Screen House Music "Positive" cd-r (Life On an Island/2006)

It is late and I have to work tomorrow (errr today) so why am I still up? Well to share this awesome album with all of you that is what. This will be the last Screen House Music album that I will be uploading as I do not own physical copies of Conscious or On the Roof. I do have the files so if anyone would like them feel free to email as I have no qualms about sharing great music but for the sake of blogging I only upload stuff I actually own. And if anyone has any physical copies of either of those releases I'd be down to purchase them or trade. In any event Positive is the third release from Nicky Marino's (For Serious This Time) Screen House Music. Positive continues to build on the minimal folk/drone   home recordings that the previous two releases established while growing and maturing with the sound. The music that appears on Positive was originally conceived as one twenty minute track and later on broken up into eight short songs as Marino states on the back sleeve of the release. Once again it is a Screen House Music release that is more of a private press than a full on release, for a lack of better words, as my copy is numbered 2 out of 18 copies. It really is a shame that this great music didn't get shared with more people. I can't recommend the sounds of Screen House Music enough.

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The Insurgent "Loudest Letter" 7 inch (Square of Opposition/2002)

Since I am heading into the home stretch here at Here On This Island as I'll wrapping things up sometime this summer or sooner, I have to complete posting various band's discographies  and in this case I need to get started. Here is the final release from the great Long Island band The Insurgent. And mind you I never thought I'd attach the word great to The Insurgent when I first heard them. I mean quite frankly I thought their side of the split 7 inch with Contra was unfathomably horrid but something beautiful happened along the way as the band really grew and matured. In my opinion next to On the Might of Princes' Where You Are and Where You Want to Be I can't find a more era defining release for Long Island than The Insurgent's incredible 10 inch Inside Every Kid (which I WILL be posting). A record that I foolishly turned downed to be apart of releasing because all ever thought about was that band on the Contra split 7 inch. Clearly, this was an absolutely different band, just same in name and people. The Insurgent mixed the catchiness of Bay area pop punk with a introspective midwest emo  quality. I always detected a Crimpshrine meets M-Blanket meets DBS kind of vibe. You could sing along to the songs but it was never just straight ahead. There was a smartness to lyrics that forced listeners to question themselves, and from my perspective it was never preachy. In contrast I found it absolutely inspiring from the lyrics, writings, hand made record packaging. And the four songs that comprise Loudest Letter I think are four of the best songs the band ever penned.

Every aesthetic and idea that this band put forth was inspiring and 100% sincere. Maybe that would get lost amongst the sea of bands doing this sort of thing these days but I imagine everything is relative and I can't express enough how good it felt to have a band like The Insurgent a part of the fabric of the Long Island DIY community. Once again I never thought I'd say that...

Folks from The Insurgent went on to play in Ringers, United States, City Limits, Nakatomi Plaza, and whole bunch that I am definitely forgetting.

The Insurgent Loudest Letter track listing
1. Tin Cans & Strings
2. The Lines Don't Match Up
3. Avenge Oscar Wilde
4. Murdock and Electric

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Splurge "Tales From the Me Generation" 7 inch (Traffic Violation Records/1996)

So I have finally started to rip more of a chunk of my vinyl collection and here is a 7 inch that I have been dying to share. Splurge was a band from the Port Jefferson/Setauket area of Long Island and they were a band I was absolutely mad about when they were together. Before On the Might of Princes came along Splurge was my favorite local band. Their songs were melodic and in that fast Jawbreaker meets Crimpshrine meets Plow United pop punk. They were super catchy and the lyrics were smart. At the time it really blew my mind that kids close to my age and only a few towns over were writing lyrics like this and even more so were pressing their own records on the label that influenced me to start my own label-Traffic Violation Records. To put it simply Splurge was quintessential 90s Long Island pop punk. I still prefer their Exit/Stretch  7 inch the best but being that I hadn't seen Tales From the Me Generation anywhere online I decided to share that instead. I highly recommend you head on over to the wonderful Long Island blog Uncle Ron's Dusty Discs who has the rest of the Splurge discography (minus the split CD with Contra which I will post soon) posted. Members of Splurge went on to be in Explosivo!, The Devil Himself, The Brass, Exelar, Air Raid Barcelona,  Love Panther,etc. Check it out.

