Suggestions: Matt Kuderski

This week’s suggestions come from a long time friend, and very talented musician, Matt Kuderski.

Matt previously played guitar and sang for the Maryland based post-hardcore band Draw Out the Lions.  He is currently hard at work on a new musical project.

Hopesfall – The Satellite Years

This album would have to be my favorite screamy “hardcore” or whatevercore album to be released. It’s eerily calming and beautiful despite the screaming.  The vocals on this album are some of the best in the genre. I found the guitar tones to be just about perfect and loved how the songs didn’t follow a verse chorus format but instead were constantly changing from beginning to end. This structure had a tremendous impact on my own song writing. Also you’ll find not one chuggah chuggah break down which was very refreshing at the time from such a band. Matt Talbot from Hum(another amazing band everyone should give a listen) produced the album and you can really tell. In the end I feel “The Satellite Years” transcends the genre altogether. It’s a real shame what happened to this band after this album.

Snatch it HERE.

Hella – Hold Your Horse Is

I first listened to Hella many years ago, when I was still into bands like Finch and A Static Lullaby, and I instantly dismissed them as noise. It wasn’t until my musical tastes matured past The Used (very thankfully) that I decided to give them a listen again and they pretty much blew me away and changed the way I would listen and play music from that point on. The most important thing to keep in mind is that Hella is just a guitarist and a drummer.  Two of the best musicians I have ever heard. “Hold Your Horse Is” is by far Hella’s most accessible album and after it their releases got weirder and weirder which might turn someone off at first listen.  That is why I suggest that any newcomer to the band start with their first full length. The drummer, Zach Hill, is in countless other bands (all of which are amazing). Here is a link that has all of his other musical ventures in one place

www.myspace.com/holysmokesthesquire

I suggest anyone looking for something different give Hella or any other Zach Hill band a listen.

Snatch it HERE.

Bear VS. Shark – Terrorhawk

I consider Bear VS. Shark to be one of the most original and creative bands in recent years. At times you can almost hear a throw back to Cap’n Jazz in the music. Their first album, “Right Now You’re in the Best of Hands…” was also an amazing listen but “Terrorhawk” is just a better album from beginning to end. One of the most interesting things about this band is the vocals. There is a lot of screaming and yet his voice does not come across as really angry at all. The vocalist was influenced by the MC5 and it is very apparent on this album. The rhythm section on this one is just phenomenal, throughout the album it’ll get you wanting to dance around. Indie rock in my opinion has become a formulaic and stagnant genre as a whole but this band really showed how great it could be with some true originality thrown in. It’s a crying fucking shame this band broke up.

Snatch it HERE.

Fugazi – Red Medicine

Honestly, how could I not throw some Fugazi on the list? Very few bands have had such a monumental influence on so many other bands (and me as well).  “Red Medicine” would have to be my favorite Fugazi album. It was the perfect mix of older, more punk influenced, Fugazi and the newer, somewhat slower, almost jazzy, Fugazi.

Snatch it HERE.

Mewithoutyou – Catch for Us the Foxes

Every full length this band has released is nothing short of amazing. I would certainly say that “Catch for Us the Foxes” is their best work so far. Every song on this album sounds lush and beautifully composed with just enough effects on the guitars to make them sound crisp and stand out. The vocal delivery and lyrics are the best I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. It’s very hard to even pick out a favorite track on this album because I feel that it is best listened to from beginning to end.
Their first full length “A to B life” was a much more aggressive album.  At times the conviction in the lyrics and the vocal delivery would make me shiver.  As amazing as that album is, “Catch for Us the Foxes” is clearly the next amazing evolution of the band. I am by no means a religious man, but Aaron Weiss’s lyrics paint faith as a beautiful and meditative concept.  They offer so much more depth than the lyrics of many other religious bands (the ones that senselessly yell about praising Jesus.)  I challenge anyone to hear this album and not fall in love with the band pretty much immediately.

Snatch that HERE.