Dads - Brush Your Teeth ;)

Dads are a self-proclaimed twinkly emo band. I have to say, I have no idea what twinkly emo is...but if it's what Dads are, then it's not so bad. They're a two-piece that hails from the home of Catch 22 (we won't hold that against them), New Brunswick, New Jersey. The [Twinkly Emo] Dads have just released their second EP, titled "Brush Your Teeth ;)" Yeah, that's their wink face, not mine.

The tracks are titled as if they were Dillinger Four songs, but they're played in a style more similar to Shinobu or some Quicksand type band, but with less form and more anarchy (not in the punk way, or whatever). The first song, "Dan's Christopher Walken Impersonation" is hectic/lovely with the guitar. The hectic part is more with the timing, and the lovely part is that I love the tone. The drums do their job, but nobody ever gets super worked up over drums these days. The vocals are really great, seriously. They sound as honest as a speaking voice, and show the right amount of emotion. It's like Bukowski in song, not any of that emotionless Camus shit. (Things you say when you're reviewing an EP right after reading Hot Water Music all day).

What the back lacks in low end, they make up for by writing songs that I want to hear more than once, twice, twenty times. I honestly think I wouldn't be able to play any of this shit on guitar or drums while singing, so it's impressive as shit to me. There's a lot of tempo changing and a lot of time signature changing, and it all sounds very experimental from it, but it comes out on top and brilliant. The second track has a long name that has nothing to do with the song, and is what I was listening to while writing this paragraph. This sounds like some shoe gazer type shit, but I like it nonetheless. Hopefully they got batshit on stage, like Shinobu.

The last two songs are called "Pass Me the Ball" and "I Didn't Say Pass Me the Ball". It's funny or something. It's about this point in the EP where I realize that the songs aren't doing much to change between tracks, or not enough at least. The style has been exactly the same, and I guess that's up to them if they want to do that...but it's up to me to declare it boring over time. Well, at least the last song sounds different for the most part.

I mean it, the last song is really good. It has more power behind the instrumentals, and the vocalists sound as good as they have throughout. The emotional vocals are really driven hard in this track, and makes me really want to buy this cassette as soon as my broke ass can. Pretty sure the bear might be buying it or some shit. I don't know. Maybe YOU should buy it. Or you can listen/download it for free/suggested donation over at bandcamp. Do it yourself.

-Idle

P.S. Angry reader from the last review I posted. DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY. And DIY. If you don't like a band then go listen to a band you like. DIY.

The Fucking Cops- Fuck You Up With Some Truth

I wish they could have fit a "motherfucker" into that album title somewhere...
Anyway, The Fucking Cops are awesome. TFC are some punk rockers from Cleveland and they rock. Jon Rybicki has a powerful voice, and a fun last name. Andy Merril is a great drummer with a last name terribly similar to Marill, so I'm assuming he's cute, round, and blue. Shannon Sullivan is on bass, and probably has kids he doesn't even know about. Josh Durocher-Jones is on guitar, and presumably fights dragons.. In other words, they all bring something to the band. I'll try to keep my assumptions about the members to myself for the rest of the review. :) The Fucking Cops brings intensity, artistic talent, and punx all to the table... I love it. :)

First off, is that Kenny Powers or someone more obvious? Either way, I like it.

"Gloria" and "Gloria pt II" (first and last songs) are wonderful. They're both powerful. I love "Gloria"- Jon's vocals are similar to those of Nick Woods. The lyrics are incredibly sad, but still great. They're pretty much one of our re-occuring dogmas... Some girl dumped me, so now I'm gonna get drunk. Fantastic. The guitar is really driving, and the drums are very sinewy. That's right, I'm describing songs as meat now. 

"Gloria pt II" is a little bit more melodic- it takes down the tempo, but still somehow keeps up the passion and force.

This album is really raw, but it's polished. The more I listen to it, the more I really, really enjoy it. Also, the back-up vocals in it make me happy...

"Sweating or Freezing" actually has Ian Graham from Cheap Girls on it! Super kick-ass. This song is both punk and slightly bluesy at the same time. The song is about the challenges of playing on the road, and it's forceful in the best of ways.

"On A Balcony" is incredibly catchy, and "For Whom the Taco Bell Tows" (along with a hilarious title) rocks my socks off. The Fucking Cops are simple but still very intricate, and write really addictive songs.

Lastly, "Aiyana" is fierce and makes me wanna dance.

The Fucking Cops fucking rock.

This album is available on 12" and CD on May 3rd,

pre-order it here. The vinyl comes in either purple or black, and it includes artwork from Jason Lubrano, Lauren Denitzio, John G, Shannon Sullivan and Asbestos Breath.... Awesome, no? I already ordered mine and I'm a trendy mother fucker, so you should too...

