Personal Freedom Through SHARKS

Sometimes I let nostalgia get the best of me. With my constant search for new groups coming out from all over the world, I find that going back to the first genre I was heavily into, Punk, I'll come across a group that will take me to ground zero and fuel me with teenage adrenaline. As I can recall, anything put out by Epitaph and Hellcat Records was gospel to me. The Punk-O-Rama and Give 'Em The Boot annual compilations were the calling cardS for me to get into harder,uniquely different forms of Punk. As my taste evolved, I would occasionally dive back into Punk but rarely would find anything worth talking about amongst friends. However, through different labels on the rise from all over the country, I started researching. Last month, I was looking through the independent record label Rise Records' roster. Most of the bands they signed to their label consist of screamo, hardcore and other types of groups that blend into each other. As far as I was concerned, there wasn't anything new to be excited about. Then I came across a group's band shot from England that I knew was different then anything else on the label: Fred Perry shirts, slicked back haircuts, and determination written all over each member's face. I present to you...SHARKS.


A few years back, Punk had been broadening it's style and fusing into different forms of music: Folk, Old School Rock 'N Roll, and even Soul-If it sounds good, ignore the scene police. Groups like The Gaslight Anthem and Lucero have been around for some time now with their own take on Punk and have been embraced with open arms by fans. Whats interesting about SHARKS though, is how they blend soul, reggae, and rock n' roll elements into one song. Songs such as "The Joys of Living" and "Bury Your Youth" call upon middle-class youth and the baggage that they carry (i.e. life's frustrations). Punk is mainly thought of as a politically oriented genre, SHARKS, however, breaks down this barrier and focuses on the self and their surroundings. As one of their t-shirts proclaims "Fuck God, Believe In Yourself", the band promotes self-appreciation and determination through your own ethos without the help of a supernatural being, but its about how you must do the right thing in order to have your personal happiness fulfilled.

For their U.S. debut, a collection of 7"s were compiled, The Joys Of Living 2008-2010 ,is hands-down one of the best punk albums to have come out in the past few years-Other contenders are Fucked Up's David Comes To Life and The Gaslight Anthem's The 59' Sound. The compilation of 14 songs are a throwback to the days of early Clash and Jam albums, but with the intensity of growing up and coming of age to what your surroundings can do to you. Having heartfelt lyrics about the salvation of music, destruction of one's self, and becoming the person you want to be, this is the kind of band that will continue to carry the work The Clash once set out to do. Having your own personal salvation with a band's help is the ultimate armor in your battle to survive life. This is what punk gave me the first time I ever heard it.







As the band gears up to head out on Alternative Press' Tour this fall, I anticipate they will return into the studio and record an album. I was too young to appreciate The Clash and the message they were promoting, but now I feel like I can begin with SHARKS. I'll still dive back into Punk when the right time calls for it; a crappy shift, the luck of finding a proper job, or when you feel plain down- I'll have a song to yell along with when I'm driving home. At the end of the day, that's all that matters is knowing a song will understand your position in life and back you up.

Bands You Need To Know- Vol:1

When a band comes into your life that is unknown to others, you savor the discovery. You get excited and want to tell as many people as you can about how this one band is ten times better than what is on the radio. However, the major labels will think about that same thing when signing a band and try to make them as big as whatever is rotating on the radio. After some time, the band is promoting the album and touring their asses off, they receive news from the label that they are being dropped due to poor record sales or lack of interest. What's next? The scenario continues. The band will keep touring; release albums under a new label(most likely an independent one); break up; or, stay home and work there. All the bands I am featuring for this blog are all from England (The Strays have members from Greece and the U.S.) and have released the best albums that have come out for the past five years since the Brit pop movement in the mid-90s. These are five of the groups that came out during that time who I believe are underrated and deserve to get their due in the bigger light. Each one of these bands share a sound that is distinctive, but, yet, add their own unique twist to it.



1.The View


2.The Coral



3.The Dead 60s



4.The Strays



5.The Courteeners




If you are interested in finding all these bands in their physical formats, go to and support your local record store!

Review: Wilco 7" -"I Might"/ "I Love My Label" (dBm Records)

With only a few more months until the release of their new album,The Whole Love ,Wilco are giving us a taste of what to expect...but only if you have a record player. On their newly formed label, dBm, which is also under the distribution of Anti- Records, Wilco released a 7"(with an mp3 download card) of two songs: a new track ("I Might") and a Nick Lowe cover ("I Love My Label"). Both songs deliver the band's diversity and talent of what they have been producing for over a decade. Lead singer Jeff Tweedy has certainly gone through a few downs (rehab, lineup changes), but has shared plenty of ups too. Now with their own label, Tweedy and crew are ready to deliver an album that is a better result from their 2009 effort, Wilco, (The Album).

Wilco has evolved from the "y'all-ternative" genre to sophisticated productions on classic albums such as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost Is Born, and Summerteeth. Although their last album, Wilco (The Album), was a decent effort for creating a poppier sound, the two song teaser reveals that they are going in a different direction through older, retro sounds. As "I Might" begins (a rugged acoustic riff and a fuzzed out bass line), I noticed this was a different band. Then came in the retro sounding keyboard riff and then I realized...it was still Wilco. That's the beauty about this band-the different influences they put into their music always throws their fans into a temporary suspicion. "I Might" was a perfect choice to release as a single because it shows a band now that is tired of pressure and is just ready to have fun. The melodies are comparable to deceased ex-member Jay Bennet's influence in which he played in the band's mid career albums (i.e. Summerteeth).




On the reverse is the Nick Lowe cover "I Love My Label". A playful jaunt on how most major labels work. As one could see in their 2002 documentary,I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, the irony of being on a major label is shown by being dropped by one famous label (Sire), and then signed to another sister label(Nonesuch) of the same parent company (Time Warner). You may hear a lot of bands talk about the horrors of being with a major label and what they have to contractually fulfill, but Wilco were always stubborn in that case. Even when they were on major labels, they operated on an independent level through constant touring, recording, and more touring. This is why Wilco has thrived so much on the American rock circuit as a band who has not given up their identity on major label terms. From their first album A.M. to the forthcoming Love, Wilco will continue to make music the way they want regardless of what label is printed next to the bar code.