It’s 2011 and, eleven years after their inception as a Los Angeles influenced hardcore outfit, Toronto’s own Fucked Up have released the best record in their ‘career.’ I say career with an emphasis and quiet smirk on my face because, in contradiction to everything the band claimed to stand for during the barrage of 7″s …
This is the first in a series of capsule reviews by Nick Gergesha. He is currently attending the Hot Docs Film Festival (April 28-May 8), providing content for both Hearwax Media and The Innis Herald. April 28: Fightville – Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker (USA) In Fightville, directors Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s documentary that …
Emo is characterized by a series of peaks and valleys. The forebears of the style (genre, sound, conventions, what have you) experimented with a quiet to loud aesthetic that commingled expressive, nearly whispered passages with bursts of passion and, in some instances, violent chaos. I’m reminded of the template set by Indian Summer and their …
Boyfriends – Boyfriends 7″ Situated at a crossroads between post-punk boisterousness and emo sensibility, Boyfriends‘ eponymous 7″ is comfortable enough at this young stage of their career that they have no qualms borrowing from the Lawrence Arms by way of Hot Water Music template offered by contemporaries such as Basement,Snowing, and 1994! (with whom they share members), but brimming with …
Getting handed a new Emmure record to review almost felt like a slap in the face. Granted, it was my own hand that stung my cheek, but any way you look at it, letting a person who absolutely loathed the band in 2009 isn’t normally likely to garner the best results. Perhaps hilarity would ensue. …
Graf Orlock have never wearied from the aphoristic idea that if one has a good thing going, don’t try too hard to mess with it. The band has never shied away from wearing their influences brightly on their sleeves. The whole idea of cinema-grind owes itself to the age-old adage of art consisting of ‘theft …
Animal Faces – Analytical Dreaming On their five-song debut, Animal Faces meddle with a familiar sound they ultimately make their own. The trio is able to meld discordance, sludge, and beauty into a ferocious yet delicate mixture of jangly post-hardcore and earnest screamo. Hailing from the Greater Toronto Area, the young members that comprise the …
Bars Of Gold - Of Gold There are enough quirky, off-kilter indie acts to fill a circus tent and initiate a bonanza. For every band like Los Campesinos! or Johnny Foreigner that have the prowess and personality to get it right, there are a dozen artists calling attention to themselves in the vain attempt of emulating Jeff Magnum (an …
Ryan McKenney is a good dude. The Trap Them vocalist has been swamped with touring, work, and the recording of his band’s upcoming full-length, We Craft In Darkness, coming soon on Prosthetic Records. Now, Ryan already took the time to spill his guts to me at this time last year, and you can read that …
Starkweather are of a diametrical nature. The band has stood on its own for over twenty years, a flagship of the methods in which disparate genres of music can be incorporated creatively into a cohesive and enjoyable structure. While other bands have cheekily stolen templates from other artists to create “metal-core,” “death-core,” and every other …