post hardcore

Record #711: American Arson – A Line in the Sand (2020)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Last year at Audiofeed, I accidentally found myself spending an awful lot of time near the American Arson merch table. They were situated in the shade right between the main stage and the impromptu stage where many of my friends (and my own projects) had claimed slots, and so as I killed time between sets, I talked a fair amount with Jesse and Evan, the only two members of American Arson.

When the time came for their set, they had already described  their sound to me, but descriptions alone could not have prepared me for the blistering onslaught of hardcore energy, lush walls of sound, intricate compositions, and singalong choruses—pulled off by two people using a combination of live loops and samples.

But as their recent full length proves, their appeal goes far beyond the spectacle of watching them build these songs live. A Line in the Sand captures every single element that drew my ear to them in the first place—both musically and personally.

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Record #710: June of 44 – Four Great Points (1998)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

In the mid 1960s, a bunch of rock and roll bands discovered free jazz, and their minds were blown. The resulting explosion would lead to psychedelic and progressive rock, as seen in bands like The Byrds, King Crimson, and The Beatles, among others.

In the 90s, a similar movement happened with hardcore and punk bands experiencing similar mind-blowing revelations. Themselves inspired by jazz, Krautrock, and proto-post rock like Talk Talk or Bark Psychosis, they twisted the crashing catharsis of their native genres into what would be known as math rock (which is very different from the twinkly finger tapping that is called math rock today).

The most noted example of this shift is post-hardcore outfit Slint’s 1991 album Spiderland. But that album (or the mixture of influences that created it) was the forerunner of a much larger scene. And after Slint’s dissolution, June of 44 may have been one of the most respectable standard bearers for the movement.

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Record #705: Native – Orthodox (2013)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald / 1 Comment

The Northern Indiana/Southwestern Michigan music scene is an interesting beast. While my hometown of South Bend is the de facto center of it, we’re close enough to other cities that bands that are born out of towns within an hour drive from us end up cutting their teeth in Chicago or Indianapolis or Grand Rapids instead.

Sometimes, this leads me to discoveries of local(ish) bands that I didn’t even realize were somewhat local to me (see also: Lume, Locktender, Cloakroom).

Earlier this year, I had the similar realization (or reminder, rather) that the mathy, heavy post-hardcore outfit Native were also localish (from Michigan City, but played mostly in Chicagoland).

It shouldn’t have been much of a surprise—after all, Native is fronted by Bobby Markos, the bassist of the aforementioned Cloakroom. And while his rumbling, heavy bass strings are a through line between the two bands, that’s about where the comparison ends.

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Record #684 – Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory (2012)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

There was once a point in my life where most of my music was discovered through Pitchfork.com’s Best New Music section. Trashy hipster hellscape Pitchfork may be, I made a number of great discoveries there, such as Grizzly Bear, Diiv, St. Vincent, and even Deafheaven.

I mention this only because for the life of me, I don’t understand how I missed this album when it came out, as highly regarded as it was by the publication that I held in such high regard. I know I gave it some listen, but there must have been some sort of denseness to it that demanded a closer inspection that I always intended to give it, but it was always just outside my grasp.

But a few days ago, I decided it was finally time for that deep dive, and what a rewarding dive it’s been.

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Record #676: Fiddlehead – Springtime and Blind (2018)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

 

Across the music community, there are two things that rarely pay off: hype and supergroups.

Hype over a band often overshadows the actual output of the project, while the work of most supergroups fails to capitalize on the combined efforts of the members involved.

But luckily, there are exceptions to every rule. Springtime and Blind, the debut LP from Fiddlehead (feat. members of Have Heart and Basement) eschews every ounce of speculation directed its way and delivers one of the most heartfelt, teeth-kicking albums in years.

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Record #678: Kowloon Walled City – Container Ships (2012)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

When I first stumbled upon the wonderful post-hardcore supergroup Less Art last year, I was a little unfamiliar with the home projects of the members. Obviously, I am a longtime and die hard fan of Thrice, but I had only given a precursory listen to Curl Up and Die, and had never heard of Kowloon Walled City at all.

But, the strength of Less Art invited me to look into them, and oh, am I glad I did.

Container Ships, their 2012 sophomore record, is a patient, cerebral piece of heavy music that blends sludge metal and post-hardcore in a brilliant way that lands somewhere between ISIS and Fugazi.

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Record #643: Less Art – Strangled In Light (2017)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

less art strangled light vinyl review

Side projects are a weird thing.

On the one hand, they will always inevitably be draw comparisons to the members’ main projects. On the other, if it’s too different, their original fans won’t be interested at all.

Less Art, made of members of Thrice, Kowloon Walled City, and Curlupanddie, delivers a record that doesn’t just sidestep the problems that plague side projects and supergroups, but also more than stands on its own.

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Record #642: Everything In Slow Motion – Laid Low (2016)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Before this past Audiofeed, I didn’t know anything about Everything In Slow Motion. And so, I didn’t make a point to catch their set, opting instead to reconnect with some friends that I only see a few times a year.

But during those conversations, I couldn’t ignore the anthemic, melodic post-hardcore ringing out from the main stage. As I left the fest, their name stuck in my mind as one to watch out for.

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Record #641: HarborLights – Isolation Ritual (2019)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Musical taxonomy is an interesting thing. Genres twist and mingle like gnarled branches, running parallel to one another but being careful not to touch.

Take for instance, metal and emo. Despite their affinity for sonic catharsis and death, there’s very little camaraderie  between the two. However, they each have a symbiotic relationship with post rock. Metal and post rock have fed off of eachother for decades, with bands like ISIS and Mogwai liberally reaching across the branch. Similarly, emo and post rock have much more in common than loud/soft dynamics and precious sonic elements. Bands like American Football and The Appleseed Cast have been mixing the two for two decades. And yet, metal and emo have remained distinctly distant despite this shared commonality.

But on Isolation Ritual, Boston’s HarborLights bridge the gap in a way that never feels incongruous.

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Record #633: Hundredth – RARE (2017)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

With all of the punk and hardcore kids starting shoegaze bands these days (see: Nothing, Turnover, Pity Sex) and bands implementing more of that lush instrumentalism into their sound (see: Touche Amore, Title Fight), it was only a matter of time until a hardcore band became a full-fledged shoegaze band.

It might seem like a massive jump for a hardcore band to shift to the gauzy, dreamy lushness of shoegaze, but Hundredth does it in a way that still captures their punk fury. Continue reading →