Category: Music

Today we present to you a very special Band of the Month. …Nah. It’s a normal one. But I bet I had you going for a second there, right? Well whatever, let’s get it on.

I’ve been listening to a lot of new (to me) bands during the last couple weeks, and while a handful of them are definite candidates for the BotM title, this month I’ve decided to go with an old favourite: The Vandals. I’ve been listening to them since late ’99. I’ll give you two guesses where I first came across them. Give up yet? Not surprisingly, it was the first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game. Back in that day, I wasn’t overly open to different kinds of music, and the punk scene was totally new to me. I immediately took to two bands featured on the soundtrack: Goldfinger and the Vandals. Those were the glory days of Napster too, so I was still enamoured with the fact that I could download any music I wanted. That really has nothing to do with the story, but the two memories are pretty close to each other, so I figured I’d mention it. Anyhow, the fascination with the Vandals died off after a short while, only to be revived by chance a couple years later.

At that time, the storm hit with full force, and the Vandals became a mainstay in my rotation and still sit there to this very day. I still don’t own any Vandals CDs (the only one I’ve ever seen is the Shingo Japanese Remix Album, which I’ve heard is disappointing). I have downloaded a couple albums though, so I have a very good idea of their range of music. And what a range it is too. With about 13 discs under their belts, the Vandals have explored a huge variety of music styles from punk to country to metal (they’ve even got a Christmas album). Mostly punk though. Aside from the range of style, the other really notable thing about the band is that they write incredible lyrics. Sometimes they’re serious punk-esqe lyrics, but most of the time they’re just downright silly and hilarious. A couple that spring to mind immediately include “That’s My Girl,” “Christmas Time for my Penis” and “My Girlfriend’s Dead.” A couple songs are even exercises in mercilessly kicking your ass through music, like “The New You” and “I’ve Got an Ape Drape.” In the end, though, it’s pretty much all good. Like all bands, they’ve got a few weak songs, but they’re not that common.

Honestly, I don’t know what else to say. I don’t want to point-by-point each album, because there are way too many. I’ve told the story, relayed the highlights, and that about does the usual BotM post. I could list some more songs that I recommend, but that could take forever and would look bad. At least rambling like this doesn’t look bad unless you’re actually reading it. I guess to sum it all up, you should look into the Vandals if you’re up for something that’s definitely different from anything you’ve ever heard before. They’re definitely in their own league. Comparing them to any other band would be like comparing apples and wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube men.

The other thing I neeed to mention today is that I found a torrent for all the bonus (and uber-rare) tracks from Guitar Hero. Now I share the wealth with you. It’s got some real gems on it like “Cheat on the Church,” “Eueka, I’ve Found Love,” “All of This” and “Guitar Hero.” Highly recommend you take advantage of that as soon as possible. Seeders don’t stay that way forever, you know. I’m gonna ask you about it the next time I see you, so either download it or make sure I don’t see you.

You know, you’d think I’d have learned to change the year in the post date to 2006 after a couple posts, but no, I’m a fucking moron. Well those are corrcted now. I also swtiched the link for my counter so it’ll count this page’s hits, and not those of the Angelfire page.

Thrice was actually supposed to be January’s BotM, but since I rather like them, and the month was almost over, it felt like a shame to bring them to attention for such a short time. Anyway, Thrice. I’ve only really been listening to them for a while, but the story starts a long time ago, in a mall far, far away. Actually, it’s the closest mall to here, but that’s an insignificant detail. It was a normal September afternoon in 2004, and I had recently come into a rather large wad of cash. So I did what was naural to most teenage beings: I went to blow it on CDs. I popped on into the local HMV, and I grabbed a couple discs. Turns oout they had a 3 for $50 deal going on (or something similar), so the clerk advised me to pick out another one. I was having a bit of a time trying to find a good CD to take home, since between what I already owned and what I was already buying, I had pretty much all the music I wanted. So the guy decides to suggest some bands I mihgt like (based on my other two choices). One of those bands was Thrice. While it was tempting, I decided not to, since I’d never heard of them, and I like to at least have an idea what I’m buying. So I went with a different disc and was on my way. The next day, I popped in on of the CD I’d bought, the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack. A little more than halfway through, this really awesome song came on, and I checked the case to see who it was. Turns out it was *drumroll* Thrice. Now that I’d gotten a taste of the band, I was a little disappointed I hadn’t picked up one of their albums. So to make up for it, I did a little downloading. Sadly, most of the songs weren’t as good as the one from the RE soundtrack, so I kind of forgot about them for a while.

Nearly a year and a half later, I’m going through some of the songs in my library that never get played. And then I see Thrice. I decide that since a good amount of time has gone by and my musical tastes have changed a bit, I’ll give them another shot. That was the right choice. Damned Past Ryan had no taste. Thrice friggn’ rocks. Let me tell you, I cannot believe I’ve ignored them for so long. Like many bands I listen to, they fall into the hardcore-punk-emo-metal mélange. This is good. While I don’t listen to a lot of straight-punk, I’ve very much come to enjoy the punk-metal sound. And it’s not even the pop-punk that you might’ve come to expect from me. Ha, the facade thickens!

Why do I like Thrice? Perhaps the kickass guitar work? The pertinent dumming? The deep and inspired lyrics? The screaming that doesn’t come off as annoying or juvenile? I’m thinking pretty much all that stuff. The album you see above is their fourth real album, entitled Vheissu. If you don’t understand the name, go look it up. Apparently, it has some sort of ties to a Thomas Pynchon book called “V.“. Anyway, the album, as it turns out, is radically different from their first three. Vheissu is notably slower than its predecessors, with a much more significant feel to it, and militaristic tones in most of the songs. I really like it. “Image of the Invisible” is the first song, and is probably the most like any older Thrice songs. “Atlantic” is really worth noting, and “Music Box” actually starts with a music box that continues playing in the background.

The other albums, Identity Crisis, The Illusion of Safety, and The Artist in the Ambulance (released in that order) are all far harder than the latest, featuring tons of hardcore riffing and less structured songs. Of course, this stuff rocks just as much as Vheissu, just a lot harder and faster. A couple songs I want to point out are “Under a Killing Moon” (from The Artist in the Ambulance), which is featured on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack, and “See You in the Shallows” (from The Illusion of Safety). I give both songs the brunt of the credit for getting me into the band in the first place, and are definite keepers. There is actually another Thrice disc, released between The Artist in the Ambulance and Vheissu, called If We Could Only See Us Now, which is a couple live tracks and some B-sides thrown together. But it’s more of a second disc to a DVD “anthology” of sorts.

For the first time, I’m gonna tack on my own little bonus to a Band of the Month post. If you’re looking for an easy score, I’ve got it for ya. As a special bonus, I’ll give you the torrent for all four main Thrice albums. While this is a nice, cheap way out, if you like them, I highly recommend buying them like I di… like I will. I’ve got Vheissu, but I intend to acquire the rest sooner or later.

Anyway, that’s it for today. Come back soon for more crazy hijinx! Or maybe visit Comedy Napalm. There’s definitely higher quantities of crazy and hijinx there. Especially on the forums. (Hint hint)