The Only Thing I Know

Interview with Casper from KDC

2011-01-24T22:23:00.000-08:00

This is going to be the first interview I have done for my awesome hardcore blog. What better way to do your first interview with one of your best friends. Well Casper is the singer for Puerto Rico's KDC. One, if not the best current Puerto Rican bands (and latin american to say the least). So pretty much a standard interview where one dude asks questions, and the other guy answers them:

Me: First Question. OK, Why are you called KDC and not Konfesiones De Changuiro, o Knock Down Crew, which are better names than KDC by itself?.

Casper: Hahahahha, my band has always been Las Konfesiones De Changuiro, we were never Knock Down Crew. We're KDC since I saw it in a flyer and it just stayed like that.

Me: Well, I was told it was called like that (Knock Down Crew). And that's what I saw in some places.

Casper: It's easier hahahaha. if you talk with Sammy it's called like that.

Me: It's called like what? Knock Down Crew or Konfesiones? I'm telling you, ha, I saw it in myspace! Anyway, why do you always wear a cap?

Casper: I love caps. I only take it off to rock out, and I hate combing my hair.

Me: I hear ya. You think La Parka is better than me at Street Fighter 4?

Casper: maybe. He's a killer on all that shit.

Me: I know KDC has done a couple tours in the US. Why now the change to one of the coldest places in the whole country?

Casper: Man, long story short. It's cheap living, and we have tons of people we know over here.

Me: Was that "long story short" a "Dirty Work" reference? What do you think about that movie?

Casper: Hahaha. Dirty Work is fucking funny, but I was not doing a reference.

Me: You never answered the question about Sammy. But now, cliche hardcore fanzine question. What are KDC plans now that you relocated to the cold? And if you can explain to me what is the "cold" I am talking about, I'd appreciate it.

Casper: Sammy wanted the band to have generic hc name and he tried changing our acronyms, which ment Konfesiones De Changuiro, so he started promoting it as Knock Down Crew without our consent, and it sucked. A total different approach from what we wanted.

Me: If it was in myspace like that, I take it as official...

Casper: Nope, Sammy had the password. Like I said. No consent.

Me: ok, i hope he reads the interview.

Casper: me too.

(note* WE LOVE SAMMY)

Me: Ha, and about the plans?.

Casper: Just trying to do some touring. More than PR lets us do geografically. It's hard so we decided to move to Buffalo.

Me: Cool. Cafe Yaucono o Starbucks?.

Casper: Yaucono. I don't drink it. I don't really drink coffee, but that's the one my mom used to drink. I guess it goes.

Me: Now this is the end of the interview. Final thoughts.

Casper: always. Listen to Los B. so you can shit hair. If you can catch KDC in a US show do it. I will let you in for free.

He didn't lie about taking his cap off to rock out. This picture is proof.

One More Summer - Discography

2011-01-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Well this is the One More Summer discography. This blog I run, and rarely update has never been known to put any links for downloading records because I usually am not a fan of downloading music. I am not gonna say that I don't do it, cause that would be hypocritical, but I want this blog to be more like an online zine. Anyway I it's my blog, and I will break the rules.

One More Summer started in the summer months of the year 2002, by my friend and brother Felix, and I. But the story really starts some years earlier. Around 1997.

He and I had previously been 2 other bands together, not for a long time. The first one was Espantajo, which was sort of a weird Nu-Metal band, that no one really wanted to play the same style. And ended breaking up after some shows, but actually like 3 years after it's inception. Actually during the time I was in Espantajo, Felix, who played bass decided to quit the band. But asked me if I wanted to play more of a punk rock style similar to MxPx, blink-182 and pennywise. Bands I was really into.

I knew he liked that style of bands, him previously been in the ska-core band Viuda Negra. So we decided to start that "side project". We needed a bassist, and Felix's girlfriend at the time Dennisse was our bassist. We started having some band practices and some really cool songs started popping out. And we decided to add a new guitar player, that's when Josue came into the band. He used to be in this band called Bad Influence. But the whole idea of him traveling a lot for practice kinda didn't work for him. So he quit the band before we even had a show. This band was called Pre-Shrunk, because of a sticker Felix had in his guitar. It looked cool so we named it like that.

Ironically that band's first (and final) show came my senior year of high school, right when I had already decided to go to school in the United States. It was at a environmental rally sponsored by the P.I.P. which our bassist's dad was a part of, and we also agree with their political views so we played. We played with like a peruvian music group, and no one else, at the city square, It was awful, and we only had four songs for a 30 min set. Most awkward show I have ever played.

Anyway, when I came back that december from winter break, me and Felix kept talking about the band, and we wanted to play a more aggressive style. While still keeping some of the old songs. That's when he and I started jamming some of the songs that went on to be One More Summer. We got inspired by bands like Ten Yard Fight, Tropiezo, Stretch Arm Strong, Comeback Kid, H2O and Pennywise. A slightly more melodic side of the hardcore equation. We didn't have a bass player, and Adiel a.k.a. Satan, who sung in Espantajo, also Felix's brother, played bass, so he joined the band. Now we needed a singer.

Originally the plan to have as a singer was going to be Chepi, from the band Kabezudos de Villabajo, and we had talked to him, and he agreed. But as we all know kind of what the mystique of Kabezudos, was that they were famous for not showing up. So that was it, haha. Then we talked to Felix's friend Tommy. Former singer for the band Abortados. We had our first practices and everything went really well, everything took shape. Althought that first batch of songs from the demo I have to add that were songs that Felix and I completely wrote, including lyrics. After that it was Tommy's lyrics (except give and take which I came up with the idea). We were a 4 piece for a while, but our friend Carlos, who also was in Abortados with Tommy came to our practices and shows, and we knew he was a good guitar player, so we asked him to join the band. He did, and it was pretty much the best thing we could have asked for.

Our first show we played in Arecibo, at a weird sports bar with Nothing 2 Face, Deathwosh Bronson, and some other band I dont remember (and I booked that show). It was alright. After that we played our real first westside show with Enaguas de Chavola, and it was great, people liked it, and it was the start of something good. We recorded a demo, and started playing shows, and it was good. We played more shows, and we made lots of friends, some of the friends that we have to this point still.

After I decided to stay full time in the US, so we do not really play shows like we used to, every summer and winter, but whenever I am in the Island, we still play!

Download here!

01 - En El Recuerdo
02 - We're True To This
03 - Luchando
04 - Fake Pride
05 - The Compromise
06 - La Decisión Es Tuya
07 - Together
08 - Give And Take
09 - The Compromise (Versión 2006)

Madball - "Empire"

2010-10-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

01. Invigorate
02. Danger Zone
03. Timeless
04. All Or Nothing
05. Glory Years
06. Empire
07. Shatterproof (feat. Roger Miret)
08. The End
09. Con Fuerza
10. R.A.H.C.
11. Hurt You
12. “Tough Guy”
13. Dark Horse
14. Spider’s Web
15. Delete
16. Rebel4life18

Motherfuckin' Madball. I mean, I will start by saying that if you consider yourself a hardcore kid, and you don't like Madball, you pretty much don't like hardcore. Well this is the follow up to 2007's "Inflitrate The System." And I know that about 90% of people thought that that record was sort of a letdown. I thought so, I mean, after seeing them play this year's Black And Blue Bowl, and they played some of the songs live, I thought about giving that record a new try, and well, I have to admit as much as I love Madball with all my heart, the only good songs were the ones they played live. Back to this new record, there's been a lot of buzz. New drummer (in the recording, because we all know how that ended), done with the guy that did Cannibal Corpse stuff, and pretty much since Terror's "Keepers Of The Faith", there are actually high expectations on this particular release.

Well, the first song Invigorate, is actually a pretty legit good track. Way better than any song on the last record, and I really like the words, kind of dissing mainstream music, something which I am all about. The second song is called Danger Zone, not bad, not outstanding, but Big L had a song called Danger Zone so I give them that. A lot of the songs in this record are in my humble opinion good hardcore songs. The lyrics are pretty good, but there's something about it, it doesn't fill me as much as some of the older records (apart from Inflitrate).

There is this song called Shatterproof which features Roger Miret, and man, that song would have been so much better without him, that would have been the track of the record if it wasn't for that.

One thing I really like about this record tho, is that they made two songs in Spanish. And I like this trend they have been doing a Spanish song in every record. I have this conspiracy theory that they want to do a Latin American tour to only play the Spanish songs. I actually think that those two tracks are actually the best ones in the record, regardless of the language, it just happens to be that those are my favorite tracks. (Con Fuerza, Spider's Web). Then there is this song "Tough Guy" which is actually pretty awesome, will say my third favorite. The last song of the record is a really personal song for them, as it is dedicated to Hoya's wife, that passed away. Which is very sad, and my condolences. Sometimes those songs are too personal, and I kind of feel awkward listening to them, but like hardcore is supposed to be, a way to let out the pain.

The lyric writing in this record is really well done by Freddy. It's a very mature record. And it's a very positive album, and the message is always there as usual. I may not put it at the top of their releases, but it is definitely a couple notches above Infiltrate The System, and I would dare to say at-par with Legacy. Only thing that really do not like about the album is the art. And even thought it doesn't (in my opinion) top Keeper's Of The Faith in awesomeness, I will still put this record as top 5 favorite releases this year.

A Great Day For Music

2010-10-14T22:39:00.001-07:00

Today was one of those days, that I just woke up and I had like a feeling I wanted to listen to music, whatever type of music. I just want to discover new stuff, learn some history about it, and also come up with musical ideas, since i am a musician.

I went to my lastfm account, and one of those things I love to do is to just go to a certain artist I like, and just play it's "radio station" to see what comes up. I remember some months back, maybe it even was last year, I came across Leadbelly. Like this type of really early Blues artist, and his biography said the dude spent most of his life in and out of jail. In my opinion, that's pretty fucking hardcore. Straight up hardass, and being a black dude, in the early 1900s wasn't an easy task, so this dude was legit hard. Anyway, I listened to his music again, and got stoked up again on that genre, the old folk, country, blues type deal, which is actually one of my favorite music genres.

Then the relationship of the black people from south, to a lot of these artists, made me decide to check one of the stations of one of the latino's greatest Tito Puente's station. If you are into music, of any kind, and you don't know who Tito Puente is, you pretty much can call it quits. Anyway, I rediscovered a lot of artists I knew about, and even found about some I didn't know, and some I only heard of. And as much as I like old country blues folk, or whatever you wanna call it, Salsa, and latin jazz are just better (at least in my opinion).

This lead me to check out some of the stuff that some of my teachers in school (college) always told me to check. Well, i started with the obvious, John Coltrane. So that led me to re-encounter the name of Miles Davis, one of the most influential jazz music composers-slash-performers. Finally got a chance to listen clearly (not a bad college-ensemble-performance ) of music by Duke Ellington, and got introduced to Thelonius Monk. And that part of the day ruled.

It was already afternoon, and I needed some food, so I went out to eat. After, I met up with couple of my friends, and I wanted to get the new Madball record that came out Tuesday, so we went to the record store. I got the Madball record... looked around, and decided I wanted to get records for a lot of the artists I was listening to earlier, and even trying to find some cheap stuff, just to expand my music library.

These are the things I ended up with:
Madball - "Empire" (will be reviewing it soon)
Miles Davis - "Kind Of Blue"
Sade - "Promise"
Oasis - "Be Here Now"
Leadbelly - "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"
Belle And Sebastian - "Write About Love"

All I have to say is that I am really happy about what I got. It feels like going to History class, but for music.

I love music, that's all I can say.