Splurge Tales From the Me Generation  track listing
1. 49 Cent Refill
2. Spit Spot
3. Zero Outta Ten
4. Comet Girl

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Bo Coach "The Mustard Tape" cassette (Rok Lok Records/2000)

I know there is some very clear bias here because this is a release that came out on my own  record label but the reality is a good portion of the bands featured on this blog have done a release with me at some point so why should I exclude something I did release? Especially when it is the only release by one of my favorite bands that I experienced in the local community. Bo Coach were a band that came from my neck of the woods of eastern Long Island, the Shoreham-Wading River area to be exact and they concocted quite the racket for a few years right around the time I was getting started with Rok Lok Records and my own music projects. They played fuzzy, indie rock that could best be described as a mix between The Pixies, The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, and Man or Astroman. I wrote about them previously on this blog but this time I'd like to go more in depth about the band, my personal experience with the band and in particular their lone release The Mustard Tape.


Bo Coach originally consisted of Adam Conover on vocals and acoustic guitar and Noah Strevralia on electric guitar with Mr Korg (who later appeared on Stars Are Insane's Justin Age 8) providing the pre-programmed drum beats. The one performance I saw in this incarnation was a beautiful noisy, ramshackle of mess. Underneath the hissy guitars and the uncooperative synthetic drum beats there was an undeniable suburban garage pop sensibility to Bo Coach's songs. Some months later they played again this time with my band at the time and two new members entered the fray, Adam Schultheiss (aka Skulltheiss) on bass and Ed Guldi on violin and electric guitar. Schultheiss brought a minimal warm low end that helped anchor the madness while Guldi's violin drones made the songs sound more ominous. This set up allowed the band who was without a drummer to write songs that were full without percussion, something that to this day I marvel at. And I guess in this respect this is where the similarity to how the Velvet Undergound structured their songs became very apparent. Their music was hypnotically sprawling and was off kilter and out of tune at times but in a manner that was aesthetically endearing. And above all their was just a great sense of melody driven by Conover's fantastic vocals which against Strevralia's noisy, skronk punk guitar ramblings epitomized in my ears the term "beautiful mess".

Also around this time Bo Coach bid farewell to Mr Korg and brought in Casio RX-1 as well as Denise Y whom handled Casio RX-1 in shows as well as providing vocals and sound effects. Right around this time the band started to put together The Mustard Tape. In true lo fi indie rock fashion, over the span of several weekends, and various basements the songs that made up The Mustard Tape were recorded. In fact most songs on this release were recorded in a different room and on a different date. Originally the core of what was to make up The Mustard Tape were recorded by myself and the band on my old Fostex 4 track at Chris Grant's old house one drunken weekend while his parent's were out of town. Originally recorded that night were "Mannequin", "Welcome Citizens", "Fast One", and "Head On"" as well as a cover of The Velvet Underound's "Heroin" which was recored well past the inebriated state. Of those songs the only recordings that were kept for release on The Mustard Tape were "Fast One" and "Head On" as well as all of the out takes that feature Ed playing a guitar nowhere near in tune and somehow playing the melody backwards. Still to this day I can't for the life of me fathom what was wrong with the recordings of "Mannequin" and "Welcome Citizens" that we did that night. Honestly, they sounded beautiful. Especially "Mannequin" the way the violin melody and Conover's vocals so wondrously meshed together. If I recall correctly Noah quipped that they "sounded too pretty, not dirty enough" or something to that effect. And hence that is why the version of "Mannequin" that does appear on The Mustard Tape is as lo fi as possible. "Welcome Citizens" was re- worked when the band combined it with the Half Japanese-esque rambling oddity of"Uncle Roy" and performed (and subsequently recorded) it as "Uncle Roy/Welcome Citizens" at Coffee House which was like a talent show held at Shoreham Wading River High School. You were only supposed to play one song so the figured "heck with that let's make two songs one". I love that you can hear my good old buddy and band mate Mark Gill yell "Yeah Uncle Roy" in the song. It cracks me up every time.

