The Despised, from Atlanta, formed way back in the mid-90's and released a few 7"s before calling it a day in 2000, but they regrouped in 2005 and this is their first full-length release: "Punk, It's Not For Rich Kid$ Anymore!" Expect 14 tracks of generally short, fast, aggressive punk rock that's heavier and more hardcore-oriented than you'd likely expect. It's sometimes humorous, sometimes socio-political, always bitter 'n' pissed. While they don't particularly sound like any of their individual influences, you'll hear bits and pieces of Poison Idea, The Exploited, and that kind of thing going on – but, as evidenced by their unexpected cover of "Just Can't Hate Enough" by Sheer Terror, there's definitely a wider range of influences at work. To my ears, the gruff vocal delivery and fast-paced lyrical arrangements bear the most in common with straight up, pissed off punk; while the driving power chord rhythms have a heavy, hardcore sort of attack built around more of a punk rock sense of energy – accented by plenty of noisy lead breaks and hints at overt metal riffing on rare occasion. And the recording's thick as fuck, with an absolutely mammoth fuzzed out bass tone, so despite some borderline unbalanced ruggedness from time to time there's a pretty damn solid punch happening there as well. Not too shabby!

The Despised "We're All Fucked"
The Despised "Loose Change"

Punk shouldn't be for down(free)loading scumbags either, so step up and buy the CD if you dig the tunes:

@ Interpunk

"Faint Violet Whiff", the debut EP from New York city's Dead Leaf Echo offers up five tracks (and one remix) of dark, moody sorts of "new wave" rock in just under a half-hour. This is the kind of thing that I definitely tend to appreciate, though being in the obvious minority of what I generally listen to I'm not the most "educated" resource to speak on such topics. The band cites among their influences U2, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cure, and Echo and the Bunnymen, among numerous others, so… while I don't hear but so much of said acts in here, those with ears more trained in this niche may draw parallels. There's a good amount of repetition and plenty of droning types of reverb effects, with the tempos ranging from slower, ringing dirges to midpaced yet energetic waves of surging basslines and increased guitar layering – all fronted by somewhat monotone singing vocals. The layout definitely doesn't do justice to the music, but despite the fact that certain elements aren't really my thing, the overall atmosphere of the material does indeed get my attention and make me curious to see where the band will go from here. Certainly an interesting debut effort…

Dead Leaf Echo "Poison Lips"

As usual, support the band with a purchase if this is your thing:

@ Dead Leaf Echo