#West Virginia punk rock

[nugothrhythms]

"Dopamine" by Charleston, West Virginia-based dark post-punk and indie goth band Static Fur off of their 2020 release Sorry Future

[skeeverboy]

hi i'm skeeverboy and here's my review of every tfb album (not including singles or eps but maybe i will at some point)

I Hate My Friends (2008)

despite being their first and least finished albums, it is one of my fav albums of all time. it's unique and definitely not for everyone, but the garage/basement sound and unique vocals are so charming. it has this whole immature feeling in both instrumentation and lyrics that i'm just obsessed with. i really like the background vocals and the entire shouty kind of singing this one has.

fav track: push-ups

rating: 9.5/10

My Grandma Vs. Pneumonia (2009)

very similar in sound and vibe to IHMF, with the same acoustic recorded-in-someone's-basement feeling (this is because both albums were in fact recorded in random basements and garages). it feels a little more finished than IHMF, and the songs have a bit of a different vibe that i don't know how to explain. ultimately though i put it in the same category as IHMF and frequently forget which songs are in which albums.

fav track: the bass is too loud

rating: 9/10

The Front Bottoms (2011)

absolutely amazing album. it has all the charm of the first 2, with significantly more development and more of a finished feeling. it starts off with an amazing first track and there's really not a dud on this album at all. both versions of the cover art are beautiful. the lyrics in this album are just like some of my favorite of all time and often times soul crushing. i love it. enough said.

fav track: looking like you just woke up

rating: 10/10

Talon of the Hawk (2013)

another absolute banger. it has a lot of the same vibes as self titled, though it started getting a lot higher energy. while still angsty and gut-punching, it's also a lot easier to jam out to than their self-titled, with more electric guitar featured and absolutely banger choruses. maybe a little bit overrated, but a great album nonetheless.

fav track: santa monica

rating: 9/10

Back On Top (2015)

another one of my favorites. it's nearly completely abandoned the more acoustic feeling, aside from chunks of songs like the beginning of West Virginia. pretty much every song can be either cried to or rocked out to in the car. even though there is one song on this album that i kind of hate (summer shandy) the rest of them more than make up for it. fun electric guitar parts, the epic wind section in 2YL, the hard hitting lyrics in songs like Plastic Flowers, it's all just amazing.

fav track: ginger

rating: 10/10

Going Grey (2017)

everyone hates me for my opinion on this album but ultimately it's just kind of meh for me. it's not bad, but it's my least favorite TFB album. the entire sound of the album isn't my favorite, and at times the vocals feel a little dull, which i mean the vocals are like the number one reason why i love the front bottoms. some of the lyrics leave something to be desired, especially considering past songs.

i don't hate the album though. it's high energy, really transitioned TFB into IS&IF and YAWYHOW smoothly. it has a lot of good songs while remaining pretty true to the core TFB sound.

fav track: trampoline

rating: 7.5/10 (don't crucify me please)

In Sickness & In Flames (2020)

ok on my tier list i admit i ranked this one way too low. it pushed the band into a new direction, with the autotune and the way more developed and finished sounding instrumentals. pretty much every song is high energy and catchy. it strays way more into the pop side of tfb's pop punk/emo sound, which is fine but not exactly my thing. i think they do it in a really graceful way though and most songs on here are bangers

fav track: bus beat

rating: 8/10

You Are Who You Hang Out With (2023)

this one is significant for me because it was their first full-length album they released while i was actively a huge fan. it was exciting and i heard a few of the songs before the album's release live, so i'm definitely biased in this one. the autotune is a little weird, but it works for me. the mix between brian's unique voice and the autotune and just the general sound of it are really good.

i'll admit it did take me a minute for it to grow on me, especially as an early tfb girlie, but grow on me it did. outlook and batman both feel like really nice tie-backs to the older sound, almost sounding like they're from TOTH or back on top?? and the newer, weirder songs (i'm looking at you Paris) work really well with the sound of album and such.

fav track: batman

rating: 9.5/10

[cryptidkeepp]

(maxence danet fauvel) [THE LOST SOUL]. Please welcome [REMINGTON ‘REMI’ DUMAS (HE/THEY)] to Huntsville, WV. They are an [27]-year-old [VISITOR] who lives in [THE COMMUNE]. You may see them around working as a [STOCK WORKER AT 7-ELEVEN]. Poor unfortunate soul. We’ll see if they survive.

