Empire State Games

This band could have made it big, the band has a blend of emo (braid-ish style) and also some pop punk lingering around. Unfortunately the band lasted pretty short... Short enough for 12 songs, yep 12 fucking songs dude. 3 of them I didn't see in any of the few releases the band made but the band left a discography behind leaving you to wonder how would've the band sounded if they progressed more, who fucking knows. The band left 2 7"s a split 7" and finally a 6 song EP CD, 4 of the 6 songs are off the bands first self titled 7" while the other 2 must have been exclusive ones for the CD. So how is it that I ran into this band? Well during my search for Chune (from the last post) I ran into this band along with a few others (I will bring up here) but boy am I glad i ran into this band or even the rare physical vinyl the band put out.

Self-titled 7"

This was the bands first 4 song 7", many people on formats call the 7" as "The White" I refer it as a self titled 7" For some strange reason discogs has the 7" as a 3 song 7" when it's actually 4. Well the 7" has my favorite song and probably the favorite of many others (the song that you clicked to play since you are curious) that was actually the first song I as well heard. The packaging on this one is pretty neat (as you can see) I do need to buy a paper sleeve I don't want the vinyl with light marks but overall as a used record I bought this thing still looks fresh and new when it has been about 16-18 years ago.
Self-titled EP CD

A few months after Old skool released the 7" Makoto Recordings released the bands same exact self titled but on cd and the band put out 2 new songs that weren't on the 7" this to is white (I guess that's what ESG is all about?) Let me be honest, I had no fucking idea they even had this CD, it's not even on discogs so where did I find it? Amazon... Yeah that is right someone sold me a like new copy (still is new since i have only played it about 3 times) for less than 4 bucks. It isn't even on Makoto's discogs catalog, I guess no one wants to post it up on there since the people who "work" for the site are dickheads. The 2 new songs are pretty much like the first 4 the band did there isn't any new change to the band. The band also happened to have done a split 7" but I still haven't had any luck running into it, besides it's only one song that's on the vinyl.
100 Years of baseball/Dialogue (from a movie) 7"

I assume this was the last effort as a band (Should've been a full length fans were expecting it) well it's not a bad 7" I'd say but yeah it still follows the same path as the self titled ep, the band sounds a little tiny bit matured through these 2 songs but it still isn't a major change. Although these songs aren't as memorable they are still put on the bands discography CD, I also think the discography CD could've been put into a LP (yet again it wasn't) so I never really bothered buying it, yes it may have 3 songs that weren't on any releases and the cover song "Just what I needed" (sounds super fucking good) but I just think that could've been a neat 12" discography. Discography

Chune

How did I even discovered this band? Well during my early times of barely knowing 90's bands or emo bands or any chill bands a friend of mine of was my ex girlfriends best friend she practically made me a burned CD with all these bands such as The spirit of Versailles, Pg. 99, Majority Rule, Suis La Lune, City of caterpillar, I hate myself and this is where Chune also lands. The Cd had the 10" version of "Water Sandwich" (being one of my favorites) I then went through some blogspot and found the 3 songs to the 10" I had to find the other 2 albums the band did which didn't take long at the time, all mediafire and even when megashare was active all links were running. Later on as I grew up I decided to pick the little this band left. Unlike Drive like Jehu, Chune plays a much more slower paced with a couple of early post-rock elements thrown in (You'll hear this more on the bands second and last length "Big hat, no cattle" while Burnt still follows the Drive like Jehu vibes the band is still different from the band. It's obvious to point out both bands are from San Diego and both bands did do reunions last year (Pretty fucking crazy) Chune will remain in me for those lazy afternoons I'd spend listening to Big hat and Nine ways 10" at my friends old duplex home getting high in the living room while blasting these songs really loud.

Burnt This was the bands first length (7 Songs) there is less of those post rock or even mathy elements on this one, some songs do remind me a lot on DLJ but the vocals are a bit different than from those from DLJ. It's not a bad album but I feel like it isn't as a memorable one for Chune, it's too bad this was never on LP for some odd reason this was a CD format only for Headhunter Records, I felt like that label could have released this in 12" but I guess that never happened.

Nine Ways To Sunday 10" Ah this is my favorite one off the bands short discography, why? besides this being the only vinyl the band put out it has the early versions of Water Sandwich and Three man dream machine. For some odd reason one side of the 10" is played on 33 rmp while the other side is on 45 rmp. I don't have many records that usually do this plus the band doesn't seem like they play fast enough on this 10" to be 45 rmp. It's only just 3 chill ass songs, the other song is a different version off of Brunt there is a slight of difference between the two. On the 10" you can hear the little post rock elements I was talking about although it isn't much unlike on Big hat, no cattle.

