Is there just a clause in the new google/youtube contract that you have to post some anti-Bieber stuff in any video you watch, or what's the story? I hope it's a troll. I really, really hope it's a troll. I know metalheads don't have a sense of humour, but I thought Spinal Tap fans were the exception?
I'm guessing the target audience for these are desperate old men and hipsters. Except they could have gotten a relatively good looking, young hipster girl with high-waisted shorts and sleeveless top. (still gross though, lol). Instead of using a photo from the 80s.
Growing up in the middle of nowhere in Ireland, you tend to
miss out on bands that a lot of people know, while often loving bands that
never really got that big. My punk rock family tree had it’s roots in
Epitaph/Fat Records, P-Rock TV and Tony Hawk’s skate games. To me, Alkaline
Trio were the cool but slightly emotionally fucked up cousin of the family. I didn't discover other bands
like Bayside until much later, or my new music crush Midtown until this year. More
than a decade after the band split up...
Not sure what they're going for here
Simply because Drive Thru Records didn't have the same gravitas where I was from as some other punk labels, I missed out on great songs like Just Rock and Roll
Look how zany this videos is, totally unfair that it was kept from me, I would have loved it as a teenager! They're playing a bar mitzvah...but the people there don't understand rock music! It's just noise to them! What a hilarious concept! Who could possibly have made such a booking mixup?
Seriously though, I love this mix of pop punk and punk rock. Despite trying to look more bad-ass with the all black stage outfit, the nerdy, stupid fun side ultimately wins out through all the 'comedy' elements of the video, the drummer's DGAF attitude while wearing his glasses and the mandatory girl with big boobs.Also, dat 'jump' riff at 1.20 is delicious.
On the same album is depressingly-titled We Bring Us Down
This is a more PUNX song! Well, it's short and kinda fast, at least. Not sure if the lyrics are about an ex-girlfriend or some guy having sex but either way, it's a good song.
Like more pop in your pop punk? Try Like A Movie
This is a song they released after the last two, when I guess they signed to a bigger label. They act and dress kinda like douchebags in the the video but I guess they were hoping that would make them more popular or something. Still a pretty good pop punk song now that summer has hit.
The band broke up after this and one of the guys joined Senses Fail, while another made a synth pop band called Cobra Starship. This is obviously a very divisive issue amongst fans of these various projects, which is pretty funny because it's all music made by awkward dudes with the aim of trying to get girls to like them, whatever way you slice it. Makes no difference to me, I just get more albums to check out!
Everyone knows about third wave ska, right? As a genre it’s a bit like a
whirlwind teenage summer romance. We look at it with an odd mixture of
embarrassment and pride, knowing it was fun at the time, but really, let’s be
serious, we’re like totally better and more mature than that.
The sun will come out (maybe) and we will again feel the irresistible
magnetic pull towards music with upbeat tempos and a brass section. If only
there was a ska band that didn’t veer into gimmicky territory. A band where the
brass section is more than an afterthought. A band who don’t sully good songs
about selling out with hideous cringe-inducing songs about being dateless losers. Oh,
such a band would be a wonderful thing.
And so, let me introduce Streetlight Manifesto and their album The Hands That Thieve. A more talented group of
individual musicians you will be hard-pressed to find, let alone find them
playing ska of all genres.
This is the album cover.
Now, before I go any further, there is a large, black and white checkered
elephant in the room. After several disputes, their label refuses to send the
band copies of their own CD, meaning they cannot sell them/send them to fans
who have pre-ordered. You can still buy the album off the label (which isn’t
going to help the band) or some people suggest that as the band isn’t profiting
from the material they have produced, that it is not unethical to download it…
The band are understandably very close to being burnt out because of this and
all the other day to day issues of being a band on the road, and they will be
stepping back from touring soon. Ok, now that the unpleasantness has been dealt
with…
Under the dictatorship leadership of guitarist/singer Tomas Kalnoky, the
band are responsible for bringing credibility to ska, each excelling on his
instrument on each of the songs, which often reach five minutes plus.
To say the album starts as it means to go on is a disservice to the
diversity SM can achieve. The Three Of Us is an ideal song for first time
listeners of the band.
Instantly drawing you in with a hook, they then diverge
into a taster of their musical prowess before sliding back into a beautifully
crafted ska song. The song has gentle twists and curves, that are mild
surprises compared to the output of other bands in the genre, yet the song
writing is of a standard that it all flows together and feels instantly
familiar. That is until the riff straight from the System of a Down handbook
comes out of nowhere, with a playful reminder that genre is a mere guideline
and not a, well, not a manifesto. (Sorry.)
The second song starts out like something from the soundtrack of a
borderline racist Disney film before throwing a punk rock grenade into the mix
and sending the song legging it in a different direction. As if they are aware
of the distraction their musical dexterity can pose, the chorus is stripped
down at one point, to remind the listener that there is a heart to the music.
This, I feel, is an important point to remember. Streetlight aren’t just
streets ahead (sorry) of most other ska bands in the music department, their
lyrics have a substance that goes beyond the themes of teenage awkwardness or
ham-fisted politics. Some might feel the lyrics are a bit heavy for ska, but considering
the trials the band have been through over the past few years, it is
unsurprising that themes of loyalty and betrayal, friends and enemies, right
and wrong, and of course thievery, are constantly simmering under the surface.
The most relevant metaphor is that of David and Goliath, referenced in the song
Toe to Toe.
The juxtaposition of emotions evoked by upbeat ska and upset lyrics is odd,
and that might be responsible for a slight leaning away from outright ska as
the album progresses and touches on folk, reggae and even salsa. The title
track in particular is poignant. It
seems to boil down to a protest song that speaks of standing your ground when
it’s time to fight, but it seems to be tinged with a sadness that a protest is
needed in the first place.
This feeling of hurt and defiance lingers in the second half of the album,
as the band toy with genres with their usual gusto, while using the lyrics to
vent their frustrations.
It is sad to see that a genuinely talented group of musicians, who have
tried to do everything with dignity, is forced to choose between touring and
being happy. There are some positives
however, like the fact that the band are still in love with making music
regardless of what happens. The biggest positive is that The Hands That Thieve
is a cracking album; filled with more heart and defiant spirit than a ska band
should be able to muster. Here’s hoping that at the very least, David can
survive the skirmish with Goliath to fight another day.