The Black Pacific - S/T

2010-10-10T21:53:00.000-07:00

01) The System
02) When It's Over
03) Living With Ghosts
04) Time Is Not The Reason
05) Almost Rising
06) Kill Your Idols
07) Defamer
08) Ruinator
09) Put Down Your Weapons
10) No Purpose

For starters, I have to kind of introduce this band to most people. This is the band that Jim Lindberg (original singer for Pennywise) did after he left the band. The other thing about this record, is that Pennywise did stay really active after the departure of Jim, but, for some reason, Jim managed to write a record, and release it before PW did any new stuff. Well, they did announce that they are going to release a new album in 2011 (and I am really intrigued about how that record is going to be like). Anyway, this record came out a few weeks ago, but i was too busy listening to the new Terror that came out the same day, to write a review of this (and give it a good listen).

I actually came across this record by chance. I didn't really know about this band until about like 3 months ago, when I came across an interview in the internerds with Jim, and he talked about the band, and only mentioned the record coming out, not when. Then some weeks later talking to a friend of mine, I mentioned the band to him, and it happened the record was coming out like that very next week, or like even less than a week, so I went and picked it up, as soon as I could. And what I also wanted to see were Jim's guitar skills, since he's usually being just a vocalist for the last 25 years, and have never heard him play guitar, until now.

The record starts with the song The System, which is actually reminiscing of later Pennywise stuff, but rather slower, and a more rock feel, than a hardcore punk one. Melodies are really good throughout the whole record, but once he starts singing, you can see a whole different tone in his voice compared to the last PW records. He sounds like actually pumped to be doing this, rather than just doing it because he has to.

It's full of "whoa parts", and I know some people don't really like these, in the amount, of this record, but I love them, and I think they compliment the music a lot in this specific record.

There are a lot of similarities in the songwriting to what he used to do in PW, but soundwise, it's a lot darker. For example in songs like Almost Rising, you can tell. Sort of heavier, still really melodic, but like said, heavier. Makes me reminisce of 90s grunge bands, or even some of those post hardcore bands like Quicksand (not entirely, but some of the riffs). The songs that you can totally see this mostly for are Kill Your Idols, No Purpose. And I say this in the good way. Because to be honest, when I first heard it, I was kind of dissapointed in this record. It's not one of those records that I liked right away. But the more I listen to it, the more I start to like it. It's kind of addicting, and also makes you want to kind of start a band with that sound, anyway, I have always wanted to start a band like that.

So I have to say give it a listen, and I don't think you'll be dissapointed. One thing I for sure hope is that they tour. I sure wanna see this band live.

Word For Word, Wolf Whistle, Alert, Mongoloids, xRhinocerosx @ The Chop Shop, Framingham, MA

2010-10-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

This is one of those shows, that I just happened to get to, like I would say in Spanish "de chamba". I wanted to go this show, but since a lot of people know me, I don't drive a car. My friend Casper (KDC) now played bass for xRhinocerosx, and I wanted to go to the show, mostly to hang out with him, and to see Word For Word, that I haven't seen live in ages. And good karma was good enough to let me attend this show, which ended being awesome.

I got there just as xRhinocerosx was about to go on. I had heard this band before, on the myspaces, and I always thought they were good, but never really paid much attention to it. That's pretty much it. Anyway, I support my friends and I stayed inside to see them (also cause I like to check out bands live). And I was not disappointed. I was actually pumped, this band's recording doesn't make justice to hows they sound live. A good mix of NYHC-type hardcore (well they're a new york band), but also thrashy, and metally. Which in my opinion is always a good thing. Super tight band, and really bummed I didn't have money to get anything to for a shirt or something. People need to check this band out.

After they played, The Mongoloids took the stage. Honestly I think this band is not that good. They were tight and all that, but I just can't get into this band that much. I like the real Fury Of Five though! I don't take away that they play tight and a lot of kids are into them, but I am not going to say I like a band when I really did not.

Alert was up. I really have been looking forward to see this band for a long time. I was also pumped to know they were playing this, because I had completely forgotten that they were playing this. I keep hearing good stuff about them. Well, honestly, they weren't really tight. But they were good, I think a couple more practices and it would have been awesome. They did cover Fed Up by Judge. But I mean, now that I think about it, it was pretty punk rock of them not practicing. They really did sound as advertised, raw youth crew styled hardcore influenced by the first wave of straight edge bands.

Wolf whistle was the next band on the bill, and I don't have a review for them. Because I didn't catch their set. I was listening to the new KDC EP. Which is fucking awesome, and Casper sounds like the dude from Rise Against (when that dude screams). More news about this record coming up soon.

When I was done listening to the new amazing EP that's going to take the hardcore world by storm, Word For Word was about to go on. Their set is always fun, even when it's not the tightest. They always put on an awesome show. They did cover In Control for me (thank you johnnie, i'll cover 5 yr. plan whenever you ask!) and kids went bezerk as usual.

Other things I liked about this show were the venue, and that I got a copy of a printed Fanzine from the Word For Word merch table. I got so siked that kids are doing fanzines. I got home around midnight, and before I came down to write this, I read half of the zine. I left the other part for tomorrow, when I have to wait at the train station for hours before my train.

And for those deniers and shit talkers inside the scene. Hardcore lives in 2010.

TERROR - "Keepers Of The Faith"

2010-09-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

01. Your Enemies Are Mine
02. Stick Tight
03. Return To Strength
04. The Struggle
05. Shattered
06. You're Caught
07. Dead Wrong
08. Keepers of the Faith
09. Stay Free
10. Hell And Back
11. Only Death
12. The New Blood
13. Defiant

I have to start this way. You ever been in wait for something for so long, and then the moment arrives, and you really don't know what to do? It gives you chills, just to think that the day is here? Well, that's how i felt for pretty much most of 2010 before this record arrived. There is something about the album name that is mystic.

In the last couple years, almost three years, there have been really few records that I have or had been so pumped for. The last Hammer Bros record (Sleep Forever on Arrest Records), the H2O "Something To Prove", and actually Have Heart's "Songs to Scream At the Sun". But from all of these records, there is some aura surrounding this specific release.

Terror has made a couple changes in their lineup since their last record, recruiting Dave (singer for DTN) and a new guitar player Jordan something his last name is (i belive, and was told he was in No Warning, someone correct me if I'm wrong). But the one fact is that Terror has always been a superband. But for some reason, every change this band makes is for the better. And I will say, even though I love the fact that anyone can play hardcore, there is something always about bands that are actually talented in their instruments. So let me first start saying that this record's musicianship is outstanding.

There are few hardcore records that keep you on hook from the first track until the last one. This one is definitely one of those. I was talking to one of my older friends from work, like this 46 year old dude that I got into hardcore, but loves 80s thrash, and he was telling me "the vocals are real hardcore, but the music is metal as fuck". I cannot agree more with him. It's crazy, cause most of the riffs sound like all the 80s thrash bands I like. I could see Anthrax, Sepultura, Metallica, Suicidal, you mention it. I can even close my eyes and picture just a bunch of dudes with long hair headbanging. But even though this is metal as fuck, it's probably the best hardcore record that has come out in the last 6 years or 5 years, or whenever Suicide File's last 7" came out. (Notice I didn't mention H2O's last record, simply because they released albums in the 90s, TSF, and Terror did not).

Lyric wise it's very typical Terror. But at the same time while a lot of times you get tired of the brotherhood/betrayal thing going on, in this record it makes perfect sense. For fucks sake. IT'S NAMED AFTER FUCKING WARZONE AND RAYBEEZ. Stick Tight, one of the heaviest songs in the record is just great. The title track Keepers Of the Faith, one of the best hardcore songs of the decade already, and doubt it will be topped. The riff sounds like Def Leppard if you think about it. My favorite track of the album is New Blood. Pretty much like the text i recieved from my song defines the reason I am into hardcore and love this as much as I do, and why I am the way I am.

Legitimately this record has restored my faith and my convictions. That's all I can really say. Simply outstanding, and I take off my hat to the guys in the band.

I found these on youtbe. remember the copyrights are from century media records and terror

THE NEW BLOOD

So I am going on tour again.

2010-08-12T18:12:00.001-07:00

And I will be posting about the adventures.

Se nos fue uno de los mejores

2010-07-19T17:48:00.001-07:00

Chepi Kabezudo. Que En Paz Descanses.

Gran influencia musical y amigo. Una perdida para el punk de verdad.

Kabezudos por siempre.

Mundo Enfermo

2010-05-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

El mundo esta enfermo y debemos hacer algo por el. Debemos unirnos y curar todo lo malo.

The world is suffering and we have to do something about it. We have to unite, and take care of it.

No Reason Why

2010-05-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

I look at my self
The person in the mirror is asking me...
Asking me why I lie to myself,
What's the meaning of this charade,
Or the reason why.
'Cause no one knows me quite better than I know myself,
But that doesn't stop me from asking myself
The reason why. No reason why
We lie to ourselves or anyone else.
I look inside my life,
'Cause I can see the things that no one else can see
About the real me.
'Cause it's only the outside
You really see. So don't ask me why I keep inside
The things that I choose to hide.
Still it doesn't stop me from asking myself.
It gets me farther behind,
Cheaters never prosper
I've heard that line.
But it keeps me set in my ways
Look me up after you've found out.

This song written my Pennywise. I one of my favorite songs ever. The words are really intense. And I have to say I relate to them.

HC Bowl weekend recap

2010-05-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well, for me the weekend started the Wednesday, when I met up with my man W-lo C. in the train on my way back from work. We get to my house it's already late, but we have good talks. I got some records, and I gave him the Downpresser crewneck. We watched 1/2 of American Ninja 5 when we fell asleep. We had a long day the day after.

We went to see downtown Lowell, and RRR Records where he found a Sade record, and I found Pennywise's "Word from the Wise/Wildcard" on tape and Ratos de Porao "Brasil" also on tape. We went to Boston and Cambridge after that, saw some shops, and talked sneakers and hardcore. Later that night it was Los Bungalitos practice, and then we went to bed cause the next day we headed to NYC.

So yea, we head to NYC train and bus ride mix, it was long due to an unexpected traffic jam in between Hartford and New Haven. We still made it to NYC. There we go to Rony's house where we meet with Juanky YWS (now living in Buffalo), and waited for Apolo and Franco to get from the Airport. After everyone met, we hung out, almost got lost in a bad Brooklyn neighborhood, but made it safe. Later we met with Rafa. Him and I were staying at the Bronx. We get so lost cause of the trains being all screwed up due to weekend schedules and we make it to our destinations past 4am. Next day being the HC Bowl.

The hardcore bowl was awesome. Inciendary was the first band and tore the place down, then h8 inc, great set, but not a lot of kids moved. sand from japan i think was the 3rd, and they were amazing. same with cruel hand. I was waiting all day for h2o and maball and cro-mags, so i was impatient. actually i wanted to see supertouch big time. all of them were amazing, madball being the best set i have ever seen them play. cro-mags were way tighter than last time i saw them too. but objectively (even though they are my favorite band) the best band of the night was h2o.

So sunday came, I went with the kids to do the sneaker hunt, found a couple pairs of Air Force 180s i really wanted, but none my size, and 2 colorways i dont have yet. I was pissed. I didnt find anything sunday, although I had checked the shop near y aunt's and they had a pair of structure 91s i fell in love with. So I came back to the bronx, this time I didnt have no troubles, got there before my aunt, set the alarm off, got scared, took a nap, then woke up when they got there, and my aunt made the best blueberry/strawberry juice i have ever had. We slept.

