Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Trapt - No Apologies



Straight out of Los Gatos, CA hard rockers Trapt are back on the scene with their newest album, No Apologies. The follow up to 2008's Only Through the Pain finds the group strictly adhering to their hard rock formula that helped them burst onto the scene with their 2002 self titled debut, which produced the massive hit "Headstrong". This album shows that the group has matured immensely since then and are still relevant today more than ever.

The album starts off with a bang on the disc's first single, "Sound Off" a loud, crisp rocker that kicks things off with lead vocalist Chris Taylor Brown's powerfully melodic voice emanating strongly from the get go, and adjusts well to the sea of guitars in the process. "Drama Queen" is another fierce rocker that finds slower interludes in between to showcase the group's diverse musical tastes. The disc's highlight, and my personal favorite "End Of My Rope, is a straight forward rocker that features incredibly melodic guitars and Chris's powerful vocals tearing through the walls of the song. The disc's title track slows it down a bit and shows Chris's softer side, which still retains alot of the melodic energy that's left over from the prior tracks, providing for a nice interlude into the latter half of the disc.

The disc's second half starts off much like the first one began with "Stranger In the Mirror", a fierce, intense rocker that builds and builds to the very end with loud, relentless guitars and a strong drum pattern as well. "Are You With Me" follows almost the same pattern, but features alot more melodic guitars and slower interludes and isn't as heavy as the preceding song was. The disc's closing tracks "Overloaded" features a fast paced guitar breakdown that moves at a pretty good clip and is sometimes hard to keep track of at times, but is still a pretty enjoyable listen. "Storyteller" is a toned down rocker that gives the listener a little breather from all the blasting hard rock that we've heard so far and gives time to reflect on the album as a whole. When Trapt first broke onto the scene in 2003, they immediately demonstrated their ability to perform high energy, melodic songs with a dynamic frontman at the helm to make their immediate presence known. This album only furthers their musical quest and shows that Trapt haven't gone away completely, they're just re energized and refocused.

All in all this album was way more than I expected and was an all around great album. Not too often we see bands still able to find that magic in the studio after so many years, but Trapt makes it look easy with a remarkable effort that is definitely worth a listen, you'll be surprised!

                                                                                                                               Album Score: 4.5/5

Track Listing:
  1. Sound Off
  2. Drama Queen
  3. End of My Rope
  4. Get Up
  5. No Apologies
  6. Stranger in the Mirror
  7. Beautiful Scar
  8. Are You With Me
  9. The Wind
  10. Overloaded
  11. Storyteller 

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Artist Spotlight: Burn Down The Charade

Hey everyone!

It's time for this week's Artist Spotlight feature! This week, I have for you a band coming out of Mesa, Arizona (Jimmy Eat World's hometown) called Burn Down The Charade. The band consists of Sean Herring and Daniel Smith and the band has a very unique blend of ambient, alternative/indie rock that is very melodic and easily able to get immersed in right away. The lead singer's voice sounds alot like Brandon Boyd from Incubus, who plays a genre of music that is quite similar to this band, only a little more harder edged than Burn Down The Charade are. Some of my favorites of theirs include "Believe What You Know" and "Serotonin", which sounds alot like the music of Interpol, which adds for an interesting mixture here.

To check out more music from Burn Down The Charade, head on over to their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/burndownthecharade  To connect and become a fan of theirs on Facebook, go over to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Burn-Down-The-Charade/114765700627

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Golfer With iPod Disqualifies High School Team!

Hey everyone!

A golf team from Auburn, MA has been disqualified for competing in the state tournament after it was found that one of their members was listening to his iPod for the last two holes. The golfer in question, Matt Carville was brought in to meet with a representative from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) and was asked if he was using an electronic device and he said yes. The team's coach,  Mike Kacynski said that they were given a rule sheet prior to the game and had the rules explained to them so that everybody understood clearly. The coach also said that he has no problem with the league's decision on the matter:

"It just hurts to go from district champions to not even making the states. But rules are rules, and I have no problem with the decision."

