Like Bats “Look on the Bright Side” (EP) (Traffic Street)
(****/5)
Like Bats, recent Totally Crushed Out interviewees and midwest pop-punk wunderkinds, are on roll with their latest 7” on Traffic Street, “Look on the Bright Side.” Like last year’s self-titled demo, Like Bats runs through four great songs at a rapid rate starting off with the rambunctious title track.
Obviously on a short release, especially if you’re a fan, you’re naturally going to gravitate on every song; I found the off-time “Pop Tops” to be an excellent standout track in its own right, only because it plays with such an odd time signature midway.
“Bright Side” still takes the heavy lovelorn thematic nature of their earlier recordings, but the lyrics hit much harder and honestly, particularly on the record’s closer, “Chest Pains” when Mike belts out, “I don’t feel so secure anymore.”
Make no mistake, though. All the songs on this EP slay and I dare someone to find a catchier tune than “3814 Wirth Road;” I just wished it was a three or four songs longer.
Trapped Under Ice "Secrets of the World" (Reaper Records)
In my naivete, I always presumed Baltimore to be a quaint settlement. Something resembling Barry Levinson's Diner populated with the blue-collar sports heritage of Johnny Unitas and Cal Ripken, Jr. Then I saw The Wire and was introduced to the harsh antithesis that exists on the other side of the tracks. Resident hardcore upstarts Trapped Under Ice pair, in an ironic sense, nicely with a city characterized by violence, corruption and unrest. Their debut full length, Secrets of the World, feels like a direct product of the environment. More specifically, it's a nihilistic and hateful response to a life which has provided little else besides adversity. Society, backstabbers, God, the hopeless daily grind - total bollocks. Laughably cliche in theory? Most definitely. But the truth is that this band pulls off burning rage with conviction. They're also heavy as fuck, which always helps.
There's a certain griminess about TUI which separates them from the many hardcore bands shamelessly whoring on Front St. for mosh pit calisthenics (although such an activity is certainly appropriate here). Think Blood For Blood or Set It Off-era Madball, both in terms of style and all-around intimidating realness. Well, they aren't that hard - who is? Still, I wouldn't want to find these dudes on the opposing end of a donnybrook. The point is that this is no overbearing dog and pony show. Or as the old saying goes, you can't fake the funk. Then again, when a band takes their name from a classic Metallica song, to come correct is a must. If you're tired of waiting for new Guns Up! or Bitter End albums, Secrets of the World is where it's at. TUI will run you through. (Vogelism was unintentional but nonetheless fitting.)
There’s No Wah-mbulance Here: The Ambulars vs. Totally Crushed Out by Ryan Pangilinan
I first came across Washington DC’s The Ambulars through I Could Die Tomorrow, one of the best mp3 blogs on the internets. They wrote up this great description that piqued my interest (as all pop-punk bands that don’t sound like Fall Out Boy are apt to do). What I ended up with were two really great EPs that played non-stop on my iPod for nearly three weeks. When we decided to start Totally Crushed Out, The Ambulars were on my short list of bands I wanted to interview. I reached out to them via their Myspace and they were all cool enough to answer my questions.
TOTALLY CRUSHED OUT: How did the band get together?
MIKE: The three of us have known each other for a long time, though we had never played music together. Jen and Andy approached me at a show with the idea of doing an Alkaline Trio cover band just for the summer. It quickly evolved into an actually band with our own songs. The idea was to do an ephemeral summertime pop-punk band before Jen moved to Chicago.
The sound of the Ambulars has very little in common with contemporary pop-punk and seems to take a cue bands like The Promise Ring and Weston. Was this a conscious decision to not latch on to what kids consider "pop-punk" these days?
M: I think this is more of a product of our influences. We all grew up listening to pop punk bands so we have that common vocabulary, but I know at least my writing influences were not pop punk bands. They were more along the lines of 80's and 90's indie rock and shoegaze bands and K-records-type indie-pop, not that we necessarily sound like it. I think we all approached the songwriting with different musical points of reference, but we still had that shared common ground. I think “pop-punk” to us means something different than what it refers to nowadays in its current form.
