Punk Goes Pop 2
After hearing “Punk Goes Crunk” last year, I was hoping that the next installation in the “Punk Goes?” compilation series would be “Punk Goes Country,” but I guess I’ll have until next time, because instead they chose to give us a much needed sequel to “Punk Goes Pop.” When viewing the tracklist of this album, it’s ironic that it’s called “Punk Goes Pop” when some of the artists featured on here can actually be considered “pop” bands in the first place (The Cab, Breathe Carolina), and then most others can’t even really be considered “punk.” If anything, when this album features bands like Silverstein, August Burns Red, A Static Lullaby, Chiodos, and Attack Attack!, it should really be called “Screamo Goes Pop.” This album, of course, won’t be receiving a full 5/5 rating because there are just some songs on here that sound as if they were put together within a few hours, but to make up for those, there are some that sound like there was some effort put into them.
Since most of the songs covered in this album were overplayed top 10 radio songs, there is really no need to fear that any of them can be “killed”, or in other words, covered badly, except for Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta” (still a good song, covered by Chiodos), which was added to the tracklisting at the last second. I am not a big Chiodos fan, but this song stood out the most today, as it was a very interesting cover of a song that was already really good.
I always thought that most of Justin Timberlake’s hit songs would actually be interesting to hear covered by a popular rock band, so I was eager to hear Alesana’s take on “What Goes Around.” It was indeed a good listen, not the best, as the screaming seemed unnecessary after it was used a little abundantly, but still one of the better covers on the album.
There were actually some covers on this album that I think turned out better than the original, such as Silverstein’s cover of One Republic’s “Apologize”, A Day To Remember’s cover of The Fray’s “Over My Head (Cable Car)”, and lastly, A Static Lullaby’s entertaining take on Britney Spears’ “Toxic.”
Four Year Strong’s version of Sara Bareilles’ “Love Song,” Escape the Fate’s cover of Santana’s “Smooth,” Mayday Parade’s cover of the Pussycat Dolls’ “When I Grow Up”, and Breathe Carolina’s cover of Miley Cyrus’s “See You Again” (which would’ve been better if it were ironically covered by Metro Station) were also noteworthy attempts.
On the other hand, The Cab’s “Disturbia” (Rihanna), August Burns Red’s “Baby One More Time” (Britney Spears), Attack Attack!’s “I Kissed a Girl” (Katy Perry), Bayside’s “Beautiful Girls” (Sean Kingston), and There for Tomorrow’s “Ice Box (Omarion)” simply turned out to be somewhat disappointing, in the end making this a compilation with an even mixture of amazing covers, mediocre covers, and terrible covers, which is usually what you’d expect. Hopefully in the next go round, though, it’d be nice to see bands that can really be considered “punk”.
Reviewed by Harvey
Artist: Multi-Artist CD
Album: Punk Goes Pop 2
Genre: Rock / Screamo / Pop Punk / Hardcore
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/punkgoespop2
-Track List-
01. Alesana – What Goes Around… 4:31
02. Silverstein – Apologize 2:55
03. August Burns Red – …Baby One More Time 3:10
04. Mayday Parade – When I Grow Up 3:38
05. A Day To Remember – Over My Head (Cable Car) 3:31
06. Escape The Fate – Smooth 3:58
07. There For Tomorrow – Ice Box 4:18
08. Chiodos – Flagpole Sitta 3:39
09. Bayside – Beautiful Girls 3:41
10. Breathe Carolina – See You Again 3:23
11. The Cab – Disturbia 4:01
12. A Static Lullaby – Toxic 3:20
13. Four Year Strong – Love Song 3:03
14. Attack Attack! – I Kissed A Girl 3:00
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Kids In Glass Houses
So, Kids In Glass Houses have finally released their first album, after what seem like an awful long time considering how long this band have been the darling of Kerrang! and the hype they have generated. Smart Casual comes to us courtesy of Roadrunner Records, yep that Roadrunner, the ones that also have Slipknot and DragonForce amongst their list of artists and I won’t lie that I wasn’t surprised about their inclusion in that list.
Anyway onto the review, as a fan of Kids In Glass Houses for a while I’ve been eagerly anticipating this album for a while now and I’ll be honest, it was worth the wait. I tell you now this band can make a good fast-paced pop song with the noteworthy tunes being Fisticuffs, Good Boys Gone Rad and the single Give Me What I Want alternately known as Me, Me, Me. A lot of people I have spoken to expressed doubt as to whether the energy from these songs can be transferred over on stage but having seen them live recently they would give many a band a run for their money live. They also create great music for relaxing too as well with stellar creations such as Saturday and Dance All Night proving that this band aren’t just a one-trick pony.
