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[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Bit N Tonic

Hey, guys. We don’t really post a lot anymore do we? And this post isn’t any better because it is needless self-promotion.

In case you guys like video games, I am starting a video game blog. Maybe it will become something cool. I will be talking about video games (as well as drinking and music from time to time) in pretty much any capacity. Maybe news (probably not), reviews, features, pics of me. Hopefully it will become something I keep up with and not let fizzle.

If you like video games, or dumb jokes, go ahead and give me a follow -- bitntonic.tumblr.com

I promise the layout will look better soon.

Thanks you guys -- Ethan

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Genre: Emo, Creamo

For Fans of: make me, boy problems, maker's mark

There's room for accusations of bias on the part of any writer on this tumblr towards this band, due to the membership of one C. Willard, the brotherhood of one E. Willard, and the homie-status of the rest of us. Tuck that knowledge in your back pocket. Give this album a listen.

Row recently released 'no,' and it crushed me. Several new tracks that show the boys getting even stronger in their musicianship and songwriting, and the long overdue re-recording of some other tunes that up until this point were best experienced live (no offense to former member and chief recording engineer Donnie, who hit his stride with his namesake ep, but there is a clarity to these renditions that is very welcome.)

These are emotionally raw songs with twinkling and noodling that stays palatable and vocals that dip in and out of melodies that have been caught in my head since my first listen. "Bullet train to puddle city" in particular shows great play between Christian and Kyle, an absurd and beautiful gargly croon from the former and a reserved colossal-esque approach from the latter.

as noted, these are friends and musical co-horts and maybe that means I can't be objective. I know though, that these songs scratch a very particular itch in the right way. Row's making me proud of Lancaster in 2014.* 

row - no

-d

*and philly. halfsies lineup now I think.

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

The Dismemberment Plan

Genre: Prance-Punk, Art-(Gar)Funk(el), Common Korg Coreiculum

For Fans Of: Fugazi, Mates of State, Placebo, Minus the Bear

Every so often a phrase, nay, an idea is born that bears so much unsullied tonnage of weight in thought provoking Salt it could make a pre-outwardly political and equally active omnitarian Angelina Jolie portrayal of a Cher-ish wig bearing super-heroine eye her cunningly concocted quasi bosnian game hen and kraut for the kiddies with a suspiciously sodium lacking sigh.

KILL YOUR IDOLS. (don't guys. wait. don't. i'm weaving a compelling persuasive thesis)

No. I'm not tactfully referring to Ma Jolie or the megazord she and hubby combine to form the dreaded media sentient "Brangelina" that Guillermo Del Toro has no doubt "suffered" one too many spanish dubbed wet dreams over using as the framework for his next blockbuster featuring anthropomorphic thespian influenced monsters that bear no deeper meaning save for FUCKING BEAUTIFUL MONSTERS. That would be asking too much. God forbid we crave a a panlabyrinthine plot.

Nein. It wasn't until this past weekend whilst feverishly enjoying a two day period of blissful euphoria spending my friday and saturday with Marietta who was lucky enough to be touring with none other than fucking Braid that I was drugged by the idea in question. Picture it: there we are soaking in the Brooklyn date after party while Bob Nanna "dj-ed"-which is a considerate euphemism for being parked in front of a 13" macbook screen-queuing his jams. Turns out his jams are the same fucking jams me, my brother, everybody in Marietta and fucking every dweeb socialite in Williamsburg, Brooklyn grew up listening to. We're talking Saves the Day, Rainer Maria, Fugazi, Say Anything, Weezer, Minus the Bear, Owls, Jawbox, Small Brown Bike, Mock Orange AND THIS ELVEN JEWEL OF A BAND.

