here goes nothing, eh?

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The Flatliners – Dead Language (2013)

Finally! It’s here. The long-awaited return of one of the Jedi. The Flatliners’ fourth studio album Dead Language has just been released a few days ago tomorrow… ??? What the hell? Why did Amazon then sell it already? Doesn’t matter. What matters is that I listened to Dead Language a few times now: Yesterday evening, on my way to work, at work (!), on my way back from work and just now. Enough times to get a preliminary impression of the record, though likely it will also be a lasting one. I never get the statement that you have to “get into” a record before it gets any good. More often than not it turned out that those records did not have a lasting impact on me, no matter how much time I spent and even succeeded in getting into them. I’m talking to you, Night At The Opera.

So, what is my impression then? First off, Dead Language is very similar to its two predecessors The Great Awake and Cavalcade. However, the already declining amount of ska parts on those last records has been reduced to zero now. Something which doesn’t bother me really. In the past I tended to skip those few songs anyway. Song structure and instrumentation are easily recognizable as The Flatliners on the other hand. So easy in fact, that you sometimes don’t get the impression of listening to a brand new record. Something which is both positive and negative, I think. On the one hand there really isn’t anything new about these songs except that they are in fact new. The aforementioned records though were already so amazingly awesome, that more of the same again is just – wait for it – awesome.

Dead Language starts out really strong with the first two songs Resusciation of the Year and Bury Me. Chris Cresswell’s raspy vocals on top of fast-paced punk rock with great drumming and even greater guitar work. The next few songs on the other hand feature some really catchy tunes, but don’t really ignite. Can you say that about music? I don’t know, but I do hope the message gets across. Typical Flatliners songs, however a bit too predictable in their own way. Still, the taste of steak is also predictable, and you still don’t get enough, do you?

Caskets Full is one of my highlights on this record. The first full-fledged hymn on Dead Language and such a beautiful guitar riff. Also, it’s a bit different from the previous songs and therefore makes you listen up while listening to the whole album. Tail Feathers is another such example. That song takes its time to get off the ground, but then it’s just mesmerizing. With its drawn-out finish I would have expected this song to end the record, as was the case with the closing songs on the previous records. However, the band really hits the gas pedal again and doesn’t let go for the last part of the album.

So, how to summarize all those impressions into a single statement of sorts. I think maybe The Flatliners remembered Konrad Adenauers old ’57 election campaign slogan: Keine Experimente. They already had the formula for creating truly amazing punk rock songs and records and therefore they didn’t change it at all. Is that really so bad? I don’t think so – yet. Maybe I will change my mind on this come future records. For now it’s just fine, because let’s admit it: Most other punk rock bands would kill for such songs and Dead Language is up there with the best records that were released this year so far. So to answer the title question: Wrong. Here goes hell!

Best song: Caskets Full. Backup Best Song: Bury Me. Special tip for Nebel: Dead Hands. Screamo!

The next song is a new one that you will hate

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guilty pleasure

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Sometimes I feel a bit ashamed of liking certain bands or records. At least I should. Somehow there is this unspoken resentment that you just don’t listen to these bands if you want to be taken seriously music-wise. Right now I’m knee-deep into something like this… I got serious case of blink-fever. Guilty pleasure-ish.

I don’t know how, but I went 15 years back in time (15 years already? whoa!) and listen to these old marvels over and over and over again. I think that’s what the kids call ‘blast from the past’. Or maybe not. Additionally – forfeiting any remainings of residual credibility – I like their new stuff as well and am really looking forward to any new records.

So, how did this come to pass? Back when blink-182 were huge, I never really actually listened to their records. However, you just couldn’t escape their music, even if you tried. At literally every party I went, at least some of their songs were played. For me it sort of started with their last record before the hiatus and really took off with Angels and Airwaves. At the risk of being heavily ridiculed, I hereby do admit to liking Angels and Airwaves to some extent. Guilty pleasure for sure, but I just adore the cinematic feeling of their songs. So I never really lost touch to what at least Tom DeLonge was up to. And when blink announced their reunion back in 2009 I was really psyched. And then nothing happened. Nothing at all.