Or something.

-Bear

These Branches - This One's On You

There's something you should probably know regarding Idle and the Bear and our policies when it comes to reviewing. We'll review pretty much anything you send us to review by your band(s). If a band puts themselves on the line of fire to be criticized, we'll give our honest opinions about the songs, and really all promotion is good promotion. My dad didn't even know who Ben Weasel was until he beat up some girls (asshole). Plus, one of the best things about reviewing is when we get feedback from the bands about how happy they are to be getting promoted by us and whatnot...and that's a cool feeling. /end self-involved rant

These Branches are a band from New Jersey which have been putting pretty much everything into getting their shit out there. They have a profile for almost every social networking site, and have made their own merch, and have worked to build their own amps and drumsets...so they pretty much exemplify DIY to the core. They've had a lot of trouble in releasing this full length., due to the shit that my band deals with all the time, lineup changes. Members quit, members join, members quit, members rejoin. It's very difficult. The only anchored member of the band is the songwriter/singer/guitarist Nick, whereas Bryan (drummer, backup vocals) will probably stand for being what will probably be the second column in holding the band together.

The album combines influences from a pretty broad range of artists and styles, while still fitting pretty tightly into a small nook of the punk genre. They get compared to Saves the Day, Against Me!, and Lifetime a lot, but upon listening to this record, I would more readily compare them to acts like Captain, We're Sinking and Latterman. The vocals are powerful and heart driven, coming from both singers, and the instrumentals do what they can to avoid coming off as simple. Why do something everyone else can do, and why write something your mom could write? That kind of feeling.

The opening song "Linen Lines" is a pretty good example of taking what could just be a simple, catchy song and fleshing out the guitar under it to add some interesting fills and leads. Everything sounds really vivid and I mean, it sounds like a fucking battle cry at times. This shit could be the background music for Gladiator 2: Revenge of the Dead Russel, or whatever they'll end up calling that once it's inevitably made (hopefully if this happens they don't stick with the last composer, because he didn't even change up the songs when he used the same exact compositions for Pirates of the Caribbean...slacker).

 I think the next song I take particular interest to on the album is "Virgin Versions". You may notice that the two songs I mentioned both have alliterated titles, but that's not the purpose. The song is powerful, infectious, and the drums sound fucking great in it. I really like the guitar fills, which are simple but definitely add more fun to the song, and give the guitarist something more to do than just hit the chords and sing.

There's a lot to love with this album, and it never fails to excite you with each of the songs. The title track is awesome as fuck, and has some uppertier snotty punk vocals for you to dig on, and it reminds me a lot The Falcon, due to the definite vocal similarities to Brendan Kelly. "Skullhat Sings the Blues" sounds like fucking Latterman to the core, and has the first noteworthy basslines of the album. I really like this song a lot, and it might be my favorite on this release.

"Trillher"...you thrillher, you broughther.

Honestly, it's a good song too. "Antomyne" starts off with an acoustic intro, and kicks into a powerful as fuck punk song. NO REGRETS.

All the songs on this album are pretty good, from militant start to blues-twinged end. The album didn't like jump out at me and force me to become instantly addicted to it, which has happened with a couple releases this year, but it definitely took me by surprise. These guys really need to tour, because this is the kind of music that definitely needs spread around. I know so many people who would put this in their top 10 albums of the year list, and I'm definitely running straight to them with the link to their bandcamp page, which is also where you should be going. It's good shit, bro.

-Idle

The Gateway District - Perfect's Gonna Fail

A simple survey can accurately determine whether or not you're going to enjoy The Gateway District:

When it comes to music, do you enjoy...
A. Ramonescore pop punk
B. Surf punk
C. Female vocalists
D. Shit that sounds good
E. All of the Above

Well, if you answered with any of those, especially E, you will probably enjoy The Gateway District. They're this band that hails from one of the more prominent pop punk capitals of the world, Minneapolis (Banner Pilot, Off With Their Heads, The Slow Death, The Soviettes, Dillinger Four), and they definitely make their city proud, and continue proving that MN is the shit.

The instruments aren't anything special, but the vocalists playing guitar and bass have really nice voices, which work together really well. The bassist Carrie seems to take the helm more often than not, leading the vocals with her deeper, rougher voice, befitting of a female punk vocalist. While one of the guitarists, a girl named Maren supplies supporting vocals from a slightly higher range. The band first released an EP in 2006, but didn't remain very active until releasing a full length with the lovely It's Alive Records (we love you guys!), which is the same label which housed this new release "Perfect's Gonna Fail".

