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

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

The Mostly Dead — Alive

The Mostly Dead hit their debut a couple years ago with two seven inches, this being one of them. They play a kind of precise hardcore punk with an undertone of rocknroll sensibility. Their recordings are impressively clean, so they sound a little more like a hard rock band than I'm used too. But their tunes are solid and upbeat, enraged but intelligent. Plus they have a song called "Nevernude," which is worth a shit-ton of bonus points in my book. Solid jams, for sure.

The Mostly Dead — Alive 7" (2009)

Track Listing:

1. Stutter
2. One Piece Construct
3. Nevernude
4. You Suck At Interventions
5. Opposition

The Mostly Dead are a band from Washington DC who formed in April of 2008. They have recorded with Brian McTernan (Battery) and Matt Smith (Strike Anywhere) at Salad Days Studio in Baltimore, MD, and Joe Mitra at Developing Nations in Baltimore, MD. They released a couple records: "Slightly" and "Alive" in April of 2009, and "The Day They Turned Us All Into Slaves" in Feb of 2010. They are currently working on new material, and are now getting things restarted with a new bassist.

http://mostlydeaddc.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/themostlydead
http://themostlydead.bandcamp.com/

Real Talk — Kill Someone You Don't Know

Music is made up of three main elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Not all bands are graced with all three, at least not in this punk rock thing. Real Talk, on the other hand, can kick out some serious jams. While essentially a pop-punk band, these dudes play a lot harder and with more energy than a lot of people in that genre. The guitar work isn't jimi but it's damn impressive, and all the tempo changes are sweet. Lyrics are confrontational and intelligent. The thing most people are gonna stumble on is that the vocals are sort of a spoken word thing, sometimes a little bit like rapping (backstory: the singer's parents were home when he was recording and he had to tone it down. They're sort of different live). But these are some of the coolest 90's style pop-punk tunes I've heard since blink-182 jumped the shark.

Real Talk — Kill Someone You Don't Know Demo 2010

Track listing:

1. College
2. Class Trip
3. Lone Wolf
4. High School
5. Punk Things Are Cool
6. Crazy
7. Dance Party

Real Talk are a DC-area band playing an expressive style of melodic, fast pop-punk. Members of Warbound, Coke Bust, and other DC hardcore bands. They've got a show coming up March 19 with No Brainer at AU.

http://killsomeoneyoudontknow.bandcamp.com/
http://www.myspace.com/realtalk6669

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

Minor Twang — Seeing Red, White, And Blue

This is a joke, but it also sounds sweet. It's in the acorestic trend of a couple years back, taking the lyrics to hardcore songs and singing them over acoustic music. This particular one is "Seein' Red, White, and Blue" by "Minor Twang," a collection of Minor Threat tunes over country or western music. Pretty funny, but only because it's well done. Well worth a listen.

Minor Twang — Seeing Red, White, And Blue

Track Listing:

1. Straight Edge
2. Guilty Of Being White
3. I Don't Want To Hear It
4. Guilty Of Being White
5. Minor Threat

Troops Of Tomorrow — TWWL

Troops are back with another taste of raucous Oi!-influenced hardcore. While their demo was a solid effort, this new single goes far beyond it. These three songs clock in at under five minutes — there's no filler involved. The vocals still growl their way through simple but powerful lyrics, but the music is a lot tighter and more varied. Really good production too. It's been a while since I've been this stoked on Oi, especially the opening riff to 'TWWL.' Turn this up real loud, and just try not to sing along with "the world won't listen!"

Troops of Tomorrow — TWWL Single

Track Listing:

1. The Edge
2. Dear John
3. TWWL

Troops of Tomorrow are an oldschool streetpunk band from Washington, DC. Check them out, they're starting to get big. So far they've put out a demo and this single, and hopefully more soon.

www.myspace.com/troopsoftomorrowdc

Police & Thieves — The Blizzard Sessions

Four brand new tracks from DC's own. As the name suggests, these were recorded roundabouts of the 'snowmageddon' at the beginning of 2010 in an attempt to put out a new 12". The band wasn't really happy with how the tunes came out sounding, and is actually recording again at Inner Ear to get it right. But they decided to release a couple tracks from the first session anyway, to demonstrate their style and get people stoked on the new record that should be coming out on Youngblood in a few months. And while these songs could use a little mastering and fine-tuning, they nevertheless came out sounding damn good. The songwriting is still hard and melodic, reminding me a little of Staygold or Horror Show at times, and while different from their earlier efforts still is solidly rooted in classic DC jams. Lyrics continue the same trend of personal stories and discontent, with solid delivery by Carlos and a good timing relationship to the music. The guitar gets nice and crunchy too. All told, I'm excited to hear the full length.

