So this is the cover of my sketchbook. I figure that I've been preaching for so long that we should be showing off our work, yet I never show mine. So for a bit I'll be doing a drawing a day, and I know I know...I haven't even finished my freaking album reviews yet.

So here's a tease for tomorrow.

Have fun, and look this scares the crap out of me. No one thinks that they're a good artist, so this is my work...it's weird, poorly drawn, but it's me.

I hope you guys do the same.

drawjordan

So, this is where Draw resides these days. It's a nice change of pace from upstate New York, and it's a real great influence on us here at Draw. For the time being we're going to regroup and get together some really neat things in the next few weeks.

First, we're going to start to fuse together a bit more of the city into our work, it's kind of hard not to.

Secondly, While people are still submitting in their work for Makeshift Mixtape, we're going to start releasing some shirts that are one-off's from featured sketchbooks.

So check out the blog more often for sketchbook we dig, and even some published work from some of the ones we can get our hands on.

For those of you still sticking it out with us, and who are patient with how long some of these things are taking, thank you.

Don't worry, we're really excited about what we get to show off soon, we hope you guys are too.

Ok, so yeah it's been a while since we wrote anything on the site. There's been some big changes in the draw company, we've decided to uproot from Albany and for now we're all kind of floating around in limbo.

We're making he transition from upstate to good ol' New York City. So things have been a bit delayed, we've quietly released our handimal shirts (http://www.drawlimited.com/shirtdesignelevephant.php) and we have a few surprises in store for the next few months.

There's a few big things in the works that I'm really super excited about, and I feel like it's something Draw has been lacking. We're going to start showcasing a lot more sketch books in the next few weeks and really hope that you guys like what we start showing off. Living/working in Manhattan has given us a new lease on life and has blown the doors open for Draw and our shirts, so get ready.

Expect some pretty sweet designs as we start to really gain our footing again in the city, and release some great new quality product with some of our new friends.

Drawjordan

Hey all you crazy doodleites...or doodlers, diddlers or umm doodly diddle ites?

It's been a long time since anyone posted on the blog and we'd like to apologize for that.

Its been a crazy few weeks. We've come out with the handimal line (that will be up shortly) and we've even created our first holiday themed tee (Earth Day) of which we do have a very select few sizes left to sell. There's been some moving and shaking within the Draw ranks, and a new endeavor has been oh so needed (Kyle hey!)

In the coming days we're going to start showing off our new shirts, opening up the blog with much more frequent posts again, and in the near future we're going to start highlighting local artists and people we really dig (wait, haven't we been doing that already?)

Yes, we have. But this is better than before.

So having said all that, it's time for my lazy self to finally do a new album review (yeah....I totally dropped the ball on that. Sorry)

So to catch up, I'm about to write a check my ass better be able to cash. I'm going to try and play catch up and do a review a day for this week. Let's see how good I am.

For my first review, I'm going to tackle an album that bridged the gap between my hardcore/nu metal days, to my emo/indie days. The album is called On A Wire, and the band is the legend........................wait for it........................

...ARY The Get Up Kids.

The Get Up Kids have been a personal favorite of mine since I first learned of them my junior year of highschool. It's strange thinking back because the album I'm reviewing isn't really "The Get Up Kids," if that makes any sense.

TGUK is usually a fast paced pop/punkish emo (the good emo, like Saves The Day emo....not the bastardized term used today) band that really hit it home with what it was like to be a guy getting effed over by females and life alike.

Then On A Wire, comes out and it's just somber as hell. The album is slow moving; it's melancholy (and the infinte sadness...Smashing Pumpkins refrence what what!) and really makes you want to crack open a bottle of liquor, sit inside on a cold rainy day and ponder life and all its meanings.

It's one of my favorite albums of all time. I'm really hard pressed between getting the cover art from this album or their earlier album, Something To Write Home About, as my next tattoo as well, so as you guys can see...I love the ever living ish out of this band.

