This is the perfect middle-ground between pop-rock and emo, with the same Linkin Park-esque guitars (especially in tracks like “Gun In Hand”) and Hawthorne Heights-esque double-vocals. While a number of the earliest tracks on “Bled of Color” really don’t rise above their constituent parts, the first real exciting track comes soon after in “Bury Me (The Scarlet Path).” “Bury Me” has guitars that in their virtuosity pull up the…
The high energy of the opening of Release You will invite listeners into the track, which is helmed with AxelJordan’s stellar vocals. This means that Release You has a Jason Derulo meets Chris Brown feel, all while having the electronic crunch that EDM fans will eagerly devour. Release You is a stellar dance track that has the chops to make it on pop rotation; where there seems to be…
Send Me A Sign is a fun track that soars not only because of the two-part harmonies that are present, but also because of the fuzzy, warm backing that the Hammond establishes. The track could easily make it onto rock rotation, and entices listeners to continue with the titular EP. If You Want (the buh bah song) allows the vocals to take double duty. Where there is a decidedly narrative…
The Water Village has just released a self-titled album, which can be purchased at a variety of online retailers (which include Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon). The first single released off of “The Water Village”, The Potato Song, showcases the instrumental and vocal sides of The Water Village. This soft bit of pop music looks to break a number of the assumptions about what music is and what it can do.…
Egypt Central begat Devour the Day. I feel that the tracks that comprise Time & Pressure showcase an act that is mature enough to make thoughtful music but still possesses the ability to kick ass and take names. The album begins with Respect, a punk-infused track that ratchets up the work of Avenged Sevenfold and The Offspring into something much more toothy and in your face. Good Man does…
It’s been two years since Ben Folds got the band (the Five)back together and they’ve been making up for lost time, hitting the studio for last year’s The Sound of the Life of the Mind then doing a lap around the globe on their reunion tour. It appears Ben and the boys were kind enough to record those shows, so that they could give us Ben Folds Five Live (clever…
Yes’ Magnification, originally released in 2001 warranted a few footnotes in the bands decades-long history. It was the last studio album to feature longtime vocalist Jon Anderson, only the second record to feature a full orchestra and it is the only album to not feature a keyboardist (and this from a band who is known for their keyboards!). The album, one of the band’s strongest in the past 10 years,…
Son of the Tongue’s Prison has a diffuse opening, while gradually bringing listeners into something that melds fury with technical virtuosity. Masters of loudness, Hierophant is able to create something that looks to redefine what metal can do. Cutting off at the three minute mark, Son of the Tongue’s Prison is an early hit for the band. Son of the Carcinoma is the album’s shortest effort, but Hierophant is able…
Styx was captured late in 2010 in Memphis at the Orpheum Theater. During this performance, Styx played the entirety of two of their most well-known albums, Pieces of Eight and The Grand Illusion. The audio quality of these CDs are excellent, with the crowd response being the only tell that this was a live performance. The current Styx (including new lead singer Lawrence Gowan) are just as much of…
Fitz and the Tantrums start out their latest album with Out of My League, a resounding single that touches upon early eighties new-wave like The Cars and Flock of Seagulls. The band is able to inspire current listeners through smart arrangements and hooks that stick with listeners long after the CD has ceased. More Than Just A Dream continues on with Break The Walls, which brings a cacophony of…
Alpha Rev has evolved their sound considerably since 2010’s New Morning, a fact that is immediately evident with the one-two punch of Lexington and Crystal Colorado. With an ample momentum created by these initial tracks, Sing Long resounds with a tenderness and intense allure. There is an epic sound that resounds through the entirety of this track, with instrumental and vocal elements uniting to create something decidedly greater than the…
Guided By Voices and Built to Spill may by the go-to bands when someone’s trying to sing the praises of lo-fi music, but the New York-by-way-of-Chicago band Kleenex Girl Wonder – just as prolific as Robert Pollard and his boys, by the way – deserve just as much credit for all that’s great about the genre. Centered around singer/bassist Graham Smith – the one constant in the group…
Coming off sounding like an alt-country band playing grunge music after gobbling a handful of mushrooms, it’s hard to find another band today that sounds like Augusta, GA’s Dead Confederate. And why bother, when this five-piece does it so well. Yes singer Hardy Morris sounds eerily like Kurt Cobain reincarnated, but the band can write one hell of a jam. In the Marrow, their sixth album, is easily their…
British singer/songwriter David Ford is one of those musicians you can’t help but scratch your head at and wonder why this guy is not huge? His songs as catchy as hell while still coming across as giftedly witty (give album opener “Pour a Little Poison” 30 seconds and if you aren’t humming along, check your pulse). He can even wear the fedora better than Bruno Mars and all those other…
Dime Te Deseo is a slinky single that ties together glitch and dubstep with the strong female feel of a Ke$ha or Blackout / Circus – era Britney Spears. Where much of pop music feels as if it has been polished to perfection, listeners can hear that Minor’s vocal track relies solely on her talents. What results is a mélange of organic and electronic, as easily at home in a…
On the Scene is the introductory track on this album, and it provides listeners with a very taut and alluring set of arrangements. The music ties together smooth jazz with a hint of funk to establish a timeless quality to Hagen’s music. Midnight Drive contains a tremendous amount of rhythm, crafting an interesting dynamic between the organic and electronic instrumentation. The narrative that is created during this self-titled release far…
Pontus Gunve (who performs as PHWG) has just released his latest album, The Observer. Gunve has had countless compositions utilized for art installations, performances, and commercials. The Observer is a title that will showcase the sheer multitude of styles, approaches, and overall feelings present in Gunve’s career. Aside from acting as a retrospective, what The Observer feels like is an evolutionary step forward. With each track on The Observer,…
For those individuals that have been living under a rock for the last five years, Ruben Studdard was one of the American Idol finalists. This is actually eir second album; eir first album, “Soulful” had the catchy song “Sorry 2004”. However, this album starts out very weakly. The first track on “The Return” is the title track, which has the unfortunate tag line of “Of The Velvet Teddy Bear”. I…
Usually, I would stay away from live recordings from smaller labels like TKO just for the fact that many of these bands really don’t have the equipment necessarily to make their live performance not sound like shit. Take for example the Leftover Crack live show from Reading, PA in which it is virtually impossible for an individual listening to the disc to actually figure out which lyrics are being sung,…
Give Me Everything is a smooth track that could easily be played on rock radio rotation, where it succeeds tying in late nineties rock (311, Saliva) with a more contemporary feel. Where Do We Go has an absolutely furious instrumental arrangement that highlights the soaring vocals on the track. Hints of Foo Fighters and Maroon 5 can be heard in the vocals, with the track’s production tying together the…