There is a line in the song Stay Positive by the Hold Steady that goes “There’s gonna come a time when the true scene leaders forget where they differ and get big picture ‘cause the kids at the shows, they’ll have kids of their own and the sing-along songs will be our scriptures.”

I’m old enough that this is happening now. 

In light of that, I’m going to spend the rest of the year highlighting our scriptures.

New Testament.

Not all of these are going to be super fun jams, but that doesn’t mean they are not sing-along songs. I love this song, and depending on my mood, it can get to me pretty hard.

I’ll admit that “This Year” is probably the more obvious choice, but if I’m making this whole thing pseudo-religious, This Year is a Sunday School song.

There will probably be more Mountain Goats in this series. 

There is a line in the song Stay Positive by the Hold Steady that goes “There’s gonna come a time when the true scene leaders forget where they differ and get big picture ‘cause the kids at the shows, they’ll have kids of their own and the sing-along songs will be our scriptures.”  I’m old enough that this is happening now. 

In light of that, I’m going to spend the rest of the year highlighting our scriptures.  

Judy is a Punk by the Ramones is some Genesis 1:1 stuff. 

There is nothing groundbreaking here. Just solid “pretty” post-rock. 

You can get the album for free from their label’s Bandcamp page. 

Punknews.org album of 2011. Get stoked. Or get “meh, ” it's punknews.

I’m pretty sure the dudes in this band are paying royalties to Rivers Cuomo. Some songs on this record are so damn Weezer-ish (Beach Community, Famous Friend), good first 2 albums Weezer, but still Weezer. 

This song is from their first full-length, “Joyce Manor.” Overall, I have to be in the right mood for the album, punky Weezer isn’t where my head is at most days, and dude’s voice can wear on me pretty quick. However, I love the hell out of the track I posted, Constant Headache. I have yet to get tired of it at all. 

With all said, they put on a great show, and you should see them every chance you get. 

Photo by Alvin Carrillo

There is a line in the song Stay Positive by the Hold Steady that goes “There’s gonna come a time when the true scene leaders forget where they differ and get big picture ‘cause the kids at the shows, they’ll have kids of their own and the sing-along songs will be our scriptures.”  I’m old enough that this is happening now. 

In light of that, I’m going to spend the rest of the year highlighting our scriptures.  

Old Testament.

For me, Slapstick is right up there with OPIV, a complete classic that I overplayed during “the ska years.” Every song from 25 songs is a sing-along classic, but the intro to “There is a Metalhead in the Parking Lot” just makes me feel good.

There is a line in this song that goes “There’s gonna come a time when the true scene leaders forget where they differ and get big picture ‘cause the kids at the shows, they’ll have kids of their own and the sing-along songs will be our scriptures.”  I’m old enough that this is happening now. 

In light of that, I’m going to spend the rest of the year highlighting our scriptures. 

Part pop-punk, part 90s shouty emo.

Check out their Bandcamp page.

I’m going to do something I hate when reviewers do, compare a band to another band, then ride that single train of thought right into the ground….

Drive like Jay who? Few bands (that don’t have John Reis in them) have pulled of the Drive Like Jehu sound as well as Cut Teeth, right down to me getting distracted and turning it off before the album is over.

With that said, Cut Teeth are by no means a Jehu cover/rip-off band. They have a great rock/punk thing going on with touches of hardcore, which I guess could also be a description of Drive Like Jehu.

Similarities to other things aside, I truly do like this album quite a bit, and the Ben Sears art is a nice bonus. 

Stream the whole album here. Or buy it on vinyl here.  

There is a line in the song Stay Positive by the Hold Steady that goes “There’s gonna come a time when the true scene leaders forget where they differ and get big picture ‘cause the kids at the shows, they’ll have kids of their own and the sing-along songs will be our scriptures.”  I’m old enough that this is happening now. 

In light of that, I’m going to spend the rest of the year highlighting our scriptures.  

Old Testament. Every song Operation Ivy ever released could easily be on this list and probably should. But spending 27 days posting the entirety of OPIV’s discography seems pretty ridiculous. If you want more than this song, just pull out the cd you bought when you were 15 and listen to everything. 

Originally posted by zanimal

The first Jodis album did nothing for me at all. Nothing. Not many of Hydrahead’s 2009 releases did. But I guess if you put out 20 releases in a single year (according to wikipedia), they’re probably not going to all be gold. Turns out I actually only bought one thing Hydrahead released that year, an Oxbow 7".

Aside from some old HH stand-bys like Cave-In, Torche and Big Business, most of the labels 2009 output would fall under what Label head Aaron Turner refered to as “challenging (i.e. unmarketable)” in his going out of business statement. The Jodis album released that year, at least for me, fit squarely in that camp.

Or maybe I just never gave it (or 18 other releases that year) a fair shake. I’m sure thats the attitude that helped drive Hydrahead out of business. My bad dudes. I love your label, even when I didn’t buy things from it. I always respected that you put out exactly what you wanted to, even if I hated it (Xasther, Gridlink) or thought it was way to expensive ($25 for a single 12").

With all that said, I love this track. I slept on Jodis, hard. I also gave the first album another go. Damnit, that thing is great too. 

Buy both album. 

Super catching punk that’s not pop punk at all, with a touch of old school hardcore. It's perfect.

Their album, The EP LP, is 9 songs in 12 minutes. Not a second of filler. Buy it. 

Pop punk with a slight emo touch that I love as much now as I did 15 years ago. They were a favorite local band for years.

Backstory: Three high school kids in 1995/1996 start a Queers/Mr. T Experience/ a million other bands rip-off band. They write 41 songs in about four years, release one ten-song cassette, play shows constantly, and become their own band. Decide that pop-punk isn’t cool anymore, change their name to Hunter Rose, and get more emo/mathy. Then they break up.

2008, two guys decided to get the band back together. They recruit three other guys and start writing new songs. They play some shows, and in 2009, they record a new album, then promptly stop being a band. In 2012, a favorite local venue closes so they have a reunion show and released a cassette of the material they had recorded three years earlier. They’ll probably break up/just stop playing again, but who knows.

This song is from their just-released album called “This is About Us.” Buy it here for super cheap.

And here is everything the original line up did between 1996-1999, for free.