Moss Icon - Lyburnum

Moss Icon - Lyburnum

Most people should have this, but if not, loud/quiet 80s emo. Meandering lyrics with abrupt rhythms and cleanly plucked guitars. You should really download this if you don't have it. And if you're really not familiar with all this stuff, go here.

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Kill The Man Who Questions - Sugar Industry

Kill The Man Who Questions - Sugar Industry

The full length from the legendary Philadelphia political hardcore band fronted by Mike McKee. Members later went on to be in Amateur Party, Armalite, The Curse, LimpWrist, and have babies.

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Carpenter Ant - I Still Have the Drive

Carpenter Ant - I Still Have the Drive

The first time I saw this band, the singer threw two focused skateboard decks and a ton of wheels into the audience. And I mean full on threw like a baseball. The second time, he ripped down a basketball net in whatever bullshit youth center it was. Both times he was wearing a skateboard helmet and had a mic duct taped to a mini skateboard.

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Billymusic - Midwest Index

Billymusic - Midwest Index

Late 90s, early 2000s emo not unlike Jimmy Eat World from the same time. Nice dynamic shifts, melodic vocals, and nice guitars. I saw them once with Breaking Pangaea, and they floored everyone in the room, then returned back to South Dakota or wherever, never to be heard from again.

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Thelonious Monk - Alone In San Francisco

Thelonious Monk - Alone in San Francisco

Outrageous piano playing, eccentric behavior, mental illness and crazy hats. According to rumors, he once got in a fist fight with Miles Davis when Miles told him to sit out of a session because his piano playing was too hard to improvise over. He also refused to talk to Art Blakey on tour because he "was too ugly."

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Brainworms - Which is Worse

Brainworms - Which is Worse

I mentioned these guys yesterday, so I figured I'd up this. More emo/punk, with spoken and barked lyrics over wild guitar parts and crazy song structures. This includes the actual album, as well as "Which is Worse (Live Stuff)" which is a bunch of life versions of some of the songs.

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MewithoutYou - I Never Said That I Was Brave

MewithoutYou - I Never Said That I Was Brave

Back before they became hippies and got really spacey in their music. This is more aggressive, similar to the post hardcore of bands like Fugazi and other more angular, spastic emo. A little rough around the edges, but a great start for them.

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Loser Life - I Have Ghosts and I Have Ghosts

Loser Life - I Have Ghosts and I Have Ghosts

California punk, not unlike Rites of Spring or Husker Du, but heavier and angrier at times. Bleak lyrics and relentless music.

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Goddamnit, We're Fucked! - s/t

Goddamnit, We're Fucked! - s/t

This was the precursor to Knives Out. I think it was the exact same band, but with an obviously different singer. You can hear most of the Knives Out songs or at least some parts in here, but the vocals are way crazier and more off the wall the KO were. Unfortunately, this isn't broken into individual tracks; it's only one long flowing file. This is pretty much the only way to get your hands on it though.

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Empire State Games - s/t

Empire State Games - s/t

This band was on the first Fueled by Ramen comp, and that song is still killer to this day. Kinda like a poppier, sloppier Texas is the Reason. They kinda flew under the radar, which was unfortunate.

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Passenger Train Proposal - 7"

Passenger Train Proposal - 7"

When I was in high school, Mr. Richardson was a math student teacher, and looked like the stereotypical mid-90s "emo" kid. We found out that he played drums in this band called Passenger Train Proposal, and tracked down the 7". At the time, we were all too young, dumb, and "punk" to realize that it was total Texas is the Reason styled emo and awesome. A few years later I listened to it again and realized that I had missed out.

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From Ashes Rise - Nightmares

From Ashes Rise - Nightmares

I remember when this first came out, a lot of people were bummed that it was too "poppy" for these guys. Portland crust/d-beat/whatever punk. Similar to Tragedy and all the bands that all the smelly kids really like and have asspatches of. This band floored me the one time I got to see them live.

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Josh Small - Tall

Josh Small - Tall

Josh plays a variety of instruments in Tim Barry's backing band, and I believe he also is now playing guitar in Brainworms. However, this is his solo record, which is a great blues/country record, with a lot of soul, particularly in the vocals. A lot of this stuff these days is really cheesy, but Josh has such a great voice that this is undeniably great. He's coming around with Tim Barry and Austin Lucas in a few months, which should be a must see.

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Man Without Plan - I Feel Badly

Man Without Plan - I Feel Badly

High energy pop punk with screeching and wild vocals. The singer of this band wrote A Punk Kid Walks Into a Bar, which still stands as one of my favorite zines ever. Jared (now in Paint it Black) also played in this band, but I forget if it was on this record. I should go dig the CD out. This band still plays occasionally, so I hope I get to see em again sometime.

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The Cancer Conspiracy - The Audio Medium

The Cancer Conspiracy - The Audio Medium

Atmospheric instrumental music similar to Explosions in the Sky and bands of that ilk. This band got all their gear stolen once, then I think broke up shortly thereafter. I would really liked to see them.

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Penfold - Our First Taste of Escape

Penfold - Our First Taste of Escape

An underrated emo band from New Jersey, not unlike Mineral or bands of that nature. Slow and quiet one minute, loud and crashing the next. If anyone has the other record, I'd love to hear it.