Bob played a track off of The Dismemberment Plan's 1999 released LP entitled "Emergency & I" called "The City" and Ethan and I had gotten so accustomed to knowing every single word to every song this 40 year old hunk was hammerin' on us that when the groove kicked in Ethan and I were  so disgusted with ourselves at not automatically syncing into the same obnoxiously pleasant pseudo hip-hopster arm pump n' bob jig that I had to ask Bob who it was. I was politely educated. My idol had just politely insinuated that my high school education was a farce. I slept through one gem of a lecture. My planner, like my priorities, had been effortlessly dismembered by sheer stupidity. In a Nanna second Bobby had obliterated my world. Kill 'em. (not yet guys)

This band, if you haven't listened to them, is just one apex of aesthetic after another fulfilled by their gracefully subtle mastery of each and every genre they decide to interweave into their music. Based out of Washington D.C. and formed in 1993, one would assume that an indie/punk darling then turned novelty punk powerhouse now would have been associated in some way shape or form with the prodigal podium pioneering label Dischord, but NIET!! They were in fact signed to De Soto records and released both "Emergency & I" and their 2001 follow-up record "Change" through them. They more recently released another LP entitled "Uncanny Valley" in 2013 through Partisan Records. They are all incredible in their entirety.

Upon soaking in the first minutes of any track off any album you decide to eeny-meeny-miney mosie your curious lil' cortex into you will notice the obvious derivation of Dischord art-punk influence. This is purely opinion-based but you cannot claim to be a punk band of any sub-genre in D.C. and not heavily fortify your "sound" within the confines of a Fugazi filled moat. They do it and they fucking make it their own. Slyly employing both hip hop and R&B elements to the amalgam of tonally disparate tracks that encompass the vivid vistas of lyrically satirical and culturally iconoclastic views conceived, one can't fight the urge to attempt a harmony to singer/songwriter Travis Morrison's borderline monotonous yet endearingly searing sabre of a voice as it creates hook after hook of heart and head throbbing melody. 

Concomitantly incorporating frenetic, albeit dance-inducing drum and bass rhythms with well spaced breaks of either terribly gorgeous and well moderated guitar drenched chords or interpolating dreamy korg fills, the aforementioned coupled with expertly balanced fractions of the up until then considered extraneous instruments leave ya hangin' back after Mr. Nanna's highly coveted music appreciation class imploring him to answer why in the name of Aphrodites' illustrious braids he didn't cover this cache of american honey in the standard curriculum?? He'll look at you, pervading the air of a momentarily befuddled youth who's presented with the innocently curious inquiry of whether or not he's privy to what that baller song is bangin' over the loud speakers. He'll smile that beguiling boyish and bearded grin. He'll sardonically sigh and say as he did before:  "The Dismemberment Plan." You wanna kill him he's so suave. You wanna pummel his hands with a meat tenderizer so he can't do those otherworldly punk jumps while playing "A Dozen Roses"..but then you wake up back in the club and he's all like trying to cheers his Natty Bo with yours..friends? Kill your idols with a grateful kindness.

GET ALL THESE ALBUMS:

Uncanny Valley: http://www.mediafire.com/download/a26qx0uebb1rstf/Th+Dsmmbrmnt+Pln+-+ncnny+Vlly.rar

Change: http://www.mediafire.com/download/r9ft2xmmknw/the+dismemberment+plan+-+change.rar

Emergency & I: http://www.mediafire.com/download/czntlmmmdm0/Dismemberment+Plan+-+Emergency+%26+I.rar

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Jacob and I

Listen to Jacob and I - Twelve

Two bassists and a drummer from South Carolina made these four instrumental tunes sometime in 2007. if you like the jazz/'math' influence that's creeped into emo over the years, it's quite likely you'll enjoy this. Like bezout's, these guys were a band I forgot and then rediscovered. Uplifting but providing a melancholy feeling at the same time. (to these ears at least.) I still meet people who love this band, and see discussion or links now and then, but haven't come across a current/live link.

Here you go.

*photo stolen from their myspace, no photographer credited.