Big hat, no cattle Honestly, this album would've been perfect as an LP but instead it's another CD. This was also released in a limited quantity cassette, not sure whether that was self released or a Headhunter release I remember seeing a copy being sold for 8 bucks but used cassettes there are many flaws with those, even more than with a CD with light marks. This 6 song album is as well indeed amazing the first track that opens the album begins with such a great intro that smashes those 90's post hardcore/DLJ/Post rock/Stoner rock elements. One of my favorites on this one will be Fishwrap and Water Sandwich. Lyrically I feel like this band freestyled on the lyrics, some songs absolutely make no sense while others made some sense, one song talks about making it big in the music industry or something. I laughed about it but then I kinda got into the atmosphere and the tone the band was playing throughout the entire album. In the end, I feel like this one is the one Chune should be remembered for. They also did a split 7" with Garden Variety a little before this album was released but it had the same version of Fishwrap, I didn't feel like I was really forced to purchase the 7" even though it be a rare instance of the band putting something out on vinyl.

Vitreous Humor/The Regrets

I sometimes like to think Vitreous Humor was famous at one point after all the song "Why are you so mean to me" seems like something that could have been big for the mid 90's in the indie rock scene, then again it is called indie (Independent Rock music) for a reason. Vitreous humor was a band from Kansas city that began in the late 80's the band didn't record any material until they got serious in '93 and released a 3 song 7" called Harbor. The crazy thing is that this was not only the first VH release but as well as Crank! A record company (I will be mentioning that label a lot on here) since this is the first time me mentioning this great label I will talk a little about it, just a tiny bit. At the time of the Harbor 7" release the Santa Monica, CA DIY label (at the time) was called Geerhed Records, it had the same mascot flower carrying the books minus the "Crank!" on the shirt and Gerhead.At the time this 7" was more of a Santa Monica local release meaning the only way to get it is if you have a friend who bought the 7" and gives you the catalog card where you can send you $3.50 for the 7" along with your mailing address. Some crazy shit back then huh, I mean now we have bigcartel websites, storenvy's and even bandcamp pages where it is easy to access music.

This was what you needed in order to obtain one of these, good thing is that I ran into a copy of the 7" on discogs (That is one of my main record collecting sources, its cheaper too)
Harbor 7"

This 7" looks pretty darn cute red, for a moment I thought there was a black press but since most of the 90's emo records were done in one time press its rare to see represses of 90's emo records, most bands today do multiple presses (records are oddly becoming popular, mainstream thought it be cool although small time labels and bands have done it for quiet some time) Harbor is a all time classic for me mainly because the song Harbor just nailed it, in high school I was playing this song and a old time friend was drunk because his girlfriend left him or something began crying halfway through this song because it reminded him of the recent one day ago breakup he had, I felt pretty bad for leaving the song to continue to play but I just felt like I couldn't pause it just because of that. Harbor has more of a emo kick and the vocals are high pitched while the other two songs off side b the vocals are less high pitch and brings a indie rock mood. It may be the possibility that Harbor was recorded first before the other two songs, on the Crank! catalog the 7" is entitled as "Harbor+2" so it may answer the question to why Danny Pounds vocals are high pitched on the song Harbor.

Boys Life/Vitreous Humor Split 7"

Sometime after receiving my Harbor copy me and another buddy of mine who has a large solid vinyl collection on more recent bands we went to a record store in downtown in the city I live in Long Beach and we started having the nerd music vinyl talk, during the brief discussion we talked about what specific records we were hunting down and I remember telling him that I am missing the Boys life/Vitreous Humor split 7" and right when I said that he was flipping through records and saw that exact same split 7" I was mentioning to him, it was pretty fucking crazy. We are still mind blown about it even til this day, I was surprised that Fingerprints had such a good gem since most stuff isn't really my cup of tea. The 7" was about 7.99 I didn't give a shit since I was too stoked about it. Well lets talk about the split, there are two songs, one on each side. Side A has Boys life song "Temporary" which was then added to BL's self titled (Ill talk about that band soon so I won't get into them) now we are in for Vitreous Humor's side which would be side B this side contains the bands more commonly known song "Why are you so mean to me?" even Nada Surf did a cover of the song (Not like they made it sound better since they didn't but good for them I guess) There isn't a whole lot explaining on this 7" also the reason I didn't left a link to this 7" is because this song was then put on Vitreous Humor's compilation CD. The split 7" is Crank's third release.

