the Assistant - Both LPs, EP, and Splits

The Assistant were a hardcore punk band from New Jersey. They played loud, fast, heavy music with lots of screaming. They also played catchy and poppy songs with slightly off key singing. Songs with programming, keyboards, and samples- Yeah, that too. They could also jam for 5 minutes without saying a word. I try not to get to tied up in the genre(s) slapped on a band, outside of the broader things like Hardcore, Punk, Ska, Rock, Emo, Metal, etc.; I know that the Assistant was a Screamo band, but that just sounds so narrow, so I guess I will get caught up in it this one time, which is why I called them a Hardcore Punk band at the onset of this post. I think that does them the most justice, and at least for me, more fairly says what they were and the depth of what they meant to me.

The last song that the Assistant released, "I Have A Name", from the split with Takaru & This Ship Will Sink, states that the Assistant, as a band, was about standing up for what you believe in. To me, that speaks far more to what this band meant to me (and many others). They covered topics that encompass just about every aspect of human emotion, self-reflection, and dealing with life itself, as a whole. From self-abuse to the impacts of illicit drugs (and discussion of the lengths that governments have been willing to go to in order to test out new drugs on the poor and the resulting impacts), sexual abuse, consumer culture, the consequences of convenience, the com-modification of independent and thought provoking music sounds/scenes, and much more. All of it with thought and explanation - an insight into the words and thoughts that are just as heavy (if not more so) than the music they are playing. Multiple members singing and writing lyrics gives a little something extra, not that the band wouldn't have been great with just Leigh singing.

I will leave it at that- as i've said before here, some times less is more. The Assistant, for me, is a band that ranks up there with Battery, Hot Water Music, the Cable Car Theory, By The Grace of God, and other incredible bands that seemed to fuse themselves into the music they played, and shared words that were bits and pieces of themselves and of myself too. That's not said for a dramatic flair; this music of hardcore and punk ; through many bands and people; has indelibly made an impact on nearly every aspect of my life in some way.

Members have been in a laundry list of other bands, especially guitarist/vocalist, Tom. Check each and every one of them out.

Sadly, it seems, everything the band has done has gone out of print. So, in two downloads, you have the Self-Titled LP, In the Year of the Dawg Tour EP, We'll Make the Roads By Walking LP, the aforementioned 3-way Split, Split with Red Scarlet Letter, and a song that seems to come from an internet created Comp (an alternate version of the song "I Have A Name" from a comp called Screamo Room Presents...) ***In the Year of the Dawg actually features two tracks that ended up on the second lp, they are identical, but included for completions sake***

Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: The Assistant "Self-Titled LP & In The Year of the Dawg"

DOWNLOAD: The Assistant "We'll Make the Roads LP, Splits, & Comp Track"

Parades End - "Self-Titled" 7inch

Alright, time to bounce back. Been down and not posting for a few months. Moved into our first house and dealing with an infant who is rolling over and learning to crawl and stand almost simultaneously has proven to be the exciting challenged that it promised to be. But now that things have settled some and the office/record room has come together for the most part, lets get back to this.

Parades End were one of the first, if not the very first, band that I ever heard that you could remotely call Screamo (by 90's emo/punk standards). I had no idea of it when I heard them in the mid/late 90's. I was still very much a hardcore/punk kid who knew emo as it related to the DC/Dischord universe.

I was fortunate enough to catch Parades End on local 88.7 KSPC as they played a live 5-song set. I was doubly fortunate enough to be recording the radio that night. It wouldn't be until years later that a good friend would share with me the Assistant which then led to things like you&i, saetia, jeremin, neil perry, and on and on down that twisted genere muddled list of hardcore punk music. Unfortunately, it would still be more time after that before I was able to run down a copy of this 7inch. Clearly I did though, and even was able to get a copy of their split 7inch. Both 7inches and the live radio set were posted on the old What We Want Blog, though the rip here is just the 7inch, and is a newer rip done with the new laptop. It may only be marginally better, but its not quite as hot (loud) of a rip as the previous one, so it balances out a bit better on all playing platforms.

Enough mumbling... Parades End, as mentioned, certainly fell into the Emo/Punk/Screamo realm of music going on at the mid/end of the 90's. Spoken/Screamed vocals, driving guitars, drums that while not simplistic, didn't rely heavily on lots of toms and double bass, and enough emotion that you could see this four piece bouncing around the stage trading vocals between guitarists. Though, it isn't without mentioning that they did have at least one song on the Indecision Records comp Guilty By Association, which featured the band as a 5 piece with a singular singer. Not a bad track itself, but a fair bit different.

In the end, the band recorded this 4-song 7inch, 2 tracks on their split 7inch, the aforementioned comp track, the radio set, and a full length that was purported to have been recorded over with a lot of nonsense and noise since the band was splitting up. My understanding is that some of that became the track "the Book of Jae" which was on another comp. Members were in and have since been in quite a few bands, some you've even heard. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: Parades End - 4 song 7inch

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

H20 Interview (Extent Zine) | BWR Ad '97

First page of the 4 page of Interview from Extent Fanzine (circa 1997).

