Raise Kain

 Raise Kain were a band from Rotterdam, in The Netherlands. They were active from 1997 to 2002, after which they called it quits. The history I've pieced together from web archives is at odds with the one posted here on Skate Punk Memories, which claims the band changed all its members but one between their first album and last release. This does not appear to be true; all the same members are credited on both releases and the list of names on their final webpage farewell remains consistent, so I'm not sure where the other blog got that information from.

The band's first album, Last Action Heroes, is available at Skate Punk Memories, and that's a fitting archive. But while the album is unquestionably a work of pop punk that fits under the broad umbrella of skate punk—and features a few tracks that could have easily been blaring in the background of a Tony Hawk game—it also has a more dour quality than you might expect, with a lot of influence from emo pop. These influences would come to the fore on their subsequent EP, which leaves skate punk behind in favor of 90s-style emo pop\pop punk with some post-hardcore influence.

The band's first release was a 1998 demo tape called Coronation, which I haven't been able to find. In 1999 they released their only full-length, Last Action Heroes. Their last release was the Airborne EP, released either in 2001 or 2002, I have sources for both dates. What's interesting is that their website makes no mention of the EP in 2001, and then in 2002 the page changes to a goodbye message, so it's possible the EP was released posthumously.

Airborne

all out

 

This post was a very long time in the making, for reasons specific to Japanese emo that I've already discussed. The short version is that CDs are still popular in Japan and exporting them is very costly when its possible at all. But Japanese emo was and continues to be some of the best stuff around, so I'm glad to be able to offer another band from that scene.

All Out were possibly from Aichi Prefecture, formed in 1997 and active until 1999, at which point three of the members would form The T.V. Dinners. If considering the first half of All Out's discography, their sound would remain mostly congruent between projects, a mix of emo pop and pop punk with some of the rough elements of melodic hardcore intact; 'emo punk,' as it's sometimes called. However, in the back half the band began to bring in far more midwest emo influences.

The band existed long enough to put out a couple demos and two splits. In 2017, they reunited to put together their semi-posthumous discography, the end of serenade (the Mineral reference is blatant, but earned in the second half). I say 'semi'-posthumous because they recorded a new song while briefly reunited.

It's great that the band cared enough about their legacy to put together a discography nearly twenty years later. Sadly, the end of serenade is the worst kind of discography: an incomplete one. The band released the new song as a single, 願い, and on that single also included four songs from their first demo that aren't on the discography either. That makes five missing songs from a discography that's already only nine songs long, and it's entirely possible there are other missing tracks as well. 

I was unable to find a retailer that had the single in stock and was also willing to ship to the States, so the end of serenade is all I have to offer.

the end of serenade

The Radio Silence

 

The Radio Silence were a band from Raleigh, North Carolina, active in the mid-2000s. The history of this band remains an unknown to me. Their name is a common metaphor, making them difficult to Google, and the Wayback Machine has no working archives of their website (the same address now redirects to Bandcamp). The show they played for their LP debut had One Amazin' Kid as an opener. The liner notes don't shed any light on the band's history or discography, save for mentioning that the album was a long time in production.

Musically, The Radio Silence are similar to the other bands working in the same sphere who were also too late to be considered part of emo's second wave despite having much more in common with that period than the third wave. Their sound exists on a sliding scale between midwest emo and indie rock, with the needle inclined towards the latter. There's no mistaking the midwest emo in their makeup, however. On their old MP3.com page, the band listed some other acts they considered similar and one of them was The Gloria Record, which is honestly a pretty good comparison.

In 2004, the band had what I assume was an EP or a demo called Demonstration, which they made available at shows prior to releasing their full-length album, Narrative, in 2006 (the album has a 2005 date on the artwork but it must have been delayed). Demonstration isn't on the Bandcamp and aside from the mention in this article, I can't find any trace of it. The band also had an acoustic demo from 2003 called last night and the rest of your life, recorded prior to the project gaining a full line up. I don't know how many tracks it had, but I've recovered two, both of which were rerecorded for the album. There was also a live version of "police station, 5 a.m." that was once on MP3.com but isn't available in the archives.

In March of 2024 someone added three instrumental tracks to this Bandcamp, purportedly recorded in 2004. It says these songs were intended for prayer and meditation, and were recorded live; there's no additional information. I don't know if these songs were from Demonstration, or intended for a pre-album project, or represent a side project from the band members, or are just a practice and\or jam session. The title of the release, Maundy Thursday, never came up at any point during my research on The Radio Silence. In the end, what we have is a previously unknown release that only raises more questions.

Edit 4/12/24: Recently, the Bandcamp page was updated again to include Demonstration. It is indeed a demo, recorded throughout 2003 and released in 2004. The Maundy Thursday songs are not a part of it and therefore represent a separate release.

narrative + demo tracks

Short Supply

 Short Supply were a band from Metz, France, active from 2001 to maybe 2005. Their website disappeared in early 2006, so they likely called it quits a bit before then. Discogs compares them to Hot Water Music and Empire State Games. Both comparisons are apt, though Short Supply has a bit more screamo influence that you might usually hear, likely because the band shared members with metalcore outfit Dead For A Minute (members of Short Supply would also go on to form skramz act Aleska)

The release I have for Short Supply is something of a mystery. In 2001, the band released an album called Picture Show... on Shinya Records, which appears to be their personal label. What I have is a CDr that combines that release with two unreleased songs from 2003. I don't know where this compilation came from. It could be something the band had at shows, or an unofficial bootleg. The name 'Julien' was all over the CD data, and the band thanked Julien Vanderhaegen of Heart On Fire Records in the liner notes for their split record with The Apollo Program. If it's the same person, then the CDr could be some kind of quasi-official compilation, perhaps done in cooperation with the label. According to the data from the CD, this compilation is called Eclipse, despite using the art from Picture Show.... This title isn't on the CD itself, or referenced on the internet at all as far as I can determine, but I'm using it in order to differentiate what I have from the original Picture Show... CDr.

The band released Picture Show... in 2001, a split with The Apollo Program in 2004, and the Eclipse CDr compilation at an unknown date. Since it has unreleased songs from 2003 on it, it had to have been released between then and the end of the band. The significant gap between the album release and the split makes me think they may have had more material, but as of now I haven't found anything. It's possible the unreleased 2003 tracks were from an unrealized project.

The Apollo Program / Short Supply split is made available courtesy of How Nothing Feels.

Eclipse + The Apollo Program / Short Supply