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Street Dogs - State of Grace
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For all the national attention Long island has been receiving for its campaign of L.I.E.S. (Long Island Emo with Screams, see here, second paragraph), the hardcore scene seemed to be previously left out a bit...until now. With Triple Crown Records's signing of Scraps and Heart Attacks and Anterrabae, and bands like The Backup Plan and Crime in Stereo suddenly gaining acknowledgement, this integral part of our scene is getting some appropriate widespread recognition. You can trust me when I say that Scraps and Heart Attacks are NOT taking cues from Brand New and / or Taking Back Sunday.

Instead, S&HA rely on a fluid hybrid of older influences like Sick of it All and Kill Your Idols, and the occasional dose of melodic fury, á la the Trustkill roster circa the late '90s. Formerly The Heist, the four piece practically unleash eleven up-the-fuckin'-tempo platelets of transfusions that usually fall in between the one-and-two minute mark. The anger, the yelling vocal style, the flesh-searing guitars; they never, ever let up, and it allows the band to stray from the common chugga-chugga head banging that hardcore can sometimes derive from some of its jock-anthem "roots."

The lyrics somehow make each of its numerous vulgarities absolutely relevant and necessary, commanding the mood and linking the ideas well, unlike the other handful of groups in the genre who do it just for the sake of looking tough. Since the twenty-minute debut contains several re-recorded versions of older songs, some on the self-titled EP released back in May this year on Dead by 23, the lyrics contrast between personal effigies hinging on immaturity ("My Point;" "I don't care about your girlfriend, I don't care about your god, I don't care about your friends that think they're fucking hard"), and lifelong remembrances depicted with intelligent, and sometimes nautical, metaphors, as in "Queen of Prussia;" "I've spent twenty years sailing black seas, and searching for red night skies." "Sea Legs" also displays a similar notion; "this thing of ours is walking the plank, I got off the ship before it sank, and for all I care you could fucking plummet cause your cut throat ways I can't fucking stomach." As you might agree, they can also rhyme better than Dr. Seuss on a train's caboose.

Encrusted with black blood, splattered red, hospital-theme plus signs, and some plain text html code for us dorks, Still Sick's layout is noteworthy as well, especially the cover acting as a window to the facial injuries depicted inside the booklet. Hell, even the red-penned cross out of my bar code matches the art great.

In a year marked by a solid list of hardcore and metalcore albums, I wouldn't hesitate to place this in a top ten list of such. We should expect bigger changes, perhaps explorations, in the near future from these fine young gentlemen, and how.

E-CARD / "Don't F With S" MP3



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    Posted by moneenerd on 2005-05-14 03:24:48
    My Score:

    My all time favorite hardcore album.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 6:07 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Ha

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 5:44 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    "Inhabit your shows?" They aren't gerbils living in your ass. fucking kook.
    twat

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 5:15 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    SAHA is from Levittown, not Merrick.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 12:16 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    sickboi, meathead edge kids never inhabit my shows.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 6:30 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Fucking hell. This shit is the new Poison, Warrant, Bon jovi. We're going to look back on this shit in 10 years and say,"god that shit was fucking lame." Then in another 10 years all the trendy kids will start buying this shit and dressing how these bands dress now. Fuck you people.
    twat

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 5:33 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    hmm...merrick, no haven't been there...what bands are from Levittown, now that's where some shit went down!
    -Janelle

    Posted by inagreendase on 2003-12-05 10:42:58
    My Score:

    I'm guessing they're from Merrick, but just guessing because the singer of SaHA is actually the brother of a now ex-MovieLife member.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 10:10 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    "Perhaps your gnome stealing has fueled their screaming rage?"

    Perhaps - if so, i'd be really really proud.
    -Janelle
    Those things weigh a lot! We deserve something for our toil.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 9:51 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    To the guy that posted the show info to me below....thanks but I don't know about VA Beach. Everytime I go there some meathead sXe kids always try to start shit. I'm getting to too old to fight, and am sure as fuck not gonna stay sober.

    -sickboi

    Posted by Edgie on 2003-12-04 19:48:59
    My Score:

    Perhaps your gnome stealing has fueled their screaming rage?

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 4, 2003 at 4:45 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    i wonder what town these boys are from. We may be neighbours...
    -Janelle
    (maybe we stole their lawn ornaments?)

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 10:31 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    944th.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 12:13 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    Who would want to go at a punk show on Boxing Day when there's going to be a big-ass sale at HOT TOPIC?!?!?!?!?!!

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 10:46 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Yo sickboi, if you dig the Backup Plan, check this out

    FRIDAY, DEC.26TH(happy boxing day)
    @Hubys (1365 VA beach Blvd. in VA Beach, VA)
    4pm-10pm
    $7
    REVENGE THERAPY (VBHC, rare appearance)
    THE BANNER (NJ mosh on blackout)
    THE BACKUP PLAN (NY punk/HC)
    THE SPARK (Baltimore hardcore, X-Looks Like Rain)
    BANKROBBERS (NJ pop-core on tour w/the Banner)
    HERO TIME (VBHC, similar to Negative Approach/Black Flag)
    BRED FOR BATTLE (VBHC, similar to Slapshot/Agnostic Front)
    TAKING MY LIFE BACK (VBHC, similar to Split Lip)

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 8:05 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Sickboi - well in that case, glad to be of service!

    Someone get a Back Up Plan review up on here, or just cut and paste mine...

    Posted by superdude on 2003-12-02 19:24:39
    My Score:

    This review was good, but here's how I would make it better:

    1. What happened to that guy's eye?

    2. Ugh

    3. Are we supposed to guess if it was a scrape or a heart attack?

    4. Do these guys sound anything like Spilknot?

    Posted by shindo on 2003-12-02 17:27:15
    My Score:

    "1 year and 1 day to be exact."

    It seems that the date on my watch is incorrect.

    -adam

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 4:55 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Jordan, it was actually you that turned me onto SAHA and The Backup Plan. Thanks duder.

    -sickboi

    Posted by inagreendase on 2003-12-02 16:47:52
    My Score:

    1 year and 1 day to be exact.

    Posted by shindo on 2003-12-02 16:34:12
    My Score:

    Once again the powers of fate and time bend to the will of the mighty `Org:

    MP3 of the week exactly once year ago today was The Heist (this band's old name). Be afraid.

    -adam

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 4:27 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    sickboi - we agree on SAHA, that's gotta be like a first, right? - Jordan Pastepunk

    Posted by inagreendase on 2003-12-02 15:31:34
    My Score:

    Sorry Eric. It seemed as though fate had me reviewing this either way. I too had noticed there was no review for it way back when it was released, and after just three listens of it my copy was stolen (among other things). Three listens, definitely not enough to give a fair review. I ended up getting it in the mail anyway, so I was able to give it a fair shake.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 3:27 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Damn, I reviewed this the other day as my first review because no one had reviewed yet. Mine says basically the same thing and with the same score. I got all excited because I thought this was mine, oh well.

    -Eric

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 2:28 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    i'll make your eye look like the cover of that cd, you little bitch.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 2:08 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Not hardly, you little bitch.

    -sickboi

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 2:07 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    first.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 2:06 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Sooooo good. Soooo very good.

    -sickboi

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