A harder-edged punk band than most of the pop-punk that is coming out currently, The Pennyroyals seem more in tune with bands like Three Days Grace than Good Charlotte. In fact, the first track on “There Is No Revolution!”, “Better Than Me” is led by a harsh guitar attack and the perfect vocals of Mike. Skillfully mixing in synthesizer lines to their tried-and-true brand of rock , The Pennyroyals seemed…
“Revelation on the Radio” is an absolute epic track in the vein of Styx or Queens of the Stone Age. While rooted firmly in the rock genre, listeners can hear equal amounts of metal (Fear Factory) and even punk (Jello Biafra) present in Steele’s first cut. “Via Satellite” provides listeners with a tremendous amount of energy, as Steele’s vocals drive into listeners with all of the allure of a Tubronegro…
“Flesh” reminds me of a Devo track. The same sort of angular post-punk rock is present in both the classic Akron band as well as PepperDome, but there are noticeable differences between the former and the latter. Key of these would have to be an appreciation of all the music to come out after the former – hints of Gogol Bordello, Reel Big Fish, and even Against Me! can all…
“Old & Faded” is the first track on The Sunrise’s “Spread The Word”, providing listeners with a sampling of their own style of rock. This style touches upon seventies rock, gospel, R&B, soul, and does so while providing a message. “The Way To Live” provides this message of uplift and righteous living alongside guitar work that is simply fantastic. The overall sound of “The Way To Live” will garner fans…
The strings, guitars, and other ambient noises that begin “Search and Rescue” will immediately catch the attention of anyone in the room. The intensity of this introduction dovetails well into the meat of the disc’s first track, “Be Right Here”. Fans of a wide swath of artists, be it Hellogoodbye, Fall Out Boy, T-Pain, or even Matt and Kim will be able to dig this eclectic opening. The linking of…
“From Here”, Katey Laurel’s new album starts in a very controlled and measured fashion. The foundation laid down by the instrumentation on the disc’s first track, “Begin Again”, gradually gains steam as the track rolls on. When Laurel gets to the chorus, listeners will immediately sit up and take notice – there is a catchiness present that will ensure that the track sticks with all that listen in.
“Achilles’ Heel” starts out with “Bands With Managers”, a slow, deliberately plodding track that skillfully mixes the human nature of the vocals with the detached, machine-like nature of the drums and synthesizers. Looking back to late nineties alternative rock for the inspiration for the vast majority of the CD, Pedro the Lion elicits comparisons to Placebo, Sloan, and Geggy Tah. Perhaps the most enticing matter with Pedro the Lion would…
The introductory vocals during “Here We Go Again” are interesting, and to be honest, take a few minutes to fully get into. This is due to the fact that Pavia has a very innovative and new style of vocals, and this newness will take individuals a short while to get used to. Couple that with the fact that the vocals are practically all that are present during the opening of…
Starting out with “Diaryland”, a track that is as scary as any ambient track from a Halloween-themed CD, Paulson creates a brooding atmosphere that only gets more intense as the track builds up. Finally breaking into some semblance of vocals two minutes into the track, Logan’s vocals still act in an instrumental way. Reminiscent of Incubus’ oddly-arranged style of drumming, “A Great pretending” uses that same brooding nature to make…
Paulson – All At Once / 2005 One Day Savior / 10 Tracks / http://www.paulsonisaband.com / http://www.onedaysavior.com / Reviewed 28 December 2005 The band comes through with a tender appreciation of emotion, a desire to unity softness with a hidden intensity and wonderful arrangements that will keep individuals listening in. There seems to be a mixture of the traditional (read: mid-nineties) brand of emo with the same emotive instrumentation that…
Let me state up front that this review is not meant to be ironic in anyway and while sarcasm is the major form of communication for anyone between 12 and 25, I’m in my late 30’s so am (almost) capable of going more than 15 minutes without a single snarky retort. OK, I’m just as cynical as your average tween, but I’ve at least lived long enough to justify the…
“Maple” may just be one of the most annoying openings for a CD; the repletion and brash arrangements that are such a hallmark for the track do maintain some semblance of a melody, but it is lost in much of the track’s chaos. Continuing with the incredible amount of repetition for “It’s The Wine”, Pattern Is Movement seem to be expressing themselves in a seventies vein, almost as the Kinks…
Moving into their first track “Non Servium” with a generous helping of Radiohead and a brooding style of indie rock, Pattern is Movement start out their disc with a solid-sounding but weak-experimenting first track. The inclusion of strings to counteract the snarky tone of the guitar is a welcome change from banality, but the track still leaves some longing in the hearts of true musical swingers. Lacking a definite bass…
“Strength” shows Patten’s appreciation of bands like Creed and Nickelback, and while Patten’s instrumental approach does not touch much in the way of rock (the track blends together piano and keyboards), the intensity of Patten’s vocals cannot be denied. There is more than a fair share of blues in the aforementioned set of vocals, perhaps giving the tracks on this album a more timeless sound. “Remember When” is a much…
“Screaming Man” mixes together Rise Against and Against Me! to come up with a style of punk music that is heavily grounded in the “true” emo genre. Couple that sound with a guitar line that seems most proper in Queens of the Stonie Age tracks, and “Screaming Man” is a track that is dense to an almost-Rush degree. Partisan is not a band that is happy continuing the existing order…
The vocal-heavy style of Paths of Possession during their “Darklands” is a marked departure from a lot of the death metal bands currently out; one can actually understand what the hell that George is singing, and for that thanks need to go out. In much the same way, the guitar work done by Jay and Jack is clear enough to make this a brutally honest brand of metal; they do…
Why has Patent Pending been under the radar for so long that I’ve never heard of them? The first track on “Save The Children”, “Los Angeles” is a tremendously sped-up pop-punk track that does everything that the band wants to do in three a half minutes. If the album was just this single individuals would be happy, but Patent Pending through their infinite kindness has decided to cut another fourteen…
The energy in which Partyline starts off their “Zombie Terrorist” reminds one of early California punk rock, all the way through “Ignition”-era Offspring. The tracks on “Zombie Terrorist” are able to add to each other by working all in the same level. The guitar in “Party-N-Animal” is nearly the same as it is during “Zombie Terrorist”, but the lyrics and the overall approach of the band vary slightly with each…
The promo sheet mentions that Elvis Costello was a major influence on the leader of Particle Zoo, Jeff Devito. The first track of “Loneliness and Strangers” “Girasole” is the perfect example of this, as Jeff’s vocals mix in with synthesizers that would work as perfectly as on any Red Hot Valentines song. In much of the same way as the earliest Elvis Costello albums, tracks like “Freaky Fat Tuesday” really…
Starting out with a nuanced brand of acoustic rock in the vein of Jeff Ott’s solo work, Mike Park continues eir own “For The