The album opens up with with the track Overdue and the first line sets the tone for the whole album, "You're a few years overdue, I've spent them waiting here for you."

Matt Pryor doesn't really have his trademark wailing (a term I use for most singers of older emo bands. Chris Carabba anyone?) In fact, his signing is more so slightly over a whisper for most of the tracks, though the albums title track "On A Wire" has him wailing away again.

My favorite track on the album doesn't even have Matt singing in it, but Jim Suptic guitarist and singer of my all time favorite song from TGUK "Ten Minutes." The name of the song is "Campfire Kansas" and it's all about a group of friends camping/river rafting together on a warm summer night. It really makes me reflect on my own childhood spent by a local creek with some of my closest friends (a lot of who man the SS Draw Ltd. with me these days)

"we laughed away the sunburn
as we laughed away the day
what we lost means nothing
for the memories will stay"

Other standout tracks are "Fall From Grace", "All That I Know," and "The Worst Idea," which are highly highly recommended.

I got to see these guys (I wait seven years for this) live this past Saturday at Bamboozle. Sadly, they broke up while I was still in highschool and it wasn't until recently that they started touring again.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see them for as long as I would have liked because of the abbreviated Bamboozle set. The worst part is I found out the day before Bamboozle they were playing at the Gramercy Theater in NYC two freaking blocks from where I was staying. Then, to top off my shittastic sundae, there was a surprise opening band...

Brand FREAKING New :shakes fist in the air:

The experience at Bamboozle was still a wonderful one. I saw one of my idol bands play a set list that was basically my "best of" playlist on my iPod.

It's interesting to see how much of my current music taste branched off because of this album.

If you want to see one of the Godfathers of the current scene, check out The Get Up Kids, and although every album is fantastic...there's only one On A Wire.

In 4th grade I had to pick an instrument I wanted to do in band class. It was mandatory for all students to be part of band or orchestra, and I wanted to learn drums SO badly. It just looked like a cool instrument and with some sweet drum solos in bands, plus just the idea of pounding the crap out of an instrument and it being considered practice was fantastic to me.

Sadly through a series of annoying and deviating events, I ended up with the clarinet. I grew to like it for what it was, but always held that deep desire to play the drums. I still do. And occasionally I'll peruse YouTube watching amazing drum solo videos because I love the way it all looks and sounds.

Here are two videos between two very different people background wise.

The first video is from Travis Barker of Blink182, and the second is from a 16 year old kid named Dylan Elise. His performance is from the Tauranga National Jazz Festival in New Zealand and at just over 10 mins long it's a bit much, but I promise you that you won't be disappointed. He's really, really amazing.

Enjoy,
Draw.

So, I was floored by this trailer.

and then even more so by the amazing posters.

I'll keep it short and sweet. We here at draw love the idea and feelings behind being and acting like children, especially through art. This movie seems to be doing just that, and it looks breathtaking.

Plus the typography on this is freaking sweet. Long live hand rendered type!

The below video is done to "In Context" by Field Music, and has quite a hypnotic feel to it. We at Draw want you to doodle wherever, and whenever you can, and if that means on the wall with a Sharpie … then so be it. But of course we want you to put your doodling to good use, so this is only one of the ways you can contribute to our latest theme, *makeshift mixtape.

And as always,
Draw

This is a weird review for me to be writing because, well I hated this band's first album. I know "hated" is a strong word, but I still choose to use it. For some reason A Fever You Can't Sweat Out just rubbed me the wrong way. It came out at the hight of my music snob phase as well as my "anti-anything remotely sounding similar to another band" phase. I guess I grew up in a scene where the bands that got big were the ones that toured most often. They hit the right shows at the right times and through hard work and a insane touring schedule, they eventually would grow and develop a fan base.

Panic at the Disco played, like, a show or two before they were signed to a major record label. They hit at the right time at the right place, with the explosion of bands being discovered via myspace. They had catchy songs with a sound (vocal wise, at least in my opinion) that reminded me of Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy. Even the song titles were long and clever, just like Fall Out Boy, and on top of all of that as a band, they weren't very good. Even Panic's lead singer, Brendon Urie, said they had strides to go when it came to musical talent.

