The Nils - Sell Out Young (1985) and Paisley (1986)

I've been craving more material from this band ever since I stumbled across their 1987 self-titled debut album. The Nils were a Canadian powerpunk (aka powerpop/pop-punk) group active from 1978-1994, who never really got much recognition for their great music; fans of Husker Du's later material (Flip Your Wig specifically, since that's the album that most reminds me of the Nils), or really just anyone who likes catchy punk rock, should be sure to check out these two EPs (as well as their full-length release).

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Sell Out Young (1985)

Paisley (1986)

Previous Posts:
The Nils (1987)

The Get Up Kids - On a Wire (2002)

Something to Write Home About may be the Get Up Kids' most popular release, but their best is this, its follow up; while that album was mostly fun pop-punk, this is a mellow, downkey indie rock/emo album that feels a lot more mature than their earlier material; a lot of fans and critics panned this album because it didn't stick to the formula that the band had set up for themselves, but it was a progression they needed to make, and one that paid off artistically, if not financially; whether or not you're a fan of this band, you should listen to this, because you might hear some things you wouldn't expect

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Previous Posts:
Something to Write Home About

Some sneak peeks...

Today instead of posting an album, I'm posting a few singles that I've been enjoying lately, all of them from upcoming 2010 releases. This may or may not become something I do regularly, it all just depends on what I happen to be listening to at any given time. Anyway, these are all great songs, and it takes a lot less time to listen to a song than it does an album, so you've got no excuse for not checking all of these out. Get into it!

Motion City Soundtrack
- "Disappear"
- "Her Words Destroyed My Planet"

Previous Posts: Discography

These are two tracks from Motion City Soundtrack's upcoming album, My Dinosaur Life. Both of these songs show them backing away from the synthy poppiness of Even if it Kills Me, and returning to the catchy, thrashy pop-punk that made people fall in love with them in the first place. If these are any indication of the rest of the album, 2010 is going to be a good year for Motion City Soundtrack.

Vampire Weekend
- "Horchata"
- "Cousins"

Previous Posts: B-Sides and Oddities

The first two singles from their 2010 sophomore effort, released over the past couple of months to build anticipation for Contra, have done exactly that. These two tracks don't tread a lot of ground that wasn't covered by their 2008 self-titled debut, but that's not exactly a bad thing, because let's be honest, that was a great fucking album. If you liked the ethnic-twinged indie pop of that release, you're sure to enjoy these. Fingers crossed for an album leak soon.

Say Anything - ...is a Real Boy (2004)

This is, for all intents and purposes, LA band Say Anything's debut album, and what a debut it is; soaring and operatic, the term pop-punk doesn't really seem to contain this band's sound, which swings between thick guitars assaults, keyboard noodling, and acoustic balladeering (uh oh, I think I'm making up words again), but there just isn't enough music like this for there to be a better word for it; the strongest point of this album (there are many) is the lyrics, which are wry, self-deprecating, and at times downright vicious ("Admit It!!!", anyone?); this album is, as far as I'm concerned, a modern classic

Also included in this download is the bonus disc ...Was a Real Boy, which has 7 extra tracks

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Get Set Go - So You've Ruined Your Life (2003)

Debut album from Get Set Go; a lot of this has more of a pop-punk, alt rock sound than their later work, but it's still identifiable as them, and there are hints of what was to come in albums like Ordinary World and Selling Out & Going Home; this has the song Wait, which I'm pretty sure has been on Grey's Anatomy at some point, which is where most people know this band from

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Previous Posts:
Ordinary World
Selling Out & Going Home

The Get Up Kids - Something to Write Home About (1999)

This sophomore effort from these Kansas City pop-punk/alt rock kids, full of almost annoyingly catchy heartbreak, was a big springboard towards the modern-day incarnation of 'emo' music, a fact which their guitarist has actually publicly apologized for; still, there's a lot to be enjoyed here if you can find it in yourself to drop your pretenses and misconceptions

Also, as you probably know, this band has recently reunited for the ten-year anniversary of this album, and is currently on tour; I'd recommend catching them if you can (I certainly am)

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The Ambulars - Summer Fling EP

DC pop-punk band and their four-song debut EP, with a charmingly lo-fi recording quality; I don't really have a lot to say about this, but the title pretty much sums it up, warm and bopsy (?) pop-punk for the summer months

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Piebald - All Ears, All Eyes, All the Time (2004)

I have nothing witty to say about this, or really anything all that informative; more Piebald powerpop/alt rock/pop-punk fun stuff, dig it

