Adjustment To Society- Midwest tour promo 2013 tape review

Adjustment To Society- Midwest tour promo 2013 tape review

This is some of the most gnarly 6-7 minutes of hardcore punk I’ve heard yet- fast, shrill, energetic, angry, yet thoughtful and intriguing of the same time.  The lyrics are some of the most brilliant and well-balanced I’ve read since I began listening to punk.  It rhymes AND it conveys the frustrations of trying to mingle in a society generally unforgiving of differences.  Wonderful!  The music is straight out of the 80s- shrill, slightly snotty, fast, low-fi, fist-to-your-face hardcore punk in its most classic manner.  These are close friends of fellow Washington band the Hysterics, of whom they sound very similar to.  There is little else I can say about this tape other than GET IT, NOW.

-Aunty Social

The Hysterics- self-titled EP review

The Hysterics- self-titled EP review

I can’t stop listening to this record.  It is that good.  As jaded as I feel and outwardly am sometimes, this is the most exciting band I’ve come across since I first happened upon Question, and I like both of those bands for similar reasons.  Regardless, I am absolutely in love with this record right now.

The lyrics are brilliantly written- every single song is insightful and makes me think.  ‘Arm Candy’ is about how women come along and makes guys in the scene look good… and rejecting it in favor of independence.  I never thought I’d hear such an insightful but positive message- now that I have, I can fully support it!  ‘Dow Jones’ is about the stock trade and how the pursuit of money takes the soul out of things- it’s too true (despite my being a college major of Business Administration, I do see the ultimate evil in the raw pursuit of money- it is a soul-trapping endeavor).  That, and the way the singer is able to rattle off the words is nothing short of amazing (reminds me a lot of how Mike Ratt sang in U.D.I.).  ‘Correct Me’ is the stand-out track, lyrically speaking- it’s inexplicable, but everything said here has rattled around my brain years.  I believe it has to do with having a very different (read:  accurate) viewpoint and outlook on life, and being “corrected” for it being considered wrong- absolutely brilliant.  ‘Sunk’ is another lyrical piece of gold, and the slower tempo of the song brings a sense of urgency to the words.  ‘Deformative Years’ is another lightning-fast blast, being both sonically and lyrically brutal.  And now the E.P. closes with ‘Hanging Out at the 512’, which is a lyrical mindfuck that still manages to be absolutely brilliant.  I never thought that a line about taking a shit at Wendy’s would qualify as brilliant, but The Hysterics proved me utterly wrong.

Sonically, the music is a blend of 80s hardcore and some garage-y punk and maybe some riot grrl, and they manage to take the best parts out of all of them and make one great sonic ball of ferociously awesome hardcore punk that is utterly addicting.  ‘Correct Me’ is one of the best songs to ever come out of any hardcore scene, anywhere.  Yes, it is THAT good.  The music makes me want to jump off tables and punch people in the face, and the lyrics are just amazing, in the way that I wish I could write like that.  The instrumentation is spot on, the mix is neat and even, and the package of the record itself is awesome.

I cannot possibly recommend this album and band more.  This is everything hardcore ever could have been and should be.  Excellent, brilliant, awesome, great… I’ll run out of adjectives to describe how positively I feel about this band and album before I get tired of it.  If you only buy one album this week/ month/ year/ the rest of your life, buy this.

