All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors – All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Dream Pop, Experimental, Shoegaze

If there was ever a good time to be a shoegaze band, the 90’s were it. Band’s like My Bloody Valentine, Galaxie 500 and Ride were prominent in those days, along side many other acts. More towards the middle of the decade, a band that never quite reached any sort of mainstream success started to emerge out of the shadows of New Jersey, and they were known as “All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors”. That name is quite a mouthful, too. The band formed originally back in 1993, when member’s Josh Booth and Steve Doherty left their first band “Senepede” to pursue other ideas. This led them to form “All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors”, who remained active until the year 2000.

Their debut LP, the self-titled “All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors” record, was originally released in 1996. This album would mark the beginning of the band, who are sometimes referred to as “L&L” just to keep things simple. The album, originally released with only 8 tracks, was later reissued to include four more songs, which is the copy I am listening to today. The album kicks off with the short but very sweet “Muffin 57”. The song begins with the squeal of the guitar, and shortly after the rest of the band joins in. Around the 20 second mark the lead guitar joins, and it’s pretty much a done-deal after that. That catchy lead guitar hook sticks around for the duration of the song, guiding us through the final moments. Then it turns into that jangly, chicken-scratch of a guitar solo that brings us to the end of the song. Moving on to the longest track from the album, “Saturn Jig” kicks off with that “wahh-wahh” sound that is reminiscent to the parents when they speak in Charlie Brown. Immediately after you’re thrown into a mess of heavy, swirling guitar that’s enough to make your head spin. Then they take a step back and you’re in the middle of that mysterious verse, complete with those “wahh-wahh” sound effects and the intimidating tap of the hi-hat.

During the album you’ll find many mysterious sounds and crazy voices, and it all works wonders for their hazy yet clear sound. Looking back on it, they all tend to have that crisp, refreshing sound. That being the case, it’s no question how they landed on their band name – just think Sprite, with it’s refreshing, crispness. All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors showcases a fantastically refreshing sound that balances on a fine line between mysterious space rock and in-your-face experimental rock and roll. If you’re still not convinced, do yourself a favor and listen to these couple songs below.

Muffin 57 –

Saturn Jig –

ANL&LF: Tracklist
1.) Muffin 57
2.) Saturn Jig
3.) Salad Forest
4.) All the Time
5.) Jayne Baby
6.) String of Stars
7.) How Come?
8.) Tea with Honey
9.) Nice Soup
10.) Yellow
11.) Blue Balloons
12.) Wondered Why

All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors on Myspace!
A post where you can listen to more songs: Built On a Weak Spot

Happy Birthday – Happy Birthday

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Pop, Punk

Today’s record comes from three piece band Happy Birthday. They hail from the hilariously named town of Brattleboro, Vermont, and if it wasn’t for this band, I don’t know how else you would have heard of Brattleboro. The band is comprised of Kyle Thomas on lead guitar and vocals, Chris Weisman on “inverted-tuning” guitar/bass/vocals, and drummer Ruth Garbus. And if anybody can shed some light on what exactly “inverted-tuning” guitar would be, please do!

The Sub Pop description of the album says that the songs are mostly the work of Kyle Thomas, while the rest of the band helps arrange and put the finishing touches on them. Apparently when Kyle Thomas originally wrote the songs, he was a bit “too scared” to play the songs alone, so he went out and recruited band members to play with him. They played one show together, and they enjoyed it so much that they continued to be a band together! How awesome! We’re so lucky they enjoyed it. If they hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t be writing this right now.

The material on the album could most easily be described as pop music, and I don’t think many would argue. The album kicks off with the wonderful first track “Girls FM”, complete with gorgeous choruses, fuzzy bass lines, jangly bells, and the power to put a huge smile on your face. Kyle Thomas sings “I’m always on the frequency – Girls FM, Girls FM” talking about none other than the opposite sex, which becomes clear immediately after hearing the song for the first time. It’s probably a good idea to let you know now that these songs have the power to seep into your brain and linger around for days. I’m not kidding. I listened to “Girls FM” at least 30 times last week, just check my Last.fm charts. The worst part of it all is that “Girls FM” is only the first track on the album, which means you have another 10 tracks to become addicted to once you finally take “Girls FM” off repeat.

