Rocketship - A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness

(this is like the only picture of this band and it looks like a VHS screen grab)

Sometimes, I'll find a band I like and then check out the label they're on's past releases and see if I can find anything I like. This is how I find a lot of great stuff from the past that I probably never would have heard of otherwise. This is how I found out about Rocketship. Slumberland Records is the label that put this debut LP out in 1996, and it's fantastic. It's easily comparable to Isn't Anything era My Bloody Valentine and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart who have cited them as a huge influence. It's upbeat and has a super prominent organ. I fell in love with this album on the first listen and I recommend it highly. This is the only full length release that wasn't a solo project by the front man, so I'm not sure what the later LPs sound like, but definitely give this a listen.

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i don't know if I speak for everyone, but it's the end of the semester for me and I'm fucking swamped. i'll continue posting regularly when this shit is over and done with.

Sleepyhead- Never Trust A Label

Sleepyhead is a punk band from Minneapolis/St Paul. Their sound combines the Americana-punk of RVIVR with a twinge of melancholy only possible in the midwest.  Never Trust a Label is four songs of beer swilling, anthemic pop punk. Overvalued carries a dark kind of subtle energy. It's all highly reminsicent of How Do We Jump This High? or Get Bent. I was immediately hooked listening to this, and would recommend this to anyone into pop punk at all.

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Infinity Girl - Just Like Lovers

When my band was booking our first tour, we needed to find support for our first date in Lowell. I explored the Boston tag on bandcamp and in the process found a band called Infinity Girl. Though they couldn't play the show, I fell in love with their sound. Shoegaze is making somewhat of a resurgence and I think Infinity Girl does the sound so well. The vocals are dreamy/heavily 'verbed and the guitar leads are catchy and prominent. I don't really have any bands to compare this to that I think would make it clear what this sounds like. Think of a mixture of 80's jangly pop, modern shoegaze, and loud indie rock and I think you'll get the idea. I look forward to what they do next.

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Iron Chic- Spooky Action

Iron Chic has done it again. The Long Island group's discography has been really solid thus far, even with relatively little change.  Just good reliable pop punk.

Spooky Action is almost a more compressed version of 2010's "Not Like This." The opener "Spooky Action at a Distance," starts with a wayward guitar intro, transitioning into a driving drumbeat, reminiscent of songs from their LP. I'd criticize this for being formulaic, but the formula works so well. "Less Rest for the Restless" is another driving pop punk anthem about not sleeping and thinking about death and general good stuff to yell about.  The only outlier here is their cover of Butthole Surfer's "Goofy's Concern" with a guitar intro that I can only call spooky. The rest of the song isn't too far removed from the band's sound. Overall, solid EP. And at only 3 songs, its the perfect length for listening to between classes, on the bus, on the toilet, etc. Pay this band money.

-Daniel

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Yusuke- Demo 2013

Yusuke is a three piece screamo band from the Bloomington-Normal area of Illinois. They're composed of members of Short Stories About Their Distance, Kaworu, and Mammoths. They play fast, shriek-y screamo/emo violence along the lines of Tristan Tzara, Louis Cyphre, Jerome's Dream, and мища.

The drummer Ryan sent me the link a couple days ago and asked me to play bass. It immediately clicked with me. Yusuke is very much "true screamo" and carries on the gauntlet of the chaotic '90's bands that are so revered within the scene. I definitely enjoy it and anyone into screamo (or "skramz" if you want to be a nerd) should download it for free.

Bandcamp

Burglary Years- Demo 2012

Burglary Years is a shoegaze/dream pop band from Boston. They share members with Cerce, I Kill Giants, Native Wildlife, and probably some other bands. They have something like 7 members live, I think, but no more than 3 people on any of the demo songs. They have a demo on bandcamp for free (or donation) and they're in the process of mixing a LP and a split with Procession.

They sound like a perfect mixture of The Smiths and dream pop and it's incredible. I think that this band is absolutely incredible and has the potential to blow up once they release more material. The singer's voice is gorgeous and Zach Weeks is unfairly good at music. Plus, they covered Bruce Springsteen. I cannot recommend this highly enough, especially if you like shoegaze, dream pop, The Smiths, or "indie" (whatever that means to you).

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