• A LOSS FOR WORDS – No Sanctuary
• BANNER PILOT – Heart Beats Pacific
• DEAD TO ME – Moscow Penny Antie
• THE GREATER THE RISK – Say What You Never Said
• VANGOUGH – Kingdom of Ruin
• HURRICANE BELLS – Tides and Tales
• RUSSIAN CIRCLES – Empros
• THE DEAD MILKMEN – The King In Yellow

HEIRESS “Just Throats” by deathwishinc

From Deathwish: “HEIRESS is comprised of former members of Botch, Himsa, Undertow, Jough Dawn Baker, Harbinger, and Pistols At Dusk. A well worn five piece hailing from the Pacific Northwest, they play a brand of dissonant post metal infused with a cold, hardcore heart.

“Naysayer b/w Just Throats” features two brand new exclusive Heiress songs and picks up where their split with NARROWS left off. Both songs are grim, dark, and ominous post everything musical explorations. “Naysayer” falls into a downward spiral of aggressive percussion before plodding forth with a warhorse like pace. While the b-side “Just Throats” navigates emotionally melodic waters, showing the sonic diversity that is Heiress at their most powerful.”

- I had picked up an Excursion Records compilation sometime in the late 90s and I saw a band on the track listing whose name was Jough Dawn Baker… that was kind weird.

Armada- Songs for Bastards by Toxicbreed

- Via the Toxicbreed blog. Aggressive, short (less than one minute) blasts of hardcore punk with just a dash of melody. Think a cruder KID DYNAMITE with a swinging mallet for vocals…

- Calling Barsuk Records, you have potential talent waiting on line one…

I find it hard to believe this is the first time I’ve seen the words “Drop Out of Life” used as a title to a record given how many bands have talked about some of the more serious social sacrifices they make in being a touring band. And while THIS TIME NEXT YEAR doesn’t use [...]

- It’s a bit of poetic license sometimes to say music “moves” you, but when the bass kick drum starts in about 30 seconds into this song, I find it almost impossible to not kick along with it.

Here’s a blurb from the press release about the story behind the video: “The second video from the band’s highly touted full-length debut End Measured Mile (Paper + Plastick, 2010), vocalist/guitarist James Carroll says, ‘We already did a live action video for the record, and it came time to do another. We decided we wanted to do something that not a lot of our contemporaries have done, so we took the leap and trusted a friend with the project.’ The result is the computer animated video created by motion graphics designer Matt Frodsham. Carroll explains, ‘The song itself is about the inability to believe in a higher power, but being frustrated by the fact that that type of belief affords the believer a great deal of comfort and safety. I think that the vibe of the video fits those feelings very well.’”

John Michael-Bond of The 1st Five was kind enough to interview me in celebration of Pastepunk’s 13th Anniversary earlier this month. In the piece, I talk about staying away from blog post and music burnout, tell some stories about bands and labels from personal experiences over the years, and generally reaffirm my disposition as an undeterred optimist. I hope you give it read.

From the inbox:

A389 Recordings have announced they will be releasing the debut LP by Portland Oregon’s, shoegaze outfit ANNE. Titled Dream Punx, the LP will consist of nine tracks of material pulled from the band’s self released mixtapes as well as new/unreleased studio recordings.

ANNE has also completed a video for their first single ‘Virginal Plight’ which will be making it’s debut on the AOL Music site SPINNER.com this upcoming Thursday, October 26th, 2011. The band will then embark on a West Coast tour a week later.

A radical departure from the dark/heavy hardcore bands that predominantly make up the A389 Roster, label head Domenic Romeo was unsure of how A389′s audience would take to the band. He explains…

“I fell in love with ANNE’s songs from the first listen, and wanted to help them get their music out there… I just wasn’t really sure how”. The waters were tested by including the track “Get It How You Live” on the annual “A389 Digital Mixtape” compilation (alongside label heavyweights Integrity, Gehenna and Pulling Teeth). ”The general reaction spoke for itself.” continues Romeo, “Almost every listener, including the other bands on the compilation, hit me up asking to hear more from this Anne band”.

Well the wait is over and the wheels are in motion. Dream Punx is set to officially be released on vinyl via A389 Recordings on November 28th. The album will also be available digitally through the retailer of your choice. Catch them on tour and you MIGHT get your hands on an early bird copy of the LP. No promises.

Anne / Virginal plight by annepdx

- I can’t be the only one who thinks of Tiger Beat magazine when I see the words “Dream Punx”, right? Wait… why am I thinking about Tiger Beat magazine at all?!? Amazing band however, and I’m always excited to a label like A389, which already has a rather diverse roster, truly break out of its comfort zone.