Imagine that a ton of your favorite post-hardcore bands from the late 90’s got together and formed one band with a decidedly San Diego feel (think Jehu and the like) and you’d have the dense and intense debut from the left coast’s Modern Rifles, I Was Young, It Was Dark. Without sounding too much like any one of their influences, the band combines sometimes intricate sometimes jagged and driving guitars with rolling lilting basslines, atmospheric guitar textures, sung/shouted vocals and plenty of melody into something that sounds like a band recklessly giving everything they’ve got. It sounds like Modern Rifles is rocking your world as if their lives depended on it. I love love love it.
I mean, as I’ve been listening to I Was Young, It Was Dark (a lot) I hear nods to just about everything post-hardcore under the sun (Mineral, SDRE, At The Drive-In, Drive Like Jehu, Get Up Kids, Faraquet, Isis, Braid, No Knife, The Pixies, etc…) but there are also moments that keep sounding like what old-school Static Prevails-era Jimmy Eat World might sound like if those guys were digging ditches as part of a chain-gang. So basically what you’ve got with I Was Young, It Was Dark is a record that totally rocks and just happens to be one of the best albums I’ve heard thus far in 2009. These guys in Modern Rifles can do everything from driving and abrasive to twinkling and atmospheric but always do it with conviction. Honestly, do yourself a favor, and spend ten bucks to get this record. If you are reading this blog, you’ll probably like the album, plus the band self-released it, and that’s pretty awesome.
MP3 | Modern Rifles – Feck Me If I’m Wrong, But Is That A Ham Sangie In Your Hands? I Was Young, It Was Dark
MP3 | Modern Rifles – Kip Winger I Was Young, It Was Dark
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wow, this is really good! and since all those bands you mentioned are up my alley, how can i NOT like this?