Descender - And So We Marched EP

Descender hail from the left coast- Brooklyn, New York to be specific. Not exactly the area I think of when bringing to mind heavy, driving, and a bit rhythmic hardcore/post-hardcore (I'm also not mr. super current-affairs these days).

While I could sit and rattle of bands that were most likely an influence on this band (and it would be a damn fine list of bands, you can be sure of that), it's better to just get to it:

Descender bring a sound of heavy music that can appeal to anyone in the realms of loud music- it can collapse on you like a pile of shifting bricks just as fast as the drums can shift into a galloping beat that gives way to a well placed chopping and chugging riff.

Surely, Descender owes plenty to heavy post-hardcore stalwarts of the last 5-8 years, but it's clear they draw on many other influences in the punk/hardcore/indie world- taking cues from plenty of bands in the 80's and 90's and creating a tightly put together EP of 4 songs in 16 minutes. And I think that's where the songs begin to set themselves apart from many of the other newer bands in the pack- their length. While the songs have plenty of the things that lend themselves to thought evoking, emotion provoking music for late nights or long drives, they still reign in each track in under 5 minutes (with two at the 3 1/2 minute mark) without giving up anything. The ringing notes, slowing drums, build ups and explosions- its all still here.

The other thing that really sets this record apart for me is the vocals. I really like them. Lots of bands have chosen to go the instrumental route, and I dig that a lot. But, its always nice to see someone incorporate vocals and do it well. None of the vocals feel forced or out of place, and the sound works just right... screamed and a bit back in the mix to have an almost faint sound at times, the vocals blend and add, rather than demand notice. Hardcore and Punk colliding with all the right touches of Metal mixing in.

I lied, I will say one thing band specific... this brings to mind, at times, how I felt listening to the Restrained/the Separation split 12inch. Heavy, driving, and deliberate in its sound- but not so much so that it only appealed to a certain set of heavy music listeners.

Give the record a spin, its 16 minutes you will listen to over and over again.

Big thanks to George from Descender for submitting this-

DOWNLOAD: Descender "And So We Marched"

Descender on Facebook

The Troubled Coast - "Letters"

I received this in a download from the band (thanks Corey). This is their newest effort (following a 10 inch the year before, and EP before that).

The Troubled Coast play a sound that, to be honest, is kind of hard to pin down- yeah, it's hardcore & punk, but the sound jumps about, with what I could best describe as more modern emo/melodic hardcore as it's most consistent base. The band lists bands ranging from Verse to Brand New as influences. While I am not terribly familiar with Brand New, a few friends are rather big fans, I can definitely hear it; thick and textured guitars and screamed vocals that can give way to spoken/singing and more melodic/mid-paced parts. They have moments where the vocal/lyrical pacing makes me think of older 90's emo bands rattling off lyrics that almost sound like a conversation rather than lyrics, making me think of similar things Stay Gold would do on their full length lp, and at other times almost like a flow of thought style similar to the band who is currently doing it so well, La Dispute.

The first listen I jumped around a lot, but repeated listens on the work drive and some love in the headphones (headphones are always the real test for me) have grown on me tremendously. The record hits its stride by the second/third song in and keeps a pretty consistent pace of melodic hardcore. I can see these guys from Nor. Cal getting bigger & doing a killer tour with a band like Defeater. The sound is there and they do it very well.

Stand Out tracks: Feigned Belief, Drug Halo, XX/XY, Absent Father Holy Ghost, & It's Not Good For You

Definitely a nice surprise- I'm planning to track down their older releases and see how it all holds up live.

Support the current, touring, & available bands:
the Troubled Coast (Facebook) | Bandcamp Page | BUY Their Music

The Troubled Coast - "Letters"

Stanford Prison Experiment - The Gato Hunch / Wrecreation

Stanford Prison Experiment were a Los Angeles Post-Hardcore/Rock/Whatever-Cliche-Sub-Genre-You-Want-To-Call-It band.

Very influenced by Hardcore, Punk, & their respective "Post-" genres, SEP existed in the early 90's- early 00's, releasing 3 lp's and a handful of Ep's & singles. I caught this band in 1995 when they headlined a show at local legend Showcase Theatre that a friends band happened to have earned an opening slot on. They impressed live, reminding me of what I had genuinely loved about grunge music just 2-3 years before & having an energy and sound that still played to my newfound love of punk & hardcore music. Their second lp "The Gato Hunch" had just came out, so like any punk in high school in the mid-90's, I bought it on tape. I wore that tape out. It showed very hardcore guitar riffs, but still very distinctly drawing on a more decidedly post-hardcore sound. Crunchy & grooving guitars, distorted bass, shouted vocals that can calm into a spoken/singing, & drums that help to carry the whole thing along, SEP would pave the way for me personally to get into bands like Quicksand while still tying back to older grunge bands like the Melvins, that I had missed getting properly into at the time.

