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Introducing

Introducing Alkaline Trio

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Having featured FACT, Rolo Tomassi, We Are The Ocean, and Fireworks throughout the week, bringing an end to our Hassle Records Week of Slam Dunk bands is Alkaline Trio (although we do still have some non band specific Hassle Records activity planned for the weekend). Alkaline Trio is a band that probably doesn’t need too much introduction, introducing them we are though, so here’s what we have to offer about the Illinois three-piece.

After forming in 1996 it took the band just two years to record its debut studio album as ‘Goddamnit’ was released through Asian Man Records in 1998, and with its half hour album of punk rock the band was quickly able to establish quite a name for itself. A second album followed in 2000 in ‘Maybe I’ll Catch Fire’, again through Asian Man Records, and in 2001 it was time for the band to hit the mainstream with its Vagrant Records release ‘From Here to Infirmary’ which saw the band have two hit singles in ‘Private Eye’ and ‘Stupid Kid’.

With Alkaline Trio now well on the road to success, it was time for the band’s most popular album to date as ‘Good Mourning’ was released in 2003. With this release came further single success, and Alkaline Trio was now well and truly a force to be reckoned with within the punk rock world. With ‘Crimson’, ‘Agony & Irony’, and ‘This Addiction’ having now followed, Alkaline Trio is a band with seven albums worth of material behind it, and with such a healthy back catalogue the band has continued to grow and flourish.

2010’s ‘This Addiction’ has been Alkaline Trio’s most successful album to date as it has reached number 11 on the Billboard 200; a resounding success for the band’s very first release through its own Heart & Skull record label (joint released with Epitaph). With seven albums behind them, the future looks to be rather bright for Alkaline Trio, and if the band continues to run like clockwork then we can no doubt expect to see studio album number eight released at some stage in 2012.

The following is the official video for ‘This Addiction’, the title track and first released single from the band’s most recent release:

Introducing Fireworks

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Fireworks is a pop punk band from Metro Detroit, Michigan that has been around now since 2006. To date the band has released a total of three different EPs, and in 2009 the band released its debut full length studio album through Triple Crown Records. ‘All I Have to Offer is My Own Confusion’ is the title of the band’s debut, and the album was produced by New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert.

2010 has been a great year for Fireworks as the band has toured in support of the likes of New Found Glory, Hellogoodbye, Four Year Strong, and Saves the Day, and in the last year the band also put to film its very first promo video for the track ‘Detroit’ (the video can be found here at YouTube). All in all the band has been making some absolutely massive steps, and heading into the future Fireworks is a band that is bound to make many more as it progresses and matures.

Although the band is signed to Triple Crown Records in the U.S. (the label that gave us Brand New’s ‘Your Favourite Weapon’ and ‘Deja Entendu’ albums), here in the UK the band’s music is released through Hassle Records, and on the weekend of May 29th-May 30th the band played the Slam Dunk Festival in Hatfield/Leeds along with fellow Hassle Records artists Alkaline Trio, We Are The Ocean, Rolo Tomassi, and FACT.

Having had a busy start to 2010, Fireworks will be spending the next couple of months writing with a view to getting an album out there in March/April 2011, and will then spend a few months headlining shows in the States as the band looks to add to its already incredibly impressive gigging history.

Introducing We Are The Ocean

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We’ve now reached Wednesday and we’re therefore at the very heart of our Hassle Records week; what better way to celebrate then than with the hugely passionate We Are The Ocean.

Forming in 2007 from the ashes of Dead But Still Dreaming (of which Dan Brown was an original member with the others all joining later), the band decided that a change of name was in order after going through so many line-up changes, and We Are The Ocean was ultimately born. Fast forward to 2008 and the band was able to self-release its first EP, selling out of all 1000 copies of the limited run EP within one day. Two of the seven tracks from this EP (‘Nothing Good Has Happened Yet‘ and ‘God Damn Good‘) received promotional videos, and the release also received a positive 3/5 review from Kerrang.