GENERAL.

full name: remington alexandre jean dumas

nicknames: remi, rem, du hast

title: the lost soul

hunter / gatherer: neither

birthplace: lyon, france

gender / pronouns: demiboy, he/they

age / birthday: 27, july 7th

orientations: pansexual, panromantic

occupation: former musician, stock worker at 7-eleven

location: commune, visitor

status: chem testing

family: margot dumas ( mother, unknown ), jules dumas ( father, unknown ), guy dumas ( uncle ), james anderson ( uncle )

strengths: creative, independent, adaptable, charismatic, driven

weaknesses: moody, pessimistic, gullible, rebellious, impulsive

character inspo: jane margolis (breaking bad), rue bennett (euphoria), nick miller (new girl), jason mendoza (the good place), natalie (yellowjackets), darlene (mr. robot), philip j. fry (futurama), satine (moulin rouge!), greg hirsch (succession)

BIOGRAPHY.

tw: abandonment, mental illness

born in france to parents who were never meant to be parents. they were involved in shady things, theft for certain but besides that remington never got a real answer about it. what he did know is that at the age of six they dropped him off with his father's brother and his partner in los angeles.

despite remi being thrust into their lives without warning, their uncles never cast them out but they weren't always the most attentive guardians but they did the best they could. they also encouraged remington to explore the arts and chase their dreams, which is what turned them toward music and enhanced their passion for it. from the age of nine they spent everyday practicing guitar, sometimes for hours at a time.

music was their lifeblood. which in school they often felt like a loner and an outcast, they didn’t keep friends for long or make friends at all in some cases which further contributed to their abandonment and trust issues. they would go through long bouts of depression, getting highs and lows at random. it made it hard to build any sort of confidence. he tried to tell himself it didn't matter. and eventually it didn't, eventually he joined a band and actually managed to make it through high school.

being in los angeles allowed him a lot more opportunities than he would have had in the rest of the world. he joined the punk rock band thrift store lingerie not long before he graduated and they rose to mediocre fame within a few years. enough to score a recording contract and get set up with a smaller label.

they began touring the country, made a few videos and albums. they were no sex pistols, but they did alright and remi was having the time of their life traveling, playing shows, partying, and meeting fans. it was like a dream come true and the band was like family to him. but as their track record went with family, the band split after their final tour date in new york city in the fall of 2023.

that shifted everything for remi and he became lost, floating down the east coast spending his money instead of going back home to figure out what to do next. he was on the way to florida for some big new years bash with a group of people he met in vermont and somehow they ended up in west virginia. one wrong turn and they were in huntsville. within the first week the group they came with was gone, rebellious thinking the warnings were lies.

remi settled at the commune but he still is having a hard time adjusting to this new life. he just feels lost and scared and doesn't know how to handle everything. hopefully he can find a way to adapt or they don't know how they're going to survive.

QUICK CONNECTIONS.

friends

someone to help them adapt

bands they toured with

fans

other musicians

a therapist type

partner in crime

HEADCANONS.

very likely has bipolar disorder, but doesn't know that

still has a couple guitars with them, also knows how to play the piano and violin.

can speak french, spanish, italian, and english.

more to come!

[windandwater]

I haven't been able to listen to music since--uh. March. which doesn't necessarily sound like a problem but if you've ever gone 5 months without listening to music for an extended period of time, let me tell you, the inside of your head gets weird. the songs my brain has been dredging up to play on a loop are 1) deep cuts, 2) annoying, and 3) shit I thought I erased from my being entirely. I'm talking girl scout camp songs. songs from The Bad Times of life. one single refrain from a song the rest of which I don't remember.

distracting yourself with nothing but video game streams, the Sims, and podcasts, is not what I'd call healthy.

only thing is. when I joke about having the taste of an aging male hippie. I always mean one aging male hippie in particular. even the stuff that's not classic rock is a branch of all that in that it's folk, it's indie, it's something I like because of who I am because of my dad.

and if it's not that it's something I'm not really in the mood for.

so I bit the bullet and listened all the way through "Country Roads" (we went to & fell in love with West Virginia together a lot) and like a fool thought that because I only teared up I was safe so I listened to "Shenandoah" which always makes me emotional anyway for various reasons and y'all that part of the country was my favorite growing up and guess who always took me there?

