Stone Tools - Stoned To Death

Stone Tools - Stoned To Death (2015)

The Time has come for another great local release... the time has come to get STONED!

Stone Tools are a barbaric thrashlords from the southern caves of Maine. The music that is played on Stone Tool's debut album is the kind of music summoned by riff gods using lightning bolts and ancient stone-based instruments. Don't believe me? Take a listen to Stoned To Death right now:



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Afraid - Sinister Vibes

Afraid - Sinister Vibes (2015)

Portland's residential dark synth wavers are also back with another super original album that is appropriately named Sinister Vibes. Once described as electronic music from inside a deep dark well, Afraid have climbed their way out onto land and right into your backyard. They aren't just huddled behind the bushes either, they are right out in the open ready to strike you with their soulful ax. Don't bother calling the cops or running away... Afraid's Sinister Vibes will be both heard and felt.

Sinister Vibes is out now on a very hip (from the sound of it) label, Crash Symbol. I would definitely recommend grabbing the tape from those guys and going to see them before they get too hip and move across the state or something. For Portland folks they are playing tonight at Poland Street and tomorrow they are playing in Bangor at COESPACE on Columbia Street. Get Afraid!


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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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Leveret - Action At A Distance

Leveret - Action At A Distance (2015)

What once was a bedroom project for a young Mainer has once again evolved into something extraordinary. With the first official show down and Action At A Distance recordings finally at my ears I never thought I would be trading my Leveret dancing shoes in for Leveret neckbraces, but with the new jam-heavy initiative apparent on this new record, things are really starting to heat up!

Action At A Distance is a 10 track mix bag of electronic and sensual pop/rock party music. With the addition of Penn and Cormac on this release, experimentation is a bit more prominent than the last album, Infinity which was played out like Jesse Gertz's early works of a one-man electronic act's swan song. Now with the full-band in full-force, there are a lot more to be done and heard. The electronic and seductive feel is still there as always but there are a lot of new sounds that I have never heard from Leveret before thanks to four more hands holding more guitars and effects. There are also a lot more influences that shine through that previously could not be accomplished by Jesse alone.

With the addition of a full band listeners' are always bound to come across things they wish sounded a bit more stripped down or less polished. With Action At A Distance though, the use of rock and roll instrumentation as opposed to the keyboard and bass of the past makes these songs feel a lot fuller. A recommendation I always gave Leveret was to play louder! Now with the extensive use of electric guitar I think they have found just the right volume for their party-pleasing jams.

The album does a really good job of displaying the talents of all its musicians. With "Grandfathers Axe" we hear more of what Cormac can bring to the table (and pedal board) not just by his use of the guitar but also with his vocals - something previously never showcased before other than for backing vocals during live performances. Cormac can bust out some very sleek and seductive vocals that are perfect for the more intimate moments of the Leveret experience. At A Distance also does a great job of showcasing Jesse Gertz's vocals on "Oscillator" and and the electronic epic closer "Ghost". Jesse's vocals are clear yet laid-back, something I think Jesse has improved incredibly on and I think his vocal performances here are some of his best yet.

The only negative comment I have with At A Distance is also one of the best things about the album and that's that there is too much going on. During Leveret's record release show at the Space Gallery in Portland I was hearing a lot of comparisons being thrown around as to what the new album sounds like; I heard Party music, I heard electronic, I heard indie pop, I even heard Queens of the Stone Age-core. While there's nothing wrong with comparisons or sounding like all sorts of different things, I think that by delivering so many different sounds track after track, listeners are left really not knowing exactly what it is the band is going for.

Then again, all the sounds Leveret are delivering here on At A Distance are really well done and at least are not anything generic. It probably doesn't help matters much either now that there is also another band going by Leveret that play folk music from the UK... but this right here is the only Leveret worth figuring out!


Highlights: "Oscillator", "Unclothing", "Swallow", "Little Drum Song", and "Ghost"



Now check it out for yourself!

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Monday 106

Monday is back babe-y.

Babe - Bangs (2015)

Babe were an exciting mix of styles and ideas that liked to play shows. Now they don't play shows. Get your girlcore on and listen to what they were all about with this three song sampler about the pains of falling in love, dark and stormies, and being a big ol' nymphomaniac.


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Yo Sbraito - Abbiamo Tutti Perso (2014)

Yo Sbraito are not from around here.. they are, from the name and title of this 6 song release may suggest, from Italy. Ancona, Italy to be exact. They play some pretty tight old(er) school sounding screamo reminiscent of NFT's favorite screamo bands - Daitro, raein, Sed Non Satiata, etc.


