Few bands on the planet, if any can manage to pack as much heart, talent and musicianship into an album as the gents in Circa Survive , and with the phenomenal Blue Sky Noise they have managed to take it to another level. One that is sure to offer up some crossover success. Circa Survive's brand of experimental, progressive post-hardcore, started out amazing and still, somehow, managed to continuously push the bar higher and higher. Led by the voice of the incomparable Anthony Green , Circa built their sound around the punishing experimental guitar [...]
After a three year hiatus, and various side projects, Kansas's City's Midwestern emo flag bearers, The Get Up Kids reunited to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the release of their incredible sophomore album Something To Write Home About. The reunion show turned into a national tour, and here two years later we get the first in a series of new EP's, Simple Science. The first music from GUK since the release since 2004's Guilt Show finds the band picking up where they left off instead of channeling the past into a new release. The [...]
Super groups are hit and miss. For every The Sound Of Animals Fighting , there are a hundred misstepps like the 80's Nuggent heavy juggernaut Damn Yankees. Isles and Glaciers , builds their sound around a three headed vocal attack headed up by ex- Chiodos and Cinematic Sunrise front man Craig Owens, ex- Dance Gavin Dance and current Emerosa singer Johnny Craig and Vic Fuentes from Pierce The Viel . The three singers voices, while swimming in a similar pool, all manage to standout and blend together at [...]
The house lights shoot to black, and when the stage lights replace them, the kinetic ball of energy known as Manchester Orchestra have taken the stage. Frontman Andy Hull, all hair and plaid, leads the audio assault, as he starts the set out with a feverish rendition of You My Pride And Me that sets the table for what's to come. Manchester Orchestra - Hull, guitarist Robert McDowell, bass player Jonathan Corley, drummer Len Clark and multi-instrumentalist Chris Freeman – are two official full lengths, ('06's I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child and '09's [...]
Toronto's El Mocambo is packed to the gills, and It's all for Silverstein . The temperature belies the fact that this Canada and March, but the diverse throng of concert goers care little about the temperature inside, outside or in Iqaluit for that matter. Neither does the band, about to take the stage. Celebrating ten years of being a band, Burlington's favourite post hardcore sons, if not their current best, what up Dead and Divine , have taken up residence at the Elmo for a four night stint. Each night is dedicated to one [...]
Whether it's historically or artistically accurate or not, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Hardcore, whatever you want to call it, used to be the realm of Satan. Well, clearly Jesus was having none of that, cause ever since Underoath 's 2004 They're Only Chasing Safety brought they're brand of Christian Hardcore to the masses,it has been some of the best heavy music going, and The Color Morale are a proud, flag waving member of the second wave of Christian Hardcore. On they're debut full length, We All Have Demons, released this past September; The Color [...]
Anyone who's been around, listening and paying attention to the scene over the last ten years would be well aware of the work being put out there by Minneapolis' own Motion City Soundtrack . Honesty time though, just cause I was aware of it, didn't mean that I liked it. MCS always had a catchy sound, and there was nothing offensive about the music they were putting out into the world, but it also never grabbed me, never made me want to move beyond a cursory listen and delve deeper into their catalogue. While they, [...]
Kenneth, formerly Kenny, Vasoli has been making music on a professional level since the tender age 15, first with his successful pop-punk band The Starting Line , currently on hiatus, and now with his heavier, more experimental band Person L . Person L , started as a side project while TSL was still up and rolling, was planned as an outlet for some Vasoli's heavier influence's like At The Drive-In , Fugazi and Drive Like Jehu . The results on the bands first disc, the 8 track Initial, showed these heavier elements, [...]
As the first decade of the 2000's draws to a close, it's common place to look back over the last ten years and take stock. It with this in mind that I set myself to the task of determining who would be my choice for band of the decade. Some contenders immediately jumped to the top of the list, but standing in the darkened cavern of the Kool Haus it became perfectly clear who the eventual winner would be. I already had it boiled down to three bands. The two runners up being Thrice [...]
Troy Michigan post hardcore geniuses We Came as Romans are in an enviable spot. On the strength of their incredible self released 2008 Dreams EP , WCR signed with Albany's Equal Vision Records and have now released an immediate album of the year candidate with To Plant A Seed. An at once harsh and poetic offering that takes the bands electronically tinged post hardcore to the next level, which is referenced by the album debuting in the number 2 spot on Billboards New Alternative chart, number 6 on the Heatseekers chart and number 175 on [...]
