute game!

As you can see it is truly a work of art, put together by real fans of the film, incorporating the look, feel and dialogue that we have all grown to love.

HOW GOOD IS THAT?!

Some Disgruntled Old Men cover ALKALINE TRIO

On rare occasions, at full moon when the planets align just in the right way, the Internet Godz meet and decide to throw their loyal subject Alanso a gift. Tonight was one of these times. Aware of my liek for Alkaline Trio, cover versions of songs, old ppl having fun and cringey music videos, I was bequeath the following video...

This is one of my favourite songs from Crimson and despite all the negative comments on Ootube I think the sound quality is good for a live performance and overall this is a pretty good cover. However...

• Dat headband
• DEM MUSIC STANDS
• Dat black nail polish
• 1.26 DEM RING OUT CHORDS AND 'DAD AT A WEDDING' DANCE MOVES

Then there's still the matter of the bassist who looks like he is playing the gig on his break from driving trucks for a living. AND THE GUY BEHIND HIM, WTF IS GOING ON THERE?!!?

After watching the video about 5 times in a row my brain began to melt and it couldn't handle the awesomeness anymore. When I had recharged I searched for it again and found MORE COVER VIDEOS.
*warning: The next videos contains dangerously high amounts of lol

00:03 - Dat hair(line)!!!!
00:06 - Dat head shake
00:09 - *DEAD* DAT LOOK OF DEEP MEANINGFULNESS AND SMUGNESS DUE TO UNPLAYABLE INSTRUMENT

At this point my (10 seconds in) I had to restart but the 'weary, hurt and abused friend/lover' acting at 00:11 set me off again. It was all too much for me really. The guy looks slightly ill, he defo seems to be sweating.

AND IT KEEPS GOING....

I'm sure there's more gold to be found but I think my head would explode if I dig any further right now. For the moment I'm going to leave it here.It's pretty easy for people to hate on these guys, but if you look beyond the initial lols, they're either wizard trolls or DGAF dudes who are more punk than you.

Are you excited for the new BIRDEMIC film?

We asked for it, apparently.

Birdemic was in many ways a masterpiece. With creative visionary James Nguyen (you know, the James Nguyen), a strong message and a cast of hungry, young actors, it is a film that comes close to the brilliance of The Room. So, I should be excited about a sequel, right? Let us consider some pros and/or cons...

Return of Rod/Bagh is Back

That's right, Rod, the all action, all romancing hero from the first film is back! And now he's a big shot something or other. Thankfully Rod was not replaced and all the character development he went through in the first film was not put to waste. Some might say Alan Bagh is one of the finer actors of our generation. His portrayal of Rod, an odd juxtaposition of a confident yet horrifyingly awkward manchild is some of the finest work seen on screen. However, a look at his Twitter account shows that Rod and Alan may not be all that different. Plus we've had some fun lightly trolling him in this very blog.

Sticking to their guns (or coat hangers) with the CGI

Birdemic 2 seems to follow quite rigidly to the theme/plot and budget of its predecessor. So on the plus side, the awful graphics are back. But on the negative side, the awful bird graphics are back. Maybe I'm judging too quickly without seeing the finished product but I would have liked to see some ridiculous 3D, or even worse graphics. A lot of the lol in the first film is partly due to the shock at just how bad the birds look. Some amazing (or amazingly bad) graphics would have been a real kick in the beak to detractors of the film.

Where are they really going with this?

It's pretty clear that ol' James Nguyen is kinda bummed out about The Man polluting the world through machines run on eagle tears, dead baby seals and so on, but is this sequel going to address these srs issues? Is it going to pick up from the cliffhanger ending of the first? Did they really need to make a second? Will there be a thirdemic?

I don't have the answers..All I know is that I'll be seeing this at the nearest opportunity, with a case of beer and a bucket of clothes hangers.

Q: How many drummers does it take to play a Ramones song?

A: None. You just need a robot.

I'm not sure if I'm impressed by this or not. I mean, it's only the Ramones and he's got four arms.

You gotta turn it up good and loud to hear the music.

Twitter-sized reviews: Frankenweenie

This girl. OMGoth

Delightfully odd. Grim with grins.. Macabre and mirthful. ALL of the horror references! 8/10

Twitter-sized reviews: Looper

Looper: Watch Back To The Future and Die Hard back to back instead. Ah, it's ok. 6/10

Joesph Gordon-Levitt contemplates why the criminals don't just use time travel for financial gain...

New Music Crush - The Front Bottoms

As I have mentioned, I am in a wee bit of a music rut and therefore am susceptible to stuff I usually would unfairly not give a fair chance. For example, The Front Bottoms, two guys playing indie-influenced folk punk on an acoustic guitar and drums. It doesn't sound exactly like what I like but dammit, it works!

