Acoustic emo is always hard to do properly, where bands like The Early November failed miserably at their attempts, bands like Boys Night Out and Yellowcard have made compelling cases for the possibility of these types of albums. Still, this isn’t the type of acoustic that something that unplugged has constructed in the vast majority of listeners’ minds; “Once Upon A Time†is an adulterated acoustic album, recorded as with…
“Sugar†is the opening salvo on “R-Me Strongâ€, and it immediately comes forth with a melody that will get toes tapping and fingers snapping. This introduction to “R-Me Strong†shows a band skilled enough to come forth with a style that is classic while making it approachable to fans that may be into newer styles of music. “I’m Your Man†is a track that exists at a number of crossroads,…
“Simplify†is the titular track on Matthew Curran’s latest release, and it will immediately hit listeners with a strong guitar and driving beat that gradually opens up and provides listeners with a wide swath of different styles, sounds and approaches. At all points during this track, however, Curran’s vocals impress. This is because he takes on equal parts Kurt Cobain, Ben Folds, and Chris Cornell, crafting a unique style that…
The Feeling must be the next big thing in Britain. “Sewn†just has that feeling, as if Shayne Ward was blended with Snow Patrol and Orson. This means that while the track conforms to the basic tenets of what “rock†is, there is enough in the way of pop influence to make this track a big splash in any radio charts in which it finds itself. The track will not…
The rock of Federation X looks to early nineties rock like Corrosion of Conformity and Kyuss as it does to arena rock like Boston and other bands like Led Zeppelin and MC5. What results on “Rally Day” is a disc full of hooky guitar lines and memorable vocals. Each track is short enough to burn out while on top, instead of falling off heavily and having Federation X’s listeners get…
When I first put on “Art Damageâ€, I couldn’t get into it in any way. I had to put it on a second time and actually focus in so that a track like the opening one could open up to me. I could then pull out different sets of vocals, guitar and bass lines from the seemingly impenetrable mess that FBTMOF operates in. With double-bass pedals alit and guitar lines…
With a set of vocals that mix Jethro Tull and Stevie Nicks, the style of music during a song like “Old Black Hat With A Dandelion Feather†seem to pull from a completely different (and older) tradition. While this is a little offsetting, Feathers come back strong with the mopey yet hopeful vocals of “To Each His Ownâ€. The repetition present in a track like this is intention and does…
Imagine Jello Biafra being introduced to Atari Teenage Riot and Coal Chamber. Well, that is probably the least inaccurate comparison I could make for The Faux, so I guess we can keep it. Until the very digitized vocals of Jo come creeping into the track, I am personally not sure whether or not The Faux stole “Instrumentalâ€, the second track, from a Nintendo game’s midi program. “Cold and Mechanical†is…
From people aged 5 to 80, you can not believe how much praise I had already heard about this EP even before I was given a copy by Danny Boyer, a member of the band. Not having any contact information or a tracklist, it was sheer luck that I saw Danny at another local show, so if you happen to see any errors, they are all his problems. Seriously. “Full…
In continuing with the beer-fueled dirty punk rock that Diaphragm Records is known for, Fat Ass comes out with their debut album, “We Have Come For Your Mothers.†Getting dirty with their bar chords, Fat Ass comes out with a set of vocals that is a distinct mixture of Tim Armstrong and the vocalist from Hilljack. Instead of taking up a standard and running it into the ground, like their…
The Fatal Mistake play a brand of emo-punk music that is reminiscent of “1039”-era Green Day just as it looks toward the throaty vocals of Tim from Rise Against. The drums immediately stand out, whether it is through the time keeping of the opening track “Best Befriend” or the opening to the title track. What really comes as a surprise is Russ’s blistering-fast bass lines on the latter track, which…
Using Nintendo-game backdrops (at least, thats what they sound like) as a background for their vocals, Far Rad immediately win my heart. The vocals on “Cellar†are reminiscent of the now-defunct Unicorns and an audible Steve Lieberman. Almost breaching the wall between rap and rock, “Beteleuse†has Spike Jonze, Frank Zappa, and Atom and His Package form a Voltron-like creature, gaining strength from the noisy chorus and linear-to-a fault stanza.…
Oh, hyper aggressive hybrid of metal/punk band, do you ever tire of writing the same song over and over again? If you’re Mower, I guess so. Four albums into it, and the Mohawk sportin’ (two members at least), tattooed members of the San Diego hard rock band are releasing their grip on that template a bit. Sure, the themes of partying and violence are still front and center, but Make…
Where “A Day at The Farm With Farmer Jason†was a solid album, “Rockin’ In The Forest†even uses more complex arrangements and styles to get both kids and adults onto the same page. The tracks are oriented towards children, but even the subject material can be appreciated by both groups. The first track “The Forest Oh!†blends together Great Big Sea with They Might Be Giants into a track…
The great thing with a track like “Get Up Up Up!†is that the track is not necessarily only for the younger set. Obviously, this is what the disc is orientated towards, but the arrangements of the different instruments is fairly interesting and the overall sound of the track is much more full than many other kids’ albums. “A Guitar Pickin’ Chicken†is another kids track, but the track plays…
The sound of Falter Bramnk sounds similar to other French acts like Momus and Gong; there is an eclectic push on “Minimal Romance†that meshes well with a very spastic set of arrangements. There seems to be a raw type of sound that really is prevalent from the opening of the disc; there is a brashness about “Recall of the Souls†that should keep individuals listening, with the express purpose…
I don’t see what the big to do is with having a female singer sound like the mass of other singers out on the market. I mean, completely reminiscent of the traditional screamed-out vocals in the average technicore act are Ali’s vocals during “My Heart, The Beggarâ€. However, the backing instrumentation does some impressive things throughout the entirety of “Lights Outâ€. There are some influences present in the guitars, drum…
Creating some major disturbances in their scene (Phoenix, Arizona), as well as making minor ripples on the national scene, Fall Guy came to my attention through a few rock remixes of Twiztid songs. Compared by some to Linkin Park meeting Eminem, I fail to see that characterization beyond the fact that Fall Guy meshes rap and metal music. The riffs that Driver and Joe Dank create are remnants of metal…
There is an interesting beat to “Fall Heads Roll’s†first track “Ride Awayâ€. There is a Ian Dury type sound with the almost-spoken vocals of Mark, while the up-strumming of the guitar during the track seems to show The Fall as having a very distinct ska influence. A very unique thing to “Fall Heads Roll†is the very tangential sound of Mark’s vocals, which are given a mush-mouth treatment that…
The electronic feel that Falconhawk has through the entirety of “here’s Your Ghost†modifies the Tegan and Sara sound that was all the rage into a smoothed-out, more-sedate style. What results is something in which Kara’s vocals really become similar to Delores from The Cranberries. While there are moments on “Here’s Your Ghost†that the music starts to blend into each other, Kara’s keyboards do much in shaking up the…