Scent of Human History/Memory as Perfection "split" 12 inch (2003/Waking Records/McCarthyism Records))

Here is the last bit of material I have from the band Scent of Human History, a band whom I have a very deep personal relationship with and was fortunate to be around when this record came out. I remember being on tour with Yes Sensei and Scent when this record came out. We pulled into the Baltimore area and bullshitted on our way to a show a Charm City Art Space with Hot Cross, lickegoldensky, Medic and a few other cats. And we stayed at Josh from McCarthyism's house. I fondly recall being very happy that folks from outside of Long Island were as excited about Scent of Human History's music as I enough to put out a record for them and document their great music. Their music was loud, abrasive yet beautiful and sprawling. Like I have said previously in my write ups about the band, they played what one would call "screamo" in that expansive Pg 99 and City of Caterpillar manner. And their four songs on this split are some of the best the band ever recorded.

As a side note I have not included the Memory As Perfection tracks as I am short on time and being that this is a blog about Long Island music I felt as if the space here isn't appropriate to share their music.

Scent of Human History/Memory As Perfection "split" track listing
1. The Choice Unchosen
2. Take Your Time With Time
3. Change Melts Away
4.  Still Not Past the Future

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Risk "Demo" cd-r (2010/self released)

Here is a fairly recent release but I am not really certain to the extent of which this material was made available or how many of this demo actually made it into the hands of folks so I figured why not share it. Risk, not to be confused with the band from the mid west this Risk is a four piece that resides in Brooklyn but two of the members were originally from Long Island and each in their own ways played significant roles in making Long Island DIY what it was in the late 90s/early 00s. Guitarist/vocalist Jay Melli was in bands such as Scent of Human History, Sometimes Walking Sometimes Running, United States, Jan Cux, etc while guitarist/vocalist Bryan Winston was a part of making the Long Island Freespace a reality.

Risk plays fast screamo/emo fury infused hardcore that reminds me of bands like Yaphet Kotto, Shotmaker, and even a bit of Kaospilot. A style of music that admittedly I listen to less and less these days but when done right I still absolutely love. You know classics never die and when I hear current bands of this ilk cherry pick the Ebullition archives so to speak I can't help but get excited. This four song demo cd-r comes packaged in a re-purposed brown paper bag with graphics glued on. Totally DIY packaging that really takes me back. I can't help but think of late night Kinko's hang outs with my friends making zines and demo packaging. Great stuff.

Risk "Demo" track listing
1. Need to Burn
2. Bombs Away
3. Living Dead
4. Bloodlines

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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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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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Backspace "Backspace" cassette (self released/2002)

Between my neighbor sawing and hammering away at building a deck at 8 AM, house mates talking in the kitchen which is adjacent to my room and the dog freaking out I have been awoken prematurely from my slumber. 8 AM isn't very early but considering I haven't been able to fall asleep until 3 or 4 every morning that leaves my body craving (and needing) more rest. So why not fight fire with molten lava?

Today's upload comes from Backspace which is Jay, Ren and Robbie from Sometimes Walking Sometimes Running giving us a two fiery blasts of instrumental drone/noise/power electronics. I received this tape in a care package from Ren back in 2005 which he sent along with a copy of the unreleased Scent of Human History album and a copy of what was then called United States Demo Tape Riots (see pic below), which ultimately became the band's 12 inch/cd/tape Divorce Songs. In the note that Ren sent me along with the goodies this is what he had to say about Backspace:

The Backspace tape is some stuff that Jay, Robbie and I did on 12/30/02. Bored, stoned and stuck indoors. side B is much better than side A, but it works better after you sit thru side a. I recommend listening to it in the car...loud. 


