Album Review: The Story So Far - Songs Of EP

Hate all you want, but at some point, you're going to need to give credit where credit is due: The Story So Far have figured out where they fit into the grand scheme of the scene, and they know how to keep finding ways to increase their already exponentially-expanding fanbase. Last year's sophomore effort What You Don't See was a mental maturation and audible tightening of the screws from the brash, bold, often immature Under Soil and Dirt. 2013 also saw the band stray from their pop-punk starter kit sound, opting for a stripped-down, subdues effort on a split with The Story So Far. Maybe it was the fact that Tumblr went crazy for the acoustic track "Clairvoyant" that turned out to be one of the band's best songs, the fact that they're on Warped Tour this summer, or the fact that their meteoric rise through the ranks may be too rapid for indie label Pure Noise Records to handle, but something's possessed the band to keep their creative juices flowing. And the result of that motivation, whatever its cause may be, has produced a brand new EP, Songs Of. 

Album Review: Tigers Jaw - Charmer

Throughout the early stages of this so-called "emo revivial," there were a few bands that held things down for the newcomers like Have Mercy, The Hotelier, or Old Gray came and really started the movement. One of them, very quietly, was Tigers Jaw. With their moody, smooth jams and their ability to capture the emotions of any given moment while always evolving their sound and setting the pace for the sound of the scene as we know it. They've been one of the most respected bands to come up from this scene in the last few years, and on Charmer, their fourth full-length, Tigers Jaw continue to prove why so many have fallen in love with them.

Album Review: Muscle & Bone- "Peace & Light"

 

     2014 seems to be the year that 90's emo is making a huge comeback.  This is partially due to awesome young bands making new music reminiscent of the sound that started the genre some 20 years ago.  Muscle & Bone's debut LP Peace & Light is yet another stellar emo album released this year that combines both new and old influences, giving a fresh take on an older sound. 

Album Review: Old Gray / Tiny Moving Parts Split 7" EP

     From looking at each band's discography separately, it would be naive to think the Old Gray/Tiny Moving Parts split would be anything but devastating.  In the past year, both bands have made great strides in popularity.  Although that brings along tons of anticipation for new material, it also has critics examining such material under a microscope, determining if new releases are a step in the right or wrong direction.  Even with that pressure, this split further secures Old Gray's and Tiny Moving Parts' spots in the genre.  The bands combined their talent and promise into one release that is one of the best splits we've heard all year.  With an underlying theme of anxiety and death running through these four tracks, the bands address similar situations from different perspectives, both sonically and emotionally.  Even so, the subtleties in each track compliment each other impressively well. Let's look at the split track-by-track.

Album Review: The Menzingers- Rented World

The Menzingers are in the midst of a streak which has become exceedingly rare. To use some allegories from the world outside of the music scene, they are in the midst of a Joe DiMaggio-esque 56-game hitting streak or a Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidential election streak. Releasing three straight critically acclaimed punk albums in a 4 year span is something that almost no modern punk band has been able to accomplish. Even The Menzingers’ contemporaries in The Gaslight Anthem fell victim to critical fatigue with American Slang (an album that received mixed reviews upon its release). Yet, hot off the heels of their breakthrough record Chamberlain Waits in 2010, The Menzingers released one of the best-written albums punk of the 21^st century in On The Impossible Past in 2012. Would they crack under the pressure of having to follow-up what would be many other bands’ magnum opus, or could they respond with another classic album? 

Album Review: The Used- Imaginary Enemy

Halfway through the second track of Imaginary Enemy, I exclaimed, “They’ve finally done it- they’ve put it all together on an album.” This was right around the bridge of “Cry,” when vocalist Bert McCracken cuts through a series of electronic effects to offer a guttural screech of “Nicer than that.” What follows is a punishing 25 seconds of metal riffs provided by guitarist Quinn Allman and bassist Jeph Howard. 

The opening track, ”Revolution,” and the track I spoke about above, “Cry,” are just about everything I could possibly expect in an album from The Used. They’re upbeat, incendiary emo anthems. If only the rest of the album could be like that.

