livefreediyhard.com

Author: David Robison

  • Talk Is Killing Me by Half Past Two

    Talk Is Killing Me by Half Past Two

    Album: Talk Is Killing Me

    Artist: Half Past Two

    Release: April 19, 2024; Bad Time Records

                    When it comes to ska southern California was a powerhouse in the third wave, producing many iconic bands of the era. Hailing from Orange County and joining Bad Times Records for their recent release “Talk is Killing me”, Half Past Two proves that they are locked in and prepared to carry on the tradition into the New Tone Era. 

                    This album has a little something for every type of music lover. “In My Head” is a poppy rock jam. “I Don’t Dream Anymore” has a really amazing classic ska vibe that I dig. By far the most stand out song on the album for me is “Barrier For Entry”. It is everything that I would expect from a New Tone Band. It’s upbeat and catchy. The lyrics are politically meaningful in a very approachable way. The majority of the song sets up the premise that the world is constructed in a way that isn’t working for most people. It informs listeners that strength can be found within their communities. Then, with about a minute left in the song, the horns come in hard, and you just know they are building up to something important. That is when Tara Hahn drops the line “When something can’t be fixed, the question is: What do we build instead?” Let me tell you friends, that is the kind of call to action that a political song like this really needs. It leaves listeners feeling empowered and optimistic enough to make change. If it isn’t clear by now, this is my favorite song on the album. “Our Playlist” is another stand out song that really hits me in the feels. It’s an acoustic duet between Tara Hahn and Scott Klopfenstein. It has got a lot of sorrow and loss packed into Tara’s vocal performance. Scott’s feature here is also really good and if I am being honest, really makes me rethink my general dislike of Reel Big Fish. There is also an instrument that plays throughout the background of the song. A person that is musically smarter than me, with a better ear, has told me that it is probably slide guitar with a heavy delay and reverb, but it is hard to say for sure. Regardless of what it is, it is very cool, and the song would be lesser without it. I feel like the chances are high that most post pandemic albums will have at least one pandemic song. Is “Isolated Days” that song for this album? I can’t say for sure, but I’d put money on it if I was the betting type. It is a cool take on a pandemic song because its short and upbeat; basically, everything the pandemic wasn’t while it was happening. The song is also chaotic, a little frantic, and definitely shorter than you think it should have been. Which also happens to be everything that the pandemic feels like now in retrospect.

    The verdict is in. “Talk is Killing Me” definitely kills it in every way that matters.  The album offers songs that run the gamut of life’s ups and downs. It’s well composed and performed and everything I hope for in a Ska album. A fantastic addition to the New Tone song book.  

    This review was originally posted on April 26, 2024 on the former LFDH substack.

    If you like the album I reviewed here and want to support the artist as well as this blog please consider picking up the album via this affiliate link—> Purchase Talk is Killing Me by Half Past Two digitally via Amazon Music

  • Live Free DIY Hard: Year 1

    Live Free DIY Hard: Year 1

    While I started this here blog earlier this year, I have been doing Live Free DIY Hard in a live media format for over a year. In fact, March 29th marked the 1-year anniversary of the project. Since I started, I have done over 45+ live streamed shows. I honestly didn’t count so the exact number is anyone’s guess. I did roughly one a week only taking off a week here and there for important life events like my wedding anniversary and a few weeks for the birth of my last child. I have also done 7 video interviews, and 1 really wild marathon stream for the Anniversary of Radio 717 that ended up being around 12 hours long. All in all, it has been a year that didn’t play out the way I assumed it would. Deep down I figured that I would do my little hobby show and maybe someone would tune in once and a while and find a song or two that they like. Too a certain extent, that might still be true. What I didn’t account for is all the amazing people I have gotten to work with and know over the course of the year. Turns out the people that make DIY music are pretty cool.

    I would like to thank some of those people that really made this little project of mine worth doing. First, is Brian Walker of “A Day Without Love”. He reached out of me when I had maybe 2 or 3 shows under my belt and offered to be on my show. I hadn’t really even figured out what kind of show I was doing yet but was super stoked that a person whose music I enjoyed and respected was interested in being on it. I had thought that I might eventually reach out to interview musicians and what not. Getting to interview Brian kind of made it a “there is no better time than now” situation. In a way, that moment kind of steered the show in a really cool direction that might have otherwise taken me a substantially longer time to get to.

    Second, is Scott Brown of “The Ska Bees” who reached out to me after I mentioned I was looking for new music to feature on my show. Turns out he was releasing an EP for “The Ska Bees” and I was given the opportunity to do an album release interview. It is super cool and fun to play a small part in the launch of an album especially one as good as The Ska Bees EP. This was a steppingstone so to speak, that led to me doing more album release interviews for even more really cool bands including “Better, Or the Next Best Thing” by How I Became Invisible and “Just Devils” By PWRUP. The PWRUP interview is by far the most chaotically fun interview I have done thus far.   

                    Then there is Michi DiGiulio of “Mega Infinity” who reached out to me after I was trying to drum up some guests for the Radio 717 Anniversary Stream. They are a top-notch PR person. Who along with their husband Mike are infinitely patient. We did an interview for Mega Infinity’s Chaos Magic EP that I had to reschedule at least once and then on top of that we ended up having to film it twice because my goofy self messed up all their audio. The interview was me asking questions and then they would mime their answer. While hilarious in retrospect, it was a moment where I may have spiraled a little bit. In the end, we redid the interview and while I feel the one I ruined was probably better, I think it turned out pretty good.   

                    There are so many other people that I would love to thank but for brevity I will just say that every Band/Musician on this playlist has been a huge part of LFDH in a way that would make the project near impossible without them.

                    So, what’s next you may ask? To be honest I am not entirely sure. This has been somewhat of a fly by the seat of your pants type operation. I think that in a way that is what has made the project what it is; a nimble thing that is all about appreciating DIY music and the people who make it. Interviews have been on hiatus since the end of last year due to the birth of my son. I would love to get back to doing them sometime this year if possible. I really enjoy writing this blog so expect more album reviews shortly. As always, tune into my live show every Tuesday at 8pm east coast US time on Twitch. Hopefully the curated version of the show will eventually return, but until then we’re taking song requests and shuffling some great DIY music.

    This year in review was originally posted on April 15, 2024 on the former LFDH substack.