Yama 3 track demo This band remind me of the sadly defunct Gas Giant. There is a metallic edge to their psyched sound
which really reinforce the weight of the riffs on offer.
Yama is the hindu god of death - not surprisingly this gives you an idea of what to expect
Given that this is a demo, the production is very satisfying. I would imagine this band make a monumental
noise live. I'd pay to see that.
Free Download: http://yama.bandcamp.com/
--The Shovel
The Enders - Stop This SingleRidin' a riff that sounds stolen from the Scorpions "The Zoo", Iron Maiden's "Running Free" and the entire Motorhead catalog all at the same time, The Enders explode through the speakers with this two song blitzkreig of punk fury "Stop This," and "Static." Available for free at the band's bandcamp page, this assault is really worth stealing. "Stop This" rides that opening riffage straight into some hardcore vocal belching and a cool mid-song bass breakdown. Simple and dramatically pure. This is down-your-gullet punk rock and all the more perfect because of it. "Static" ups the guitar fury to nitrous pace with barely contained speed warpage. Vocals drop all attempts at singing, instead spitting the lyrics out in sprays of bile. Not quite hardcore but damn hard and damn core. Definitely a band to watch. While you're at their bandcamp, steal their new E.P. also.
http://theenders.bandcamp.com
Grey Area/Go Rydell - Split 7"So far, I've been digging most of the Black Numbers releases that have been dropped into the Ripple offfice by postman Sal. It started with the beautifully disaffected release by P.J. Bond and continues right on through this split by emo-punkers Grey Area and Go Rydell. Grey Area start this jaunt off with their catchy "No Guarantees" and it's proto-typical punk guitar riff before it charges off into emo-pop punk territory. Pure hardcore blended with pop chops, this is my favorite cut of the 4 on the album. That's not to say that Grey Area's second cut "Bliss" drops the ball. Chugging guitars rage in a post-hardcore fury with even a tiny trace of an Oi! sing-along chorus sure to get the arms pumping in the pit. Go Rydell come next, and blitz through their alotted side faster than a tourist racing to the bathroom after eating street food in Tijuana. Forget melody and pop chops here, what we got is a grinding emo blast of guitars and violating percussion. Two of the three cuts here clock in at only 49 seconds. Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily. But truth be told, I'm not as impressed with this side as the Grey Area side. Go Rydell's last song "Battery Park" extends their assault to a more normal song length and lets some serious guitar chops shine through. Also, here we get more of a structure for the noise (even a guitar breakdown mid-way through). This gives me a glimpse that there's more here under the hood than the 50 seconds nitro exhaust blasts, and that keeps me intrigued.
False Alarm/Youth Gone Mad - Split 7"Not a lot of info here but I take it we got two old school punk outfits that share a commonality in bass player Paul Kostabi and record with a series of impressive guests like Dee Dee Ramone. False Alarm formed way back in the early '80's but sound anything but tired here on their punky ballad, "Who I Am." Of course having Cheetah Chrome from the legendary Dead Boys helping out on lead guitar doesn't hurt. Ramone's-fueled straight-forward punk is what's in store with tons of finesse, a bit of fuzz, and some tasty guitar lead chops bleeding through. Good stuff. Youth Gone Mad bring up the flip-side with their dark-themed, quasi-horror punk, sci-fi splatter-fest "Frogman (From Mars)." Riding a psychobilly road that runs parallel to The Cramps and others, don't go here looking for originality. Go here for fun, pure and simple. And with Fat Mike from NOFX lending a hand, we got fun in spades. Dark and slippery, dirty and oily. Cool stuff.
--Racer