Wrecreation was their third & final lp, also their major-label debut for Island (after moving from World Domination for their self-titled & Gato Hunch lp's). Wrecreation is where the post-hardcore & Quicksand love comes to it's fullest. The crunchy guitars still appear, but have smoothed into more of a fluid sound. There's more of a stop/start to the sound of these songs, more of the spoken/singing style vocals, but still plenty of power. The album isn't entirely different from the previous record, but just a bit of a more mellow companion.  In fact, the songs here tend to run shorter than the previous, delivering a punk energy to the progressive sound. The band plays a bit more with songs that start off with a catchy hook and build the song into an explosion about mid-way through. I very honestly alternate between listening to Gato Hunch first, followed by Wrecreation as a kind of counterbalance between the two and a playlist that still operates on the same idea, but just with the songs inter-mixed. Make no mistake, Wrecreation will still hit you, it'll just politely say "hello" before doing so.

The band would play with Quicksand (whom they became good friends with, releasing a split single at one point), Rage Against the Machine, and plenty of other bands from those bigger on the indie scene to bands like the Jesus Lizard.

Stand out tracks: (the Gato Hunch) You're the Vulgarian, So Far So Good, The Accomplice, Hardcore Idiot. Worst Case Scenario makes that list too, but it's quite a bit different, possibly showing the direction the band could have gone if they had gotten harder/more distorted as they went along.
(Wrecreation) Contusion, I'm A War, Machaca, & Hightower.

*I've also included their self-titled, first LP. It is my least favorite of theirs, but it isn't unlistenable. Like many bands, its some of their earliest stuff and it shows when compared to the growth the band made on later releases. It features a track (Written Apology) that would resurface on Wrecreation.

A band who certainly flew under a lot of radars, enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: Stanford Prison Experiment - the Gato Hunch
                         Stanford Prison Experiment - Wrecreation
                         Stanford Prison Experiment - Self-Titled

SEP Facebook (fan run) | Old SEP web page | Myspace Page
*PS- any of out there who might have their Cansado EP (or anything else) get in touch. I only have these albums. I'm very curious to hear their Gang of Four cover.

God Forgot - Don't Touch / Sex Is A Weapon

God Forgot was Dan O'Mahoney & Kevin Murphy's side project in/around the time they were both in 411. Not nearly as melodic as 411's sound, God Forgot bridges the gap from the aforementioned 411 to bands like Quicksand. The first track "Don't Touch" could be a lost recording of 411 that didn't fit the style & "Sex is A Weapon" leans far more towards Quicksand with its grooving sound

Overall, a nice little two song 7inch of Post-Hardcore that unfortunately never recorded any more. As most know, Dan went on to Speak 714 and John Henry Holiday; he's also written a few books, has done some work with spoken word and has a non-musical project called Silence Lies. Kevin would play in Triggerman with many other OC Hardcore alums and eventually found his way into the long running Farside.

DOWNLOAD: God Forgot - Don't Touch / Sex Is A Weapon

Voicebox - "Silence Lies" 7inch

Another entry in the list of bands & projects that fall into the category of "Dan O'Mahony" bands. From well known acts such as No For An Answer & Four One One (411 "Discography" on It follows HERE) to smaller bands like God Forgot, John Henry Holiday, or this little two track record.

Teaming up with Chuck Treece, professional skater and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire (McRad & Underdog), to put down two songs of rocking hardcore. The first song, "Cold Inside" is the standout track for me, with is running guitar leads and slight groove in the guitars; it calls up thoughts of some of the later 80's Bad Brains as well as bands that would come later in the 90's Post-Hardcore explosion.

Another release from Dan's Workshed Records (Blackspot "Check Out the Helmet" being another posted here already), this one was done towards the end of the 80's with Dan doing vocals & design, Chuck handled all of the music. A good little studio project and it would seem the birth of Dan's Silence Lies references (he runs a website now and referenced it in a Speak 714 song). Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: Voicebox - "Silence Lies" 7inch

Quicksand - Divorce & Dine Alone 7inches + B-Sides/Rarities Collection

Let's just say that somehow you're here and you have ABSOLUTELY no idea who Quicksand is. That having been said, they were a hardcore/post-hardcore band in the early/mid-1990's comprised of a who's who of 80's New York Hardcore bands. Taking that pedigree & experience, they traveled new ground in this band, exploring more mid-tempo music with layered guitars and sung, rather than screamed vocals. Drawing equal parts hardcore and rock, they fused a sound that has continued to strongly influence across genres for years.

