FREAKING HAUNTING. the first time I heard this I didn’t really know what was happening. and then I couldn’t stop listening at ALL.
at ALL. at all at all a tall.
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blessthefall
warped tour 2012
uniondale, ny
aw yea. AW YEA.
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i’ll post my other warped tour pics later. but for now, here’s one from my phone.. MEMPHIS MAY FIRE’s MATTY MULLINS tearing faces off.
i’ve seen dozens of warped tour pictures now, and time and again matty mullins is probably one of the most iconic silhouettes of the tour, with his dope combover and perpetual sunglasses.
i’d only heard a little of their stuff prior to seeing them in auburn on saturday, but…WOW. live is amazing. i spent most of today with Challenger on in the car. again, completely and utterly blown away. this may be a contender for best hard rock album of 2012 so far, and possibly even a contender for best album of the year. Handwritten’s previously almost certain crown may now be in danger.
going back to listen to challenger some more.
cheers,
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okay: confide, easily one of the most underrated bands of the genre. and they’re already gone.. bummer. i know their cover of Such Great Heights was a bit divisive, but overall confide was an extremely talented young band. i know joel piper’s got his own thing going [and a ton of love for it too!] but i’m not sure what’s up with the rest of the guys.
regardless, Recover is a great album. good vocals, decent musicianship, great lyrics, and unforgettable hooks. i find more and more that heavy music relies on hooks just as much the breakdowns. in some cases, more.
cheers,
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-Alex Gaskarth
this needs to be a poster
i may not be an ATL fan, but…. yep.
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band i’m absolutely floored to hear is dropping a new album in a few weeks: @mewithoutYou.
if you’ve never laid ears on a mewithoutYou track, it’s hard for me to say where to begin. claiming that the pennsylvanian four piece is a treasure whose work touches nearly every genre is somehow still an understatement. i can’t count the times i’ve said the only lyricist in modern music capable of going toe to toe with mwY frontman aaron weiss is brand new frontman jesse lacey.
i’ll admit, i have most of their back albums, but i haven’t heard much of it prior to 2006’s Brother, Sister. for what it’s worth, brother sister is a freakshow of talent. it took me a while to get used to aaron’s singy-talky-mumbly warble, but once i looked past it i found myself immersed in a sea of imagery and perfectly written lyrics. i can’t overstate it. weiss’ lyrics are, literally, perfect. sandwiched between the mindbendingly beautiful opener, Messes of Men and the unforgettable closer In a Sweater Poorly Knit, this is an album brimming with lush imagery and powerful spiritual reflections.
the 2009 follow up, It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright! was not quite so much of what I expected coming out of Brother, Sister, but it was incredible nonetheless. first single The Fox, the Crow and the Cookie came with a whimsical video about…well, a fox, a crow, and a cookie [link below]. the album isn’t all ups though, following up with a sobering account of david’s last days in The Angel of Death Came to David’s Room. other highlights included the penultimate The King Beetle On the Coconut Estate, which sounds a bit ridiculous but is equal parts beautiful and majestic. it’s, again, hard to put into a few words what mewithoutYou is like.
anyways. mewithoutYou is releasing their next album, Ten Stories, which will be available on may 15th. it looks like there is some sort of preorder deal you can look into, but i’ll wait ;]
til then, cheers.
oh yea. http://bit.ly/wk35IY
]]>now that i’ve had a few weeks to reflect on @sherwood’s finally calling it a day, i thought i’d post a little for those of you who haven’t heard much from this former california four/five piece.
in short: sherwood is one of the greatest pop rock bands to ever have been. maybe not a jimmy eat world, but on par in terms of influence with the late mae [which broke up late last year].
i picked up sherwood’s first big LP, Sing, But Keep Going, in 2006 or 2007 when tower records was closing. i think i got it for $3 or $4 completely new, and since it was essentially a fire sale everything in the store was for sale.. even the shelves and tables the cds were sitting on. i was trying to find some solid new music to take home, and sherwood caught my eye as one of the bands this particular girl i was really into at the time mentioned. she might not be a part of my life anymore, but for sherwood i’ll have to thank her lifetimes over.
Sing, But Keep Going was, for me, a poignant, honest, and beautiful cd about growing up. well thought-out tracks and clever/painfully honest lyrics kept me coming back for more. in particular, the town that you live in was a song i just listened to, over and over until i couldn’t remember where it started or ended.
