Glory Kid Records Giveaway Contest at Toxicbreed's Funhouse

Time For Change (2008)

   

Glory Kid Ltd. and Toxicbreed's Funhouse have teamed up for a great giveaway of a ton of Glory Kid releases.

All you need to do is head on over to the Toxicbreed Facebook page
and post how the name for the label came about. Yep. That easy
so don't be a bunch of lazies.

Toxicbreed's Funhouse: Glory Kid Ltd. Giveaway
Toxicbreed's Funhouse: Glory Kid Ltd. Giveaway
Toxicbreed's Funhouse: Glory Kid Ltd. Giveaway


Also, while you're there you can link to the TF blog and stream the Burn Your Life Down EP (out now on tape and soon to be released on vinyl). Don't sleep, unless of course you're a commercial driver and need to sleep before working. Then please, sleep. Then go to Toxicbreed.

Black Kites/Convulsions - Split 12inch

From time to time its nice to spotlight other blogs, bands, labels, or just people in general who are doing something of value and trying to pay back into this music that we all have taken so much from.

Glory Kid Ltd. has been such a label for a very long time. With an ever increasing (and diversifying) catalog of quality releases the man behind it all, Andrew Gomez (Burn Your Life Down/Time For Change) has put himself into the things he has released- this new 12inch (split release with the equally great Adagio Records) is no exception.

While I can't say that the cover artwork does a whole lot for me, it definitely catches ones attention and it doesn't stop me from looking further at the record. The music contained within though is something to stop you dead, catching you flat on your feet and unprepared. Both bands have been honing their sound for some time now, and on this record, come screaming through.

The first 5(6) songs come from Black Kites- having heard previous records of theirs, they always struck me as good, but the kind of band I really had to be in a mood for. On this record their brand of chaotic and volatile hardcore noise comes through in a way that sets them apart from the masses of noisy and screamy. With opening track Sleep Easy/Tall Tales Low Lives, the band shows that they can get right down to things and play some heavy riffs with a start and stop that gives way to just the slightest moments of a groove- conjuring a moment or two of great 90's hardcore, before going right back into what they do best. Personally, I think "Own Monster" is my favorite Black Kites track on the record. As usual with them, it beats you against the wall repeatedly with the screaming and bashing (vocally and musically) before taking a bit of a pause in the middle and showing off some very well done spoken talky-scream vocals that sound just so damned good.

Convulsions take off with the next 6 songs, starting with a cover of Karate. What a surprising cover, that will hopefully expose a new batch of people to this long gone 90's/early 00's band. The band stays very true to the original, just with a hardcore sound as opposed to indie sound of the original. Really a great cover for being able to stay with the original, but have it sound very unique. The band continues forward with five new tracks that build off of their 2010 Glory Kid release, "the Reaper's Gift." Convulsions is a heavy sounding band, but one unafraid to set itself away from the pack of both the heavy and the fast. Showing equal parts of bands like Deadguy and 108, Convulsions will sing, whistle, and beat the living shit out of you, all the while showing that they draw just as much from hardcore as they do many other genres of heavy and fast music (as well as some good post-whatever-you-want-to-call-it). Scrimshaw is proving itself to be my favorite track thus far- its fast and heavy, to the point, but not without its bits of grooving musical destruction. The record ends just as strong as it started (maybe even stronger) with Convulsions' Inhabitants of 13 Mall Street; seeming to cram every bit of what they are capable of into 4 minutes of sonic documentation. The drum solo in the middle that gives way to some ugly fucking sounding, 90's grunge influenced hardcore (and we all know grunge was really just 90's punk).

The newest Glory Kid Sampler is available at the Glory Kid Ltd. Bandcamp, free download of course- it features 2 tracks from this release as well as tracks from other current and upcoming releases on the label (inc. another Convulsions track from their previous EP).

DOWNLOAD HERE
PURCHASE HERE

Previous Glory Kid Ltd. Sampler Posted HERE 
Other GKL related posts (inc. the one off band, Agosto Espias) HERE

Glory Kid Ltd. - Label Sampler Fall/Winter

CONTINUING WITH THE RECORD STORE DAY BLOWOUT OF POSTS it only seems appropriate to have a great record label sampler:

Southern California's best little Hardcore label just relocated to the Pacific Northwest (Seattle to be exact). Before making the move, label czar, Andrew, put out this nice little sampler with 9 tracks from the most recent 8 releases.