As a result of this, the Groton-Dunstable high school team has been named Central Massachusetts Division 2 Champions. What's your take on this matter? Leave a comment on the blog and give me your thoughts!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown



The pride and joy of Franklin, Tennessee Kings of Leon have returned with their much anticipated, brand new album Come Around Sundown. The follow up to 2008's massively successful Only By The Night finds the group experimenting with some gospel and country tinged influences in their music this time around, while at the same time displaying their Southern flavored rock roots that has made them America's premier rock n roll band today.

The album starts off with "The End",  a cool, laid back jam that brilliantly displays frontman Caleb Followill's deep and breathtaking vocals that adds an element of authenticity to the music that sets this music apart from that of other musicians. The disc's soaring first single, "Radioactive" is a electric infused rocker that showcases lead guitarist Matthew Followill's  incredibly skilled guitar licks and features a gospel choir heard distinctly in the background towards the end of the song. "Pyro" is a melodic, mid tempo number that once again takes center stage for Caleb's vocals to do all their magic and release this song into the public consciousness. "The Face" is a melancholy, straight forward rocker that sticks to the script and never veers off course with its mysterious guitar riffs and potent rhythms. "The Immortals" is a melodic, rhythmic rocker that once again leaves Caleb in charge of the vocals, which seem to match perfectly in sync with the overall mood of the song.

The disc's second half starts off with "Back Down South", my favorite song off the album. The song is a truly Southern inspired gem that features country inspired rhythms and brilliant guitar riffs that set this song apart from all the others on the album. "No Money" reminds me of some of the songs from 2005's Aha Shake Heartbreak, my personal favorite Kings of Leon album, anthemic and one that makes you feel that they're right in front of you, performing a private concert just for you to see. "Pony Up" features  a brilliant bass performance from Jared Followill. and blends together a host of different instruments that might sound a little unusual at first, but end up working pretty well together in the long run. The disc begins to draw to a close with  "Mi Amigo", a cool, laid back jam that is the perfect song to wind down your day after a long day at school or work. "Pickup Truck" winds out the disc with probably the best vocal work I've heard from Caleb out of all the songs on the album. The song is powerful, on point, and is guaranteed to have you listening until the very end. When they first came out back in 2003 with Youth & Young Manhood, I wasn't particularly impressed with the music upon first listen and I didn't really hear too much in the music for me to enjoy thoroughly. It wasn't until Aha Shake Heartbreak came out in 2005 and the song "Taper Jean Girl" totally did it for me and from that moment, I was officially cemented as a Kings of Leon fan and I really grew to love and appreciate Kings of Leon as musicians and in my opinion, these guys are the true embodiment of rock n roll today.

To sum it all up, a sensational effort from brothers Nathan, Caleb, Jared, and Matthew Followill who have crafted a sonic gem that continues to build up their legacy as one of America's best bands out there today and one that we'll be hearing much more from for some time to come.

                                                                                                                               Album Score: 4/5

Track Listing:
  1. The End
  2. Radioactive
  3. Pyro
  4. Mary
  5. The Face
  6. The Immortals
  7. Back Down South
  8. Beach Side
  9. No Money
  10. Pony Up
  11. Birthday
  12. Mi Amigo
  13. Pickup Truck

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Artist Spotlight: Brighter Than A Thousand Suns

Hey everyone!

It's Artist Spotlight time for this week! This week's Artist Spotlight feature focuses on Brighter Than A Thousand Suns. Brighter Than A Thousand Suns are a hardcore band from New Milford, CT that consists of Angelika on screams and clean vocals, Alex on bass and clean vocals, Matt on drums, and Randy on guitar and programming. The band plays a furious blend of hardcore rock that will literally make your ears explode upon first contact with Angelika's voice ripping through the speakers at full velocity. Alex's background vocals blend in nicely and provide a nice contrast with Angelika's screaming vocals upon the vast fury of guitars and drums hitting at every angle imaginable. The band has a unique and dynamic sound that is unlike anything that is currently out there today, so if you're a fan of hardcore metal such as Underoath and The Devil Wears Prada, then Brighter Than A Thousand Suns is the band for you!

