Algiers - Four Priests [2011]

For Fans Of: The Maple State, DARTZ!, Look Mexico

Genres: Emo, Indie Pop, Math Rock

Spotify: Yep!

Preview:

Algiers is made up of two guys from the U.K. who are former members of The Maple State and DARTZ!. This EP is the product of a chance encounter between the two band members which blossomed into four months of collaboration. It's an indie-pop gem if there ever was one - catchy and fun to listen to. Four Priests is a great little debut EP; it showcases the band's bright melodies and promises more good stuff to come.

Unfortunately I cannot seem to find a good digital version of the album, but you can listen on their Soundcloud. Alternatively, clicking below will send you to their Bandcamp, where you can purchase it for about $5.

Weak Teeth 7" by Weak Teeth (2010)

Kind of Like: Code Orange Kids, Former Theives,
Genres: Hardcore, Punk, Emo
Buy: Sometimes I Get Drunk Records
Spotify: Not Officially
Preview:


"Too fast, too furious, pissed-as-fuck hardcore from up North. With a slightly angular and technical edge to their musicianship, they offer more than your standard cookie-cutter hardcore band with a fuller, more musically aware sound that stands as a testament to their unflinching dedication."
-The Fest 9 write-up

Emo-damaged hardcore; negative youth crew; fast things, loud things, angry things, burritos, and having fun.  These are all things that could be used to describe this band and this 7" record.  This album starts off making you think you are about to be taken on a ride you've been on many times.  A ride from bands that just want to sound exactly like they came out of American Hardcore.  Instead of being another generic shitty hardcore band, this ride busts off the rails and takes you someplace much better.  These guys are fast, gritty but surprising technical, melodic and intelligent at the same time.  I jumped on the opportunity to help distribute this 7".

Listen Here:

StreamPad: Weak Teeth - You Have Selected "No"

Calista Divine - Calista Divine [2011]

For Fans Of: God is an Astronaut, This Will Destroy You, Mono,

Genres: Post-rock, Ambient, Experimental

Spotify: Nah, but here's their Facebook.

Preview:

We've really been digging bands from overseas as of late, and these four lads are no exception. Hailing from Italy, Calista Divine has some of the coolest band member names I've come across, such as Marco Bologini (bologna?), Riccardo Scaramagli, and Lorenzo Ansenchi. Admittedly, they aren't really doing anything new with their sound, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. They also make great videos to go along with their songs. They're a perfect addition to one's "to be watched whilst tripping" list. Here's an example:

You can get the album via the link below, below, or from their bandcamp. They're working on new material right now - looking forward to that.

You've made a huge mistake.

I think it goes without saying, but I will anyways.  Initially I wanted to do a zine every three to four months, but now it will be more likely they will be done each year.  The remainder of the zines will be put in with orders for records.  I might make more at some point so people that order records will get a neat little zine thing with their orders.   They will only be given with orders from Sometimes I Get Drunk Records.

With the removal of the Zine tab up top, there is a new addition.  We have a radio show we do each week and we have been told it would be more convenient if people could download the shows.  That way they can either listen in live or just download them and listen at their leisure.  So look above and click the radio/podcast tab.  Here is who was featured on the first show:

Oh yeah!  Alternative Press used one of my videos of Restorations!  Look!

Dikembe/You Blew It! Tour Video

I snow, right?

Radio Show Tonight!

Tonight we will be playing new music from Cast of Cheers, Bon Iver (Live performance from SNL), ††† (Crosses), Library Tapes, Ma Jolie, The Sidekicks, and a bunch of other artists that we featured last week.  We also will be trying to record it so that it can be a podcast that can be listened to whenever.

Here is what the show looks like from a word cloud as far as what music you will be hearing today and the amount of it.  The bigger the word the more the show will be focusing on songs from that niche.  Yay, visuals!

I would like to have more open discussion during the show hopefully we can get some people calling in.  We take requests as well!  Listen in at 7PM EST for the show (http://www.wumd.org, also on your iphone!), or hopefully it will be available for download later.

Poison Smoak by One Hundred Year Ocean (2012)

Kind of Like: Superchunk, Pavement, The World is a Beautiful Place, Joie De Vivre
Genres: Emo, Indie, Post-rock
Spotify: Not Officially
Preview:

Derrick from The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die just got in contact with me and told me his other project just released a brand new EP.  We had met in passing in the Topshelf turntable.fm room.  I am not sure if there is a Topshelf room anymore, but you could imagine there was never ending good tunes with the DJs they had.  From what I can tell this is his solo project that is backed by a full band that features members from Book Slave, Lion Cub and I'm Ok.

If you dig The World Is, then you probably can get into this pretty quick.  Kind of similar, but more of a Superchunk/Pavement feel to them and the occasional female supporting vocals that fit really well.

Listen Here:

Ormai by Fine Before You Came (2012)

Kind of Like: La Quiete, Daitro, Crash of Rhinos, Kidcrash
Genres: Post-hardcore, Emo
Spotify: Not Officially
Buy: Triste
Preview:


I just realized that even if an album isn't on Spotify yet, I can still make a playlist on my Spotify and share it with anyone else.  So now every album featured on here will be Spotify-friendly.

Crash of Rhinos repped these guys earlier on today, and I am already considering getting this on wax.  I have to stay strong though, I told myself I wouldn't purchase anymore records for a few months.  This is an Italian band that isn't a screamo band.  They have been around for over a decade, and make some really great emo music.  You guys are gonna love this.