Props to these guys and Italy for keeping this whole real screamo thing alive, seriously.

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ONSLO - ONSLO (2014)

If Weezer decided to be Tera Melos they might end up sounding like ONSLO from Bolton, Mass. Power pop meets math rock? Maybe if they came to Portland I would be able to figure it out (hint, hint).

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Safari Al - Restless (2014)

Call it art rap... call it conscious rap... whatever it may be don't call it boring. Also referred to as S.Al, Safari Al rapped his way out of Wisconsin and now is trying to make it big in Los Angeles. Keep an eye and, of course, some ears out for S. Al if you are  a fan of Milo, Busdriver, Open Mike Eagle, Atmosphere, and this whole self-awareness rap game.



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Falls of Rauros - Believe in No Coming Shore

Falls of Rauros - Believe in No Coming Shore (2014)

Not all black metal has to be restricted to bedroom recordings and isolated woods.

Believe in No Coming Shores by the Northeast gods of metal, Falls of Rauros has been a long time coming. Recorded between 2012 and 2013, these 10 tracks make a brutal black metal ice storm of an album that, like Butcher Boy's Rhubarb single, has been crafted from hours and hours of practice and ear-shattering shows. If you like both powerful and woods-inspired atmospheric metal, this is not an album to sleep on.

Listening to Falls of Rauros online is not the same as listening to them up close and personal. I'm not saying these recordings aren't amazing, because they truly are, I'm saying that this is music meant to be lived - meant to be witnessed. Yes, I bet Believe in No Coming Shores sounds even more amazing on vinyl and you should definitely pick it up if you ever see it in your local record store (wink, wink), but to get the full experience of Falls of Rauros is to actually see these guys perform. I'm not an expert at anything really, but I have gone to quite a few shows in my short time here on earth and I have never heard a band play my ears off the way Falls do. These dudes know how to play loud and passionate walls upon walls of metal, trust me.

P.S. The shredding in Spectral Eye will make any big guy in a leather jacket weep - NFT guarantee.



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Butcher Boy - Rhubarb

Butcher Boy - Rhubarb (2014)

If there's one band this year that deserves your attention it's Portland, Maine's own Butcher Boy. No strangers to this site, Butcher Boy are Maine's leading brand for music groups with no easy label. If there's one tag that can be at least included with a bunch of other sub-genre words like post, freak, or doom - it's folk. But of course Butcher Boy are all of those things and none of those things at the same time.

It's been a little while since Butcher Boy has released anything physically, but their constant appearances at shows and festivals these past two years have made it incredibly easy for anyone to hear what they are up to. From Shoreless Sea released in 2012 to last year's small Rhubarb single, Butcher Boy have found the mystical gel through the power of repetition and are using it to their advantage like no other. They might play pretty much the same songs they did a year ago i.e. Cousin, Empty Ocean, and New Home, but they have mutated them into incredible masterpieces the more and more they are played.

It feels like I saw Butcher Boy 20 times in 2014, but every time, whether it was at the Space Gallery, on an island, at a farm, or in the park I was left out of breathe and completely inspired. That being said, the best advise Bassist Travis Mencher could give to an audience is to make your own creative music. Not only because Butcher Boy never has a song left for encore but also because that's what music should do to you and what Maine needs - more creative music.


I highly recommend picking this up if you get the chance because it rules (of course) and it supposedly glows in the dark! I didn't get a chance to grab a copy yet but I will as soon as they get back from their small tour. 

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CUT THE SHIT VOL 3

Various Maine Artists - Cut the Shit Vol. 3(2014)

This is volume three of Mike Cunnane's super cool and completely DIY recordings of Maine bands. Some of these bands I got to see tear it up (musicly speaking, of course) at Portland music fests and special outings this summer i.e. Hopeless Losers, Babe, and TG9; some I have known for some time i.e. if and it, Mr. NEET, Great Western Plains, SS Cretins, and others i.e. Phallus Uber Alles, The English Muffins, and Fadeaway Jumpers are bands I'm listening to for the first time via this rad comp.

All the bands, as always, are completely different, so don't skip a beat if you wanna find something new to listen to. Bands like TG9 (members of Perfect Hair and An Anderson) and SS Cretins (psych throwbackers and good friends of mine) should especially be bands you'll be seeing/hearing again on this site so don't sleep on those folks.

Enough yapping from me... just check this out:


Be sure to check out the other volumes as well if you like what you hear ;)

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AWAAS - It's Great Dying.