I fell in love with the woods & mountains there. we would pick blueberries in the summer and go in the spring specifically to see wildflowers. it was there that I first saw a bear and learned not to be afraid of them. I went on trips just me & my dad because I loved hiking & camping the most out of anyone in my family, just like him, so he took just me, out into the woods.

I cried the way I did when I got the news. all over again.

I'm tired as shit of being this sad.

also: told my brother (who has been sending me punk songs with sad lyrics) that I did this to myself. he'd never heard the song and is not a folk person in general? or a huge outdoors person. but he was there on most of the same trips. he listened to the first 35 seconds and had to nope out of it. I am both vindicated and more sad.

[welleducatedinfant]

FOR YOUR SILLY LITTLE ASK GAME!!!!!!!!!

3, 9, 12, 13, 22, AND 27

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAVE A GARG FOR YOUR TROUBLES!!

charlie you are one of my favorite people and it's not just because you always answer my ask games because you know i love talking about myself

3. Favourite food?

mmmmmm chicken tikka masala from a local indian place OR lasagna made by my mom specifically on my birthday

9. What's your all time favourite movie/tv show?

dawg you have got to give me easier questions. top five movies right now in no order: mad max fury road, lotr, bill and ted, bridge to terabithia, 10 things i hate about you

12. Your favourite music genres?

all of em. when i say i listen to everything i mean it. right now, hardcore/grindcore, pop punk, metal/goth, alt rock, pop, and folk punk

13. Your dream place to visit?

point pleasant, west virginia. oxford university. national radio quiet zone. anyplace with no light pollution on a no moon summer night.

22. Best memory you could think of?

first one that comes to mind is seeing the happy fits and screaming along to dirty imbecile right at the barricade with my best friend

27. Who was your favourite childhood crush?

josh hutcherson had me in a chokehold and kind of still does

a garg for your troubles:

[ledenews]

Erik Huey Visits Coals Mines for New Album 'Appalachian Gothic'

