A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

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Flex
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Flex »

Sorry, was in the holiday weekend fugue state but have three lined up that I will get up today!
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Flex wrote:
22 Feb 2022, 2:23pm
Sorry, was in the holiday weekend fugue state but have three lined up that I will get up today!
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Flex »

Rob Ford's Packet of Threes

Dissidente - Labor Day: The new ska-core hotness of 2021. Aggressively political, a bit of that Leftover Crack vibe, imho



Scowl - Bloodhound: another 2021 release, this band is Extremely Flexbait on many levels. Check out their music video Seeds To Sow to see how diverse their sound actually is, but I'm of course gonna go for the pummeling hardcore to share



Spindrift - MKULTRA: garage psych spaghetti western weirdness. Some of the latest out of a little punk label you may have heard of called Alternative Tentacles



Enjoy!
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by gkbill »

Hello,

Dissisente - really good music but the angry scream vocals aren't a plus - sounds like a bit of a poser - I'll dig up some other stuff.

Scowl - too hardcore, too screamy - the other song you mentioned was actually a better song (it was a bit soft for me but this track is the other extreme).

Spindrift - very eclectic - your description fits - I wonder what a full album would sound like - kind of Pop Will Eat Itself-ish but with a greater number of influences - I thought it was quitting halfway through - a fun listen.

Three bands I had never heard - great! Thanks!

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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by matedog »

BitterTom wrote:
16 Feb 2022, 2:09pm
The Real Mckenzies - Smokin' Bowl - solid rock tune with obvious punk edge. Nice strong guitar solo and the double time mix up on the last chorus. Reminds me a bunch of Dropkick Murphys and that band I always confuse with them. Not really my favorite subgenre, but this is well done. 6/10.

Embrace - Thank God You Were Mean To Me - Not really into this one. The riff is fine, but the vocals don't do much for me. Very drab and doesn't really go anywhere. The guitar work/instrumental part at the end is good though. 4/10.

Catfish and the Bottlemen - Great chorus between the vocal hook and the rhythm. Prechorus got those solid backing vocals. Verses are somewhat incidental, but that's okay. These guys are fairly popular in the UK it seems and even have some minor success here, but I've never heard of them. Solid stuff and my favorite of the bunch 8/10.
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.

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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by WestwayKid »

The Real McKenzies – I like it. Catchy, punchy. 7/10.

Embrace – I think I might have liked Embrace for a brief moment decades ago, but their sound has not aged well. 2/10.

Catfish and the Bottlemen – I kind of dig these guys. It’s a bit too smooth, but that’s okay. The overall sound definitely takes me back to another time. 6/10.
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Kory »

gk:

Los Bitchos - The Link is About to Die
Definitely like the mood. Kept thinking vocals are going to come in even though I know it's instrumental. Great stereo separation.

Wolfmen - Urban Voodoo
Given how basic this track is, I wish the production were a little meatier to give it some guts. It's produced like a skate-punk track for some reason. Pleasant enough, don't know if I'll still be thinking of it in an hour.

Guardian Singles - Tea Lights Exploding
This is a bit more lo-fi than I typically go for, but it's fun enough. Except for in shoegaze, I get kind of frustrated when drums are buried in a mix so that's kind of all I could think about with this one.
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Kory »

Tom:

The Real Mckenzies - Smokin' Bowl
Needs some bass and speed, the vocals are sung too much from the nose, and I've never been able to get into celtic punk, I'm afraid. The guitar solo was kinda neat though.

Embrace - Thank God You Were Mean To Me
Kind of interesting production, I like the live sound of the drums and the spatial image, but there's some frequency overlap when the singer comes in and it loses clarity. Would have been much better as an instrumental or perhaps in a different key for this singer.

Catfish and the Bottlemen - Kathleen
Martin Hannett school of instrument isolation here, which I like. The song is pleasant enough even if the singer doesn't have a ton of personality. My favorite of the three, but still not something I'd look into, probably.
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Kory »

Flexo:

Dissidente - Labor Day
I'm glad this kept its guts once the skanking started. I was worried it was going to jump into something much bouncier for the verse. Not that I'm against bouncy ska, but it'd have pulled a lot of strength out of the track after that intro. Really wish the crowd vocals in the chorus were in key, but I like the way the track is layered and constructed.

Scowl - Bloodhound
I like the music and the phrasing of the vocals but the vocal tone itself is a little cartoony. Great track length though. I'll

Spindrift - MKULTRA
I hope this is on a movie soundtrack somewhere, or is slated to be.
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Dissidente, “Labor Day.” Whoaohwhoaohhh. Lowvocalmix. Speedkills.

Scowl, “Bloodhound.” Sinister. Snarl. Fuckyeah.