After all the songs were done a master tape was created,  Noah and Adam  photocopied tape covers whose artwork was just as hodge podge as the music they created- I loved it. I bought like 70 blank cassettes and we all took turns home dubbing the bastards. We sold them at shows and I even traded some copies to distros back in the day who truthfully most have been absolutely perplexed when they heard this fuzzy, lo fi racket. I feel sometimes I am the only person that got the band and felt as intensely as I did about them. But then I talk to other folks from eastern Long Island who felt the same way, so perhaps it is just a eastern Suffolk thang.

For all the noise and shenningans where the scuzzy recordings may hide it, at the heart of it all, Bo Coach knew how to write really good songs that were smart yet playful. When you remove the fuzz and actually be able to discern the melodies and structure, "Mannequin" is a brilliant song. And perhaps I have an advantage because I was able to hear them perform this live sans poor production values. But even songs like "Construction Paper Princess" is an absolutely marvelous song that nearly brings me to tears every time. "Uncle Roy" is smart, playful, and is certainly unique. And "Fast One" is a quintessential suburban indie rock ripper. One of my biggest regrets in my life is misplacing the original master tapes of the original recordings of "Mannequin" and "Welcome Citizens" as I would've love to share those with everyone today. Heck, just one more listen would do me right. I don't think anyone back then ever thought myself or anyone would ever archive this stuff.

After The Mustard Tape Bo Coach played more shows wrote another tune or two which were never recorded as well as a really awesome reworking of the song "99 Red Balloons".  They even let me include "Fast One" on The Hope Machine. My old house mate had an awesome video of a set where they played it and I wish I had that video to rip. Towards the end of the band, the started playing with a live drummer, Jaime Hamilton. She was untrained as a drummer but certainly musically inclined so it kept a minimal flavor. Not too long after that Strevralia and Hamilton focused on their other project The London Six which basically signaled the end of Bo Coach. Close to a year after the demise of Bo Coach they played a impromptu reunion show in my garage and it ruled. It felt so good to sing along to all those songs again. I understand at first listen or two Bo Coach and The Mustard Tape maybe hard on the ears due to the ultra lo fi nature of the recordings but once you peel away the layers it reveals itself to be a wonderful collection of brilliant indie rock songs. Out of now 49 releases (and counting)The Mustard Tape to this date remains one of my favorite releases in the entire Rok Lok discography and I constantly toy with the idea of repressing it.

Bo Coach The Mustard Tape track listing
1. Mannequin
2. Uncle Roy/Welcome Citizens
3. Fast One
4. Most in the World
5. Construction Paper Princess
6. Eta Carinae
7. Rose Song
8. Head On
9. Head On (Outtakes)

Download Here

Everyone Loves OTMOP right? Want another demo track?

Seriously, everyone loves On the Might of Princes right? I don't listen to the albums nearly as much as I used to be even just a thought or mention of the band's name fills my head with so many thoughts and emotions. Who I was and where I was in my life when I discovered this band and how fortunate I felt to see a band this incredible from the beginning to the very end and even into reunions. But most importantly I am transported to a time and place in Long Island DIY that is long gone. And while there are great bands, great venues, and great people today doing stuff on Long Island for me on a personal level nothing feels like it used to back then. And I guess this flier that I am posting here today is a perfect example of what I am talking about. My buddy Steve booked a show at the Local 7 space to raise money so our mutual friend and someone who had given so much of himself to the Long Island DIY community, Jon Contra could be able to have his soon relocated from Florida back to Long Island. Specifics don't matter but what matters is that the Long Island DIY community came out in droves to have music lead to having a very positive effect in the outcome in someone's life away from the bands, basements, zines and potlucks. Sometimes we wrap ourselves up so much in the music, the ideas, the friendships, etc that we forget about the real world and it was awesome to see everyone come together to help a friend. It was such an honor to be playing this show which for me a I really felt was one of the high marks of the Long Island DIY community. In addition to On the Might of Princes, Contra reuniting, Regarding I, Latterman, The Backup Plan, and my band Yes Sensei, Scent of Human History played. This was a night that I will always remember not only for the great music but for the great reason that the show happened and how it was able to help.

