Micah Schnabel - I'm Dead, Serious (2011)

If you were to ask me my “favorite currently-active rock band”, I would unquestionably say Two Cow Garage. And unlike many bands today that fall under the umbrella term of “rock,” that descriptor accurately fits, with them merging country twang and punk aggression with a fist-pounding intensity. In the past 10 years that the Columbus, Ohio-based band has been active, they have been constantly on the road touring, such that I have had the pleasure of seeing them a number of times. Each time impressing me with their stamina and energy as Micah Schnabel (guitarist, vocalist) and Shane Sweeney (bassist, vocalist) vaulted about the stage while drummer Cody Smith pounded the hell out of his drum kit. Two Cow Garage released their fifth album (Sweet Saint Me) in 2010, and last year both Micah and Shane released solo albums.

Song of the Week: Black Pyramid – Mercy’s Bane

After a few week’s respite, I am finally back with another Song of the Week. I first became aware of Black Pyramid while reading the excellent metal blog The Obelisk, which is primarily focused around Doom and Sludge metal. They were talking about their favorite albums of 2011, and listed Black Pyramid’s “II” as one of the albums they did not get the chance to listen to, but figured it would be a favorite if they had. I needed no better reason to check the band out.

New song by Cheap Girls

Everyone’s favorite apathetic rock trio, Cheap Girls, has a new album slated for release on February 21^st of 2012. The album is called “Giant Orange” and is the first assurance that 2012 is going to be filled with good music. They just released the track, Ruby, from the album, which you can listen to below:

Song of the Week: Black Cobra – Omniscient

Since this week marked the release of the Black Key’s new album, I was hoping that one of those songs would excite me enough to end up as my song of the week. And while the album is not bad, I think it sacrificed nuance and subtlety for catchiness. But, that is a topic for another time. The Song of the Week is from another two-piece band, which even have “Black” in their title! Black Cobra is a metal band from San Francisco, California that plays an abrasive and sludgy form of metal that borrows heavily from hardcore punk (mainly in the form of the shouted vocals). While most “sludge” metal is slow and plodding, Black Cobra’s music tears along at an extremely fast tempo, as if they decided to take only the fast parts from the genre that their music occupies.

They just released their 4^th album, Invernal, through Southern Lord, but the song I have for you today is from their 1^st album, Bestial. The vocals on Bestial have a murkier and grainer sound than that of their new album, and I think that lack of refinement makes it sound all the better.

Two new songs by The National

I can say without hesitation that The National is my favorite band to come out of the indie rock scene in the last couple years (they have been playing since 1999, but the last few years has seen them expand in popularity greatly). Any time they put out new music is a cause for excitement. Recently, they performed two new songs at CBC Radio’s “Q” show. The songs, "Rylan" and "I Need My Girl,” are on the quiet and restrained side, but are still fantastic. I can only hope that they have a new album in the works.

Listen to them here.

Song of the Week: Get Rad – Fuck Off Death

Much to the surprise of everyone, myself included, just a week after my last post, I have another one! Who knows, maybe this means I will be posting a song on a more weekly basis (as Song of the Week implies). But enough of that, today I have a song for you by a hardcore punk band from the Milwaukee, WI called Get Rad. What first attracted me to Get Rad was the awesome cover art for their album I Can Always Live, which is a parody of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

And after looking at some of the song titles on the album, like “Bullshit Forcefield”, and “Fuck Off Death,” I was pretty certain I was in for a good time. Get Rad play an aggressive yet energetic style of hardcore punk that is more about having fun than being nihilistic and angry (a lot of hardcore punk these days takes itself far too seriously). I recommend that you give the song Fuck Off Death a listen. I think you will enjoy it.

You can stream the entire album from their bandcamp page, and if you are so inclined, buy the mp3s at whatever price you see fit.

Song of the Week: Russian Circles – Harper Lewis

The song that I have for you this week is from a instrumental rock band from Chicago, called Russian Circles. Despite only being a 3 piece band (guitarist, bassist, and a drummer), they manage to create a dense and layered sound, deftly traversing between light, beautiful passages and punishing heavier movements. While in my earlier years, I often shied away from instrumental music thinking it to be uninteresting, Russian Circles is anything but that.