Hang

I cannot wait for this band to come to Philly.

Noose. from Matt Wes on Vimeo.

The Painted Sky

There is nothing better than getting up and heading to surf before sunrise. Southern tip of Ocean City about two miles from my house taken a few minutes before heading out to a perfect morning solo session a little further down the road.

Clever Lines

Read about Russell Crotty is Surfer Mag and was blown away by his California Homegrounds series. I wish there was some way to have them printed to the masses, because I do not have ten grand to spend on one. Love the vibe and style of his work and dig his philosophy when it comes to why he does what he does.

Russell Crotty - InnerViews from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.

Twin Killing

Browsing through Vimeo on a lazy Sunday, I stumbled across two Floorpunch videos I haven't seen in there entirety before. Figured I'd post 'em up:

There's a clip of this one on youtube, but this is the first I've seen the full set. It was from The Gate in Stroudsburg, PA and FP played with Atari, Rain on the Parade, Rancor, Hands Tied, Purpose and Saves the Day I think.

floorpunch from timefallsnear on Vimeo.

This set is from the Superbowl of Hardcore in DC if memory serves. Agnostic Front and Warzone were two of the other bands on the bill, but there were more:

floorpunch from timefallsnear on Vimeo.

Dude who posted them has a ton of good videos from Judge to Horror Show to a bunch others.

Sludgefest

Sometimes, New Jersey

Headed up for the Flesh Temple, Mob Mentality, Give, Stick Together, Rival Mob gig at Asbury Lanes last Friday in beautiful Asbury Park, NJ. Arrived early to be informed that the Rival Mob hadn't left Boston until 5 so things would be getting started later than expected. Headed out for a bit, only to realize that we missed Flesh Temple. I really would have liked to catch their set, but nothing you can do about shitty timing.

Mob Mentality was on next. I had listened to the demo and dug what they were doing, but I wasn't too impressed with their set. I dug the early 80's vibe mixed with slower breakdown parts that they were trying to pull off, but it was kind of sloppy and other than the frontman who was going off, the band lacked energy. All the elements were there, it just seemed off in terms of a cohesiveness that will probably come from playing more. The crowd seemed to share my sentiments, and just kind of stood there. I think under the right circumstances they could destroy, just not tonight. Hopefully, they'll be on a future bill and I will get a chance to see them again.

Stick Together played next and played a good, shorter set. The crowd responded early, going off for the the breakdowns and sing-alongs and the band had energy to spare. Hoodrack's comments were the usual stream-of-consciousness randomess that was pure stage-banter- gold (straight edge hockey mask gangs?). They only did one cover (SSD's Glue) which was kind of a bummer, especially after I read that they did a side by side cover the next night. From the bands they choose to cover, from the sound and style of artwork, Stick Together doesn't pull any punches when it comes to their influences. They say and play the way they want to and with a consistently good live performance, it's working. No "The Real You", which I was hoping for, but did get to hear "For Myself", which was a plus. Such a tight set that I hope they had back to New Jersey soon.

I had seen Give once before and liked a couple songs, but nothing really stuck with me. I had made up mind before there set to be open minded. I don't think it would have mattered, because the band blew me away. The band put out such a good set from start to finish, with energy to spare. It's clear they're going for different: flowers, more melody almost rock vibe and I have heard the whole Revolution Summer thing thrown around a bunch of times when people talk about them. You can definitely hear elements of Rites or Embrace, but I think at the same time, they've created a really unique sound and I was really into what they were doing: songs off the album and 7 inches. I'm really psyched to see them again and hope to see those Painkiller and Youngblood seven inches soon.

Finally, The Rival Mob took the stage as a four piece and I was surprised at the lack of the fifth member did not affect their sound, which is pretty much a testament to what a juggernaut this band is. At this point, you know what you're getting with a RM set as far as quotables and setlist. This one was slightly different, being that it lacked a cover, but despite the late arrival and getting thrown on stage, the Rival Mob managed to turn out a good set. Despite all the craziness of actually getting to the stage, the fact that the band was able to turn out a good show is pretty awesome. I felt the end of the set kind of fizzled out, with no mention of a last song and Brendan requesting to go bowling, but that was a minor complaint. If shows like this happened in Asbury Park more often, I'd imagine I'd find myself taking that drive up the Parkway a lot more often.

Skeleton Parade

Stick Together

Added some style to the collection of stickers that litter 7th street at the boardwalk.

Land of the Free

Seems like there is a million shows tomorrow night and and half a million decent ones. This is the one I'll be at. Rival Mob and Stick Together are the two best bands in HC right now (imo) and I'm stoked on seeing Give again and Mob Mentality for the first time. Flesh Temple's playing too.

Drink Deep

A good Sunday morning captured in this one frame.

Everything Falls Apart

No Justice- you know what they were about. Press play. Climb on top of your refrigerator and stage dive on your kitchen table. This footage is killer:







Same show, but gives you a different view, perfect for the cymbal through.

Stay Up, Stay Alive

Fun afternoon waves yesterday. Windy, sunny but cold by the afternoon, the weather wasn't bad at all for January, which completely made up for the 35 degree water. I managed to find a spot not too far from this little shack (which if I could move to my yard, I would. Thing looks like an amazing hangout spot). Fun waist to chest high waves that were kind of a mix between peaky and closing out. If you waited to one of the peaks to roll in, you had a pretty clean line, but if you took a closeout...well, ice cream headaches. Stayed out until sunset by myself, and while I wish it would have stayed lighter longer, what I was able to grab was really good. Hopefully, a small bump on the way for Sunday.

Where Were You

The European pressing (I guess only pressing, really) of the Atari discography arrived on my doorstep yesterday. The band had done a CD Discog on Broken Man Records complete with CD release show at a skatepark a few years back, but a vinyl version had never been released up until this point. I'm not sure how this came about, but I'm glad that it did because Atari had a pretty extensive 7 inch collection with some obscure pressings that I am still trying to track down so odd years later. It's nice to see the discography get the proper treatment.

Now all that's left is to hope for a record release show. I'll keep my fingers crossed.