Hold Tight! — To The Kittens!

Hold Tight! debuted with two EPs a couple years ago, Brother Bear and this one, To The Kittens! Want your pop-punk with fun and energy, but also a touch of personalism and some harsh-times sentimentality? Then this is for you. To The Kittens! is a darker album, especially on the highly personal diss track "Charm City," and the acoustic version of "Cornered." A little more Jawbreaker than Lifetime, you could say. They might not have the most original sound, but Hold Tight! does a damn good job of taking the framework of pop-punk and making it something entirely worth listening to.

Hold Tight! — To The Kittens! EP

Track Listing:

1. That's No Moon
2. 18 Degrees
3. Charm City
4. Moo Point
5. Cornered
6. This Whole Place Is Slitherin'

Hold Tight! are dudes from Richmond playing fast, sincere pop-punk. Get into it.

http://holdtightva.tumblr.com/
http://www.facebook.com/holdtightva
http://holdtight.bandcamp.com/

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/

Shin Kick — Live Videos

Some super sweet videos of Shin Kick from back in the day. Putting all of these in one place is probably the easiest way for people to find them. There's some pretty cool sets in here, that first show ever at the MRC and some of the classic shows at Dust. Watch me fuck up the lyrics to covers! Watch no one move as we play! Yeah!

This first one is from all the way back in May 2007 at the $1 show we played at the Music Resource Center. Here we cover Straight Edge Revenge by Project X, probably one of two times we ever played it live. It was our first show, and as I recall we basically played the demo and Brobleed. Menace to Society, my unnamed ska band, and Demagogue also played. Thanks to John Russell for filming this.

Next we have us covering Honor Role's "I'm A Nerd" at Dust in July 2008. I had no idea we played it so fast, or that I appear to have epilepsy. Thanks to Scotty for taping this.

A couple weeks later, Scotty filmed us again at Dust and doing another cover, this time Rise Above by Black Flag. This was always a fun tune to play, although it looks like by this time people were already getting a little bored of it.

This is from one of the later shows we played, in September at the Laundromat (actually the basement at Nihal and Mike Reeves' place). Might have been that show with the Libyans, but I could be wrong. We're playing Closed Venue, the first song we ever wrote. I also appear to have a wafro. Thanks to Scotty for shooting this.

Now, these were all I could find online, but there's a chance there are more out there. If anyone knows where one is or decides to upload one they've been sitting on for three years, let me know!

The 40 Boys — Going Nowhere Fast

Saw this band play at Magnolia last week, and it reminded me of what a singularly Charlottesville experience these guys are. See, the 40 Boys are a couple old punk rock heads who got together to play some rocknroll, and do so par excellence. They've been playing shows as long as I've been going to them, and are often as not the best set of the night.

In case you missed it, these dudes are into drinking. Take a gander at the track titles real quick, I'll wait for you. Pretty much every song is about alcohol, with the occasional sidestep to talking about rocknroll. Cause for real, these guys know how to rock. Tony and Porter turn old musical themes into something new with every song, and considering they're a 2-piece they do so with only a small margin for error. Anyway, this is their full length, presented here for you in the Charlottesville tradition of being from a burned CD, so the sound is a little blown out at places. But whatever, these guys are supposed to sound like that. The epitome of party tunes, although they have a couple surprisingly sentimental tracks too (I'm a 40 Boy is always a crowd favorite). Some of the best Cville has to offer.

The 40 Boys — Going Nowhere Fast LP

Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. I Hope I Die From Rocknroll
3. Raise Your Beer
4. Never Too Drunk To Party
5. 40 Boy
6. Let's Get Fucked Up
7. Slut
8. Alcohol's My Woman
9. Rock n Roll Woman
10. I Got No Control
11. I'm A Drunk
12. Happiness In A Can
13. PBR
14. Just To Support My Habit
15. Sick Broke And Drunk
16. I Shot My Girlfriend

The 40 Boys are a rocking and rolling 2-piece from Charlottesville (the "40 Boys are 38 members short" joke never gets old). Members of Riot Act, Dead Beat, The Elderly, Bella Morte, etc. Always worth seeing live.

http://www.myspace.com/the40boys/

Drug Church — Demo

Ok, we're back! (read in Ray Cappo voice), with Drug Church, an Albany band that features Pat Kindlon (from End of A Year) on vocals. The music is in that gray area between melodic hardcore and post-hardcore, reminds me of that Permanent/Resonance split I was spinning earlier. Or like Quicksand, but with Pat dropping his characteristic dry-throated cynicism overtop it all. Think hard, crunchy guitar but with minor 7ths and arpeggios, and sticking to Pat's "fast drums are poison" mentality, not that they're particularly slow. Anyway, it's three cool tunes of good quality, and like the masterpiece that is this song, yo, it'll make you think!