Other tracks sure to get stuck in your brain are “2 Shy”, and “Perverted Girl” which includes some awesome guitar soloing and some great little licks throughout. “In a perfect world I’d be perverted girl!” screeches Thomas towards the end of the song, suggesting that our world isn’t quite what he’d like it to be. The following track on the record “Subliminal Message” is a love song of sorts, with Thomas again speaking to the opposite sex. This time he’s attempting to send his loved one a subliminal message in hopes that she will want to be his girl – “You say you don’t wanna be my girl, but will you just be anyway?” says Thomas. About halfway through the track you’ll find a nice guitar lick too, all while Thomas claims “Without you I just go mad.”

This album definitely caught me off guard, and I think it will do the same for you. If the mp3’s below decide to work, then you should listen to them right away. If you like the mp3’s, why not buy the record? Not only will you own the songs, but you’ll have that wonderful record sleeve featuring their all-to-awesome minimalistic album cover – it’s just a bent music note, but it’s so cool! I think I know what I want my first tattoo to be! Just kidding Mom.

PS – Titus Andronicus show tonight. Also check out their show from Fords, NJ while you’re at it.

Girls FM

Subliminal Message

Happy Birthday: Tracklist
1.) Girls FM
2.) 2 Shy
3.) Cracked
4.) Perverted Girl
5.) Subliminal Message
6.) Eyes Music
7.) Maxine the Teenage Eskimo
8.) I Want to Stay (I Run Away)
9.) Pink Strawberry Shake
10.) Zit
11.) Fun

BUY the self-titled LP directly from Sub Pop, and don’t forget to pick up their new single on Record Store Day this Saturday!

The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound – Ekranoplan

My Rating: 6/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Space Rock, Stoner Rock

Good morning folks! How’s it going on this fine Thursday? So did any of you visitors notice the web address today? If not, take a quick peek. There is no longer “wordpress.com” in the address, how exciting! We now have the domain name “Styrofoamdrone.com” all to ourselves. Isn’t that great? I think it is.

Today’s band hails from San Francisco, California, and they have been active since the year 2005 when they released their first self-titled album. They put it out on their very own “Sunburst Sound” label, and it was only limited to 500 copies, so good luck tracking that one down. Since that first album, the band has signed to Tee Pee Records, and they have released two full lengths with Tee Pee, 2007’s “Ekranoplan” and 2009’s “When Sweet Sleep Returned”.

