REVIEW: Lemix J. Buckley's "Forgive Yourself" EP

    So I know I keep reviewing really twinkly emo/post rock stuff, and I promise I'll get to some heavier stuff soon, but local dudes keep hitting me with these incredible releases and I'd be really fucking shitty for not showing them to you! Not too long ago I showed you guys the single "Hauntings" by Lemix J. Buckley, and now I get to show you "Forgive Yourself" and finish what's been started :)

Cred: Marlene Lacasse

   It's a short lil' fella, with only 4 tracks, but it friggin' hits you. You go from the poppy, yet noodly, yet somber single to open with. Vocals chime in repeatedly "Does anybody have a gun? Won't you clean up when I'm done?". Heavy shit. Definitely a darker themed set of songs, despite the glassy twinkly finish. It's beautiful, though. Josh(Gill) and Gage(Welch) compliment eachother well with the sings and the strings. Then we check into "Bluff" which sort of sticks to the theme of "Hauntings", but seems to get even darker, as it seems to be telling a story from a convicted killer's vantage point- "Smiling in my concrete room//Remembering how I dismembered you ". Gorgeous guitar work and brilliant pacing by the drummer, Mr. Alex Bazzi, who's love for Zach Hill shows in this one. Kudos to Bradley(Lockheart) for holding it down on bass with such an animal on the skins. ;)

   Next we hit a spacier sounding "The Advocate", which really is a change of pace with a waltzy-er pace to go with the echo-ing guitars. It slowly builds in to a much more driving sound and pounds away till the end. Most excellent. But they saved the best for last. "Complex Up" really just shows off everything you'd love about these guys. Kicks off with a really bright, dance-y riff and verse that leads to this glorious chorus bit that just makes you wanna touch yerself. The VERY BEST PART, however is the incredible, building climax of and ending. Josh starts screaming in-between croons, and it all just ends in the right place, with Josh Screaming "I'm fucking sorry". Juicy, twinkly, emotive songs from an incredible Metro Det. area band. Check it below:

SEE? I fucking love these songs. Go download this shit. Listen to it repetitively and check these guys out live, they post shows on facebook!

In the meantime, I need to figure out why my poop is neon green!

See ya next week <3

-XOXO TOPH

 

PS- MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!

Lake Effect

photo by Blair Spear

So it's been a couple weeks, but things have been crazy since the last time I had a piece together for you guys. I hope y'all got to check out Berserker Fest, I heard it was a killer time. Meanwhile, when I was at Pizza Show at the stick- I saw some ridiculous live music that could have easily rivaled the lineups in ferndale, and I got to see punk bands at the Magic Stick(RIP) one last time before the "EDM scene"(blech) got it's chance to puke all over it. One band in particular caught my eye: Lake Effect.

These dudes hail from Port Huron, MI, and they fucking killed it live. Super raw, emotionally charged melodic hardcore homegrown in our own little angsty mitten. I love it. I bought a shirt and got to meet the dudes, as they were stationed right next to the vile merch at the show. Honestly the nicest, down to earth guys ever. Their most recent EP is titled "History" and you can snag it from bandcamp. They are presently writing a new batch of tracks to be released as well(as per their facebook page), so keep your eyes peeled- I'll probably be pulling a write-up on that bitch ASAP once it's done!  MI kids- these dudes play out a bit, so make sure you catch them. They fucking bring it live! Make sure you say hi to them, and tell them Toph sent ya ;)

Here's a little snippet of their EP in youtube format-

Fucking dope, right?!? I think that jam might be my favorite on the whole set, so it's no surprise they've used it as the teaser. I just love how heavy and pretty the music gets behind the super raw split vocals. And it's sooooo tight, man- tight like your mom. I think you're adopted. There's no way a baby came outta there!

Once again- Get that shit from bandcamp(name your own price, beyotchhhhh!).  

I'm out.  Take it sleazy.

 Love you guys!

XOXO - TOPH

50 SHADES OF CHERRY

Image courtesy of Paul Cherry's facebook page

So I woke up the other morning, Tophin' around on the internet like I always do. I check my facebook feed and find out my homie Paul Cherry has finally released his new video for his single "Cherry Time". If you don't recall, or if you're just now scoping my blogs- I put Paul Cherry's album "On Top" in my top 5 unsung records of 2014. I knew Paul was onto something radical with the direction of his music on this record, and I love his video for "Everybody's Burning Out"(you can see it in the aforementioned blog post). "Cherry Time" completely fucking blows it out of the water. It's incredibly NSFW. Just watch it, I can't waste time explaining it to you- there are no words.

...Yeah.

I can honestly totally relate to this. I feel this same way about TacoBell and those succulent Olive Garden breadsticks. I just don't think I could fuck taco bell in it's nasty turd-laden toilet stall. I'd seduce it at home!

 

-XOXO TOPH

Adventurer S/T EP

So I'm looking into my calendar for the upcoming months. I'm doing a lot of shit, trying to catch my life up after a very tumultuous 2014, and I remember I need to mark down March 14th, as that is the date of  Cthulhu Entertainment's  2nd year anniversary party! I love John after meeting him last year. He's one of the kindest bearded fuckers you'll ever meet, and he truly loves what he does. Check the link and go if you can. Buy tickets from him or from one of the bazillion sick bands playing, including my homie Collin's sick ass band Wolfshark (they just released a single and it's dooooooope!).  Anyhow- My point: I'm checking out all of the bands on the event page, as you might choose to do after reading this bullshit, and I run into a fucking gem.

Photo Cred: Brandan Lee Keller

These guys are called Adventurer, and so is this 7 track banger. And they are everything I love about post 2000 post-hardcore. Heavy and bright. Dynamics off the chart. Killer dual vocals. You would not believe this is just a fucking 3 piece out of Chesterfield, MI. the cleans are beautiful. Great range and they come out with some really exciting harmonies as well. The screaming is super tasteful, fitting well with the dynamics. The drummer kills it, man. I wanna shake this guy's hand on March 14th, because this shit goes everywhere, and he does some sick stuff while not only keeping the time, but he completely moves the dynamics himself. I love this friggin EP, and it'll be on a consistent rotation till I can catch a set :) Listen to my favorite jam, "pursuit of happiness" be;

I fucking know, right?!?! I also really dig "Mariana's Trenchcoat".  But the whole thing is pretty incredible. They definitely give me Fall of Troy vibes, mixed with that of some early Coheed and even a bit of Hopefall's Sattelite Years. All favorites. So I absolutely love and approve. Go snag it from their bandcamp, or look them up on itunes or spotify. And don't forget to catch them at one of the last Magic Stick shows with guitars in it on March 14th!!!! Seriously! Go! 

-xoxo Toph