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Permanent and My Turn to Win…

Permanent - Sink|SwimAfter a CD-R demo and a 7"/CD EP, I believe "Sink|Swim" (on 6131 Records) is being billed as the first "full-length" from Permanent, though its 10 succinct tracks clock in at a little less than 22 minutes. But that's of little concern, because this is some absolutely excellent melodic hardcore that ranks among the finest I've heard from the genre in quite some time. Something about the recording feels just a touch thin (Maybe the way the vocals are mixed?) and took my ears a few minutes to adjust to, so I think there's minor room for improvement there (granted it does sound pretty damn good overall, don't get me wrong), but this band is basically dead on the fuckin' mark with everything they deliver herein. Only one track tops three minutes and they blaze right through loads of energetic bursts of speedy power chords accented by ringing dissonance and melodic octave chords, as well as subtly technical undercurrents in terms of the layering of midpaced rhythms with 90's sounding palm-muting and arpeggiated riffing—not to mention some sparse clean/acoustic passages that also play into that whole 90's sounding angle (and believe me, all that stuff is sorely missed by these ears in much of today's hardcore, so I'm loving it here). And then all of this is fronted by straight yelling vocals that have a really sincere feel happening, which works great with the similarly-toned lyrical content:

Find me the ways to sleep straight through these days, it's a funny thing... mistakes and regrets, they lend themselves so easily when I need them the least. I'll make my way through this city read the names and I'll walk these streets, the walls are talking, but I don't dare speak. Walk 'til my legs buckle, watch them give way. Say, "Fuck it, let winters fade the grey." Let's let picture perfect smiles remain in picture perfect lives let loyalty end where the paint chips away, let my efforts toward disaster lead the life where I can stand to see the same name to trace... It's cold standing here in the street. There were days I would have fought, but I've spent too long waiting for storms to clear these streets. Well let the winters fade the grey, and goddamn the ways they change.

In many ways this material is comparable to a number of other bands of the last decade(-ish) that operate within a similar span of influences, but Permanent definitely has a stronger than average grasp on quality songwriting and overall impact—perhaps because they keep things so concise and focused, which definitely adds force to the delivery. These dudes are from right here in Richmond, VA but sadly this is the first time I've heard 'em 'cause I'm a fucking hermit and I don't know what the hell's going on out there. But I'll damn sure be keeping an eye out for future output from this band. Great work.

Permanent "To Repel Ghosts"
Permanent "Can't Settle"

Highly recommended, so definitely make the grab if this is your thing:

Interpunk
RevHQ






My Turn to Win - Whatever it Takes"Whatever it Takes" is the debut EP from Philadelphia/New Jersey hardcore act My Turn to Win on Awake/Strong. Look for seven tracks of fast, energetic, traditionally based hardcore in about 11 minutes as every song is less than two minutes long. There's just a hint of added heaviness and a few minor dashes of light melody or dissonance, but for the most part they stick to the basics, so it's not at all "moshy" or anything like that. It definitely has an old school sort of vibe happening in terms of the overall structure and feel of the material, but there's a good sense of depth to the recording that keeps things sounding full and in your face, and they're not heading in that generic "youth crew" direction or anything like that. Plus, the tempo range sticks with more of a midpaced to moderately fast stroll, which allows the throbbing basslines to sound fuckin' killer right in the heart of the mix, so it's not one of those "all go, no slow" situations either. I don't know, I hate to keep it so brief, but they take care of business and wrap things up pretty damn quick on this one, so... that's all there is to it. Not bad at all.

My Turn to Win "Far Out"

As always, support the band and the label by picking up a copy if you like what you hear:

Interpunk
RevHQ
Very Distribution

Comments

  1. great people. great band. so glad to see theyre gettin reviewed on this site! i guess theyre gettin some good distro on their cd. their new songs are even better, be on the lookout!

    3.19.2007 | By dan

  2. MTTW that is…whoops.

    3.19.2007 | By dan

  3. Thank You for the for the great blog!!!
    Keep on turning the world onto true music
    ,To you + all the good people out there check out our new spot (if ya Like) we just started the blog to support important anti-trend music like you do and to try to expose honest artists ,
    and add us to your links if you can,as we will do with yours once we are fully up and running, just in diapers now so learning as we go!!

    @ http://punknotprofit.blogspot.com/

    3.19.2007 | By Historyofviolence

  4. Thanks a ton for the review.  Anyone interested in picking the cd up you can do it via the links above or through awake/strong.  Come check us out and hear some new jams at the last Kill Your Idols philadelphia show April 28th, with Go! for the Throat (reunion) Cash In and Die Tonight.

    3.19.2007 | By Dave MTTW

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