"hard" rock

Students,

Professor Batmatiks has been overhearing much talk of "hard" rock these days. Many names have been mentioned (Glove/Special Sauce, Muse, HELLYEAH, etc.), but none of these stay true to the classics. These new, experimental acts are quite progressive. Hard? Certainly not. Progressive? Certainly. But can something be progressive and HARD? Yes! However, how many hard progressive bands are there these days? Besides Mr. West, not too many. Dwell on this, friends.

the Professor

Show Tonight!

We couldn't be more excited to present tonight's Halloween show at Oxfam Cafe:

Circle Takes The Square

Transistor Transistor

Junius

Trap Them

It's going down at 7:00, doors at 6:30.  Wear costumes!

On Shuffle: Exploding Hearts, "Sleeping Aids and Razorblades"

sup internet. Welcome to On Shuffle, where I hit shuffle and write about the first song that comes up. This time it's "Sleeping Aids and Razorblades" off of the Exploding Hearts' excellent and only LP Guitar Romantic (2003).

Like the rest of the album, "Aids" is a catchy simple punk song in the Buzzcocks vain. It stands out, however, because it has probably the best lyrics on the whole album. The song details the aftermath of a breakup, and is full of telling, hilarious details: "The house doesn't look the same/I put new posters all over the walls/And the dog don't remember your name" for example, or this particularly cutting line from the bridge, "The first night after you left babe it was so hard (so hard!)/Didn't help that you told all my friends I'm a retard!"

But "Sleeping Aids and Razorblades" is just one pretty great song on an album full of them. Guitar Romantic is probably the best punk album of the decade before (and the half-decade since) it came out. A few months later the band's tour bus flipped and everyone except the guitar player died. So this song is awesome and tragic. Listen to it before you go see Control.

Exploding Hearts - Sleeping Aids and Razorblades

Fall Issue is Shaping Up!

So, as yesterday was the deadline for fall issue articles, the content has been rolling in.  I'm astounded and thrilled about the breadth that this issue is going to cover; from ambient noise to ska to blazing hardcore (and even a little bit of Springstein), Melisma is filling in our mission of bringing every sound from the independent walk of life under one, uh, roof?

Culture is also a huge thing this year.  We have op-eds looking at some very different type of issues.  Can't wait to see the final product.

M

Blog Action Day

So since today is Blog Action Day, we want to send a thank you out to all of the bands that are doing their environmentally conscious thing, be it through their music, touring practices, or production.

There are a zillion environmental activists in music, but I want to give a shout out to Boston rockers Piebald, who, through their incredibly long career, have continued to be dedicated to finding alternative fuel sources for their tour vehicle.  Their campaign, Grease Not Gas, endures even after their August 19 break-up this past summer.  They've even been featured in a national advertising campaign for vegetable oil in their famous RV.

If you're not familiar with Piebald's mission, click over to their site.  And, of course, if there are any other environmentally conscious bands that you want to shout out, link us!

M

Because it's great

Instant dance party. Probably the craziest old-school punk band of them all. Ladies and Gentlemen, The B-52s

fuck...

high on fire w/ mono tonight...am i supposed to dress as a hipster or a metalhead?

dear blog,

for those hipper than i am, obscure private press psych-folk albums from the 70s are the next big thing. i'm a relative (read: complete) neophyte here, but i'm digging "Red Hash" by Gary Higgins, an album that was apparently recorded on the eve of a prison stay for drug charges. The closest comparison i can make is with early Tim Buckley. also, can anybody think of any bad shoegaze albums? it doesn't count if it's a non-shoegaze album by a shoegaze band, eg. "This is Your Bloody Valentine."