Genres
Watch: Dreamers Dose – “She Is Good”
Los Angeles’ psych-rock band Dreamers Dose earlier this week released their debut full-length titled, At Least We’re Happy. I talked about this outfit last month when they unveiled their track Pray for Me, Fragile here. The album was produced by Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures) and features eleven tracks that swell through peaks and valleys of raw, roaring rock and blissful balladry. A personal favourite off of the release, She Is Good’s music video can be watched below. The album is full of hooks, riffs and lyrics that you would never expect from recent high school graduates. Honestly, just listen to it, I’ve fallen in love with most of these tracks already. They have recently been added to the 2013 Sunset Strip Music Festival lineup on August 1st as well as other festivals and shows throughout Southern California. Stream the full album via PureVolume here and purchase it from iTunes. Keep up with Dreamers Dose on their Facebook page.
Watch: Panic! At The Disco – “Miss Jackson”
Watch: Ice Nine Kills – “The Coffin Is Moving”
Metalcore band Ice Nine Kills has released a live music video of The Coffin Is Moving, a song off of their most recent EP The Predator. Footage from the video is all taken from the band’s concert at Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, New York.
Regarding the music video, vocalist Spencer Charnas noted, “With this video we really wanted to capture the experience of seeing us live right from the front row. The band delivers very high energy performances and we wanted to convey that to the virtual world.”
The members of Ice Nine Kills have a long summer ahead of them; they will participate in The All Stars Tour, starting from July 19, with acts such as Chelsea Grin, Every Time I Die, Iwrestledabearonce, and Capture The Crown. The band has also recently performed in the 2013 Vans Warped Tour.
Interview: Elway
Hi there! Firstly, can I have you introduce yourself and tell us your role in the band?
My name’s Tim, and I play guitar and sing in Elway.
You guys have recently released your new full length, Leavetaking on June 25th. How do you think it differs from your previous material?
I can’t speak as to whether or not the new record will be received as more ‘mature’ or ‘focused’ than our previous efforts. I can say, however, that there is almost nothing I would change about these songs if I could go back and rewrite them, and I don’t know if I can say that about the older stuff. The record is a little more earnest heartache than drunken-punk-party-anthem-USA. It’s still got the same skeleton that Delusions had in that it’s mostly a mid-tempo punk record with moments of EpiFat skate punk and a pinch of depressing indie.
Do you have any personal favorite tracks off the new record? Can you tell us about them?
My favorite song on the record is called “One Flew West,” which is kinda the weirdest song on there. There are a lot of weird riffs and tones in that song that I think are really cool, and it goes from carrying a kind of 90s emo strut to full blown punk song to balladry without sounding overwrought somehow.
What would you say were your biggest inspirations when writing this album?
I was committed to writing songs that would read as interestingly as they would sound. I was constantly reading Sylvia Plath, Ezra Pound, and Jack London over the course of writing the songs, so there are a lot of references that take pieces of their work which I think all point toward a common theme.
Can you tell us about your songwriting process as a band?
Usually I write the lyrics and the vague structure of the song on an acoustic guitar and we workshop it in rehearsal until we’ve added all the tinsel and leads and drum fills and backup vocals. After we’ve had a song sitting around long enough that we start playing it live, we eventually figure out a few more things that we could change before we record it, so we go back to workshopping it.
What bands are your biggest musical influences growing up?
As kids, my parents raised me and my siblings on Bob Dylan. Then I was the hugest Bad Religion fan, well I still am, but I used to be like their ***biggest*** fan. I know all the words to “The Positive Aspect of Negative Thinking,” and any true BR fan knows that that shit is pretty devotional. I used to always listen to NOFX, Pulley, No Use For A Name, Lagwagon etc… I started to get a little older and discovered stuff like The Lawrence Arms, Alkaline Trio and Hot Water Music.
What’s your opinion on the modern punk scene and how do you think your band fits into it?
I love how the genre continually stretches itself out and becomes less and less orthodox. It’s never been easier to get your music out there via the internet and tour. This has flooded the scene with tons of shit bands, but also there’s a lot more palpable buzz about the scene than there was when I first started playing in bands, y’know… pre-Myspace or whatever. If you have a ton of bands just basically bouncing ideas for how to expand the genre off one another eventually you’re going to get awesome new bands. Where do we fit in all of this? Well, we keep it pretty simple, but I love trying new little things in our songs that don’t sound like they’d necessarily fit on an old Punk O’ Rama comp. A friend of mine said he thought that the punk rock zeitgeist was “growing up,” and I have to confess that I’m fine with that.