The band has been making notable press lately, making an appearance on the Vans Warped Tour this past summer and had a feature run on them in Alternative Press magazine before their debut EP was even released. To check out the music of Brighter Than A Thousand Suns, head on over to their MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/brighterthan1000suns To become a fan of them on Facebook, head on over to http://www.facebook.com/brighterthan1000suns Their debut EP, "The Demon Haunted World" is now available on iTunes so check them out today!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Pete Yorn- Pete Yorn




Hailing from Montville, New Jersey Pete Yorn is back on the scene with his brand new self titled album. The follow up to last year's Back and Fourth finds the singer-songwriter deviating a little bit from his current musical style with much more evident electric guitar riffs and Pete's familiar and deep vocal style settling deep inside your consciousness while hearing it.

The album starts off strong with "Precious Stone", the disc's first single. A breezy, calm acoustic flavored track that is the type of song you might hear in a coffeehouse on a Saturday afternoon in the city. "Rock Crowd" is an upbeat, melodic tune with a soaring chorus that is sure to have you singing along as well while hearing it. "Velcro Shoes" starts out with some electric guitar riffs before delving into a bevy of other instrumentation such as harmonica which makes for a diverse and entertaining listen. "Badman" is a simple, electric influenced number that has alot of promise to it, but falls flat in the end. "The Chase" aims to pick up the slack with some standard issue acoustic guitar riffs that blend in nicely with the electric guitars.

The album's second half features track such as "Always", a straight forward rocker that is harder edged than the other acoustic based tracks found on the album, and is a swift departure from the sound that he regularly dabbles in. "Stronger Than" returns to Pete's acoustic style rock, very reminiscent of some of the songs featured on his debut album, "Musicforhtemorningafter", released in 2001. "Future Life" begins to wrap up the album with some pleasant sounding guitar rhythms and Pete's smoky, deep voice greeting you at first listen. "Wheels" closes everything out on a quiet note with a simple, strumming acoustic guitar melody that brings the album to a close sounding much like his prior studio efforts have ended. Pete Yorn's prior studio albums followed a linear, cohesive pattern with his first three studio efforts themed around different parts of the day: "Musicforthemorningafter", "Day I Forgot", and "Nightcrawler". His fourth disc titled "Back and Fourth" used an alternate spelling of forth to indicate that this was his fourth album. This album however, doesn't follow any type of pattern whatsoever, and instead aims to return Pete back to his singer-songwriter roots, but not all songs reach the mark that his prior compositions were able to do.

In retrospect, a solid and passable effort from Pete Yorn who tries his hardest to return to his original sound that first got him recognized, but he's somewhat inconsistent this time around with only a few tracks coming close to the type of songs that we normally associate him with.

                                                                                                                                  Album Score: 2.5/5

Track Listing:
  1. Precious Stone
  2. Rock Crowd
  3. Velcro Shoes
  4. Paradise Cove I
  5. Badman
  6. The Chase
  7. Sans Fear
  8. Always
  9. Stronger Than
  10. Future Life
  11. Wheels

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Artist Spotlight: Chasing Avalanche

Hey everyone!

It's time for the Artist Spotlight feature for this week! This week I present to you a band out of Los Angeles, CA called Chasing Avalanche. Chasing Avalanche consists of Brandon Sammons on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Evans on guitars and vocals, and Bryan Panzeri on drums. The band has a grunge influenced alternative sound that is reminiscent of Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, and even some more modern bands such as Deftones and Three Days Grace. The sound is completely pure with no frills attached and strong, powerful lyrics that resonate with you long after hearing it. Too often these days, bands try too hard to imitate their counterparts and it often misses the mark, but this band has found a sound that is all their own and has knocked it out of the park with their music.

The band released their debut album "Without the Hour" on August 10th featuring some standout tracks as "Ringing In My Ears" and "Break Free". To check them out on Myspace, head on over to http://www.myspace.com/chasingavalancheband To become a fan of them on Facebook, head on over to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chasing-Avalanche/339614693648

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Lil Wayne- I Am Not A Human Being



New Orleans, Louisana's own Lil Wayne is back with a 10 track EP to tide fans over until Tha Carter IV comes out sometime early next year. The currently incarcerated rapper sounds noticeably different this time around, mostly due to the absence of Auto-Tune, which makes the disc a sharp improvement over his last effort Rebirth and foretells more to come from Weezy in the future.

