MIDNIGHT PLUS ONE

I should know better, but I tend to spend a few hours before every trip and/or tour reloading some kind of digital music playing device with a new batch of killer jams meant as a soundtrack for my journey. I almost never listen to music while I'm on tour. So every time I come home from tour and/or a trip I have a digital music playing device filled with fresh and new jams to listen to while I commute or pump iron (mostly the former). Tonight on my ride home, I was reminded that '80s Spanish punk is really good, and that the 2013 full length from North Carolina's MIDNIGHT PLUS ONE is one of the most original sounding and totally amazing records I've heard in ages. I realized this after I came back from tour with the wax in tow a few months back, but there's nothing like biking between cars with a beer in your hand and being transported around the globe by "Catacombs" (sic) to kick you in the gut and remind you what it is you really need. Equal parts snotty post punk, '90s DIY/emo and a collision of grunge with current indie (seriously, it's all of those things), this is easily one of may favorite records in recent memory if only because it is more concerned with being and doing than with being awesome or doing what is expected. "Hallway" is a legitimate college radio slam dunk, "Anxious Snail" is CURRENT meets Gravity, and "Modern Witch" is just fukkn perfect (new millennium retro/goth/post punks take note). The guitars meander even when they lead, but the vocals are the obvious focus - breathy and intense while completely avoiding pretension....I could continue washing this record's hypothetical balls for a few more paragraphs or I could implore you to listen for yourself. I will opt for the latter, anyone who desires more hypothetical ball washing will need to send me a personal request.

MIDNIGHT PLUS ONE