Mouth Washington - Don't Mean

Mouth Washington - Don't Mean (2015)

It's been some time since we last heard from the Hansen brothers and company, but Mouth Washington of Portland, Maine are not only still slamming on guitars and hacking on dusty drum kits, they are probably at their best right now with the release or their new album, Don't Mean.

Mouth Washington's blistering garage rock meets punk storytelling has matured since breaking out on the scene, but in no way has this maturing caused them to lose any of that baby-fat which made them who they are. Nope, Mouth Washington are still messy, still rough around the edges, and, most importantly, still shouting for your attention! So listen:



Damn, it seems just like yesterday I was seeing these guys play at the Apohadion Theater on my birthday in 2010.

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Friday Streamin'

Here's some stuff you should buy with the government's money... and by government money, I mean your money.

Solids - Blame Confusion (2014)

Solids from Montreal, Canada are just two dudes playing fuzzy music. It's a cross between emo fuzz and grungy garage rock fuzz. Like the kind of fuzz that you'd find being crafted in the basement at your local punk house. It's not too complicated to understand or get into either, it's just guitar and drums, a guy singing stuff you don't understand but you know it's in English, and it makes you wish you had a beer in your hand.


Poor-one-out-for-your-lost-homies rock.

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Krill - Steve Hears Pile in Malden and Bursts into Tears (2014)

Krill is a band that actually did come to my local punk house. I didn't know it at the time, but once and a while these cool Boston bands I always rave about come up and play. Anyways though, if you like Modest Mouse, oddball vocals, or just some fun indie rock, Krill is a band you should check out.


The title to this EP, to the best of my knowledge, is a nod to another great Boston local band, Pile. Those guys also have a really cool 7incher you listen to on their Bandcamp.

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Piglet - Early Songs (2013)

In  2005, a little band called Piglet released one of the greatest math rock gems of all-time, entitled, Lava Land. The album is a must-have if you are a fan of math rock with only gripe about it: we never got to hear more by them due to their break up. But here we are in 2014, where not only do we now have the live EP that has circled around the internet on Bandcamp, but we also have this little gem featuring 4 previously unreleased tracks.


With the likelihood of this band never getting back together, this is definitely the next best thing.

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Friday Streaming!

Here's some music to listen to...

Modern Baseball - Sports (2012)

Modern Baseball are a little indie emo band from Philly.

While I'm not too sure what to think of Sports, Modern Baseball's debut album released back in November, I do enjoy the sort of 90's indie rock feel to it that I usually always enjoy.

These guys remind me of The Front Bottoms but a little less clever and not as catchy. Modern Baseball though, like The Front Bottoms, still possess that attitude of "yeah we sound like we are from the 90's or something but we're still going to sing about taking pictures with our phones and twitter".

Truthfully though, I also hate that twitter song Modern Baseball have called, "@chl03k". I really don't want to hear about "checking tweets" or "Facebook statuses" in my music. It's a pet peeve of mine; even if they are making fun of the whole loss of real human interaction with the invention of internet friends and all that jib-jab.

 It just makes my skin crawl. 

But this isn't about me, this is about music...

So check these guys out:

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Creepoid - Horse Heaven (2011)

This debut album by Creepoid - also from Philly - entitled, 'Horse Heaven' is not your average No Idea Records release. 

Unlike what I expected from such a band that has recently been signed to No Idea Records, this is not Hot Water Music - Orgcore-type music (not that that is a bad thing) by any means. No, Creepoid is really much more of a grunge band than a punk band; the kind of grunge band that also incorporates a bit of slowcore and heavily distorts their music with old music recording devices and dirt.

Creepoid reminds me of another one of my favorite acts, Dead Confederate. The small differences here would be that Dead Confederate have a bit more of a southern tinge to them and Creepoid take more influence from bands like Low or Spain. However, the way that both bands have that nice and slow build-up into a big pile of layered sound is definitely what made me think of mentioning these two bands' similarity.

My current favorite track off 'Horse Heaven' would have to "Grave Blanket" which has a very visually-interesting music video to go along with it...

Creepoid also has a nice split with slowcore labelmates, Shores - which is very easy on the ears - as well. Hint, hint: It'll probably be featured in my next all-split post coming soon!

