Category Archives: Emo

Cleveland, Emo, Music, Punk

Cleveland’s see you. Drop Debut Single “Doom or Bloom”

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Hey all, remember me?

There’s a new melodic punk/emo band emerging out of Cleveland called see you. Featuring Van DeFilippo (ex-Dead Leaves) and Justin Vaughn (Low Morale), this band’s got a fun style that compares to a younger The Get Up Kids, less sad Saves the Day, and even hint at some Strike Anywhere.

They recently dropped “Doom or Bloom” and I have to tell you all, this is great. The track was recorded with Dave Piatek (No Pressure, Light Years) and is streaming everywhere.

Check out the lyric video and see for yourself!

Bandcamp: ?? Doom or Bloom | see you. (bandcamp.com)
Other Links: see you. links | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree

Alt Rock, Country, Electronic, Emo, Experimental, Hardcore, Hip Hop, Indie, Metal, Music, Outlaw Country, Pop, Post-Hardcore, Punk, Rap, Rock, Ska

BHP Best of 2023

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This year absolutely flew by and here I am scrambling to toss something together to validate myself for poorly running my blog.

Clearly other objectives in life got in the way of how I wish I could maintain the site and keep it current, but here we are, so I guess I just do what I can, when I can.

I will say this past year has been a wild ride and I was able to really to enjoy it with friends and family, but something tells me that next year is going to be even better.

The absolute highlight of 2023 was covering the Punk in Drublic fest (thanks Vanessa!!!!) in Columbus, OH. If you missed that you can check it out HERE. To see so many of my favorite bands with some close pals of mine was just perfect.

I may not have reviewed a lot of bands this year, hell, I think I only did one looking back…but I did listen to tons of music and wanted to share a few that really caught my attention in 2023.

Enjoy.

BHP BEST OF 2023 LIST

Codefendants – This is Crime Wave

Easily one of the best releases this year. When I heard Fat Mike got The D.O.C. to drop some lines on one track I knew this was going to be something special.

Lucero – Should’ve Learned by Now

I love Lucero and everything they stand for and have to admit this took me a couple of listens to truly get into and I am glad I did because there are some gems on this one.

Heart Attack Man – Freak of Nature

I love this album. I really do not know what else to say here other than if you have not checked it out yet, you really should change that.

koyo – Would You Miss It?

This band won me over this year in the best way. Melodic emo hardcore. Does it get any better than this?

Militarie Gun – Life Under the Gun

Catchy as hell sums up this release. This has been a weekly listen since it dropped.

Sincere Engineer – Cheap Grills

File this one under “Deanna Belos makes me cry again with her poignant lyrics.” Dammit.

Bollweevils – Essential

Dr. Daryl Wilson is back with the gang and completely blew me away with this release. It sounded even better live at a local dive bar. That was a true treat.

Blink 182 – One More Time

I grew up in the 90s. Did you seriously not think this was going to land here at some point? Old punks are still cool, we just go to bed at a reasonable time.

Spanish Love Songs – No Joy

This band always stabs me in the feelings. This album was no exception.

Svalbard – The Weight of the Mask

I found this band a few years back as a suggestion to Holy Fawn and have loved them since. I was so stoked to see a new album drop by them this year and it simply rules.

Hot Mulligan – Why Would I Watch

Pop punk fun. Honestly, I did not think I was going to enjoy this one as much as I did.

Chayla Hope – Damn, Feelings

True Cleveland talent here. I will not be shocked when she grabs the attention of the world. Chayla can do no wrong.

Joey Valence & Brae – Punk Tactics

Just got into these guys a few weeks ago and adore their style that really reached back to the 90s. This release is pure fun and begs to be listened to on repeat.

Lil Yachty – Let’s Start Here.

This was one of those releases I read a review on and knew I needed to stop what I was doing and check it out. It is wild.

Incendiary – Change the Way You Think About Pain

Meanest album of the year. I adore it and listen to it on my worst days.

MSPAINT – Post-American

Music-genre bending at its best. I certainly cannot tell you their style other than “all of the above.”

Flying Racoon Suit – Moonflower

Oh hi, this band takes almost all the sounds of music I adore, tosses it in a blender, purees it, and pours out one hell of a release. Do not let the band’s name fool you.

Kerosene Heights – Southeast of Somewhere

2023 was a pretty emo year for me and this band helped fuel that.

I want to thank all my friends out there for keeping me going. New and old, life rules when you are all around.

More importantly, shoutout to my amazing kids who continue to give me purpose in life and let me continue to be my goofy-ass self with zero apologies. I hope one day you come across this and are reminded of the joy you both bring me.

Happy New Year and thanks for reading. Let’s see if I can kickstart the blog in 2024. I think I am up for it.

Emo, Music, Music News, New Release, Punk, Review

EP Review: Eighty-sixed, Kid – s/t

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Cleveland’s Endnote Records made their introduction during the start of this stupid pandemic this past Spring and the first act they signed was Akron native Daniel Palmentera’s Eighty-sixed, Kid.

