The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 124

Wow nice write up!! I am glad to hear you enjoyed it and it’s grew on you.

Also love your description my bands lol

 

No worries! It's all true!

 

so @EmmanuelSCastle gave me two albums, which i will now review

the first was dig me out by sleater-kinney. this was a band id known about forever, and been meaning to check out; i just needed that push. im glad i got it, bc this album kicks ass. i want to say that its rough around the edges punk, but thats more in the ethos of the record than in its actual sound - its fairly cleanly recorded and its not all super short/fast/loud. the vocals, which certainly arent for everyone, definitely added to that feeling for me. there are frequently two or three vocals layered on top of each other and it sounds almost messy and unrehearsed, and i love that. at the same time, it manages to be hooky and accessible, with one more hour having a particularly killer chorus. im gonna be listening to this one for a while

dinosaur jrs youre living all over me is another album thats been on my list forever. emmanuel had warned me that 1. the production is kinda shoddy 2. its been aped so many times it probably wont sound fresh. the production didnt bother me too much - i thought it added some charm, personally - but the second point was pretty true. i didnt find the record super memorable, although i wouldnt say it was bad. the guitar work was amazing, which i had expected, but it just felt like a less engaging built to spill kinda thing to me. ill continue listening for sure bc i know that none of my fav bands would exist if not for this album, but my first few listens have been underwhelming. side note - my copy has their version of the cures just like heaven, and i really, really do not like that cover at all

 

Super stoked you liked S-K! They've got one of the best rhythm sections in indie music, which is weird bc they don't technically have a bass player. S-K also gets their imitators but there's something about them that other bands haven't really been able to nail. They're also one of those bands that was consistent their whole career, not a bad album in the bunch, so def check out their other stuff.

Irt Dinosaur Jr, I totally get it -- I felt the exact same when I listened to them, and it was initially the Lou Barlow weird songs that I was into. The follow up, Bug, was my favorite of their stuff for a while before I sort of fell in love with them completely. If you're at all interested, I promise that they will continue to grow on you on their own merits too. They're maybe the one band people have shamelessly ripped off more than the Pixies haha and it kind of makes getting into them difficult for no reason.

 

where would you suggest i go next for sk? and theyve got more than one vocalist, right? i thought id read that but i couldnt rly tell haha

im sure that dino jr will grow on me - its rare i have the kind of reaction i did to sk on a first listen

 

Yeah, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker both sing, though Corin definitely sings more often in their earlier records, though they often harmonized. It evens out later. Dig Me Out kind of prepares you to go backwards or forward bc it's the first time they fully realized their talents together. I personally started from their first album but that one's definitely a bit rawer songwriting wise. Try the one before dig me out, call the doctor

 

I'll have your review tomorrow !

 

Don't stress. It is fine whenever you get to it.

 

Same to you, I'm looking forward to yours.

 

So we have had THIRTEEN people vote for 7 day sessions and only 2 votes for 10. So starting next session we’ll be heading back to 7 day

 

Recount! Recount!!

I'm just kidding

 

7 is good for me because with 10 i can never remember when I'm supposed to review the album by

 

Okay, review and write up time! Four albums to get through, first I’m going to do the three that @Michael Schmidt gave me.

The Bouncing Souls- How I Spent My Summer Vacation-

It's weird to say this, but this album was both in and out of my comfort zone at the same time. I like punk rock, I like ska, I like alternative. For some reason, this album had elements of all three in it and because of this there were fun times to be had. Now, do not get me wrong when I list those three genres. This is most assuredly a punk rock album by large. What I mean when I say that is I can hear influences of all three of those genres rolled up into a nice punk rock package. To be honest, at least for me, this album didn't click with me until about around the third track 'True Believers'. But when that track came on, this album went from being another punk rock album to being a pretty dang good album that I was happy to experience. With fast paced guitars, riffs that you will most likely find stuck in your head, and relatable and catchy lyrics spread throughout the verses and chorus, this album was a treat after the third track.