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Try It

Previous Posts:
We Are the Only Friends We Have

The Matches - the Matches album 4, unreleased; graphics? title? or not needed? (2009)

Rush-released as a response to the pleas of their fans after announcing their indefinite hiatus, this album is a collection of eight songs from their unfinished album, and two acoustic songs that had very very limited releases as bonus tracks in the past. Considering that, this sounds incredibly coherent and, on top of that, really fucking good. This release has the singalong choruses of E. Von Dahl, the white knuckle, crooked smile, freewheeling insanity of Decomposer, the pop catchiness of A Band in Hope, and a bluesy, jammy grooviness that if anything resembles their earliest work as the Locals. But make no mistake; this is not rehash. This is the Matches doing what they always do, which is making a huge stylistic shift while still being identifiable as who they are.

I wrestled a bit with the question of whether or not to post this album here. As stated earlier on the blog, the Matches are my favorite band, and it's now become clear they are under a considerable amount of debt based on poor album sales (I've seen a figure of $60,000 being tossed around). However, as much as it feels like something of a betrayal, not even my favorite band breaking up because of people failing to buy their music is going to change my opinion that there should be no moral obligation to spend money on art (an opinion that the Matches seem to have somewhat agreed with in the past, and that I suspect they still do).

With that in mind, I IMPLORE you all, if you enjoy this album or any of their others, to purchase it at bandcamp. They're only asking 10 dollars (although you can pay more than that if you wish), which is next to nothing. This band doesn't deserve to be in debt, and they don't deserve to have to break up because of it. Buy this album. Also, if you can, go to their last two shows on the 22nd and 23rd, in West Hollywood and San Fransisco respectively.

Also, I'll use this post to introduce you to the new projects members of the Matches are embarking on, for those of you who are unaware.

Maniac: Features Matches lead vocalist/guitarist Shawn Harris, as well as Jake Grigg of Something with Numbers. Their debut album is slated for 2010, and in the meantime they're occupying themselves with covering the #1 songs on the Billboard charts (and then posting them for free on their blog).
Bird by Bird: Features Matches lead guitarist/vocalist Jon Devoto, as well as Matches drummer Matt Whalen. Their debut show is happening in San Fransisco on the 21st, and Jon's doing an in-store performance at a Gap on the 20th, so if you're in the area, check them out! They've got a few songs streaming on their myspace.

Anyway, as you can tell, I've returned home, and regular posting will now resume on the blog.

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Previous Posts:
E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals
Decompser
A Band in Hope
Demos and Misc

Piebald - We Are the Only Friends We Have (2002)

Despite the 2008 breakup of this Massachusetts-born band, the debate rages on as to what exactly they should be referred to as; indie rock? pop-punk? emo? alt rock? powerpop? I would say all of these apply in some way, but it doesn't really matter what you call them, because Piebald are one of the best bands I've ever heard; everyone should listen to them, and this album is as good a place as any to start

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Lemuria - The First Collection (2007) and Demo (2004)

More from this awesome pop-punk/power-pop trio; The First Collection gathers together their early material on splits and EPs and such, and I've also uploaded their 2004 demo CD

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Try It (The First Collection)
Try It (Demo)

Previous Posts:
Get Better

Lemuria - Get Better (2008)

Charming and easy to fall in love with, this Buffalo trio makes a mixture of pop-punk, powerpop and indie rock, with flat-out awesome vocals by Sheena Ozzella (and sometimes Alex Kerns); also, their label, Asian Man Records, is currently having some money problems due to a shitty two-faced distributor; Asian Man is a great DIY label and doesn't deserve that kind of shit happening to them, so if you enjoy this album, I encourage you to head on over there and purchase it (or any other Asian Man releases you happen to like)

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The Ergs! - Upstairs/Downstairs (2007)

Second and final studio album from these geeky pop-punk guys, sorry about the lack of a proper update yesterday, I spent most of the day listening to the song "Stinking of Whiskey Blues" off of this album

"They said all you're gonna get is a pocketful of regrets,
And a broken-down rotary phone.
Now all I've got are those and 15 "I told you so"'s
So I guess I'm the one to blame."

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The Matches Demos and Misc

Thanks for liquidy for sending this stuff to me.

This is a collection of a bunch of non-album Matches tracks. Stuff from comps and splits, as well as some demos from when they were still called the Locals. The one thing I know it's missing is the track "Didi", which has proven very difficult to find; if you have it and could send it my way, that would be muuuucho appreciated. I know I've been doing a lot of Matches posts, but chances are this will be the last one for a while (unless they pop an album on us this year, which I hope they do).

