We’ll Die Smiling – Avant Garde

We’ll Die Smiling (myspace) plays chaotic punk music with angsty screaming vocals like it hasn’t been done in ages. The spastic start/stop dissonant guitar-patterns are wielded to the point of perfection, quickly changing to mellow clean parts or violent chugs, and back again, while the vocals constantly harshly soar above the end product. This reminds a lot of what smaller bands did within the confinements of term ‘mathcore’ around the time we bridged from the 20th to the 21st century. Somewhat like Shoemaker Levy 9, Path Of No Return or As The Sun Sets, to give a few examples that won’t mean anything to most people. But there, I said it anyway.

Never Again - Year One

Mindless Believer by Never Again

If you’re not straight edge, chances are you’d feel bad about that when you realize how much you like this band. Never again (Myspace) was a fairly straight forward sxe hardcore punk band, in both sound and ethics, with elements ranging from quick- to turbo-paced hard punk music. Their ethics can not be overlooked as even the spoken soundsamples, as intros to songs, as well as the lyrics, deal with anti-poison messages that can not be mistaken as anything but an agressive stance toward drug-(ab)using individuals. Their range of influences reach from the broad spectrum of youth crew hardcore to true to form edge/power-violence.
Last fm tags as  hardcore, punk, rock, straight edge, punk-rock

click the image above to buy this record from their label!

outside The Box Week: Atom And His Package - Hair: Debatable (3of4)

LMFAO. This is still easily the most random music I enjoy THIS much.  Just one dude (who is now a teacher in chemistry and physics), with a guitar and sequencer. While the machine automates sketchy beats, bleeps and MIDI-drums, Atom plays awkwardly upbeat punk rock guitar tunes and blurts out random and geeky lyrics. About his mother’s disappreciation for his and his friends’ black metal lifestyle, a mousache stuck to a TV-screen, how his definition of anarchy is littering, a fictional person who consists of nothing but a head with arms attached etc etc, with song titles like “I am down right amazed at what I can destroy with just a hammer”. You get the picture. The vocals often remind one of The Simpson’s Dr Frink and the overall music of an over-the-top Blink 182 mock-song. these songs are crappy/fantastic live recordings from his last show ever. Atom was also a playable character in EMOGAME.
Last Fm tags as punk, indie, experimental, electronic, rock

buy his stuff from No Idea Records, here

Outside The Box Week: Hot Snakes - Audit In Progress (1of4)

This is probably THE most quirky punk rock music in punx-history. Hot Snakes (site) featured members from Drive Like Jehu, and those very members went on to form The Night Marchers. in this band, and especially this album even more than their previous, they delivered very peculiar post-punk (and maybe even noise rock) influenced structures into punk rock. It’s like punk for all the Liars or The Jesus Lizard fanboys and girls and a prime example or reminder how versatile punk music can be to any die hard (up the) punx. This band is long gone but dearly missed.
Last fm tags as  post-punk, post-hardcore, punk, indie, rock

buy their stuff from Swami Records, right here

Departures - Escaping Air

 listen to The View From Below by departures

Hardcore band Departures (Myspace) is a bunch of Scottish dudes taking a swing for a different approach at the passionate and melodic breed of punk music. I especially appreciate their uptempo songs, that they rush through sounding like More Than Life running for their life, from an actual hardcore band or a Twister or something.

Last fm tags as: hardcore, under 2000 listeners, metal, rock, punk but consider there are apparently 2 hardcore bands with this name. one American and this one

keep an eye out for their next release. coming very very soon! somewhere. until then, click the above image to get these songs in the form of a split with the band Atlantic Heart