Dad Punchers- S/T

This is our first post in a year, but I needed to share this record with people.

Dad Punchers is the solo project of Touche Amore/DNF drummer Elliot Babin. He originally wrote and recorded 3 songs in his bedroom in-between TA tours, playing all the instruments himself. He then recorded a self titled full length, with the bassist of Joyce Manor helping out. He sometimes plays shows in California with a drummer and bassist.

This record is incredible. It's happy and sad and nostalgic and fun, all at once. It's one of the few records I can listen to when I want to have fun, and when I wanna be sad. It's awesome, indie-ish punk. Plus, Elliot sings like Kermit the frog (not so much anymore, but on the demo...).

buy it here

download here

Knapsack - Day Three of My New Life (1997)

Track Listing:

1) Thursday Side of the Street

2) Courage Was Confused

3) Decorate the Spine

4) Diamond Mine

5) Simple Favor

6) Boxing Gloves

7) Henry Hammer Harder

8) Perfect

9) Heart Carved Tree

10) Steeper Than We Thought

Simply put, this is my favorite emo band in the 90s...and one of my favorite bands of all time, period. This CD is flawless, in the sense that every song is great in some way. The vocals are coarse and melancholy, but the melodies are so well executed that it winds up sounding very unique and enjoyable. As a matter of fact, that might be the best part of the band - not necessarily the vocals, but rather the emotion and catharsis they create within their music, and the sheer originality they bring along with it.

If you want melodic emo that you can jam hard to (and if you're reading this blog, you do) you should listen to these guys. If you haven't already listened to them somehow, you need to listen to them already! Your ears will thank you on bended knee. Or your money back.

Knapsack - Day Three of My New Life

___Jed K

Quiet Steps - Think Aloud (2010)

Tracklist -

1 - Sales Rising

2 - Enemy Control

3 - Mirage

4 - Dead Sea

5 - Chateaubriands

6 - Assimilate

7 - Generation to Generation

8 - Exclusion

9 - Measure Reaction

10 - Echelon

11 - Surrounded

12 - One Breath

13 - Vision Lost

Quiet Steps are a three-piece screamo/indie band from Brisbane, Australia. They released their Think Aloud LP last year, and from what I understand they've got another on the way shortly.

Their first EP was somewhat reminiscent of the post-rock / screamo fusion; with mellow melodic passages, cool little jangly riffs and yelled-rather-than-screamed vocals. They went for a bit of a different sound on this LP, which has a healthy dose of indie and punk thrown into the mix. The songs are a bit more upbeat, and rely more on songwriting and rhythm to get the job done. It's a pretty long one – 13 songs over 48 minutes – but it's a fun record and worth checking out.

Think Aloud LP (mediafire)

Quiet Steps EP (mediafire)

- Sean

Prawn- You Can Just Leave It All (2011)

1. At Dawn We Left

2. Wesley's Pipe Dreams

3. Get Down

4. Sammy

5. Clever Hands

6. Horizontal

7. Perfect Equilibrium

8. Slaying A Paper Tiger

9. Questions For Dome Chomsky

10. Transcendental Deduction (Copernican Turn)

Prawn is another awesome local band from North Jersey. They recently got signed to Topshelf and have gone on many nation-wide tours. All of the dudes are super cool as well. I think of them as American Football-esque emo plus Moving Mountains. Tony (the singer and one of two guiatr players) sounds very similar to Kinsella at times. Anyway, they play emo/indie/post-rock and are one of my favorite bands. Their shows are crazy. "Nightmares" and "Artic Foxes" from their old EP are always insane; everyone climbs on top of each other to scream the words into the microphone.


"You Can Just Leave It All" is Prawn's first full length album. "Clever Hands", "At Dawn We Left", and "Sammy" were originally released on their 2010 Tour Tape, but were re-done for the album. All of the songs are very well done and the lyrics have definitely gotten better. The mellow, post-rock instrumentation is very interesting and well done and Tony's vocals fit the music perfectly. I highly recommend this album.