Remains of the Day - Hanging on Rebellion

Awesome melodic crust from Portland, regrettably broken up, but all good things end. Excellent atmosphere, wonderful violin and exceptional lyrics make for some of my favorite crust. Definitely for fans of His Hero is Gone style hardcore.
~MK

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Pretend - Bones in the Soil, Rust in the Oil

I know nothing about this band! I know they're from California. I know they released Bones in the Soil, Rust in the Oil themselves and sold out of it within weeks of it's release. Other than those 2 facts they remain a complete mystery to me.....I do however love this record. Imagine the Kinsella brothers playing their take on Japanese jazzy post rock like Toe or Mirror and you have a pretty good idea of what this album sounds like. It maintains all the noodley goodness of bands like Owls or Joan of Arc, but manages to sound much more progressive and smooth. Very relax and chill record with understated soft vocals and an awesome grooving vivbe. It's actually a great record for this crummy rainy (and snowy?!!) day in May. Thanks to Mr. Frena for turning me onto this!
~AB

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Science of Yabra - Check The Sound

Intense! That's all I really can say about Portland's Science of Yabra. Rocking and rolling hardcore with enough swagger to get your hips shaking and loud enough to have your head aching. Fifteen minutes of the most engaging punk rock I've heard in a while. Not much else to say....just go download this! Cool? Cool!
~AB

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Oroku - Living Through The End Time

Oroku was a band from Seattle featuring a member of Garmonbozia. They played very heavy hardcore/crust and made excellent use of the cello. Definitely a west coast classic. If you don't already have this, now is the time
~MK

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The Newfound Interest in Connecticut - Tell Me About the Long Dark Path Home

The Newfound Interest in Connecticut was/is a band from Toronto that took elements of various different genres and created something that at times maybe wasn't perfect, but always passionate. There is a certain air of youthful energy on "Tell me About The Long Dark Path Home" that makes some of the mistakes, missed notes and sloppiness mean that much more to the listener. Music is a living breathing creature with a heart and soul that is fucked up and rough and raw; this record is all those things. It feels alive. Records like this remind me why I love DIY/independent music so much. There are no contrived notions of fame or fortune, just really rad music made with honesty, love and respect. It's interesting to listen to a band and know NOTHING about them. I don't know who was in this band, what they played, what they went on to play....the mystery sort of adds to the entire experience.

~AB

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Nyet To The Neins - Homely Architexture

AB: Super special post for today...our good pal Aaron from the great plains decided he needed to get in on the festivities and sent us a little piece of Saskatoon rock history. More posts to follow from Aaron? Who knows.

It isn’t often easy to find a band who is truly dedicated to the spirit of rock ‘n roll in the most legitimate way. In order to truly be dedicated, one cannot afford to care about anything else nor can they compromise themselves in any way. Nyet to the Neins were a band from Saskatoon, SK made up of young men who understood this and as a result, became a force that was only concerned with rocking as hard as they fucking could. Live shows often caused injuries for the band and forced audiences into very uncomfortable social and physical situations. They refused to make compromises. They received up to three or four tickets in a week from police for noise complaints. They were kicked out of bars on tour after their first song because they refused to turn down the volume of their amps. This was a band that didn’t care about you or themselves or anybody. They only cared about rock ‘n roll.

They went through several member changes throughout the four years they were together, only did one poorly-booked west coast tour and released this unbelievable EP.

P.S. Make sure to listen during the song IT’S ESCAPE for when Craig yells, “My balls will see the sun!” Apparently that line became their mantra.
~AS

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Waxwing - Demo Tape

Not sure how difficult this is to find....I haven't really looked. Regardless I stumbled upon Waxwing's first demo today, and I figured a lot of people would be stoked on this if they hadn't already heard it. I won't really get into who Waxwing is/was....I think most people already know the deal. This tape rip just seemed to good to not share. If you for whatever reason don't know who Waxwing is, download this if you like mid 90's emo like Mineral, Sunny Day Real Estate, Christie Front Drive, etc.
~AB

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