Over the course of decades the music scene has evolved dramatically and the branching out of music genre’s has flourished since the likes of The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppellin to new sounds and styles.  One of the big movements that happened during the reign of Led Zeppellin was the dirty, angry and hungover Punk Rock movement of the 70’s.  A genre that was quick to get shit from every critic and band that had anything to say during the time period where long guitar solo’s and happy lyrics ruled the radio.  Punk was more of a label given to bands that wore tons of leather, drank alot and mostly sang about being middle to lower class and hating the social norms of their culture.  Sex Pistols of England were the most notorious for this considering they took on the Punk name with pride by being more angry and violent at every show they ever performed.  The band was so punk rock that their bass player was so lit up on alcohol and drugs during sets they sometimes would turn off his speaker and let him just run wild thinking he was playing on stage and have the guitars overtake the sound of the song.  The bass player notoriously being known as Sid Vicious was the icon of the Punk Rock scene and a huge punk himself, with his spikey greased up hair, scars on his chest from cutting himself on stage, chronic substance abuse and masochistic relationship with long time girlfriend Nancy.  The band was notorious in the punk rock scene and couldn’t even stay together long enough to release more then 1 album which today is still an iconic album in all genre’s.

Another band in England had a much better success rate and may not of been as punk rock as the Sex Pistols but still could only be classified into that genre, of course I’m talking about the self proclaimed “the only band that matters” The Clash.  The Clash’s self titled debut was their most punk rock album and had legendary tracks such as “White Riot” and “I Fought The Law” but is probably not their most recognized album.  The  follow up and best album by far they ever released was London Calling which had huge tracks such as the album track, “Brand New Cadillac”, “Death or Glory” and “Train In Vain”  The band had huge success in both the UK and US and lasted for several albums but unfortunately met their end by the late 80’s.

The first mainstream and popular Punk Rock band from the United States was around the same time as their UK counterparts and it was New York’s Ramones who had probably the longest running success and several huge breakthrough albums that set the standards for US punk rock.  With huge songs such as “I Wanna Be Sedated”, “Rockaway Beach”, “Rock n Roll High School”, “Bird Is The Word”, “Blitzkrieg Bop”  and “Beat on the Brat” just to name a few.  The band toured for over 20 years but unfortunately most of the members have died and most importantly the lead singer Joey whose singing style was iconic for the Punk Rock scene.

Punk had evolved into different forms by the mid 80’s and most notoriously the style of music that has gained the most popularity and evolved into what is now considered Post Hardcore or “Emo”.  I’m talking about the American Punk movement which was given the name Hardcore Punk due to it’s “fast as I can play” style and screaming lyrics and aggressive stage performances.  The movement factioned almost gang like with territories of the country claiming to be the foundation of Hardcore.  New York had icons such as the Cro-Mag’s who were huge linebacker looking guy’s pretty much living in poverty writing some of the earlier hardcore songs.  Where Washington D.C. had the all black legendary band in Bad Brain’s who every hardcore band wanted to mimic and play with on stage.  California had Black Flag who recruited D.C. native Henry Rollins to put out their most influential albums and almost controversial albums considering they broke from the norm and played long drawn out hardcore songs as opposed to the traditional short but “sweet” hardcore style that was more prominent.  Other bands were also popular around the country such as Minor Threat, The Misfits, Circle Jerks, Murphy’s Law, Gang Green and Jerry’s Kid’s.  This style of music became the backbone for music today after many of these band’s broke up and formed newer bands with a slightly different approach.

After the hardcore scene started to die out and the angry teenagers of the 80’s started to grow up the lyrics and style of these new bands was slightly different lyrically.  The music was still fast and strong for the most part but it was more technical like Black Flag was and more honest lyric wise.  The lyrics started to be more emotionally driven and coming from the heart about things that weren’t sung before and this label became known as the Post Hardcore movement and nicknamed “Emo” for the tough guy image turning more sensitive.   The scene has since taken over to pretty much every genre today and the “Emo” sound has produced bands such as Green Day, The Offspring and Blink 182 to influence bands like Fall Out Boy, Every Time I Die and Between The Buried And Me to name a few different types of bands.  Today music has changed dramatically from the original Sex Pistols and Ramone’s sound but it’s interesting to see how music evolves, especially a music genre that went from Ramones to Between The Buried And Me which is a mix of Pink Floyd and Black Flag.  If your into any type of hard rock music I suggest listening to some old Clash and Black Flag because the bands were pioneers for the time and have put out some decent work, even if your not so heart on your sleeve “Emo”.  This was just a crash course in the history of a major genre but some really interesting documentaries and movies have been made.  Below are a few I enjoyed recently.