Listen Here:

StreamPad: Fine Before You Came - Sasso

††† (Crosses) - EP †† (EP II) [2012]

For Fans Of: Matthew Dear, Deftones,

Genres: Electronic, Experimental, Ambient

Spotify: Yes'm.

Preview:

††† (pronounced "Crosses") is the side project of Deftones singer Chino Moreno, Far guitarist Shaun Lopez, and Scott Chuck. They came out with EP † (I) last year, and this is the follow-up. Pretty catchy electronica with some darker elements mixed in there as well. Moreno described the project as "minimal and soothing and it's sort of like the stuff I like listening to when I'm not screaming my head off." If you like this, you can download their debut EP on their website.

Ps. Click "Download"

Volume Three by I Am The Agent (2012)

Geeked out.

Kind of Like: The World Is...(a really fucking long name), Sonic Youth, Run Squirrel
Genres: Post-rock, Post-hardcore, Noise Rock, Emo, Indie
Spotify: Nope
Buy: Oh, Silence Records (CD-R only ;( )
Preview:

Happy Super Bowl Day!  Who do I want to win?  Well, I'm a Michigan man, so I'm rooting for my boy Tom Brady.

If you are too lazy to hit play and take a listen, just think of a darker form of The World is a Beautiful Place mixed with influences of noise rock/grunge bands like Sonic Youth.  They consider themselves an alternative/indie band but I would consider them more specifically an emo band; these guys are prickled with emotion.  The vocals sound sincere and the music ranges purgative, noisy dissonance to calm, but solemn passages.

These guys hail from Australia, and this is this is the first album I have heard from them.  They have two others (volumes one and two). I am only just finishing the fourth and final song of volume three, but I have a feeling I will be exploring the other volumes in the near future or at least be absorbing this one for awhile.

Listen Here:

Ladders by Ma Jolie (2011)

Kind of Like: Signals Midwest, Spraynard, Joyce Manor
Genres: Punk, Pop Punk
Spotify: Nope
Preview:

I had the pleasure of seeing these guys in Philly last month for that great house show.  They feature members from other bands, but the only one that I remember is Restorations.  They have members from that band and their name is a Bear vs. Shark reference, but they don't sound a whole lot like either of those bands.  These three songs show some great pop punk potential, and if I had known this was out on the internet I would've featured it as soon as I got home from Philly.

Funny randomness, the day after the show and after we stopped by Algernon's warehouse, Peter recommended a pizza place right down the street because we were starving.  It was really good, and the owners were really nice.  After we had our fill, a guy walked in the door and picked up some food, and I remember recognizing him.  We got in out car and he got in his which happened to be right next to ours, and we looked at each other and we had one of those moments where we both realized where we knew each other from.  It turned out it was the drummer from Ma Jolie and he just happened to be ordering food there on the other side of town.

 We asked him about record stores in the area and he recommended one we hadn't even had on our list to check out called the Milk Crate.  it was a really cozy place; the ground level is a cafe/coffee place and the downstairs in a record store.  Talk about a great combo.

Listen Here:

Library Tapes - A Summer Beneath The Trees [2008]

For Fans Of: Feeling melancholy

Genres: Ambient, Piano, Experimental

Preview:

I've been meaning to throw this up for a while now. Library Tapes was formed by Swedish musicians David Wenngren and Per Jardsel, who recorded two albums together before Jardsel quit the band in 2006. Wenngren has since continued to release his own material, as well as collaborations with various other artists under various other names, all of which are worth listening to at least once. A Summer Beneath The Trees features him together with Peter Broderik, who complements Wenngren's piano with violin, guitar, accordion, trumpet, celesta, viola, and banjo. When I started to write about this, I honestly had no idea how to truly to describe it, other than to say it's one of those pieces of music you can truly be moved by. I had trouble even deciding which track to put up for the preview, because really you have to listen to the whole thing beginning to end. One track just doesn't cut it. So instead of trying to illustrate how this album might make you feel and why you should listen to it, I'm just going to take a short cut and use another reviewer's, ahem, review, of it. He used the exact words I would have used if I would have thought of them first:

"It's neither a stereotypically sad record nor a happy one - just human, highlighting emotional extremes to imply the whole range between them."

Library Tapes has released a number of other albums, all of which are excellent, and you can preview them all via the bandcamp. Recently, Wenngren announced that he's letting fans buy a small piece of a piano track he's compiling for 5 euro. Basically the idea is that you send him a piano piece you want him to use, and he names it after you or whoever you want it to be named after, and once he has all of them, they will be arranged in a much longer composition he's putting together. All the details/info for the project can be found on his website, or through the Facebook event he created for it. I think it's a really neat project, and a great way to get fans involved.

Cast of Cheers - "Family" single [2012]

For Fans Of: Bats, Adebisi Shank, Enemies

Genres: Experimental, Math Rock, Indie

Preview: The video below, silly.

The Cast of Cheers (A four-piece Adebisi Shank-esque band hailing from Dublin that Poo describes as "spazzy, dancy electronica math rock driven by persistent thumping bass and snare drum") has released a new single, and it is now available for pre-order on 7" vinyl at Rough Trade. The release is set for Feb 20th, and it also features a shiny new previously unheard b-side, "Loose Talk At A Party", on the flipside. Check out the cool video:

If you haven't heard of these guys yet, I suggest heading over here to read up on them and get your hands on the 2010 release. You will be happy you did.