Chiodos
To be honest, when I got “All’s Well That Ends Well” in the mail, I didn’t know what to expect. First known as the Chiodos Bros., they had a variety of styles show up in their earlier work, but with their Equal Vision debut, they tried to categorize their sound a bit more with duel-guitar riffs and better lyrics. While there is still a melting pot of styles on this release, it’s more defined. Chiodos is a sextet featuring vocalist Craig Owens, Radley Bell on keyboards and backing vocals, guitarists Pat McManaman and Jason Hale, and Matt Goddard on bass. Chiodos has a nice-sized fan base and has toured with the likes of Coheed and Cambria and Yellowcard. With musical influences from Saves The Day to Queen to At The Drive-In, Chiodos covers a lot of genres in their music. Filled with electronic beats, piano, metal riffs, screaming, and vocals that rival Anthony Green, this is one fun album. At times melodic and at times in your face, this is one album that will definitely intrigue you.
The album begins with an Interlude that features a raining premise followed by Muse-like piano playing. This leads into the energetic “All Nereids Beware,” which features a guitar riff that’ll get you moving. “The Words ‘Best Friend’ Become Redifined” hits you hard with its fist-pumping intro, which leads you to the piano serenading you to Owens’ talking. “There Are No Penguins In Alaska” is one of the more poppy songs on this album (which isn’t a bad thing). I could see this song becoming very popular among the kids in this scene. “No Hardcore Dancing In The Living Room” begins with slowly then leads into a fast bass drum beat to the screams of Owens. The guitars pick up and then drop back to the piano. A very up and down song, it’s a favorite of mine. Every song features something different, yet maintains a distinct sound.
Overall, this is another solid release by Equal Vision. Chiodos is only going to gain more fans with this stellar release. If you are into more than one specific genre, this is for you. The variety of this album has impressed me much. Expect the unexpected with Chiodos; you’ll enjoy it so much more.
Review By Drew Beringer of AbsolutePunk.Net
Artist: Chiodos
Album: Discography
Genre: Screamo / Emo
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/chiodos
-Album List-
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I See Stars
It’s a rare occurrence that a band is able to seemingly reinvent a genre overnight, let alone accomplish such a task on a debut. Leave it to I See Stars to set the bar just a bit higher. This six-piece electronic/screamo hybrid has been the object of a massive amount of hype and with good reason. Vocalist Devin Oliver leads the charge with a vocal prowess much akin to that of current Saosin front-man Cove Reber, and he is a mere 16 years old! Devin’s sheer talent, be it his soon-to-be trademark shrills, or his ability to craft wholesome, intelligent lyrics, along with support of the remaining members, who’s ages also average around 16, is sure to put similar bands that have been at it for many years to shame.
Just three notes into 3D, Devin’s vocals light the air and I See Stars blows the doors open with “Project Wakeup”, an extremely guitar driven song laced with a mesmerizing synth backing. The track displays the versatility of Devin’s voice with the various transitions from a peaceful swoon to a violent, yet controlled, scream. One thing immediately noticed throughout the album is how masterfully the keys blend in, as similar bands have the tendency to abuse it’s use, while on 3D, every key is in balance and makes sense. The title track from the album, “3D,” will likely be the record’s first single, and really explores the vocal skill of the 16-year-old front man. Significantly more upbeat than the other songs alongside a real danceable melody, it is perhaps the most structurally sound song on the album. The rest of 3D follows suit, with each track as infectious and captivating as the last, playing out like an album of an already well established and recognized band, rather than a group of teenagers.
It’s clear that I See Stars has a long and bright future ahead of them. Having already shared the stage with the likes of scene heavyweight’s A Skylit Drive and Dance Gavin Dance, this youthful band is prepped and ready to take the world by storm. The album is being received strongly thus far throughout the critical world, and most of it’s acclaim can be attributed to the extremely strong vocals on the album. Though they are still young, one can only hope with a such an awe-inspiring debut, they will blossom into something truly amazing. 3D is merely step one of I See Stars plot to take over the world! Believe the hype, and while you’re at it, chalk one for Sumerian. The revolution is now.
Artist: I See Stars
Album: 3D [2009]
Genre: Electronic / Screamo
MySpace: http://myspace.com/iseestarsmusic
-Track List-
1. Project Wakeup
2. The Common Hours
3. 3D
4. I Am Jack’s Smirking Revenge
5. Save The Cheeleader
6. The Big Bad Wolf
7. Where The Sidewalk Ends
8. Comfortably Confused
9. Sing This!
10. Interlude: The Ocean
11. What This Means To Me
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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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