Podcast: Ep. 37 - In Defense of Seth MacFarlane

Lost Tribe Podcast

 

Ep. 37: In Defense of Seth MacFarlane

In this episode the boys discuss The Bronx, The Swarm, and how postal rates are crippling the hobbies of certain podcasters.  The voluntary surrendering of DNA is then both simultaneously endorsed and condemned, as are shitty 'late night comedies' that litter Netflix.  Discussion of Kevin Smith comes up again and disagreements arise regarding whether Seth McFarlane was a great or horrid Oscars host...but everyone agrees that regardless of who hosts the awards aren't worth watching in the first place.

Get it on iTunes or here.

Review: Left for Dead - Devoid of Everything

Left for Dead

Devoid of Everything

A389 Recordings

Anyone familiar with Left for Dead knows that it’s nearly a foregone conclusion that a review written about them by a hardcore fan is going to be glowingly positive. So let’s just get this out of the way: I love Left for Dead.  And yes, I giggled like a school girl when I found out they were releasing this discography and recording new material. Also, anyone familiar with Hamilton, Ontario will not be surprised to find out that there was a time in the late-90s/early 00s that this city consistently produced the most angry, fast, metallic hardcore Canada had to offer.  The epitome of this working-class-teen aggression came from Left for Dead, led by Chris Colohan (Swarm/Cursed/Burning Love) and Jeff Beckman (Chokehold/Haymaker/Pick Your Side).

My only issue with Left for Dead up to this point was their piss-poor production.  Now, as a fan of both hardcore and black metal, I’m really not caught off-guard by bad recordings and production, but I always knew that it was an injustice that such a furious band had such flat, tinny sounding recordings.  Fortunately, thanks to a complete remastering from the original ¼” reels by Kevin Bernsten and James Plotkin, the days of Left for Dead sounding like garbage are over!  I’ve never considered myself an audiophile in the sense that I don’t obsess over sound quality (I either listen to music on my $100 record player or on my phone at 128kpbs) but the change in quality between Devoid of Everything and Splitting Heads (or any other release) is unbelievable.  And to anyone who is about to get nostalgic and talk about how they hate remasterings...you are wrong.  Flat out.  Devoid of Everything is the best that Left for Dead has ever sounded, on any format.  It’s heavier, crunchier, warmer, cleaner, and finally gives this band the sound they’ve always deserved.

In other words, you can now listen to songs like “Eight Floors Above”, “Who Do You Know?” and “Left For Dead” and they will be even more crushing and aggressive-sounding then they previously were...and these are some of the most destructive, scream-your-guts-out confrontational songs I had ever heard....and now they are remastered and even more obscenely heavy.

Go buy it now!

Review: Burning Love - Rotten Thing to Say

Burning Love

Rotten Thing to Say

Southern Lord Records

Chris Colohan has never had any problem getting good reviews from the hardcore community.  Fronting bands like Left for Dead, The Swarm, Countdown to Oblivion, and of course Cursed, his place as one of the most respected men in hardcore has been both well-earned and relatively unquestionable.  As a result, it becomes increasingly daunting to criticize the man’s work. 

I say all of this as a caveat to this review because I want readers to understand that I know that not everything Colohan touches is gold, and he isn’t in fact some sort of golden god...but Rotten Thing to Say honestly proves that if this man is singing for a band then it’s a smart move to sit up and take notice.  Well some write off Burning Love as the “not as heavy as Cursed” band, but if you throw out any expectations (good or bad) about what this band should be, then you are left with one of the tightest, most interesting bands in hardcore.

Blending rock, punk, hardcore, and metal, Rotten Thing to Say really never lets up in any meaningful way.  I’ve already gushed over songs like Karla in another review and on our podcast (thanks for all the downloads so far), but coupled with Hateful Comforts, the Body, and Pig City I & II, this album is an impressive improvement over their much-played-on-my-ipod debut album.

Another reason that I love this album is rooted in something I hate about the internet.  With the proliferation of websites like Reddit, a virulent, thuggish, and ill-informed kind of atheism has firmly taken hold within various online communities.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love me some atheism...but I’ve always tried to be an atheist without being a complete and total Bill-O’Reilly-style dick about it.  Songs like Superstitious Friend and Made out of Apes help show that people can express themselves eloquently and challenge the beliefs of others without seeming as bad as the fundamentalist you oppose.  

p.s. I put up the Toronto record release show cover because it's even better than the actual album cover.  Fuck Rob Ford.

Buy this album.  Seriously, do it!  Buy 3 copies and give 2 away to your friends.