Young Poor & Angry Press

After nearly fifteen years Skarhead is back with a brand new album. When I first heard whispers of this happening in 2003 I got my hopes up. Then a year or so went by and I tried to put out of my mind that Skarhead would probably never make another album. Then it happened, I got a notice saying a Nov. 17th release date had been set. Still skeptical, I went ahead and marked it on my calendar anyhow.

The day came and let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed. The originators of NYHC’s distinct thuggish style are sure as hell back. Think if TuPac decided to start a hardcore band instead of become a gangster rapper, this is what his band would sound like. A highlight for me was Fuck the Scene. Basically the track calls out the “scene” and only living to be a fashion statement instead of coming into hardcore with heart. Hands down the best track on the album was D.F.F which is stands for Drink Fuck and Fight. A cross between Snickers and something we’ve heard off of Ezec’s Danny Diablo hip-hop albums. In fact the entire album is a progression in musical talent and ability. Not saying the Kings At Crime album wasn’t excellent (in fact it’s one of my favorites) but Drugs Music Sex is definitely better produced. The video for the track is well worth watching as well, and has a bit of humor from Ezec towards the end.

Skarhead also pays hommage to the DMS crew as well as strippers, booze, sex, money and all around thug life. If you want a throwback to a better time in hardcore, one with attitude instead of skinny jeans and youth medium shirts I suggest you go get this album either on I Scream website or I-tunes.

When asked to describe Saosin’s new album In Search of Solid Ground to friends who’ve not heard it, I was puzzled. Do you call this a punk album? Do you call it a rock album? Or is it somewhere in that post-hardcore void everyone likes to throw things into?  To be honest there is no good category to put this band into. Pure and simply stated, they just rock. Cove’s vocals are crisp and clean without that pretention you see a lot from people who cross genre.

There is something smooth and calming about this album. It invokes emotion without being called into the ominous category of “emo” music. The Worst of Me is my favorite track of the album, with lyrics that are so honest it actually makes you want to give the track to an ex-girlfriend you might really miss being friends with. Then you get a track like Is This Real which clocks in at just under four minutes, but is so fast and furious it’s easy to forget that this is even the same band. Each track on this album is unique and special in it’s own way. The band somehow with a lot of skill manages to make an album that captures the listener like a good novel captures a reader. I really have to give them credit where it’s due, this album is really catchy and clever.

Armed with an old school Nintendo GameBoy, two Budweisers, a tag-along kid’s mic, and more electronic equipment than I would ever know what to do with, the underground UK artists known as Fuck Buttons put on one hell of an experimental electronic show. Seeing the show at a local DC venue known for smaller acts, DC9, I knew I was in for an intimate night of mind-bending musical stylings and the kind of dancing one typically reserves for the bedroom in front of a mirror.

The Fuck Buttons, a British duo, played intuitively with the sounds they were mixing, feeding off the energy of the crowd and adding their own. At times, when the crowd’s enthusiasm seemed to be cracked, the Fuck Buttons brought back the energy of the house by breaking out one of many tricks in their bag. A Nintendo GameBoy for beta sound bites. A tag-along kid’s mic for appropriately blending distorted sounds with recognizable beats. And some solid drumming that helped kick in the rhythmic bodily jerking of the crowd.

The Fuck Buttons were never predictable and thoroughly enjoyable for the entire one hour straight they played. If you’re into something different or enjoy a good dance party, I’d recommend checking them out live or in the comfort of your own home with their latest CD Tarot Sport.

And Then There Was You immediately invoked the image of the movie Til There Was You (1997) Jeanne Tripplehorn and  Dylan McDermott.  Fortunately the band is no where near as terrible as that movie and McDermott was such a G in that movie… sorry I digress. And Then There Was you is proof that South Florida for some reason seems to breed really good power-pop/pop-punk bands.

This band is by no means anywhere near ground breaking. What the band reminds me of is Fall Out Boy before they started to stray away from any sort of aggressive musical inclinations that came with the band at first. This record has gang vocals in the right places, it’s fast, up-tempo and will get you nodding your head. Wasting the Summer musically reminds me a lot of the 90s band Digger and the lyrics of From First to Last (before Sonny joined.) Burn My House Down was pretty catchy and while I wrote this review, found myself nodding along with the predictability of it. While formulaic is still really catchy. It must be something in the Florida air that makes kids so melancholy but produce such damn fine pop music.