War Elephants, My Heart To Joy, Maneuvers, and Transit - 242 Main - 3/14

We went to see Maneuvers again, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the other bands were excellent as well.

The show started with War Elephants, a young instrumental band from Enosberg Falls that plays progressive music. They played a pretty solid set. They are good with meter changes, the drummer in particular.

Next up was My Heart To Joy At The Same Tone, from Kensington, Connecticut. They play music in the style of classic emo or screamo, and they can certainly do that well. They brought a ridiculous amount of amps, and rocked everybody's faces off for a while. Their closing song was really intense.

Maneuvers came next, and they played an awesome set as usual. This time, they brought out a couple of new songs, which are going to be on the upcoming full-length they are working on. Two of these songs, "Black Horse Pike" and "Mare Oceanum" are on their Myspace, so check them out.

I didn't get to see Transit, unfortunately. They are a Massachusetts independent hardcore band, and they sound a bit like Braid or Lifetime. If you're at all into that, check them out, they're pretty skilled.

So, another day, another great concert at 242 Main. Be on the watch for more good music.


War Elephants
My Heart To Joy At The Same Tone
Maneuvers
Transit

Cccome?, Maneuvers, and Amadis - 242 main - 1/28

We've mentioned Maneuvers and Amadis before, but not cccome?. We had run across them in our spidery interweb music quests, but the mp3s we found were lackluster and didn't seem promising.
Enter the live show.
The mandolin player cranked the gain and just shredded it to bits, with RATM style riffs interspersed between solos. One of the coolest, most original things I've seen here.
The vocalist used his voice like an instrument and his harmonica like a voice. He had a great stage presence too, like he was playing from another world.

Act 2 was the Maneuvers. They put on a stunning display of alt-punk power. Their songs have a complexity that breathes new life into their style, but remain incredibly catchy.
I purchased their new EP and highly recommend it, but definitely go see these guys play if you can- the recordings just cant capture the energy I saw last week.

Amadis played like it was the 70's all over again. Leather, shredding, and flying v's...
I wasn't able to attend their entire set, but what I did see was full metal. I gotta say, Vermont having an old school metal band is pretty awesome.

Myspaces-
Amadis
Cccome?
Maneuvers

New Colin Meloy Album Coming! Hurrah!

I speak truth. Colin Meloy Sings Live will be released on April 8th from Kill Rock Stars.

17 songs-

1 Devil's Elbow
2 We Both Go Down Together
3 Evoking a Campfire Singalong
4 The Gymnast, High Above the Ground
5 Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect / Dreams
6 Dracula's Daughter
7 Wonder
8 A Brief Introduction to Shirley Collins
9 Barbara Allen
10 The Engine Driver
11 On the Bus Mall
12 A Skull, a Ship, and a Sheep
13 California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade / Ask
14 The Bachelor and the Bride
15 A Cautionary Song
16 Red Right Ankle
17 Bandit Queen

To tide you over in the meantime, you can snag NPR's recording of the Birchmere gig from the 2006 tour here. For Colin/Decemberists fans, I strongly suggest downloading it. At least download this version of California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade.
You owe it to yourself.

Colin Meloy's Official Myspace has some cool demos and stuff too.

Combatwoundedveteran

Combatwoundedveteran was an experimental hardcore band. They condense breakneck tempos, buzzing guitars, and the throat-destroying screams of two vocalists into a wall of intense noise. And they do this all in under two minutes per song. They broke up in 2003.

Recommended Albums:
This Is Not An Erect, All-Red Neon Body

CWV on No Idea Records
Official Myspace
CWV live
More CWV live

The Foxymorons

Despite the joke name, these guys make some seriously good music. Incredibly stylistically diverse too- Acoustic, Folk, Pop-punk, Alt-rock... They also manage to pull off the atonal, Pavement style vocals very well, as well as soaring melodies more akin to ELP.
Definitely true indie-rock. Definitely worth listening to.

If you have a myspace account you can download an excellent set of 4 songs from their Official Myspace.


Free mp3s-
Hesitation Eyes
Harvard Hands

Wow, Owls!

Wow, Owls! was a Virginia screamo band. They were signed to Perpetual Motion Machine, who have some other good hardcore bands (La Quiete, Life At These Speeds, CTTS). They went from just being a fledgling local Richmond, VA band in 2003, to a tour of Europe 2.5 years later in 2006. They had some troubles with debt, and decided to call it quits after three final shows. 3 of the ex-members are now in a new band, Mouthbreather.