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Bezout's Identity

Bezout's Identity, The Impossibility of Silence

Bezout's Identity was Anton and Al, two musicians formerly of The Summer We Went West and Dawn Treader and currently parts of Monument (Anton) and Shat Shorts (Anton and Al.)

They were a two-piece emo band from College Park, Maryland that I experienced entirely through the internet, at an age where I spent hours on myspace listening to handfuls of tracks by bands I should have been seeing in basements. (I'm thinking 2007, a year I will come back to again and again and never leave unless I'm writing about a Japanese band.) 

twinkly guitar, or noodly, as I recall it then. Overt vocal melodies that aren't pandering to sing-alongs. Interesting song compositions. There's some clinical analysis to ignore. Bezout's have something that gets under my skin, maybe you'll feel it.

I have four of their songs, nabbed from myspace. I only know the origin of one of these tunes - The Impossibility of Silence - which is credited to a split with Peter and Craig. Knowing this, I cornered Peter of the aforementioned duo in a kitchen in Lancaster once and inquired about Bezout's. He claimed to recall at least five songs. Hoping to track down that last one someday.

Here's four tunes, two with percussion, two with less of that, all four really excellent. Listen to 'The Impossibility of Silence' up there,  the song that came into my head years after first hearing it and made me dig through decaying social media sites to hear it once more (and again, and again, and again.)

Would you like some tea?

-d (thanks for letting me post, matt.)

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

MARGE

Genre: Jangly Rock Punk Pop Waves

For Fans Of: Baby Brains, Amanda X, Weed

Marge is a four piece in philadelphia; they're figuring it out. 

Bandcamp: http://marge.bandcamp.com/

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

WE'RE STILL HERE

we just have a lot of work to do right now...

you'll see

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Joshua Fit For Battle

Genre: Scream-o

For Fans Of: iwrotehaikusaboutcannibalisminyouryearbook, Toru Okada, Seeing Means More

Most of you are probably fans of, or have at least heard of, Joshua Fit For Battle. If you haven't, allow me to do two things — inform you, and then politely ask you to leave the rock you've been under.

Joshua Fit For Battle is one of those bands that when you're talking to your friends about scream-o, at some point JFFB will be mentioned. Even if you don't like the harder side of things, if you listen to emo, or some sort of variation of the genre, it's likely you've heard of JFFB. It's what your older brother probably used to listen to and what you still inadvertently do too. 

If I had to describe them, which I will muster a feeble attempt to be as accurate as possible, I would say that they lie on the harder side of scream-o. Now, you may ask, 'Hey wait... Ethan, isn't all scream-o hard?'. And I would answer, 'well, individual I have somehow talked into listening to my opinion, I guess.'

What I mean by hard is that JFFB is more on the, dare I say it, metal-core side of things. Before you immediately vacate the premises because I used the term metal-core, I urge you to not.

One, because I have used the term in describing scream-o bands in the past, Seeing Means More being one of them, and they understand and respect the heavy. And two, there are many metal-core bands that slay more than anything. Don't hear the term metal-core and promptly associate them with Attack, Attack or some other shit formulaic metal opening-breakdown-bridge-breakdown-bridge-build up-final breakdown band. We are allowed to swear here, right?

Now, what I mean when I say JFFB has a metal-core side is because during their songs they will sometimes have some semblance of a 'breakdown'. The word that falls under the Scarlet Letter epidemic, in that those that are given the label or associated with the word are given the misfortune of being ousted by their community, and thus, considered a harbinger bands to make static music videos in junk yards.

Well, I implore you not to associate JFFB with that title. Their breakdowns are more breaks than anything. Subsequently, they are not repetitive in the slightest. They are ruthless, contain some of the more face wrenching tones I have heard, and leave you utterly breathless. Seriously, I cannot urge you enough to listen to this band if you haven't yet. They will make you happy, while simultaneously sad, because you've been missing out up until you listened to them.

