5. O Pioneers!!!- Neon Creeps
4. Set Your Goals- This Will Be The Death Of Us
3. Regina Spektor- Far
2. Bomb the Music Industry!- Scrambles
1. Manchester Orchestra- Mean Everything To Nothing
10. Weatherbox- The Cosmic Drama
9. Dear Landlord- Dream Homes
8. Portugal. The Man- The Satanic Satanist
7. Kevin Devine- Brother's Blood
6. Fake Problems- It's Great To Be Alive
I was pretty surprised the first time I heard The Swellers' self-released first album End Of Discussion. I had listened to My Everest periodically since it was released but never enough to want to dig into their back catalogue. Now fast forward to this fall, when their latest (and greatest) album, Ups and Downsizing was released. I was and still am very impressed with the new album which lead me to search and listen to their other releases, and THAT leads us to my confusion over End Of Discussion (There has to be a better way to describe that, I apologise). Anyways, End Of Discussion is a straight forward skate-punk record with clear influences from NOFX, Bad Religion, Lagwagon etc. It puzzling because I can barely hear any of that in their later releases that are pop punk. Maybe I'm not listening close enough. End Of Discussion is a great album nonetheless, especially "His Name is Robert Paulson" their completely badass ska song.
15. Moneen- The World I Want to Leave Behind
14. P.O.S.- Never Better
13. Person L- The Positives
12. Frank Turner- Poetry Of The Deed
11. Polar Bear Club- Chasing Hamburg
Figure 8 is probably my favorite Elliott Smith album (though XO and From A Basement On The Hill aren't far behind). I know any "true" fan is supposed to claim his self titled album and Either/Or as their favorites but I've never been able to handle an entire album of soft singing and acoustic guitar, no matter how amazing the lyrics are. So apparently I'm a poser, deal with it. His later albums have incredible instrumentation to go along with his already incredible lyrics, I don't understand how that's a bad thing. Anyways, Figure 8 is a great indie album that shouldn't be overlooked (or shouldn't have been overlooked). These demos are really good quality live studio versions of some of the songs that appeared on Figure 8. Several of the songs didn't make the cut for the album, so that is reason enough to download them.
A while ago I posted the stream of this album because, as a rule, I post anything that relates to Jeff Rosenstock. Since I posted the stream, Lando has been added to the Quote Unquote Records website and therefore, is now up for free download legitimately. After spending a good two months or so listening to the album, It hasn't gotten old. Kudrow sounds like a 90's indie/punk bands (think Superchunk, The Get Up Kids, Archers of Loaf etc.). It's hard to compare Kudrow to BtMI! because BtMI! is one of my favorite bands, but the two have definite similarities and differences. Kudrow has the same intensity and energy that BtMI! has but without all of the excess craziness of the loops/synths/whatever Jeff feels like. So in that aspect, I might prefer Kudrow. Don't hold me to that though, this is only a four song ep and I don't think I could ever get tired of the horns and weird shit that makes BtMI! unique. You can still order the ep on vinyl here, so get on that. I already got mine and it looks/sounds great.
I have a soft spot for Dave Monks' voice. I don't know what it is but every time I hear him sing, it makes me smile, which is one of the reason why I love Tokyo Police Club so much. The other reasons having to do with the pure indie bliss that fills every one of their songs and their interesting/quirky lyrics. The Interface Sessions are the completely stripped down approach to three songs from Elephant Shell and one from A Lesson In Crime. It's just Monks and an acoustic guitar. And boy, does it sound good. This is a must for any fan of TPC and for any fan of indie-pop.
The please & thank yous are a punk band from Chicago. Their sound is a mix of the noodling bass lines of early Alkaline Trio (think "Nose Over Tail" and "Clavicle"), the honest lyrics and raw vocals of the Promise Ring, the catchiness and energy of the Ergs!, and the badass drumming of Lifetime. They remind me of Dear Landlord a lot, which I consider to be a great thing. Thank Yous... is a compilation of various demos and live tracks that the band has recorded from 2007-2009. All of the eleven tracks on the compilation are worth the listen, though the acoustic tracks do seem a little awkward and lose the album a little steam, it's not enough to take away from the rest of the songs. tpaty have an album coming out early next year, so watch out for that, and I'll try and keep you updated.