Album Review: Chiodos- Devil

    

     With Craig Owens returning to Chiodos, balance was restored in the world and things seemed right again.  Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but in all seriousness, I've been waiting for Craig Owens to come back to this band since he left.  While this may not be the line-up that gave fans All is Well that Ends Well and Bone Palace Ballet (original lead guitarist Jason Hale left in 2012, replaced by former- Fall of Troy guitarist Thomas Erak), Chiodos’s newest LP Devil hits us with passion reminiscent of the pre-Illuminaudio days without losing the growth they found in instrumental technicality.

Album Review: Manchester Orchestra - Cope

God, where have you been? Manchester Orchestra have been quiet for far too long. It's been four years since the release of the band's polarizing third full-length Simple Math, which was a sharp left turn from the guitar-driven Mean Everything to Nothing. The band's dabbling in atmospheric layering and experimentation-based rock did produce some great moments, but it wasn't quite up to par with Everything to Nothing or the band's debut I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child. Never the type of band to pander to what the outside voices are saying about them, the band took their time and have now returned with Cope, and the hopes of returning to their place as one of the most talked-about bands in alternative rock.

Album Review: Seahaven- Reverie Lagoon: Music for Escapism Only

    

    When Seahaven announced the title for their most recent LP, I rolled my eyes, thinking it was both cheesy and unnecessarily long.  However, upon listening, Reverie Lagoon: Music for Escapism Only is a pretty accurate description of California band's latest release.  Taking a step back for the punchy lyrics and heavy lines heard in Winter Forever and the quick tempos of Ghost, this album takes a different turn, focusing on ambient instrumentals with Kyle Soto's droning and longing vocals.

Album Review: Tokyo Police Club - Forcefield

The wait has been far too long for Tokyo Police Club's 3rd full-length album. The band released Champ in 2010, and became indie darlings thanks to their infectious melodies, quirky lyrics, and talented indie-rock musicianship. After that came the band's ambitious covers compilation (featuring Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" and a moving rendition of Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA"), and a long time away from the spotlight. Their touring was minimal, and news of a future release was nonexistent. Now, four years after Champ was unleashed to the world, Tokyo Police Club are back, and it's like they've never even left.

Album Review: Fireworks- Oh, Common Life

When Fireworks returned to the forefront of the pop-punk of the scene with their sophomore full-length album Gospel in 2011, the release was met with some uncertainty from its fanbase. The release seemed a significant departure from the straightforward pop-punk songwriting of the band’s debut album All I Have to Offer Is My Own Confusion. However, the summer anthems and wild sing-alongs of Gospel have fittingly become something of a pop-rock Holy Text over the past two years. It should come as no surprise then that I greeted Firework’s most recent full-length album Oh, Common Life- and the sonic shift that accompanies it- with an element of trepidation at first. Would they be able to recreate the magic that made Gospel one of my favorite albums of 2011?

Album Review: I am the Avalanche - Wolverines

I am the Avalanche have one of the coolest stories behind them in the punk world, bar none. Formed after frontman Vinnie Caruana's first band The Movielife parted ways, the band have been around since 2005, but that existence featured a six-year break between their debut self-titled effort and 2011's Avalanche United. This felt like a hiatus, with the band playing only a scarce amount of shows and popping up briefly here and there. Propelled by Caruana's charisma and sterling reputation, however, there was always a clamoring for more, which likely helped Avalanche United see the light of day. With their feet firmly planted in the ground now, the band have halved their between-album window to release Wolverines, their third full-length that finds the band finally coming into their own.

Album Review: La Dispute- Rooms of the House

 

     It’s has never been easy to categorize La Dispute or nail them down to one specific genre.  Thanks to the newest addition to their discography, Rooms of the House makes it utterly impossible.  Each track plays in its part illustrating the demise of passionless relationship whose love fades into oblivion through the album's progression.  While vocalist Jordan Dreyer is known for having an eloquent way of explaining the deepest emotions surrounding the most horrifying events, he takes a step back from the pure devastation of Wildlife’s “King Park” as he meticulously analyzes the everyday motions of muddling through life alone in a marriage.  It’s the brutal simplicity of events that make them just as haunting as “All Our Bruised Bodies” and “Andria.”  