The link below has every song they have released on their album "To Bring Our Own End". I am sure they have released splits, but this album, as far as I know, has all their songs in one place. So please, enjoy. And I won't ruin it for you, but their Bonus Track is awesome. Tight.

Download "To Bring Our Own End": https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s4o8qany8hm5es0/09KfkF-9qr 

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Shotmaker

Genre: Post-hardcore

For Fans Of: Four Hundred Years, Still Life, Self Defense Family, We Were Skeletons

As soon as this post makes its way to your face you should already be clicking the download links.

Shotmaker sprung from the early nineties, leaving behind a decent amount of music that is as vicious as it is rhythmic. I am not in the mood to be descriptive or try and define this band musically, so I won't. Even if I was in the mood, I would detract from the brilliance of Shotmaker's music with a convoluted attempt when you should just listen to them.

Shotmaker is one of the many post-hardcore bands that were heavily influential to damn near every current band you're listening to that call themselves screamo, hardcore, emo, etc. They're math-y, while blistering and heavy in their own right. Without further attempt to pinpoint their musical style, as I already feel the words slipping away from me, just download the two links I will provide below. As far as I know it's everything they have released within a two part discography that I got from a music blog that I unfortunately cannot remember the name of. It was either You Are What You Consume or GonnaGetSued. Regardless, I owe them.

I only recently got into this band within the past year or so, but are among the type of music that got me listening to what I do now in the first place. So they are due a lot of credit on my part, and many others. So get into it. Let me know if my dropbox links don't work. Also check out the other blogs I mentioned. Tight.

Shotmaker Discography Pt.1: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4s164osq7rmsuq4/CWoMTSQeW1

Shotmaker Discography Pt. 2: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/82lz0d6olbuswen/wbtJ-MlrOf

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

tyler burkhart

Genre: slo-fi, dramz, folka

For Fans Of: José González, Bibio, Sailor Heart, The Red River

It took Samuel Langhorne Clemens the adoption of an all too under-embellished nom de plume and an exceedingly over-involved fanaticism in delineating the accuracies of  african-american patois in prosaic form to make a name for himself... a pseudo name for himself —a pseudonym.

Let's face it y'all, the man's writing was tasteless and fucking ho-hum boring as the arduous "adventures" of his two eponymously named heroes. Ipso Facto, the dude did little for himself by christening himself with an unnecessary sobriquet.

Anonymity for anonymity's sake is baseless. Anonymity for the sake of forsaking your name? Fuck off. It did nothing to Gild your writing. HOW ABOUT YOU JUST USE YOUR GOD-GIVEN NAME?

Ahhh. Simplicity. Straightforward salesmanship. Minus 'sales'. Simple manship; Tyler Burkhart. (tehe)

The name has not been tampered with. Pure, unadulterated, titular designations are IN. Tyler is the older brother of one of my best buddies and fellow bandmates, Clark Burkhart. I've known this guy since I was around 20 years young and I have followed a bulk of his musical endeavors but none have left such an indelible impression on me as his solo work.

Firstly, he has a PLETHORA of material. I mean, we're talking 1 full-length, 3 ep's ranging from 3-4 songs each, and 2 lil' cutesy ep's featuring a pair o' tunes as well. If that wasn't enough to boast for a young man still in his freshman 20's, every single song is just as inventive, catchy, and melody-driven as the next. I'd love to focus on one of his singular releases but it behooves me to neglect itemizing and center on his innovative sound as a whole. 

Upon first listen, one may glean that Tyler derives influence solely from the somewhat limited genre-pool that comprises the lo-fi, minimalist and contemporary folk brand of pioneering artists such as José González as well as his three-piece indie outfit, Junip, however the more one scrutinizes the surplus of underlying nuances, the more you hear that what once may have felt a desultory pass at mimicking this particular genre's aesthetic is indeed one of the most passionately composed, ornately executed, original solo projects you've ever enjoyed listening to on a recreational level.