The fifth track of the record 'The Something Special' has to be one of my favorite tracks on the album. This track instantly starts off with an insanely nice guitar riff, which explodes into a song about longing to start again and try love one more time with someone. The repeated lyric of "Forget about the things I said" in the chorus and especially as its chanted at the end is great, and the chorus is a moment you want to start singing along and even get up and dance. 'Broken Record' is the next song on the album, and a dang good follow up to the previous track. Containing some of the same roaring guitars, though starting out low and slow before taking off, the sequencing is great. Continuing this 1-2-3 punch is the next track 'Lifetime'. With an intro that sounds reminiscent of Blink-182 and a riffy track to continue that feeling. This song has powerful lyrics about being in love with a girl, and its great. "Tomorrows a lifetime away, she's all I want today" is a masterful lyric. From here on out the album rarely stagnates, with 'The Break Up Song' and 'Late Bloomers' being two more great tracks, especially the latter. The guitar work in these songs is skilled punk rock, and I can see myself revisiting this album. 8/10.

Northstar- Pollyanna

Holy hell, how have I never listened to this album before?! Ok, let me start this off proper. Northstar is an alternative rock band, also considered emo rock, and this band seriously has every damn best quality you could want in those genres. With songs that remind me of Matchbook Romance and Taking Back Sunday in places, there is not a bad track on this album. Early favorites from the album have got to me 'Two Zero Two', 'To My Better Angel', 'American Dream' and of course the fucking title track 'Pollyanna'. Each song is melodic, with catchy yet well written lyrics, and guitars that croon throughout each song that make every song dig into your ears and stay there. I found myself humming quite a few songs from this album through the week, again, especially the title track. The lyrics in that song are so powerful about the being absolutely hooked on someone's beauty and absolutely in love.

Its the case in all of these songs, but in that track in particular, the vocals are top notch and fit very well with the lyrical content of this album with tones that go from normal to high and back down in a great rhythm that is damn fun to sing along with. But that is not to say that the vocals and lyrics are the only strong point of this album, far from it! The drums, the guitar...everything about this album is so well crafted for this genre. Another thing to note is that this album flows superbly well, the sequencing is great. Each song kind of flows into each other in a way, with similar themes flowing from song to song. The songs are about love, passion, loss, sadness, and everything in between. I will definitely be needing to spend more time with this album, but its only because this album is a damn sweet treasure. I am so thankful that this album was recommended to me, because I will be digging into their other works (Though I have heard they had many lineup changes). 10/10

John Moreland & The Black Gold Band- Things I Can't Control

First thing; this album was a lot harder to find than I thought it was going to be. It wasn't on Apple music. Or youtube. One of their other albums was, but not this one. I eventually found it on Amazon. Mike said he'd send it to me, but it almost became a challenge to myself to locate this album. I gave this album as many listens as I did both of Mike's other recommendations, and I hate to say it but this album was definitely not for me. I get what they were going for on this album, and I can totally respect the combination of country and rock. But something about this album made it kind of hard to get through, and every time I listened to it I found myself wanting to turn it off and go back to one of the other two recommendations. That isn't to say there weren't points I liked; 'Bastards Of the Highway' was kind of cool, as well as 'Ruin My Night' and 'Victory Song'. Definitely talented, but just not for me unfortunately. Multiple listens, and unlike the other two where I found myself humming along and memorizing the lyrics and singing along, this one never quite delivered that to me. It is a shame, after my hunting it down I wanted it to blow me away. 5/10.

