noise rock – Page 15 – Styrofoam Drone

Double Dagger is a post-punk band from Baltimore, Maryland. Currently they are a 3-piece band, consisting of Nolen Strals on vocals, Bruce Willen on bass guitar, and Denny Bowen on drums. You might be wondering who plays guitar in this band, and believe it or not, there is no guitarist. Instead, the bass player plays exceptionally loud all the time, making up for the absence of the guitar. Before hearing the music, the fact that the band doesn’t have a guitarist may turn you off, but I assure you, these are some tracks certainly worth hearing.

Double Dagger have been active since late 2002, and since their beginnings, they have had several releases on various labels. There first “full length” (it’s only about 23 minutes long) album is simply titled “Double Dagger”, and it was released back in 2003 on Hit-Dat Records. There sophomore effort came out 4 years later in 2007, and this time they called the album “Ragged Rubble”, releasing it on Stationary (Heart) Records. You can still buy Ragged Rubble in LP format, which is in a limited edition of 300 on clear vinyl, which I know I am going to buy before today is over. If that’s not your cup of tea, you can still buy it in CD format…but really? Who wants that? Just buy the LP for $12 and be happy. Double Daggers next and most recent release is entitled “More”, which could easily be named after their hometown of BaltiMORE. This release was put out by Thrill Jockey Records, and it brought in a bunch of positive reviews for Double Dagger. The city of Baltimore named it there favorite album of 2009, which is certainly an accomplishment for Double Dagger. This album was also one of my personal favorites from 2009.

More: Tracklist
1.) No Allies
2.) Vivre Sans Temps Mort
3.) We Are The Ones
4.) Camouflage
5.) The Lie_The Truth
6.) Surrealist Composition With Your Face
7.) Helicopter Lullaby
8.) Neon Gray
9.) Half-Life
10.) Two-Way Mirror

Double Daggers Official Website
Double Dagger on Myspace
MORE: BUY – the LP format is limited to 1,000 – get it while you still can.

Alright, here we go. For today’s entry, I am going to cover the Wounded Knees, hailing from Dublin, Ireland by Troy, New York. This band is led by the man known as Jimi Shields who has also been a part of other bands such as Rollerskate Skinny and Lotus Crown. Jimi is also the brother of the guitarist from My Bloody Valentine, and you might already know him as Kevin Shields. As far as music goes, the band hasn’t released much yet. I know they have one EP up to this point. This EP came out back in 2008 on the NY-PA label Specific Recordings. It is still available over on that website if you’re interested. They only pressed 200 of them, and it’s on colored brown vinyl with screen printed jackets. I have a copy of it sitting right here as I type, and I must say it is a beautiful record. The EP has 5 songs, all original in their own way, and it clocks in at just over 20 minutes worth of music. One highlight I can’t help but mention is the epic track “Dirty (Exploding Sonic Dogfight)“. If you’re listening to the album from the beginning, by the time you get to this track, you would already know that the band has a flute player, ex-Mercury Rev flautist Suzanne Thorpe. What you may not have known, is that she can totally TEAR SHIT UP. LISTEN TO THAT FLUTE! Okay, okay, so the flute action is good. When you’re done listening to the flute, move your concentration over to the guitar work of J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. This, my friends, is also COLOSSAL. Adding this flute along with the guitar is a recipe for complete destruction. Unfortunately this is the only track featuring Mascis, but this song will keep you coming back for more, as well as every song from the EP. This EP is certainly worth hearing, so don’t waste any more time…check it out with the link below.

The Wounded Knees on Myspace

All Rise EP: Tracklist
1.) Mainstream Hate School
2.) All Rise
3.) Dirty (Exploding Sonic Dogfight)
4.) Surf the Urge (To Explode)
5.) Sonny Payne

All Rise EP: BUY