top 10 essentials

surprise, im here to give you an update a whole day early! but the thing is, i dont have any new concerts or cds to review today. so i thought i would do something a little different & give you some quick reviews of what i think are the top 10 essential bay area diy albums to hear/own. this was a tough list to make, especially the order of essentialatude, & many may disagree with the order, or even have other records they believe should have been included/removed. i encourage you to send me your thoughts. mind you, i grew up in the half moon bay punk scene of the late nineties, so im definitely swayed towards those bands (in fact everyone of these bands has ties to the coastside). so without further ado…

10. mohdina’s first hardcore demos. there are probably a lot of people from the santa cruz area that have heard mohdina, but many may not know that they originally started out as a hardcore/screamo outfit, & later evolved into the funky jazzy jam band they ended up. this first recording was raw, full of grit & grime, & packed a firm punch of classic emo charm. simple, but still one of my favorites.

9. following a similar formula, but with a bit more experience & maturity, was ellipsis’ three track demo. these guys focused primarily on the music, creating vast emotional landscapes, lightly punctuated with background screaming & growling. having been playing together for at least four years, under various names (ie skies of animus, when in rome), the four core members had grown together, both as individuals & as musicians. this record was the culmination of their young musical careers.

8. staircase/funeral diner split. two amazing local bands, but i really want to focus on staircase (as funeral diner will be touched on later…). this & a seven inch (& i think maybe one other record) was all that came of this epic screamo band. these five young men really got a burst of fresh air to the hardcore/punk scene, really championing the more melodic driven hardcore, with uptempo dance-ability, one of the first local bands to add a pinch of pop sensibility to the punk sound.

7. on the opposite side of the spectrum, was the bludgeoning emo-core living war room s/t. this record (one i so unfortunately no longer own) felt like being hit in the back of the head with a sledge hammer, while getting needles driven into your eyes. sounds rather unpleasant doesnt it? well, if you ever saw this band live, youd agree, where more often then not their set would end with at least two or three people bleeding (thanks to bassist rob swinging his instrument recklessly), & everyone on the floor, chanting as one voice, “& all this is a hand grenade!”

6. the first emo band i ever heard/saw changed my musical tastes forever, & with nexus 6, i have never looked back. they were & always will be my personal definition of what real emo sounds like. i can still remember as a freshman in high school talking to guitarist konane cramer with awe & intrigue, & when he gave me a copy of (cassette tape) the nexus 6 record i was star struck. yeah, im kinda a loser, i know. but thats the way i am, i idolize the local musicians that im friends with way more than any “rockstar”. this tape became the foundation to which i built & compared the rest of my record collection with. i still once in a while push that tape into a cassette player, & it still awes & inspires me.

5. following the breakup of nexus 6, the three core members quickly reformed as funeral diner, one of the most recognized of the local diy scene, & probably one of the longest lasting (though in various permutations), the three core members (the bajda brothers & dave mello) stuck together for maybe close to ten years. one of their early records, three sides dead, is a great sampling of what these guys were all about. loud, fast, ambient, dissonant, & powerful are just a few words to describe this sonic onslaught. throw in a sample from the movie “time bandits” & youve got one epic three song ep!

4. so far i have only talked about records from bands of yesterday, & beside this one, thats how the rest of my list will conclude. but even so, one’s local diy collection could never be complete without the youth, the freshman release from “bloodtown’s” five favorite brothers (two sets actually, & one just really cool guy), comadre. forming out of the dissolution of two other great local bands (heart cross love & one’s own ruin), these guys broke out on the scene with the passion & fire as those who influenced them (many of which are on this list). in a time when the peninsula punk scene was drifting toward (just as great, but very different) a more psychedelic shoegaze style, these guys broke on the scene, single handedly reviving the punk rock spirit & staking redwood city as the new mecca of local aggressive music. this first record is a testament to why & how they did such a feet. full of urgency, emotion, & a sound that was as raw as punk could get, but also blending catchy hooks & almost pop rhythms, this was the flagship for a new generation of bay area music.

3. well, back to the sadly past, but highly influential records. these top three were certainly the hardest to assign, as all three embody the passion the peninsula diy scene has always been known for. but if i had to order them, first i would mention portraits of past, the 0s &1s record. now this record actually is the home of my all time favorite song by any band, something less than intended, but anyways…probably the most influential band from the coastside emo scene, this record features all of what made them so epic, even though they never really saw their success while still a band. after their initial breakup in the early/mid nineties (while most of the members were still in high school) this record started circulating, first throughout the peninsula scene & eventually nation wide, causing something of a frenzy in the emo scene. so much so that, nearly ten years later, they released this & their other previously recorded 7″ as a discography, & got together for four reunion shows, two in the bay area & two in new york.

2. another band that didnt receive acclaim until after disbanding, then reforming a few times, was how fortunes fall. it was at one of these reunion shows of sorts that they released a five song s/t cd, which still has a strong presence in the local scene. this album hit like a storm, both brutal & beautiful, it was filled with songs of friendship & hope & love, & it has been a beacon of light in the scene for many years. sadly this is another record i have unfortunately lost over the years, but it played a very vital role in my youth. the song writing displayed on this record would be hard pressed to match, & for that reason & many others, this will always be one of my top five favorite albums.

& now the number 1 top bay area diy record is…hangman’s day from half moon bay’s own golden rockers, under a dying sun. this was the band’s second release, following a 7″ single of one of the tracks, these stitches, & though their sophomore & junior efforts were much cleaner & concise, this ep exemplifies the band’s knack for epicness. no song better showcases this than the near 20 minute, for ten miles. the intro alone is over ten minutes! this album, comprised of three studio recordings & two live tracks on new york’s wnyu, set the stage for what would be the coastside’s staple band. these guys & girl became something of the poster children for half moon bay’s diy punk rock scene. known for their lengthy sets (a lot of which was just konane talking) & dramatic lighting, they were some of the hardest working folks in local music.

well, thats the best i can do for now, their are far more records that should be considered essentials, but i only gave myself 10 slots to fill. some of those other essentials would include…

as black hearts break-revolutionary protocol

staircase-waterfalls 7″

one’s own ruin-no one is listening

box the compass-hollow 7″

punch-eyeless ep

heart cross love-s/t

ladders-s/t

love, hope & fear-s/t

& there is a slew of others i cant remember right now. so let me know what you think of my list & please, if any of you have any of the records ive listed, let me know, as there are a few im missing & would love to get copies of! thnx!

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