"Do you guys actually want to hear that song? Seriously?" - Ari's reponse to calls for "Hey Catrine"

Andrea's bitching me out for not putting "romantic" songs up because it's out "anniversary" and it's "special." I think the romantic poetry of Calvin Broadus will suffice in response: "bitches ain't shit but hos and tricks/lick on deez nuts and suck the dick." Happy year thing, baby!

On those surveys where they ask you why you drink, they never list "I like my job but it drives me to the bottle a lot." Wankers. Also, to all the dudes on the Org who encourage me daily to give up writing this thing because I'm not down with their scene, thanks! It's nice to know someone's reading. Hope you enjoy the free songs as much as I enjoy your poor spelling and grammar!

I've been playing Jersey's Best Dancers a fuckton at work. My boss will come in sometimes and I will be preparing the monthly reports for the client status update while bopping in my chair and basically hollering "I'm so and you're so and we're both so all fucked up!" Makes for some interesting looks.

One of the things I love most about Lifetime is when Ari Katz and Dan Yemin met and started making music in the NY/NJ area in 1990, they started doing something different, something that was in contrast to the thuggish, straight-edge jocks who had adopted hardcore as the latest excuse for fighting and self-righteousness. They actually started writing songs with about feelings! With melodies! And interesting structures! Ray Cappo's days should have been numbered, but unfortunately, the retarded masses often have the last say in dominance. (See the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004.) If there a god who judged music and he had to compare "Stabbed in the Back" with "Young, Loud and Scotty," there's no doubt which he would find lacking.

"Okay Matt," I imagine you grumbling, "we know you hate the cavemen throwbacks who define themselves by what they don't do and love music that's an excuse to start fights. What do you actually like about this good band you keep prattling on and on about in the margins?" Well, for better or for worse, Lifetime is the band that saved emo for the punks. While the genre eventually blossomed into what was essentially the pop-punk take on James Taylor and other equally repugnant dipshits, Lifetime was a stark reminder in a scene of thugs that it was okay to make music that represented actual human emotions that were not anger, and that it could be hard charging and dense and still be punk as all fuck. They're the reason that the Lawrence Arms can outrock most modern metal bands, and I stand by that statement.

While they're early stuff wasn't so hot (a little too jammy SDRE alt rock-ish for me), by the time they got to Hello Bastards, they were by far the most interesting band in hardcore. The absolutely stunning follow-up, Jersey's Best Dancers, is a classic and one that earns them a place in the canon. Dan Yemin had firmly established his chugs-then-melody signature songwriting, and Ari was mushmouthing his way to glory.

They broke up shortly after Dancers won them their place in history, but they reunited in recent years and shocked me by being surprisingly good. Their new record has good songs, but the production kind of ruins it. This is fine with me for two reasons: 1) the new songs sound perfect live, and 2) they may have signed to Decaydance because it was the only label that would let them get away with not really touring all that much, but they have basically badmouthed the label from day one while continuing to take their money (and, by extension, the money of teenyboppers). That's pretty punk rock if you ask me.

This is what happen when hardcore dudes actually learn to play their instruments.

(PS - I'll probably be posting a blog of romantic shit later. Godammit.)

Knives, Bats, New Tats - http://www.mediafire.com/?0sdbg1bommr

It's Not Funny Anymore - http://www.mediafire.com/?nj8jv1fmdes

Hey Catrine - http://www.mediafire.com/?11et9rmimeg

Verona Kings - http://www.mediafire.com/?td2kp2dm0uu

Somewhere in the Swamps of Jersey - http://www.mediafire.com/?lmnpyn34lyw

Airport Monday Morning - http://www.mediafire.com/?vs4jm0zypzg