Erik Huey, aka Cletus McCoy, co-founder of The Surreal McCoys, is releasing his debut solo album, Appalachian Gothic, on January 20, 2023 via Appalachian AF/CEN/The Orchard. While the McCoys were a cowpunk, outlaw country outfit known for their originals and creative mashups such "Whole Lotta Folsom," Huey dug closer to home for the songs and stories on his debut, mining his own history — he's descended from four generations of West Virginia coal miners — for the album. "Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (producer/guitarist) and I wrote "The Devil Is Here In These Hills" for what we thought might grow into 2-3 songs that could be used in a soundtrack — a future TV series based on historian James Greene’s incredible book about the West Virginia Coal Mine Wars called The Devil is Here in These Hills," Huey says. "As soon as Eric played the opening riff on his Dulcitar, it was like a doorway opened that revealed the entire album. "My father, grandfather and great grandfather (who came over from Ireland) were all coal miners in the Monongahela Valley and I wrote this song before I’d even finished that book," Huey says. "So many immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, Italy and Eastern Europe—along with African-Americans from The South—came to mine coal in Appalachia, and this song is an attempt to tell their story and the story of the generations that followed in their footsteps." On his first solo album, Huey takes a nostalgic deep dive into the Appalachia of his WV youth while wrestling with the contemporary realities of a hardscrabble region that’s been left behind in many ways. While Appalachian Gothic explores darker themes and raw subject matter such as the legacy of coal mining and the ravages of the opioid crisis on songs like “The Devil is Here in These Hills,” “Dear Dad," “The Appalachian Blues,” and “The Battle of Uniontown,” it also taps into a defiant streak of optimism on twangy upbeat rockers like “Winona” and the pro-union anthem “Yours in the Struggle.” Huey mines the Classic Country seam of the '60s and '70s on the rollicking “You Can’t Drink All Day” and the torchlit two-stepper “That’s What Jukeboxes Are For,” a duet with alt-country chanteuse Laura Cantrell, then roams into Spaghetti Western territory on the eerie “Death County.” He taps into his inner punk rocker on the swampy and lustful “Lucy”—songs he co-wrote with Ambel (the pair cowrote roughly half the songs on the LP). In a similar vein, Erik’s chugging cover of John Cooper Clarke’s “A Heart Disease Called Love” nods to The Ramones and is highlighted by the jump-blues baritone saxophone of Steve Berlin (Los Lobos). Appalachian Gothic was recorded at Cowboy Technical Studios in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and produced by rock 'n' roots guitarist Ambel (Bottle Rockets, Jimbo Mathus, Yayhoos, Sarah Borges). Along with Eric Ambel on guitar, musicians include Jeremy Chatzky on bass and Kenny Soule on drums, with additional appearances by Keith Christopher (bass), Andy York (guitar), Neil Thomas (accordion), Cody Nilsen (pedal steel), and drummer Phil Cimino. Guests include Steve Berlin and Laura Cantrell. Coming of age during the early years of punk rock, Huey got into music via on-ramp of The Blasters, X, Jason & The Scorchers, The Beat Farmers, and Mojo Nixon, then wandered upstream along the Hillbilly Highway until he unearthed a couple of old cassettes by Johnny Cash and George Jones — artists he’d first heard as a kid riding along in the cab of his Uncle Jack’s 18-wheeler. Hearing these artists pulled him back to his musical roots. “This record is a love letter to Appalachia,” he says. “Like so many West Virginians, I had to eventually leave the place where I grew up. As the locals say, I had to ‘get out to get ahead,’ which created a lasting sense of exile. So this album is a homecoming of sorts. It’s a realization that although I spent my life tunneling out, those rugged hills kept calling me home.” Read the full article

[theballadofmortimerlepastorale]

SLW 48A/CODENAME: T0FVRKEY, STEP ONE: KARATE CHOP TO THE MEDULLA OBLONGATA ROCK 'N' ROLL//POST-PUNK//GOTH ROCK//DARKWAVE//INDUSTRIAL (uploaded to Mixcloud: 2024_10_01) CURRENTLY NOT BEING SIMULCASTED TO TERRESTIAL RADIO Music in the background during the Voice Over Breaks from The Prisoner OST (BBC T.V. 1968)x

Tones On Tail - Twist (Northampton, England 1984)

Death And Vanilla - Transparent Things (Malmö, Sweden 2023)

LOVATARAXX - Millepertuis (Lyon, France 2024)

Diary of Dreams - the Secret (Germany 2023)

ACITYASLEEP - Turn To Cold (Richmond, Virginia 2024)

The Ire - Bacchic Danse (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2024)

Bauhaus - Mask (Northampton, England 1981)

Butthole Surfers - Whirling Hall Of Knives (San Antonio, Texas 1986)

Ascenship - К​а​л​и​н​и​н​г​р​а​д* (Indianapolis, Indiana 2023)

Joy Division - Something Must Break (Manchester, England 1980)

The Cure - The Blood (London, England 1985)

The Sisters Of Mercy - Burn (Leeds, England 1983)

Peter Murphy - The Spy in the Cab live (Los Angeles, California 2013)

The Creatures - Gecko (Oahu, Hawaii 1983)

Swans - Amnesia (New York City, New York 1992)

Dead Can Dance - Frontier (London, England 1984)

Dead Can Dance - The Trial (London, England 1984)

Ministry - The Angel (Chicago, Illinois 1986)

Skinny Puppy - Assimilate (Vancouver, Cananda 1985)

Einstürzende Neubauten - Seele Brennt (West Berlin, West Germany 1985)

Morthem Vlade Art - A Death in the Family (Paris, France 2021)

Preoccupations - Fever (Calgary, Canada 2016)

Da-Sein - Hell Over You (Madrid, Spain 2023)

Attrition - The Alibi (Coventry, England 2024)

Theo Vandenhoff - Evening Star (Toronto, Canada 2024)

Yama Uba - Shatter (Oakland, California 2023)

Caput Medusae - I Wear Black 'Til I'm Dead (Munich, Germany 2024) *Kaliningrad

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 11th April

Another two songs, and they're a wild two, this time. Seriously, I challenge you not to feel breathless after listening to this duo - both have a different but equally manic energy. Good stuff!

