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At first glance, the wild neon colors and buildings in the background make the album art look like a page out of a Mae CD booklet. It’s nothing too different from their last EP, but the art concept gives the album a party feel. The intro track, “This Is How We Do” is energetic with constant chanting in its chorus. The song is based on the old school pop-punk blueprint including a guitar fading bass solo in the second verse. It makes the old Drive-Thru fans proud. The following track “Let It Roll” takes a page out of their The Party Scene LP. The high octave guitar intro and lyrics reminiscing the days of any suburban kids youth, would make anyone want to re-live their house party days.
The first few tracks of the album are infectious and keep up in its fast feet tapping fashion. Every chorus melody is original but its lyrics could be argued a rip-off. It seems like a lot of these lyrical ideas could have been easily taken from a Cartel song or an early The Academy Is track. “Holly (Would You Turn Me On)” is an example of good melody with bad lyrical content. By the time “Dear Maria, Count Me In” hits the speakers, one could exhale safely. “Holly” sort of sinks the albums moral a bit, but “The Beach” is a pain to get through, such a Laguna Beach song (no pun intended). “Dear Maria…” is catchy and gives faith back into the album. By this time, the album is midway complete.
The rest of the album is enjoyable. Sadly, each track after “Shameless” requires multiple listens. Their last EP would never ask its listeners to replay a song in order to begin catching on. That was a disappointment. Alex Gaskarth’s yelling and Jack Barakat’s back up vocals carry the rest of this album. These two guys make All Time Low. The best track on the second half of this album would be “Vegas”. And that’s not saying much.
If Hit The Lights were still around, they would have definitely taken New Found Glory’s place in the pop world. And All Time Low? Well after Cartel’s bubble was popped, revealing that crappy album. All Time Low might be able to give the bubble boys a run for their money. It’ll come down to how well this album is marketed. Put Up or Shut Up easily stood on its own as a great record only having seven songs. So Wrong, It’s Right has twelve songs and doesn’t even add up to the energy on Put Up or Shut Up. A word to the wise: iTunes has the ability to purchase songs separately. That would be a wise decision.
So the Canadian sensation has returned to grace listeners with yet another tail of Broken Bones and Bloody Kisses; well without any real influence from Broken Bones and Bloody Kisses. Boys Night Out has ditched their loud hardcore ways for a more melodic sound. It all started with the concept album, Trainwreck. The LP was the most different material the band has ever made. Fans and critics both ranted and raved but the overall outcome was Trainwreck had a good concept with melody good enough to do The Charleston to. Trainwreck was successful and profitable. This time around, Boys Night Out kept the formula which gave them some mainstream creditability while keeping most of the scene happy. Their latest Self-Titled effort is meant to continue the elegance of their almost scene ballroom melody while not bringing a concept along to divert from the music. This did give the band more freedom, but the severing of their restrictions really didn’t do anything for them.
Many people were afraid the tracks on Boys Night Out's digital EP, Fifty Million People Can't Be Wrong was going to set the tone of the next album; well it didn’t. Their Self-Titled is pretty much Trainwreck b-sides. Although many of the tracks share similar theme, there is really no conscious narrative. The songs off this album break into a few different categories. Tracks such as “Let Me Be Your Swear Word” have a pop feel with a constant leading bass line melody. The vocals as well as the back-up chanting in the chorus seem like some tools The Higher used on their latest album. “Hey, Thanks” is another pop track with another fist pumping chant, “We may suffer together, but we all die alone.” Also found on this track is some synth action. Although keyboardist Kara Dupuy departed the band after one album and a few national tours, the songs aren’t affected at all and “Hey, Thanks” seems to be the only track on the CD with any keyboards which would easily be manipulated and mimicked by guitar at their live shows.
If anyone has kept an eye on these guys, then it’s understood that their first single off this album is called, “Swift and Unforgiving.” Personally, for a single, there are better tracks. Although, this is the only track which lets every member in Boys Night Out shine. Since their drummer for Trainwreck, Brian Southall departed to join up with The Receiving End of Sirens, Boys Night Out reunited with their original drummer Ben Arseneau from Broken Bones and Bloody Kisses and on “Swift and Unforgiving”, Ben takes his set apart. “Swift and Unforgiving” seems to be the smoothest compilation between Make Yourself Sick and Trainwreck. The bass and some guitar work show some old-school BNO style while the lyrics are pretty much new fangled Trainwreck. The melodies are the perfect blend of both places.
