Something Corprate
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Hawthorne Heights
Fragile Future, is more a title for the coming decade,
The bad is inherently as bad out furture is bound to be…
Sorry if thats heavy
BUT the truth sucks, least you can get an album out of it
Dot Dot Curve :)
“Dot Dot Curve :)” is the solo project of ‘Spanky’. He is in two similar groups known as “Scene Kidz”, and “SnapKracklepop”. He is from Greenhood, Indiana. This is his latest album ‘ Your Ears Will Bleeping Bleed’
Wanna be nigger emo kids? Crunk/Emo/Hip Hop? yeahh.. no
Armor For Sleep
I don’t have a beef with Armor For Sleep. I think they’re good at what they do. They’ve found themselves a style, it may be a grossly derivative style consisting of little more than brightly polished recycled power chords of the drop D variety, but it is a style nonetheless. Like many bands playing earnestly banal semi-derived emo schlock they’ve connected with an audience of disaffected youth who find comfort in their cranked up pop music and simplistic lyrics. I imagine Armor For Sleep shows (all ages, of course) are largely comprised of 13 to 16 year olds with their eyes squeezed shut singing every word to every song as if it was extracted from their very soul with a pair of rusty pliers.
I’d even say that Armor For Sleep have come damn close to perfecting on What To Do When You Are Dead the formulaic torch that’s being passed around between Midtown, Spitalfield, My Chemical Romance, and Juliana Theory. The shouted choruses, hooky melodies, loud guitars, repetitive riffs have been polished to an immaculate sheen, all rough edges gone, sanded to a formica smooth slickness by producer Machine which is a bit odd since his knob twiddling is usually associated with harder bands such as White Zombie and Lamb of God. What separates What To Do When You Are Dead from every other record in this genre is that it’s a concept album.
It even seems a noble idea that Armor For Sleep is willing to put together a set of songs exploring a single idea. Of course this is before you hear the idea: a cycle of songs that explore the feelings, faded relationships, past regrets, and probable causes of (have you guessed it yet?) a dead guy. Perhaps said dead guy got that way through suicide or accident or something more malevolent, but the important thing is that such an emotionally obvious stage serves the shouted choruses and anguished verses of lead singer Ben Jorgensen very well. Every song seems imbued with some deeper meaning when it’s been sung from the perspective of a dead guy: singing to ex-girlfriend, visiting brokenhearted family, considering irreparable regrets. It’s not subtle, it’s more like a death by bludgeoning.
The thing that gets me about Armor For Sleep is the whole industry that sells such bands as some kind of punk or hardcore offshoot. Armor For Sleep is not punk. Armor for Sleep is not hardcore. It’s deeply insulting for websites, ‘zines, and publicity people to make suggestions that somehow the band has roots in those genres because the riff in the chorus gets turned up real loud. This is pop music, simple and focused. It’s aimed directly at a calculated demographic determined by thousands of dollars of market research. It’s honed to a fine point, loaded into the sling of proven results and hurled with alarming accuracy at the heart and soul of suburban junior high school kids. And it’s expected, nay counted on by the enormous metaphoric cash registers of the music industry, that this broad swath of impressionable ears will inevitably be taken in by the smoothest, shiniest stone left in their path. That stone coupled with an overly dramatic video, a tour with an already established band, and movie star good looks should equal many units moved.
Armor For Sleep tries to differentiate their music from that of their myriad brothers in arms by adding light touches of electric piano (“A Quick Little Flight”) and hints of electronica (“Basement Ghost Singing”) here and there. But despite these instances of creative instrumentation (well, creative for the genre) the music never really rises above the pedestrian. It’s true that not every record that comes out has to rewrite the grand old book of rock songs, but fer crissakes at least stop cribbing the same old pages. Don’t you know that you’re all going to have exactly the same answers? Someone’s bound to notice eventually.
