The Vault - RIP to great bands that could have been...

[MattGSX]

So, since I seem to be posting a bit more these days, I've decided to devote some time to awesome bands that faded away before their full potential was really lived out. My first band is This Computer Kills.
This Computer Kills

This Computer Kills was a "screamo" (see: post-hardcore) 3-piece band out of Reno, NV. Their music is extremely melodic, with extremely independent bass and guitar parts, simple (but driving) drums, and abrasive vocals. The music is hypnotic, very musically creative, and mildly violent. As teenagers, they took the southwest by storm, releasing a full length and a few EPs under SubStandard records that received great reviews. Unfortunately, most of their music wasn't really discovered until after the band disbanded, and they were no longer around to enjoy the success they had gained.

I first heard of TCK while posting on the AFI message boards (faggy, I know, but this was when they were still a hardcore band, and not all gothy and annoying). This user named Jeff_TCK (I think) had a sig pic of this beautiful skeleton angel, and everyone always raved about This Computer Kills. Strangely, I took almost forever to check them out; I finally looked the music up when I thought I was going to spend a spring break in Reno, and I wanted to see if there were any bands or online-friends worth checking out while I was there. Sadly, they were already on hiatus, with their disbandment for separate groups imminent.

The projects that formed as a result of TCK were also very noteworthy; The Spotlight Syndicate was another trio, eschewing the guitar in place of a synthesizer. Unfortunately, they were also very short-lived, releasing only one full-length (also on Substandard). Other bands include Disconnect (post hardcore band also based out of Reno), and a slew of others (detailed in the posthumously created Myspace). I'm not so crazy about most of the others; the Spotlight Syndicate also holds a place dear to my heart, and Disconnect is pretty decent, but I've never given the others a fair chance.

Anyone who enjoys punk rock, hardcore, "screamo" (god, I hate that fucking term), post-hardcore, indie music, or the concept of dissonant melodic independence should really take a few seconds to check these guys out. I can (almost) promise you won't regret it.

[MattGSX]

Time for another installment, I suppose. I'll probably get sick of doing this, so I really think others should follow suit and write about their favorite bands that no longer exist. I'm staying with the punk rock theme for another week, but I may branch out next time into something a little more listener-friendly. Probably not, though.

Le Shok

Le Shok was a band based out of California known for their completely chaotic, offensive music, extremely short songs (just like the Locust), and memorable performances (especially on their second US run). As the band was completely made up of members from other, better known bands, most of the music was written and recorded either during lulls in touring, or during temporary hiatus for the other bands. Since members belonged to bands such as the Locust and The Action League, Le Shok's music had the same dense, noisy quality (though it is much easier on the ears than the Locust).

Though the music was pretty fantastic (arguably better than any of the music recorded by the parent bands at the time), the band fizzled in 2001, due in part to the larger parent bands, but also because of other projects the members were pursuing at the time. Some, like Neon King Kong, followed the direction of Le Shok, but others, like the Dirty Girls, definitely followed bands like the Locust.

RIP Le Shok. I'll forever miss your lo-fi, badly mixed recordings, and I will be forever 13, waiting for you to finally come to Milwaukee.

[Arox!]

Since you are talking about defunct bands here, I hope I  am not out of line by posting one recently broken up band myself.

The Zom Zoms
I first heard about them while browsing noise bands on myspace. Not sure how to describe their sound, but if I had to I would say they are post new wave (correct me if I am wrong), strong on synths and ridiculousness. They are from Austin, Texas which to my surprise has a crazy weirdo type scene.  Since I am too lazy and inept to describe them any more I have included a review from someone else.

Zom Zoms
BY GREG BEETS 
Yellow Rainbow (Business Deal)

If a cadre of savage geeks had commandeered a Brook Mays Organ store at the mall in 1981, the resulting disturbance might have resembled the Zom Zoms' third album in both tone and attitude. With synthetic rhythms oscillating at full speed, the Twister-mat-patterned, sleeveless-shirt-wearing local quartet injects as much ferocity into primitive synth-punk as their vintage mechanism will bear. From start to finish, Yellow Rainbow is a breakneck fusillade of aural grist for the inner spaz. While Devo is an obvious touchstone, the Zom Zoms' speedy emulation focuses on the raw Sturm und Drang of the scalped pioneers' earliest Rust Belt demos. "Caught on Tape" dances as fast as it can against panoptic dystopia, while the title track gets busy disemboweling the culture of tanning booths. "Race of Zom Zoms" kicks off with the poetic exhortation, "Replace my feet with 30 rubber wheels while folding the map with the jealous part of your mind," which might as well be a manifesto for the group's synapse-confounding New Wave traffic jam. Such quasi-lionization stands in stark contrast to the album-closing pizza-delivery-driver ode "Pizzarama Universe," an occupation seldom covered in song but undoubtedly familiar to musicians. Yellow Rainbow may be a discombobulating ride, but healthy minds need a good shaking every now and then.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2006-05-12/music_phases11.html

[MattGSX]

Cool. Thanks for the contribution, Arox. RIP, the Zim Zoms, we shall forever miss thee.