Wednesday 7 January 2015

MINOR TIMES, THE

GenresPunk / Math-Metal / Hardcore
Related artistsLadder Devils, Cetus, Person L, Ghost Away, Brian Medlin Music and Wives.
CountryPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania USA
Years Active2002-2007
Song: "I Fuck for Money (demo version)"
Album: "Mutation comp"
Year: 2003
Label(s): Level Plane Records / Scorched Earth Policy / Hex Records / Prosthetic Records / Speedwax Records / Controlled By Robots
This post's artist is from the January 2014 Mix. This is track #5.
You can download: the January Mix#12 right here or get the new February 2015 Mix#1 here.
For fans ofBotch, LamantideNorma Jean, Llynch, Litany For The Whale, Bleeding Kansas, Breather Resist, The Chariot, Aussitot Mort, Lavotchkin, Enkephalin, The Abandoned Hearts Club, Curl Up And Die, Back When, Engineer, Achilles, The End, CrestfallenArcana Cain, The Baroness, Amber, Battlefields, The Bled, Nora, Anodyne, Spires, From A Second Story WindowCold Craving, Into The Moat, The Setup, Circles Over Sidelights, Shai Hulud, Poison The Well, Narrows, Knut, LyedIn Reverent Fear, Furnace, TrainwreckCreeper, Canyons, Old Man Gloom, Eaves, Officer Jones And His Patrol Car Problems, Thumbscrew, Unearth, Mercy Ties, Ion Dissonance, Since By Man, Ken Mode, Training For Utopia, Warsaw Was Raw, Handshake Murders, Former Thieves, Gaza, Seizures, Coalesce, (early) Every Time I Die, Architect, Bone Dance, Breach, Death Engine, Ed Gein, Divider, Ladder Devils, Thirty Called Arson and The Hope Conspiracy. Holy moly, Mark Warm and I just listed 67 bands for you to check out!

Went from math-metal/screamo like Crestfallen to Botch worship. The Botch worship came at the price of heavier vocals, much like Into The Moat who went from screechy metallic outbursts to growly, low-end bellowing. This sometimes get a bit too heavy for my liking, but generally they still kick major anus.

I don't remember why I bought the 12" split between THE MINOR TIMES and Llynch, but holy hell that was one of the best decisions I ever made. Not only do Llynch fucking own (and still I never hear people talk about them) but this started my THE MINOR TIMES collection that I still own today, although my boy Mark in Shoto picked up the split LP because the songs from that are also on the 'Chris Chambers Never Misses' EP.

So yeah, the 'Chris Chambers Never Misses'/'Llynch spilt' songs are more on the Crestfallen, The Abandoned Hearts Club and early The Bled, with their higher-pitched screams and smaller sounding riffs, although upon first listen they were pretty damn huge - it's just after hearing the next two releases the production difference is more notable. Like the demo songs from the 'Mutation' compilation these are probably my favourites by the band. The demo of "I Fuck for Money" might be the best track they ever put together.

I'll be honest, at first I was let down with 'Making Enemies' because I enjoyed the screamier vocals on the band's first EP and comp demo tracks. Luckily the growlier stuff grew on me and allowed me to enjoy the rest of instrumentals more, as I no longer focused on my sadness - it is still there, though :( Regardless! This is an amazing record with a lot of Botchiness going on with more hints of sludgier, crustier undertones (nods to Lamantide). There's the pulverizing opener "The Pugilist at Work" with it's distorted intro that rolls right into, "Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me. No! Fuck you. You, yeah fuck you." and some thunderous riffing. "The Narcissist at Rest" is another banger with a phenomenal ending of breakdowns and the lyrics, "Turn the world on with my smile." A few other notables include the 50-second romp of "Whiskey Wednesdays" and the fleshed out versions of "Glass Ceilings: This Lane Only" and "I Fuck for Money".

On 'Summer of Wolves' the band stays anchored to the sound on their debut LP but inject interesting, mathier guitar work. If the band had an opus, it would have to be the epic 8:41 "Bring in the Suit". Unrelenting, pummeling and abrasive, this track includes an ambient beginning, some of the band's heaviest breakdowns and a electronic outro that could be from Radiohead's 'Kid A' and even includes some clean gang vocals.

THE MINOR TIMES were a very important band for me, hopefully you'll find them as awesome as I do. Quickly, here are the band's best songs from each release:

'CCNM' -> "Albert Desalvo", "Lynch's Blue Velvet" and "Nevada".

'Mutation comp' -> "I Fuck for Money (demo)" and "Glass Ceiling (demo)".

'ME' -> "The Pugilist at Work", "The Narcissist at Rest", "Whiskey Wednesdays", "The King is Very Dead", "Glass Ceilings: This Lane Only" and "I Fuck for Money".

'SoW' -> "Casket City Lights", "Amazing Grace", "This is Blue", "Bring in the Suit", "This is a Fine Life You've Made for Yourself", "Fire Spitter" and "Disappear Here".

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DISCOGRAPHY
Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in mp3 form.

2002 - Chris Chambers Never Misses cdEP

2003 - Mutation comp cd/12"LP (demo versions of "I Fuck for Money" and "Glass Ceiling")
2003 - Llynch split 12" (same tracks as cdEP)

2004 - Making Enemies cd/12"LP

2007 - Summer of Wolves cdLP

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(2002) MINOR TIMES, THE - "Albert Desalvo" (from 'Chris Chambers Never Misses')

(2002) MINOR TIMES, THE - "Lynch's Blue Velvet" (from 'Chris Chambers Never Misses')

(2003) MINOR TIMES, THE - "I Fuck for Money" (from 'Mutation' compilation)

(2003) MINOR TIMES, THE - "Glass Ceiling" (from 'Mutation' compilation)

(2004) MINOR TIMES, THE - "The Pugilist at Work" (from 'Making Enemies')

(2004) MINOR TIMES, THE - "The Narcissist at Rest" (from 'Making Enemies')

(2007) MINOR TIMES, THE - "Amazing Grace" (from 'Summer of Wolves')

(2007) MINOR TIMES, THE - "This is a Fine Life You've Made for Yourself" (from 'Summer of Wolves')

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THE MINOR TIMES out of print mp3 discography download / additional links

(download here)

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3 comments:

  1. This band was so good. I still listen to them on a constant basis ten years later

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you're the type of person who still enjoys CDs you can pick up "Chris Chambers..." here: http://hexrecords.bigcartel.com/product/the-minor-times-chris-chambers-never-misses-cdep

    ReplyDelete