JEN: That's true, for me personally, when we were starting up I'd been listening to a lot of the type of pop punk you'll hear at Insubordination Fest mixed in with a couple 90s favorites like Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience, Dinosaur Jr, and tons of Jawbreaker. Super summery driving sing along music.
ANDY: Our influences seem to come from all over the board, and for me this band is kind of a great attempt to balance the old with the new. The influence of pop punk and emo bands that I loved when I was a bit younger, like Saves the Day and Lifetime, has been really present for me in the writing process, in addition to music that is more currently relevant to me right now, like Bruce Springsteen and Dinosaur Jr.
The "Summer Fling EP" and "The Summer of the Ambulars" are sonically different in terms of recording and the stylistic approach to the band, but they still share a vulnerability. How did you choose which songs from the acoustic EP to record electric?
J: We wanted to represent as much of our whole range as a band as possible when we did the acoustic EP, so we each have at least one song on it where we do the main vocals.
M: “Summer Fling” was recorded more out of necessity than anything else. We had already begun to record “Summer of the Ambulars” [and] it was taking longer to record and mix than we had budgeted for. We wanted to have some sort of release for when we played a pair of out of town shows so we recorded an acoustic EP. Two of the songs were already electric live songs, we just decided to take a few and strip them down for a quick release. These two songs were recorded acoustically after a band practice. I think we just picked songs that we thought would make interesting acoustic versions. The other two were written and recorded at home specifically for the EP.
A: I read an interview with Thurston Moore where he said something like "if you can't play it on the acoustic guitar then it's not a real song." While that may not be totally true, I do see what he means, how you should be able to strip a song down to its barest parts and still find something there that is tangible and relatable. That's been the cool thing about this acoustic EP, is discovering the songs below the loud crunch of the guitars and the drums.
Are the writing duties split individually or is it a collaborative effort?
M: One of us will show up to practice with an idea or rough skeleton of a song. As a band, we build upon it and all contribute to it until it's done.
J: We noticed right away that writing music together was totally not stressful and actually a lot of fun. I think the lack of pressure to be a certain way or fit into a certain genre or to have only one lead vocalist or whatever led us to explore our various interests together while writing and try combining different/new things that maybe we wouldn't have otherwise. Also, because we work on all the songs together (including some lyrics), I think thematically everything became really intertwined. Practices became times for us to sit and talk about all the huge changes going on in our lives and around us at the time, dredging up old memories but also looking forward to making new ones. So dealing with change/growing in general is probably the hugest common thread in what we've written so far.
I noticed that the band is split up by cities, does this limit your touring time?
M: Well, we don't really tour. The distance thing is still being worked out. The plan was to have the band just exist for one summer and then break up (thus “Summer of the Ambulars”) but we all had too much fun to let that happen and our friends supported us. We play shows when the three of us are in town together, though the band is not constantly active.
A: It would be cool to tour...one day we'll rent some old station wagon and tour around like National Lampoon's Vacation.
There's a real DIY sensibility that the band has that aren't really present anymore. Would signing to a label be in the cards for you or even something that you'd welcome if given the opportunity?
M: The three of us met in a DIY punk scene, putting out zines and playing in hardcore bands so it's natural for us to continue with that sensibility. I think we would be open to working with a label in some capacity, though it would obviously need to be the right label and the right kind of relationship. I think we are happy with our station as a DIY pop-punk band, and getting signed isn't something we've really talked about and it certainly hasn't been a goal of ours.
A: it would all depend on what we have time to do as individuals in the future. i would certainly welcome the chance if it was presented. being DIY doesn't mean instantly turning down potentially neat opportunities when they come your way. but it's hard to tell if it would permit in our life schedules at the moment. in your early to mid twenties life changes a lot very rapidly i am discovering, and commitments take you different places, both geographically and mentally, and you have to stay true to your path. you never know what's coming down the road though, and I'd like to think we'd be open to many different possibilities.
