Weezer / Pavement

Scott: Time to lose some scene points: The first time I ever heard the Pixies, it wasn't the Pixies--it was Weezer. And Braid, and the Get Up Kids, and the Promise Ring, and Superdrag, and the Siren Six!, and every other band that was on the Where Is My Mind: A Tribute To The Pixies comp that came out on Glue Factory Records way back in the last millenium. I bought the comp for the bands on it, but ended up appreciating the band being honored just as much. I just got home tonight after seeing the Pixies, who were absolutely great; but when they started playing "Velouria," I couldn't help thinking back to Weezer's amazing cover of the song, and I found myself drumming along to this particular version over Frank Black & Co.'s original. Check the cover out, courtesy of WeezerNation.com:
Weezer - Velouria Aubin: While both beloved by eloquent indie snobs, and yet underappreciated by everyone else, this remarkable band really does deserve all the accolades they get. While my first exposure to Pavement was 1995's Wowee Zowee, the subsequent "discovery" of Slanted and Enchanted, and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain left me amazed by a band that could pack so much into their seemingly simple lo-fi recordings. Here is a selection of tracks from the recent reissues of those two great records:
Pavement - All My Friends Pavement - Here (Peel Session Summer 1992) Pavement - Greenlander

Mando Diao

Adam has the Libertines, I have Mando Diao. I was lucky enough to acquire a copy of the Swedish quartet's sophomore effort, Hurricane Bar. The record, the band's follow-up to 2003's dynamite Bring 'Em In, is already out in Europe and Japan, but won't see US soil until March 2005, when Mute Records will put it out. Simply put, the new album is spectacular. The band have gone from brash mod-rockers to mature pop songsmiths, as evidenced with the following two songs: the first, Hurricane Bar's single; the second, an epic love song:
Mando Diao - God Knows Mando Diao - You Can't Steal My Love UPDATE: If you had trouble downloading the MP3s before, or the download time was horrendously long, please try again. Adam mirrored them on faster servers.

Escape Grace / The Haunted / The Nein / Red Letter M

Aubin: I found out about this promising band through a review we posted recently. Their debut self-titled EP seems like a healthy cross pollination of hardcore and rock and this track in particular, is worth a listen.
Escape Grace - Day of the Triffids

(Here's a second track to celebrate 'day that ends in y'-day. )

Aubin:: Recently, this band - which notably includes members of At the Gates - reunited with their original lead singer and released their newest thrash metal opus, titled rEVOLEr. We haven't reviewed it yet, but

The Undertones

Recently departed and much beloved BBC DJ John Peel held The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" as his favorite song of all time. However the depth of admiration that Peel expressed for the 2 minutes and 25 seconds of audio has become as integral a part of the song's history as the band that wrote it. The All Music Guide has a few choice quotes from him on the tune: "I can't listen to it now without getting all dewy eyed… And if I play it on the radio I have to segue it into the front of another record because I can't speak after I've heard it."

The track first appeared on the Northern Ireland band's 1978 Teenage Kicks EP released on the independent Good Vibrations label. The song also showed up a year later on The Undertones' Sire released, self-titled debut full length.

Peel was questioned in the Guardian in 2001 about his well known affection for the tune:

It is the Undertones' Teenage Kicks, still, after 23 years, the record by which all others must be judged. Maybe once a fortnight, after a few days of listening to sizzling new releases and worrying that the music is merging into angst but otherwise characterless soup, I play Teenage Kicks to remind myself exactly how a great record should sound.

''But what's so great about it?,' people, from my own children to complete strangers in wine bars, have asked. I've never yet come up with an answer that pleased me much, falling back each time on: 'There's nothing you could add to it or subtract from it that would improve it.'

…Sheila, my wife - I wanna hold her, wanna hold her tight - knows that when I die, the only words I want on my tombstone, apart from my name, are:

'Teenage Dreams, So Hard To Beat.'