The album kicks off with "Run Away", which demonstrates what I meant by Carrie singing lead and Maren adding her two cents in the background. This song reminds me of bands like the Riverdales (I mean that in a positive way, I swear), but with vocals that sound more like surf punk, especially in the backup vocals. The vocalists sound so damn good together, it's pretty awesome. Also, in the music video to this song, the drummer Brad calls Maren to request a beer, which she gives to him during the song. It's a pretty simple video other than that, and it's also a pretty simple song. It's catchy, it's fun.

The next song "Macy" reminds me more of The Copyrights and The Dopamines (same band, right?), and holds title as one of my preferred songs on the album. "Leaving Me Behind" might hold that title stronger, not sure. It's catchier, and definitely more fun. Catchy and fun can be used to describe a lot of this. Complex or new really cannot be used so much. There's like a Nofx tribute at the beginning of "Blue Halls", and you're almost led to believe Whoops I Od'd is coming on, but then you realize that it's not, and it's just a decent song that I probably like better than Whoops.

They remind me a lot of Rivethead and Banner Pilot, which is probably due to having Nate from those two bands on guitar...that sounds like a reasonable excuse.

The intro to the song "Waiting For the Sirens" reminds me a lot of Mixtapes, which is weird because Mixtapes are too young for anything to remind me of them. The rest of the song sounds more like a Dear Landlord song, which a female vocalist which sounds like she should be singing some horror punk shit.

The album closes off with "Cairo", which is another song that reminds me of shit like The Copyrights and Dear Landlord, and it's a pretty solid effort overall. I really like this album, but I don't think it's something that will dominate my next few weeks, but there are a few songs I could see putting on mixtapes to listen to when I'm driving. I really recommend Cairo, Waiting For the Sirens, Leave Me Behind, Macy, and Run Away. Those together sound like a really solid EP, and the rest of the songs sound like awesome bonus tracks. You can check out all of the songs over at their Punknews profile where it's being streamed, and you can order the album over at It's Alive Records (link is in our side panel).

-Idle

Tightrope- Tightrope

Tightrope is a hardcore band from Montreal that started in October of 2009. They really sound like The Sainte Catherines (what a coincidence) and I have a friend that thinks they sound like Leathermouth.. But they don't, so ignore them. I can kind of see a connection between Tightrope and Hot Water Music, though... Anyway, they're like slightly bro (they have the sound without the mentality... thank god.) melodic hardcore. They had a demo in April of last year, and then this EP was released in May.

First off, album art, man. I'm always looking for great album art. That's hilarious.

Anyway, music.

I really, really like Tightrope. They have strong instrumentals and wonderful vocals.

The vocals sound a lot like what the child of Hugo Mudie and Ryan Young's first son would sound like. This album has strong lyrics and they're just sung so well. I have a thing for gruff voices, you know? 

The band get you hooked with driving, strong drums and creative guitar lines.

"Motherfuckers Inc." is the last track and I think my favorite. It's addictive as hell, and really empowering... Probably has the best lyrics, oh and the guitar is fabulous. By the way, did you guys know that Google Chrome considers "motherfucker" a real word? Win. Google just got a little more respectable in my eyes.

The opening track, "No Sleep" is also great. I really love Tightrope's style. Even though it's a fairly common style, it has something different to it and I enjoy it.

Also, I can almost hear a bit of Dear Landlord in them- if you added a lot more core and a lot less pop to their punk, it'd sound like Tightrope at the verses.

"Breakthrough" is one of the most powerful songs, and "Gramophone" rocks, too.

Overall, I really liked this EP and I love the band.

This is their bandcamp and you should go there and buy the EP for 3 dollars.

Guys, Montreal has the best punk, I swear to goodness.

-Bear

PS UPDATE: I know we've been sparse lately. Idle is in the process of moving closer to me, and is very busy with his musical career most of the time. Considering my music career consists of late night bedroom recordings of pop punk and a ska band that only plays "Mambo No 5," my excuse isn't as cool. I'm back to school and busier than a bee. We'll be around more, promise... 

Interview with Jake Mcaulay of the Half-Wits

Holy shit guys. Me and Idle have set up about 48398 interviews so far that we really mean to do, but we never actually get around to it... But this time we did. A good friend of mine and fellow musician, Jake Mcaulay was so much fun to interview. He spends part of his musical career writing cheesy acoustic punk with me (Bear), and the other part in a punk band called the Half-Wits. They're really fun, and so is Jake.
Note: The spacing in this interview is all fucked to hell, but for some reason our cute little layout is saying screw you to all of my attempts to fix it. Sorry.