A little of everything is offered here: Outrage & Convulsions exist at one end with some of the more interesting sounding songs- heavy music with vocals that go from screaming to haunting and musical changes. Outrage is working on their upcoming Glory Kid release while the Convulsions track is from their GKL debut 7inch. Agosto Espias play a style of emo/punk that draws back to a sound from the mid-90's. Maladie & Drowning with Our Anchors tracks come from their split 10inch, a co-release with Vitriol Records. The Separation track, deceptively short, is from their stellar LP (and sadly, final release) 'No Exit'- heavy & politically charged hardcore from Northern California. Run With the Hunted appear courtesy of their GKL ep "Destroy All Calendars"- fast hardcore with a political slant and the ability to break a song down and get you bouncing side to side. Time for Change's contribution comes courtesy of their final release, a 4 song ep split with label Death of A Modernist, and shows the band plowing forward from their lp and taking the band's sound to an even higher level of emotionally charged hardcore that still balances within their "old school meets 90's" hardcore sound. Lastly, Burn Your Life Down- the newest band (existence wise) offers up a members list of many recently departed So. Cal Hardcore bands playing a heavy and fast style of hardcore. While I wouldn't say "sounds like", you can say "reminiscent of" the Separation, Deadguy, and other such bands that were heavy, fast, and vicious in their sonic expressions. Enjoy & as always, check out Glory Kid Limited. Their stuff is always quality in sound & package.

Glory Kid Limited

DOWNLOAD: GKL Sampler Fall/Winter

SOS Booking: Southern California Punk, Hardcore, & Metal (and the SOS Project)

SOS Booking is a great booking group headed up by Nate (singer of Xibalba). He's been doing it for quite awhile now and is damn good at it. If you're looking for shows in Southern California, especially in and around the Inland Empire, get a hold of him/them:

 SOS Booking (Facebook Page). 

He's done big shows, fests, small shows, local shows, and just about anything you can think of over the last 5+ years at a ton of venues



SOS Booking takes its roots in a short lived venue from 2006-07, the SOS Project. It's something extremely important for me as I see it as one of the few tangible ways I have been able to give back in even the smallest way to something that has been so important to my life (punk/HC music).

Nathan & myself were able to put the SOS Project together through the local YMCA we both worked for (and met at) and for the most part, run it pretty freely as we liked. The flier you see is from the first show we held there. Plenty of local shows went down, and plenty of other bands made their way through in our short time- the First Step, Verse, Sinking Ships, Shook Ones, Knife Fight, My Revenge, Seven Generations, Dangers, Final Fight, Set It Straight, Life Long Tragedy, & more. The SOS Project can't be mentioned without saying how helpful Sami Begloo was in getting us bigger shows, especially early on. A defining moment for me came when Joe, who had booked and done security at Showcase Theatre called me about shows we were booking because he was trying to book shows on tours and trying to make sure that we weren't ending up booking shows on the same tours back to back (since we were in Riverside & they were in Corona)- that was a bit of a "holy shit" moment for me. Without the Showcase & Joe, there wouldn't have been any SOS.

In the end, all good things come to an end. The space we were using for the venue was a rental space for the Childcare Program I worked for. When we got a new facility for our older kids, we no longer needed the rental space. In the summer of 2007, the venue ceased. I cannot say enough of the hard work that went into it on so many people's parts, especially Nate's. I met or became better friends with so many people that I now count as some of my absolute best friends. Nate went on to book shows at Parkview in Riverside for a while, also singing in the band Out of Heart. About the same time that venue & band ran their respective courses, Andy from Time For Change/Glory Kid came into an opportunity through local legend Tina Bold, who put him in touch with Joe McNally (formerly of Voodoo Glow Skulls) who was trying to put together a music venue/community project. While that never bore fruit, Joe introduced the booking group, now comprised of Andy, Nate, and myself, to the guys at the Pharaoh's Den. By that time Nate was in Xibalba and SOS Booking was born. That's a whole other story, but SOS Booking continues on with Nate and friends hard work to bring shows to Southern California.

PS- Padded Gymnastics flooring for a show, still one of the best. Made for great wrestling match surface and some intense dodgeball games...

Three Lanes 3-Way Split / Nothing to Prove Compilation

Three Lanes... is a 3-Way Split CD released by Glory Kid Limited in 2007. It features Time For Change, Lockdown, and Heads Up; all from Southern California and all playing different styles of hardcore.

Time For Changes leads off with two tracks recorded between the "Wasting Away" 7inch and the "Memoirs" full-length.Both songs show the band progressing to songs that show a little more complexity and thought, which would become fully realized on their full-length and final 7inch. Both of their tracks here, "Heatwar", and "Homestead" would appear on the aforementioned lp, though they would be re-recorded and in the case of Heartwar, drastically re-worked.

