Changes - Demonstration 2011

Location: Asbury Park, NJ
Genre: Hardcore / Punk
Contact: scz027@aol.com
Download: changesmusic.bandcamp.com

Hailing from Asbury Park, NJ, Changes plays fast and aggressive hardcore punk influenced by Black Sabbath, Bad Brains and Black Flag to name a few. Demonstration is a five-song demo crafted by five veterans of the New Jersey hardcore scene coming together to contribute their take on hardcore and punk music.

The lyrical content of Demonstration ranges from personal experiences to political and social observations.  Leading off this recording is "Victims," a fast, riff-heavy song about the victim mentality. The chorus comes in strong for a sing-along of "Victims always ask why, why, why." The mosh part of the song has a lot more groove than expected from a typical mosh part. The next song, "Science Of War," starts off with a completely different vibe while keeping the momentum of the recording flowing in a focused direction. Heavy, dissonant chords give a unique sound from the start of the song. Once the chorus kicks in, the song heads into more traditional hardcore waters right before the big Sabbath-style riff brings the groove. Halfway through Demonstration, we come to "Strip Away," which is a slightly slower song than all the other songs on the recording. The ending of the song rides out on a big riff you can't help but to bang your head to. Second to last, we have the song "Shark Pipe," which is a song about the singer Shawn's personal experience being chased out of the water by a shark while out surfing one day. The music is fast-paced punk hardcore, which builds up to a Bad Brains Reignition-esqe breakdown at the end. To close out the recording, we have "Flags, Bibles, Bullets & Guns," which is a social critique of all the major problems we encounter as citizens of the United States. The lyrics to the chorus sum up the song the best if you ask me. "Flags, bibles, bullets and guns. They deal death in the flesh. Then collect federal funds. Flags, bibles, bullets and guns. Creating mass hysteria. They got the people on the run now."

American Royalty - Demo 2011

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Genre: Melodic Hardcore / Pop Punk
Contact: americanroyaltypa@gmail.com
Download: americanroyaltypa.bandcamp.com

American Royalty are a five piece, melodic hardcore band along the lines of Lifetime and early Saves The Day, New Found Glory, Brand New and even Fastbreak.  This demo is a short two-song sample of what American Royalty are up to musically. 

The lead track, "Movie or the Planet," starts off fast, melodic and catchy.  To me, that is everything I want out of a melodic hardcore/punk song.  Midway through the song, the gang vocals kick in with melodic mosh parts soon to follow.  The song ends with the gang vocals, "I guess that I just miss my friend," which ends this song about distant friends very nicely.  The last track, "Mill Street," kicks in right away.  The fast and driving guitar riffs keep the song moving along to the chorus transition.  The catchy chorus of "I'm leaving those/these days in my rear view.  There's no turning back from here.  I'm not gonna dwell on it," fits perfectly with the lyrical theme of change within the song.  Musically, this song reminds me a lot of the musical structure of Saves The Day's "Do You Know What I Love The Most?" from the Through Being Cool album.  The end of the song finds the chorus evolving into a big singalong finale to conclude this recording.

Snake Road - Demo 2011

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Genre: Hardcore
Contact: SnakeRoad215@gmail.com
Download: snakeroad.bandcamp.com

Snake Road are a four-piece hardcore band from Philadelphia with musical leanings toward metal, d-beat and punk.  Their influences as listed on their Facebook page are spot on.  Elements of From Ashes Rise, Integrity, Tragedy, Victims and Black Sabbath are sporadically mixed in from song to song. 

This five-song demo is a perfect sampling of what Snake Road have to offer.  The overall tone of the recording is dark and depressing like the city of Philadelphia. The lead song on the demo, "Over and Out," is fast and aggressive to set the pace for the recording.  Towards the end of the song, you get a small taste of the guitar solos that compliment these songs very nicely.  The next song, "Save You," brings a little more melody into the music while keeping the aggression intact.  The song ends with a great sing-along that will have the kids fist pumping and spilling beers in the pit for sure.  "Liberty or Death" keeps things flowing while changing the pace of the demo to more of a slow headbang.  This song grooves like "Abraxas Annihilation" by Integrity off of the Humanity is the Devil album.  The guitar solo is more along the lines of something you would hear on Systems Overload, which also rips.  The second to last song, "Just Like We Rehearsed," is a mid-tempo song with a good guitar melody to keep the song moving along.  The final song on the demo, "The Finest Hour," starts off slow and groovy and then shifts gears to a more traditional fast punk/hardcore verse/chorus.  The song ends with a stonery breakdown that will have you banging your head whether you want to or not

New Features... Live Recordings and Reviews

Two new features I am adding to the Pizza Friends blog is live recordings and music reviews. I figured since I have this awesome digital recorder that looks like a taser, I might as well record some bands with it. If you go to the live recordings page, you will find a list of all the bands that I have recorded. I hope you enjoy the bands' live sets as much as I did at the show recording them.   In a week or so I will start adding music reviews that include digital downloads courtesy of the bands.