Bear: Alright, Jake. Who are the Half-Wits? When/how did you get together?
Jake: We are a punk band from the south east coast of England - not usually known for its punk scene but hey, we're there. We got together in December 2010 because in our old hardcore punk band, nothing went down. Three of the originals members from NTP are in the band with a new bassist and the old bassist on vocals. We play, like, a mix of Oi, Hardcore Punk, Garage Punk And Ska depending on the song. Our members are Tadhg Leahy - Vocals, Jake Mcaulay - Guitar,
Konrad Harris - Bass, Dubhan Leahy - Drums. Think about it- most great bands have brothers ;)


Bear: What's it like having brothers in the band? Do they fight a lot, or get along?
Jake: They get along for the purposes of the band, but we all rag on each other a lot anyway so... it's like a band of drunk, punk brothers. Winning, basically.

Bear: Badass. How far are you guys in the writing process? Are you just practicing and playing local shows for shits and giggles, or have you talked about a record or a tour?
Jake: We don't like to think that far ahead. We just take it as it comes, We play when and where we can, usually getting paid in beer. We play with bands that are completely different to us with
mixed results. We have about 11-12 songs (one of which is a cover) and we're hoping to go
into the studio in the summer to record an EP.

Bear: Any fun stories? Embarrassing experiences at shows, or with each other?
Jake: We played a gig on St. Patrick's Day, and we had to do a audition for it. We did acoustically and they were like, "I love it! You're on." And we were very clear that it would be loud and not acoustic. We said we might do some Irish songs, too. Came on and started- we were about 7 songs into the set and the crowd looked scared so the bar manager told us to stop. Apparently, we lied and said we were an Irish band and we were saying "fuck" way too much and the police were gonna be called if we didn't stop. So, we loaded out while getting stared at. Got a gig with a metal band out of it, though, but a week later, they rang me and accused us of stealing their mics. Cheeky bastards. Great night; I'll always remember the looks on their faces =]

Bear: That sounds hilarious. I have to ask though.. I know the answer to this question, but I really think everyone else needs to hear this strategy too... Let's say you have a girlfriend that's into bad music. How do you change her mind?
Jake: Well, the best way to brain wash them is... When you're making love, put your music on cause she probably won't notice it as much. She'll start linking your music to that good feeling and thinking it's good. It helps to be drunk- thats the Charlie Sheen method ;)

Bear: That is why all the girls love Jake, you guys. Alright, back to the point... If you had to list the bands that influenced you and your music the most, who would they be?
Jake: There are elements of different punk bands in our sound. We are heavily influenced by our fellow local punk bands, like Crimewave and The Warriors. They give us a lot of our breaks. There are also bits of garage punk, like Richard Hell, and the faster punk of Guttermouth. Also, some ska bits like The Skints. Sort of all that in a blender.

Bear: If you were trying to compare the Half-Wits to another group, who would you say?
Jake: I'd have trouble, to be honest. We're mashing a lot of stuff together. It's like Stza of Leftover Crack shouting over some sort of 70's punk mixed with some ska songs every now and again. Anything I tend to be a part of seems to be a massive mix.

Jake plays guitar in the Half-Wits, plays guitar and sings in our cutesy little acoustic duo, and also does some pretty badass rapping under the name Pixel Doom.
HALFWITS, for upcoming shows, discussion, sexual favors, whatever.

-Bear.

Two updates! Involving the Dopamines, Screeching Weasel, and The Flaming Tsunamis..

First off, the bad news. The Flaming Tsunamis release for their new album has been held off, because (as most of you know) their great friend and fellow musician Mitchell Dubey was shot on March 24th.  For obvious reaosons, they're waiting until their lives and emotions are sorted out to properly make an album and play shows. Idle and the Bear sends out our love and regards to all of family and friends of Mitchell.
However, the good news, is the album is on pre-order. Here, you can read all about it and pre-order it. For only fifteen dollars, you can get the vinyl, CD, lyrics and explanations, etc. If you're one of the first 100, you get a white vinyl. If you're in the first 50, you get a limited edition button and possibly a ticket to a show. I'm pretty sure I was the first, guys ;)
Go order it!!

Also, Ben Weasel recently took his anger out on some ladies, and in result, all the members have quit. However, our beloved Dopamines, who are friends of Brock Lesnar.... I mean Ben Weasel, have offered to join him. Idle and the Bear sends out our love and regards to all family and friends of the Dopamines.
I wonder if Michael knows?


No, in all seriousness, even though we aren't fans of Ben Weasel, if they honestly believe it's the best decision for their career, kudos to the boys.

NOTE: April fools day, mother fuckers. Look at Punk News for more funny "news posts"
-Bear