Today we have their 2007 record “Ekranoplan” on our minds. It was their first album to be released to the masses, and it’s quite a hard hitting album. It picks up pretty quickly in the beginning, starting off with the self-titled track “Ekranoplan”, and with the tap of the cymbal, it all begins. The hard and heavy guitars are immediately in yr face, followed by lead singer Jefferson Marshall’s vocals, who is already screaming and carrying on as soon as he can be heard in the song. The following track “Mosquito Lantern” takes a step back on the vocals and mellows out a bit this time, but the musical heaviness is still entirely present, but that’s part of the bands appeal. The heaviness is a sprawling mess of cymbal crashes and absolutely face melting guitar solos about two and half minutes in. The track also starts off with that same familiar cymbal tap before it kicks off into something more, being reminiscent of the intro to the first track “Ekranoplan”. Following “Mosquito Latern” is the track “Rudy on the Corner”, which again has that same cymbal tap for an intro, but this time it’s a bit slower. That being said, this is one of the slower jams on the record. It’s songs like this that really bring the term “stoner-rock” to mind. The vocals are calmed again in this song, which can be much more inviting than the screaming from the first track. Coming up next on the album would be in the instrumental track “Summon the Vardig”. It’s a 6 minute jam session featuring an immense bass line that’s present throughout, and again featuring that same cymbal tap to start off the song. It’s actually starting to get a bit old – the cymbal tap kicks off this song the same way it did for first 3 songs on the album. The only difference with it would be the tempo of the song. But moving on. I’m going to skip “Occult Roots” and move on to “Message by the Mistral and Thunderclap”, because once again this song is counted off by the tap of the drummers cymbal. I don’t know if it’s a big deal to anybody, but practically every song on this record starts off the same way. Not to mention that the songs themselves might seem to overlap at times, with the calmer intros that lead into the heavy, face melting material. The next track “D. Brown” is yet again brought in with the faster tap of the cymbal, but this track stands out by far on the album. It’s has a bluesy feel to it and it sounds like it’s fueled by nothing but attitude and the love for straight up jamming. The final 2 minutes of the track break it all down, even with the keyboards coming into play. At first, the next track “The Chocolate Maiden’s Misty Summer Morning” sounds like it’s going to be different, but sure enough that count off on the cymbal comes back, and then you’re right in the midst of another AHSS jam out. This song is instrumental as well except for the howl of the vocals towards the end, which leads us into the last track of the album, “Gemini 9”, which is also free of vocals entirely. I guess that would make this one more of an authentic instrumental track as opposed to “The Chocolate Maiden’s Misty Summer Morning”….but that’s all for today, be sure to check back real soon. I’m going to see The Strange Boys tonight, so hopefully I’ll have some videos for you guys tomorrow. See you then!

Ekranoplan: Tracklist
1.) Ekranoplan
2.) Mosquito Lantern
3.) Rudy on the Corner
4.) Summon the Vardig
5.) Occult Roots
6.) Message by Mistral and Thunderclap
7.) D. Brown
8.) The Chocolate Maiden’s Misty Summer Morning
9.) Gemini 9

The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound on Myspace
Ekranoplan – BUY! directly from Tee Pee
When Sweet Sleep Returned – BUY! directly from Tee Pee

Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro – Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Funk, Japanese, Jazz, Instrumental

Hello friends. How is everyone doing today? It would seem as if my post yesterday about joining our Last.fm group actually paid off, because we got ONE new member! Awesome! Thanks Mike! One is better than none right?

Today I have something that’s a bit different than usual. It was a bit difficult to find out any specific information on this band, but that doesn’t really matter. The name of the band is Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro, and they come from the wonderful land of Japan. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe it’s a group of 6 guys, all from Japan, who all bring their own special contributions to the music. The band features a trumpet, a tenor sax, guitar, bass, drums, and an organ/keyboards player, but none of the guys do the singing. The record is completely instrumental without any vocals, but the hard and heavy instrumentation makes up for it. Normally, in my experiences, people are turned off by a band when it doesn’t feature any type of singing or vocals, but I think Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro would be an exception for a lot of people. With their funky grooves and relentless approach, it’s kind of hard to deny this sound. I think many people would find themselves moving along with the music somehow only after hearing it for a short time. It has that ability to just sort of bring you along for the funky ride, but you can never be too sure where the funk is going to lead you. Before you know it, you’ll find yourself playing a track over for a second and third time, and by the time that’s over you probably still wouldn’t have had enough. To give it a try for yourself, I have uploaded a few tracks from the album to share with you guys, but I warn you, these tunes are tough to get out of your head once they’re in there. So good luck with that.

The Bunch

Don’t Touch, Just Watch Me!

Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro: Tracklist
1.) Time Has Come
2.) Yellow Soul Force
3.) The Changes
4.) The Bunch
5.) Interlude
6.) Baggy Pants
7.) Don’t Touch, Just Watch Me!
8.) DFT
9.) Interlude
10.) Big Pig Affair
11.) Blues of the Kilimanjaro
12.) Black Dog, Black Cat, Black Bird
13.) Eastwood Magic City
14.) Why Am I Standing Here?

Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro – Official Website!
Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro on Myspace!
Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro group on Facebook

Alex Bleeker & the Freaks 12″

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Blues, Folk, Psychedelic

By now, I feel like most people have come across and heard of the New Jersey band Real Estate. Their music evokes a hot, hazy summer day where you probably spent more of less of that day walking on the beach in the company of good friends, old and new alike. The band I have for you all today, in terms of band members, is practically the same exact thing as Real Estate. Alex Bleeker & the Freaks features three of the original Real Estate members, being Alex Bleeker, Matt Mondanile, and Martin Courtney IV. The fourth member of the band is no less known than the boys of Real Estate though. Although he is not in Real Estate, this talented young man is known more for his solo accomplishments before anything else, and that man is Julian Lynch. If you have yet to hear any of his solo material, please stop reading right now and follow this link HERE. This is the first track on the Underwater Peoples Summertime Showcase that came out this past summer, and what a perfect first track it is.

But as for Alex Bleeker & the Freaks, these guys all left their other musical outfits at the door for this project, and put forth their efforts into one place and worked together. The result was this still fairly new 12″ record that was put out by the Underwater Peoples out of Washington D.C., and the record is kind of like a thesis statement for a band who seems to have much, much more for us up their sleeve. If you haven’t heard any of the music yet, it tends to be folky at times and bluesy at other times, but they never forget to bring forward the psychedelic elements that’s present in most of the band members other projects (Real Estate, Ducktails, Julian Lynch). Songs like the opening tracks “Summer” and “Epilogue”, as well as “Spring Jam”, and even the short but ridiculously sweet “Dead On” all feature this eye-opening psychedelic feel that I think most people would have a hard time denying how sweet it really is. As the description on the Underwater Peoples blog reads, this release was built solely on the love and passion for music, and that is crystal clear when listening to the record. As the description reads, these boys have all “channeled their romantic energies into an electrified musical powerhouse”, and what an electrified musical powerhouse it is. Have I mentioned that I absolutely love electrified musical powerhouses? If you love them too, then you really need to check out this record. You can still buy it from the Underwater Peoples website, but you better do it sooner than later, because they only pressed 1,000 copies of the LP. I myself will also say that it is a “special privilege” and quite an honor to have let these tunes flow into my ears, and to hopefully bring this wonderful bands music to your ears as well. Please do yourself a favor and BUY THIS RECORD! Thx!

Alex Bleeker & the Freaks 12″: Tracklist
1.) Summer
2.) Epilogue
3.) Spring Jam
4.) Animal Tracks (Mountain Man cover)
5.) Prisoner of the Past
6.) Dead On
7.) Common Sense
8.) Part 2

AB & the Freaks 12″ – BUY!!!
AB & the Freaks on TheirSpace
A short list of songs to check out by the band on Pitchfork

Pontiak – Sun on Sun

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Rock

In the summer of 2008, Pontiak had signed to their then new label Thrill Jockey, and shortly thereafter, they released their first album with them. It was a 12 inch record entitled “Kale” split with a band called Arbouretum. Before signing to Thrill Jockey, the band had put out a few self released CD’s that I had a hard time finding any concrete information on. As far as I know, the band had two releases before signing to Thrill Jockey, one being an EP and another release titled “Valley of Cats”. The best I could find on these releases comes from a record label based out of London – check it out here. Unfortunately you can’t even buy either of these CD’s on that website, but if you’ll settle for mp3’s, somebody kindly uploaded all of “Valley of Cats” onto Last.fm for free download. You can check that out right here. If it wasn’t for that I don’t know where else you would find those tracks.

