UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

Mohinder ‘Everything’ Discography – Ultra fast screamo that makes you bleed!!! Full of super-fast octave chord riffs and super-fast drumming and super-fucked bass lines. This is one of the most blistering CDs I own, and to think it’s from 1992! (G)

Neurosis ‘Souls at Zero’ – The perfect word to describe Neurosis is "epic." Songs that reach the limits of length without ever seeming monotonous, vocals that pierce through your comfort zone, and pounding metallic riffs that drive you into the ground. (G)

the Rentals ‘Return of’ – Matt Sharp is a bad ass. I’ve even gone so far to say that I like the Rentals better than Weezer, and have noticed a huge difference in Weezer after Matt left the band. This is by far one of the most solid records I own, and the songs are completely and infectiously poppy. A great use of violins and synthesizers over heavy bass rock music. Think if Gary Numan perhaps wasn’t so British and was influenced by happy cartoons and oldies music, with a blend of indie pop and dork rock. links (S)

The Softies ‘Winter Pageant’ – It was difficult for me to decide which one Softies record (out of four) to put on the recommended music list. I decided to pick ‘Winter Pageant’ because of its solid consistency. Not only that but the songs on this record kind of remind me of the Cure (in the vein of the ‘Disintegration’ era) as far as the chord progressions go, and the somewhat sweet but melancholy gorgeousness of it all. But it’s not really fair to compared the Softies to any band because they definitely have a style all their own. The Softies are sweet, cute, dreamy; their name is most appropriate for their music. Two girls with angelic voices and dreamy guitars, no drums. Somewhat slow-paced, heartfelt bedtime music that sparkles and glows. link (S)

Tem Eyos Ki S/T 7" – Melodic Iron Maiden-influenced crust speed punk with snotty female vocals and gloom-and-doom melody that sounds like it came straight out of a folk song from the English Renaissance. The most bad ass band ever. (G)

Tristeza S/T 7” (Caffeine vs Nicotone, distrobuted on Bottlenekk) – When I first saw Tristeza, opening for Rainer-Maria as unknowns, I flipped out, which is odd because actually hearing Tristeza you wouldn’t assume you COULD flip out to it. Well, at least not in the way you could to the bands they used to be apart of (the Locust and Crimson Curse, I believe). Tristeza is an instrumental outfit providing some of the dreamiest stuff out there, pretty music that would be intended for sleepy time, if it wasn’t so emotionally driven. This two song seven inch is probably the best thing they ever put out, not to undershadow the enjoyability of their first LP, and one of the first recordings they released (if not the first thing). “Foreshadow”, as it’s been said by one of my best friends, who listens to stuff like the Scissor Girls and PIL, is in the top 10 of the saddest songs ever written (it was SOMETHING along those lines at least). It’s definitely a song that pulls at the heart strings, building from quiet to a steady weighty upbeat, all the while keeping the tenderness of the music, that could be translated into music for goodbyes, for the breathtake of new love, for people passed away, for suicide, for crying your eyes out. It can be translated in a lot of different ways… to some people it might sound happy, hopeful, to others tragic, hopeless. “Smoke Through Glass”, the B side, is a bit stark compared to “Foreshadow”… the keyboards give it a very soundtrack like quality. (S)

Universal Order of Armageddon discography CD (on Kill Rock Stars) – Fast paced at just the right times with out-of-breath, almost full on screaming vocals and packed with heavy non-metallic breakdowns that absolutely ROCK. If UOA rocked any more they'd be made of limestone. (G)