hed pe is apparently "the best hardcore band around!" as seen on amazon.com. Believable? No. Ten Yard Fight once said, "We Know the Truth!"

Here's how I see it. If you have ever been through Boston, you've probably heard WBCN radio. It's located around 104.1 on your old FM dial. Back in the mid 90s, they played the cutting edge in alternative and punk. Lots of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Green Day, ... whatever was hot and upcoming. Fast forward 15 years later, they still are playing the same (now) stale, fart rock. Seriously, listening to that radio station is like traveling back in time. So much Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, blah blah blah.

WBCN also LOVES to play Sublime, 311 and that song by Cracker (the about being a stone, NOT being stoned, maaaaan). The connection to HED PE is tenuous, but it is there. You know why? HED PE sounds like a mixture of those 3 bands, at least in my mind. Or maybe they sound like the vibe WBCN puts out when they play those songs, especially when played back to back. Please tell me you know this vibe because it is seriously hard to describe without using one million words.

And somehow, the term "hardcore" keeps getting thrown around. "American Hardcore act (hed) p.e...." How is this hardcore? I don't get it. Or maybe still, they don't get it. It's like when your weird cousin thinks you like jungle or house because you talk about hardcore. "Oh, like happy hardcore, maaaaaan?" No. That's the closest connection hed pe has to hardcore - your weird cousin.

That's it for me. I'm going to listen to Youth Of Today now. Peace.

Have Heart - Songs To Scream At The Sun -- File Under EMO. And I'm not kidding. This albums is wracked with emotional pain. No, I'm not talking about Fall Out Boy, you jerk. More along the lines of Rites Of Spring, despite having an album title that sounds like it was the follow up to Promise Ring's Nothing Feels Good. This albums is heart pounding and gut wrenching at times, like having your lungs ripped out of your body (no, not like Cannibal Corpse, you jerk).

Each song seems to feature either an epic build up or a long, drawn out rhythm break. Maybe my bias shines through here, but it reminds me a lot of when Bane toured on It All Comes Down To This. Do you remember when Nick would end the set by wailing on his drums? Every now and again, a band member would remove one piece of Nick's equipment, and he'd still bash away. Bashing with passion and purpose. That's what this album is.

Listening to this album, you may be a little confused. You may wonder where the ink on your fist has gone or if you mind has been disarmed. Trust me, it's all still there. But now with a bigger hammer. Or maybe Pat's beard is too tight. Regardless of Pat's facial hair, it comes out today and you should buy it. Support your home town boys. B9 Records. Word!

Aggression is the sophomore release from Verse. A lot of bands tend to hit a sophomore slump. Not sure why, but that's what usually happens. However, this is not the case for this particular album. In fact, it seems like a natural progression from their From Anger lp. The passion and heart haven't changed. The outspoken/unbroken vibe is still there, and the theme of achieving goals still remains. In fact, in the layout of the cd, there is a long list of books, articles and documentaries for bettering the world. Read up. Aggression is obviously the perfect soundtrack for that learning.

Strangely, considering it was released just yesterday, there is already schwag on ebay. Weird. Instead of ebay, wander over to theb9.com and stock up on the cd, vinyl, some t-shirts, maybe a banner or two. Do it. Do it now. And then when Verse (and Have Heart) come to your town this summer, pick up a few more tees and an extra cd for your little brother. Get him started on the right foot. What? You don't have a little brother? Well, you can certainly pick one up for your little sister or uncle or weird, creepy neighbor or grandfather or ... Support the bands!

I've seen I Rises a few times now. A while back, Alex told me he was going to give me one of their "new cds" from 1917 Records. Of course, it slipped both of our minds. Every time I would see them, he would mention it, and we'd both smack our heads for being forgetful. 6 months went by. Finally, the stars aligned, and he handed me one. Damn, it was worth the wait!

First off, the second half of the CD is the demo. I reviewed it many moons ago. It is amazing. The first half is the newly recorded EP for 1917 Records. It too is awesome.

On/Off topic: Here's my thoughts on I Rise. Remember when Converge broke onto the scene? Mid 90s. People didn't really take notice, but this band was doing something new and groundbreaking. They had their own sound and would eventually go on to set the world on fire. This is how I see I Rise. The demo is stupid ridiculous, and the new EP is equally as good. Hell, it's even better than the demo. But it seems the scene is still sleeping on them. In fact, the last time I saw I Rise (welfare records, May 2008), Nicky berated the crowd for hanging in the "skybox." They weren't there to bring the mosh, and that was a mistake FOR THEM. In a few years, they are going to look back and kick themselves -- they'll have missed the boat. Nicky and crew will probably be out autographing boobs and these "skybox" kids won't be able to ride those coat tails. Too bad, too bad.

BACK ON TRACK -- this cd is awesome. Order the EP or CD (plus demo) here. Do it now. Before the new album drops, or you'll be WAY behind. Also, pre-order the new album while you are there. It drops in July so don't sleep too long.

Somehow I have been sitting on this Red Handed album for a while. Call it laziness, I'm ok with that. But now that I'm at home chilling all day, I need some entertainment to fill the hours.