But moving on. Pontiak, comprised of three brothers named Van, Jennings, and Lain Carney, all put out new material like it’s their job…which technically, I guess you could say it is their job. They’re currently in the making of their latest album “Living”, which should be out sometime in 2010. In 2009 they put out two more releases, one being titled “Sea Voids” and the other titled “Maker”. A year earlier in 2008, they put out their first full length called “Sun on Sun”, which is why I’m here today. This was the first record I had heard from Pontiak, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. The record starts out with the slow and eerie “Shell Skull” which sounds like it could be the soundtrack for a scene in a movie where a bad dude is creeping up on a good dude with intentions to kill! The face melting guitar solos are the scenes where the two dudes are duke-ing it out in efforts to save their lives!! Aw!! The second track “Swell” is an echo-y, ambient track that also brings words like creepy and eerie to mind again. Skipping ahead to the track “White Mice”, this may be the first point on the album that doesn’t potentially creep you out. About half way through they decide to draw back on the creepy (for once!) and put forth the groovy. The steady tap on the cymbal leads them into this slow, dirge-y jam that doesn’t take long until it’s heavy and all up in your face, with lead singer Van Carney howling as if he were a wolf fixated on the moon. The following track, the album titled “Sun on Sun”, is without a doubt the suite of this record, clocking in at just over 9 minutes long. As usual, things start off a bit on the mysterious side, while slowly but surely the hum of the keyboard rises to the top, followed by some laid-back guitar playing that changes the vibe from mysterious to a much more welcoming sound. Within the final two minutes, guitarist Van Carney brings the heat with some intense sliding on the guitar that can originally be heard in the beginning of the song, only to lead into some yet again face-peeling guitar work before bringing the song to a close. The next track “Tell Me About” starts off like many of these Pontiak tracks before leading into an unexpected keyboard solo topped off by screaming vocals and once again some in-yr-face guitar. The final track “The Brush Burned Fast” is a bit different from everything else on the album. It’s only an acoustic guitar and the singer (probably Van Carney) with some ambiance in the background that is strikingly similar to the ambient track “Swell”. I’m almost positive it’s the same thing. But once again, thanks for reading, and check back again real soon!!!

White Mice

Sun on Sun: Tracklist
1.) Shell Skull
2.) Swell
3.) White Hands
4.) White Mice
5.) Sun on Sun
6.) Tell Me About
7.) The Brush Burned Fast

Pontiak’s Official Website
Pontiak on Myspace
Sun on Sun – BUY! from Thrill Jockey

dd/mm/yyyy – Black Square

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Post Punk, Experimental, Canadian

dd/mm/yyyy may or may not be a band you have already familiarized yourself with. If you already have discovered them up to this point, then good job. If not, well then I suggest you stick around and read this post, and then perhaps you’ll be interested enough to check out the band.

Most importantly about the band, their name is pronounced “day month year”. Their first release came out back in 2004, but the members of the band had been practicing together for a year already, beginning the band 2003. dd/mm/yyyy hail from the second biggest continent in the world, Canada, coming specifically out of the largest city in Canada, Toronto. Currently, the band has 5 members, and they are all currently on tour in the UK before they come over to the US for the SXSW shows that are happening in the Texas area.

Depending on who you talk to, you could say that dd/mm/yyyy’s most recent release is their most defined to date, but with the way the band is constantly changing things up, it’s difficult to pin down an accurate statement. Once you have an idea, their music is changing so fast that you’re not too sure if you want to speak it aloud anymore. Some things that can easily and most definitely be said about the band is that the music is usually fast, with frantic guitar licks and urgent vocals – possibly even arguably mysterious or creepy at times with a song like “They” or “My Glasses”. Other songs like the first track “Bronzage” and the final track “Digital Haircut” feature these more rabid and spazzed out guitar licks mentioned above. This really goes to show how the band can go directly from one sound to the next, and this is definitely not something every band is known for doing. Other tracks from the album such as “No Life”, “Birdtown”, and “I’m Still in the Walls” are more or less dominated by the electronic keyboards that sound like they come right from an old school Nintendo or Sega Genesis. Other tracks like “Lismer”, “$50,000 Guitar Gear”, and “Sirius B” might as well leave you saying (or thinking) “Wow”. If you disagree with anything I just said, one thing that I hope we could agree on is that this band surely has it’s own unique sound. Before listening to dd/mm/yyyy, I had never heard music quite like this. The most accurate and short description I came across about the band was found on their Wikipedia page, and it reads “The nature of dd/mm/yyyy’s music is explained as a mess of spastic, specially challenged art rock with jagged, diamondback guitars, ’80s video game synthesizers, and drums that roll with all the punches of the discordant dreamy vocals”. Yeah. Enjoy.

