The Stance Brothers

Yo - who the fuck is The Stance Brothers? Why is Helsinki, Finland tearing shit up better than the United States? My buddy Eddie, DJ E Be Lo A.K.A. The Chorizo Funk hipped me to this band from across the pond. Check out these videos on YouTube. Band definitely rips shit - up there with the Dap-Kings, Quantic Soul Orchestra, Soulive. Link to their myspace at the bottom.







myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thestancebrothers

How Vocals Ruined a Band

Sirhan Sirhan’s latest release, the full length Blood (Anodyne Records), would be a fucking brilliant record, the type of album you put on during a shitty day and blast loud as fuck until your neighbors bang on the walls or your mom bangs on your bedroom door. Would be. If guitarist/vocalist Jason Blackmore, of Midwest projects Gunfighter and Molly McGuire, would just put a goddamn sock in it.

Sirhan Sirhan have a bit of a Hot Snakes vibe, which means they sound a lot like The Wipers on uppers, except for when they drop out into sludge metal breakdowns (“Rise”). There’s some of The Bronx mixed in their sound as well, definitely a Melvins influence here and there, but the guitars are too chunky and full to be considered garage rock, the vocals too processed to be considered punk.

But as previously stated, the big downer on Blood is the way Blackmore seems to be forcing his vocals through all sorts of weird effects, adding echo, distortion – all sorts of unnecessary stuff. Just scream dude. Be a man. Blackmore’s voice is all over the place, barking like Corey Taylor of Slipknot on “All Aboard,” effeminately whispering on “Burn it Down,” and wavering between both on “Surgery.” Then you have “Remove My Eyes,” which is perhaps the most ridiculous vocal exhibition I’ve heard in a long time.

Musically there is nothing wrong with Sirhan Sirhan – the band’s got balls and the play with unapologetic fury. The whole blood, death, fire, and destruction schtick is a little bit ridiculous, though (“Chop Chop” is simply absurd). All in all, throughout Blood I couldn’t shake the overwhelming desire to grab Blackmore by the throat and scream “SHUT THE FUCK UP! Your band is incredible and you’re fucking ruining it!”

You fucked it up, Jason. You fucked it up.

mp3: none - not worth it.
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sirhansirhan

Horrible Band Name, Great Band

The Human Flight Committee takes familiar influences and molds them into something truly unique on their latest offering, the impressive Oh, When The Animals Unionize. Try and stick with me here – see, I could tell you that this band cites At the Drive-in, The Blood Brothers, The Mars Volta, Botch, and Minus the Bear as influences and you could easily come up with a general idea of what they sound like. You’d be wrong, though. There’s just something fresh about Aaron Shelton’s vocal swagger, Chris Alfieri’s percussive approach to melody, the rhythm section of Garrett Henderson and Christopher Shelton’s ability to keep everything moving forward that altogether feels so new, yet still so comfortable and familiar.

“The Last Song Anyone is Ever Going to Hear” starts with Shelton proselytizing over Botch-like leads, builds into a cathartic disco meltdown and, just when you think the song can’t get any better, in come the gang vocals. That’s everything I need in a great song these days (a Botch reference, disco beats, and gang vocals). “Tint and Quarantine” further establishes Shelton as a force to be reckoned with, a quick-witted and sharp-tongued lyricist who recalls the likes of Jordan Buckley (Every Time I Die) and Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw).

“Russian? We’re Barely Moving” is for folks looking for a true sense of panic in their disco. “The Shortest Distance Between Two Points is a Punch in the Mouth” lags but “The Five Second Saga” picks up the hyperactive, These Arms Are Snakes vibe before boredom ensues. Even at their simplest (“You’ll Get in When You’re Older”) The Human Flight Committee sound better than most of their better known peers. “Wolves in Cheap Clothing” is a mouthful at 7 minutes, but its bold sense of adventurism, its self-indulgent and cocky self-assuredness, is The Human Flight Committee in a nutshell.



Rarely does a band show so much promise and potential, but The Human Flight Committee show plenty of both on Oh, When the Animals Unionize. With familiar influences, THFC produce a batch of songs that are all over the map, yet manage not to leave the listener lost.

mp3: Russian! We're Barely Moving

Some New Music

The Cool Kids - "Miami Beach"
here
Off their soon-to-be-released EP The Bake Sale. Tracks is dope. Typical Cool Kids party shit but hey, that's what they do. "Everywhere I go I act an ass..." amen, brotha.



Jimi Hendrix - "Gloria" (cover)
here
Jacked this one from the guys over at I Guess I'm Floating. Jimi could rock a cover song like nobodies business and he definitely takes this one in a direction Van Morrison never could have imagined. The spoken word parts are rad as fuck. Consider the Source did a cover of this last year sometime. Never thought to do with it what Jimi did, but we had fun either way.



Tyga - "Space Joyridin"
here
Hate all you want, I can't wait for Tyga's new record to drop (on Decaydance Records, home of Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes, etc). This is off the latest installment of his mixtape series "No Introduction." Download that shit for free off his myspace - www.myspace.com/tyga. Lil Wayne is all over that shit.



4 or 5 Magicians - "Forever on the Edge"
here
I have a thing for songs about being a struggling musician, a dreamer, etc so this is sort of my anthem right now. These kids are from Bristol, England and have a great pop sound that would be altogether generic if not for Dan Ormsby's clever delivery and penchant for self-deprecating humor.

Sean Falyon

Props to Eyez over at Che Sing The Cool for putting together a list of 12 hot Atlanta rappers to look out for and including Sean Falyon.

Check out the track below - "Get To That." Falyon is Philly-born, ATL-made, signed to Bonecrusher's Vainglorious record label. Falyon's rhymes have a 90s party rap vibe to them (I'm thinking Digital Underground, Will Smith, even De La Soul). Beats are kinda hipster-hop, but not annoyingly so. N.E.R.D. style.

Love hearing new hip hop.

mp3: "Get To That"
myspace: www.myspace.com/seanfalyon

Some Things Cost More Than You Realize

New Radiohead video is amazing. "All I Need" is one of the better songs on the new album. Lot of bands making activist videos lately. Positive trend?