Recently added my email to the side over there, not sure why...guess the rest of the guys who have a similar internet thing going on do too, maybe I'm a conformist. Actually just wanted to see what would happen. Well...ended up getting two emails from bands. One of my buddies who has a much more superior site refuses to respond in anything but a negative way to these kinds of um...should I call them petitions. Sort of flattered or maybe should say, always knew my opinion counted for something, hahaha. Don't know as I have much of a following, I count quality over quantity so in my opinion you guys that come here are the best. The reality of course though is that 99.99% of the people who stop by this little establishment are MP3 collectors on the perpetual search for musical handouts and have absolutely nothing to say about anything. It's presumptuous though to think that a person other than a personal friend would bother to read this drivel. The fact is that a review here is not going to expose the world to anyone's music. Maybe a more positive way of looking at it though is that change starts small and it is worthwhile even if for only a few. So...what the hell, as I said way too many times when someone pulled out a baggie of some mysterious substance/pills, "I'll give anything a try once."
Here's the first email I got (the snapshot I made from a clip on youtube).
Mustard Relics, Chicago's junk-rockin'
Rambos have just released two new tracks! "Arrows" and "Terrorize" have the ability to transport listeners to a dingy Logan Square garage, and are available as
free downloads on Rambos' BandCamp page (see below for a link). Rambos have recently shared the stage with the Hollows and the Detroit Cobras, and they plan on taking 2011 by storm!
Please feel free to post any MP3's or videos, any review consideration would be greatly appreciated!
Rambos BandCamp:
http://rambos.bandcamp.com/
Rambos performing "Human Monster":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXyoTTAASvk
Rambos performing "Poet Murders":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69jHahw0DkE
Cheers, Kevin Cornell, NoVo Arts, Inc. / NoVo Artist Representation
Technically this wasn't from the band but from a manager/agent or something. Regardless, went to download the tunes from their site and to get them you had to give them your email that would in turn be put on a mailing list and then they would email you the link for the tunes. Was a little uncomfortable with that, trapped, like when I get those pop ups that tell me that I really really am the 1 millionth visitor and have won a prize. Silly I know. I did check out their vids on youtube though. They remind me of something I might have seen at a bar back in the day. Wasn't blown away or anything but thought they were kinda fun. If they were freinds of mine I'd probably go see them play and say they rocked, but I'd probably just be being nice. Not sure what else to say, maybe I should have listened to their studio stuff. Edit: Didn't feel like I gave these guys a chance so I went ahead and downloaded those two tunes. You know what? My opinion of the band stayed the same for "Terrorize", but I'll be damned if "Arrows" isn't a good tune, you're darn tootin'. Made me think of something that would be in a Tarentino soundtrack.
Rambos - Arrows
Rambos - Terrorize
The second one I got (again my pic ripped from a youtube video of which these guys have quite a few).
WHY Mustard Relics?
We've been checking out the blog for a while now. The aesthetics and
point of view made it seem reasonable to assume that you might be
interested in the Sons' message and music.
BAND: The United Sons of Toil
LOCATION: The front-line of class warfare and the battle for workers'
rights -- Madison WI.
RECORD: In the shadow of the protests at state capitol, Phratry
Records releases "When The Revolution Comes, Everything Will Be
Beautiful," a record that tells a story of repression and violent
struggle.
RIYL: The music is indebted to 90s-era Touch & Go, Amphetamine
Reptile, and Dischord releases as well as more recent noise
practitioners like Young Widows and Helms Alee, with hints at
Neurosis-style heaviness.
DOWNLOAD:
http://www.mediafire.com/?kbz2cdbe7pr1r29
WEBSITE:
http://unitedsonsoftoil.com
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The story is one of an oppressed people who convince themselves that
their revolutionary violence is justified. Once in power, they become
oppressors and set the cycle in motion again. The underlying theme is
that fundamental societal change can emerge only through radical
individual change.
PRESS QUOTES
"The United Sons Of Toil pretty much instantly became one of the best
bands in Madison with the 2007 release of Hope Is Not A Strategy,
their first album of austere-yet-epic math rock paired with
excoriating leftist screams on behalf of the proletariat." -- Onion AV
Club
"The songs are driving and anxious, with harsh melodies and noisy
splashes of feedback interspersed between technical start-stops.
...some pretty killer off-the-beaten-path punk rock. ...introducing
their own noisy, stressed-out take on math rock conventions." --
Exclaim!
