The presentation of The Identity Theft’s Breaking Away EP is interesting - it comes in drifting through space, picking up various fuzzy radio transmissions and senseless static. For a few brief moments it zeros in on a clear charge of rock energy, then fades back out into the void.
“Shut Out the World” has a classic Midwestern power-rock element about it, bringing a full guitar sound against hollow drums. “Restrictions Not Binding” has a similar feel, and “Self Contained” brings it to the next level. Singer Martin Moore’s vocals take on a slightly different and more appealing tone, while bandmates Dan Stouff (bass) and Brian Farvour (drums) work to create a sound that is lush, aggressive, and epic.
“Pent Up Held Down” takes a bit of a departure with piano and guitar that recalls Jimmy Eat World, creating a soft spot on the EP.
Though there are a few places that could use a little tightening up, Breaking Away is a strong debut from this Milwaukee, WI trio.
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The Breaking Away EP dropped in 2006.
You can hear tracks from the disc at their MySpace page.
Cold War Kids have made another excellent video, this time for the fantastic “Hospital Beds”.
So dramatic. So well done. Such a good song.
And, in case you missed it, here is the video for “Hang Me Up To Dry”. A fake movie preview so intriguing that I’m actually a little pissed that there is no real film to accompany it.
Clearly, someone out there is pandering to my taste, as a solo Dashboard Confessional tour has been announced. For the first time in five years, Chris Carrabba is heading out with just a guitar [and John Ralston and Augustana] for company.
Tickets officially go on sale Thursday, August 2 at 10 AM, but you can get them pre-sale at Ducat King now.
June’s upcoming release, Make It Blur, is thoroughly impressive. They’re one of those bands that I’ve gotten to watch grow up, so to speak. I booked them in late 2004, and thought they were okay. Over the last three years I’ve seen them play several more shows, and each time they were noticeably better. However, I was not prepared for just how good Make It Blur would be.
Logic would dictate that the sheer pop and slick production would make one gag and scream ’sell-out’ - after all, their press one-sheet compares them to Maroon 5 and The Fray - but the tracks are all unbelievably catchy and still in line with the band June has always been. They’ve managed to take the best of current pop trends and still fit in with their fellow Chicago acts (Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is…, etc).
On this record, June has employed strings, keys, and organ on top of their standard four-piece rock configuration that gives their songs a depth that will work past the clubs and VFW halls and into festivals and arenas. “No Time For Sense” could easily be part of the All-American Rejects’ repetoire, while “Your Shadow” is a synth- and strings-laden lovechild of Maroon 5 and a boy band.
The panting, strings, and repetitive piano opening of “Machine and the Line” provides for an odd psuedo-dance track. Make It Blur’s penultimate track is darker and angrier, but still keeps with the energy of the album. Make sure to listen through the end of the album - there’s a sad but pretty secret song.
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Make It Blur drops 08/07/07.
You can hear a couple of tracks from the album here.
Also, if you figure out what song “Swallowed” rips off interpolates at around 2:20 & 3:10, let us know. We can’t place it and it’s driving us nuts!
Silverstein’s third studio release on Victory Records, Arrivals & Departures, is a mix of screamo heavily cut with influences of pop-punk and 80s rock.
The record takes no time getting in your face, kicking off immediately with growling vocals and no lead-in on “Sound of the Sun”. By the chorus, Silverstein’s pop-punk sensibilities have kicked in, setting the stage for the balance the album strikes between hard rock and pop bliss.
“Still Dreaming”, “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow”, and “Love With Caution” lean in the pop-punk direction, with the former having excellent group-chant backing vocals. Eighties rock influence shines through on “If You Could See Into My Soul” with drum- and guitar-work that The Bravery would feel comfortable ripping off, while “True Romance” comes with a guitar solo that further convinces me the down-tempo and morose ender would be the perfect prom slow dance at the high school depicted in Nirvana’s video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
The most technically interesting track is “Vanity and Greed” with stilted yet smooth chord changes that make the listener heed the song’s advice of “don’t let your guard down.” Also memorable are the dark guitar intro, sing-along chorus, and hollow toms begging for fist pumps in “The Sand Will Turn To Glass”.
Though there is no track that particularly stands out as a hit single, Arrivals & Departures is a solid and varied album that doesn’t really sound like anything else.
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Arrivals & Departures dropped 07/03/07.
Find out more about Silverstein here.
Happy, adorable, guy/girl vocals over quirky multi-instrumental goodness. That describes Los Campesinos!’s “You! Me! Dancing!”.
My friend and all-around lovely person Jinda had some of their lyrics as an away message, and I fell in love. Then she was kind enough to link them to a video for the song, which was better than I could have imagined.
The vocals are delivered with charming accents and the music is happy and bouncy. Los Campesinos! are the Arcade Fire’s enthusiastic and precocious little sister.
