Robyn Writes

Achievement unlocked?

Just lately, I’ve found myself playing the games on PS3 which have trophies more than the ones which don’t. “Okay Ripper, what does that mean?” you might ask. Well, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the proud feeling when one pops up in the right hand corner of the screen. Perhaps it’s the fact that it means I get a lot of replay value out of those games and as such, the Scrooge in me feels compelled to play them more. It could be my competitive streak – I’m a member of several gaming communities where you can compare your current trophy level with other players. I just don’t know, but lately, I’ve become a damn trophy whore.

For the uninitiated, let me briefly explain the PS3 trophy system. For achieving certain feats or beating different points within the game, you can get trophies. A bronze is usually an easy trophy to get, silver is a bit more difficult and gold can be damn near impossible on some games (here’s looking at you, Bioshock). When you’ve got every trophy in the game, you get a platinum, which are pretty coveted on online communities. I only have one platinum, I’m not that hardcore. The Xbox 360 has a similar system with achievements – you get so many points for each one you unlock, eventually culminating in 1000 points per game. It’s an excellent tool for fuelling your online ego – boasting about how big your Gamerscore is, or how many platinums you’ve got. Trophy hunting takes discipline and hard work if you want to be the best. Some people dedicate every ounce of their free time to this endeavour. I like to think I’m a casual trophy whore, but then I downloaded Linger In Shadows because it had easy trophies to get and was cheap. So maybe this is growing into a kind of obsession.

The disturbing part of this is that it could overlap into real life. It already is in various respects – I scrobble everything I listen to on Last.FM in an effort to boost my play count to 15,000; I post on various forums and feel a little bit of joy when my post count hits another hundred or thousand; I collect tons of stuff and will spend relative amounts of money and time on rare action figures and so on. I could apply the trophy system directly to certain aspects of my life that I’m trying to do better in. Maybe that’s a good thing! It could be useful when it comes to my exams – get a bronze for finishing them all, get a gold for getting all A’s, get the platinum for getting into university. Who knows, if I think about it like that, I might spend less time writing articles like this and more time studying. I’m trying to get in shape this summer, so if I apply my new trophy system, that could help! Bronze for not touching chocolate until Fridays, silver for losing a few pounds, gold for going down a dress size. On the downside, there’s slightly creepier and lame ones which I won’t mention, but you get the picture.

Although, this could be applied on a wider scale, if you think about it. How about measuring your whole life in trophies? Bronze for every birthday you reach. Silver for doing every stupid thing you might want to try out. Gold for reaching something important – like getting the degree, getting married, having your first child. Those are achievements, even though the reward is the event itself. However, this is something worth thinking about. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve noticed a lack of ambition in my town as of late. It seems like a lot of people I know have just given up on trying to achieve anything, and when they do, it’s only because they’re pushed by somebody else, not because they really want it. Would a real life ‘trophy system’ help? The truth is, we all need goals before we get anywhere, otherwise we lack focus and give up. So, those dreams are my goals, and those are my trophies. I just hope I achieve enough of them to get the platinum before my time is up.

Alkaline Trio – 21/5/10 [O2 Academy Birmingham]

To view photos for this show, see my Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/twobeatsoff/

There was a lot of trouble concerning this show. To begin with, I wasn’t even planning on going – I was going to catch the 30th anniversary Bad Religion show instead. However, my friend bought a ticket and wanted me to go with her, so I gave up on the Bad Religion (I could always dream that they were doing Reading Festival this year) and booked myself in. That same friend then didn’t get her ticket in time for the show and couldn’t go. It could have potentially turned into a disaster, but I’d persuaded Kitteh to come along a couple of weeks previously, so everything was just peachy in the end.

Alkaline Trio are always one of those bands that I’d missed on pretty much every tour they ever did. Even if I was in the same vicinity as them, I ended up missing them, which I found pretty weird for one of my favourite bands. I put it partly down to transport – I used to have to get my dad to drive me everywhere – and also down to lots of other bands touring at the same time. When you’re relying on other people to get you there, you have to go with what they say. So term time means easy access to Birmingham, which means I get to go to shit. And then get yelled at by my mother for spending money. However, I think if she’d have witnessed the Alkaline Trio set, she’d heartily approve.