Tyler exhibits a compositional maturity which manifests itself in the continuity of his appropriated oeuvre. He never seems to stray from the formulaic paradigm predicated on delicately washed guitars and percussion humming beneath a gossamer veneer of reverb.

This only adds to the layered, unpretentiously harmonized vocals that carve the true melody behind the collective orchestration. It all interweaves effortlessly like a window fan accentuating the ambience of the outdoors on a particularly languid summer evening. While, we're discussing synonymous topics like vocals, I'd like to touch briefly on what impresses me the most, which is the lyricism. In keeping with the agonizingly honest and unsullied thematic elements typically associated with folk, Tyler stays true to the archetypal folk songwriting model while distancing himself from the stereotypical mold by narrating topics with an eloquent understanding of rhetoric and literary personification. Each self-explanatory song title (eg. 'your sushi is colorful' off of suns EP) functions as a smokescreen to a more Delphic and concurrently narrative motif that unfolds like a dream as his voice murmurs and melds succinctly with the remainder of his instrumentation.

Do me and do yourself a favor..get all of this shit. it is good. it's all free on his band camp.

Bandcamp: http://tylerburkhart.bandcamp.com/

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Ted Nguyent

Genre: Slop-punk For Fans Of: i don't even care anymore

For those who have been pestering the boys from Ted Nguyent for the past couple of months about when their long awaited album would drop (me), the wait is at last over.

It has taken me over a week to post about this album, but don't mistake that for sleeping. I've been listening to this record every other fifteen minutes for the past couple of days. With the record's runtime only clocking in at around a dime and some cents, this guy is incredibly easy to play over and over again with no regard for those of a more sentimental character around you. Tell them to man up and chug a 40.

Don't Vote is a raucous, rowdy, riotous good time. each track is just as long as it needs to be with at least one part per song that you can holler along to. The guitar riffage harkens to classic dischord shit and other 90s punk, but the key to Ted Nguyent's charm is their undeniable pop sensibility.

Surfy/sunny/summertime vocal harmonies soak songs in chorus-like sections that seem to tighten up the sloppy, frantic time changes and hectic punk beats. the songwriting on this record is incredibly well planned. I'm a firm believer that if these dudes weren't the punkest motherfuckers around, they would be the beach boys.

This review would not be complete without a big salute to the lyricism. At times funny, other times clever, always cynical, they are exactly what you would expect would be shouted overtop the frantic mess that is the instrumentation. Some of the lyrics may come off as joking, but they're a the perfect compliment to the sonic shit show that is Don't Vote. 

Don't Vote Ted Nguyent for beach storm president. 

Download/Buy "Don't Vote": http://tednguyent.bandcamp.com/album/dont-vote

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Rika

Genre: Emo/Indie/Everything that's right in the world

For Fans Of: Foxing, The National, Joie De Vivre

YOU GUYS. Whoa, it's been a while. Hopefully, this band will make up for the absence of our posting and if any of you have felt bereft or cheated by the lack of music.

This album is incredible. Rika's how to draw a river, step by step is everything you want in an album, and if you want to know more, keep reading. Follow me like those swimmers up there.

This album is retro, it's dissonant, it yearns for something more as it peers at the postcards left on refrigerator doors, or gets lost within its own beautiful instrumentation. I would be remiss if I did not credit Foxing because if it wasn't for their tumblr and their "Top Albums of 2013", I would not have found this album. So thank you, Foxing.

In a year that has been replete with releases that have been of the emo/punk/indie/hardcore/screamo persuasion, it is difficult to separate and find those who stand out. Rika is one of those bands. Not only does this Austrian band separate themselves from the mass of emo/indie choir that sings to the heart ache and longing chord, Rika plays toward the same chord, but does so differently, and in so doing, becomes important.