Finally, what do The Ambulars have planned for the future?
M: We plan on playing shows whenever we can and possibly writing and recording a 7”, though all plans are purely speculative. This band quickly outlasted its life-expectancy so we still don't know what we want to do yet.
J: We'd also like to do a longer tour, since we only had time to play local shows and a very small weekend tour this past summer. Since we're all so busy with various things (grad school, other musical projects, multiple jobs, etc) the likelihood of us even attempting to make that happen before summer '10 is pretty slim, but you never know!
A: The future won't know what hit it. we're already constructing a practice space fit for underwater environments for after the polar ice caps melt. i guess that'll make our station wagon obsolete but we'll get some underwater hovercraft like in "Life Aquatic" and tour around to the different underwater punk houses and play cool shows.
I'm a little late to posting these, but the website had to take a backseat to the wonders of the holiday season. For his Top 10 of 2009, Dave Woods (otherwise known as D or the handsome white guy from Shoes for Imelda), put together a mini mixtape that you kids can download. Because he's a busy guy, Woods gave me the tracklist, the link and not much else. You can get a sense of why he liked these records on his blog, Strength and Vision. Anyway, here's what Woods had to say about his Top 10:
Here's my short but actually somewhat varied tribute to 2009. I've never tried to compress a mix before, but I numbered the tracks so they should come up in order if played in iTunes. But here's the playlist anyways.
1) Narrows - Newly Restored 2) The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction 3) Raekwon - Surgical Gloves 4) Shook Ones - Birds On Ice 5) David Bazan - When We Fell 6) Converge - Cutter 7) Royce da 5'9" - Dinner Time (feat. Busta Rhymes) 8) Keaton Collective - We Ride 9) Baroness - A Horse Called Golgotha 10) Lee Fields & The Expressions - Ladies
Better than On Your Knees: At Our Heels Unplugs the Bright Lights of Nu-Hardcore by Ryan Pangilinan
“I really wanted something that was just our logo and people would see it and recognize it as our thing,” said Alex Pulisci, the man behind Bay Area thrash hardcore outfit At Our Heels.
In a day when punk and its subgenres have turned into theme songs for movies and commercials (has anyone seen the Johnny Rotten butter commercial?), it’s quite refreshing to find a band like At Our Heels, a DIY group with limitless potential.
Coming from a situation with a rotating lineup, Pulisci found himself at a musical crossroads and started At Our Heels.
“We had, like, 15 different members or something,” he said. “I was doing the bulk of the writing and my writing style kind of changed, so I figured that starting a new band would be a good idea. Start fresh with new songs, a new name and new members.”
When the dust had settled, Pulisci’s project became more of a solo endeavor than anything else.
“The member situation didn’t work out so well and it ended up being just me. It ended up that it was a better way for me to work.”
Calling on friend and Heartsounds’ Ben Murray to man the drums, Pulisci wrote and recorded 2009’s self-titled seven inch (Heart in Hand Records).
Taking cues from the likes of American Nightmare, The Misfits and (early) AFI, At Our Heels’ doesn’t let up for a second and runs through six tracks in a little over seven minutes.
The band’s rampant, non-stop sound has also put them on the same bills with likeminded acts such as Trap Them, Verse, Final Fight, Lewd Acts and Pulling Teeth, to name a few.
Currently, Pulisci is splitting his time between school and a new At Our Heels full-length on Creator-Destructor, which he hopes will be finished next year.
“I’m trying to use my free time to polish up some songs…. We have three new songs that we’ve been playing live. We’re going to have a 10-13 song full length coming out,” he said.
“I’m pretty stoked on the new songs,” Pulisci added.
If their seven inch is any indication, then naysayers should take note: people may like their ‘core watered down or cut with neon colors, but for kids who still jam out to “Astro Zombies” before heading off to work or school, At Our Heels is the best band out there.
This is a response to James and Jathan's challenge to come up with a mixtape with a theme of creepin'. I was going to wait on this for a couple of months because of another project we're working on, but consider this a Christmas gift.