Recommended Albums:
Pick Your Patterns
Wow, Owls!/The Setup split

Official Myspace
Wow, Owls! live

Choking Victim

Choking Victim is a New York ska punk band associated with C-Squat. They famously made heavy reference to Satanism and crack smoking in their lyrics. They are staunchly atheist, leftist, and anti-discriminatory. They share members with other ska bands from the area, such as Morning Glory and Leftover Crack. They have broken up and reformed a few times. I hear they are currently together, apparently? Not totally sure about that.

Recommended Albums:
No Gods, No Managers

Official Myspace (I think)
Some mp3s at Epitaph
Some more mp3s at Purevolume
Choking Victim live

Cynic

Cynic is a technical death metal band from Florida. They added the influence of jazz fusion to their metal sound. They also used dual vocalists, one with death grunts, one with a robotic-sounding voice produced by a vocoder. Their lyrics are about deep philosophical and religious topics. They recorded one album, Focus, in 1993. They broke up the next year. Some of their members were in other technical/progressive metal groups, such as Atheist, Gordian Knot, Pestilence, and Portal. In 2006, they reunited to tour Europe.

Recommended Albums:
Focus

Official Website
Official Myspace
Veil of Maya at Roadrunner Records
Veil of Maya live
The reunited Cynic play How Could I? live

Napalm Death

Napalm Death is one of the pioneers of grindcore. They started as a hardcore punk band, but began to move toward a more death metal influenced sound. They created a high-speed mix of metal and hardcore which formed the basis for modern grindcore. And did I mention it's really fucking fast? They often tackle political topics in their lyrics. The band has undergone many lineup changes. By the time they recorded side 2 of Scum, they had no original members left. This means that there are a huge number of associated bands and side projects. To name a few, Carcass, Brujeria, Cathedral, and Godflesh were all related to Napalm Death. In recent years, Napalm Death has taken a more progressive deathgrind sound. They remain one of the most influential bands in extreme music.

Recommended Albums:
Scum
From Enslavement to Obliteration

Official Website
Official Myspace
Napalm Death live
Napalm Death covering the DKs' Nazi Punks Fuck Off
You Suffer live (Shortest song ever?)

Bad Brains

Bad Brains is a Washington, DC punk band, and one of the really influential bands in early hardcore. They started off as a fusion band, but got into punk rock. They threw their considerable musical talents into the mix, and produced their own style of intense and complex punk. They could also play reggae, and included some reggae influence on most of their albums. They had some metal influence on some of their stuff as well. They have broken up and got back together again multiple times, and they are currently back together with their original lineup, and have produced a new album.

Recommended Albums:
Bad Brains
I Against I

Official Website
Official Myspace
Their Epitonic Page
Pay to Cum live at CBGB
Big Take Over live at CBGB

Circle Takes The Square

Circle Takes The Square is a modern screamo band. They use rather technical song structures to back up their intensity, with complex guitar, bass, and drum parts. They also use a very cool male/female dual vocalist style, and intricate lyrics. They work with Robotic Empire, who have some other good stuff out.
CTTS came to 242 Main over the summer, but I missed it. Hopefully they'll pay us another visit in the future.

Recommended Albums:
s/t
As The Roots Undo

Official Website
Official Myspace
CTTS live
More CTTS live

Romans

Romans is a Vermont metalcore band. They incoroporate post-metal influences from bands like Pelican or Isis, and some mathcore. They've produced their first album themselves. They've been gaining a lot of notice in the VT scene lately, so you might want to be watching them.

Recommended Albums:
All Those Wrists

Official Myspace
Romans live

Crass

Crass was an English punk band, and one of the pioneers of anarcho-punk. They were based around the anarchist community Dial House in Essex. They rejected the consumerism, capitalism, and violence of mainstream society, and instead promoted DIY, anarchism, and peace. Crass was a huge influence on the leftists/anarchist politics found in much of modern punk. Crass broke out of the previous rock paradigm, using spoken word and experimental improvisation on some tracks. They also integrated performance art and multimedia into their approach. They started Crass Records, which released albums by other anarchist bands. Throughout their career, the group stated an intention to dissolve in 1984, which they did. The members went on to continue in music, go to art school, and participate in performance art, among other things. Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher bought Dial House, to ensure that its tradition continued. In 2002, many of the ex-members collaborated as a group that has been known as The Crass Collective, Crass Agenda, or most recently Last Amendment. This group puts on many different types of work, from poetry readings, to performing Crass songs. The legacy of Crass lives on.