Blink-182 – Neighborhoods (2011)

Fast forward to this spring. Sitting on an airplane on the way to Houston, TX, I browsed the internal music database. Not much to choose from for a dedicated anti-heavy-rotation guy like me. Except blink’s 2011 record Neighborhoods. And then it happend: I listened to this one record through the flight and sort of fell in love with it. Now, I dont think it’s a masterpiece, but there is something there. It combines the cinematic feel of Angels and Airwaves with the blunt straightforwardness of old blink-182. Also, you just have to love and admire the absolutely shitty artwork. Best song: Natives. Backup Best song: Wishing Well. Also check out their latest EP Dogs Eating Dogs!

So, there it is then. Two of my many guilty pleasures revealed. Feel free to ridicule, scathe or just plain insult. Or just post examples of your own guilty pleasures in the comments. Would be more fun, wouldn’t it?

Been gone a long time
I kind of lost my way, can’t find it
And I caught a short ride
To the grave and back this season

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eargasm – part 1

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Today I listened to the following records while flying around in my spaceship, here at the outer limits of Oberschwaben:

Alkaline Trio – Crimson (2005)

Very good record by Alkaline Trio and in my opinion their best, although it actually doesn’t fully represent their signature style before and since then. Coincidentally the Trio’s only record I actually own. Best song: Mercy Me. Backup Best Song: Fall Victim.

Broadway Calls – Good Views, Bad News (2009)

Second of three records by Broadway Calls so far. So much better than this year’s Comfort/Distraction. The new record is actually not bad at all, but if you go back to listening to Good Views, Bad News, you realize that their latest longplayer is just mostly harmless in comparison. Best song: Midnight Hour. Backup Best Song: To The Sheets.

I’m like a river. Damned, dried up and losing time.
A great leader, shot down before his prime.

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this just in…

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This guy continues to amaze me.

And not in a good way.

I’ve done some things that I’m not too proud of…

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the gaslight anthology

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I don’t remember how or when exactly The Gaslight Anthem came to my attention. Which is odd, because it can’t be that long ago, can it?

I do remember still living in Braunschweig at that time and that The 59 Sound had quite recently been published and that I liked it a lot. So much, in fact, that I immediately ordered that album and its predecessor Sink or Swim, which I liked even more. I even remember thinking “Well, Oli got it right this time. The first album is always the best”. Of course, in all probability, I thought that thought in german. Or maybe in pictographs.

Anyway, I’m fairly sure that it must have been Urius, who played one of their songs to me. And I think I can even recall that particular song and the place he did so. ‘The Patient Ferris Wheel‘ and my mother’s kitchen. Yeah, feels right. So, as it turns out, I remember quite a lot. Very good, the old noodle still has its use apparently.

So, we now established me very much liking the first two of The Gaslight Anthems records. And then the band and german radio ruined it all. In 2010 the third album American Slang came along and german radio channels sought to make up for their previous – call it laziness or ignorance, it’s all the same to me – by hyping it and the band beyond all common sense. And American Slang was not even good and clearly the worst album the band had released so far. It really went to hell when random people in the fitness club started talking about the band and praising the album. By then the omnipresent message apparently had taken roots and the brainwashed masses eagerly followed suit. I hated it all.

And I hated American Slang even more. What a piece of crap, what utter garbage. To make things even worse, Brian Fallon piled on by making some ridiculously retarded statements, the kind of statements that leave you shaking your head in disbelief and frustration and just smash the delicate confidence you had in mankind. To be fair, much of my repugnance had to do with the amount of hype that was going on; a sort of counter-reaction to exaggerated praise. However the reasons, I was done with The Gaslight Anthem. I didn’t buy the album and I had no hopes for future releases. Even worse than that, I did not even care.