Tell us about life on tour. Do you have a favorite tour story you’d like to share?
One time on our first tour ever, we found about 50 pies still in their boxes in a Trader Joe’s trash compacter in Richmond, Virginia. We ate as much pie as we could possibly handle for days before ultimately selling them at the merch table. I believe Garrett’s first impulse upon realizing how many delicious pies we had was to smash one directly into the side of my head, mixing strawberry and rhubarb chunks in with my ahem… immaculately bleached hair. I don’t know if that’s my favorite tour story, but that’s the one that involved eating the most pie. I love being out on the road more than anything in the world, and we always manage to have a blast on tour. We’re a few days away from spending the next 4 months on the road and I am pumped.
Pick up their new album off of iTunes and catch them on tour this summer! Check out their tour dates here and for more information, try their Facebook page.
Watch: King Krule – “Easy Easy”
Archy Marshall under the moniker of King Krule has released a music video for his new track Easy Easy from his forthcoming album. You can pre-order his debut album 6 Feet Beneath the Moon from iTunes here. The album will be officially released on Marshall’s 19th birthday, Saturday 24 August 2013 by True Panther Sounds and XL Recordings.
After a plethora of different recordings since 2010 under two different monikers, Easy Easy sees a maturation in his darkwave pop style. An obvious sonic progression and maturation is evident in his melodic riffs and in the creation a fuller sound on this track. Lyrically, his references are topical such as a mention of getting swindled by Tesco due to not keeping the receipt of an expired sandwich. Pick up his prior releases both on iTunes and on his Zoo Kid Bandcamp page. Fore more information and upcoming shows check out his website. Watch the new music video below!
Review: One Hundred Year Ocean – “Where Were You While We Were Getting High?”
One Hundred Year Ocean – “Where Were You While We Were Getting High?”
Released: July 8, 2013
Label: Broken World Media
Purchase: Digital | Pre-Order Vinyl Available Soon
One Hundred Year Ocean officially today release their new four track EP Where Were You While We Were Getting High?. Oasis fans unite! Based out of Willimantic, CT, OHYO is the solo work of Derrick Shanholtzer-Dvorak from TWIABP. The band is “usually made up of close friends and weirdos” and creates an indie rock emo sound with musical influences such as Modest Mouse, The Hold Steady, and Cursive. The EP was recorded by Chris Teti at Silver Bullet Studios in Burlington, CT and mastered by Jon Markson.
The first track on the EP titled Hospital Town, is a slower paced with a long repetitive intro leading to melancholy filled lyrics thematically about giving up. The refrain “I hope there is a hell / and I hope we don’t forget to lose it all” gives off an eerie tone with a slight glimmer of hope. Soco Amaretto Bud Light Lime, the second song, which I hope is in reference to the Brand New track, picks up the pace of the EP. Quick twinkly indie melodies and two verses containing philosophical questions and obscure nature imagery portrays the adeptness of this outfit at songwriting. The track then leads nicely into a Modest Mouse sounding instrumental bridge with a medley of synthesizer, guitar and percussion before closing out.
In Apples, the trumpet leads the start of the track with the drums and guitar following. For some reason, I just love OHYO‘s use of the trumpet in this EP it just seems to fit seamlessly. Lyrically, I really hope the band members don’t drink each other’s urine, but if that’s the secret behind these songs, then maybe more bands should be drinking each other’s piss. Despite the short length of this track, just above one minute, it’s one of the more cheery numbers with lines such “Don’t worry about the rent, this month isn’t over yet.” and “We were electric like the summer / And I said to my brother / ‘Next Halloween let’s be each other and stay that way forever'” providing a sense of optimistic realism.
The last track, Magnetic Curses is a personal favorite on the release, combining the beloved trumpet and Derrick Shanholtzer-Dvorak’s lyrical mastery. With a crescendo leading to “So where is our hope? / Or when do we get paid? /’cause I’ve been so broke” and a wail of emotion, it brought me back to that tear-jerking scene in 50/50 where Joseph Gordon-Levitt loses it in the car. This song is self-deprecating just without the humor, but it speaks to the listener and creates the mood that not many other genres can.
