Title Fight - "Symmetry" (Dylan's Dumb iPod #13)

I'm just as perplexed by the Title Fight phenomenon as you are bub, so get off your hardcore high horse for a minute and level with me. When it comes to pop punk lovin' hardcore, I leave that shit to middle schoolers and soccer moms. No, I never really dug too far into Lifetime, Kid Dynamite or any of that nonsense (too busy listening to metal) and so seeing Title Fight's TIH 2009 set and the Fury of V caliber pit action accompanying it was just baffling. Yeah, I'm hip to their hardcore pedigree, and when it comes to this kind of music, I don't loathe it...it just ain't my bread n' buttah.

So now you're asking, "OK Mr. Hardcore, whyzit on your iPod then?" Well douchewaffle, the magazine I write for pitched me their newest album Shed to review about a year ago. Not wanting to be a jabroni, I dug into their back catalog to make an informed judgment on the album, and in the process snagged The Last Thing that you Forget. I liked the cover art and connected with it more than I did with Shed and just left it on my digital jukebox.


In my book, Title Fight is strongest when they're playing fast and high energy, something TLTYF has in spades. While Shed is deemed a more "mature" record with more "depth" (or something stupid) and more emphasis on slow songs, it didn't hold me long enough to care.


"Symmetry" is TLTYF's opening track and essentially Title Fight at their best. Fast, tuneful, throaty and there's even a breakdown near the end (Still not used to seeing people mosh for 'em). It's a great song, and lyrically the line "you're a match that can't be lit, spark a flame, burn infinite" reminds me of the lyrical coupling going on in Bad Religion's "Incomplete." Plus the inverted "round" style of singing at the end rules.


Yeah, they've got a wider appeal than Bad Seed and will always be more popular...but I'm allowed to have a preference aren't I?

Strange Ways

 

Hardcore 101

 

Familiarize yourself. These will be on the test.

Life's Blood - "Youth Enrage" (Dylan's Dumb iPod #12)

This particular cut's from some Don Fury sessions, a guy that every band worth their salt (and some who aren't) has recorded with. You can find 'em all online as one big long MP3, but the kind folks at Blogged and Quartered separated 'em out and selected the best dozen to include. Good site, backtard. They still making stuff?
I think I might actually prefer this version slightly more than the one on Defiance but what do I know? Jason O'Toole's vocals have always been Life's Blood's key element, the ferocious blend of an East Coast hardcore shout and melodic oi yelp. Still, Life's Blood has a continuing legacy amid some varied influences and seeing 'em pop up is always a trip. They get a good following from Japcore enthusiasts, Skins, NYHC nerdarios and old punkers. Honestly, I think I generally found out about 'em through MK-Ultra covering "It's Not in Our Heart." Like a less fruity (and preachy) Fugazi, the Life's Blood banner is one that lots of us misanthropic goofballs could fly.

Please stop turning your kids into bumper stickers.

I like to think of "Youth Enrage" as sort of a "dark side of the force" to the Saccharine-posi tomfoolery of "Young Til I Die" cuz it's a titch more pessimistic and angry (the potent ingredient that 7 Seconds generally lacked), nastier in riff and tone and about being a kid. The boot camp/pencil on a desk drumming is killer and I like how O' Toole wobbles slightly out of rhythm at the "Youth Enrage to strain and strive" bit near the end. Prank's supposed to be giving all this Life's Blood stuff the vinyl once-over in the near future, so keep your peepers peeled for that...or keep posing. Life's Blood can't be beat.

Young 'til I die, ay Kev?

yowza!

Forthcoming interview with Power Trip (let's talk about the Mardi Gras situation at United Blood) and Out Crowd (Society's Burden). Freak out baby...or go to hell.