Dead Sea

(2010, Specialist Subject Records) UK

The Arteries is a punk rock band very impressive.

It’s increasling rare to find some interestings bands in this style because there’s too many of them worldwide, now, and before.

You can’t help but notice the talent of these guys.

My friend Tomska made me discover that band.

When you listen to this album, many references come to mind : A Wilhelm Scream, Less Than Jake and sometimes even Billy Talent.

Doing The Rounds and No Place Like Home are rich in melodies and interesting rhythms.

Vocals and Choirs are amazing in Acoustic Associations and Dead Sea.

I love the minor dimension of Hey Mister.

A successful artwork, a very powerfull production, what more can you ask ?

Long Road to The Arteries.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Doing The Rounds
	2. No Place Like Home
	3. Hey Mister
	4. Dead Sea
	5. Acoustic Associations

/!\ To stream music please install spotify and create an account for free : /!\http://www.spotify.com/uk/new-user/

http://www.myspace.com/thearteries

This One’s On You

(2011, DIY) USA, NJ

Here is a Power Rock / Punk Band from New Jersey,

I just received their album “This One’s On You” before its release.

This band got raw vocals, it reminds me of Bane’s singer (Boston) in a way.

The music sounds like Transistor Transistor but more rock, with a brighter and powerful touch.

Garden State is the most punk song and of course my favorite.
In This One’s On You music sounds in a way like the norvegian Rumble In Rhodos.

Then I like the guitar riff in Linen Line.

Interesting first full length for These Branches.

You can listen to the songs in streaming here : http://thesebranches.bandcamp.com/

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Garden State
	2. This One’s On You
	3. Linen Line

http://www.myspace.com/thesebranches

The Tropic Rot

(2009, Ferret Music) USA, Florida

This is the late album of Poison The Well and then the band is unfortunately on a hiatus.
There, the band explores more and more the rock sides of their music, and continue in the path of “Versions” and that is not a good news for some of their fan. By my side, I really like it.

I think a single of this album is Antartica Inside Me : a very moving build-up and melodic, live here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm0e1dK5sHc

“The Tropic Rot” still got is powerful songs with Celebrate The Pyre and Makeshift Clay You. I really like the beautiful ambiances created by Chris Hornbrook in the drum parts.

Without you And Another I’m Nothing and Are You Anywhere are the slowest and very moving too, the musicians are still over the top, and we still got Moreira greatest vocals performance.

A very good album still. (too many still in there haha)

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Antartica Inside Me
	2. Celebrate The Pyre
	3. Makeshift Clay You
	4. Without You And Another I’m Nothing
	5. Are You Anywhere

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I/III II/III III/III Ep

(2008, Ferret Music) USA, Florida

This limited edition CD is a compilation of these three vinyles Ep : “I/III”, “II/III” et “III/III”.

The artwork is awesome and the songs very interesting.

Purple Sabbath is a slow build-up and a success, the riff at 3:28 is genius, it’s one of my favorite song from Poison The Well.

Bowie is great too, Jeffrey is a great singer.

The chorus in A# No.1 and New Fast are huge and remain in head.

Finally it ends with the fast Run Desire Gone Clean.

This Ep is essential.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Purple Sabbath
	2. Bowie
	3. A# No.1
	4. New Fast
	5. Run Desire Gone Clean

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Versions

(2007, Ferret Music) USA, Florida

“Versions” is an album I loved to see played live.

We still got a beautiful artwork. About the song, one of the new thing is that “bottleneck touch” which bring new ambiances in Poison The Well like in Letter Thing.

This album is a turning point in Poison The Well Discography, because they explore now the rockest sides of their music and more clean vocals.

My coup de coeur is the furious Naive Monarch.

Nagaina is a single for this album and really captivating, the riff at 2:22 is breathtaking.

Breathing’s For The Bird finale is wonderful at 2:04.

Prematurio Del Baby is a weird song, brutal and contrasted, very interesting and one of the best produced song of this record.

