The Great Reawakening

Oh. Hello there. You're right, I did give the promise of updates this summer. You're right, I didn't follow up on that in any way, shape or form. Update tomorrow? Maybe. I'm in no position to make promises. Good things have happened. Lot's of stuff to write about.
What kind of stuff?
All sorts of stuff.
Tomorrow night as you put on your robe, have a smoke from your pipe and take seat in your favorite easy chair by the fire, remember that there are stories to be told.

One Down...

Math final is done. I'm happy. Hopefully I didn't fail it.

It's Like Crack

Text Twist is the best game ever.

The End is Near

Ah, summer vacation is within but a grasp. The weather is hotter and extremely humid. The air conditioning in this godforsaken school has been turned off (last block it took me a minute to peel myself from my chair), and takes about two weeks to get fully started up again. This is yet another reason why we need a new school. Finals should be fun in the present condition. We get out on June 20. Finals begin this Wednesday. I only have four this year which is certainly something to celebrate (I would have three but my AP Latin teacher is staunch in his belief that we need to cap off the year by re-translating Cicero's First Catilinarian Oration without the use of any material for reference. Alas, such is life. Luckily my last final is over next Wednesday, which will be followed by a few days of maximum chillage before our final day of school. This summer, however, grants little reprise. With a job, community service, music programs, workouts and potential gigs, it doesn't look like I'll have much time that could go under the "free" category.
Luckily, this summer is full of all sorts of good concerts to take my mind off of things.
This weekend One Eyed Stanley is playing two shows back to back. Unfortunately, the second is 21+, but I'm quite excited for the first. Following that, Band St. Cool, Naked Chips (and maybe the Downtown Collective, not quite sure) are playing an end of the year show which should be fun.
Next on the docket is the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and the Dropkick Murphys at McCoy Stadium in RI. It's general admission, which surprised me considering it's on the Paw Sox field, but I'm sure as hell not complaining. It should be the concert to end all concerts. I'm really excited for this one. Something tells me it's gonna get crazy, but that's half the fun.
After that is Bomb the Music Industry! No idea where they're playing (I should probably check my ticket). Their shows are always a good time, not to mention a bit rough.
Not sure what's going on after that but hopefully my band The Proud Sponsors will be playing a few shows. I'm trying to work out playing a show with the legendary Newton band The Superhero Letdown. Last year they all graduated but they're playing a few reunion shows this summer. Not sure when but that's another thing for me to keep my eye on.
Also, possibly recording time in August for the Sponsors. Who knows what kind of crazy stuff could go down?
I'll make regular updates this summer and I'll give review of concerts and other worthy happenings.
Until next time, folks...

/Groove

With a Bang

Cup o' Joe, my band through the All Newton Music School, is no more. We played together for about three years, but this year there was a bit of tension and a new bassist towards the end which complicated things just a tad. It's a shame to part with such talented musicians that I've played with for such a long time but it was just about time to move on. My fellow guitarist, Gabe, is leaving the program and is focusing on his new band outside of it. I may leave depending on what happens because I have two other bands to deal with and perhaps another one, depending on the course of events this summer. Thanks guys. It's been a fun run.

Fresh Coat o' Paint

New layout? I believe so.

Do it.

The State of Things to Come

Alright folks, it's been a while. I know that nobody actually reads the blog, but I'm still gonna post just for shits.

Since my last "update" I've essentially had no time to, in fact, update. From school to SATs and APs, along with trying to play in three bands, play on the ultimate frisbee team, fight Icelandic terrorists and write/edit for my school paper, the amount of spare time I get is, well...minimal. Basically, I'm gonna start updating once APs are done. Hopefully I'll be able to write regular (and maybe even slightly interesting) posts and actually gain a small bit of readership.

On that last point, I'm trying to think of a really gimmicky way to get people to actually read this. The handwriting thing is gonna be too time consuming, and frankly, I can't review music for shit without sounding completely repetitive (similar to the school concert reviews that I write for my paper). If anyone casually comes across this post and has any sort of ideas, I'm all ears.

My goal for this post was to write a frantic rant about how much junior year sucks, blah, blah, blah. That blatantly isn't gonna happen, at least not until I'm finished with it. But I will declare that that it sucks. It really does. If your aspirations include never sleeping again and giving up on any sort of human interaction outside of the boundaries of your school, you'll love junior year. Luckily, I only have about a month and a half left until I can stop wanting to drop out and join the circus. I'd be a clown named Bonzo, Destroyer of Young Children.

Always fun.

