Album of the Month... February 2015

Eternal Misery by No Zodiac

26 Jan 2011

At The Purple Turtle Tonight


If your about London this evening then go to The Purple Turtle for 7pm as this show is going to be sick!

eBay

Selling some old band merch on my girlfriends ebay account, check it out if you're interested.

Peace x

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/gen010gen/

24 Jan 2011

The Green Hornet


2011 has been a pretty horrendous year so far for films and ‘The Green Hornet’ also failed to make a huge impact on myself. I think it was a terrible idea to create a film based on the TV show from the 1960’s, which was awesome! (Originally it out as a radio show in the 1930’s, but I mentioned the TV show, as more people have probably heard of it). As usual Seth Rogan plays a bumbling idiot and still manages to overcome the worst to come out on top (just like every other film he’s starred in.)

‘The Green Hornet’ is a ‘comical’ superhero, action film and follows many stereotypical traits that this genre has to offer. Britt Reid (played by Seth Rogan) is a lazy slacker and is the son of James Reid (played by Tom Wilkinson), who is the publisher of the only independent newspaper in Los Angeles ‘The Daily Sentinel.’ His father is found dead in their million dollar household from an allergic reaction to a bee sting leaving Britt to fire all his staff from the inherited business apart from house assistant and mechanic Kato (played by Jay Chou). After being chased by the police during a drunken night and a brief scuffle in the street, Britt persuades Kato that they should become a crime-fighting duo to help maintain order in the city. Kato creates a brand new car, complete with gadgets and weapons (this car is the best thing about this film) and is known as the ‘Black Beauty.’ 

The main plan is to capture a Russian mobster called Benjamin Chudnofsky (played by Christoph Waltz) who his father originally set out to expose. Cutting a long story short, the idea is that Britt publicises ‘The Green Hornet’ (using the help of his assistant researcher Lenore Case, played by Cameron Dias) to draw out Chudnofsky. Basically two men kick the living hell out of a whole mob and get away with being heroes (how true to life!).

Most of the film is generic and contains the same content we’ve seen in possibly every comedy superhero film. There are some good elements in this film, like the slow motion martial arts kicks and Kato being able to do all sorts of cool stuff, like open up beer bottles with the palm of his hand like Frisbees and make a mean coffee with a leafy design on it. I was really disappointed with this film, especially for the fact that Michel Gondry who created the amazing ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ directed this film. The characters are funny at first, but this soon wears off.

This film had a huge budget and most of it went to waste on the 3D factor of the movie (why even bother). The 3D effects were neither breathtaking nor entertaining. There is a really action packed car chase which I did enjoy and some stylistic fighting sequences but there is nothing special that this film has to offer and just falls flat on its face.

I apologise for the negativity but I was expecting a lot more from this film.

21 Jan 2011

Mother of Mercy: 'IV: Symptoms of Existence'


Pennsylvania’s Mother of Mercy are a band I’ve been into a while now and ‘IV: Symptoms of Existence’ is some of the finest metallic hardcore around at the moment. This album is borderline of the metal genre but not too much that it becomes an unbearable sound. First impressions are that I love this album, instantly kicking off with a melodic, thrashy sound that follows through the whole record. This is a very catchy record and very memorable and will leave you listening to this over and over.

The vocals fit perfectly well with this style of hardcore and fit in well with the constantly chugging guitar riffs. The structure of the songs sound quite basic and simple, however are carried out well with the concoction of the powerful guitar musicianship and strong vocals. I am positive that they have a large influence from Metallica, from listening to this you could almost be around in the late 1980’s/early 90’s. With a fast paced sound they take all the best parts from metal and throw this together with thrash/punk which comes to together as a perfect mix.

I like everything about this band and I can see this being one of the best releases of the year (even though it’s only January). They appear to be doing well for themselves so help them out some more by purchasing their record.

18 Jan 2011

Emerica - Brandon Westgate


Check out Emerica Footwear's promo featuring Brandon Westgate. At the 2:30 point on the vid this is one of the best kickflips I have ever seen. This guys tricks are just ridiculous, effortlessly popping the board which appears to just float over anything in his way (especially the tre flip about a 3rd of the way through.) With most of it shot with a fisheye lens it gives a good effect for his tricks, (even though fish eye has been done to death) and with a catchy song you just cannot go wrong with this.

