Tag Archives: Pop

Music, Music Video, New Release, Pop, Punk, Review, Rock

Album Review: Grey Area / The Reveling / The Copyrights / Luther – 4-Way Split

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Leave it to Black Numbers to gather up some kick-ass pop-punk/post-hardcore bands and drop a sweet split release on vinyl and CD.  At 8 tracks long, the 4-way split features a pair of tracks from Grey Area, The Copyrights, The Reveling, and Luther.   The result is a great listen by a group of bands that have been having no difficulty getting noticed lately.

The release was dropped earlier this year, but I kind of fell of the face of Earth, so my apologies in advance.   Shall we continue?

NYC’s the Grey Area started off the split  with “Lucky”, a pepped up punk rock track that easily reached back to the 90s punk rock scene.  This song was amazing and perfect for opening up the album.  Following was “Bad Anything”, a track that reminded me of Dag Nasty in a good good way.  Having not been too well versed with this band prior to listening, I know what I am going to be doing once I finish this review up.

Brooklyn’s The Reveling was another band I have not gotten into just yet, but of course after hearing their tracks on this release, I intend to change that.  “Trust Me” sounded of The Menzingers at times but not in a bad way at all.  The song was a little too quick for me and seemed to just drop, but all was well once “Its Time To Ride” kicked in.  I must say, I was impressed with what I heard and can’t wait to hear more.

Do I really need to say anything about The Copyrights?  Most of you probably know what they are all about already, but still, this is a review so I will at least tell you all that they are from Illinois and they rule. “The New Frontier” was easily the hardest sounding track in the split.  Never ceasing to amaze me, they dropped “Straight To The Office” from 90s punkers Scared Of Chaka.  The cover was great in my opinion and I hope more kids will check out Scared Of Chaka after hearing the cover.

Philly’s Luther put out one of my favorite EPs last year, so I may sound a little biased here, but their offerings on this split were killer.  “Sixty-One” was likable the moment the signing kicked in.  Seriously, this track was fun from start to finish and just more proof how talented this band is.  “The Door Is A Penthouse” impressed me as well.  I told you I probably was going to sound biased, didn’t I?

This split is a great dose of 4 hard-working bands that I feel one day will be all over the music scene.  Thanks to Black Numbers for putting together such an excellent 4-way split.  Having played the split over and over since I got it, it’s easy for me to think that fans of punk rock of all types will dig this regardless if they know any of the bands on the cover or not.

The split is available on CD, LP, and digital download.  What the hell are you waiting for?  Go grab you one!   Rumor has it you actually appear to be cooler once you have a copy in your hand.  Just saying…

90's, Music, New Release, Pop, Punk, Review, Rock

Album Review: Useless ID – Symptoms

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As many of you know, good, wholesome punk rock is not just an American thing.  Middle Eastern punk rockers Useless ID can prove that and have been for almost 18 years.  The foursome, who hail from Haifa, Israel, signed with Fat Wreck Chords last year and recently released Symptoms.

So what took Fat Wreck Chords so long for them to suck them in?  Well, perhaps because the band never seems to sit still and is too busy playing shows all over the world and befriending anyone in their path.  Regardless, Fat Wreck Chords has them now and I seriously doubt they will be letting go anytime soon.

Symptoms was recorded with the legendary Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore (Rise Against, NOFX) at The Blasting Room Studios once the band was able to come back to the states from their current hometown of Tel Aviv.  The result of months of hard work is a pop punk gem that Fat Wreck Chords should be beyond proud of.  (I’m talking “dad, I just won my first fistfight in grade school” proud.)

“Live or Die” started the 12-track album off full of pop punk goodness.  I was set back at how great this song started off the album.  The lyrics were catchy, the music was solid and I wanted more.  Good thing I was only on the first track.  Lucky for me “Before It Kills” followed with the same amount of substance I was already craving.  Hell, the second track was better than the first.

“I’m just suffering with you” repeats throughout “Normal With You”, a very singable track.  “Erratic” hints heavily towards something Lagwagon might have meant to do years ago.  I loved the lyrics on this track a lot and found myself singing “Down over the low, there’s always something on my nerves that gets me so erratic” almost instantaneously.  Add in a great breakdown halfway though, and you have yourself a must hear song on the album.