"...a more aggressive Unwound, giving a sort of mathy post-punk vibe
with some hints of chaos thanks to a seemingly heavy influence from
the Touch and Go noise-rock movement. Guitarist Russell Hall wields
distortion like Neil Young gone post-hardcore." -- Scene Point Blank
"...stemming together various aspects of the past mid-western
math-rock elite and the fleshed out noise-rock style of Unwound." --
Built On A Weak Spot
"Looking for a musical analog of your favorite Howard Zinn tome? This
is it." -- Isthmus
My first thought on this band is that the singer/guitar player, Russel is cool as shit. I responded to the email and he wrote right back and mentioned a name I hadn't heard in years, Jiddu Krishnamurti. My faculty advisor in colleg, had known/studied with JK and really thought a lot of him. As a result I studied his writings a little myself, of course not having used that information in almost 20 years, I don't remember much. At the same time though some of his ideas have become integrated into my own, like the idea that societal change is only posssible when the individual him/herself has undergone self-reflection and change of their own. Thanx to Russel for that blast from the past, need to see if I still have any of his writings, and really I would highly recommend you do the same. Off that tangent and back to the band. I had a little trouble downloading from the external files where their music was stored because the server was "overloaded", but was able to get through later. Quite the package you get the music, extensive liner notes, including lyrics, a manifesto, and notes and references about the song backgrounds. Reminded me of the Crass days. In other words, first impression...these guys do not fuck around. Because the email said hard copies available upon request, I took advantage of that, so we'll see if that comes or not. I listened to the album all the way through and it was like a punk rock/hardcore opera in the sense that the album is one solid unit and flows from beginning to end. The reviews that came with the email mentioned something about math rock, I still don't know what that means (or emo either). One band that was similar popped into mind called Forced Down, which I'll post soon. There's kind of a jam feeling with the tunes and if I had one complaint, is that the songs are all on the longer side, but that says nothing of the quality of the music. Listening to it a second time, I enjoyed it even more and reading the material I like where these guys are coming from. Lyrically and musically my favorite tune hands down is the third one, "ILO Convention 169". All in all worth your time, if you've got any.
United Sons of Toil - ILO Convention 169
Recently added my email to the side over there, not sure why...guess the rest of the guys who have a similar internet thing going on do too, maybe I'm a conformist. Actually just wanted to see what would happen. Well...ended up getting two emails from bands. One of my buddies who has a much more superior site refuses to respond in anything but a negative way to these kinds of um...should I call them petitions. Sort of flattered or maybe should say, always knew my opinion counted for something, hahaha. Don't know as I have much of a following, I count quality over quantity so in my opinion you guys that come here are the best. The reality of course though is that 99.99% of the people who stop by this little establishment are MP3 collectors on the perpetual search for musical handouts and have absolutely nothing to say about anything. It's presumptuous though to think that a person other than a personal friend would bother to read this drivel. The fact is that a review here is not going to expose the world to anyone's music. Maybe a more positive way of looking at it though is that change starts small and it is worthwhile even if for only a few. So...what the hell, as I said way too many times when someone pulled out a baggie of some mysterious substance/pills, "I'll give anything a try once."
Here's the first email I got (the snapshot I made from a clip on youtube).
Mustard Relics, Chicago's junk-rockin' Rambos have just released two new tracks! "Arrows" and "Terrorize" have the ability to transport listeners to a dingy Logan Square garage, and are available as free downloads on Rambos' BandCamp page (see below for a link). Rambos have recently shared the stage with the Hollows and the Detroit Cobras, and they plan on taking 2011 by storm!
Please feel free to post any MP3's or videos, any review consideration would be greatly appreciated!
Rambos BandCamp:
http://rambos.bandcamp.com/
Rambos performing "Human Monster":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXyoTTAASvk
Rambos performing "Poet Murders":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69jHahw0DkE
Cheers, Kevin Cornell, NoVo Arts, Inc. / NoVo Artist Representation
Technically this wasn't from the band but from a manager/agent or something. Regardless, went to download the tunes from their site and to get them you had to give them your email that would in turn be put on a mailing list and then they would email you the link for the tunes. Was a little uncomfortable with that, trapped, like when I get those pop ups that tell me that I really really am the 1 millionth visitor and have won a prize. Silly I know. I did check out their vids on youtube though. They remind me of something I might have seen at a bar back in the day. Wasn't blown away or anything but thought they were kinda fun. If they were freinds of mine I'd probably go see them play and say they rocked, but I'd probably just be being nice. Not sure what else to say, maybe I should have listened to their studio stuff. Edit: Didn't feel like I gave these guys a chance so I went ahead and downloaded those two tunes. You know what? My opinion of the band stayed the same for "Terrorize", but I'll be damned if "Arrows" isn't a good tune, you're darn tootin'. Made me think of something that would be in a Tarentino soundtrack.