The slowest song off this album, “Fall For The Drinker” seems very haunting a some points. Lead singer Connor Lovat-Fraser really uses his vocal melody to carry this track. Without his touch, this song would have never worked out as well as it does. Jeff Davis does an awesome job as usual through this song as well as on this whole record.
Boys Night Out has continued to keep up with their new sound much like Circa Survive seems to be doing. The trend here seems to be, “if it ain’t broke; don’t fix it.” Like many drugs, this album takes a few times before the addiction starts to kick in. And although the beginning tracks of the album hold no contest against the middle and end of this disc, the overall album is one to keep you preoccupied. Sadly, without that cunning concept, a good amount of the tracks will fall to the back of the mind. Don’t expect this to do better than Trainwreck because the concept of the album was stronger than the songs themselves. This Self-Titled effort is the songs themselves without the concept. Not as effective.
For those who aren’t familiar with Cruiserweight, they’re basically a Zolof and The Rock And Roll Destroyer without keyboards. This group has spent some time in the bottom of the racks of many CD bins. Today though is the day they attempt to break out by rehashing what they’ve already done and promoting it as brand new material. Their new CD, The Push and PullFirst Day of School showcases all the songs off their last 2 EP’s made in 1999 and This Will Undoubtedly Come out Wrong released in 2002. There really isn’t much difference between the re-released songs and the originals. Also their label, Heinous Records (Doghouse Records will be picking up the band for their upcoming LP) have decided to call all these EP songs, “unreleased demos.” This all looks to be a ploy for kids to buy a CD which has been in stores for years just for 2 new songs and an acoustic track.
The songs are enjoyable though. Almost every track is a rush of pop melodies behind a sharp, feminine voice. Songs like “All This Negativity” give a sort of punk rock feel with all the palm muting going on. A few of the songs on this disc have horrible quality, even for a song which is supposed to be a demo. “Quit” sounds like they recorded it in the same bathroom Kris Roe recorded “Heaven is Falling” in. A lot of the later stuff sounds pretty catchy and smart. Punk-pop has been rehashed so much, it has to be entertaining or it’ll get boring. Cruiserweight’s later stuff will at the minimum get your feet tapping.
The second part of this compilation disc is very primitive stuff. The quality sort of falls back and the songs aren’t as good. It’s really no wonder why the track list has First Day of School towards the end. If people listen to the first few tracks, it just might make them buy it and hold on to it long enough till they get home and realize they made a mistake. A few songs from that neck of the CD are enjoyable though. “J. Blue” has a decent guitar riff even if the vocals are so monotone; it sounds like Microsoft Sam is singing this stuff. “Trophy Girl” is alright too, the chorus is what will probably keep people from switching to the next song.
There really isn’t any way to get through this whole CD. Heinous Records is smart for re-selling all these songs that have been out for years. When there’s a drought, make your own rain. There is absolutely no reason to buy this disc when you can go to your local store and buy both EPs for less than this album. Also if you’re interested in the new songs, if they aren’t on myspace yet it’ll be a few weeks and they’ll appear. The best recommendation is to wait for the new LP to release. This isn’t even worth your itunes gift card.
So glam rock really isn’t as dead as people say. Apparently on the West Coast, a band is about to release its reins onto a more national scale. The Stranger's Six is a 5-piece rock group hailing from San Diego, California. Though they haven’t seemed to have gotten the memo of the missing sixth member, they’ve managed to rely on their dark, relentless lyrics and finger dancing fret board moves to make up for that mistake. The Stranger's Six or “The Sixx” as they prefer to be called has a sound taking from all aspects of the rock spectrum including sounds from the recently extinguished Matchbook Romance and Victory’s sales palsy victim, Action Action. Their sophomore release, A Date with Daylight is something sort of ironic. An album equipped with dark tales and haunting melodies and the title of this cemetery drive mix is A Date with Daylight. Even with the oxymoron of an album title, the music is well worth the listen.
It’s surprising that with a band of this sound, there isn’t some sort of keyboard or any synth abuse at all. The Sixx managed to construct a sort of dramatic glam rock without having space sounds in the background. Every track has its’ own catchy beat with every guitar riff. Songs like “Love Letter” give a nice Midwestern rock feel with the constant guitar licks in the verses and bridges of the track. There are also times when even the most simplest melody is just as catchy as the most complex riff you can find. The track “Back to the Start” is a sure example of it, the riffs are so simple but so upbeat, it makes for fun dancing music. As stated before, they manage to take on a sort of dark feel not only using their lyrics, but with their guitar work. “Echo” is sung in such a low tone compared to a good amount of the CD. The guitars are a grip to the neck with the echo of the guitars. The Sixx seems to be full of irony.