All of this doesn’t mean that What To Do When You Are Dead is completely irredeemable. The artwork is good. The CD comes with a clever little booklet called “What To Do When You Are Dead: A Comprehensive Guide to Your Afterlife” that’s composed of hyper-realistic drawings of the type found in airplane seatback pockets instructing you towards emergency exits. It’s clever and funny and little bit creepy. If only any of those adjectives could be leveled at the music on What To Do When You Are Dead.
Review By Stylus
Artist: Armor For Sleep
Album: What To Do When You Are Dead
Genre: Alternative Rock, Emo
MySpace: myspace.com/armorforsleep
Try Album [Mediafire] | Armor For Sleep – What To Do When You Are Dead
Mayday Parade
July is one hell of a month in terms of releases, especially pop-punk. Just take a look at the list. You’ll find highly anticipated albums from bands like The Starting Line, Yellowcard, MxPx, The Rocket Summer and Sum 41. Another one you will see is Mayday Parade’s A Lesson In Romantics. After their unimpressive release of the EP Tales Told By Dead Friends in November, the band’s back with their debut album that will surely become one of your most played of the Summer, despite being up against some of the toughest competition of the year.
The record starts off with “Jamie All Over,” a “cover” song originally by Kid Named Chicago, Jason Lancaster’s previous band. A song that’ll instantly get stuck in your head, and a great opener and perfect representation of the next eleven songs. “Black Cat” follows, and isn’t any more or any less catchy than the “Jamie All Over” was, song starting off with soft vocals building up to an energetic chorus that could be described as somewhat of a tongue twister with its lyrics (“You’re like a black cat/ with a black backpack/full of fireworks and you’re gonna burn the city down right now”). “When I Get Home You’re So Dead” is the only song that was re-recorded from their EP to make it on their album, and listeners won’t have to suffer from “demo-itis” since the new version is clearly better than the first.
“If You Wanted A Song Written About You, All You Had To Do Was Ask” is one of the slower songs on the album, and despite the title looking like a Fall Out Boy b-side without the wit, (Though if you think that title was long, you haven’t seen anything yet) it’s still one of the catchiest songs from the second you hear the chorus to the high pitched “woah-oh’s” towards the end. Next, the band tries their luck with the piano-driven ballad “Miserable At Best.” This song clocking in over five minutes gets quite boring after the first couple of minutes and I would say is my least favorite off the album but “least favorite” doesn’t mean much when you like every song. The closer (Now take a deep breath) “You Be The Anchor That Keeps My Feet On The Ground, I’ll Be The Wings That Keep Your Heart In The Clouds” is another slow song, and finishes the album with an a cappella on the last verse, which is my favorite way to end a song.
Overall, A Lesson In Romantics blows Tales Told By Dead Friends out of the water. The vocals are better, the lyrics are better and the production doesn’t sound like it was done in the dark. Although this album may not be Direction, Paper Walls, or Secret Weapon, it’s definitely a release that should be included in your Summer play list and not buried under the other pop-punk releases this season.
Review By Joe DeAndrea of AbsolutePunk.Net
Artist: Mayday Parade
Album: Anywhere But Here
Genre: Rock / Emo / Indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/maydayparade
-Track List-
1. Kids In Love
2. Anywhere But Here
3. The Silence
4. Still Breathing
5. Bruised and Scarred
6. If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?
7. Save Your Heart
8. Get Up
9. Center of Attention
10. I Swear This Time I Mean It
11. The End
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Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Scary Kids Scaring Kids have always been one of “those” bands to me. The kind that releases an album that is mediocre at best, and in most cases far worse, yet somehow manages to garner hordes of fans in the process (yes, Amber Pacific – I am looking at you). So, despite the cred that comes with naming yourself from a Cap’n Jazz song (still a damnable offense for an act like this), SKSK seemed just boring, really. And while The City Sleeps In Flames has been a resounding success for the band, sales numbers do not repair the fact that the record was lyrically shallow, poorly produced (especially by McTernan standards), and rife with gimmicky synth. Alas, it suffices to say that a visit to the band’s self-titled follow-up was going to be an interesting one, indeed.