00.30 - Bang of a slightly more in tune Tom Delonge off the singer.
00.49 - The puppet makes me inexplicably happy
1.30 - They're reeeeally playing up the 'we just have music, but we're happy' thing, they better not be rich!
1.40 - Love the little change taking out the instruments and adding backing vox
All of the video - I think it's great, all the random filler that's nicely shot
2.40 - Moooore backing vox <3

What I love about this band (apart from the name) is the fact they seem to be two average lads, who aren't particularly handsome or rich, having fun and making the best music they can with their limited resources. (I am going to be super bummed if it turns out they are English Majors from the suburbs with rich parents)
Sure they have some additional instruments in the mix, but the video is just the two of them rocking out with the bare essentials.

Most of all I love the lyrics. Part confessional, part metaphor, possibly part nonsense, there's a really Matt Skiba vibe off them. Then there's the slightly awkward way they are layered over the music. Not sure if he had too many lyrics to squeeze in or if it's purposely done to be slightly unnerving (which wouldn't surprise me given all the 'uncomfortable' references). Either way, it works! The best example is in the second verse of the song Flashlight from 2.10 or so. It doesn't follow traditional structures at all but works wo well. Genius or awkwardness?

At the root of it all seems to be a bromance, and that's nice too.They're on bookface and loads more social meejas.

Some acapella group do a Skrillex cover

Every so often I get into what I think of as a 'musical rut'. It usually happens when I listen to way too much punk-related stuff and I'm in that barren spell between 'Call Me Maybe' and the next megahit pop choon. When this happens I tend to dip my toe into the flooded basement that is *insert popular genre here*, in this case DUBSTEP, or more accurately BROSTEP, which I'm lead to believe is fake, wack and a poor imitation of REAL DUBSTEP. So in other words, it's fun and popular I guess.

Anyway, I don't really like it either way. I've given it my best shot but as of now all I'm really into is the song Bangarang by Skrillex (aka Sonny Moore) and one Knife Party song. I have no idea if this is 'real dubstep' or not and I care less. I just think it's funny that lots of people like dance music made by the fggty singer of From First To Last.

The awkward moment when your emo teenage years happen in the public eye.

What was I talking about? Oh yes, acapella. Acapella is pretty sweet, as is beatboxing. But honestly you aren't going to listen to original artists in either genre unless you are a) old or b) on all of the drugs. So in a flip reverse of the 'take a pop song and do a heavy version of it lol aren't we funny' technique, Dario Fo have covered Skrillex using nothing but their mouths and vocal chords. DO YOU SEE WHAT THEY'RE DOING?!! TAKING DIGITALLY MADE MUSIC AND BRING IT BACK TO REAL MUSIC.

All joking and rambling aside, this is awesome. The group is talented on two levels, both in terms of being able to sing and also breaking down the clusterfuck of noise that is a Skrillex song. I also like acapella groups because you get such a weird mix of people. They are equal opportunities, you can be ugly, old or ginger, it doesn't matter! All you need is the ability to sing (and possibly some formal musical education, idk.)

00.30 - How sweet is the buildup? It's akin to the Champions League intro music
00.44 - The 'wow/waw/wubs' are so good, and check out face of the guy next to the beatboxer...
01.46 - The difficulty kicks up a notch and red hair chick throws in an 'aw yeah' dance move. So good!
02.35 - Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I also love the 'I'm really happy to be involved but I'm holding it together in a dignified way' look of Mythbusters chap.

Conductors on the other hand...ugh.

The new NOFX is pretty good

If you are reading this, chances are you already know who NOFX are, so no introduction is really necessary. Well actually, if you are reading this, it's more likely that you were trying to find a zip or rar of the new album. There is none here I'm afraid. Just me rambling on despite planning on keeping this intro short.

'nofx self-entitled blogspot mediafire rar zip download leak' you say?

There aren't many NOFX albums I don't love. Some of their early stuff is a bit too raw for me in parts, but everything that came after that is gold. Even 45 or 46..., their b-sides album is one of my favourites. Punk In Drublic is probably my most played, The Decline is a punk epic and choosing between the rest is like choosing between your kids. If your kids have inexplicably become successful, relatively well-off men-children.

Self Entitled is the first album since Coaster, which is probably my least favourite NOFX album in decades. I really like War On Errorism and Wolves.. but Coaster was just a bleak affair, without the memorable songs that we are accustomed to. Not that Fat Mike and Co give a Valium what I think, or anyone else really (at least that's how they like to portray themselves), but Self Entitled is a different animal.

I'm not sure if the band still have their finger on the pulse of society and politics, but they certainly brandish a  needle to irritate the skin of America. Releasing their album on September 11, writing songs about solving terrorism with hookers and still feeling the need to write anti-christian songs, they have lost little of the political and social commentary barbed with "oh no he di'nt" satire they are famous for. I still think they have lost their way slightly. I can't imagine why Fat Mike is so annoyed about religion when he can just avoid it like the rest of us for the most part, and songs about Reagan and Thatcher (Ronnie and Mags) are well, clearly outdated. (You can sort of blame them for the recession, I guess. Maybe.)