Album Review: Taking Back Sunday- Happiness Is

Before delivering an assessment of Taking Back Sunday’s most recent album, I feel it may be important to delve into the band’s history. After releasing two critically acclaimed albums on Victory Records, they shifted to a major for their mainstream breakthrough Louder Now and the disappointing follow-up New Again. While the release of 2011’s self-titled reunion with the original Tell All Your Friends lineup was generally hailed as a success, it was fraught with mismanagement from the label that released the album, Warner Bros. The band commented in interviews about how Warner did not promote the album adequately, and on the bonus disc that came with the self-titled even hinted that the label made the band take songs off of the tracklisting (the biggest loss being the stellar B-side “Mourning Sickness”). Because of this disappointment with Warner Bros., the band recently moved to Hopeless Records, allowing them to retain some autonomy over their musical direction and tracking decisions. 

Album Review: The Hotelier- Home, Like Noplace Is There

As a host of an emo radio show, I am uniquely interested in the history of emo music. I could tell you that bands like Rites of Spring pioneered the genre in the 80s, that bands like Jimmy Eat World and Sunny Day Real Estate helped to grow it in the late 90s. I could even tell you that My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday brought it squarely into the mainstream in the mid-2000s. Undoubtedly, then, I have heard of the growing term “emo revival” to describe this fourth distinct era of emo music, and find it just as ridiculous as other critics have. Emo hasn’t gone anywhere since the 1980s (or the mid-2000s for that matter), it has just shifted form and sound over time, as every other genre has.

Album Review: Bayside - Cult

Longevity is not a guarantee. It is not to be expected, demanded, or even begged for; rather, it is earned. Those bands who are able to stick around for a long time do so not because they jump trends, "sell out," market themselves well, have a strong business plan, or the best merch designs, but because the quality of the product they make is consistent, meaningful, and ever-evolving. There are very few bands who can say that they have accomplished the feat of longevity, but thankfully, Bayside has become one of them. On their sixth full-length album Cult, the band begin to look back on their storied career, and the result is some of its most empowered material yet.

Album Review: Tides of Man- Young and Courageous

(Click the album art to listen to a full stream of the album)

Losing a frontman is the most difficult transitive event that can occur with a band. Often times the stress of trying to pick a new singer and adapt your sound to that new voice is too much to bear and the band decides to call it quits instead of naming a replacement, like what happened last year to Daytrader.  Other times the frontman position becomes a revolving door of different voices and personalities, none of them gelling with the rest of the band members or living up to the promise of the original singer (bands like Close Your Eyes have suffered through this fate). Still other times, a new frontman takes the band to new heights unimagined by the band with the original singer, resulting in a newfound creative strength, as was the case when Adam Lazzara took over for Antonio Longo in Taking Back Sunday. 

The case of Tides of Man breaks the mold of the above three scenarios entirely. When the band’s lead vocalist and lyricist Tilian Pearson left, first for Dance Gavin Dance and later for a solo album as well, the future of the band seemed uncertain. They posted that they were soliciting auditions for a new vocalist through the band’s email account. They released a demo that sounded like their previous album Dreamhouse with Tilian’s vocals removed. But then they announced the piece of news that would change the course of their band entirely: They would transition to a post-rock songwriting style and release an album without a vocalist or lyrics. The news came as a surprise to the band’s fanbase, with some praising the evolution while other were quick to eulogize them. But, with all this said, did Tides of Man make the right decision?

Album Review: Modern Baseball - You're Gonna Miss It All

     Very recently, Keep Calm and Carry On did a Most Anticipated Albums of 2014 Roundtable discussion.  It was in that article that I stated You're Gonna Miss It All would either solidify Modern Baseball's spot as the quirky opener for big names or catapult them to a need-to-know band in the emo scene.  Even with high hopes and expectations for this album, it quickly exceeded everything I anticipated.