Next I will move on to the recommendation I received from @Nate_Johnson

Candiria- While They Were Sleeping

Woah! This was genre pushing for me and NOT what I expected when I hit play. I will admit that I do not listen to much metal, so this was an experience for me. One that fortunately went well for the most part. Kicking off the album with the title track 'While They Were Sleeping', by the half way point of the song I was digging and bobbing my head along with the music. This is the type of song that demands that you start getting into the groove. Those vocals as well! The first track was great, with a mixture of to the walls screaming, sung vocals, and honest to got melodic sing song type crooning, all to the tune of both heavy and roaring guitars and well played smooth strings in the bridge. Loved this so much, I have to admit. 'Mereya' continued this trend of catching me off guard. Again, starting with heavy screamed vocals and a roaring guitar, midway through the song it caught me off guard with an almost jazz like bass like and a smooth rhythmic vocal sung break down. A lot of the songs on this album did that actually, I really admire it. Unlike some bands of the genre that would stick to their guns of being heavy bashers, a lot of these songs tended to mix something unexpected into the mix that made an already good song have a little extra 'oomph'. Jazz style, wind instruments, crooning vocals, smooth lyrics, percussions, electronic distortion, female backing vocals, soft cool guitar lines. Its kind of like a candy with a hard outer shell that is still really sweet but you feel you could break your teeth, and then bam, you hit this creamy center of the candy that you did not expect, but there's more hard shell on the other side. The majority of their structure is the metal, roaring guitars and heavy vocals. But you have these unusual elements in some of the songs making them stand out. ‘Opaque’ is a good example (and the female backing vocals make this song great).

This album was downright cool, and a really unexpected journey through many different styles. I did not know what the heck to expect in every song, and I noticed small nuances in each song every time I relistened. Emotional lyrical themes with powerful, dark lyrics about self reflection and many other symbolic themes. This is best shown off in the song 'Forgotten' which actually may be my favorite song on the album. The lyrics in this song are about being the castaways, but picking yourself back up with strength. I fucking love it. With 12 tracks at 49 minutes long, this album raced by fast, and I found myself instantly returning to songs like the title track and 'Forgotten' as soon as the album was gone. There are powerful messages in all of these lyrics that merit repeated listens. Songs like 'One Of You Will Betray Me' are prime examples of this. I will be purchasing this album, and I will be checking out more of their work. Which is spectacular since a lot of their sound pushes past my comfort zone when it comes to the heaviness, but there is enough melodic singing and out of nowhere throw in sounds that made me love this album. 9/10.

 

I wrote those write ups on my laptop this time as opposed to my phone, and my god was I able to write better write ups this time with keys as opposed to a phone screen.


And yes I took @bachna84 ’s posting of the album covers. I liked that about his lol

 

What if we did new pairings every 7 days, but the reviews are due within 14 days. That way between new pairings, posting what was recommended, discussions and reviews there should always be activity in the thread. It also might not make people feel so rushed to throw a review together within 7-10 days.

 

I took that from someone else so it’s all good!

 

I get what you’re saying, but I think this would get too confusing and probably cause a backlog of reviews ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Wow! I did not expect you to like it this much! I told you it’s my runner up for AOTY for 2017.

 

I can see why. If I’d heard it before I made my list it would have made my top 10 AOTY list most likely.

 

Got two albums which I should, hopefully, have reviews up for tomorrow.

 

Here are my reviews from @BTDandFeelingThis

Atreyu – Lead Sails Paper Anchor (2007)

Atreyu is a metalcore band that is well respected in the hard rock scene. They came up in the early 2000s with bands like 18 Visions, From Autumn to Ashes, and Bleeding Through that popularized metalcore as a genre and got labeled as fashioncore by some critics. They took a style of music mostly rooted in hardcore and metal subsets and brought it to the forefront of early to mid 2000s emo/punk/pop punk/scream scenes.

With Lead Sails, Atreyu has moved away from their purely metalcore sound from their early records and brought in more of their influences to create a sound that’s more rooted in pop music structures and big choruses. There is less screaming overall and more of a focus to target the hard rock radio audience. That said, there are still the Swedish death metal (Can’t Happen Here verse delivery) and Slayer (Becoming the Bull intro) influences throughout the record. There is even a song that is basically a skate punk song (When Two are One).

Overall, this was an interesting listening experience. I hadn’t listened to this band since maybe 2005/2006. There were some riffs and solos that I enjoyed listening to and the chorus on “Falling Down” is legitimately catchy. And the “fight, fight, fight till the break of dawn” line at the end of the chorus on “Honor” is a really fun singalong moment. However, a good amount of these songs are going for a radio sound that is not really for me. I think this record would have been pretty successful if it was released today or there abouts. The choruses and hooks are there to do well on XM or the streaming playlists. This is the kind of gateway record that a young teenager hears and subsequently gets into other sub genres of metal and punk.

