DEAD WEIGHTS

From: Ottawa, ON Canada
Members of: I can't remember. I'll fix this part later
For Fans Of: AGAINST ME!, LEATHER FACE, FOR SCIENCE
Made up words: Pop-punk, post-emo, garbages
Internets: band camp includes streaming tracks, pictures, and links to all their other awesome social media

I hate this band a lot. To me they sound like the audio translation of balls. Like, they sound how balls look and smell. I hate 99% of this brand of, what I'm going to call "nu-pop-punk". Like, you know how nu-metal took metal and made it ugly and annoying?
Under "For fans of" I mentioned some bands. Really though, I imagine that the only people who like this band are their friends.
First of all, the vocals are fucking BRUTAL. Out of tune, awkwardly forced into place, and just generally ugly all over. It kind of sounds like one of the monster muppets. Like if the mahna mahna guy was way off key.The lyrics are annoying and predictable to me too.
Musically, I can imagine not hating this if the vocals were different, but I also don't hear anything interesting at all. The ever-present "nu" also stinks the joint up.
The singer did some solo stuff at one point and, I could be wrong here, but it always seemed to reek of someone with next to no talent believing and dreaming of making it big. Well, it ain't gunna happen. If you are doing your music for fun, it makes you happy, and it makes your friends happy, then great. Keep it up. If you think it's leading somewhere though, do yourself a favour, and just don't. Some people are born to be rock stars, and then there's you. The end.
GROSS.

In general, some notes about this blog...

In the near future I intend to write about the fallowing bands:
POLICE FUNERAL
CHLOROFORM
CRITICAL CONVICTIONS
IT'S ASSHOLE TIME
THE WHISKEY SHITS
DEAD WEIGHTS
SHOT NERVES
ROUGH HOUSE
ROBOTS EVERYWHERE
CRUSADES
THE VISITORS

These are all bands from Ottawa, which is where I live right now. I figured I would begin with bands that are local to me, and then once I've gotten bored of that I'll move on to bands from elsewhere.
All that being said, I may not end up writing about these bands at all. I may choose totally different bands. It's also possible that I will finish writing this post and then never look at this blog again for the rest of my life. But, the plan so far is what I said.

I should also mention, I am going to TOTALLY SHIT ON SOME OF THE BANDS I WRITE ABOUT. This isn't anything personal. I just don't like every band, and your band might fit there...

PREGNANCY SCARES

From: Ottawa, ON Canada
Members of: CRUSADES. STEVE ADAMYK BAND, and, MOTHER'S CHILDREN
For fans of: DAS OATH, FUCKED UP, and SOME GIRLS
Made up words: Hardcore and Powerviolence
Internets: tumblr includes streaming tracks, videos, show listings, and general info

PREGNANCY SCARES (which I "unhilariously" call "the preggos") is another of my favourite 3 Ottawa bands; as evidenced by the fact that this is the second post to this blog, and second band represented on that list.
They sound to me a whole lot like the ex CHARLES BRONSON band called DAS OATH, which I already mentioned above. This, is a great band to sound like, although a lot of what makes me like DAS OATH is not happening in this band. Eh, ok... well PREGNANCY SCARES is still a pretty great band. They've got a lot of creative guitar riffs going on throughout that sometimes sound like traditional rock and roll stuff, but at the last second veer off into an unexpected direction in terms of the last few notes, or weird tempo changes. This is what I like about DAS OATH I suppose, so maybe that stuff isn't absent, it's just not as relentless and up front. A lot of the lead guitar stuff seems to be played on one string, which gives it an interesting, ummm, twang that can't be born of power chords naturally. They play fast and settle into thumping breakdowns to give you a chance to bob your head in a reasonable way from time to time.
I don't want to start throwing in cliches like "blistering in your face hardcore punk rock n roll onslaught for dejected youth". I just don't. But... exactly that.
A lot of the Ottawa punx think this band is a bunch of hipsters. This would be a good time for me to point out the title of my blog. Punks LOVE to pretend they aren't hipsters. HOLY FUCK ARE PUNKS EVER A PERFECT FUCKING EXAMPLE OF THAT WORD A THIS POINT. It's not all mustaches, 3 wolf moon shirts, cocaine, and spandex. It's punk, powerpop, hardcore, techno, hip-hop, and every other sub-culture that flies just below the blade of pop. Who cares?
Anyways, these hipsters (at least one member has a mustache) are doing punk rock about a thousand times better than 3/4 of the punk bands in this city. So, fuck off.
They have a 7" that was recently released on Deranged, which is a label that rarely misses in my opinion (FUCKED UP, CAREER SUICIDE, BRUTAL KNIGHTS, and so on). They also have a demo tape, pictured above. Both are a great listen, but see the band live ASAP.

Here's a video they made in their basement. Some of the people in it are very pretty/handsome!

ASILE

From: Ottawa, ON Canada
Members of: BASTARDATOR, CRITICAL CONVICTIONS, and THE DIRTY NUNS
For fans of: AFTER THE BOMBS, SKITSYSTEM, and DISCHARGE
Made up words: D-beat and Crust
Internets: purevolume.com Includes two streaming tracks.

ASILE is in my top 3 Ottawa bands right now for sure. Incredibly tight and full sound with awesome, noisey guitar solos over HEAVY guitars and a pounding rhythm section. The vocals strike me as a relatively weak point for this band as there just isn't anything particularly interesting there in terms of either the sound or placement of the words. Although I do appreciate the heavy reverb/echo sound present in their records that is so reminiscent of the pioneering bands of this genre. It's always inspired images in my mind of loudspeakers pumping out fear inspiring and morale crushing propaganda meant for the other side of the trenches on a battlefield in a war somewhere. I don't speak French, so I could only really guess at the lyrical content. I'm going to have someone read the lyrics sheet included with their recent 12" release called "Kichesippi Toxique" (Rust and Machine records, 2012) and let me know what's happening and give their opinion soon though.
In addition to their aforementioned full length record, they also have a demo tape floating around. Both are well worth a listen, and if you like the genre, you will definitely like this band. Their live show is fantastic too. I rarely think otherwise, so this isn't to knock their recordings, but seeing them live is absolutely crucial if you want to "get" this band. Fucking rad.