Sunday, January 29, 2017

Song Of The Week: 1/29/17







Song: "Weathered"

Artist: The Dangerous Summer

Album: "Live In Baltimore"

Year: 2010

Place Of Origin: Elliot City, Maryland

Years Active: 2006 - 2014



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Weathered" is a song that appears to be about The Dangerous Summer vocalist AJ Perdomo trying to cope with the loss of his mother. It finds him running away on a trip of self-discovery to face his demons. You can tell he is trying to find some sort of acceptance in the world because he no longer has the one person in his life that he can lean on. This version of "Weathered" is the live one from the band's 2010 album "Live In Baltimore". The original studio cut appears on the band's 2009 album "Reach For The Sun".

THE DANGEROUS SUMMER DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2009 - Reach For The Sun (Hopeless Records)
2010 - Live In Baltimore (Hopeless Records)
2011 - An Acoustic Performance Of "Reach For The Sun" (Hopeless Records)
2011 - War Paint (Hopeless Records)
2013 - Golden Record (Hopeless Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF THE DANGEROUS SUMMER:

The Dangerous Summer formed as a band back in 2006, hailing from Elliott City, Maryland. The band's first release was a 2006 EP called "There Is No Such Thing As Science". That EP caught the ear of Hopeless Records and the band and label forged a career spanning partnership which began in 2007. Under Hopeless, the band re-released their debut EP under the new name "If You Could Only Keep Me Alive". This EP contained a few new songs and in 2009, the band released their full length debut album, "Reach For The Sun". This album would reach #42 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Their second album, 2011's "War Paint", spent one week on the Billboard 200 charts at #149. The band's last release would be 2013's "Golden Record". After touring in support of "Golden Record", The Dangerous Summer vocalist AJ Perdomo told the band that he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from music to focus on being a father. In 2014, the rest of the band made it official by stating that The Dangerous Summer had officially called it quits. The Dangerous Summer's style is basically a melodic rock/alternative rock outfit with hints of pop punk elements. If you're a fan of bands like The Swellers, The Starting Line, Transit, The Early November and Acceptance then you would probably enjoy the sound of The Dangerous Summer. While their style of music isn't my favorite genre, I do enjoy a melodic, pop song every now and then and The Dangerous Summer wrote really good songs, often very personal lyrics and strong musicianship. I think they are one of the better alternative rock/pop punk bands out there. It's a shame it didn't work out for them to keep working together and making music.

TEN THE DANGEROUS SUMMER SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Where I Want To Be
2. Catholic Girls
3. War Paint
4. Siren (acoustic version)
5. The Permanent Rain
6. Sins
7. No One's Gonna Need You More
8. Of Confidence
9. Good Things
10. Weathered

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Song Of The Week: 1/22/17







Song: "A Portrait Of The Artist As A Drunk Man"

Artist: Rum Runner

Album: "What's The Music Mean To You"

Year: 2009

Place Of Origin: Calgary, Canada

Years Active: 2001 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

Can't find the lyrics for "A Portrait Of The Artist As A Drunk Man" but, after listening to the song, I get the sense that the vocalist has found what he thinks is the love of his life. Perhaps, through his drunken eyes, he misread this because, though he waits for her and though she said she would come back, she never does. He's left with his broken heart and his thirst for alcohol.

RUM RUNNER DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2003 - Association (Longshot Music)
2005 - In Guns At Cyrano's (Stumble Records)
2009 - What's The Music Mean To You (Stumble Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF RUM RUNNER:

