Grey Area Live In Philly (1/28/12)

(Hitler learns he's not on Grey Area's guest list...I found this while looking for Grey Area on youtube. I love the internet.)

Yesterday was completely ridiculous. After heading to the Philly's piazza to watch a free Newfound Glory show (I don't think I've ever seen so many fights break out), then Philly's shit show "Makeout Club", I headed over to the Fire to catch melodic hardcore legends Grey Area.

Unfortunately I missed all of the openers sets except the last two by The Reveling (to which I requested Ironbound, and was informed they already played it... that's what I get for being late) but caught all of Grey Area.

Grey Area

The Fire was the most intimate place I've seen Grey Area play, and I was pretty damn excited (so much so that I bought tickets the day they went on sale out of fear it was going to sell out. It didn't.) Grey Area took the stage and immediately started playing... Cannonball. Uh, ok, strange choice for an opener, but we were singing along. It wasn't until they started their next song Insomnia that we got all rowdy and went batshit crazy. They kept it up, playing tight and fast (that's what she said), and covered songs from all of their releases.

The band bantered with the crowd a bunch, Ernie informing us he broke a rib at their last show (I couldn't tell if he was serious or not), and when someone yelled "NY Giants Suck!" the band was quick to quip back "who said that? Must be a dude with glasses and a beard... oh wait..."

I wish they would play more often, but with them putting out 4 new songs in the past year, I won't complain (too much).

Setlist:
Cannonball
Insomnia
Sour Grapes
Hold On Tight
-------------------
No Guarantees
Reminder
Take My Chances
Rotten Eggs
------------------
Lucky
Bad Anything
(Sick Of It All cover I think)
------------------
Bliss
Before Me
Colossus

Encore:
As One (Warzone Cover) (I think)

Mp3:
Grey Area - Lucky

More:
Grey Area 4 Way Split
Grey Area / Go Rydell Split

Buy:
Black Numbers

Fucked Up - David Comes To Life (For fans of Trash Talk, Titus Andronicus, Pissed Jeans)

If there is one band that always manages to surprise the hell out of me, it's Fucked Up. I remember listening to their demo and Epic in Minutes back when it came out and thinking they were pretty solid hardcore band, but not the messiahs of hardcore many were touting them to be. Now ten years later they release "David Comes To Life" and not only are the 'too cool for school' writers at Pitchfork collectively jizzing their pants over it, it's listed as #83 of Billboard's Top 200 of 2011... Kudos Fucked Up... kudos.

To be honest, I haven't listened to anything by Fucked Up since their compilation retrospective "Epic In Minutes", and it is a LOT different than the blistering hardcore I was used to from these Toronto punks. For starters, David Comes To Life is for lack of a better term: a rock opera. On the surface, the entire 18 song album is about light bulb factory worker David, his new love Veronica, them conspiring to build a bomb together, her dying in the process, his guilt, battling the narrator for control, and redemption. Of course the whole thing is symbolic as stated by singer Damian "we could hide behind characters and pretend that we’re talking about David and Veronica when really we’re talking about my breaking with my girlfriend or something". Some of the lyrics are incredibly witty "we need a Peter / we get a Paul / at least Judas had some balls."

Ok, so how about the actual music? For starters, there's a lot more pop elements involved. Fucked Up has long stopped touting the hardcore flag, and it's a lot more rock with hardcore influences than straight up hardcore with Damian's rough punk vocals being the biggest mainstay (I just used hardcore three times in a sentence, new record.) Still, the music is incredibly catchy although with 18 songs at 77 minutes, the album definitely gets pretty repetitious at times and is not really made to be listened to in one sitting.

Very different from the hardcore I'm used to, I give Fucked Up credit for going out on a limb and trying something different. It's refreshing to see a different topic for an album than the often overplayed ones found in hardcore (we're looking at you every straight edge band out there). One of the very few hardcore bands hipsters are allowed to like (along with Trash Talk, and soon to be Ceremony), definitely give Fucked Up a chance, some catchy songs in here.

MP3:
Fucked Up - Queen Of Hearts

More:
Trash Talk - Plagues
Ceremony - Violence Violence
Ceremony - Rohnert Park

Buy:
Album Website

Dangers - Messy Isn't It (For fans of Ceremony, Punch, Trash Talk)

If I can sum up Dangers "Messy Isn't It" in one word, it would be 'uneasy'. Just looking at the album art should give an impression as to what to expect: raw and challenging. The album opens immediately challenging the listener "why didn't you kill yourself today...Prove to me that the air you breathe wasn't better served by the leaves of a tree".

Playing furious and incredibly aggressive hardcore, Dangers 19 song (well, with two interludes) in 35 minutes album is easily becoming one of my favorite hardcore releases. If their previous album "Anger" was a complete take-no-prisoners-kill-all-women-and-children assault, Messy is a much more aggressive but more calculated aggression. In between the blazing fast hardcore (songs like I'll Clap When I'm Impressed and Straight As She Wants To Be) lie mid-tempo jams like Teenage Porno Hunter and Cure For Aids.

If you're a fan of hardcore, Messy Isn't It is a must have. Dangers is easily one of the most underrated hardcore bands around, and anyone who likes Ceremony or Punch.