Heads Up are.... hardcore punk. Not much my thing the time or two I saw them, and not my thing at all on these two tracks. They're most memorable to me for one of their singers busting a window at the old SOS Project at one of our very first shows (they paid for it).

Lockdown round out the split and offer up their brand of angry, pissed off hardcore. Fast, almost to the point of being hardcore punk, but with a heaviness firmly planted in hardcore and an aggression that matched the negativity. Again, not hugely my thing, but they were a lot of fun to see/hear live and the songs on this split are good. They would eventually split up with many of the members moving on to the band Last Days. Members would also do time in Time For Change.

DOWNLOAD: Three Lanes 3-Way Split

Continuing with the theme is a comp that came out a little while before the 3-Way Split. This was released by Good Times Records (2005) and features a lot of smaller/local bands from Southern California inc. Lockdown and Time For Change, who were also on the split.

All told, there are 12 tracks from 8 bands- along with the afforementioned bands, Final Fight, Feeding Frenzy, Looking Up, and 3 more bands round out this solid little comp. that has a little bit for everyone. From the heavier bands like Lockdown and Blood Stands Still to the fast and pissed of Feeding Frenzy and the more "recent" sounds of bands like Final Fight and Looking Up (really, you can only mention melodic as part of hardcore without sounding redundant). How does it feel to be a problem? Cos I Feel Fine!


Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: Nothing to Prove- A Southern California Compilation

Agosto Espias - Know Your Tragedy 7inch/EP

Agosto Espias (August Spies) were a very short lived Hardcore band from the Inland Empire, California that played a very 90's sounding emo/punk influenced sound.

The band came together in late 2009 when vocalist Andrew teamed up with guitarist Kevan. They brought in friend Anthony on bass and Bryan on drums. Together they wrote and recorded a 4 song demo from which the 7inch is derived (the download includes all 4 songs).

After a few shows Anthony exited the band due to other band commitments and friend Matt entered on bass. Unfortunately, only a few more shows would be played in 2010. The band lost speed as Kevan moved away for school and members moved on with other endeavors.



Andrew, Anthony, & Matt can currently be found in the new band, Burn Your Life Down who have a 3-song demo out.

The download includes the complete demo. The 7inch is a one time pressing of 200 & can purchased from the newly relocated Glory Kid Ltd.
A Band Site with info., pictures, and more remains up here

DOWNLOAD: Agosto Espias - Know Your Tragedy

Time For Change - Live on KSPC 88.7

Time for Change were a hardcore band from the Inland Empire, Ca. area from 2003-2009. They played a 90's influenced style that also drew on old school influences. Pissed off hardcore that could throw in a well placed breakdown with lyrics that drew on personal struggles and experiences, and the occasional straight edge song.

In their time they recorded a demo, 2 ep's, 2 7inches, an lp, and a handful of comp. tracks; ending with this live set shortly before their break-up. This 12 song set was recorded at the long running KSPC station here in Southern California which is operated by the 5 prestigious colleges that make up the "Claremont Colleges" in Claremont, California. At the the time of the recording the band was Andrew: vocals, Matt: guitar, Jordan: guitar, Brian: drums, and Fick: bass (who is not on this recording).

Members went on to Agosto Espias, Xibalba, Wunami, Burn Your Life Down, Darassum, & more- not to mention that the band featured members of many other bands of the same time. Singer Andrew also runs the recently relocated record label Glory Kid Limited (Convulsions, Restrained, TFC, Maladie, Separation, Outrage, & more). He's also a good artist who's done work for quite a few bands.

DOWNLOAD: Time For Change - Live on KSPC

Burn Your Life Down - Demonstration

Hailing from Southern California (at least when this was recorded) & featuring members of numerous Inland Empire hardcore bands that have split up in the last few years, the band came together earlier in 2010 to write before recording this little three track demo late in the year at the ever active Earth Capital Studio.

Burn Your Life Down plays it fast and heavy, with a sound not dissimilar to northern California's defunct the Separation; but with a more compact sound and not quite so deafening. Make no mistake, Burn Your Life Down comes right at you and aims to hit you square on the head  and leave you with a mark. 3 songs in under 6 minutes = goal achieved.

Currently the band is scattered amongst the west coast with singer Andrew having recently relocated to Seattle, bassist Anthony in Portland, and the remainder of the band guitarist Romeo, guitarist (and sometimes bassist) Matthew, and drummer Alex all still in southern California. The band hopes to move forward in one capacity or another in the new year, so keep a lookout for new things & for now listen to the demo.