Monday my last day of the trip. I wanted to go to the Supreme store, cause sunday we went and it was already closed. So I got there, I need to meet up with W-lo before he leaves, so i can give him the money for the ticket of the show. I couldnt meet up, cause he left early, so I told him I was gonna get him JJ Cro mag's book, cause he wanted it, and it was also the same price of the ticket. So I did that (after I got the structure 90s before mentioned). Then went tu supreme, got the hat. Went to brooklyn to give the book to Franco, cause he was still in NYC, to go back to manhattan so i could catch the 1pm bus to boston. Which I made on time. Got a nice asian chicken bbq sandwich that didnt taste like chicken bbq, but it was good. Got back to my house, and slept, and that's the end of my awesome weekend. Cant wait for next year.

Weekend fun

2010-05-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

(different colorway, but the only pic i could find, thnx w-lo c.)

(on vinyl. <3)

(this is the only picture i saw myself in, not my credit, give credit to dan from future breed)

Hammer Bros - "Sleep Forever" EP

2010-04-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hammer FUCKING Bros. Pretty much my favorite MVHC band ever, and pretty much the best MVHC band. They just had a release show for their last EP they are ever putting out called "Sleep Forever". I say last, because they are breaking up later this year, but they wanted to have a last record.

The whole premise of this record was "we're not trying to do a record thinking of certain bands, or influences or anything, let's just play whatever comes to us". And let me tell you this is pretty much the best six songs the Bros have ever done. It is just six songs like I already said, but it's epic, not in length but in sound content.

The songs are a little bit more personal start to finish, instead of more like all around the spectre lyrics. But still the best track is "Sleep Forever". Simply the hardest song. Although in the first track "All I Have Is Lowell" presents Josh Hynes and Josh Long (guitar player and drummer, respectively) on vocals. And let me tell you, they are good singers. They should sing in a band.

Just order this from Arrest Records.

http://www.myspace.com/hammerbros

xxx

Kick Ass

2010-04-18T18:37:00.001-07:00

So I went to see the first movie in opening night that I have seen in forever. I thought the last one I saw like that was Transformers, but I think it was actually Independence Day. That says how much I go to the movies. Or at least care about going to the movie theater.

I really wanted to see this flick, cause I am all about comic books. Funny thing I never read Kick Ass. I just always saw it there like that comic book I'll read later. The movie came out before I read the comic book, so whatever, It's easier to watch it than to read it.

The movie is fucking hilarious. Is that type of movie that's supposed to be funny, yet it has those awkward serious parts where you don't know what to do. Those parts are the ones where the people in the theater get all quiet and awkward, and i laugh at that always.

The plot is a lil' bit different from what I thought it was going to be, but believe me not disappointing. Action parts were amazing, and I liked that it was a 2-hour movie.

I am not going to give spoilers or anything, but if you're into comic books, and one shots, this is gonna be a good movie to watch.

Ryan Lambert says it was better than the comic book. And if that dude says so, I believe him.

It's that time of the year again.

2010-04-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it's springtime. The trees up here in the northeast are starting to bloom again with life. The temperatures rising little by little. People actually enjoy being outside. And it's past March, that means Baseball season is here.

I mean, to me it never ends, because when the Major Leagues stop playing, the Winter Leagues are already under way, or about to start.

So, let's put it straight, the steroid-era of baseball is gone. The game is going through a renaissance, literally, a lot of great young players are coming up. But sadly the number of boricuas in the league is less every year, 21 this year, and we're the 3rd country with more Major Leaguers, when we used to be #1 or #2. It's OK, I think after this year, that's gonna change again.

One of the things I am super stoked on, is that dude Jason Heyward from the Braves. I haven't seen him play a whole game, but I saw that dude take 2 at bats on Opening Day, and it was simply insane. You wouldn't even know that dude was a rookie, the way the pitchers, and everyone looked at him. I mean the mo'fucka hit a Home Run in his first MLB at bat, and kid is only 20 years old. In the last at bat in that game he hit a line drive back at the pitcher and I am pretty sure that ball's seams were ripped after that hit.

This kid is going to be INSANE.

Anyway, Red Sox won the opener against the Bronx Bombers, great game, and then the Yanks beat them twice. Lackey actually looked good. I still don't care about him, and I really don't care about the Red Sox that much. If there are some teams I want to follow this season, they are going to be obviously Oakland, cause they are my boys. The Mets, cause they are my team in the NL. Pittsburgh, cause I always have some respect to that team, and I always root for an underdog. Tampa Bay, simply because they are good. And the Braves, even though I hate them, but Heyward, and my eternal favorite Chipper Jones.

I love baseball. Talk to me about it.

The Best Time Ever

2010-04-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

As usual, I always say I'm gonna keep up with this blog, and I do the total opposite. I have been saying I am gonna make this post every single day now for over a month and a half. I guess it's time for me to just do it.

As most of you know, like about a month and a half ago I went on an adventure. And little I knew it was gonna literally gonna have the impact it did. I went to Philadelphia and NYC for the H2O 15th Anniversary shows. I mean, they are pretty much my favorite band, and are the only one band of my Holy Trinity (H2O, Lifetime, Pennywise) that I have a tattoo of.

I mean, just to get there it was a whole new thing for me. I had to go to Philadelphia, a city I had always wanted to visit, relatively near to where I live, and I never had gone before. I left super early, just cause I know I had to take a Bus from NYC to Philly, and I had to find it. I called my friend Rachel, who was letting me crash at her place for a couple days (I headed down the day before the show, because wanted to try Geno's and Pat's steaks). Thank you so much for that, I really appreciate it. Well back to the story. I had never taken a Bus from NYC to Philly, or any place that wasn't Boston, so I had to find this. I found how to get there, and at the same time I unlocked so many parts of NYC I had never seen.

Well. I get to Philly at night, and I hung out with Rae for a bit, cause she had to go to bed, because she worked in the morning. I met with Galdo2Face and Nelson Perro, 2 of my buddies from the PRHC days. They were also coming for the show, but only the Philly one. So we hung out, ate more cheesesteaks, and saw the city, which was actually way smaller than I thought, at least the Central City area. The show time came, and I can already feel the adrenaline starting to pump through my veins.

We get there, and we're so stoked to see one of our favorite bands, like I said my favorite band, and we want to get to meet them, after all it's all hardcore, and it's all a community, and I don't doubt we're not to. So we're in. We saw the bassist for the band, and we ask him if we can go meet the band, because we came from Puerto Rico, cause it'll mean the world, so he says yea, but after the show. I mean, I reside now in Lowell, but I don't consider myself "from here". I am from the Island no matter when and where. Although, I also travel to the Island often enough to say I am 1/2, and 1/2, maybe not in the past year because of money issues, but you know what I mean. And after the mission I took from Lowell to Philly, it was more difficult than pretty much anyone in attendance. straight up.

So yea, they show starts, as usual, I go bezerker. I only go all out for like 5 bands. They are, Down To Nothing, Madball, Hammer Bros, Forfeit, and obviously H2O. So yea. I was the happiest dude. (Sorry, Efren, I didn't call you cause I was too busy stagediving.) Well, they played Sacred Heart, which that song is one of my favorite jams, and I went up front, and Toby grabbed my hat and wore it, I have to admit, at first, I thought I had lost it. But I looked up and it was on Toby's head, haha. Funny shit.

After the show, we're waiting for the bassist to get us to meet the band. It takes a while, and we're losing hope, but then he came, and they let us in. I finally got to meet pretty much a guy whose lyrics and music shaped my life, and I was super stoked. First thing I did was to show my FTTW tattoo, and then introduced myself. I don't think I'll ever forget that moment. Then we took a picture with the band and Galdo and Nelson. Then went home, haha. I had to rest for the trip the next day.

I woke up, hung out with Rae, then I had to go to NYC again. Got to the venue right on time. Saw Owen, my main man, and partner in crime, who I hadn't seen in like a year! We have done crazy stuff to see H2O in the past, and remember going to NYC once on a Chinatown bus singin the whole FTTW out loud the whole ride (in order of trackisting). Show was awesome, slightly different setlist from the night before. End of show, went to BK to Rony Noid's place. I also did a testimonial for www.onelifeonechance.com with my pretty awful accent and all.

I literally got the last ticket for the small show in BK, right at the door. Best time ever. The thing I will never forget is the handshake I got right when the band came on stage! I stagedove maybe an amount of 70 times. hahaha. I got hurt, and I don't care. One of my co-workers thinks I am old to be doing that, and as much as I like the dude (he's a good dude legit), he can fuck the fuck off. This is the life I chose, just like the song says, so dont pass judgment on me. True.

Anyway, that weekend was literally the best of my life. It's not everyday you get to see your favorite band ever, let alone see them 3 days in a row, plus get to meet them. And sort of start a friendship.

Anyway, Since I started playing music, it's been my goal to leave an impact in someone's life, wether it's writing a musical riff, a drumfill, or words that will inspire someone to do exactly what I did that weekend. I really don't know what I would be doing if it wasn't for hardcore music, and honestly if I never found about H2O. I would probably be a "normal" person, and it is not bad. But definitely not what I want. I am different, and I know it. I don't have to be just like everyone else, but I can still make an impact, or change the world, whether if it's with a song, or with what I do everyday, or with a talk with one of my friends.

This verse pretty much sums it all up:

"Again and again through time I see - day by day
I'm going through changes to find what's best for me - day by day
I know where I am and I know where I'm from
So I got to face the future and take it as it comes"

Haha, song name it's also the name of my main man Ema's band. Day By Day, which by the way are an amazing band. :)

P.S. thank W-lo for finally pushing me out of hiatus on this blog. And check his blog, which is really interesting here.

Hammer Bros, Swamp Thing, Backtrack, Downpresser, etc. @ Anchor's Up!

2010-01-13T22:07:00.000-08:00

I feel like I am back in action. I have been to 2 shows in less than a month, and I don't happen to play these shows. I am siked. haha... Anyway same as the last show @ Anchor's Up, I really wanted to come to this show, and for the first time in a long ass time I didn't have to request a day off to go to a show that I wasn't playing which ruled. Saw kids from the valley back from tour which is awesome, and a lot more people than I thought for a wednesday night show on a schoolnight. A lot of young kids, and kids that are legit into the core which to me is awesome. Keeping it alive in 2010.

DEAD END PATH: I have to say, I did not make the show on time. I did get to see like two or three songs by this band. Which is good. I mean this band is that type of band that I would like to see live, but I wouldn't really listen to their record at home. One thing I have to say is that they listen to Madball and Bulldoze. Which isn't a bad thing.

THE NASTY: New Hampshire kids, feat Tim. Great dude, great band. It's fast as fuck, and they have a good drummer for the type of hardcore they play. It's weird cause I have a friend that called me during the show and I told him about this band and the way to describe it is like they play an american styled Tropiezo hardcore. They have those breakdowns that make me think of Boston area bands with that weird half step down on the bass part of the breakdown. They got a good response, and they have a record out on Arrest Records. Pick it up.

DOWNPRESSER: If I said I really needed to see this show, it was because of this band. They had an amazing set. It was pretty much what I was expecting. And a thing that surprised me even more was that a lot of kids were singing along. Which is awesome, the valley kids always representin' haha. They are like a mix of Machine Head in the Burn Your Eyes era with awesome hardcore. Hard as fuck. They pretty much stole the show in my opinion.

(*Insert me rocking out hard to Merauder on the house PA system*)

BACKTRACK: The last time I saw this band was last year at the NYC Hardcore Bowl (I can't say super before bowl, cause of legality problems, haha). Anyway they were awesome at that show. I was really pumped to see them tonight, another of the reasons I wanted to make the show. Totally tight. It pretty much reminded me of every awesome NYHC band. Like my friend Mike told me after their set. "The only problem with Backtrack is that they're not actually Madball". Agreed, Mike.

