Posts under ‘BYSHK’

Boy Problems was an all too brief but memorable addition to the ever expanding catalog of amazing bands spawning from the Pennsylvania hardcore/emo scene.  Featuring former members of other bands you should have known — Harrison Bergeron, Make Me, and the much loved Street Smart Cyclist — Boy Problems played a uniquely potent blend of […]

Chicago’s Volta Do Mar was one of the first mathy instrumental bands I truly fell for. Full of jazz and prog elements, VDM worked a healthy amount of melody into their intelligent compositions. While the band was clearly influenced by genre icons like Don Caballero and Tortoise, Volta Do Mar quickly made a name for […]

Miranda Sound played their last show in August of 2008. It is a terrible shame listening to the band’s final album, 2008’s self-titled affair. This is power pop in a heavy Posies or Nada Surf vein but with an almost post-punk approach instrumentally. The band really reminds me of the younger crop of British bands […]

For long time fans of pop/punk, Team Stray would have been one of those great bands that found themselves outcast on Honest Don’s. If you get that reference then god bless you. Sadly, Cincinnati, Ohio’s Team Stray recently called it quits. The band crosses power pop/punk with an almost indie/emo sound. Sicko crossed with The […]

Lost in the major label shuffle of the 90’s were too many great bands. Handsome were definitely one of those casualties. The band sadly called it quits after just one album, 1997’s Self-Titled affair. The band included former Helmet guitarist Peter Mengede and ex-Quicksand guitarist Tom Capone. Not surprisingly, those two bands were great starting […]

This is a “duh” BYSHK for me. After recently posting about former Elliott vocalist Chris Higdon’s new band, Frontier(s), I went back and gave some old Elliott records a spin. The band’s debut album, 1998’s U.S. Songs, is no doubt in my top ten albums of all time. It is amazing how much this band […]

This is just to provide you an example of how slow I am. I received the debut album, Golden You, from a cool band called Hungry Pines earlier this year. It’s been in my “Review Worthy!” pile for quite a while now. So, I sit down to write about the band recently and consequently discover […]

I will never understand why Gratitude were not absolutely huge. Considering the band was rumored to have gotten a million dollar advance, you would think Atlantic would have actually chosen to promote them. What can you say? Major labels are dumb.
The band’s one and only record, 2005’s Self-Titled affair, was absolutely huge in every aspect: […]

Colossal has never officially broken up but with four years since the band’s last release and the announcement of a new band by main man Pat Ford, I think we can safely chalk them up to history. Colossal play smooth indie rock/emo with an almost jazz sensibility. The band’s use of the trumpet is prominent […]

Plastic Mastery was born from two brothers in Tallahassee, Florida in the late nineties. The band eventually grew into a six member collective. To call Plastic Mastery indie pop seems like an injustice of sorts. Plastic Mastery’s music was infectious and played with such a reckless energy. This was indie pop at its most […]