End of The Century: The Story of the Ramones

Syd and Nancy (Sex Pistols movie starring Gary Oldman)

Punk’s Not Dead

American Hardcore

There are such an insane amount of festivals these days and it’s not a bad thing considering it’s pretty much an excuse to party all day on the weekend and listen to some good music.  Since Woodstock their hasn’t been that much festivals since the popular Lolapalooza in the mid 90’s which sparked some huge acts in The Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rollins Band, Green Day and others into huge stardom.  Since then there was sort of a dry area but within the past decade many popular festivals have arose to pretty much have a major festival in each area of the country.  Bonnaroo was once a popular jam band hippie festival but has since added many mainstream and popular acts to the bill, such as Kings of Leon, Against Me and Phoenix and promoting some up and coming Indie bands such as The Gaslight Anthem and Circa Survive.  What’s interesting is that Circa Survive was a must at the popular Alternative Rock festival The Bamboozle in New Jersey but has since distanced themself from the so called Emo scene that has taken over that festival. 

The Bamboozle is another popular festival that arose from the popular local punk festival called Surf and Skate but has gone from Asbury Park to Giants Stadium within a few years.  The festival is known for it’s surprise acts and mish mosh sets of bands jamming with other bands.  Such as Bret Michaels of Poison coming out and singing two Coheed and Cambria songs with the band as well as Coheed covering two of Poison’s songs with him.  This is the type of stuff you expect at the Bamboozle and what makes the festival interesting and different from the rest.  Fortunately Ogden Clothing will be attending this festival and getting down with all the mayhem and madness it brings.  So far the headliners are mediocre but usually what makes the festival the best is the small talent who usually tends to put on the best shows and I’m looking forward to seeing Minus The Bear, Good Old War and The Parlor Mob for the small acts and MGMT as the main act.  Since it’s rise to festival status the Bamboozle also has a festival in Chicago now and continuing it’s Anaheim, California gig again for the third year.

Just to name a few more huge festivals is the Coachella in California which has become huge for that side of the country and the All Points West festival in Jersey, City NJ which has gotten almost as big as the Coachella.  I’m not too sure who the huge act.  Coachella has some serious acts this year with Jay Z, Them Crooked Vultures, Faith No More, Muse and others headlining the monster 3 day event.  Unfortunately nothing has been listed yet for All Points West but that usually tends to be towards the end of the summer so I would expect something to be posted soon regarding the festival.  Either way it’s gonna be another good summer of music, partying and hopefully little mud throwing and fighting at this year’s festivals.

Besides being on a big Portugal. The Man kick, since Alkaline Trio released This Addiction I’ve been getting back into Alkaline Trio again and listening to all their classic songs.  This is one of my favorites that originally got me into the band in the first place back in the day!

Portugal. The Man a band that has slowly but surely crept up from the ranks of Indie Rock Music in the past five years, and with good reason.    Since 2005, the band has put together 6 albums which is almost unprecedented in today’s music industry and their 6th was released yesterday entitled American Ghetto a title which seems to take shape from the recent depression we are currently in.  The band was a formation of the break up of Anatomy of Ghost, which was formed by John Gourley and Zach Carothers who are currently the founding members of Portugal. The Man.  The band’s name comes from a concept by David Bowie of  a “bigger than life” name so instead of using any band member’s name they decided on this one which was originally supposed to be the title of Gourley’s book which documented the many stories and adventures of his father.  The band’s sound since then has evolved slightly but mostly focusing on a nice mix of  Indie, Experimental, Psychedelic and Funk Rock and more noticeably as of late the use of synthesizers and mixers to add that psychedelic but funky sound.  In a recent interview about the release of American Ghetto Gourley stated the love of creating new songs and bringing them out to the fans immediately.  Since starting their own label to create and produce their music they are able to do this easily with their contract with Equal Vision which allows the label the right to promote and distribute the album at a small cost to the band.  What makes this band so unique is they don’t make a bunch of songs and wait 2 to 3 years to select the one’s for the album because of label obligations, instead they create songs that are enough to put out a record and put it out there immediately.  American Ghetto is the prime example of this and came out barely even 9 months after the release of their critically acclaimed The Satanic Satanist.

