A forgotten chapter in Charlottesville punk history

Have you ever had a period in your life, be it several years or a single day, when, in retrospect, everything that happened seems to have been of utmost importance? Despite the drama, the craziness and perhaps the very real harm that was done, looking back it all seems so beautiful and golden that you wish you could keep it forever, like a flower frozen in amber.

The Big Fun Glossary captures just such a moment: “state-of-the art youth hedonism” as practiced in Charlottesville in the mid-’90s. It reads like a reality show version of On The Road, a devil’s dictionary filled with gossip, social criticism, and philosophical musings, where people with names like Morgan Anarchy and Diana the Redhead live in a state of enlightened poverty and angry joie de vivre, hoisting jugs of cheap wine like weapons in a war against the straight-laced forces of oppression.

Read about it here, via C-ville Weekly.

Stone Angels — Within The Witch

Stone Angels are a metal band from the battered city of Christchurch in New Zealand. They play between a mix of genres, with elements of sludge, doom, and even rock all thrown together in a surprisingly clean and compelling manner; it's sometimes grindy but never grimey. The recording is pristine, and even though metal of this sort is not my preferred cup of tea, I'm definitely digging the tone of the album. Read the bio section below to get an idea of the context. These dudes clearly know their music, and I hope they make it out to the States before too long.

Stone Angels — Within The Witch

Track Listing:

1. The Dark
2. Within The Witch
3. White Light, White Noise
4. Bleeding Black
5. Withdrawing The Jinn
6. Grave
7. Coffin Cross

Stone Angels are a newish metal band from Christchurch, NZ. I'll let them say it in their own words: "The album is named 'Within The Witch' and is really an ad-lib artistic release in the wake of 10,000+ earthquakes which have been smashing the city of Christchurch, in New Zealand's South Island over the past year and a half. Christchurch itself as a city is really no more and the energy from such an event has had very few positive effects other than maybe as a source of inspiration for artists, musicians and creative writers alike. Within The Witch is a by product of the environment, and summarises the atmosphere and feeling of this broken city to a tee. It really is an interesting listen."

http://stoneangels666.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stone-Angels/249012665121631

Hightide Hotel — Secret Somethings Vol. 2

Hightide Hotel play a sort of airy, contemplative pop-punk or alt-rock that sounds like nostalgia made sound. Reminds me of a less distortiony Hold Tight!, but with less haste and more vocal harmonies. This well-recorded album has a good flow and good energy and makes for solid background tunes in any situation, although I'd be hesitant to call it an upper. Solid, sincere tunes for sure.

Hightide Hotel — Secret Somethings Vol. 2 (2011)

Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Ballad
3. Ultimatum
4. Hollow
5. Your Bed
6. My Bed
7. Hospital Green
8. Malice
9. Closer
10. Outro

Hightide Hotel is a five piece from Philadelphia.

http://hightidehotel.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hightide-Hotel/100540060010431

Police & Thieves — Fracturing

Alright, it's that time when we ring in our silly Western notion of the new year (10 days after the solstice? Cause we're astronomically incompetent?) and I'm not really one for long lists. But I can give you a Top One list, so with no further adieu: the year's best album for me is by DC's hardest rockers, Police & Thieves. They've refined the style they had been building in their earlier efforts into something faster, but also more thought-out, more musically varied, even more intelligent. It sort of reminds me of the changes that created In My Eyes' Nothing To Hide LP, although P&T still draw heavily on influences like Dag Nasty. Carlos even get's a little melodic on the vocals a couple times, and I really dig it. Lyrics follow the same trends as before, mixing the personal and political with ease. The guitar work is crunch and precise with cool song structures, and the songs flow one to the next almost perfectly. My personal favorite is "Crusades," but every track on here is a banger. For real, give these dudes a listen.

Police & Thieves — Fracturing LP (2011)

Track Listing:

1. Thieves Intro
2. All Saints
3. Urgency Of Now
4. Suburban Life Decay
5. Doubt Crusades
6. Campaigns
7. Race To The End

Police & Thieves hail from the hallowed grounds of Washington DC, the intellectual inheritors to a musical tradition decades old. Basically, they sound awesome, mixing energy and passion with impressive songwriting and effort. They are, of course, named after the Junior Murvin song, although most people are probably more familiar with the cover the Clash released on their debut album. They've been around for almost 5 years now, with a couple EPs, a new demo, and now this LP. Go see them live.

Get merch and find show dates athttp://www.myspace.com/policethieves, or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Police-Thieves/22668852750

Volver — Santa Cruz

Volver is a crucial hardcore/Rev Summer style band from Guatemala City. They recorded these songs with the legendary Don Fury last year. This EP is some of the most solid, thought out post-hardcore I've heard in recent years. I'm reminded of bands like Give, Cloak/Dagger, or the more straightforward moments of Lion of Judah, with a delivery at times reminiscent of Peligro Social (though that might just be that language; Spanish is anything but unpoetic). Some really cool moments interspersed with frenetic, intriguing structure changes. Most solid.