Lead vocalist, Aaron Thompson seems to reinvent his tone of voice on a lot of the tracks. On each song, another vocalist comes to mind. It’s refreshing to hear a Nikola Sarcevic (of Millencolin) tone on “Skin Your Teeth” or an Andrew Jordan (of Matchbook Romance) tone on the single, “Echo.” Don’t enter this album expecting cheap compilation disc though, just a warning. The lyrics are really enjoyable; the tales of lost love and sleepless nights describe their possible drama filled lives in Cali. They do have a sort of positive track; “One Step Closer” is an upbeat story of coming out of things alive and a better person. There is optimism on this album, it’s just a bit harder to find than jealousy, revenge, and disgust.
This constant saying of The Sixx being the “new” punk rock maybe farfetched but that shouldn’t stop anyone from taking a listen. Also, don’t let the name dropping discourage embracing the album with a whole heart. Every song on A Date with Daylight is a trip which won’t be forgotten. Since it seems they’re pretty much limited to California shows probably due to their lack of funds. Once they hit the East Coast, The Stranger's Six will most definitely explode into a super band. It would be wise to take in the band and enjoy them before the scene hype gets to them.
I Am The Avalanche plays to a packed crowd along with Four Year Strong, Fireworks, For The Horizon, and Rodeia for the final Ozone show of the spring semester at Oswego State.
A caravan of buses and cars was the scene outside Hewitt Union for the last show in the Ozone till September. Thanks to WNYO, I Am The Avalanche took some time off from their pre-recording process to play an intimate campus show. Opening for the group was Rodeia, SUNY Oswego’s own For The Horizon, Fireworks, and the crowd warmer of the night, Four Years Strong.
The crowd sort of diminished a bit when I Am The Avalanche took the stage but that had no effect on the response the crowd gave the band. Playing most of the songs off their debut disc, song included: “Dead And Gone,” “New Disaster,” and their new single “Murderous.” The crowd could not stop singing along to every word. In-between songs, lead singer Vinnie Caruana gave guitar tuning lessons demonstrating what guitarist Brandon Swanson was doing when he was dropping D. The bands antics were funny and acceptable as their ability to perform. Vinnie even shared a story behind his song “My Second Restraining Order.” The fans responded respectable for his story afterwards going crazy for the song. I Am The Avalanche also played three new songs which were all either tentatively titled or untitled. Afterwards, the band hung around their merchandise table signing posters and talking with fans.
For the final show in the Ozone, it was a fun night which is hoped to be topped in the fall with the newly elected show director, Shawn Axtell of WNYO. He was seen a few times behind the scenes greeting band members and aiding in a successful show that night. With finals approaching fast, everyone is certainly looking forward to return with a fresh new list of bands playing in the far corner of The Union.
~The Oswegonian: Arts & Entertainment
A Hero From A Thousand Paces is a striving band. They’ve made the best of playing the mom and pop venues. From their hometown in
There really is nothing special about this album, and the blame could possibly be put on the production. The quality seems raw and monotone. Though the songs show variety, they really aren’t worth listening to because they aren’t entertaining. The first thing which would make anyone want to put this CD down is the vocals. In their live shows, lead singer Mark Fray is great. His voice projects throughout the audience and makes the songs much more powerful. On Mistakes, his voice drags on and sounds horse after a while. A perfect example is the chorus of “With Closed Fists.” Even the little effect he tries to put on in the first verse is horrible. The only excuse has to be the production.
The lyrics have a hit or miss effect. You have very meaningful songs like “
The instruments are exempt for most of the bashing this album is receiving. The guitars have proven to pick up slack where other aspects of the songs/album lack. Though it’s nowhere near enough to make this album good, it was a nice try. The variety falls under the guitarist’s ability to switch up the electric and acoustic sounds and still make the melody appealing. The keyboard is definitely a plus since the album needs every little angle to appeal to their listeners.
It’s a good thing Jose Lopez left this band when he did for Houston Calls. This pop-punk blended with emo is not worth the money. Your best bet is buying the tracks separately or watching the group live. This album isn’t even worth the bonus acoustic disc. It looks like A Hero From A Thousand Paces and their debut CD Mistakes will have to stick around the mom and pop venues for a bit longer than expected.
