uniSEF - Discography

Where Blood and Ink is picking uo the slack and releasing the best hardcore the scene has to offer, Thumper Punk is giving the Christian punk rock scene a much needed shot in the arm. From old school punk to modern pop punk, Thumper Punk's discography is filling a hole.

The label's latest offering the complete discography from Boise, Idaho's uniSEF. The discography spans the band's career from 2004-2009 and features 41 songs of killer hardcore punk. The band reminds me of Officer Negative, Rancid, Headnoise, and the Crucified. uniSEF instantly takes me back to junior high and high school, watching skate videos on G-Rock.

Although a little on the lo-fi side, uniSEF's Discography is full of fantastic punk songs. Their catalog would've fit in perfectly with the Screaming Giant rotation of bands. While 41 songs that runs an hour and forty-four minutes is a long play that can get tiring. But the upside is there's ton of music to dive into, so there's always something new. There's even a cover of Officer Negative's Dead to The Word (which is excellent).

If you're looking for some quality old school hardcore punk, uniSEF's Discography fill's a gap that's been missing in music for many years. It's a shame this band is no more and this is all the music they have to offer.

Free Music Friday: Rosie Thomas - These Friends Of Mine

On February 14th Rosie Thomas released With Love (review coming soon). In advance of her new album Rosie put her 2006 record, These Friends Of Mine, up for free on Noisetrade. These Friends OF Mine features appearances from Sufjan Stevens, Jeremy Enigk, Denison Witmer, and David Bazan. It's a great record!

You can download These Friends of Mine for free here: http://noisetrade.com/rosiethomas

The Fray - Scars & Stories

The worst thing for a band is for people to be indifferent to you. Most people will talk about what they like and what they hate but if they're indifferent and just don't care about your band, there is no conversation happening.

I have been pretty indifferent towards The Fray. Not because I've thought they were a bad band. Mostly out of ignorance and not caring. Cable Car and How To Save a Life were nice songs but didn't stick with me enough to check out their album. I didn't even realize the band had released a self-titled album in 2009. I wasn't even going to give Scars & Stories a spin at first.

Perhaps like the band itself, Scars & Stories is a record that grows on you. My first time through I thought that this wasn't a record that would find it's place in my collection. The songs were fine but nothing very attention grabbing. But a second, third, fourth spin in I started hearing more. The music draws you in. But it's the lyrics that really grab your attention (which I think is the point of the Fray's music).

Heartbeat kicks the record off on the right foot and even my first listen through I liked the song. The Fighter is another upbeat rock song that starts Scars & Stories off nicely. Songs like Run For Your Life, The Wind, I Can Barley Say are heartfelt, "softer" songs that help bring balance to the record. Not to say every song isn't heartfelt as Scars & Stories is full of great songs with strong meaningful lyrics. It's not a top heavy record, as 48 To Go, Rainy Zurich, and Be Still help bring the record to a strong close. 48 To Go is probably my favorite track on the record.

The Fray isn't a band one should be indifferent towards and Scars & Stories has me interested in hitting up their back catalog. The songs are strong and the lyrics mean something, which isn't always the case in mainstream music. Scars & Stories is a record to pick up and let grow on you.

The Meltdown 64

Come and Live Records Spotlight

Showbread - A Man With a Hammer
The Frozen Ocean - Swan Song
Sons of God - Doubt
So Long Forgotten - Hills Humbled, Mountains Made Low
I Am The Alpha and Omega - The Lost and The Captor
Abel - Saints
The Ember Days - Cocoon
Ian McIntosh - Beautiful
The Rock Music - Burn For You
Life In Your Way - Who I Am
Holding Onto Hope - Between Failure and Fraud
Everett - The Crown
Ascend The Hill - How Great Thou Art
The Sleep Design - Hope Is The Dream of a Soul Awake

††† (Crosses) - EP ††

Crosses released a fantastic EP last year for free. My guess is it was free to get the word out about the band (but does a band fronted by Chino Moreno really need to get the word out?). The debut ep was a fantastic piece of dark electronic music with Chino's smooth vocals over top.

Crosses is back with EP ††. In many regards EP †† is better than the band's debut. The sound is fuller with the addition of real drums on most the songs. It's less cold sounding. The first three songs on the ep (Frontier, Prudent, and Telepathy) are fantastic. Telepathy is a killer dark new wave track. But as that statement makes clear, the last two tracks on the album fall a little flat. They aren't bad songs, but Crosses up their game on the first three songs that the last two just don't hold up.

Regardless of how I feel about the last two songs on the album, EP †† is stellar and anyone who's a fan of the first ep or Chino will want to pick up this ep.

Free Music Friday: Come and Live Records Part Deux

One of the first Free Music Friday segments I did was a feature on Come and Live Records. I highlighted some of my favorite releases. But I downloaded pretty much the entire Come and Live discography on Monday and have really been digging into their releases. Not only is there some seriously killer music on the label but the worship tunes have been a blessing in my life this week.

Tons and tons of great albums available for free here: http://comeandlive.com/

The Meltdown 63

Music from Sleeping Giant, P.O.D, Owl City, and new music from Theory Hazit.