Self titled EP/Limited /500 10"

This was the only release the band made that was not a single, Vitreous Humor had some slight of new thing going on the guitars are a little more muffled during the strumming but also has a few cleans thrown in. I was lucky enough to have found the 10" this was very hard to find and took me years until some dude who sells cool shit on discogs was selling it. the CD of this is more easy to find, both formats are not being pressed anymore but there is a high chance of finding the CD still wrapped and sealed like on amazon for just a buck or even a few cents. After listening to the 7 songs there isn't much difference to the songs and all have a similar alike tone, I know there are two songs that start the same way just different pace. Overall this is the only non single release the band put out. My Midget b/w New Victoria theater 7"

I didn't even know this release existed until I saw the blogspot For Ivadell mention it. Before For Ivadell other blogspots who mentioned Vitreous Humor never mentioned this 7" or even thought this one existed because it was hardly ever brought up. My midget isn't a song to worry about since that is the first track of that VH compilation CD but New Victoria theater, that song barely saw the light of day. And for some strange reason that song isn't even on the CD, guess they didn't like it. This was not a Crank! release (it might be the reason why no one ever spotted this 7" ) it was under some label called Mute America or something (possibly some label who also barely saw the light of day) From info I have gathered Mute America was very highly active during '95 and '96. Nothing else I can conclude for this 7" I'd say download it for the song New Victoria, I honestly feel like the song is strong enough and worth to listen to, it still follows the same flow off Why are you so mean to me? Posthumous

This CD was thrown to fans after VH had already disbanded but 3 of the 4 members went on to form The Regrets (I will talk about right up next) The CD even obtains a song originally from The Regrets, I have no idea what it's doing in this Vitreous Humor compilation since it isn't really a Vitreous humor song. There are some good ones that may have been put on more single 7"s and others that were just live songs that were never officially studio recorded. The CD is a solid okay one, would've been way better if it included the songs off Harbor, New Victoria theater or even the song The Whisper Twins which was one of Cranks!'s few compilations they put out since it already obtained Why are you so mean to me? and My midget, not sure why they never planned on that. The songs that were recorded but never released do sound pretty good and you can here the bands final form before disbanding and sounded like a pretty neat ass one too. Now that we got all that outta the way lets talk about The Regrets, after the release of My Midget and a few songs recorded off Posthumous, 3 of the 4 members (including Danny Pound of course) went on to form The Regrets. There is a different sound to both bands, while VH has more of a indie rock/grunge-like muffled guitars going on, The Regrets played more in a cleaner tone guitars, vocally some songs are just spoken while others have some catchy ass vibes to it. The Regrets last long enough to have released one full length album entitled "New Directions: Results Beat Boasts" I could only imagine how the bands sophomore album would've sounded like, they possibly wouldn't even be on Crank! A record company anymore. New Directions: Results Beat Boasts

Sooo yeah only have the CD format version of this, Crank! was all about one time press limited LP's while CD format was more of a thing in the mid and late 90's most of the catalog the vinyl records weren't made as often throughout the years. The CD looks like a vinyl record (looks cute man) but like I mentioned before you can tell the difference between Vitreous Humor and The Regrets especially through the tone of the guitars. I am still tracking down a LP copy of this that is being sold in the US only, someone in Japan is selling it but the shipping is totally gonna slaughter the overpriced LP. Danny Pound put out 4 unreleased songs that were never brought up til like a year or 2 ago (I do have them) and well those 4 songs are literally the final ones as The Regrets, it still follows the same flow as New Directions just with meh quality and what not. 4 Track EP

The Kossabone Red

Most kids are familiar with Cap'N Jazz, well in the mid 90's there was The Kossabone Red. The band started off under "Ripcord" on the bands first 7" the label on the record says Ripchord but the sleeve says the kossabone red, possibly a late name change during this release. The vocals are sightly sloppy but I have to admit I prefer the early ones rather than the LP (That's just me) Grabbing the bands vinyl records was slightly a sign of that I was suppose to get these bad boys. I am still amazed to have even found a copy of that "Ripcord" Ignition/Atrophy 7"

Ripchord
I'm still not sure whether this 7" was even released in '95 or after the Failure and departure 7" (It wouldn't make much sense if it did) I am just assuming that this band started in '95 under ripchord during the summer (Like how the Failure 7" states) This one in particular was such a odd rare emo gem to find. Someone on discogs was selling it for 8 bucks, the sleeve on this baby just lets it all out there letting everyone know this was made 100% DIY, The sleeve is a cut up manila folder with cloth wrapped around and everything else seemed like it was printed off a computer and just glued. It is my favorite looking 7" I own as of now. Still not sure how many of these were made but from the looks of how it was made, I highly doubt passed 200. It also came with a booklet (Last minute made since the cover says "The Kossabone Red" rather than "Ripcord" like it does on the 7" The songs are a little more punk sounding and fast paced than the rest of the songs.

