Posts Tagged: chase the white whale


30
Apr 09

Pigeonholed EP (2009) by Lipona

pigeonholed ep by lipona

Lipona
Pigeonholed EP

2009, unsigned (!)
pop-punk, post-grunge
5

It’s official – EPs are killing me this year. There seems to be a trend in making an EP that’s a shorter version of a self-contained, concise full-length. EPs that are preludes or postludes for full-length albums are a thing of the past, and that isn’t any more evident than in Lipona’s Pigeonholed EP.

It’s been a while since I’ve heard good ‘pop-punk,’ but Lipona has managed to exceed that fake genre and create something that’s truer to the spirit of punk. To understand what I mean, you need to read the lyrics of these songs while listening to them. There’s an honesty to them that eclipses anything I’ve heard in a long time – and thankfully, Lipona doesn’t mince the lyrics to fit the chords. If this EP is any indication, we need to prepare ourselves for a whole new wave of punk.

“Beginning the Dynamite Era,” “Reverberations.”
myspace, last.fm
The Starting Line’s Based on a True Story, Driver F’s Chase the White Whale

Disclosure: The entire EP is being offered for free to ANYONE here. Guess where I got my copy from.

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18
Feb 09

The Mercurial EP (2008) by The Mercurial

The Mercurial EP by The Mercurial

The Mercurial
The Mercurial EP

2008, unsigned (!)
punk rock, alt rock
4½

Taking their cues from 90′s rock and 80′s hair metal, The Mercurial is sonically a crazy mix of juvenile idiocy, a vaudeville act, and rambunctious rock, while they’re lyrically pure fun. I could draw comparisons to HIM, Panic at the Disco (before they got boring), Metallica, The Ramones, Latin music, and even Michael Jackson, but they never follow either influence long enough to make the comparisons stick. But you’ll find all of that and more on this debut EP, which was produced by Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner (Coheed and Cambria, The Sleeping).

I’ll admit that their sound is an acquired taste, but it’s hard to find fault with a rock band that has the energy that rock has lost over the past decade or so. Have I mentioned lead singer Chris Sanchez’s absolutely AMAZING vocals yet? His range would put any classical singer to shame and his voice adds such a fresh take to the Mercurial’s ‘up yours’ attitude that you won’t forget them anytime soon. Hair metal evidently had it uses if it gave the world this.

“Sloth vs. Platypus,” “By Passing Us By,” “Music.”
myspace, last.fm
Driver F’s Chase the White Whale, Boy Kill Boy’s Civilian

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27
Jan 09

Music Video: Driver F’s “Temple of Doom”

Driver F, one of my favorite new ‘discoveries’ from 2008, has made video for their second single, “Temple of Doom.” With plenty of cheesy fun that makes it look more like an 80′s movie, and cuts to some very stylish images of the band performing, I think this video proves that Driver F is making a lot of headway in road to success (or they just found someone with deep pockets to pay for this video). Check out the Driver F Vids channel on Youtube for studio blogs and more. Enjoy!

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