SWAMP THING: Never really paid attention to this band. They were like that "extra" band on the bill for me. And they totally took the idea I had for my band to open with Among The Living by Anthrax. Although they only played the intro. I want to play the whole song. They were actually better than I thought.

HAMMER BROS: They never disappoint and always deliver. Amazing set, and it was their first show since they went to Cali to tour with Downpresser. They played My Playground, from the demo days. Kids went insane, but it was mostly the "older" kids destroying the place up. They're recording their last EP next week. And it bums me out. They're pretty much the Valley's band. God, I love them.

New Year show @ Anchor's Up

2010-01-06T19:53:00.001-08:00

I know it's like almost a week late, but I have to do this. I ate the shit, and forgot to do a review for this show. The whole premise of this show was that I had to go, no matter what. I managed to get there, in a snowstorm, right from work. I love hardcore, haha.

Naysayer. They opened the show. Awesome seeing this band every time, they get better and better. They are like a type of what i'd call a NYHC styled band with some weird but awesome vocals. I may be totally wrong, but the vocals always make me think of Obituary. Not because he sounds like the dude from Obituary but for some weird reason I think of Obituary in the "World Demise" era. I was hoping them to cover Madball, which they didn't but they still played an awesome set. And very humble kids.

Forfeit. One of the reasons I really wanted to go to this show big time. I love Forfeit. They played a set that was a lot of the newer stuff which I am not familiar due to me only having the first 7". I wanted to buy the new stuff, but I don't have a record player, and they didn't have it on CD. Only thing, Ben has to keep timing a lil' better. The Merauder-esque song they played...FUCKING AWESOME.

Cruel Hand. Like three weeks ago, my band played a show with Cruel Hand. I remember seeing them all the time before the "Prying Hands" came out, even before the first full length. It was awesome. Since then they have become more metal, but in an awesome way. They had an amazing set at that show we played, but it wasn't really a hardcore show. I knew this band had gotten big. I didn't know they were this big. Still, I think they deserve the hype. The only thing I didn't like about their set was that the vocals were too loud, and the music rather quiet for even the venue it was.

Down To Nothing. I mean. I had been waiting to see them for like 2 years now. Last time they came around was in the Earth Crisis tour, and I didn't go to that one. The first MA show DTN played and I didn't go. Their set was amazing, super psyched to be there all the kids were going bezerk including myself that came out of mosh retirement only for the night. They played a lot of the songs I was expecting them too. They even played one out of the 50 Lions split. So it was a very solid set. Almost a week later, still happy.

Trapped Under Ice. I keep hearing about this band. I remember my old roomate Tyler being in love with this band and playing them out of his record player non-stop. I don't remember much of the sound. Reminded me of like another band like Guns Up! but better. I liked Guns Up! so I liked this better. That being said, me and my former roomate don't like together anymore so I don't listen to this band anymore, the fact is that I don't remember how they were like, apart from what I remember saying about them. So I was ready to give them another listen. I mean, they were good, but I got bored in their set. Maybe is because I was too happy to just have seen DTN, one of my favorite bands, and then seeing a band that I really don't know after them. I am just going to give them more tries, because W-lo told me they were good, and I usually agree with him when it comes to music. For now, I'll give them a C.

The Beginning Of A New Decade...

2010-01-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

So the 00's are done...

Here come the 10's... how do we call them? "The Teens?"... I don't know, to me it's just a weird way to call a decade. "The Tens" sounds better, it's still weird...

Well, anyway, another day, another week, another month, another year, another decade... think about it. It's something pretty intense when you actually give a thought to it.

So far, in the third day of this new decade, everything seems pretty good. I mean, it's snowed every single day of this decade over here, haha. Anyway, I am doing quite well. A sore throat from singin' along to songs at hardcore shows, that now that i calculate, i have been going to these activities for more than a decade. In 1997 was my first show, I know it was that year, because it was the year my sister graduated high school.

That makes it around 13 years, that's quite more for what people spend in hardcore, a lot thought it was just a phase, i was gonna get tired of it, and go be just another anybody. I am not just your average person. I am different, I am not like the rest. I may be pretty similar to all those I spend a lot of time with, but I don't feel I am "normal". Do I care? Actually, I couldn't give 2 fucks. I am actually proud of it. All the things I've come to know, who I am now, all the places I've been. It's all been a gift from being different and people that relate. That's what hardcore is about. Still alive and thriving, 30 years after it's "official" conception. I look back and 1990 is 20 years ago. I still remember writing dates in my notebook that said 1990. It was 1st grade. I've grown quite a while since then.

The 90's took my friend Julio way before his time. The 00's took my dog, the best friend I ever had, and my grandfather. I miss all three, still to this day, although I actually feel bad for saying this, but I miss my dog more than I miss my friend Julio. I mean, I was in 4th grade, I spent not as much time with him as I did with my puppy, or my gramps. I still don't like to show my feelings at all. I still keep a lot to myself, even when my friends tell me a lot. I guess I have to be strong for everyone. I can't show no weakness, or sadness. I leave it all in song, and blood, and ink on my skin. Be it happiness or sadness. Be it the way I choose to live my life. Be it what I want people to see me like.

Still, I have to say. I am happy. All I have, is all I need. Could I have more? Yes, there's always that which I have on my right wrist that I need. Afraid of it, maybe. Maybe it's not my time. Maybe I don't care. Make your own judgment about it. Am I hurt from leaving all my pain, sorrow, happiness, sadness, stress on the dance floor. This is the only thing I know. And if the night of January 2nd of the year 2010 is a sign of what it's coming. I am more than happy.

I may love you. I may hate you. But remember this is who I am, and this is the only thing i know...

When you meet your past once again. And it rules.

2009-12-10T21:42:00.000-08:00

One of those things I have always liked since I was a kid was cartoons. I mean, who doesn't like cartoons as a kid? But one thing, I loved japanimation, anime, japanese cartoons, however you wanna call it. As mostly everyone around my age, and where I grew up. The one's you had to know if you were a boy were Dragonball Z, Pokemon, and Sailor Moon (if you were a girl) . Not gonna lie, but Pokemon was fucking sweet (and it's still uber sweet).

Anyway, I remember when I started getting into comic books, some of my friends were really into the whole Anime thing. I wasn't like totally in love as a hardcore nerd, but I definitely loved the art, and the action, not to mention the plot lines. I mean, I love Tom and Jerry, the same I love the Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons, but, I love things that are more complex and long. Something that will leave you in suspense for a whole weekend.

Remember when Cartoon Network started doing Toonami? Well, I for certainly do. And I did watch Sailor Moon, haha. Anyway, when they started airing the Gundam Series, I was psyched. I watched every single episode of Gundam Wing, and if I wasn't going to be home because of baseball or basketball practice, I would leave the VHS to record it. Or simply stay awake until midnight to catch on the episode. This series became my favorite Anime of all time. And one of those parts of my childhood I love the most, and remember the most. (Note to self: I usually don't like kids, but I admit I was a pretty cool one, haha.)

So last night, I was reminiscing, and at the same time trying to look for something to do, since I was off the next day. I remembered watching Naruto pretty much all the way to the current episodes on youtube, and I do recall watching the Gundam W. movie there (thing I never found again). So I searched for it, and found the first 25 episodes. The cool thing is that I noticed the last one was just uploaded not even 24 hours ago (that is from me writing this entry).

The whole deal is that I spent pretty much all of last night and day today watching the 25 episodes. And I am still excited about it as I was then. I have to admit w that when I first watched the series, my English wasn't as good as it is these days (still isn't great, but it's better than then). I did not understand a lot of things. So a second run through the series made it even more interesting than the first time. I have to say that I really want the whole series in a box set so I can watch it anytime. As well as the movie, which is amazing. I just hope this dude puts those other 25 episodes pretty soon, because I am going crazy already.

Just search it on youtube if you wanna see it. I am not gonna bother putting up links here. Over and out.

So... I decided to do an artsy entry

2009-12-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

Yes. I mean, I have nothing against artsy stuff, I actually enjoy art a lot, did it in high school to the point people thought I was gonna be an art teacher if not a pro baseball player (everyone thought music was just a phase). So anyway, since it's winter, and this pictures i took in wintertime, if I'm not mistaken in early 2008. Plus I took this with the camera I got for my birthday then, it's not like a pro camera, it's the stereotypical camera you buy, so it's not like awesome quality. So here they are:

This, I recall taking in the morning while on my way to work right after a snowstorm.

This was right after that, like looking in my perspective, by the Lilley Ave. Bridge, coming from Centerville towards the LeLacheur Park.

This is the canal, by Thorndike St.. Next to where that new Dunkin's is at. Before it was there.

On the way back from work. By the Textile museum. Thorndike St. This is like 4:30pm. I hate the winter sunsets.

At the same spot where I took the first picture. Just wanted to show how different it looks from daytime to night time.

Mean Season video.

2009-12-02T22:50:00.000-08:00

Well, it all goes like this. Me and my boy Casper have been chattin' it online for the last like 3 or 4 hours. We're like talking about bands and stuff like that. Like recommending bands to each other. So as usual, i went on a tangent and sent him a link to a picture of the girl that sang for Gather (I think she's cute). I don't really listen to Gather a lot. I do every once in a while. After seeing that picture, and listening to a lot of Earth Crisis, I decided it was time to listen to Gather. Anyway, this isn't about that band. The whole thing is that the picture I showed my buddy of her, she was wearing a Mean Season shirt. And man, I love that band. Checkers recommended that band to me a while back.

So in the conversation we were having, I asked Casper if he knew that band, he said no, so I went and found their Myspace page so he could check the couple songs they have there. When I hit the search button, I see this video that says "MEAN SEASON - Lesser Man" one of their songs. Straight up honest. I love this band, but I am not a nerd about this band. Like most bands that are not Lifetime, Pennywise, H2O, Madball, and Sepultura, I barely know the words for any of the songs. I do listen to them a lot, but what I mean to say is that I am not a Mean Season nerd. So I didn't know they had a video for "Lesser Man". Anyway, I decided to post it here. 'Cause I am a good dude.

Mean Season "Lesser Man"

NewAgeRecords.com | MySpace Music Videos

My Mom Sent Me Carrot Cake via Express Mail

2009-11-29T20:38:00.000-08:00

So the other week I was talking to my old lady. I love that lady, anyway, I was telling her how awesome is her carrot cake, and that it is one of my favorite things ever. So yea, couple weeks later I get a call from my mom in the morning, and she asks me what I was doing the next day. I said that I had the day off, so pretty much I was gonna take care of some stuff, you know. Things I needed to get done. She goes, "Well around 10 in the morning you're going to get a carrot cake I sent you." I got psyched. I live carrot cake, specially if it is my mom's.

Next morning: I set my alarm for 9:45. I really despise waking up early on my day off, but this time it was different. I had a mission to get that cake. So yeah, every five minutes after my alarm went off, I would go downstairs to see if I got it. Around 10:40 I went down again. No luck. I come upstairs, sit on my bed, and right then my roomate yells at me "you got a package". Well, it was the cake.

I ate it. And it was awesome. Best carrot cake in the world. And let me tell you this. I am not saying this because my mom made it. I am saying it because it is the truth. Many try to do it like her. No one can. I love my mom.

I love Rag Men

2009-11-24T17:29:00.001-08:00

Well, I do love that band. I am psyched that I now have the album in both Vinyl, and Compact Disc (not to mention I also downloaded the mp3, so that would make it 3 formats). Anyway, this band sort of remained a very obscure band during the mid 00's. Which is really weird, because it was supposed to be sort of a Superband of those, since it featured members of really sick bands i.e. Madball, Merauder, Terror... I just don't get why a lot of people actually hated on this band. One thing for sure, every single year when I go to the Black And Blue Bowl (formerly known as Superbowl Of Hardcore), I am hoping for Rag Men to be the special guests. It happens every single year.

