Against Me!‘s Tom Gabel has been doing a little sumptin sumptin on the side. The front man of the ever popular Against Me! is doing things his own way this time. He will be releasing a solo album on Oct 28th, 2008 called Heart Burns.
Leading up to the release Tom Gabel has been releasing music videos via MySpace of songs that will be appearing on his project. I hadn’t had a chance to check them out until now…and now you can too:
From what I am gathering the EP to be released will actually be live performances. This is really a highly anticipated release for me. This comes from the guy who used to HATE Against Me! too.
When I first got into Against Me! there was already a huge following and a couple of albums had been released. I listened to a few tracks and tried real had to like them but I couldn’t. It was mostly from fans telling me how awesome they were and how incredible they sounded before my ears even got a taste. Scene kids jamming them down my throat was not helping the situation when I worked at a record store.
I still gave them a couple more chances and even saw them play with Smoke Or Fire. Soon after hearing them a few more times I started hearing the more folk driven tracks and I suddenly liked them. When I caught them live my opinion changed entirely. They were so fun, full of smiles, and played their hearts out. Sing-a-longs galore. Suddenly I liked what I once hated…
I remember when New Wave came out earlier this year. Die hard fans soon hated the band and called them sellouts. They were upset the band went mainstream. I became a bigger fan myself after hearing that album, it is insane. That’s music industry for ya though… You have to pay the bills some how and if selling out means helping ensure a financially sane future then I say go for it…
Oct. 28th is right around the corner and if you like Against Me! you should support Tom Gabel and pick up his solo release.
Usually when there are two names of objects that can cause harm in a band’s name you might think the band should be heavy and brutal. This is not the case for Ninja Gun, a more southern country/folk/rock act from Valdosta, Georgia. In fact, previous to listening to Restless Rubes, I prepared myself for something loud and furious since the band name is a little tough sounding. To be quite honest, I was not in the mood to hear that type of music but I threw the CD in anyways just to give it a chance. I am glad I did.
Ninja Gun
Unexpectedly, I was treated to an amazing album with perfect blends of rock and folk satisfying my ears from start to finish. I am being honest when I say that this is one of the best underground CDs I have heard all year. It’s different, addicting, and certainly has replay value. Think of the distinctiveness of Black Keys (plus more musicians) or perhaps the Avett Brothers (minus the banjo) and you have a slight idea of the sound this band has. At times the rock is deep and other times there is a slow wandering country feel but in good ratio and not to the point where you forget who you are listening to.
Title track “Restless Rubes” has a southern hometown gentleman feel to it. This song was just the introduction of the CD and I found myself an instant fan of the band. Everything about this song seemed to fit in place from the singing to the Oasis like guitar riff in the middle of the song. It was just such a welcoming way to start.
Things picked up on the rockier “Eight Miles Out”, with a chorus and straight up guitar rock playing that was quickly jammed in my mind. “Red State Blues” followed and easily was the best sounding track on the CD as it pulled from 90’s rock but kept a distinctive edge. Lead singer J. Coody really displayed his singing style on this track and the rest of the band provided for a striking song.
Taking a different approach was “Front Yard Screamers”, a track dedicated to the band growing up in the south. This more country jam just made you want to sit on a porch and drink some ice cold, sweet tea. Another quality track was “Life Is Loud” a more rock track that escalated from folksy to rock. This song was best listened to with headphones and has the ability to make you gently shake your head in approval as you listen.
“Asking Price” had some nice harp playing going on with the nice harmonizing singing ensuring a moment of chill. “Nostradumbass” on the other hand was questionable at first and then just blasted into a full out rock song. The guitar playing really reminded me of the Raconteurs at times and it really stood out over other tracks
“Permanent Press” was another track that got lodged into my head. After listening to it a couple of times over I really appreciated the country style singing mixed with a hint of 90’s alt rock, even more proof of how original this band is. The CD closes out with “Breaking Light Of Day” which I feel is the perfect song to end such a great CD. The soft playing and singing serenades you a sweet farewell.
Seeing how engrossed I was with Ninja Gun, I was shocked to come across an old review of their earlier material from a past writer on Blogcritics.Org who entirely bashed them. I respect one’s opinion, but if you read the review there is nothing encouraging about the band at all from the pro –Tennessee writer’s standpoint and he really stomped on the community the band represents.
However, if you look at the comments below that outwardly bash of a review you will see a certain retaliation response over two years later from when it originally posted from the lead singer of Ninja Gun, J.Coody. I really got a kick out of the read and could sense his frustration with the review. This J. Coody who may be a part of Ninja Gun (you never know these days who is real and who is not) posted a lash back to the reviewer.
“If you came to our show looking for a bunch of illiterate punks in cowboy boots trying to pimp out some form of fashion, then I’m sure you were both confused and let down.”
