Home Tours Videos Interviews Reviews Photography Featured Artist Contact THEME

Review: Out of Order - Better Days

image
Better Days is the second full-length from Montreal-based punk band Out of Order. Filled to the brim with eleven hard-hitting punk rock tracks, the album is an improvement on the band’s last release and shows they’re on their way to becoming punk staples.

Starting with the hard-hitting “Dog Bite”, listeners are immediately introduced to a sound that’s raw and energetic. Vocalist Scott Maracle’s angry and raspy vocals give the track a unique and standout sound, and the instrumentation throughout is loud and quick-paced, matching Maracle’s intensity note through note. As the album progresses, it is quickly seen that the drumming is the real show stealer, taking the reigns and making Better Days differ from the genre’s usual offerings.

Keep reading

Review: The Dateless Losers - Stood Up EP

image
The Dateless Losers are a punk band from Chatham, Ontario who are steadily making waves in their local scene with their take on the ever-growing genre. Their latest release, Stood Up, is one that shows a wealth of potential and just might renew your hope in today’s music industry.

Stood Up is an EP filled to the brim with everything a music lover could possibly want: screaming vocals, hard-hitting drums, screeching guitars and enough angst to last you days. Throughout the span of a single track, listeners are treated to at least two or three genres, all intertwined in such a way that the effort appears seamless. While some could view this as disjointed or lost, others will see it as a kind of no-holds bar, with songs like “Adventures Of Sam & Blue” and “Nobody Cares” leaving an impact that wouldn’t be possible without the constantly changing tempos, untouched vocals and overall raw feel that many artists seem to miss.

Keep reading

Review: She & Him - Classics

image
She & Him, the effervescent and unlikely musical collaboration between “adorkable” Manic Pixie Dream Girl macro (and, it should be noted, fiery, no-effs-given feminist) Zooey Deschanel and dour, Portland-groomed singer-songwriter M. Ward, is almost offensively inoffensive, a perversely positive hipster take on cookie-cutter, AM Gold-worshipping indie-pop (at least the ukulele is kept to a bare minimum here). Their latest full-length, Classics, a 13-song collection of blissfully insubstantive, safe-as-milk granny-pop standards, is unfortunately no exception (“the moment when She & Him went full Starbucks,” as per Alison Lang of Exclaim!). Mining the past for inspiration can’t save She & Him from themselves.

One feels slightly guilty slagging off She & Him for being, well, so friggin’ nice, like kicking a puppy for being too goddamn puppy-like. Even so, the oozing, cloying sentiment and affectated melancholy of archly telegraphed, yet painfully earnest takes on “Unchained Melody” and “We’ll Meet Again” (is that a threat, or a promise?) more than warrant punitive, critical sanction with extreme prejudice. Perhaps more so than ever, She & Him are relentlessly and painfully fluffy, enough to make The Carpenters seem like proto-DSBM by comparison (hey, the inherent darkness beneath the white flight-era facade of Karen and Richard’s iconic suburban pop sound always had a slight hint of corpse paint covering the deceptively serrated edges, as far as I’m concerned).

Keep reading

Review: Xerxes - Collision Blonde

image
Much like it is on the internet, five years is practically a lifetime in hardcore. Louisville, KY post-hardcore quartet Xerxes have been together in some form or fashion since 2009, but the 2014 version is light-years removed (both in sound and in line-up) from their modest high school genus. Taking the future by the throat with little regard for the past, their new sophomore LP, Collision Blonde (No Sleep) is both a throwback to art-damaged DC bands on Dischord Records in the early-to-mid 90s and a forward-thinking miasma of angular post-punk and hazy dream-pop tropes - all held together by a firm, modern hardcore foundation.

Recorded over several weeks this past spring in guitarist Will Allard’s basement studio with co-producer Evan Weiss (You Blew It!, The Jazz June), Collision Blonde avoids the dreaded sophomore curse by balancing creative ambition with solid songwriting values, searing lyrics and a keen sense of music history.

Keep reading

Review: One Direction - Four

image
One Direction are a group that have been splitting public opinion for the past four years. However, no one can deny that these five boys have taken the pop industry by storm in the short time they’ve been together. While many may still see them as “that cheesy British boy band”, it has to be said that 1D are beginning to win the hearts of many with their new album, Four.

