Strife & Snapcase & Earth Crisis



The California Takeover is a split album by the American metalcore bands Earth Crisis, Strife and Snapcase, which was released in 1996. The album was recorded live at The Whiskey in Los Angeles, California on April 12, 1996.
Great bands=great show


Children Of Fall


Children Of Fall was formed out of the ashes of many now since long defunct bands from the 90's era. Since then many things have come to pass and change, people have made entries and exits and we've moved endless miles geographically and "spiritually" (not to be misunderstood or misinterpreted as being an indication of potential religious belief). We've sworn in blood to seek to inspire others to explore their own passions and pain for this world. To reach beyond our own everyday boredom and find outlets of expression suitable for each an everyone of us. We gather around a system of loose Anarchistic ideas and beliefs. We hold no faith in religions and/or the organized spiritual world, but we have faith in the act of (wo)man and our own potential as human beings. Music has been made one of the languages we speak although most of us have other platforms or ambitions as well. But this medium of blended words and chords has proven to give us the freedom we most desire in our pursuit to give expression to the inner most of all. We're now some 350 DIY shows down the line and just fullfilled our ambitions for our 3rd fullength album "Bonjour Tristesse". In the process of this many things could be said about progress and regress, pleasure and pain but that..s left for the outside world to interpret and judge... We encourage you all to take a deep dive into our music and lyrics and find what needs to be found subjectively to each and everyone. No borders and no boundaries. No pain without a purpose. This is music and the love for it...



Bughummer


Bughummer, a band from Savannah, Georgia, enjoyed a five-and-a-half year run from 1992 to 1998. Originally formed by guitarist Jon Proctor at the Savannah College of Art and Design as a quartet, the group underwent different line-up changes and settled with Proctor, guitarist Keeley Davis (now of Engine Down), and drummer Brian Lackey.

The band was challenging and mercilessly aggressive in their approach to music. As a result, Bughummer's sound, which was always on the far fringes of pop, is complex and technical. Bughummer also augmented their live show with frequent improvisation and experimentation. Not concerned with crafting music that fits into preconceived notions of the conventional rock song, Bughummer blended keen lyricism and emotion with a structure punctuated by sudden stops, starts, and silent passages.

In their eventful tenure as a band, Bughummer cultivated a strong sense of community in Savannah and performed with such recognized acts as Fugazi, Karate, Frodus, and Sweep the Leg Johnny. Their final recording, The Get Away With, is a rough-hewn gem that many more will have the opportunity to hear and discover.


The Van Pelt



Members of BLONDE REDHEAD, NATIVE NOD, and GREYHOUSE formed THE VAN PELT and began to spread its gospel to the world. On the band's 1996 debut album Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves, "His Saxophone is My Guitar" is a straightforward rocker not too far from the screamy, emotive hardcore roots of the band's founders. Chris Leo's flurry of spoken word vocals swims in a sea of guitar lines on their second full-length, Sultans of Sentiment. The myriad of tempos and moods make songs like "My Bouts with Pouncing" tough to figure out but certainly easy to listen to... over and over and over. This band doesn't come from a blueprint, but was born out of intelligence and emotion. THE VAN PELT broke up in 1997, with two members then forming THE LAPSE and another joining JETS TO BRAZIL.

Chris Leo - Guitar & Vocals
Brian Maryansky - Guitar & Backing Vocals
Toko Yasuda - Bass Guitar & Backing Vocals
Neil O'Brian - The Drumset



Picturesque




Picturesque was a rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1997 drummer Mike Paradise and I, fresh from the demise of our previous band, Threadbare, began writing again with the aim of building on some of the more melodic and “post-hardcore” tendencies displayed on the final Threadbare recordings. After recording a demo of five instrumental tracks we began the process of seeking out bass and vocals to round out the lineup. Brad Senne came on board first as vocalist/lyricist, having played with Mike in Reach in the early 90’s, pre-Threadbare. I then convinced my iron-livered friend Chris Dales to come on board (which required him to forsake his chosen instrument of guitar for a bass). And thus, Picturesque strode forth o’er the earth.

We started playing shows around the Twin Cities with a handful of short trips around the midwest, and quickly cut another 4-song demo. I was good friends with Harvest, also from Minneapolis, and when they had a stop back home in the midst of a tour in support of their first record on Trustkill, I gave a copy of the demo to Trustkill boss Josh Grabelle, who was along for the tour. This was back in the pre-Myspace days when it wasn’t completely unthinkable for an unsolicited demo to do anything more than circle the proverbial drain. Instead, perhaps goaded on by the Harvest guys, Josh called from the road to ask if we’d like to put some records out on his label. Shortly thereafter the deal was done and we began work on our first EP.

Recorded at Gark Studio with renowned engineer/soundman/tour manager Dave Pinsky, Shine In Eyes was knocked out in a weekend in one of those rare studio sessions where everything goes right the first time. The EP was released on March 1,1998. At the same time, Brad began playing 2nd guitar live, adding further depth to the live sound. Favorable reviews for the EP started rolling in, including a nod from CMJ as their “Pick Of The Week” the same month as it was released. We spent the summer of 1998 writing for what was to be the first full length. We had begun a round of preproduction on seven new tracks when Brad left the band in the early fall of 98, wanting to pursue more acoustic, pop-based music.

Without our frontman and chief lyricist, someone who was such a integral part of our sound, there wasn’t much time left for Picturesque. With the support of Trustkill we auditioned vocalists for a few months but were unable to find that perfect fit, and it just didn’t feel right. Defeated, we stuck a fork in the band that winter. Despite the positive reviews for the EP, we hadn’t had a chance to tour widely beyond the midwest, so our demise was hardly an earthshattering loss for the music scene of the day.

Brad went on to release a solo record and is now leading his new band, Beight, to great reviews and a strong following. Chris and I formed Seconds Before in the summer of 1999 (with Chris back on guitar), with Mike joining us in 2005. Thanks to the magic of the interwebs, you can check out some of the unreleased Picturesque demo and pre-production work right here. Some of the tracks never had vocals recorded, but you’ll get a sense for the direction the shelved album might have taken. The Shine In Eyes EP is still available at online music stores like iTunes. And there you have it.

-Carl Skildum, March 2007