The Taxpayers - To Risk So Much For One Damn Meal (2010)

The Taxpayers - To Risk So Much For One Damn Meal

(Includes album art, lyrics, explanations, and all sorts of other stuff.  Donate to support the band!)

Tracks:

1. The Windows Break

2. And the Damn Thing Bit Him!

3. Rapid Movements in a Bottle

4. Everything is Awful

5. Geodesic Prison Song

6. Louisiana Hot Sauce Rainy Nights

7. Everybody Just Stood There

8. The Cold Front

9. A Matter of Simple Deduction

10. Some Kind of Disaster Relief

11. It Gets Worse Every Minute

12. My Brother Isn't Dying

13. Let the Wheels Turn Slowly

This record was sent in to us by the band to review.  The Taxpayers are from Portland, OR and play folky-ska-punk with lots of influences from all over the place including bluegrass, swing, blues, and some hardcore.  They have about a billion people in the band who play all sorts of instruments on this recording (probably not on tour) including the accordion, mandolin, saxophone, harmonica, and your traditional band instruments.  

I'm going to be up front and say this type of music isn't traditionally my cup of tea, but if you enjoy bands like Bomb the Music Industry! or Andrew Jackson Jihad or Fake Problems, you will probably love this.  I think it is very successful in capturing that sound that those bands are going for and the lyrics are earnest and intelligent.  For me, their sound is too all over the place and somehow still doesn't sound full.  That could be an issue with the recording as in their email they informed me it was recorded in a plethora of different places.  The album doesn't really flow well, as each song sounds like a contained piece of work. I also think the shorter "in between" songs are fairly unnecessary, despite having good lyrics and fairly interesting melodies.  I feel like they are almost unfinished and add a sort of hiccup to the overall feel of the record.  This record shows promise however, and a lot of parts and the way the songs are arranged remind me of The World/Inferno Friendship Society (a favorite of mine).  I think this album is missing the great poppy hooks and melodies that the World/Inferno records have or AJJ has on his records.  I really enjoy how ambitious this album is and they definitely have an aesthetic they are going for and achieving.  The song "Geodesic Prison Song" sounds like a Blatz song almost, which rules.  Other standout tracks are: "And the Damn Thing Bit Him!" and "Everybody Just Stood There" and "Cold Front."  The singer's voice is great, but I can't help draw comparisons to both Bomb the Music Industry! and Fake Problems, which could be a compliment or a detractor based on your opinions of those bands.  Anyways, I bet this band is raucous and full of energy live and tons of fun.  Especially if they do end up going out with a ton of people playing for them.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is a fine record for what it is, but I think they need some work if they want to rise above a sub genre and start making unique and truly great music.  Despite what I may think, they put a lot of heart and soul into this release and it definitely shows and is absolutely worth a listen.  FFO: Bomb the Music Industry! Fake Problems, Gaslight Anthem, Anything on Plan-it-X Records.

The Taxpayers - Cold Front from Chris Hackett on Vimeo.

CAT PARTY 2-23-11 FEATURING WÜRM TONGUE!

This week we had WÜRM TONGUE from Boston join us in studio and play a 20 minute set!  How wonderful!  That starts at about 1 am, pretty much the beginning of "part 2."  Otherwise, good show this week if I do say so myself.  A lot of surfy stuff, a lot of early hardcore and punk songs, and a couple brand new jams.  Check it out!

PART ONE

PART TWO (WÜRM TONGUE starts about 5 mins in)

DOWNLOAD JUST THE  WÜRM TONGUE SET HERE

Tracks:

1. The Undertones//Get Over You

2. Celtic Frost//Eternal Summer

3. Tyvek//Underwater To

4. Pregnant//Help!

5. Neurosis//Double Edged Sword

6. Smith Westerns//All Die Young

7. Talking Heads//Life During War Time

8. Slayer//Anti-Christ

9. Man...Or Astroman?//Sadie Hawkins Atomic Bomb

10. The Dickies//Give it Back

11. Frank Zappa//Bobby Brown Goes Down

12. Saccharine Trust//Effort to Waste

13. Wire//Reuters

14. The Fresh and Onlys//Until the End of Time

15. Hüsker Dü//Everything Falls Apart

16. They Might Be Giants//Don't Lets Start

17. Deep Sleep//Turn Me Off

18. Night Birds//No Way Home/Bad Biology/Triple Feature

19. Reagan Youth//Beautiful Day

20. Mind Spiders//Mind Spiders Theme

21. Shadowy Men From a Shadowy Planet//Songs from the A side of "Dim the Lights, Chill the Ham"

22. WÜRM TONGUE

23. More Shadowy Men From a Shadowy Planet

24. Breathing Fire//I Wanna Be Your Dog

25. Hellhammer//Danse Macabre

26. Bloody Gears//End of the Line

27. Steve Adamyk//Better Off

28. Nuclear Assault//Justice

29. The Visitors//Magellan Finds a Compass

30. Thin Lizzy//Genocide (The Killing of the Buffalo)

31. Agent Orange//Everything Turns Grey

Pictures, video, and an mp3 of the performance will be available when I get them/create them.  They'll be posted right here obviously.  Tune in next week!

Misery - Next Time//Who's The Fool

This is crust at its finest, Misery from Minneapolis, MN have a collection of their early material here. This is some of their best stuff, but I say that because I hated the later stuff. Straightforward punks playing metal, the way it ought to be, heavy as fuck and catchy as shit.

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CAT PARTY 2-9-11

I'm listening to ELO right now and I feel like a million bucks. My scanner is broke so I can't show you the playlist picture like I usually do.  SORRY.

PART ONE

PART TWO

TRACKS:

1. Misery//Full

2. Byrds of Paradise//Paradise, D.C.

3. Gorgoroth//Ritual

4. Hunchback//All That Fear Allows

5. Nomad//Counter Attack

6. Big Soda//I Know You

7. Disfear//An Arrogant Breed

8. Superchunk//Learned to Surf

9. Regurgitate//At War With Benevolence

10. Closet Fairies//Tight Lips

11. G.B.H//Hellhole

12. Sedative//Backlash

13. Cülo//Nuke Abuse Side A

14. Rag Rage//Roofie Revenge

15. Integrity//Judgement Day

16. New Lows//Plague Grounds

17. Phobia//Numb

18. Ty Segall//Imaginary Person

19. Midnight//Berlin is Burning

CAT PARTY LICK OF THE WEEK:

20. Shannon and the Clams//Cat Party

21. Benumb//Chemically Involved Circumstances

22. Big Eyes//Why Can't I?

23. Warsore//Destroy All Monsters

24. Statues//Up Time

25. 324//Terminal Chamber/Prismrider/Just Sit There

26. Pissed Jeans//Human Upskirt

27. Dystopia//Diary of a Battered Child

28. Marvelous Darlings//Lagoons

29. Dahmer//Marcel Petoit

30. Ghost//Satan Prayer

31. Discordance Axis//Ikaruga

32. Onslaught//Skullcrusher 1

33. Lemuria//Gravity/Wise People

34. Furdidurke//Crosses of No Significance

35. Black Wine//Yr Light

HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT.  Würm Tongue is playing live either next week, or the week after.  Keep your ears peeled for that.

Tragedy - Vengeance (2002)

This post is to meant to take a break in the black metal uploading I have been doing, (more to come!). This is tragedy a band who is playing Maryland Death Fest, with a shitload of other awesome bands including Buzzoven! Tragedy formed from the ashes of His Hero Is Gone and multiple other current punk bands. This isn't far removed from the intensity of His Hero Is Gone but does push the envelope in structure and song writing. This is their third release and is my personal favorite.
The lyrics are actually well thought out and intelligent usually containing references for those interested in the inserts of their records, so follow up! The music is fantastic fast and exhilarating for those who haven't heard it. Don't miss out on this if you enjoy metal, punk, or the d-beat. After tragedy became a current seminal band many bands began to copy the sound of these records which some refer to as the t-beat, give it a shot you won't be disappointed!

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