Awaas - It's Great Dying. (2014)

From the ashes of local legends, Conifer and Ocean came a new experiment to enter the dark dimensions of the musical subconscious. The year was 2011, and new bands from Maine were popping up left and right, including aformentioned louder-than-hell brigade, Awaas. Now it's 2014, and Awaas, like any cool local band should, are calling it quits.

Almost two Sundays ago, Awaas took there music, set it on fire, and rode off into the sunset, (almost) literally. Awaas's final performance was a viking funeral through Casco Bay. While there may or may not have actually been fire aboard the Casablanca booze cruise, from the sound of things it was quite the burial at sea. As a fan of both music and boating, that is probably the most badass way to go out.

Along with the Casablanca Cruise being the final show for Awaas in Portland, it was also the birth of their cleverly titled new album, It's Great Dying. Whether or not the 'waas team knew they would be releasing the damn thing on their death bed, It's Great Dying is certainly their swan song.

Riddled with the instrument of choice circa 1983, the synthesizer, Awaas goes completely in direction not yet heard on It's Great Dying. It seems a bit risky at first, mixing their minimal approach heard on the 2011 self-titled EP with a much more prominent gothic to industrial pop feel. Still, even with the fond interest in the synth, Awaas retained that heaviness that I remember quite well last time I saw them (opening for Thee Silver Mt. Zion in Portland).

It's Great Dying is not like a lot of music being released these days. Coming from Awaas, this is no surprise to me. Awaas is not music you can easily define other than throwing out a few meaningless phrases like krautrock, electro, industrial, or drone with names like Swans, Lungfish, Bauhaus, and The Birthday Party. At the end of the day, Awaas is just Awaas - as cheesy as that may sound - you can't put a finger on something that doesn't have any guidelines or rules other being completely DIY and has the need for really loud synth.

Highlights: "A Simple Horror",  "Big Fun", "Tiny Monsters", "Magnetic P.I.", "Cauterize", and the rest of the album.


Also, feel free to read more about Awaas and their final show via Post Mortem, here.

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Monday 103

Local edition!

Sweet Teeth - Demo (2014)

Sweet Teeth are a riot grrrrrrrrl punk rock outfit out of Portland, Maine. They recently played with my buds in the psychedelic throwback, S.S. Cretins at The Oak & The Axe in Biddeford as well as starting the night off right at the Ramshackle Glory show a few weeks back.



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Buddusky - Two of Something (2014)

Buddusky are from a part of Maine I don't hear much about. That part being Mexico, Maine. Still, Buddusky are making the once home of bingo caller/carnival barker, Ed McMahon very proud by providing simple yet cool guitar and drum music to the state.



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Holyfilth - Feast On Fire (2014)

Thrash.

Fucking Bangor(e), Maine thrash.


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Never Relaxed

Never Relaxed - Demo (2014)

Never Relaxed are some Portland dudes playing music and getting mad about some stuff.

This is a demo I was really looking forward to listening to for some time now, and have been for the past few months. It's the debut for the four-man hardcore punk outfit out of Portland and it's certainly true to the growing hardcore scene in Maine.

The unique vocals of lead-yeller, Zech is fueled by new and old school hardcore acts from Bad Brains to Bane to Portland's Cruel Hand. Then there's the other guys who, in such a serious genre, are never taking themselves too seriously. Mix it all together and you have a very fresh hardcore band that fits not just in legion halls and VFW posts but also in punk houses and underground jam spots.

Check it out:



Recorded by Leveret's Jesse Gertz.

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FYLTD

FYLTD - FYLTD VOL. 1 (2014)

Here's some local goodies from the Bangor, Maine collective, FYLTD.

The collective features many familiar names of the electronic, DIY, instrumental hip-hop, and sample music scene here in Maine including AFRAID, Jared Fairfield, Altered Gee, and the post-something rocker's Captain Hollow. Other acts and musicians in FYLTD and on this compilation such as Swerly Bird (Lanny Winchester), Life Circle, and eebbtiddee are acts rooted in the electronic Bangor scene that are just waiting to be discovered. This is FYLTD's first compilation and is curated as a way for Bangor natives, former members of 1800s Sea Monster and their friends to share their art/music together.


If you would like to read more about what FYLTD is all about I suggestion checking out Culture Shock's write-up of the group and their first compilation over on the Bangor Daily News's blog site. If that's not good enough for you, you could go to the show that members of FYLTD are putting on next week to celebrate Vol. 1's release and get the scoop on FYLTD first hand. The show is at The Bangor Opera House starting at 7 probably (maybe) and everyone gets a physical copy of the compilation (maybe).

