Direct Hit – “Crown of Nothing”
Another killer project topping this week’s RECORD OF THE WEEK Blog!!!
Milwaukee’s Direct Hit has always pushed the boundaries of party punk- from nervy pop-punk to fist-smashing hardcore to Andrew W.K.-style rock- with deep lyrical themes that challenge ears and brains alike! Musically, “Crown of Nothing” veers from Direct Hit’s patented party punk to heavily overdubbed power pop to blazing hardcore punk. Lyrically, it’s built around the idea that heaven & hell may be the same place- more specifically, it describes the relationship between a vengeful angel put to death by a demon she then torments in the afterlife for eternity. The limited variant is a first-ever innovation: it’s a specially printed slip mat that- when the color vinyl is placed on it- shows 2 different sets of images! Truly trend-setting!
BAND NAME: Direct Hit (Facebook / Twitter)
LABEL NAME: Fat Wreck Chords (Website / Facebook)
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In 1998, Greg Wilkinson began playing shows with a drum machine, bass, and circuit-bent noise generators while singing under the moniker MrBrainoil. The vision was to have a noisy sludge rock band fused with crust and hardcore music. By early 2000, Nathan Smith joined on guitar followed by Ira Harris who was recruited to the drum position later that year. The band changed its name to BRAINOIL. Their first output since 2011’s punishing “Death Of This Dry Season” full-length, the long-anticipated “Singularity To Extinction” offers up seven ravenous hymns of gnarly audio antagonism all swathed in the apocalyptic cover art of John Santos. Infusing their signature sludge with unorthodox time signatures, “Singularity To Extinction” stands as BRAINOIL’s fastest, crustiest, and most monolithic offering to date. Head over to TANKCRIMES to get this LP in a silver foil laced jacket!
BAND NAME: Brainoil (Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram)
LABEL NAME: Tankcrimes (Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Downloads / Merchtable)
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“Empty Me”, Gabrielle Herbst’s second album as GABI and first for DOUBLE DOUBLE WHAMMY, is a celebration of discovery, collaboration and community – and a leap into bold new territory for the singer and composer. After releasing her debut album, “Sympathy”, in 2015 and touring North America and Europe, Herbst found herself in an intense, transformative time. She’d often wake up in the middle of the night needing to write new songs, improvising while half-asleep at her keyboard. In the years to come, these ideas, feelings, and experiments would lead her to a new sound, to healing, and the most direct music she has ever made. Find out more at DOUBLE DOUBLE WHAMMY or catch GABI on tour all over the US this November!
BAND NAME: GABI
LABEL NAME: Double Double Whammy
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“Alan Howarth Live at Hollywood Theatre” was recorded on October 1, 2014. It was edited by ALAN HOWARTH and mastered for vinyl by Timothy Stollenwerk. It includes a 6-panel career spanning interview with Howarth conducted by Dennis Dread shortly before the 2014 concert and features previously unpublished vintage photos from HOWARTH’S personal archives. Beautiful layout and design by A.K. Wilson. A spirited testament to ALAN HOWARTH’S sound design wizardry and an homage to his renowned compositional collaborations with John Carpenter for such masterpieces as Escape From New York, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Christine, Big Trouble in Little China, Prince of Darkness and They Live, this is the quintessential soundtrack for midnight conjurations and psychonautical headphone voyages. 45 minutes of brooding cinematic dirges recorded live before a capacity audience of nearly 400 fans, this latest transmission from the WYRD WAR catacombs gets down to business like a lost mix tape from hell’s finest video store.
BAND NAME: Alan Howarth
LABEL NAME: Wyrd War (Website / Facebook / Instagram)
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Harkening back to the days when skaters were still considered rebels and punk was in the underground, Scheisse Minnelli channels the spirits of the sound and attitude of 80s west coast hc skate punk, blending raw punk riffing with musical prowess and poigniant lyrics that range from social issues to personal struggles into to a style all their own. Dedicated to their music and their often wreckless lifestyle, Scheisse Minnelli are a rare and shining example of practicing what one preaches. The album title itself and title track is about a night they played Berlin at SO36. The next day one of their members was missing and we needed to get to a festival. He texted and asked to pick him up at ‘Fehler Str 1’ which sounded like a joke cause the exact translation of the address is ‘Mistake Street 1.’ Therefore waking up on Mistake Street.
BAND NAME: SCHEISSE MINNELLI (Website / Bandcamp / Soundcloud / Facebook / Reverb Nation / Twitter / Instagram)
LABEL NAME: Beanies Records (USA) & Destiny Records (Europe)
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TIDES OF MAN originally had a singer until 2010 when they shifted gears into the instrumental post rock genre. “Every Nothing” is their second release as an instrumental band and was recorded at VuDu studios in Port Jefferson, NY and Cleartrack Studios in Clearwater, FL. Featuring sweeping, dramatic compositions, “Every Nothing” builds layers of melodies until they burst into sonic stardust, overwhelming in their scope, beauty and commanding presence.Go grab one of the four colored versions from the band while you still can!
BAND NAME: Tides Of Man
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We’re not over with the insane new stuff yet, keep watching…
