Audio Karate - Lady Melody

LABEL: Kung Fu Records

RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2004

Towards the end of high school I finally checked out the Ataris' first few albums and was consequently stoked on life. I naturally sought out any band that remotely sounded like them, and with Audio Karate's first album, Space Camp, I'd found a pretty good example. The band managed to land tours with the likes of NOFX and Blink-182 but didn't really seem to build any sort of substantial fanbase.

When Space Camp came out it was 2002. Two years later I was naturally seeking more than pop-punk to fulfill my musical appetite. In the time since Space Camp's release I'd come to appreciate a more diverse set of bands, and apparently so had Audio Karate.

Lady Melody was pretty much unprecedented. For starters, the band had recorded the album with Bill Stevenson (dude was in Black Flag and Descendents) at his Blasting Room Studios (place has recorded everyone from Propagandhi and Good Riddance to Rise Against and A Wilhelm Scream).

Vocalist/guitarist Art Barrios had a few moments of throatier delivery on Space Camp, but Lady Melody sounded like Barrios prepared by gargling buckets of glass. His vocals were consequently way more desperate and intense and fit the honesty and up-front nature of the lyrics nicely.

I've best heard this album described as "Cursive covering a Jawbreaker album." That about sums it up.

For all the energy and crunchy, intricate guitar work of this album the band was disappointingly staid in the live setup, as I saw them play Warped Tour a month or two after this album dropped. Maybe it was the sparse crowd; maybe it was because it was Warped Tour. Who knows.

Kung Fu hasn't really put out much since releasing this, but why bother trying to follow this one up at all, really.

I guess the band agrees in some way, as they've been largely inactive since its release. They built and opened their own studio, where they've recorded a few weird, not-as-enjoyable and way stylistically different demos. Oddly enough, they also recorded the soundtrack to some Spanish indie flick called "Maquillaj." The few songs they showcased from that were a bit more film-background-oriented if you get my drift, which you can't fault them for. But it didn't seem worth much of a concentrated listen.

They haven't announced any sort of formal breakup, so I'm still holding out hope they'll get their shit together and record a new full-length. Even if it's the bizarro stuff they're demoing.

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Jenoah - morning is when jenoah wakes up... EP

LABEL: Drive-Thru Records

RELEASE DATE: 2004

One day in February 2004, Drive-Thru Records posted two EPs for free download. One was a self-titled EP by a band named hellogoodbye. The other was Jenoah and their five-song morning is when jenoah wakes up... release. One of those bands eventually broke up. The other got unfathomably popular. Guess which one is featured here?

If you're my age (23), maybe a little bit older, Drive-Thru may have provided the pop-punk soundtrack to your late teens, but either way, it's probably not a sound we find ourselves revisiting terribly often. No matter; Jenoah didn't remotely fit that description.

morning is when jenoah wakes up..., in a move rather uncharacteristic of their label, bustled with a huge Braid influence, only more melodic, slightly more chaotic and a bit more jangly. Their singer was more of a lower-register guy, complemented by his guitarist's tasteful, gritty backup shouts that created a mildly spazzy sound with seriously superb and dynamic songwriting.

The EP was physically released later that year in a digipak format, with five photocards (one for each song's lyrics) bearing 1960s cultural signifiers, and two bonus tracks (demos of the first two songs). The only thing that bothered me about it was the fact that Drive-Thru didn't make them with a sleeve to put the actual photocards in, meaning they were pretty easy to lose loosely nestled between the cover flap and the glued plastic tray. I somehow still have all of them.

Some time after this EP came out, their guitarist, Lucky, who was apparently the main songwriter, left the band. It was a pretty debilitating move, as they played few shows over the next few years and only managed to write and record a few (somewhat direction-less and meandering) demos, none of which seemed to really impress either their fanbase or label, I guess. In November 2006, they called it quits for good and morning ended up their only official release. But it was a damn good one.

I believe the physical copies have since gone out of print, since they're not on Interpunk or in Drive-Thru's online store. It's probably not hard to find its digital counterpart, though.

Definitely in my top 10-15 favorite EPs, and easily one of the 5-10 best things Drive-Thru have put their name on.

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Scatter the Ashes - Devout / The Modern Hymn

LABEL: Epitaph Records

RELEASE DATE: May 25, 2004



Epitaph Records raised more than a few eyebrows when they began signing a number of acts whose style more than curiously departed from the EpiFat sound that dominated the 1990s. Where this all began is hard to say -- maybe it was in mid-2002, when they signed the Getaway, a run-of-the-mill MP3.com-era pop-punk band who eventually became Matchbook Romance and broke up a few years later. The point is, Scatter the Ashes was one of those left-field additions, and were probably cast aside by many for that reason.

It couldn't have helped any that the band's early material was described as a cross between AFI and Glassjaw, and the label first laid some questionable hyperbole upon the band, describing them as "honing the ethereal and ambitious qualities of Joy Division and the sonic intensity of Refused."

The truth is, Devout / The Modern Hymn, which became their only full-length as the band broke up two years after its 2004 release, doesn't entirely reach the magnificent proportions hinted at by that description. However, it's still a haunting, driven and wonderfully crafted piece of post-hardcore or what have you.

There's a heavy Cave In vibe circa Jupiter, with honest-to-goodness splashes of Refused's progressive hardcore (notably in the scathing and incensed "White Actress"). And I can admit: There are sure hints of Joy Division's atmosphere to be found. Sure, their vocalist did sound vaguely like the androgynous love child of Daryl Palumbo and Davey Havok, but it was a versatile, wavery voice that fit the moods perfectly.

Dark, treacherous and wholly dynamic, Devout / The Modern Hymn is one of the best original full-length releases to result from Epitaph's new era. Not that it says much to some, but it's definitely worth a listen if you missed out the first time.

MP3s:
"Christine Daae"
"City in the Sea"