In Rotation: Still Alive - Choices

Still Alive seamlessly blend ska and hardcore at a breakneck pace. Fans of The Suicide Machines should be all over this. Choices, released last month, leans more heavily toward the hardcore side although there is still time for skanking. This is the Chicago four-piece's second full-length album and first release on Jump Start Records. Still Alive includes members from Waste Basket, Young Til We Die and Trike, so their output has been solid from day one.

Metal guitar licks come through on "The Televangelist," an early ripper on the album. "The Park" also opens with some circular guitar work that calls metal to mind before giving way to a ska section and one of the catchiest choruses on this record. "Along the Way" offers melodic verses over punishing rhythms. "Actors & Puppets" is the most ska'd up song on the album and serves as one of the best examples of the band flipping the switch back and forth between ska and hardcore.

Still Alive play at Reggies Rock Club on October 26th with Leftover Crack, Days N Daze and All Torn Up. This is the kind of music that just thrashes in the live setting. Stream Choices below or head to Still Alive's bandcamp page.