The first track from the album, “Steal My Girl”, has already been a great success for the group as a single and is a great start to the album. It’s a great pop song but also shows a newfound maturity that 1D may have lacked in the past, overall suggesting that this may be the group’s best release to date.

Keep reading

Review: The Ghost Inside - Dear Youth

image
“I’ve realized the more time that passes, the more we lose touch.”

Los Angeles-based hardcore quintet The Ghost Inside are back with their ambitious fourth full-length album, Dear Youth, a kinda-sorta-concept record about reviving the unspoiled spark of youth amidst the struggle to stave off creative entropy (as outlined by frontman Jonathan Vigil in a letter to his lost youth - SO META). Once again co-produced by Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember and Andrew Wade, this is a not entirely unworthy but ultimately uneven release. Throughout, the tension between honest, genuine songs and widescreen, overproduced general market ambition (and, at times, outright pretension) is palpable, with the latter drive winning out far too often to ultimately make the record a success.

Dear Youth starts out strong, with the bracing one-two punch of “Avalanche” and “Move Me”. However, the initial momentum is fleeting. “Out of Control” and “With The Wolves” both swing wildly and miss, flirting dangerously with prefabricated, paint-by-numbers arena-core. Generic riffs and (especially) over-sweetened background vocals threaten to overwhelm the listener, so completely sapped of any signs of life underneath the pop-sugar spit-shine that you almost wonder if anyone among the assembled gaggle of “woah, oh, oh” bros had sunk into a diabetic coma during the recording process. And while “Mercy” manages to get things moving without sounding like Def Leppard after a latter-day Hot Topic makeover, “Phoenix Flame” oozes orchestrated melodrama to the point of self-parody. Its string-saturated attempt at epic majesty weighs down with pompous bloat what could have been a spare, powerful peak.

Keep reading

Review: Front Porch Step - Whole Again EP

image
Whole Again is the newest EP from indie artist Jake Mcelfresh. Better known as Front Porch Step, the Pure Noise Records signee has had a crazy year and is planning on ending it with this brand new release. How does it stack up to his debut album? Keep on reading to find out!

Whole Again begins with the beautiful “A Lovely Mess”. The EP’s best song, it features a Mumford & Sons-esque sound supported by honest and relatable lyrics. Lines like “I’m not the perfect man, but you are just so perfect and I want to be the one that holds your hand” showcase a love that’s real and true, and the track is bound to become a fan favourite.

Keep reading

Review: Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 6

image
Fearless Records are back with the newest addition to the Punk Goes series, Punk Goes Pop 6. Over the years, the series has featured both established and up-and-coming bands in the alternative and metalcore scenes, and this year is no exception. How does it stack up to the rest? Keep on reading to find out.

The album begins with Upon A Burning Body’s cover of DJ Snake & Lil Jon’s “Turn Down For What”. Featuring Body Count’s Ice-T, it honestly isn’t the best way to start off and seems like the band are trying to sound like Attila. The cover to follow is a complete 180°. Tyler Carter and The Word Alive’s Luke Holland take on Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun” and do so with ease. It’s easily one of the album’s best tracks, with Carter’s vocals adding something new to the already stellar single.

Keep reading

Review: Such Gold - The New Sidewalk

image
The New Sidewalk is the second full-length from New York punk-rockers Such Gold. Turning away from the sound that defined their label debut, the band are testing new waters with the hopes of finding a niche that is all their own – and they’re definitely succeeding.

First off, one must understand that The New Sidewalk isn’t your typical album – it’s an experience. Combining the likes of pop-punk, punk rock, post-hardcore and alternative, Such Gold have created an album that’ll keep you guessing until the last song. A 12-track release, it is an overthrow of their first record, Misadventures, and listeners should be advised to press play with an open mind.

Keep reading

Review: Taylor Swift - 1989

image
She is, without a doubt, one of the most well known artists in the music industry and Taylor Swift has yet again managed to create a masterpiece, an album worthy of global celebration. 1989 sees Swift take her music in a new direction, and as she drifts away from her country music roots and dives head first into the big world of pop music, she’s showing listeners just how talented she really is.

1989 kicks off with “Welcome To New York”, an uplifting track showing a new side to Swift’s sound. It’s a great pop song with catchy lyrics and a great electronic beat. Needless to say, Swift does a great job of not only welcoming us to New York, but to her new found music style as well.

Keep reading