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Host - Death Will Claim These Tired Bones

Host - Death will claim these tired bones (2014)

Here's something pretty unexpected: It's the late New Hampshire hardcore band, Host's last album which almost never saw the light of day. Death will claim these tired bones was recorded just before the band announced they were ceased to exist. Thankfully, the album was not lost forever, and is out now on the internet for everyone to hear!

Normally I wouldn't bug anyone to buy music that I'm plugging, but I really ask that if you enjoy this kind of stuff to buy this album. Not only do they deserve it because they were a band in a hard working genre, but the money also goes to a cause that is close to them. All proceeds from this release go to the band's friend/the vocalist Matt's Fiance, Ana's medical costs of her pancreatic liver failure treatment.

I know I will be putting some money towards this album when I get my tax refund money soon. 

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Monday XCVII (NSFW)

To put some life back into this blog, I've decided to not only make this post this week, but one for every day this week. Godspeed.

Dungeon Kids - Jzanthypus and Friends (2014)

A little something-something from the indie pop dudes in the Baltimore area. This 3 song EP of sorts features two B-sides along with Dung Kid's single, "Grenville, Pt. 1" from their first release, Oh How it Hurts; a song that easily made my top 10 songs list last year.



Wet your whistle.

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Big Ups - Wake Up (2011)

If you haven't already heard about these guys, you are hearing them right now. Literally, listen to these guys right now!

Big Ups from New York are blowing up with their new album, Eighteen Hours of Static and for good reason (listen). Before they were killing it with a Fugazi meets Melvins post punk sound, they were baby punk rockers in a big city. Some people might just wanna skip to their new stuff and call it good, but I like their old stuff, too. I don't know, maybe you'll like it as well.


SHUT YOUR MOUTH!

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Where's My Friends - Where's My Friends (2014)

Where's My Friends are a Portland, Maine brewed instrumental three piece featuring members of the late math rock band, The Waldos, and the always impressive, Butcher Boy. While Where's My Friends are not as heavy as The Waldos stuff (not that The Waldos were off the walls), it's still moving, a bit free flowing, but moving nevertheless.




Poland Street dreams.

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Monday LXXXXIII

Busted eardrums will thank you.

Special Explosion - Special Explosion (2013)

Special Explosion are the newest members of the Topshelf Records family. This release is a combination of  pretty much all the material that Special Explosion have released in the past all rolled up into one great little record debut of sorts.



Nice indie rock/pop punk.

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Cara Neir - Portals to a Better, Dead World (2013)

Want to bring a little darkness to your holidays? How about some crusty two-piece blackened metal?

Cara Neir's got you covered.


I was pretty surprised to see these guys make Spin's 20 Best Metal Albums as well as Stereogum's however many albums they want to put below Sunbather metal list this year. Hell, Cara Neir even made it onto a College Humor list and labeled as "...great for everyone who would prefer to be dead". I would not go as far as to say that this album would make you want to off yourself, but Portals to a Better, Dead World would definitely make it into my favorite metal things list this year if I had one (even though I wouldn't consider them straight-up metal).

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Captain Hollow - Mares Got Strangled (2013)

From what it seems, Mares Got Strangled might be Captain Hollow's "final transmission for a while". As someone who has been following this Bangor/Portland band for a bit now, I'm surprised they haven't broken up yet. Then again, I probably say that every time they return to make one last album.



Mares Got Strangled is without question Captain Hollow's most experimental release. If you get passed the fact that this album is not serious at all, you can really start to enjoy its all-over-the-place-ness.

I also really appreciate the Pooty Tang reference (track 5). The world needs more Pooty Tang references.

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Monday LXXXXI

M(u)NDAY(sic).

14 Foot 1 - Two (2012)

Just some solid math rock about farm animals, Foo Fighters, and the number 15. A follow-up to their debut, Christ Grenades from all the way back in 2007.



Really surprised I missed this release until now.

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Greef - Greef (2013)

Greef is Pete from Portland, ME's favorite folk nightmare, Butcher Boy. Greef is also the name of this analog exploitation of fuzzy lo-fi. The best way to describe it really is to say it's less like a musical experience and more like a listening experience...


...Like finding a cassette on the side of the road that still works even with its tape ripped out.

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Heccra - The Last Weekend of Summer EP (2012)

Heccra ain't your average mom and pop screamo band. It ain't your average emo-because-Buzzfeed-told-me-it-was band either. Never would I have thought of calling a genre of music "mutilated" until I first heard Heccra's distorted and all-out exploded post-hardcore music, but that's what I would call Heccra.