Perhaps this means absolutely nothing to you and that’s cool, but if you know the history of Palmentera and the man behind Endnote, Andrew Wells, you’d be like me and understand how much sense it makes for these two to be working together.  These two have a history together that includes friendship as well as creative avenues and seeing them form this partnership was one of the better things to happen in 2020.

Eighty-sixed, Kid started as a needed progression once Palmentera’s previous punk band, My Mouth Is The Speaker, seemingly put things in park for a while.  The stage name came about after constant solo-touring all over Northeast Ohio for a few years.  With the routine performances came fine-tuning and maturity forming a sound that contains plenty of unselfish demeanor.

The debut self-titled EP by Eighty-sixed, Kid will be released on October 30th, and let me tell you, it far surpassed my expectations.  Palmentera put it all out there without holding back whatsoever.

“I Like Their Old Stuff Better” relates to anyone who truly holds passion to being engulfed in music.  I loved how personal this pop punk song was and even more so appreciated the chorus.  It’s a catchy, heartfelt track that’s extremely relatable, especially to me.

That’s not to say the EP was all cheerful material.  “Gut Punch” pushed back to the 2000s emo days and brought forth gutted feelings about moving forward on an uneasy path.  The track wasn’t too complex and held itself together even with it being heavy on the sorrow.

Another track to mention was “When You Came Home You Never Really Came Home”.  This song hit me because I’ve lived this a couple of times and I would never wish this feeling upon anyone.  People tend to say how a certain song pulled on their heartstrings, but this song punched a hole in my heart and left me numb for a moment.

There was no reprieve in emotion by Palmentera on this EP.  He literally put himself out there for all to hear and you can feel the pain.  As mentioned before, the self-titled EP resonated with me perhaps in an uneasy way, but I appreciated the hell out of it.  I look forward to what Eighty-sixed, Kid creates moving on.  This is not an act to sit on at all.

You can preorder the EP by visiting Endnote Records.

Alt Rock, Emo, Music, New Release, Punk, Review, Rock

Album Review: Notches – New Kinda Love

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I’ve told myself over and over that I need to try and hammer out more reviews.  I have a million excuses why I choose bed over blog as of late and two of said excuses are the most important things in my life – my kids.  Clearly nothing is more important than them and of course my wife, so please excuse me for not paying attention to this here ol’ blog this year.

Time to change that of course.

With recent events going on to which I need not point out, I can tell you I have been thinking about a lot of things and one of them was how much I enjoy listening to tunes, discovering new bands, and especially sharing the love.  I have been wanting to talk about one particular release by a New Hampshire punk/emo/rad/DIY 3 piece band.  So here we go…

After listening to New Kinda Love by Notches back in early January, I literally stopped what I was doing and ordered the LP off of their Bandcamp page.

This was an album I fell in love with instantly and deemed one of my favorites that I’ve heard of in quite some time.  The album dropped in December 2019 from what I learned, but did not make it onto Bandcamp until this year.

Released by Dead Broke Rekerds/Salina Records, this is the band’s third proper release and sadly the fist time I really got into them.  They’ve been around since 2013 and have made an impact on the New England punk scene, but honestly once you hear them you’d think they have been around for far longer.

Starting off the album was “Room Upstairs”, a catchy track that really carried through different equal moments of catchiness and relaxed.  I really loved how much energy this band held in just on the first track.

It’s hard to believe “Museum of More Dumb Art” hasn’t been around for years and years.  This track just was so tenured sounding that I had to make sure I was still listening to the same band.  In other words, I was impressed as hell with this one.

“Crystall Ball” was emo Dinosaur Jr. on speed thanks to excessive fuzz throughout a memorable riff of a song.  This track just brought me back 25+ years to when all that mattered to me was alternative rock.  I adored it.  Had a music video been made for this one, it would have been all over MTV back when they were tolerable.

I won’t lie, the best part of “Keep My Name” was the brutal aggressiveness layered with memorable bass and guitar playing.  Quick track, but clearly full of angst that never sounded so good.

“Twist The Knife” won me over with the pop-punk edge that snuck into what otherwise could have been a track that amounted to an 80s SST Records artist song.

“Sober Souls” to me was a modern day Hüsker Dü track.  This track was just beautiful.  I really can’t explain why other than I’m over 40 and was brought years just from absorbing myself in this.  Weird, right?

The number of times I told myself how great this band was while listening was almost annoying to me.  Luckily I know i am not the only one who thinks this.  In fact, my soon to be 5-year-old loves these guys.

Need proof?

Once this bullmess of a virus pandemic goes the hell away, Notches should be touring and it looks like they may be making a stop in Cleveland so who knows, maybe I’ll be taking my son to see his first show a littler earlier than I first intended.  If he’s not quite ready, perhaps I’ll bribe the band for a quick high-five and an apple juice or something.

Don’t sleep on these guys.  Notches have dropped an album you aging punks and young ones too will truly appreciate.