Sing laid the groundwork for the 2007 follow-up album, A Different Light. to this day, ADL remains one of the most classic, timeless, perfect albums i’ve ever picked up. i had it signed when they visited [and filmed!] their seattle show at el corazon in 2008. every track [except for Give Up!, which i earnestly think is just okay…but every GREAT album has a track or two that are not quite as strong as the others] is truly a wonder of nostalgia, tight harmonies between bassist/frontman nate henry and telecaster riffer/background vocalist dan koch.
filling out the band was keyboardist/crazed dancer mikey leibovich, who could have and DID single-handedly pump up the crowd night after night, drummer joe greenetz, and, later, dave provenzano to make it a double-tele-outfit [and how else should it be, after all?].
i saw them three times in total: 2007 with mae, at that point still an up-and-comer, and relientk, whose newest cd at the time was five score… everyone flocked to the relientk table in the totally packed showbox venue, but that gave me a chance to talk to the sherwood fellas. they were all much taller than i expected, but also super down to earth and polite guys to hang out with. i told them that ADL as an album helped me keep smiling through my mom’s fight with cancer, and i could tell they were moved by that.
i saw them again on good friday in 2008, at el corazon with houston calls, the higher, and we shot the moon maybe? i had a chance to congratulate jonathan jones [of waking ashland and we shot the moon fame] outside the venue for making great music after waking ashland faded out.
i saw them last in 2010 or -11, i can’t be sure. probably ‘11, at chop suey with BARCELONA, a peerless pop band, moneta, and this day & age’s [also a peerless pop rock band….truly.] jazz-fusion reincarnation, the reign of kindo.
every show i saw, i could tell they brought everything of themselves on stage. whether it was playing their newer songs, covering classics, like the get up kids’ “holiday”, or catering to the longtime fans with older EP material, they always seemed elated to be sharing their work. and it was great work indeed.
at this point, sherwood has no plans of a goodbye tour, though i think most fans would appreciate it. the breakup was essentially due to everyone’s families needing them, a call i can respect. but these guys will be missed dearly.
i’ve attached the Best in Me music video, a delightfully charming little clip with an equally loveable song. it’s a bittersweet way to remember them, but i’d say, mostly sweet.
cheers, and rest in peace, sherwood. thanks for the memories.
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#1 band that needs to get back together and do something big: @saosin.
for most, saosin was first famous because living legend anthony green was in it. this was before circa survive, obviously, and at the time the five-piece was something along the lines of post-hardcore: moderate amounts of high screaming, but primarily a hard rock sensibility paired with green’s unbelievable voice.
green left in 2004, either to start circa or because saosin signed to a major label, and cove reber stepped in. he was and continues to be a GOOD vocalist with a strong voice and stage presence, but the parts written for/by him seemed out of his range. it’s evident in their live shows that reber had to fight to hit some of the high notes, and near the end of his time with the band there were rumors that he needed autotune to even be presentable on stage.
whether by choice or by circumstance, however, once green left, there effectively ceased to be screaming in any saosin tracks. in my mind, this took saosin out from the middle of the already super crowded post-hardcore genre and propelled reber, guitarists justin shekoski [lead] and beau burchell [rhythm], bassist chris sorenson, and wunderkind drummer alex rodriguez straight to the forefront of modern rock.
2006’s self titled LP, Saosin, turned out to be one of the most rock-solid rock albums i’ve ever laid ears on, especially with the unforgettable single, Voices . the musical arrangements are first rate, with little in the way of needless experimentation. in short: saosin knew what they were good at, capitalized on it, and delivered a knockout rock album.
the follow up LP, In Search of Solid Ground, was then a disappointment. It is a strong album in many ways, but it seemed that saosin had lost its edge where it counted: musicianship. solid ground lost the driving powerhouse drums rodriguez should have been generously doling out, and the seamlessly coordinated solos between burchell and shekoski were almost completely eliminated. reber still had hard parts to sing though, and after years of smoking and drinking, his voice had more or less left him. reber was asked to leave the band in 2010.
saosin went dark for about a year, with each band member tending to their own lives and writing and practicing here and there. there are rumors that tilian pearson, formerly of tides of man, will be on a forthcoming saosin album, but there have been so many rumors of new vocalists and new lineups since reber left that i’ll just wait and see.
