ceremony, iron lung, extortion, punch @ 924 gilman 5.28.11

i went to the pyramid brewery and missed negative standards. i got to gilman right when punch was starting. this is my second time seeing them. last time the lead singer, megan, had a broken leg and her stage presence was still good, but last night they killed it. i really like this band a lot. toast played guitar for them, but not for ceremony. extortion played next. i fucking hated their frontman. if their bass player had been their frontman i would have liked them a lot more. iron lung was a two piece hardcore band. the drummer did most of the singing, it was cool, but by that time the show was running way too late, and i didn't want to be there anymore. that changed when ceremony came on. it was all worth it. they opened with 'sick' and went right into 'he-god-has favored our undertakings'. i still like singing "i've got a lot of problems, i'm a fucked up kid" with a room full of people. nothing really beats that. the ended with 'doldrums'. it was a great set. this was my last show at gilman while living in berkeley. i'm pretty bumbed. i'll be back soon though.

the dwarves acoustic @ rasputin's berkeley 5.27.11

the dwarves played an acoustic set at rasputin's in berkeley yesterday. they were pretty funny. they played in the upstairs part of the store, so everyone tried to squeeze on to that balcony to watch them. it was really hard to see anything, but i could hear perfectly. they were promoting their new album the dwarves are born again. i really liked the songs, "everbody's girl" and "salt lake city". if they were playing a set with other bands i liked i would go see them again. it'd be nice to see them play electric. anyways . . . cool band, free set, good time.

razorcake reviews roman candles - the stowaways tape

Roman Candles Presents: The Stowaways: A Compilation of Songs 2007-2009:Cassette
Folk punk with an accordion, and while nothing about this is offensive in anyway, it is otherwise unremarkable in pretty much every other capacity. –Jeff Proctor (Aztec)

fucked up - david comes to life video

I CAN'T WAIT for the new FUCKED UP

oc weekly reviews roman candles - last exit to berkeley

oc weekly reviewed our new tape HERE.

Yorba Linda's Roman Candles continues its steady campaign at low-key releases with a new tape for 2011--but in a change, it's actually a solo acoustic collection by bandleader Christopher Gordon, recorded for the most part in, indeed, Berkeley. Given the band's past releases have often been about changed ideals, memories and compromises moving from teenage life into adulthood, it's no surprise to see the theme continue here as well on songs like "Mixtape." This time, though, as the liner notes and tape title indicate, it's about "graduating from college and not really wanting to."

The sense of hesitancy and looking back doesn't dedicate itself to four years of partying, though. A song like "666" looks back at birth and upbringing in Tustin and Orange, although the narrator, in this case, is the devil. (Seems appropriate, really.) There's plenty more wry humor throughout, despite a blunt song title like "Molestation Is Not a Joke." Who could blame him when he notes that he wishes the rent was free?

Hearing Gordon on his own after all the collective band work conveys a sense of isolation caught somewhere between comfort and constriction--something a song like "Rockstar" also lives up to in its lyrics. In itself, Gordon's not-a-boy/not-a-man questioning is not new lyrical ground per se (just ask Pete Townshend, Paul Weller and many more). After so many figures like John Darnielle and followers like Conor Oberst have made the guy/guitar/home tape-recording combination its own aesthetic, Last Exit to Berkeleydoesn't reinvent any wheels.

However, as much as the rest of his work, Gordon is about documenting the impressions of his life as they happen with jokes--however gawkily or nakedly expressed--leavening the impact but not necessarily providing any kind of final resolution. As the final song notes, "Goodbye for Now," but there will doubtless be something new soon.

the underground railroad to candyland - know your sins

know your sins! punk ALBUM OF THE YEAR! maybe . . . ? this has been a long time coming. it feels like forever ago that bird roughs came out. and 'jimmy v' has been on the internets for a while now, but it was worth the wait. 15 tracks in 35 minutes this absolutely flies by. the underground railroad to candyland are definitely my favorite present-day straight up punk band. they have surpassed off with their heads. urtc wins. this album is so fun. 'animals! run!' feels like a race, and i feel out of breath just listening to it. 'my number's on the stall' might be my favorite track on the album. 'and you think you can tame me' has the best guitar solo/intro. i also really like the closer: '2010 reprise.' this is out now on recess on 7 different colors each representing one of the deadly sins. grab it HERE. enjoy!

joyce manor / big kids 7"

joyce manor have two songs. the first one is a new jam called "new in this light". coming in at 1:17 it's got a catchy chorus: 'i can't see nothing new in light oahh oahh". it could of easily fit on the full length. their second song is a murder city devils cover of "midnight service at the mutter museum". they completely made the song their own. they skipped the intro, cut the organ, added vocal harmonies, and sped up the tempo at the end. i really really like it. big kids have one song called 'pig through a python'. the intro is some world war 2 sound clip about the atomic bomb that would have easily fit on a desaparecidos song. musically it's a little heavier song for big kids. not my favorite, but good nonetheless. the joyce manor side is definitely stronger. my 7" came on a cool lime green color. cool bands. cool songs. cool record. split release between solidarity records and brick gun records.