While their promo kit is abound with the number of accomplishments that they have garnered in such a short period of time, I still don’t see Lifted as the type of band that really pushes the envelope in any way. Rather a band that would just go through the oft-traveled ruts of such bands as Delirious? and Audio Adrenaline, this type of rock is stale, innocuous, and truly trite. While…
The stop-start sound of A Life Once lost is more of a nod to the technical metal of Converge and the experimentation of early iterations of Korn. The super-sonic screaming present on tracks like “Needleman” remind listeners of a younger Jonathan Davis, albeit one who is backed by a little more meaty musical backdrop. The constant use of the double-bass during tracks like the aforementioned “Needleman” and “Vulture” really provide…
Iron Maiden like guitars mix with Converge styled vocals to provide listeners with a bombastic opening to this, their full length debut on Clockwork Recordings (Pluto records imprint founded by Tim from As I Lay Dying). The virtuosity of the guitar lines laid down by Addy and Caleb is immediately noticeable, with influences for them coming in a wide swath, ranging from Duran Duran to Slayer, U2 to Sick of…
I presumed that Blow Up Hollywood would be considerably different than what ultimately is the norm on “Take Flight”. “RKK” is the first glimpse that we as listeners have into the mind’s eye of Blow Up Hollywood, and this 90-second track covers considerable musical ground. An atmospheric composition, “RKK” acts as the gateway into “Take Flight”, providing a sample to curious listeners for how the rest of the title will…
“Leavin’” is a light-spirited, bouncy type of track that represents a perfect introduction to Puglisi’ “Goodbye New York”. With a set of strings working above the hubbub created by his vocals and backing band, what results is something that spans numerous genres and styles. By the time that this four and a fourth minute track finishes up, listeners that may not have been too familiar with Puglisi’s work will be…
“What A Night” is the first track that listeners will hear when they put in the eponymous CD, and what issues forth is a blend of Tori Amos and Ani DiFranco that showcases equal amounts spirit and talent. Westin’s vocals match perfectly the guitars, drums, and pianos laid down by her backing band. What results with this introductory salvo is nothing less than a single that should garner heavy play…
The sweeping guitar riffs that open up “Suburban Hymns” seems to have put the perfect-pop of individuals like Rivers Cuomo on its head. The very virtuosic (but low-key) guitar that makes its way through “My Last Hostage” is just part and parcel of a larger desire by The Life and Times to skillfully cloak themselves with the fuzz of a bygone period in alternative rock. The shuffling beat of “Coat…
“Shout” is the main track on this EP, and individuals have to understand that this is the height of Christian pop music; this is Mary Mary for 2006, and this rocks while still trying to say a message. For those fans of the song, there is no shortage in the number of times that individuals can tune in; for ten tracks, there are four cuts that are specifically “Shout” (with…
Where “Rabbit Fur Coat” starts out in a very Allison Krauss type of style for “Run Devil Run”, there seems to be an infusion of that style with something that is much more acceptable in alternative rock. At the end of the track, one really hears more of a fusion style that looks toward Bitch & Animal’s “Drag King Bar” more than anything. “The Big Guns” continues slightly in this…
Totally not what I would expect from Nitro Records, The Letters Organize play a band of hardcore-emo that is reminiscent of Refused and Converge. The riffs that lead the band are brash and seem to look back to late-nineties metal, most noticeably Clutch. To My Surprise influences Brent Jay’s vocals, and in such the band’s focus is pretty solid, even to the point of really limiting the different styles that…
Chicago’s infamous “corporate grindcore” outfit HEWHOCORRUPTS are no stranger to weird releases: having formerly issued a credit card sized CD housed in a wallet, a NSFW split calendar, an EP packaged with shredded money, etc… but THIS one takes the cake. “Midi of Profits” is what it’s called, and a 1gb USB rubber bracelet is what it is. That’s right, Robotic Empire has released a rubber USB bracelet with MIDI…
Letter Kills starts “The Bridge” out with a funky guitar line, and “Lights Out” is a typical emo-rock track, replete with an active second set of vocals at odds with the lead. The first radio track is “Don’t Believe”, using ample high hats, emotive lyrics and a cohesive effort – the track may be lacking in innovation from “Lights Out” but it shows the band as dynamic, forever perfecting their…
The dreamy nature of Let’s Go Sailing during “Sideways” is fun and energetic, even if the band does not fill their music with bombastic beats or anything else that will pound listeners into submission. The band is not afraid to use repetition during their tracks, and individuals should not be afraid either, since the band is very capable and talented. There is little better that Let’s Go Sailing could do…
The vocal shifting of previous times is present even as early as “City of Champions”. LetLive continue their intense assault on the listener that began with “Exhaustion, Salt Water and Everything In Between”. What the band really seems to have changed with their formula on “Speak Like You Talk” is a tremendous amount of use of differing time signatures. This is a direct comment on all the hardcore bands that…
Letlive is another band like Anatomy of a Ghost and Boys Night Out – a “new wave” of emo acts that intersperses both melodic “emo-core” vocals and screamed-out vocals to push their sound. While “Adjectives Might Work”, their first cut off of “Exhaustion, Salt Water, and Everything in Between”, is pretty much a sleeper, their second track is both much more radio friendly and catchy. “With a Mouth Sewn Shot”…
The sedate sounds of the disc’s opening track “Illuminati” really shows the band as nuanced and complicated, taking as much from Oasis as from Audio Adrenaline, a far cry from the Jimmy Eat World tag so often placed on them. The driving beat of the drums played by Scott work well with the very linear synth lines played during “Spotlights”; the vocals effortly lifts itself above the controlled chaos of…
Less Than Jake has been around for a long time, there’s no denying that, but the band has came through with each subsequent album in ways that older acts typically are not able to do. Less Than Jake create a single in “Overrated” that is done in the same sing-songy style of acts like Bowling For Soup (1985) and Everclear (Volvo Driving Soccer Mom), a great representation for the band.…
Even though this disc is already old (it was first released in 1998), there is no doubting the fact that this track has more to do with early Sade and Journey than anything from its contemporaneous decade. The anemic sound of the disc’s first track “Color The Blue” is only saved from complete anonymity by the very emotive outputs by both Leon Vest and the guitars placed down by Garth…
Hey, as I guessed, Len sounds a lot like the lounge singers of the fifties and sixties, using an emotive bass and a twinkling piano to create an environment for eir first track, “Be The Man I Was Really Meant To Be”. Going farther into the Frank Sinatra imitation with the scat heard on the track, Len provides a middle-of-the-ground track that sounds like pretty much every track from that…
The raucous brand of rockabilly-style music that The Legendary Hucklebucks seems just as pit-worthy as any punk music, even if the style of music is aurally radically different. Their re-tooling of the traditional “rawhide” track in their “Hillbilly Throwdown” shows a complete punk influence for the members of the band; even if the band uses a bluegrass bass style at times during the track, it is the Mojo Nixon, Primus,…