This album, is a reminiscent album of pretty much what would be a combination in a blender of Madball, and Merauder. You can see it in tracks like My World and Obstacles (a song which I really dig the lyrics). When I say it sounds like Madball, it's not Madball in the Henderson era, but Madball after the 2002 comeback with Mitts on guitar. Which is obvious, since he's the guitar player in Rag Men. One of the best things about this band is the Sepultura cover they do. If you know me, you know that I worship 5 bands, and one of those is Sepultura.

Some of you know, but some don't, that Jorge Merauder, actually tried out to be in Sepultura when Max Cavalera left the band. We all know the outcome of that. And I have to say, I love Sepultura without Max. Obviously not as much as I love old Sepul, but yea. One thing that keeps popping into my mind is what if Jorge actually got the Sepultura job. It would have definitely changed the whole metal and hardcore scene in Puerto Rico from 98 to a new direction. Since Jorge is Puerto Rican, to see a dude from the Island (or let's say, descendant) in such a huge metal band that does not sound like Poison.

Anyway this record, even though it's their only release ever. I keep hearing rumors, from people in and outside the band, that they are going to record a new album. I know Madball is still touring all the time around the world, and Merauder is pretty much back on track (with a new fucking awesome record), so that gives Jorge, and Mitts less time. But I know that Rig Ross and Buske are pretty much with no band (as far as I know). Although I saw Rig Ross is playing with Skarhead these days, which I fully approve of. So I see it more like rumors than facts. But I do wish this happens.

W-lo this pic is for you. Thanks so much. Bring back puntodenoretorno.

Halloween Playlist

2009-10-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

So in Halloween I usually try to stay away from the Misfits in my playlist. It doesn't mean that I don't like the Misfits. But since it's too obvious, I usually try to go for something different. So this is my playlist so far for the day. As far as I can remember:

AFI - Black Sails In The Sunset
Belphegor - Necrodaemon Terrorsathan
Congress - Blackened Persistance
Morbid Angel - Covenant
Integrity - Those Who Fear Tomorrow
Immortal - Sons Of Northern Darkness
Samhain - November-Coming-Fire
Brujeria - Brujerizmo

It wasn't a long playlist like I would've love to. But I spent pretty much all my afternoon, and early night going to work, working, and comiing back. hahaha. But it's a pretty halloween playlist none the less.

Rag Men listening party with my mom in the living room

2009-10-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

So as some of you may know, i have not been keeping up with the blog as I usually did. Anyway, this last summer, in between July and August, I visited Puerto Rico, for the first time in a couple years. I obviously went to visit my family and friends, but also the usual visit to play some gigs with my band(s). So yea. I did get a new pair of Vans Classics, which I only bought to skateboard since my old skating shoes were too destroyed and had no grip. And a couple other experiences.

As usual, me and my boy W-Lo exchanged some stuff. I still owe him the Nike SKU book, which i thought was smaller than it is, because that thing as almost as big as my suitcase, haha. So yea. One of the things I got was the Rag Men 12". God damn, I love that band. And I also had lost my CD copy of this which i got pretty much when that album came out some years back. I can't remember how long ago was this exactly.

The story of this was, I went to San Juan to drop the last 2 of my Los Bungalito's bandmates at the airport, and to also go to Old San Juan to take some pics and stuff. After I went to hang out with some of my friends, because I was departing the next day. When I meet W-lo... motherfucker gave me a gift, and it was Rag Men's 12". I really don't know how did he find this, but damn, it's the coolest thing I have gotten in a while (actually, maybe since I got my Olympic Nike Air Force 180's in NYC, April '08).

So yea, I have to say, this review of how I listened to the album for the first time in years, is actually by petition of master W-lo.

It was around 9pm. Obviously the night before I left. I go and put my new record on the turntable that's in the living room. (Note, the turntable in my room wasnt working well.) So yea. I start playing the record and My World comes in, and I start losing it. So I go up to my mom, she's in her room watching some soap operas or whatever she watches, and I make her come to the living room, and I pretty much made her listen to the whole album with me. And I know she must have hated it, but i was siked. I think I actually played it twice, I can't remember properly.

About the other records I got while I was down there, was a very old copy of Dead Kenedy's "Give Me Convenience, Or Give Me Death", and The Misfits' "Die, My Darling" from W-lo. I bought two 7 Seconds records. I got a copy of "The Crew" and a copy of "New Wind". All 5 records great. I think I have a picture.

Outstanding Split Albums

2009-05-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking about split albums. In hardcore and punk, it is a very common thing to see, bands doing split albums, pretty much collaborating in exposing their music.

There are a lot of split albums out there, but most of the time, these go forgotten pretty quickly. But there are always those that still remain over there as famous, or notorious splits. Sometimes bands release their best songs in some of these, or simply some are that good, that they become well known.

I am gonna mention some of the ones I really enjoy, and like listening to a lot. Not saying these are the best ever, because to be honest i don't own a lot of split records.

The Suicide File/Hope Conspiracy split "Dead Man's hand #1"

This was the first of the Dead Man's Hand series that Deathwish Inc. was releasing back in the early 00's (which actually the 4th one never came out). Anyway, this split has only 3 songs. Two Suicide File songs, and one Hope Con. Probably the best Hope Con song I ever heard, and some of the best songs by the Suicide File. This is the first time you hear the song "Ashcroft" by Suicide File. I mean, I really love this one because at that point they were pretty much my favorite hardcore band.

The Bouncing Souls/Anti-Flag split

This one came also in a pretty good era of splits. This was when BYO was releasing splits with awesome bands, for example the NOFX/Rancid, Hot Water Music/Leatherface splits also came out during this time. But this one for some reason is the one I really loved from these series. Although I admit I haven't heard the HWM/Leatherface yet (and I really want to). Both bands in this split do covers of each other, and Bouncing Souls is so outstanding that they play Anti-Flag songs better than Anti-Flag themselves.

Tropiezo/La Armada Roja "Mal Caribe"

This is probably one of my favorite split albums all time. Tropiezo, one of the best hardcore bands in Puerto Rico, and La Armada Roja, Dominican Republic's best band by far doing a split together. I still remember when my friend Javi introduced everyone in PR to La Armada (although other people claim it was them). They took the Island by storm on their first P.R. tour. La Armada's songs in this album kinda remind me of like Sick Of It All meets DRI. It's fucking insane. And Tropiezo up to this point never failed to deliver. Still listen to this one in a regular basis.

Terror/Ringworm "Dead Man's Hand #2"

This is the second in the Dead Man's Hand series. This one marked the return of Ringworm, when everybody pretty much thought that Ringworm was dead. I mean, they did use the same songs of this split for the next album, same with Terror, but I remember I was waiting for this one to come out like no one's business. I have an orange copy, and I dont really care about "collector's vinyl" but this one was just sick looking. I don't listen to this more often, for 2 reasons. One: I don't own a record player right now. Two: My copy of this one is in Puerto Rico, almost 3,000 miles (almost 6000 Km) away from me.

Juventud Crasa/La Experiencia "No Funciona/Precios Bajos"

One of the first split albums I ever got. Two of my favorite punk bands growing up. This is one of those records that almost everyone that's involved in punk or hardcore in Puerto Rico, you know of this record, even if no one ever mentions it, everyone listens to these two bands in a regular basis. The songs from La Experiencia in this recording happen to be even older from the one's in their first album. But they still own. La Experiencia is pretty much the band that got me into punk and hardcore from Spain, but also introduced me to the whole world of hardcore and punk in Puerto Rico. I really get bummed out these guys don't play as much anymore, but they are amazing. And this album owns. For some reason I don't have this in my Ipod, but am going to get on this A.S.A.P.

EN MI DEFENSA / AGAINST ALL MY FEARS CHILE TOUR

2009-04-21T21:36:00.001-07:00

Two of Chile's best bands are going to be doing a 5 day tour in 5 different cities of the South-American country. This is the first time these two bands get together to tour different parts of the country. So if you live in that area, and happen to read this blog. You better make it to one of these shows. If not, just go to all of them!

MAINTAIN, OUTRAGE, UNRESTRAINED, REIGNITION @ Burlington, VT

2009-04-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it took me like 3 days to finally put this one up, but I have been busy. Anyway, this show was fucking awesome. There were a lot of problems, because from what I recall, this show was originally supposed to be at 242 Main. Which is this little club there that always holds shows. I've played there a couple times before. Anyway. The next place it was supposed to be at, was at one of the Unrestrained dude's basement. But then there was a noise complaint before the show even started. So It got moved to like this office space in "Downtown" Burlington. I always thought Vermont shows were sort of weird and awkward. But I think it was the bigger spaces that make them awkward. At a small venue. They can be rather fun!

Reignition:
This is a Pennsylvania up and coming band. They are sort of that band trying to go for the Mid90s sound. They were good, but the only thing I found about this band, which is not a bad thing, is that they are still trying to find their sound. So they have potential. I heard some of the stuff on their myspace like a week or 2 before the show and was quite impressed. But yea, they are still looking for their particular sound.

Unrestrained:
I am gonna say it straight. I used to hate this band. I thought they were horrible, but they made the exact changes I always thought about when I saw them. "Change your drummer please!". And now they sound amazing. I was really impressed with their set. Another thing is that the singer at least didn't spend 3 hours after every song saying the same thin of every show. He actually said cool stuff that night, and wasn't like saying it too much. Although, I do not agree in everything that he said.

Outrage:
I always liked this band. But I never could really see them play a whole set. They completely blew me away. The new songs are ill as fuck. Simple, heavy, awesome. Definitely this band is gonna be the next big thing. Mark my words. They are going to be touring non-stop this summer, and that will just make them better, tighter, and people will get so into them. It's gonna be insane.

Maintain:
We just had the best show we've played as a band. It was fun, and the crowd was fun. I need to fix my snare drum.

Sepultura "Roots" vs. Sepultura "Against" vs. Soulfly "Soulfly"

2009-04-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Ok. I have been listening to this albums recently. Although I know a lot of poeple that consider the Sepultura after Derrick Green joined on vocals, some sort of "It all went downhill from there" thing. Plus they are the 3 albums that marked that point from where they were 2 different bands now.

I have to completely disagree. Let's take a good look at these 3 albums. So this is my analysis about why Against is a way better album than both Roots and Soulfly.

Roots, is the last Sepultura release featuring Max Cavalera on vocals.

Against, is the first Sepultura release featuring Derrick Green on vocals.

Soulfly (also called self-titled) is the first Soulfly release from Max Cavalera's band after leaving Sepultura.

The thing is simply this. When you listen to Either Roots or Soulfly (2 albums I really love, don't get me wrong), you sometimes find that you want to skip through certain parts. For example in Roots, I still don't know anyone that listens to that song "Lookaway", which features dudes from Korn. What the fuck?! Same thing in Soulfly, even though it's a good idea, but really bad execution is that song "Soulfly", which they try to keep putting in every release just like adding a Roman numeral after. At the same time, Max just has way too many guest vocalists. Including Fred Dust. That's really low, although I really like his part. It's like a guilty pleasure.

In Roots another thing that you find is a lot of those instrumentals, that later Max started using a lot with Soulfly. There's two songs that I think would be so much better if they didn't add some stupid "tribal" bridge. Like the songs Ambush, also Endangered Species. Those fucking songs are fucking amazing. But then you have like a 2 minute "tribal" interlude in between that makes you want to kill the band because they managed to ruin some of the best riffs they had ever done with some stupid "tribal" shit.

