Indian Summer Live

I won't be making any posts until next week, and I am trying to space out the life of my record collection as I don't have the funds to acquire new titles as often. Yes I could pull rips from other sites, and I just may from time to time, but I would like to try and keep my posts of 10+ year old music somewhat fresh in that maybe it hasn't been posted before. Anyway, as I really want to get one more post in before the new year, (I haven't been this excited about a project in a while) I'm putting up some Indian Summer sourced from the wonderful archive that is Youtube.

PART 1


Indian Summer is a band that has always intrigued me, yet I knew relatively little about, other than that they were from Oakland, did not name their tracks, and dude from Fourfa liked 'em. I began to look into them some last night in anticipation of writing this post and found out that they were comprised of ex-Mohinder members, and all the members are still making music of somesort. That's about it. everything else can be heard in the music. Loud/Soft dynamics to the extreme.

PART 2

Some people say Still Life are the masters of this, but I always thought Still Life neglected the softer aspects. Indian Summer embrace them the way a child hugs a plush, or the way I would embrace a cashmire sweater. For me "Angry Son"(a.k.a. Woolworm, remember- no track names) is one of the most soul crushing songs I've ever heard, outside of some select Julia and Navio Forge offerings. I personally feel between "Angry Son" and "Reflections On Milkweed" you can get what you need from Indian Summer, and can see where they really shine, but with tracks like "Truman" and "Orchard" you can really hear that Mohinder heritage come through.

PART 3


I hope that you enjoy this nice little live set from 1993. Please enjoy your New Year's Eve. Maybe I'll post something for you befor then, but you know how it is. Expect things to slow down after January, as I'll be in school again.

TTFN

Indian Summer
Live at Pitzer College
10/31/1993

Rye Coalition- Teenage Dance Session

First of all, I have no idea if I have the band's name right for this release. Rye Coalition, during their history, are some what like John Mellencamp, in that while always being the same band, they have just various monikers for their project, such as Rye, Rye and the Coalition, Rye Coalition, Rye Co. etc. This 7" is labeled Rye and the Coalition, but for ease and consistency with future posts, Rye Coalition is my choice.

Some of you may only be familiar with Rye Coalition's latest offerings of garage-ie hard rock generica. Its really not bad for what it is, but compared to what Rye Coalition started out as, its pop trash. Troubleman Unlimited number 4: Teen-age Dance Session will not disappoint those of you who know what TRU records is all about.

The record is Rye Coalition's second or third release, coming out in 1994. Rye Coalition was playing a some what mathy brand of post-hardcore at the time. There is something a little poppy about the riffs that makes things interesting. Its very subtle. I've had this record for well over a year and half and only just noticed it as I was writing. Occasionally, the effects take over and are fairly distracting. The vocals are pretty clear even when yelled and screamed. No throat shredding blasts of guttural noise, but just some scratchy wails here and there that build out of eerie whispers.

At just over a minute and a half, "Sensation" leaves me wanting more song, and "Baby Puts Out Old Flames" really doesn't make much of an impression with me, and for some reason, the lyrics seem to have certain level of sarcasm in the delivery. The highlight is defiantly "Algebra of Need", a 3 minute piece on the perils of hard drug abuse ending with tirade against the police. Fun for all, right? I must not be sharp enough to make the connection ._.


All in all, the 7'' is cohesive and has a certain wit about it. The back of the cover has a short "review" that reads like the back of an old Herb Alpert LP. Certainly an interesting record, but by no means influential.

While Rye Coalition's current brand of rock is normally anathema to my ears, the New Jersey septet must be given some credit in that they still play with the original line up. Few bands of their sort have managed to do so over a 15 year period of activity.

Rye Coalition
Teen-Age Dance Session 7" EP
Troubleman Unlimited- TRU004

Out of Print

Dolcim- Demo CD-R

Dolcim is actually a newish band from my home town. Comprised of my best friend's old childhood neighbor, ex- Cease Upon the Capitol members and an ex- I, Mammoth member, Dolcim is in many ways CUTC's successor spiritually and some what sonically. I got to see them play their first show with Legacies, Monolith, and a really cool guy from Chicago doing a one man ambient experimental thing. Dolcim actually played last that night and half way through their first song blew out a guitar amp. Not to be dissuaded, the guys from Monolith unpacked and loaned a head unit. I haven't seen a band play with that intensity in a good while.

But back to the music. what we have here is the band's 4 song demo handed out at the show. The songs all are strong and I remember when I first heard them my heart was all "yesss...". I can't put my finger on why though. Maybe its hometown pride. There's a lot of melody in there with out being the twinkly guitars I grew up hearing. Don't get me wrong, there are twinkly guitars, but they don't come out that often. As with a lot of screamo, the vocals really serve more as instruments, and I honestly have never even looked at the lyrics so your guess is as good as mine.

Basically, if you like CUTC, you'll like Dolcim. Also true for fans of Envy. In fact, "Noah's Ark Was an Orgy" sounds like an Envy song with more chord changes.

The CD-R is now available from React with Protest with extra packaging and on cassette from Utarid Tapes. Or you can contact the band via Myspace and they'll mail ya one post paid. They have an LP coming out before long; the Myspace has some rough cuts from that. Also, they'll be touring Europe in summer '09.

Dolcim- Demo, Summer 2008
self release

Things to keep in mind

I often start writing these posts well before things are uploaded or even transferred to my computer. If there is a new music post and no link to follow, check back at the end of the next day and it should be up by then.

Nothing Dies With Blue Skies- Split 7" with Friction and Cap'n Jazz

This record, in some ways, symbolizes a turning point in the relationship between emo and hardcore. While often thought of being initially part of the same music scene, in the mid 90's there was a fairly dramatic shift with bands like Christy Front Drive, SDRE (and those bands hoards of clones) pushing the genre toward more mainstream markets with big indie rock sounds. While markedly showing more hardcore tendencies, Chicago's Cap'n Jazz mixed emotive hardcore with a heavy dose of mathy indie sounds.

Friction was a hold out from the hardcore roots of the style(though you may not notice if this is the only track you ever hear of theirs. The majority of Friction's output was a faster, sometimes heavier, melodic hardcore. They had an LP (I think) on another label, and i see on Ebay from time to time and occasionally you can grab their other Shakefork release, the Makeshift EP, on there as well.

This split, however, fell into the trap of many hardcore and emo records of the early 90's, in which the band broke up before its release and the label folded later that year, meaning the record did not get any real distribution. That said, I only know of one copy to sell on Ebay, and it apparently is rare enough to garner a hefty sum of money. The Cap'n Jazz track is from another recording session, and its not that strong, and its fairly poor in sound quality. And since its also available on their Analphabetapolothology discography, its really not the gem of this record.

That goes to the A-side. Friction's song has such a since of finality, that I think has only been bested, in my listening experience, by Julia's recording of "Our Last Song". Its just gorgeous and unlike some last records, the band pours their hearts into it and you can just feel the urgency in their voices. I personally think this one of my all time favorite songs, of any genre, and it certainly one of the jewels of my small record collection. It is with great pleasure that I present to you Nothing Dies with Blue Skies.

Nothing Dies With Blue Skies - Split 7"
Friction- Transit; Cap'n Jazz- Rocky Rococo (Butterfly Version)
Shakefork #10
7" 45rpm on black vinyl
out of print