Everything good, as ever.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

===============

	1. Naive Monarch
	2. Nagaina
	3. Breathing’s For The Bird
	4. Letter Thing
	5. Prematurio El Baby

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You Come Before You

(2003, Atlantic Records) USA, Florida

I discovered this album when I was 18 with “You Come Before You” thanks to Dear Sylvain Kulianof, aka Mr. Le Colonel, or the dazzling and radiant jaguar.

This album is essential like Poison The Well themselves, figurehead of the post-hardcore scene.
It’s one of the most melodic and easy to access hardcore band.
Jeffery Moreira is one of the few singer able to rock as well in screaming as in singing, and in live performance too.

Poison The Well is moving too : how can’t you help yourself crying at 1:07 in For A Bandaged Iris or at 1:41 in Ghost Chant or in 1:36 too in Apathy Is A Cold Body.

Poison The Well is pure energy too : Crystal Lake (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9_PPdtBIPM) or Zombies Are Good For Your Health are killer songs.

A great album again.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. For A Bandaged Iris
	2. Crystal Lake
	3. Apathy Is A Cold Body
	4. Ghost Chant
	5. Zombies Are Good For Your Health

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Tear From The Red

(2002, Trustkill Records) USA, Florida

Botchla is the single of this well-designed album : the part at 2:17 is great.

The same for Rings From Corona and its terrific Finale at 2:20, formidable in live.

You could compare this album to “The Opposite Of December” but with a better sound.

Horns And Tails is one of the first song where Jeffrey gives clean vocals, what a beautiful song.

I love too the passage at 0:40 in Sticks And Stones Never Made Sense. It’s really moving and it reminds me of many memories.

Then Lazzaro is one of this song with a Finale you want to sing at the head.

A good album.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Botchla
	2. Rings From Corona
	3. Lazzaro
	4. Horns And Tails
	5. Sticks And Stones Never Made Sense

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The Opposite Of December

(1999, Trustkill Records) USA, Florida

First album for Poison The Well and this one got many of the modern anthems of Hardcore scene. The sound is not perfect, but the melodic parts and the vocals are terrifics and moving.
Jeffrey Moreira arrived for this album in the band and until the end.

Who can help but sing along in Slice Paper Wrists at 1:35 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRvyBMGnrec or in Artist’s Rendering Me and its “I could / never / swallow your false ideals”

12/23/93, My Mirror No Longer Reflects et Nerdy are very absorbing and catchy with their unforgetable riffs (Nerdy and its tapping part) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKp3mxmmpes

The whole album is a cornerstone of the Hardcore style.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Artist’s Rendering Of Me
	2. Slice Paper Wrists
	3. Nerdy
	4. My Mirror No Longer Reflects
	5. 12/23/93

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Distance Makes The Heart Grow Fonder (Ep)

(1998, Good Life Records) USA, Florida

First Ep, and the cover of the re-release, designed by Mister Jacob Bannon, is very beautiful.

This Ep is the last one I bought, so it was a little bit disappointing because of its sound, correct composition but nothing really awesome, and no Moreira’s vocals.

By the way, it’s interesting to listen to it, to get how Poison The Well turned into the great band it is now.

Torn, Obstacle et Material Christ remind me of the german band Caliban.

Lost And Silence is one of the song close to what the band will become.

For fans

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

===============

	1. Torn
	2. Material Christ
	3. Obstacle
	4. Lost In Silence

http://www.myspace.com/poisonthewell

The Peel Sessions

(2010, BBC) USA, California

This is the last record I bought from The Locust Saga.

It’s a recording of their live performance at the famous John Peel Radio session in 2001 for BBC.

The artwork and pictures are awesome and the silvery sleeve is great.

This is the only live record by The Locust (As far as I know) and the sound is nice. It’s really interesting to listen to the beginning of their future “Plague Soundscapes” in songs like How To Become A Virgin.

It’s also really interesting that songs like Cattle Mutilation or Stucco Obelisks Labeled As Trees get a second life.