Tracklist: Black Square
1. Bronzage
2. No Life
3. They
4. Infinity Skull Cube
5. My Glasses
6. Birdtown
7. Sirius B
8. lismer
9. Real Eyes
10. $50,000 Guitar Gear
11. I’m Still In The Walls
12. Digital Haircut

dd/mm/yyyy – Official Website
dd/mm/yyyy on the MyyySpaaace
Black Square/ all dd/mm/yyyy releases – BUY!!!

White Denim – Workout Holiday

My Rating: 10/10
Genre/ Tags: Blues Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Rock

Back when it was still 2009, which now seems like it was forever ago, I was just beginning to discover the magic that is White Denim. After starting off with their most recent effort, titled “Fits”, I was totally hooked on White Denim. It was unusual if I didn’t hear multiple songs by them in a single day, and they would be all the same tracks, considering I only had their latest album. Over some time I figured the only way too hear more music like White Denim was to seek out other White Denim releases, so, of course, I couldn’t just sit back and deprive myself – I went out in search of other White Denim albums. To my surprise, none of the records stores in Philadelphia had anything, so I was forced to turn to the internet. After searching the web, I had located just one other White Denim record, and it was in Osaka, Japan in a record store called Panda Panda Records. Not a problem. I purchased it online, and just under 2 weeks later I had a brand new, still sealed White Denim record at my front door. It didn’t stay sealed for long either.

After getting a whole new dose of White Denim songs, I was once again floored. How do they do that!? In the beginning I would have preferred listening to Fits up until getting Workout Holiday. Now when someone mentions White Denim all I can think about are tracks like “All You Really Have To Do”, “I Can Tell You”, “Mess Your Hair Up”, “Hearts from Us All” and “Don’t Look That Way at It”. The song “All You Really Have To Do” features some wild guitar and bass work, with parts of the song almost being like the two instruments are having a conversation with each other. “Mess Your Hair Up”, the longest track from the album, deserves a lot of attention as well. I am especially fond of when lead singer James Petralli sings “In the backseat, my heart attacks me, when you ask me…” and they go into this hazy, almost ambient like part of the song that a first listener would have never ever even thought was coming up. At this point it’s almost like the guitar is having another conversation with itself – they pause things for a moment and say “ahhh-oohhhhh”, only to begin the madness once again with a fuzzy bass line. I have a video that I came across on YouTube one day, and it features the trio playing these two wonderfully amazing tracks, one right into the other. It wouldn’t be White Denim if they took a break between the songs. The energy is ridiculous – these guys really know how to deliver. Just look at how much they’re sweating by the time the songs end. Seeing this band perform live is at the highest position on my list of thing to do. When they do go on tour, I plan on seeing them in multiple cities.

Workout Holiday: Tracklist
1. “Let’s Talk About It” – 3:53
2. “Shake Shake Shake” – 2:37
3. “Sitting” – 2:16
4. “I Can Tell You” – 1:57
5. “Mess Your Hair Up” – 4:48
6. “Heart From Us All” – 3:10
7. “All You Really Have To Do” – 2:48
8. “Look That Way At It” – 3:25
9. “Darksided Computer Mouth” – 2:15
10. “WDA” – 3:03
11. “Don’t Look That Way At It” – 4:03
12. “IEIEI” – 3:13

White Denim’s Official Website
White Denim on Myspace
Workout Holiday: BUY

Parts & Labor – Mapmaker

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Noise Rock, Experimental

Why does it seem like the best bands always come from New York City? What do they got goin’ on over there that the rest of us don’t have access to? Probably nothing, but it’s still kind of fun to think of it that way. So if you haven’t already guessed, today’s band hails from the Big Apple, otherwise known as the wonderful New York City. They have been known to go by the name Parts & Labor, and yes, you need to use the ampersand. They don’t take too kindly to the word “and”.

