I Have Dreams — Three Days 'Til Christmas

I'm not gonna lie, this is screamo. Normally I would never put this kind of thing up; I've always had this gut feeling that screamo is inherently a shit genre. But I guess this proves me wrong, I Have Dreams is… good. Really good. I think what usually puts me off is the overproduced bullshit that typically makes the rounds as screamo; the empty lyrics, stupid haircuts, the emphasis on being "brutal" and sexualized over having any meaningful content.

This is different. It still has the genre signatures, switching between dissonant hard parts and lighter distortionless singing. But this is a cheap recording probably done in someone's basement, the guitar work is intelligent, and the lyrics are actually pretty deep. Not in the weird Jesus-y way most other Florida bands try to be either. Plus it sounds like they're having fun (you know, in addition to the sadness…), and getting real into it. These are some emotionally charged jams, but definitely worth checking out. 'In Good Hands' is an absolute killer track too.

I Have Dreams — The Days 'Til Christmas EP

Track Listing:

1. Three Days 'Til Christmas
2. Countless Rooftops
3. In Good Hands
4. I Don't Imagine You And I Anymore
5. Thank You For Having The Courage To Help A Friend Change His Life For The Better

Lyrics:

From Last.fm: I Have Dreams was a screamo/emo band born from the ashes of a band called New Ethic, when their guitar player Daniel died in a car accident. New Ethic played their last show in August, 1998 with Daniel’s best friend Mike Hanson in his place, and it was about a month or two later that I Have Dreams started playing. The band consisted of Allen Compton and Mike Peters on vocals, Mike Hanson on guitar, Ben Seals on bass and Clayton Rychlick on drums. I Have Dreams were more than a band - in the words of Mike Peters: “It was an attempt to cope with the pain everyone was feeling after Daniel’s death.” I Have Dreams were together for roughly six months, and they broke up in the Spring (around April/May) of 1999.

Warbound — Shades Of Red Demo

Warbound are a solid new band from DC. This is their demo from only 2 months ago, it's hardcore that references the mid-80s really hard. Like, I'm hearing a lot of early youth crew, but also other stuff from that time when people still just really loved keeping it fast and hard. It's the essence of hardcore. And they cover NA.

Recording quality is a little lo-fi, but that actually works really well for this. It's nice and crunchy, and the vocals stand out on top nicely. I'm also digging how it's obviously only one guitar on here, it sounds real, you know?

Warbound — Shades Of Red Demo 2010

Track Listing:

1. Punching The Wall
2. You Don't Have A Rep Yet
3. Like Chains
4. Shades Of Red
5. What Will Remain?
6. Age Of Apocalypse
7. Unstoppable
8. Why Be Something You're Not (Negative Approach)

Warbound is a pretty new group from the DC area. Cool dudes, cool band, go check them out when they play!

http://www.myspace.com/warboundhc

Stay Gold — S/T

Stay Gold were a melodic hardcore band unlike any other. As in, they sound like no one else. It's hard to describe, but the music is some of the most thought-out and rounded this scene has ever produced, taking a lot of influence both from punk bands like Good Riddance and from hardcore like Turning Point. The vocals are really what sets this band apart though, it's almost a spoken-word delivery but with a lot of conviction. The lyrics are different too, they rely on vignettes and analysis, along with the more traditional personal narratives, hitting an emotional level you don't see to often. It's sort of like a collection of short stories, if that makes sense. Anyway, this band might not be for everyone, but it's nevertheless a compelling piece of hardcore history. One of my favorite bands, at least.

Stay Gold — Self-titled 7" (2001)

Track Listing:

1. Once I…
2. Remember Me
3. Black Eyes
4. TGIF
5. Just Say No

From Indecision Records: Eagle Barber (Drums/Vocals) and Chad Repp (Vocals) came up with an idea for a band during the summer of 1998 or 1999, who really knows? Anyways, at that time in Seattle, music was leaning toward the "metal" side of the equation and Chad and Eagle wanted to start a band that was reminiscent of their influences. Bands like Hot Water Music, 88 Fingers Louie, Turning Point and Bane could be considered there "core" influences but they also had much broader musical tastes, from Split Lip to Bad Brains.

After working on a few songs in their cramped Capital Hill apartment they recruited Ross Swanes (Guitar) and Chris Jahn (Guitar) and rounded out the line up with Chris' younger brother Matt Jahn on bass. Taking the name Stay Gold they practiced, played some shows, had some fun, recorded a demo, and had some more fun. Matt decided to go to Europe to play the bag pipes (not kidding), it's a bit more complex than that but he went traveling. Stay Gold liked having two Jahns in the band so they got Cam Jahn, the middle brother of the three to play bass.

From that point Stay Gold was pretty solid: Aram/Anchor records put Stay Gold’s s/t 7"/CDep, a few short west coast tours commenced…good times. Then Indecision signed the boys of gold to do a few records. So out came the 7”/CDep, "Caught up in the Moment", and the full length CD "Pills and Advice" with the vinyl of that record coming out on the European label Years From Now Records.

Now the details get fuzzy…more tours, and more chaos, Chris quit and moved to New York and Paul Betinson joined Stay Gold on guitar to do a U.S. tour. Stay Gold played what was to be their last show on August 18, 2002 at Hell’s Kitchen in Tacoma, Washington with Champion, Terror, and Allegiance.