Mind you that was just one line from a very long response to a bad review that the lead singer of Ninja Gun just happened to come across one day. At this time it is unclear what a young Ninja Gun had to offer back in the day and quite frankly I really want to know. I will be searching for their back catalog even more so now. I am interested if their sound has changed since 2005 or if the person who reviewed their early material years ago was just looking to deceive readers from honest good listening music.
All I know is this, Ninja Gun’s Restless Rubes is amazing. For an underground act this production of the CD is next to perfect. It’s not so often a CD like this captures me so. Suburban Home Records has a gem of an artist on their hands and with some luck you can too.
Video of the band rocking out at Suburban Home Records 13th Anniversary weekend this past September:
California punk rockers Unwritten Law have recently released their second live DVD for your visual and listening pleasure. This time around the band has teamed up with Suburban Noize Records to release Live & Lawless, a CD/DVD release that is more of a celebration of their success as a modern punk rock band rather then just another live show.
Recorded in March of 2008 at the historic Key Club on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, the band consisting of singer Scott Russo, guitarist Steve Morris, bassist Pat “PK” Kim, and temporary stand-in drummer Dylan Howard, make a point to play their hearts out to their hardcore fans.
Unwritten Law
Formed in the early nineties, Unwritten Law first started out as a speedier punk band but throughout the years they took different approaches to making music, and soon matured into more of a hard rock act. 1998’s self titled album had a couple of tracks that were put into heavy rotation on the radio but nothing more than that. In 2002, the band came out with Elva and their song “Seeing Red” became a chart topping hit.
Just one year later, the band was approached accidentally by VH1 (they meant to call Jimmy Eat World) to see if they would play some acoustic tracks. The result was Music In High Places, a part studio part live acoustic album that coincided with a separately released DVD called Live In Yellowstone.
Live & Lawless is the band’s first start-to-finish live DVD. This release also comes with a CD full of the tracks the band played that night in Hollywood. The CD has seventeen tracks plus a bonus track. The DVD covers the twenty-two song set and also contains some bonus footage.
The show starts with the band on stage in full force playing “Underground”. One of the first things I notice is that there are no bouncers in front of the stage and to me that is a nice thing to see. This show is strictly the band facing the fans. Hit songs “Teenage Suicide” and “Calin” were played to approving fans as they sang along as loud as they possibly could
The acoustic version of “Rest Of My Life” featured just Scott Russo and the crowd. His voice was on point throughout and did not crackle or show any signs of being tired even though sweat was dripping off his forehead. The rest of the band slowly snuck on stage where they smoothly depart into “She Says”. The crowd erupted as soon as they sang the refrain to the song.
“Before I Go” is a bonus treat to the crowd as the band starts a mini acoustic session with the entire band playing their acoustic instruments. I love the way this song sounds. They continue with “Elva” and surprisingly “Shallow”, a real old track by the band.
This was the first time I had heard the old school song performed acoustically and Scott Russo even admitted to the crowd that is was a special song they were going to play. I must say the song brought back some memories. Hearing the band slow the track down a bit and play it unplugged just made it that much more enjoyable. The only sad thing about this song is that I would guess two thirds of the crowd may never have heard this before. Arms waving and smiles were among the many but when it came time to sing along there was not as much partaking.
Before engaging in “Save Me” front man Scott Russo took a moment to spread some love to all the sardine packed fans in the front row. He asked everyone for some crowd participation before starting the song and just about everyone complied. With big thank yous it was clear that the concert was coming to an end.
Making this show even more memorable to myself, the very first song the band ever wrote, and one of my personal favorites, “CPH” closed out the show. Nothing like an oldie to wrap things up, especially when it was one of the first songs I heard as a teenager that caused me to become an Unwritten Law fan.
DVD bonus features included the music video for “Shoulda Know Better” as well as a intimate interview session with questions coming from the fans who were actually at the DVD shoot that evening. Hearing the story from Pennywise about Fletcher jumping a van into someone’s backyard was amusing. The band answered questions individually, shared their influences, decisions to change up their style, and even some more personal stories. The answer to how would Pat “PK” Kim look if he were bald had me laughing out loud as the bassist drew up a picture of himself.
There was not a dull moment throughout the entire live show. This DVD is pure evidence what a punk rock show should be. Seems like only yesterday a young punk rock me was in the crowd checking out Unwritten Law singing all of the songs they sang at the top of my lungs. Over ten years later, they still have it and show no signs of tiring out one bit.
Here’s a couple of clips from the DVD just for a small taste:
Any fan of punk rock music has probably heard of a certain SoCal punk rock band called Face To Face. Formed by Trever Keith in 1991 the band gained commercial success with their ideal punk rock style and soon achieved commercial success. Trever Keith was the only original member to stick through the good times and bad times and sadly the band decided to call it quits in 2003
With the decision to go their separate ways Trever Keith did not stop there. He continued on with his passion for music and started recording solo material as well as maintained his own record label. On top of that he worked on other band projects including Legion Of Doom, a mash-up project of out of this world proportions. He is without a doubt one of the busiest punk rockers out there and it not willing to call it quits anytime soon.
