“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
This album was another one that I was a little worried about reviewing, as I heard the Dave Matthews-style guitar that opens up the disc, “Supposed to be There Too”. Still, after keeping this disc on repeat in my stereo for the last week has opened my eyes. Dealing incredibly heavily with racism, and hate in general, Mike Park’s For the
Beginning the disc out with a continuation of the title, Park’s “The Ghost You Are” winds down into a signal that disappears from the radar after being so strong just a few seconds before. While each track is skillfully layered by the musicians of Park, the truth is that a simple three-chord vein of punk bubbles just below the skin. The blond from this vein bubbles up at times during…
After having a long career working with Lobster Records, I can honestly say that they have done a lot in their half-decade of existence. From their earliest days with Mock Orange and Joystick, Lobster Records have continued to put out the finest quality of pop-punk and post-punk music. Such is the case with the new Park disc, which has gained some serious fans throughout the numerous punk webzines. However, instead…
Totally inoffensive mess between emo and pop-rock, removing all the energy behind Sum 41 and Billy Talent and mixing it with The Darkness and The New Radicals. Each track is extra-ordinarily antiseptic, sounding more applicable in a hotel elevator than a rock radio station. This lack of power is painfully evident in a track like “Rebel Radio”, where the power of “My Sharona”’s guitar attack is mollified, being mixed with…
The vocals of Hayley really obscure some of the best instrumentation that Paramore can muster, especially when the band opens the disc with their “All We Know”. What is most interesting about “All We Know” are the almost-perfectly sequenced drums of Zac on the track, which are so impeccable that individuals will think that a computer created them. When Paramore creates tracks like “Pressure”, one knows that they cannot be…