For some audio content I have decided to upload a demo version of the On the Might of Princes song "Water vs The Anchor" that appeared on the Creep Records CD compilation The Last Stake Has Been Driven. It was recorded at The Creep House but it is a completely different recording than the version that appears on Where You Are and Where You Want to Be. I imagine when asking fans what is the song that best defines On the Might of Princes, and some will say "For Meg" and others, like myself will say "Water vs The Anchor". I say that because it is the song that hooked you in right away long before the album closer even came through your speakers. Everything about "Water vs The Anchor" is perfect as it showcases all the different musical genres that the band was primarily influenced by and it had great lyrics that were absolutely anthemic in nature. So check out this earlier version as I am not sure how circulated this comp that it appeared on was.

Download ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES "Water vs The Anchor (Demo)"

Grid Iron "Quietly, Confider" cd (Burn It Down Rebuld/2003)

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Completing things is a nice feeling and that is what I have done with this fourth and final upload from Grid Iron. I am glad I have now been able to share with everyone all of this band's entire discography. And with that being said I do want to say that I will be completing some more discographies in the coming weeks and months which will ultimately bring a close to Here On This Island. I figure between some albums, eps, tape and vinyl rips as well as some more live and unreleased material by summer's end I will have accomplished what I set out to do with this blog and document this great music that has been such a huge part of my life. Thus far I want to thank all of the people who have supported the blog and  who have listened to this music for themselves. I also want to thank all these great bands for creating all this great music. However, I do want to point out that I do have to say I am amazed and somewhat disappointed when I look at the download stats seeing how even with free music people are still unwilling to take a chance. The stats are staggering, while I won't name names there are certain bands who I have uploaded who are downloaded far more than "lesser known" bands. It is no wonder why so many independent record labels are closing up shop. Unless you can cement a name brand band people won't take a chance to try out something new or even outside the box. It actually depresses me a great deal. I feel fortunate that I grew up in a age where independent labels/artists thrived and those who dared were rewarded. Personally, I think it speaks volumes for our culture at large when people's playlists are as bland and predictable as a fast food restaurant menu. Anyhow enough with my rant...

After a series of eps in late 2003 Grid Iron released their full length album Quietly, Confider which would become the band's final release. And what a release to go out on. In some ways it is a shame that this was the band's final release because you could really start to sense a growth that was only just starting to take footing. Quietly, Confider builds on that Jawbreaker influenced, jagged guitar indie rock/emo but another half of the album features more quieter (no pun intended), introspective tunes and dare I say even ballads. I know totally un-punk but seriously who gives a shit? A good song is a good song. There was certainly a roughness and charm to the earlier Grid Iron material that I enjoyed but Quietly, Confider finds the band firing on all cylinders and personally speaking, I forgot how damn good this album is. So check it out and if it so interests you I do have a couple of copies hanging around in my distro.

