The Flex - Flexual Healing Vol 2: (NOT EXACTLY A) Demo Dogz #8

I've got a great new formula...for BLACK AND REDDDDDD

The Flex - Flexual Healing Vol. 2 

In the Doghouse: Live at Mongrel Fest

I'd been wanting one of these tapes for a while, and finally managed to acquire one through a euro trade. I loaded praise on their first demo in Drug Dogs Newsletter #A and at this point they've also got a  7" out too. Since this is a live tape, I won't go too deep into the bands sound, but if you dig burly, mean, one-two-feck-you kinda old Boston stuff, then you've probably already discovered this band. 

The sound quality of this recording ain't terrible either. I'm not sure if that sample at the beginning was added in later, or if they opened their set with it, but either way it's cool. I wasn't really familiar with Mongrel Fest until I'd read Big Karl's review of it in Intro Changes #2. 

REXUAL REELING

Highlights:

-Mongrel Fest seems like a cool fest, and whoever got to see this set was privileged because this band rules. (I think I've seen the video floating around).

-There's a great "Unity" speech (that doesn't get too namby pamby) right before an excellent cover of Breakdown's "Kickback."

-Between songs, you can hear two moshers talk about how tired they are at this point in the day. Having never been to a hardcore show in the UK, I find it comforting that showgoers there talk about the same inane stuff.

-The "Get in the pit and touch each other" mosh call. 

-Youth of Today's "Take a Stand" gets the cover treatment at the end, and it sounds straight ferocious.

-You can download this tape/set in one entire MP3 at their bandcamp, here. 

Intent + Wild Man Wild (The Weekly Seizure 8.11.13)

Hey y'all. Kinda backed up with my other job, haven't had much chance to delve into the zines, but I got  a few tapes to tide you over til next week. Happy huntin.

1) Intent - It's Time Practice Tape
Not SUPER new and it's already long since hit the blogosphere, but I didn't go to Destroy LA, so I had to get one from the bigcartel. Sounds amazing for a practice  tape dunnit? I like the idea of bands going off and doing that, just doing it on their own and saving it for posterity. Like the Youth of Today Some Records tape I've been listening to today. Anyway, "I.G. Stomp" is a mosher something proper, and mine came with a lil note. (P.S., if you get a chance, go see Give on tour with Ceremony and pick up one of the shirts I did!)

s/o to the Zubaz Nation

2) Wild Man Wild - Dimension Dude Demo
Again, not very new, but I just got one. I actually did the artwork for this 'un, based on a bunch of suggestions that Taylor gave me and it ended up being a blast to do. Note that the tape is Zubaz print and references the Zubaz nation. I got this wrapped up in a bunch of Kansas City Royals scores from the newspaper too. Honestly, it reminds me of RZL DZL and stuff like that in the riffage and the dudes just want to have a good time. Track down the emps on a blog somewhere. If you're interested in art for your dumb band, I'm always interested. dylandraws.blogspot.com and dylanjdraws.tumblr.com for work samples. 

Ancient Heads Demo Vol. II (Demo Dogz #6)

like...yoinks Scoob! 

Woah. I slept on their first demo, but came across the second installment to find that it's a ripper. These dudes are from Toronto, they're straight edge and I heard physical versions of their cassettes were being sold at Not Dead Yet fest in Toronto, and that piqued my interest enough to try and procure one (details on how you can do so at the end of this post). 

The name "Ancient Heads" is awesome. I mean, there's so many interpretations. I'm imagining deep space explorers crash landing on some old planet of humanoid raccoons. They happen upon the hidden temple, cloaked deep within the reaches of a steaming jungle to find rows and rows of ancient heads...that are EXACT replicas of their own! The explorers freak out and...yeah, it pretty much writes itself. The other would be like "Heads" (meaning "experts" or "fanatics" of the "ancient" variety). Like an ancient sneaker head...or something else even more ridiculous that my brain is struggling to come up with. 

The Andrew Peden cover art is insane. I Love the stippling and the image of a youth-crew kid running away from a Scooby Doo-esque mummy.  Also I'm a fan of the Youth of Today graffiti on the pyramid wall. Imagine Ray and Porcell being chased by mummies. It's Boomerang-channel gold!

Tunewise, this has some definite youth crew elements, but doesn't completely pander to that aesthetic, so if that ain't your bread n' butta, don't shut off. In the riffs and urgency I hear traces of Floorpunch, but it's a little bit burlier, and the punchiness can probably be attributed to a recording/production by Jonah Falco, but it's fresh and vital in ways that a lot of the youth crew type bands aren't really nailing.  Also that mosh part in "Waste of Life" that cannot (should not?) go unmentioned as one of the more well-placed bits of a core song. 

Verdict: Definitely check this out. Bandcamp here and if you couldn't trek to NDY last month, you can still score a physical cassette here. 

Youth of Today - "Take a Stand" (Dylan's Dumb iPod #8)

Youth of Today isn’t really a band you can convince people to like. If it doesn’t make sense the first time, it’s probably not gonna make sense on subsequent listens. Somehow it’s always resonated with me...but I'm not that smart. I get in car wrecks all the time and I purchase books about baseball players who don't matter.

I don’t really care to resolve anyone’s hang-ups with YOT. Maybe it’s straight edge (and selling out, and re-claiming), maybe it’s that they’re as old as my parents and playing shows in 2011 (seriously though, have you seen those vids? Say what you want, but damn. Stage dive count is off the damn charts!) or maybe it’s just Ray’s voice (which is kind of annoying...but completely necessary for this band). Who cares. Banger track with a banger skank-mosh intro. It’d hard to isolate cuts from Break Down the Walls but this one’s elite. Super positive lyrics (not wimpy positive, save that garbage for 7 Seconds or whatever) and awesome call-and-response backups.

If I talk about this song any more I’m going to sound like a grown-retard, so I’ll just sign off with a cool YOT moment from This is Hardcore 2009. Slumlords get ready to play “Drunk at the Youth of Today Reunion” and Jeff Perlin goes “A lotta people think we hate Youth of Today. That ain’t true. I love Youth of Today. Who the hell hates Youth of Today?” Indeed.

Classic vid below. Check any of the new ones too. You'll still be impressed (and vaguely annoyed).