Troy Michigan post hardcore geniuses We Came as Romans are in an enviable spot. On the strength of their incredible self released 2008 Dreams EP , WCR signed with Albany's Equal Vision Records and have now released an immediate album of the year candidate with To Plant A Seed. An at once harsh and poetic offering that takes the bands electronically tinged post hardcore to the next level, which is referenced by the album debuting in the number 2 spot on Billboards New Alternative chart, number 6 on the Heatseekers chart and number 175 on [...]
Lights up and six men dressed like Don Draper on a casual Sunday afternoon, minus the kick ass cardigan, launch into a frenzied set packed with energy, fury and rocking out with ones cock out. Central to this band of crazed young rockers is one Max Bemis, rock star, triple threat, recovering addict and brand new poster boy for living with bi-polar. As the set grows and swells, Bemis, lead singer of Say Anything , becomes more disheveled, looking less like Don Draper with each passing moment of frenzied musical bliss, until he stands, catching his [...]
There is a sickening trend in the Canadian music industry, where a band who's sound is played out, and growing tiresome, use their success to go out, start a label and sign equally untalented sound-a-likes and shove them down the thoughts of those who for one reason or another still rely on the radio for music. Example: Nickleback discovers Theory of A Dead Man, and together they wreak havoc on innocent ear drums. I'll be blatantly honest, when I say that it was in this vein that I wrote of Burlington Ontario's own, Silverstien discovered, Dead [...]
Brand New are in a position that many bands would both dread and be envious of. Since the release of 2001's Your Favorite Weapon Brand New has achieved cult status, and attained a rabid fan base that only grew with the release of 2003's incredible, genre defining Deja Entendu. The band took there time crafting one of the best albums ever when they recorded 2006's The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, an album that was at once powerful, graceful and poetic, while pushing their sound to the limit, both technically and emotionally, with [...]
In 2006 Brampton's Moneen took a huge step forward with the release of The Red Tree. The album found the band finally cashing in on all the potential critics and fans had been boasting and trumpeting for years. The songs were rich and deep, and knew when to rock and when slow it down. With the possibility of their potential having finally been reached, Moneen took their time, three years of their time crafting their Follow up to The Red Tree. Now, with the release of The World I Want To Leave Behind, [...]
In the vast bleakness that is a Canadian winter, any reminder of summer is a welcome distraction from the blowing snow and brown slush. So every year when the first bands start to sign up for Kevin Lymans annual cross country summer camp known as The Vans Warped Tour, the reminders of bright summer days, and cramming twelve hours of music into one day are enough to sprout wood. This year was no different. The original list of bands was a veritable who's who of my ipod's top played list. So needless to [...]
Following up their first two releases, 2006's EP Act I: The Lake South, The River North and 2007's full length, Act II: The Meaning Of And All Thing Regarding Ms.Leading, theatrical rockers, The Dear Hunter have returned with the third act in a planned six act story arc, Act III: Life And Death. The Dear Hunter began as the side project for Casey Crescenzo while he was still a member of the now defunct post hardcore act The Receiving End of Sirens . While it's true that TREOS did have their theatrical moments, see [...]
The first half of 2009 has brought us a recession, due to people trying to live beyond their means, a pandemic, due to people living too close to those beyond their species and a slew of decent releases. Of those releases only one, Taking Back Sunday 's New Again , was apart the list of anticipated albums that I tacked on to the end of my Best Of 2008 review back in December. So, at this half way point, with some new information, let's take a look at a few albums that are going [...]
Taking Back Sunday have been churning out crowd pleasing, deeper than pop, rock since their 1999 inception in the modern musical hotbed of Long Island. The version of Taking Back Sunday that released New Again on June 2nd is ten years and a thousand miles away from that original incarnation, both musically and personnel wise with guitarist Eddie Reyes being the only original member still active in the band. Along the way TBS has shed members like a snake sheds skin and those members have gone on to different levels of success since leaving, with Jesse Lacey [...]
"Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, it's a pirates life for me." From the moment a that a creepy sounding kid, ala those pale and pasty little shits from movies like the Ring, starts singing this little ditty two things about In Fear and Faith 's debut full length begin to come into focus. Number one, like oh so man bands, they have a serious pirate fetish. Seriously, to all the bands out there, we get it, you travel from place to place, get drunk, rape (not literally, but who doesn't enjoy some good role playing from time to time), pillage [...]
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Download: Lissy Trullie - "It's Only You, Isn't It"
Video: Now, Now - "Dead Oaks"
Karmin – “Broken Hearted” and “I Told You So” 2/11 SNL
