At times, this record sounds like something you might've pulled from your mid 90's pop punk shelf. "A Symphony of Voices" however, hit the streets just this year. Musically, Guff have the right mix to please everyone - not too bubble gum sounding, but harmonious and melodic enough to play while you're carting mom around somewhere. Today's 16 year old might scoff at this, but when you've got an unreleased Steve Perry (Journey) original closing your record out - it just might be fun enough for the whole family. Cheap shots at today's Hot Topic punk crowd aside, Guff manages to pump out some pretty good tunes here and there. Most tracks, especially "Bleed Like You" and "No Gods, No Masters" are loud and fast with catchy harmonious choruses. The whole record has a very Fat Wreck Chords type of feel to it, making it just good enough to put in semi-regular rotation, but leaving me wanting for something slightly less polished.
Premiering today is Chapter Two of Liz Baillie's webcomic, Freewheel. Click on the image above and navigate to either Chapter Two, or read from the beginning if you've missed out.
Senator Chris Dodd talks to Fall of Autumn
Written by Alan Lastufka
Senator Chris Dodd responds (even addressing me by name!) to my CNN-YouTube Presidential Debates question: What will YOU do to Protect Independent Voices in the Media?
The label attached to this disc says "For fans of Death Cab for Cutie, Bloc Party and Explosions in the Sky." I'm not a fan of any of those bands, so I figured I'd most likely find this a lukewarm Indie record at best. While The Anthem Sound does share many characteristics of the average Death Cab knock off, "4 Songs" is a delightful departure from the usual somber/awkward/"i'm so misunderstood and interesting" musical experience. This Brooklyn, NY quintet weaves intricate harmonies and melodies together with just the right amount of dissonance to offset Indie rock boredom. There's definitely an homage to early 90's "alternative" rock in "4 Songs," along with some well played post-punk references to Fugazi. Keep your ears open for the full length album, which The Anthem Sound is currently working hard on.
In a pretty historic (in my opinion) event, YouTube has partnered with CNN to allow its users to submit questions for the 2008 Presidential Debates. Anyone with a video camera and a YouTube account can upload a video in which they ask their question. If your question/video is selected by YouTube and CNN, it will air live on national television on Monday, July 23rd during the debate and your question will be answered by the Presidential hopefuls.
I submitted the above question/video, in which I talk a little about media consolidation and deregulations. Huge thank you to Aaron Cynic for helping me voice my frustration in the form of a question…
Fall of Autumn Quarterly - Issue #4
Written by Fall of Autumn
The summer installment of Fall of Autumn's quarterly zine is now available! This issue features:
- a roundtable interview of four great DIY filmmakers by Alan Lastufka
- a "magical" drink recipe from Kate Sandler
- an exploration of capitalism and community in independent publications from Aaron Cynic
- and more.
All this, plus zine and record reviews, along with an updated distro catalog. Download the PDF version here, or subscribe for free by sending an email with your mailing address to "distro-at-fallofautumn-dot-com".
SKA House: Columbus Is a Dive (Even on the Back of a Bike)
Written by Alexis Stewart (Rhododendron Reader) on June 28, 2007
It had been a mediocre week and a pretty bad weekend. The pinnacle was the destruction of Tracey’s car, but lots of little things added up, too: the scene drama, the impending term papers, the lack of time to write or hang out or watch bad movies because of piling up school work. Therefore, it was a very pleasant surprise when the Panty gals reminded me of the Leftover Crack roadtrip we’d planned months earlier.
Amy Krause Rosenthal and Jonathan Messinger live at ATC
Written by Aaron Cynic & Alan Lastufka
Click the album art to download the mp3 or click here to get it on iTunes!
This week's podcast features a split reading from two different nights at the Around The Coyote Winter Arts Festival. First up we have Amy Krause Rosenthal, author of An Ordinary Life and host of Chicago Public Radio's "Writer's Block Party." Secondly, we have Jonathan Messinger of ThisIsGrand and author of the upcoming book Hiding Out. Unfortunately, Jonathan's reading got cut off before the end, but you'll be able to read the rest of the story in October, when the book is released.
Jerianne, over at Zine World, was kind enough to share the postal rate chart she made with us so we could offer it here for download. The chart is in PDF format, making it easy to read and print out from your computer.
