Harsh Distractions - Two Episodes Available for download

Fearless hasn't been able to put up a page for my show or converted any of the episodes into Podcasts yet, so I figured I'd upload the files to Mediafire and post them here for anyone interested. These are the shows from 6/30/09 and 7/21/09. Eric from
Hate was my guest on 6/30 and I did the show alone on 7/21. Check it out.


6/30/09 Hour 1

6/30/09 Hour 2

7/21/09 Hour 1

7/21/09 Hour 2

Harsh Distractions Playlist 7/28/09

My friend Joel came on the show last night and here is what we played. I'm not sure who will be on next week, but the show is on every Tuesday from 7-9pm CST on Fearless Radio. Just click 'Listen Now.'

01. Atlas Sound - Walkabout (w/ Noah Lennox) - Logos
02. The Horrors - Three Decades – Primary Colours
03. Robes - I'm Floating On You - The Breaks
04. Disappears - Needs - Live Over the Rainbo
05. Black Math - Reckless Thoughts - EP
06. Archers of Loaf - Wrong – Icky Mettle
07. The Beach Boys - Aren't You Glad - Wild Honey
08. M. Ward - Carolina - End of Amnesia
09. Def Choice - Culture is Dead - Culture is Dead
10. Depeche Mode – Strangelove - Music For The Masses
11. The Clean - In The Dream Life U Need A Rubber Soul - Mister Pop
12. Sleep Out - I'll Take Care Of It - Not Even Dust
13. Sonic Youth - What We Know – The Eternal
14. Phoenix – 1901 - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
15. King Khan & The Shrines - Welfare Bread – What is?
16. The Kinks - This Time Tomorrow – Kinks part 1: Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround
17. The Magnetic Fields - The Desperate Things You Made Me Do – Get Lost
18. My Heart to Joy - Empty Homes - Seasons In Verse
19. Guns N' Wankers - Nervous - For Dancing and Listening
20. Guilty Faces - Hospital Eyes – Nightmares 7"
21. Trembling Blue Stars - For This One - Her Handwriting

Sleep Out - Not Even Dust

I can't lie, I feel guilty posting a record released within the year that is still very much in print. However, I think Sleep Out is so underrated, I don't think anyone into incredibly well crafted indie-rock should be without this album.

In 2006 they released their debut full length, I Was Your Shroud, a great debut containing one of my favorite songs of the year, "It wasn't Darkness." The record was in my top five albums of the year and I raved about it to anyone who would hear me, including the readers of Punk Planet during my tenure as a reviewer for the publication.

Last year, the band released their second record Not Even Dust, an altogether more focused and gloomy effort inspired by Chicago's Graceland Cemetary. It has no shortage of stand out tracks like the title track, "Not Even Dust," or the more upbeat, "I'll Take Care of It," but the album is best presented in its entirety. The 11 tracks on Not Even Dust speak of Chicago's sadness and hope, and tell the stories of those deceased and those still living. Much like their first record, this made my "Best of 2008" list, so if you like it please support them and buy it.


Sleep Out - Not Even Dust

Buy the Album

Sleep Out on MySpace

Harsh Distractions Playlist - 7/21/09

I flew solo on the show for my first week back from vacation. You can listen to my show every Tuesday from 7-9pm CST on Fearless Radio by clicking 'Listen Now.' Here's what I played this past week:

Chapterhouse - Breather - Whirlpool (INTRO)
01. Cold Cave - Youth and Lust - Love Comes Close
02. Blank Dogs - The Tied - Seconds EP
03. The Brother Kite - I'm Not the Only One - Waiting for the Time to Be Right
04. Trapped Under Ice - See God - Secrets Of The World
05. Death In June - Symbols Of The Sun - Rose Clouds Of Holocaust
06. Aloha - Balling Phase - Sugar
07. Crushed On You - Kissing is an Artform - Demo 2009
08. Vivian Girls - Lake House - V/A The World's Lousy With Ideas, Vol. 8
09. Ramones - Chinese rock - End of the Century
10. Blitz Someone's Gonna Die Tonight - The Complete Blitz Singles Collection
11. Narrows - Chambered - New Distances
12. Sleepwall - A Song to Start With - Demo 2008
13. Crime In Stereo - For Exes - The Troubled Stateside
14. Boat Club - Always Away - Caught The Breeze
15. Total Abuse - Ain't Got No One - Self Titled LP
16. Silk Flowers - Flash of Light - 1st 7"
17. Crocodiles - Neon Jesus - Neon Jesus
18. Give Up The Ghost - The Hell We've Been Living In - Love American EP
19. Sun Kil Moon - Lucky Man - April
20. Cursed - Antihero Resuscitator -Three
21. Down In Flames - Down In Flames - Three Seven Inches On One CD
22. Sunny Day Real Estate - Rodeo Jones LP2 (pink album)
23. Swamp Thing - Square One - The Youth Is Sick
24. Talking Heads - Sugar on My Tongue - Popular Favorites 1976-1983: Sand in the Vaseline (Disc 1)
25. Vaccine - Family- Demo Cassette
26. The Afghan Whigs - My Enemy - Black Love
27. Bad Religion - Fuck Armageddon... This Is Hell - 80-85
28. Crud Is A Cult - Missionary Position - Triple Corpse Horror
29. The Chameleons - Perfume Garden - What Does Anything Mean? Basically
30. Airiel - Thinktank - The Battle of Sealand
31. Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Throwing Things - God Fodder

Harsh Distractions Playlist 7/7/09

Joel came on the show on Tuesday and we played some of our favorite 90's hip-hop tracks. It was fun and something we'll hopefully revisit in the future. I foolishly played a Hiero song from 2003, thinking Full Circle came out in the 90's, but I was mistaken. Live and learn. Here's what we played. Also, I will not be doing the show next week as I am taking a much needed vacation to the Bay Area. I'm psyched to not be at work for a whole week.


1. Gangstarr – Work - Moment Of Truth
2. Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M - Enter the 36 Chambers
3. Poor Righteous Teachers - Gods, Earth and 85ers - The New World Order
4. A Tribe Called Quest - Oh My God - Midnight Marauders
5. Nas - It Ain't Hard To Tell - Illmatic
6. AZ - I Feel for You - Doe or Die
7. Mobb Deep - Drop a Gem on 'Em - Hell on Earth
8. 2Pac - All Eyez On Me - All Eyez On Me
9. Capone -N- Noreaga - Iraq [See the World] - The War Report
10. Big L - All Black - Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous
11. Camp Lo - Luchini (This is it) - Uptown Saturday Night
12. Pete Rock & CL Smooth - They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) - Mecca And The Soul Brother
13. De La Soul - Stakes Is High - Stakes Is High
14. Black Star – Respiration - Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star
15. Hieroglyphics - Fantasy Island - Full Circle
16. Company Flow - Vital Nerve - Funcrusher Plus
17. Artifacts - Come on with the Come on - Between a rock and a hard place.
18. GZA/Genius - B.I.B.L.E. feat. Killah Priest - Liquid Swords

Aloha - Sugar

I think Aloha are one of those bands that have a little something for everyone. Their abundant use of vibraphone is what reeled me in initially, but their unique and incredible pop melodies coupled with their experimental tangents kept me wanting more. I also appreciate their awareness of "enough is enough" in regard to their progressive, freak out tendencies and they are great musicians without being too Steve Vai about the whole thing. Humility goes a long way in my eyes.

Their second full length, Sugar, came out in 2002 and quickly earned a spot as one of my favorite summertime records.
The songs are full of depth and layers, but still have this undeniable breezy quality that makes me want to lay in the grass on a 75 degree day or drive with the windows down on Lake Shore Drive late at night. Even after seven years of listening to this album I get this incredible sense of relief when "Let Your Head Hang Low" starts with that steady guitar riff and singer Tony Cavallario's soothing, airy voice.

I often want to give drummer and multi-instrumentalist Cale Parks a lot of the credit for Aloha's greatness (see 2:43 and forward in the song "Balling Phase" for an example of what a machine he is), but I truly think they are truly the sum of their parts. If you've been looking for a new record to accompany your summer adventures, I suggest this be it as it's the perfect time of year to really absorb it.


Aloha - Sugar

Buy from Polyvinyl Records

Aloha on MySpace

Crushed on You - Demo 2009

Crushed On You is a relatively new band from Orange County comprised of members of Cold War, Julia, Throwdown and fronted by Steven Miller of Unbroken/Kill Holiday. I read about this band a few years back and was stoked that Steven Miller was doing a new project, but it took a while for demos to surface. Now, in 2009 they have formally released their demo online and it doesn't disappoint. Musically, it's a bit poppier than where Kill Holiday left off, but the songs still tread pretty close to mid-90's Revelation Records territory which is right up my alley.

Hopefully they will release a 7" or EP in the near future. Until then, enjoy this demo.


Crushed On You - Demo 2009
Crushed On You MySpace

Harsh Distractions Playlist 6/30/09

I had Eric on the show last night to play some songs and chat about them. Here's what we played.

01. Owls - Everyone Is My Friend - Owls
02. Torche - Across the Shields - Meanderthal
03. Cold Cave - Love Comes Close - Edsel And Ruby
04. Burn – Godhead - Shall be Judged 7"
05. Dinosaur Jr. - Over It - Farm
06. Cam'ron - Used to get it in Ohio - Crime Pays
07. Magnolia Electric Co. – Josephine - Josephine
08 Trap Them - Guignol Serene - Seizures in Barren Praise
09. Title Fight – Symmetry - The Last Thing You Forget
10. Comadre – Angeles - Mixtape Volume 2
11. Limp Wrist - This Ain't No Cross On My Hand - Discography
12. Cave In - Moral Eclipse - Until Your Heart Stops
13. Treason - The British are Coming - Demo
14. Charles Bronson - The Story of my Life - Complete Discocrappy
15. Charles Bronson - Obligatory Jock Slaughter Song - Complete Discocrappy
16. Say Goodbye - Anti-Social - Anti-Social 7"
17. Dungen – Festival - Ta Det Lugnt
18. Saturday Looks Good To Me - Meet Me By The Water - All Your Summer Songs
19. Dying Fetus - Pissing in the Mainstream - Destroy the Opposition
20. Foreign Born - Early Warnings - Person to Person
21. Kylesa – Scapegoat - Static Tensions
22. Punch in the Face - My dear I haven’t Learned a Thing - S/T 7"
23. Descendents - Everything Sux - Everything Sucks
24. Pet Shop Boys - Being Boring - Behaviour


Tune in every Tuesday from 7-9pm CST on Fearless Radio to listen to the show.