Blood Brothers

Most of the screamo (or at least stuff described as such; I refer mostly to Antioch Arrow, Mohinder, and Heroin) I've heard is pretty humorless and self-serious compared to The Blood Brothers, who sound like they're having loads of fun even as they irreparably damage their vocal cords.

Oh, and here's the excellent review of March On Electric Children that got me into the Blood Brothers in the first place.

Is Burn Piano Island going to be on a bigger label than the other releases? I would like to see what it does with better distro. Will the kids like it? I don't know for sure. When we saw them everyone seemed pretty impatient. They were clearly there for the headliner (Glassjaw). We skipped out before Glassjaw played. I assume this was the correct move (I have never heard them before). I didn't want to risk a letdown after 35 minutes of shouty bliss.

Excellent. I'm going to start my campaign to get "Six Nightmares" on TRL right now. Honestly, this is the most exciting thing I have heard in a long time, and I really haven't cared for most of the other bands the Blood Brothers get grouped in with.

Maybe if I find one of their albums used or discounted or am given a copy, I'll pick it up and listen to it, but otherwise I don't think I have much motivation to do so.

Other screamy hardcore bands as mentioned above I'd say. Parts of the Gravity and GSL lineups. And my statement of not caring for that stuff is kind of a misstatement. It's more like I'm not really familiar with it and what I have heard hasn't compelled me to hear/learn more. My opinions and tastes have probably changed since last hearing and I think I will investigate further.

My intent was to say that I'm excited by the Blood Brothers even though they don't fit within the mold of what I would normally listen to. But if they open my ears to related sounds, that's all the better as far as I'm concerned.

I'd liken them to Song of Zarathustra, who are nearly as good live and toured with them. SoZ have synthesizers and lurch more. Blood Brothers are sort of "Bohemian Rhapsody" on 78 rendered by torture victims.

I'm not too thrilled about the production though - the guitars are terribly compressed and mid-range-y. I know this is the big Ross Robinson trick to get a good radio sound, but on any half-decent set of speakers, it renders the guitars flat, one-dimensional and powerless. If they had a more "classic NYHC" production I'd probably like the new album more.

Oh hang on, that's what Siegbran said five posts ago.

it's two men, only one of them looks like a woman.

Converge also rule.

piano island and crimes both still captivate me though.

some of the imagery in the shame is wack! "all the colours are gonna rot on sight when we're around" ? haha

burn piano island burn is definitely the best starting place with this lot, tho.

Does Guy Picciotto make a lot of money for producing them, since they're on a mini-major and stuff? I just hope so. He does a great job with them.

Also, I still wish I could hear 'vocal tracks only' versions of all of their albums. How do those dudes' throats take the abuse?!

Fuck me, they appear to have broken up - I strongly this "hiatus" talk, mostly 'cause I'm pessimistic. I kind of suspected it from the tone of "Young Machetes" though.

Well, they got five brilliant albums in, and that's no small feat.

I am however excited for Ghost Wars (Arlie Carstens of Juno ft. member of the Blood Bros. and others) so at least there's that...

i can't recall this kind of 'break' ever working out well. and now it's like when i used to threaten to throw something at my little sister but not actually do it, so i could trap her in a state of fear for hours at a time.

so yeah, that break didn't work out so well.

http://www.stereokiller.com/bands/bandimages/bb8.jpg

RIP high-pitched camp guy and shouty emo guy, thanks for the awesome screaming.

A real shame. I thought they were great. Except for 'Crimes' -- that was kinda shite.

Also, BPIB is dying for a remix/remaster. The songs are fantastic, but the production is too hollow or compressed or something. It just sounds wrong to my ears.

no way, sir, 'Crimes' is great. i think they are one of those rare bands where each album is a little bit better than the last, and however much it sucks that they have split, it's cool that it'll stay that way forever.

prediction: the new bands will suck. they had some weird chemisty and it's fucked now. i don't expect them to reproduce it in different bands.

Neon Blonde rulez

Two of the demos on the Jaguar Love myspace are great, the other two not so much, but still promising, albeit in a more indie-pop sort of way.

And yes, I'd kill for another Neon Blonde record.

no way, sir, 'Crimes' is great. i think they are one of those rare bands where each album is a little bit better than the last

We're going to have to disagree about that. While there is certainly a progression in quality in their first three albums (though my opinion about BPIB's production still stands), Crimes, for me, was a dip -- but one they made up for with Young Machetes, which I love.

prediction: the new bands will suck. they had some weird chemisty and it's fucked now. i don't expect them to reproduce it in different bands.

see also: At the Drive-In

Well, one band that predates the Blood Brothers was The Vogue, later renamed Soiled Doves, who I always dug and wished did more.

They didn't lunge at your throat as much as Blood Brothers stuff did, but they were loud and I could swing to it. This was the band that featured the singer guy who liked to comb the back of his hair with his hand more.

also nevah forget Nine Iron Spitfire

I don't think either NB or JL has the potential to suck the way Sparta and the Mars Volta have (although to be fair the former has a few decent songs, in a Smashing Pumpkins c-side kinda way).

Saw their first show in Seattle in ‘97. Saw them last night in LA and will see them again in NY in Dec. They are absolutely slaying.

I saw them last Friday in Seattle, an incredible show. Most (all?) of the band's parents were in attendance apparently and they gave a really sweet shout-out to Johnny Whitney's folks at the end of the show.