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The Exit - The New Beat

The Exit - The New Beat

Kinda hip indie rock with a rock and roll feel to it. Their drummer, Gunnar, is off the charts. The second record had a bit more texture, and was great, but this one is a little more straightforward and catchier for me.

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Boy's Life - Departures and Landfalls

Boy's Life - Departures and Landfalls

Mid 90s midwestern emo. Quiet one moment, then bursting with out of key energy. More bands should sound like this now.

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Witches With Dicks - Manual

Witches with Dicks - Manual

More scratchy pop punk. They only released this as well as a 7" before breaking up, which was a bummer. They share members with Ringers though, who are still active. Also, best band name ever.

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Unitas - Porch Life

Unitas - Porch Life

Members of Hot Water Music. One of the many projects that sounds like Hot Water, but with a bit more of a rock and roll, southern feel. A good record for the porch.

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The Stereo - Three Hundred

The Stereo - Three Hundred

Poppy, melodic rock that came as a surprise, since most of these guys were in ska bands before this. They put out a few other records, but none really grabbed me like this one. I had a crush on the girl on the cover when I was 17.

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The Sidekicks - So Long, Soggy Dog

The Sidekicks - So Long, Soggy Dog

A scratchy pop punk record, with a little bit of a folky, Against Me feel, but more punk and less folk. They have a new record out that I haven't heard yet, but this is one band that I'm bummed I missed at Fest.

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Boxer - The Hurt Process

Boxer - The Hurt Process

This band often gets lumped in as a Lifetime clone, but they were solid melodic punk, with the mid-tempo sound that Vagrant had a lot of in the late 90s and early 2000s. I think this is all they ever released, and I don't know that the guys in this band went on to do much else, but this is a solid record that still stands up.

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End of a Year - Disappear Here

End of a Year - Disappear Here

Recently I uploaded Sincerely, their more recent full length for some friends. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't post this as well. This band has been incredibly prolific, releasing a ton of songs in the last few years, so be sure to jump on the bandwagon before you miss out. Revolution Summer inspired harDCore.

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Small Brown Bike - Collection

Small Brown Bike - Collection

When most people are asked what Small Brown Bike record they prefer, they'll answer Our Own Wars or Dead Reckoning, with a few outliers listing something after those two. Very few will mention the collection, although it's solid. It's a bit more rough and less ambitious from their later material, but nonetheless, great collection of 7"s and demos and whatnot from one of my favorite bands.

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With Honor - Split w/ The Distance

With Honor - Split with the Distance
With Honor was a melodic hardcore band from up in Connecticut. They got a lot of hype quickly, but then everyone seemed to get over them just as quickly. I haven't listened to these songs in a while, but I still enjoy it when I do. I don't have The Distance songs from this split. Sorry.

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Tuesday - Freewheelin

Tuesday - Freewheelin'
A shortlived indie/emo pop band from Chicago featuring Dan from Alkaline Trio doing most of the vocals. I'd be willing to bet if Asian Man repressed this on vinyl, all the Alk3 fans would spend a pile of money on this.

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Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers
The record that started it all. Grimy beats and eloquent wordplay. Pretty much the only hip hop that I love no matter what. Anything Wu-Tang is ok by me.

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Hellbender - Con Limon

Hellbender - Con Limon
Al Burian's pre-Milemarker band. Quirkly, angular indie rock, with a poppy edge. Almost reminds me of early Piebald at times, with awkward rhythms and off key vocals.

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Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American

Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
You know the story with this. It's the one that made them huge and you couldn't avoid the singles from. It's worthy of all the success it brought them, though.

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The Good Life - Black Out

The Good Life - Black Out
Some of these earlier Good Life records are my favorite things that Tim Kasher has ever done. I like most of their stuff more than I like most Cursive records (except Domestica). This is when they were a bit more indie with random electronic bloops and bleeps and whatever. It's still great.

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Billy Bragg - Back to Basics

Billy Bragg - Back to Basics
Legendary British folk singer/songwriter. At this point, most people have probably heard this, but if not, I highly recommend it.

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Fake Problems - It's Great to Be Alive

Fake Problems - It's Great to Be Alive

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of this band. That said, this record shows a huge growth for them. Gone are a lot of the folk punk cliches that always seemed to plague their earlier material. The songs show a bit more depth and range of instrumentation that make this much better than what I'd heard before.

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Banner Pilot - Pass the Poison

Banner Pilot - Pass the Poison

Upbeat, scratchy, pop punk ala Jawbreaker and the Lawrence Arms. This is their EP, which is great. They have a newer full length that should finally be available on LP from Kiss of Death as you read this.

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Embrace - Live at George Washington University

Embrace - Live at GWU

You've heard their LP and loved it for years. Ian's awkard middle child, falling between the hardcore of Minor Threat and the post-rock of Fugazi. There are times, however, where I think that Embrace is my favorite of the three. Most of the "hits" from the LP are included here.

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Whale | Horse - Count the Electric Sheep

Whale | Horse - Count the Electric Sheep

This is one of the overlooked bands from the Slapstick/Lawrence Arms/Alkaline Trio family tree of Chicago. Featuring Dan Hannaway from The Honor System, this is a bit more indie, and a bit more of a bouncy energy than The Honor System. I love this family of bands, and this is record that not enough people have heard.

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