That’s why I completely overslept the release of their latest album Handwritten. Apparently so has german radio, because you hear nothing about it. This time it was the T-Horst who incidentally told me that The Gaslight Anthem had a new album. Because I had nothing better to do at the moment, I looked it up on Spotify and listened to it. And there it was again, that old familiar feeling, that sense of enjoyment while listening to well-made, hand-crafted rock music à la The Gaslight Anthem.

The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten (2012)

So I went and bought it and it’s been in repeat mode for days now. The music somehow just resonates with me and does so from the first tune on. The first three songs ‘45‘, ‘Handwritten‘ and ‘Here Comes My Man‘ are absolutely splendid. Especially ‘Handwritten’ will definitely make it into my Top 10 for this year. That song is just beautiful. The album’s first half may be a bit stronger that the second, but even those songs are streets ahead of what you normally get on a regular rock album. The additional songs of the limited deluxe edition don’t really do it for me, in fact they rarely do on any album, so I chose to ignore them and again make a mental note not to buy deluxe editions in the future. All in all Handwritten is an extraordinary good album and at one fell swoop restored my faith in The Gaslight Anthem. So for completeness’ sake I also bought American Slang.

I still hate it. I thought that I might like it better this time around, without all the hype going on, but it’s still absolutely tedious. What a piece of shit! Unbelievable.

Pages plead forgiveness.
Every word handwritten.

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the triumphant return of the tankbreaker

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*static noise*

…

Hello? Is there anyone out there?

…

Anyone still on this channel?

…

Ah, well.

As your well know, not much did happen over the last few months on this blog text-thingy from outer space, except maybe the five hours of AWESOME that the last entry was comprised of. Well, I experienced some technical difficulties with regard to the long beam transponder I transmit this on, i.e. I did not know what to write about and I did not really care either. Thankfully neither did you, and therefore nobody is to be blamed for anything.

But I’m back, as Arnold is wont to say, and I have a shitload of new (and old) music sitting on my shelf, just waiting to be presented on this virtual stage of mine. So I will just go on as if nothing ever happened (as is exactly what DID happen since May) and just ramble about a random album that I acquired during the last few weeks.

As I said I would, I bought the now-not-so-new-anymore album of The Menzingers: On The Impossible Past. It took me half a year to do so, but what the hell; beyond the Kuiper belt, where I’m located at, it just takes DHL some time to deliver the mail order. Actually it’s because – though I had quite a good impression of the band – the album never made it very high up my priority list. There you have it then, the very definition of the word ‘misjudgment’. But then again: Better late than never!

The Menzingers – On The Impossible Past (2012)

Lets begin this with a warning: This album is not really punk rock anymore. Older albums of The Menzingers may be (Spotify it!), but this is not. It reminds me a bit of Jimmy Eat World, seeing as it conveys a definite melancholic feeling and certain sadness, but more subdued and not as wannabe aggressive. If labeled would most likely fall under the much-loathed ‘Alternative Rock’ category. To hell with it, I don’t do in labels.

I’ve listened to it quite a few times now, and so far I could identify only one song out of thirteen which I tend to skip. So no clean sweep there, but on the other hand is not so bad as to severely diminish the albums overall rating. Anyway, the rest of the songs feature some really catchy tunes while avoiding obtrusive mainstream in-your-face-ness. In fact the whole album sounds very independent from the rest of the scene. Songs like ‘Burn After Writing’, ‘Mexican Guitars’ and the eponymous ‘On The Impossible Past’ really grab you by your musical balls and squeeze tight. Or maybe rub lightly? Depends on your preference. Overall it’s a great collection of songs with a very unique vibe to it.

To make short things short: I would give it seven ninth penises on my trademarked nine ninth penis scala.

Remember the days when I had a conscience?
Yeah, me neither.

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writer’s block

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Ugh. Almost two months gone since my last entry. And what have I come up with? Nuttin’. Nada. Niente.

