Cause A Riot - Red in Front of the White and Blue

Cause A Riot are a melodic hardcore quintet from Järvenpää in Finland who's line up features Ari Toivanen, Kaarle Ranta, Olli Rahijärvi, Petri Kortelainen & Simo Timonen. They formed in 2011, play fast paced, anthemic skate punk and write about issues such as inequality and oppression. 

 Red In Front Of The White And Blue is from a recent spilt single they've released with fellow countrymen Teresa Banks and it's the kind of ep that'll make you want to jump around and get sweaty.

Cause A Riot

Teresa Banks

Bandcamp

Reverse - Broken Windows

Reverse formed in Stoke On Trent in 1990 and released a fair few splits and singles before splitting in 2003. Japanese label SP Records put out a collection of their work in the form of 2011's Chasing Ghosts album.

A couple of years ago they got back together and have recently released a brilliant new album titled Empty Spaces. With a line up featuring Paul Beard (drums), Dan Rowley (guitar/backing vocals), Mick Flock (guitar/backing vocals) and Nick Sharratt (bass/vocals), they're better than ever. It's a dozen catchy as hell songs that'll have you singing along.

I'm going to go with one of the tracks that isn't streaming on Bandcamp as my choice tday. This is Broken Windows...

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Vinyl

Lay It On The Line - Nil Desperandum

Lay It On The Line are a melodic hardcore punk band from South London who were formed in 2012 by Phinius Gage bassist/vocalist Mike Scott along with his brother Matt and Not Katies guitarist Dave Smith. They've undergone numerous line up changes since but are currently settled as a 5 piece. They've recently released a 2nd album titled A Candle In Hell and you can snap it up as a name your price download from Bandcamp.

A type of punk that I sometimes strugle with, this toes the line very well and is everything you want from a punk album, energy, aggression, well written lyrics and a band that definitely know how to play their instruments.
 
I am going with Nil Desperandum... 

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Lifetime - Young, Loud, and Scotty

Lifetime is an American punk rock band from New Jersey. Lifetime was formed in 1990 and disbanded in 1997. In late 2005, they announced their reunion.

The band was formed in 1990 by singer Ari Katz (ex-Enuf) and guitarist Dan Yemin with its roots in the New York/New Jersey hardcore scene. I am going with "Young, Loud, and Scotty" from their album Jersey's Best Dancers, released in 1997 on Jade Tree Records

For me, it is one of the best melodic punk songs ever written. A true classic.

One Step Closer - Lead to Gray

One Step Closer's From Me To You was one of the best melodic hardcore EPs of last year, and going by new single "Lead to Gray," it sounds like these guys are leaning even more into the "melodic" tag and I for one am a fan of their newfound knack for big hooks like the one on "Lead to Gray." There's just something so great about a real-deal hardcore band doing pop-friendly choruses, and if One Step Closer's upcoming debut album has more like this, I think we're in for a real treat.

Power Alone - All We've Got

Power Alone is the new band of Eva Hall (Gather, Rats In The Wall), and their debut album Rather Be Alone has clear-as-day but still gritty and unpolished production courtesy the great Paul Miner (Kill Your Idols, Curl Up and Die, Thrice, etc), and it's a straight-up, little-to-no-frills hardcore record and about as ferocious as they come. Rather Be Alone's got big, chunky, heavy-as-all-hell riffs and killer grooves, and Eva tops it all off with a venomous bark and cutthroat lyricism that straddles the line between personal and political and sticks a middle finger in the face of anyone who gets in her way. It's mainly a straight-up hardcore album, but 40-second standout "All We've Got" takes the band into melodic hardcore territory and fans of that genre need to hear this.

 

Kid Dynamite - Living Daylights

After the 1997 breakup of Lifetime who were a huge influence on a lot of the bands to come, guitarist Dan Yemin formed Kid Dynamite, whose 1998 self-titled debut remains one of the finest melodic hardcore albums of the '90s. In 2000, they got ahead of all the fans and critics who would've surely called their sophomore album "shorter, faster, louder" by naming the album that, and this 18-song, 24-minute collection very much lives up to its title. Their label Jade Tree called it an "album so straightforward, precise, and skillfully executed, it probably had to be their last," and it's hard to disagree with that too. Dan Yemin would go further in a hardcore direction with his next band Paint It Black, while vocalist Jason Shevchuk would get even more melodic with his next band None More Black, but Shorter, Faster, Louder sat right on top of that fence between pop punk and hardcore, leaning over towards one side and then back to the other but never jumping fully onto one side. It has all the grit and attack of a true-blue hardcore record, but within Jason Shevchuck's gravelly shouts were bright melodies that any of the major label bands would've been jealous of.