Anyway, The Locust is first and foremost a live experience, I saw them four times and I think seeing them live really helps to (try to) understand their music.

To conclude : A success as always.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Moth Eaten Deer Head
	2. Cattle Mutilation
	3. The Perils Of Believing In Round Squares
	4. How To Become A Virgin
	5. Stucco Obelisks Labeled As Trees

/!\ To stream music please install spotify and create an account for free : /!\http://www.spotify.com/uk/new-user/

============================================

New Erections

(2007, Anti Records) USA, California

The Locust’s latest album and I hope not their last !

You have a polished and powerful production and mix done by Alex Newport. The spatialisation is a success and the mix is really clear. Each instrument is understandable, which is not always easy in this kind of music.

The main difference with the older releases is the come back of “the lower vocals” (Joey) like in their early records (Scavenger Invader).

For me, The Locust is truly a unique band, made of four virtuosi with their instruments. I mean it.

You won’t be surprised that all the songs are really complex, brutal and amazingly composed and played.

The number of layers, effects and details in their music is huge (like in God Wants Us All To Work In Factories)

I love the part at 1:05 in Full Frontal Obscurity. I remember listening to it loud and in loop mode in my car when I was still in college.

You’ll find a live video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knJFgp_y_MY

Magna Cum Laude to Bobby Bray for his complex tapping parts throughout the CD.

The drum parts are mind-blowing, like in Hot Tubs Full Of Brand New Fuel at 0:43 for a crazy minute or at 0:23 in We Have Reached An Official Verdict : Nobody Gives A Shit and his master acceleration on bass drum.

Tower Of Mammal‘ s keyboard parts remind me of some songs from An Albatross but more brutal.

To conclude, vocals and lyrics are still scary and funny.

This album is a success, I can’t wait for the next one !

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Full Frontal Obscurity
	2. Hot Tubs Full Of Brand New Fuel
	3. Tower Of Mammal
	4. God Wants Us All To Work In Factories
	5. We Have Reached An Official Verdict : Nobody Gives A Shit

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Safety Second, Body Last (Ep)

(2005, Ipecac Recordings) USA, California

This Ep is in the same vein as “Plague Soundscapes” except there is more fine work about noise effects and ambiances.

Joey Karam built a sound cathedral with his moog equipment.

“Safety Second, Body Last” is totally amazing to see live : The ambiances are amazing.

I’m amazed by the part at 1:53 in the first song, the effect research is awesome.

I love the rhythms in One Decent Leg / Immune System Overdrive at 2:14 too.
That song is the most powerful of the two.

Really interesting.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Armless And Overactive / Invented Organs
	2. One Decent Leg / Immune System Overdrive

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Follow The Flock, Step In Shit (Ep)

(2003, Three One G) USA, California

This Ep is original in its own shape : a square Mini-CD.

I really like these goodies.

You have three songs with lower vocals, compared to the other releases. It reminds me of their first Ep.

The sound is a little bit messy, but you can still appreciate the gorgeous brutality of Red and Coffin Nails.

For Hardcore Fans (like me haha)

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Follow The Flock, Step In Shit
	2. Red
	3. Coffin Nails

============================================

Plague Soundscapes

(2003, Anti Records) USA, California

“Plague Soundscapes” is the album which turned me into a The-Locust-Hardcore-Fan. First, it’s a real turning-point in their story, because it’s the first album with a good mix and production. Alex Newport is an amazing magician who succeeded to mix the un-mixable. You can very clearly understand each instrument, and it’s awesome.

Indeed, it was really disappointing in their previous releases that you couldn’t really appreciate the quality of the drum play or Joey’s synthesizers.

It’s the first album where Gabe leaves the guitar for the drumkit and this definitely changed the band dimension : before it was crazy linear blast and now it’s much more complex and researched drum riffs.

I scream in my own band and I’m really amazed by the vocal performance of the duo Bray / Pearson. Their vocals are really powerful and high-pitched (like in Anything Jesus Does, I Can Do Better), I don’t understand how they survive their own tour.