for now, voices, an excellent single from the self-titled LP:
http://bit.ly/nPrLoJ
you can find a copy of the self-titled NEW on amazon starting at 2.86! “solid ground” starts at around $10 new.
cheers,
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comeback band of 2011: @yellowcard.
it’s been a long, winding road for yellowcard. i’ll be the first to admit that i had my doubts about the band getting back together. after all, “indefinite hiatus” is almost as painful to hear as simply “calling it quits”.
if you haven’t heard When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes, you’re missing out on one of the stronger pop-punk albums of 2011. it may not be an Ocean Avenue, and certainly not a Paper Walls, but there’s enough of what i remember liking to be confident that 2012 will be an even bigger year for the almost 13 year old band. tracks like “the sound of you and me”, second single “hang you up” [and the charming music video for it], and glorious album closer “be the young” stand out among the 10 songs released in 2011. these three alone are definitely enough to put yellowcard at the top of my list for albums to look forward to in 2012 [right next to pierce the veil, and a few others]. it sounds like the band has already begun writing, with plans to enter the studio in about a week [!!!] with neal avron. yellowcard looks to be maturing in both lyrical content and depth of musicianship more and more with each album, more than can be said for a good number of their genre-mates [i mean get your “heart on”? come on…].
fun fact: the reason i got into saves the day 10 years late but just in time for the release of the stunning cd Daybreak was because of ryan and the gang from track 3 of WYTTSY, “with you around.”
check out the official acoustic video for album closer “be the young”. excellent.
http://bit.ly/AzpmB6
get When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes on amazon for just $9.99.
cheers.
]]>@twypoppunk: “Suburbia, stop pushing.”
i really can’t believe how good the wonder years are.
i keep listening to other pop punk/punk groups and time and time again, i find myself listening to this raging philadelphian sextet. frontman dan “soupy” campbell’s lyrics are poignant and unapologetic, emotionally rooted yet surprisingly un-whiny in any way. in just the last few weeks, i’ve found myself quoting them, thinking about some of the lines that resonate with me, writing fb statuses with their lyrics and posting the occasional music video. TWY, they’re that good. it doesn’t hurt that with their junior effort, campbell strives to be a new generation’s allen ginsburg. the lyrical resemblance is clear, but infused with such passion that TWY takes the listener to depths generally unheard of in the genre.
the first TWY album i picked up, The Upsides, drew me in with 11th track home run, “Washington Square Park”, equal parts hopeful, thoughtful, and powerful. from there, campbell’s sing-and-shout-yourself-hoarse vocals and electrifying lyricism layered with intelligently arranged punk parts [not so fresh that it’s alienating, but not so tired that it sounds like a cookie cutter album] brought me fully into fandom after just a few listens. i couldn’t get enough.
The Upsides special edition featured the GEM of a bonus track “I was Scared, and I’m Sorry”, which was easily one of the favorite new songs in my library last year, and looked to remain on the shortlist for this year…or so i thought, until Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing was released mid-2011. with just one listen i was sure the third full-length would rank for top albums of the year in my book. sure enough, as far as pop-punk was concerned, few other contenders even came close.
campbell and the boys were back in full force with the outrageously powerful and aptly named opener , titled “Came Out Swinging”. just as i expected, the video was homey and nostalgic at the same time, like the curious feeling of returning to your childhood house and not being sure if you belong.
the second song to stick out through the first listen was track 10, “Don’t Let Me Cave In”, a strangely haunting driver with unforgettable hooks and the eloquent yet simple style that has been pushing TWY toward punk rock kingship.
just as The Upsides featured familiar places and major landmarks, SIGYAANIN highlighted memorable events and locations, revisited logan square, and, of course, had at least one track with campbell’s openly atheistic views on display. i don’t take offense to any of these tracks, since for the most part they’re either targeted toward westboro, whose teachings i couldn’t disagree with more, or toward rigid “religiousness”, the rites and traditions focused christian lifestyle which isn’t really what i believe in, either.
that’s a whole different discussion.
for now,
don’t let me cave in: official live video montage [a spectacle, to be clear]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeQ5BJdGoPE&feature=relmfu
i was scared, and i’m sorry: official lyrics video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RZ7Zt7UyOk&feature=related
buy the albums on amazon: the upsides is 12.99 for new physical; suburbia… is on sale for just 9.99.
until next time, cheers.
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