Elsewhere though, it's par for the course for NOFX as one good song follows another with little or no filler. She Didn't Lose Her Baby combines the gritty lyrics of The Irrationality of Rationality, without staggering into the sermon territory that You're Wrong dwelled in.

It is a classic NOFX song in many respects, sticking rigidly to the 'fast drum beat + catchy chord progressions + melodic vocals teetering just on the edge of vocal range' that we have come to love.

Meanwhile, Cell Out seems to be the story of Fat Mike being told by a girl that he's a poser. Presumably the song is his way of pointing out the irony of the situation or something. It's hard to take a sarcastic drug addict at his word but I'd like to think the stories in his songs actually happened and that writing this song, he's over the traumatic experience. Either way it's a fun song that uses a tiny bit of synth to good effect.

My Sycophant is a high-energy affair that harks back to a simpler time for the band, where a chorus could be one line and Melvin was allowed shout/sing over the end of the song. Better still, this is mixed with their improved song writing skills and it's a real grower of a song.

Then there's 'I've Got One Jealous Again, Again', which is an odd mix of depressing, catchy, self deprecating and uplifting. Fans of the band will get the reference, I'm giving this post about 60% at this stage, I'm sleepy.

The most important thing is that most of the songs are FAST, BITING and FUN.

Vancouver Gigs: Dear Landlord w/The Murderburgers and more

I can't keep up with the amount of gigs here. This was in a great little venue called The Media Club that was like an Irish sitting room with a small stage and dancefloor area attached.

After some initial concern that there was no sign of Dear Landlord merch/band members we shuffled up towards the stage to watch The Hextalls, a band from (according to their bookface) nearby Surrey Kamloops* (wherever the hell that is) who were playing their first gig in two years. The band were a curious affair, they had the look of a band that formed in school because it seemed like a fun idea. Friends who weren't punk enough for a punk band, metal enough for a metal band, or who just became a band because they knew each other and played the necessary instruments. Maybe I'm wrong, it just remind me of some early bands I was in.

Except unlike some of my bands, these guys had their shit together, with a (mostly) tight sound and nice vocals. Their lyrics were NOFX-esque, which sounds good except writing a song about how it's the opening song of your new album works better when you have a huge discography and thousands of fans but what harm. Having said that, if you measure how 'punk' a band is by how little fucks they give about what anyone thinks, then The Hextalls are punk as heck. They sweat, laugh, sing, and in some cases haphazardly tumble through their setlist and have some quality songs to back up their wise-cracking stage banter and unconventional looks. I mean they don't even have any mohawks..Still though, if you like fun, melodies and punk rock about drinking and regular dumb shit then these guys are right up your alley and I'm hoping to check them out again. Click their name up there ^^^ for their bookface where you can listen to songs and read more about the Surrey vs Kamloops debate.

Next up were The Murderburgers from Scotland. While it was nice to hear some Western European jokes, their set was kinda ruined for me by the Scottish Situation, some BEEFCAKE dude who looked like he was from joisey shoah but was loud and from Glasgow and had no idea of personal space or his own strength...They play fast fast fast punk rock that is angry and melodic and breakneck and breathless.All the songs kinda merged into each other though.

Dear Landlord took to the stage with very little fanfare and gave a lesson in getting the job done live. Nearly every song was played to precision and the three vocalists and instruments were barely distinguisable from how they sounded on CD. The most noteable thing besides the masterclass in having your shit down as a live band was the clusterfuck of a crowd. It was like the worst all ages battle of the bands crowd you've ever seen. About 5 people stood directly in front of the stage, maybe 12 young lads stank and push moshed all over the floor behind them and then everyone else stood towards the back and sides.

Was I uncomfortably close to them? Perhaps..

Most notable was the HARDCORE kid with the backwards baseball cap and wifebeater who kept trying to stage dive on top of about 3 people and the sweaty Rancid t-shirt guy who kept grabbing the mic and trying to stage dive on top of about 3 people... Then there was also the Asian kid who kept trying to stage dive..well you get where I'm going with this.

Dear Landlord, to their credit, battled on even as people trampled over their gear, grabbed their mics and generally sweated all over them. I think they were probably a bit disapointed that they came up to Canada to play to such a strange and small crowd. And they must be sick of playing their one album (and two or three other songs) at this stage. Maybe time to hit the studio again lads! Personally, I had a great night. The Hextalls were a fun new find, Dear Landlord were really good live and the crowd provided entertainment for all.

*Oh, and by the way, Kamloops looks amazing, hook me up with a tour if you guys are actually from there. Plus when I did a google image search this was on the first page of results -

Ain't no party like a Kamloops party!