     The album opens with "Fine, Great," a lyrical punch in the stomach by Brenden Lukens, addressing the anxiety of looking forward when consumed by the past.  Immediately in the first track, the band shows their growth in their lyrical content as well as how they go about getting feelings across.  The words are concise and powerful.  Yet, in true Modern Baseball fashion, Lukens also addresses Instagram in this song, covering all the bases for what makes this band so fun.  Without losing their identity or wacky remarks, the lyrics are powerful, thought-provoking, and relatable.  For anyone who listened to Sports and discounted the band by viewing their quirkiness as immaturity, You're Gonna Miss it All tore that statement in half and stomped on it a couple times.  Modern Baseball created the perfect balance of angst and light-hardheartedness, addressing very real problems in life and love and all the unwarranted emotions and weird obstacles that come along with it.  They don't apologize for any of it, but instead embrace it, making it a new go-to album for anyone hitting life's roadblocks in growing up.

    In addition to well-written quirky lyrics, the instrumentals are both impressive and cohesive.  Several songs begin with a stripped-down plucking on the guitar and maybe some quiet drums before booming into a full-band jam, such as "The Old Gospel Choir" and "Apartment".  "Two Good Things" is a pretty cool track as well, building as it goes. But instead of solely utilizing instruments, the silence is filled in with background vocals, snapping, and clapping along with slow additions of more guitars and bass.  It was a very different and fun way to continue this newfound habit of starting quiet to blow the listener away by the time the chorus hits.  It is not that the overall sound and influences are any different than their first LP Sports.  If anything, it's super similar, except done much better.  Overall, the sound is much fuller and the production is on another level than previous releases.  The raw openings are severely contrasted by the powerful instrumentals that are so fluid that several songs that continue into the next.  As far as genre is concerned, Modern Baseball still combines folky influences, most notably in the sometimes twangy guitars and vocals,  with the punk/emo foundations for a pretty unique sound that attracts fans of many genres.  There's a lot more power in these vocals than we've seen before, inciting different emotions while also highlighting the clear improvement in range.

   Perhaps the most growth and best song of the album is the lead single "Your Graduation," as the combination of sounds, rhythms, and vocals create such a killer song.  Lukens opens up the song with uptempo vocals over a single guitar with drums kicking in a little later.  Yet, it's Sean Huber who steals the show in the second verse, coming in strong yet coarse, taking the song from bitter and a little lost to full out angry and spiteful.  This song just kills it like no other and makes you want to throw stuff at your wall.  Lukens does a great job to build the clenched-teeth emotion all for Huber to take it to a new level with a raspy yell.

    With any first full-length, there's a lot of boundary testing and a hesitation for risk-taking.  However, gaining a fan base with the first LP and a ton of touring, Modern Baseball ran away with that confidence and unleashed their full potential.  You're Gonna Miss It All grabs the listeners from the opening line, keeps them completely enthralled for all twelve songs, and leaves them satisfied yet a little bummed that it had to end. The stream-of-conscious lyrics and relatable lingo hits so close to home, it's almost scary.   After listening to this album several times over, KCACO has reached a consensus than everyone's life is actual a Modern Baseball song.  These guys just get it just as much as your best friend from childhood does.  In the end, for an album that I thought would solidify Modern Baseball's career, it's now an early contender for my Top 20 albums of 2014.  Congratulations, Modern Baseball.  Welcome to the big leagues (I really didn't mean for that to be an awful pun, I'm so sorry).

