Hello everyone! I welcome you to my first edition in my "alphabetic order" series. I'll be going through music recommendations in an alphabetic fashion in many different genres, and in this first one, we're going to delve into the discography of a fairly well known punk/folk band
Andrew Jackson Jihad
For my first letter I bring you the band AJJ, or as they were formerly known, Andrew Jackson Jihad. They're a Alt-punk/Anti-folk band based in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
They've toured with different versions of the band, but these days the lineup is pretty solid and headlined by the oldest members Sean Bonnette and Ben Gallaty. They've been putting out music since the early 2000's and their latest record is the 2016 record "the bible 2"
The sound of the band can be described as a mix of melancholic folk and agressive punk, based in an acoustic instrumentation that has evolved over time.
Their earlier records are a bit more straight forward folk with acoustic instruments and a punk attitude, but as they've evolved they've started sounding more punk with each record.
The lyrics also have this sarcastic tone that shows a complete disdain for the world.
So far I've gotten to see them live twice, and both times have been amazing, and I got the chance to talk to them post show both times!
The first record I wanna show you is perhaps my favorite, Only God Can Judge. 
It's a 7 track EP full of gems. The sound is very minimalistic. It starts up with a rolling drum, but then switches to mostly just an upright bass, an acoustic guitar and vocals.
The songs all have a feeling of bitter melancholy, mixed with dark humor and an punk attitude. The subject matter is usually either very clear personal experiences, or an abstract painting of a dark reality.
My favorite track on this EP has to be the final one,"I am so mad at you". It's an honest track filled with rage, hopelessness and nihilism with a dash of hope.
Moving on from that, the second record I wanna bring up is their 3rd studio album, Can't Maintain.
It's a big upgrade in terms of instrumentation. Here you find a more band setup with a drumkit, layered guitars both electric and acoustic and a load of percussive elements beyond just hands slapping guitars.
The songs all have a similar bitter melancholy to them, but with a more agressive tone. You also have some really odd tracks like "Kazoo Sonata in Cmaj", with is literally that, several kazoos playing in C major.
They also have this sense of honesty you had on "Only god can judge" and I find that to be the most endearing part of this record. The fact that despite it being a full album it doesn't sound like a collection of perfectly assembled songs, but more like glimpses into a world of moments of tragedy and comedy.
This track is my favorite on here, "Self esteem", wich entails the experience of being agoraphobic and socially anxiety. Quite fitting for some of us on steemit I imagine!
The third and final record I wanna show you is Knife Man, the 2011 release is their 4th full length album and it really shows the evolution of their sound.
They're now fully going into the stereo field and have a fresh sharp sound. It's more punk than folk now with distorted guitars taking over for the acoustic more and more, and the drums becoming an increasingly bigger part of the soundscape.
The lyrics are a bit less straightforward and a lot more metaphorical than the records I've shown earlier, but you still get the sense of honesty from the vocal delivery. You still get that feeling of impotent rage that is finally getting unleashed.
My favorite line has to be "I wish I had a bullet big enough to fuckin' kill the sun, I'm sick of songs about the summer. And I hate everyone". It's off the track "Hate, Rain on me". It's a great opening to a track full of hopeless nihilism, questioning how anyone can ever love someone so full of hate.
My favorite track on here however is "Distance". It's more of a straightforward punk track, and a song about the experience of being forced apart from someone important in your life. It's a cathartic experience of coping with the loneliness and void that remains when someone leaves you.
In my opinion this is a band you should check out if you are a fan of either folk or punk, it's a great mix. And I honestly wouldn't expect to invoke such strong emotional responses, perhaps mostly due to the lyrical delivery of the singer.
His voice is right at the edge of where it's in pitch, and constantly feels like he's about to fall to the ground from some existential crisis. At the same time you have this ironic humor that makes it all somehow OK in the end.
~Hope you all liked my first entry into this arduous task of telling people what art to enjoy, feel free to tell me how I'm wrong or right or whatever your opinion is! Let me know if you want more stuff like this, I'm gonna be going through a lot of different genres and styles of music~
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