The Last of the Month (10/23)

Damn. Too. Much. Music. This October was kinda sick and my head is literally spinning from all these worthy releases. A perfect month for a format like this! Here's what didn't get a mention:

AREN'T WE AMPHIBIANS - "Emergency, Exit" (EP)
AREN'T WE AMPHIBIANS are one of my favourite Emo-bands right now! I already liked their first EP, re-released by BSDJ, and "Emergency, Exit" is even better. They place themselves somewhere between the Twinkle-stuff from ALGERNON CADWALLADER, the Punk-ish stuff of LATTERMAN and the more crazy stuff of ORIGAMI ANGEL. The energy is at max, the singing is passionate af and the songwriting is full of ideas. Hype! Hype! Hype!

CRASHING FORWARD - "Silent all these Years"
New release on Indecision Records and surprisingly no Metalcore. Instead, CRASHING FORWARD play parts melodic, parts Youth Crew-ish Hardcore that feels fresh in 2023. The vocals totally remind me off BANE and also musically they're not too far away. One of the better HC-records this year!

NEIL JUNG - "Infinity is whatever" (EP)
NEIL JUNG out of Brooklyn, New York are 75% dad and that somehow hinders some of their activities, like... music and stuff, you know? I can relate to that but, it's not 75% worth it, it's 100% worth it. However, they managed to release a new EP with 6 tracks, that have already been recorded back in 2019. It's solid Indie-Rock, heartfelt, sensitive and down-to-earth. Dads 4 ever!

NOVICE - "Sorrow & Surrender"
Debut album by this band out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. While they don't reinvent the wheel of Melodic Hardcore akin to MODERN LIFE IS WAR, DEFEATER or MORE THAN LIFE, they do a solid job at it. They perfectly bring across this desperate 'n dramatic feeling of the time and overall this works for me as a more melodic and melancholic version of the mentioned bands. Good stuff.

PRIVATE MIND - "The Truth you see"
PRIVATE MIND hail from Long Island, New York and play Melodic Hardcore. So, you know what you're in for! Personally I'm a sucker for this kind of sound, somewhere between other Islanders like THE MOVIELIFE, STAND STILL or their label mates SOMERSET THROWER. And PRIVATE MIND do everything right on their debut album, from the fast pace to the chugging riffs to the youtful spirit to the melodic (near TAKING BACK SUNDAY-like) singing that crashes with some harsher vocals. The only downsite is, that the songs are kinda samey. But damn, how precise can you nail a sound/feeling?

SOCIAL CATERPILLAR - "Alphabet Crown"
While SOCIAL CATERPILLAR's sophomore album is a good record in its own right, it's no "When you woke up to Dances of Light". From an instrumental standpoint, it feels more standardized, straying away from the raw Chamber-ism and putting its nose into symphonic Post-Rock. The songs tend to get a bit samey, where the record before offered something new with every new track. I guess, sometimes you feel a record and sometimes you don't. I feel "Smells like Middle-aged Apathy" though. Song title of the year, no doubt.

SPITE HOUSE - "Just for a While" (EP)
This is no proper EP, it's three live versions of LP-songs, a SEAWEED-cover and the acoustic version of "Dying Leaves". It's a nice track, but personally I prefer the original. Can't say much about the SEAWEED-song, as I don't know much about them. The best part of the EP is the live session that includes the tracks "Gravity", "Afraid" and "Dying Leaves". They sound fantastic in that setting. Check out SPITE HOUSE, they're awesome at what they do!

THE STREETS - "The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light"
This is nowhere near as bad as most ratings might suggest, but it's also far away from a great resurrection or something. What's obvious is, that Skinner doesn't have the flow he once had and the lyrics are also pretty lame, hence he it's more about the music. The production is quite gimmick-y with a lot of different sites to it, from heavy Pop-leanings to House (mostly) to Garage to Soul to Jazz to Reggae (only one track) to 2-Step (also limited to one track), but I think that makes it quite entertaining. What kinda sucks is that the songs have no depth to them. I've listened to it pretty regularly the first two weeks it came out, but I will probably never go back to it. Overall it's still way better than 2020's mixtape or the boring b-sides from the new album (released in 2017).

STRANGE JOY - "Power Pop" (EP)
These guys are red hot right now. Coming off their very good "5 Tracks"-EP from last year, "Power Pop" sees them take the next level. The songwriting is more streamlined and effective, and their energy is ever-present. STRANGE JOY are truly a "joy" for everyone into this melodic, wave-y Hardcore.

SUPERDOWN - "Return to Sender"
Their bio via Count your Lucky Stars says it all: "If SAMIAM and HOT WATER MUSIC had the sensibility of THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM, the result would be SUPERDOWN". This is the kind of gruff, down-to-earth Postcore/Punkrock that's also quite anthemic and highly melodic. They do a solid job with the songwriting, keeping the album worthwhile from beginning to end. 

WRONG MAN - "Big Plans" (EP)
I liked their video for "Wait" and the song is the highlight of the record, hands down. Though the title track comes pretty close. The other two tracks are not quite at the same level, still WRONG MAN get through with their fresh style. This sounds like a streamlined, more forgiving version of THE JESUS LIZARD or UNSANE and that's way cool. I especially love the tone and the mix of the vocals!