So, I'm sitting here in my school library, wicked bored, so I decided to frustrate the rest of you guys.

You're now aware that you're blinking, breathing and swallowing, and now you're performing these actions manually. Your tongue feels weird in your mouth no matter how you put it. You're starting to feel itching all over your body and you're about to start scratching.

On top of all of that, you just lost the Game.

Cheers!

Dive Into the Unkown

Here's my first post on the subject of bands that you probably haven't heard of but should check out.

Soapbox Paradox is a rock/punk group with a ska vibe out of Michigan. I found them a while back on garageband.com (which, if you haven't heard of it, is a great place to find independent music). The first thing that struck me was the band's original and extremely varied sound. I honestly can't compare it to much that I've heard because each song is so different from the last. They have a really tight sound. The drums are notable as they perfect each song's groove. All the instruments compliment each other nicely. They have a fun sound without getting too corny. It's worth a listen.
Check them out at: http://www.purevolume.com/soapboxparadox




The next band I'd like to talk about is the Flatliners, a ska-punk band straight out of Ontario, Canada. I don't remember exactly how I heard about them, but I'm glad that I did. These guys absolutely kick it, plain and simple. So far they've released two studio albums. The first, Destroy to Create, has a slightly larger ska feel to it, but rocks pretty much all the way through. The second, The Great Awake, features much more roaring guitar and more intense/frantic vocals. From the first track on, you can feel that this band has a message and won't stop until it's delivered. Most of their songs range between the normal two to four minute range aside from the final song on The Great Awake, KHTDR, which lasts for a little over seven minutes but never gets boring. They haven't completely ousted their ska influences as is seen in songs like "This Respirator" and "Mastering the World's Smallest Violin." This is one of my favorite bands at the moment and have influenced my own songwriting quite a bit. You should definitely give them a long listen.


The final band in this entry is a ska/punk group from France, P.O.Box. They recently released their first professional studio album, ...And the Lipstick Traces. Unlike the previous two bands, P.O. Box actually has a horn section. They play an aggressive style laden with heavily distorted guitar. That's not to say you won't find a more traditional ska style in some songs. They're genuinely fun to listen to all the way through. They play at a vicious pace that rocks but makes some songs feel much too short. Most of their songs are between two and three minutes long, but some clock in below that range, which just leaves you wanting more. Just like the Flatliners, the final song on the album is longer than seven minutes, but also encompasses two songs. The first is a continuation of the 30-or-so second intro track on the album while the second is an alternate version of a song on a previous album, Diving (which happens to be one of my favorite tracks that the band has produced). This version is much slower and has ditched guitar, bass and drums for cello and piano. It's an unusual way to cap the album off, but it works quite nicely.




Well, I'm out. Man I need a good catchphrase to end these posts.

Accelerate

I should be studying for Latin right about now. Getting behind on Cicero's works isn't the most fun thing that one can do. Cicero was a pretty cool dude. He was a pretty sweet politician and was exiled and stuff. Anyways...


After the digression of style on of their past three albums, this is quite refreshing. R.E.M.'s new CD, Accelerate, came out a few days ago. I listened to it a few times and my response was very positive. The band came out with a more aggressive style than much of what they've previously recorded. Michael Stipe may be aging, but lyrically he is still at the top of his game. Peter Buck's guitar playing is absolutely explosive and confident, driving the music to rock again like the good ol' days. The album features a wide array of styles, from boisterous and jovial tunes to haunting melodies that will leave you slightly chilled but satisfied. My only qualm with the album is that it seems to fly by, as the title suggests. Accelerate notes a fantastic resurgence from a band that's been rocking since a certain president that had a little something to do with the Camp David Accords was in office. That's right, I just made an allusion to Jimmy Carter. The album is a triumph for a band that had nothing to lose, and I hope to see more from this band that is trying to reclaim its throne. R.E.M. will be touring North America along with Modest Mouse and The National this May and June. You can bet I'll be going.

R.E.M.'s Accelerate: 8.5/10

Not even smoke.

I totally had posts for this weekend written out. Saturday night I came home and wrote it but I was so tired that I guess I decided to sleep rather than post it. Yesterday, I wrote a preemptive post celebrating a victory by the Patriots. Much to my despair, they lost, and I was too depressed from that to write a new one. Assuming I get home tonight before like 7 pm, I'll put up my Saturday one (which was really only a filler post), and maybe another one if I so choose.
Peace.

A league of their own...

The Buzz

Maybe...side projects can be successful...?

This is gonna be flippin' sweet!

Side Projects Are Never Successful

Here we go again.