Pop Music I like: Pink Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

I've always liked the idea of Pink more than her music. I mean, I get it, she's edgy and not your average pop star but I've never really felt her songs stacked up.

Could her eyes get any smaller? Could her mouth get any bigger?

Ah..

Anyway, she'll be happy to know she can stop making these feisty, empowered woman poses and bask in the glory of her latest single, which is a certified choooon, the cleverly titled Blow Me (One Last Kiss). OMG SHES SOOO FIESTY!!1!

Of course, being Pink, she has to cling to the image of being a REAL ARTIST, so she adds in French, that's right, FRENCH credits and a black and white film filter. After a strange Killers/generic indie intro the song picks up, she throws wine or something in the lads face and at about 00.43 she takes off some clothes (this is classy/empowering though, not like that skanky ke$ha..) and the chorus starts! And now we have a choon, straight out of the Kelly Clarkson songbook!

The gamechanger however is around 1.00 when she throws in some swear words, hits some ridiculous high notes and some hooky backing vox that are just 100% instant hit powder. The second verse is great for all da single ladies/recently dumped ladies who can feel like edgy women singing along to the 'whiskey dick' line. The rest of us can put up with the NOTHING COMPARES 2U verse because the bangin' chours isn't far away.

I kind of zoned out of the video towards the end, I dunno it all goes a bit Lady Gaga and then there's something about a flying machine..good song though.

Vancouver gigs: Bouncing Souls

I miss my gig friends from home but I'm loving how many bands come through Vancouver. Back home if I made a last minute decision to go out to see a band I would usually face a choice between acoustic, a cover band or some indie/dance mash up. There has been a scene of dedicated promoters and attenders in Galway for a long time but a lot of gigs I went to were not really bands I had a huge interest in, I was just going for the craic.

Here, however, I can decide to go to a gig later that night and it's only fecking Bouncing Souls that are playing. There's such a choice of stuff to do here that Bouncing Souls were only a 'maybe' for me. My reasoning behind this was that I don't know many of their songs. Turns out I was wrong on that front!

Luther started off the night and, despite their vaguely edgy name, they were generally inoffensive and slightly forgettable. They're the kind of band that could achieve some level of success if they stay around long enough, but you're just not quite sure why anyone would seek them out and be really into them. A bit like Coldplay or Travis I guess.

Next up was The Menzingers. I'd heard both good and bad about these guys so I wasn't sure what to expect. The first few songs were great and I thought I'd found a sweet new band to get into. About 20 minutes into the set however I felt a bit drained by their constant mid tempo punk rock. And then they played more songs that sounded the same. They do have two singers, but one mic was very low so maybe on CD it changes things up a bit but I found myself losing interest by the end of their set. Very good at what they do, I'm just not that hugely into it.

For some reason (maybe because gigs here are so frequent) I've found it easy enough to get a good spot near the front for every band I've seen here. I'm a small guy but I've had no problem getting that nice area just to the edge of the moshpit where I can go maaad or just stand and watch the band. Bouncing Souls was no different. It's been almost 10 years since I first saw them (opening for Dropkick Murphys, lololol) and even though they open with their new single, Static, they really haven't changed much over the years in terms of sound, stage presence, even looks! In other words they bring the singalongs, happy dancing and Hopeless Romantic girls by the bucketload.  I've never seen so many girls at a punk show, it was pretty much 50/50. What was great was that it didn't go the RVIVR route. Everyone had fun at the front, if someone fell over they were picked up, no one was overly aggressive (for the most part) and there was an actual sense of community and equality, not a forced equality segregation as RVIVR seem to want...
 
I'd forgotten how many of their songs I know and love and it was a real trip down memory lane. I found they played a little long but again, I'm not a superfan of the band, I just like a lot of their songs. Also of note were the ridiculous amount of crowdsurfers/stagedivers. I thought the venue was too security-filled/pretentious to allow such carry on, but from the first song there was a steady flow of people on and off the stage. These included:

• token FAT PUNX guy complete with leather jacket sweaty liberty spikes, patches and studs who bellyflopped off the stage 

• one girl who was all OMG I'M ON STAGE about 5 fucking times during the set

• the 'it's my first gig I want in on this "stage jumping" guy' who gets up and then panics and sort of rolls off
• the happiest mosh-pitter ever, wearing zany suspenders who got onstage, did a wicked backflip and then humbly got off stage down the side

Much respect has to be given to the lads in the band for having this clusterfuck of sweaty messes trample over their pedals etc, especially the guitarist who seemed to draw them like a magnet. I would have been thinking I'm too old for this shiz if I was him.

I swagged a setlist at the end, taking it away from some of the real, true, hardcore fans with tattoos and all. Ah well, maybe you can buy it off me on ebay.

