Archive for March, 2013

New JustaVisual layout

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Hey folks. I’ve finally done what has been a long time coming – updated the format of this site. It’s something that I’ve been wanting to do for a very long while but the task seemed like a burden for so long. One of the main reasons for this was that I wanted to display photos larger. As the years went by the default browser viewing size and resolution has gone up with internet speed and screen sizes. More people have more room now.


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 here are some really old page designs from justavisuals past

So I’ll be going back through my collections and resizing some of my favorites to make them more browser friendly for 2013. It’ll take a while, but with the new blogging format I should be able to add stuff more quickly. Getting some of the old stuff on here will probably take a  while but I’m in no hurry. This site is probably over 12 years old, I can’t even remember at this point. I’d like to send a shout out to old web friend Melissa Gower who way back when began the site with me.

Also, I’ll be having some friends contribute reviews of whatever they hell they feel like to site now. The truth is I only like so many things only so often. Might as well have some other people adding their opinions to the world wide web.

The most current stuff added recently is from a Saint Vitus show where Concrete Cross, Goosebumps, and Deathcycle all played.

Check back soon for some more updates and shit.

Brown Sugar – Luvly 7″

From the first moment I heard this band I was a believer. Being truly creative in a horribly uncreative scene is something to be applauded. Then again maybe all you need is to be from Buffalo, New York and it just comes to you naturally? Whether or not it’s in the water isn’t important, what I’m focusing on is that Brown Sugar shreds like no other band. One thing that separates them from their contemporaries is solid talent and their ability to know when to say when. Brown Sugar songs aren’t overly complicated (as if they are trying too hard), but they are more complicated than the average punk song. They don’t appear to be pandering to a specific trendy sound, they just happen to appreciate some of the finer aspects of recording punk music.

The Luvly single has surely surpassed the other singles, splits, and the LP, in that they have grown and embraced some more diverse musical elements. I mean there are harmonies for fuck’s sake! And… I don’t even hate them! (I love harmonies, just not in unexpected places -Ed.) Instrumentally things build and plateau then build some more before falling apart. Songs go from intense and driving to suddenly light and airy. It really is a strange thing to hear from the same band who previously wrote straight forward ripper’s like “Brown Eyed Girl / Copper Helicopter.”

The one and only disappointment on this record is the lack of horns! I’m no brass loving ska fan or anything, quite the contrary, I hate that shit but this was the one band who did it right! The brass section was a chaotic chorus providing further noisy confusion to a circle-pitting soundtrack. It’s really not a biggie considering just how great these tunes are I suppose. I give a strong recommendation to pick this up if you can track down a copy. My ear isn’t firmly to the ground these days so I may be wrong, but it is a damn shame Luvly is supposedly their final material. The band is apparently finito which is really tragic. I guess live fast, die young can apply to bands as well.

The Rival Mob – Mob Justice LP

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I don’t pretend to be one of those guys who only listens to the most unknown, mysterious, and unattainable bands. When it comes to hardcore, sometimes bands get popular for a reason, and right now The Rival Mob has to be numero uno. And for good reason – they’ve been around long enough to build that kind of fan base, play tons of fests, release new shit every year or so, and have the craziest t-shirt game going.

Last year these dudes put out a little sampling of what was to come from their debut on REV in the form of a sampler tape. The streets were left in a frenzy over it. Some of the best tracks the band has yet put together were on there. Not only that, the Paincave recording seemed to have been crafted to a perfect balance of crushing guitar crunch and booming thud-dy drums.

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