Heyy!
These are the reviews I did for the new issue of the CIVLian, which is out now and you can get on campus at UFV!
The Descendants – Milo Goes To College 1982
I just recently picked this album up after watching a video of Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend do a cover of Parents with Toronto hardcore band, Fucked Up. Before listening to this album in full, all I had heard from The Descendants were boring songs, like Silly Girl and songs on Punk-O-Rama compilations – I was beginning to think the only good song they had was Hope. This entire album is great, it’s fast, sassy and P.A.F., plus, it’s only 22 and a half minutes long, so if you don’t like it (you will like it) you will not have wasted your whole day! This is one of the few albums that make it seem like the 80’s weren’t a total waste of a decade.
Women – Public Strain 2010
Women are an incredible band, but I think they may be one of those bands who impact you more when you listen to them alone. I don’t mean on your iPod, I mean alone in your room. They’re a great band to listen to when you lie in bed and stare at the ceiling, and I mean that in the greatest way possible. They’re quiet, but they’re not boring, and they’re intense, but not in your face. If you have a ‘bands to watch’ list, then these guys should be on there for sure, they’re mega-up-and-coming CanCon. Listen to: China Steps, Heat Distraction, and Narrow With the Hall.
Rich Aucoin – Public Publication 2010
This album kind of reminds me of a less intrusive version of Black Kids. It has a really familiar vibe to it, but not in a copy-cat/rip-off way. The vocals seem to be at like the same sound level as the music, which is cool because everything blends together in a unique way. Rich Aucoin is a quiet kind of intense. You should definitely check this guy out, because I think very soon you’ll be able to say cool sentences like: “I liked him before everyone else did,” or something else to that extent! There are only four tracks, so listen to them all!
B.A. Johnston – Thankyou for Being a Friend 2010
This is totally not my kind of music, generally I say things like “folk/acoustic sucks,” but this guy, B.A. Johnston, has such a funny take on the genre that it is impossible not to like! He sings about things you liked when you were a kid, like NBA Jam and Steve Guttenberg (don’t pretend you didn’t love Three Men and a Baby, because we ALL did). The entire album is like a satiric look at the happenings in his life, and I like that, when people don’t sing about love or drugs, but sing about their everyday lives and opinions. This is the kind of music that isn’t given any justice listening to, you really need to go out and see him live to get the full experience. Check out: Love=NBA Jam, CLIF, and I am Doing Better in a Parallel Universe.
No Warning – Suffer, Survive 2004
No Warning is one of Ben Cook’s (from Fucked Up, The Bitters, The Marvellous Darlings, and Young Governor) first projects. I just became friends with this guy on Facebook, and am usually grotesquely stoked on EVERYTHING he does, but this is just bad. Maybe it’s just me, but the more I listen to it the more I hear an ultra-aggressive version of Linkin Park, sans rapcore. The vocals (done by Ben Cook) are really surprising because if you listen to his solo project Young Governor it’s a completely different sound. A lot of my favourite CanCon is done by Fucked Up and all of the members’ side projects, but this a band I am not going to let circulate on my iPod and mess up my pristine Last.fm profile. Sorry.
Pissed Jeans – King of Jeans 2009
Pissed Jeans are another entry on the long list of things I like in Pennsylvania. The vocals are uniquely aggressive, at times it almost sounds like he’s slurring and at the same time chanting. The music itself is really crisp and chaotic and that mixed with the vocals makes for a really cool sound! They’re the perfect amount of loudness for me, and a lot of their songs have that ‘anthem-y’ feel to them. Listen to: Lip Ring, She is Science Fiction and Dominate Yourself for sure!
Yeah, so if you want a hard copy of these thoughts you should pick yoself up an issue! PLUS you'd get to see a SUPERCUTE/reallyblurry picture of me!!!!! YAY
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