Police & Thieves — The Blizzard Sessions Demo '10

Track Listing:

1. Thieves Intro
2. All Saints
3. Suburban Life Decay
4. 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, and are in the process of branding a new album. Go see them live.

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

Broken Bodies — Demo Tape

Broken Bodies has been around for a little while, but has in recent years undergone some lineup changes and to some extent started anew. Their current sound is a little like Verse or something, at least in the vocals and the sense that it's a little on the experimental/modern end of the core. It's cool though, with good delivery and production, and lots of tempo changes (and you know I'm all about some tempo changes). Lyrics seem intelligent and thought out, and it's generally a cohesive sound.  See what you think:

Broken Bodies — Demo Tape (2010)

Track Listing:

1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV

Broken Bodies are a DC hardcore band. They were known as Control for a while, but are now back to Broken Bodies. Go see them live.

http://www.myspace.com/controldchc
http://brokenbodies.tumblr.com/

Deathrats — 7 Inch

Deathrats play really thrashy, fast hardcore with lots of feedback. That plus the female vocalist make them sound a little like Punch. Sweet riffs, powerful vocals, plus intelligent lyrics on feminism and some good old fashioned social critique. Definitely check this out.

Deathrats — 7 Inch (2009)

Track Listing:

1. Sense Of Entitlement
2. I'm Fine
3. Self Obsessed
4. Girl Style
5. Fuck It
6. Let Down

Deathrats are a DC hardcore band, with members of Lotus Fucker. They're playing lots of shows now, try and go see them.

http://deathratsdc.blogspot.com/

Lyrics are here: http://deathrats.wordpress.com/

The Guilt — Demo

The Guilt has been a recent DC staple for a couple years, playing the occasional show and generally rocking out to positive reviews. This demo is from a year or two back with their old lineup, and is very well-produced. It's raw, urgent hardcore punk, really fast and with powerful, harsh vocals. Really cool jams.

The Guilt — Demo

Track Listing

1. The Guilt
2. From The Sun God
3. This Finger Blames
4. 718
5. Depression
6. Spiders
7. When Annihilated
8. Smarna 
9. We Are All Guilty

The Guilt is a hardcore punk band from DC, with members of Mass Movement of the Moth. They just went through a lineup change, but it looks like they're getting going again. No real website or anything, but they can be emailed at jamesdoubek [at] gmail dot com

Troops Of Tomorrow — Demo

Streetpunk Uploads Part 1

Troops Of Tomorrow are something of a concept band, trying to play the kind of simple streetpunk or UK82 hardcore of, well, the Exploited, or Blitz. What's interesting is that they aren't necessarily into it full time; they cover D.Y.S. and play modern hardcore shows. Sound quality is okay, and the tunes are pretty interesting, if a little simplistic. Check it out.

Troops Of Tomorrow — Demo 2009

Track Listing:

1. The Boot Boys Are Back
2. Borrowed Time
3. Falling Bombs
4. Frankenstein's Monster
5. No Delusions
6. Open Up (D.Y.S.)

Troops of Tomorrow are an oldschool streetpunk band from Washington, DC. You can take a look at their TWWL Single here. Check them out, they're just getting started.

http://www.myspace.com/troopsoftomorrowdc

Saturday Night Live — Dave Grohl HC Band Reunion

Total roflbrothel


Features Dave Grohl, former drummer from the DC hardcore band Scream, and later Nirvana and Foo Fighters.

Positive State — Label Me EP

I'm really conflicted on this record. The good part is that when these dudes get down to play some hardcore, it's really really awesome. I almost thought "Fresh Start" was an unreleased Angry Samoans  track, except for the Gorilla Biscuits EP-style breakdown. The downside is that they don't always play hardcore. Actually, sometimes they play weird white-boy ska, like a poorly-executed Op Ivy or something. Ew. Anyway, I found this in the used section at Vinyl Conflict in RVA, and Brandon just looked at it and gave it to me for free. Maybe he was right about it, maybe not.

