Watch out for the virus! The T4 Project’s Story-Based Concept Album captures the true spirit of punk rock revolution on an exceptionally unique and dynamic release. Over two and a half years in the making, the album was recorded in seven studios on two continents and features over a dozen established artists from a host of seminal punk bands and some of the most hard-hitting musicians from today’s hottest alternative acts including Pennywise, Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, Buzzcocks, The Damned, Strung Out, Porno for Pyros, Nina Hagen Band, The Screamers, Subhumans, Naked Aggression, Glass & Ashes, Le Meu Le Purr, and more. Conceived and produced by musical visionary Shannon Saint Ryan, with lyrics by Strung Out’s Jason Cruz, the album includes a riveting 24-page graphic novel story-booklet that delivers a darkly sobering yet ultimately inspiring and transcendent message for the modern age.

Featured Artists
Shannon Saint Ryan: guitar, vocals
Tony Barber, Jay Bentley, Mike Carter: bass
Jason Cruz, Kirsten Patches: vocals
Peter Distefano, Fletcher Dragge: guitar
Greg Hetson, Armand Tambouris: guitar
Paul Roessler: keyboards
Spike T. Smith, Trotsky: drums

The 2006–07 touring incarnation of Grails included good friend and drummer Ben Nugent, allowing Emil Amos to switch to third guitar for the band’s live instrumentation. The DNA of this “guitar-dense” lineup allowed for new types of songs and bigger melodies. In early 2007, the then-five-piece entered Steven Lobdell’s (Faust) Audible Alchemy to document the new songs written with this augmented sound, and the resultant sessions make up Take Refuge In Clean Living. (The group has since returned to the original four members). Opening with a nod to Syd Barret’s Pink Floyd, the album begins with Morse Code before dropping into one of the heaviest slow-burn grooves in the Grails canon. Sounding something like Hawkwind and Ravi Shankar scoring Bladerunner, it’s lysergic and earthy in a new way. The rest of the album moves from blissful Eno-inspired ambience and epic Morricone rock hymns to an unexpected take on a Ventures tune that returns the listener back to the very beginnings of instrumental rock music.

“Rock, jazz, free-form freakouts, droning soundscapes, plodding dubbed-up and out bass—they are all here, making for one of the most adventurous records … and perhaps, when all is said and done, one of the very best.” — All Music Guide

The second full length by Ecstatic Sunshine is an album of skewed minimalism and true, uplifting positivity. Recorded in Summer/Fall 2007, Way stretches to a point fully beyond expectation. The riffs that ES explored in the past are deconstructed, reconsidered, effected, and processed into melodic noise and chiming rhythm.

“Ecstatic Sunshine is a group comprised of two guys who play guitars, but please note that it’s not just your average lackadaisical coffeehouse-style busking … it’s all about the riffs as the two players rip through section after section in their slightly math-like electric guitar fueled songs.” — Almost Cool

BEAR COLONY
WE CAME HERE TO DIE
ESZ-Esperanza Plantation
Allegro Price: $11.18

No band in the Esperanza Plantation fold embraces “hope” with open arms more than Little Rock’s Bear Colony. If the listener follows the lyrics closely throughout their debut, We Came Here To Die, it is apparent that underlying themes of coping and healing connect each of the songs into a cohesive composition. The unfortunate inspiration behind the album came from songwriter Vince Griffin’s troubled experiences in 2005. Misdiagnosed with Crohns Disease, Griffin was bedridden for several months and began writing the songs as an outlet. The frightening uncertainty surrounding his condition spurred him to channel his frustrations into creativity, and the songs that comprise this debut full-length present a chronicle of the fear he endured.

“Without Vincent Griffin’s dramatic back story, Bear Colony’s We Came Here To Die is still a compelling and engaging collection of songs created at the crossroads of emo and electronica, but considering its difficult birth, the album becomes a statement of the artist’s ability to transcend physical challenges and the overwhelmingly redemptive nature of music itself.” — Amplifier

By now you’re likely familiar with the (barely) contained chaos of HEALTH. The band’s debut album (September 2008, Lovepump United) and relentless touring with the likes of Crystal Castles and White Williams has cemented their status as one of the most exciting bands in independent music—publications like XLR8R, The Fader, and Pitchfork agree. In addition to evoking grand hyperboles from every blog under the sun, HEALTH’s album inspired several other musicians to match the band’s creativity. They reimagined, recut, and remixed, and the result is HEALTH//DISCO.

“HEALTH music can be harsh and grating, of course, but also sensually smooth and sexy and electronic and also metallic and all Fodderstompfy.” — LA Weekly

Memorias Atrás is a sonic trip to Hell … and, like two horsemen of the Apocalypse, Erk and Racso are riding high on thudding beats, solid bass, and sounds straight out of purgatory, unleashing an electronic earthquake at maximum power. The Mexican electro-maniacs have returned to the raw, in-your-face sound of their early days—only darker, more massive, and way more intense! Memorias Atrás consists of 12 striking club burners straight out of the abyss of human existence. The album is jam-packed with tracks that have the words “club hit” written all over then.

“Is there any doubt left in anyone’s mind that Hocico is the best harsh EBM act in the world? They’ve got the aggression, the tortured vocals, the starkly modern programming, the beautifully creepy introductions, and to top everything else off, they don’t even resort to Hellraiser, Alien, or Full Metal Jacket samples … If you haven’t heard Hocico and you’re even remotely into bands like Suicide Commando, Psyclon 9, or yelworC, you should be ashamed of yourself. Put down whatever it is you’re doing right now and go buy this album.” — Grave Concerns