Movie Review: We Are The Best!

Long time no see, dear reader. I'm going to skip my usual "hey guys I know I haven't posted in X weeks/ months/ years and I'm really sorry, I've just been really busy" spiel and jump right into this post. As always, obligatory SPOILER WARNING. I'll try my best to spoil as little as possible. It's not like there are any Usual Suspect caliber plot twists in this indie drama.

We Are The Best! is a Swedish-Danish film released in 2013 about three 13 year old girls who start a punk band in 1980s Sweden. It's based on director Lukas Moodysson's wife's semi-autobiographical graphic novel Never Goodnight. If that isn't enough to convince you to watch this movie, then I don't know if we can call ourselves friends anymore. On a more serious note, We Are The Best! follows two adolescent punks, Klara and Bobo as they stumble their way through school, home life, starting their first band, and generally being young, angst-ridden kids. Klara and Bobo start their band solely out of spite of a group of teenagers at their local youth center, and despite not knowing how to play any instruments, fall in love with the idea of playing in a band.

What this movie captured perfectly is the idea of being a young kid with something to say and finally finding a legitimate outlet for it. Klara and Bobo are written like true 13 year olds, where they know that they're young, angry, and want to take down The Man, but they're not quite sure what their fighting against, what the real facts are, or what causes they should really support. They don't know shit, but they don't care because they're too wrapped up in being passionate about something for the first time. Once they get hooked on making loud, incoherent noises and writing angsty, terrible punk lyrics they find a girl in the year above named Hedvig to round out their trio so they can start writing some real music. Hedvig is an outsider at school too, but she plays some mean classical guitar, so the girls befriend her to use her expertise to help them along musically. Also, something to note: I'm not sure if the actresses were 13 years old at the time of filming or older, but either way, they're young and they don't suck. They're actually pretty solid actresses. Hollywood, take notes. This is how you should cast children and adolescents in your movies.

Something you'll notice quickly in We Are The Best! is that the movie isn't really about punk music or punk culture. It's mostly about what it's like to be a young teenager and how they live their lives in a constant hyperbole. Finding an outlet for your feelings in the form of a band is the greatest thing in the world, this cute guy you just met is making you go head over heels in love, and getting into a mundane argument can be the absolute irreconcilable end between you and your best friend. And in typical teenage fashion, these major life-or-death crises blow over in a matter of hours or days. It's these dynamics between the three girls that makes this movie fun to watch, because deep down, you knew you were that bad when you were younger. Sure, if you're into punk or hardcore, it may feel nostalgic to see a couple of kids learn to play their instruments and fall in love with music, and stick their middle fingers up to the world just like you did, but even if you never went through a phase like that (like your's truly), there's still plenty to love here. A small detail that I loved was that almost all of the music played by Klara, Bobo, and Hedvig looked and sounded like it was recorded live on location. You can hear all the little nuances of recording on location, where everything you see matches up perfectly with what you hear. Nobody is randomly mashing their fingers on a guitar with a totally different track being played over top. It's nothing too big but in most movies, including movies about music, they just throw in some studio recordings so they don't need to teach the actors how to actually play the instrument being played on screen.

So there you go. We Are The Best! is definitely one of the best movies I've seen in months, with the only other being December's The Imitation Game. This movie is legitimately fun to watch, no matter who you are. It's adorable, genuine, and to top it off has one of the most punk as fuck endings I've seen in a movie. You can find it on Netflix (the Canadian version at least), which is where I found it, and I'm sure your local movie store carries it too if you feel like spending some cash.

That's all for now, folks! Go out and start a punk band with your friends.

-DG

Blastbeat Review: Haiduk, Husk, and OFF!

I'm in the thick of exams season over here, but who needs studying when you've got shit to review?

HAIDUK - SPELLBOOK

Right from the get-go, Spellbook captivates me. It starts off firing on all cylinders, and doesn't stop or tone down until the last note abruptly brings this monster to a halt. Haiduk (or The Haiduks according to iTunes) shreds out some Behemoth-esque blackened death metal, all written and performed by vocalist-guitarist Luka Milojika. The drums, despite being programmed are produced really well, and despite the speed of Milojika's work, don't suffer from sounding too fake a la Agrophobic Nosebleed. There are a couple instances of mediocre drum sounds (usually cymbals when played fast), but for the most part, everything sounds great. This is a must-listen for anybody who digs blisteringly fast extreme music. The songs themselves are over quicker than you can blink, the longest clocking in at just over four minutes, and the shortest coming in at just over two.

