Les Doux- Dialects

Les Doux is a bluesy screamo band from Hattiesburg, MS. This is their second EP, a follow up to a self-titled. It's a concept album about a son leaving home, and it's really really interesting. Released on the 21st of December.

First off, that album art makes me happy. Whoever did the text is very talented.

Anyway, the album is really really interesting. It really is an exact mix of blues and screamo- and it's mixed well. I'm not crazy about all aspects of the EP, but I am crazy about their musicianship.

"Interrogative" has a beautiful intro that made me smile. The guitar is chilling, and the lyrics are very interesting.

On another note, their drummer continues to impress me throughout the album. They're all great musicians, but the drums really stood out to me.

"Declarative," as you would guess, is more angry and direct than "Interrogative." For once, the songs actually have to do with the song titles. That's rare in today's modern world. I'm proud.

It starts to fade more out of the blues and more into the screamo style as the EP progresses.

"Exclamatory" is well, exclamatory. Angry and harsh sounding. "Imperative" is an order. Clearly. (I'm like your middle school english teacher all over again!)

Overall, the guys do a great job with the concept and the style. Very impressed.

There's room to improve, as always. I wasn't crazy about some of the stylistic choices, but overall, I'm fairly impressed. Can't wait to see where they go with their music.

Download it.

Facebook./Our facebook.

-Bear 

Waxahatchee- American Weekend

Waxahatchee is Katie Crutchfield. Many of you know Katie from PS Eliot! She's from Brooklyn NY and she is awesome. This album was released on January 10th. RIYL Eisley, Laura Stevenson, Summer Salt, PS Eliot, Very Okay

Katie has one of the sweetest voices I've ever heard. Not sweet like "sweet skateboard, bro." Sweet like adorable and soothing. It's great. The music is very chill and laid back. Mellow. Etc. Etc. Etc.

"Catfish" sets the mood for the entire record- it's almost a ballad, but it's not. Cute slow song.

"Grass Stain" is a little more upbeat, with the perfect amount of reverb and addictiveness. Approval.

"Rose 1956" is probably my favorite song on the album. It's a really cute song and the melody is badass. I listen to it when I get ready in the morning. One of those kinds of songs.

"American Weekend" has a sad feel to it. I love how Katie's voice sounds in it.

"Michel" has absolutely amazing lyrics. Super sad, but amazing. I actually just listened to it about 40 times in a row. I'd advise you do the same.

"Be Good" is the perfect song, seriously. Her lyrics are amazing, and the guitar is unbelievably catchy. 

The entire album has almost a roots-y sound to it. It's very easy going and calming. It's the kind of CD you want to keep in your car for bad days.

The rest of the songs are badass too, but I figure that's probably enough of a feel for you.

Waxahatchee facebook./Our facebook.

Don Giovanni Records.

-Bear

Young///Savage - New Flesh

There are quite a few unwritten rules around the Idle and the Bear office, and a few of them don’t really mind being written, such as:

1. Don’t let squirrels build indoor forts.
2. Velcro beats shoelaces.
3. Everything on Death to False Hope Records’s website is the shit.
4. Numbered lists are fun and make the review look lengthier and more fun.

This band Young///Savage (I’m probably not going to write the entire band name out any more times than that) have all four of those rules going for them. Well, actually I can only say the third thing is officially true. I don’t want to harm my journalistic integrity regarding the others. They’re just rumors. For now.

If you’ve ever been sitting around at my house in Kentucky, you may’ve felt this weird, unnamed urging. An urging to listen to a perfect blent of Count Your Lucky Stars-esque emo mixed with the catchiness and hopefully beardiness of orgcore. Orgcore, for those just tuning in, is a fake genre consisting of bands like Hot Water Music, The Lawrence Arms, Spraynard, Dillinger Four, Against Me! and all that. I’d say Young Savage are more on the emo side of this, and therefore I like it even more.

On ‘New Flesh’, Young Savage really pull out all the stops. Take nothing musically or emotionally for granted here. The tone can change rapidly and so can the music. These are catchy songs with a bit of an edge to them. There’s weird guitar bits thrown in at times, and clever/awesome drum fills. The song “90 Proof Stallion” actually sounds like the record was filtered through a giant bucket of booze, and the unsettling guitar leads midway through fit into the atmosphere beautifully. 