The first time I listened to MTB's Highly Refined Pirates I was in a post-hardcore/screamo phase (curse you underoath & silverstein) that many in my life feared would never end. Luckily Pirates is completely badass and I took to it right away. I owe a lot to this band, as well as this album, not only for knocking the screamo out of me but for opening up an entire genre to me that I otherwise would most likely have ignored. These demos are simply amazing. The quality is good and it just sounds like the band is jamming live. The only problem that I have with them is that I could only find four of the 14 songs on Pirates (that parts mainly my fault, so sorry). These demos are well worth the download and several listens. Also, Minus the Bear's new album is supposed to come out in early 2010 so keep an eye out for that and I'll keep you posted on that.
Fists... Out of Sockets is the recent acoustic album from Richmond, Virginia's folkpunk/orgcore band the Riot Before. The album features seven songs from their amazing debut album, Fists Buried In Pockets, rerecorded acoustically with strings, horns, and all of the gang vocals one could hope for. I can't say enough good things about this band or this album. They mannaged to put as much, if not more energy and emotion into this acoustic release than they did the original album. And that's saying something, because the original album was pretty fuckin great. The only complaint that I have is that they didn't include their incredible "We Are Wild Stallions" on the acoustic album. This album is highly recommended for any fan of early Against Me!, The Gaslight Anthem, Fake Problems or just music in general. Please, don't miss out on this band.
Piebald's We Are The Only Friends We Have is one of my favorite indie/punk albums of all time. With that being said, Piebald started off as a much harder, more raw band than their later works show and this ep is the proof. Geek of the Week is a mixture of driving hardcore, clever lyrics, and chaotic/deep screams. The quality of the ep is the only bad thing about it because, as far as I know, it was the band's first official demo. The ep itself is solid and all of the songs are well worth the listen, if you are looking for a heavier Piebald sound with better quality recording, definitely check out When Life Gives You Lemons. It's easily my second favorite Piebald record. This band was a favorite of mine and lets all hope there's a reunion tour in their distant future.
I have mixed feelings about the Ataris. I'll always have a soft spot for End Is Forever because it was the sound track to many of my summers growing up. It, along with JEW's Bleed American, served as a gateway into the punk music scene. So Long, Astoria, the album this single came from, was the Ataris most successful album, but also a weak album as a whole. Don't get me wrong, there are amazing songs but there are also shit songs, and when they released their next album Welcome To the Night I had lost all interest (see: ska phase). But to get to the point, The Boys of Summer ep has their incredible cover that takes the name of the ep, as well as an acoustic version of "In This Diary", some solid live tracks, and a b-side. It's a good quick listen, that highlights a solid album. 
The Silent Years are a quirky indie band from Detroit. This is their debut album and it's full of dynamic, creative indie-pop. Think the tempo changes of Arcade Fire and the instrumentation of Pavement. The singer's voice bothered me a lot when I first started to listen to them because he over does it sometimes but I got over it. I do prefer this band when they're loud and rockin ("This Town") because the slower songs tend to drag ("Devil Got My Woman"). They released an ep earlier this year called Let Go that is their best batch of songs yet (seriously, "Taking Drugs At An Amusement Park" is so catchy). This band definitely grows on you and is well worth checking out.
Gonna keep this short because honestly I got nothing right now. SORRY. More (and hopefully better) posts to come. These are just a bunch of recent random songs that are either bonus tracks or demos.Save The Vinyl Alert #1 from Vinyl Vlog on Vimeo.
I was searching a few months back for bands that sounded similar to Weatherbox (and weren't old school Say Anything) and was pleasantly surprised by San Diego's Shining Through. Their sound is along the lines of Weatherbox, Criteria, and Piebald but with more hooks and a lot more pot. Shining Through definitely shares it's main sound with Weatherbox: the stoner-rock with winding guitars and meaningful lyrics that are lost in metaphors. Where the two differ is that Shining Through is more straight forward about their sound, which gives them a catchier sound and Weatherbox experiments more and takes more chances with their sound. Shining Through's Man vs Wild ep is a little addicting, especially to a Weatherbox lover like myself. The band released another ep called Shapeshifter that is up for free on Absolutepunk.net but I decided to post this one because it's my favorite out of the two. 
I Never Said That I Was Brave is the second release from the Philadelphia based experimental indie rock band mewithoutYou. The five song ep shows the band sounding incredibly raw and hard compared to their later releases. The music is more aggressive and singer Aaron Weiss screams, instead of his usual singing/speaking methods. Three of the songs on the ep were rerecorded and for later albums (two for [A to B] Life and one for Catch for Us the Foxes). To be completely honest, I prefer their later albums much more to this one (especially [A to B] Life). That's not to say this one isn't good, because it is, but it just doesn't compare to any of their full lengths. It's pretty interesting to see how far this band has progressed from album to album and it all started here. Their latest album It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright is amazing and highly recommended.
