Take back everything you ever said...

My hiatus is over, and I have returned at the request of the few people who actually read this.

Just a few things I've been thinking about relating to the music world and such:

-Rise Against is gigantic right now. So gigantic that they are still under the radar, which I haven't figured out if it's a good thing or not, nevertheless you can see them perform 4 or 5 songs live on MTV.com and they are good. The acoustic version of "Life Less Frightening" is whole new beast. The first show on the 19th at the Metro is sold out, but there is any way possible that you can make the show the next day on the 20th, I would say you must. An added bonus is that Break the Silence is also playing the show on the 20th, along with Alexisonfire and Tsunami Bomb.

-I was digging through a box of t-shirts the other day, looking for an XL for someone at work and it reminded me of the Dillinger Four show in Chicago a few months ago. The band was selling shirts and they only carried two sizes: man or girl. Now that is humor.

-I've been listening to the new Unwritten Law way more than I ever anticipated I would. They are just a cool band that have established themselves with their own sound. Every one of their albums have been completely different, so you really have to go into each one with no expectations.

-Aside from a few tracks, the new The Academy Is... album is kind of boring. They slowed it down a ton and made it dancy, which I'm not into and the hooks aren't as catchy as their EP. I expected more from all the buzz that has been stirred around them lately.

-The new Divide By Zero record is really good. I can't stress it enough, these guys have a sound that I am really into. Get this album.

-The Swellers played All Ages Radio this week and they were hot. It was their first trip to Chicago as a band and they played like they owned this place. I think I am going to try and get some of the recordings of live bands' sets from the show up online. That was a weird sentence.


Gordon like The Swellers.


Shout-outs.


It smelled like dude in there.


Much the Same are the big brothers of The Swellers, so Gunner and Jevin came by in support. Jevin and The Swellers did a cover of Shai Hulud covering NOFX' 'Linoleum' later on in the night, it was very awesome.

clap clap clap clap clap clap

I have been approached multiple times within the last week, about my "Top 10 Albums of the Year" and I was never prepared. I've never had one, but was told I must. So I thought about it and came up with my ten favorite albums of the year, but not necessarily the best. I also came up with one sentence for each.


(1)A Wilhelm Scream :: Mute Print
There is not a single song on this album that does not rock, nor is there a dude in this band that doesn't rock.

(2)Rise Against :: Siren Song of the Counter Culture
I believe that this would have been the next Rise Against record, no matter what label it came out on.

(3)Break the Silence :: Near Life Experience
We had to wait a long time for this album after it was completed and it was totally worth the wait, it shreds.

(4)Atreyu :: The Curse
This album gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it because it is 2004's Motley Crue.

(5)OneLife :: EP
Ok, this band was awesome, then they fell apart, released this EP online for downloading, and is disgustingly disappointing to know that they aren't making this music anymore.

(6)Bayside :: Sirens and Condolences
These guys have such a cool sound, and this album just is a great mix of heavy and meaningful.

(7)Tony Sly/Joey Cape :: Acoustic Split EP
One half of this record made this list of 10, and it wasn't the Joey Cape half.

(8)15 Minutes Late :: Is This How You Feel?
Weeks upon weeks went by went I didn't at least listen to one track off of this album, plus the hidden track is the coolest.

(9)David Cross :: It's Not Funny
He did most of this act at SXSW, so it reminds me of one of the best experiences of my life, plus he is a sarcastic dick.

(10)Preacher Gone to Texas :: From the Heartland
Again, another band that didn't make it much past their best work, but this album just sounds awesome.

Worth Mentioning=
Green Day :: American Idiot
Lots of hype, most warranted, and I was lucky enough to be at the live listening party where they played the whole album live from start to finish, it was magical.

Underoath :: They Are Only Chasing Safety
I didn't like this album at first, but after seeing them live, the songs are way better.

We're Never Going Home

I was talking to my friend Sean a few weeks ago and he declared that I must check out the Against Me DVD that had just recently come out. I was aware that it had come out, but had a low interest in even trying to get my hands on it. My first experience with Against Me was a bad one, so I always had my reservations about them.