Also, Haiduk is Canadian! I love hearing great bands come from the Canadian extreme metal scene. It just tickles my pickle to see bands from the Great White North contribute to the international underground metal scene. You can check out Haiduk on Facebook, and hear some songs of his on YouTube. Overall Score: 3.5/5

HUSK - HYMNS

Husk is a new addition to the giant list of noisy, sludgey hardcore bands that have been cropping up recently. The guitars and bass are heavy as fuck, and everything either goes a snail's pace with crushing riffs, or shoots off at terminal velocity, zig-zagging its way around like a Converge riff. The one thing Hymns has going for it that separates it from the masses of Code Orange Kidses and Loma Prietas out there is the old school black metal-esque vocals shrieked throughout.

I honestly love noisy, sludgey, heavy as hell hardcore and Converge worship, but Husk doesn't really give me any great reasons to listen to them instead of just tossing on some Secret or Botch. I'm interested to see where Husk will go, but unless they start stepping up their game, they'll soon lose my ear. Check 'em out on Facebook and Bandcamp. Hymns is out April 10th. on Art As Catharsis Records. Score: 2.5/5

OFF! - WASTED YEARS

OFF! recently got my attention when I heard their debut First Four EPs, where they dished out SoCal hardcore punk like it's 1982 again. Keith Morris (of Black Flag and Circle Jerks fame) is as pissed as ever, and he's got the music to back it. Wasted Years was recorded on tape and while it has that awesome rawness to it, it still sounds great. It sounds like 80's hardcore in 2014, and I love it. I'd put on anything OFF! have released over Wild in the Streets or Group Sex any day. Don't get me wrong, those are both great albums and I love Keith Morris jams old or new, but to hear hardcore veterans with a modern edge is something I've been hoping for for a long time.

Wasted Years dishes out straight and to the point tracks, with all but one running under two minutes. To quote another review: They rock. They're energetic. Keith Morris is angry. Find OFF! on Facebook, and stream Wasted Years on the New York Times (!?) site. Score: 4/5

That's all for now, folks!

-DG

OUT NOW: Grindhouse: Vol. 1!

FINALLY. It's here! It's here! After 6+ months of tracking down artists and getting artwork together, Needs More Noise Gate's first ever compilation album is out! I know most of you have been following along for a while, so for you fine folk, just scroll down and hit the play button. For those of you who aren't quite sure what Grindhouse is all about, it's a free digital compilation of the best hardcore, grindcore, powerviolence, and crust punk that I've run into over my time running this blog. It's only 22 songs long, and while it isn't the most expanive compilation album ever, I legitimately think every song on here is a winner.

Check it out below!

That's all for now, folks! Keep on grinding in the free world.

-DG

Album Review: Degraded - "Generalized Oppression"

So, for whatever reason, one of the scenes I seem to receive the most music from is the French hardcore and grindcore scene. It all started with Yattai, and moved on out to Faxe, Grunt Grunt, Nolentia, Vengeance, and Haut&Court. The newest addition to the list of awesome French grind bands I have for you guys is Bordeaux's very own Degraded!

Degraded is a four-piece consisting of your usual member combination of guitarist, bassist, drummer, and vocalist. These guys play in a style that mixes the stylings of grindcore with those of crust punk and hardcore into one big, pissed off package. They're still really new to the scene, having been formed in late 2011. After a bunch of lineup changes, they managed to get a solid line-up together and release Generalized Opression earlier this month.

The band really drives home the crust punk sound with both the raspy, throaty screams similar to those of Dean Jones of Extreme Noise Terror. Vocalist Paul can dish out some solid deep growls and high, depraved shrieks here and there on the album, but I really wish he did them a bit more often than he does. Lyrics are written mostly by drummer Jérôme, and much like the many grind and crust bands to come before them, Degraded deal mostly in politically driven lyrics about oppression, greed, war, and the like. It's nothing we haven't heard before from countless other hardcore bands. While the lyrics aren't anything new or groundbreaking, they're written with a sort of directness that screams passion and honesty on the band's part.

The instrumentation has to be my favorite part of Degraded's sound. It's unabashedly grindcore with its ferocity and speed, but it's also got some damn good grooves in it, too. The galloping in "Sufferings in Laboratory" is pit worthy, and the brief disco beats in "Communihilist" definitely throw you through a loop. This album isn't just a big conglomeration of blast beats and fast riffs, it's well pieced together and a little more involved than your average grind record. Rhythms shift around. Riffs come in one direction and suddenly veer off somewhere else without losing momentum. The drums (handled by Jérôme) keep everything barreling forward like an out-of-control train, but keep everything together from becoming a big trainwreck.

