So this morning at work I'm listening to an album I burned last weekend, an album I've bought and sold at least twice before, an album that brings me back to tenth grade at Redeemer High here in metropolitan Ottawa: MxPx's 1995 breakout Teenage Politics, featuring the hit title track and the still-played-every-show 'Punk Rawk Show'. I hadn't heard this album in a long, long time, and while it did bring back floods of memories, it also points the way - directly - to the band's future, which at that point I'm sure they couldn't have envisioned, being freshly rechristened(remember Magnified Plaid??) and being on a brand-new label that no one outside of Christian-rock circles had heard of(Tooth & Nail). Politics had everything that became MxPx standard fare: great harmonies(though singer Mike Herrera's voice was still a little sketchy back then), miniature guitar leads, solid drumming, and that quintessential fast/mid-tempo timing that characterizes pop-punk, topped off with their boldly-Christian(later toned down) lyrical viewpoint. Teenage Politics is today's Essential Listening.
Well then.
Before we really get started with today's news, my brother Dan, alongside being hilarious, posted a lovely photo montage of a llama ranch located just north of our adopted hometown of Morrisburg, Ontario(fifty minutes south of Ottawa). Check the footage here!
Aight, now the news.
October 4th sees the release of a special edition of Underoath's They're Only Chasing Safety; the new version has four unreleased tracks and a DVD with two hours of live footage and all the usual bells and whistles. Nice little package. I'm still excited about the Beloved DVD dropping in December. [absolutepunk]
It's been a very long time since there was anything newsworthy concerning The Ataris(maybe never, in this magazine's case), but apparently there are some murky legal issues surrounding the band's upcoming album that could delay it to the extreme - or nix its release totally. Innneresting.
We reported a while back that after over ten years, Green Day have re-taken control of their old Lookout! Records material(namely, Kerplunk!, 1,039 Smoothed-Out Slappy Hours and a few EPs) in a dispute with Lookout! over royalties; apparently the label is looking at shutting down an operation that once boasted $10 million a year in gross revenue thanks to the two Green Day LPs and Operation Ivy's 1989 album that also sold half a million copies. Check out a very interesting - albeit very long - article about all this over here.
Mae are touring with the likes of Foo Fighters and Weezer right now. Just thought I'd mention that. They deserve every success they encounter.
The Juliana Theory's new record Deadbeat Sweetheart is a great piece of work. I know. I own it. So should all y'all. Some of the material rivals that of Emotion Is Dead, and that's saying something, as masterful as that record was. If you're into streaming(and who isn't, really? c'mon now), the entire dang thing is up for streaming over here. Get to it.
The Suicide Machines have tapped Stretch Arm Strong and two other acts as their openers on their east coast/southern US tour in November. I devoutly hope this hits Ottawa, especially since Stretch had to bail on their Canadian mini-tour last month.
We're pretty apolitical here at sweetdisaster, but this sure is funny: hit up Google, type in 'Failure' and then hit the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button. Wow. Overt.
Remember Billy Talent? We sure do! Matter of fact, there's an interview we conducted with them at the height of their fame(fall of 2003) over in our Interviews section, but that's not the point: they have a new demo up over on their myspace page.
Yellowcard were in town earlier this week and put on a great show - but Toronto had the edge, because their crowd got the word that the new Yellowcard album will be out January 24th of '06. It'll probably be full of catchy pop-punk goodness much like Yellowcard's debut album. And I'll more than likely love it.
I found links to two new boysetsfire demos, and one of them is crap. The other one is over here and brings the ruckus like they used to, Delaware style! Let's do this!! *hits the pit* Whatever.
Former Underoath vocalist Dallas Taylor's new band Maylene and the Sons of Disaster have gotten their act together with a new website(go find it; I'm too lazy to link this one) and an album coming next month already on Mono Vs Stereo Recordings. That was fast. The one song they have up over here sounds like they've - amazing! - channelled a heavier version of The Black Crowes, and the picture looks like an old ZZ Top album cover. I like it!
'Absentimental', one of the many cleverly-worded titles on Norma Jean's latest album O God, The Aftermath, has had a video made for it, which you can see with your own two eyes over here. Quite the invigorating piece of work. I'd just like to point out that Norma Jean vocalist Cory Brandan also did time with Living Sacrifice a few years back, and LS, even after their demise, still kill me. [saveyourscene]
7 Angels 7 Plagues are gonna be doing a few reunion shows this winter, one in Milwaukee confirmed and others as yet not nailed down. A couple of members went on to form Misery Signals after 7A's demise.
Finis. More album reviews coming over the weekend. Have a great one, wherever you are.
Posted by mike at September 16, 2005 01:09 PM