Failure and departure
This is my favorite Kossabone release, that Failure and departure song just gives me the sad vibes, especially with the tone on those amazing vocals. There are 2 versions of this 7" the one I have which is black and a translucent green one. I am not sure which one is more limited but I guess no one will ever know since they are both being sold for around the same damn price range on discogs. I feel like these 2 songs is what The Kossabone Red is all about (again not many will agree with me but that's just me) I just love the sloppy emotional whiny like vocals on this 7", even more than what Cap'N Jazz did. I probably made a few of you cringe and shit but seriously fuck you I just have a little more heart for these forgotten jams, I am sorta sorry man.

The Kossabone Red
This was the final yet another last minute release, Portrait's vocalist did vocals for these (I know that's fucking crazy) the blog spot "Beyond failure" (You all need to check that shit out) provided me a little more info on this record, the dude on the blog mentioned that there was no record release show (or at least doesn't really remember of one) the band must broke up in late '97- early '98. The 12 songs are pretty sick and brings the little cap'n jazz sound around just lingering throughout the LP, to me it's much better. Not as great as Failure and departure but pretty fucking good. The band did do a few other songs that were never released or even recorded for the matter of fact, the songs were live recorded for some radio show in '97 called WREK, the songs have the Failure/Ripchord style of vocals (the set was done before the LP was on the works, this is how I knew that 12" was done last minute when they broke up) The songs are pretty good and the quality is superb, whole lot of messy sloppy vocals on the live set. They did play the 4 songs from both 7"s plus 6 new ones that were suppose to be on some compilations that never happened and what not. It's a real shame, fucking bummer these jams were never on vinyl or recorded. I cut the songs up so you can enjoy and scroll through them. Live at WREK

Ettil Vrye

I am always curious on dead labels for starters I will start on Moganono, this label I feel like it was special because it released my all time favorite Kolya 7". A while back a friend of mine told me to check the Ettil Vrye/Tipping Canoe Split LP he had bought it and it came with a insert that was mentioning Kolya's second 7" (He knows how much I love that band) so he thought it be nice to give me some more fresh Moganono release tunes to hear. After figuring where to find the LP and listening both sides I was very curious on Ettil Vrye's 7" I couldn't find any MP3 links to the 3 songs but I had a lucky chance to buy a copy of the 7" for 3 bucks from some New York record store I think on discogs. Well the 7" came in today and I had ripped the songs so I can share to you guys.

Being one of Moganono's first release this thing is marked DIY everywhere. The sleeve is totally recycled from a brown bag and cut up for a 7" cover sleeve. Not so much artwork imagination but a lot of imagination for the work and concept of a diy 7". The 7" itself is all black with no indication of where side A or B is unless you look at the end of where the needle ends of each record player. This 7" is exactly like the 7" from Lautrec being all black with nothing on it. This band also happened to release a 5 song demo tape too. That would be a little more difficult for me to find. Ettil Vrye

Lautrec

From what I remember the most on this is the bands amazing 4 way split with Boy problems, Osceola and The Reptilian. The split practically introduced me to all 4 bands. Lautrec left a little discography behind. What we all remember was the 8 songs CD they self released (I don't think the CD was ever a Guesthouse Released) I mean it could have been right? The band began after the South Bay Fiction like non-fiction band disbanded sometime in early 2008 Mac went on to form Lautrec and the short lived Iwanu Ga Hana that were similar to Fiction and Lautrec, they never got to record a single damn thing, I only remember seeing those couple live sets they posted on youtube. Let's talk about Lautrec now, in 2007 the band released a short 4 song demo which had early versions of Jazzy, Track 01 and Slider. One of the songs that wasn't to my knowledge until I have found this demo was a song called Pick up that was not on the bands 8 song release or even on the discography tape. The band also did put that Ghost towns split 7" I mentioned on my brief post sometime in 2009 the band lastly did released a 3 song self titled 7" I didn't hear until 2011 once those discography tapes were released alongside with 2 unreleased songs that were some last session stuff they did. That 7" was sold at the bands few last shows. I had obtained one all the way from Germany, shipping was a nightmare which I was forced to buy insurance for the damn thing which the total was up to 28 bucks. It was still worth it because this was something i really wanted on my collection. After a while I was also looking into the lautrec discography tape Black with sap made in 2011.