Guitarist FX and bassist Matt dish out some pretty inventive riffs on Generalized Oppression, too. While there are a ton of speed picked riffs and slower slam riffs coming out the ass here, there are a couple moments of guitar and bass wonkiness that sticks in your head. The very first riff of the album, off of "Dimitris" and one of the riffs about halfway through "Security Lies" show some influence outside of traditional hardcore or grind. I'm not sure where they come from, but they sound damn good, that's for sure.

The production here is alright. If there's any weak point to the album, I'd have to pick the production. Everything is mixed nicely; you can hear every instrument all the time, but I find everything sounds really bright on Generalized Oppression. The guitars are pretty thick, but the bass is way to punchy and definitely needs to be beefed up. If Degraded went for more of a production style similar to that of Pig Destroyer or  Nails, I think this LP would have sounded much better.

Bomb-Ass Tracks: Banksters Hegemony, Nazionist, Security Lies

On a Playlist With: Extreme Noise Terror, Yattai, Haut&Court

Overall Score: 4/5

Generalized Oppression is definitely a great first LP by Degraded. It grinds, it grooves, and it pounds your face in. Considering that the band is less than 2 years old and they've already managed to pump out an album this good, I'm really excited to hear what these guys have in store for us next.

You can check out Generalized Oppressionon Degraded's Bandcamp, and you can purchase a 12" vinyl version (mine was printed on clear vinyl!) off of their BigCartel page. Be sure to throw 'em a like on Facebook, too.

That's all for now, folks!

-Grave Dave

Album Review: The Wides - "The Wides"

Looks like I've got another Halifax based band for you guys! Unlike Barlow, who are also Halifax residents, punk quintet The Wides play on the post punk side of things rather than the hardcore side. They've been rocking around the scene for quite a few years now, playing with the likes of Jon Epworth and at festivals such as Halifax Pop Explosion. They've released material in the past, but they've finally dropped their self-titled debut full length.

Like I said, The Wides fall into more of a post punk sound than anything else, and if I were to describe them, it'd be like a much, much, much, lighter Neurosis. There are many definite differences between Neurosis and  The Wides, but I can't listen to the tracks like "Drugs & Religion" without immediately bringing back memories of Given to the Rising. The Wides also incorporate some of alternative rock and a little bit of progressive rock in this release with many hook laden vocals and chordal riffing as well as some noodling around in a couple odd time signatures here and there. Regardless of what labels you'd like to use, The Wides showcase some great songwriting abilities with songs that ebb and flow, rise and fall, and most importantly sound like they have a purpose.

I have to say that between the instrumentation and the vocals on this release, I much prefer the instrumentation. That's not to say I think the vocals are bad in any sense, I just think that the arrangements for all the songs are all beautifully executed. Like I said before, a majority of the riffs sound very chordal, but I found that while one guitarist is wailing on some chords, occasionally the other brings in some faint leads that shimmer on top of the rest of the music. Something refreshing to hear is the guitar tone used here. Unlike almost everything else I listen to, the guitars on The Wides are only slightly overdriven, enough to give a satisfying crunch, but not so much that the clarity of the notes isn't there as well.

I enjoy the vocals quite a bit as well as the instrumentation. Everything sounds really natural and organic, which is even more impressive considering all the different tones that the vocalist is capable of and goes through on this album. The singing goes between ethereal and haunting, like in the ending "Voir Dire" to powerful and punchy in the minute-fifteen-second long straight punk banger "Big Stinky". I've noticed that sometimes the singing sounds a little off key, which to be fair comes along with the genre at hand (reminiscent of Neutral Milk Hotel vocals), but whether or not this technique is intentional or not, I'm not too much of a fan of it. Other than that, the vocals get nothing but praise from me.

Bomb-Ass Tracks: Fuller Terrace, Big Stinky, Drugs & Religion, Voir Dire

On a Playlist With: Arctic Monkeys, The Misfits, Neurosis

Overall Score

3.5

The Wides' self-titled full length debut is a really solid punk release. While it doesn't blow my mind, it does the job of delivering high energy and fun tracks to jump around and mosh to, with just enough dynamic variation to keep things interesting. I'll be keeping my eye on The Wides in the future.

