This is a brand of post-hardcore emo that comes through with a tremendous amount of energy. Mixing together A Static Lullaby with a number of acts like Between The Buried and Me, “Goodnight†comes through with churning guitars and a number of catchy vocals. Everything is ultimately transferable to mass radio, but the band is still able to put a growling, heavy sound into many of their tracks.†While a…
The style of music that The Class of 98 is not stuck in the brand “emo†category that seems to fit a wide array of bands well, but rather the music on tracks like “Everywhere You Go†are transcendent of little-meaning genre tags. Rather, the sedate fuzz of The Class of 98 is rock without all of the posturing and bull that has really demarcated emo from rock in the…
Starting off “Pleasure†with a guitar-led beginning that would be proper in the soundtrack for any action hero movie, Classic Case frequently inflame the senses of their listener with tremendous amounts of different sounds. The disc begins with “Modus Operandiâ€, a hard-hitting track driven by the twin assault of drums and guitar, topped off by the late-nineties alternative sound of Jared’s vocals. The follow-up track, “Down And Outâ€, restraining the…
There seems to be more of a mixture of current rock with the emo sound that is prevalent; what results is a band that does not alienate a high amount of their listeners right from the start of the disc. Tracks like “Hospitalized†are high-energy romps that take some of the shrill guitar work of bands like Converge and insert them with the looking-back, hair-bandish solos of bands like Brand…
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Classical Ass if an odd band to categorize. Think equal parts Trans-Siberian Orchestra, They Might Be Giants, Anal Cunt, and Fu Manchu and one might have a little of an idea about their general sound. Each track has about the length of an Anal Cunt track and the same general subject-matter (You Make Me Wish I Was Deaf), but the arrangements have more of a White Stripes/Hives type feel. There…
This is a single that is attempting to raise money for Katrina victims. This means that you should throw them some money, even if the music captured on the disc is atrocious. Let me say, this music is only going to be impressive and salient to a very small segment of the population. This is not because it is bad or anything, but that it is done is a classic…
While Angus’ vocals really start off “Grace Period†with a sort of wonderful weariness that was a hallmark of Warren Zevon’s later works, the clean, adult contemporary brand of rock presented during “Lost In You†is purely Angus’. For those fans that want the majesty of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, this is perhaps some of the farthest music from this. Tracks like “So Frustrated†are tremendously restrained, and while the songs on…
Wielding their instruments with the finest precision, Minnesota’s Clair De Lune play a version of “emo†that goes beyond the simple cliché guitar/bass/drum lines and melodramatic lead singer; rather, all music laid down on “Marionettes†was created for the purpose of furthering the emotions held out by Justin and Adam’s vocals. What is exciting on this disc is the ability of Clair De Lune to go and about-face, pulling all…
City Sleeps will be the next big emo band. I’m sure of that fact. The disc starts off slowly with the minute-long opening title track, but as soon as the band gets into the groove of “Prototypeâ€, it becomes obvious that the band is going to strike it big. The style of “Hotel†is not necessarily what one should expect for emo bands in the current period, but seems to…
The acoustic that starts off “Mary, I’m Ready†really portends a more electric, intense style of instrumentation that is the fare during this track. It is almost like Robert slowed down and unplugged one of eir prior releases to come up with this soul-searching, emotionally-heavy composition. The speed comes back for “Pony’s Last Trickâ€, but this is not the aural assault incorporated by bands like Aiden; this is much more…
It takes the band a minute or so to get started, but The City Drive mix together Weezer with Yellowcard on their “Defeated†to come up with the best blend of emo and pop-punk since the last Blink 182 CD. The sound of the follow-up track to “Defeated†is much more sedate and nuanced; the only thing that seems to have common ground with the prior track is the fact…
Aside from the cringe-worthy title of the album, Circuit plays a pretty middle of the rock type of rock that will not really raise an eyebrow. Sure, the style of “The Lee Side†is a mixture of Lenny Kravitz and Vertical Horizon, but there is little inherent in Circuit’s music that will scream experimentation. There really seems to be a sound present in Circuit that is a look back to…
To say that “Away With The Tide†is strung out is to seriously underestimate how loose Circles are playing at this point. There are a number of hits that shows the band as fans of early nineties alternative rock, but there just is nothing that unites all the disparate elements of Circles here. The fact that Circles almost break the five minute mark with “Away With The Tide†almost puts…
Circa Survive moves beyond the simple emo classification and during tracks like “Wish Resignâ€, really move into the realm of bands like The Mars Volta. The actual instrumentation of the band moves beyond the minor amounts of intelligence used in creating the average emo disc. Circa Survive’s sound is largely influenced by the bands that have preceded them. While the aforementioned “Wish Resign†is heavily tied to a Pink Floyd…
“Senorita (Lookout)†is what I would imagine The Stooges sounding like if they actually started in 2000 instead of the early seventies. This is not the type of dirty rock that bands like Turbonegro play, but rather a mixture of punk and rock that gives equal time to both styles.â€Little Demon†shows The Chuck Norris Experiment as a band that is tremendously in debt to KISS, especially “Deuceâ€-era KISS. This…
Christine Martucci sounds a lot like other pop-rock singers of an earlier era, with comparisons that can be made to individuals like Sheryl Crow and Melissa Etheridge. The hard edge of songs like “Too Late†are good, as they give Martucci a different sound than the aforementioned artists. “Too Late†is a track that can make it onto pop stations without anything in the way of changes. The slower tempo…
To be honest, this CD is not what I expect to be hearing from Asian Man Records. This album was recorded on a walkman, and still really is full of bouncy reggae music that brings me back to an era in which I was not even born in. “Switchblade to Soul” has virtually no connection to the current, sounding as if it was dug out of the vaults at some…
“The Sacred Feminine†starts out with a piano that is emotional in its output, but does not seem to give individuals much of an idea what Choose to Find ultimately sounds like. Will the band come into a more indie approach, a classical approach, or something resembling the feminist-pop of individuals like Dar Williams, Tori Amos, and Ani DiFranco. The instrumentation continues without any vocal cues, but by the time…
After reading so much laudatory praise about this band, I was quite amazed to hear that they were just another dance act that seemed ultimately influenced by bands like Apell, Depeche Mode, Orbital, and Kraftwerk. I really was not sure what to expect from the band, but “Louden Up Now†attacks every possible corner of the dance phenomenon, instead of driving itself into a rut like Fluke’s “Puppyâ€. Instead of…