The 7" was recorded sometime early 2010 these songs aren't much remembered for Lautrec than their own signature style of their 8 song demo cd. These songs still have a little bit of the same rhythm and what not going with a bit more of a matured tone. I am not sure whether the 7" is called "Doc Chee" or not, haven't seen that on the sleeve of the 7". This vinyl was probably the last of what Guesthouse ever released. I don't remember many Guesthouse releases being really out there. The songs use a dual guitar so it sounds like it is 2 guitarist. There isn't much of a difference on that but it sure does sound good and it is what kinda give it the mature sound on these 3 songs.

My curiosity for this tape was a mystery I didn't get one when they came out and the label Black with sap were practically out of these tapes but they decided to make me a special 101/100 which is so off but fuck it. When I had this tape on my hands I was very stoked until I heard the first few seconds it was one of the regrets of buying tapes. First, the tape is not dubbed right and its pretty shitty (therefore I do not recommend buying this cassette or any of black with sap. I also got a free I create tape which gave me the conclusion that black with sap is not good at dubbing tapes. I love the lyrics sheet for this cassette and the fun of this diy cassette being put out but the quality of this was executed bad and it makes me feel bad as a person. I honestly love the stuff Black with sap has put out and even Lautrec for that matter but to tell you the truth the tape sounds like it'll soon die on me, so I have played it twice so far. In the end Lautrec is one band that really grew the whole screamo in me a little more on what the modern stuff at the time had offered. I feel like there aren't many Lautrec-esque bands besides Meet me in st. Louis (the bands vocals are a minus points on that band) while Lautrec's have more of a screamy shouty yet they fill in your heard making them very memorable for a band. The guitar texture is as if in those Japanese math rock emo bands similar to Tricot's song "99.974". It will keep your head bobbing.
A Discography Cassette
2007 Demo

Ghost Towns

I am not good with intros but yeah I am that guy who also runs the damn Still Life With Candle blogspot. My main focus on this one is on vinyl/CD/cassettes from my own stash of golden gem. As a first one for the blog, let me begin with Ghost Towns. Ghost Towns was a screamo band that existed enough to put out 2 records and a 4 track demo. They even released one final recording that was never physically done, I have also heard the song was for an upcoming LP the 2 piece band (yes a 2 piece) never got to finish. I discovered this band sometime 2009 when I discovered Lautrec, well both bands did do a limited split 7" on Guesthouse Records that I think Mac from Lautrec ran for a short while. I think Guesthouse never released many vinyl records from my knowledge that split and Lautrec's very own self-titled 7" are the only ones that run in my mind. The label did more of limited cdr thing such as Fiction like non-fiction, Cassette on fire and a couple of more bands those dudes did. Guesthouse ended sometime in 2010 (well no other word from any Guesthouse releases, Lautrec's 7" might have been the last one) Man I really wished I partied with those guys who threw shows at the Guesthouse pad back in the day.

Well this is Ghost Towns single sided 7" I found on discogs for 2 bucks. I really find 7"s in particular interesting, but this one more because of it being single sided. The etching on the other side is what I believe spray painted it honestly looks cool. This 7" had a few limited pressings it's not just this golden one I have. There were 8 test press ones, 100 with a pink swirl, 115 in black vinyl and 110 of the gold ones (like mine) the 7" was released sometime in 2008 Communique Records released this, the sleeve on the 7" sorta reminds me of a mail envelope (it is possible they are recycled mail envelopes turned into sleeves) In 2009 the band released a split 7" with my all time favorite Lautrec, these 2 untitled songs on Ghost Towns side were the final ones and did final shows for and what I believe sold on the last shows they played. The 7" on this one isn't too fancy. As for Lautrec's side of the split features 2 of the 8 songs cd they did in 2008 Caypo and Word Problems. Sadly the last few seconds on Word Problems ends a little sooner than expected. I have to look at the sides of the 7" to figure out which side is Lautrec's and which side is Ghost Towns on the tiny marking and the end of where the record stops spinning it marks Lautrec on one side and Ghost Towns on the other. 200 of these were done, I remember this being a huge thing for me back in the day when I was in high school and had no record player. There are probably a few files with both sides still around but who cares ya got me. I never had a huge huge heart for this band until I saw Kid sister everything selling this 7" for 9 bucks sometime in the fall of 2013 (I mainly picked it up for Lautrec's side) but I felt like there was a force for me to get the single sided 7". You are all probably wondering about the 4 song demo I mentioned earlier (aka Oxen) well there were other blogspots who had these files but are now deleted and I don't have those neither. But I threw in that final recording I mentioned on here.
Single-Sided 7"+Ghost Towns/Lautrec 7" (Ghost town songs only)