You can check out The Wides' Bandcamp page with their full album here. If anyone can track them down on Facebook, please let me know and then I'll link you guys to their fan page [EDIT: Courtesy of an Anonymous reader, their Facebook page can be found here.].

That's all for now, folks! Canada still rules.

-DG

Album Review: Sexgender - "Transgenital"

So this morning I checked my email and I found one from a Mr. Austyn Sullivan. Ausytn is the drummer to a Baltimore, MA based hardcore punk and noise rock band called Sexgender. He asked kindly if I could review his band's first album and their split with their friends in Baklavaa. Someone asked me to review their band's album. Wow. Look at me, moving up in the music reviewing world!

Egotistical ravings aside, I gave Sexgender's debut, Transgenital a listen and I'll call it as I hear it.

"This is disgusting. It's pornography... No. No. No. This is beautiful. This is art." -- J.R. Hayes

Honestly, this is one of my first experiences with noise music and punk this experimental and avant-garde. I've listened to some Merzbow tracks here and there, but not much more. That being said, I didn't find Transgenital to be too overpowering as far as the noise part of their music went. There's tons of screeching guitar and feedback, especially on the opening track "Knifetie", but the feedback especially shows up all over the place on this album. At first, because it was hella-fuckin' early, the screeching was annoying, but after I gave the album a couple listens through, it really started to grow on me.

The guitar playing in general on Transgenital is well done. Aside from the feedback, the riffs are pretty catchy and sometimes remind me of riffmaestro Scott Hull's brilliant guitar parts. The distorted guitar tone is thick, crusty, and crushing. The drumming is impressive too. Blast beats show up occasionally on the album, most memorably on the track "The Phallus". Alongside the wailing guitar, the drums really make it seem like the music is about to fall apart.Rhythms disassemble and reassemble as the music twists, turns and slithers, but the music really gets going once the drums lock into a groove. The playing is still loose and fluid, but things get driven forward powerfully.

The last thing I want t touch on is the vocals. The vocals seem either to be under reverb or echo (possibly both?) and sound like commands pouring out of a megaphone. I feel like under any other musical context, making all of the vocals on an album sound like this wouldn't be the wisest choice, but with Sexgender's wall of sound approach to music, the vocals fit perfectly over top.

Production is rough around the edges, but honestly, for music like this, I wouldn't want it any other way. The only gripe I have with this album, and it may just be my inexperience with the genre, is lack of dynamics. On Transgenital, things are always loud all the time. It's like they wrote their music in caps lock. I'd like to hear some quieter or maybe even more ambient passages on their next release, just to break up all of the constant, aggressive noise. That being said, this album only runs for less than 20 minutes, so it's very manageable to digest the entire album in one sitting, even for non-noise rock listeners such as myself.

Bomb-Ass Tracks: Christs and Queers, The Phallus

On a Playlist With: Converge, Pig Destroyer (Prowler in the Yard)

Overall Score

3.5 (That's 3.5 out of 5, a "Good" if anybody doesn't know how my scale works)

I've got to say, I enjoyed Transgenital. Sexgender have made a chaotic flurry of crusty punk and noise to beat the shit out of your ears. It's less a wall and more of an electric barbed wire fence of sound. Again, I'd like to see some variation in their music next time, but this is their debut album, so they've got plenty of room to grow. I was also asked to review their split with Baklavaa, but it's midterm season in university, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get around to that.

You can listen to and download Transgenital on the band's Bandcamp page. You can check 'em out and find tour dates on their Facebook page here.

That's all for now, folks!

-DG

Album Review: Converge - "All We Love We Leave Behind"

I'm not even going to dick around here. Converge have written one of the best, if not, the best metal album this year. To be fair though, I can't call it quite yet because I haven't heard the new Pig Destroyer album. By the end of the month, I'll most likely have my year end champion.

Converge are a Massachusetts based hardcore band who're known for pushing the boundaries of extreme music since the beginning of their career. They're recognized by their furious, twisting, emotional songs, none of which seem to conform to any sort of predetermined standard.

I've never listened to Converge before All We Love We Leave Behind was released, and just by listening to the first track on the album, "Aimless Arrow", I can already tell how intense this album is going to get. Guitars flare around while drummer Ben Koller smashes his kit into the ground, sounding like he'll fall off his drum stool any second just from playing so hard. Vocalist Jacob Bannon lays down some fantastic vocals that are both dripping with hate and versatile. His growls get down to demonic levels while his higher register vocals have a beautifully distressing quality to them.