So enjoy the emptiness of my soul…

 

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groezrock galore (part 2)

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Day 2:

Sunday morning I woke to the sound of rain pattering on our tent feeling less hung-over but slightly concerned about the weather. Urius on the other hand was still in sleep mode ‘comatose’ and I unceremoniously decided to join him again in the dreamlands, where there is no rain and no pain to be felt.

About an hour later the weather apparently had cleared up and Monsieur Oppingér cried for company to drink the day’s first beer. Being a team player and not willing to suffer another “Oh, der feine Herr!” at my expense I did not decline and soon I found myself out in the open watering my throat.

Due to the freakishly long band-marathon the day before and because the line-up allowed for it, we started out much more slowly than on day 1. One by one first Bloody Moe and then Urius – Master of Sleep came crawling out of their respective tents and enjoyed a liquid breakfast.

Without further ado we then made our way to the festival area to fetch something to eat and then watch Hot Water Music at the Main Stage. While devouring a baguette with ham and vegetables I incidentally caught some tunes from Motion City Soundtrack playing their set on the nearby Main Stage. I liked it enough to make a mental note to check out their stuff as soon as I would be home again. Have not done that, yet. And, as a future reminder to myself: Never confuse a baguette-serving girl by asking too many questions, or you will end up with a stripped down, ham only, bare minimum of a baguette.

Finally it was time for Hot Water Music to play their set which I thoroughly enjoyed. Dave Hause also appeared on stage to perform together with them, a real treat. I have to admit that Hot Water Music again is some kind of a white spot on my punkrock map – seeing as I am only familiar with Chuck Ragan’s solo work, and that superficially at best. So again I used the opportunity to get to know the band and was not disappointed. Good stuff and a definite source of new (old) music for the future.

Alkaline Trio followed on the Main Stage, and I had been looking forward to them for weeks. However, I was sort of disappointed by their set. I really like a lot of their albums and they have some killer songs in their repertoire, but seeing them live just didn’t do it for me. The sound was kind of thin and the whole gig generally lacked power. Maybe it’s because of the trio-thing in live conditions, but on the other hand Die Ärzte never had any problems with that.

Anyway, I was about to be blown away by sheer awesomeness. Dave Hause made his appearance on the Fender Acoustic Stage. That man is the real superhero of punkrock right now, I shit you not. Brian Fallon who? Stage presence, songwriting and interaction with the audience; all top notch and seemingly an easy task for him. He played a mix of songs from his solo album Resolutions and from The Loved Ones discography and was supported by the Revival Tour lot Joe Ginsberg on bass, Jon Gaunt on the violin and most of all Chuck Ragan – “the hardest working man at the Groezrock”. And the crowd thanked them all with lots of love and pleas for several encores.

I stayed at the Acoustic Stage, because Tom Gabel was scheduled to follow directly afterwards. Since then she publicly came out as transgender and apparently has decided to live his life as a woman henceforth, so I am a bit confused as to what pronoun to use, but that does not in the least bit have any impact on the quality of her performance which was quite different compared to Dave Hause’s gig before. A bit more subdued and not as cheerful and without support from any additional musicians, but even more powerful and emotional if that’s even possible.

And then it was done, Groezrock was over for me. Urius and I had decided to skip the last few gigs and leave the festival area while it was still possible without jamming into 30000 other people trying to do the same. All in all it was definitely worth doing the trip to Belgium: I have seen and listened to a bunch of very cool bands, some of which I will keep my eyes on in the future, had a lot of fun and a beer in my hand for most of the time. The weather could have been a bit better, but it was still ok, so no grief there. The line-up schedule is a bit too tight for my taste, so that you have almost no spare time in-between the performances, and that makes itself felt in my old age; but to hell with it, all in all it was a fantastic experience!

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what i always wanted to say but never could

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“I’ve seen Tom Gabel live when she was still a man.”

