CONVERGE: AXE TO FALL - REVIEW BY BRIAN JAMES

2009 marks the 19th year of Converge's existence as a musical outfit. AXE TO FALL is the bands 7th official full-length release. This record is more punk than any punk record released this year. This record is harder-core than any other hardcore record release this year. The same comparison applies to the metal genre.

This band has never compromised its sound or aggression for any kind of mainstream acceptance and yet they've managed to achieve it in almost every subgenre and branch-off of it.

I cant even think straight right now. My senses are shredded. My nerves are frayed. I just had a panic attack and reverted back to some kind of primitive, animalistic way of thinking. God bless you Jake Bannon...you sick, scrawny tattooed motherfucker. Yer somethin different. Theres no doubt about that.

AXE TO FALL features a plethora of guest musicians including the likes of Steve Brodsky (Cave In), Adam McGrath (Cave In), John-Robert Connors (Cave In, Doomriders), Uffe Cederlund (Disfear, ex-Entombed), George Hirsch (Blacklisted), Brad Fickeisen (The Red Chord), Hamilton Jordan (Genghis Tron), Mookie Singerman (Genghis Tron), John Pettibone (Undertow, Himsa), Steve Von Till (Neurosis), and Sean Martin (ex-Hatebreed, Cage)

I just came to the realization that God can be explained through a mathematical equation and that his worth is set to value by a yearly audit. - Brian James/ Dope Sick Radio

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CONVERGE ON DOPE SICK RADIO

1. Kurt Ballou appears on Dope Sick Radio Episode Number 57. The complete interview and episode can be heard here - CLICK FOR DIRECT LINK

2. Nate Newton appears on Dope Sick Radio Episode Number 64. The complete interview and episode can be heard here - CLICK FOR DIRECT LINK

BRENDAN KELLY ON DOPE SICK RADIO PART 1 AND 2

 

 

DSR69 - MIKE D OF DOESITMATTER

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DOPE SICK RADIO EPISODE #69 - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 @ 2PM (CST) W/ SPECIAL GUEST MIKE D OF FLORIDA-BASED SOCI-POLITICAL PUNK OUTFIT DOESITMATTER

A staple in the Atlantic Beach, Florida skate and surf scene, Mike D has spent the last 5 years grinding his band into a well-oiled machine. The evidence can be heard in 2008‘s debut release “A Patriot’s Pride”. Two years since that grand effort, Doesitmatter is preparing to let loose their yet-to-be named sophomore effort. We’ll be talkin all things Doesitmatter and we’ll be showcasing a proper example of the bands offerings. Tune in.

DSR69 PLAYLIST

1. Doesitmatter – A Patriots Pride

2. Fast Forward – Up To Me

3. Wolfbrigade – How Will You Find Peace?

4. The Sainte Catherines – Burn Guelph Burn

5. Doesitmatter - Mankind

6. Doesitmatter – The Storm

7. Doesitmatter – Gone Off Fighting

8. Drunk Tank – Last One Standing

9. Bad Religion - Generator

10. Converge – Dark Horse

DROP DEAD DOPE SICK

DSR68 - SEAN McGOVERN OF WELLBORN SKATE CLOTHING

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DOPE SICK RADIO EPISODE #68 - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 @ 2PM (CST) WSPECIAL GUEST SEAN MCGOVER, CO-FOUNDER OF WELLBORN SKATE CLOTHING AND HEAD COACHPART OWNER OF CROSSFIT 312

As a seventeen year veteran of skateboarding, Sean McGovern has taken his bone-breaking lifestyle in a more fitness- oriented direction. We’ll be talkin to the Chicago-based entrepreneur about his clothing line and his Cross Fitness facility. We’ll be spinnin the finest in punkrock and hardcore and we’ll be jivin that jive you’ve come to know in love on the DSR. Tune in.

Check shit out before the show

www.wellbornclothing.com

www.crossfit312.com

DSR68 PLAYLIST

1. Bleeding Through – Anti-Hero

2. Blacklisted - Tourist

3. Doesitmatter – Shallow Streets

4. Hellmouth – Praying For The Plague

5. Bullet Treatment – A Reason For Violence

6. Face To Face – Can’t Change The World

7. Dead Icons – The Curse

8. Dead Icons – It Never Ends

9. Pour Habit – Suiticide

10. After The Fall – Decapitate

11. Propagandhi – A Speculative Fiction

DEAR LANDLORD: DREAM HOMES REVIEW BY BRIAN JAMES

I've read reviews that categorize DEAR LANDLORD as a pop punk band. And since I tend to shy way from most bands that fall into that category, I'm gonna refrain from labeling this band at all. What Ill do instead is paint a little picture. Imagine yourself being kicked in the stomach by an ex-girlfriend. You drop to the ground. And as your lying there curled up in a fetal position, she kneels down besides you. She tells you how sorry she is for doing what she just did. She caresses your face and wipes the beads of sweat off your forehead. As she leans in to offer what you expect to be a kiss, she head butts you straight in the fuckin nose. As you choke on the blood that pours down the back of your throat you can see out the corner of your eye, the image of a woman laughing. You close your eyes and when you wake up you realize that it was nothing more than a fucked up dream. Those are the exact moods this record accomplishes to evoke. A roller coaster ride of emotion throughout it's entirety.

On a more tangible note, DEAR LANDLORD definitely has that Midwest, sing-a-long, punkrock sound. Its a sound thats hard to describe, but you know it when you hear it. Whether theyve inherited that style intentionally or subconsciously is an answer the world may never come to know. What the world just might come to know however, is that DEAR LANDLORD is band with substance. Every song on this record is a pseudo-anthem filled with empowering and empathetic subject matter; accompanied by a complimentary selection of chorus lines, breakdown, and r-r-r-riffs.