First up on the bill were Me Vs Hero, a pop-punk band from Blackpool. Well, I say pop-punk, but this sure as hell wasn’t some Fall Out Boy shit – this was from the new school of pop-punk spliced with hardcore, which is precisely what I like. They were much better than I expected them to be, but then I realised that they would be when I saw their baseball t-shirts at the merch stand. To get a clear idea of their sound, imagine New Found Glory but with a lot more breakdowns and a lot more British. Though they may be lacking the diversity of NFG’s sound, they certainly weren’t lacking the passion and played brilliantly. The set was ridiculously fun, and I can tell that I’ll be hearing a lot more from them. The ‘pop-core’ sound is perfect for the summer and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a lot more jumping around, hair flying everywhere and sweet, sweet breakdowns at Reading. Even if their guitarist did have some very girly sounding screams.

Next up were Set Your Goals, also on Epitaph, which I suppose links how they were playing with Alkaline Trio. I thought that the two supporting bands possibly didn’t fit so well with the headliner, but even so, I was glad they were there. Would it be going too far to suggest that Set Your Goals were the best band of the evening? I certainly don’t think so. I saw SYG at Reading and, if I’m being honest, wasn’t all that impressed. Their sound was a bit weak then, but they had no problem owning the venue tonight with their own brand of pop-punk. Despite the lack of a circlepit, the set was excessively fun as they whipped out some old material in the form of ‘Goonies Never Say Die’ and some new stuff from their latest release, ‘This Will Be The Death Of Us’. The dual vocalist effect worked much better here than at Reading, but even so, I’d love to see Set Your Goals in a much smaller venue, as I think that’s where their sound would come out best. Not to mention the crowd would probably go fucking mental. Kitteh was very enthralled with Audelio’s screams as he threw his guitar at Jordan and took centre stage to show us all how to growl like a real man! The new material sounded absolutely stellar and I’m very much looking forwards to their next headline tour.

Alkaline Trio had the best opening of any band ever. Even better than when Story Of The Year came on to the Star Wars theme. Only Alkaline Trio can get away with dancing onto the stage to a bit of ghoulish pop. Fresh off their European tour, Alkaline Trio were headlining a big tour across the UK and Birmingham was the first to witness it. Dan Andriano came out with a fantastic beard, Matt Skiba had a proper old man cap… oh, if only fightclubsandwich were there. That was probably the most accessible part of their set however, because if you weren’t a huge Alkaline Trio fan, you’d have been entirely lost by half of their set. While they covered a couple of singles like ‘Private Eye’, ‘Stupid Kid’ and ‘We’ve Had Enough’, the vast majority of their set was built up of ‘From Here To Infirmary’ material and previous, leaving much of the audience lost, including Kitteh. However, I’ve been listening to this shit since I was 10, so I was alright. Even if you didn’t get their set so much, you could still appreciate the performance, as it was absolutely blinding. Their skill as musicians was certainly showcased well as the band swapped around for the encore with Dan on guitar and Matt on drums, and he certainly mixed up his vocals gloriously throughout the rest of the show, displaying that yes, Alkaline Trio aren’t just revered for their dark, tongue in cheek lyrics. Even though there was plenty of that on show with ‘Mr Chainsaw’ and my own personal favourite, ‘This Could Be Love’. The crowd were possibly not as responsive as the band would have liked, as they cracked jokes and tried to get a bit more of a reaction. However, we were the first show on the tour, so the band could possibly have been testing the waters. Whatever it was, it didn’t work and sadly, a lot of the people around me were not having as good as time as they should have been. I don’t attribute this to the band, but to the twelve year old dickheads who didn’t know what the fuck to do. That said, the Trio could have picked a better set list with a few more of the singles. It was actually a reasonably low-key set, as they played a lot of their more mellow material. There was something for everyone though in their 90 minute set, as they finished on classic ‘Radio’. They might have been better off ending on a slightly more high-energy song, but it kept the fans happy and I was definitely surprised and delighted to see it played. It’s plain to see that Alkaline Trio are still kicking and have bounced back spectacularly with latest album, ‘This Addiction’. Here’s hoping that next time they return, we’re all a bit better prepared.

Best albums of 2009, best albums of the decade

As we reach the end of the decade, there is really only one question to ask – which were the best albums of the noughties? Truthfully, I’m far too lazy to fulfil that request. There have been some absolutely spectacular records and to ask me to choose would just be too much. However, choose I shall try. In order to make this a little easier on myself, I’m going to name my top five albums of this year first, and then move onto the top five of the decade. Disagree with my choices? Email me at ripper@twobeatsoff.co.uk with yours and I’ll put them all up for consideration!

Top 5 albums of 2009
There were some difficult choices to make this year. Firstly, I bought hardly anything that was actually released this year, and secondly, everything I did buy was pretty damn amazing. What can I say, I have discerning tastes! Anyway, if you haven’t picked up these releases, I highly recommend you do.

