SUNDOGS : Legends In Their Own Minds

The Sundogs are a Seattle based band formed by Stan Snow and Jed Moffitt. Legends In Their Own Minds is their second video album and includes all original music written by Snow and Moffitt. Their music is diverse in style because Snow and Moffitt approach songwriting from different angles. This gives their music significant variation and they typically alternate tracks throughout the album. Each song is different. Their music is inspired by the days of classic rock and jazz fusion so this is both an audio AND video album. The videos were shot during the recording sessions using green screens, and all videos have CGI post-production.

Starting off with the single “Fallen Hero,” you definitely get that classic rock vibe and a damn good song as well. Catchy and tight playing really make for one heck of a beginning to the album. Next, you get some of that Steely Dan influence and the jazz feel with the terrific “Snowman.” This is a song that reminded me of the stuff I used to hear coming out of my older brother’s room back in the late ‘70s. With Snow and Moffitt switching from song to song, the variation of sounds is great and really gives you a nice mixture of styles and keeps things interesting. Stan Snow is a songwriter, producer, does vocals, guitars, etc…, and Jed Moffitt is a songwriter, co-Producer, also does vocals and keyboards, while the rest are studio musicians that they hire for the recordings and videos, but they are not “in the band.” This album has amazing production, the vocals for both singers are perfect for their styles and the playing is tight, but has a groove to it that really makes for a toe-tapping good time. I really can’t say anything bad about any of the songs; every one of them is great and could be a single.

Grab this album, turn the lights low and groove along to the mixed up sounds on here and smoke ‘em if you got ‘em…you know what I mean. If my brother was still here, this would be on his rotation, so for you Curtis, this is one that I will play for you, my brother.

https://www.facebook.com/SundogsMusicBand/

http://sundogsmusic.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ZWHcvZL94l2YvlhCBwDcg

PUNK FACTION : BHP ’91 to’95 by David Gamage

Punk Faction, BHP ’91 to ’95, is a 280-page book collecting together the articles, interviews and reviews from the punk music and alternative lifestyle fanzine.
It contains interviews with Goober Patrol, Angus Bagpipe, Pseudo Hippies, Green Day, Hard-Ons, Ramones, SNFU, Quicksand, All, MTX, Sugar, Alloy, Samiam, Compulsion, Down By Law, Rancid, Shelter, Jawbreaker, Pennywise, Civ, Riverdales, as well as Daniel Clowes and Steven Jesse Bernstein. It also contains tour and scene reports, and articles on everything from censorship to prejudice, hunt saboteurs to third world debt, vegetarianism and the environment, as well as hundreds of live and record reviews.
Now collected into one book, with an introduction from the editor/author and a foreword by Frank Turner.

David Gamage says in his introduction that some of the things he wrote back when he was doing this zine that some parts were a little naive on his being so young, but it is a snapshot of what was going on in his area and in his heart and mind back then. The book is a collection of the complete zines from this time period, warts and all, and in the case of the first few issues… a lot of warts. The first few issues while interesting, suffer from being hard to read because of the poor fonts, bad printing from the time period, small size and the confusing and jumbled layout. As time moves forward, things start to improve and it becomes a lot clearer and easier to read everything. Even though it seems like a complaint, it is cool to see the zines in all their glory. The writing is pretty good, lots of info in the articles, interesting and humourous interviews and cool reviews of shows and music. Some of the political articles sound preachy, but that’s how most of them still sound today. While not agreeing with everything written in these zines, it’s easy to skip over the things that I don’t care about, just like reading the originals and focus on the more interesting, at least to me, stuff. I can see the hard work that was put into these when they were originally done, and for that, I salute you and all the effort put into them.