This album is doing the trick. Just the right blend of hardcore and punk rock for me. Not super thrashy as I was semi-expecting, but enough to get in a circle pit for. I like it. It's definitely different the usual music I get into it.

I suggest checking these guys out when they hit up your town. Get into it. You can also just go to Rivalry Records and order the album too. Also a good plan. Support Kyle. Word.

Salt The Wound plays screamy metal. I hate screamo-core. I have nothing good to say. Actually, I take that back. I was browsing the bands myspace page and spotted a dude wearing a Straight Edge hoodie. That's the one positive take away for me. Everything else is "growl grrrrr growl" -- "aiiiiieeeee yiiiiiieeeee weeeeeeeeeeeeee" aka "ugh ugh ugh" to my ears.

Why do I continue to do this to myself?

No idea.

No freaking idea.

How do these people find me?



According to Mr Mroz's press sheet, "there is a crisis at hand and Pete Mroz is the inexhaustible hero." Of course, the PR sheet goes on and on joke after joke, hyperbole topping hyperbole. Before listening, I assumed I was getting a Good Clean Fun solo project. I was truly expecting some Atom And His Package shit.

Of course, this is nothing at all what I would expect. My assumption that people actually send me "hardcore punk" is constantly challenged. This album is the other end of the spectrum. It's acoustic rock with an occasional piano or string accompaniment, with a chill male voice over it all. Sadly, this music immediately puts me to sleep. It also makes me think about possibly knifing myself. If broken hearted love songs are your thing, I have the disk for you. Ugh, "my tears, they fall like rain." This must be the youth crew of cliche broken hearted acoustic tracks.

Honestly, I'm not even sure why I'm reviewing this. The review will probably pop up high on Google results, and Pete Mroz will ask me to take it down because it isn't a sparkling review. I should just stop now.

Try this, go to google right now, and type "pete mroz hardcore." What an ironic first hit. Fate is fucking with me.

See It Through is from Reno, Nevada. Maybe they know Zeke. They certainly give shout outs to xAFBx in their liner notes. I'm sure thy must end up on the same bill every now and then. Which leads to the next question.

Will bands from Nevada forever be categorized by that National Geographic "documentary?" Will they be under the microscope because of that footage? Who knows. Hopefully not. Pigeon holing is hardly ever accurate. I mean, consider this. 7 Seconds is from Reno, Nevada. Isn't Big Bob from Reno too? That's a lot of positivity for one little town. I think I drove through their once on a quiet Sunday night. I was expecting a bustling Vegas vibe, but was greeted by a Sunday Worcester vibe instead -- ghost town. Real strange.

Of course, hardly any of that has anything to do with See It Through. They aren't metal, they aren't kick boxing material. They categorize (hey now!) more along the Outspoken / Verse side of hardcore. I can see kids fast skanking to these songs, maybe finger pointing, singing along. Not bad. This band could have played Detroit Fest in the late 90s and they would have fit in perfectly. Word.

Hemlock is from Las Vegas. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Hemlock doesn't believe in that. They have taken their blend of metal and ... something ... to all corners of the globe. What's up with that weird harmony part in World Of The Transparent? Then a shift into Shadows Fall... This cd (or just the song, for that matter) is all over the map. I bet these dudes love Faith No More, Outcast and Pantera. I can almost guarantee that.

And what do you know? They are playing the Metal and Hardcore Fest at the Palladium this weekend. Do you remember when it was actually worth adding the term HARDCORE to the fest name? I do. Now that was a weekend event worth attending. Me? I'm not the metal head some dudes are. Think back to 1999.

May 1 1999 @ The Palladium Worcester Mass: New England Metal & Hardcore Fest: Buried Alive, Converge, Cavein, Bane, Madball, Earth Crisis ... way too many

You're moshing.

This Is This is this is this is not for me. I don't get it. It's like weird mosh metal merged with Motorhead. But not in an appealing way. I can't even picture kids kickboxing to these songs. I just don't see the draw at all. It's as if they are going for a madball / blood for blood vibe but are falling WAY short. This album could have potential too, I think.

Perhaps it is a New Zealand thing ... Like a "Connecticut thing." There was a time where it seemed CT was in a weird time warp of kickboxing mosh. No where else in the world seemed to feel this phenomenon but CT was repping hard. I can't complain since it spawned Hatebreed, but it is a weird phenomenon. Maybe that's what's going on in New Zealand now. No idea. Good luck to these guys regardless. They seem genuinely into it. Cool for them.

Right Idea is everything good about new and upcoming hardcore currently. I can't believe how good this demo is. No serious, fully backed. This is straight up, youth crew style hardcore from Cleveland. This demo makes me think of Side By Side, Our Turn, ... everything I love about hardcore. Some true PMA going on here. This review is probably coming off "fanboy" like but shit, this demo is that fucking good. It's like a ray of sunshine in a sea of mosh metal. Stoked.

Also, the demo (on CASSETTE, hell yeah!) I received has features 3 classic looking varsity jackets. A Right Idea one, Chris Daily's Smorgasboard one and the Youth of Today Free At Last one. I remember trying to get the YOT one off of Christie a few years back, and he just stopped replying. I see it ended up in good hands. Now I wish I owned a varsity jacket. Someone hook me up!

To sum it up: dumb if you don't.