No Idea Records

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Lord Earth - Napalm, Baby! (2012)

I'm not sure how I missed this one, but according to my sources, not only is this new instrumental metal group known as Lord Earth from the Portland (ME) area, they are actually from my hometown of South Portland - that place that is south of Portland with the big brick building (according to a Portland local I met once).

Lord Earth's debut album, 'Napalm, Baby!' was released last March without my knowledge and the boys behind this death machine called a band have supposedly been putting on some pretty rockin' metal shows all over Portland ever since.

Lord Earth play a mix of sludge-y doom and heavy metal with zero vocals, letting their sweet rhythms and guitar-work do the talking/singing/shouting for them.

I also must note that while 'Napalm, Baby! sounds incredibly good production-wise, I have a feeling that these guys are much heavier in person than what their album is sharing with us...

It looks like I'll be putting Lord Earth on my must-see list for 2013, no doubt.

Oh yeah, and No Doubt too!

They're back right?

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Enjoy your weekend and stay out of the cold!

Monday XXXXXXII - Interesting Albums of 2012

Here are some sweet/interesting/underrated releases of 2012:

Wife - Stoic EP (2012)

The thing that makes this seemingly dragcore/snoozetronic (words I made up of course) release by some band called WIFE actually really awesome is that this is a side project by James Kelly of Altar of Plagues - one of those atmospheric black metal bands that normal people can get into. What makes that better than if Kelly was some bump of the street who was mistakenly picked up as a rising indie rock star that both Pitchfork and MTV adore? Maybe the fact that Kelly genuinely has an interest in electronic music. I'm not just saying that because that's what his Last.fm says either; I can hear it in Wife and his debut EP, 'Stoic'. I can tell that this young musician is experimenting with electronic music the way people have been for a few years now - with dark bass and slow but lingering beeps and blips - the thing that Kelly is doing differently however, is simple really; He's doing it right.

Highlights: all of it; it's only five songs. "Bodies" is my current favorite though:

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Sneeze - I'm Going To Kill Myself (2012)

Really the only reason I've been holding on to this release until now is the title. Maybe it's a reference to The Royal Tenenbaums or some sort of dark joke, but I'm not too into it. What's inside, 'I'm Going To Kill Myself' however is a different story. It's filled with some pretty interesting grunge-y type punk rock stuff that was hiding from the 90's and just now ready for proper listening. 

I'm not going to say they sound like Nirvana even though I wrote they were "grunge-y" because there really isn't such a thing in this day and age. I will say this though, if Kurt Cobain was still alive this would probably make his AOTY list. 

It's definitely an album I had to come back to a lot this year. It's a mega grower.

Highlights: "Canker", "Park Her Road", and "Red Bullgirls"

Sneeze are from Allston. Mass.

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Old Gray - Everything I Let Go & The Things I Refuse To (2012)

There's not too much I have to say about Old Gray's new release, 'Everything I Let Go & The Things I Refuse To' other than the fact that if it was released earlier in the year I would have been all over it.

Old Gray say they have moved past their old sound of midwest emo as well as past problems, past memories, and from past regrets. For better or for worse, this is their new sound.

The highlight of this album definitely has to be the last track, entitled "Six Years". It features a sample from the pilot episode of one an all time favorite show of mine, Freaks and Geeks. It's also really really sad. Yes really two really's.



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Diamond Rugs - Diamond Rugs (2012)

Initially hearing that Dead Confederate's Hardy Morris was going to team up with John McCauley of Deer Tick, I was pretty much all ears. I had no idea that along with members of Black Lip, Los Lobos, and Six Finger Satellite, Diamond Rugs was actually going to be one of the silliest indie rock supergroups ever conceived. Don't let that word "silly" confuse you though, this is still a pretty awesome listen once you get past the fact that these seemingly serious bands like Dead Confederate and Deer Tick are now playing songs about boobs and beer.

I'm not complaining.

The origin of Diamond Rugs was a way for John McCauley to play with one of his favorite bands, Los Lobos. After gathering up all sorts of musicians along the way, Diamond Rugs actually started to look not too shabby and with every member contributing their own songs and ideas - it really isn't too shabby.

All in all, you can tell these musicians came together and just had some fun. It's a nice treat to hear all sorts of different sounds coming together and with the same goal in mind. That goal being boobs and beer of course.

Highlights: "Gimme a Beer", "Country Mile", "Blue Mountains", and "Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant"

NSFW "Blue Mountains" music video:

Soundcloud stream:



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