It was like 2 years ago, at the Fireside, and I was there with some friends to see the now defunct, but one of my favorite bands of all-time, Jinxpack. They (Jinxpack) were in the middle of a mediocre bill and we had plans of just heading in, seeing their set and bolting, which we did. We, along with all but maybe 6 other people in the room, had no idea who Against Me was and frankly, no one really cared. No one cared because the fans that were actually there to see Against Me were the biggest pricks in the entire world. They looked like hippies with bull ring piercings and they were obnoxious. They taunted and heckled every other band that took the stage that wasn't Against Me and they were relentless, so naturally everyone was pissed and it became an uncomfortable situation. So without ever hearing or seeing the band, I had already formed an opinion about them that I would later regret.

When their first album on FAT came out last spring, Eternal Cowboy, I was hesitent to even waste my time on it. In fact, I did listen to it maybe once or twice, but I only listened to find a track or two to play on All Ages, rather than for my own enjoyment. I never really gave it a chance, but it managed to always find it's way onto our show at least once a month.

I managed to see them a few times here in Chicago and when we were down in Austin for SXSW. Their live shows were awesome, but I still never really listened to them.

A month or two ago, I had one of their songs stuck in my head for days, so I grabbed the disc and listened to it on my way to work one day and something just clicked. I completely fell in love with all of it. So within days, I managed to get my hands on everything they have released and just recently I got my hands on a demo of their upcoming split with Lucero that was stolen from a Lucero show. It is so rad.

Long story short, Sean got me a copy of the DVD and it is one of the best band DVDs that I have ever seen. It chronicles a tour of theirs where they were approached by every single major label, let the bigshots take them out and get them drunk on the labels money, and then Against Me would say "no thanks" and move on. It is just so refreshing to see a punk band out there today that is doing it for what the music was intended. At one point, they were offered a million dollars to record an album. A fucking MILLION DOLLARS! They politely declined.

I swear to you that this DVD is worth watching a least once. Even if you have no idea who this band is, you should watch it and be impressed.

The Swellers

BAND: The Swellers
LOCATION: Fenton, MI
WEBSITE: http://www.theswellers.com

I was turned onto this band by Gunner of Much the Same, who had the opportunity to play with these guys up in Michigan, and I was simply impressed. It has been so long since a band of men all under the age of 20 said, 'we love punk rock music so we are going to play what we love', and then went ahead and did it. Scenes change and so does the fashion, and these guys found what they liked, and stuck with it.

If bands like No Use for a Name, Strung Out, Bigwig, etc do anything for you, you should give these guys a chance. No girls pants, no eyeliner, just melodic punk rock.

It took one week of playing these guys, before people started calling in and requesting them on All Ages Radio.

They released their newest demos and they are hot!
Listen to "The Inside".

Listen to their new demos:
http://www.purevolume.com/theswellers

So if I sign here, I get candy?

From : <******@aol.com>
Sent : Sunday, November 21, 2004 5:10 PM
To : gordon@allagesradio.com
Subject : Dude...


What the fuck is with the Academy Is... signing to fucking Atlantic
Records!? I can't believe that that shit is fucking going
on...Ridiculous...Well, let me know what you think at some point...Jesus...

Neil

The above email comes from a close friend of mine, whose opinion on such matters, I hold in the highest respect. A) He knows what he's talking about and B) he has more tattoos than anyone reading this.

[Fair Warning: The run-on sentences will be aplenty.]

Although the power of the internet has stirred such rumors, no official announcement has been made to latest signing of Chicago pop rockers, The Academy Is. If the rumors prove to be true, the teenage pop sensations will be sharing a label with the likes of Twista, Lil' Kim, Matchbox20, Ryan Cabrera, Shinedown, Trik Daddy, Kid Rock, POD, and Rush...Just to name a few.

There is a giant question that must be asked though, and that is, at what point did signing to a major label become a normal thing? At this point in time, signing to a major label is as close to stapling your balls to your chin as it ever has been before. In the past, there were at least multiple majors that were competing with each other in the business world, but today, we have about two gigantic companies remaining that keep their business within the other various gigantic media companies (Clearchannel, etc). What is appealing about this?

