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Earlier this year, Pike handed me a copy of Reset. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t even sure if he was handing me a core band or not (lately, he’s been passing pop punk and hip hop my way). I was expecting more pop at that point. And that’s what I got. Power pop but with a definite hardcore undertone.

Well, last week, Pike sent me Mutiny. Holy crap, I was floored. It wasn’t until this release that I REALLY realized that this band has deep roots in Hardcore. Hey, what do you expect? I’m a north east snob. Just ask P. Lynch. He’ll confirm my bias. No matter how often he promoted this bay area band to me.

When I listen to this album, I think about the first time I heard Can’t Slow Down. 1998, chilling all summer, hanging with friends, and driving all over America to see shows. The sound of this album is reminiscent of Can’t Slow Down too. More than just early Saves The Day, I’d also compare it to the early New Found Glory material. Pop with a hard edge, or maybe hardcore with a super pop center. The two singers take a little to get used to but they really work it well together.

Check them out on MySpace and then buy their releases from Eulogy Recordings. I see this band blowing up for real in the upcoming year. I’ll be sure to get a good view of them this weekend with GB. I can’t wait.

Once upon a time, Aram played in a band called Champion. At the same time, Todd Jones was busy playing in Carry On, Terror, Snake Eyes, … Greg and Todd P. were busy with bands of their own, too. Along came the opportunity to do a side project between TJ and Aram. At the time, I remember thinking, this could be huge. Aram has been around the world, he’s seen everything. Now he’s given a mic and allowed to speak his mind (in fact, keep your eyes peeled for a Aram interview on HYE). And TJ, well, he’s got riff after riff waiting to be put down on wax. Together, they made the Addiction EP aka magic.

This time around, they enlisted Todd P and Greg Bacon (well, Greg when live, at least) for the LP. Needless to say, it’s an amazing album. I know it’s early to say, but I’m calling it my favorite release of 2006 (I’m sure my mind will change slightly when the LOJ lp hits. Then the two will be tied for best of 2006). The production on this LP is on point, courtesy of Kurt Ballou and a vigilant Todd Jones. Hell, even the layout of the album is cool. Real simple, black and whites, easy to read fonts, chill pics. That’s tops in my book.

Now for a few things you may or may not know about this LP:

a) Kurt Ballou is tall. In fact, he’s so tall, that the soundboard at God City is up on 8×8 timbers so Kurt can fit under it. He is quick to reprimand people who lean on it, too.

b) The layout was masterminded by Scott Magrath and Mr. Todd Jones.

c) Casali attended the backup vocals session wearing a bright yellow fleece jacket. He was semi odd man out. A month or two after backups, Aram calls me and asks, “Who is Casali?” Apparently, Casali only signed the slip with his last name and Aram could not recall who he was. I spoke about the yellow jacket, and it all came together.

d) The cover art features 4 dudes at a rocky point chilling. Plenty of crucial looking shirts and attitude. Except for one thing. Aram is sporting a swatch guard on his x-rated swatch. Sweet Pete wouldn’t stand for that.

e) The City Lights is dedicated to Brandie Bailey. During the recording process, group chants were recorded for this song, but they were cut from the final release because “they didn’t sound appropriate.” Look for the unreleased song on the Betrayed Box Set to be released in 2012.

f) Todd Jones thanks Pete Lynch in the liner notes. It’s written like this “name x, name y, Pete Lynch (haha), name z…” Pranked!

That’s all for now. Spend less time reading this review and more time going to the store to pick this up. Get going. No, now. Go!

I’m just going to come out and state the following: this zine rules. Honestly, I had never heard of the zine or the dude behind the zine, but from here out, I plan on keeping posted about both. In a day and age where HeartAttack is on its last leg (literally), Punk Planet is mediocre and Maximum Rock N Roll is just plain blah, this zine really sticks out. And not like a sore thumb, more like a giant, positive middle finger. Yeah, you heard me, positive.

Interview after interview, article after review, just top notch reading all around. Just consider the interviewees: The Geeks, Modern Life Is War, This Is Hell, Lahar, Paint It Black, Bane (photo tour diary), Ruiner, Kiss It Goodbye, Killing The Dream, Isis. Literally, all over the board, but somehow it all comes together and just works. The Champion remembrance piece is classic journalism too. Each issue is packed with at least 50 pages of print. You can’t funk with that.

Some pretty dope columns too. I’m partial to Nate Hough Snee’s “Feeding The Fire” vegan recipe corner. Eat like it’s 1995, bitches. Not fronting on Nate’s recipes (especially since he stocked me up with those Names For Graves EPs), since I’ve had many of them before, but why not try and track down Sarah Kramer? She is obviously an internationally published vegan cookbook writer, but she also seems to be down with the core. I know she has a slew of Trial pics that she took on her photo blog … If that is the sort of column they are looking for, why not track down a “professional?”

Track this zine down now. But don’t attempt to look up this guy/zine on MySpace. He doesn’t believe in it. The same goes for Instant Messenger. How this guys survives without them, I’ll never know. Now that I know what life without AIM is like (courtesy of a work wide ban), I can really appreciate the benefits of AIM. You can, however, check out the site online. Make sure to hit up the site and get some crucial back issues, too.

I guess it used to be called A Bond Still Strong. Sounds like some posi-ness that I could back.

Future Primitive. When I hear that phrase, I think Bones Brigade. I think mid 80s thrashin in school yards or back yard pools. I don’t really think of 2006 hardcore bands. Bypassing the name issue, this cd pretty much rips. It reminds me of the Massachusetts scene in the mid 90s. I swear I hear Dive covers. And was that Bound? (I could do without the “Use Your Voice Today” chant though.) Toss in a little 2k hardcore vocal styling and you have Future Primitive.

It doesn’t hurt that the album was mixed and mastered by Vic Dicara. It also never hurt when your Inside Out cover features Vic Dicara on guitar. Jeez, I wonder how they hooked that up? Hmmm.

Now, if you are slow like me, you’ll have already thought to go look at their myspace page. I used a common URL name, and found the other Future Primitive instead. What about those dudes? I want to hang.

^^ Not the real Future Primitive.

You can check the “real” Future Primitive here. Sweet. If you are in southern, sunny California, check these dudes out. According to their myspace page, they are playing a ton of shows in the near future.