Anyway. I don't know if someone agrees, but I see Soulfly pretty much as the continuation of what Max wanted Sepultura to go.

Now. I am going to talk about Against.

Against, pretty much starts with a fucking sick drum intro, the only way Igor Cavalera can do it. Then it jumps right into the title track of the album, which is pretty much a hardcore punk song. And I love that. To be honest I had been waiting all that time for Sepultura to finally show their hardcore punk background. You can hear some little hints in Chaos A.D.'s "Biotech Is Godzilla" but it's a shorter song. The next song "Choke just pretty much unleashes Derrick's vocals, who by the way is one of my favorite singers in hardcore/metal/punk.

This album, obviously had to stay in the "vein" of what Roots was because of the obvious change in the band, so they needed to prove they could continue doing that. At least that's what I think. The only difference between this album and the other two mentioned earlier, is that this album is way more thought. You can see that in Soulfly it's pretty much like trying to do something as fast as possible because Max found out that Sepultura had already a new singer. That's why there are some members in the recording that I don't think ever played a live show.

Against tends to flow way better, and better songwriting, and better lyrics. Pretty much they did what they were going to do, instead of trying to come up with stuff in the last minute. But I am not gonna say, that I hate the other two albums, because I don't. I love them. They are just not as good as Against.

One thing. If you like Soulfly, and Roots. Well, the only thing I recommend to do is listen to Against. But listen to them as another band. Don't think of them as Sepultura. Then you will understand what I am saying.

THE EFFORT, OUTRAGE, BRAINDEAD, LATE NITE WARS, MAINTAIN, ALL STAR ME, ROADRAGE @ URI

2009-04-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

Another weekend, another show. This time it was at URI, in the middle of nowhere, Rhode Island. I really don't know how got there, even though it was pretty easy top get there, but this place was literally like in the woods or something. Anyway, because of the lineup, this show was more of a MVHC show than a RIX show. I mean, apart from The Effort, and that band Braindead, it was a Mass show. Even most of the people I remember seeing there were from MA.

Although, I have to admit, this was a special show. The night before this show, Michael, the younger brother for the bassist from my band xBillx passed away. Personally I wouldn't have played the show. But I know xBillx wanted, because hardcore is pretty much everything that takes him away from a lot of shitty stuff in life. I don't blame him. In January '08 we played a show, and I found minutes before we went on, that my grandfather passed away. So I gave my all, and let my rage on that drumset that night, I know somewhere he was watching me, so I played my best for him.

Roadrage:
Well, I was on my way to the show, because of work schedule, while they played, so I pretty much missed their set. I hope they played well. I know Briggs played with them, even though he arrived from Seattle that morning from being on tour with Have Heart. Anyway, this band grows on me everyday. I can't wait for the May 7th show (I think they are playing, if not, to the next time I see them).

All Star Me:
I got to the show right like in the middle of their set. To my surprise and amusement, they were covering Carousel by Blink-182. Actually, that is my favorite Blink song, so I wanted to go nuts and sing it, but everyone was doing the stand still dance, and it was sort of awkward, so I didn't do it. I don't really know their songs, but they play pretty well. But it doesn't matter what people say, in my opinion, they are not in the "vein of Saves the Day". Even because of them being names after an alright Saves The Day song.

Maintain:
We played a very emotional set, because of the before mentioned situation. We kept it short. But I thought we played alright. We did cover Unbroken, because we know how xBillx loves Unbroken, so we played it, so he could let it all out.

Late Nite Wars:
This band, at first, I hated them. Not last night, but before, I mean. They are another band from the MVHC area that is starting to grow on me. Even though they dont play like them that much, it reminds me for some reason to Taking Back Sunday in the "Tell All Your Friends" era. They played a real tight set. And that dude that was supposed to leave the band to be in The Real World, is still around, so I don't know what happened. He may have been kicked out of it or something.

Braindead:
I stayed out the door for them, because I was a little tired. But I did listen to them. They were sort of heavy. I think they were from Pennsylvania. I mean, I listened to it as background music, and stuff. But it wasn't that bad from what I can recall. I am not going to say, they were bad or awesome, because I really didn't see them play, so that's about it.

Outrage:
Right before they played, Jordan from The Effort (he also booked the show), gave a speech. It was a very good speech, actually better than all of The Effort's speeches I have ever heard combined. Anyway, it was about vegetarianism, gay rights, religion, and about his family (who were in attendance). The he sang No Spiritual Surrender by Inside Out. I went crazy, found out I am very out of shape, so I went to the little room next door and took a breath. Outrage played awesome. I like that band, but for some reason, I can't see them play live. I go to their shows, and I always stay outside the door when they play. I just like listen to them. Not even look at the stage. They are intense, and in Checkers' words "Ignorant awesome metalcore."

The Effort:
I love the dudes. Hate the band. So that's my review for them.

I RISE, MAINTAIN, PITFALL, TROUBLEMAKER, BLACK TEETH, FOREIGN OBJECTS @ UMass Amherst

2009-04-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

So last night, we (Maintain) had this show in Amherst, MA. At the UMass down there (notorious for having that awesome Final Four basektball team which included fellow Puerto Ricans, Carmelo Travieso and Edgar Padilla, and a collegiate version of Marcus Camby). Anyway, first I have to say that university is probably the biggest one I have ever seen in my life. So, yea, the show was at this place called the Cape Cod Lounge, which was a bigger version of the UML MPR at Fox Hall. As for the show perse, it was good, despite being a midweek show, in the middle of nowhere with relatively no bigger bands playing.

Black Teeth:
This band was the first band, they jumped into the bill late, because one of the bands that was supposed to play dropped out or something. They were from Illinois, I found out later, but then it made more sense seeing the singer with a White Sox hat. Anyway, this band was really good. Pretty heavy hardcore, even though they didnt play a longer set because they broke some strings they managed to impress me. The drummer is really good. But yea, their set got shortened by equipment failure.

Troublemaker:
From Jersey. I was kinda looking forward to play with this band, not in the sense that I liked them, but more in the sense that I wanted to see what they were about, plus the band name sort of rules. They were totaly different from what I expected. I wasn't that really into them, but they did cover Integrity. No one moved though, cause it was one of those awkward sets. The singer was pretty funny though, and I wanted his Puma jacket. haha.

Pitfall:
I haven't seen Pitfall in the longest time. But they are pretty much super generic hardcore that's sort of cool. With cool heavy parts here and there. They play super tight which is kinda good for bands their style, because too sloppy makes it totally awful, but tight makes it good. I am not a super Pitfall fan, but it's way better than their last band Defiant Hearts (which in my opinion, totally sucked). So yea, they played a really tight set.

Foreign Objects:
This is a band I have never heard of at all. But they had a chick singer, a chick bassist, and a chick guitar player, and a dude drummer. The way he set up his drumset, had me thinking that they were gonna be like one of these super annoying stuck up indie band. But no, they were pretty punk. Not my style of punk I guess. It wasn't bad, but they did bore me. Although I have to say that singer chick was sort of hot. Loved her tattoos. Anyway I lasted like 2 1/2 songs, then went to the back to warm up for our set. I heard they covered Stiff Little Fingers.

Maintain:
From my perspective, we played a good set. Not our best, sort of faster than we usually play, but good. Kids liked it a lot for being our first Western Mass show. Kids loved the Refused "Rather Be Dead" cover.

I Rise:
I seriously haven't seen this band since the day we started recording our full length, and before that, the last time I saw them was like january 2008. So more than a year. I know they had that new record, and I wanted to hear some of those songs. They played them very well. The new drummer is better than the guy that played after I left them (sort of, cause I was in the band just for tour). They seem more slowed down than before. And Alex loves pedals.. They had a good set, all I can say. At this point mostly everyone had left. But it was a good close up set.

I hate college life.

TRAP THEM, FURNACE, THE_NETWORK, HIVESMASHER, MACHINE LANGUAE @ Anchor's Up.

2009-04-08T08:58:00.001-07:00

I went to this show to see my friend's band Hivesmasher. And still, I don't recall the last time I went to a straight up metal show. So for that, I felt a little bit out of place, since I didn't really know a lot of people. Little by little, i started seeing familiar faces. It was a good show, not packed, I thought there was going to be more people, then i realized it was a Tuesday night show. So it made more sense to me after that.

Machine Language:
I still don't know if this is the name of the band, but that's what I think, so I am gonna call them like this. They played a very good set. Very heavy stuff, the drummer was really good, but the only thing I think killed this band's set was that one of the guirar players should revise his tuning. But it wasn't bad apart from that. I am really looking forward to seeing this band again. They said they are recording at Dead Air soon. Then I overheard one of the guys in the band saying it was only going to be one day. Hope they do a lot in that day.

Hivesmasher:
One of the reasons for me going to this show was to see this band. I mean, I have seen them before, and really enjoyed it. Kinda like grind core, and now add some keyboards to the mix. It's weird, because I usually don't like keyboards in bands, but you can't really tell there is a keyboard in this band. They played a good set. But there was this really long-haired metal dude that kept telling one of the guitar players to turn up his amp, and that masked the whole sound of the drumkit. So you couldn't really hear the drums. I think it took a lot away from what the sound would have been.

the_Network:
This is the first time I see this band, I have heard a lot about them in the PRHC board, and seen their cd's at Newbery's and stuff. But from what I noticed, I mean, everyone did, they played a lot of new stuff. So it's very, very heavy stuff. They played a couple old ones, and they were good too. New stuff is different from what I had previously heard, and the drummer is nuts.

Furnace:
The first time I ever heard of this band. Didn't even know they existed. And they blew me away. I just stayed the whole set looking at the drummer play. He was nasty. That's all I can say. I did forget to get their cd, well, I didn't forget. I didn't have the money.

Trap Them:
After all this time, this is the first time I get to hear what this band is all about. I kinda didn't pay attention to them because of the Image that came to my mind when I hear of this band. I mean they played well, lots of blast beats, technical drumming stuff, even though the riffs weren't that technical. Heavy shit. Even though I really, really enjoyed seeing them. After all it was exactly how I pictured them to be like. I mean, lately I have been getting into more metal and bands that style. Maybe I'll download their stuff, becuase it's stuff I like, but don't think I'd actually pay for their stuff. I mean, I would have last night to support the touring band. But I didn't have money.

Above all, it was a good, show. I just think I am like not used to the whole metal show where bands play longer sets, than hardcore bands. But can't wait to see some of these bands again!

Against All My Fears - XVII

2009-04-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

1)Entropía
2)5 Años
3)Infección
4)Cuando
5)Hands, Give, Heart
6)Devoción, Desenfreno, Desilusión
7)The Reject
8)Scusarmi
9)Desesperación

Well. This is Against All My Fears' first LP. They are pretty much a new band. But that doesn't mean, they are rookies. They share members with bands as En Mi Defensa, among others. This LP contains 9 hard as fuck songs. When I mean hard, is not the case as in "Madball Hard". But as in the plain heavy shit that's just cool. It pretty much starts as a crescendo of anger. One thing I like about this band is that this album reminds me of Abhinanda, at the same time it reminds me of Refused, and a lot of those Swedish bands from the 90s. There are some parts where you think the guitars are out of tune, but it's not that. They pretty much found the perfect way to make dissonant chords work in hardcore music. You won't really find a lot of fast parts in this album. But you will find great musicianship. To say, my favorite song in the album is "Devoción, Desenfreno, Desilusión". That songs for some reason makes me want to go on a rampage. In my opinion this is one, if not the best hardcore record I have heard in recent years from anywhere in the world. I thought the new Have Heart was a fucking awesome record. But in my opinion, this one destroys that one to pieces. Well, all I can say are good things. So pretty much listen to this band and album.

http://www.myspace.com/againstallmyfuckingfears

FORFEIT, MAINTAIN, WATCHFIRE, HOME INVASION, AFLICTIONS @ ANCHORS UP

2009-04-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I just got back from this show at Anchors Up! Always a good time. Even though it wasn't a packed house, like I thought it was going to be for a thursday night at Anchors Up! Anyway all the bands did good.