5) Chuck Ragan – Gold Country
Gold Country is Chuck’s foray into solo territory, and there really is only one word to describe this album – beautiful. It’s an absolutely incredible alt-country effort, featuring some of the most incredible melodies I’ve ever heard, all tied together with Chuck’s incredibly gruff voice at the centre. It also works fantastically live, and having seen Chuck at Reading Festival this year, all fears I had of it not being quite as good as Hot Water Music were removed. Plus, y’know, Tim McIllrath appeared and that makes everything doubly awesome anyway.

Recommended songs: Glory, Rotterdam, Don’t Say A Word

4) Kevin Devine – Brother’s Blood
I’m a pretty big KD fan as it is, but when I got my hands on Brother’s Blood, I was blown away. It’s got everything his albums have had before – pretty songs, angry songs, melancholy songs, optimistic songs – but the way that they’re presented on Brother’s Blood is entirely different and better, and it’s incredibly varied. First single, Another Bag Of Bones is dark, disturbing and hits you hard, whereas Fever Moon is a slow, almost drunken seduction, and I Could Be With Anyone is in grand old KD tradition – totally upbeat but lyrically devastating. If you listen to Brand New and you’ve never heard of this guy, make sure you change things. Not only because you’ll probably like him, but because he tours with them pretty much every year.

Recommended songs: Fever Moon, Yr Husband, All Of Everything Erased

3) Say Anything – Say Anything
Say Anything’s fourth effort (I am totally counting Baseball) is just… awesome. To be honest, while I liked In Defence of the Genre, I didn’t think it really lived up to what it could have been. Too many songs, too many guest stars, and it just didn’t work as well for me. This, however, brings SA back to top form. It’s not another …Is A Real Boy, it’s completely new and fresh, and yet still sounds familiar enough to add to its charm. Musically, it’s more experimental, as Bemis plays around with horns and strings, and lyrically, it’s utterly adorable. It’s a love story from start to finish, almost, and it’s sweet. And clever.

Recommended songs: Do Better, Eloise, Death For My Birthday

2) AFI – Crash Love
What?! I’m reviewing top albums and AFI aren’t on top?! Might be a bit of a shock, but to tell the truth, it just wasn’t the best album of the year. Of course, it was still pretty damn good. AFI have changed over the years, it’s true, and as a result, everything sounds fragmented as a result of them trying to find the right style. On Crash Love, they’ve found it. Admittedly, it’s incredibly 80s, but that’s okay, because it sounds great. All that experimenting has paid off. Davey is as melodramatic as ever, Jade’s guitar’s got even more pretentious and Hunter and Adam are still solid, so it’s all good. I also happen to like songs about death and breakups, so this is the album for me.

Recommended songs: End Transmission, Darling I Want To Destroy You, Too Shy To Scream

1) Frank Turner – Poetry Of The Deed
Well, what can I say? Since finding out about Frank in February, he has slowly been creeping up my Last.FM chart to take over some of my previous favourites, and with good reason – the man’s a genius. Poetry Of The Deed is testament to this statement, because there are barely words to describe it. It’s smart, it’s beautiful, it’s snarky, it’s dark, it’s happy – it’s fucking good music, to put it simply. It’s another album full of anthems, and it’s absolutely impossible to avoid his charm – all my friends fell in love with him on first listen. There is absolutely no bad part of Poetry Of The Deed. If you haven’t listened to it yet, may I recommend that this should be top of your Christmas list this year.

Recommended songs: Try This At Home, Richard Devine, The Road

Okay, so we’ve had my favourite albums of this year. However, there’s been a whole decade of incredible music! Attempting to narrow this down into five albums will be excessively difficult. However, I can but try. Here are my top five albums of the decade… however difficult and ridiculous this may be.

5) Midtown – Forget What You Know
Midtown’s final and best album, by far. This is the Gabe Saporta I idolised, not the sleazebag discowhore that he is today. FWYK is some serious stuff. It’s all heartbreak and politics and lyrics that grab you by the throat and make you pay attention. It’s inspirational, and hell, it sounds it. The thirteen minute epic at the end, So Long As We Keep Our Bodies Numb, is potentially one of the most caustic and similarily, most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. Midtown are definitely one of my favourite hidden gems and I curse the day they went on hiatus, because this needs to be heard and never forgotten.