Grid Iron Quietly, Confider track listing:
1. Sleep Through This
2. The Pretender
3. The Derivative of the Sum is the Sum of the Derivatives
4. Treading Air
5. The Colors
6. Tears
7. Climbing the Ladder
8. Blindsight
9. Tides
10. Gift Horse
11. One Day Rains

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The Story of Man "The Story of Man" cassette (Life On an Island/2006)

I absolutely love just about everything the Life On an Island folks release and this early release is certainly one of my favorites. Here is a cassette release that I was very happy to finally rip and share. Everything about this release is just exceptional from the minimal handmade packaging, the music and just the over all concept. Or least the concept on how I perceive it. The Story of Man is a unique compilation of sorts that chronicles solo, home recordings of various different genre styles and techniques by each of the four artists on this release. The album closes with a collaboration between three of the four artists. The Story of Man documents recordings by Mike Naideau (Giant Peach, Blood Soda), Alex Gentile (For Serious This Time), Nicky Marino (For Serious This Time, Screen House Music) and J. Shelton.  The music for is all instrumental and resides in the folk/experimental folk and bedroom pop genres and if you have listened to any of the Screen House Music releases I have shared in the past you will certainly enjoy this cassette. Once again I just think the idea of four individuals who could've easily just easily recorded and released this songs under their own but opted to release under a banner compilation project is just a fantastic one. It lends a cohesiveness that you wouldn't expected from a compilation. The final outcome is absolutely marvelous and personally I'd like to see more projects of this nature come to fruition. Only 75 of these cassette were made and I feel very fortunate to own one. This is certainly a very special release made by some of Long Island's most gifted song writers.

The Story of Man The Story of Man track listing
1. Staub2 (A.Gentile)
2. Ocean (M.Naideau)
3. Dreads (N.Marino
4. End (A.Gentile)
5. Peanuts (N.Marino)
6. Rain (M.Naideau)
7. Autumn (A. Gentile)
8. IV T (J.Shelton)
9. Ode to Tzantza (M.Naideau/A.Gentile/N.Marino)

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Left Left "Left Left 1" cd-r (self releasd/ 2005)

Today's upload is one of the more recent acquisitions in my collection as it was given to me as part of a care package back around Thanksgiving when Risk was recording in my basement. Left Left is a project that Jay Melli of Risk and formerly of Sometimes Walking Sometimes Running, Scent of Human History, United States, Jan Cux, etc. gave me to show what he been up to for the last few years since we spoke. It is crazy how time passes and you realize how long it has been since you have spoken to a good friend. Anyhow, in the care package he gave me two finished releases from his project Left Left as well as a disc of unfinished material. Joining Melli in this home recording project was his buddy Dan. The best way to describe what Left Left sounds like is to think of it like a mix tape as there is no set genre adhered to. Stylistically, the music switches from shoegaze/post rock/ambient/drone/collage kind of stuff to full blown bedroom pop with distorted drums and all. There are even some acoustic crooners to be found. Essentially take early Sebadoh and mix it with Refrigerator and shoegaze/ambient stuff like lovesliescrushing and Jen Paul/No Lakes and that should give you an idea. And in the excess overload that is common with lo fi and home recording projects this cd-r is fully loaded with twenty tracks but the diversity of sounds really keeps things fresh all the while still having some cohesiveness as an album. Seriously, the best music is made by people in their bedrooms.

Left Left Left Left 1 track listing
1. Makes Like Clocks
2. Happily Ever After
3. I Watched Movies
4. Take 2
5. Tunnel Time
6. Acid Face Bagel
7. Magentalude
8. Ga Lonons
9. Robot Pudding Yummy
10. Daisy
11.This Could Be The First Hour
12. Can Not Keep
13. Let's Get a Malted
14. Gack Attack
15. Sittin In My Room (Wussies)
16. Piss Off
17. Come Kin
18. Late For Church
19. Three Then One
20. Skin Flix...Then Stop

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The Mutes Brothers "Isn't It Neat Being Unique? (Part One)" cassette (Eiffel Trousers Records/1998)

