May 20, 2009

Christopher Robin 7"

A long time ago a friend told me about a mix-tape competition he was having with a buddy of his. It wasn't just any mix-tape competition... it was an EMO mixtape competition. They had an point-scoring system, with points going towards cool old-school emo cliches like dueling male/female vocals, silk-screened record covers, poorly recorded, bands that could barely play their instruments, being able to list if people are ex-members of ____ band (usually from a straight edge hardcore band), or lyric inserts with over-explanation of song meanings. My friend told me that his A-card was when he pulled out his Christopher Robin 7". It's truly a good one - emo in the vein of Indian Summer or In/Humanity, not poppy stuff like Sunny Day Real Estate or Cap'n Jazz - chaotic but not formless, clearly full of passion but not saccharine or overdramatic (if you like that kind of emo, check out Bob Tilton), and yep it's poorly recorded.
I gotta say, I love this record. Christopher Robin was a Seattle band that played a bunch of house shows, and released only this 7" and one song on a compilation (Universal Choking Sign comp on Excursion Records).


enjoy, buddies.
download: http://www.mediafire.com/?izw0wn2yjid

May 18, 2009

J Church - Camels, Spilled Corona, and the Sound Of Mariachi Bands


So I decided to blog about some of my favorite albums, and put them up for download (or at least, the ones that are ridiculously hard to find, or are out of print)

The first album I want to write about is one of the first records I ever bought, and one of my favorites to this day.
In 1994 or 1995, I saw a east-side pop punk band whose bass player had a couple stickers on his bass, and one of those stickers was J Church. A little while later I went to Cellophane Square in Bellevue (way back when it was in the mall) and found a J Church record - a picture-disk version of Camels, Spilled Corona, and the Sound of Mariachi Bands. I also bought a Husker Du record (Candy Apple Gray), but I hardly ever listened to it because I couldn't bear to take the J Church record of the record player that I inherited from my grandma.

This record is a compilation of their early 7"s, though it feels as cohesive as any other album I own. All the songs could definitely be considered "pop punk" but stands apart from most others in that genre - there's no whiny vocals, the songs aren't lamentation about girls, it's not something that blathers on about pogo-ing, or getting drunk, or silly shit like bananas... rather the songs are as political as you might expect from any hardcore band of that era. In fact, singer/guitarist Lance Hahn had been a long time anarchist and vegan, and wrote incredibly catchy and thought-provoking songs for the entire 15 years of J Church's existence.

This is one of the few albums that I've memorized most of the lyrics to, and they periodically pop up in my head to this day. Just a few months ago I was hanging out in San Francisco, walking in the rain with soggy feet in the Mission district, and I start singing the song November: "As the rain falls hard it fills the cracks on Mission Street, There's a hole in my shoe and it’s letting water soak my feet."

The song Kathi especially influenced me over the years - a song about having a conversation with a friend about vegetarianism, specifically about hearing meat-eating friends' opinions and trying to listen and be respectful, but at the same time not compromising deeply held values and not being passive with your most important beliefs. And as a bonus, it has Blake Schwartzenbach from Jawbreaker singing backup vocals.

Kathi tells me that she doesn't care and its not as if she's dumb or unaware,
Kathi tells me there's no reason why but she doesn't feel that eating meat applies,
Kathi says she doesn't understand why I do not want to eat at Burger King

And I try (I try), I can see that it makes no sense,
'Cause I try (I try), I can see the difference,
And it's something that I felt in side that will remain there,
Something that I can't hide

Kathi tells me everything must die but I don't get what she implies,
I think about the things she has to say all the time, I don't see how she can close her eyes,
'Cause it makes me sick to think of every cage and it makes me sick to think of life wasting away

And I try (I try), I can see that it makes no sense,
'Cause I try (I try), I can see her innocence,
And it's something that I felt inside that will remain there,
Something that I can't hide

Kathi says a lot of things but it all has that familiar ring,
Kathi says a lot of things and it all has that familiar ring

Lance Hahn passed away in late 2007 of complications with kidney disease. Even though I've been such a big fan of J Church for all these years, I only got to see them once, when they played at Second Ave Pizza with Storm the Tower in 2003. They played some of my favorite songs from this album, and it was one of my top-10 shows of all time. When I talked to Lance, he was incredibly nice and had awesome and encouraging things to say. He'll be missed.





These mp3s are all ripped straight from my record. There might be a skip or two - but hey, it's an old copy that got a lot of wear. Adds character.
J Church - Camels, Spilled Corona, and the Sound of Mariachi Bands <- download! http://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=999& <- buy!