Bomb The Music Industry! – Vacation

On Vacation, Jeff Rosenstock and co. made a self-proclaimed “beach punk” album. Though the album is much more positive than previous releases, Jeff’s characteristically cynical voice still shines through at the forefront of the music. Like all BtMI releases, the lyrics are still brutally honest and personal, the music is still complex and well-executed, the song structures are still varied and dynamic, but something about this album is undeniably different. More mature? More straight-forward? More polished? All of the above maybe, I can’t really put my finger on it. But this album is fun as shit and makes a great soundtrack for the summer. Seriously, I highly recommend it. Watch the video for “Everybody That You Love” below and tell me that you don’t love every second of it.

Buy.

Download.

Pushin’ Units

We’ve been going through some major changes around here at Black With Sap headquarters. Namely, Dylan moved to Texas to get his PHD, and I inherited our entire inventory and distro. We’ve basically been running this label from 2 different cities for the last 2 years, but this is the first time that I’ll be more than a day’s travel away from my best friend since we met. I’m super bummed but happy for him at the same time. He pretty much kicks ass at everything he does, and I know graduate school won’t be any different. I expect big things out of Dylan.

Anyway, I went through our stock piles of shit and realized that we have a lot of cool stuff that’s just collecting dust. We’ve had opportunities to work with a lot of great people and bands over the years, and we have dsitro items to show for it. We’ve collected a lot of CD’s, and for some reason, stopped selling them altogether. In hopes of getting these releases out to more people, freeing up some space in my storage, and making a few bucks to fund a future release, I’m going to sell all of these CD’s for $2. If you buy enough of these, I will ship them to you for free. If you buy anything at all, I’ll throw something else in for free. Take a look at what we’ve got:

• Lion of the North – The Compass Calls EP – This is the screamo band that gave rise to Grown Ups. It rules, hard. Download it here. This EP was released by our friend Harrison at Kid Sister Everything with awesome packaging.
• Native/Lautrec/Lion of the North/Mans – 4 way split – Amazing line-up, to say the least. This insert folds out into a poster of sorts. Also released by Kid Sister.
• Lion of the North/Mans Split - Probably my favorite songs either band ever recorded. Kid Sister, as always, delivers with some cool packaging as well.
• Moldar/Matsuri Split - Awesome handmade packaging for the bands’ 09 summer tour, 5 songs from both bands.
• Moldar/Calculator Split - Handmade in June of 09, 3 songs from Calculator and 2 from Moldar
• Matsuri/Deers! Split - Handmade in the summer of 08, 3 songs from both band.
• Moldar – Last Five - Beautifully packaged with a 20+ page book and hand screened covers, last 5 songs the band released.
• Funeral Diner – The Underdark - The legendary band’s genre-defining album in a digipak case.
• Lungs- S/T - Post-something band packaged in a digipak, released by the now defunct Escucha Records.
• Suffocate For Fuck Sake – Blazing Fires and Helicopters… – This monster of an album still goes for $10. Seriously, download it if you haven’t heard it.
• Werewolves – Grind Melon - Full length album of grungy, hook-filled hardcore. Released by Bear Records.
• Monarcs – Apocalyptic Bebop – 2 members of Capsule, 4 awesome songs.
• Army of Kashyyyk/Lovers and Killers Split - Baltimore, MD emo violence and hardcore. 2 songs from both bands.
• I Create – Make the Years EP - The band put these together when they still had their old vocalist, the dude from Histories.

Just to reiterate, I’m selling everything for $2. These are CD’s, not records. I will throw something in for free with every order, and will ship for free if you order enough. Also, if you’re interested, I’ll knock $1 off of our tapes (I Create, 1994! or Lautrec) for a short time too. We are down to our last 4 copies of 1994!, and when those are gone, they’re gone for good. Please email me at blackwithsaprecords@gmail.com if you are interested at all.

RRC #2: Fucked Up – Mixtape Volume 2: II

Here’s my second post in the newly started RRC series. Once again, we have a mixtape coming from, in my opinion, the best punk/hardcore band around right now, Fucked Up. This second installment in their series of mixtapes brings more alternate and early takes from the Hidden World era, as well as radio interviews, live performances, and some pretty enjoyable banter. My favorite bits on this tape are the radio interview in which they discuss drug influence on Hidden World and the Protest the Hero dis-track. That’s right, old beef between tech-metal-hardcore Canadian band Protest the Hero and Fucked Up. It’s a pretty enjoyable listen. There’s also a couple of really good tracks by other artists on this one. In particular, their selection of Starjets’ “War Stories” is top-notch. Just like last time, I meticulously cut this myself and scanned the insert for your reading pleasure. Anyway, download this and look forward to the next RRC post, probably for Boat’s Hiss Like Your Idols.

Download.

Buy.

 

 

 

Calculator – New Forms

On Calculator’s newest 7″, the Los Angeles band seems to be really hitting their stride. The guitar work and drumming are tighter and more complex than anything on These Roots Grow Deep. The band churns out some up-tempo, chaotic songs and manages to make their sound fuller and heavier than previous material. Even the vocal delivery, which used to be somewhat monotone shouting, has improved. The vocalist still mostly shouts, but manages to mix it up enough to keep his searing vocals a driving force in the songs. My only complaint is that the whole 7″ clocks in at less than 7 minutes. The band has posted the songs for name your own price on bandcamp, but I seriously suggest donating or preordering the record. Check out their other merch as well and help this band continue to put out new material.

Preorder.

Download from Bandcamp.

RRC #1: Fucked Up – Mixtape Volume 1: Generations

This post is the first in a series, Rare Ripped Cassettes (RRC), that will allow me to share my rare, cassette only releases that I’ve ripped. Stay tuned for more Fucked Up, Boat, and Literature.

Generations is the first in a series of four mixtapes put out by the prolific, somewhat mysterious, and ever-impressive Torontonian(?) band Fucked Up. This one was released as their album Hidden World was being written and recorded. Included are a bunch of alternate versions of songs, live radio sets, covers, songs by other bands, demos, alternate mixes, etc. It’s pretty cool and there’s some pretty interesting stuff on the tape and written in the insert that adds to the enigma that is Fucked Up. I spent probably 3 or 4 hours ripping this myself and splitting it into tracks based on the information the insert had written in it. I also scanned the insert so you can also read a little more about this awesome tape. Not only is the banter pretty entertaining, it contains a couple stand-out cuts such as “Ban Violins” and the various radio interviews and performances. Also, be sure to pick up their newest album, David Comes to Life, which is easily the best album released this year. Enjoy.

Download!

Buy David Comes to Life and other goodies.

Fucked Up’s blog in which they have a track-by-track comparison of David Comes to Life and Lady Gaga’s Born this Way.

Mockingbird Wish Me Luck – Branches 7″

Mockingbird Wish Me Luck come from Kitchener, Ontario. These guys are my new favorite punk band, à la Hot Water Music, RVIVR, Small Brown Bike, etc. They just finished a Canadian tour with the awesome band Sharks, and as far as I know, this is their latest release. It’s only a 2 song 7″, but it packs a serious punch. Trust me, just pick this up if you are into any of the aforementioned bands. These songs are going to be on heavy rotation for me this summer, I can already tell.

Download.

Buy.

P.S. Go pick up their 2009 release “Goodbye Debris” right here while you’re at it.