Recommended Albums:
The Feeding of the 5000
Stations of the Crass
Yes Sir, I Will

Unofficial Myspace
Crass live (Live footage of Crass is pretty fucking rare stuff. You'd better appreciate it.)

Fire the Cannons

Fire the Cannons is (was?) a Burlington, VT indie rock band. You could compare them to Sonic Youth (at least the Sonic Youth of "Goo" and "Dirty"), or The Pixies. The bassist is very good, skillfully integrating chords with his playing. When I saw them, their drummer was pretty good too.
I was told they've apparently broken up? I'm not sure.

Recommended Albums:
I don't know that they have one out. Do they?

Official Myspace

Limp Wrist

Limp Wrist is a queercore band featuring ex-members of many other hardcore bands, in particular, Martin Sorrondeguy, founder of Lengua Armada Discos and ex-member of Los Crudos. They claim to "put the "core" back in "queercore." Personally, I'd say they do a damn good job at it. Homophobes, take notice: Limp Wrist are here, queer, and fuckin' hardcore!

Recommended Albums:
Limp Wrist - The Official Discography


Official Website
Official Myspace
A live set

Archer in Jeopardy

Archer in Jeopardy was a Vermont rock band. They were influenced by screamo, lo-fi indie rock, and post-rock. They're also a bit jazzy. To make a stupid comparison, think of it as Orchid beating up GYBE while Stephen Malkmus looks on. Or, better yet, go listen to their stuff. They released 2 EPs and a live album, and then broke up. However, they're releasing an an album, Black Dog, Subside: The "I Doesn't Matter" Story, on Young Optimists Records. Rumor has it that they're planning a reunion show to go along with it...

Recommended Albums:
That's So Legit
Fragments To Decay
Black Dog, Subside

Official Myspace
Whiskey Waltz live
She Didn't Die, She Just Stopped Living live
There are also a hell of a lot more videos

The Dillinger Escape Plan

The Dillinger Escap Plan is a rather influential mathcore band. They are on the excellent Relapse Records. Their sound has changed over their career, moving away from their more straight-up mathy hardcore sound, and incorporating more eclectic influences. This has produced mixed results. Their line-up has changed even more than their sound, with guitarist Ben Weinman as the only original member left. At their best, they create uncompromising and intelligent music.

Recommended Albums:
Calculating Infinity
Ire Works

Official Myspace
Their page on Relapse
43% Burnt live
Sugar Coated Sour live

Antioch Arrow

Antioch Arrow was one of the early screamo bands. They were on the legendary, and absurdly awesome, Gravity Records. Their music is played at high speed, and mixes melody and noisy atonality. Their vocalist, Aaron, is cool, with his excellent control of dynamics. Their live performances were ridiculous. It's hard to explain, just watch the videos and you'll see. They broke up in 1994.

Recommended Albums:
The Lady Is A Cat
In Love With Jetts

Official Myspace
Their Epitonic Page
Antioch Arrow live
More Antioch Arrow live
Sorry about the abysmal sound quality on the videos.

Vitals

Vitals is a Vermont progressive post-rock band. Their music is all instrumental, and they intersperse rock aggression with ambient complexity. Their style is pretty unique, but it could be loosely compared to some of the bigger post-rock bands out there.

Recommended Albums:
The Legend That Was Earth

Official Website
Official Myspace
Their last.fm page has some free mp3s
At These Heights live
Terrifying Storms of Incredible Beauty live

Orchid

Orchid was a late-90's screamo band from Amherst, MA. They worked with the awesome Ebullition Records quite a bit. Their albums are somewhat obscure and hard to find (they were originally released on vinyl), but they are certainly worth it. Their music is absurdly, incredibly energetic, with breakneck speed and throat-destroying screams. And you absolutely must see the video of their live performance. It is intense.

Recommended Albums:
Chaos Is Me
Dance Tonight, Revolution Tomorrow
Totality - This was released on Will's label Clean Plate

Fan Myspace
An mp3 on Clean Plate
The full video of their last show - seriously, watch this. it's a good candidate for Best Video on Youtube Ever.