Recommended songs: Empty Like The Ocean, Waiting For The News, Whole New World

4) Millencolin – Pennybridge Pioneers
I love Millencolin, as you may well know. This is the album that shot them to fame, with that incredible opener featured on THPS2, No Cigar. Whilst No Cigar is an absolutely amazing song, there is so much more on here to be enamoured with. Pennybridge bounces along, filled with enough pop-punk jollies to make you lose a few pounds jumping around with it. It’s the ultimate feel-good album and it’s fantastic. And who else can get away with comparing a car to a girlfriend? Best experienced loudly and obnoxiously.

Recommended tracks: Fox, No Cigar, The Ballad

3) The Lonely Island – Incredibad
Of all the albums I could have chosen… just hear me out, okay? Out of all the white boy rap albums out there, this one is actually good. And why? Because it isn’t trying to be. The brainchild of the comedy troupe of the same name, featuring SNL regular Andy Samberg, this album touches on such topics as impregnating aliens, being on a boat and making everyone dance/shag by slamming a boombox down. It’s so ridiculous that it’s fantastic. And surprisingly, the beats work so well. It also has the best guest stars I’ve ever heard on an album, including Julian Casablanca, Jack Black and Natalie Portman. You heard me.

Recommended tracks: I’m On A Boat, Punch You In The Jeans, Incredibad

2) Against Me! – As The Eternal Cowboy
Against Me!’s 2001 effort is definitely one of my favourite albums of all time, let alone this decade. Reinventing Axl Rose was great enough, but ATEC just took it to a new level. It’s not as raw, but still as poignant, still as hard hitting, still as entertaining. Gabel’s voice gets less shouty, more powerful and it totally works, and I can’t deny singing along loudly (and badly) to Sink.Florida.Sink at every opportunity I get, which generally means it’s a pretty amazing song. If there is an album for the summer, it is this – Floridians know how to do it best, after all.

Recommended songs: Sink.Florida.Sink, You Look Like I Need A Drink, Cavalier Eternal

1) AFI – The Art Of Drowning
This album is the album that founded my love of music, not just my love of AFI. It’s actually really difficult to say why, because I just love it, with no real explanation, but try I shall. This is the album where AFI were at their best – still punk, but with a bit more of an edge than they’d ever had before, due to utilising Jade correctly. Lyrically, it’s fantasy, pure and simple – Davey’s metaphors got out of hand and it was glorious. There’s something wonderfully passionate about this album which AFI’s albums have been lacking ever since, and the end of an era. I really can’t give this album enough praise. Without this album, I would not be the same person I am today.

Recommended tracks: Wester, Morningstar, The Nephilim… hell, all of it.

Top 10 Bands I Would Use Time Travel To See

It happens. Bands break up, go on ‘hiatus’ (which is code for breaking up), lose your favourite member or they were finished before we were even born. All of this means that we can miss out on some absolutely amazing shows. Perhaps, someday, we’ll find a way of getting back to see those bands, via the wonderful medium of time travel! So, here’s a top ten list of bands who I desperately want to travel back in time to see.

10) The Get Up Kids

Yeah, I know they’ve reformed, but it’s just not the same! The Get Up Kids were one of the greatest emo bands around and their shows were meant to be amazing. Not to mention, it would just be so cool to say you’ve seen TGUK at their prime. So, although it’s quite possible that I could see them play again now, I’d much rather travel back in time to catch them at their best.

9) Midtown

It’s a little sad that I’ve seen two members of this band performing with separate acts, but I’ve never actually seen Midtown play. Unfortunately, the band went on ‘hiatus’ and haven’t done anything since, deciding to play with somewhat more mediocre bands instead. I’ve always thought that Midtown would be best when they’re live, so I’d definitely travel back to the ‘Forget What You Know’ era to catch one of their shows.

8) Saosin (with Anthony Green)

Even though I love Circa Survive and Anthony’s solo album, it’s just not the same as when he was performing with Saosin. From footage I’ve seen online, both Saosin in their recent incarnation and Circa Survive are incredible live bands, so the original combination would be even better.

7) Taking Back Sunday (with John Nolan)

No matter how much I loved Fred, I feel that Taking Back Sunday has never been complete since John left. I want to see Adam swinging from the rafters singing songs about teenage heartbreak again! TBS had this real frenetic energy back in the day and while that remains to some extent today, they were more raw and more exciting during the first album. I would definitely go back for that.

6) Blink-182

Despite a couple of opportunities, I never got to see Blink-182 when they were together. I watched The Urethra Chronicles over and over, I played The Mark, Tom and Travis Show at least 30 times, and this is a band I miss, and I seriously regret not seeing them. To see Blink-182 is one of the things that you just had to do, and I never did.