At this point you’d be forgiven for thinking that this album is completely flawless, well you’d be wrong. Lovely Bones, seriously where should I start? it’s just terrible, terrible, terrible, the song seems to meander on and on and on without really getting anywhere . Then we have the frankly pointless filler Shameless but thankfully this trend isn’t repeated until the closer Church Tongue which is equally as useless as the other two. It seems that Kids In Glass Houses seem to get stuck in a rut when they try to incorporate both fast paced choruses and slow verses and end up going nowhere with them. Lead Singer Aled Philips and guitarists Joel Philips and Iain Mahanty combine well to mesh together interesting riffs with excellent lyrics (Lovely Bones aside). The drumming by Mr. Phil Jenkins is nothing especially impressive but it is tight and keeps the faster songs undeniably brilliant, but the bass played by Andrew Shay tends to fade into the background as is so prevailant in this kind of music, oh well I guess you don’t know what you’ve got until its gone and songs would be nowhere without bass.
Smart Casual has several of the band’s earlier successes Easy Tiger, Raise Hell and overall tend to continue on their path of creating great catchy pop songs that tease your mind for days on end until you stick Smart Casual back on to get that fix you’ve been craving. Hopefully Kids In Glass Houses can continue to make great pop songs and for now at least with the summer pretty much upon us this will most definitely be the feel good album of the summer as we wait for the new Underoath album in September.
Review by aboybrushedbrown
Artist: Kids In Glass Houses
Album: Smart Casual
Genre: Pop Punk / Powerpop / Pop Rock
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/kidsinglasshouses
-Track List-
01 Fisticuffs
02 Easy Tiger
03 Give Me What I Want
04 Saturday
05 Lovely Bones
06 Shameless
07 Girls
08 Good Boys Gone Rad
09 Dance All Night
10 Pillow Talk
11 Raise Hell
12 Church Tongue
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A Day To Remember
I know it’s difficult, but let’s try to be objective here. A Day to Remember is one of those bands who mixes hardcore with pop-punk in a way that makes music snobs cringe, and gets young kids screaming for more. I would probably fall into the former category, holding my ideals and musical integrity high while rolling my eyes at the next trend. But who am I kidding? I love a sunny chorus just as much as my young sister, and you just might too. It’s okay if you don’t want to admit it.
A Day to Remember has become enormous because of Homesick, selling out large venues and generating hundreds of thousands of MySpace plays a day, though that can be partially chalked up to their covers of “Since U Been Gone” (Kelly Clarkson) and “Over My Head (Cable Car)” (the Fray). So how did they get so popular? Simply by making an album that appeals to just about everyone.
Homesick begins with the album’s first single, “The Downfall of Us All,” containing an intro of the band doing an a capella breakdown, which gives way to a thunderous actual breakdown. It’s a little gimmicky, but at least they sound like they’re having fun.
From there, every song follows nearly the same structure:
- Verse with singing, maybe some screaming.
- Big catchy chorus with no screaming.
- Second verse, usually half-sung, then half-screamed and some guitar chugging.
- Big catchy chorus again, no variation from the first.
- Bridge or middle section, always a breakdown, at least some chugging.
- Big catchy chorus.
There are maybe three songs that stray from this formula, and when they do it’s still not very impressive. So we have an album that is committed to hitting the listener in one specific way, over and over, never bucking expectation. But don’t walk away from it yet. The undeniable quality of Homesick is its melodic competence. Jeremy McKinnon is a vocalist that can scream like a pro and still sing with the same assured talent, which makes for a slew of songs that stick like glue. “Have Faith in Me” sounds like their tribute to a band that surely influenced them (the guitarist has “BLINK182” tattooed on his knuckles, so take a guess), yet they’re able to make you forget that it’s a ripoff and instead implant that chorus right into your brain.
As someone who appreciates the hard more than the pop, I have to grudgingly conclude that A Day to Remember is actually at their best when they take the melodic approach. There are too many moments on Homesick where the heaviness and the hardcore feel out of place, especially in the pre-breakdown pit-call of “Mr. Highway’s Thinking About the End,” where McKinnon orders you to “Disrespect your surroundings.” This sounds like dangerous advice, not just when at a show, but also if you’re in a children’s hospital or your grandma’s house. Vincent Bennett of the Acacia Strain shows up in “Welcome to the Family” to bring the vocal mosh, and that he does, but even then the point is lost.
A Day to Remember will continue their success, and rightfully so. Ultimately, musical creativity and underground cred mean nothing, dwarfed in the larger picture by a band’s drive to craft music that people like. These guys have struck gold, and when you strike gold, you have to keep mining until it’s bare. Keep those hardhats on, boys. You’ll need them.
Review by Elliot
Artist: A Day To Remember
Album: Homesick
Genre: Pop Punk / Post-Hardcore
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/adaytoremember
-Track List-
01. The Downfall Of Us All ( 3:29)
02. My Life For Hire ( 3:33)
03. I’m Made Of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of? ( 3:00)
04. NJ Legion Iced Tea ( 3:31)
05. Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End ( 4:15)
06. Have Faith In Me ( 3:08)
07. Welcome To My Family ( 3:00)
08. Homesick ( 3:56)
09. Holdin’ It Down For The Underground ( 3:23)
10. You Already Know What You Are ( 1:27)
11. Another Song About The Weekend ( 3:45)
12. If It Means A Lot To You ( 4:03)
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