From what I can gather this Backspace tape wasn't formally distributed/released instead it was a private press kind of thing where only copies were made for friends and that sort of thing. I showed it to Jay a few months ago when his awesome new band Risk was recording in the basement and he was surprised to see I had a copy or that Ren even made copies of it. So needless to say I feel grateful that Ren decided I was worthy enough to receive a copy of this. And really I think that is how music is best shared- amongst friends. I know music of this kind definitely does not have a broad fan base and it takes a very specific pair of ears to appreciate it but once you do your ears lock into the sounds swirling around and hear something rather pleasurable and dare I say soothing. Maybe I am messed up but stuff like this does relax me quite a bit. The little dense,droning melodies that keep things moving along in time all the while hypnotic feedback, hiss and tape manipulation are occurring around it. In listening to this Backspace cassette  one can certainly hear how this type of music and experimentation seeped through into Scent of Human History's sound, particularly the unreleased album so with that being said I do firmly feel that fans of Scent of Human History who while themselves perhaps wouldn't identify themselves as noise/drone fans would certainly find value in listening to this. It is easy to connect the dots. So whether in your room on your stereo or as Ren suggests in your car, play this motherfucker LOUD.

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Sometimes Walking Sometimes Running "Unreleased" 2000/2001

A quickie but gem of a upload for y'all today. Here is another nice batch of unreleased tunes that have come into my possession, three unreleased songs from  Sometimes Walking Sometimes Running. I previously featured their 5 Untitled Songs CD and these 3 songs continue in the same tradition of chaotic screamo 'ala Pg.99 and City of Caterpillar though I do feel the band is a bit more experimental. On the first track offered here there is a long percussive, almost tribal section that reminds me of something of Neurosis' Enemy of the Sun. There are noisier, more bordering on psychedelic moments than the more fast paced, furious screamo blasts found on the 5 Untitled Songs ep. It is obvious that some of band member's various side projects or one off noise projects like Car Fire or Backspace were having its influence rub off on this last batch of Sometimes Walking Sometimes Running songs. All three songs offered here are untitled and I believe they were recorded in either late 2000 or early 2001; I am not 100% certain. I want to thank guitarist/vocalist Jay Melli for allowing me to share this with everyone. For you Long Island/NY area folks be sure to check out Jay's new band Risk who will be playing my band, Yes Sensei's last show on January 22nd at Mr Beery's in Bethpage.

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Scent of Human History "Unreleased Album" (2003)

As I hinted earlier this week I had a nice surprise for everyone. Additionally, I mentioned having in my possession this unreleased recording in my post about their split cd with The Lazer and now I am finally ready to share this unreleased gem with everyone. In listening to this album it blows my mind that it was never released. If it was it could've easily been identified as a classic for that era of Long Island music but instead it has just been a rumored relic to many and only heard by a few. All of the Scent of Human History releases were solid but I think this collection of ten songs captures what they were doing perfectly, especially the band in their twilight as the songs were getting longer, more expansive and noisy bordering on psych at times mixed with the chaotic screamo that they were known for. I remember seeing most of these songs played live in the year that Yes Sensei and Scent of Human History played a lot of shows together but the one song that sticks out the most for me is the absolutely beautiful fifteen plus minute epic "Science". Everytime I saw them play this song it sent chills down my spine and coming from a critical point of view, this song really was sign of growth for the band as the beginning of the song was almost faint whisper like quiet and it slowly morphed into a monolith of sound with a eventually culminating chaos seemingly coming from nowhere. This may seem quaint now, but this was a good couple of years before "post rock" and stuff like Explosions in the Sky and Pelican started being all the rage. At that point it reminded me of later era Swans but back in 2003 no one I knew was claiming to like the Swans. I remember very vividly playing a show with Scent of Human History in some basement in Northport and their first song was a really fast, chaotic screamy awesome mess that barely broke one minute and a half. It finished and Jay Melli (the band's guitarist and vocalist) said "we have one more", I look around and people are puzzled. I mean I know that they were all in for some "Science" but it was cool to get a sense that no one knew what was coming. It was awesome. And so is the rest of this incredible unreleased album. I known it to be a great album for many years and I believe many of you will feel the same way after listening to it.

A quick not about the track listing. This is not 100% as the cd-r and tape I have of it are not labeled with track names, however I was able to name the tracks from memory and process of elimination.

Scent of Human History "Unreleased Album" track listing:

1. "Wind"

2. "Why Don't You Cut the Floor Out From Under Me"

3. "Territorial Pissings"

4. "The Choice Unchosen"

5. "Just in Stress"

6. "Change Melts Away"

7. "Or Will Drown"

8. "Instrumental"

9. "Science"

10. "Untitled"

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