My favorite song would have to be “The Rawest Nerves”. I love the drum beat coupled with the simple, yet cool guitar bits. It reminds me of that band Dads from New Jersey. And then when the Fall Out Boy-esque bass line comes in, the song starts to feel a bit like a song by the band "fun." after taking a turn down the wrong alley on the wrong side of town. The vocals are so nicely distorted by vivid emotion that it makes me shake in my proverbial boots.

You really should check out this band. The music is excellent, and I’d bet like 50 bucks at least that they’re excellent people too. If it turns out they’re not, I’ll give you 50 dollars and let you write “dipshit” on my forehead. If they’re as awesome as I postulate them to be, then I get to walk around without “dipshit” written on my forehead for once.

-Idle

Check out ‘New Flesh’ by Young//Savage (It’s Free)

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Flawless- Something I'll Never Miss

Flawless is this melodic hardcore band from Springfield, MO. Did you know that there were hardcore bands in Missouri? Yeah, me either! Crazy, right. It's a four-piece group that splits the vocals. This is their debut EP, released on December 17th of 2011. RIYL the 90s.

This album was about 300 times better than I expected it to.

The word hardcore scares me a little bit due to recent events in the teenage-midwest-music scene. I've never met an Ethan that I liked. Oh, and it's Missouri.

I'll stop poking fun now, I'm totally kidding. (Mostly.) The music is really good. It's one of those bands that clearly just has fun with it and you can picture them live. It's a five track EP with a Wonder Years meets Cursive sound. It's got great lyrics, and it does a pretty good job of staying equalized between all the instruments.

"Leap Year" is one of those songs that has a really exciting intro. You don't really know what the song's gonna sound like, but it builds it up like all hell. And then it turns out to be a good song. Crazy, right? It's angsty, too.   It's an interesting playing style and I enjoy it a lot.

"Model Home" has fabulous lyrics. You know those kind of lyrics that you instantly send to Idle and be like "Don't you wish you were reviewing this?"

I don't know. I might be the only one that does that. Anyway, the song has really great instrumentals. Their style is pretty basic when you just listen to it the first time, but the more you really start to listen to what they're doing, it's pretty interesting and I like it a lot. I have a feeling it'll have a little bit of an influence on the next handful of songs that are written in my household.

I want to punch people in the face during "1992." No lie. In a good way. Great song.

"Words" surprisingly has a lot of words in it. They're all good words, though. My favorite thing about this band so far is probably most definitely the lyrics.

Last but not least, "Free At Least" ends the record on a great note. I fully support and endorse this song. It's all fairly slow music, but it has interesting melodies and somehow manages to be slow and catchy at the same time.

PS. After doing some research, it turns out that Missouri kind of has a hardcore scene. The more you know!

They're almost out of downloads on bandcamp. Steal one.

They sell the normal merch, plus socks. Don't you want a new pair of socks?

Like them on facebook!/Like us on facebook!

-Bear

Gillian Carter/Ghost Aviary Split

To begin this review, I’d like to set you up with a few things you might need:

1. Links to the Gillian Carter and the Ghost Aviary halves of the split.
2. A fair warning that we’re entering the bold and sometimes abrasive world of lo-fi recordings.
3. Ice cream! (I can’t really give you ice cream. Internet isn’t that advanced yet. Sucks, right? I mean, if you feel like driving to Cincinnati, I can hook you up with some cookies ’n’ cream. But otherwise, you might just wanna pop into a convenient store and grab some ice cream before continuing the review. It’s dangerous to go alone.)

Now you’re as prepared as I am!

Gillian Carter are a skramz band from Palm Bay, Florida and Ghost Aviary are a sloppyskramz band and also from Palm Bay. The Urban Dictionary definition of skramz is, “a new term for the screamo/emo bands of the 90s, or anythign that is REAL screamo/emo.” I’m assuming it’s sort of like how some ska bands call themselves trad-ska so that people know they’re better/cooler than other ska bands. The definition goes on to question whether the term ’skramz’ is to be taken seriously or not, and that it was most likely, “created in revolt of the shitty ’new’ emo bands and self-proclaimed ‘emo’ kids” It’s always a bit refreshing to find out that genres other than ska and pop punk have to deal with all the same first world problems as we do. DEFEND POP PUNK. 

Wow, that paragraph had a good deal of red and green squiggly lines under certain words/sentences. I’m glad you guys can’t see the writing process from my point of view. 

Gillian Carter’s half of the split is pretty solid overall. It starts off with a song jam packed with screaming/yelling. I’m not 100 percent on what is being shouted, but it sounds like it’s either one of these things:

1. White rights.
2. White rice.
3. Black flag.
4. Riot riot.
5. Right right.
6. Idle and the Bear is the best thing to happen to the internet since napster.

