...and Let Me Introduce You To Some Friends of Mine...

...By the Grace of God

And that was my introduction to Louisville's punk and hardcore scene. The resulting burst of energy as "Remora" from the band's debut record For the Love of Indie Rock hooked me forever (I still think it is one of the greatest punk rock songs ever). This EP does not let up at all for the next 15 or so minutes; it is pure energy and passion blasting through your speakers, headphones, what have you. Not a single song is bad and it rips like the great punk records do, and this is great.

"Yeah! Self worth derives from affliction..." follow an umistakably explosive drum and guitar intro to "Remora"; This is just a great punk rock song with one hell of a riff. Following that beast up with an equally fiery track called "Goliath" is perfect; the breakdown in this song makes me go nuts everytime I hear it, and when Rob Pennington screams "Fuck Your Crusade", it is priceless. The driving and melodic sound of "Pallbearer's Hymn" is just what belongs next on the EP along with the rolling drums and guitar squeals and short group sing along is perfect.

"November's Lie" is the crown jewel of For the Love of Indie Rock. The song is fast paced and contains one of the most under rated and amazing pieces of punk music on wax at about the halfway point of the song. Guitarist Duncan Barlow's wail of frustration into the instrumental breakdown is amazing and when By the Grace of God brings it back up with another amazing and much more melodic breakdown, it caps the song exactly the way it needs to be.

For the Love of Indie Rock slams down a poignant, superb example of melodic hardcore with "Fissures". I never can resist singing along to the words, "When We Can't Move On". Pennington shows why he is one of the best writers of emotional hardcore lyrics with this song.

The band closes the record off with the crunchy "Navigator" (sounding the most like Endpoint than the band ever does), the tense "Ipecac", and a cool cover of Poison Idea's "Plastic Bomb".

I owe so much to By the Grace of God. Not only were they great, but this EP introduced me to Louisville punk and hardcore.

75% of the Year Is Already Over???!!!

They were not lying when they said that time flies as you get older. I remember a while back when I would dread this time of the year because it meant going back to school; actually, I still dread it because that means fighting with the ridiculous amounts of school buses on the roads in the morning. In any case, this year was a hectic one so far; graduate school has really kicked my ass, but I remain optimistic as I have almost completed it. I know I failed on so many of the goals that I set out to achieve this year, but there is still three months left.

September, this sucks. At least we all have the awesome fall weather to look forward to.