Includes:

Bodysnatchers (Radiohead Cover)
A Girl I Know
Got the Time
Sick Little Suicide (Acoustic)
Shoot Me in the Smile (Acoustic)
I Hope it Gets to You (Demo)
Learn to Fly (Demo)
Never Learn (Demo)
Superman (Demo as the Locals)
Eryn Smith (Demo as the Locals, different lyrics)
Nothing Gets Better (Demo as the Locals)
People on the Block (Demo as the Locals)
Boston (Demo as the Locals, early version of Chain Me Free)
MSG (Demo as the Locals)
Selma (Demo as the Locals)
The Beast (Demo as the Locals)

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Try It

Previous Posts:
E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals
Decomposer
A Band in Hope

O Pioneers!!! - Neon Creeps (2008)

I hope you enjoyed guilty pleasure week, but now it's back to normal posts (which I'm sure you enjoy more).

This band gets labeled as folk punk quite often, but I feel like this release has more in common with rougher, gravelly-but-poppy punk rock in the vein of Off With Their Heads, Chinese Telephones, etc. These guys sing about things that suck but do it with a smile on their face. Definite summer album. I think a lot of my readers are gonna dig this.

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GUILTY PLEASURE WEEK: Relient K - mmhmm (2004)

Okay, back on track.

I am not exactly in love with Relient K. In fact, I hesitate to say that I even like them. The whole 'ROCK FOR JESUS!' thing gets really tiresome, really fast. That said, this is a fun album. While the aforementioned subject matter is certainly touched upon on more than one occasion here, I find it somehow easier to overlook on this album than on their other work. This is just a really catchy, fun pop-punk release. Give it a chance, you might be surprised by what you hear.

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Try It

GUILTY PLEASURE WEEK: blink-182

Immature? Check. Simplistic? Check. Repetitive? Check. Sometimes annoying? Check. Awesome pop-punk that everyone secretly loves? You bet your ass.

blink ruled the fucking world in the '90s and into this decade, and as we all know, they recently reunited (fuck. yes.) for a tour and a new album. These four albums are listed not only by release date, but by how much I personally love them. But don't take that to mean that any of them are anything less than a double mega-dose of stupid childish fun.

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Dude Ranch
Enema of the State
Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
blink-182

GUILTY PLEASURE WEEK: Damone - Out Here All Night (2006)

If you keep up with the iTunes Singles of the Week, you might remember this band from a few years ago. They make me think of what it might sound like if Paramore were less influenced by Jimmy Eat World and Sunny Day Real Estate, and more influenced by Cheap Trick and Heart (or, in non-namedropping terms, they have a female vocalist and make energetic pop-rock/punk but with a hard-rock slant). They're kinda cheesy, and hard to take especially seriously, but they're a good time.

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GUILTY PLEASURE WEEK: Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon (2001)

Yeah that's right, I'm doing two posts a day during Guilty Pleasure Week, because seven albums just isn't going to fucking cut it for me. I've got a lot of musical skeletons in my closet. Deal with it.

Brand New's debut is easily one of the bitchinest pop-punk/emo albums in recent memory, or if I'm being even more honest, ever. "Mix Tape" and "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" are pretty much the definition of 'the shit', and anyone who has a pulse knows it. In face, there's no reason anyone should feel guilty about loving this album. Download this motherfucker and blast it with pride out of your junky little rice rocket that I know you drive, and if anyone tries to give you shit, just get in their face with "YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS CAUSE WE'RE YOUNG AND IN LOVE!". That'll show 'em. Rock and roll, bitches, rock and fuckin' roll.

Myspace

Your Favorite Weapon

GUILTY PLEASURE WEEK: Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends (2002)

The guilty pleasure.

Everyone has them. No one wants to admit it. But here at Watch the Tapes, I've decided to take a week to show some respect to those artists and albums that might not be all that respectable. Feel free to download and enjoy these albums without the mocking eyes of the jaded record store clerk, silently berating your lack of taste. I won't tell. It'll be our little secret. Promise.

I'm kicking things off with Taking Back Sunday, and their classic (yes, classic) debut album. This album shows Adam Lazzara going through a young breakup, and judging by lines like "you could slit my throat / and with my one last gasping breath / I'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt", it's a fuckin' doozey. Call it pop-punk, call it emo, call it 'melodic hardcore' if you have to; whatever you need to do to justify listening to this album, do it, because it's a blast.

Myspace

Tell All Your Friends