I got to enjoy 38 hours without power over the weekend (thank you very much PG&E), and although, in the grand scheme of things, it could have been much worse, it did put a damper to my plan to relax over the weekend before all heck breaks loose again. You never really notice how damned dependent your life is to the ol' mistress electricity until she's gone, and then suddenly everything is dark, cold and quiet.

Ten Yard Fight is pretty much hardcore. Good, ol' fashioned east coast hardcore. The sort of stuff that if you see in concert, you should expect to be hit on the head with a folding chair. Not one of those sissy wooden ones, mind you, but those old school beige, metal ones from your local church or school. People aren't being whalloped with folding chairs out of anger, really, but just a primal enthusiasm for all things hardcore and, very likely, straight edge. Those were the days in New England with such fire and brimstone, like a later-day Cotton Mather yelling from the pulpit. Not that Ten Yard Fight are Christian, but the sort of idealogical ferocity of the band and genre sort of speak to that same sort of primitive lust for order. I'm sure someone out there is horrified by my comparision, but sorry, I call 'em like I see 'em. "Back It Up" is about as straight-up a hardcore song as they come: angry, loud and caustic. Beautiful, especially for a find Monday morning after a weekend of darkness as this is.