That being said, the first two things in this download were posted on the old What We Want Blog, ripped from the actual singles themselves; which I must say, both kick ass. The artwork for the Dine Alone 7inch which you see to the left makes the 7inch worth having alone. To the best of my knowledge, the songs here are demos and follows the "s/t" ep released on Revelation Records, predating the first lp, "Slip."

The second 7inch here, "Divorce/Voice Killer" comes after the
"Slip" lp, but predates their final lp "Manic Compression" and was actually released as a promo single. Both 7inches showcase some of Quicksand's finer moments as they move further from a direct hardcore influence and more towards their own signature sound. Rich guitar layering & effects, an ever present bass guitar, and drums that drive things forward through a sound that almost bounces along at times.

The last inclusion here is the "Rarities & B-Sides" fan compilation. I've seen a few different versions of this in the last few years. Usually they contain the same songs, but in a different order and quality. All to often the downloads of this are ripped at 128 kbps, which is just about the musical equivalent of eating McDonals past the age of 10 years old. The one posted here is at 160kbps, save for the last track, Supergenius which I could not find on any of the 160k versions. This compilation features as it says, B-sides and unreleased tracks. There's a fair amount of demo tracks along with some live tracks and what are said to be songs from the record the band was working on when they had briefly reunited in in the late 90's (specifically '98/'99). There's a lot of good tracks here, including a version of the stellar track "Shovel", and my two personal favorites on the compilation, a cover of the Smiths "How Soon Is Now?" (bonus from an import of the "Slip" lp and the unreleased track "In the End." Listen to it, the song can just swallow you whole with that opening riff, and then the vocals just sail right over the song- I try to avoid any flair for the dramatic with the blog, but Quicksand tends to defy most conventions, even now, more than 10 years after parting ways.

Enjoy!

Download: Quicksand - Divorce & Dine Alone 7inches + B-Sides collection

Four One One - "Discography"

The last proper music post at What We Want Music Blog was this gem of a download. A fine note to go out on, to be sure. As such, I've brought it over here to keep it going, should the mediafire account at some point become inactive.
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Four One One were a melodic post-hardcore band, at least that's what I think they would be called these days. When I heard them early in High School it was unlike anything I had heard at the time. I was still being fed on heavy diets of Minor Threat, Bad Religion, & Suicidal Tendencies.Fortunate for me, a local college radio show on Calremont College's KSPC 88.7 played all kinds of hardcore bands and I, like a good HC kid, taped the shows when I could, and caught the radio show playing "Say It" from the band's 7inch. Along with a skater friend of mine whose older brother was a few years ahead of us in school and punk/hc scene, we got exposed to the 411 lp "This Isn't Me".


Four One One was a Southern California melodic/post-hardcore band from the early 90's. Featuring a host of musicians from many varied bands (Farside, Triggerman, Rocket From the Crypt, Speak, & No For An Answer to name a few); the band meshed together mid-tempos of another kind with lyrical content that forced the listener to take notice; and agree or disagree; form an opinion of some kind.

Big drums, a very well blended guitar/bass attack, and those signature Dan O vocals, but being sung/spoken in a way that really shows what he's capable of as a frontman.

This updated post puts things back into one download together. When I had originally posted this, a very sharp blogger noticed I did not have the 411 track from the Discharge Tribute 7inch and promptly uploaded it. This new download includes everything together, including scans for the respective releases. A real 90's Hardcore/Punk gem, enjoy! And again, Jed Butterfield, where ever you are man, thanks again for dubbing "This Isn't Me" for me all those many years ago.

Download Includes:
"Thoughts That Feed the Fire" 7inch
"This Isn't Me" LP
"Flesh (live)" from Suburban Voice Comp. 7inch
"Life Minus Me" from Sign Language 3x 7inch Comp
"Mad At Myself" (GI cover) from the Headstart to Purgatory Comp CD
"Heartbeat (live)" unreleased track from Spanky's Riverside, CA likely '91 or '92
"State Violence, State Control" (discharge cover) from the Discharged Comp. 7inch

Full scans of the 7inch, LP CD booklet, Suburban Voice Record, Sign Language Comp. covers & 411's page from the booklet, Discharged 7inch cover & Back, Purgatory comp. cover & little 411 blurb.

DOWNLOAD: Four One One - "Discography"

*Side Note: there are unreleased tracks that apparently only Kevin Murphy has. An interview with Dan O. over at XStuckinthePastX brought this to light, as well as the fact that these tracks; not quite finished for a planned EP; will almost certainly not see the light of day. Really too bad, it would have been nice considering the direction the band had and the direction they were going in.