Snowing - Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit (2009)

Artist: Snowing

Album: Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit

Genre: Emo, Post-Hardcore, Punk, Math Rock

Website: Bandcamp, Facebook

FFO: 1994!, Grown Ups, Midwest Pen Pals, Old Gray

Track Listing:

1. Sam Rudich

2. Important Things (Specter Magic)

3. Pump Fake

4. Kirk Cameron Crowe

5. Methuselah Rookie Card

My Thoughts:

This may very well be my favorite new-wave twinkly emo release. Five near perfect songs, all with the signature catchiness of many of their contemporaries, but with more abrasive vocals and endearing voice cracks than anyone else could muster. It's hard to find bands that resemble them - I mean, there are plenty of twinkly emo-types, but none quite like this. They do it all with incredibly catchy combinations of lyrics - as a prime example, Methuselah Rookie Card comes to mind, with its near-end chant "I've been living like a sailor, my sea legs are wearing down" getting stuck in any hipster head. Sam Rudich is another good example of their fantastically catchy songs, with a twinkly guitar line abruptly followed by the singer screaming, "Ba-da, da-da-da, da-ba-bah-bah! Ba-dah, da-da-da, da-bah-da!" It's hard to put into words...the sheer emotions this band can invoke. Download it now. You won't regret it. Buy it, too. Such a shame they broke up...they will live on in our hearts.

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Brave Bird - Ready or Not (2010)

Artist: Brave Bird

Album: Ready or Not

Genre: Emo, Indie, Math, Punk

Website: Bandcamp, Facebook

FFO: The World Is, Prawn, Empire! Empire!, Dikembe

Track Listing:

1. Scared Enough

2. Healthy

3. The Worst Things Happen to Me

4. Tired Enough

5. See You Next Year

My Thoughts:

It's hard to put my feelings for this band into a legible format, but for me, it sounds a little like what Taking Back Sunday would sound like as twinkly daddies. They're fun, they're emo, and they're catchy, but they put a very original spin on their music. Like many of their contemporaries, their music is pretty messy, but it comes off as far more endearing than many of the same bands. They're a breath of fresh air to the genre. The vocals in particular are among my favorites. Oh, and as to the genres I mention - I'd honestly say they're straight up emo with a few more indie rock influences, but that's what they have on their Bandcamp. You can either download it there for five bucks or use the kindly provided Mediafire link they gave below. But I highly suggest that you pay. It's worth it. Scared Enough is one of my top 10 songs from 2010.

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Bike for Three! - More Heart Than Brains (2008)

Artist: Bike for Three!
Album: More Heart Than Brains
Genre: Electronic, Trip Hop, Experimental

Website: Bandcamp, Facebook

FFO: Telephone Jim Jesus, Alias, Dr. Octagon, Sage Francis

Track Listing:

1. Beginning

2. All There Is to Say About Love

3. Lazarus Phenomenon

4. Nightdriving

5. There Is Only One of Us

6. No Idea How

7. Always I Will Miss You. Always You.

8. The Departure

9. First Embrace

10. Can Feel Love (Anymore)

11. One More Time Forever

12. MC Space

13. Let's Never Meet

14. More Heart Than Brains

15. Ending

My Thoughts:

Quirky, energetic trip hop with a dash of tortured soul in the lyrics. Buck 65 and Greetings From Tuskan are the two collaborators on this awesome project, and I highly suggest that you check the two of them out as well once you're done marveling at this album. It's something about the vibrancy and sheer weight in the music...great use of instrumentation all around, and I can't say no to heavy reverb. The production's also fantastic. I find it hard to imagine someone being disappointed with this music, no matter how they look at it. Unless they're completely opposed to hip hop in general. But then, why would they be 'disappointed' in the first place? Eh, enough rambling - download this now, and then support them, because MHTB is thoroughly awesome and deserves it.

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Cathedraal - Voix Blanches (2012)

Artist: Cathedraal

Album: Voix Blanches

Genre: Screamo, Black Metal, Hardcore

Website: Bandcamp, Facebook

FFO: Madame de Montespan, Downfall of Gaia, Celeste, Fall of Efrafa

Track Listing:

1. Sasha

2. Quelque Part À L'Est: Babi Yar

3. En Crimée

4. Je Ne T'Ai Pas Défendu

5. Laisser Aller

6. Dieu Ne Croit Plus En Nous

7. Rouler Les Peaux Mortes

8. Des Noms Sur Des Valises

9. Je L'Aimais Encore

10. Les Arbres En Témoignent

My Thoughts:

Delightfully dark screamo hailing from France. I don't know what it is about France, but almost every screamo band that they produce seems to be absolutely awesome, and this one is no exception. For an extremely (in)accurate visual representation, just try to imagine a vast army of depressed soldiers sweeping through the ruins of some city in Europe, but maybe back in the early 20th century. Imagine a landscape in greyscale, all tumbling buildings and dust and ash. That's what this band sounds like, but more melancholy, and probably a lot less pretentious. Confused yet? Good, this blog has more where that came from.

Oh, and they have the album uploaded for free on Mediafire too. Best dudes.

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