The Teenage Riot Before

I just downloaded the new The Riot Before album and it is good but it reminded me of my biggest peeve with the digital era, disconnection. Media formats are notorious for short shelf lives because there is always something newer and better. Phonograph to record to 8-track to cassette to CD to MP3. Reel to VHS to DVD to Blu-ray (and streaming). Mono to Stereo to Dolby Digital 5.1 to god knows what. Black and White to color to progressive to high definition. You get the picture.


Almost always the advances are to the betterment of the format. Sure, there is the argument that vinyl has a warmth that can't be replicated, but who really wants to watch a movie on a VCR hooked up to a black and white TV? You don't. I loved CDs. They were great audio quality, convenient and customizable. I didn't even have to cover the hole with tape! But they still maintained one of the greatest advances in music, the album. Sure, you could rip songs and make your own mix CDs and they didn't quite have the charm of the mixtape, but you still went to the record store and bought a new album the day it came out. You popped it into your CD player and listened from start to finish. It didn't force you to listen to every song (here's looking at you vinyl), but it allowed songs to flow from one to the next as the artist intended.


But then the big, bad internet reared its ugly head. I am well known as a technology hater even though I am a junkie. But I really, really, really hate the internet. It's a wonderful tool and has lead me to so many incredible bands it's hard to fathom how I found music without it (the radio actually used to be a quality source for new bands, shocking I know), but boy has it put a dent in how I enjoy music. The internet is one progression on music that has also encompassed a regression.


There was a time in popular music history that artists recorded one shots and that was that. No one went to a studio and knocked out 15 classics. There was no thought of how one song would feed into another. Every song had to be a hit because it was going straight to the radio. B-sides were not always radio ready, but they had better have some measure of accessibility because they were going to get radio play also. Deep tracks just did not exist.


That era was a double edged sword and one I am glad came to a close. While it did force song writers to be at the top of their game, it also encouraged familiarity. You get a lot of great songs that share a lot in common and they end up sounding almost exactly the same. Originality was rewarded, but only as long as it sold records. So while you could get Buddy Holly mixing up the rockabilly formula (and I love Buddy Holly), his collection rarely strays out of the box he established. Elvis covered a lot of bases, and covered them well, but there were a lot more "Jailhouse Rocks" than "In the Ghettos." For such a revolutionary scene, it sure didn't stray from the SOP.


The impending death of rock and roll is well documented and everyone loves to laud the British Invasion as the savior of R&R, but I'd say the true saving grace was the emergence of the rock album (jazz, always the innovator, started the trend in the 50s, but it did not catch on until the 60s for American music's slow little brother). Yes, those mop haired mods did catch the airwaves on fire (people carried fire extinguishers just in case it got a little too hot), but there was something magical going on in the studio also.


Band stopped recording collections of singles and started recording cohesive experiences. Songs didn't have to be 2 1/2 minutes long. The Beatles, Beach Boys, The Who and the Rolling Stones all had landmark albums that begot Led Zeppelin and Velvet Underground. There are a lot of fantastic journeys to be had in that era.


The 70s took album love to a whole new level. Many would argue that it was to the detriment of music, especially in light of the biggest band ever forgoing touring for the studio (Beatles' Abbey Road), but it also gave way for tons of great punk albums. Punk rock very much returned to the rockabilly era of music, even on record. Quick bursts of radio ready rock highlighted by the Ramones and their many imitators. Punk records were, very frequently, a collection of singles.


But the album was not forsaken by punk rockers and one band in particular pioneered the punk album. That band, The Clash, kept alive one of the greatest traditions in rock music. They reminded everyone that you could put a record on and be lost in the music. London Calling in particular set the stage for another magical era of records.


While many will remember the 80s as New Wave and hair metal (Slippery When Wet is a fantastic album, by the way), there were a ton of bands operating under the radar turning out some of the most influential rock records of all time. The Replacements, Husker Du, the Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth, the DC hardcore scene, the Bay Area hardcore scene, the pretty much everywhere in American scene...well, you get the picture. They all were churning out amazing albums. And those albums in turn lead to the Alternative explosion of the 90s.


As has happened at the end of every rock era (save the 60s), there was stagnation near the end of the 90s and into the 00s. Lounge Singers to Disco to Hair Metal to nu-Metal. However, this era was also "blessed" with the internet. Disgruntled fans stopped complaining to their DJs because they didn't have to listen anymore. They could hop on Napster and rip off their new favorite band. Myspace became the new radio. Youtube is the new MTV. And music fans started cherry picking songs.


Why buy a whole album when you can hop on iTunes and download the three songs you liked at first blush? Why bother recording 15 songs as a collective whole when you have to make every song accessible? And, when the bands do take the time and energy to make a complete experience, what does it matter? Fans will download the album, pop it in their ipod and let it get mixed in with the rest of their collection.


No more peeling the plastic off. No more reading the liner notes while you listen. No more hitting repeat all or flipping the vinyl or tape. No more experience. Just a song in a sea of music. No matter how much work a band puts into an album, it is just going to be distilled into individual songs. Would Daydream Nation be a landmark album today? Some of those songs don't have the same impact when they are disconnected from the previous track.


I am as guilty as anyone, heck probably worse. There is a current punk rock subculture that is keeping the vinyl market alive and well. They are people that still appreciate the intrinsic value of an album. And, they are a subculture of a subculture of a subculture. So, when I started listening to Fists Buried in Pockets by The Riot Before you can probably guess how I enjoyed it.

If you didn't guess disjointedly (or a similar word choice), then you probably haven't gotten much out of this. But those craft gents from VA got me. I noticed how the opening track lead into the second track. "Capillaries," the closing track, brings the whole thing to an epic conclusion and brings the experience full circle. Intrigued, I put the album into its own playlist and went from start to finish. It was like reading a great novel. Songs I had previously disregarded were given new life. I got it.

So when Rebellion came out, I was given a choice. Throw it in with the rest of mix for Rad Fest or give it a go on its own. Easy decision. I couldn't imagine seperating some of those songs. They were made for each other. "The Oregon Trail" is, right now, my favorite track on the album. It also is a great stand alone for anyone looking for a reason to buy (which you should, digital download, cd, whatever, it's worth the price of admission). You can check it out at their myspace page, www.myspace.com/theriotbefore.

Opening track,"The Middle Distance," throws a little noise into the mix. I love it. I really wish they had used it more in that song, but it makes the title all the more appropriate. This album might be the middle distance between where they started and where they are going. It still dips into the beardpunk that they are associated with, but it brings new layers to a sound that is starting to reach its breaking point across the board.

I know it's a sound that is on the verge of exploding (see Off With Their Heads on Epitaph and Banner Pilot on Fat Wreck coupled with D4 and Against Me! already in the limelight), but I am excited about a band that is willing to take chances with the formula and one who might help make the scene more than just another punk fad. They could easily ride the fest/beard punk sound to success, they have that sound down pat. Instead, they are challenging it and I hope it pays off.

The Riot Before is on Paper + Plastick and their album can also be downloaded from iTunes. They will be headlining 16 Taps at Rad Fest. Tickets are $25 for the two day event.