(review) Lionheart-Valley Of Death

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Lionheart are from California and this is their seventh album. These pioneers of metalic hardcore/crossover deliver 10 songs of no holds barred, relentless hardcore with roots in street smartness and concrete jungle survival instinct. The music is modern hardcore with brutal grooves, moshing parts, yet also some catchy guitar riffs and angry, sing along shouted vocals that fit perfectly to the music. Check out the title song for which a video was made, or fantastic Rock Bottom featuring guest Jesse Barnett, also When I Get Out if you want to feel tour de force of modern hardcore with guts, grit and glory. I am sure this band sounds fantastic live and I will definitely check them out.  This one is a sure winner.

8/10

 

Drive-Thru Records’ ‘Welcome To The Family’ Compilation Now Available On Limited Edition Vinyl For The First Time Ever!

Welcome To The Family, the long-out-of-print and highly-coveted Drive-Thru Records label compilation is now available for the first time ever on limited edition vinyl via Drive-Thru Records/Field Day Recordsl! The Double Vinyl compilation comes in a full-size custom-printed pizza box and includes a double-sided vinyl slipmat and a 12-page color photobook. See the available variants and bundles below.

‘Welcome To The Family’ limited edition vinyl on sale now at: https://www.shopdtr.com

The comp. (originally released on November 20, 2001, at the height of the label’s popularity) famously came in a miniature pizza box, and featured a jawdropping collection of mostly previously-unreleased songs and rarities by the beloved label’s star-studded roster of bands, most of whom are now highly considered to be cornerstones of the pop-punk and emo sound of the early to mid-2000s.

With contributions from the likes of New Found Glory, Something Corporate, The Starting Line, Midtown, The Movielife, Finch, RX Bands, Fenix TX, the album (and the label itself) helped chronicle the booming 00’s pop-punk scene, which grew out of suburban garages and all-ages basement shows all over the US and beyond, and spawned a number of acts that went on to achieve mainstream success.

Started by siblings Stefanie Reines and Richard Reines, Drive-Thru Records’ impressive 12-year run helped the label go on to sell over 8 million CDs worldwide, in turn, serving as a launchpad for the aforementioned bands and many others, such as Hellogoodbye, Dashboard Confessional, Steel Train, The Early November, Senses Fail and Halifax.

“As we were putting together the compilation, we wanted to do something different and fun. The mob theme made sense to us for various reasons, the most obvious being that our label and bands were very tight-knit, and we were known as the “Drive-Thru Family”. Add in the fact that we grew up in New Jersey with at least one amazing Italian joint in every strip mall, plus our love of mob movies like “Goodfellas”, “The Sopranos” and “The Godfather”, and ‘Welcome To The Family’ was born!

Everything back then was done on a shoestring budget, so in lieu of hiring a model to pose for the cover, we had our accountant at the time assume the role as “The Godfather”. He was this crazy guy and seeing him with the bat posing as a mobster was funny to us. We always liked to amuse ourselves. So many inside jokes appeared on Drive-Thru Records releases over the years.

For the booklet, we took advantage of all of our bands playing at the Skate and Surf Festival in Asbury Park, NJ, and did part of the photoshoot on the boardwalk. Those shoots were fun because we got to mix band members for the different “mob” scenarios.

I believe we ordered 10,000 copies of the cd. The plant wouldn’t assemble and pack it because they said it was too complicated and time-consuming, so we said we would do it ourselves. We had no idea what we were getting into. I remember our entire office including the two of us, and all of our interns spending days putting together those pizza boxes! Our office was FILLED with CDs and pizza boxes, the conference room table piled high. We had to first put together the boxes, which came flat, insert the booklet into the cd, then put in the stickers and whatever else we had included.”Stefanie Reines & Richard Reines

Tracklist:

“Somewhere Down in Fullerton” (performed by Allister)

“Stuck” (performed by Allister)

“3,720 To 1” (performed by The Benjamins)

“O’Bleek” (performed by Fenix*TX)

“What It Is to Burn” (performed by Finch)

“Letters to You” (performed by Finch)

“Give It Up” (performed by Home Grown)

“Not Alone” (performed by Home Grown)

“Get It Together” (performed by Midtown)

“Hand Grenade” (performed by The Movielife)

“Come Back Bon Jovi” (performed by New Found Glory)

