These tiny little caskets are hand-made and then etched with a laser. Each casket Cory sells has a lyric from a song that is more than appropriate for a headstone. One side of the casket has the lyric and the other has the artist name, song title, and year the song was released. There are even some band logos on some of them.
James Alex as been through a lot of shit in a short amount of time with his band Beach Slang, both good and bad.
The pressure of being 1/4 of Beach Slang (now 1/3) almost had him call it quits earlier this year, but thanks to a fan who caught him after a show that night before he disappeared, he reconsidered.
Let’s face it, being in your 40s and having your band blow up the way Beach Slang did in such a short amount of time can not be easy. For what it is worth, I am glad Alex did not throw the towel in yet.
With that said, Beach Slang just released their followup to 2015’s The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us.The band actually wrote most of this sophomore release while touring. That right there is dedication if you ask me.
A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings, on Polyvinyl Records, is incredible. It’s an encompass of Jawbreaker and The Replacements with plentyof held back angst and passion to produce an album worthy of multiple listens.
“Play it loud, play it fast. Play me something that will always last” starts off on “Future Mixtape for the Arts Kids.” This track is a perpetual anthem for anyone who uses music as a crutch to get through life.
“Atom Bomb” followed with plenty of fuzz and rock to keep anyone who listens entertained. This fast-paced track may have clocked in at less than 2 minutes long, but its effects lasted much longer. “Spin the Dial” was full of hooks and solos with Alex laying out some lyrics that sounded more personal.
“Punks In a Disco Bar” was perfectly contained in that the band sounded so together yet not overly produced. This was one of the first singles off the new release and it’s no wonder why they chose it, the song rules.
“You’re my favorite weirdo” is sang during “Wasted Daze of Youth”, a love track of sorts that seemingly repeated many phrases I have said out loud when I felt smitten. The hopeless swooning and the confessions combined lyrically was the best thing about this song.
The complementing “The Perfect High” focused on the best correlation between two individuals while carrying a 90s musical feel. I really enjoyed this track a lot, especially the bass line throughout. I almost felt like a teen again listening to this track.
Album closer “Warpaint” was an inciting jam that slowly built up a credence with Alex ending the track “don’t be afraid to want to be alive.” These are the kinds of songs I clung on to as a lost juvenile – songs that made me feel better about my situation Hell, there are some days I can still use the encouragement.
I’ve heard some banter recently from folk based on the album’s title alone that maybe Alex has been writing music that he is a little too old for, but I have to disagree. He is writing for the all-ages fan who is looking for a release with a comparable ideal. Alex is the voice for many and Beach Slang certainly carries the talent to do so. The band has proven this on A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings and I’m positive the fans will confirm this.
My only complaint with this album is that it is only 29 minutes long and the selfish me wanted to hear double that. I won’t lie, this is the best album I have listened to so far this year.
Beach Slang is playing the Grog Shop next month in Cleveland with Bleached. This is a show to NOT miss.
So what is WhiskerTin you ask? Well, two friends from Akron, OH had an idea of making lamps from leftover sheetmetal parts. Each lamp is hand-made by the duo. As each lamp was created, their passion for their creations grew and ideas were formulated. They were reinventing the way people looked at lights.
At first, it was just the hand-made lamps. Don’t get me wrong, these lamps are amazing. I have seen them in person.
Soon they were taking requests and creating one-of-a-kind floor and desk lamps for their customers. Heck, they have even made commercial lights out of Great Lakes Brewing Company keg halves. No seriously, next time you are at GLBC restaurant in Cleveland, head down to the basement and check them out.
They have had booths at many of the craft and vendor shows in the Cleveland / Akron / Canton area this past summer. Novak even sets up a display at the Worship This! merch table, his punk rock band, just for people to see.
With new ideas, the duo decided to up their game and take their brand to a new level. They created t-shirts of their logo and artist renditions that people are buying up left and right and even started making custom lamps for businesses like Melt Bar & Grilled in Akron as well bands like Beach Slang.
These guys are always making lamps. Not even a year into their venture, Aaron Novak and Glenn Miller have taken lamp making to the extreme.
Just when I thought they were already on top of their game, they made an announcement that I could not help but share. Earlier this week, WhiskerTin announced a collaboration with Say-10 Records.
Wait…a lamp company and a record label? What exactly could these two possibly have in common?
This:
How cool is that? Seriously, my jaw dropped when I saw this for the first time.
Say-10 Records also happen to sling skateboards featuring tons of punk rock bands. Novak and Miller have taken custom lamp-making to a new dynamic and turned a skate deck into a ceiling light.
Those three words are what keep reoccurring in my mind as I listen to The Astral We by Cleveland’s Harvey Pekar.
The lyrical content in this album is beyond deep. It makes you think and react based on how you interpret it. There is no tongue in cheek rhyming, stolen ideals, or laziness in these songs.
With that said, it’s nice to hear Harvey Pekar once again. Spite a lineup change since the last album, OG members Elliot Frank (guitar), Nick Krastas (vocals), and Nick Schmitt (bass) joined forces with Nate Kelly (drums) and Tyler Sickels (guitar) to create a more solid band than ever. Without worrying about reinventing their sound, Harvey Pekar continued full force where they left off on their debut release back in 2013.
“Huff Joules” started off the album strong with the band as a whole not holding back at all. “The Heritable Self” was a true hardcore romper with plenty of group singalong opportunities as Krastas screamed his thoughts out. Loved this track.
“Ferrous Kin” was one of the songs where I just felt like Krastas was delivering a spoken-word of sorts backed by heavy riffs and fast-paced drumming. The lyrics, “frail is the life trivialized by that of artifacts” really stuck to me for some reason.
“Truisms of Infinite Regress” caught my attention in more ways than one. The track, which seeming talked about conformity and a sense of false logic, sped up midway making for quite a powerful statement and throw down. This track begged to be heard over and over by this listener.
I should also mention how much I found myself enjoying “Crystal Starlings”. The breakdown about half way though and change up kept the track interesting, the group vocals towards the end make the song enjoyable.
Everyone has their own definition of hardcore music. Harvey Pekar’s is more aligned with the genre I recall from the 90s and early 2000s, at least the hardcore I enjoyed the most mixed with a punk feel and beyond intelligent lyrics. Perhaps a little more melodic than some might like, The Astral We impressed the hell out of me and has been fueling my ears daily since it’s release a few weeks back.
Looking past the band’s sound, Harvey Pekar consists of some of the most down-to-earth guys I have had the pleasure of knowing over the years. I’ve seen them play in bars, inside a warehouse, and even on a church stage on a Sunday morning over the years and they always put on the best show and always are down for a hang afterwards.
Here I am sounding biased now. I am just calling it as I hear it. Listen for yourself and make your own determination.
Akron, OH’s prom kings Worship This! stopped out at Bad Racket earlier this summer and played one of my favorite OG songs, “Best Parts”.
Check it out:
Bad Racket is one of the coolest recording studios in Cleveland and have been doing their thing since 2009. They specialize in welcoming bands into their studio to play a song and be filmed while doing so. If you want to see more amazing acts do their things, click the below link:
James Alex as been through a lot of shit in a short amount of time with his band 
Looking past the band’s sound, Harvey Pekar consists of some of the most down-to-earth guys I have had the pleasure of knowing over the years. I’ve seen them play in bars, inside a warehouse, and even on a church stage on a Sunday morning over the years and they always put on the best show and always are down for a hang afterwards.