The holiday season just wrapped up and for Worcester area band Four Year Strong the holiday season means one thing: their annual holiday show at the Worcester Palladium. Of course this time it was wrapped into the It’s A Gig Life Tour. Joining Four Year Strong on this whimsical holiday adventure were Set Your Goals, Balance and Composure, Transit and Diamond. Needless to say it was one hell of a show. See what I have to say about everything after the jump!
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Hey Everybody! I know I’ve been kind of remiss in updating my site but that will changing soon! I’ve got a new member of the team and her name is Becki! She saw Handguns in Southern Maryland with a few local bands, her review is below. You’ll be hearing a lot more from her in the coming weeks. Everything that follows is from Becki herself At the end of their short December tour with fellow pop-punkers Man Overboard, Handguns so kindly decided to cater to the dreams of a few Southern Maryland kids by playing yet another show… Hit the jump for more! Continue reading Handguns, Greenhouse, Collapse the Night, FLS and Hank!
Looking back on the last two weeks and all the albums that have come out, some conclusions and misconceptions can be drawn about music and bands today. New Found Glory can, in fact, put out an incredibly mediocre record. Joe Jonas can release an “Explicit Content” record without Minny and Mickey tracking him down executioner-style. And Evanescence is still a band. Yeah, I didn’t know either. But pleasant surprises, huge victories, and welcome corrections have come up in these jam-packed two weeks as well. Transit put out one of the best albums of 2011, Deas Vail hit #1 on the Amazon digital charts, and then LIGHTS happened. I feel like LIGHTS especially deserves a sticker on her album clarifying two majorly important facts: Misconception 1: Dubstep is just for massive frat tools who want to jam on Thursday night. Until two weeks ago, I was a strong lobbyist for this. Falling asleep to a neighbor’s “WUB-WUB-WUB-WUBWUBWUB” music blaring in the middle of the night on a Tuesday could turn anyone into a hater of the phrase “drop the bass”, but LIGHTS’ new record, Siberia, goes ahead and incorporates dubstep in an incredibly tasteful, dare-I-say beautiful way. Which lends itself to the next misconception… Misconception 2: LIGHTS is just a pretty face. Talentwise…eh, not so much. The whole “Lights is hawt…durr” reaction that most male fans/AbsolutePunk users give off…well, it’s justifiable obviously. Okay, there’s a reason she’s the center of the album cover with just grey around her. She’s hot. And seriously, her shirt is buttoned crazy low. Like LIGHTS’ headLIGHTS are about to pop out. But here, like most men, is where I would leave my thoughts on LIGHTS if I hadn’t heard Siberia. Her voice never did anything for me previously and her music…eh. But Siberia presents an entirely new LIGHTS. Her voice is nowhere near a whine anymore or grating, but refreshingly fun. And the songs themselves show a darker edge to her electronic-pop sound. The album opens on the title track, breaking in with distorted beats and a light chorus guided by LIGHTS’ gentle voice. “When The Fence Is Low” takes the album to another level though, wearing its dubstep influence very proudly throughout the chorus. Normally, pop and dubstep = things that make my ears bleed and cry simultaneously. But the dub beat backs a soaring chorus and harmonies that, combined, equate to gritty, yet insta-catchy pop. The album focuses on this gritty, distorted electronic sound, bringing out a little growl in LIGHTS on tracks like “Everyone Breaks A Glass” and “Flux and Flow”. The album does carry on a bit too long at 14 tracks, but the albums presents only two or three songs that lag. And, fellow dubstep opposers, you’re probably asking if the dirty electronic sound gets tiring. Sure, a little bit. Tracks like impossibly long closer “Day One” and the album’s ballad “Cactus In The Valley” fall a little short. The reason? They’re the only slow songs on the record, sugary enough to fit in with LIGHTS’ previous releases. For the most part, gritty goes hand in hand with catchy, making a fun, yet fluffless pop album. 4 out of 5 Stars
