Casket Lottery Survival is for Cowards Second Nature 2002

Casket Lottery Survival is for Cowards Second Nature 2002 CAT# SN031

Fantastic Casket Lottery LP, but, they're all great. So much aggression, screaming vocals, screaming guitars, and huge drums. It's strange how At The Drive-In became so popular while Casket Lottery had the same feel and in comparison, stayed only Zine-Famous.

This was the band's third album and until Real Fear showed up 10 years later, was thought to be their last. Had it remained their final LP, it would have been a good way to go. Classic emo, teenage angst turning into adult anger and frustration. One of the final golden era of emo albums, before it turned into a scene about trendy jeans, combed hair and suburban malls.

Survival Is For Cowards

The Casket Lottery Moving Mountains Second Nature 2000

The Casket Lottery Moving Mountains Second Nature 2000 CAT #SN018

The pros will tell you this a typical sophomore album. They'll say it doesn't have the same energy as the debut. Or, the band started experimenting to add an edge to their sound, but hadn't fully developed into themselves. You can even read retrospective reviews that claim the follow-up is the one to own, it's the one that put all the pieces together.

Screw that, in 2000, the start/stop emo dynamic was morphing into garbage like Fall Out Boy. Yet, here's this Kansas City band smacking you in the face. Screaming and crying, even heavy metal gurgling at you that this style still had some moments to offer. The band's experimentation was the use of more progressive and metal influences that they threw into their sound. And it works. It works amazingly well. You could call it a little unbalanced compared to the later albums, but you could just as easily say it also adds an element of surprise to the album listening experience.

The kids know. This is a great LP. Regardless of what the "best" Casket Lottery album is, this stands with all their work on equal footing. There's also a great blurb written by Ed Rose about the recording of the album on the inner-sleeve. It's not legendary bathroom reading like the CD liners to Kill Creek's St. Valentine's Garage (if you have the CD, you understand), but it shows, Ed got it, too.

A Dead Dear

The Casket Lottery Choose Bronze Second Nature 1999

The Casket Lottery Choose Bronze Second Nature 1999 CAT# SN016

You don't want to call Casket Lottery emo, but fuck, this album can be so emo. It's whiny, the dual vocal approach exchange cries throughout, and, I think most the songs are about girls. And while it doesn't sound 1999 Midwestern emo with all the math-y time signature changes, it would have fit in fine next to the likes of emo pioneers Boys Life and Giants Chair. So, in that regard, the Casket Lottery's first LP is an emo LP.

However, it's way beyond that, it's got more depth and way too much aggression. Keeping in mind, two thirds of the band performed in the brutal metal band (one of which still does) Coalesce, these songs will throat punch you. There's no time for crying, Casket Lottery has too much of a punk rock upbringing and too much of a metal ego to get too wimpy.

Another element of the post-hardcore scenes the Casket Lottery gravitated to, math-rock. Far more intricate than their emo counterparts. It's not as harsh as Don Caballero and not as pretentious as American Football or Joan of Arc, but these guys have enough start-stop moves and drum counts to start a class. They were able to find a solid balance of the influences and make something unique, catchy, but still maintain their punk rock DIY values. It's a great LP.

Also key to the Casket Lottery perfection is the special touches they gave every release outside not allowing for a single skipped over track. Choose Bronze features the band name in metallic bronze print on the front cover. They also inscribed the words, "Your Home" and "My Home" on opposites sides near the matrix numbers. Little things like that, always made Casket Lottery so clever and conscious of the people listening to them.

CHOOSE BRONZE

Coalesce Salt And Passage Second Nature 2007

Coalesce Salt And Passage Second Nature 2007 CAT# SN069

Just two brutal tracks from Kansas City's finest.  Both tracks just punch you in the face and get all math-y simultaneously.  By this time in the band's history, they were comfortable to explore things on a more sonic level.  Rather than just kick your teeth in, the band and long-time producer Ed Rose, were playing around with sounds and harmonies.  Buried vocal tracks, cleaning up the insane guitar lines that spill across the band's tracks, and getting super technical behind the drums.