Cliche: Keystone Tour (France)


Thought i'd upload a short tour video from the skateboarding company Cliche. Contains some entertaining sequences and has some sick footage from Boris Proust, Lucas Puig, John Tanner and more. If your into skateboarding then get into this short 2010 tour vid.

17 Jan 2011

No Turning Back: 'Take Control'


Think Fast! Records have recently signed No Turning Back who will be releasing their latest album ‘Take Control’ due for release in April. As the title says, this record is based around the idea of taking control as individuals and for No Turning Back as a band. There is a huge amount of passion in this release almost documenting their time as a band together, starting out young and growing into adults staying true to their opinions and lifestyle. After hearing this for the first time it keeps repeating itself in my head, once you listen to this you won’t want to stop.


Over the many years that No Turning Back has been together, they have many releases which I have mixed feelings on. In the past they never really stood out that much to me however after watching their performance live this soon changed my opinion. I prefer their last few latest releases rather than their older records; as much as I like them, they have not really changed the sound of their music. It sounds almost restricted to this level of hardcore, playing it safe and not wanting to take any drastic changes.

Although there has not been any dramatic change to their sound, there is a slight difference in their music, compared to, for example, ‘The Beautiful Lies’ and ‘Rising from the Ashes’ and other earlier releases. These aren’t my most favourite band but I do like their sound and am really feeling the new record. Some of songs do have a melodic sound but still keep the hard and heavy sound that No Turning Back have always had and hopefully always will have.

‘Take Control’ is a very aggressive and angry record and looks back over pretty much the whole life and journey that No Turning Back have had, also containing elements of unity and friendships from their journey.
This album is a valuable asset to the career of No Turning Back; they have accomplished a huge amount during their time together and it seems they always will. Make sure you pre-order your copy as soon as you can and catch them on their soon to be tour.

16 Jan 2011

Outlast: 'Take Control'



Personally, I feel that this band is underappreciated and most definitely underrated. ‘Outlast’s ‘Take Control’ is a fantastic release of 2010. It’s great to see that Youth Crew bands are still on the increase and sounding as good as ever.

Outlast are a fairly new band (formed in 2009) hailing from New Jersey and show some very positive aspects to their songs and attitude. With an optimistic outlook on life, this band focus’s strongly on trying to make a difference; they have a large emphasis on the respect of one another, the world we live in with strong views on animal cruelty (ideas that I support myself). 

With a record that pulls no punches, their music explodes into a frenzy of fast paced catchy riffs and aggressive sounding vocals, leaving the only way to listen this record but on full blast from your speakers. While still capturing slight elements of the Youth Crew sound that is evident in the mid 80’s from bands such as, ‘Youth of Today’ and ‘Negative Approach’, they have added a modern twist that incorporates Straight Edge culture.

Containing former members of ‘The Glory Days’ and ‘Bad Blood’ (also a rad band), ‘Take Control’ is the follow up from ‘Outlast’s 2009 demo and will hopefully be the next best thing!

Buy their record from Bottled Up Records http://bottleduprecords.bigcartel.com/product/outlast-take-control  and show this band some support.

15 Jan 2011

Monsters


‘Monsters’ was one of my favourite films of 2010. With a film budget that managed to come in at under $500,000, Gareth Edwards debut feature film pulled out all the stops to be well up there with the Hollywood Blockbusters.

This is an amazing piece of film making and coming from a visual and special effects background, a sci-fi genre proved to be a wise choice to put Edwards directing skills into. Containing a strong narrative structure it focuses strongly on the emotional factors of the two main characters as they progress on their journey through borders and the ‘infected zone’. The effects used in this production worked extremely well and was very aesthetically satisfying leaving yourself feeling as if you were alongside the characters during their situations. A substantial amount of effects are used, however are not over the top and do not distract the viewers attention from the characters naturalistic actions and emotions leaving the viewer far from bored. 