The disc starts off with "Gonorrhea" featuring newcomer rapper sensation Drake and Wayne's familiar raps bumping through the trademark beats that were found abundantly on Wayne's prior albums. Lil Wayne sounds more natural and relaxed on this tune and many others throughout the disc. His resolve continues to bold strong on "Hold Up", a beat ridden, lyrically powerful track that resonates fairly strongly after first hearing it. The disc's title track is a mostly hard rock styled, hook laden track that is eerily reminiscent of his failed foray into the rock arena, Rebirth but is actually a pretty listenable track that won't grate on your nerves while hearing it. "I'm Single" is a bland, scattered track with weak lyrics and feels conspicuously out of place here.

The EP's second half commences with "What's Wrong With Them" featuring Nicki Minaj, a passable track that overdoes a bit with the synthesizers and Wayne's raps sound a bit artificial on this one as well. My favorite track off the disc is the first single, "Right Above It". Drake makes another cameo appearance on this one with a melodic, thumping track that mixes in Wayne's trademark rhymes into a particularly exquisite track. The disc begins to close up shop with "That Ain't Me" featuring Jay Sean, a slick, anthemic tune that seems to echo Weezy's current situation behind bars. "Bill Gates" is a mildly entertaining track with Wayne's strong rhymes over a mediocre set of beats. With Lil Wayne set to get out of prison next month after serving a 8 month sentence for weapons possession 3 years ago, this EP serves up immediate notice that Lil Wayne is still a force to be reckoned with in the rap game and will be ready to get back on top of the heap sometime next year when Tha Carter IV is released.

All in all, a mediocre but listenable effort here from Lil Wayne, who clearly demonstrates that he has not gone away completely and is poised to someday take back his reign and return to the iconic status that has led many to proclaim him as "best rapper alive".

                                                                                                                               Album Score: 3/5

Track Listing:
  1. Gonorrhea (f/Drake)
  2. Hold Up
  3. With You (f/Drake)
  4. I Am Not a Human Being
  5. I'm Single (f/Drake)
  6. What's Wrong With Them (f/Nicki Minaj)
  7. Rhght Above It (f/Drake)
  8. Popular
  9. That Ain't Me (f/Jay Sena)
  10. Bill Gates
Note: This album is currently available only digitally on iTunes and Amazon MP3, but it will be available in physical CD form starting on Tuesday, October 12.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Interview w/ The Truezoos

Hey everyone!

Back again with my ongoing series of interviews with local artists that I've been doing all year with a variety of local artists. Just the other day, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing some friends of mine, The Truezoos! The Truezoos were an Artist Spotlight feature about a month ago and have quickly become one of my favorite local acts recently. The guys took a little break from their afternoon jam session to take part in this interview and without further ado, here it is:

Give your names and what you do in the band?

Sean: I'm Sean, I play guitar with myself and I sing.
Marc: I'm Marc and I play bass and I sing poorly sometimes.
Chris: I'm Chris and I play drums.

How did you come up with the name The Truezoos?

Sean: It's inspired by a book called Ishmael, which is an awesome book. It's pretty much The Truezoos are people, we kind of cage ourselves in houses and things like that. When you think of a zoo, you think of animals in cages and it's pretty much like wild animals that are domesticated, where that's kind of what humans are, the only true animal that is kind of domesticated themselves. So, we're The Truezoos.

How did you guys meet up and when did the band form?

Sean: Me and Marc have been playing since we were 15, stealing things and lighting fires and playing music. The actual band The Truezoos has been together for a year now, since last summer we started playing with one of our friends from high school who plays drums and we just got alot more serious about it around last June is when we decided to get really serious about it so we had to step it up and find an awesome drummer and then we found Chris and then we've been jamming since about the end of June and since then we've just been killing it.

What themes or topics does your music cover?

Sean: It covers definitely relationships and stuff, smoking weed, getting laid (Laughter), a little bit of everything really I don't know, my music is inspired by my life so every song is kind of about something different, I have a song about my dad, I have a song about my sister, pretty much inspired by people in my life. Then some are just for fun and we funk around.

In terms of your songwriting process, where do you draw inspiration from to write your songs?

Sean: All over the place really. A lot of bands answer that question with "I do this" and "He does that" but literally every single song is written different, the way we used to do it was I would write the song, bring them to the band and then he would write the bass line, the drums would be thrown down but then since about June when we started jamming with Chris, we just kind of been all throwing our ideas at each other and just mashing them together and making a beautiful stew of wonder.