For a simple 7" release, Dan Askew's Second Nature label pulled out all stops on the packaging.  Most the vinyl came in color variants.  It's sleeved in 7" size gatefold.  And the print on the sleeve is well-designed and thought out.  Amazing product.

Salt and Passage EP

The Casket Lottery Possiblies and Maybes Second Nature/Status 2003

The Casket Lottery Possiblies and Maybes Second Nature/Status 2003 CAT#SN044/ST019

So much to say about the Casket Lottery...much of it I should share for other albums that I sadly do not have on vinyl.

First, the band's leader, Nathan Ellis, probably champions the local KC scene more than any other national touring band.  In the liner write up on this LP he gushes about Ed Rose, Kill Creek, the oft-forgotten Reflector, and the band he was a long time member for, Coalesce.  He's always been that way, it's no joke, it's not a shoutout to friends, it's his genuine take on the artists that surround him in town.

Locally, the Casket Lottery is a treasure, there's support, but, ultimately, KC is not a huge town.  A lot of passionate local music scensters would state they don't get the support they deserve.  Maybe the band doesn't, but again, there's not a huge market for angular indie rock here or many other places.  In the glory days of Shiner, Season to Risk, and Boys Life, it's not like those bands were playing arena's locally.  They were packing clubs and small venues.  They'd tour large venues with other acts, but not as a headliner.  So, the Casket Lottery has always fitted in where they needed to fit in.

However, the point I wanted to bring out is that nationally, the band has created a passionate fanbase.  Their records, like all indie bands, came out limited runs and command high dollar on the second hand market from fans.  You get on social media and you'll find kids raving about the band, bragging about the original issue albums they own, the time they saw them in a basement, etc.  They have a small, but amazingly devoted fanbase not just throughout the US but in Europe as well.

I've always felt that the reason is because quality has always been the band's number one concern.  I have never met anyone more passionate about the entire presentation than Nathan Ellis.  And when I say the entire presentation, I'm talking about everything.  For example, I remember when the band's first EP, "Dot, Dot, Dash, Something or Other Dot" was in the works.  Matt Rubin who was releasing stuff under his label, Paper Brigade, was initially involved and wanted to put out the EP.  At a show, I remember seeing Matt have a conversation with Nathan, afterwards Matt came to me shaking his head.  He explained to me that Nathan was talking to him about the packaging of the EP, how it had to have gold leaf printing or something.  Matt's major concern was he wasn't going to have the money to put out the product Nathan wanted and if he did, he wouldn't break even, he'd lose money.  For a fleeting moment, I was about to say to Matt I would help, but then I looked at the kid's face and realized he just wanted out, not assistance, he was scared to death of it.  Ultimately, Status Recordings released the EP, I'm pretty sure Rubin never bowed out (he would've gone through with it, too nice of a kid) it was just a situation in which Status could offer the Casket Lottery more in the way of distribution and opportunity.

That's Nathan Ellis, he's passionate about it right down to the last detail.  And, everything the band put out with their name on it is intricately designed and beautiful.  Obviously, it goes for the music as well.  This Double LP is a compilation of split EPs, compilation appearances, and a few new songs.  Surprisingly, there are no throw aways or embarrassing moments.  Even the early tunes that Ellis pokes fun at in his liners are above average tracks.  Most compilations like this are filled with dribble and garbage, I mean, have you heard REM's Dead Letter Office or locally, the Get Up Kids Eudora, there is some crap on albums like that.  This collection quality through and through.  It's a testament to the band's following.  If you're willing to put that much effort into every song, fans are going to react.  It's a Fugazi-esque way of doing things and the reason the band carries such a devoted fanbase.

Unteen
Priest Walks into a Bar

Kill Creek Colors of Home Second Nature 2001

Kill Creek Colors of Home Second Nature 2001 CAT# SN026

I love Kill Creek, probably more so than any other local band.  I was in high school when they started releasing on the Mammoth label and in terms of local bands, these guys were the top dog.  This was the 90's local band that was "going to make it."