In the case of The Academy, a band that only recently (1 year) has made a name for themselves outside of Chicago and the suburbs, to me, are getting in over their heads. They have an EP on a tiny micro-label in Chicago, which sparked their signing to Fueled By Ramen, and their debut album isn't even out yet, and now they are signing to a label that is controlled by one of the biggest media groups in the world, Warner Music Group? You mean to tell me, that a label that is/was home to Led Zepplin, now cares about a band of kids that has a 5 song EP to their name, and about a year's worth of touring under their belt? Most of the bigger indie labels would hesitate to even jump on board with that. And while I have to admit that they write some catchy hooks, this band has been crippled by their extreme musical resemblance to newly indie-turned-major label band, Taking Back Sunday. Labels eat up musical fads to death, and this move by far is a clear cut example.

Remember ska? Remember the Chicago ska kings, the Blue Meanies? They released multiple scene rattling albums on Asian Man in the early 90's, then made the jump to MCA as MCA was buying up the ska fad, and then lost all interest in the band and their album when it came time to distribute and promote the album, because the ska fad faded into the dust of first wave of pop-punk (Blink and likes). The album sold nothing, the band was dropped, and broke up soon there after*.

Punk and underground bands (I use that very loosely), have a very bad track record on majors. Once the popularity of segmented genre fades, the bands aren't general enough to appeal to the larger meat-head consumers of corporate music. Do I even need to mention Jawbreaker?

My homeboys, Rise Against, decided to take the jump and see what happens at the home they now call Dreamworks. They released their album, and now they are in commercial radio rotation. If this album would have come out on Fat, would radio be playing "Give It All", of course not. It's a messed up and shady system and I'm glad that it is working for some, but does it seem all that worth it? When you are a band that has a crazy following with your independent label releases, what really is the added bonus of getting wrapped up in big business contractual garbage? A bus? A producer who smoked weed with Nirvana? I just don't see the greater side to it.

Death Cab for Cutie just had a great summer of mass popularity, all while on an indie label, why did they need to sign to Atlantic a few weeks ago?

This all just blows me away. I can't believe this all just stemmed from The Academy Is...

In this case, I think that rockstars just want to be bigger rockstars.

There is so much more to say, but I feel like I'm just going in emotional circles. This may seem like a rant on the Academy, but it truly was just a vehicle to speak on the subject. In my opinion, I would say it's a terrible idea to even get involved with a major label at this point. Let them run poop-smear bands like Trapt, Puddle of Mudd, and Godsmack into the ground. Those guys don't even know reality anymore.

The start of something obnoxious: An Introduction.

There was a point, not too long ago that I had to realize how easily my musical tastes were being influenced by what was available to me, rather than what I actually enjoyed. It was such a harsh realization, that it really sent me into somewhat of a depression, but getting back on track was easier than ever.

What did I need to do? It was simple. I had to think back to where I came from. I thought back to every summer night that I spent with my friends, working at Dairy Queen, making a bullshit wage, and dealing with bullshit ice cream junkies. I didn't care about the money situation at all, because it wasn't going to work, it was getting paid to talk about music for 6-8 hours a day with my friends. And when the paychecks came in, we all went and spent them at Record Breakers before we even went home.

Granted, at this point of my life I had a car that cost me less than $500 and I was in doing well in high school, so my parents really were pretty open minded to me blowing paychecks on what I loved. They saw it as an alternate to some of the ways the neighborhood kids were spending their money on teenage vices. Music was and is my vice.

I've never been a musical snob, and I really have a short patience for those who are. For all intents and purposes, music is personal. The profits of certain music, often times, cloud what the music was intended for...the listener.

A few years ago, I made the decision that I wanted to entertain the ears of masses. Radio was what excited me, and still does to this very day. As long as you have a radio to listen to, I want to talk to you through it.

My experience started about 3 and a half years ago, when I was lucky enough to join a show that I spent my Friday nights listening to when I was in high school. All Ages Radio on WONC 89.1FM has been my life ever since. Today, I now juggle the show, with a job in the world of corporate radio. When I decided that radio was for me, I also decided that I wanted to go all the way with it. So here I sit, with a well-respected, successful, award winning, commercial-free, punk rock radio show, and a job with one of the top rock radio stations in Chicago, that I worked my ass of to obtain. One end of the spectrum to the other.

With that being said, this right here, is the result of worlds in which I exist. I hope to share all that is exposed to me in my two worlds...here...with you.