I Hate Myself minus the bass. (Die Hoffnung)

When I heard "Jon and Jim Marburger of I Hate Myself infamy," (Thats the jist of what the sticker on the front says) were coming out with something new, which was 2 years ago, I wanted it. Two years later I bought it. Now a few years ago I used to frequent the myspace.com emo forums, mainly because after school I had nothing to do, but also because they had an upload thread. A Die Hoffnung demo was present and being advertised as "Basically I Hate Myself without a bassist."

And...

Thats honestly how this was sold to me. "I Hate Myself minus their bass player." Come to find out that was a lie, even though technically it's true--you got the two brothers on drums and guitar, only lacking bass--but it bears hardly a resemblance to the I Hate Myself sound. On No Idea's website this is pretty much hailed as IHM back from the dead. Why lie to the consumer? (Note: They do'nt actually hail this band as the living dead corpse of I Hate Myself, but they do a job close enough for government work.)

So now that you know that this is not IHM reincarnate let me tell you what it is... Well it's music... fast-ish, loud,... Yeah, basically its alt rock with some screaming. Its good stuff but the lyrics are not what they used to be. They still have musical talent, but without the slow, quiet, sludge, of IHM it does'nt shine as bright.

At any rate its good. The music it catchy, and some songs have pretty good lyrics. The cover art is people in wierd circular fishing boats; the flipside is a close up of a bunch of bats; the back of the cover is some slimy dead fish, and hiding behind the CD,(which is the default silver with a yellow flower sprouting from the hole in the center)is a scene of blood red water, a dead shark?, some fishermen and a little kid just chillin in a boat.

I think Die Hoffnung is German for "the hope."

7/10 (Not all I was hoping for, but I guess my hopes were too high.)
Die Hoffnung - Love Songs

Support.

Now you are begining to seperate the dark from the dark... (An Arrow In Flight)

"an arrow in flight was born in june of 2001 and played its first show in november that year. it was started with jeremy and josh and mike. there have been lots of lineup changes. aaif made their own cd in 2002 and gave it away for free. in 2004, they recorded a new CD (on coldbringer recordings) and booked a tour. however, their greasel van (www.greasel.com) had starter problems, so the tour was cancelled. yep. then matt was too busy. then dan didn't want to play anymore. then tara didn't want to play without dan. then josh came back and con came on board. then they played some shows. then the band died. aaif, june 21, 2001 - june 17, 2005. the band is survived by business lady, last priest, end on end, and the plot to blow up the eiffel tower (bands containing former members of aaif)."

Chaotic, poetic, hardcore punk. Great music with beautiful guitar work, nice drums, some samples, (Including Bill O'Reilly making an ass of himself on the various movements and methods album,)and of course amazing lyrics.


19/20 (My only complaint is that there is just not enough music. I love these guys, and it is a real disappointment that they broke up.)
Filling the sky
Various movements and methods

Strike first. Strike hard. NO MERCY. (Cobra Kai)

To be honest with you all that I know about this band is that they are amazing.
This is what hardcore/"screamo" should sound like.

Great back and forth vocals, crazy melodies, and dice lyrics. These kids knew what they were doing. Everything comes together really well. Mainly hardcore, but they toss in a little electro, and a lot of chaotic sounds; every track has its own unique feel and sound, and a good majority of them are infectious. I can’t tell you how many times I caught my self singing, “You’ll never see me pull another stunt like this again. This is not me. This box of rocks settles to the bottom of the sea,” or “How hard can it be to host a rivalry? And how hard can it be to remain stationary?” This stuff gets stuck in your head and will not get out.(Not that you would want it to.)


10/10
Cobra Kai - Complete Recordings


I was recently checking out damn those bloodsuckers and found that the guy running that "show" had upped this. He also has some more info, a pic of the band, and the real album cover. (I like this cover more though ;) That sutff can be found near the end of the page.)