Spindrift, “MKULTRA. Superfuckyeah. Groovadelicamoreplease. Oswaldwasinnocentish.
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by oliver »

I think I've said this before but I don't really get on with ska so anything ska-y is facing a battle and unfortunately, it's one Dissidente didn't quite win.
I don't think I've said this before but I don't really get with hardcore either... but this one I kind of liked. Maybe it eased me in a bit by being on the shorter side and then just as I was getting into it, it ended.
Spindrift. Kind of took me back, in spirit, to the 80s when I first heard S-Express and Bomb the Bass. I never knew where it was going to go but I didn't care because it was exciting.

dissidente - never go full-ska
scowl - surprisingly too short.
spindrift - my favourite pick

FWIW, not much between scowl and spindrift for top spot.
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Marky Dread »

GK Bill
Los Bitchos - The Link is About to Die. A new instrumental group which is kind of psychedelia but western soundtrack-ish and surf-ish.

All you already said here GK. I enjoy this stuff from time to time. I find it great to kick back to. 6/10

Wolfmen - Urban Voodoo. Really good straight-ahead guitar rock.

Nothing to dislike here other than I feel I've heard it all before. But don't take that as a put down it's still cool. 7/10

Guardian Singles - Tea Lights Exploding. Guitar rock but kind of new-wave-ish. They have a bunch of influences I can't really nail down but they sometimes get pretty arty.

Excellent the best of the 3 for me. I'm going to check these guys out further. Reminds me of a lot of new wave bands that hid just under the radar in 1979. 9/10 😎

Just bought the Guardian Singles album on cd. Further bolstered by the fact they cover The Sound track "Heartland". Good work CK. :approve:
Last edited by Marky Dread on 01 Mar 2022, 4:20pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Marky Dread »

BitterTom:
The Real Mckenzies - Smokin' Bowl. Fast paced, great tune and it's got some bollocks to it. Puts a spring in my step whenever I hear it, it's just a perfect song. The beat changes in the last chorus and it works so, so well, as does repeating the last line 3 times, love it.

Good punky fast paced ska tune. Reminds me of a lot of other bands. That change in the last chorus is pretty neat. I dig it 7/19

Embrace - Thank God You Were Mean To Me. Embrace, yes, but not as you've heard them. No signs of wimpy indie band here, this is angry-relationship-break-up Embrace, it's driving, "fuck" is in the lyrics and it's known (amongst the 20 hardcore Embrace fans) for Danny Mcnamara (lead vocals) likening himself to Kubrick (hmm, not quite sure there) by censoring his own work (for the best, the lyrics were horribly misogynistic)

Different for this band. The opening repetitive salvo is reminiscent of "Change" by Killing Joke but after that the song goes somewhere else altogether. Not sold on this one but ok. 4/10

Catfish and the Bottlemen - Kathleen. Love the energy and power in this one, smashing vocals and a song that keeps getting better and better throughout.

Good energy as you say. But it doesn't really grab me maybe needs more listens. 5/10
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Marky Dread »

Flex wrote:
22 Feb 2022, 4:21pm
Rob Ford's Packet of Threes

Dissidente - Labor Day: The new ska-core hotness of 2021. Aggressively political, a bit of that Leftover Crack vibe, imho

I hear that Leftover Crack thing going on here. I'm not a huge fan of the guitar sound on this. When it breaks down to the ska beat is more my thing. 6/10

Scowl - Bloodhound: another 2021 release, this band is Extremely Flexbait on many levels. Check out their music video Seeds To Sow to see how diverse their sound actually is, but I'm of course gonna go for the pummeling hardcore to share

Not my bag this one. I don't want my head pummeled to fuck for 3-4 minutes. I can however appreciate it as being a decent track that is just not for me. 5/10

Spindrift - MKULTRA: garage psych spaghetti western weirdness. Some of the latest out of a little punk label you may have heard of called Alternative Tentacles

Now this on the other hand is excellent. I'm loving the samples and it experimental nature. Pushing things forward. Very cool. 9/10
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Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

Marky Dread
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Re: A Packet of Threes (New, New Challenge Thread)

Post by Marky Dread »

Marky Dread wrote:
01 Mar 2022, 11:36am
Flex wrote:
22 Feb 2022, 4:21pm
Rob Ford's Packet of Threes

Dissidente - Labor Day: The new ska-core hotness of 2021. Aggressively political, a bit of that Leftover Crack vibe, imho

I hear that Leftover Crack thing going on here. I'm not a huge fan of the guitar sound on this. When it breaks down to the ska beat is more my thing. 6/10

Scowl - Bloodhound: another 2021 release, this band is Extremely Flexbait on many levels. Check out their music video Seeds To Sow to see how diverse their sound actually is, but I'm of course gonna go for the pummeling hardcore to share

Not my bag this one. I don't want my head pummeled to fuck for 3-4 minutes. I can however appreciate it as being a decent track that is just not for me. 5/10

Spindrift - MKULTRA: garage psych spaghetti western weirdness. Some of the latest out of a little punk label you may have heard of called Alternative Tentacles

Now this on the other hand is excellent. I'm loving the samples and it experimental nature. Pushing things forward. Very cool. 9/10
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

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