This album offers no breathing room. It isn't for the faint of heart or the soft of ear. All We Love is a swirling maelstrom of riffs that turn on a dime from mauling your face off to snaking and winding their way up to dizzying lead lines. The album is the perfect length. It clocks in at just under 40 minutes, which at first seems short, but after being subjected to this intense of an aural beating, is just long enough.

Guitarist Kurt Ballou throws a couple very interesting licks towards the listener which will grab your attention immediately, most notably the intro and verses of "Sadness Comes Home" and the beautiful guitar solo in "Coral Blue". The latter brings in thoughts of Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth with it's almost bluesy and jazzy sound and only slightly overdriven tone.

If there's any one drum technique I love, it would be the tasteful use of double bass pedals. Speedy kick passages show up here and there on this release, never making it too thrashy for it's own good. These sections are perfectly placed and spaced to make some of the most moshtastic songs I've heard all year. "Trespasses" = all of my mosh. All of it.

Once again to bring it back to a Pig Destroyer vs. Converge thing: take Converge's "Trespasses" versus Piggy D's "Burning Palm". Which one makes you bang your head more? Let me know in the comments. If you just leave a flurry of letters, I understand. It's tough to mosh and type at the same time.

I can't vouch for the safety of any drop-kickable objects near me when this song starts.

Starting at 1:35 = I'm punching everything within arm's reach.

Production is really well done here too. Everything is audible, even though most of the album takes on a wall of sound approach. Nothing overpowers anything else, and everything compliments all the other instruments. Everything is thick, heavy, and uncompromising.

Bomb-Ass Tracks: Trespasses, Sadness Come Home, Coral Blue

On a Playlist With: Between the Buried and Me, (old) Mastodon, (new) Napalm Death

Overall Score

4.5

Converge are the definition of "organized chaos". Anyone interested in punk, thrash or extreme metal should love All We Love We Leave Behind. But you won't ever want to leave it behind. See what I did there?

That's all for now, folks! I'm going to go back to listening to Converge while I wait for new Pig Destroyer.

Album Review: Municipal Waste - "The Fatal Feast"

The Waste are back, and they’re busting out a whole lotta ass-whoopin’. As an expert in all things music, my research tells me this album is a good thing for everyone. Except your liver. Your liver hates you every time you toss on a Municipal Waste CD, but jeez, it’s got to lighten up a bit. I mean, the last time I tossed on The Art of Partying I woke up the next morning naked on a tractor, completely unable to move my neck.

It’s getting better, I swear.

Just another Tuesday night at my place**.

Or maybe not, cause now we have 16 (17 if you count the bonus) new anthems to shotgun beers, plug zombies full of lead, and just generally fuck shit up with. The Fatal Feast is Municipal Waste at their Municipal Waste-iest. The current kings of Crossover Thrash, Municipal Waste blend the energy and ridiculous antics of Hardcore with the speed, ferocity, and heaviness of Thrash Metal.

Municipal Waste continue with the fist-in-the-face sound, with sharp distorted guitars taking the front lines on this album. Ryan Waste's riffing is as destructive as ever, and he even does a couple of sweet solos too! Tony Forresta keeps his punk-ish vocals booming as raunchy as ever, while Dave Witte and Landphil keep the rhythm down tight, cause y'know, ain't no one fuck with the Witte-Landphil rhythm duo.

Ain't.

No one.

One thing I really like on this album (well, on all their albums, really) are Ryan Waste's extra vocals (especially on "Standards and Practices" every once in a while. I don't know exactly why I love them so much. It might because they remind me of old school 80s punk, which is weird 'cause I don't even listen to 80s punk. What?

The only thing that bugs me with The Fatal Feast has got to be the lack of larynx-busting screams that Mr. Forresta is so capable of. Whatever. He still shreds.

Bomb-Ass Tracks

New Dead Masters: With a half-spoken intro (reminds me of "Beer Pressure" off of The Art of Partying) it's definitely one of my new Thrash anthems. It's so fucking fast.

Standards and Practices: Ryan Waste's singing on the chorus. It makes you want to trash everything. Waste can really pull off the pure punk sound when they want to.

The Fatal Feast: From the sweet 80s B-movie space sound effects to the eerie intro bassline all the way to the off-kilter chorus, this song is a winner.

On a Playlist With: Toxic Holocaust, Black Breath, Mantic Ritual

Overall Score

4.0

The Fatal Feast is a buffet of over-the-top Crossover Thrash. Municipal Waste are going to fuck you up.

That's all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.

**Tuesday night is taco night.