It Works

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I’ve been listening to emo for a long, long, time. I read and gave copies of Andy Greenwald’s Nothing Feels Good to friends. In high school it was the word I used to describe myself and who I associated myself with.

It’s a scene I carry a great deal of affection for, especially for the 90’s era. When American Football or The Promise Ring tours or releases new music my teenage hope of hopes have been answered.

So many new bands have such obvious influences from this period of emo but have little to no diversion. They’re either carbon copies or poor imitations.

You see more bands that were influenced by Thursday or Pg. 99 creating more authentic music. Oliver Houston is the only band I’ve heard recently that sounds like 90’s midwest emo but yet their own.

Whatever Works came to me as a complete surprise. They’ve proclaimed their refusal to use status quo music business tools to promote their album. While I found the band through a sponsored ad, it’s something they paid for and directed at people like me.

The songs are short and accomplish what takes their musical influences five or six minutes in half the time. Take “Pho” and “Bernie” which have the gorgeous melodies of Braid but complements them tasty guitar licks in an average time of 2:08 minutes.

“Concession” has hooking almost west coast riffs that just cruise down the beach all the way through. The vibraslap in the beginning doesn’t hurt either.

Unlike most of the 90’s emo bands, Oliver Houston depends on the riff not the pretty melodies. They’re just the complement. Bands like Mineral had chorded parts but the arrangement was based on some scale.

Take “Tough Luck” which has a great bass line that transforms and charges up with snare rolls into a beautiful scene of plucking harmony.

The highlight of the record however, and what separates the band resonates on “Tom Quad” and how it champions something emo isn’t known for: rocking! Just take the guitar chorus. The riff tastes crunchy and the drummer just crushes the open hi-hat.

Its solo makes you want to air-guitar. I’ve never written that about any “emo” song, ever. There’s something unique here I haven’t quite experienced from this scene before.

These guys grew up on the same nothing feels good records I did but clearly their palate extends beyond sad and depressed music.

This is Real

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The recent rise of Code Orange has created a buzz around the band. Some have been surprised by their broadly growing popularity.

Forever just came about three weeks ago. It’s easily their best and most comprehensive album yet. With each album their hypothesized sound sharpens with clarity. I Am King also had underground hype a few years ago but didn’t have the same coherence.

Just start with “Forever” and “Kill the Creator” which absolute slay some VFW hall or club. The arrangements possess carnage making breakdowns and back-beat bass slaps that’ll make anyone puff their chest in the pit. There are also some of these artistic elements introduced before they start playing a bigger role in the album.

Programmed distorted bass intermissions and industrial drum loops interrupt and reconnect parts of songs. Those two tracks are dynamic alone for a single, but Forever stands strong as a whole. Each track has purpose. No song falls into a filler category.

“Real” is the first of those songs that ventures into something outside of hardcore or metal. It loads up heavy for 45 seconds and then silences into a wonderfully industrial break. They use it to progress back into viciousness.

At times it feels like three or four songs in one. It actually works here unlike most artists I hear trying to string more than one song together.

Of all the tracks “Hurt Goes On” annihilates all barriers of genre. This piece of art explores an infinite void. Its lyrics haunts you, inspires an odd toughness, and whatever kind of darkness but not evil you want to describe. It’s an industrial spoken word. The simple but harsh beat can repeat forever and never lose its quiescent intensity.

There’s still songs that are true to CO’s roots. Nothing’s heavier or more metallic than “Spy” on the record. Nothing.

Gratefully there’s a bit of Rebe Myers’ singing too. “Bleeding in the Blur” has this grimy feel to it featuring Myers through out. It’s a pretty rare treat with a song that’s more grunge than hardcore and the kind of song you wouldn’t expect from this kind of ferocious band.

“Dream2” is a black hymn and wraps up Forever in a spiraling silence. If it started destructively, the end was a mum departure. They left the village and went outside the city walls.

It’s clear they executed and transposed from their mind exactly what they wanted.

 

A Day in North Park

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The last few weeks I’ve felt a lot of personal stress. I’ve had trouble with my car, my emotional baggage, and work has bothered me in some aspects. Today I had my usual day off and I made some solid plans ahead of time to get some joy out of my free time.

It was the correct kind of therapy, escape, or mini-vacation away from work and what is going on personally. Also having purchased a new car has relieved a lot of pressure.

North Park is my local get away. It’s the big city yet it’s still hip and communal. It’s urban but isn’t downtown. Contrary to popular belief there are places you can go that aren’t gentrified.

I went to a cafe two blocks away from University for some coffee, sandwich, and space to read my book in peace. I need more cafe time in my life.

Walked over to Red Brontosaurus Records a block on the other side. It’s small but one of the better shops I’ve been to. They have a ton of used retro games which are over priced but still cool to see.

Their vinyl collection is very strong. It’s not as big a store as Lou’s or Spin back in North County but there’s a lot of local band’s records and new vinyl from new bands. It’s not just reprints of classics. They had older original records too.

I walked away with a copy of a Texas is the Reason and Samuel split single 7″ from 1995 (fucking awesome!) and Katie Ellen’s first single 7″. I think it’s time for me to get a record player.

Took my stuff back to the new car and went to lunch at Sicilian Thing Pizza. Again, it’s a treat to get away from everything and have two slices with a beer. I also so thing gorgeous woman. She was having the same thing as me.

If only I knew how to strike up a conversation with a stranger at a pizza shop. Anyway, it was just a nice moment to love life.

I read my book a little while downing my drink but I needed to kill some time before driving back. Normal Records was just two blocks away.

My close friend Greg and I had just been there two weeks ago. I had gotten a nice Touche Amore live 7″ and a Metallica poster for Hardwired…To Self-Destruct. The owner Caleb is pretty friendly and remembered me.

We had a nice discussion about how he gets inventory from his distributor. He’s been trying to get something with Burger Records for a while. He showed me a Ride The Lightning and Kill’em All cassette he had just sold.

If only I could have had those… Instead I took home an original Big Star #1 Record, and a Daft Punk Random Access Memories and Joy Division Unknown Pleasures poster. I’m very happy with those. Caleb had just gotten the Big Star record and joked about having to order another one.

Today was the kind of day I needed to rejuvenate. This Super Bowl weekend will refresh me too.