Jonesin'/Shang-a-lang split

Got a chance to catch up with Dave Bierling over the holiday, which is as awesome as you might suspect. In shooting said holiday shit, it came to light that one of the main proprietors of the If You Make It empire was the drummer for the dear departed Potboiler. Yet another reason to lament the passing of that stellar franchise.

That said, IYMI has got the Jonesin'/Shang-a-lang split up in the download section. They put it together for their Summer tour last year and it's well worth checking out. It's a bi-coastal affair, with Jonesin' representing from Long Island and Shang-A-Lang repping for New Mexico, I believe. I'm more of a Jonesin' guy, as they are purveying the sound that the current crop of Phil Douglas-curated rock that currently rocks my little world. The two songs have an early Hot Water beard/PBR vibe that has more of a Mats-y spin than a Dag Nasty one. It's good, and free here. Jonesin' web world portal is here.

Shang-a-lang I'm a little moe ambivalent about. The ratty original they ponied up for this split has a an early Built To Spill overloaded-single-mike-in-a-rehearsal-space sound that is not helped by digitization, but is still kind of catchy the first couple of times. The other song is a Lou Reed cover. Having suffered through any number of insufferable art school VU Lou Reed jockers (as well as LR personally) in the last couple decades, I will not entertain the notion of the New Mexican version of same, but grab the songs here and check out their web presence here. Maybe it'll work better for you.

Donate to IYMI, fools.

R

Yo Man Go - Discography at If You Make It

Here's a good fucking time hiding behind a not-so-especially good band name. Yo Man, Go are yet another of the stellar bands I've been exposed to through the good folk of If You Make It. That site is a godsend. Yo Man, Go are salve for sore ears their own selves. Despite their PA pedigree, they combine the best of the Long Island and Gainesville punk sounds, perhaps with a bit of Lifetime. There are evidently ex-Off Minor and RAMBO dudes in the franchise, but you'd be hard pressed to connect the two from the songs here.

Don't get it twisted though, all of the nine songs in the discography are damn solid, hooky pop-punk from stem to stern, but not in a cheesy New Found Glory sort of way. They seem equally well suited to bars or basements, so long as you can get your fists in the air and sing along. I've been doing it around the house and it works just as well here. I'd lose the earnest spoken parts, but I guess it's too late now, as Yo Man, Go! have seemingly gone the way of the Buffalo. In the meantime, snag the nine songs from If You Make It here and leave a donation on your way out.

R