While fence-sitters might approach this release with trepidation, a passing glance at the tracklist will do nothing to allay fears associated with the band, as the emo clichés are present (multiple references to “blood” is never good). Furthermore, as listeners spool up the self-titled effort, the done-to-death, contrived “instrumental” montage will only further that distaste. However, be that as it may, that is essentially where things start to turn around for Scary Kids, as the band is able to rebound and offer up some much more solid material thereafter.
Overall, Scary Kids Scaring Kids have taken on a noticeably different sound with their self-titled effort. The first things that will become apparent to listeners and fans are two-fold. First off, the band has taken an obvious departure from the screamo path in lieu of a more straightforward rock line. That is not to say that screams are entirely absent from the record, but instead, they are applied much more tactfully (see the rather awesome intro to “Holding On”). Secondly, the synth on Scary Kids Scaring Kids is a lot further back in the mix and a great deal less prevalent than it was on The City Sleeps In Flames. While this robs the band of a bit of their “originality,” it helps the songs sound more natural and less immature, really. In addition to this, it is also evident that SKSK has been working on the greater musical backbones of their songs. The riffs here are much stronger and more powerful, the percussion is at times entirely impressive, and put together, it all tends to just work. Of course, the downside to all of this is that originality is in short supply, with little new ground being broken, but all things considered, the end result is more favorable than past efforts.
A lot of people willing to give this a chance are going to need to be sucked in right away, and SKSK actually does quite a smooth job of doing just that. After the previously mentioned pointlessness of “Prelude,” the record hits a (surprising) early stride of five songs that are all really, really strong in the way that will even catch the most jaded off guard. From the blistering energy of “Degenerates” to the syrupy chorus of “Holding On,” the disc commences well, indeed. From there, “The Deep End” is a solid straight-up rocker with some engaging guitar harmonies that continue into “Faces” where you will have sworn you were listening to a song by The Fully Down at the intro. And sure, SKSK goes on to jock the call/response vocals of earlier AFI once more, but the track is still enjoyable for less picky consumers. And finally, while it might be closer to their older material, “A Pistol To My Temple” is still a song that begs for air guitar, air drums, and a singalong to boot. Simply put, it’s quite catchy, and would make a great single for the band.
While SKSK starts off better than anyone might have guessed, they trip, stumble, and fall drunkenly down the stairs when they hit the awkward, ultra-cheesball demi-ballad of “Star-Crossed” and the subsequent out-of-place (and equally as bad) “Derailed.” Just a note to bands – especially so-called post-hardcore bands: ballads are NOT a requisite for a record. We all know the early teen girls love them, but the rest of us just cringe.
It’s really too bad that this slump on the album’s flow is never really recovered from. What we get from there on out is a handful of forgettable and mediocre tracks, and another “what were they thinking” ballad. And be that as it may, the fact still remains that SKSK has exhibited a fair amount of progression on their sophomore LP, improving on most of the blemishes of their earlier works. Sure, some people will miss the haphazard energy of the “old stuff” as they always do, but this incarnation of the band seems much more inclined to make a splash than that younger and considerably less wise troupe ever did.
Review By AbsolutePunk.net
Artist: Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Album: Self-Titled [2007]
Genre: Post-Hardcore / Emo / Rock
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/scarykids
-Track List-
1. “Prelude” – 0:40
2. “Degenerates” – 3:44
3. “Holding On” – 4:23
4. “The Deep End” – 4:15
5. “Faces” – 3:27
6. “A Pistol To My Temple” – 4:00
7. “Star Crossed” – 3:41
8. “Derailed” – 1:43
9. “Breathe” – 1:19
10. “Set Sail” – 3:25
11. “Free Again” – 3:51
12. “Snake Devil” – 3:32
13. “Watch Me Bleed” – 3:58
14. “Goes Without Saying” – 4:02
15. “Blood Runs Forever” – 3:23
16. “The Power Of Resolution” – 2:06
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