Rambos - Arrows
Rambos - Terrorize
The second one I got (again my pic ripped from a youtube video of which these guys have quite a few).
WHY Mustard Relics?
We've been checking out the blog for a while now. The aesthetics and
point of view made it seem reasonable to assume that you might be
interested in the Sons' message and music.
BAND: The United Sons of Toil
LOCATION: The front-line of class warfare and the battle for workers'
rights -- Madison WI.
RECORD: In the shadow of the protests at state capitol, Phratry
Records releases "When The Revolution Comes, Everything Will Be
Beautiful," a record that tells a story of repression and violent
struggle.
RIYL: The music is indebted to 90s-era Touch & Go, Amphetamine
Reptile, and Dischord releases as well as more recent noise
practitioners like Young Widows and Helms Alee, with hints at
Neurosis-style heaviness.
DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/?kbz2cdbe7pr1r29
WEBSITE: http://unitedsonsoftoil.com
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The story is one of an oppressed people who convince themselves that
their revolutionary violence is justified. Once in power, they become
oppressors and set the cycle in motion again. The underlying theme is
that fundamental societal change can emerge only through radical
individual change.
PRESS QUOTES
"The United Sons Of Toil pretty much instantly became one of the best
bands in Madison with the 2007 release of Hope Is Not A Strategy,
their first album of austere-yet-epic math rock paired with
excoriating leftist screams on behalf of the proletariat." -- Onion AV
Club
"The songs are driving and anxious, with harsh melodies and noisy
splashes of feedback interspersed between technical start-stops.
...some pretty killer off-the-beaten-path punk rock. ...introducing
their own noisy, stressed-out take on math rock conventions." --
Exclaim!
"...a more aggressive Unwound, giving a sort of mathy post-punk vibe
with some hints of chaos thanks to a seemingly heavy influence from
the Touch and Go noise-rock movement. Guitarist Russell Hall wields
distortion like Neil Young gone post-hardcore." -- Scene Point Blank
"...stemming together various aspects of the past mid-western
math-rock elite and the fleshed out noise-rock style of Unwound." --
Built On A Weak Spot
"Looking for a musical analog of your favorite Howard Zinn tome? This
is it." -- Isthmus
My first thought on this band is that the singer/guitar player, Russel is cool as shit. I responded to the email and he wrote right back and mentioned a name I hadn't heard in years, Jiddu Krishnamurti. My faculty advisor in colleg, had known/studied with JK and really thought a lot of him. As a result I studied his writings a little myself, of course not having used that information in almost 20 years, I don't remember much. At the same time though some of his ideas have become integrated into my own, like the idea that societal change is only posssible when the individual him/herself has undergone self-reflection and change of their own. Thanx to Russel for that blast from the past, need to see if I still have any of his writings, and really I would highly recommend you do the same. Off that tangent and back to the band. I had a little trouble downloading from the external files where their music was stored because the server was "overloaded", but was able to get through later. Quite the package you get the music, extensive liner notes, including lyrics, a manifesto, and notes and references about the song backgrounds. Reminded me of the Crass days. In other words, first impression...these guys do not fuck around. Because the email said hard copies available upon request, I took advantage of that, so we'll see if that comes or not. I listened to the album all the way through and it was like a punk rock/hardcore opera in the sense that the album is one solid unit and flows from beginning to end. The reviews that came with the email mentioned something about math rock, I still don't know what that means (or emo either). One band that was similar popped into mind called Forced Down, which I'll post soon. There's kind of a jam feeling with the tunes and if I had one complaint, is that the songs are all on the longer side, but that says nothing of the quality of the music. Listening to it a second time, I enjoyed it even more and reading the material I like where these guys are coming from. Lyrically and musically my favorite tune hands down is the third one, "ILO Convention 169". All in all worth your time, if you've got any.
United Sons of Toil - ILO Convention 169
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