Album Review: The Gaslight Anthem - The B-Sides

When the rowdy housemates of the embarrassingly popular MTV series Jersey Shore decided to finally get ready to "rage" at one of the clubs they frequented, they had a ritual. The characters known as "The Situation," "JWOWW," "Snooki," and "Pauly D" would hang out in their undershirts until it was time to leave. When they were ready to leave, they would proclaim that it was "t-shirt time," and they would put on their respected t shirts, and head out for a night of debauchery and God only knows what else. And yes, it's as ridiculous as it sounds:

I bring this up only to give a shout-out to my friends at the Mike and Tom Awesome Show. When we play a band's b-side on the show, we all shout "IT'S B-SIDE TIIIIIIIMMMMMMEEEEEEE" in unison to promote the event. Why do we do this, you ask? Well, other than the fact that we are all ridiculous human beings, it's because everybody loves b-sides. They give a little bit of a peek behind the curtain of what goes on when a band is recording, they give fans something more to collect from their favorite bands, and sometimes they end up being better than some of the songs that actually made the album.

The Gaslight Anthem have always been a band that loves their b-sides, playing a few of them in their headlining sets, and always releasing one or two through each album cycle. These b-sides have come in the form of original tracks that were left in the production room, stripped-down acoustic versions, or covers of songs the band loves. SideOneDummy, the label Gaslight used to call home before making the leap to Mercury, kept track of all these buried treasures, and saw fit to release them this year in the form of The B-Sides, a must-own for any Gaslight Anthem fan.

The B-Sides begins emphatically with the band's best b-side, "She Loves You." After being left off of the band's much-maligned American Slang, the song has become a staple of the band's encores at their headlining sets, proving its power over the band's fanbase. Following "She Loves You" are two covers, one being a live recording of the band performing Pearl Jam's "State of Love and Trust," followed by a studio recording of the Rolling Stones' "Tumbling Dice," which was originally released on a Record Store Day-exclusive 7". The two covers represent slightly less than half of the cover songs appearing on the compilation,  with a stirring version of Fake Problems' "Songs for Teenagers," an acoustic version of Lightning Dust's  "Antonia Jane," and "Once Upon a Time" from Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise rounding out the set. "Songs for Teenagers" is the major star of this bunch, as Brian Fallon's solemn croon takes the surf-punk anthem to a much darker place than the band's former SideOneDummy label-mates ever could.

Alongside "She Loves You" and the covers are an assortment of the band's greatest acoustic hits. From The '59 Sound, arguably one of the best albums of the last decade, we hear the albums two lead tracks and singles, the always-overpowering "Great Expectations" and the album's title track, which is just as haunting in its own right. These tracks are likely already ingrained in the listener's psyche, but the treatment they receive in an acoustic environment gives them a new spin and perspective to listen to, with Fallon switching up the melodies in unexpected and rather unnecessary ways. The core of each track that Gaslight fans know and love is still there, it's just a little different.

Despite being the universal pick for the band's worst album, the songs from American Slang end up being the best when given the acoustic treatment. The first dose is the strongest, as Fallon passionately delivers "The Queen of Lower Chelsea," a slow-tempo track that becomes even more impactful when stripped of its atmospheric feel. The band do an excellent job keeping the spirit of the album's title track, never straying too far from the song's arena-ready feel. The acoustic interpretation of "Boxer" is miles better than the original, with Benny Horowitz's playing of various percussion instruments that sound like the pounding of a steel mill that gives a blue-collar feel to the song.

Though this collection of tracks isn't essential listening for everyone, it does do a fantastic job of keeping The Gaslight Anthem's sterling reputation intact. The covers, acoustic renditions, and b-sides they've assembled here are a great snapshot of where they've come from, and will be more than enough to hold fans over while we anxiously await the band's follow-up to Handwritten and whatever other project we see new material from that Brian Fallon can come up with. It won't be the most-played record in your collection, but having The B-Sides in your possession will assure you an excellent listening experience that if nothing else will remind you that The Gaslight Anthem are one of the very best bands making music right now.