Recently I learned that Face To Face had reunited for a small tour and possibly more. I decided to get in touch with Trever Keith to ask him some questions of his past, present, and future. Trever Keith was more than happy to take time out of his busy day and answer some questions for me.
Trever Keith
B: So I guess my first question would have to be what finally prompted Face To Face (F2F) to reunite for a few tours? I remember reading an interview a while back that you did not think it was going to happen.
TK: Scott [Shiflett] and I missed it and the offers started getting a lot more interesting.
Any specific offers in general?
Bamboozle 08 in Los Angeles was the clincher.
Who is all playing alongside you when you tour?
Scott of course. Sometimes Chad Yaro (depending on his availability, LA area shows are the most likely) and Danny Thompson on drums.
Any chance of expanding the tour? I see that F2F is playing some shows in California in November as well as a few select dates overseas in 2009.
As long as there is an interest from fans, we will be back out playing shows. We’re not looking at being back out on the road full time for F2F, but we are definitely planning some more stuff for 2009. We’ll just see how it goes.
Does this reunion tour mean there is a possibility that F2F might be back to record new material?
I suppose there is a remote chance. Although there are no plans.
Any real reason why F2F ultimately called it quits?
A desire to try some other projects and a sense that we had really run our course as a band. We didn’t want to overstay our welcome. But the fans have proved that the reality of that is completely the opposite. So we’re back as long as there is a demand.
Trever Keith
Enough about F2F, let’s talk about you and your continuing vision with music. Even after the band departed you continued forward. You released a solo album on your own record label. Can you tell me a little bit about both?
I have a label called Antagonist. I had an indie distribution deal that was a complete disaster. I’m out of it now. My plans for Antagonist are sort of changing with the landscape, but I at least know it’s a place for me to release my own music in the future.
My debut solo record was in limited release but is currently not available. I had initially had it available for download for $5.00 on my website and I pressed up about 1,000 limited edition CDs for sale only at shows.
These were things I wanted to do for the core fans. I am looking at an “official” release for early/mid 2009.
Will your “official” solo release be under your label or has anyone else shown interest is having it on their label?
There is interest, but it will be an Antagonist release regardless of whether I’m involved with another label or not.
You toured in support of your solo release. How were the shows you played at? Were there a lot of old school punkers there checking you out? Were a lot of people asking about the band you used to front?
Most of the shows were amazing. They were small sized clubs. Some were better attended than others but most of the time that really didn’t matter. The people that came were so cool. I made a point of hanging out a bit after every show and it was really something special. Many of these people are F2F fans but also really appreciated the work I am doing on my own and that was really the point of this small club tour; to really just get out there for the die hard fans and get the music to them first. Now my challenge is spreading it to a bigger audience.
Any plans for a second solo release?
Sure but give me a chance to promote this one properly first!
Face To Face
What is Viva Death all about?
It was a project that Scott and I thought up about 5 years ago. The first record was really a joint effort but on the second record it started to become more of Scott’s thing. He is just now finishing up the third Viva Death record which from what I’ve heard so far is amazing. He played all of the instruments on this one, even drums. It’s really a testament to what an amazing musician Scott is. You can check out his MySpace for more info. www.myspace.com/vivadeathmusic
I have read about a possible other project in the works as well called Pablum? Not much is known about them. Anything you might like to share?
Pablum is just an early name for my solo effort. I decided to go with my own name for simplicity.
How did you become involved with mashing up songs in Legion Of Doom?
Chad Blinman is a longtime friend. I sort of convinced him to start this mash-up thing while him and I had some downtime. We really started digging in and get hooked into the project. We decided to give ourselves a name and some soundtrack and remix work followed. It’s a project that is an amazing creative outlet for us that is unlike anything else we’re involved in. It’s something I look forward to doing for a long time. There are many ideas in the works for Legion of Doom.
Where did the idea come from to do such a thing, mash up emo/punk songs and even add a little hip-hop action? I admit the first time I heard it I was hooked?
Well I’d be lying if I said it was all my idea. I was doing some work with Darren Doane at the time and we always had this knack for discussing all sorts of crazy ideas for projects and stuff. He had this idea to do DJ style mash-ups of emo/hardcore bands. Since he’s in film and music videos he didn’t really have the know how to pull off such an idea so I ran with it.
The CD Incorporated is out of print and pretty much impossible to find. Do you think you would ever consider re-releasing it?
Face To Face might just be touring at a city near you.
We don’t have the permission from labels or publishers to release the CD, so probably not. Come to think of it, who made those first CDs anyway?