By constantly touring, a band gains something else besides a fan-base; they gain talent. They practice with the same people daily, they tour in a small van with the same guys from state to state to state, creating a bond between members, gaining stage presence, and above all, they learn to be better musicians.

So having said all of that, being a guy who won't ever discredit a band undeservingly, and who will give multiple chances and continue to buy new releases of bands that have disappointed me in the past, I went half way with a friend and purchased Pretty.Odd. by Panic at the Disco.

Totally floored and taken back by, not only the fact that I liked this album, but how much I liked it, my like eventually turned into love. Yes, I eventually ended up loving this album.

This is the Panic at the Disco that should have made their debut. They had their own sound, their own vibe, and above all else, they ended up being really good musicians. With a few member changes, the vast improvements are obvious and have me very very excited for where they take themselves as artists.

With the super catchy "Nine In The Afternoon," this song sets a tempo for the rest of the album. They let you know there is a new band here--one that you're not used to. Gone are the overtly synthetic sounds of their first album, this is a band. This isn't some group of kids with a keyboard and a Mac; they know what they're playing and how to play them. There are trumpets sounding off in the background, pronounced guitar's and Brendon Urie's voice takes up a lot more space this time around.

That song kicks us off on a very mature (even though most of the members were still under 21) and an even classic rock or folky sounding record.

The song's are upbeat and happy as hell, and while having many a summer party last year, this was the album I often listened to.

"That Green Gentlemen (Thing's Have Changed)" is the song that tipped me off to buy this album. Seeing this video, hearing this song just for some reason made me want to hear more. So congrats to a great song/music video I guess, because the combo of the two was what baited me to actually give this record a listen.

Their third single " Northern Downpour," slows down the record and is a real great example of how they work now with subtle sounds, simple chords and courses' and harmonies as well as adding in wonderful back up vocals. It's a wonderful song to listen to on a rainy day and I highly recommend giving it a try the next time you're stuck indoors.

One of the last songs on the album is my personal favorite and this is usually the song I play for friends who have yet to hear the album. It's called "Folkin' Around," and, as from the title, you can see it's not going to sound like anything you'd expect to hear from Panic at the Disco. It's folkish while really flirting the line of being country. I'd love to play this and "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" back to back to show just how far this band has come. I figure I'll end this with a quote from that song.

"If I've forgotten how to sing
Before I sung this song
I'll write it all across this wall
 Before my job is done
 And I'll even have the courtesy
 Of admitting I was wrong"

I can proudly say I no longer hate Panic at the Disco.

I wanted to write today, but I didn't know what I wanted to write about. I don't really like searching and searching for something to inspire me because it feels forced, and usually I just Stumble until an image, or a story, or a quote inspires me.

I found the image below today:

I can't tell you how many times I've done the same thing in elementary and middle school. I was a good student and I studied hard, but sometimes you just bomb a test. And when you know you bomb a test before it's even finished, you kind of give up.

But I had my little ways of trying to score brownie points with the teacher, and crossing my fingers that she'd give me a couple bonus points for creativity. I knew I was a good illustrator, and that I had artistic talent, so I used that to my advantage and drew all these amazing little pictures at the end of every bombed test. Sometimes I'd even spend more time on the illustrations than the actual test.

A lot of the time I'd incorporate little notes like the one above about how much I really tried and did my best, but I hoped that my little drawing was good enough for an extra point or two. At the very least, I was pulling some heavy psychological manipulation on my teachers when I was only 7 or 8 because I'd guilt trip them sometimes into passing me.

Granted, sometimes it didn't work, but those times were extremely rare because I was just THAT kind of a good student. I had my ways, lol.