The track I am sharing is Living Daylights. They have great gang vocals and some cracking melodies.

Diaz Brothers - Melancholy Hand Grenades

Diaz Brothers are the melodic punk 5 piece from Sunderland featuring past and current members of several other bands. They've just released a debut Self Titled album and it's as good as you'd expect from a bunch of musicians with such pedigree. It's hard to choose a favourite song as they're all pretty much punching at the same weight but I'm going with Melancholy Hand Grenades...

The album is available on vinyl (with cd included) from Boss Tunage
 
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Standard Issue - Like to Know

Standard Issue are a 3 piece melodic hardcore band from Riverside, California. They released a S/T ep at the end of 2017 and followed it up with The Cost Of War album and the Out Of Time EP. Earlier this month they were back with new album "Those Who Have Come Before" and it's one you definitely don't want to miss. All the songs are great though and the high octane pace doesn't take away from the melody which is present in abundance throughout. The vocals borderline what I like to listen to, but they do have some great energy.

Bandcamp

Rise Against - Give It All

Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardcore punk and melodic hardcore, Rise Against's music emphasizes melody, catchy hooks, aggression in both their sound and playing, and rapid tempos. Lyrically, the band is known for their outspoken social commentary, covering a wide range of topics such as animal rights, economic injustice, environmental disasters, forced displacement, homophobia, modern warfare, and political corruption.

The band spent its first four years signed to the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, on which they released two studio albums, The Unraveling (2001) and Revolutions per Minute (2003). Both the albums were met with underground success, and in 2003 the band signed with the major label Dreamworks, which was absorbed by Geffen. Rise Against's major label debut Siren Song of the Counter Culture (2004) brought the band mainstream success, largely in part to the popularity of the singles "Give It All" and "Swing Life Away".

The track I am going with today is Give It All from Siren Song of the Counter Culture. It is a good introduction to the band from, probably, my favourite album from them.

Strike Anywhere - Refusal

Strike Anywhere is a melodic hardcore band from Richmond, Virginia. They formed in 1999 after the demise of frontman Thomas Barnett's previous band, Inquisition. Their music is characterized by fast tempos, catchy melodies, and socially conscious lyrics. They have released 4 full-length albums and are currently signed to Bridge Nine Records.

Strike Anywhere is a political band, with lyrics touching on such issues as police brutality, anarchism, anti-capitalism, women's rights, animal rights, and globalization. They have also contributed tracks to political benefit albums, such as a live version of "Sunset on 32nd" for 1157 Wheeler Avenue: A Memorial for Amadou Diallo and "To the World" for the Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 album. According to the liner notes for their album Change is a Sound, they support "the vegetarian lifestyle, the living wage movement, and the fight against corporate globalisation".

I am going with Refusal from their 2001 debut album Change is a Sound which was released through Jade Tree Records. Refusal was also featured on the soundtrack to the skateboarding video game Tony Hawk's Underground which may be where you have heard it before if you think it sounds familiar.

Avail - Deepwood

Avail are a melodic hardcore punk band from Richmond, Virginia. Their fourth album, Over the James, is one of my favourite albums of this genre.

From the very start, Over the James shows Avail at the peak of their power. The song I am going with is the opening track “Deepwood” which not only displays a more polished version of the band from previous albums, it succinctly melded the band’s disparate influences. While most guitarists in hardcore were caught in an arms race to see who could get the heaviest, crunchiest tone, Banks' guitar cut through with a clean shimmer. When the band kicked into the song’s second verse, they coated it with a healthy smattering of tambourine. While that could have sounded like Avail going soft, the song’s infectious chorus and short, punchy breakdown showed they had found a way to make hardcore feel like roots music.

If you are not aware of their work, then Over The James is a great place to start!

The Movielife - Face Or Kneecaps

Kicking off "40 hour train back to Penn" Face or Kneecaps and Jamestown are the inevitable outpouring of emotion following their near fatal van accident, which heaped additional pressure on already fractured relationships whilst crafting their third album. Face or Kneecaps feels the most abstract and psychological of the two. These two songs also have the most anger, vitriol and defiance of the tracks on the album and as such have most in common with their previous long-player as opposed to some of the slower, softer or poppies elements found further in the album. Both are frantic, energetic and true examples of how the honesty of Vinnie's writing has an ability to connect with the listener.

I have gone for Face Or Kneecaps of the two. Jamestown is the more popular set closer, but I really love the lyrics and storytelling nature of this track. Just a straight up great American punk rock song. What a way to start an album too.