UPDATE: the Download Link was messed up, Fixed now!


DOWNLOAD: Burn Your Life Down - "Demonstration"

Band Website: Facebook | Glory Kid Ltd. (label) Site

Just A Few Reminders About the Blog...

108 @ the Showcase Theatre '07

Just a few things...


It's 2012 and the blog rolls on. Sometimes at a slower pace as parenthood and job searching do take up time, but this continues on and every effort will be made to keep a (somewhat) regular and consistent flow of posts coming your way.

I'm always interested in hearing from new bands and glad to post recordings. As you can see, I don't "just post music", there's some thought and history into it. Feel free to e-mail me links/zips/info. and what not. The more you send me, the better (info./picture/that kind of stuff).

The Blog E-Mail is: it.follows.blog@gmail.com

Connor- Punk & Proud

I'm working on doing another "Mix Tape", working within the framework of a Mix CD time (60-80 minutes). While I have plenty of tracks I can pull from things already posted and yet to be posted, if any of you other would like to be a part of it, feel free to email me. It's no guarantee that you will end up on it and I am far from the reach and awesomeness of something like Toxic Breed, but the first two mix tapes have had a good download rate and a lot of the bands on them saw a good jump in their downloads. FYI- Im not looking for anything special or exclusive, though if you want to send newer tracks, it only helps you more ;)

I love comments and now that Shoutbox has gone "pay only", I love the comments even more. So don't be shy... really.

I also enjoy mixing in old interviews, zines, ads, flyers, pictures, etc- so far, all of this stuff has been culled from my own collection. I am always open to others submissions- You can e-mail scans/pictures. You can also send things to me for scan, which I can return or keep- just email me.

I finally have a tape deck. Its a nice little guy (still looking to upgrade to a proper stereo model) and its brand new, so it has worked like a champ. More tapes should be showing up here (the Amendment 18 & Retribution demos are the first) and like with flyers/pictures, they can be sent to me and returned. Just get in touch via email and we can work something out.

Lastly, as always - thanks to everyone who downloads, shares, comments, links, and so on. These downloads are entirely up for everyone and fellow bloggers, feel free to use them- just a little link back would be appreciated. I've found some great bands in the last year just from visitors to the blog and I'd like to hear even more this year.

Again- the blog email is: it.follows.blog@gmail.com

Burn Your Life Down- new EP out on Glory Kid Ltd

Stanford Prison Experiment "Worst Case Scenario":

City Rockers - A Tribute to the Clash

Here's a good and diverse (band wise and with the direction some of the covers take) compilation for your sunny and windy weekend.

I picked this CD up quite some time ago in a used bin at the local shop and its been worth every penny and then some. Many of you may have heard some of these tracks if you're a fan of the respective bands, but more than a few of these tracks have also slipped past recognition for far too long.

To say this track or that track are stand out tracks would almost literally take up the entire cd as each band either does a good traditional take on the song or adapts the song to their style and does it nicely. Whether it is the first track with Dave Smalley playing "Death or Glory" and channeling Billy Bragg with just his voice and guitar or Kid Dynamite's fairly traditional send up with hand claps and all- just with a snottier snarl to it (the same could be said for Saves the Day's cover of Clash City Rockers); the whole CD is strong throughout.

I will say that, of all the tracks here, my favorites are One King Down doing "London Calling" and playing it in its fairly intact original form, but as OKD (meaning as a metallic hardcore song), Demon Speed giving "Rock the Casbah" a psycho/rockabilly treatment (really, any treatment other than stripped out synth new wave punk of the original is probably a great treatment- NOTE: the live version Joe Strummer did with the Mescaleros is exceptional as it showcases the true strength of that song), and Lady Luck's introspective feeling "Lost in the Supermarket" shines with the soft female vocals. **I would say that I love the Dropkick Murphys cover of "Guns of Brixton", but the live track loses some of the energy and punch of the studio version they did which is included on their Singles Collection Volume One.

One King Down "London Calling":


The inclusion of some very good ska bands doing very good ska versions of songs is a huge plus for me, both as a fan of ska and a fan of the Clash. The Stubborn All-Stars do an almost ska-country version of "Lose This Skin" while Skinnerbox ends the CD with "Straight to Hell." As is always the case with these kinds of things, there are tracks any and all of us would have liked to hear which did not end up on the CD, but it is a good mix of some of the best known songs and songs that are a bit more secondary.

DOWNLOAD" V/A "City Rockers"

Lady Luck "Lost in the Supermarket":