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
John Peel (1939-2004)

The JonBenét / FemBots / Walking Concert

Brian: Houston, Texas's The JonBenét may owe a lot of their spazzy, frantic hardcore sound to The Blood Brothers and screamo legends of the past, but frankly, I really can't complain. The band changes pace and tempo on the drop of a dime, either hyperactively strumming their guitars to the point of total amp raping or abruptly dancing along crescending chord progressions and dizzy bass lines. Check out these three tracks from their Five Stories Retold EP, self-released this past June:
The JonBenét - Stolen Home, Stolen Home
The JonBenét - Eleventh Century Folklore
The JonBenét - Trophy Wives Adam: The rootsy Toronto-based FemBots have been in the news recently due to their increasing integration into the Weakerthans family. Not only have Brian Poirier and Dave MacKinnon played acoustic guitar and keyboards for that band on this year's Airfields And Woodlands tour, but Weakerthans drummer Jason Tait has been behind the kit for the FemBots for a few years now. They put on a really engaging performance when I saw them earlier this month with the Constantines as part of said tour. This is the title track to 2003's much celebrated Small Town Murder Scene:
FemBots - Small Town Murder Scene
More info is available from Paper Bag Records.

Scott: I worship at the Temple Of Walter. Come join me. Walter Schreifels' new band, Walking Concert, is not only the brainchild of the former Quicksand/Rival Schools frontman, it features the guitarist of the criminally underrated J. Majesty as well as the drummer of Into Another. Their quirky, concise pop songs are the stuff dreams are made of:
Walking Concert - What's Your New Thing? Walking Concert - Hands Up!
These songs are taken from Run To Be Born, Walking Concert's debut album on Some Records.

Dillinger Four / The Baseball Furies / This Providence

Scott: I just got home from seeing Dillinger Four reign supreme over Cleveland. This band is easily one of the top 10 no-frills punk bands in the US today. Odds are, you've already heard this MP3 a thousand times before, and many of you probably own Situationist Comedy, the album from whence it came (courtesy of Fat Wreck Chords); but there's nothing wrong with another listen. Plus, if you've somehow avoided hearing the monster that is D4 before now, there's virtually no better song to start with. Prepare to get rocked.
Dillinger Four - NOBLE STABBINGS!! Adam: Buffalo's Baseball Furies have a new record coming out this fall on Big Neck Records titled Let It Be. It was set to be pressed in September, so look for it soon. While there are no tunes from it online just yet, here's an great oldie from 2002's Greater Than Ever that's a great example of the Furies' fast, angry punk rock:
The Baseball Furies - Arch Enemy Brian: Seattle's This Providence makes catchy pop-rock laced thinly with hints of creativity. It's nothing mindblowingly new, but the band knows how to create a hook and stick you like a needle with it, and their sound has splashes of potential written all over it. This cut comes from their full-length debut Our Worlds Divorce, out November 16th on Rocketstar Recordings.
This Providence - Truth And Reconciliation

The Ends / The Methadones / The Esoteric / Ted Leo/Pharmacists

Adam: This coming Tuesday Dirtnap Records will release the second full length from Austin, TX's The Ends. I'm in love with everything I've heard from this album, so I don't feel any shame quoting you some press-release hyperbole: "Guitar riffs sneak up, choke you, then give you a kiss. Bass lines sweep your legs from under you. Vocals snot and croon. It's rough and sexy stuff that you can dance to with a beer held high… It's mid-tempo, ultra catchy, intelligent, boisterous punk rock that sounds as great as it did when a needle touched the first piece of punk rock back in the late '70s." Indeed, it also rocks the piano like nobody's business. Check this out:
The Ends - Pucker Up Brian: The upcoming Methadones album, based loosely on the movie "Falling Down", also happens to be a surprisingly pleasant mix of classic punk and the mature side of early 90s Lookout! pop. While I've never given full spins of their first two full-lengths, Not Economically Viable still sounds like it could be the band's best work yet. Thick drops the record November 15th, but you can check out the first track now:
The Methadones - Bored Of Television Aubin: When we posted that The Esoteric had signed to Prosthetic earlier this week, I got the impression that few of you were familiar with their brand of mathy, progressive hardcore. This particularly strong track from their excellent EP A Reason to Breathe is a perfect demonstration of their unique, genre bending sound.
The Esoteric - Strategy of Luck Scott: Ted Leo's the motherfucking man. Shake The Sheets is better than Hearts Of Oak [review]. If you haven't downloaded this song yet, you're a fruitcake, but just in case, here's the link once more:
Ted Leo/Pharmacists - Me And Mia