It’s probably neither of those things, actually, but it’s hard to say. I don’t think it matters. I honestly can’t understand the lyrics in any of these songs, but it doesn’t take away from the experience for me. The only beef I have at all with the Gillian half of the split is that the snare drum sounds really, really ugly. Other than that, there are five short but sweet skramz tunes for all the skramz fans to yell and fist pump along to. 

You may recall from earlier on in this review an instance in which I referred to Ghost Aviary as sloppyskramz rather than just skramz. I don’t honestly like they’re sloppy or anything...that’s just what the drummer Tim told me to refer to them as. They’re just as skramz as Gillian Carter, and more importantly, just as good. 

Ghost Aviary’s half of the split starts off with my favorite song from either side of this motherfucker, “Chelsea.” It starts off with a burst of power and then calms down for some scream/yell vocals. I overall enjoy the Ghost half of the split more than I do the Gillian half. I feel sketchy stating this since the drummer of Ghost is a close friend of the bear and I, but to be fair he was also a part time drummer in Gillian. So they start off on equal grounds with me...the ground Ghost Aviary stand on just raises up a bit while listening to their bit of the split. The songs are entertaining on musical terms and as something to yell along to and skramz it up with. 

You’re pretty much set as a skramz fan with this split in your hands. You also should totally get this split in your hands; it’s awesome when it’s shit you’re into. You can order the split or you can just enjoy the bandcamp links I set you up with; it’s entirely up to you! I’ve done my work.

-Idle

Sold For Parts - WHAT’S GOOOOOOOOOOD?

Does anybody remember me performing any weird ceremonies or rituals a few month back? This band Sold For Parts makes me feel as if I tried to forfeit my flesh and blood in an act to bring forth the most excellent example of brocore pop punk to ever exist. Well, I don’t remember any such rituals, but it apparently paid off, considering the fact that I’m spending my valuable time writing some goofy scenario as if my life has purpose or whatever. Or as if that sentence had purpose. Whatever.

Sold For Parts have a few things going for them, and barely anything against them:

1. They have a perfect Get Up Kids like sound to most of their music.
2. They have very bro-core lyrics, i.e. lyrics about bros and hoes (women...my bad. I’m not sexist, I promise. I was creating humor in light of the topic. You know? Just don’t kick my ass, all our womyn readers. Thanks)
3. They’re bros. That could either work for them or against them, depending on who’s reading this. They’re kind of like The Dopamines of New Jersey. I’m assuming their friends in Jersey love them as much as we in Cincinnati love our Dopamines.

If you’re a fan of pop punk or emo, you should definitely check these guys out. I’ll admit, they’re not for everyone. I can name several friends who would not enjoy them at all, but I could also name way more people who would dig them as much as I do. Here’s 5 songs that can make or break it for you, listen to them at your leisure. Don’t overbrose or whatever...uh...I’m pretty lame. Regardless, check out this ‘What’s Gooooooooood?’ EP from Sold For Parts. I bet you love their skatepunk riffs and anxious, girl-crazy boy lyrics. I know I do.

-Idle

The Traders- Even At Our Best, We're Still Worse Than Most

The Traders is an amazing punk band from Lyon, France. They've been together since April of 2010, and they kick ass. We first became acquainted with these guys last year when we reviewed the Traders' first EP and Nichiel's, a band that shares members. This album was released on November 18th of last year. RIYL Nichiel's, Dead Pop Club, Why I Hate

As I've stated before, the Traders do have English lyrics, so there goes your excuse to not download them. Besides, you want to hear these guys. I promise.

"Roundabouts" is a striking, fast, catchy song with fun melodies and awesome vocals. It has nice variability and shows some skill. "The Best Cabaret" has a bass line that makes me smile. It's another fast song with some nice harmonies from the two vox guys. Reminds me of Black Sails, Western Shores.

The album in entirety is really quite good. I liked them a lot before, but I think that their sound has improved quite a lot and they're evolving quite nicely. They have a traditional early melodic punk sound and it's always nice to hear a band that isn't trying too hard. 

Out of all the global scenes that I've checked out, I think France probably has one of the coolest. Part of the reason I've found that out is through this band. It's a really tight-nit group from what I can see, and they all make really, really badass music.

Tres, tres bon mon amis!

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Buy it on bandcamp!

-Bear