Album Review: Of Mice & Men - Restoring Force

Of Mice & Men are a rare breed of band whose reputation exceeds their music. Even if you've never heard a song from them, you've probably heard something about them. Like the controversy surrounding frontman Austin Carlile's temporary exit from the band to have open-heart surgery that lead to the band replacing him completely with current Glass Cloud frontman Jerry Rousch. Or Carlile's awkward reunion with the band that ushered Rousch out of the picture and eventually spelled the end for clean vocalist Shayley Bourget. This was caused by the entrance of guitar player Alan Ashby, whose insertion into the band's lineup was one of the conditions of Carlile's return. Each of these moves saw its fair share of twitter bickering, rumors, and hearsay, but out of it came the band's second full-length The Flood. Bourget left shortly after the album was released, and the band enlisted former Jamie's Elsewhere vocalist Aaron Pauley to play bass and provide clean vocals. The Flood was wildly successful, scoring the band consecutive runs on Warped Tour (where they drew some of the biggest crowds), the second of which being on the main stage. Commercial successes aside, The Flood was wrought with your typical Rise-core cliches, featuring a barrage of breakdowns introduced by Carlile's mosh calls, but like the band's self-titled debut before it, there were flashes that the band could become more than that.

The band's third full-length, Restoring Force, is another attempt to cash in on some of the hype and potential the band have accrued through their tumultuous journey to the top of the scene. Opening track "Public Service Announcement" finds only Carlile providing vocals, swithing between his signature high-pitched screams and the growling yells he experimented with on the deluxe-edition EP of The Flood. Carlile's anger towards those who hate on his band are the theme here, as he reminds the listneners that what he does offstage is "none of their business," among other abrasive assertions throughout the song. Second track "Feels Like Forever" is Pauley's official introduction to the band, and he immediately proves his meddle, powerfully delivering the chorus and bridge. The chorus is pretty gigantic, along with the riffs provided by Ashby and Phil Manansala, and shows a bit more polish than listeners will be expecting from the band.

Though Pauley's contributions on the album are mostly positive, the issue of balancing his voice with Carlile's presents itself at times. Any band who chooses to utilize screams and clean vocals will encounter this issue, and the rate of success has always been relatively low. Of Mice & Men certainly make a solid attempt to keep things even, but in doing so, the album loses some of its momentum. There are quite a few of examples where the band's attempts at balance results in predictability, specifically on "Another You," "Identity Disorder," and album-closer "Space Enough to Grow." This predictability is softened by the band's improved musicianship, and can be chalked up as growing pains as the band are clearly working towards a more mainstream rock radio sound.

That sound is achieved wonderfully on "Would You Still Be There," as Pauley dominates the track with Carlile providing screams that bolster the impact of the track. Ashby and Manansala power this track as well, thanks to a well-placed solo after a well-executed bridge. The band have another radio-ready single towards the end of the album in "You're Not Alone," which features Carlile channeling Slipknot's Corey Taylor on the verses, Pauley's uplifting delivery of the song's arena-ready chorus (loaded with gang chants!), and powerful drumming provided by the band's backbone of a drummer, Valentino Arteaga.

The crown jewel of Restoring Force, however, is the third track, "Bones Exposed."It's Carlile's musing on what his newfound fame has brought him (other than a friendship with skateboarder/MTV reality star Ryan Sheckler), and gives us a glimpse of the aggressive side Of Mice & Men made their name on in their first two albums with the nu-metal-minded approach the band experimented with on the deluxe edition of The Flood. The result is a crushing track that will have fans moshing just as passionately as they sing the chorus back to Aaron Pauley at their concerts.

Like the two albums that came before it, Restoring Force will be a very polarizing album, and the trenches of both opinions of the band will be dug deeper. Fans of the band will have more reasons to worship Carlile, while the band's detractors will see a band that's trying to cash in on its frontman's star power to break through to the mainstream. The truth lies somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, as the album showcases a band that has begun to refine its craft, explore their talents more, and develop and mature in a way that they didn't seem to between the self-titled effort and The Flood. Of Mice & Men are only going to get bigger thanks to Restoring Force, but with the improvements they've made in both musicianship and maturity, they're also beginning to realize some of their potential.

Recommended if you rock: Bring Me the Horizon's Sempiternal, A Day to Remember's What Separates Me from You, Of Mice & Men's older albums