The Republic of Wolves “His Old Branches EP” (Self-Released)
(****/5)
Long Island indie rock outfit, The Republic of Wolves, got off to a rather odd start by having their demo tracks erroneously listed as new Brand New songs on Youtube. Despite the similarities between the songs that appear on the Wolves’ debut extended player, “His Old Branches,” and Brand New’s “Fight Off Your Demons,” the band probably has more in common with the likes of late-90’s era Built to Spill and Red House Painters.
Unlike electro-pop star, Owl City, who shameless apes the Postal Service, The Republic of Wolves, while at times derivative of some great bands, are more than capable of playing their instruments and writing complicated, angular parts. Even the most pop-oriented song, “Cardinals,” has its caustic moments.
Winged Rodents and Midwest Punx: Like Bats Vs. Totally Crushed Out by Ryan Pangilinan
The Midwest seems to breed great punk bands like there’s no tomorrow. One such group is Indiana’s Like Bats, a band that mixes punk ferocity with melodic instrumentation and harmonies, not unlike J. Church or the Lawrence Arms. Their 2009 demo (recently reissued on Traffic Street Records) was one of the surprise EPs of the year and subsequent splits with Young Devilry, Strait A’s, and Rumspringer have only whet the appetites of kids who are paying attention.
Like Bats is gearing up for a winter tour, playing alongside the likes of Jettison and Lemuria, as well as a new 7” entitled, “Look on the Bright Side” (Traffic Street). Recently, singer/guitarist Mike let Totally Crushed Out pick his brain a bit about the workings of being like a bat.
TOTALLY CRUSHED OUT: How did Like Bats get together?
Well, Like Bats was a band I started when I was 16 with completely different people and a kind of different; way shittier sound. It went through a couple line up changes before it died. Then in October 2008, I broke up with my girlfriend and started writing songs that became our demo and I wanted to get a band together to play the songs. And I just really like the name Like Bats for some reason, so I decided to kind of extend it off of that.
On the demo, there's an influence of fast melodic bands like Lawrence Arms, Screeching Weasel and 88 Fingers Louie. Is it fair to say that you guys have a pension for 90s punk?
Yeah man, 90's punk is definitely one of my favorite styles of music. We all love bands like Jawbreaker, Red 40, Crimpshrine, Pezz and bands like that. But 90's emo bands definitely plays a role as an influence as well.
Lyrically, the songs have been about the negative aspects of a relationship; are the songs autobiographical and if so, have you heard any responses from whom they might have been about?
Yeah, the songs on the demo are about a specific break up I went through. She actually got really pissed at me when she first heard it and didn't talk to me for a while. Haha. But whatever, I don't care.
Your tours, by and large, have been centered around the Midwest and parts of the East Coast. Are there any plans to tour out west?
Well this winter, we're doing a southern tour. And in the summer, we're going to do a full US, which will definitely include dates out west.
The demo has been reissued on Traffic Street and you have a 7" on the way; what other plans are in store for Like Bats?
Well, we got the tour this winter, and the 7" should be out early or mid January. After that, more touring and hopefully some splits and I just started writing the full length, but I have no idea when that will happen.
The worldwide scuttlebutt has pegged this new Doomriders’ album as being “less fun” than its predecessor, "Black Thunder." Apparently this generation needs to have its hand held through the process of partying with bands like Municipal Waste (no disrespect) who let their audience know, both in song and on stage, exactly how and when to get annihilated. Sure, Darkness Come Alive doesn’t put forth anything quite as self-aware as “Ride or Die” and “Fuck This Shit” and its atmosphere is, well, a little darker. But anthems like “Come Alive” and “Jealous God” refute any message board-naysay and show that maturing as an artist doesn’t have to suck; both tracks bring it with a now seamlessly fashioned high-voltage rock that is all smiles – however devilish. The fun is still here, kids. Its grade is just slightly higher.