None of what I just wrote right there might make any sense. If it did... you listened to The Last Weekend of Summer. If not... listen to The Last Weekend of Summer.



I PISSED OFF A GHOST...

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Monday LXXXX

Getting there.

Atalanta - Tainted (2013)

Very passionate and soul-gripping screamo. From the streets of Chicago and beyond.



Almost a little sludgy even.

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Future Death - Future Death (2013)

Future Death is my answer to a new Zach Hill project minus Zach Hill. With spastic drums, blazing guitar riffs and  distorted female vocals, Future Death are mashing all sorts of sounds together and making it work. It's awesome!



For fans of Hella, Marnie Stern, Lightning Bolt, Caddywhompus, or Tera Melos.

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CUSS - Heavenly (2013)

Incredible new release from Jesus Lizard-like Portland, Maine noise rock outfit, CUSS. Heavenly is a bit more refined than their previous releases recording-wise as well as musically-wise now that they have An Anderson guitarist, Dan Smith on beautiful Slint guitar duty to add a little melody to the madness. Since I'm a better listener than a writer I would definitely recommend checking out the review of Heavenly in the Portland Press Herald with some kind words and an appropriate star rating (pronounced stah ratin', of course) for a local news paper judging a "noise rock" band. Just check it out.


Also, CUSS are playing a show real soon at Matthew's in Portland, but Alex their singer won't be there. They're still going to be playing but ask that if anyone wants to sing their songs step up and sing along with them.

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Carl Sagan Presents: The Body in the Kelp

The Body in the Kelp - The Body in the Kelp (2013)

The Body in the Kelp were born in 48 hours. These songs, they were born in 48 hours. Everything about this album, 48 hours.

Well sort of. The Body in the Kelp is a band made up of four musicians who, before participating in the 5th annual Portland Space Gallery 48 Hour Music Festival, had never played music together. See, the 48 Hour Music Festival is simple, you put a bunch of musicians together randomly and make them come up with a 20 minute set and a band name in 48 hours. Then they play said songs for a sold out crowd at the Space Gallery. The Body in the Kelp and this EP are just that; the 20 minute set the four musicians came up within 48 hours and played at the show. It's a bit more polished and re-recorded now, but the premise its still there: this is 48 hour music.

This EP opens with an amazing sample choice of Bert and I, a Maine humor classic, and then an ambient bassline leads in to rhythm guitars and drums before the vocals pierce through. From there we get more samples including a Martin Luther King speech along with more riffs, sliding guitar, doomy textures, and dirty rock 'n' roll vocals. Need I say more?



48 hours this stuff was thought up. Four amazingly original songs. Wickedly good stuff. Get it.

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Monday LXXXVIII

Sorry about last week...

Ted Nguyent - Pizza & Regret (2011)

Yummy punk rock pizza punk.



From some place. Probably Philadelphia.

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Ice Hockey - the way it is now (2013)

Screamy punk rock hockey rock. Seriously good stuff.



Not sure if you got the memo, but hockey is cool again.

I'm serious!

Last.fm

AFRAID - PINK LIFE (2013)

Ghosty electronic scaredy-cat wave.


From Portland, Maine.

AFRAID has expended and now includes: Ryan Cutler (To The Barricades!), Jared Fairfield, Matthew Lajoie (Cursillistas, Herbcraft), and James Marcel along with the ghost himself, Jakob Battick.

Last.fm

Monday LXXXIV

Moondate.

Glocca Morra/Summer Vacation - Split 7" (2013)

Good stuff from both bands right here. If you don't know either of these guys yet please do yourself a favor and get acquainted. For your health!

Seriously..

Last.fm (Glocca Morra)

Last.fm (Summer Vacation)

Wood Burning Cat - Karate Trophies (2013)

Wood Burning Cat are a three-man power pop band. I guess that means they are Weezer, right?

Whatever it is, it's pretty fun and even includes some upbeat keyboard action. 

Karate Trophies was recorded via Mike Cunnane's Cut The Shit mobile recording studio. 

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Milo - Milo Takes Baths (2012)

Milo AKA Rory Ferreria takes Baths AKA Will Wiesenfeld instrumentals and puts obscure references on top of them.

Hopefully if I talk about him enough I can get a Nostalgia For Tomorrow pop some day. 

Really digging the last track, "The Mumblings of Mr. Wav". I had never heard Baths "Seaside Town" before this and nearly jumped out of my seat when I first heard those Kiki's Delivery Service samples. I'm a real softy for Hayao Miyazaki flicks...

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