Parts & Labor have been an active band since the palindromic year of 2002, and since then they have released a few full lengths on Jagjaguwar Records and a few 7″ records, one of which they split with another band by the name of Big A Little A. More of that here. Their latest effort, entitled “Receivers”, was released in 2008 and it brought in some positive reviews for the band. Now all we have to do is wait around for another release, but my guess is that it’s going to be pretty soon considering their last was in 2008. Whether it’s sooner or later, people are still going to be ecstatic to hear more from this energetic noise rock band. After hearing a song like “Fractured Skies” or “The Gold We’re Digging” (I have “Fractured Skies” uploaded for you below this post), how could you not want to dig further and listen to more from this band? Just about every last song on this album has that constant, in your face speed that just forces you to tap your feet along to the beat. If “Fractured Skies” doesn’t do anything for you (wtf?), or leaves you begging for more, then I suggest you check out songs like “Brighter Days”, “Vision of Repair”, “Fake Rain”, “Unexplosions”, “New Crimes”, and “Knives and Pencils”. Thanks for reading, and always be sure to check back for more! Yesterday was the busiest day here at the Styrofoam Drone since it’s beginning, so let’s look to beat that record again today! Woo!

Parts & Labor – Fractured Skies

Mapmaker: Tracklist
1. Fractured Skies
2. Brighter Days
3. Vision of Repair
4. The Gold We’re Digging
5. New Crimes
6. Long Way Down
7. Ghosts Will Burn
8. Unexplosions
9. Camera Shy
10. King of the Hill (Minutemen cover)
11. Fake Rain
12. Knives and Pencils

Parts & Labor Official Website
Parts & Labor on Myspace
Mapmaker: BUY

Library of Congress – Selected Writings on the Human Condition

The Library of Congress are no longer a band anymore, but they once hailed from the wonderful town of Glen Rock, New Jersey. Before bands like Titus Andronicus, Real Estate, and Ducktails (all from NJ), the Library of Congress had formed while all the band members of those bands were still enjoying their days in high school together. The line-up for the Library of Congress consisted of Andrew Cedermark on guitar and lead vocals, Kyle Cedermark on drums, Martin Courtney IV on bass guitar and vocals, Patrick Stickles on guitar and vocals, Sarim Al-Rawi on guitar, and Matt Miller on keyboards. Some of these names might be strikingly familiar to you, mainly because they’re the members of the bands that have been getting all the attention lately. Martin Courtney IV is now the lead singer and guitarist of Real Estate, while Patrick Stickles is the lead singer and guitarist of Titus Andronicus. Andrew Cedermark also spent some time playing in Titus Andronicus, and he also releases solo material on the Underwater Peoples label, check him out here.

As far as this release from the Library of Congress goes, I don’t really have any information on it. ~~I’m not even sure if the name of the album is “Pure White Love”, I’m just using that for blog-writing purposes.~~ [ EDIT: I have been informed that the name of this album is “Selected Writings on the Human Condition”. Thought you might like to know that. ] The most I can tell you is that their name was once “Seizing Elian”, and throughout their time as a band, Andrew Cedermark was the lead singer. I don’t know what year the album was released, what label put it out, or where you can buy it, but I can tell you that it is worth your time, especially if you’re even the slightest fan of any of those bands I listed earlier. It gives you insight to their earlier days of music before they’re bigger, more popular bands emerged, and it shows you how each band went in their own, unique direction. Real Estate took the more polished poppy psychedelic route while Titus Andronicus took the rugged dirt path to ramshackle punk rock. If there is anything worth telling you readers, it’s the fact that there is a song on this album called “Albert Camus” which is an earlier version of Titus Andronicus’ album closer from “The Airing of Grievances”. Exciting!

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Indie Rock, Alternative, Rock
Selected Writings on the Human Condition: Tracklist
1.) Pure White Love
2.) Internal Citations
3.) Doctor Faustus
4.) Fire Extinguisher
5.) Lustful Monk
6.) Second Quarter Transcript
7.) Snow
8.) Albert Camus
9.) Latin for All Occasions, Pt. 1
10.) Have a Nice Summer

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