The Unseen’s inception dates back to 1993 when Mark, Tripp and Scott met while at school in Boston. Looking for something to do after school and on the weekends the misfits began making noise in their parents’ basements. Influenced by artists such as The Clash, Bad Religion and Sick of it All, the guys began playing their own unique breed of Boston punk.
The bands project turned into a full-time gig in no time. Within only a few years the band had already carved a name for themselves in the local scene with their highly energetic shows and street hustled EPs. Over the course of the next few years the band released a slew of EPs and albums and in 2002 they added drummer Pat Melzard the lineup.
With the release of each album the band’s tour schedule got more intense. In 2004 the group began a whirlwind tour that included dates in Europe, North America, Austraila, Japan and Mexico with fellow punk bands Sick of it All, Suicide Machines, Agnostic Front and Hatebreed among others. Additionally the band has done several full headlining tours across the United States.
In 2005, The Unseen signed to Hellcat Records and released State of Discontent, an aggressively raw album with stains of political discontent. Following the release the group added long time friend and guitarist Jonny for an additional punch to the band’s already hostile sound. After opening for bands such as Tiger Army and Rancid in the US and Europe to support the album, the band launched a full-blown headlining tour of the US.
Unable to stay quiet or immobile after another relentless tour, The Unseen returned to their outpost in Stoughton, Massachusetts with longtime cohort and producer Jim Siegel in late 2006 to record their fifth album, Internal Salvation.
“To me the new album starts right where State of Discontent left off,” explains frontman Mark Unseen. “We are still the unseen still playing real heavy hardcore punk but we are also not afraid to make a pro sounding album or to try something a bit different sometimes. We have always wanted to stay the same band but progress a little each album.”
The Unseen, known for voicing their opinions on social and political matters, give listeners a heavy dose of what’s on their mind with Internal Salvation, featuring songs that deal with problems in the world to the extinction of originality and thought. “Lyrically the album is mainly about not knowing what is going on and feeling like you’re at a point where you don’t know what to do to get ahead,” says Unseen.
“I probably shouldn’t like this as much as I do, but I probably shouldn’t drink so much or eat red meat either. But I will. And I do.”
– Roy Pearl, Pearl Before Swine
“Breathing oily rock n roll heart, these guys are wickedly in tune with each other…”
– Brian Kirst, Horror Society
“Right in line with The Riffs or some Eddie And The Hot Rods loving pre-junkies. Heavy on the pop sensibilities, this is ready for the big time.”
Diamond Day Records is very excited to announce the release of The Steepwater Band’s 6th full- length studio album SHAKE YOUR FAITH. The LP features 11 brand new TSB tracks, and is slated for release on Friday, April 1st via Double 180 Gram Vinyl, Compact Disc and Digital Download. The album was recorded last winter at Crushtone Studios, in the shadows of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland, Ohio. Shake Your Faith was produced by the band along with seasoned rock studio veteran Jim Wirt, who has also worked with the likes of Fiona Apple, Incubus and the Buffalo Killers. As with most TSB albums, the sound and songwriting on Shake Your Faith has grown and expanded, yet retained the true nature of the band. It’s the first TSB studio record in over 4 years and the first to include “new” guitarist Eric Saylors.
With the additional band member, the songwriting approach for this record was different than it was on past TSB albums, when they were a 3-piece. Singer/Guitarist Jeff Massey comments on the TSB songwriting process…“Each song was different. I had a few totally finished songs, or Tod would bring a complete piece of music that would need melody & lyrics. And there were also a bunch of other musical ideas coming from both Eric & Joe, which we would all hash out togeth- er.” Drummer Joe winters states “Everyone really brought ideas to the table, collaboratively, more so with Shake Your Faith, than with any other of our records. That really created a special vibe around the songs.”
The arctic Lake Erie air made for a secluded and quick session, as it was all recorded and mixed within 12 days. “What better circumstances to record in?” says Eric Saylors, “There weren’t any outside distractions!” The band entered the studio with a group of songs, but with very loose ar- rangements. Bassist Tod Bowers elaborates, “It really allowed everyone in the band to be inspired by the moment. Sonically inspired by what sounds you were hearing coming out of the speak- ers… what was happening in the room, musically between the 4 of us. And you can hear that in the recording.”
Shake Your Faith has a wide range of sounds from straight ahead rock n roll to a psychedelic samba, and lyrical direction that extends from love to murder. This album is the true meaning of just that. An album – a collective piece of music that’s meant to be heard front to back. Saylors adds “The way the whole record flows, it’s like one long song… takes you on a little journey.”
