There are all sorts of ‘mood sectors’ in punk, hardcore, and indie. For some bands, it’s all about escapist fun, others, an encompassing sense of brutality and all-out heaviness, even if its mostly a facade. And then there are the super-serious thinkers, and emotional outputters. The ones weaned on a FUGAZI discography, a liberal arts [...]

If you’re no friend of MySpace streams, you can check out THE USED’s fourth full-length, Artwork, over at Decoymusic.com (with great sound quality too).

- I’m still making up my mind about this release – the band keeps yammering about it’s grittier, less radio friendly, more diverse, and so forth, and I’m just not hearing it. It sounds like THE USED with less electronic flourishes and cleaner vocals, I’ll give them that, but it’s a leap measured in restraint, not otherwise. That’s not a bad thing though…

From the inbox (via the still kicking Jade Tree Records}:

Is it punk? Hardcore? Garage? Make up your own mind about Cloak/Dagger’s latest full-length, Lost Art.

Colin Barth’s winding guitars juggle melody, punch and vitriol is on par with the Avengers, John Reis, Mission of Burma and Greg Ginn. Play it loud on tracks such as “Deathbed Rebels” that push the punk envelope a bit further with frenzied, circle-pit fodder reminiscent of the Circle Jerks and Big Boys.

Download the song “I Don’t Want A” here.

[More after the jump]

Austrian-based Deafcult Records has made available a 10 song label sampler featuring German and Austrian hardcore bands. You can download it via MediaFire. Here’s the tracklisting:

• 1. KAISHAKUNIN “Entropie”
• 2. MAN THE CHANGE “Marks of Desparation”
• 3. WE HAD A DEAL “Tonight we drink the Blood of Gods”
• 4. HEARTBREAK KID “Color”
• 5. REWRITTEN “Wanderlust:AlphaΩ”
• 6. DAMAGES “Gears”
• 7. PLAGUE MASS “Union of Egoists”
• 8. LIGHTHOUSE “XIII”
• 9. WE HAD A DEAL “Introspective Songs Got Boring” Proberaum Version
• 10. REWRITTEN “Charly”

- This is seriously good, especially the songs from REWRITTEN and MAN THE CHANGE.

Via MySpace:

Luke and Chuck from Good Riddance are seeking a talented drummer located in the South Bay Area to complete the formation of a heavy/aggressive band with old school punk and metal influences. If you are interested in learning more contact Luke Pabich through his MySpace page.

- Hmmm… what’s that Sean Sellers guy up to?

Minneapolis thrash-punks IN DEFENCE have released their full-length, titled Into the Sewer. It is the band’s first effort for Learning Curve Records, and follows up their 2007 attack Give Praise (Get Outta Town Records). Below is the tracklisting and classic-style thrash cover art.

• 1. Lessons In Headbanging
• 2. Into The Sewer
• 3. Straight-Edge Hangover
• 4. Call More Dudes Part 3 (Girls Are Dudes Too)
• 5. In Defense Is Our Named Spelled Wrong
• 6. Head Of The Thrash
• 7. Garbage In Garbage Out
• 8. Don’t Call Me A Moshist
• 9. Total Filler No Killer
• 10. The Only Good Thing About Pizza Is The Crust

You can pick up Into the Sewer from Revhq.com for a mere $9.00 on CD and a little bit more on vinyl.

Long Island punk/hardcore band BARNABY JONES have their new full-length available for free download from the fine folks at Quote Unquote Records. You can grab your copy here. A limited amount of CDs will be available from the band via shows and from mailorder. Lyrics have been posted on the group’s MySpace page.

Brooklyn, New York’s CROWS ON VULTURES are a new post-hardcore band that has just posted a four song demo on their MySpace page. The group cites such influences as SHIFT, TEXAS IS THE REASON and QUICKSAND, among other 90s bands, and I think they have nailed down the sound pretty well.