As I have been engulfed in recent years by local bands and the local music scene, I have all but forgotten some of the indie bands that -- perhaps by the generally increased accessibility due to their genre -- have acquired more attention and bands I have been a fan of for so long like The National, Baths, Bombay Bicycle Club, etc. With Rika, you get the regionality of local bands and the production quality and influence of more renown indie bands.

Now, this is not to say that indie bands are better than local bands. To say that would not only be absolutely false, but I would be offending myself, not to mention I would feel like a liar. I am just saying that their style is reminiscent of indie bands that happen to be more renown. And that's awesome. Because the combination of indie and emo is what sets these guys apart.

Over the year, the amount of emo bands has been multiplying like sad rabbits. To some certain extent, they all begin to bleed together... Not always. Rika is one of the standouts.

Rika's combination of huge instrumentation, beautiful group vocals, amazing and minimal lyrics, and absolutely shimmering, tremendously effective song structure, puts these guys at the top of releases in 2013. And thank Bryan Cranston that I found them in time to put them on my top albums of 2013 list.

Please do yourself a favor and fade into the ponds of transcendence, as Rika moves between so many different variations of emo and indie. They are delicate, sad, pretty, melancholy, at times with vocal styles reminiscent of 80's-esque pop, but with a somber twang to it, and everything and more. 

Rika put this album out on Count Your Lucky Stars and it is sheer brilliance. Tight. 

Download "how to draw a river, step by step": https://www.mediafire.com/folder/29i760wkv8jo6/How%20to%20draw%20a%20river%2C%20step%20by%20step

Buy "how to draw a river, step by step": http://countyourluckystars.bandcamp.com/album/how-to-draw-a-river-step-by-step 

Or buy it here: http://goddamnrecords.bigcartel.com/

Or here: http://rikaband.bandcamp.com/album/how-to-draw-a-river-step-by-step

Now that I've graduated college, (none of you congratulated me, or made me a cake. none of you.) and am entirely unemployed I will have a copious amount of time to write and give you guys some cool music. We'll see. 

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Ecstasy of Saint Theresa

Genre: Shoegaze/Just Shoegaze

For Fans Of: Slowdive, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins

I'm going to go ahead and preface this post with an honest apology which elucidates my blogging absence. May a lanky, preferably drug-addled white jesus have mercy on my soul: I've been explicitly listening to the latest Drake album which I initially berated my brother and all his roommates for upon learning that they liked it. Turns out, I like it. A lot. Know what though? I'm the furthest thing from perfect like everyone I know. I just want to be successful. That's why I write on this blog. For the money. Money and the cars. Cars and the clothes. The hoes. 

Ahem..So..whoever the enigmatic member of the GFS team was that wrote the last post on Cloakroom had something very compelling going with the whole metal/shoegaze route of musical exploration. WE SHOULD EXPOUND UPON SHOEGAZE. Specifically it's roots and beginnings. I'm not going to delve into the history of it all, but one of the most seminal pioneers in the genre and one of the most overlooked is this band, Ecstasy of Saint Theresa. This four-piece hailing from the Czech Republic was formed in 1990 and this specific featured album, "Susurrate", was released in 1993. I'm not going to yap your damned lobes off, but rather just molest y'all with a compendium of adjectival knives. I say "knives" cuz they could butter your bread. Epitomizing the beginning of a new focus for direction in the shoegaze movement, this album is 8 tracks of sheer sonic and melancholic soundscape bliss. Simultaneously grinding and assaultive, the distorted bass and woozy guitars blend perfectly with the barely audible vocals that pervade with a frailty that borders on disquieting. Frenetic drumming compliments every barrage of seemingly chaotic and outwardly beautiful AND catchy guitar arrangements that thrum that characteristic fuzzy overdrive in well-handled proportion. All of the afore mentioned topped with the addition of very very very very very pretty female vocals that act as an undercurrent of urgent and nearly indiscernible breath make for one hell of a critic's coup de grace. Every track is a fucking winner. But "Swoony", "Sweetabyss", "Pistacchio Places" and the closing track "Absinth" are the highlights to what is an all-in-all mesmerizing album. 