Vancouver gigs: Walk Off The Earth at Fusion Fest

Herself has a huge music/teenage crush on Walk Off The Earth and in particular the charasmatic Gianni. Despite technically being the second best looking in the band, I have to agree that he does have a certain charm! When we came to Canada 'See Walk Off The Earth' was on our list of things that were improbable but nice to pretend we'd actually do. After a few days of not simply just looking up their tour dates, I took it on myself to check the dates and whadyaknow, they were playing the very next weekend for free at the Surrey Fusion Fest.

Surrey seems like a terrible place from what I've seen of it on the news (gangland shootings, robberies etc) but the festival was just on the outer edge of the district in a huge outdoor park. We got there after work, poked around the international food stalls and then wandered up to the stage to see Walk Off The Earth. It was fairly easy, like.

The band pretty much bounced on stage and never stopped moving the entire time. Sprinkling in original songs with their own unique cover versions (okay, usually reggae/ska-tinged cover versions) WOTE throw guitars around the stage, change between instruments at will and even get their crew invovled at various points of the gig with drum interludes and backing vocals.

The band are making the most of their rising popularity and are, wait for it, are a touring band that are actually having fun. Be it cheesy choreographed stage moves, sign-prompted audience participation or ukelele prizes (for real), they try to get everyone in the party mood. Including, in a very direct way, myself and herself. Mid-song, Gianni gets off stage and heads in our direction to dance with us. I get into a strange   hug/bounce/singalong with him (I'm not the most gifted dancer in the world and being at the centre of attention isn't a natural place for me) and herself screams herself silly before dancing with him as he dances past. Life made.

I don't go to many non SCENE gigs these days but I'd recommend these guys to anyone. Check 'em before they get MEGA famous as opposed to regular famous - Walk Off The Earth

Have you listened to Tsunami Bomb?

Like Farse, Tsunami Bomb are one of those bands I associate so much with listening to skate punk as a teenager (and watching P-Rock TV) that I forget other people might not know them so well. Like the college brah wheeling another keg into another house party who doesn't know why the singer of The Wonder Years doesn't just loosensup and has some fun, I have a mental block where I just assume everyone into punk etc had the same musical upbringing as me. Where in reality I lived in rural Ireland, yada yada..

It's like god looked at Brody Dalle and went 'Crap, let me try that again..there..that's better.'

Tsunami Bomb had what seemed like a winning formula: Relatively good looking female singer (who is automatically hotter in the sausagefest that is punk) + catchy major key songs + vaguely rebellious subject matter = $$$. Unfortunately after some quality work Tsunami Bomb hit a shitstorm of band drama and eventually broke up in 2005.

In a nostalgia multipack, this video is ripped from p-rock AND a drummer in a band I was in based our band name around this song and passed it off as his own idea. The fiend. So this is probably one of their most famous songs. Based around the same 4 chords as in every other song, with a snazzy riff  and of course sweet vocals and a catchy chorus. Not sure what's going on with the tattoo segments of the video. I mean, obvious there are continuity errors all over the gaf because she doesn't have any tatts in the 'live' parts..but..there's photos of her with tattoos from Tsuanmi Bomb era and then without in more recent pics...hmmmm.

In this video Agent M spends alot of time running for some reason and generally looking a bit lovely and she sings with a dignity, restraint and grace that everyone can enjoy. For some reason the band really seem to be holding back during the 'live' sections, not sure why, maybe they were told to tone down the punk elements. This song also showcases the backing vocals of the guy who wants to look like Matt Skiba. While his vox are somewhere in a middleground of meh between singing and a hardcore shout, his parts do add a hook. Also, the drummer never seems to look at the camera. Does she give the finger at 2.20?!?

This is one of my favourite TB songs. It sticks to the same formula pretty much but it's a winning formula.

This was unreleased for the most part and bloody hard to find on youtube. Another song based around G, C and F, another winner.

They also did crappy teenage pop punk style songs in their earlier days, yay! This one is about how Irish boys suck cos they chat her up and then pass out so naturally it strikes a chord with meself. I still love you, Emily. Or at least the version of you who sings this song.

And a last one, a fast one with some PUNK RAWK SHOUTING! She can do it all folks.

So yeah, I could post all of their songs here because they're all classics. Some of the best songs are the ones that were never released as singles. Check them out if you haven't already.

I found this in a second-hand (Martin Millar) book

Writing a blog can seem like fun and games but the truth is that much of the time it's a slippery slope towards becoming a hipster douchebag. You're always just one pretentious post with some black and white photos, some dodgy poetry or a guide to skinny jeans away from being someone Michael Cera would play in an indie comedy for young adults.

I fear this post could be the catylst to this blog becoming another self-absorbed plea for gratification of a clusterfudge but sure what harm. I like second-hand books and I especially like when books have notes left inside them. This goes back to library books that would have ultimately pointless instructions scrawled in the margins under the pretence of a bit of juicy goss at the end, and was rekindled when I found a Terry Pratchett book that had been given as an anniversary present and then eventually given away. But I resisted the temptation to start compiling such discoveries..UNNNTILLL NOOWWWW..

