#nytrystate

Well, it’s been about a year or so since my last post (oops). To put it simply, I stopped updating this blog (and writing in general) because I let life get in the way. Not the kind of life that everyone on Instagram posts about with festivals and flower crowns and using mom-and-dad’s trust fund to go exploring the world.

The life I’m talking about is that of a broke, directionless, post-grad 20-something with two liberal arts degrees. A life that involves working two dead-end jobs with the carrot-on-a-string called “management” hanging in front of your eyes. A life that really isn’t living, but rather, working for the sake of making some money to start chipping away at the thirty-thousand dollar loan you have (for only one year of college, might I add. The other three add up to about ninety grand, but that’s neither here nor there). 

I was living, but not in the way I set out to. I made myself a promise back in sophomore year of high school (8 years ago) that I would stop taking life for granted, and I would find direction, and make something of myself.

••As an aside, never let “life” stop you from living••

But anyway, a lot has happened in the 339-or-so-days since my last post. I went to Disney, quit a job a week before it shut down, recorded a split EP, am working on recording a full debut album, recorded a couple of EPs with another band, left that band, played a farewell show with that band, lost friends, gained friends, did part-time school, worked two and a half jobs simultaneously while going to school, gained weight, lost weight, started training for a 10k, found God, found faith in politics, found faith in people, booked a bunch of shows, played a bunch of shows, became a vegetarian, stopped being a vegetarian, became a vegetarian again, stopped being a vegetarian again, and pooped… a lot.

I tried getting back into writing a couple of times and it never really stuck. Life kept getting in the way. I want to change that, though. Life, real life, the super interesting kind where you don’t feel like offing yourself at work, is too short to pass up and not appreciate.

Artist: DejaGravy

Album: Visitor

What can I say about Visitor other than it’s like great peanut butter? Crunchy, chunky, and best when smeared all over my bod- Wait a minute.

Jokes aside, if you’re not familiar with DejaGravy, they’re an experimental doom/stoner metal duo composed of Vater Boris and Ricky Hall. This album came out a few months ago. “Why’d it take you so long to review it?” Quite simply put, my car’s CD system couldn’t physically handle it. It got two tracks in before completely shitting itself (I put in another disc to see if it was my car, and well, it worked just fine. So we’re already going into this with five stars for knocking my little Civic on its ass).

Visitor is a Phish album, if Phish were made up of Cyberdemons from DOOM, and I absolutely love it. The length of tracks vary from one minute to a little over 14 minutes, with the longer ones being Hellish jam sessions, while the shorter ones are vignettes of pure insanity. Unlike most bands, DejaGravy isn’t exactly accessible to the masses, mostly because they’re playing experimental doom metal, but that’s what makes it so memorable. Their songs are repetitive, but in the best of ways; the way that marks a doom/sludge/stoner band who knows what the fuck they’re doing. Songs like “Carbuncle” are slow and grungy, as if you’re trudging through something that Paula Deen cooked up (it’s a butter joke), while the end of “Void” is fast, chaotic, and hectic.

“Real Eyes Realize Real Eyes” is haunting. The synth lines sound as if they’re lifted from Invasion Of The Body Snatchers or Psycho or someone’s third grade violin recital. It only gets more terrifying as the song progresses, though; to the point where you probably shouldn’t listen to it alone in the dark as I did the first couple of times.

Artist: Franchise

Album: Santa Muerte EP

Santa Muerte. Saint Death. In our Western world, the name seems almost oxymoronic, with “Saint” representing goodness, purity, and holiness, and “Death” representing evil, darkness, and uncertainty; it is through this view that the name Santa Muerte truly makes sense. There are overwhelming discordant vibes throughout the EP, and I mean that as a compliment. Simple melodic riffs, chaotic rhythms, and strained vocals make up Franchise’s newest release. These guys have taken things that honestly shouldn’t work, and have done so beautifully, with hints of hardcore, progressive, and even pop permeating the surface of the turbulent audial waves. At around 15 minutes and six tracks long, Santa Muerte is short, bittersweet, and to the point.

If I had one complaint about this EP, it would be that I want more. I want to hear Franchise grow even more. I want to see the lands their musical volcanoes create. I want to feel the heat created by the nuclear fusion that is this band’s sound. Vocalist Kenny Ramirez flawlessly shifts between throaty screaming and soulful singing, leaving me to wonder how his respiratory system can keep up. Drummer Corrado Rizzi brings an interplay of technical, mathy rhythms and hard-hitting, straightforward beats, again showing that these guys can make uncommon combinations work. Guitarist Edgar Martinez and bassist Mark Costa are completely on point, playing off of each others’ parts, and leaving no room for awkward silence or unnecessarily contrasting melodies.

Artist: Jarrod Alonge

Album: Beating A Dead Horse

I figured I’d review this album because YouTube Music Comedians are so hot right now. Jarrod Alonge, AKA “Every Vocalist Guy,” has garnered a huge following for his mix of subtle, yet heavy-handed satirical humor, calling out every scene, from pop punk to crunkcore.

Beating A Dead Horse is his debut release, culminating in a 15-track demonstration of some of his best jokes and music, with some songs sounding leagues better than the source material they’re parodying. If I had to say that there were any flaws to it, it would be that the majority of songs are “written” by Sunrise Skater Kids and Amidst The Grave’s Demons, Alonge’s fictional pop punk and metalcore bands, with acts like Chewed Up, $wagchode, Verimicide Violence, Rectangles, and Canadian Softball only getting one, maybe two songs at most.

The songs range from hilariously spot on (Sunrise Skater Kids’ “Take It Easycore”) to absolutely cringeworthy (Canadian Softball’s “The Distance...”), and I mean that as a compliment. “Misogyneric” and “2 Freaky 4 Da Club” were two of the most painful songs I’ve ever had the experience of listening too, but they were done that way on purpose. The former being a stereotypical metalcore breakdown song, accompanied by lyrics you would see on an r/cringe thread, while the latter is quite obviously an ode to brokeNCYDE.

Weird and Wonderful Words - The Right People Will Get This

Acoustic/Indie

Andy Marc’s music is, for a lack of better words, Déjà Entendu-era Brand New, but without the overwhelming teenage angst; The Right People is dark, atmospheric, and has some beautiful vocal harmonies.