The last time I can remember doodling on a test to that extent was actually during my AP English exam my senior year of high school. For anyone who's taken an AP class, you know the intensity of not only the class but of the exam as well. And for those of you that don't, AP stands for Advanced Placement and these are master's level college courses offered in high school. If you pass the exam at the end, depending on your score from 1-5, you can receive up to 6 college credits.

The exams cost about $80 each at the time, and since I knew for a good while that I was going to bomb this test but that my parents had paid for it, I didn't really care about my score. I wrote the essays and answered the questions in my booklet, but then proceeded to doodle and render these complex drawings on the unused pages for about 2 hours out of the 3 total hours I had to take the test.

My doodles weren't to sway the college professors and the AP board into giving me a better score, or to take sympathy on me, but it was honestly because I was bored and had a pencil in my hand for 3 hours. I wrote a note that time as well, but more along the lines of what I thought of the English literary system at the time mixed with a little personal opinion on the political arena. In a way it was practice for my following AP exam on American History the next day.

I think it's funny that one image done by an elementary student randomly posted and found online can bring back all of those memories. I'm sure there are more of you out there that have done the same, and there's no shame in it. We're always going to encourage you to doodle no matter where you are or what you're doing.

As always,
Draw.

A guitar slide and a declaration: "Tonight I'm coming home in a coma if it fucking kills me." Thus starts off Every Time I Die's twenty seven minute ear fucking of a masterpiece we aptly call Hot Damn.

And I'll be God damned if this album isn't the most perfect hardcore album I've ever heard.

I first caught wind of ETID when I was a Junior in high school and the first song I remember hearing was off their second album called "The Logic of Crocodiles." Shortly after being exposed to them, they came out with Hot Damn and I fell in love.

There's not a song on this album that any fan of hardcore wouldn't love. It has the witty, always quotable lyrics of Keith Buckley, the catchy guitar onslaughts of Andy and Jordan, and hard hitting drumming courtesy of Mike (in regards to ETID it's best to never mention the bassist). The key to the album is it's short.

Like, really short.

At twenty seven minutes, there's no room for fat here. Every song is either two minutes or under. They hit you hard, destroy every chance you have of ever listening to other hardcore albums again, and leave you tired, sweaty, and craving a cigarette.

Every.Single.Song.Is.Perfect.

So I'll just do a quick rundown of each one, give you a line from each song because the lyrics are always my favorite part. Simply put, you need to buy this album. No ifs ands or buts about it.

Romeo A Go-Go - "There's a delicate love song in this, kicked out and dripping in verse. Go get your gun because God won't show. He sent a poet instead."

Off Broadway - "Tonight we dance, for tomorrow they release the dogs. 1,2,3. 1,2,3. Keep it up. 1,2,3. Savor it. Where is my head? Where is my heart? Everything vanishes."

I Been Gone A Long Time - "What we're doing is so wrong, and what you're wearing is so right (It's so tight!)" and this song has the mandatory cowbell in it....so that makes it an automatic plus.

Godspeed Us To Sea - "Oh captain, my captain, you've been drinking. What happened? I've been slurring my cadences, and blacking out when I stand."

She's My Rushmore - " The greatest lovers were murders first."

Floater(Best.Fucking.Song.Ever.)- "Don't let your dreamers grow up to be dead men. 
Drown us at birth, save her some time. Drifting on romantic holiday, breathless as her cold arms cover me. Drag the lake. You'll find it's full of love." This song also has hands down one of my favorite breakdowns to ever see live.

In The Event That Everything Should Go Terribly Wrong - This is ETID's version of a calm instrumental and I think it's a nice way to calm down a second and regain your composure before the end of the cd hits you.

Ebolarama (Their single off the album, if you can call it that) - "When in Rome we shall do as the Romans, when in hell we do shots at the bar." <3

Hit Of The Search Party - "Sleep with one knife open. You can't outthink us, we've been out of thoughts for a while."

Pornogratherapy - "We'll sing the glory of the gospel for some whiskey and a skin flick. Hallelujah."

This is one of my favorite bands ever and every single album they've made has been stellar, but there is and will always be only one Hot Damn.