When did it become so difficult to slam brews to thunderous Entombed riffs, sweet Thin Lizzy leads, and a crustier Danzig croon? If you couldn’t see this as a rhetorical question, it is an indication that the scope of our current recession extends far beyond the economy. Perhaps this album can be your reeducation in the special communion between rogue celebration and music. (West Coast Choppers apparel is strictly prohibited.)
Mike Kinsella’s solo endeavor, Owen, always seems to be overshadowed by his past bands, whether it’s Cap’n Jazz or American Football. For many years, Kinsella has been playing under the Owen moniker and his stripped down folkie indie aesthetic is a stark contrast to the off-time, off-beat and weird direction that his frequent collaborator and brother Tim Kinsella often finds himself in.
The thing I most enjoy about Owen is how consistent the quality in Kinsella’s work is. There’s a clear line from 2002’s “No Good for No One” to his latest record “New Leaves,” from literary references to the vulnerability in Kinsella’s voice, it’s easy to see his linear thought process.
“New Leaves” is an easy going album. The record’s lead single “Good Friends, Bad Habits” is the type of track that can bring generations of rock fans together, while the middle track “Brown Hair in a Bird’s Nest” is a wispy song that can find itself placed in some Zack Braff movie.
Let it be known that even though Kinsella isn’t breaking new ground, he is one of the most underrated songwriters out there right now writing material that is geared towards people who’ve walked away from “the scene” and find themselves hanging out with their significant others, cooking dinners for their family and reading T.S. Eliot on a train ride to work. That kind of storytelling ability is seldom present into today’s contemporary pop landscape, but Owen’s “New Leaves” has the kind of narrative that should be embraced.
Despite the renowned words of Kevin Seconds, hardcore unequivocally is boys' fun. The ratio of dicks to chicks is 10:1. Testosterone levels can be lethal or at the very least off putting. When a "she" does wind up in the mix, the result is Walls of Jericho. So yeah, the scene could really benefit from a well-intentioned lady's touch. And no, this isn't a covert scheme to raise probability for the boot-knock.
Respect to Punch. Female-fronted and seriously pissed, they put to rest any reservations concerning the ability of women to step off the sidelines. In terms of intensity, their vocalist (Meghan) spits with a scathing venom that far exceeds the generic dick-flex of most guys on the microphone. It's like nails on a chalkboard, but awesomely refreshing. She's rounded out by a thrashy brand of hardcore that brings to mind the likes of Ceremony and American Nightmare. Fast enough enough the crew, crusty enough for the flannel, and just the right amount of heavy breaks to lure the flatbrims. There's scene unity for you. Should have know it would be a broad showing dudes how the game is played. Excuse me while go I scarf down a Luna bar.
The Meeting of Minds: Dawhud vs. Totally Crushed Out by Ryan Pangilinan The story of white suburban kids discovering hip-hop is a pretty tired tale at this point. For all Asher Roths, Snows, and Brian Austin Greens that pass through pop culture infamy, there’s guys like Miilkbone who are relegated to the dollar bin. Then there’s guys like Indiana-transplant-by-way-of-Seattle, Dawhud (nee: Dave Thomas) who have cultish sensibility and exist in a backpacker limbo of sorts.
Dawhud’s self-released debut album “Basement Sessions” came out last year to critical acclaim, landing on top 10 lists and heralded as another return to the boom bap. Since his 2008 record, Dawhud has been hard at work on the Revisionist Project, a record that covers classic jams with underground emcees.
Recently, Dawhud chatted about his start in hip-hop and gives a little detail on hip-hop in the Hoosier state.
Totally Crushed Out: Okay. So the first time I remember hearing about you, you had the radio show in Olympia and you used to take a bunch of pictures of events and what not. What made you want to stop observing and be an actual participant?
Dawhud: Well... hate to break it to you but I didn't take too many pictures. Maybe that was Aaron. HAHA. But, I got interested in doing music since I was about 11-12.
I remember coming home from elementary school to see Yo! MTV Raps and I'd try to write some party raps like Kid N Play.