Drug Church — Demo 2011

Track Listing:

1. Visualize Latham
2. Scotia Snake God
3. Pro Attitude

Drug Church is a new band from Albany, NY, with members of Self Defense Family and California.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Drug-Church/137868099608576
www.drugchurch.bandcamp.com

Malatese — Absurd Constructor

Malatese describe themselves variously as "nerve punk" and "trance punk," and I guess that's a good way to understand them. These tunes are weird, in a really good way. The music walks the fine line between adventurous punk and what I would term "hard indie," with a bit more shoe gazing than than your average DIY group and a fair bit more aggression than any other band with a similarly twee name. It's a psychological turn of tune, mixing various elements of oldschool punk, surf, and rock melodies, all overlaid by droning vocals that, while unusual, fit the music really well. This is pretty obviously a home recording, but considering it's the home of a music industry major, that's not really a strike against it. For me, this is some solid chilltimes music; to most people this would be more suited as a soundtrack for pogo. Either way, it's pretty cool.

Malatese — Absurd Constructor EP

Track Listing:

1. Paradise
2. World Panic
3. Mother Night
4. Shadow Figures

Malatese is a punk band from Harrisonburg, Va., deep in the cool little JMU music scene there. Word on the campus is they're named after an intriguing book collection. They have several upcoming shows, of particular note is:
4/14: @ Magnolia House, Charlottesville VA w/ Bunnybrains
4/25: @ The Galaxy Hut, Arlington VA w/ Buck Gooter

http://malatese.bandcamp.com/
http://www.myspace.com/malatese
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Malatese/134837331193

The Elderly — Old Time Quality Virginia Drunk Ass Punk Rock

I figure it's time to get back to my Charlottesville roots. The Elderly were another first-half-of-the-decade local punk band, sort of the same time period as Riot Act or Barracks Road. For a lot of people, The Elderly were the best band from that era, and with good reason. Their sound is self-described as "Angry Samoans getting butt-fucked by Iggy Pop while shooting dope with Johnny Thunders," and that's actually closer to the truth than you might expect. The Elderly play punk rock, with an emphasis on the rock — these dudes can really jam out. This album is something approaching a discography, although it might be missing a recording or two. Sound's great, music's great, a cover of the Dead Milkmen to boot — this is a cool piece of history.

The Elderly — Old Time Quality Virginia Drunk Ass Punk Rock

Track Listing:

1. Beer
2. Dangerous Erection
3. Get The Fuck Off My Lawn
4. Got Me Good
5. High School Mentality
6. Let's Go
7. Liar
8. National Drinking Day
9. Never Liked You
10. Spitballs
11. The Thing That Only Eats Hippies (Dead Milkmen)
12. We Are The Elderly
13. High School Mentality (live)
14. Liar (live)

Bio: "The Elderly is an old school punk rock (with some roll in there) band from Virginia. We formed in late 1999 after the demise of our band Guilty By Association. Many member changes later, the current line-up is as follows: "Scary" Larry Houchens (drums, b/vox) and Josh "Old Man" Mustin (guitar, lead vox). We are influenced by old punk, 50's rock and country, metal, girl groups, some new punk and garage too, you name it. We are known mostly for our fun attitude and very high-energy shows that leave you wanting more."

http://www.myspace.com/theelderlypunks

Daniel rocking out up in the front — last show at the Tokyo Rose

End Of A Year — with Caroline Corrigan

Maybe I'm too into this band, I don't know. End Of A Year (or Self Defense Family as they are now known) has metastasized beyond being just a semi-typical hardcore fivepiece, spreading into this weird conglomeration of different artists (you can read more about it here). God that sounds pretentious on my part. But in just the last year or two the band has broken new ground for hardcore; I see them sort of like Fugazi for this decade. Anyway, this is four tracks from their new "You Are Beneath Me" LP (a cool album, although venturing farther from blastbeats/breakdowns hardcore than ever, but that's not really an issue. This does sound pretty different from their demo though. Also every track beyond the intro is someone's name, wiki them if you're ever bored.) with Caroline Corrigan, an Albany musician and artist, on vocal duties. So it's the same tunes with melody in the vocals; lyrics are the same too (this is the band that wrote, "people do people things;" truer words were never spoken). Definitely worth checking out if you're into music.