The album starts off with the free single they released a few weeks ago entitled “The Dead Dog” which is an instant classic of theirs and probably one of the songs I won’t be able to stop playing because I just enjoy it so much.  After the short “Break” track it goes into the catchy chorus song of “60 Years” that starts off slow but the chorus to the end of the song makes it a notable track.    What is very noticeable on this album is the heavy use of Keys, synth and samples to add the more psychedelic sound the band has slowly added to their Indie Rock sound.  It’s very noticeable on the track “1000 Years” which has keyboards being played almost creepily throughout the song and gives the song an eerie tinge to it.  Probably some of the stronger tracks on the album are “Just A Fool” which is more of the ballad for the album which is slow but very relaxing sounding throughout the track and shows just how in depth this band can be from album to album.  I can’t say this track beats the finale track in Satanist but it’s probably in my favorites for this album because it has a great chorus and really upbeat sound that sort of gives life at the end of the album.  The track is “When The War Ends” which is probably making reference to our efforts in the Middle East and the urge to just get it over with.  I wouldn’t say this album is their best and it’s only because I have so much love for The Satanic Satanist and how well that album was put together, however I would put this up there with Church Mouth and Censored Colors as some of their finest work.  I really enjoy how the band touches different elements on each album and has a classic rock feel but doing their entirely own thing.  I really want people to get into this band because their mentality reminds me a lot of Circa Survive who just do music for the love of it and openly come out and say they’d rather people listen to their music for free then not at all.  The album comes free  as a download with purchase of the Vinyl or CD but if you don’t care about that you can pick this up for only 8 bucks off their website and do them a favor and buy it through them so they get all the money so they don’t have to split it with iTunes.  Do yourself a favor and pick up any one of their albums to give them a nice test drive and you’ll be playing them at parties all summer long.

Some pretty solid bands put out albums today and the list of some notables are below:

Portugal The Man- American Ghetto

Rogue Wave- Permalight

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- Beat The Devil’s Tattoo

Also it looks like some of the last band’s have been added to the Bamboozle lineup but since it’s the Bamboozle I wouldn’t count them out for adding someone huge really late.

The Bamboozle Website

Chicago based punk band Alkaline Trio has returned to the Indie label scene after a brief stint on Epic Records and comes up with their latest album This Addiction.  The album is more of a return to their roots type album that has a lot of punk type choruses and basic guitar riffs that made up the band.  The band I say didn’t really strike Gold with this album but it’s a far better release then their last album which only had a few decent tracks   This album has what most Alkaline Trio fans asks for which is fast based punk songs with eerie lyrics that gave the band it’s notorious sound and jump to fame in the music industry. 

The album opens up with the single and title track “This Addiction” which is a more traditional style Alkaline Trio song with not to much besides guitar, bass and drums wailing away into a catchy chorus sung by Matt Skiba.  “Dine, Dine My Darling” taking a close title to the classic Misfits song is sung this time by the bassist Dan Andriano has a nice hook to it and has lyrics that are honest as the band gets.  The best track in my opinion is “Dead on the Floor” which worked out perfectly with the weather and lyrics saying “and I’m falling like snow”.  The song has a great chorus and slow beat to it but it’s bass line during the chorus is very catchy to how the lyrics play out in the song.  The following song “American Scream” is solid as well and the only track I can say I don’t like too much is the song “Draculina” which is kind of cheesy and not to great of a song but all in all the album is good.  It’s not one of their best albums but I enjoy it and would compare it to Good Mourning because it still has their newer sound but still stays true to their more punk rock roots.  I’m not saying people who are hardcore about their debut Goddammit are gonna think it’s punk rock but it’s definately as close as their gonna get.

Circa Survive- Blue Sky Noise

1. “Strange Terrain”
2. “Get Out”
3. “Glass Arrows”
4. “I Felt Free”
5. “Imaginary Enemy”
6. “Through the Desert Alone”
7. “Frozen Creek”
8. “Fever Dreams”
9. “Spirit of the Stairwell”
10. “The Longest Mile”
11. “Compendium”
12. “Dyed in the Wool”

Coheed And Cambria- Year of the Black Rainbow

1. One

2. The Broken

3. Guns of Summer

4. Here We Are Juggernaut

5. Far

6. The Shattered Symphony

7. World of Lines

8. Made Out of Nothing

9. Pearl of the Stars

10. In the Flame of Error

11. When Skeletons Live

12. The Black Rainbow

Portugal The Man- American Ghetto

1. The Dead Dog – 3:14
2. Break – 0:58
3. 60 Years – 4:13
4. All My People – 3:12
5. 1000 Years – 2:52
6. Fantastic Pace – 3:42
7. The Pushers Party – 4:23
8. Do What We Do – 3:27
9. Just a Fool – 3:05
10. Some Men – 3:31
11. When the War Ends – 3:30

CROWDED  52″ X 40″

BIRD SPRECKLE 52″ X 40″

PRINT  18″ X 25″

Deftones Myspace

Portugal The Man website