Acoustic, Alt Rock, Electronic, Emo, Folk, Hardcore, Hip Hop, Indie, Metal, Music, Post-Hardcore, Punk, Rap, Reggae, Rock

BHP Best Of 2018

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It’s that time of the year again folks where I share with you the bands and albums that caught my attention throughout the year.

Sure, my reviewing is infrequent these days, may not make total sense or even be read by many for that matter, but I can tell you that I am listening to as much music as possible daily.

If my memory serves me correct, this will be my 10th Best Of post.  Sitting back and just thinking that this blog has been around for 10 years now completely floors me.  Thanks to anyone who’s ever stopped by to see what’s good.  Here’s to however many more years I decide to keep this going.

With that said, happy holidays and here is my list in no particular order:


Timeshares – Out There EP
-Easily one of my most played EPs of the year.  I was obsessed with it for weeks and was caught off guard in a good way by it.  I can not wait for their next full-length now.  Loving their rejuvenated sound.


Strung Out – Blackout the Sky EP
-Not going to lie.  I was not stoked at all to hear Strung Out was going to do an acoustic album.  I do not know why I even doubted that they would not have done something amazing.  This EP was amazing and showed a completely different side to one of the best bands out there.


Spells – Loose Change Vol. 1
-Ok so this is a collection of early out of print tunes by the Colorado punk party rockers, but this was my first taste of the band after somehow missing out of them for all these years.  I caught them touring with Off With Their Heads earlier this year and turned into an instant fan.


Curtail – All Your Luck
-This is probably one of the best releases that came out this year that you may have not heard about.  I could sit here and talk about it for hours, but I will leave it to you and check it out.  Just think 90s alt rock mixed with 00s emo/post-hardcore goodness.


Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers – Brought to Rot
-This was the most punk rock album to come out all year.  Laura Jane Grace is sincere as she talks about her current dwelling and overall situation without holding back.  I was overly impressed with this one.


Turnstile – Time & Space
-An amazing hardcore release that really is so much more once you get sucked into it.  It really is a genius album to listen to especially with some 80s punk and R&B moments tossed in for the hell of it (just listen to “I Don’t Wanna Be Blind”).  Certainly happy I stumbled on these guys.


Light Years – Afterlife
-Hands down, this is one of the best pop punk albums to come out this year.  I knew it was going to be good, but I did not realize it was going to be that good.


Face To Face – Hold Fast (Acoustic Sessions)
-This album has turned me into an even bigger Face To Face fan.  I feared hearing it because I really did not want to hear a punk band play acoustic renditions of their songs, but man, I was so wrong to doubt them.  They reinvented their songs in the best way possible.


The Interrupters – Fight The Good Fight
-Two-toned, punk fueled, and amazing throughout.  There’s a reason why Tim Armstrong produced this album.


The Ruen Brothers – All My Shades of Blue
-This album was like listening to The Gaslight Anthem team up with Roy Orbison to score a Wes Anderson flick.  I adore these guys and hope to hell I can see them live one day.  This was the album that complete caught me by surprise this year and fell in love with.


Spanish Love Songs – Schmaltz
-This album is like the energy of The Menzingers + the emotion of MakeWar.  The band clearly has matured into something incredible and this release proves it.  Do not sit on this one.


Red City Radio – SkyTigers EP
-This is the best thing this band has ever done.  There was just this certain amount of gallant confidence throughout.  The song “SkyTigers” proved that to me over and over.


Johnny La Rock – Gold Codes
-I was drunk in Vegas earlier this year and admitted Gold Codes was an album of the year for me.  La Rock is a hidden gem in Cleveland that the world really should get to know some.


Bar Stool Preachers – Grazie Governo
-Working class and bad ass all in one album.  These guys rule.  It’s like Dropkick Murphys if they were a ska band.


Mad Caddies – Punk Rocksteady
-Taking punk rock songs and putting their own reggae style to it was just a brilliant idea.  This covers album was done right and received well by this listener.


Restorations – LP5000
-Yeah, this was one of my favorite releases this year.  This band can do no wrong and I appreciated their maturing lyrics more than ever.  Seeming them live finally this year was also an added bonus.


Four Fists – 6666
-This collaboration between P.O.S. and Astronautics completely slays.  This rap duo really dropped an impressive album complete with plenty of punk references and beats guaranteed to get stuck in your head for days.


Vessel of Light – Woodshed
-This album takes everything great about Danzig, White Zombie, and even old Alice in Chains and puts them all together for a solid listen.  Super impressed with this one.


Frank Turner – Be More Kind
-Everyone needs to listen to this album, especially “Be More Kind”.  I am fairly sure it will make your day if not a better person.  Frank Turner is one talented mo-fo.


Lucero – Among The Ghosts
-I love this album mostly for the band embracing where life has taken them over the years.  They have not lost their style one bit and for that I thank them.  This has turned into one of my favorite Lucero releases.

 

Thanks for reading and happy holidays!