My copy of The Good Fairies Of New York contains this note -

 
It's innocent enough. Presumably 'C' didn't find it as Fab as the gift giver as the book was subsequently given away. I mean, if this was a horror film there would be some more sinister reason but then I'd have to find a photo in the book of a creepy kid or something to thicken the plot..

Vancouver gigs: Strung Out

This one time at a Strung Out gig, I got dumped on stage after crowdsurfing. But more on that later...

I've kind of missed out a bit on Strung Out to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I've loved every song of theirs that I've heard but through my own fault I hadn't tracked down their albums until lately when I started properly listening to their later albums. When I saw they were playing here in Vancouver I jumped at the opportunity. Only problem was they were playing two of their earlier albums in their entirety. Joke was on me.

After some bewildering walking around in circles I found the venue, which was a rectangular underground place, at the back of a building, wedged between a Honda dealership and some other warehouses. In the queue I got talking to a guy called John whose family had been run out of Galway generations ago. Both John and I had resigned ourselves to having a quiet drink on our ownsomes and were delighted to have someone else to get merrily drunk with. John recommended me a horrible dark beer but made up for it by later recommending the beer-choice of hipsters, PBR, which was cheap and in can form.

Precursor

First off, perfect name for an opening band. Secondly, great band (more on that later). Thirdly, I've only just looked them up on Facebook to see they are made up of ex members of Daggermouth, The Fullblast and others?! Whaaaat?

So now I feel slightly foolish for thinking of them as a start up band. But let us move on. Precursor combine vocals that are melodic but gritty reminiscent of early Rise Against, Bouncing Souls or a more intense version of Polar Bear Club. They play punk rock with some fiddly bits and some nice drumming. (Again, with their history this is no surprise).

Looking back, it was clear that they know what they're doing (the singer DID say they had been around in bands for ages...) they were tight, the songs well crafted and their gear and sound were far better than any opening act I've seen in a long time. Check Precursor out on Facebook.

Handguns

I have 'defended' pop punk for about 10 years now. I don't mean it in the Man Overboard way, just in that I try to call people who hate on Blink 182 but will swear blindly that Fall Out Boy are a great band who write pop songs but play their own instruments and that makes it ok. Don't both bands do that? And aren't both bands pretty sweet? Handguns however are one of the pop punk bands that give pop punk a bad name. They are essentially the 'that guy' of pop punk.

Firstly, there's the high-pitched whiney vocals. Again, I'm someone who has listened solidly to Tom Delonge for about 12 years now and I've also enjoyed the occasional Set Your Goals song. But this, no.

Then there's the acting and dressing like the most SWAGMERCH of hardcore dudes. Stomping with a backwards baseball cap and stick your mic in the face of one of the three fans you have up the front who are fistpumping with their mouths open. Without actually really adding very much hardcore to your music. I'm not quite sure why this annoys me but it does. I mean, at least Daggermouth had the music to backup the hardcore influences.

Derp! DERP! HERP! DERRRRRP!

 Such Gold

This photo needs it's own post. So much lol.

While this almost definetely makes me a hypocrite, I quite like Such Gold! I know, they fall into the same DUDE HARDCORE INFLUENCED POP PUNK BRO style as the lads above, but I think they pull it off better and have some great songs. On the night I felt that the two backing vocalists actually sounded better than the main guy but otherwise they sounded good.

While they are expanding their influences (which should be a good thing), I think the first two EPs may be my favourite Such Gold. The strongest songs from their EPs went down the best on the night and I hope that they have upped their game for the album so that they don't end up being a 'singles' band. You know, they might be on your mp3 player, but it's just one or two songs.

Strung Out

Put simply, Strung Out are one of the most talented punk bands in the world and probably the most technically gifted punk band I have ever seen live. In a scene that is predominantly made up of young guys pumped up on angst, hormones and whatever stimulants they can get their grubby little hands on, Strung Out stand out live the scarily fit 65 year old at the tennis club.

Storming through Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues and Twisted By Design with barely a pause for breath Strung Out leave pretty much everyone in their sweaty wake and are still having fun after all the years. The set is metaphor of their career, notable for musical prowess, energy and stamina. To be honest the crowd started to wilt towards the end but that's understandable for the sweatbox that is the Biltmore. I took up residence by the bass speakers on the floor at the side of the stage and it was pretty sweet to watch the band at work from that close. Oh yeah, and I was onstage briefly when I was unceremoniously dumped there after a brief crowdsurf. After the gig, and after a bit of walking around in a bewildered daze I got a taxi with my new friend and headed for home. Good times.