5) Elliott Smith

It’s been over five years since Elliott died and his music has made more of an impact on me than almost every other musician I listen to. To see Elliott Smith live would be one of the greatest experiences ever. There’s something wonderful about quiet, acoustic sets, and if I had the choice, that’s when I would go back to.

4) Against Me!

Essentially, I would travel back in time to the 31st October 2007 when I saw Against Me! For the first time. That was potentially the greatest show I have ever seen and I want to see it all over again.

3) AFI (before Sing The Sorrow)

AFI are a really, really incredible live band. But, they only ever play songs from their latest two albums, which sucks. Therefore, I would go back and see them during The Art Of Drowning era, which was arguably their best, and see them do all my favourite songs.

2) Black Flag (with Henry Rollins)

It has to be done. I was watching a recording of a show they’d done in London just after Slip It In was released and I was blown away. Rollins has so much energy and charisma. Is it too far to say I’d sell my soul to travel back in time to that show? Maybe, but that was possibly the first time I’ve ever thought that I’d rather have been born in the 1970s.

1) The Misfits (with Glenn Danzig)

Not exactly a surprise coming from me, so my number one band to travel back in time to see would be the Misfits. I know the Misfits are still touring in their latest incarnation, but I don’t even classify that as a band… more like Jerry Only trying to milk as much money out of the franchise as possible. But the Misfits with Danzig would be absolutely incredible. Danzig is definitely the greatest frontman ever, and if Evilive is anything to go by, a Misfits show is essential for any punk fan.

Top 10 Songs Of Summer

Ah, summer… the most glorious of seasons. Well, if I’m being honest, I’m an autumn gal, but summer does provide lots of excellent opportunities – sun, sea and gigs by the plenty. Some of the best songs are inspired by those golden rays, and here’s our choice for the top 10 songs of summer.

NB: for a couple of links, I had to use the site FBRplus because Fueled By Ramen aren’t allowed to host music videos on Youtube any more and all the home made vids sucked. I apologise for the myriads of shit you’ll have to wade through until you reach the songs I mentioned.

10) Something Corporate – Punk Rock Princess
I don’t know what it is about Something Corporate that always makes me think of summer. Maybe it’s because I played this song over and over a few summers ago. Maybe it’s because SoCo are from California. Maybe it was Andrew McMahon’s wavy blonde locks in the video. Anyway, it’s pop-punk with shiny sparkly piano and that makes me happy.

9) The Academy Is… – Slow Down
I promise, the whole list isn’t going to be nice, mellow pop-punk, but this song just screams summer. It’s the perfect blend of Beckett’s beautiful vocals, jangly guitars and an epic chorus. Perfect for playing on the porch when the sun starts to go down.

8) Gym Class Heroes feat William Beckett – 7 Weeks
Travis McCoy’s tale of being on the Warped Tour with good pal William Beckett (he can be twice on the list because he has summer hair. Don’t ask me what that is, it’s hard to explain) is perfect for chilling out with. Plus I really like the guitar in this.

7) Skee-Lo – I Wish
Does this really need any explanation? This is a classic summer tune. Enough said.

6) Motion City Soundtrack – Boombox Generation
The synth in this song is particularly fun, and fun makes me think summer. Take it from me, there is nothing better than putting some MCS on and bouncing down the street when nobody’s looking. It’s great iPod material, so get it on there and dance like in the adverts!

5) Less Than Jake – Scott Farcas Takes It On The Chin
What kind of a person would I be if I didn’t put some ska on a summer playlist? To be honest, there are plenty of LTJ songs I could have chosen, but this one has a ton of energy, lots of horns, and is one of the best songs ever. Ever.

4) Say Anything – Got Your Money
This is on here for booty shaking purposes. No more, no less.

3) The World/Inferno Friendship Society – The Velocity of Love
This song has a real Parisian feel to it. Is it the accordians? The bohemian sentiments? Jack Terricloth’s alluring voice? It’s all three, if I’m being honest. If you haven’t already, fall in love with this band this summer. You won’t regret it.

2) Millencolin – Punk Rock Rebel
This has one of the catchiest opening riffs I’ve ever encountered. Not to mention that it’s all about a skateboarding hero of the band’s, which is the sport of choice when it comes to summer (Wimbledon doesn’t count, it’s not punk enough). Millencolin are one of my favourite bands to listen to in the summer because they’re really upbeat and a lot of fun.

1) Blink 182 – Reckless Abandon
Blink 182 ARE my summer band. Since the summer of ’03, I’ve not had a single summer where I haven’t been sat around with my friends with some Blink 182 blaring out of some awful CD/MP3 speakers and why? Because Blink 182 sing about being stupid teenagers, and that’s what summer’s all about.