Afflictions:
To be honest it's the first time I ever heard this band. They were not bad, but they really have to work on tuning. I love the drummer for this band. Even though I don't know him. Kid was sick behind that drumset. Just imagine this band being like a heavyer hardcore band sort of new york style, with a drummer that looks like he's in Total Chaos or something like that. They weren't like awesome or something new, but they have potential.

Home Invasion:
I really didn't see this band, because I thought we were going to play after them (Maintain), so I went downstairs and started warming up for my set. So during this band all I did was listen to Sepultura's Arise and air drum to it. Sorry. But in all honesty, from what I heard from downstairs, I don't think I missed anything.

Watchfire:
This is the first time I see watchfire with Dave singin, and man, he makes it look so much more evil and metal. There was something about the other kid in the band that I didn't really like. With Dave, the dude that actually sings in the recordings, well, makes it sound just like the recordings. So they played a goddamn awesome set tonight. And I forgot to get the EP, which I am mad about.

Maintain:
It's my band. So I can't really say anything. All I heard from Behind the drumset was the bass cab. So Whatever. I like that Maintain is that band that everyone is just standing in front of the stage like just staring at us go nuts.

Foreit:
They didn't play as tight as the last time I saw them. But they always get me pumped. I went off for a couple songs, they played some of the new jams, that were exactly as Steve (the singer) was telling me. "Dude is like we're ripping off Morbid Angel, Merauder and Obituary". I mean, I love all those bands. And they actually managed to do a great job with that. Can't wait to see them at the NY Superbowl Of Hardcore.

So....

2009-04-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

Baseball starts in 5 more days.

Stoked.

My picks for this season:

AL:
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees (Wild Card)
Chicago White Sox
Los Angeles Angels

NL:
New York Mets
Chicago Cubs
Los Angeles Dodgers
St. Louis Cardinals (Wild Card)

The Pennant Winners:
Boston Red Sox (AL)
Chicago Cubs (NL)

World Series:
Boston Red Sox

Straight Edge Talk...

2008-11-12T23:51:00.000-08:00

me: Straight Edge Rules.
roomate: what?
me: Straight Edge Rules.
roomate: You mean Straight Fucking Edge?
me: Fuck yea!
roomate: hahahaha
me: I am going to post this on my blog.

The Phillies Win The World Series...

2008-10-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

Well, the Phillies just won the World Series. I can't say I'm either happy or sad, because they're not the team I root for. I mean, i fell happy for Philadelphia, because they finally beat an AL East team in the World Series. But the truth, and my opinion as well, they were not the best team this season. This was a series that I thought all along Tampa Bay was going to pull an ace up the sleeve, but they couldn't manage it, and neither Upton or Longoria had a good series.

Even with them winning, they were not the best team in the leage. In my opinion the way they made the playoffs was pure luck, because the Mets for a second year in a row managed to literally throw the season away. About Tampa Bay, I think they were the team from the Al that was supposed to be there, because they managed to be the Champions of the AL East, which everybody knows is the best division in all of baseball. But they had 4 bad games, and those bad games ended up being the most important games in the history of that franchise.

So, I admit i screwed up my predictions. But that's how baseball is. And that's why I love it.

Down To Nothing/50 Lions Split CD Review

2008-10-02T09:52:00.001-07:00

Well. I have heard the Down to Nothing songs forever, and I love DTN. Anyone that knows me for sure knows that. Anyway, I didn't have a chance to pick this CD up until the other day when I went to the city to buy comic books. I saw it there, so I was like I am going to buy it.

The Down To Nothing songs are in my opinion like the tracks they didn't use for The Most. It's stays in that line. They used the same formula for this, compared to like the little subtle changes in the other releases. My Favorite is Shot Down. That song just pumps me up. But I do have to admit the lirics in Watered Down were kinda weak and generic.

Now coming to that other band 50 Lions. First of all, I have only read about that band, and heard it once in myspace. But from what I heard before. They were just another heavy band, nothing special. That translates to their side of the Split. It's just pretty much generic heavy hardcore, even in a way trying to hard to be like DTN. Something I didn't hear in the other stuff. I mean, it's not bad for what it is, but I just can't dig it as much as the DTN songs.

Although I have to admit that I love the idea of bands from different countries doing split albums. Specially for a band like 50 Lions. Even thought they're not the band I would usually listen to, I know kids that definitely dig that, and that's good for them. Gives exposure to bands from different places, not your usual European or American band. This gives us a taste of what's going on in the Land Down Under.

Sneaker Commercials

2008-09-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

So today i was at work. I was playing basketball in the team sports area because I wanted to, so I started talking about the old Air Jordan Commercials. But I remember my favorite sneaker commercial. Which actually was for a sneaker that I don't really like as much as others, and by the way, I never got. But still, It remains to this day my favorite sneaker commercial.

I also remember I used to call dunks "jordans". That was funny.

South American Hardcore News

2008-08-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well. I just got back from the european tour with my band. So I have been checking online to see new bands, or to find webpages of bands that we played with over in Europe. At the same time, I don't know if most of you know I am a sucker for South American hardcore. And one of my favorite bands from South America is El Eterno Enemigo from Argentina. So the news is that El Eterno Enemigo has called it quits. So they are not a band anymore, and that bums me out a lot.

Anyway, I hope the guys start new projects!

Hamburg Airport

2008-08-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

So, it's been my home for the last day and a half, and now it's about to close yet once again. But this time we'll just wait like 6 hours instead of 30!

Be home in 24 hours, so I am stoked.

Everything went well.

Got some CD's old and new so, once I get back, I am going to do some reviews, and post some links for websites and interviews and all that.

So, later.

Mannheim

2008-08-21T08:04:00.000-07:00

So, I slept. Woke up to the kids Larping, and lighting arrows on fire, and shooting them with crossbows. They were fake arrows, but they did light them on fire. Anyway, we had a good breakfast, we went to a music shop, to the supermarket, and now we're in the city hanging out since it's our last off day on tour. Three more shows then it's time to go home.

But I want to post this for W-lo.

At the show, there was this awesome anarchist distro. But I was looking between all the records, and I saw a cool 4 Walls Falling Euro press record, and I wanted to get a book, but it was all in german. But then all of a sudden, Bill, bassist from my band goes, "Kike, check this out!" When I look at him, he's holding a Sepultura's Arise record on vinyl. Looked pretty old, so I went and asked the dude that ran the place about it. He said, "Yes, that's an original Brazilian pressing from 1991." Anyway, I HAD to get it. So I did. And then I took a picture of me wearing my Arise Shirt, with the Arise record, and the biggest smile you can ever imagine! Since then, the only thing playing in my iPod is that record.

Poland, Germany, Austria, Germany

2008-08-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have not been able to post at all. No way to find internet anywhere.

Well, we went to Poland and it was weird. I was probably the only person in the whole country that wasn't white. But It was OK, the people were nice. We played this huge show in like a huge venue and all that. We were good but we shouldn't have headlined, because Make It Count is a way bigger band, and Sean was still sort of sick. I signed autographs to polish girls and gave away drumsticks to girls. It was funny.

Second show was amazing, at this kid's house in the only nice city in Poland that actually had a highway system. The one of the best shows of tour. We partied hard at the house afterwards. Slept and came back to Germany. We had a show at Stuttgart in Germany where we met the dudes in Masterpiece, which we pretty much join to tour for like 4 days. Great dudes. We played an alright show, sold merch which was good for a sort of alright show.

After that we headed to Salzburg, Austria. That was an amazing show, but Salzburg was like different from what I expected. I thought it was gonna be like super big city, but pretty much looks like San Sebastian in PR, obviously bigger so that it had a tranvia train, but had cool buildings.

We didnt play a show in Vienna, so I wasnt that bummed, because we had a day off in Berthesgaden, which is the place where Hitler used to live when he controlled Germany. We were literally tourists for a day. And I got to live for 1 1/2 days the life of the Alps. We went cliff jumping, and damn, that was a high jump, and even colder water, the coldest water I have ever jumped in. But I got used to it quick. I saw a duck and took a picture of it. Had awesome Bavarian home made food, and it was delicious. There was snow in the Alps and it was the summer. I thought I lost my passport, but i found out it was on my backpack all along.

By the way, before Austria, right after Stuttgart, we went to Munich and I slept at Basti's house, Got the pair of sneakers I had planned, and it was awesome. Saw the English Gardens and all that. Beautiful city. The only bummer that I didn't get to see the Alianz Arena (home of Bayern Munich).

Now we are in Mannheim, I am at the venue, we just played, and all the bands are gonna sleep here, so we're partying. Free internet, from a computer with a keyboard I know how to use.

Mom, I am ok, not sick. Just didn't have internet.
W-lo nice choco honeys in Mannheim. plus I saw some of those K1X brand shoes, and the Rick Apodaca signature.
La Parka. pictures when I get back
Ema. stop being emo.

love.

Berlin

2008-08-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

So we left Sweden finally. And we're back in Germany, once again. I thought we were going to Poland today, but i guess we have 2 days in Germany before Poland. Anyway, the show tonight got cancelled, but we managed to hop on this other show with really really bad metal bands, one from Germany, one from Australia.

We're only going to play a couple songs because Sean's super sick with a very high fever. The typical one day fever, at least we hope. So Chris is going to sing tonight instead of Sean. Really hope Sean feels better later. We told him we'll just do the same thing tomorrow, to let him rest.

Anyway, Berlin is pretty much another New York City, but they speak german here.

For my friend xHectorx who keeps asking for pictures. You have to remember I am posting from internet cafe's, not from my own computer, so I don't have a way of uploading the pictures for now. Don't worry, I'll post them.

Also, the dude with which we stayed in Malmö last night had a Millencolin demo. I took a picture of it. He also had a 59 Times The Pain demo, but I forgot to take a picture of that.

I heard Bernie Mac died, and it was a bummer, another good comedian that dies this year. So yea, nothing really interesting in between last night and today, apart that in Berlin dogs are really well behaved.

To W-lo. No choco sweet swedish girls. But I did see a couple of choco-licious german girls.

Actually one cool thing I saw was that there was a windmill farm in the middle of the sea near Copenhagen, that was in Denmark when we were on our way to the Ferry.

I'll keep updating whenever I get a chance.

Last Night in Sweden

2008-08-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

We just played our second show in Sweden. It went alright, because I saw this really cute girl with nice kicks (sneakers). We talked about sneakers and it was cool because she was the drummer for the first band. Let me add that there are literally no ugly girls in Sweden. Well. Maybe one or two, but that's about it.

The first show we played here was probably the best show I have ever played in my life with any of my bands. Beat the set we played at This Is For You Fest in Florida, and beat Edge Day. Kids were jumping everywhere, singing along, and went bezerk when we played the Refused song. We had the best time ever here. For the next tour we are definitely playing in Sweden again, if not, I am literally thinking about moving here. It's just amazing. By the way we drove in the highway E 20. It's the one from the Millencolin song.

We are in Malmö, Sweden (see that I used the local spelling of the city). This is Zlatan Ibrahimvic's hometown. I got a Sweden National Hockey team scarf and I love it. Anyway, tomorrow we go to Poland for like 3 more days, so we are leaving really early. I have to go because the battery is dying and I wanna post this!