In sixth grade I got a Casio Rapman keyboard. It was this wack little keyboard that had a fake jog wheel that made "scratch" sounds and a mic that you could change the pitch of your voice with.
I remember those. My kid has a similar one
Yeah... I still got one. I've even used the mic effects on a couple of the tracks I've been working on lately.
Fast forward to high school, the group I was in with my friends I'd dig up records and we'd go over to this guys house and have him make the beat on his EPS-16. I'd give him the samples and tell him how to make the beat, but he'd actually do it on the sampler. About a week later, duke would say he "lost" the disks and then we'd find out that one of his boys was using the beat that I basically made.
So then you started going for self?
Yeah. I never originally thought I'd go into making beats, but it just ended up happening because we were sick of dealing with cats that would steal our tracks.
My senior year, I had my parents lump X-mas, B-day and senior grad presents into a Gemini mixer, a 4 track, some belt drive turntables and a Yamaha SU10 sampler. That was the real start for REALLY getting into making beats.
Were you already collecting source records for sampling?
A little, mostly getting stuff from people's parent's collections.
That's the way to do it. What was the first break that you copped on your own?
Grover Washington's Mister Magic. Found it in a free bin at one of my fav spots. I threw that LP on and was like, “WHAT?!” Oh... there's another... but this is more sample source than break, Bob James “Westchester Lady,” and here's the story behind that.
My man's dad had a big porn stash and one time I was over at his house and he put in this "comp" porn video. It had a ton of old 70s porn and there was this one where they were playing that Bob James track. I was like, "Oh I've got to get this." I ended up recording the porno onto tape so I had the sample.
Haha.. That's fresh.
I still probably got it somewhere
That's got to be a serious hidden track
You could hear mostly the music, but in the background you could hear some deep throat action. Ha.
On the “Basement Sessions,” you reunited your radio crew, Late Night Marauders, for a skit, which was hilarious. id you ever think of doing a podcast with the old crew?
Yeah, I've thought of stuff like that, but just recording those skits was kind of hard. They were trying so hard to sound professional and the whole thing about our show was that we were just phawking around.
So what made the LP were really the outtakes.
Carlos (aka DJ Say Ten) sent me a HUGE box of our old shows and I've been meaning to digitize them.
That's awesome. Will that be recurring in Dub Styles or other projects?
We'll see. Dub Styles will have a DJ/host vibe to it. [Dub Styles is] the mixtape that is referenced on [Basement Sessions]. But, it'll be me on the mic, as host, djing, etc.
Are you going to do multiple voices?
Naw, it'll be like B-Mello doing a mixtape.
You should get B-Mello to do it with you!
Yeah... I originally was going to have him on the version of "Dub Styles" that was featured on my LP. He said he was down, but it just never ended up happening.
He's a busy guy. He's still grinding and being a dad.
What you actually hear at the end of the track was the demo I did for B-Mello so he would know what I was wanting him to do
Are you still working on the Revisionist project?
Yeah, it's just taking time. I want to do that project right and well... MONEY
Do you have any semi-completed tracks?
Yeah, a Prince Po, Moka Only track over a flip of “I Got Cha Opin,” a flip of “Microphone Fiend” with Wildchild, Frank (Fash-1) and Verbal Math from Dolla Bin. A track with Rusty from the Mudkids on a collage of several classic tracks
Have you ever thought of shopping what you have to a label to get some support that way?
Yeah, I just haven't kissed the right babies. But, yeah, I've been wanting to shop it around, but just haven't gotten that far with many people.
I know Ubiquity said they thought my LP (Basement) was good, but not the type of music they wanted to do, so to speak. I think the issue is more... what labels are interested in some DITC type boom bap.
Ubiquity is mostly downtempo. Have you thought about being a true Seattlite and head towards Massline?
Never really thought that because I thought that my sound and subject didn't fit in with their general vibe.
I like those guys and Ra actually said he was down to work on Revisionist History.
That's cool. What's Indiana's hip-hop scene like?