Rum Runner formed as a band back in 2001, hailing from Calgary, Alberta. There is not a whole lot out there on the internet when it comes to news about this Canadian punk and roll band, what is known is that their debut album, "Association" came out in 2003. The band forged a relationship with Stumble Records for their next two releases, 2005's "In Guns At Cyrano's" and 2009's "What's The Music Mean To You". Also, besides their three full length albums, the band also put out two 7" singles and one split 7" single. The band's most recent release was the 2011, two song 7" single, "Sings...Tonight! Tonight! Tonight! & Icewagon". Rum Runner considers their sound to be melodic punk and roll. Their style is reminiscent of bands like The Ducky Boys, The Go Set, Knucklehead, My Life In Black And White and Bastards On Parade. There are elements of street punk, folk punk, celtic punk and even some rock-a-billy punk in their music. As I said earlier, there isn't much out there on the net about Rum Runner. No Facebook page. No Bandcamp page. They haven't released anything since 2011 so for all I know, they may have broken up. Your guess is as good as mine.

TEN RUM RUNNER SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. The Leaving Of Liverpool
2. My Rifle, My Pony And Me
3. Tobacco Eyes
4. A Portrait Of The Artist As A Drunk Man
5. The Punks Are Due On Maple Street
6. Torn Ten Dollar Bill
7. You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond
8. So Long Outsider
9. Sugar Sweet
10. Streams Of Whiskey

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Song Of The Week: 1/15/17







Song: "Miscommunication"

Artist: The Dangerous Summer

Album: "War Paint"

Year: 2011

Place Of Origin: Elliott City, Maryland

Years Active: 2006 - 2014



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Miscommunication" appears to be a song about a dissolving relationship. It's clear that one person wants a commitment while the other is perhaps moving away from that and, in turn, there is a distance that has grown between them. It appears the rift may be un-repairable and this relationship may come to an end sooner rather than later.

THE DANGEROUS SUMMER DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2009 - Reach For The Sun (Hopeless Records)
2010 - Live In Baltimore (Hopeless Records)
2011 - An Acoustic Performance Of "Reach For The Sun" (Hopeless Records)
2011 - War Paint (Hopeless Records)
2013 - Golden Record (Hopeless Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF THE DANGEROUS SUMMER:

The Dangerous Summer formed as a band back in 2006, hailing from Elliott City, Maryland. The band's first release was a 2006 EP called "There Is No Such Thing As Science". That EP caught the ear of Hopeless Records and the band and label forged a career spanning partnership which began in 2007. Under Hopeless, the band re-released their debut EP under the new name "If You Could Only Keep Me Alive". This EP contained a few new songs and in 2009, the band released their full length debut album, "Reach For The Sun". This album would reach #42 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Their second album, 2011's "War Paint", spent one week on the Billboard 200 charts at #149. The band's last release would be 2013's "Golden Record". After touring in support of "Golden Record", The Dangerous Summer vocalist AJ Perdomo told the band that he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from music to focus on being a father. In 2014, the rest of the band made it official by stating that The Dangerous Summer had officially called it quits. The Dangerous Summer's style is basically a melodic rock/alternative rock outfit with hints of pop punk elements. If you're a fan of bands like The Swellers, The Starting Line, Transit, The Early November and Acceptance then you would probably enjoy the sound of The Dangerous Summer. While their style of music isn't my favorite genre, I do enjoy a melodic, pop song every now and then and The Dangerous Summer wrote really good songs, often very personal lyrics and strong musicianship. I think they are one of the better alternative rock/pop punk bands out there. It's a shame it didn't work out for them to keep working together and making music.

TEN THE DANGEROUS SUMMER SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Where I Want To Be
2. Catholic Girls
3. War Paint
4. Siren (acoustic version)
5. The Permanent Rain
6. Sins
7. No One's Gonna Need You More
8. Of Confidence
9. Good Things
10. Weathered

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Song Of The Week: 1/8/17







Song: "Machocide"

Artist: Lungs

Album: "An Anatomical Guide"

Year: 2007

Place Of Origin: Sydney, Australia

Years Active: 2006 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Machocide" is a song that appears to show the vocalist's disdain for some men who think their masculinity is some sort of privilege or right to disrespect women and/or gays. There are certain types of men out there, misogynists and homophobes, that see fit to disrespect, intimidate and bully women or gays and the vocalist feels that the only good place for these type of idiots is being dead!!