This album is a must in terms of soundscapes and composition quality. I have been listening to it for years and I still discover some details or subtlety in some guitar or bass parts.

The song titles are still funny : Anything Jesus Does, I Can Do Better or Priest With The Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Get Out Of My Bed.

I love The Half-Eaten Sausage Would Like To See You In His Office and its amazing videoclip : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCTrTPRClNM.

The drum riff in Who Wants A Dose Of The Clap ? is awesome and powerful.

The whole album is genius, It was torture for me to only choose five best songs.

This is a Must-have-in-your-life

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Who Wants A Dose Of The Clap ?
	2. The Half-Eaten Sausage Would Like To See You In His Office
	3. Anything Jesus Does I Can Do Better
	4. Twenty-Three Lubed Schizophrenics With Delusions Of Grandeur
	5. Priest With The Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Get Out Of My Bed

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Flight Of The Wounded Locust (Ep)

(2001, GSL) USA, California

This Ep is the first with a good sound on drums. The synthesizers are really interesting (like in Get Off The Cross, The Wood Is Needed) but the guitars are still far in the mix.

This Is Radio Surgery is a song which is moving to me, I don’t really know why. There is a weird ambiance and the speed at the end of this song is amazing.

This Ep is really brutal and its finale is too (like in Wet Nurse Syndrome Hand-Me-Down Display Case).

The other songs are interesting and seem similar in their power and in the way they are played.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Get Off The Cross, The Wood Is Needed
	2. This Is Radio Surgery
	3. Wet Nurse Syndrome Hand-Me-Down Display Case
	4. Bring Your 65 Italian Carbine
	5. Alas Here Comes The Hypochondriac To Wait With You In The Lobby

============================================

The Locust

(1998, GSL) USA, California

I discovered The Locust with this album by mistake (in looking for Locust Reign by Converge) around 16, 17 years old. I remember that I didn’t like it at first approach, because I was probably too narrow-minded at the time.

Later, I listened to it again and again and I started to love Moth-Eaten Deer Head and Twenty-Three Full-Time Cowboy and its awesome end “Sometimes werewolves look like little bunnies”.

Then I became a fan with “Plague Soundscapes” and I came back to this album with this awesome artwork, that a friend of mine, Boul, tatooed on his arm.

Then I started to sing Nice Tranquil Thumb In Mouth alone in my shower, and falling asleep to their soft screams at 0:12 in Stucco Obelisks Labeled As Trees.

When I wanted to play The Perils Of Believing In Round Squares at a party, I started to worry so I started playing Hardcore and Noise in my band.

You can notice that Gabe Serbian arrived first as a guitar player in this album with Joey at the keyboards.

An amazing album.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Moth-Eaten Deer Head
	2. Twenty-Three Full-Time Cowboys
	3. Nice Tranquil Thumb In Mouth
	4. Stucco Obelisks Labeled As Trees
	5. The Perils Of Believing In Round Squares

============================================

The Locust (Ep)

(1997, GSL) USA, California

This is the first Ep (MiniCD Format) for The Locust, which I bought very recently.
The Locust is one of my favorite bands ever, Top 5 haha.

I think that every lover of original music and new soundscapes will appreciate this band.

The Locust is a quatet based in San Diego, California, but at this time, the members were : Justin Pearson (Bass, Vocals), Bobby Bray (Guitar, Vocals), James Lavalle (Keyboards) and David Astor (Drums).

Kill Roger Hedgecock and Hair Spary Suppository are for me kind of The-Locust-Official-Anthems.

I really love the guitar riffs in Pain Reliever.

I love the power at the end of Head Hits Concrete too.

This Ep is really interesting in understanding how the band has evolved.

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COUP DE COEUR : MY TOP 5

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	1. Kill Roger Hedgecock
	2. Pain Reliever
	3. Hair Spray Suppository
	4. Prepare To Qualify
	5. Head Hits Concrete