Finally!

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groezrock galore (part 1)

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Last weekend Urius – Master of the Uriverse and I hauled our increasingly wrinkly asses to Meerhout, Belgium and attend to a spectaculum called Groezrock festival. Since we first had glimpsed the lineup for this year’s edition the plan to go there had been fixed. Additionally, in a spontaneous shoot-from-the-hip decision, Bloody Moe and Monsieur Oppingér decided to grab the imaginary punkrock bunny by its ears and join us there. A wise decision I would say, because although the weather left room for improvement, the music performed can only be described as outstanding.

Day 1:

Saturday morning I woke feeling slightly hung-over after a very short night in a very cold tent. Nursing the headache with some beers we did not linger very long and entered the festival area and headed straight to the Fender Acoustic Stage to listen to Mikey Erg. He presented some fine tunes and it was a good start, but nothing especially awesome if I recall correctly.

After that there was no time to waste and we directly headed to the Main Stage where The Menzingers were about to begin with their set. I had heard about them but never really actively listened to their stuff, so this was a good opportunity to get to know the band a little better. If you follow the whisperings in the punkrock woods, you know they are one of the big up-and-coming bands right now, albeit existing since 2007. They played some very good music and I will definitely keep my eye on them and check out their new album On The Impossible Past.

Next on was None More Black also on the Main Stage. Again I wasn’t really familiar with the band, but somehow that singer’s voice was and asking Urius afterwards it was revealed to me that the frontman is Jason Shevchuk, formerly of Kid Dynamite and that is where I know him from. Anyway, they did a good sort of poser metal-ish gig and I was content, except for severely sobering up in the meantime.

After wetting our throats again (and taking a 30-minute nap) at the camping site, I went to see The Wonder Years on the Etnies Stage. This was one of the bands I wanted to see with absolute certainty and they did not let me down. The played a very tight set with lots of energy and unsurprisingly the crowd went mad. Stage-diving galore and at times there were more kids on the stage than band members. I’d like to use the opportunity and recommend their latest album Suburbia: I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing.

Set Your Goals followed without a pause on the same stage and continued where The Wonder Years had left off: Insane energy and an epidemic of mad cow disease in the crowd. And while I do have problems with the two singers’ (fat and little boy) voices, I find their music intriguing: that high energy mix of melodic hardcore and hip-hop-ish riffs is just heaps of fun.

Anyway, after two wins in a row it was time for Yellowcard on the Main Stage. I’m looking for the right words here, without being too harsh. In a nutshell: Not really bad but unremarkable. Just like all their albums before and after Ocean’s Avenue.

Now it was time for Dillinger Escape Plan on the Impericon Stage. It had decided to attend to them weeks before the festival, my reasons for this were a slightly morbid fascination with their music and because I had heard that their stage shows were plainly insane. But mostly just for the fun of it. And I had fun – sorts of. Weird shit.

After leaving the Impericon asylum I headed back to the main stage for the last two gigs of the evening: Lagwagon and Rancid. I even caught the last 20 minutes or so of Face To Face, but I didn’t really listen that closely. Lagwagon were lots of fun and Joey Cape, who seemed more than a little drunk, made quite a few jokes and generally didn’t seem to take the whole gig very seriously. However, with him being Joey Cape and his accumulated 117 years of stage experience that just worked out nicely nonetheless.

And then it was time for Rancid. What can I say and write about Rancid that has not already been written a hundred times over? I don’t know, but let me try this… They have loads and loads of classics in their repertoire, so many sing-along anthems of punkrock and they played many of them. Check. And although they didn’t really make much of a show, they don’t really need to: their stage presence alone is enough to make the crowd go wild. Check. Having one single catchy tune tormenting my poor brain since last Saturday until this very moment: double check. Awesome! Amazing! Incredible!

To be continued…

Now Mary’s out the door with a loaded .44 in her hand
Shooting down the law that shot down her dear departed man

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