Marc: A lot of what we got with Chris was the ability to improvise well, so alot of stuff we do now comes out of improvising and jamming and sort of just happening.

Sean: A lot of it we're just kind of fucking around and then it starts to sound good and then we go back and listen to it and we're like "That is going to be a real song" and I just kind of scribble down some lyrics and pretend I can sing. (Laughter)

What are some of the band's biggest musical inspirations and how big of a role do they play in shaping your music?

Sean: Sublime, they're the best band in the world. The Chili Peppers, Zeppelin, G Love and Special Sauce, Umphrey's McGee, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Jack Johnson, and Miley Cyrus, Jewel, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Love Hewitt, I think she put an album out. (Laughter)

What songs from The Truezoos are you most proud of and feel best represent you as a band?

Sean: Probably the ones our fans like the most which would probably be "So Listen" which people really dig, I think we're gonna name the CD when we release it "So Listen" the title track and then "Dragway Races" people really dig, the new song "Just Enough" people seem to really dig too. "Sleep A Wink", although I feel people kind of waned themselves off that. People like "Take It" a lot, people do dig that.

Chris: That's my favorite Truezoos song.

Marc: I think the more fun we have playing it, the more people enjoy it.

Sean: So we just have to have fun, It's all about having fun with it, just have fun with it.

How do you guys maintain a constant stage presence at shows?

Sean: We do lots of speed before the show and we get alot of hookers too and it just pumps us up. (Laughter) We vibe off each other alot, if there was a wall between each one of us, the show would suck we play for a half hour straight through, we'd be sick of it, but looking at each other and the energy between us really gets us excited and really makes us work off each other. And a few shots beforehand doesn't hurt either. (Laughter)

What is your favorite thing about performing live?

Sean: When girls come on stage and take their dresses off. (Intense Laughter) Literally everything, when I'm not playing on stage or in front of people or even for one person, that's what I want to be doing. And I think these guys can say the same. That's literally the only thing I think about. One time, we were playing a house party and I was sick as hell and I felt like shit and then I put my guitar on and started singing and I felt 100% better and we played for like 2 hours. And then right after I got off stage I'm like "Oh yeah, I'm wicked sick, holy shit this sucks", and then I felt like shit for the rest of the night, but it's a magical thing when you're on stage, the adrenaline and the energy between us and all the wonderful things that happen, It's awesome.

If you guys weren't making music together, what do you think each of you guys would be doing to pass the time?

Sean: I'd be a porn star probably (Laughter) Because that will get me money real quick.
Marc: I'd just be doing a bunch of recording cause I just spent 4 years and it'll all be wasted if I wasn't.
Chris: I's probably be doing media production stuff like music videos, that's what I'm going to school for.

What activities do you guys partake in when you're not playing shows?

Sean: Jamming, making posters for shows, riding bikes, skimboarding, snowboarding, any sort of boarding, hanging out with my dog, that pretty much sums it up.
Chris: Some school, some work too. Boring stuff, It'll be over in a couple of months.
Marc: Me and Sean go on adventures.
Sean: Yeah, we like to go on adventures and we like to hang out with each other when we're not playing music and stuff. A lot of bands like don't hang out with each other but we like to be around each other. We still consider practicing when the three of us just hang out because we can share our thoughts and wavelengths.

Describe The Truezoos in one word.

Sean: Sex.
Marc: Yeah, that sounds about right.
Chris: Sex.

What does the future hold for The Truezoos? do you guys plan on releasing an EP or album in the near future?

Sean: Yeah we're getting together all our own gear for recording now. We're gonna record our own stuff,we just got an interface, we're getting a bunch of mics, we're gonna start recording soon, get our EP out in a few months at least, I don't want to put a date on it, by next Spring at least for sure. And then hopefully get out on the road soon, we want to go down to at least New York, out in western Mass and stuff, we'll be doing all that by next summer, but who knows, can't expect anything, expectation leads to expecting.

Thanks once again to my friends Sean, Marc and Chris from The Truezoos for taking some time to do this interview! They're really awesome, chill, laid-back guys and I had an awesome time hanging out with them. To check out music from The Truezoos, head on over to their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/truezoos and become a fan of them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/truezoos