Having self-released the ‘We Are The Ocean’ EP in August 2008, the band set to work on the writing process for its debut album in December 2008, an album which would not see its release for another 14 months. With work having begun on the album, the band had a busy year in 2009 as it got to play such festivals as Download and The Bamboozle, and in the November the band also released its second EP as ‘Look Alive’ was granted its release through Hassle Records.

In 2010 We Are The Ocean has continued to play some extremely high profile shows, and already this year the band has been able to support the likes of Thrice, Underoath, and Madina Lake, as well as playing the Slam Dunk Festival for a fantastic third year running. Debut album ‘Cutting Our Teeth’ was released in February 2010, and with two singles already having been released from the album, We Are The Ocean now has plans to release a third as ‘All Of This Has To End‘ is granted its release in July.

We Are The Ocean will no doubt be playing plenty more high profile shows in the future, and with a 21 date UK tour coming up later this year; if you’ve not already seen this band live then you’ll have no excuse not to have done come the end of October.

The following is the official video for ‘These Days, I Have Nothing’, the second released single from the band’s ‘Cutting Our Teeth’ debut:

Introducing Rolo Tomassi

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Having kicked off our Hassle Records week with FACT yesterday, today we’re focussing on the female-fronted Sheffield mathcore band Rolo Tomassi.

Taking their name from a character in the Curtis Hanson directed film L.A. Confidential, Rolo Tomassi formed in 2005 and quickly began recording material as they looked to establish themselves. The band released its first EP, the ‘Rolo Tomassi EP’ through Holy Roar Records in 2006, having already at this stage released a couple of demos as well as a split CD with Mirror! Mirror!. Further releases came for the band in 2007, and by 2008 it was time for the band to get things properly moving as it released its debut album ‘Hysterics’ through Hassle Records in the September of that year. 2008 was a big year for the band as they also played the Download Festival, and with further festivals following in 2009 the band was really able to grow and strengthen its fan base by putting on some utterly explosive live performances for the masses.

With a dual vocal attack of James and Eva Spence, the band is able to hit hard with its powerful sound, with the two vocalists bouncing off one another incredibly well as the male/female vocal combination comes across superbly. James Spence’s synth is a strong component of the music, and really does add something rather special to the Rolo Tomassi sound.

2010 has seen Rolo Tomassi release its second studio album, again through Hassle Records, and with ‘Cosmology’ receiving extremely positive reviews from the likes of NME, Rock Sound, and Drowned in Sound, it is clear that Rolo Tomassi is a band very capable of impressing with its recorded material, as well as being able to please with its live performances.

‘Party Wounds’ is the latest single to have been released by Rolo Tomassi, taken from the band’s 2010 ‘Cosmology’ album. The following is the video for the single:

Introducing FACT

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Kicking off our Hassle Records week is Japanese post-hardcore/metal band FACT.

Each day of this week we will be featuring a different Hassle Records artist, and with FACT having only joined the label in March (along with 65daysofstatic and fun., the latter of which we’ll be featuring later on in the week), we therefore decided that FACT would provide as good a starting point as any for our fantastic week of featuring quality Hassle artists.

FACT started out its life in Tokyo back in 1999, and the band then began to start touring locally before starting to gig further afield. From forming it took the band five years until the release of the ‘The Fine Day Never Last’ EP in 2004, with debut album ‘Never Turn Out The Light To Keep Myself’ then gaining its release the following year through Japanese label Bullion Records. 2009 was a big year for FACT as the band released its second studio album through Vagrant Records, a self-titled release, the band’s major label debut and first album to reach a worldwide audience. In 2010 the band has followed it up with ‘In the Blink of an Eye’, and now stands strong as a very impressive Japanese post-hardcore band with a great wealth of material.

To date the band has officially released three singles; one from each album that has been released thus far.

The following is the official video for the FACT single ‘Slip of the Lip‘, taken from 2010’s ‘In the Blink of an Eye‘ studio album: