The Remington

Do You Feel At Home? #11

The Remington

 
This post will be relatively short.

    The Remington, also known simply as Remington, was an emo/indie-rock band from southern Michigan (I believe Detroit) that existed briefly during the tail end of the last century. The bands lineup consisted of Ryan Allen on guitar and vocals, Robert Byrd on drums, Adam Kempa on bass (as well as finger cymbals), and Martin D "MD" Smith also on guitar (and tambourine). Members of Remington, namely Ryan Allen and MD Smith, would go on to join/form Thunderbirds Are Now! and Red Shirt Brigade. Kempa would move on to The Pop Project, and he also hosts his own website that details many things he's been a part of, as well as general history regarding him and a plethora of other things.

    While info and history regarding the projects proceeding Remington are pretty abundant, comparatively at least, info regarding Remington themselves is sparse, as there's pretty much none. What I do know, however, is that the band played shows with the likes of Stillwell, Notaword, The Ivy Crown, and Last Days Of August! 

    The Remington play a tried and true style of emo/indie-rock, with vocals that distinctly call to mind the band Recess Theory. Since The Remington were only around for so long, it's understandable that their output is very limited, consisting of a self-titled CD EP, a split with Long Island's very own Last Days Of August, and a singular compilation contribution.

Onto that music.

 

    For starters, we have their self-titled CD EP, released in 1998 on Deco Recordings International, which I speculate was a one-off label made solely for the release of this EP. My description of their sound just earlier basically describes the meat & potatoes of their recorded works. Now, for this being the bands first release, it's quite a pleasant little offering, and though Ryan Allen's vocals on here aren't fully ironed out yet, they're more than serviceable, and lend to this record a certain "teenage punk-rock charm" that is always more than welcome. I'd say give it a listen!

Remington.

1. Cancer By X-mas
2. Toledo Opera
3. B.C. Two-Hander
4. Set The Curve
5. Matrix

    Next, we have their split 7" with Last Days Of August, released in 1999 on Eudora Records. The bands sound has noticeably developed on this song, and is pretty darn great all around- and seeing as their sound had quickly matured between releases, it certainly gives them a spot on my long, long list of "Bands I wish put out a full-length". Though, maybe there is a full-length floating around somewhere, and I just haven't found it... I doubt, but I definitely hope that I'm wrong!

Split 7" w/ Last Days Of August

Side A:

Last Days Of August - Six Ways From Sunday

Side B:

The Remington - Our Founder Saves The Day


(Thank you to Beginners.)

    As for other material by this band, there's just two more things- one being the track "I'm A Violent Person (In Theory)" which was a part of the compilation CD "Reveal The Character", released by Elkion Records at the start of another lousy millennium (also known as the year 2000). I believe this was either just before the band broke up/moved onto new projects, but there's a good chance it was put out well after that. Either way, it rips, so I recommend checking it out via the embedded link below. Oh, and one last thank you to Beginners, you rock, dude!

"Reveal The Character" Compilation Track

    Lastly we have this 5-song cassette, or "Woodshed '98". I missed this tape the first time around writing this as I didn't think to check Bandcamp for any remnants of them, so for that I apologize! When I said I hoped for a full-length from these boys, this definitely gets close, as it rocks! It features the "I'm A Violent Person" track, as well as "Our Founder Saves The Day", but the other three tracks on here are the real stars of the show. Probably some of their best material, and it's a shame they seemingly ended after this, though that's just about how it typically goes, eh? You can give it a listen/download for free via the Bandcamp link below.

Woodshed '98

1. Set My Hand On Fire
2. I'm A Violent Person (In Theory)
3. Our Founder Saves The Day
4. Arthur Miller
5. Head On Into The Door Of A Moving Car

 

 

See you soon!

The Hillary Step

Do You Feel At Home? #10

The Hillary Step

    Formed by ex-members of the band Grovel, The Hillary Step was an emo/post-hardcore band from Kansas City, Missouri that was formed in 1998. The band consisted of three sole members, those being; Brad Hodgson on guitar and vocals, Brian Frisbie on bass, and Danny McConnaughhay on drums. (Both Brian and Brad were former members of the aforementioned band Grovel.) The band would quickly, and unfortunately dissolve in 2002 when Brad moved away to Texas. Though the band was around for about 4 years, there isn't a lot in the way of information regarding them, as the band never had their own website, and Urinine (the label they were on) never gave too much info on theirs. So be it, this band is pretty great regardless.

    From their short run comes a wholly short output, with just one singular full-length CD; titled "The Second Time Means Nothing", released on Urinine Records in 1999. Urinine themselves is a pretty seldomly talked about label, but they had some great stuff back in the day, namely The Sunflower Conspiracy and The Capsules (both of whom were great shoegaze adjacent outfits). Now, though it's only one release, that's still pretty darn good, as a lot of bands seem to never be able to get to that point. That's okay though, as what's given here is mighty fantastic, and is a mildly underappreciated disc of its time. This here is 9 tracks of ripping post-hardcore (plus a dash of post-rock) with swell guitar and vocal work that reminds me of Christopher Crisci of The Appleseed Cast (except this time I can actually tolerate it), and the drumming featured throughout is pretty damn tight. Front to back, definitely a disc that I could see many falling for, no doubt. It's a shame there wasn't any more releases proceeding this, because this stuff is pretty remarkable. I think it's plenty deserving of a humble looksee.

The Second Time Means Nothing

1. You And Me And This
2. No Good Reason
3. Damn The Luck
4. One Year And A Day
5. All Signs Gone
6. Our "We" Day
7. Refined, Regrouped & Reassured
8. Kimmie Joe
9. She Dreams Of Oceans

    Following The Hillary Step, Brad Hodgson would form In The Pines, a fairly remarkable folk project that has seen modest popularity and some appraise. (Reminds me of Chris Simpson's Zookeeper in that sense) He would also form Biarchy with a Mike Myers , which was an abstract electronic/synth-pop project, though it has laid dormant for over a decade. Mike himself was a part/is a member of a plethora of different bands, like the slowcore outfit The String And Return, the emo/indie band Everest, and formerly of the awesome Season To Risk. Quite an accomplished musician, as is Brad!.