coupla things to listen to

So, back in the day there was a label called Drive-Thru Records that practically defined late-90s/early-noughties pop-punk with bands like New Found Glory, The Movielife, Allister and The Starting Line. Now, most of the big bands of that era have moved onto surprisingly different things: The Movielife split off into I Am The Avalanche and Nightmare Of You; Allister split up (and surprisingly, ex-bassist Eric Mueller writes for the pretty great Can You See The Sunset); New Found Glory went through label troubles and mediocre albums before suddenly becoming cool again and recording a comedy hardcore album. The Starting Line fizzled out as Drive-Thru became less and less relevant before going on hiatus (read: splitting up) last year. One of the results of this break is Person L, who sound nothing like you'd expect a side project from The Starting Line would. This is pretty far removed from pop-punk and closer to, say, Jupiter-era Cave In? Let me know how you feel about it. Person L's new album is apparantly out in February, and you can hear live renditions from the upcoming new songs on their myspace.

Person L - Help Yourself

Last night, I saw a couple of my friends live - they play in We, The Last Men if you're interested in checking them out - and was pleasantly surprised by the other band on the bill. They're called Empires, they're from Glasgow and last night they were earning descriptions like "Editors doing post-hardcore" or "Morrissey fronting American Football". Live, they do sound a lot heavier and you do get to hear that Kinsella Bros. influence peaking at random points, but you may not get that from the songs on their myspace. No worries - they're good songs. Check them out here, then hassle them to play your town.

Empires - Statues

And last for today, Alcest. They've got a new album coming soon on Prophecy Productions, which will be amazing if it follows in the same vein of 2007's Souvenirs d'un autre monde. To get you psyched, put seven minutes aside and listen to this. It's more gorgeous than a very gorgeous thing.

Alcest - Printemps Emeraude

If you guys don't know, I abandoned Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land for Roberto Bolano's 2666. Very good decision - fuck Heinlein.