MP3:
Dangers - I'll Clap When I'm Impressed

More:
Dangers - Anger
Dangers - Demo
Ceremony - Violence Violence
Punch - Self Titled

Buy:
Dangers

Grey Area, Reveling, Copyrights, Luther - 4 Way Split

Like a gang-bang porn, sometimes 4 artists come together to create something incredibly beautiful. When I heard that Black Numbers was releasing a 4 way split between Grey Area, The Reveling, The Copyrights, and Luther, the word anticipation would be an understatement. Shit, I would have picked this up for the two Grey Area tracks alone even if the rest of the songs were flatulence as performed by Duran Duran, but instead each of the two songs by each band are worth checking out.

The split kicks off with "Lucky" and "Bad Anything" the first two by Grey Area. It's always great to hear anything new by these guys, and both songs are solid, more mid-tempo jams (they could even pass as Higher Giant songs).

The Reveling's two contributions are incredibly catchy, and pick up right where the band left off with Tributaries (and the guitar melody in It's "Time To Ride" is nothing short of addicting). Fans of the band or fans of the Menzingers need to check this out.

Next up are pop-punk kings, The Copyrights. Contributing one original ("The New Frontier") and one Scared Of Chaka cover ("Straight To The Office"), both songs are like The Copyright's older stuff: fast, Ramones influenced, and catchy as all fuck.

Finally Luther closes out the split. To be completely honest, I wasn't a huge fan of their full-length, it wasn't bad by any means, just a lot slower than I personally like. With that being said, I wasn't sure what to expect with their two contributions. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by both "Sixty-One" and "The Door Is A Penthouse". Both songs are the slowest jams on the album, but I am really digging them. Luther mixes melodic punk rock with what almost sounds like 90s alternative rock at points, and it works well.

Definitely pick this split up, it's rare for a split to be this damn consistent. And maybe I'll see some of you at the Philly release show for this?

MP3:
Grey Area - Lucky

More Punk Rock:
Grey Area / Go Rydell Split
The Copyrights - North Sentinel Island
The Copyrights - Mutiny Pop
The Reveling - 3d Radio
The Reveling - Tributaries

Buy:
Black Numbers

The Internet May Die Soon, Fight Back Now

So you've probably heard about the whole SOPA/PIPA mess going on. It's gotten bad enough to the point where major companies like google and craigslist are taking a stand on it. Pretty much, imagine if you're grandparents tried to "fix" the internet. It's sort of like that. And YOU can make a difference.

What is this nonsense?

SOPA is the House's version of the bill, and PIPA is Senate's. Both bills were designed to stop internet piracy, but they are incredibly flawed.

What's Wrong With Them?

Both of these bills are ripe for abuse, and groups such as the RIAA have abused bills like this in the past. A perfect example is when I posted a negative review of Rise Against's latest album. I didn't post any mp3s or any infringing content, simply a negative review. My blog post got deleted and Housewives was threatened to be taken down completely because the RIAA contacted Google and told them I was infringing (again, there were no MP3s). Censorship at it's finest.

Sites like facebook and reddit would also shut down. Think we're being dramatic? Let's say someone on facebook posts a link to a website with infringing content. Guess who's held responsible? Yup. It's Facebook. And you can guarantee that your favorite blogs would completely shutdown (including Midwestern Housewives).

You know the whole "great firewall of china" thing where people in china have certain sites blocked by the government? It's really laying the groundworks for that.

This Would Never Pass!

Bad news. The majority of senators and congressmen are supporting these bills, some because they are uninformed... others because their biggest lobbyists are from the media industry who essentially wrote these bills.

Shit, What Can I Do To Stop It?

Call your senator or congressman. Seriously. Just fucking do it already. I just got off the phone with mine, and one of them actually switched their position from favoring it to against it because of all the citizen pressure. We can make a difference, and I just spoke to one of the co-sponsors of the bill, and they are becoming more hesitant to keep their name attached to it simply because they are learning it may cost them a re-election. Their exact words were "we're still waiting to hear from more constituents."

The call took me less than 5 minutes. Look up your politicians info, and stand up against censorship.

But I Don't Know What To Say!

I was worried about this too, but if I can do it, trust me... you can as well. I simply said

"Hello, my name is [your name here], and I am a constituent of [insert senator here] residing in zip code [your zipcode here], and I am calling to urge my senator to vote against PIPA (or SOPA if you're calling a congressman). Where does he stand on the issue?"

They would then tell me they were for it, and I would reply:

"Well I just want to make senator aware of the ramifications of the bill. For one as it is written, the bill is open to potential for abuse. Secondly it will hurt E-commerce and the economy due to companies shutting down due to loss of jobs."

Take 5 minutes of your time now to call, a few senators have already switched their positions due to public outcry, and many are on the fence still.

MP3:
Propagandhi - Bullshit Politicians
Hummungus - Censorship
Bouncing Souls - Fight to Live
The Virus - Still Fighting For A Future

More Resources:
3 Co-sponsors Drop Their Name From Bill Due To Public Outcry
Electronic Frontier Foundation

Buy:
Interpunk