The 'Stretch' EP was a solid outing, a bit grunge-a-fied, but a solid 5 song set.  'St. Valentine's Garage' was a perfect high school album.  It was angry at times, sappy at times, and had hooks.  Second, local producer extraordinaire Ed Rose and Kill Creek singer Scott Born wrote possibly the best liner notes in the history of rock n' roll on that album.  Then, my junior year, they put out 'Proving Winter Cruel.'  At that time, it was a total buzz kill.  Why did this band get so damn sad about things?  That CD sat on the shelf for some time.  I still played the crap out of Stretch and St. Valentine's and put the band on mix tapes galore (if you want to impress a girl, hit her up with 'Million' off St. Valentine's, total panty dropper).

Later, say two years, I got to college and things got complicated.  Work, school, and relationships became tough to balance.  I was at JCCC, a lot of friends and my girlfriend were at KU.  Queue 'Proving Winter Cruel' for long drives back and forth.  Holy shit!  Why hadn't I paid more attention to this album?  It was incredible.

At this time, Kill Creek wasn't doing much.  I believe Mammoth had dropped them shortly after 'Proving'.  I began sending the band emails through their website.  I began listening on-line to stuff they put up for the 'Whimsy' album that never came out.  Scott Born started emailing me back, so did other members of the band.  Emails were exchanged which made 'Proving Winter Cruel' that much better for me.

I started championing the band; really spreading the word on 'Proving Winter Cruel' to friends and people in bands.  Surprisingly, so were a lot of other people in the local scene.  It was like we all spontaneously re-discovered this band's greatness.

And that is one of the great things about local music.  On the 'St. Valentine's Garage' tour, Kill Creek played an all ages show at Gee Coffee in Shawnee, KS.  There was well over 300 kids there, kids under the age of 18 like myself.  Well, they didn't all leave the music scene.  Many of those kids formed their own bands, wrote for zines, worked for KJHK, and even started labels.  None of us forgot about Kill Creek and like I said, it's like we all revisited 'Proving Winter Cruel' at an age when it spoke to us.

So, despite being out of it for nearly 5 years, Kill Creek was sucked right back in.  They started playing shows and we all went again.  This time as young adults (well, adult may be a stretch).  Dan Askew, who started up Second Nature was one of those people.  Second Nature had been putting out local hardcore and metal, but, I think the guy who really got Dan interested in the band was Nathan Ellis of Coalesce and Casket Lottery.  I have no proof for that other than Nathan is a featured player on this LP and featured in bands on Dan's label.  Dan got the rights to the catalog and somehow released a compilation entitled 'The Will to Strike', which is a virtual anthology of the band.  He also released this album.

I was honestly scared to listen to the LP when it came out.  Here is a band 5 years out of the loop trying to give it another go.  The idea has train wreck written all over it.  Surprisingly, it's solid effort.  The train-wreck part happened because like other Kansas bands, no one outside Kansas was paying attention.  And, for Kill Creek if they weren't paying attention before, they sure as hell weren't in 2001.

The reviews that surrounded the LP in the indie-circles weren't too favorable either.  Most of them group the band in with the likes of the Get Up Kids and Anniversary calling them a Midwest emo band.  Which is absurd, the band was contemporaries to early Midwest KC bands like Shiner and Giants Chair, but sounded nothing like them.  Outside of the obvious influence the band imparted on bands like the Get Up Kids and the Anniversary, they don't have much to do with that scene.  Kill Creek is far more routed in 80's punk-ish power pop.  If there's an angular "emo" sound, it comes from 80's groups like Mission of Burma and Big Dipper, not Sunny Day Real Estate.

The other comforting part of this LP for me was the familiarity I had with the songs.  A lot of these songs came from the never finished 'Whimsy' project.  It also features a local rock all star cast, the previously mentioned Nathan Ellis, Twani Freeland, the members of the band obviously, and Ed Rose at the helm producing.  The song "Gett Up" is among the best things the band ever did and sets the tone for a great album.  The band actually found a groove in their old age.  Not just heartbroken pop tunes that you scream or cry to, now you could also dance.  It's a blends the crunchy guitars and hooks of 'St. Valentine's' with the roots rock of 'Proving Winter Cruel'.  Shame it came out about 6 years too late, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't mattered, the band was cursed.

Gett Up
Grandfather's Left Side