“Mani Depression” sounded to me like what would happen if the Descendants and Cobra Skulls would have joined forces.  This was another killer track on the album and I think anyone who thinks that 90s punk rock is the best should take a listen to this track.  I felt 18 all over again listening to it and favored this track over all of the others without a doubt.  “Sleeping With Knives” was another track I just dug a whole lot.  It was just one of those songs that once I listened to it for the first time, it felt like I had heard it a million times before.

If  “Symptoms” was the post-breakup song, then “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder” without a doubt was the “I’m so over you” realization.  “Your obsessive compulsive disorder creeps me out, I don’t want it” loops throughout the track that hints at anything more than to go away.  “Somewhere”, on the other hand, ended the album with almost a feared reconciliation.

If i had to describe what Useless ID sounded like to someone, I would tell them to take the pop punk from the Ataris, vocals of Milo and mix them up with loads of Cali 90s punk rock riffs.  Symptoms has been in the CD player of my car for weeks now.   I have listened to it over and over form start to finish and each time it ends I just tell myself that I need another listen.

It’s early on in 2012 and Symptoms already has a place on my best of list.  This was a shocker of a release for me.  I have a split by them as well as The Lost Broken Bones, but there is just something about this album that has turned them from a punk band I like, to one I adore.  This is about the time when I tell everyone that I will be digging into their catalog.  That is a given.  If you like 90s punk rock you need to check out Useless ID’s latest release.

Music, Music News, Music Video, New Release, Pop, Punk, Rock

Aussie Pop-Rockers Tonight Alive Tackle US with “Breaking & Entering”

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Fancy yourself a fan of the pop-punk rock?  What about cute Aussie females taking over vocal duties?  If you said yes to either of the two, then you need to check to Tonight Alive.  I am pretty sure fans of Paramore will be digging this band in 2012.  Having already toured the US in 2011 including a slot at Bamboozle, the band is scheduled to return in 2012 to tour in support of their upcoming release on Fearless Records.

‘What Are You So Scared Of?’ Full Album Teaser by tonightalive

You may have already heard of the band as they covered Mumford and Sons’ “Little Lion Man” on the Fearless Records Punk Goes Pop Volume 4 and if not, you need to:

Here’s their video for “Breaking & Entering”, the band’s first single off their upcoming release What Are You So Scared Of? due out on Valentine’s Day:

Formed in Sydney in 2008, Tonight Alive is made up of ingénue-with-attitude Jenna McDougall (vocals), Jake Hardy (guitar), Whakaio Taahi (guitar/vocals), Cam Adler (bass) and Matt Best (drums). The quintet finished 2011 with a bang in the U.S. with the release of a new EP, Consider This, a viral cover of Mumford & Sons hit song “Little Lion Man” from Punk Goes Pop Volume 4 and dates on The Fearless Friends tour with blessthefall, garnering them an impressive following in the US and around the world. The band explodes into 2012, kicking off their European tour with Never Shout Never this week before heading back to Australia for Soundwave Festival in February.

Acoustic, Music, New Release, Pop, Punk, Review, Rock, Vinyl

7″ Vinyl Review: Roll The Tanks – Goodnight Jimmy Lee

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If it looks like cake and smells like cake, it must be cake right?  Not in this case.  This cake-looking and smelling thing I speak of is the birthday cake scratch n’ sniff 7″  titled Goodnight Jimmy Lee by LA rock act Roll The Tanks.  The two song 7″ was released on Sabot Productions in early October.

The threesome, who have toured already with Against Me!, have have sparked the interest in many and not just because they recruited Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Joe Sirois to play drums.  They have rubbed elbows with the right people and played their asses off making sure the world noticed them.  Their determination and hard work has paid off as the band will be dropping a full length debut titled Broke Til Midnight.

Title track “Goodnight Jimmy Lee” is a catchy-sounding yet brutally honest tribute written about the late Jimmie Lee a.k.a. Jay Reatard.   “Now he’s gone and I’m no Jimmy Lee” bounces over catchy guitar playing that screams 90s alternative rock.  As fun as the song is, the deeper meaning pays homage to an artist who left this world far too early in his career.  The b-side, “Pistolero”, is a cross between that twangy country rock all the kids seem to be getting into these days with indie rock of the 90s.  The acoustic-driven song almost carries a nice Fake Problems feel, but far more upbeat.

I am looking forward to hear what Roll The Tanks can dish out on their debut.  Until then I have the feeling I will be listening to these songs on a regular basis as well as scratching and sniffing the cover smelling the goodness that is birthday cake.  Did I mention that the cover smells like cake?  Yes, I may be a little excited about this.

Music, New Release, Punk, Review

Album Review: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – Sing In Japanese

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Leave it to punk-rock-superstar-cover-project-extraordinaires Me First and the Gimme Gimmes to make America look good.  Usually us U.S. folk will see Japanese bands covering American tunes, but when is the last time you saw someone from the states actually take the time to cover a Japanese pop song as well as turn it into a punk rock jam?

The Gimmes have been making covering songs cool since the 90s with help from Fat Wreck Chords.  Featuring members of NOFX, Swingin’ Utters and even Foo Fighters, the Gimmes are not your Friday night hole-in-the-wall cover band.  By taking tracks your parents and probably grandparents listened to before you were accidentally conceived, the Gimmes add a punk rock style and make the songs tolerable.  I remember the first time I heard the Gimmes cover  Elton John’s”Rocket Man”.  I found the track on a free comp CD I snagged at a Warped Tour in ’96 and I was hooked instantly.

On the bands newest EP Sing In Japanese, the Gimmes decided to cover a new territory of music and once again add their own punk rock flair while doing so.  Having covered many different genres of music in the past (including country, Broadway tunes and adult contemporary), it was no surprise the the boys in the Gimmes would eventually try something a tad more challenging.  The result is a catchy culture crossing take on songs more likely sung along to in the bars of Japan.

“Hero” started off the EP with the Gimmes covering a Kai Band song.  Lead vocalist Spike Slawson did not hesitate at all while singing this track in Japanese.  While listening I read the band’s bio for this release and learned that Spike actually learned Japanese phonetically thanks to a friend of Fat Mike.  I have to admit, I was impressed to learn that.

With a clever Social D “Story Of My Life” intro, the cover of the 70’s hit “Kekkon Shiyou Yo” (“Let’s Get Married”) by Takuro Yoshida was actually a lot of fun to listen to.

“C-C-C” mixed in Japanese and English lyrics into the song originally recorded by the early 70s Beatles-inspired band called The Tigers.  The track, although I could only understand 50% of it, it was my favorite track on the EP.

“Linda Linda” ended the six song EP with a more ska-punk feel.  With trumpets supplied by Brad Magers and Keith Douglas of Mariachi El Bronx, the song was indeed a genre bender of a track.

This is not the first time the Gimmies have played a songs in different language as previously heard in their only live album to date Ruin Jonny’s Bar Mitzvah. Ok, it was just “Hava Nagila”, and yes, they were at a Bar Mitzvah.  Still, NOFX has covered the classic French tune “Champs Elysées” before, and they nailed it.  The point I am trying to make is that the Gimmes are more talented than many may think.

So why did they do a Japanese EP full of songs you probably have never heard of in your life?  Simple…because they can.

The band will be touring Japan shortly and I am sure that had something to do with which culture they decided to cover.  Just like the band’s last EP Go Down Under (they toured Australia upon releasing the EP), the band threw together a bunch of songs together just in time to tour.  I really would like to think that this was a little more involved than a couple of jam sessions as Spike really does a hell of a job singing the lyrics of each track in Japanese.  Funny thing about this concept is that the band plans on releasing future EPs in Spanish, German, and even French.  Is it wrong of me to be excited about this world tour of covering?

I can not say I knew any of these songs by heart nor have I the slightest clue what they were about, but I enjoyed what I heard.  The Gimmies could play Jesus Christ Superstar in its entirety for all I care and I am sure I would say the same thing.  I love these guys.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes “Hero” by Fat Wreck Chords