The Secludes are a melodic punk band from Portland, Oregon that began in mid-90's, and are still making music today. Although in almost twenty years as a band, I'm fairly sure that "Life Goes On" is their only album. But man, it's a good one. Rise Records also put out a 7" single titled "Blue" in 2000, but now both are long out of print, although used copies pop-up at the usual online joints. Check the song "Lost In The Bottle" and / or download the album below, and give their Facebook page a like. --Trav
Loadstar were a melodic punk band originally from Grass Valley and later, Santa Cruz, California. I guess I first heard them in 2000 / '01? Close Enough. I really enjoyed their self-titled record back then, but it just became lost in the shuffle of other bands I was more into at the time. I unearthed that self-titled record recently, and I'm declaring it the best 1998 record of 2014, if that's even a thing. It is now. That album only lists nine songs, but there are five more hidden (and untitled) tracks that were recorded during their early days, and plays as one continuous thirteen-minute song. Why? I couldn't tell you. Vocalist / guitarist Donovan Cole said he remembered a song titled "Femagainstme", and another called "Down Tonight", that's all I know.
The following year produced an EP titled "Nothing To Lose", while not quite as good as the album, there are some toe-tappers on there for sure. Both cd's were released by Portland, Oregon label Little Kid Records, and everything in their catalog has become increasingly hard to find, no exception here sadly.
Musically, LS followed a pretty typical 90's punk schematic of fast / slow / fast / fast / slow etc.., "Too Far", "Disengage", and "Jack" could be a Samiam or maybe even a Horace Pinker b-side, while "Mystery Girl", "Carpe Diem", and "Wasted Daze" were far more in line with the Epitaph / Fat Wreck heydays. The link below contains both the album and the EP, I'm fairly certain those were the only two proper Loadstar releases. Enjoy. --Trav.
Maybe a certain image pops-up when you think about 90's emo; most likely it's an auditory collage of twinkly, self-indulgent, albeit great music that permeated the Midwest, or perhaps it was the organized chaos that centered around San Diego. Maybe it's all, maybe it's none. Ethel Meserve were one of those few bands from that all-encompassing 90's scene who countered a darker discordance with a good sense of melody (much like Kansas City's Boys Life and Giants Chair, and Lincoln's Sideshow). Besides their one and only album "The Milton Abandonment", EM had a demo, two 7" singles, and a split with the aforementioned Giants Chair (as part of the "Postmarked Stamps" series) to their credit. Those non-album songs were collected and re-released on cd as "Spelling The Names" in 2000. --Trav
** One file, but both "The Milton Abandonment" and "Spelling The Names" are enclosed.
Co-Ed were a melodic punk band from southern California, some might preface with "female-fronted", but that always bugged me. Why the gender specifics? If the music is coming from the right place, then who cares? I guess that was a decent place as any to get that off my chest. Anyway, they weren't around for very long, but we did get an album, a split with Pollen, and a 7" EP out of the deal. Drummer Wal Rashidi and Guitarist Mac Thompson were primarily responsible for the lyrics and music on this record, and you'll find a good cohesiveness largely on the pop-punk side, but with a few fast ones. I've never heard their 7" EP, but their split with Pollen is also worth checking out. I'll be sure and post that up soon. Enjoy. --Trav