Building off my excitement of the recent announcement of the upcoming Bookstore reunion on May 28th 2011, I feel inclined to finally upload this gem that I have been hiding in my back pocket. The Mutes Brothers was the band that Jonathan Kaplan (bass) and Joey Lambiaso (drums) did before they started Bookstore. Based out of the Valley Stream, The Mutes Brothers played a quirky yet smart hybrid of indie rock, subtle shoegaze influences, jazz, and Motown. The music was very jammy at times with long instrumental sections not wanting to surrender but eventually giving way to versed pop conventions. Isn't It Neat Being Unique? (Part One) has five songs but certainly is an extended player in terms of length and bang for your buck. I first heard of The Mutes Brothers from my old AOL buddy Danny (from the excellent Bunsen Honeydew who I WILL be featuring soon) one night when chatting about local bands we were recommending to each other. Then I finally heard their song "Nancy Drew" which was included on a cassette compilation on Eiffel Trousers and I totally loved it. The song grooved and then out of nowhere it had this noisy My Bloody Valentine esque guitar noise freak out in the middle of it that dissipated into a notey guitar melodic trade off- I heard that and I was sold. Hopefully you will be as well.

The Mutes Brothers Isn't It Neat Being Unique? (Part One) track listing
1. Loquacious
2. Let's Go Out
3. Nancy Drew
4. On a Farm
5. No Pants

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Book Store Reunion Show!!! Rok Lok Records 2011 Sampler

I figured since I have posted some Book Store tunes to download here that I would let everyone know about the band's reunion show on May 28th at Mr Beery's in Bethpage. Also playing will be Dude Japan, My Summer, Werewitch and Destructasaurus Rex. I am excited and I have to say I never thought this day would come. It should be a ton of fun.

In the meantime I recommend that everyone go back and download Hello From Bookstore and Sleeping On Glass Pillows. Also you can stream the full length self titled album on Rok Lok Records over on Bandcamp. You can also order a copy of the CD over at Rok Lok Records.

Also download the Rok Lok Records winter/spring 2011 sampler. Check out recent and soon to be released tracks as well as a Book Store tune to get everyone stoked on the reunion show. Download the sampler here.




Rok Lok Records Winter/Spring 2011 track listing
1. Brick Mower "Cheap Gasoline" from Why Are We Doing This 7 inch
2. The Only Ghost in Town "I Know" from Hidden East Coast EP 7 inch lathe/cd
3. Dude Japan "Raft Captain" from The Things That Matter cd
4. Deep Pockets "Indoor Scarves" from Demo cassette
5. Stars Are Insane "Brace Yourselves" from A Plan...A Perfect Disaster cdr
6. Yes Sensei "I Like Trucks" from In Excelsis cd
7. Babe Florida "Pe de Amoras" from I Know Why They Call It Pop cassette
8. Screen House Music "January 14th 2009" from I Know Why They Call It Pop cassette
9. Sandy City "Meeper Sleeper" from Surfin' WA 12 inch
10. The Only Ghost in Town "Shangri-La" from The Summer Was Over Before It Began cassette
11. Weed Hounds "Hard Drivin" from split w/ Dude Japan 7 inch
12. Fellow Project "Racing Horse" from Boots 7 inch
13. Damezumari "All" from Hope Inscribed on Handbills 7 inch
14. Dude Japan "Olympic Swimmer" from Teenage Summer EP 7 inch lathe/cdr
15. Book Store "Gonster" from s/t cd

Prescott C "Somewhere In the Distance" cassette (self released/1999)

Another quick post today folks...Here is the first release from Prescott C, a four song cassette called Somewhere In the Distance. It features the band in their original three piece line up with Angela on bass. I have uploaded releases by Prescott C in the past which I hope you have all enjoyed and in the coming months I'll be uploading more. For those that missed out Prescott C was the band that preceded Bricks For Shoulders and while still as heavy as that band there was more of a emphasis on melodic post hardcore type of stuff as opposed to the more aggressive flavor of Bricks For Shoulders. If you dig stuff like Hum, Far, Smile and Sleepytime Trio then you may dig Prescott C. Go ahead don't be scared, download it is free. And as bonus to make up for the short post here is a old flyer for a show that Prescott C played with Book Store and some other band I don't know.

Prescott C Somewhere In the Distance track listing
1.Grant Me This One Day
2. My Longest Hour
3. Symbolic Violence
4. Limited Sight Distance

Download Here