See what I mean by checking out “You! Me! Dancing!” below:
If there’s one thing I could never confess, it’s that I can’t dance a single step.
Now available for download is “Can I Get Low” at Junior Senior’s MySpace page.
Mixing “Can I Get Get Get” from Junior Senior’s upcoming Hey Hey My My Yo Yo with Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz’s hit “Get Low”, the mash-up works surprisingly well. Now you can get crunk to a European dance groove.
Kunne jeg blive en hvad for hvad? (According to some online translator, that’s Danish for Can I get a what what?)
My friend Jack has been telling me to listen to Chromeo for years. I don’t know if I just never got around to it, or if I wasn’t struck by what I heard. However, I recently gave them another go-round. While most of it is fun and 80s-tacular, something about “Fancy Footwork” is amazing.
Dave 1’s delivery is oddly deadpan, and you can almost see the light glinting off P-Thugg’s grill with each “ah”. It captures the best of 80s synth/dance pop while still sounding modern.
Since they haven’t put out a video for “Fancy Footwork” at this time, I’m going to send you over to their MySpace page to check it out. While you’re there, be sure to read their “About Chromeo” section. It’s cheeky, amusing, and the best band description I’ve read in five years of receiving press kits and reading about me sections.
We are pleased to bring you this fantastically crafted mixtape by Jose of Harlem Shakes.
A few words from Jose:
When I make a mix, it’s almost always for a friend, and I generally give it a title and a some kind of a theme. This mix is an exception to both of those rules. This is new and exciting territory for me, just putting a bunch of songs I like together and making them fit together without some specific purpose. Still, I try to employ the same techniques when I’m putting something together, building the mix around 3 or 4 songs, usually the first and last track and a centerpiece near the middle and trying to match everything around it (I always try to make it so that the first track sets the tone and the last provides some sort of climax or catharsis).
“Have You Seen in Your Dreams” is an appropriate kick-off for this mix, with dripping-wet shimmery production and tender vocals. Miracle Fortress is the solo project of Graham Van Pelt of Think About Life. He, along with Shapes and Sizes, is a friend of a friend from Montreal and I’m so glad to have been turned onto both bands. There’s also a pair of tracks by Asobi Seksu and White Rabbits, two bands with whom we share the same maestro/producer, Chris Zane. His work makes me shiver.
The song I wanted to highlight the most is “The Greater Times” by Electrelane. There’s no other band that I am as pleased or as excited to listen to these days. This song is exactly what I want from the pop idiom. From the sweet, heart-aching lyrics to the way she desperately turns “the walls” into “oohs” at the climax — this is my perfect pop song.
I love Canadian bands. Frog Eyes can sometimes be hit-or-miss for me, though on the whole I’m a fan of their records. Their newest, Tears of the Valedictorian, closes with “Bushels”, and it’s basically a summary of the rest of the record. I love the dynamic progression that barrels right through a strong (and seemingly short) nine minutes and forces you to listen to the whole song. The first time I heard that snare/piano roll that finishes each phrase in the first verse, I was hooked.
I don’t want to imply that the rest of the mix is merely filler, though I think everything somehow refers or relates to these three songs in some way. I also don’t want to waste your time with a song-by-song description, so I’ll just let the music do the talking from here. These are some of my favorite songs by bands I love/adore/know. Enjoy!
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Mixtapes Heartbreaks by Jose of Harlem Shakes
01| Have You Seen in Your Dreams by Miracle Fortress
02| Cindy Tells Me by Brian Eno
03| Apartment Story by The National
04| Boom! It’s Spring by Night Canopy
05| Thursday by Asobi Seksu
06| When You Sleep by My Bloody Valentine
07| Desaparecere by Deerhoof
08| Take Pills by Panda Bear
09| Alone/Alive by Shapes and Sizes
10| The Greater Times by Electrelane
11| Burning the Cow by Earlimart
12| Just Off the Coast by Clearlake
13| Blue Bell Knoll by Cocteau Twins
14| March of the Camels by White Rabbits
15| Bushels by Frog Eyes
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The mix is toobig for one file, so it has been split into two parts:
I love the song “Breaker” by Low, but there’s something about it that vaguely puts me on edge. It’s not the full-on, punched-in-the-stomach kind of assault some songs have the effect of, but more of an uneasy sadness.
I stumbled across the video for the song today, and though it has nothing to do with the song in a lyrical sense, it manages to give me the same reaction. One of the band members eats cake. That’s the action of the video. However, the manner in which he does it gives me the same uneasy feeling as the song. I know it sounds weird, but check it out and see how you feel:
July 31, 2007 
The presentation of The Identity Theft’s Breaking Away EP is interesting - it comes in drifting through space, picking up various fuzzy radio transmissions and senseless static. For a few brief moments it zeros in on a clear charge of rock energy, then fades back out into the void.