It's like Seattle when [Tribal Records’ compilation] Do the Math dropped. Like there's stuff going on, but it just hasn't clicked. Rhymefest was originally from Indy
Then he abandoned it to roll as a Chicagoan, eh?
And Rusty from the Mudkids battled Eminem at the 97 Skribble Jam.
I remember that
Yeah... but I understand, Chi is 2 1/2 hours away and a MUCH bigger city. But there's stuff going on here. The thing that DOES suck is that most tours skip over Indy. They'll hit Chi and the next day be in Columbus, OH or Cinci.
But, there are some dope acts here. Mudkids, Twilight Sentinals, Ace-One, and some real dope producers here too.
That's cool. You can lead the scene, my man. So what's in the works for 2010?
I'm hoping to have Dub Styles out by the spring summer. A lot of it is done, just trying to finish up a couple tracks. Dub Styles ended up also creating another LP, which will be more of a true follow up to Basement Sessions. On some good old fashioned boom bap.
That's the best. Are you going to press Dub Styles yourself?
Well, I'll probably do a preview/leak online and see how that goes. The WISH is to do a promo pressing on tape. I am also thinking about doing a pressing on CD as well, but we'll see.
Aiight man, I gotta rap this up, so last question: what's your favorite Group Home lyric?
HAHA That's dope. "Yo, I'm coming up with mad rage/ 18 and hittin' the front page/ You know I'm makin' it/ and if I can't have it... I'm takin' it
Royce da 5’9” Street Hop (M.I.C. Records/One Records)
The road for this proclaimed LL Cool J look-a-like has certainly had its twists. From playing sidekick to and then beefing with Eminem, to ghostwriting for Diddy, to getting locked up – Royce da 5’9” has accumulated something of a back-story. Then again, these happenings are merely par for the course in the rap game, falling far short of catching nine slugs. Still, one would think that Royce’s past endeavors might be a source of inspiration for sincere material. Instead, Street Hop shows an artist fearing the decline of their market value.
Royce is a capable MC with an affable drawl, but this album suffers from a congestion of mindless club bangers with Auto-Tune hooks, suffocating the more clever and well-crafted songs to found here: see “Dinner Time” (featuring a hilarious Busta Rhymes) and “Shake This” for examples of when things gel. Two times too long and heavily disjointed, even the legendary DJ Premier (executive producer) can’t establish cohesive flow between tracks; it’s like mashing down the highway at 120 mph in an Escalade and being abruptly warped to the dance floor where a scantly clad rat spills her $1.50 well drink down the front you. At best, Street Hop is worth “acquiring” in order to filter out the banalities.
The Ambulars “Summer of the Ambulars” (Self-Released)
(*****/5)
Taking on the powerpop stylings of genre stalwarts like The Promise Ring and the Get Up Kids, DC’s The Ambulars are a newish band putting their stamp in a world filled with neon shirts, shitty tattoos and annoying, overproduced records.
Their full-band EP, “Summer of the Ambulars” is refreshing inasmuch as it acts as a snapshot of a simpler time; a time when there were Krazy Fests instead of Bamboozle and going to Warped Tour didn’t cost $50.
The opening of the first track, “The Rains” starts with a two-track run through of the chorus before the band comes in together. The song also has one of the better lyrics with the line “When it all seems to go to hell/Maybe I will see you there.” It’s just asking to be written on some poor bastard’s mixtape.
From there, the rest of the EP gets better with songs like “Northern” and “Bookmarked.” There are also some great male/female vocal interplays in the songs, which makes The Ambulars far more unique than newbie bands that are tearing up Paramore’s table scraps.
Like Bats, recent Totally Crushed Out interviewees and midwest pop-punk wunderkinds, are on roll with their latest 7” on Traffic Street, “Look on the Bright Side.” Like last year’s self-titled demo, Like Bats runs through four great songs at a rapid rate starting off with the rambunctious title track.
The "Summer Fling EP" and "The Summer of the Ambulars" are sonically different in terms of recording and the stylistic approach to the band, but they still share a vulnerability. How did you choose which songs from the acoustic EP to record electric? 