“So Many Ways” (performed by New Found Glory)

“Mastering The List” (performed by Rx Bandits)

“Analog Boy” (performed by Rx Bandits)

“Konstantine” (performed by Something Corporate)

“If U C Jordan” (performed by Something Corporate)

“Break Up Day” (performed by The Starting Line)

“Leaving” (performed by The Starting Line)

World/Inferno Friendship Society have a new single from the new album on Alternative Tentacles

World/Inferno Friendship Society are back with a new single from their upcoming All Borders are Porous to Cats LP. The album is set to be released on January 17th 2020 via Alternative Tentacles. In addition to a New Years Eve show in Brooklyn, you can catch the band on tour throughout January and February!

World/Inferno Friendship Society’s long awaited new album dares you to try and decipher it’s multi-layered, encrypted message, while dragging you kicking and screaming through a succession of flashbacks, alternate realities and drug and alcohol induced delusions. While World / Inferno is known for its utter disregard for boundaries of genre, All Borders are Porous to Cats deliberately pushes the limits of what could possibly be perceived as punk rock. It scores tales of fugitives, arson, larceny, perjury, drug addiction and freedom with elements of soul, funk, latin, polka, and classical music, as well as World /Inferno’s signature punk cabaret sound. 3 years in the making, 4 missed release dates, 5 lost band members, many a bridge burned, and a defamation lawsuit waiting to happen, The World /Inferno Friendship Society invites you to enjoy the fruits of their perpetual torment.

Take it as a promise, and a patent fact: All Borders Are Porous to Cats. The World/Inferno Friendship Society’s 7th full-length LP finds the collective reset and reinvigorated, behind the lyrics of Jack Terricloth, apparent possessor of the punk rock fountain of everlasting style and rage. The album follows Cat in the Hat (no relation), an undocumented refugee who is framed for a crime and requires the assistance of a ragtag gang of miscreants, academics, orchestra-caliber musicians, and radical insurgents—sometimes art does in fact imitate life!
First single “Freedom is a Wilderness” was fitting first available on an a compilation benefitting Chelsea Manning upon her initial release. The band is uncertain if New Romantic 2 Tone ska is an available generic distinction, but they damn well gave it a shot, and the haunting echo of “who woulda thought?” reminds the listener that for political prisoners like Manning, freedom is a relative concept at best. Upcoming single “Nightmares” improbably adds to the list of genres the band attempts, offering a horn and gang vocal driven shuffle somewhere between Fela Kuti and Elvis Costello. The remainder of the album sees the band at its most expansive musically—covering everything from Bowie-esque ballads to Balkan punk stomps—and inflammatory lyrically, with tales of romance, righteous indignation, and resistance.
The album’s release comes in tandem with the release of accompanying book “One Smashed Window for Every Divided Soul,” an illustrated combination tour journal and narrative exploration of Cat and his travails. The book acts as a companion piece to the album’s story, sifting through archival documents and fabulist accounts of the band’s East Coast tour of 2017.
Tour Dates
Dec 31 – The Kingsland, Brooklyn, NY
Jan 12 – The Mohawk, Austin, TX
Jan 13 – TBA, Houston, TX
Jan 14 – Santos, New Orleans, LA
Jan 16 – Will’s Pub, Orlando, FL
Jan 17 – TBA, West Palm Beach, FL
Jan 18 – Las Rosas, Miami, FL
Jan 19 – Archetype, Jacksonville, FL
Jan 21 – The Earl, Atlanta, GA
Jan 22 – Local 506, Raleigh, NC
Jan 23 – Gallery 5, Richmond, VA
Jan 24 – The Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
Jan 25 – Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia, PA
Feb 6 – Rickshaw Theater, Vancouver, BC*
Feb 7 – Highline Theater, Seattle, WA*
Feb 8 – Jazzbones, Tacoma, WA*
Feb 9 – TBA, Portland, OR*
Feb 10 – Gold Fields, Sacramento, CA*
Feb 11 – Metro, Oakland, CA*
Feb 12 – TBA, Los Angeles, CA*
Feb 13 – Alex’s Bar, Long Beach, CA*
Feb 14 – Club Red, Mesa, AZ*
Feb 15 – Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM*
Feb 16 – Blue Bird, Denver, CO*
Feb 17- Black Sheep, Colorado Springs, CO*
*w/ Bridge City Sinners