Burns Out Bright – Distance and Darkness / 6 Tracks / 2004 Deep Elm Records / http://www.burnsoutbright.com / http://www.deepelm.com / Released 24 February 2004 / Reviewed 16 February 2004 Burns Out Bright is more of the Brand New and Coheed and Cambria style of emo-rock than say the Fugazi and Mission of Burma school, but one thing that the band does share with a number of their labelmates is the…
I don’t know what to categorize this style of music. “Signs of Perfection†shows Burnside Project as an act that mixes emo music with dance music. This is not necessarily like The Sounds or Head Automatica, but is what Blink 182 tried to do with “Alwaysâ€. It is honestly as if the band blended all the New Romantic albums that they had in their garages with an emo style that…
Opening up “Leave No Ashes†with “Heart Full of Blackâ€, Burning Brides’ 70s-rock influences are shown very loudly, most noticeably their love for The Eagles, Rush, and Sammy Hagar. The track is practically just an update of the music that can still be heard on classic rock stations all throughout the United States, albeit with a better recording. The strung-out nature of “Come Alive†is infuriating, mixing together the Kurt…
While Burden of a Day is a hardcore band, they seem to have taken the lessons provided them by current emo acts and on their “Pilots & Paper Planes†and create a soundscape that individuals will actually pay attention to. Previous hardcore acts would just focus on the vocals, drums, and guitars, but Burden Of A Day focuses on the interplay between all of these disparate elements. “High Noon†is…
The tracks on “Lookaftering†really flow like honey; Bunyan comes through with a distinctive, not-quite falsetto set of vocals. These vocals are bolstered by some of the most emotive and honest guitar work ever produced, and in some sense actually provide Bunyan with a second set of vocals to play off of. Every piece of instrumentation on “Lookaftering†is quality-controlled and checked until the best fit is allowed to finally…
The honeymoon may be over, but for The Handsome Family it’s just beginning with a a west coast tour beginning July 14th in Seattle, to support the release of their new album and recent sold-out dates on the east coast in April. Touring extensively throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, their live performances sometimes consist of up to a six-piece band and other times just band members…
The grit in which Ms Liza Graves starts off “Dead Are Walking†is something that seems to even go farther than Joan Jett and Wendy O. Williams and seems to be much more in the vein of Retching Red. The music that Bullet Treatment plays is a pretty fast, thrashy style of punk that is only about one step removed from crust punk. The guitar riffs work perfectly with the…
The simplistic guitar-driven rock of Carol Bui reminds one of Susanne Vega or even Alanis Morrisette; throughout all of this, there is a sound that is Bui’s and Bui’s alone. The earthy guitar work present on a track like “This Is How I Recover†draws listeners back to the days of Sebadoh, even as the arrangement of Bui’s seems much more influenced by medieval music than anything. Where carol Bui…
The first few tracks on “Scissors†are a little bit weak, there is no denying that. A purveyor of this post-hardcore (essentially, more Refused-liked guitar lines and noise rock into the traditional “emo†sound) sound, Bullet Train To Vegas really start to shine during their third track, “The Camera Eye Backbiteâ€. This track benefits from an experimentation with different tempos and general sounds, all connected together with lead vocalist Dan’s…
Translation Loss Records are extremely excited to announce the addition of Richmond, VA’s CITY OF SHIPS to their roster! CITY OF SHIPS has been touring relentlessly since its inception in 2005, promoting self-released EPs as well as CD and Vinyl releases from independent Richmond, VA labels Forcefield Records and the Perpetual Motion Machine. The trio will embark on an extensive European tour this summer, first with label mates Rosetta and…
Starting off “The Revelry†with an Offspring-influenced opening, California’s Bullets and Octane seem immediately tagged for success alongside the aforementioned act, as well as Authority Zero and earlier hair-metal acts like Lizzy Borden and Twisted Sister. The mastering is perfect on this disc and as such saps Bullets and Octane’s fury, placing them entirely within a radio-friendly box, essentially neutering what could be an intense act. Finally reaching their full…
Bullets and Octane play the same high-powered rock of bands like Fu Manchu and Corrosion of Conformity, while deferring to an earlier brand of hard rock (think mid-eighties for a good reference point). Each of the songs that grace “In The Mouth of the Young†contain this same dedication to the band’s own style, with fist-pounding anthems and catchy choruses being the norm instead of the exception here. In fact,…
Mix a little Misfits, Vandals, Rancid and more together and individuals will get an idea of what Brunt of It! sounds like; there’s a little ska influence thrown it at the margins, but by and large this is a hard-nosed punk band through and through. Where there is probably no better entrance into the CD than “Blindedâ€, ‘Daddy’s Little Boy†seems to be a little embarrassing for the band. Brunt…
Ooh… its the Manfred Mann Band meeting with The Specials. Or, at least, that is how the beginning of this EP (Last Words This Morning) sounds. Borth’s saxophone really gives “Last Words This Morning†a full-bodied sound that draws the emotions of listeners just like the keys of Choi intensify the second track, “Go Feet Goâ€. The great thing about the Bruce Lee Band in this track is that they…
Even though Music To Quilt By is over three years old, the band was forward-thinking enough to make a hard-rock disc in the form of what is currently popular. However, there are some interesting derivations from the norm on Music To Quite By, especially the weird “Popcornâ€-esque electronic noise stuck at the end of the first track, “She Wantsâ€. Brown Sox play a style of hard rock that is musically…
Talking over a punk beat does not a song make, and Brown Paper Bag obscure their solid arrangements with sloppy, shouted out lyrics. In fact, Brown paper Bag sounds like an equal mixture of Leftover Crack and Blink 182, to the point that both factions present on the disc really make for a cluttered time. The second track is much more coherent than the opening, but shows the vocals on…
Hey, did someone steal an unreleased Don Henley track and pass it off as Brothermandude’s first track, “Movin Onâ€? No, well it sounds like that, as Brothermandude place the vocals at the fore of the track as the bass gets down and funky and the guitar occupies a space in the track that allows it to supplement both of those other instruments. The slight fuzz present on the track, owing…
I see a lot of parallels in Solomon Burke and Johnny Cash. I started thinking about the comparisons when I read that “Nashville†was Burke’s cover album, where ey takes on country classics by individuals as widespread as Tom T. Hall, Dolly Parton, and Don Williams. This is similar to the American series of CDs that were released by Johnny Cash. Looking at a history of Burke, the sheer amount…
I still remember the first time I saw Brookside live. It was in a coffee shop in Greencastle, Indiana wwhen only about twenty individuals were in attendance. Despite the poor acoustics of the venue, the energy of Brookside was able to shine. This energy is the same on “Tonight, Long Islandâ€. I know that both the Purevolume and Myspace pages of Brookside have tracks by the band, but having the…
Pretty much the only straight-forward punk band that I’ve had a chance to review for ‘Sup, The Bronx play a form of punk that is heavily influenced by the late eighties California hardcore scene. Blasting through three songs in less than eight minutes, the picture EP begins with the utterly forgettable title track, Bats! Minor amounts of melody rear their tiny heads during their “You Want to See Us Burnâ€,…