With more mature songwriting and a refined sound, delving into various corners of indie, emo, and pop Where Were You While We Were Getting High? is definitely worth a listen and is one of my favorite releases this year so far. Streaming now on their Bandcamp with pre-orders of a one sided 12″ available later from Broken World Media pick this album up. There is a name your price basis download here. For more information check out their Facebook and catch them on their US tour starting in August.
Standout Tracks: “Soco Amaretto Bud Light Lime”, “Magnetic Curses”
9.0
Track Listing:
1. Hospital Town
2. Soco Amaretto Bud Light Lime
3. Apples
4. Magnetic Curses
Watch: Alasdair Bouch – “Bed Of Happiness”
Folk blues artist Alasdair Bouch has released a music video for Bed Of Happiness a track off of his debut album titled First Person Singular. Bouch’s work is a combination of urban folk and blue-eyed soul which in turn produces melodic hook-filled tracks. With twenty years experience, his trademark confessional autobiographical tone is very much so present in his slower track, Bed Of Happiness. Watch the video below!
Alasdair Bouch has three albums in his discography so far which you can stream selected tracks of here and purchase on iTunes. Currently living in the Czech Republic, Bouch has played more than four hundred shows across Europe and has just released Third Time Lucky, which sees him take a more rhythm-‘n’-blues-infused rock style approach to his songwriting.
“Fans who came regularly to shows would pester me doggedly about particular songs by name, asking me when I would commit them to disc,“ says Alasdair. “I’d been sitting on a lot of songs, waiting for the album with the right vibe, but the audience definitely helped out with the tracklist! Then once I got the band in the rehearsal room, it quickly took shape. Our new drummer Míra is a powerhouse – it clearly wasn’t going to be a quiet album!” Pick up a limited edition hand-numbered CD in record stores worldwide or get the digital version here. For more information follow him on Facebook and check out his Twitter and be sure to catch him on his European Summer Tour!
Watch: Issues – “Hooligans”
Watch: What Model Citizens – “Coming For Me”
Review: Nations Afire – “The Ghosts We Will Become”
Nations Afire – “The Ghosts We Will Become”
Released: July 2, 2013
Label: Hardline Entertainment
Purchase: Digital | CD
Nations Afire, an ensemble composed of music veterans from the groups Rise Against, Death Stereo, and Ignite, have recently released their debut album, The Ghosts We Will Become. No stranger to their music scene in California, the rock band seeks to spread their sound to a national–and global–level.
And perhaps that goal isn’t without reason either; with strong riffs and vocalist Nik Hill’s powerful, rough vocals (somewhat reminiscent of less nasal-y version of Alter Bridge‘s Myles Kennedy’s singing voice) that blend together well, nearly every song in the album possesses the headbanging energy people want. The songs without the hard rock gusto are no slouch either, instead choosing a more emotional approach, from comparatively heavy Nine Lives to entirely acoustic Even The Blackest Heart Still Beats.
Certain parts of the album, however, are weak. “I am an army coming through/I am a zombie over you/I can’t believe it, I want it so bad” in I Am an Army feels almost half-assed, and the opening line “And the wolves cry out again” in Wolves’ chorus seems to always drop the energy of an otherwise consistent song. Another issue with The Ghosts We Will Become is that it sounds too similar to the punk rock and hard rock scene. The beginnings of I Am an Army and One Perfect Day, for example, sound just like an intro from a song by Rise Against. The lyrics also read similar to Rise Against or Anti-Flag. Although the sound itself is more than satisfying, there aren’t any curve balls or segments that stand out as unique, which makes the album sit in the shadow of already established bands of the same genre.
Nevertheless, as a band’s debut album, The Ghosts We Will Become is a very strong start, and it is a positive indicator of Nations Afire’s talent and where it can go from here. As long as the band continues to develop their own sound and find its niche in the wildly popular rock genre which they jump into, it will no doubt end up in the spotlights.
7.5
Standout Tracks: “Occams Razor,” “Even The Blackest Heart Still Beats,” “Pick Up The Pieces”
Track listing:
01. I Am an Army
02. The Ghosts We Will Become
03. Nine Lives
04. One Perfect Day
05. In Absentia
06. Occams Razor
07. Even the Blackest Heart Still Beats
08. Pick Up the Pieces
09. Break Your Fall
10. The Legacy We Leave
11. The Concussionist
12. Wolves
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