An infectious, goofy, and under-appreciated “side project,” Reggie and the Full Effect is the solo effort of multi-instrumentalist James Dewees, best known for his roles in The Get-Up Kids, Coalesce, My Chemical Romance, and more. You might know Reg from such classics as “Girl, Why’d You Run Away?”, “Dwarf Invasion,” and “FOOD,” but now you can know ’im in a more intimate way — by donating to his Kickstarter campaign for a new album.
Coalesce
Q&A: The Casket Lottery’s unsung reunion yields louder, denser indie-rock gem
The Casket Lottery: Real Fear (No Sleep, 11/6/12)
“In the Branches”
The Casket Lottery: “In the Branches”
Following a four-year hiatus from 2006–2010, Kansas City’s The Casket Lottery was reanimated by front-man Nathan Ellis and expanded from its power-trio core to a quintet. The two new members gave the melodic post-hardcore band an even greater musical arsenal, as shown on Real Fear — its first studio LP in 10 years — which continues its legacy as one of the most underrated groups in “indie music.”
Review: The Casket Lottery’s Real Fear
The Casket Lottery: Real Fear (No Sleep, 11/6/12)
“In the Branches”
The Casket Lottery: “In the Branches”
After a five-year run as a full-time band from 1998 to 2003, Kansas City indie-rock trio The Casket Lottery was able to look back on three standout full-lengths and a handful of EPs. Come 2006, the perpetually underrated band had adopted the same attitude as fellow Kansas City notable Coalesce — which shares The Casket Lottery’s Nathan Ellis and Nathan Richardson — by lying low and working on other projects, but never officially breaking up. Flash forward to 2012 and The Casket Lottery has magically reappeared with two more members — Brent Windler on second guitar and Nick Siegel on keys — and a new full-length album, Real Fear.
Review: The Casket Lottery’s The Door EP / Nathan Ellis’s self-titled EP
The Casket Lottery / Nathan Ellis: The Door / Nathan Ellis (No Sleep, 8/7/12)
“The Door” (The Casket Lottery) & “Balance Beam” (Nathan Ellis)
The Casket Lottery: “The Door”
As a name, Nathan Ellis is unassuming, also held by the random college professor, fire chief, and publicist. As a musician, Nathan Ellis might still be unassuming, unwilling to play up his accomplishments, but his list is no joke: The Casket Lottery, Coalesce, Able Baker Fox, Jackie Carol, and now solo singer-songwriter material.
Guest Spot: Sean Ingram of Coalesce explains hardcourt bike polo
Coalesce: OX (Relapse, 6/9/09)
Coalesce: “The Comedian in Question”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Coalesce-The-Comedian-In-Question.mp3|titles=Coalesce: “The Comedian In Question”]Kansas City, Missouri-based hardcore band Coalesce has spent the last decade in flux, with shifting lineups, hiatuses, and sporadic shows prior to a full-blown reunion that spawned a new seven-inch, a full-length, and an EP.
But just because its output and appearances have been limited, the band isn’t out of touch. The scene has simply changed, and lead vocalist Sean Ingram wanted to rediscover the magic of its early days. Now, he finds himself on the ground floor of yet another nascent, independent movement: hardcourt bike polo.
Punk Living Through Non-Musical Means, or This Bike is a Weapon
by Sean Ingram of Coalesce
There was a point a few years ago that I was completely depressed by the world I had created around myself with electronics and new media. A fellow I knew had offed himself, and it was great sport to come up with the best pun skewering his illness in the comments. A band from Japan wrecked on the highway here in the States, seriously fucking some of them up, and the response was, “Van frip, Paypar prease,” in a mocking and fairly racist manner. For whatever reason, this kind of assholery was getting to me, and I made a pact with myself that I would turn everything off, and do my best to disassociate myself from cynicism. A major task, I know. But there is only so much one can take of faceless assholes telling them what is and isn’t cool. So it was done. I was out.
Without all of this extra noise, it was easier to focus on tasks at hand. Planting an orchard, building some old-school hemp rope-swings, not knowing what someone’s done for the last week before catching up with them in person for a beer. Little things were more enjoyable. As my attitude started to ease up, and I started to take more time to enjoy the little things, I noticed some guys on some bikes with big hammers, knocking the shit out of a little ball. I spent the day by the sideline checking these guys out. It was like hockey, but on these Mad Max-looking bikes. But these guys clearly weren’t jocks. These were guys that probably heard “Skate or die, fag!” yelled at them a million times in high school, just like me. So I gave it a shot.
50 Unheralded Albums from 2009
ALARM leaves no genre unloved in our round-up of 50 albums that didn’t receive enough attention in 2009.
What We’re Seeing This Weekend: Coalesce, Sole, Hackensaw Boys
This weekend, we’ll be sure not to miss the unadulterated force of Coalesce as the hardcore four-piece readies its first full-length album in 10 years.
We’ll also catch indie rapper Sole, rapid-fire bluegrass sextet Hackensaw Boys…and a few Bulls/Celtics basketball games, which have ravaged the emotions of ALARM founder Chris Force.
Weekly Music News Roundup
Coalesce posts a two-song preview of Ox; Orange Tulip Conspiracy has finalized its nationwide May tour; Mike Patton plays a Decepticon; Rock Central Plaza and Yakuza have new albums and homes. This and more in the roundup.
Ten Albums to Anticipate This Spring
As the weather stops being oppressive in the Northern Hemisphere, a number of potentially great albums from countless genres are on the way. Here’s a list of ten that have us excited, including efforts from Isis, MF Doom, Coalesce, Prefuse 73, Mr. Lif, and more.
18 Albums on our Radar in 2009
This year promises to be a great one for music. Isis, The Bad Plus, Mastodon, Dan Deacon, Coalesce, Jerseyband, Converge, and at least three Mike Patton creations (Mondo Cane, Fantômas, Crudo) are slated to release new albums.
Get the ETA on these and other anticipated albums after the jump.
Interview with Able Baker Fox
Following eight months of online riff-swapping, the scattered Midwesterners of Able Baker Fox rehearsed only once before recording their upcoming debut, Voices, in less than a week at the studio of engineer/producer Ed Rose (Coalesce, The Get Up Kids, Reggie and the Full Effect). Merging old tour buddies and collaborators from melodic post-hardcore groups Small Brown Bike and The Casket Lottery, its members say a combination of history and distance made the record “effortless.”