http://www.mediafire.com/download/71apf3t57t1v3fp/Ecstasy+Of+Saint+Theresa+-+Susurrate.zip

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Cloakroom

Genre: Shoegaze/Heavy/Metalish

For Fans Of: My Bloody Valentine, Pedro the Lion, Mouth of the Architect

It's been way too fuckin' long, and all of us apologize a lot. This blog will keep going because we love showing you guys music. However frequent,  or infrequent that is. Anyway, this is going to be a short one because it's late and I want to sleep.

I don't know how I missed the train on this one, but homies fuckin' kill it in this band. This band has Doyle Martin from Grown Ups, but don't even expect it to sound anything like that band. I mean, expect it to sound awesome, but don't expect it to be similar in any way. It couldn't be more different. I don't know how the hell I was out of the loop and let this band fall through the cracks, considering I was a huge Grown Ups fan, and before that, a huge Lion of the North fan, but I am glad I found Cloakroom eventually because fuck. Dudes can hang. Out with the fast beats, and in with the droning, fuzzed and dissonant guitars. Cloakroom has an enormous sound, and melodies that punch. Not to mention the harmonies on this EP (called "Infinity") are crazy pretty. I am bad at describing bands, even more so at night, so I won't try to keep going with stupid over descriptive shit and will cut to the chase -- get into this band. If you haven't already, which you probably have because I am a big dumb idiot and always out of the loop. I found this band while searching the pages upon pages of amazing bands on Cut & Paste's blog. If you haven't checked out that blog, do yourself a favor and go there right now. You will most likely spend hours looking through all the bands, and their taste is fuckin' awesome. Be sure to check them out. Tight

Get into Cloakroom. You will not be upset you did. Extra tight.

Download "Infinity" EP:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hqo8i3bwwkp9ygf/oCfKj0oT29

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Best Witches

Genre: Sentimental Punk/Garage/Fall Time Jamz/Emo

For Fans Of: Spook Houses, Ex Wife, Chalk Talk, this nice ass cool weather

So last night I found myself going over to one of my best friends house, hanging out on his deck, a beautiful breeze treating the nape of our necks with fall time whispers, and Donnie puts on Best Witches. First song plays, and I think to myself, "Alright, okay." Next two or so songs roll by, we are talking and drinking, and we are all thinking, "Weird -- Old Crow and Seven Up is actually pretty good." Then the ending of the song 'Warped' by Best Witches plays and a particular time when the conversation stopped. And this group vocal hits my ears and I think, "Damn." So then this morning I downloaded their EP "Jail", got in my car to go to the bank, put them on, and realize that I have found what is probably going to be my favorite band for a while, and an EP to be put on my "Best of 2013 Releases" list.

When Donnie first put Best Witches on, I asked who they were, and he informed me who they were and that Spencer Radcliffe (homeboy who makes some damn good music such as Blithe Field, California Furniture, not to mention his solo material) and I said, "Hell, yeah" because the dude knows how to make music. I am not sure if he is the one that writes the songs, I am just simply saying that I have loved every musical endeavor he has been apart of thus far (I haven't listened to California Furniture yet except when they were being played in the background when I was in a car and not paying attention, but I am pretty sure I am going to love them.) Best Witches exemplifies everything I love in music. Great lyrics, both fuzzy and pretty chords, dynamic song structure, a great tone to each song, and that group vocal. Oh, man, that group vocal. Not to mention yesterday was the first really nice and cool day letting us all know fall is coming, and Best Witches fits in so well with the beautiful atmosphere of fall. In fact, if I heard this band in any other season, I would probably think the same thing. But fall seems to fit them really nicely in terms of aesthetics. This EP the whole way through is something great. I can't really emphasize that enough, nor can I put it into words that well because I'm not the best at describing music exactly the way I want to. What I can say is that this EP does not disappoint in the slightest and is tremendously refreshing. Tight.

