Band May Have Suffered Breakdown With Fans
Bands with the longevity and popularity of Green Day are going to branch away from the sound that got them signed. Yet 21st Century Breakdown may have more accurately been called Electric Guitar Breakdown, as Green Day seem to favor acoustic intros and balladry for many of the songs here. Overall they do a decent job of connecting their softer sounds to their louder ones, but Dookie this is not. Read more…
By Kelsey Adelson Posted in Reviews Green Day
Don’t Reject This Album Out of Hand
The All-American Rejects are great at creating catchy rock songs, and When the World Comes Down is no exception. Best known for the song “Dirty Little Secret,” The All-American Rejects deliver more fun rock on this new album. When the World Comes Down starts off with a burst of energy in the form of the upbeat and sexy “I Wanna” and continues in the same vein for several songs, including hit single “Gives You Hell.” Read more…
By Kelsey Adelson Posted in Reviews The All-American Rejects
Transcendent Band Defies Cataloging
Fairmont defy genre definition. This act has a comfortable grip on pop-punk, soul often found in singer-songwriters, and a variety of indie-pop styles including the recently popular ability to transplant harmonies from the 1960s. Unlike many modern multi-genre bands, however, Fairmont are good at it. The tunes on Transcendence fit together into a coherent whole despite deliberate stylistic differences. Read more…
By Kelsey Adelson Posted in Reviews Fairmont
Band Not Going Anywhere Without a Fight
As with most bands that have discographies of any significant length, New Found Glory’s sound has softened over the years. Not Without a Fight, however, feels like the band are trying to get back to their original sound. The stylistic changes they’ve incorporated over the last decade remain intact, but this album is notably harder than the band’s 2006 release, Coming Home. Read more…
By Kelsey Adelson Posted in Reviews New Found Glory
Band Continues Uncommon Existence
Known for mixing screaming with singing and driving beats with creative melodies, Thursday’s new album Common Existence embraces these strengths, though scattered among solid songs are less successful experiments.
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By Kelsey Adelson Posted in Reviews
Facing The Enemy
The Enemy’s We’ll Live and Die in These Towns can be described as a sweet folk-punk cake iced and filled with punk revival frosting. Yet while The Enemy do both genres well, the two styles don’t mesh on this sonically inconsistent album. Read more…
By Kelsey Adelson Posted in Reviews
Genuine Sense of …Something
At first The Warriors’ newest album sounds like what mainstream music listeners expect hardcore to sound like. Driving beat, check; incoherent vocals, check; the sense that poor little suburban kids have something trite to whine about, check. But Genuine Sense of Outrage has something else going for it: musicianship. Read more…
By Kelsey Adelson Posted in Reviews
Sophmore Album Takes ‘Odd’ Approach
Those expecting Panic at the Disco to deliver another “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” are in for a surprise. The band takes a markedly different approach on their sophomore album, Pretty. Odd. Gone are bitter lines from an angry teenage boy backed by synthesizer, replaced by insightful, often poetic, and frequently gleefully nonsensical lyrics from content adult musicians. Panic at the Disco’s two albums have little in common beyond Brendon Urie’s distinctive voice, and he’s now sharing vocal duties with the rest of his band. Read more…
By Kelsey Adelson Posted in Reviews
