Song of the Week: Hot Water Music - Position

Another song by Hot Water Music, I can hear you say! Didn't you have one of their songs as Song of the Week earlier in the month? I certainly did, and since then I have been hard pressed to want to listen to anything else. If you have a penchant for emotive punk rock, you really need to stop what you are doing and familiarize yourself with Hot Water Music. While their catalog of recorded work might seem a little daunting at first (8 full lengths and a plethora of EPs), I can assure you that no matter which you decide to spin first, you won’t be disappointed. 

Cheap Girls – My Roaring 20’s (Acoustic)

To anyone who has been following this blog, it is no secret that I am extremely fond of Lansing, Michigan’s Cheap Girls. Thanks to their tireless touring schedule, I think I was able to see them 3 times last year!

Song of the Week: Coheed and Cambria – The Crowing

It took me a long time to come around to liking Coheed and Cambria. I admit that I never really gave the band much of a chance, with Claudio Sanchez’s extremely high vocal range (à la Geddy Lee) always turning me off. However, after the continued suggestions of a good friend, I finally gave the band a solid listen, and can safely say that I am now a fan of their merger of progressive rock and post-hardcore.

I have been listening to their 2^nd album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, a lot this past week, and while I don’t think it is quite on par with The Second Stage Turbine Blade, it is still a very enjoyable album. While the album if filled with memorable songs, I think that “The Crowing” is probably my favorite.

Be sure to catch Coheed and Cambria on tour this February in support of the 2^nd part of their double album, The Afterman. And to make the prospect of the tour even better, the excellent instrumental rock/metal band Russian Circles is opening for them!

Lotus Fucker - Forever My Fighting Spirit LP (2012)

Before I came across the band Lotus Fucker, my only real exposure to hardcore punk was from the classics of the genre (Black Flag, Minor Threat, etc.). And while those seminal bands were known for their raw intensity and aggression, I remember being thoroughly surprised by ugliness of Lotus Fucker’s music (complimented by an equally ugly band name), something that I was not accustomed to from my brief foray into the genre. Never before had I heard something so noisy and scathing. I eventually came to learn that they were influenced by Japanese hardcore bands (like Confuse), and that the underground hardcore punk community was thriving with similarly visceral and unpleasant sounding bands (I say this only in the most positive sense).

Song of the Week: Hot Water Music – Paid In Full

I am here to start the new year off right with the first, of hopefully many, “Songs of the Week.”

After an 8 year hiatus, Hot Water Music graced punk rock fans with a new album in 2012 called Exister. For fans of punk rock, Hot Water Music needs no introduction, with their gruff, Leatherface/Jawbreaker-indebted pop-punk inspiring a legion of subsequent bands.

“Paid in Full” is probably my favorite track off of Exister. 

Hot Water Music is about to embark on a headlining tour with La Dispute and The Menzingers (both bands which I have talked about here on the blog). It goes without saying that if they are playing anywhere nearby, you should make an effort to go see them.