The whole interview is HERE for download in a zip file, enjoy!

BWR ad from 97 w/454 lp, Mass. comp , TYF/Fastbreak split & 454 7inch.

(Click to Enlarge)

Candle - "Self-Titled" 7inch

A nice way to start your Sunday...

Candle were an emo band from Southern California in the early 90's. To be fairly honest, I don't know a TON about them and there isn't a ton about them on the internet. They were a part of the San Diego scene at the time and did a split with Antioch Arrow (which I have not heard). Members went on to Antioch Arrow, clikatat ikatowi, Spanakorzo, & Second Story Window.

This two song record is their first release; released on Wrenched Records (who also released the Evergreen "Trudy Pushpin" 7inch posted HERE earlier). The music is pretty straight forward (kinda punky) as far as moving along at a pretty steady pace most of the time with some pauses at times and guitars that will drop out while the bass and drums go on. the vocals have a youthful screech to them; all in and all, a record that definitely says "90's emo record", but not one that just falls into a list of emo by numbers and then forgotten as good, but typical.

DOWNLOAD: Candle "Self Titled" 7inch 

The Cable Car Theory - "The Deconstruction"

I have to confess, from time to time there are albums I almost get excited to find out are out of print because I can (in good conscience & good faith) share them on the blog. Of course, I'd love for everything to be accessible at a reasonable price for anyone interested to own, but that's a whole other discussion...

The Cable Car Theory sound almost like a hyper version of bands like Hot Water Music and Avail. They draw on all the great aspects of 90's Emo/Hardcore with thick guitars, vocals that go from pissed off to exasperated and back again, drums that are so precise the drummer could very easily be playing in a much more metallic band.

The Cable Car Theory's strongest asset may be that they can musically turn on a dime- plowing through a song like Analysis, while taking a more mid-tempo pace with opener Nakama, only to slow things down with Spit Happens. A real testament is a song like Caffeine Battle Cry which employs a little of both. The lyrics again evoke feelings of the aforementioned bands and sounds, with subjects like friendships, child birth, child abuse, emotions & feelings, etc. The album ends pretty emphaticallywith the foreboding sounding Tears For Broken Toys which starts pretty heavy for their sound as members of the Assistant help out with vocals.

Hailing from New Jersey in the late 90's- early 00's, they released a few different records (a previous ep/lp, some 7inches, & comp tracks) in their time and apparently did a fair amount of playing at least on the east coast and even Europe. This record stands as a very good and under-appreciated piece of hardcore/punk from the early part of this century (sounds weird to say that, hah). Dig in and enjoy, 13 songs in just over 30 minutes.

DOWNLOAD: The Cable Car Theory - "The Deconstruction" 

Samiam / Jawbreaker - No Idea Fanzine Split 7inch

We'll just call Split Seven Inch Saturday today. The second round brings some good 90's punk with this little two song gem. This was released along with a copy of No Idea Fanzine (as in, No Idea Records) and picked up by yours truly for .99 cents at a local shop because it was "missing the cover". There was no cover. It was missing the accompanying zine, and I'd love to get a copy some time, but I feel I got the most important part, no?

Both bands offer up songs that at the time were exclusive to this record. Released in 1992, both bands are still solidifying the sounds that they would become known for- Jawbreak and their brand of punk that would go on to influence a vast majority of 90's emo/punk acts, while Samiam show early flashes of their pop/melodic punk brilliance, pulling off a track that could have just as easily gone on a Seaweed record.

Jawbreaker's track has some interesting/odd spoken parts that I'll let you hear for yourself. . I wouldn't say that they distract the song, but when listening to it, it can almost seem like two different songs. Recorded in early '89, it shows the band still developing.

The Samiam song really is my favorite. This one was recorded in '91, dating it back to around the time of some of the bands earliest works (such as the 'I Am' ep, which will turn up here later), but showing a slightly more melodic and softer side than the speedy pop-punk of their earliest material.

Enjoy!


DOWNLOAD: Samiam / Jawbreaker - No Idea Fanzine Split 7inch

Admiral - "Revolving and Loading" 7inch

It's safe to say that Ebullition has a classic sound, right? In fact, probably a few classic sounds. Admiral definitely fits into the tried and true emo/hardcore sound of the mid-90's, one which Ebullition helped nurture and grow.

This 3-song 7inch released on Ebullition, consists of some very Fugazi era Ian MacKaye vocals over mid-paced punky hardcore. The songs here build and rise from slower starts and hit the occasional faster part, and plenty of of drums and bass parts where the guitar drops out as the singer belts out the vocals.