LUNGS DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2006 - Breathe, Bastard, Breathe (Poison City Records)
2007 - An Anatomical Guide (Poison City Records)
2010 - The Two Chief World Systems (Poison City Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF LUNGS:

Lungs formed as a band back in 2006, hailing from Australia. Early on this punk rock trio forged a relationship with Aussie record label, Poison City Records and have released three full length albums and one EP through that very label. The band's debut album was 2006's "Breathe, Bastard, Breathe" in 2006. Their most recent release was in 2010, "The Two Chief World Systems". Though the band has not released any new material as of 2010, I'm not so sure that they have officially broken up or not. Their Facebook page still posts quite frequently though I haven't seen any official break up statement so who knows? Lungs is a hard band to label genre wise. Yeah, you can just call them a punk band, but they mix elements of skate punk, thrash, post-hardcore rock, melodic punk, technical punk and some pop punk. When I first listened to the band, the first similarity that popped up to me was Face To Face. But you can also see, that they have some similarities with other bands such as A Wilhelm Scream, Asado, Laughing In The Face Of and DC Fallout. Lungs is a pretty solid band even though they do tend to bounce around from style to style. There's not a whole lot of information about them here in the States besides their Facebook page. But, like I said earlier, they haven't released any music since 2010 and there is no word if they intend to release anything in the future.

TEN LUNGS SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. The Making Of Phineas Gage
2. I Lost My Legs
3. Huxley
4. Vessels
5. Machocide
6. The Rosenberg's Piece Of Jell-O Box Code
7. Ghost/Robots (Robots Win)
8. Villain Of The Week
9. The Spider That Ate Itself
10. Disqualified From The Knowledge Game

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Song Of The Week: 1/1/17







Song: "Swan Song"

Artist: North Lincoln

Album: "Final Recordings" EP

Year: 2011

Place Of Origin: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Years Active: 1999 - 2010



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Swan Song" is the last song that North Lincoln ever finished writing. According to the band, the song is about the band being in the process of breaking up or knowing that they needed to.

NORTH LINCOLN DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2000 - North Lincoln (Offsite Records)
2004 - Truth Is A Menace (No Idea Records)
2009 - Midwestern Blood (No Idea Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF NORTH LINCOLN:

North Lincoln is a band from Grand Rapids, Michigan that got it's start back in 1999. All the members were in high school when the band started. The trio's self-titled debut album came out in 2000 through Offsite Records. The band's sound caught the ear of well known punk label No Idea Records whom the band would share a relationship with for the rest of their career. In 2004, the band's first album through No Idea was released called "Truth Is A Menace" and five years later, the band dropped their last full length studio album together, "Midwestern Blood". The band also sprinkled in a few EP's, split singles and 7" singles around their three major releases. The long time between releases was mostly due to all of the bandmembers being active in other bands as well as North Lincoln. One year after the release of "Midwestern Blood", North Lincoln decided to call it quits as a band. They played their last official show on January 16, 2010 at Mulligan's Pub in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The band recorded this show and put it up for sale on it's bandcamp page in 2012, in what would be the final recording that the band would release. You can clearly tell that North Lincoln is a band that is highly influenced by the band Hot Water Music. Gritty vocals, melodic songs but with a heavy feel to them. North Lincoln became a pretty big deal in their home state and surrounding midwest areas. If you enjoy bands like The Tim Version, Samiam, The Arrivals, A Death In The Family and obviously Hot Water Music, then you should definitely check out North Lincoln. A very solid gritty punk band! It's a shame they couldn't keep it together to provide us fans with more solid music!

TEN NORTH LINCOLN SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Bridge Jumpers
2. Truth Is A Menace
3. This Is Gonna Hurt
4. Seasons
5. Satellite
6. Sick Of Sorrys
7. In Your Hands
8. Weight Of The World
9. Jeane
10. Swan Song