RIYL: mid 2000s metalcore, Breaking Benjamin, Clutch

Starset – Vessels (2017)

Starset is an up and coming rock band from Columbus, Ohio. They have been recommended a few times in this club, so there is likely some level of familiarity with this record by now.

This record occupies an interesting space. At their core, they are a melodic hard rock band. At times their sound stretches into more of a metalcore sound. And other times it leans more in a straight up pop sound. Some of that nuance is dictated by the music in each song, but a lot of the songs are anchored by the lead singer, who is going for a lot with this record. Most songs are sung pretty straight forward, but there are some moments where he screams and other moments where leans heavily on a pop-influence falsetto.

The record is not just ambitious for the sounds they are trying to encompass, but also in its length. This a 15-song album that runs for 70 minutes (per Apple Music). There is also an overarching cinematic theme with this record, given some of the electronic moments throughout the record. I give the band credit for being able to take pop, rock, and electronic stylings and fit it all into one package that has a similar feel and visual throughout.

Overall, my favorite tracks were “Die for You” and “Monster”. I enjoyed the pop side of the band more than their hard rock/metalcore sound. I also really liked when the singer just embraced a pop delivery and owned it. Even though the record has a similar feel throughout, I couldn’t help but think of them as almost two different bands: the rock band and the pop group. I also think the record is a little bit too long. This is a record I would probably return to for individual tracks, but may not rush to go back to in its entirety.

RIYL: pop hooks, the hard rock/metal side of alternative music, the last Bring Me the Horizon album, Tyler Carter

Three Days Grace – One-X (2006)

Three Days Grace probably needs no introduction at this point, but for those unaware, they are a alternative hard rock band that is probably one of the more successful bands going in active rock music.

One-X delivers a lot of what you have come to know from a Three Days Grace record. Driving guitars and big choruses that get stuck in your head. The band very much takes a pop approach by building around their choruses with lyrical themes seemingly about addiction and not liking a specific part of your life.

The production on the record is top notch. It sounds like a big radio rock record that highlights what the band is going for. All of the instruments and vocals sit neatly in place and make for an easy listening experience.

Having not really followed this band closely, I definitely heard some singles on this record. “Pain”, “Animal I Have Become”, “Never Too Late”, and “Riot” all sounded like songs I would expect to hear on alternative radio or at gyms. This is probably not a record I will return to because I don’t listen to a lot of radio rock music, but I found this album more enjoyable than I expected. It’s basically heavier pop music, so I can appreciate the hooks and having certain choruses stuck in your head.

RIYL: Three Days Grace and radio rock

 

Well written man! Glad to hear that all three of them went over pretty decently with you. Especially Starset, the different sounds they encompass on that album (their first album I’d say is a bit more rock oriented) can be a gamble

 

Sorry for the dropping the ball on this, fellas!

 

Life happens :)

 

Here is my review from @Nate_Johnson

Trophy Eyes - Chemical Miracle (2016)

So, I've never heard of these guys going in but man this album was a blast to listen to ! I wasn't sure what to expect going in, the first thing that stuck out to me were the production on the drums. They are very, very notable on this album and that snare drum sounds sexy as hell ! Another thing I loved was that I can hear the influence that some of my favorite bands have on these guys. I hear a big Alkaline Trio influence, I hear a lot of Hot Water Music and certainly the early 90's grunge scene had a big impact on these guys. The tone of the guitars are big, I'm always a sucker for that crunchy tone and them break downs ! The vocals are super strong, he sings with conviction and a sense of purpose. " Rain On Me " is such a fucking rad song ! The way he screams " Rain On Me " gave me goose bumps. The use of the ride cymbal in that song is another thing that really catches me, overall it's such a fucking stellar song and so is this album ! Two thumbs up !

Standout tracks: Rain On Me,Heaven Sent, Suicide Pact.