The plot itself is quite unique, as the majority of sci-fi extra terrestrial films (such as ‘Cloverfield’, ‘Skyline’ and ‘Independence Day’) have the main sequences showing the emphasis of alien attacks, ‘Monsters’ taking a different approach, has the storyline set 6 years after the aliens have already landed on the earth. The main plot follows a young American journalist who is hired by his employer to guide the latter’s daughter back to the USA safe and sound. Both of the main characters appear to be going through separate crises.  Firstly ‘Andrew’ (a surrogate father played by Scoot McNairy) is worried he will have to miss his son’s 6th birthday due to his horrifying job of taking photographs of the extra terrestrial’s damage and impact on the earth. Secondly, ‘Samantha’ (played by Whitney Able) is struggling to come to terms with her negative relationship with her father and her undecided upcoming marriage. The main idea is that they have to leave Mexico and make it back to the United States in the few days they have left otherwise they will have to wait 6 whole months before the next times to travel due to the migration patterns of the grounded aliens. During their journey together through the ‘infected zone’, as it is called in the film, the two characters develop an emotional bond and despite their current situations start to fall for one another. 

I feel that sci-fi works so much smoother when the storyline creates more character reactions to mysterious beings and dangerous situations, which adds to a strong narrative structure, rather than the world being filled with terror, dread and destruction. We’ve seen a constant array of productions where aliens land on the earth just to destroy it and of course humans being the ‘smarter’ out of the two just wait around for the army to blow the living hell out of them, which always seems to be the answer to everything. Aliens always seem to lose and this leads to a strong glorification and patriotism that America has, leading them to believe they can overcome anything that this universe throws at them and apparently this appears to be true with American filmmaking.

A majority of people have compared this film to ‘District 9’ (this is most definitely not a remake or a story spin off), however this film definitely has a different feel, only showing limited shock factor and by showing less interactions with the alien life forms, I feel this is more effective. 

If you’re looking for a sci-fi films with no holds barred war and destruction then this film will not be for you, but if you’re looking for a completely different attitude towards this genre, with a good quality narrative then this film will be the perfect viewing for you.

11 Jan 2011

Casey Jones: 'I Hope We're Not the Last'



In September 2010 Casey Jones parted ways with Eulogy records to self release a record of their own. ‘I Hope We’re Not the Last’ has now been released and will sadly be the final record from this band. 2011 marks the final year of touring before the band calls it a day so go support them and give them a good send off. To be fair it is best to end things on a positive note rather than fading out in the future and what better way to end things than with this fantastic record.

I have loved this band for a few years now and they have never ceased to amaze me. This album certainly shows some of their best efforts combining quality lyrics with comical takes on topics and compiling all this into catchy riffs leaving you wanting to mosh all day long. This album also portrays the ongoing message that has been evident over their previous releases promoting that Straight Edge is the way forward for personal choice and is a lifetime commitment. It has been the message since the day they began and they have continued promoting this until the very end.

There are many modern straight edge bands about at this current time and I do not want to put across that I am a stereotype or a hater of bands but a large number have very arrogant views on Drug Free culture and seem very ‘preachy’ trying to dictate what is right and what is wrong. Another common trait is to put breakdown after breakdown with the same boring song structures that we have all heard a million times over. Casey Jones strays away from most of these generic traits and take the best parts from punk/hardcore, incorporating this with Josh James forever getting better vocals to produce a raw twist on hardcore which is, I dare say an original sound. (I’m sure many of you may have other views regarding this!)

With songs that are trying to reach the youth of today I have no doubt that the this record will have no trouble getting through to people and to help them make up their own decisions on life. This band is not solely for straight edge people so if you think that this is a band that is specifically aimed at that type of audience then think again. Straight Edge or not this could very well be the band for you and with their passionate, fun, witty attitude it’s going to be hard to fill the huge hole they will leaving in the scene today. As the title says ‘I Hope We’re Not the Last,’ there is no doubt they will be as there are many promising upcoming bands that will hopefully carry this message on.

If you love real hardcore then this album is the one for you and for sure I’ll be listening to this record far into the future. Be sure to buy yourself a copy as it’s their last release copies will surely go fast.