I had to post this today. This band is crushing me – and I first heard them about… an hour and a half ago. Jesse Hall (who used to be in The Composure and whose father used to produce Category Five songs) has started this incredible pop/Americana band called Bear Cub. It reminds me of the Format and Good Old War – with exceptional vocals and really intelligent songwriting.
You need to hear this song today. I’m super excited about this. It’s called “Hey Let’s Get Out of Here”.
I never really gave the band Lydia the time of day. Their albums were always favorably reviewed on the sites I frequented, but when I attempted to listen, I always found the band a little too melodramatic (which is a hilarious thing for an emo kid to say).
Regardless, Mindy White – the female vocalist in Lydia – joined forces with two gents from Copeland to form States. On a whim, I decided to give the band a shot today. The result is actually pretty captivating. The music is dark and swelling and the vocals are top notch. Their newest release, Line ‘Em Up, is only six songs, but it packs an awful lot of substance in just over 22 minutes.
Because they’re queens of a similar scene, I’m sure the band will garner comparisons to Paramore – but White lacks the bite of Hayley Williams. Her style is more catered toward the delicate moments.
Check out this track, “Another Chapter”
Haven’t been on top of my blogging duties lately. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean I’ve been slacking on listening to new music.
The recommendation for the week is a band that’s taking me back to highschool – when “emo” was this new term for slow, cathartic and really aesthetic music. My, how times have changed. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) – yes, that’s the whole band name – have taken notes from bands like Penfold and Mineral. And now that the weather is getting chilly, it’s a good time to don a sweater, grab a good book and throw the band’s latest album, What It Takes to Move Forward on your iPod (or record player)!
The band is one of a few on a really great new emo record label called Count Your Lucky Stars. You can check out the label and buy records from Empire! Empire! here.
Here’s my favorite track on the album, “How to Make Love Stay”.
Runner Runner‘s self-titled debut album is about to come out. It got slammed in Chris Fallon’s review on AP.net. Having heard most of the songs already on several EPs that the band released, I’m not shocked. At the end of the day, Runner Runner (formerly Over It – my favorite band) is not a punk band. They’re not a rock band. They’re a pop band for a demographic that no longer includes me.
And that’s ok. I can accept that. At the end of the day, the band is made of genuinely talented musicians and all-around nice guys who work really hard. I wish them all the best.
I did have the opportunity to hear some very early demos from the band when they first started the endeavor though, and one of them has become a personal favorite. It’s like the next logical step in Over It’s progress as a mature punk-influenced rock band. I often wonder how incredible the Runner Runner project would’ve been if they went in this direction.
Pete hinted that they might someday release another Over It album – but with Runner Runner blowing up, I won’t hold my breath. Still – I’d be really excited to hear a fully realized (yet minimally tricked out/glossed over) version of this. I hope you guys enjoy!
I hit a wall for a while. Just didn’t have much to blog about. To my loyal readers (all 5 of you), I apologize.
Here are some suggestions for your listening pleasure:
1. The Flatliners. My friend Mike told me about these guys last week. I downloaded their album Cavalcade and I couldn’t get the song “Filthy Habits” out of my head all week. I sacked up and bought the vinyl on Saturday. The album artwork is gorgeous so I’m looking forward to getting that in the mail. I can’t wait to see this band live in the near future.
2. Sinking Ship Records. My friends Jon and Charlie and I are attempting to start a record label. The first project we’re working on involves A Great Big Pile of Leaves. Really hoping things work out because their new album is unbelievable. If you want to stay updated on that project – you can follow us on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook.
3. My roommate Jon and I can’t stop listening to Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”. It’s becoming a problem. I may or may not have spent part of Saturday evening trying to record a guitar cover of the song (I can’t help it. My new fuzz pedal is the perfect effect for the chorus).
4. Two record labels that are blowing my mind lately are No Sleep and Run For Cover. They’re consistently putting out great music. No Sleep just released The Frontier(s) album There Will Be No Miracles Here which has been sharing time with the latest Run For Cover release, Hostage Calm‘s s/t album, on my iPod. Indie labels do an inherently better job than major labels when it comes to branding themselves – and these two relative newcomers are dominating right now.
Felt like posting the latest thing that I’ve “finished” – although you’ll notice that there isn’t a bass on this track – and the drums are programmed poorly (as per the norm).
This was a track that I started writing two years ago – finally took the time to give it an ending.
Crime In Stereo broke up this week, just months after releasing one of the most captivating albums of their career – and one of the best of 2010.
Rumors are swirling around whether or not singer Kristian Hallbert’s recent jaw infection had anything to do with the breakup – it’s also entirely possible that the band wasn’t making enough through album sales and touring to sustain themselves financially. It’s a familiar story, but unfortunate nonetheless.
Crime In Stereo called it quits this week.
For a band, this breaking point seems inevitable. There simply comes a point in time where, if you can only tread water, it doesn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense to keep plugging away. With rock-bottom album sales and limited incentives for consumers to purchase a digital album as opposed to stealing it, how the hell is a band supposed to put gas in the tank to tour the country? After all, punk rock is primarily a form of performance art. Sure, there are indie-darling bands like Les Savvy Fav and Broken Bells that might only need to play festival lineups before returning to the studio to record another album – similar to a hip hop artist. But for punk rock bands, the culture has always been centered around the basement shows and the VFW halls.
A common misconception is that – if albums aren’t flying off the shelves – bands can still sell enough merch to fill their tanks and their bellies. Truth be told, I don’t know how much stock I put in that argument. If you’re one of four bands on a show, you need to sell at least six or seven $10 t-shirts to fill your van’s tank and probably another five or six to feed yourselves for the day. Now consider that every other band on the bill has to do roughly the same thing. That’s close to 40 or 50 shirts a night. On some nights, you might not even pack 50 people into a show. Also consider that on bigger tours, more popular bands will raise the price of their merch and force opening bands to raise the minimum for their merch as well – most likely causing a drop in merch sales for the smaller bands. Personally, I’m always disappointed when a band t-shirt is more than $15. I don’t care if you chose to print your band name on the nicest American Apparel garments available – $18 -20 is too much.
Another thing to consider is that some venues actually take a cut of the merch sales from each band at the end of a show, which eats away at the amount of money bands are left with. At the end of the day, there might just be too many hands in the coffers and not enough revenue to split.
Touring bands are often left with the sad realization that there just isn’t enough money to go around. Harder still is the ability to build a rabid following from your desk chair. Caught between a rock and a hard place is not exactly the “sex, drugs and rock-n-roll” lifestyle that budding musicians dream of. Still – perhaps sleeping on floors, living off dollar-menus and touring the country’s finest DIY venues are all just rights of passage for artists who want to be remembered and revered for dedication to their craft. When obligation creeps up and it’s time to get a real job – maybe it’s time to pass the torch on to the next young, starry-eyed punks.
As for Crime In Stereo, you guys will be missed.
