Tagged with the wonder years

Review: Liger Tea Party – “Sorry, We Aren’t Great”

Liger Tea Party – “Sorry, We Aren’t Great”

Liger Tea Party

 

Released: June 23, 2013
Label: Unsigned
Purchase: Digital

Liger Tea Party is an unsigned band from Shanghai, China composed of clean vocalist/guitarist Dawson Chen, guitarist Charles Wang, drummer Edward Pan, and bassist/unclean vocalist Keith Yeo. The band just released their debut EP, Sorry, We Aren’t Great, but the members of the band have been in the Shanghai music scene for years in various different outfits. Sporting a sound that is hybrid of pop punk and hardcore (similar to A Day To Remember), Liger Tea Party has already rocked many venues around Shanghai, and their charismatic energy is familiar to their fans.

The EP itself is a current collection of their complete songs recorded at Dbstudios Shanghai. They possess a strong upbeat atmosphere that rivals veterans like All Time Low and The Wonder Years, with addictive crowd-pleasing chants. The unclean vocals are also, almost surprisingly, welcoming and a sublime addition to each song. Finally, their lyrics aren’t bad at all, definitely not reminiscent of some of the shallow writing present in certain contemporary artists, including some bands in the same relative genre. Our Editor-in-Chief, Harri Gibson, when asked about Liger Tea Party stated, “Damn, this band is a dream!”

The problem keeping Liger Tea Party‘s songs from being perfect in Sorry, We Aren’t Great seems to be the fusion of the vocals. In the EP, there are three voices who perform at different points, and while they are all unique individually, none of them appear to befit the songs’ instrumentals incredibly well. Similarly, in the EP Dawson’s clean vocals don’t mesh perfectly with Keith’s screams but that could be corrected easily and definitely isn’t evident in their live shows. The overall result is massive potential that screams to be better. The songs are incredibly good and very much worth a listen if you are into positive energy and gung-ho music. Stream the songs below and check out their Facebook page.

Standout Tracks: There’s only three, listen to them all!

7.5

Stream: The Wonder Years – “The Greatest Generation”

The Wonder Years Band Photo
Hopeless Records are currently streaming The Greatest Generation, the upcoming album by pop-punk band The Wonder Years, in its entirety on their Youtube channel. The band has posted a message to the fans, regarding how important it is that fans pre-order and purchase the album and how much work was put into creating the album. 

“It’s 2013 and no one that wasn’t supposed to have our record got it until we mailed them out. It’s shocking and really a nice feeling that a bond of mutual respect with everyone who had the press stream kept the album where it belonged.

Now, the record is streaming so you can listen guilt free. Like I said, its 2013. I know how shit works. Music is free if you want it to be, so why pay for it? To that, I say, touché. I get it. I understand but I’d like to counter with this: it’s $10.

Crime in Stereo said this to me once and it really struck me. Just stop and think about what you’d spend $10 on; one trip to Chipotle? Going to a movie if it’s a cheap one? Maybe a t-shirt from like Urban Outfitters if its on sale? Two beers at a bar?

We put in months of our lives into this record. We sweat and we froze in a shitty practice space. We argued and fought tooth and nail over every song. We spent weeks of 15 hour days at the studio working until we physically couldn’t anymore literally getting frustrated to the point of punching walls because we didn’t get it perfect. And that doesn’t even begin to account for financial shit. But forget all that. What’s most important is that we feel all the way down to our bones that this is our best record to date and the critics seem to agree.

It’s not intended as a guilt trip or like I’m pleading with you. It’s just a suggestion: next time you’re about to go to Chipotle, maybe eat what your mom made or use your college meal card or make something yourself. The next time you’re gonna go to the bar, split a 30 rack with some buddies and drink at home. I’m suggesting you take that $10 and buy The Greatest Generation because we think it’s worth it and it matters to us as a band that you do. That’s all. Hope your lives are great. See you this summer.”

-The Wonder Years

Check out the early playlist stream of The Greatest Generation below! The album is set to be released May 14th by Hopeless Records, which you can pre-order here. The Wonder Years are set to play the entire length of the Vans Warped Tour this summer.

 

Watch: The Wonder Years – “The Bastards, The Vultures, The Wolves”

The Wonder Years Press
The Wonder Years have released the third song off of their upcoming full-length, The Greatest Generation, titled The Bastards, The Vultures, The Wolves. Check out the video here, as well the videos for their two previous songs Passing Through A Screen Door and Dismantling Summer. Let us know what you think in the comments below! The album will be released on May 14th by Hopeless Records. You can preorder the record on their website.

Listen: The Wonder Years – “Dismantling Summer”

Dismantling Summer
The Wonder Years have premiered the fourth track of their upcoming full-length, The Greatest Generation, entitled Dismantling Summer. The song features a slightly different, more upbeat vibe to the previously released track, Passing Through A Screen Door. If both songs released thus far are an accurate showcase of the album to come, The Greatest Generation will no doubt be an essential part of every pop-punk fan’s record collection. Stream the song via Altpress here! The Greatest Generation will drop on the 14th of May later this year.