The band is comprised of two-parts RIVETHEAD and two-parts COPYRIGHT. The first band being based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, the latter hailing out of Carbondale, Illinois. Thus, that Midwest sound.

DREAM HOMES is the bands first full-length release and if they can keep their bond together long enough to write another record, Dear Landlord just might find themselves under a microscope of mainstream acceptance. And then I'll hate em.  Killer record folks. Check it. - Brian James/ Dope Sick Radio

DSR67 - JAHSHIE P OF OUTLAW RADIO

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DOPE SICK RADIO EPISODE #67 - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 @ 2PM (CST) W/ SPECIAL GUEST JAHSHIE P, CREATOR AND HOST OF OUTLAW RADIO AND SINGER/ SONGWRITER FOR LAST FALSE HOPE

When Jahshie P ain’t bookin punk shows in Chicago, he’s playin shows with Last False Hope. When he’s not playin shows with Last False Hope he’s hostin Outlaw Radio. When he’s not booking shows, playin shows, or hostin his radio show, he’s workin 50 hours a week and raisin 2 chillins. This cats a busy motherfucker and we’re pickin his brain. Tune in.

DSR67 PLAYLIST

1. Assjack – Redneck Ride

2. Me First and the Gimmee Gimmees – Lookin For Love

3. Mad Sin – 50 Miles to Nowhere

4. Star Fucking Hipsters - Design

5. F-Minus – Barking Dog

6. Nectromantix – Dead By Dawn

7. Strike Anywhere – Two Thousand Voices

8. A Wilhelm Scream – We Built This City (On Debts and Booze)

9. Fuck The Facts – Golden Age

10. Rotting Out - Skin

DSR66 - EX-SKINHEAD AND AUTHOR FRANK MEEINK

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DOPE SICK RADIO EPISODE #66 - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND @ 2PM (CST) W/ SPECIAL GUEST FRANK MEEINK AUTHOR OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A RECOVERING SKINHEAD

Dope Sick Radio is back after a 9 month hiatus with a new station, a new day, and a new time. The DSR comeback episode welcomes special guest, Frank Meeink, author of Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead. Check it out.

DSR66 PLAYLIST

1. Death Before Dishonor - Remember

2. Deviates - Classes

3. Dropkick Murphys – Boys on the Docks

4. Blood For Blood – Tear Out My Eyes

5. Peaceful Meadows – Piste 06

6. Reign Supreme – A Ghost in this City

7. Union 13 – Symptoms of Humanity

8. The Uprising – We Don’t Belong

FAILURES: S/T - REVIEW BY BRIAN JAMES

FAILURES is the latest musical offering from former Charles Bronson, Das Oath, and Holy Molar frontman Mark McCoy. If you're familiar with Mark's vocal style than you know what to expect. If youre unfamiliar than you better be wearin a fuckin diaper. This record is relentless. It never slows down and it never fuckin stops. Its a straight punch to the fuckin teeth and it accomplishes that through an aesthetic I cant quite put into words.

The band formed in the winter of 2006 on the East Coast after the conclusion of Das Oath and also features members Will Killingsworth of Orchid, Andrew Jackmauh, and Matt Wilga. Like most of Mark's art and music, this release is available through very limited release. Consider yourself lucky to own a copy. - Brian James/ Dope Sick Radio

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"FAILURES is an empowering new musical group from the East Coast. Comprised of four ambitious men, who under the most extreme scrutiny have courageously rendered this super-charged missive of volatile energy. Appearing at a moment in history that can only be best described as a yawning pit of deluded regurgitation, this 14 song attack answers your life's desperate call for Meaning. First press of 600 copies, split release with the noble Clean Plate." -  From Youth Attack Records

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MARK McCOY ON DOPE SICK RADIO

Mark McCoy appears on Dope Sick Radio Episode Number 46. The complete interview and episode can be heard here - CLICK FOR DIRECT LINK

KRUM BUMS: SAME OLD STORY REVIEW BY BRIAN JAMES

The snotty saga of Austin-based street punkers continues with the release of SAME OLD STORY out now on TKO Records. With the exception of a higher production value and the inclusion of a cello in the mix, this 6 song E.P. delivers exactly what you've come to expect from this multi-ethnic, beer-spittin' collection of gritty musicians.

Frontman Dave Rodriquez's throaty vocal style brings to life the angst-ridden content of his words and combined with the musicianship of the band; the Krum Bums as a collective manage to re-create that sonic vacuum of punkrock paranoia, frustration, and hatred felt on prior releases such as THE SOUND and AS THE TIDE TURNS.

As serious as the music of the Krum Bums is, what I admire most about the band is their brutally sarcastic and comedic approach to life offstage. Their sense of humor is in glaring contrast to the serious and moody nature of music they write. When I asked Dave Rodriquez in a recent interview about the importance of having that vibrant sense of humor to combat the darkness of the times we live in, his response put everything into perspective.

"Having that sense of humor is probably the only way I could survive - with all the fucked up shit goin on (in the world today) - and just dealing with life in general - sometimes with all the drama you just gotta sit down and have a drink and have some fuckin laughs."

SAME OLD STORY is the Krum Bums fourth official studio release and if youre unfamiliar with the musical offerings of this band, consider this your first and only friendly warning. - Brian James/ Dope Sick Radio

KRUM BUMS: SAME OLD STORY
Year: 2009
Producer:  Gabe Gonzalez
Label: TKO Records

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KRUM BUMS ON DOPE SICK RADIO

Dave Rodriquez of the Krum Bums appears on Dope Sick Radio Episode Number 60. The complete interview and episode can be heard here - CLICK FOR DIRECT LINK