Brian: Maybe Rochester is the new Long Island. In recent years it seems like the city is effortlessly churning out a diverse array of emotional, hard, and/or heavy musical acts that write great songs right out of the gate. Take Sakes Alive!! and their three-song demo, "Presents", for example. Considering these are the first songs they've ever laid to tape (I'm pretty sure)...damn. In fact, one guy, Chris Vandeviver, is responsible for every charred chord, slammed drumfill and whiskey-tinged vocal line on the demo. And even though he was apparently let down by Crime in Stereo's Is Dead, I guess we can let it slide. We actually just posted a review of "Presents", and it recommended them to fans of Challenger and Hüsker Dü; I'd say that's pretty accurate, but if you generally like gravelly-sung punk rock played with a ton of emotion and intensity, check it out. You can also message them for a free physical copy of "Presents" as well.

Aubin: I'll be honest, I've got quite a soft spot for the oft maligned but usually fun genre of "horror punk." Between the twisted Grease-inspired outfits, gory lyrics and classic rock and roll base, there isn't much to find fault with in The Epidemic. The band just released the very tight, very fast Quarantine Days on Robot Monster and fans of everyone from Chuck Berry to The Independents will find something great here. You can check out a bunch of songs from the album on their myspace page.