Original Sharks are hailing from Brooklyn, New York, but they don’t play NYHC, they play melodic punk like it was played in the nineties on all those glorious bands and releases but also with some newer emo and pop punk thrown in here and there for good measure. There are eight songs on this little release, being quite short but effective. There you have your fast melodic skate punk in songs like ‘Old Standards’ or ‘Kit Carson’ but there are also slower more mid tempo heart rendering emotions of ‘Mudhound’. Vocals are a bit sad sounding, I mean like feeling sadness when singing and they are great. Backing vocal harmonies are just in right places and lyrics are personal, but written in a smart way and you can totally read them and think about and relate in your personal life, which once more confirms that music is life, life is music and we are in this scene because of that. This is a great band, so go support and throw some love their way. Record is ‘name your price’ but I am sure band will appreciate any kind of support and love.
Sunliner were already featured on the pages of this zine when they released their single from this debut album that came out with Lockjaw Records. UK scene is alive and thriving with some great bands and releases coming out every month and week. These Leeds based band presents ten songs on this new opus. The music can be described as that pop punk influenced melodic punk rock that somehow soothes and heals broken heart and soul. Music is mid tempo mainly, creating beautiful melodies also some post punk dreamy vibes like in ‘Jo, Joni, Mary and Maria’. Vocals are rougher edged but fit like glove to the overall atmosphere of the songs and what Sunliner tried to create here lyrically. Well, lyrics are so well written and personal that everyone can relate to. This might be seen as a concept album if you watch it lyrically as one man’s voyage through life. My personal favorites on this great pop punk record are: ‘4AM’, ‘Salad Days’ and ‘What A Time To Be Alive’.
I found somewhere that Koji Suzuki is called Japanese Stephen King. Well I read his famous Ringu, which was a base for Japanese Ring movies and also couple of American remake and its sequels and spinoffs. Ringu was fine book. Dark Water was also made into a movie, which also got American remake, but this one was not based on a novel, but on a short story from this short story compilation by Suzuki. Each of the stories is in fact one chapter, but you might have guessed it, common denominator to all of the stories is water, whether being in tank on top of the building, or ocean, or lake, water is crucial to horror in each of the stories. As in any short story collection, some are great, some are boring. What bothers me about this collection is that horror creeps too slow and it is hard to keep you as a reader concentrated because it is too slow and even boring in some parts, although there are couple of creepy moments in there. This one is not what I was hoping for to be, so if you want to read something by Koji Suzuki, better read his novel Ringu.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 