Not a bad track and not a moment that disappoints in these three tracks of emo|hardcore. Download, reminisce, enjoy.

DOWNLOAD: Admiral - Revolving & Loading 7inch

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

Evergreen - Trudy Pushpin 7inch

*Another old post from the old What We Want Music Blog, Enjoy!*

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Evergreen were a Emo/Hardcore band from Los Angeles during the early 90's. Similar to what was going on in different parts of the US at the time- but with a much more dominant soft side than some of their contemporaries (the band is often called emo/post-hardcore). Think more in line with bands like Indian Summer (emo with the makings of what would influence the Screamo bands) but in a more melodic and straight forward style. Besides this 7inch they have a very highly sought after 12inch, a split 7" with Still Life, and comp songs. A bootleg discography isn't impossible to find for download on-line and their final 7inch is still available from Gravity Records. The bassist went on to be in Antioch Arrow & the drummer is in Rilo Kiley.

DOWNLOAD: Evergreen - "Trudy Pushpin" 7inch


A funny thing about this record, I got it at the bi-annual Claremont College Record Swap from a gentleman who runs a bigger record store from the LA/OC area who shall remain nameless. He had tons of good and even some great records. None of the records have price tags & when you ask him, they're easily 5-10 bucks more than what you would expect (I wasn't alone in this feeling, as a discussion took place later that day). However, this little gem with insert and stamped record dust sleeve intact, was a mere 5 bucks. Not the greatest score in the world, probably not even the best for me at that Record Swap, but a real good one all the same.

Tomorrows Gone - No Way To Make Time Stand Still (1993-1997)

Tomorrows Gone was a melodic hardcore band from Las Vegas during the early/mid-90's, drawing on bands like Dag Nasty (whom they cover), mixing it with a 90's touch of emo and a bit more of a punk back beat.

Tomorrows Gone recorded two demos, a 7inch, and various comp. tracks before disbanding in 1997. Singer Lance Wells moved to California where he would turn up on Ensign's contribution to the "Devil's Night Out" comp 7inch on Indecision Records (will be posted later). During that time Tomorrow's Gone got together to work on this discography and lay down some music for songs that had not been recorded before their end. When the songs were sent to Lance, the desire to be in a band returned. Tomorrows Gone was unfortunately unable to continue despite the renewed interest, however the demo (inc. new versions of the songs In Silence & Faded Grey) would become the first recordings of the new Las Vegas Hardcore band, Faded Grey. The core of TG would roll into Faded Grey and plow forward with a demo/7inch & full length that built on a similar formula through the early 00's, including TG songs In Silence, Remainder, To Rest, & Faded Grey.

DOWNLOAD: Tomorrows Gone - No Way to Make Time Stand Still

*The original upload of this comes from the great One Path For Me Blog, though it has a new write up and uploaded to our own mediafire. Thanks to One Path for the original upload.

Former Members of Alfonsin - Let's Not Forget the City Burning in the Background"

Another personal favorite pulled from the old What We Want Blog, this one appears to have the link busted over there, need to fix that I suppose. Anyhow, info. below on this great Southern California band. Enjoy!
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First things first- Former Members of Alfonsin are a band that I heard about a lot, but never saw and never got a chance to hear until a few years ago. I just missed them when they were around- bummer.

Former Members of Alfonsin do not contain any former members of a band named Alfonsin, so don't go looking for another band. They were however a really good (and interesting) mix of melodic hardcore and 90's emo sound. Fast at times and able to take it up to a frantic hardcore punk pace at times, they for the most part did the melodic hardcore thing with the old emo talk/sing-scream vocals (though some songs include alternating male/female vocals). Political, straight edge, funny- they truly deserve a proper re-release but until then they at least deserve some more recognition.

As well, while their stuff isn't impossibly hard to find, it isn't like you can walk into any store and find it. Information on them is sporadic as well. All of those things factored in, the download you find here is a personal Discography comprised from a playlist I have been playing around with, changing, and listening to for the last few months. I'm currently trying to get my hands on actual copies of their records (as I have none) but from my searching around I can share at least this much info:

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1-6/7 are from their split 12inch with Project Hate released on Phyte
*one copy i downloaded had 6 songs, one had 7*

8-11 are from their split with Bread & Circuits released on El Grito

12-13 are their split 7inch with Sawpit

14-18 i know they recorded/released a demo, based on the quality I would guess that this is it.

I have some other assorted tracks, some that may be different versions or may be bad rips. I know there is also a live track from the Pickle Patch comp. and I think possibly another comp. track or two. Any more information is greatly welcomed.
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DOWNLOAD: Former Members of Alfonsin - "Let's Not Forget the City Burning in the Background"


Members went on to be in Please Inform the Captain This is a Highjack (3 Members), Remain, Project Hate, & Amateur Party.
semi-logged into myspace: Former Members of Alfonsin , no clue if someone from the band runs it