Download or Buy "Jail": http://bestwitches.bandcamp.com/album/jail-2

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

John Cota

For Fans Of: Moldar, Matsuri, Ten Thousand Leagues

We still post, etc. Europe, etc. Delays, school, life, etc. Great. 

John Cota's a band from the Oakland/Livermore California area. I thought they'd finished but evidently (not breaking news or anything/not being sarcastic) they put out a new release. It's cool when 's=is and not was.

I guess it's bay area screamo but geography doesn't always prove itself the best means of delineating sub-genres. But then that's like a whole other conversation I'll have to ask D. John Cota do bear certain similarities to groups like Moldar and Matsuri, but that makes sense, they were playing shows together, and living in the same general area. Is that contradictory? I hope so. Time-wise, on your hardcore timeline, they were seemingly most active between 2009/11. Nestle them into that super gnarly family tree that consists of Matsuri, Calculator, Ten Thousand Leagues, No Tongue, DEERS!, and I don't know what else.

A lot of their material, at least their '09 demo and their split with 10 Thousand Leagues is aggressive, melodic, driving, and everything else you could want.  Parts remind me a lot of earlier stuff by L'Antietam. It's good aggression. 

The new album is called III. It has 3 songs. It's good. I keep thinking that there are rumors about last shows. I know they played about a month ago with Calculator and ITTO and Capacities. 

I uploaded their tour demo to download because I don't know if it's floating around any other ethereal internet spaces. Everything else is up for streaming on their bandcamp. 

Streaming: http://johncota.bandcamp.com/album/iii

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?6w8v47rze40rnog

[gonnaflunkscience-blog]

Girl Brains

Genre: Hardcore/Powerviolence/GBFU

For Fans Of: Congenital Death, Paint It Black, stuff to chug fortys to

Yo, we added another writer. He's my brother and it's his birthday today. So be sure to send him your copies of Spring Breakers. We know you all bought that shit on Blu-Ray. Now we have four writers, and less of an excuse to not post frequently. Anyway, on to this band.

The homies are in. New band on the block, Girl Brains, have just dropped their "7 INCH SPLIFF" and they're probably going to be exploding all over, not to mention your shoes when they inevitably puke from the fortys they chugged at the show you saw them play. Denim vested, questionably alcoholic, stank metal Girl Brains bring the violence and the good times in just three tracks. I literally listened to this thing like 4 minutes ago and it's out of this world good. I guess you could call me bias because they are my dudes (except the drummer who I haven't spoken to really, and I hope that changes with this post. I think he follows me on twitter.), and homeboy who plays bass in this band is the same homeboy who plays bass in the band I play in so, yes, I guess you could say I have a special invested interest in them. But that doesn't at all mean I am not being one hundred and sixteen percent truthful when I say this release is leg quiveringly good. Every track punches. And every song is placed perfectly. The beginning song draws attention, the middle is muddy and dope, and the ending is, well, the ending. If by the end of the last song you aren't screaming "GIRL BRAINS FUCK YOU" over and over out loud, or in your head, then maybe take a break, go take a shower, and listen to it again, because it's the best. It's pretty difficult to pull off referencing your band name in a song, but considering just how heavy the ending of the song is, how fucking cool the band name Girl Brains is, and how much this release rules beyond reason, they pull it off and they do so swimmingly. 

If you're going to do one thing today it should be to listen to Girl Brains. I am now listening to it for the third time in a row and all I want to do is pulverize myself in a liquid bath of Hurricane fortys and puke because I want to. I don't know if they intended for this effect to happen, but it's happening and I am not going to fight it. Check these dudes out, hard. GIRL BRAINS FUCK YOU. Tight.

Download or Buy "7 INCH SPLIFF": http://girlbrainshc.bandcamp.com/album/7-inch-spliff