The Songs: Shake Your Faith – Mama Got To Ramble – Be As it May – Break – Bring On The Love – Jealous Of Your Way – I Will Never Know – Walk In The Light – Gone Goodbye –
Last Second Chance – Ain’t Got Love
Imagine you’re back in time enjoying the groove and virtuosity of a 70’s art-rock band then hurled decades forward, colliding with the energy and intensity of today’s rock scene. Four instruments, two dynamic voices, and a record of relentless touring have earned virtuosic pop-rock duo the StereoFidelics their reputation as a fun, high-energy live act. They perform with a natural passion and synchronicity that is augmented further once the audience realizes the guitar player is also playing bass with his feet or the drummer keeps the beat going while putting down the sticks and shredding the violin. Hard-core touring of the US and calling their van home for much of the year (performing around 225 shows per year) has gained the StereoFidelics a dedicated following around the country.
The Suede Brothers are a band from Ohio. They formed in 2007 and thrive in a coal room outside of Cleveland.
” The first things you’ll notice are the huge riffs singer/guitarist Dylan Francis punches you with. Rust-belt rock, if indeed a genre, has never been so large. An immediate recent reference that pops to mind is Wolfmother, but the major difference is Suede Brothers’ sound involves no gimmicks and the overall vibe and feeling of throwback power blues is honest and sincere. Francis shreds on his Les Paul and his high-pitched vocals are pulsing with raw energy.
Since the beginning of the year, fans of the Supervillains’ live shows have noticed something different in the band’s personnel department. Long-time bassist (and production wizard) Dan Grundorf has permanently handed over the reins and bass duties to BJ Hall, the band’s long-tenured stage/guitar-tech and bus driver. While Dan’s prowess and stage chops will be missed, fans should be more than satisfied with the new addition of BJ. A talented musician with a lengthy resume in the Central Florida scene, he is most recently recognized as playing with Abandon The Midwest, one of the main support acts for the Supervillains (as well as being signed to their label Rah Rah Rah Records). The Florida natives have been spending the winter months hunkered down in the Sunshine State playing festival dates (Including the inaugural OkeechobeeFest, one of the biggest Florida festivals in recent memory) and prepping songs for a new record (their 9th overall) tentatively slated for a late-2016 release. Gravitating back to their ska-punk roots, fans of the band should be excited for an up-tempo throwback record that showcases the Supervillains’ knack for mixing it up while still including a few staple slow-burn reggae gems. Look for the band to work in some of the new tracks alongside of their fan-favorites as they plow their way across the country in 2016.
The foundation of any band is musical kinship. Within the exposed confines of a trio, this rapport is amplified, leaving an indelible mark on the songs. Glance through rock history and we see this repeatedly; the groundbreaking strut of Cream, the irresistible pop of The Police, the undone roar of Nirvana. Remove any member and the band’s core unravels. For Chicago-based trio, The Sweeps, this affinity is vital. Their core is firmly intact.
Each member of The Sweeps–Bob Dain, Santiago Torres, and Chris Dye (ex-Chin Up Chin Up)–brings a hefty presence to their lean arrangements. Challenging the sonic boundaries of a trio, both Dain and Torres sing with longing, conviction and fury. Dain’s dexterity, equal parts pedal-board and guitar, ranges from a delicate strum to an incandescent wail. Countering Dain, Torres brings a solid bass thump; playing slinky, soul-inflected rumblings along with fractured melodic fuzz. Dye’s hook-heavy drumming supports Dain and Torres, while lending a swaggering rhythmic architecture to the songs. Live, the band explodes with an infectious adrenaline that has ignited their strong Chicago fanbase, propelling them toward building a national audience.
On the band’s full-length debut, Swift Armour (out now), The Sweeps capture a live immediacy, yet further explore and refine their craft. Recorded at Chicago’s Minbal Studio with the help of producer/engineer, Benjamin Balcom, Swift Armour is an emotionally rich and honest evolution for the band. It is a collage of loud guitars and chanting vocal hooks, an intimately pounding cadence, a call to arms. It is a record with a strong sense of place, Chicago to be precise—the historic struggles, the dying and thriving neighborhoods—all inhabit these 13 tracks. From the lush death march of the opening title track to the dark pop hymn “1600cc Engine,” this record is equal parts confession, exultation and vindication: embittered but embracing. Swift Armour is an ode to Chicago: a battle between the harsh and the beautiful.
The Textbook Committee are a group of dudes who like to drink beer together and throw the ball around. They also get together every now and then and play marathon sets of your favorite Robert Pollard / Guided By Voices songs, and it’s always more fun than whatever other party you were going to go to.
The south side of Chicago has a tough working class reputation, it’s also known for one of the largest populations of Irish people this side of the Emerald Isle. So it’s not entirely incongruous that a hard luck kid from the south side of town would choose to play traditional Irish folk music in pubs around the neighborhood. At 18, Anthony (T.) Duggins, was doing just that – playing pub favorites and covers of greats like Christy Moore, and Ewan MacColl. Before long his brother and his best friends were playing the original songs he had written as well, and so became The Tossers. The name was taken from an old slang term used for worthless British coins in Sean O’Casey’s play The Plough and the Stars. The coins became useless after the southern Irish Free State won independence from Britain, and started to print it’s own currency. The term tosser has since come to mean wanker, or it’s American equivalent, jag off.