No Trigger

Brian: While I'd love to blow this post up with a bunch of unnecessary hyperbole or even take a cue from the Scott Heisel School of Hype and say something like "NO TRIGGER IS THE BEST UNSIGNED BAND IN AMERICA" (although they're pretty close), I'll simply tell you that the three songs they contribute to their split with Wasteland [review coming soon] are downright fantastic bits of melodic hardcore. It also proves they've grown admirably quickly beyond their Strike Anywhere-tribute days of yore (okay,so that was a year or two ago). And hell, this is a great song, but easily the worst of the three. Still…
No Trigger - What We Became

This Is Hell / Project 86 / Controller.Controller

Brian: The departure of hardcore act Scraps And Heart Attacks's lead singer Travis Reilly finds him now fronting the recently formed This Is Hell. The Long Island collaboration, who also contains practically the cast of The Backup Plan, puts forth a dark, raucous six minutes of introvert-based hardcore on their self-titled demo that sounds like a tighter, more focused version of Scraps while keeping that searing sense and scratchy strut intact.
This Is Hell - Double Grave This Is Hell - Dearest Midge This is Hell's self-titled debut 7" will be released on Run For Cover Records Scott: It really bummed me out to hear that Project 86 had their gear stolen earlier this week. The band's new album, Songs To Burn Your Bridges By [review], came out back in June courtesy of Tooth & Nail, and while running a little bit long, is still an awesome hardcore/rock disc in the vein of Snapcase, Quicksand and Deftones. The album's best track, as well as the album's decidedly radio-friendly track, are both posted on Purevolume. Check them out here:
Project 86 - Spy Hunter
Project 86 - A Shadow On Me Adam: Toronto's Controller.Controller are the buzz band du jour up here in Canuckistan. The five piece sound a bit like a young Chrissy Hynde fronting Public Image Ltd, so while their sound is most certainly in the ever-so-trendy dancepunk vein Nirmala Basnayake's vocals set it apart. The band is currently supporting their debut 6 song EP History, released earlier this year on Paper Bag Records. Here's a few of those tracks:
Controller.Controller - Watch Controller.Controller - Silent Seven
You can stream the record from New Music Canada

Cult Of Luna / Nasum / Circa Survive

Scott: Attention, all who worship at the feet of Hydra Head Records: Cult Of Luna do the slow, powerful, ebb-and-flow metal thing better than 99% of their roster. This shit will knock you on your ass and have you aching for more. Here's a track off their new album, Salvation, out October 19 via Earache:
Cult Of Luna - Leave Me Here Aubin: Apparently, people call bands like Nasum grindcore. What that is supposed to mean is that the band plays really, really, really fast and probably listens to a lot of Napalm Death. Regardless, this track comes from their upcoming record Shift, due out on Relapse in North America and Burning Heart everywhere else. It's pretty short, so I included something from their previous record Helvete as well.
Nasum - The Engine of Death Nasum - Doombringer Brian: Featuring former Saosin vocalist Anthony Green with ex-members of the now-defunct This Day Forward, Circa Survive won't make it to the release date of their Equal Vision debut - set for a release in spring 2005 - without having accumulated at least a bit of hype. While it's safe to say that most will dismiss them as another misguided post-hardcore act, there's a lot more going on in their sound that pulls my interest in. This is taken from Equal Vision's summer sampler.
Circa Survive - Handshakes At Sunrise