On Japanese Biker Gangs and Not Being in Norway

Iceage

Real punk has been hard to find ever since the 80’s ended and pop-punk became the dominant genre for rebellious young people who hate their hometowns. That makes Iceage particularly exciting because they manage to be quintessentially punk (without any of the pop) in a way that actually doesn’t sound exactly like Black Flag. With endearingly sloppy vocals over an upbeat and chaotic melody, Iceage brings something like the tiniest pinch of hardcore to the sound of The Ramones. The Danish quartet gained notice with their first album New Brigade in 2011, but the newest album You’re Nothing garnered a “Best New Music” from Pitchfork with an 8.6 rating (gasp!). In true Ramones fashion, the entire 12 song album takes only 28 minutes to play through. Dirty, fast and nihilistic, Iceage might be the best punk to have come out in a very long time.

They happen to be touring, unfortunately you’ll need a plane ticket to northern Europe to be anywhere remotely close to an upcoming venue. It’s a darn good time to be in Norway though; in only two days Øyafestivalen 2013 is befalling Oslo, boasting a lineup of 75 artists including Danny Brown, Electric wizard, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Iceage, Kendrick Lamar, Kvelertak, Pissed Jeans, Slayer, Tame Impala, The Knife, and Wu-Tang Clan. The sheer magnificence of having so many great bands at one festival is only out done by the extremely odd combinations. Never would I have thought I could see Electric Wizard playing within earshot of the Wu-Tang Clan or The Knife, but, hey, I’m not complaining.

But what kind of person would I be if I just rattled off all those bands without expanding on at least one of them? Godspeed You! Black Emperor is generally categorized as post-rock, but with the versatility and singularly unique sound of every single album, it’d be more than unfair to try to squeeze them into a single genre (Interesting fact: their name comes from a 70’s documentary about the japanese biker gang the Black Emperors). GY!BE, if you really want some sort of pigeon-holing, sounds like post-rock put into the format of a classical opus; each song builds a scene at once ornate and desolate, with lucid pools of guitar, swelling crescendos, and poignant violin quivering to the surface every so often. Carefully placed samples of often incongruous and everyday conversations add an eerie element to the already haunting pieces (Give a listen to Providence or Sleep for some of the coolest samples). In keeping with the classical underpinnings, songs usually last somewhere between ten and thirty minutes. In our age of instant everything, you may think, “Woah, thirty minutes? I do not have the attention span for that!” but let me reassure you that their creeping, ambient melodies are utterly transfixing. 

Whistle Worthy Song of the Day: Out of My World by Milk Music

GY!BE

Two Romantics at an IHOP

Finally, The Damned Things have released their highly anticipated debut album, Ironclast, and yet with all the disparate influences and experience bursting within their ranks, one would expect something a bit more anomalous than a new age Iron Maiden.  On a possibly less critical note, the We Are Knuckle Dragger album, Doors to Rooms should most definitely be at the tippy-top of your to-buy list. Their raw sound paired with inventive industrial post-hardcore makes for one helluvah a nice break from the concerningly large genre of punk-gone-polished bands out there (check out Steel Toe-Capped Sandal). Are you ready for more Electric Wizard!? For those that don’t know, if A Place To Bury Strangers swallowed Twisted Sister, you would have Electric Wizard; they released their ninth, and possibly heaviest, album last month, Black Masses (check out Black Mass and Venus in Furs).  Local band time! Check out budding pop-punkers from Golden, The Greatest Comeback at their MySpace link at the bottom. There’s only one song, but from the little bit I’ve heard, they sound like Torche and Such Gold in a blender, so it may just be worth your time.

http://www.myspace.com/thegreatestcomebackco

Song of the Day: Burn It Down by Awolnation