How good is this Under The Sea cover by Suburban Legends

One of the worst things about having a girlfriend into Disney films and Ska/pop-punk is that I have to sit through said Disney films, listen to the songs at various times and then also have to hear various covers of the same songs.

Ah, who am I kidding, it's pretty sweet! The latest find (awhile ago) was this Under The Sea cover from The Little Mermaid by Suburban Legends.

Oh hai girls, we're rebellious but cute!

Of course this makes perfect sense from a marketing point of view for the band:

• Taking an existing song and covering it is a classic technique to get new fans but they have the plus of it being an era-spanning film soundtrack song
• Bonus 'OMG they're so different and DGAF' points for being sensitive enough to like Disney but cool enough not to care is the punx judge them. Maaaan.

I'll eventually check out their other songs (which is exactly what the band want, dammit) but for now I'm happy enough with this find.

Alan Bagh is Birdemic not the room, lol

When Alan Bagh, star of Birdemic: Shock and Terror, added me on Twitter I couldn't resist some light trolling of the man who has committed some of the worst crimes against acting ever caught on camera.

Successful troll is successful

What's even better though, is that there is going to be a sequel. How ballsy is Alan Bagh? Lolololol amazeballs.

Bill is a struggling filmmaker; Gloria is an aspiring actress.  Rod, a Silicon Valley millionaire finances Bill’s film, a dream come true until eagles and vultures attack Hollywood and its up to Rod, his girlfriend Nathalie, new friends and old to mount the resistance.  Who will survive?

If you haven't seen Birdemic, then check out my post about it here to get a taste of what it's about.

Meet Buddies Say: Ho - French Easycore Strikes Again!

If it wasn't for all the French ppl I'd consider moving to France for some sweet easycore action. As well as Can't Bear This Party!, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! and (the female fronted melodic hardcore) Bigblast, there is also newbies (I think?) Buddies Say: Ho!

Is it me or do the rest of the band seem sheepish because of ZANY GUY at the back? I'm guessing he's the keyboard player?

The Good Days And Cliches Guide To Becoming A French Easycore Band goes as follows:

1. Choose a wacky band name. It doesn't matter if it makes sense, you're French and that's charming! Exclamation marks = fun!!!
2. (Closely linked to pt 1) Grammar? You don't need it! Your potential fans won't care that you've made yourselves difficult to find online because you've thrown punctuation in like a blind man trying to season a meal cooked in a blender on a bouncy castle.
3. Sing in English, with a slight American twang while maintaining your French accent at times. This will ensure no one has a fucking clue what you're singing about and you'll seem more poetic.
4. Breakdowns are essential, if your vocalist can sing any of his styles over them, all the better.
5. Occasionally throw in a curveball to distinguish your sound from American easycore. This can be achieved with an intelligent drummer, forays into metal(core), a xylophone (though CBTP! have done that..still it sounds good so copy it) and maybe a singer who isn't whiney but can actually sing and for bonus point can do heavier stuff too.

BSH stick to this rulebook like the smell of garlic, onions and cigarettes stick to your beret. This makes for a winning combination for me at least! I'm pretty impressed with the range of vocals and while I may joke about them being slightly generic, there is a huge difference between the mid-tempo easycore and breakdowns of Breathe, My Hero, the crabcore-esque Fury and the epic Saved By A Living Dead, which could possibly be the first easycore song that could work in a festival/stadium rock gig or even as support to BMTH. 'Now everybody scream "OHHHH!"'

I can't find much of them on Ootube but you can stream their debut EP on bookface.

I live in Canada now..

Srs post! I've gone halfway across the earth and now live in Canadia Land. I'll be keeping a haphazard travel diary type thing (I know, I know, Michael Cera move) and if you're that way inclined you can read it here.

I've done a Symphony of Distraction review on skatepunkers.net

This looks better on the site, rly.

Against their better judgement, the deadly folks over at skatepunkers.net have opened up their site to the likes of myself and are looking for people to submit reviews of music featured on the site. I'm still crushing hard on Symphony of Distraction so I put together a review of their EP Pudwack and you can find it heeere.

I don't get: Black Metal

I'll try to make this intro short (for once). This is a new feature where I explore some things my friends like. Things that I really don't understand the appeal of and in some cases things that I downright dislike slightly (until eventually, somehow, I get on with my life). The only stipulation is that I have to have given 'whatever it is I don't get' a fair chance. And we start with...

BLACK METAL

Fenriz was aghast to discover a girl enjoyed his music.

I've tried, I really have. Even when a girl (yes an actual female metal fan, for reals) tried to get me into it I just couldn't convince myself that I liked it. And she wasn't even one of the oft beastly female metal fans that got into Korn and Marilyn Manson during their 'difficult teenage years'.