Since I’m a man and writer in high demand lately (for absolutely nothing except lying about how popular I am), I feel the need to consolidate some reviews. So I’m trying a new thing out…Tweet’s Length Reviews. 140 characters. One album. It’ll be great. This edition’s album is We Are The In Crowd’s album, “Best Intentions”. You like the EP? Good, because the album doesn’t change WATIC’s sound at all. Songs get a little repetitive, a little fluff, but very dancy! And thus concludes the Tweet’s Length Review! I give the album a 3 out 5 stars. Well I first want to apologize for the lack of photos that will be here from this show, I was taking pictures of the first band and my flash for whatever reason stopped working. and if you’ve ever been to the Democracy Center in Cambridge, MA you know it can get pretty dark in there. I arrived a little early to the show, before anyone from any band was actually their so I hung out around the corner with some friends, and eventually started seeing a lot of old friends I’ve met from following Featherweight since their start 2.5 years ago. Soon enough everyone was their and bands were ready to play. **I’m going to try to say a few words about each band to leave room for Featherweight, although I loved every single band on the bill last night** Risk: a hardcore band from the MVHC (Merrimack Valley Hardcore) Scene opened up the show, according to featherweight they were the first band they were ever very friendly with starting out, great guys great music. Their set was pretty tame, as a lot of people hadn’t arrived yet. Frontman, Brendan Glennon for whatever reason had lost about 80% of his voice, which made for an interesting set ( I made the comparison that he sounded like Kate Winslet in Titanic when she was almost too cold to speak. After Risk we had Old Gray, an emo band from New Hampshire, I can’t begin to say enough good things about this band, they just play awesome music, awesome personalities, awesome emotion. They’ve only been around since around March or April. Featherweight loves playing shows with them and they love playing shows with them. I remember Cam, their guitar player put it like this “Raph plays guitar, Charlie plays drums and everyone screams”. Aviator, took the floor next, I can’t say enough about them, they play a type of hardcore I’ve never heard before. I think they were one of the first bands I saw play with Featherweight. Just can’t really say anything more than that, they’re just a band worth checking out. My Fictions: Once again, another band I can only tell you to see live; talented, sincere, just great people. Districts: Reunion show, they broke up about a year ago I think, I always remember hearing their name and them being revered as an awesome band, that much was made true to myself last night. FINALLY. Featherweight, words cannot justify how much emotion was in that room the whole night, Frontman Sean Ahern took a few minutes, before they played, to give a sincere thanks to all the specific people and specific bands that have helped them, supported them or just been good to them, ofcourse thanked his and the rest of Featherweight’s families, and any ex members(whether they were there or not). Victor, the original bass player switched off with Zac, another bass player apart of the band throughout the night. They played their whole first demo, Family Ties and Flooded Eyes which seriously paved the way for the music they presently made. They played songs they never recorded, Sean handed the mic to different people, including myself, throughout the night. I’ve just never been able to correctly word how much emotion Featherweight puts into their music. How hard they’ve worked to achieve what they have and how much they care about the people around them and the scene they’ve built up. They ended with the song Nightcrawlers off of their summer tour sampler, one of my favorite songs. Some of the most emotional 5 minutes I’ve ever been through. My stomach hurts from screaming, I have no voice, I’m sore and exhausted, but last night will live in infamy. Featherweight will be missed by all those who got to experience them. On a bright side, ex-members have made a new band that should be playing shows in the winter, more will be posted soon.