A great snapshot of bands that have gotten bigger, gone away, or just forgotten, and a scene that didn’t get a lot of press in the larger zines of the time. Of course, it’s always sad to see zines go away, but at least this one will not be forgotten with this fantastic collection that everyone interested in punk and hardcore should get.

https://www.facebook.com/david.gamage.5

https://www.facebook.com/engineerrecords/

http://engineerrecords.com/

https://www.earthisland.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/EarthIslandUK

BEST INTENSIONS : The Loser’s Club

Nashville based Pop punk band composed of Tony Pietrafesa (vocals, guitar), Matthew Kleinman (guitar), Evan Aliquo (Bass) and Jim Collett (drums); Best Intention’s sound encompasses elements of rock, hard rock, and pop-punk, with emphasis on the pop-punk. Best Intentions was born in Philadelphia, in 2016, the brainchild of Kleinman, who moved to Nashville a year later, where he re-launched the band with a new lineup.

If you like Blink-182 and Weezer, this is the band for you. This is as catchy as a hooker in Times Square back in the early ‘80s before they cleaned it up. The band has a ton of energy and keeps things bouncing along with strong song after strong song. I really liked “At The Ocean” with its peppy playing and terrific guitar playing. The vocals are clean and clear, with just enough of a snottiness to keep things fun. First track “Ghosted” is just someone making a phone call and no one being there, nothing too exciting, easy to skip over, but don’t you dare do that to anything on the rest of the album. “Roses’ is another song that stuck out to me with the punchiness of the track and the catchiness of the song. “Would You Be Proud Of Me Now” starts off slow and quiet and then gets going into a faster tempo and is a great song with thoughtful lyrics. “Welcome To…” is another track that can be skipped over, just a recap of the album made up like someone skipping around the tracks with it playing in the background. “The Loser’s Club” is catchy and has a great bunch of swearing in it that will be great shouted out live in concert. The playing is tight, great lyrics and enough emotion coming through to give it heartfelt feelings for the listener.

After getting burned out on pop-punk and how many bad bands there were out there playing it, this is a breath of fresh air and shows that when someone gets it, they can really play the hell out of it. This is a band that I will be keeping my eyes and ears on.

https://www.facebook.com/BestIntentionsMusic/

https://www.facebook.com/racestreetmusicgroup/

NICK DE LA HOYDE : Animals (Single)

This is a new summer track from Sydney-based pop/R&B sensation Nick de la Hoyde entitled “Animals.” Growing up in a multi-cultural home with a Syrian mother and British father, Sydney based singer-songwriter Nick de la Hoyde was exposed to many global influences that he now weaves into his music. Melding his love of hip hop, pop and R&B with introspective lyrics that chronicles a young musician’s journey to adulthood, overcoming life and artistic challenges along the path, Nick and his long-time producer/collaborator/older brother Joseph (ZUZU) de la Hoyde, have together crafted a sound that is simultaneously intimate, expansive and engaging.

I have to be totally honest, I really wasn’t expecting much and to probably hate this, but I went into it with an open mind and I really enjoyed this song, as well as the video which shows someone with an animal head on being lonely and melancholy, then meeting someone and being extremely happy doing all of the things with someone else, that also had an animal head on. The video made me smile and the song stuck with me, something that rarely happens with music that you would normally hear on pop radio. The song is, the artist says, “Animals” is a song about love! I wrote the song because I am constantly in awe of the unconditional love that I see in all animals, whether in the wild or the ones we are blessed to share our homes with! No matter what sort of day you have had, or how bad you are feeling, when you get home you are greeted with love and affection that puts a smile back on your face. Human beings can learn a lot from animals, and real, unconditional love is the biggest lesson you can learn from them and one that we should put into practice in our own lives.” All I can say is that he nailed it perfectly. The song is smooth, the vocals are sincere and I got into the light groove that it had.

I enjoyed everything about this song, especially watching the video and listening to the song together. A great taster to what I hope that the album will be like and a great song to make you smile.

https://www.facebook.com/nickdelahoyde/

https://www.nickdelahoyde.com/

https://nickdelahoyde.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gatcombemusic/