So you had nothing to do with the CD being released or do you have no comment? Haha.
No comment.
What is your favorite mash-up so far that you have helped create? I personally love the Coheed vs. Senses Fail mash-up called “Devil In A Blue Dress”. It seems like the two songs were meant to be mashed.
Destroy All Vampires [My Chemical Romance vs. A Static Lullaby mash-up]
Just curious on how Cleveland artist Derek Hess was recruited to draw up the cover for the CD?
That was another Darren Doane connection. I met Derek through Darren.
A couple of the Legion Of Doom songs were featured in movies such as Saw II and Resident Evil: Extinction. Any plans on having more mixes pop up in future movies?
I’d love to. Nothing confirmed at the moment. The last thing we did for a film is a placement in the movie Pathology which just came out on DVD.
Eyes Front is a movie released on Antagonist Films. Any relation to your own Antagonist Records Label? What all did you contribute to the film? Is this just the beginning of you working a little more in depth with a movie?
Antagonist Films is the same company as Antagonist Records. The Legion of Doom did all of the original music for the film and I was a producer on the film. I would love to do more work in film, but I’m not currently involved in any projects at the moment.
How did you land the role of producing the movie (Eyes Front)? Have you had previous experience producing film?
Again Darren Doane was the one who got me involved with the film. I have had no previous experience.
Speaking of movies it seems like you take samples from older movies and add them to the mix, how do you come across some of those?
There are websites with such material. Just gotta know where to look.
Have you seen any of the fan made videos of Legion Of Doom mash-ups on YouTube? What do you think about your fans creating them?
One of the most satisfying things about creating something is knowing that people really get it. Seeing those music videos to me is proof that people out there are really getting what we’re doing and they’re taking it up a level by adding their own creativity. It’s a humbling experience.
What is next for Legion Of Doom? Would you/have you considered touring? Will there be another CD released?
We’re getting ready to release an entire album of new original material.
When you look at all that you have accomplished musically, how does that make you feel? Any advise to share with anyone looking to be successful in a musical career whether it be creating or remixing?
I have mixed emotions. On the one hand, I feel lucky to have had some success and I am proud of the body of work I have created. And on the other hand I want to achieve more both as an artist and performer. The only advice I could give is you have to be relentless.
What’s next for Trever Keith?
World domination.
The Legion Of Doom
Look for Trever Keith’s official release of his solo album in early/mid 2009. For more information about what cities Face To Face is touring or to check out all the projects Trever Keith is currently involved in check out the following links:
The Faint bring yet another installment of their new wave/dance/indie tunes to your ears with Fasciinatiion. Once a solid staple to Saddle Creek Records, the band parted ways in spring of 2008 stating they would be releasing material on their own label blank.wav. This is their first album in four years and is also the first to be entirely fashioned by The Faint. Fasciinatiion proves that this five-some has no problem doing things all by themselves.
Formed in Omaha, Nebraska around 1995 the band lured me in thanks to the release of 1999’s Blank Wave-Arcade. Their unique sound that had similarities to 80’s dance but with indie rock and even a little punk rock flair; something I had not found myself getting into before. Soon thereafter, I was listening to them on almost a daily basis. They were one of the original bands that introduced me to Saddle Creek records and helped get the indie label some well deserved recognition.
The Faint
I was excited to check out their latest release seeing how I really have not listened to The Faint in quite some time. Fasciinatiion started out strong with “Get Seduced” refreshing me on their dance rock style. Their electronic rock music was not missed by my ears. It would appear even after four years the band still has it.
“The Geeks Were Right”, the band’s first single off the album, was my favorite track. The more indie pressed song reminded me of She Wants Revenge and Interpol, but heavy on the electronic side. The music video for the song is extremely interesting too almost visualizing what a Max Headroom acid flashback might look like. Even better there are remixes of this track floating around on the internet; my favorite was “The Geeks Were Right (Does It Offend You? Yeah Remix).
The album seemed to stray away from the Faint’s unique sound I had grown accustomed to with more experimental tracks like “Machine In The Ghost” and “Fulcrum And Lever”. The vocals were a tad too robotic for me and the sounds were too experimental and unhurried.
The funky “Psycho” saved the album for me as it took direction back away from the slow, unusual songs previously mentioned. Deep blimps and bleeps at the beginning of the song kind of exceeded it’s welcome, but soon it mellowed out building for an good listen. “I Treat You Wrong”, with poor lyrics, really was a good track but was nothing to dance about.
I really feel that The Faint created a roller coaster effect on Fasciinatiion. The album does not seem nearly as constant and up-tempo as prior releases nor was there any of that punk rock flair that could be heard on Wet From Birth. It is one of their more unique albums, but certainly not their best effort. I am not saying this album is bad, but it does not compare to their more recent efforts.