Thank you for reading
I have literally listened to this CD over and over again for the past day. Why? First the fact that Transit is easily one of my favorite bands (no really, I know the words to 90% of their songs and have seen them 8+ times). Second is because I am loving the CD more and more with every listen. I could listen to it all day and not grow tired of it. Also I want to learn all the words to all the songs before I see Transit again. Of course that’s not the point of this review. The point of the review is that you need to go out and pick up this CD when it drops October 4th. At the DC stop of the PMA Tour that Transit was on recently I had a chance to talk with frontman Joe Boynton. During our small talk about various topics (I’m originally from the Boston area and hadn’t seen Transit in a while) the topic of their new CD came up. He said it was going to be a different than their previous releases, a departure from the voracious pop-punk sound that they were known for. And as I’m listening to Listen & Forgive I can see what he means, it is different. But it’s not different in a bad way, in fact it’s different in a very good way. Transit cannot be accused of producing a CD that sounds exactly like their previous full length, that’s for sure (that’s the excellent Keep This To Yourself for those of you playing along at home). Let me diverge for a second to tell you that For The World is my favorite Transit song. It’s fast paced, emotive and once the ever talented Tim Landers starts singing/screaming you know the crowd is going to get rowdy. If you were expecting Listen & Forgive to contain songs along the same lines you will be mistaken, but you will be pleasantly mistaken. The “pop-punk” sound that Transit had perfected in their previous releases is a bit more subdued in Listen & Forgive; conceding to a more indie rock sound and slowing things down a little bit. But the raw emotion is still there as it has been with Transit all along and through the album shows no signs of stopping. I guarantee that there will be pile-ups and gang vocals a plenty from the crowd when Transit hits the road again on October 6th. The boys really know how to write a song, Joe Boynton knows how to sing them and Tim Landers know how to lend his amazing backing vocals (on a side note check out Misser, Tim’s solo project). In short I am in love with Listen & Forgive. Sure it’s a bit different from Keep This To Yourself and earlier releases but in, like I’ve been saying all along, a very good way. This is an album that you need to pick up and listen to immediately when it drops October 4th whether you are a die hard Transit fan or just getting into them. You won’t be able to stop listening and then you’ll tell your friends about the album and they won’t be able to stop listening. I know this album is going to be my weekend soundtrack. Did I mention there is a new version of 1978 on Listen & Forgive? Cause there is. Not to mention this album will provide teenagers with perfect facebook statuses for weeks to come. The downside to the lyrical greatness of Transit. I mean who can resist posting lyrics such as “Find me again like a rusted bike in your backyard. Pull me up from the debris, I’m covered up in dust and leaves” from the song Listen & Forgive or pretty much every line of Long Lost Friends. I mentioned the new version of 1978 which might some view as sacrilege as the original version off their acoustic EP was just plain great. When I started the review I didn’t think highly of the new version but as I finish the review (a couple of hours and plays later) it’s starting to grow on me. I must also say hearing the full band version of Over Your Head came as a bit of a surprise because I was so used to the acoustic version that they played in Boston in May. Now a “must listen” on the album? That’s going to be a bit tough because I love all the songs on the new release. However saying that all the songs are must listen is a bit of a cop out. I’m going to have to go with The Answer Comes In Time which is a bonus track on the physical version. So you’ll have to buy a physical version of the CD to hear it or be a horrible person and download the CD. Okay, I’m kidding with the horrible person part, downloading is starting to become part of the scene. So if you download the CD go see Transit and support them by buying a t-shirt and then get in the crowd and sing along. Though as I listen to the album more I’m finding it’s a tie between The Answer Comes In Time and Over Your Head. Listen & Forgive is out everywhere October 4th. You better be lining up outside your local record store to nab a copy because it’s not something you want to sleep on. Check out Transit on Facebook and pre-order the album here and hit the jump for a photo of Transit in Washington DC and the album art Tuesday July 26th was just like any other day. I woke up, showered, got my camera equipment together and drove to the Merriweather Post Pavilion to go to Warped Tour. Okay, scratch that. On any other day I usually wake up and go to work. But not the 26th, no sir. I used one of my comp days so that I could cover Warped Tour for Two Senses. And let me tell you, it was worth using the comp day. I got there around 10:30 (the door opened at 11) and the line was already massive. I parked my car and wandered to the front of the line until I found the press tent and checked in. Well I thought it was the front of the line, turns out the