From time to time, I will look to share my thoughts on the music drifting into my orbit. I've been out of the proverbial "game" for quite some time, so I see this more as a chronicle of my effort to rediscover things I’ve always loved. These days I rely heavily on Spotify's weekly algorithmic playlists, and I'm very aware of the faith I've therefore placed in artificial intelligence to influence a part of my life that I continue to find important. Look, people: if you've used spellcheck or the scan function on your car radio in your lifetime, you've been using AI for longer than you probably realize. It’s not all Silo-this and Skynet-that out there.
This week (and probably most weeks) I'll be going through what's filling up my Release Radar playlist. I'm not likely to go through all 30 tracks, as those playlists are often riddled with remixes, reissues and obvious instances where Spotify's algorithm has thrown in the towel and given me an avant garde jazz track or two. We'll stick to the highlights.
Avenged Sevenfold - "We Love You"
Avenged Sevenfold is an immensely skilled band whose music I've never liked, and this song is no different. By all accounts they’re awesome dudes (plus one guy from Bad Religion, who I’m sure is awesome too). I always figured that if I handed this group a list of Iced Earth1 songs (a band that always seemed better in theory than in reality) and said "make these better," they’d willingly embrace the assignment and do a wonderfully adequate job. Considerably more adequate than many bands whose original music I actually genuinely enjoy! I’d never ask Sick Of It All to do this, it would be terrible. That's how much I believe in the musical skill of this band. If Avenged Sevenfold could devote the rest of their time as a band to just making the Iced Earth catalog better, I'd rather they just do that.
Gouge Away - "Idealized"
This band has been around for a minute, but this is my first spin. Before I could finish this song, I was already making my way back to flag this band's whole catalog to go through. These small wins in my life are what keep me firmly in favor of benevolent AI. While Gouge Away's early material from 5-7 years ago plays like an homage to Jane Doe-era Converge, this new track dials back the chaos just a touch in favor of a more haunting and dynamic screamo that bands like Ceremony and Touché Amoré have really elevated in recent years. Vocalist Christina Michelle, intentionally or not, effectively channels The Breeders as much as she taps into her hardcore ancestry with “Idealized.” Gouge Away do not strike me as road warriors, so if you have a shot to see them live, I'd take it now, because this is awesome.
DRAIN - "Living Proof"
I'm pretty annoyed I didn't already know of this band. I completely blame Spotify for this - they've had 12 years to get this band in front of me. DRAIN2 is a mesh-shorts-and-mosh quartet from Santa Cruz that is the true and rightful heir to all that was great about labels like Revelation and Victory in the 90's (things get pretty hairy for Victory after that, I know) and various pockets of the Bridge Nine ecosystem in the years since. When I listen to DRAIN I hear a punched-up 2023 version of Strife's straightedge epic LP In This Defiance with maybe just a touch more self-awareness. Give me this stuff all day. (I don’t know anything about this band, I really hope they aren’t jerks.)
Heart Attack Man - "Like A Kennedy"
This band used to be interesting. They were a mild-mannered emo-punk band clearly influenced by Hot Rod Circuit and the Get Up Kids cruising in the same lane as contemporaries like Bayside and Man Overboard. Then, [in my best Keith Morrison voice] something happened. I have done zero research on this band and have no immediate plans to do any, but I'd diagnose this as a classic case of a band grossly overreacting to being invited to open a single date on a Starting Line reunion3 tour and immediately scrapping their playbook in favor of playing the same overproduced pop punk that 20 different guys would try to sell you a burned CD of in line outside the 2005 Warped Tour. There are bands that do this well, but this is not one of them.
Fucked Up and the Halluci Nation - "Electroshock"
I've listened to Fucked Up for a long time and never had a clue how to describe them so I've never tried. Until now. How about a mixture of The Arcade Fire and Kill Your Idols? But not like a fully-homogenized Vitamix purée so much as a few pulses in the Cuisinart. Dump that mixture out onto a sheet pan, endow it with the prolific "just hit record and see what happens" spirit of Frank Zappa and stick it under the broiler for exactly one minute. Make sure to not look away during that minute or the band will somehow have written 40 new songs without titles and expect you to explain the difference between them. "Electroshock" sounds like the music for a Twix commercial with some screaming. No one needs this, but in Fucked Up's six-dimensional chess world, somehow it makes perfect sense.
Unearth - "Broken Arrow"
Spotify knows full well what I think of Unearth, who I believe have featured in my Release Radar playlist for a month straight. This band couldn't write a bad song if they tried. Knowing them, they probably have tried. I have no discernable proof that this record was not written and composed entirely by ChatGPT because it is absolutely indistinguishable from Unearth's other material over the last 20 years, and I do not care even a little bit. You know how when you watch The Rock and at some point in the third act all you can think to yourself is "I hope there are at least three hours left?" I wrote more nice things about Unearth in my days with punrkocks.net than nearly any other band. While much about me has changed since then, this part has not.
Angel Du$t - "Love Slam"
I didn't realize Turnstile had been around long enough to have tribute bands, but here we are. I love Turnstile, so I can live with this. The world could do a lot worse than having its younger bands aiming to revive the 90's groove-core4 of Helmet and Orange 9mm and it's just now occurring to me that it's because these guys probably have dads who are about my age. I will absolutely listen to this again by EOD.
Update, minutes later: I have since discovered that this band shares members with Turnstile, so the above paragraph feels even more appropriate (to me, at least). I’m here to tell you what I think, not read bios.
The Damned - "Bad Weather Girl"
I'm not sure I've ever properly appreciated The Damned and the level to which they've influenced luminaries from Guns n' Roses to AFI. I certainly understand why Spotify's algorithm thinks I'd like this despite over a decade of data on me emphatically indicating otherwise. Even after 40+ years, the Damned remain good for a couple new LPs and five or six greatest hits records every 10-15 years. Again, Spotify: I haven't listened to any of it. This band certainly needs nothing from me, so all I can suggest is: if you've overlooked this band as I often have, use this new single as motivation to explore their catalog so that you can better connect with your actual favorite bands. Kind of like when you let your parents play their favorite Carpenters stuff in the car on the way to dropping you off at college.
Cole Kempcke - "The End of Dreams"
I was serious about the jazz stuff.
That’s it for this week. I’m off to Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas this weekend to listen to a bunch of bands on whom I need no catching up.
A band that has changed members so many times the topic requires its own Wikipedia page.
Not to be confused with Drain S.T.H., the 90's Swedish all-female Alice in Chains worship band that I actually saw live once opening for Black Sabbath. Decent band. Nice memory.
Before you have a heart attack, this is hypothetical. If the Starting Line has been involved in any breakups and/or reunions over the past 15 years, I am not aware of them.