Volver — Santa Cruz EP (2010)

Track Listing:

1. Miel
2. Me Hundo
3. Guatemala Está Muerta
4. Reprogramar, Activar

Volver is a 5 piece band from Guatemala. They have released a demo tape, a 7” called Guatemala Está Muerta and the Santa Cruz EP.  They are currently recording a new EP due out real soon. You can buy all their stuff on our bandcamp site or get the 7” and Santa Cruz tape from Bajo Presión Records.

http://volver.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/VolverCC
http://guatemalaestamuerta.wordpress.com/
http://www.bajopresionrecords.com/

Plant — Friendship. Love. Truth.

Plant's debut demo, a type of arty stoner metal or hardcore rock that's fast and raw and intricate. Members of Swamp Thing and Snuff Daddy. It's complex enough to come out as really high intensity, with a wall of sound made by everything being a little blown out, but still sounds approachable and simple on a superficial level. Real talk, listen to these dudes.

Plant — Friendship. Love. Truth. (2011)

Track Listing:

1. Without A Heart
2. Spilling Sand
3. Alone, Alone
4. Yeshi Dhonden

Plant is a real time band, just getting started.

http://plantnyc.bandcamp.com/

Wild Life — Speak

Wild Life is my most recent band. We set out to play some Rev Summer style tunes, but I don't know how well we hit that mark. What we did end up playing is (in my opinion) some cool, complex tunes that turned out to be a lot more contemplative and serious than what I usually play. I honestly don't know of any other bands to compare us to, except maybe the spirit of certain groups like Fugazi or later Turning Point. We never managed to find a singer, so me and Slagle, one of the guitarists, split vocal duties. Members of No Brainer, Slugz, The Volstead Agents, etc. I wrote most of the lyrics, so I've linked the song titles to what was on my mind when I was writing them. Check it out:

Wild Life — Speak Demo 2011

Track Listing:

1. Zeitgeist
2. Villa El Salvador
3. Speak
4. Monasukapanough

Wild Life is a new band from Charlottesville, Virginia. No shows played, and probably none ever will be. Thanks to Jake, Claire, Hannah, and Daniel for helping us out.

http://wild-life.bandcamp.com/

In Between — Demo

The worst part about this demo is that it's too short. These tunes are so smooth they disappear before you really grasp what all is going on. It's like listening to Lifetime, with the multiple guitars doing their own thing while the vocals lead, except that the vocals sound more like the dude from Silent Majority/Capital than Ari Katz. Some really smart song structure, powerful semi-melodic vocals, and awesome energy go a long way. Members of Praise, Sacred Love, and Broken Bodies. Solid melodic hardcore of the kind that's all too rare.

In Between — Demo 2011

Track Listing:

1. Luckiest
2. GBSB
3. Different Language
4. Lyons Mill
5. A Little More

"From Baltimore MD, our influences include Lifetime, Silent Majority, Dag Nasty, Turning Point, Gorilla Biscuits, Hot Water Music." I'd call that a fair assessment.

http://www.facebook.com/LuckyPierre3
http://photoboothrecords.bandcamp.com/album/demo

Moms — Demo 2011

Moms is a noisy, sometimes-fast band comprised of some dudes from Charlottesville (and now sort of Richmond), playing some noisy, angry hardcore. The first track reminds me of dissonant, Cali-style punk, similar to what Raindance or even Sucker Punch used to play in town. The rest of the demo moves on into more straightforward hardcore territory, with some thrashy, negative tunes good for the Cville Mosh (where you run back and forth in front of the band. It sounds lame, but you do it really fast!) They also hit some cool musical moments, like the intro to "Remorse Code," which sounds like Fugazi until it turns into Poison Idea. Good dudes, backed hard.

Moms — Demo 2011

Track Listing:

1. Anatomy
2. Lascivious
3. Tooth
4. Inwardly Crippled/Outwardly Stunted
5. Fuck
6. Remorse Code

Moms is a noise punk band from the mean streets of Chartown. Get wild.

http://moms.bandcamp.com/

Permanent — Demo

Permanent were a brilliant band based out of Richmond for a few years in the middle of the last decade. This was their demo from shortly after they formed in 2004, a couple songs of which they carried on to the Sleeping EP. These tunes are all powerful, well-constructed melodic hardcore in the vein of, well, themselves. No one else sounds quite like Permanent ever did. They even have an instrumental closing track, something that can either round out or break a record. Also on this album is an attempt at For All Time's "300 Miles," one of the greatest songs ever to come out of Charlottesville, which unfortunately isn't done justice here. Permanent was never meant to be a metalcore band, I guess. But when they're playing their own style, it's perfect. Nothing else is like this.

Permanent  — Demo (2004)

Track Listing:

1. Square One
2. Devils And Bad Luck
3. 300 Miles (For All Time)
4. Waiting For Rain
5. Days Late
6. Untitled

Permanent originally formed in Richmond with a combination of members of Charlottesville's For All Time and Blacksburg's Hold Me Back. They put out a demo, this EP, a split with Resonance, and Sink|Swim, a masterpiece of melodic hardcore. I can't stress enough the depth of this band. They broke up a few years back, and I'm still bummed I only ever saw them a few times. Still hoping for a reunion.

www.myspace.com/permanent