front of the line was a few hundred people more towards the gates. Being press I (and another photographer) sidled up to the gate to wait to enter. The people checking tickets were cool about it and just told us to wait about 10 minutes. Before I knew it there was a mass of screaming teenagers (okay, pre-teenagers) behind us, clamoring to get in. I never though I’d say this: but I felt old at Warped Tour this year and I’m only 22. Anyways. I shot 16 bands this year and to be honest I really only was a huge fan of six of them: Peelander-Z, MC Lars and Weerd Science, The Wonder Years, Handguns (yes, Handguns played Warped), Veara and Enter Shikari. Of course I saw other bands because I knew they would put on a good show but I wasn’t a die hard fan. I also only shot two bands on the main stage (ADTR and Gym Class Heroes) because to be honest it was rather high and the photo pit was packed. Best to stick to the smaller stages. Battling heat exhaustion, dehydration (staved off by the wonderful refill station) and hunger, I made my way through the crowds of pre-teen scene kids and people trying to convert me to their religion. I bounced from stage to stage as the day progressed and ran into some familiar faces, photographed the metalcoreness of Miss May I and Of Mice and Men (oh Austin Carilile you have not aged well). I saw the pop-punk charms of Peelander-Z and female fronted Sick of Sarah. I almost got lost trying to find the Ernie Ball Stage so I could see Handguns play and ended up hurting my foot in the pit after my three songs were up (it was worth it). I sang along to The Wonder Years as I snapped photos of Soupy and the Gang. All in all, it was a pretty good day and the music wasn’t bad to boot. I got to see one of my favorite up and coming pop-punk bands Veara play to a crowd that was far too small (check them out now) But it was all leading up to one moment, one moment that I knew would define Warped Tour for me this year: Enter Shikari. Those Brits know how to put on a damn good show and they did not disappoint this year. Halfway through the first song frontman and keyboardist Rou Reynolds chucked his keyboard offstage only to lament over it’s broken fragments later.  I didn't mean to hurt you I promise Guitarist Rory C and bassist Chris Batten ran around stage like chickens with their heads cut off (and I mean this in a good way) and at one point Rory took this guitar off and swung it around him running up the stage. Rou ended up climbing on top of a speaker (after literally running into the crowd) and then rappelled down using one of the cords on the stage. I will say this: you need to see Enter Shikari as soon as possible. They were the highlight of Warped Tour. Hit the jump for a photo gallery.
It’s been a few years now since surf rock and chillwave (my personal list topper for “worst genre name of all time”) have become a mainstay in the hearts of indie kids, Pitchfork readers and casual music fans alike. Vampire Weekend burst out in 2008 with a debut record determined to be the soundtrack to your imaginary beach house on Cape Cod. Acts like Wavves and Best Coast took it a step further in 2009, combining surf pop with the fuzziness of shoegaze. And in 2010, artists like Washed Out brought chillwave into the world with even fuzzier vocals and ethereal sounds and beats lost at the bottom of your pool. The Vaccines aren’t bringing anything too revolutionary to the mix with their debut record other than ongoing fun and music demanding night drives and beach trips. But, seriously, isn’t that all that’s needed for summer music? Their album, perfectly titled What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?, lays out punky pop jams at Tokyo Police Club speeds with competing wit and catching hooks. Try getting the chorus of “If You Wanna” out of your head on first listen. It’s impossible and you’re gonna be humming it for a week or two. One of the album’s best songs happens to be the shortest, clocking in at a minute and thirty eight seconds. “Norgaard” is a 50s beach dance party in a song, coming with jangly guitars and singer Justin Young commanding with a Morrissey-esque swagger and sense of self-deprecation. The video adds to the good time as the band cavorts with an incredibly beautiful model. What can you expect from The Vaccines? If the album and videos are any indication, a really boisterously good time. Synthy music has practically always been in my blood. As some dads threw Springsteen and Led Zeppelin at their kids, my dad chose to bring me up with the likes of Styx, Journey, ELO and various other ’80s arena rock worship. With the synths swirling around on Styx’s “Come Sail Away” and the arena rock quality of Journey so massive, your body is virtually forced to go on autopilot fistpumping, I was prepared at a young age to assume all music was meant to sound big and nerdy. Thankfully, for dorks such as myself, m83 exists. Taking constant hints from the ’80s, he’s mastered electronic music to not only connect with mainstream audiences, but to add enough teen emotion and angst to make John Hughes weep tears of joy. His new single, “Midnight City”, was released today along with the announcement of his double album, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, coming out on October 18th. If this single is any indication, we have around three months until the best record of 2011 conquers the world. |
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