End Of A Year Self Defense Family — with Caroline Corrigan

Track Listing:

1. Marissa Wendolovske
2. Eric Hall (Acoustic)
3. Jeni Leigh
4. Philip Jose Farmer

Band bio: "We wanted to play music we liked so we got together and did it. No one else really liked it and we were pretty comfortable being the band who tours the country but no one really likes. Revelation called one day and it was pretty weird but i like the Kiss It Goodbye record a lot so we decided to go with it. Then that didn't go the way we planned and we started to put out a bunch of 7 inches. Deathwish Inc saw that, and got in touch, it was weird but i really like the Blinding Light album so we decided to go with it. End Bio."

http://selfdefensemusic.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_a_Year
http://www.myspace.com/endofayear

Avail — Reaching Out

Avail's other demo from before they moved to Richmond. More cool upbeat tunes from back when they were all young, and Tim Barry on drums. Apparently there was a thriving little scene in Reston in the late 80s, although Avail is the only one that made it out of there. Anyway, to a lot of people this is where Avail first became known, and is actually a favorite album. I can see why; it isn't exactly the Avail that was touring the country a few years later, but it's still an incredibly innovative band, doing things no one else ever did. Now, this was only released on tape, and the rip is a little grainy, but that's sort of the point of a good demo, isn't it? These are some killer tunes, catchy without being poppy. Also, considering the date, this was right at the forefront of post-hardcore. Not to rave too much, but this is one hell of a band.

Avail — Reaching Out Demo 1989

Track Listing:

1. Blue Smokes
2. Self Inflicted
3. Regulation '89
4. Take The Time
5. Keeping Up
6. No Fixed Address
7. Done Lost
8. Shine
9. Back To The Start
10. Look At Me
11. Observations

Excerpted from Jade Tree Records: "What some may not realize about AVAIL is that, like most bands, they came from humble beginnings in suburban Reston, VA. They were just like any other kids rocking in their parents’ garage, but instead of ripping out covers or aping their heroes, AVAIL were defining their unique sound at a very early age. By the time Joe Banks (guitar), Tim Barry (vocals) and Beau Beau (cheerleader / uber-roadie) moved the band to Richmond in 1990, the group had already almost honed their effortless blend of the classic Southern rock and protest folk that was in their veins with the melodic skate punk that constantly filled their ears. The backdrop of everyday life in Richmond, though, proved to be the key ingredient in solidifying the band’s immediately recognizable sound. Barry’s tales of everyday struggle and triumph became inextricably tied to the life (and death) of his hometown, at once creating blue-collar anthems that are often not just highly personal, but also highly political. It’s this ability to seamlessly streamline both sonic and lyrical content (along with a relentless touring bug) that has truly made the songs of alienation, travel and anti-establishment triumph… legendary."

http://www.myspace.com/availrva
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avail

Strike A Match — Demo 2011

An interesting band from Norway, Strike A Match play a refreshingly a-stylistic type of punk. It's kind of disjointed, but in a good way. Not much distortion, no hard breakdowns or real solos, just cool jams. Sort of reminds me of Regulations, what with the whole Scandi thing, but also sort of a rock'n'roll sensibility that hearkens all the way back towards to some early eighties tunes, before punk was a style and not just an attitude. Yeah, refreshing is a good word.

Strike A Match — Demo 2011

Track Listing:

1. Strike A Match
2. 1000 Eyes
3. Dead Time in the Living Room
4. You Don't Have to Fuck People Over to Survive
5. Sleepers Awake
6. Let's Be Human Beings

Strike A Match are a reasonably new band from Oslo, Norway, with members from a bunch of other bands over there that unfortunately I'm not too familiar with. Cool band in what's always been a cool scene, from everything I've heard. Check it out.

http://strikeamatch.bandcamp.com/