And in many ways I'm a perfect candidate to 'get' it;

• Grew up surrounded by forests
• Constant bleak weather up in here
• There's eff all to do here
• I like pandas
• Organised religion has (had) a stranglehold on the populace/political state
• I like a certain amount of shitty DIY recordings and men screaming
• There are times when I look at my fellow man and truly despair. But then I usually listen to pop punk.

Then there's the whole homophobia/murder/fascism/racism side of things. Sure I shouldn't tar every BM artist with the same black and white coated brush, but that Burzum chap (Varg Vikernes to the rest of the world/his fellow inmates) is held in pretty high esteem by those with the kvlt knowledge. Ah yes, and then there's the fans. Usually militant in their views and completely devoid of a sense of humour, these lumbering, socially awkward menchildren are quick to label anything that isn't harsh noise 'gay', while gobbling up music/imagery by men with long, flowing hair, who wear more make-up than your mom and are prone to semi-naked promo shots.

Let's see dad call me gay now!

So, is black metal just bad or is there something I'm not getting? I asked a friend, black metal fan, contemporary, and most importantly, a drinking partner to recommend me some black metal with the knowledge that I'd tried the entry level stuff already. He proceeded to write a blogpost (that can be found here) and I think the end product was that I should listen to this:

• I'm all for long-winded, pretentious song titles but how many times can they work 'funeral winds' into their stuff?
• It's a promising enough start but my goth the drums sound atrocious and by the time the blastbeats get going with the guitar it sounds like a stuttering engine has been accidentally added to the final mix. Though is mixing = not Black Metal?
• I see they're from Holland..nothing brings out the hatred for mankind like windmills and clogs. 
• Blastbeats: the extended car chase w/explosions of the music world.
• 'So, I was thinking you guys. I'll scream 3 or 4 words, vaguely in time, every so often...of course that's enough. Well, if it comes to it we can put a shedload of reverb and echo effects on'
• It's not actually awful in terms of drumming but I mean, I can hear those 3 beats plenty of places.
• Hey the 'winds of' party actually sounds like a chorus! And I recognise it cos it's in the title! And their band name...
• The bridge is kinda cool but did they run out of lyrics? Just scream in agony!
• This kinda thing has the potential to be fun, y'know. You can't spell funeral without 'fun'.

So..some progress I guess. This song isn't exactly terrible. But at the same time, it's not good enough for me to want to listen again and especially not good enough to make me put myself in a position where I have to interact with BM fans. 

Can't Bear This Party have new songs!

Your favourite zany European pop-punkers Can't Bear This Party have just released 4 new songs on their bandcamp and I'm happy to report the songs are as good as always, their accents are just as bad, English still isn't their first language, and they are still as much fun as ever! All of the exclamation marks!!!

Now with 27% more zap and zork!

Songs include:

JohnXmas: Almost an exaggerated pop song (with BREAKDOWNS) about drinking vodka (at least I think that's what he says) with a guy called John Christmas. Oh OH OH oh OH oh....

Raymond Gave Me The Best: The best what?? Fans won't be let down with this, has echoes of So Quarrelsome from the album. With some screamz and nice synth. And THE XYLOPHONE IS BACK <3


I'm Not Your Lolifriend: lolwat? What does that even mean?? Nice fast song to get you going. The most skatepunk song of the four, with some great sing/shout along parts.

Glen: Off the first listen this is my favourite song. All the classic elements of CBTP!: Breakdowns strewn everywhere, breakneck drumming, melodies, complimentary dual vocals, nice guitar-work. I'm happy with this!

Twitter-sized reviews: Chronicle

Chronicle: A film-length interpretation of a Korn song, with telekinesis and hand-held cameras. Pretty sweet! 8/10

y ppl no liek me??!

Pop Music I like: Train - Drive By

It's summertime (sort of) and that means it's time for a particular genre I have a soft spot for: faux-reggae pop! I think this style was biggest in the 90s/maybe early 00s (think coco jambo) and it's pretty much instant hit powder! When I first heard Drive By I was all like 'yeaaah boi, I'ma feelin dis' but then it got to the 'groovy' lyric and I recoiled in horror. But after a few more listens I was able to get over that and enjoy it for the summer jam that it is.

• lol, remember when videos had annoying intros like this?
• the lyrics are just awful but they rhyme nicely and it's summer and you're into it, you know you are
• 00.25: hooold on now,  she moved away to get away from you.. strong stalker vibe here so.
• in b4 every douchebag with an acoustic in the corner of a party plays this
• Not sure what's going on in the vidjo.. is this how old ppl meet and hangout? :/
• Oh wait, they're in cars...and it's called DRIVE BY.. 
• 1.40: Wait..waiiit..it was just one night? dude..STALKER VIBE.
• Also, do these guys know what a drive by actually is? 
• 2.36: Dat weird bridge.. Should have gone dubstep, lads.
• So it seems to have worked out for him anyway..by stalking her and telling her he's not going to shoot her then drive away..

The singer of train: Not a serial killer. srs.