best of 2013 by marissa magic

I saw new bands more than I listened to new records this year so heres some bands that blew my mind:

Swarm - Stillsuit was in Philadelphia in a bike shop  when we played with this band that consisted of two drummers, a bassist, a main singer and then a chorus of three women dancing and singing back ups. It was exhilarating and emotional. I'm pretty sure I cried. After tour anytime anyone asked what bands were good this was a always at the top of my list.

Permanent Ruin - This band is one of those bands to me that i'm kind of like "yeah, they're a good band"  and then I see them and without fail my jaw drops. Non-stop rage, bass and drums unrelenting, a guitar that squeals into chaos constantly and a singer that runs from belting to growling to screaming to holding a note for so fucking long.

Vexx - Wet Drag played a bar in Chehalis that stuffed us with free food and was totally one of those instances of  the bands watch the bands, no one else really there. The atmosphere was a little awkward and Larsens bass kept cutting out but they still slated the shit out of everything. I've been a big fan of stuff that Maryjane does for awhile now and this definitely fed the obsession

Black Dog - This band is somewhere between total sleaze and the heaviest of the heavy. They are so absurd that every time I see them I spend the entire time head banging and laughing hysterically. Their singer consistently wears corpse paint and does push-ups and occasionally brings free weights. This year the line up stretched to include a bass and some general tape loop noise. Basically a bunch of noise freaks decided to start an over the top metal band and its pretty amazing

Daisyworld - Grunge at its best. Jaime is such a rad drummer, The guitar keeps a sickly trance, back and fourth boy/girl vocals. Defenitely another band that falls into the category where I like them and then I see them and my jaw drops.

Styrofoam Sanchez - These noise weirdos. They all dress in suits and build masks and monoliths out of styrofoam that are ripped to shreds by the end. Earsplitting and filled with doom, a wall full of static and bleeps and growls. I once caught a glance of a lyric sheet and it said something like "the toxic rivers run through your blood"

Condominium - This band lands in the space of hardcore that I love, the part that gets real freaky all of the time. They have this seven inch called Carl that jags through an entire intro and then falls in line in the most seasick sense. Everything is barked out in disgust. I saw them live they were wearing flannel.

Not new bands I saw favorites:

favorite summer of my adult life: 2013 - Basically Stillsuit put out our own record, Wet Drag put out a tape and a seven inch, both went on tour, all experiences were excellent.

Realizing I still have feelings and I can get lost in love and get my heart broken

Starting The Blues with Max Nordile and daring to play quiet

Reading The Dialectic of Sex by Shulamith Firestone, getting pretty obsessed

Salami and Cheese snack packs

Moving into a room with a real window and door

Yogurt

Anything by Roky Erickson

Ok now I'm just rambling...