Cumberland Gap - Lonnie Donegan (1)

Well, Lonnie's a bit nutty at the best of times, but he genuinely sounds like he's lost his mind on this track, especially towards the end where it just dissolves into these stuttering, breathless, strangely quiet repetitions of the lyric Cumberland gap, Cumberland gap. It's fascinatingly raw and imperfect, I like it a lot.

The song itself's an Appalachian folk song with a long history, having first been recorded in 1924, but having existed for a fair while before then. It's a song about a mountain pass, the Cumberland Gap, at the point where Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky meet, which was apparently used by 1700s migrants travelling west. It's normally a banjo tune, and you can hear that here, even though Lonnie's on guitar.

Most of the lyrics here make reference to the actual Cumberland Gap, and the distance between there and Middlesboro, Kentucky, though there's also a brief nonsense interlude that Lonnie inserts about how I got a girl six feet tall / Sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall and about Two old ladies sitting int he sand / Each one wishing that the other was a man, both of which feel like a weird throwback to novelty music-hall gags. They're fun, but they're odd, too, completely unconnected to the rest of the song, just excuses for Lonnie to speed the pace up more and more, going at it with increasing levels of gusto until he practically crashes into the guitar solo at the end.

And speaking of that guitar solo, it's a proper rocker. You get the feeling that this guitar solo could hold its weight against a bunch of more iconic solos, we're really getting towards proper rock rock, you know? Heck, there's something a little bit punk rock about Lonnie's delivery, here, just twenty years or so too early - it's breathy and itchy and raw, and there's that sort of unpolished, DIY feel to the whole track. So that's something.

Awww, man, I really enjoyed the chaotic energy here!

The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard (9)

Yeah, this is also pretty great, another rocker, with some really lovely moments.

We start with a solid, regular drum beat, and some blasts of saxophone, a much cooler, more collected vibe than Lonnie had. Then the backing singers come in with a chorus of She can't help it, the girl can't help it, and we're go, with a song that on paper looks kind of creepy, but in practice, just about gets away with it.

I think it's the cartoonishness of it all that does it. Lines about how If she walks by, the menfolks get engrossed or how If she winks an eye, the bread slice turn to toast, or If she smile, then beefsteak become well done are so obviously ridiculous that you can't help but imagine men's heads swivelling like they're in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, complete with heart eyes and their hearts beating exaggerately out of their chests, complete with cliché "awoooga" horn sounds. It's silly, and the switch into comedy mode means that the potential creepiness of lines about how this girl was born to please or about how she's got a figure made to squeeze is neutralised. Thank goodness!

It also helps that Little Richard clearly is dating this woman - why else would he be singing about going down on bended knee? You don't do that with a girl you're catcalling on the street. He even gets the cute little moment where he turns the can't help it shtick around, singing about how he hopes that one day his girl won't be able to help but love him. It's a good addition to the song, since it turns it from a song about ogling passing women into a song about how Richard's girlfriend is the hottest, seriously, even the sliced bread wants her - no seriously!

It's cute, okay? There's a goofiness to it, and Little Richard's obviosuly having fun, with all these little vocal quirks and one particularly notable scream right in the middle. It's fine, and I can absolutely see 1950s teenagers bopping away, making eyes at their crushes to this.

Man, I like both of these songs. They've both got a certain rawness to them, and an energy that gets your toes tapping. Both are also kind of silly, in their own way, too - we're not taking ourselves too seriously, which I enjoyed. In terms of which I enjoyed more, though? I think the sheer unhingedness won me over...

Favourite song of the bunch: Cumberland Gap

[le-souriant]

#MusicMonday Review - September 2023

#MusicMonday is the hashtag I've been using for quite a while to share music recommendations from up-and-coming artists. Always fresh, and always different, trying to look for trends before they become one. You can check August's review for more music.

This month's music will take you through different atmospheres, and settings. Sit back, relax, give it a listen or two, with a word from the artists themselves. 🎧

Lazy Guns – In My Shadow

Wear your crown with your head held high You tell everyone you live in the sky But what do you do when your kingdom crumbles You're falling down and I watch you tumble

We wake up this month in beautiful Sunshine Coast, Australia for a 2000s Rock revival about being always better than those who envy you:

"The song came about around three years ago while we were writing the album and was written by myself [band member Jack] and our older sister, Paris Smith.

Shadow is kind of a vengeful track and opens the door to a slightly darker side of our album. The song is ultimately about rising up against someone that has hurt you, and realizing that you are better that that person, and that they will always be 'in your shadow'."

Dakota Avenue – Skin

I feel, completely to blame for the uproar. We kissed, it’s not my fault that you want more. You feel, the way you feel because you’re… We talk, the way we talk because you’re… unhappy with him.

You’re unhappy with him. You’re unhappy within. You’re unhappy within your skin.

We move to Manchester, England for an alt-mospheric track about making someone so pissed, they can’t even find where their keys are:

"It is about the way people behave badly because of their own negative impression of themselves, and how the people around them may feel feel upset or somehow responsible. I think it’s more a reflection on myself and my friends at a time we weren't very happy!"

Silver Springs – Glow

Walk down the same old streets full of familiar faces Go for a drink visit the same old places Early in the morning, alone in the cold I see it clearer than in used to Be reborn again and let the past grow old

From Stockholm, Sweden, an ethereal Indie track about being stuck, losing it all, with nowhere to go:

"That song just came very naturally, I think I wrote it in just a couple of hours. It sort of sums up a feeling I had when I had to move on from something that was really important to me, I didn’t want to look back but I also thought everything new and current felt very boring and grey. And then in the last part of the song it’s more about moving on and accepting that things have to change.

It was like a brief but intense therapy session to write the song and I don’t think I realized at the time how personal the song really is. 😁"

The Semi-Supervillains – Here Comes Trouble

And I like a surprise; but I realize She's gone; and I keep hitting snooze I wake up at the crack of noon I look up; I ain't got a clue She's gone

Next stop, Weirton, West Virginia for some Classic Rock vibes about running as fast as I can, even if you don't wanna leave, before you may get a shotgun pointed at you:

"Here Comes Trouble is a contemporary blues rock track inspired by the modern garage rock juggernauts. The lyrics and story in the song are from a personal experience sparing few that is common for the average young American man. Getting laid and sneaking out of the house before her dad kicks finds you there!"

Parade – Electric Fear

Have you known this electric fear The one that hides your pain.

I'll tell you how it feels to live on pills

The harder you fall The pressure you felt The weight on your shoulders The weight of the world

Our last destination is Marseille, France for a Post Punk track that takes us to that place where happiness was never meant for real:

"Electric fear has different meanings, one would be against the alienation of working in big companies, never listening to your own feeling, just act as a robot until the day ends.

It also relates to my depression, and pills that always comes within. It doesn’t matter if it's drug pills or medicine pills as both interact with your mind.

We wrote the music together and [band member] Nico found very quickly this theme that we consider the chorus of the song and then we put that all together. At first it was the same line repeated over and over and we finally fixed it with the bridge so that it can be a proper song."

Listen to them and much more on the complete Playlist:

[asheimmortal]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think Fangbanger is the best band on the planet right now.

And I found them on TikTok only a few months ago, then drove across the country from West Virginia to Oregon to see them.

Sometimes I feel like maybe I'm seriously messed up in the head because I can't remember if I ever listened to any other band this much. And there have been a few, but those few have a lot more albums. But I'm listening to the same 19 songs a hell of a lot now. We'll get to that in a minute.

I grew up on Duran Duran and they've been my #1 favorite band no matter what else comes along since their first album. When I was a little kid, I knew I was alone in the world, and all I had were the Duran Duran tapes my aunt gave me to help me make sense of life and figure myself out with. So music has always been how I relate to the world and move through life. The next big one was Nirvana during high school, as I related a lot to them too. At 20 I got into Rammstein more just liking the heavier sound tbh. At 30 I was introduced to Twiztid and the older stuff felt relatable, but as I got older, like over 40, I reverted back to my classic rock, 80s & some early 90s.

But here at 45, I've got a new #1 favorite band and I'm probably old enough to be their momma. LOL But they are so fucking great!!!

I can't really put my finger on what it is, or how to explain it. I loved their energy from the start, from the first live from their garage that I saw, it's like what it must've been like for the older Gen X'ers who went to punk, post punk & goth shows as teenagers in the early 80's when I was still in elementary school. But it's definitely something that can't be faked. Just the same as my other new favorite band One Way Sky is, totally different band, but they authentically have this blend of chill 70s rock & 90s alternative vibe going. To compare, I remember hearing White Stripes when they first came out and thought they sucked because they're trying too hard to sound and look like they're from the 70s. So it's definitely something special to organically have that vibe and sound and feel and energy, like it could have come from another time. And be super relevant to someone my age too. Yeah, that's why I like both of these young bands. And with their energy, and how cool they are, their music, in some small way they make me feel like I'm 18 again when I listen to them. And I think they are everything I wanted to be when I grew up.

The first song I really related to and felt was Vertigo, then when I heard Disappear, yeah it certainly fit what happened at that time and it was a good driving force to get me to literally disappear 2600 miles away like "🖕 you I'm gone!" LOL And another older one that is absolutely great is Death in December. I really did cry the first time I heard it. It's such an amazing song!

So it definitely takes some work to find all of the songs that they've ever put out into the world, and I've counted 19 between YouTube, Spotify, and SoundCloud where there is more of the older stuff. And even with YouTube, you'd need to know that they were The Faint Endless before becoming Fangbanger. So here's the list I got:

Isolate

Artificial Flowers

Light Switch

Vertigo

Once a Catholic, Always a Masochist

Don't Cry

Malice in Wonderland

Plan B

Disappear

Requiem

We Were Once Invincible

Celestial Revenge

Take Me Down

Horrible Things

Death in December

Love Object

Midnight Son

Stay Away

I Love Huffing Paint

And the unfinished song they played on their live yesterday is as great and I cant wait to hear that again. I just think they're fucking fantastic, I love their wild energy, some of the songs or even some lines from other songs are so intense, like they know my 45 of years of pain and suffering, and some stuff is just plain fun and fun to see live. If you like vampires, you should check out their latest release, Midnight Son. 😈🧛😁 And that'll take you to a playlist where you can hear a lot of their stuff. But def go buy their songs on Amazon or Apple.

I've left links all throughout the post for you to go check them out and follow them. I hope I can get more people listening to them.

[nugothrhythms]

“Insomnia” by Charleston, West Virginia-based dark post-punk and indie goth band Static Fur off of their 2021 EP also called Insomnia

[indietapes]

The Wearing Hands - Closer To You (Indie Rock)

🕑 1 min / Text: Franklin B. Release Date: Dec. 10, 2022 The Wearing Hands is a talented indie rock band from West Virginia, and I recently came across their latest release, 'Closer To You'. There's so much going on in this track; it's uplifting, catchy, and has a slightly psychedelic vibe to it. The Wearing Hands' music really manages to stand out with its beautiful guitar work, the vintage spring reverb in the mix, and of course the powerful and expressive lead vocals. The melodies are fantastic as well, and I really like the surf and punk influences in their music. Check out the preview below and find out more about the band on Spotify and Instagram: Melody: ★★★★★ | Production: ★★★★☆ | Arrangement: ★★★★☆ | Energy: ★★★★★ |  Stream: https://open.spotify.com/track/1zsUPEG3RYH7UNTTwIn4sv Follow: https://www.instagram.com/thewearinghands/ ✔️ Available on our Indie Playlist on Spotify.

[atomicpeasantwv-blog]

We have some t shirts and back patches available. $10 t's and $5 patches. This swag was printed up by our good friend Brandon Mitchell at Pins And Needles (Disappearing Man, Funky Town, Pool Party). Get yours at a show soon.

[hidden-insights]

Let the adventure begiiin ! But first, a documentary on pasta  !

[we-love-a-bop]

The Front Bottoms // West Virginia