Sweden

2008-08-11T02:24:00.000-07:00

So after the show in Osnabruck we stayed over in the city, but then we left for Hamburg again. We met up with Monique and her sister, and we hung out in the city for a while. Forgot to say, the show in Osnabruck went awesome, and I totally found out Slapshot has not broken up. The owner of the place told me they played there like 2 weeks ago. Anyways, the place was amazing, had a sweet skatepark, and the food they gave us wasn't as good as the one on the second Belgium show, but was good.

Well, anyway, when we went to hamburg, it was weird, because we were walking on the street and all this girls just standing there, and they were hookers. Like to be honest you couldn't tell which girl was a hooker and who wasn't. I ate some KFC, I don't even eat KFC back home, but I needed chicken.

Since the Denmark show got cancelled, and that's why we went to Hamburg instead of Denmark, we had a long drive to Sweden. We were deciding wether to take the ferry or just drive through Denmark and the bridges. We went for the second option. So it was pretty much an overnight drive. The only thing I remember is that we stopped at this gas station somewhere in Denmark and i bought some chocolate milk in a bottle, and it was probably the best thing i have ever had. After that I don't remember a lot, because this was around 4 in the morning. And I tried to sleep right after we went through a bridge near Scandinavia, with me playing some black metal to get in the Scandinavian mood.

I wake up, and we're already in Sweden, which I was bummed out because I wanted to see Copenhagen. But we played some Millencolin. We got to the city we're playing early in the morning and it's like a ghost town. But very beautiful, right next to the ocean and all that, very quiet. I saw 2 black people, so I felt i wasn't the only minority in this area. Everyone is really tall and blonde, but yea. We are playing one more show in Sweden tomorrow, then the next day is back to Germany, this time by ferry.

We're at this nerd place that's a gaming place and kids playing like World Of Warcraft. But they don't use Euros in Sweden even though it'd part of the European Union. The keyboards actually are the most similar to the USA ones, except ont lil' thing here and there, but I can type really easy. Just look at the characters that we dont have that they have: ÄäÖöÅå¤£.

Well I want to see around the city a little bit, before I play the show.

Back In Germany

2008-08-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

So we are in Osnabruck, Germany, and I have 14 minutes on an Internet cafe computer. It is pretty much impossible to use a phone here, and my calling card sucked and didnt work. But we are staying at this house that is pretty amazing. We have all these beds and we bought cheap, but great food. I am making pastrami sandwiches every day.

It is cool, but I cannot find the apostrophes to cut words down. We play tonight a bigger show from what I hear. The one last night in Belgium was alright, not tht many people, but there was this band with a Boca Juniors Edge shirt, but they left before I could buy it. I have to go because i just have 5 minutes left on this.

Start of Tour

2008-08-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

All right. Right now I am in Belgium in an internet cafe. I dont understand a single word said, ane even the keyboards have the letters in weird spots. Like to use a period I have to use the shift key and all that. The A and the Q are inverted, and there is a lot of weird charqcters I have never seen.

The flight here was awesome. The plane was pretty much very technological and stuff. Saw like 3 movies, listened to music, and slept, plus had as much food as I could. We got to Frankfurt, like at 6:25 local time, which was like 1:25 our time. Then we flew to Hamburg an hour later, then an hour after that we arrived at Hamburg, then had to drive to Belgium for our first show. That was like another 4 to 5 hours, but we made it right on time. Show went amazing for both Heartbreak Kid and us. We partied hard after the show. Like at 2 in the morning all these kids walked in the venue, because they were dropped off. I guess it is normal to drop the kids miles away, then they have to find the way home by themselves. Now we are on the way to the second show, but we decided to stop at this city to find internet, and sight seeing, since the city we are playing is not really far.

We did really well in our first show. Kids loved it, and we thought we sucked because we were so tired, but we even sold around €260 on merch only. multiply that for 1.6 and that´s how much money in USD we made. And there was like 30 people only there. Well if there were 35 people, probably no one would have fitted in the place.

Oh, I wanted to visit the Netherlands forever, and we got to drive by there. I was in 3 different countries in about 5 hours. Weather is kinda bad. Rainy qnd cold, then it gets sunny and hot right away, so I´m like putting my hoodie on and off all the time.

Believe it or not, it´s been so difficult to write this thing. But it´s awesome to say I am literally across the world playing music.

I forgot to say last time, that I got this sweet NY Mets hat, just because it´s my dad´s team. He´d appreciate it! Well, I´m gonna get going, because I want to get some food!

Confirmed.

2008-08-06T07:06:00.000-07:00

I actuallt do have a plane ticket. Now the new thing is to see if I can bring an extra carry on with me.

I already talked with a girl with a real sexy german accent on the phone today. damn i can't wait.

Kind of super scared now

2008-08-05T23:37:00.001-07:00

Well, it's about 2:40 am, and I am supposed to be leaving in approximately 13 hours and 20 minutes. The thing is that I dont have a confirmation email for my plane ticket and all that, and that's very but very scary. If I get there and i dont have a plane ticket, I am simply going to buy a ticket for the next available Puerto Rico flight. So at least I'll have some fun.

That's about it.

Merrimack Valley Hardcore and other news

2008-08-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I just heard about this, and I have to admit I am very very excited.

I don't know if most of you know about Welfare Records. It was the last MVHC venue we had, and it got shut down. It really makes me mad when stuff like that happens. A lot of the kids don't understand that these kind of venues are but a priviledge. But the news is that Welfare is opening the venue up again as "Anchors Up!". This makes me very happy because that means we will have a new venue here in the Valley. I just hope kids don't pass this for granted and actually take care of it so it doesn't get shut down like it happened when it was Welfare and like when we used to have New Direction.

We're gonna be having a lot of awesome shows here in the valley again, and it's really awesome for the hardcore scene up here. Anyway, I am not going to be here when it opens in a week or 2 because of tour, but there's nothing better than being away from home and coming back to know I'll have a place to go ton shows and have fun again.

In other news. Los Perex (http://www.myspace.com/losperex) from Dominican Republic have just posted a new song from their upcoming album "Internacionalizando La Ezperanza." And if you live in the Arizona area or in Mexico, get ready, because they are going to be touring near you. Also they are going to be having some shows at the end of the year in Puerto Rico. I really am looking forward for this new album by them! Be on the lookout, this band is here to stay!

Also in Puerto Rico. August 29 and 30th. Blood In Blood Out is going to be playing shows in the Island. Hardass hardcore from Indiana. Here's a little promo video for the show!

Some Album Reviews

2008-08-04T07:48:00.001-07:00

Cold World

"Dedicated To Babies Who Came Feet First"

Well, to be honest I was waiting for this album for a long time. I even forgot that it came out, so I got it like a week late. (I usually don't do pre-orders and stuff like that). Anyway, i was really pumped to hear what this new album was gonna be like, because I really liked their previous releases. I was also sort of curious to hear what is was going to be like once I saw the cover for the first time. It looked kinda cool, but sort of artsy, well, at least in my opinion. So, I have to say that this album is a total letdown. It looks to me that the main idea of the band when they were recording and writing this album was simply to find a way to let you know that they like Hip-Hop, and that they like sampling. I mean, this we already know since the first 7", we don't need to be reminded every two songs with some cheesy samples, or beats. Musically, it's pretty slowed down from their first two 7"s. I have to admit I do like slow hardcore, but in this case, it just doesn't really work. It gets boring after the first song, and it's like has a couple good songs here and there. I don't even want to mention which songs are, because it's the type of album that you may want to listen to a specific song depending on your mood. Final thoughts. It's the kind of record you'd think twice before you put it on, and then pretty much realize you don't want to listen to it. Maybe some time later, you'll listen to a song here on there just to see if you're gonna like it then.

Hammer Bros.

"The Kids Are Dead"

All I have to say about this one is "Finally!!". I was already starting to think that this album was never going to see the light of day. Anyway, I had already heard every song live, except one. I have seen the evolution of this band, and this lineup is by far their best. This is the definition of anger made music. Since the beginning of "No Wait" until the end of "Animal" you pretty much want to eat babies for breakfast. My favorite song in the album is "Years", it sort of reminds me of Sepultura in the Arise era. Not on lyrics, but on sound. Those bands have very different lyrical content. I kind of hated when people told me that The Vitality wasn't a good album because the songs had all the same formula, and that Hammer Bros' songs were becoming all the same kind of thing. Something I disagreed with, but could see why they were saying it. After listening to The Kids Are Dead, pretty much proves my point that they were wrong. So, final judgement, this is one of, if not the best release of the year. But it's debatable. Go to Welfare Records and buy it.

New Apartment, And Leaving Soon, Plus I Hate Crocs.

2008-08-03T18:39:00.001-07:00

I moved to a new apartment. Same city. Just 5 minutes away. Good place, I can speak spanish all the time. And there's internet which is a plus. I can't live without my Soccer and Baseball scores.

I am leavin on tour in 2 days. Here's the checklist:

Sneakers - yes

Shirts - yes

Hats - yes

Backpack - yes

Instruments - yes

Haircut - yes

Having fun before I leave - not yet

Although I have to admit I am very nervous. But it's gonna be fun.

Also, I have to say I hate Crocs. Me and a friend from work were talking today about how much those things suck. We were saying that they are made of something like nicotine. People are like. "Man, I have been in this normal shoes for too long, I need a Croc break."

It's because those ugly ass things are like addictive to them people. like they have them and thay have to have to buy every color of the same style. Now that I think about that, I am like that with my sneakers, so I am making fun of them people for something I do myself with different type of footwear.....STILL....Crocs suck, they look awfully bad. And chicks definitely DO NOT dig them.

Imma put a picture from my new "Guarida Punk Rock"

If you see. I have two Down To Nothing posters. That means I love that band. And it's true. I toured with them. I mean, my band toured with their band. It was awesome, and I moshed every single time I saw them.

Getting Ready To Leave

2008-08-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I leave for tour with my band in like 3 days and a half. I got a pair of sneakers to add to my collection, but also to look fresh when I head over there. I have to admit, I like to have new kicks for special things, and tour falls under "special things" in my book. Well, I just got a pair of Nike Cortez's. I really wanted to find this pair of Air Max 1's to get there, 'cause they'd definitely fit perfectly with my new windbreaker, but it's OK. I have been longin' for a pair of Cortez kicks for a while. I might put some orange laces on them so they can definitely fit. Even though white laces would make it too. To be honest, I dont remember if they came with blue or white laces.

Anyway. I leave in 3 days pretty much, and I still have to finish packing, my drum stuff is at the practice space which is gonna be our practice space no more once we go on tour. Which is gonna be weird 'cause I dont know where are we going to practice when we come back. We'll figure something out.

Every time I think about that tour thing, I am like getting all nervous and all that. I just can't wait to go there. But once we get there I think time's gonna fly so fast and that it's gonna seem like it was a couple days only. I want to find good sneaker boutiques over there, any place I could get any exclusives.

I got this iPod for tour, and to entertain myself everyday when i go to work, and it's awesome. Got the backpack I wanted, the only thing i need to do now is to change my snare drum head, and buy underwear and socks.

I also just moved from my old place. I had been living there for almost 2 years. It's awesome for a change, but it kinda sucks, because i am gonna miss those dudes, hahaha. That sounded kinda gay, but it's true. The new place rules though. I live with my main man Juni, and when i get back, with his girlfriend too. Let's see if I bring a german girlfriend back with me. I mean, it could be from anywhere, I don't mind if she's from Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium or Austria (which are the countries we're playing at).

I'm just stoked I'm going to play at Ieper Fest in Belgium. I have always heard about that, but it's funny that we get to play a fest that big even before we get to play a fest like Sound And Fury or This Is Hardcore, which I don't really care, but it's funny. So yeah. That's it.