-Aunty Social

Outlook- Our Time Is Now LP review

Outlook- Our Time is Now LP review

It’s very apparent that this is a youth crew record from the start, but without the varsity font logos and weight lifting bro/jock members.  This traditional youth crew sound is mixed with a bit of melodic hardcore to make for an energetic yet passionate sort of sound.  Reading the lyrics, they too are atypical of the subgenre- it’s fitting to say that this is youth crew that is anti-youth crew.  It’s definitely out of step without being too out of line to be interesting- it’s comparable to the rest of their material, but it sounds as though it’s been remixed and everything given a bit of extra oomph.  The guitar is strong, almost too much so; sometimes it overwhelms the vocals and makes them harder to hear.  The drums have the exact same issue- strong and overly so.  The bass could use a small increase in volume, but otherwise sounds good.  The vocals… I love the righteous outrage singer Adrienne has, and she could not have done much better than this.  In fact, I wish I could hear her voice better.  That’s the only negative thing about this album- the sound needs more strength to give to the singer, and balance out the rest of it.  Beyond that, fucking solid as can be.  Get this album ASAP, youth crew lovers.  You might stop loving Ray Cappo and start loving Adrienne instead.  Regular punkers, this is worth checking out, no doubt.  Post-review note:  For some reason, I can hear a little Direct Control in this sound too- strange yet pleasurable.

-Aunty Social

Madonna/ Outlook at the Void- 4/27/12 show review

Madonna/ Outlook at the Void- 4/27/12 show review

Originally, this show was set to have four bands:  Xtra Vomit, Madonna, Dip Shit System, and Outlook.  Under a few strange circumstances, D.S.S. and Xtra Vomit weren’t able to play, leaving just two bands for this show.  I can’t say if it mattered or not, but I’d say no, since these two bands brought it hard.  Madonna is a new fastcore band from G.R. with former members of XShallowbreathx.  For being new, the guys had a lot of energy.  After a couple of songs, I noticed that these guys didn’t even have a bass player!  What’s with this trend?  A band sounds incomplete without a bass player, just like a band would sound incomplete without a guitar player or a drummer.  Still, this was blistering, raging fastcore in the vein of D.O.C., Backslider, Beartrap, Holy Shit!, Sick//Tired, etc.  I bet a demo tape is well on its way.  I hope that it doesn’t start with a Black Sabbath riff intro, though.

Next were Olympian sons of hardcore Outlook.  At the start of the set, it became clear that the most exemplary part of the band was their live set.  Though I’d had a small amount of exposure to the band before seeing them (I downloaded the songs on their now-sold out “Vision” tape), nothing prepared me for their live set.  Washington sure knows how to do their youth crew- Brotherhood, Champion, now… Outlook.  The guitarist and drummer reamed with energy, cranking out riffs and beats as though the sounds were coming from with their souls, while the bassist had a sort of calming yet energetic presence, and singer Adrienne was the forefront of the band, screaming her lyrics with palpable passion.  Truth be told, this is probably the best female-fronted punk rock I’ve ever seen live (tied with Question, just FYI).  I was truly floored by the furious energy she gave off.  Perhaps if more females could front bands like this, the patriarchy in place will begin to shake, too.  Outlook certainly left a musical impression on me.

After discovering that this was going to be “it” for the show, I figured I would make it worth the drive out there by hanging out with and interviewing the band.  After everyone else cleared out (aside from the house residents and the band), I busted out my tape recorder, and me and the band went back and forth with questions, answers, and short discussions.  I later discovered that my tape recorder is incredibly insensitive to sound, and most of the interview did not actually make it onto the tape.  This being so, I’ll summarize a few points of this interview:

·         New Direction Fest- this is a three-day fest put on by the band themselves in Washington state, and it’s mostly booked as of now.  It’s partly a music fest, but there are also workshops and info stations present that will be there to aid in battling ignorance and informing attendees about how to better one’s community and life.

·         The band started back in 2009- all members of the band are in their early to mid 20s, and live mostly normal lives in the Olympia area.  They are mostly vegan or vegetarian, and singer Adrienne personally abides by straight edge.

·         The band has self-released everything- their tape, their 7”, and their LP.  Now that’s dedication.

·         Towards the end of the interview, as the tape was winding down, the band did an absolutely wonderful rendition of “Hurry Up Harry” in unison.

·         For the guitarist, James:  Yoda’s penis.

Well worth the long drive to see them!  Check the two bands out, anyone and everyone!

-Aunty Social