Positive State — Label Me EP

Track Listing:

1. No Faces
2. Fresh Start
3. My Song
4. In My Face
5. Unsheltered
6. Generation X

Positive State were from NoVa or DC in the 1990s, and recorded this 7", The Bullshit Initiative LP, and a posthumous split with The Twenty-Two's. Word.

Worn Thin — Long Road Ahead

I don't get the opportunity to upload full-lengths too often, so this is pretty exciting. The story behind this LP is that only 500 were originally pressed, the first 75 hand-stenciled and released at their last show. Because it came out as the band was breaking up, it never really got that much recognition, although it certainly deserves it. To me this has a definite ring of late-90's Youth Crew revival, but takes it well beyond that, maybe sort of in the same direction as Carry On or even In My Eyes. There's a marked measure of restraint involved; listen to the groove they hit about 10 seconds in and you'll see what I mean. Shit's tight. Lyrics swing between the personally redemptive and the DC political, which is pretty cool; I wish more bands had this kind of variability. Sound quality is as good as anything I've got on here, plus there's a Teen Idles cover, which you don't see too often. Really solid jams.

Worn Thin — Long Road Ahead LP

Track List:

1. We're All We've Got
2. Strange Liberators
3. Bittersweet Victories
4. ...Like There's Nothing To Lose
5. Broken Lines
6. Mind The Gap
7. Same Mistakes
8. Till The Bitter End
9. 1409 Longfellow
10. Sneakers (Teen Idles)

Worn Thin was a harDCore band from 2000-2005. Members went on to be in Lion of Judah, Trapped Under Ice, Police & Thieves, Set To Explode, Government Warning, Wasted Time, Goddamn Wolves, Killer Filler, and Dirty Money. Yarp.

www.myspace.com/wornthin
www.facebook.com/pages/Worn-Thin/34478246186

Police & Thieves — S/T 7"

Police & Thieves are probably my favorite band out of DC since, I don't know, Minor Threat? They almost single-handedly hold the reins on that brilliantly unconventional DC Hardcore sound, a la early Dag Nasty or Rites of Spring, except with a solid dose of straight-up hardcore thrown in over the varied rhythm section and melodic inclinations. Indeed, P&T have been near the forefront of harDCore for years now.

I believe I actually found a copy of this 7" in Plan 9, in Charlottesville. I already had Amor y Guerra, their other 7", so I was obviously very excited to find this one so close to my doorstep. Anyway, this record starts off solid and just keeps it up. It's musically varied, and the braided riffs and rhythms the guitars pull off with seemingly no effort is pretty impressive. Carlos has a pretty signature voice, about as sincere as they come, and the lyrics are generally pretty personal and self-reflective, although being from the nation's capital, there's a definite streak of politicism. Backed like a Jersey Girl on the dance floor.

Police & Thieves — Police & Thieves 7"

Track List:

1. Harbors
2. Transparent Smiles
3. …For Ideals
4. Strangers In The Same Town

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, and last I saw have been writing new songs, hopefully in an attempt at a new album. Go see them live.

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

Better Never — ...ever 7"

I don't really know too much about this 7". Chris got a couple of them sent to him as some sort of a promotion, and passed them out to some others of us. Basically, it's some fast, fun, oldschool hardcore. I don't say 'oldschool' too often, but this definitely is. It has an older vibe from most bands today, but its not pure 80's style either. This rip is kind of bass heavy, but still sounds pretty good. Check it out.

Better Never — ...ever

Track Listing:

1. Human Shield
2. Lone Wolf
3. Check
4. Last Dream

From what I've been able to find, this was more of a project than a band. It was started by two dudes in their 30s, both from Flint, Michigan, who met up in DC in 2006. Long story short, they called more dudes and laid down these tracks, without ever even practicing. I'm not entirely sure who was involved or to what extent, but it includes (former) members of Negative Approach, Dag Nasty, Swiz, Gallows, Frodus, and Battery, to name a few. Seriously, it seems like everyone on here, even just doing backup vocals, has been around the block. The cover was even done by some famous cartoonist. As far as I can tell, though, all they did was record this 7", and never even played a show.